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