The Great Debate
Photo
July 5th, 2009

A Goldman trading scandal?

Tags: General, , ,
While most in the United States were celebrating the Fourth of July holiday, a Russian immigrant living in New Jersey was being held on federal charges of stealing secret computer trading codes from a major New York-based financial institution. Authorities did not identify the firm, but sources say that institution is none other than Goldman Sachs. Join Discussion

Photo
July 3rd, 2009

A Visit to Hebron

Tags: Full Disclosure, UK News, Uncategorized, remainders, , , , , , , , ,
There’s no pretty way to describe what I saw in Hebron, no tidy conceit to wrap it in. I visited as a participant in the Palestine Festival of Literature, the brain child of the great British-Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif. I was in the company of many wonderful writers and publishers, among them Python and traveller Michael Palin, best-selling crime novelist Henning Mankel, Pride and Prejudice screenplay writer Deborah Moggach, and prize-winning novelists Claire Messud and MG Vassanji. Join Discussion

Featured Comment | Read All (15) Post a comment
July 3rd, 2009
12:21 pm EDT
David and Neighbour You are quite right about the massacre of Jews in Hebron in 1929. The fact that the massacre happened in the context of the struggle against Zionist plans to turn Palestine into a Jewish state does not change the fact that the massacre was a terrible crime. I should have mentioned it, but didn't because I was given only 600 words. I stuck to what I saw, to what is happening today. I speak as as somebody who is very aware of Arab sectarianism and its negative effect on Jews, Shia Muslims and other minorities. Sectarianism is one of the things that make Arabs weak, and I and many Arabs revile it. (It so happens that I have a Syrian Jewish aunt). However, the anti-Jewish feeling amongst most Palestinians and other Arabs today is directed not at Jews in general but in the faces of the Jewsish state that has dispossessed the Palestinians. Neighbour says the child settlers are not gun-wielding. True, but I have been shown many films (they're on Youtube) of settler children hitting, kicking and throwing stones at Palestinian men, women and children. When they do this, they are protected by gun-wielding adult settlers and by soldiers. Again, I should have mentioned this, but was stopped by my 600 word limit. As for Jews only having access to 3% of Hebron - Israeli Jews are forbidden access to the rest of the city (unless they are soldiers, who move in at will) as a result of Israeli laws. However, I met French and American Jews (pro-Palestinian activists and academics) who live and work in Hebron, Ramallah and other West Bank cities. The apartheid system was brought in by Israel. Then there's the small matter that according to international law, there should be NO Israeli civilians living in occupied territory. The Palestinian leadership (which I'm not a fan of) has in any case said that in the event of a two-state solution, any Jewish settlers who will accept to live under Palestinian sovereignty can stay on the West Bank. And, yes, I am biased. I was also biased against apartheid South Africa.; If this was the 1930s, I'd be biased against Nazi Germany, and also aginst the pro-Zionist but anti-Semitic immigration policies of the US and British governments. (which blocked access to fleeing European Jews, forcing them to go to Palestine instead).
-Posted by Robin Yassin-Kassab
Photo
July 3rd, 2009

Fake news gets real

Tags: General, , , , , , ,
"The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" sent correspondents and producers to locales where comedy shows don't normally operate: Iran and Iraq. Along the way, these two Comedy Central commercial properties cooked up plenty of laughs. But they also produced some insightful — and certainly entertaining — coverage of these two complex and important global stories. Join Discussion

Featured Comment | Read All (6) Post a comment
July 3rd, 2009
3:55 pm EDT
I'm don't think it's accurate to call what these two shows do "fake news". They take actual events and highlight aspects of it for humor and/or to point out the stupidity of the people involved. That's not being fake nor is it falsifying the "newsworthy" event.
-Posted by glf
Photo
July 3rd, 2009

The Obama-Medvedev security summit

Tags: General, , ,
The United States and Russia have long-established treaties designed to control and limit nuclear weapons. Presidents Obama and Medvedev should use this week’s summit to build on those prior agreements, improve U.S.-Russian relations, and fashion a fundamentally safer world. Join Discussion

Photo
July 2nd, 2009

Get ready for the IOU market

Tags: Great Debate US, , ,

– Agnes T. Crane is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed are her own –
Let the trading begin.
California will be mailing out its first batch of IOUs today after the state’s stalemate over how to close the more than $24 billion hole in the budget leaves it with insufficient funds.
The IOU market could swell to [...]

Join Discussion

Featured Comment | Read All (9) Post a comment
July 3rd, 2009
8:11 am EDT
I guess I should be heartened to know some people still have a sense of humor as we watch all our little "Neros" fiddle around as the Capitols burn, albeit figuratively.
-Posted by Anubis
Photo
July 2nd, 2009

China risks overcooking the economy

By: Wei Gu
Tags: General, , , , ,
While China has been outspoken in expressing concern about the United States printing too much money, those worries might be better focused at home. No country beats China when it comes to effective monetary easing. Join Discussion

Photo
July 3rd, 2009

Getting a summer job: Entrepreneurship for teens

Tags: General, , , , , ,
Columnist Diana Furchtgott-Roth offers tips on how teens can start a business and make some money over the summer holiday. Join Discussion

Photo
July 1st, 2009

A dark and windy night

Tags: General, , , , ,
A lot of travelers boarding an Airbus today might be thinking twice. After all, yet another Bus is at the bottom of yet another ocean – and another 153 souls have gone west. Join Discussion

Photo
July 2nd, 2009

Citizen journalism, mainstream media and Iran

Tags: For the Record, , , , , , , ,
The prominent role of citizen journalists in covering the aftermath of the Iranian election has raised a number of ethics, standards and legal questions for mainstream journalists. My colleague John Clarke, Reuters Global Television Editor, found himself in the middle of the issue as images became available and clients demanded coverage of the election's aftermath. Join Discussion

Featured Comment | Read All (1) Post a comment
July 3rd, 2009
8:04 pm EDT
[...] For the Record » Blog Archive » Citizen journalism, mainstream media and Iran | Blogs | Reuters confronts social networks as news sources during Iran coverage. Article by Dean Wright and John Clarke, with a focus on verification standards. (tags: Reuters citmedia iran) [...]
-Posted by links for 2009-07-03 « burning bridge
Photo
July 3rd, 2009

Is Iraq stable enough to cope without U.S. troops?

Tags: Uncategorized, , , , , ,
For the U.S. military, it's the million dollar question -- or rather the $687 billion question, according to a recent estimate of the Iraq war's total cost. Is Iraq now stable enough for them to take a permanent back seat? Join Discussion

Featured Comment | Read All (24) Post a comment
July 3rd, 2009
8:38 am EDT
No, there will be a struggle for power as soon as the Us leaves the country. Iraq is too divided, and there are too many unsolved cultural, polital and religious issues for Iraq to become a peaceful and safe place to live.
-Posted by Nikkei 225