Barack Obama wants to hold a keynote speech on trans-Atlantic relations in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate during his visit later this month. SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned that he wants to outline a new foreign policy that consults partners more, but also makes clear demands on Europe. Barack Obama would like to hold a speech in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, symbol of Germany's Cold War division and subsequent unity. When is he coming, who will he meet, and, more importantly: What will he say? For days now, Berlin has been abuzz with speculation over plans for Barack Obama's first trip to Europe as the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate. A July 24 date has been set by the campaign for a Berlin visit and more details are gradually emerging. During his visit to the German capital, Obama plans to hold a keynote address on trans-Atlantic relations. "During this campaign, Senator Obama has been criticized for his lack of interest in Europe," an Obama campaign adviser with knowledge of the planning for the trip told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "This trip is partly a response to this, and I am sure he wants to address the issue of trans-Atlantic relations." The possibility has not been ruled out that the speech could instead be given in Paris or London -- the other stops on Obama's short Europe trip. But Obama's team likes the location of Berlin and the Brandenburg Gate. "The setting would be great," the advisor said. "The memory of John F. Kennedy's famous Berlin speech is still alive. Berlin is a bridge between East and West, and the German-American relationship is very strong," said the advisor.
Barack Obama wants to hold a keynote speech on trans-Atlantic relations in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate during his visit later this month. SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned that he wants to outline a new foreign policy that consults partners more, but also makes clear demands on Europe.
Barack Obama would like to hold a speech in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, symbol of Germany's Cold War division and subsequent unity. When is he coming, who will he meet, and, more importantly: What will he say? For days now, Berlin has been abuzz with speculation over plans for Barack Obama's first trip to Europe as the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate. A July 24 date has been set by the campaign for a Berlin visit and more details are gradually emerging. During his visit to the German capital, Obama plans to hold a keynote address on trans-Atlantic relations.
"During this campaign, Senator Obama has been criticized for his lack of interest in Europe," an Obama campaign adviser with knowledge of the planning for the trip told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "This trip is partly a response to this, and I am sure he wants to address the issue of trans-Atlantic relations."
The possibility has not been ruled out that the speech could instead be given in Paris or London -- the other stops on Obama's short Europe trip. But Obama's team likes the location of Berlin and the Brandenburg Gate. "The setting would be great," the advisor said. "The memory of John F. Kennedy's famous Berlin speech is still alive. Berlin is a bridge between East and West, and the German-American relationship is very strong," said the advisor.
Berlin, a city torn apart by war, is the perfect setting for an American president preaching peace. Ronald Reagan famously stood metres away from the Brandenburg Gate and called on the Soviet Union to tear down the Wall dividing Europe. And President Kennedy used a Cold War visit to the once and future German capital to declare: "ich bin ein Berliner!" Now Barack Obama, the presidential candidate, wants to grandstand there too. But a simmering row between the German Government and the local Berlin authorities could rob the Democratic politician of a photogenic moment at the Brandenburg Gate and derail his flagship tour of Europe this month. The plan, Obama advisers have told Der Spiegel magazine, is to use the visit on July 24 to signal an imminent improvement in the transatlantic relationship. "The Senator was criticised in the primaries for showing insufficient interest in Europe," said the unnamed adviser. "This visit is an answer to this criticism ... the memories of John F. Kennedy's 1963 speech are still very fresh -- Berlin is a bridge between East and West."
Berlin, a city torn apart by war, is the perfect setting for an American president preaching peace. Ronald Reagan famously stood metres away from the Brandenburg Gate and called on the Soviet Union to tear down the Wall dividing Europe. And President Kennedy used a Cold War visit to the once and future German capital to declare: "ich bin ein Berliner!"
Now Barack Obama, the presidential candidate, wants to grandstand there too. But a simmering row between the German Government and the local Berlin authorities could rob the Democratic politician of a photogenic moment at the Brandenburg Gate and derail his flagship tour of Europe this month.
The plan, Obama advisers have told Der Spiegel magazine, is to use the visit on July 24 to signal an imminent improvement in the transatlantic relationship.
"The Senator was criticised in the primaries for showing insufficient interest in Europe," said the unnamed adviser. "This visit is an answer to this criticism ... the memories of John F. Kennedy's 1963 speech are still very fresh -- Berlin is a bridge between East and West."
Barack Obama wants to hold a speech at the Brandenburg Gate when he comes to Berlin later this month. The city's mayor wants to grant him his wish, but the German chancellor has misgivings. The warning from the Chancellery was clear: The Brandenburg Gate is the "most famous and history-rich location in Germany," a Chancellery source said on Monday. In the past, it has only been used on very special occasions for addresses by politicians, and when, then only by elected American presidents. More clearly stated: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would be better off looking for another location in the German capital to hold a speech. Barack Obama would like to speak at the Brandenburg Gate during his trip to Berlin. However, the German government is against the idea. But Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit appeared unimpressed by the warning from Chancellor Angela Merkel's office and said during a press conference on Tuesday that he would be pleased if Obama were to address the public at the Brandenburg Gate. "We are not ruling anything out," a spokesman for the Berlin city council told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "The Brandenburg Gate would certainly be a nice place." The local government also pointed out that the decision over where Obama should make his appearance was in the hands of the city council of Berlin and not the chancellor's office or the federal government.
Barack Obama wants to hold a speech at the Brandenburg Gate when he comes to Berlin later this month. The city's mayor wants to grant him his wish, but the German chancellor has misgivings.
The warning from the Chancellery was clear: The Brandenburg Gate is the "most famous and history-rich location in Germany," a Chancellery source said on Monday. In the past, it has only been used on very special occasions for addresses by politicians, and when, then only by elected American presidents. More clearly stated: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would be better off looking for another location in the German capital to hold a speech.
Barack Obama would like to speak at the Brandenburg Gate during his trip to Berlin. However, the German government is against the idea. But Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit appeared unimpressed by the warning from Chancellor Angela Merkel's office and said during a press conference on Tuesday that he would be pleased if Obama were to address the public at the Brandenburg Gate.
"We are not ruling anything out," a spokesman for the Berlin city council told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "The Brandenburg Gate would certainly be a nice place." The local government also pointed out that the decision over where Obama should make his appearance was in the hands of the city council of Berlin and not the chancellor's office or the federal government.
i think Obama would have been better to talk in another european city, making his own moment rather than playing off Kennedy's.
Barack Obama will make his first trip as Democratic presidential nominee to London next week, at the start of a tour of Europe where a warm embrace may be overshadowed by his effort to explain how - and when - America's military should disentangle itself from Iraq. In his debut on the international stage Mr Obama will visit seven countries in as many days, with stops in Britain, France, Germany, Israel and Jordan. He is likely also to make undisclosed trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. His appearance in London is expected to be fleeting, British sources said. Mr Obama's advance team had made plain that he wants to get in and out of the city "as expeditiously as possible".
Barack Obama will make his first trip as Democratic presidential nominee to London next week, at the start of a tour of Europe where a warm embrace may be overshadowed by his effort to explain how - and when - America's military should disentangle itself from Iraq.
In his debut on the international stage Mr Obama will visit seven countries in as many days, with stops in Britain, France, Germany, Israel and Jordan. He is likely also to make undisclosed trips to Iraq and Afghanistan.
His appearance in London is expected to be fleeting, British sources said. Mr Obama's advance team had made plain that he wants to get in and out of the city "as expeditiously as possible".
"We would never disclose undisclosed disclosures," stated one of the legions of news aggregators operating as a virtual entity code-named Fran. "We trust and value our intelligence connections, so we wouldn't ever be guilty of undisclosed disclosures. Unless they were phone taps from berlusconni or sarcophagus, we protect our sources."
"We're onto them," stated an undisclosed Interpol source, "and we're trying to head off disclosure of Obama's pilgrimage to Mecca." "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
RUSUTSU, Japan: Pledging to "move toward a low-carbon society," leaders of the world's richest nations on Tuesday endorsed the idea of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions in half by 2050, but they refused to set a short-term target for reducing the heat-trapping gases that most scientists agree are warming the planet. The declaration by the Group of 8 - the United States, Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Russia - came under intense criticism from environmentalists, who called it a missed opportunity and said it ignored the urgent need to cut emissions more rapidly. But European leaders, who have long pressed President George W. Bush to adopt a more aggressive stance on climate change, said they were pleased with the agreement and cast it as an important step toward setting the groundwork for a binding international treaty to be negotiated in Copenhagen in 2009. "This is a strong signal to citizens around the world," said José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission. "The science is clear, the economic case for action is stronger than ever. Now we need to go the extra mile to secure an ambitious global deal in Copenhagen."
RUSUTSU, Japan: Pledging to "move toward a low-carbon society," leaders of the world's richest nations on Tuesday endorsed the idea of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions in half by 2050, but they refused to set a short-term target for reducing the heat-trapping gases that most scientists agree are warming the planet.
The declaration by the Group of 8 - the United States, Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Russia - came under intense criticism from environmentalists, who called it a missed opportunity and said it ignored the urgent need to cut emissions more rapidly.
But European leaders, who have long pressed President George W. Bush to adopt a more aggressive stance on climate change, said they were pleased with the agreement and cast it as an important step toward setting the groundwork for a binding international treaty to be negotiated in Copenhagen in 2009.
"This is a strong signal to citizens around the world," said José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission. "The science is clear, the economic case for action is stronger than ever. Now we need to go the extra mile to secure an ambitious global deal in Copenhagen."
As G8 leaders trumpeted their landmark deal to cut global emissions by 50 per cent by 2050, the '50/50' agreement, which has yet to be sealed, was quickly lambasted by environmentalists as virtually meaningless. Meeting for the second day at a luxury mountain resort overlooking Lake Toyako, in the northern island of Hokkaido, the heads of state and government of the world's seven richest countries plus Russia turned their minds to the global economic slowdown, spiraling food and oil prices and the need to boost aid to Africa. But they were also under intense pressure to make real progress on the climate change front. Having failed to agree on medium-term cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, they issued a statement saying they would "consider and adopt" the goal of achieving "at least (a) 50 percent reduction in global emissions by 2050."
Meeting for the second day at a luxury mountain resort overlooking Lake Toyako, in the northern island of Hokkaido, the heads of state and government of the world's seven richest countries plus Russia turned their minds to the global economic slowdown, spiraling food and oil prices and the need to boost aid to Africa.
But they were also under intense pressure to make real progress on the climate change front.
Having failed to agree on medium-term cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, they issued a statement saying they would "consider and adopt" the goal of achieving "at least (a) 50 percent reduction in global emissions by 2050."
US plans to respond to international pressure over the use of cluster bombs by phasing out the amount of unexploded bomblets they contain, were today branded as "meaningless" by campaigners. A three-page Pentagon memo pledges that after 2018, more than 99% of the explosives in cluster bombs must detonate on impact. The US defence department also agreed to reduce its inventory of devices that do not meet this standard from June next year.But it also defended cluster bombs, claiming they "provide distinct advantages against a range of targets and can result in less collateral damage" than other weapons and adds that total elimination would be "unacceptable".The memo is a response to talks in Dublin held in May, when 111 countries, including the UK, agreed to ban cluster bombs.
US plans to respond to international pressure over the use of cluster bombs by phasing out the amount of unexploded bomblets they contain, were today branded as "meaningless" by campaigners. A three-page Pentagon memo pledges that after 2018, more than 99% of the explosives in cluster bombs must detonate on impact.
The US defence department also agreed to reduce its inventory of devices that do not meet this standard from June next year.
But it also defended cluster bombs, claiming they "provide distinct advantages against a range of targets and can result in less collateral damage" than other weapons and adds that total elimination would be "unacceptable".
The memo is a response to talks in Dublin held in May, when 111 countries, including the UK, agreed to ban cluster bombs.
Oil speculation:why we don't have the answers
while the UK Parliament's Treasury Committee are looking into it next week
MPs to scrutinise speculators as oil hits $146
and it looks like I'll be one of the witnesses.
Sort of the Joker in the Pack, I guess.... "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
In 2005, global oil production was 84.6 million barrels per day, and consumption was 83.6 million. Today, those numbers are 86.5 million and 86.4 million. That slight tightening hardly justifies the tripled price.
Huh!? Someone has difficulties with maths: the tightening is from 1 million to 0.1 million barrels, or more appropiately, from 1.2% to c. 0.1% of supply! *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
US exports to Iran jump tenfold under Bush | The Guardian
US exports to Iran have jumped dramatically during president George Bush's years in office in spite of his tough rhetoric against the Tehran government and the imposition of fresh economic sanctions. Analysis of US government trade figures published today by the Associated Press revealed a near tenfold increase over the last seven years in sales to Iran. Goods include cigarettes, aircraft spare parts, bras, musical instruments, films, sculptures, furs and golf carts and/or snowmobiles. Although the sums are small, the disclosure is a political embarrassment for the US, coming at a time when it has been putting pressure on European governments, banks and companies to cut ties with Tehran.
Analysis of US government trade figures published today by the Associated Press revealed a near tenfold increase over the last seven years in sales to Iran.
Goods include cigarettes, aircraft spare parts, bras, musical instruments, films, sculptures, furs and golf carts and/or snowmobiles.
Although the sums are small, the disclosure is a political embarrassment for the US, coming at a time when it has been putting pressure on European governments, banks and companies to cut ties with Tehran.
The US vice-president, Dick Cheney, intervened to gag a senior official from testifying last year to the public health problems caused by climate change, according to a Bush administration whistleblower. In a letter released today, the former climate adviser at the US environmental protection agency (EPA) said Cheney's office pushed to delete "any discussion of the human health consequences of climate change" from testimony by America's senior disease control official. The testimony on climate change, given last October by the head of the head of the US centres for disease control (CDC), was ultimately cut from 14 to six pages. When CDC officials anonymously told the media that the White House had "eviscerated" the document, removing any mention of specific diseases caused by pollution, a spokeswoman for George Bush said the deletions were made to reflect scientific uncertainty on the issue. But Jason Burnett, 31, who resigned last month after the EPA blocked California from setting strong emissions limits, said the deletions were made to "keep options open" after the supreme court required the agency to determine whether climate change endangers public health. "We know that the administration's efforts have been about covering up the real dangers of global warming and hiding the facts from the public," the Democratic senator who received Burnett's letter, environment committee chairwoman Barbara Boxer, said. "This cover-up is being directed from the White House and the office of the vice-president."
In a letter released today, the former climate adviser at the US environmental protection agency (EPA) said Cheney's office pushed to delete "any discussion of the human health consequences of climate change" from testimony by America's senior disease control official.
The testimony on climate change, given last October by the head of the head of the US centres for disease control (CDC), was ultimately cut from 14 to six pages.
When CDC officials anonymously told the media that the White House had "eviscerated" the document, removing any mention of specific diseases caused by pollution, a spokeswoman for George Bush said the deletions were made to reflect scientific uncertainty on the issue.
But Jason Burnett, 31, who resigned last month after the EPA blocked California from setting strong emissions limits, said the deletions were made to "keep options open" after the supreme court required the agency to determine whether climate change endangers public health.
"We know that the administration's efforts have been about covering up the real dangers of global warming and hiding the facts from the public," the Democratic senator who received Burnett's letter, environment committee chairwoman Barbara Boxer, said.
"This cover-up is being directed from the White House and the office of the vice-president."
I would have to say the brilliant rescue narrative is pretty much DOA. "Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne
US exports to Iran have risen dramatically during George Bush's years in office in spite of his tough rhetoric against Tehran and the imposition of fresh economic sanctions.Analysis of US government trade figures published yesterday by Associated Press revealed a near tenfold increase in US sales to Iran over the past seven years. Goods included cigarettes, aircraft spare parts, bras, musical instruments, films, sculpture, fur, golf carts and snowmobiles. Although the sums involved are small, the disclosure is a political embarrassment for the US, coming at a time when it has been putting pressure on European governments, banks and companies to cut ties with Tehran. John Rankin, a US treasury spokesman, yesterday acknowledged there had been an increase but attributed this mainly to a change in legislation in 2000 that allowed the export of agricultural and medicinal goods. Before then trade had been effectively zero. He played down the exports as "miniscule" amounting to a quarter of 1% of all Iran's imports.AP found data suggesting military equipment had been exported, even though there are sanctions to prevent this. The Treasury is still investigating but Rankin said initial findings indicated there had been no such sales and described the data as a "clerical error".
US exports to Iran have risen dramatically during George Bush's years in office in spite of his tough rhetoric against Tehran and the imposition of fresh economic sanctions.
Analysis of US government trade figures published yesterday by Associated Press revealed a near tenfold increase in US sales to Iran over the past seven years. Goods included cigarettes, aircraft spare parts, bras, musical instruments, films, sculpture, fur, golf carts and snowmobiles. Although the sums involved are small, the disclosure is a political embarrassment for the US, coming at a time when it has been putting pressure on European governments, banks and companies to cut ties with Tehran.
John Rankin, a US treasury spokesman, yesterday acknowledged there had been an increase but attributed this mainly to a change in legislation in 2000 that allowed the export of agricultural and medicinal goods. Before then trade had been effectively zero. He played down the exports as "miniscule" amounting to a quarter of 1% of all Iran's imports.
AP found data suggesting military equipment had been exported, even though there are sanctions to prevent this. The Treasury is still investigating but Rankin said initial findings indicated there had been no such sales and described the data as a "clerical error".
PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - Presidential candidate John McCain, who once sang in jest about bombing Iran, on Tuesday reacted to a report of rising U.S. cigarette exports to the country by saying it may be "a way of killing 'em." McCain, known for acerbic comments and for sometimes firing verbally from the hip, was responding to a report that U.S. exports to Iran rose tenfold during President George W. Bush's term in office despite hostility between the two states. A rise in cigarette sales was a big part of that, according to an Associated Press analysis of seven years of U.S. trade figures. "Maybe that's a way of killing 'em," McCain said to reporters during a campaign stop in Pittsburgh. "I meant that as a joke, as a person who hasn't had a cigarette in 28 years, 29 years," he added, laughing.
McCain, known for acerbic comments and for sometimes firing verbally from the hip, was responding to a report that U.S. exports to Iran rose tenfold during President George W. Bush's term in office despite hostility between the two states.
A rise in cigarette sales was a big part of that, according to an Associated Press analysis of seven years of U.S. trade figures.
"Maybe that's a way of killing 'em," McCain said to reporters during a campaign stop in Pittsburgh. "I meant that as a joke, as a person who hasn't had a cigarette in 28 years, 29 years," he added, laughing.
Why is this guy not playing shuffleboard on a cruise ship in Miami? Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
Oil rose $2 on Wednesday, partly recouping a $5 drop in the previous session, after Iran said it had test-fired missiles that could reach Israel and U.S. bases in the region. ... Iran's missile tests at a time of increased tensions over its nuclear programme once again highlighted the geopolitical risks in the oil market. ... Iran's state media reported the test-firing of nine long-and medium-range missiles, including one Tehran has previously said could reach Israel and U.S. bases in the region.
...
Iran's missile tests at a time of increased tensions over its nuclear programme once again highlighted the geopolitical risks in the oil market.
Iran's state media reported the test-firing of nine long-and medium-range missiles, including one Tehran has previously said could reach Israel and U.S. bases in the region.
Three police and three assailants were killed in an armed attack carried out on the main gate of the United States Consulate in Istanbul around 11:00 a.m. (GMT 0800), Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said on Wednesday. He later added that two of the four assailants were Turkish citizens. Istanbul's chief prosecutor said it is a "terrorist attack". (UPDATED) ... Enis Yilmaz, an eye-witness standing near the police post at the visa entrance of the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, told the Anatolian Agency, "A car moved back and forth. Then I heard several gun shots. I saw three people jump out of the car. The other assailant fled with the car." The U.S. Embassy in Ankara said that at least one assailant opened fire on the Turkish police post at the main entrance of the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul on Wednesday.
Enis Yilmaz, an eye-witness standing near the police post at the visa entrance of the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, told the Anatolian Agency, "A car moved back and forth. Then I heard several gun shots. I saw three people jump out of the car. The other assailant fled with the car."
The U.S. Embassy in Ankara said that at least one assailant opened fire on the Turkish police post at the main entrance of the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul on Wednesday.
... IndyMac said Monday that it will reduce its work force by 53% to about 3,400 and stop making most types of mortgage loans. Its Financial Freedom unit will continue to provide reverse mortgages -- a type of loan that allows people 62 or older to receive payments from the bank; the loans are repaid, with interest, when the borrower sells the house, moves out or dies. ... IndyMac acquired a savings bank in 2000 and became a large lender, specializing in Alt-A loans, a category between prime and subprime that typically doesn't require borrowers to fully document their income. ... Unlike Countrywide, IndyMac also became a major lender to home builders. At the end of the first quarter, IndyMac said it classifies as nonperforming 52% of its $1.06 billion of loans outstanding to home builders, mostly in California.
IndyMac said Monday that it will reduce its work force by 53% to about 3,400 and stop making most types of mortgage loans. Its Financial Freedom unit will continue to provide reverse mortgages -- a type of loan that allows people 62 or older to receive payments from the bank; the loans are repaid, with interest, when the borrower sells the house, moves out or dies.
IndyMac acquired a savings bank in 2000 and became a large lender, specializing in Alt-A loans, a category between prime and subprime that typically doesn't require borrowers to fully document their income.
Unlike Countrywide, IndyMac also became a major lender to home builders. At the end of the first quarter, IndyMac said it classifies as nonperforming 52% of its $1.06 billion of loans outstanding to home builders, mostly in California.
