Iraq awaits foreign military troops’ withdrawal

Soon British as well as US military troops will leave the country to let the local government run its own affairs. David Miliband, UK Foreign Secretary, told BBC that the Iraqi government was getting more and more impatient as they were awaiting this decision to be made. Well, even if they are impatient they have to calm down as the US troops’ withdrawal will only happen in August 2010. 

Even though current US President Barack Obama is to announce the withdrawal plan to the public, many say that the US government will leave several platoons – approximately 50,000 soldiers – behind. British soldiers will leave earlier – none will remain in the country by the end of May this year. Mr Miliband also told BBC that the situation seemed to be more sustainable now than it had been before. Finally the government can start looking into the matters of economy and public services. He firmly believes that the more time passes the more confident the government and the citizens will be. 

By announcing the establishment of a 400 million dollars worth joint venture, Mr Miliband told the world that the country was ready for business. The would-be company will carry out drilling activities to find more oil. British forces in the country amount to thousands of soldiers of whom hundreds have died so far. The number of the US troops is enormous with its almost 150,000 soldiers. 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7914291.stm

North Korea to launch satellite

Soon the communist North Korea will launch a rocket that will carry a communications satellite. This piece of news is official; however, leaders of the country gave no information on the date of the launch that will obviously be a “great step forward for the communist state.” 

According to BBC this is not the first occasion that such a statement has been made. At the end of the 1990’s North Korea tested its short-range missile called Taepodong-1 and it announced that it would launch a satellite into orbit. That, however, has not happened so far. 

Nevertheless, North Korea has not given up his idea to put a satellite on the sky. It is said that the successor of the first Taepodong missile, Taepodong-2 will be launched from the site in the northeast of the country. BBC quoted the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA): „Full-scale preparations are under way to launch a rocket Unha-2 to put communication satellite Kwangmyongsong-2 into orbit. When this satellite is successfully launched, our space technology will make a great step forward toward becoming an economically strong country.” 

Some say that since Taepodong-2 is a long-range missile it has a theoretical range of almost 7,000 km, which is just enough to target the USA. The missile was tested back in 2006 and the test seemed to be a failure: Taepodong-2 exploded. It was not long ago when new US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton visited Asia, including North Korea and gave a warning in terms of „rash moves”. 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7907039.stm

Japanese finance minister - drunk or ill?

Current Japanese finance minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, was blamed that he had been drunk while being interviewed during a recent news conference in Rome. 

Mr. Nakagawa, however, denied the allegations and said that he had only drunk one sip of alcohol before facing the media. He apologised for his behaviour, which seemed a bit unusual, but the minister blamed the pills he had been taking in order to recover from cold. 

But what exactly happened? During the interview he misunderstood a question and gave a wrong answer, and at one point he almost fell into a doze. He did not seem to be confident while having a speech, either, as some of his sentences were beyond all understanding. 

One of the members of the opposition party, Yukio Hatoyama, told BBC that "It's embarrassing. This has sent a message to the whole world. He's damaged the national interest." In spite of the fact that the opposition party wants him to resign, Mr Nakagawa is reluctant to do so, after all, Prime Minister Taro Aso himself asked him to stay. 

Some reports said that the finance minister is a regular drinker, but Mr. Nakagawa, yet again, did not admit these claims and as he said: "What I want the most now is to completely recover from my cold." 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7892653.stm

Obama defends his plan

With the idea of reviving the American economy, the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, had come up with a so-called stimulus plan. 

However, many Democratic and Republican politicians found the 900 billion dollars rescue package "too much", therefore the Senate held a special Saturday session to modify it. Eventually, both sides agreed on changing the bill and reducing the numbers from 900 to 700. 

Mr Obama expressed his gratitude because the idea of the Democrats had been supported by the opposition. The parties could quickly make a decision on a plan that "will provide jobs and tax relief for the American people". 

The President said that "The scale and scope of this plan is right, and the time for action is now." Then he added: "If we don't move swiftly to put this plan in motion, our economic crisis could become a national catastrophe." 

Note that Mr Obama can only sign the bill if it has been passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives. The deadline of the bill to be sent to the President is February 16. 

The situation in the US is desperate. Only in January more than half a million employees and workers were made redundant, making the unemployment rate reach 7.6%, the highest in 17 years. 

The Republicans expressed their concern that the improved version of the bill involved too much spending and too less tax cuts. More tax cuts are needed to help American families save more of their money. 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7877160.stm

Pirates of the 21st Century

After months of negotiations Somali pirates were given their ransom, after which they decided to leave the Ukrainian ship that they had previously hijacked last September. 

Although these pirates of the 21st Century originally wanted 20 million dollars, they were reportedly given only 3.2 million. 

According to BBC the pirates took control of the vessel called MV-Faina and held its crew of 20 as hostages. The ship was supposed to reach its destination, Kenya, at the end of last September with its cargo consisting of tanks, rocket launchers and other smaller weapons. 

After receiving their ransom the gunmen decided to leave the ship one by one and also started releasing the hostages. In the end only three boys remained, but eventually they were released, nobody got hurt. Among the crew of Faina there were mainly Ukrainians and also some Russians and Latvians. The ship can continue its journey to reach Kenya with its cargo of weaponry. 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7871510.stm

President Hugo Chavez in doubt

When it comes to finding alternative energy sources President Hugo Chavez is among those who support Barack Obama's aim for this, however, the Venezuelan President does not think that the 44th US President can make it happen.

According to CNN, the channel Mr Chavez gave an exclusive interview to, the Venezuelan politician thinks that US needs petroleum "like air, like oxygen to live, to survive".

He also thinks that the decreasing crude oil prices can only do good to the globe as "the world will need to sustain its industrial rhythm".

Mr Chavez, who called the former US President George W. Bush "the devil" wishes to improve the relations between the two countries so that it can be on the same level as it was during the Clinton era.

The Venezuelan President has been fulfilling his political role for almost 10 years now. Although the current constitution of the Latin-American country only allows him to have two consecutive six-year terms, Mr Chavez wishes to amend it so that he can be elected for the third time in 2012.

Some major changes happened since Hugo Chavez was elected as President. There are more General Practitioners available per 100,000 Venezuelans and 95% of the population is entitled to have free health coverage compared to the 25% a decade ago.

During a celebration, held in the capital Caracas, to mark this period as a successful decade Mr Chavez expressed his gratitude to the former Cuban President Fidel Castro, who has been ill for quite some time therefore did not appear.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/02/03/venezuela.chavez/index.html