Stocks: Worst day since 2008 financial crisis

By Annalyn

The Dow has now lost all of the ground it gained in 2011. Click the chart for more stock market data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- In their single worst day since the 2008 financial crisis, stocks plunged Thursday, with the Dow tumbling 512 points, as fear about the global economy spooked investors.

"The conventional wisdom on Wall Street was that the economy was growing -- that the worst was behind us," said Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital. "Now what people are realizing is the stimulus didn't work, and we may be headed back to recession."

U.S. markets were already sharply lower on widespread worries, including the weak job market. But the selling gained momentum as Japanese and European policymakers stepped in with dramatic measures to shore up their financial markets.

There's "total fear" in the market, said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at the world's largest money manager, BlackRock.

All three major indexes tumbled more than 4% Thursday and erased all their gains for the year. The indexes have also pushed into 'correction' territory - defined as a 10% drop from recent highs. The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 are down more than 10% from mid-July.

"In the last two weeks, we've been through the ringer," said Rich Ilczyszyn, market strategist with futures broker Lind-Waldock. "When we start looking at the recovery, there's nothing to hang our hats on anymore."

The market's fear gauge -- the VIX (VIX) -- surged 30% to a reading of 30.5. That's just above 30 -- the level that signals a high degree of fear. The VIX up 77% from the start of the year.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) was down 512 points, or 4.3%, with Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500), Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500) and Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) among the biggest drags on the blue chip index. Thursday's sell-off marked the ninth biggest point loss for the Dow.

The S&P 500 (SPX) was down a staggering 60 points, or 4.8%.

The Nasdaq (COMP) lost 137 points, or 5.1%. Some of the better performing tech stocks, Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Netflix (NFLX) were all down between 2% and 3%.

Fears about a global slowdown are at the forefront of investors' minds amid recent weak economic data. Early Thursday, the latest reading on jobless claims showed a large number of Americans remain unemployed.

10 job killing companies

Adding further to investors' jitters, Wall Street is waiting for Friday's jobs report, which BlackRock's Doll said was adding to the selling pressure.

The report is now a bit of wild card after it has come in far below forecasts for the last two months.

Economists surveyed by CNNMoney are expecting the report to show that the U.S. economy created 75,000 jobs in July, marking a slight improvement over the paltry 18,000 jobs added in June.

The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 9.2%.

Economy: Economic woes weren't contained to the United States.

In moves that they hoped would tame financial markets, Japan's government stepped in to weaken the yen, and the European Central Bank decided to re-enter the European bond market for the first time since March.

Track currencies

Those decisions come just a day after Switzerland intervened to curb the Swiss franc's rise.

"It's true that we are in a period of a high level of uncertainty, not only in the euro area but at the global level," ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said in a press conference Thursday.

The ECB wasted no time and immediately started buying European bonds while Trichet's press conference was still going on. But bond traders were quickly disappointed, after they discovered the central bank only bought Portugese and Irish debt -- not the Spanish and Italian bonds at the center of the crisis.

The ECB also left interest rates unchanged at 1.5% and initiated a 6-month refinancing operation to add liquidity to European markets.

European stocks plunged. Britain's FTSE 100 (UKX) tumbled 3.4%, Germany's DAX (DAX) lost 3.9% and France's CAC 40 (CAC40) fell 3.4%.

Asian markets ended the session mixed. The Shanghai Composite and Japan's Nikkei edged up 0.2%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.5%.

Meanwhile, it should come as no surprise that in the U.S., investors flocked to assets perceived as low-risk, including Treasuries and gold.

Treasury prices rose, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down to 2.43% from 2.6% late Wednesday, and gold futures for December delivery fell $7.30 to $1,659 an ounce. Earlier in the session, gold hit a record high of $1,684.70 an ounce.

In other commodities, oil prices slumped 5.3% to $86.63 a barrel.

Companies: Auto giant General Motors' (GM, Fortune 500) second-quarter earnings nearly doubled to $2.5 billion, as revenue rose 19% and topped expectations. Shares of GM slid 4.9%.

Insurance company AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) and newly public LinkedIn (LNKD) are scheduled to report financial results after the closing bell Thursday.

In addition to quarterly financial reports, retailers were also announcing July sales results.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST, Fortune 500) said its same-store sales climbed 10% last month, while Limited (LTD, Fortune 500) said sales rose 6%.

Michelle Obama: Husband is earning his gray hairs

By David Jackson, USA TODAY

Updated 30m ago

CAPTION

By Pool, Getty Images

First lady Michelle Obama is joining the public celebrations of her husband's 50th birthday, sending an e-mail to supporters asking them to sign an Internet birthday card.

The text:

Every day, I see Barack make choices he knows will affect every American family. That's no small task for anyone -- and more proof that he's earning every last one of those gray hairs.

This has been a busy week in Washington, but today happens to be Barack's 50th birthday. I'm writing to you because this year, the girls and I would like to do something a little different.

I'm asking friends and supporters of this campaign to wish him a happy birthday by signing his card, and sharing why you're on this journey with us.

Your names and notes will become part of a book that tells the story of this campaign -- who's building it, why we're in this thing, and what he means to us. We'll deliver a copy to Barack and send one to our campaign offices across the country.

Sign the card for Barack:

http://my.barackobama.com/Birthday-Card

I've known Barack for more than 20 of his 50 years, and we've been through quite a lot together.

It still amazes me that no matter how many decisions and distractions he's faced with every day, he's always able to focus on the bigger picture. One way he does that is by making time for stories and letters from people like you -- because he knows that this job isn't about him, but about the millions of folks around the country he's fighting for.

This next year will challenge us all to work harder than ever before, but the crucial thing is that you're here now, early on, helping to build this campaign.

I know that, like Barack and me, you have your own reasons why, so I hope you'll take a moment to sign the card and share your story with him and other supporters of this campaign.

http://my.barackobama.com/Birthday-Card

Thanks for being a part of this.

Israël: L'éloge funèbre des soldats ne mentionnera plus Dieu

Après un débat enfiévré de plusieurs semaines, l'armée israélienne a décidé jeudi de ne plus faire référence à Dieu dans l'éloge funèbre des soldats tombés au front.

La controverse, qui touche à la question sensible de la séparation du laïque et du religieux dans l'Etat hébreu, portait sur la première phrase du Yizkor («souvenance» en hébreu), la prière ashkénaze du souvenir.

La politique de l'armée voulait qu'elle commence par «Que Dieu se souvienne» mais la règle n'était pas toujours appliquée.

Certains entament le Yizkor par les mots «Que le peuple d'Israël se souvienne» pour tenir compte de la majorité laïque du pays.

Une commission de gradés et de rabbins nommée par le chef d'état-major des armées, le général Benny Ganz, a décidé de consacrer la seconde formule.

Le service militaire est obligatoire en Israâl pour la quasi-totalité des hommes et des femmes, enrôlés à 18 ans. Bien que la plupart des soldats ne soient pas pratiquants, un nombre croissant de gradés sont des juifs dévots.

Reuters

Jerry Lewis no longer host of MDA telethon

Jerry Lewis performs during the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon in Beverly Hills, Calif., Monday, Sept. 5, 2005. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

LOS ANGELES — Last week at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour, Jerry Lewis batted down rumors he was severing his association with the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon he presides over every Labor Day weekend.

On Wednesday night, MDA confirmed those rumors — the organization said that it was relieving the performer of his duties as national chairman and that Lewis won’t be appearing on this year’s telecast.

In a short statement announcing the telethon news, R. Rodney Howell, MDA chairman of the board, said that Lewis is a “world-class humanitarian and we’re forever grateful to him for his more than half century of generous service to MDA.’’ It said it would not replace him for the post of national chairman.

The 85-year old Lewis has hosted the telethon since it began in 1966, turning a generic fund-raising event into a fixture of the entertainment calendar and raising more than $2 billion for the disease.

But his involvement hasn’t been without controversy in recent years. In 2007, Lewis nearly let slip a homophobic epithet. In the last few months the question of his relationship with the telethon has grown more complicated.

In May, news surfaced that Lewis would host his last telethon in 2011. Lewis denied the report. At TCA, he reportedly said to journalists that “it’s none of your business’’ when they asked about his future association with the event.

MDA is expected to name a new host, who will join a quartet of co-hosts that includes entertainment personalities Nigel Lythgoe, Jann Carl, Alison Sweeney and Nancy O’Dell.

Lewis can still be seen on television in the coming months: He’ll appear in the new documentary “Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis,’’ which takes a look at his long career via rare footage and the testimonials of comedians such as Eddie Murphy and Alec Baldwin. The special airs on Encore this fall.

(c) 2011, Los Angeles Times. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Copyright 2011 pantagraph.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read more: http://www.pantagraph.com/

Libye: une mère et ses deux enfants tués par un raid de l'Otan

Zliten (Libye) - Les autorités libyennes ont accusé jeudi un raid de l'Otan d'être à l'origine de l'explosion qui a détruit une maison et tué une femme et ses deux enfants dans un quartier à l'ouest de Zliten, ville disputée à 150 km à l'est de Tripoli.

Les autorités ont conduit des journalistes étrangers, dont celui de l'AFP, devant cette maison détruite, puis dans la mosquée voisine où étaient exposés le cercueil fermé de la mère et ceux, ouverts, des deux enfants âgés de 4 et 5 ans, le visage ensanglanté.

Les trois victimes ont ensuite été enterrées aux cris de Allah Akbar et Nous sommes prêts à mourir en martyrs pour la Libye.

Le père de famille, Moustapha Naji, un enseignant de 35 ans, a raconté que le raid avait eu lieu jeudi matin vers 06H00 (n 04H00 GMT) alors qu'il se trouvait à la mosquée. Il a fait état de deux autres blessés graves dans sa famille.

L'Otan bombarde des zones et quartiers civils, affirmant qu'il s'agit de centres de commandement et de contrôle. L'Otan tue des enfants, des mères et des pères mais il ne s'excuse pas et n'enquête jamais et ne descend jamais sur terre pour tenter d'avoir un dialogue avec le gouvernement libyen pour résoudre le problème, a déclaré le porte-parole du régime Moussa Ibrahim à des journalistes.

M. Ibrahim a dénoncé une intensification des bombardements notamment sur la ville de Zliten, affirmant que plus de 1.000 civils ont été tués en Libye depuis le début en mars de l'opération militaire internationale contre le régime du colonel Mouammar Kadhafi, destinée à protéger les civils.

Les combattants venus de l'enclave rebelle de Misrata, à 60 km à l'ouest de Zliten, ont annoncé cette semaine avoir progressé dans Zliten, ville stratégique sur la route côtière en direction de Tripoli. Mais le régime a rapidement démenti et assuré qu'il contrôlait totalement la ville.

Jeudi, le centre de la ville était contrôlé par le régime et les journalistes sur place n'ont pu constater aucune trace de combats. Sous une chaleur écrasante et en plein ramadan, l'activité y était limitée et quelques boutiques étaient ouvertes.

Selon les habitants, la ligne de front est située à une distance de 10 à 15 km à l'est du centre ville et des tirs intensifs d'artillerie venant de l'est pouvaient être entendus.

Les journalistes ont également été conduits dans une école détruite par un raid de l'Otan samedi, selon un responsable local, et à l'université de droit sévèrement endommagée par un autre raid de l'Otan.


(©AFP /

Reid announces deal on FAA funding

By the CNN Wire Staff

Thousands of FAA workers jobless as Congress takes a break

Washington (CNN) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, announced Thursday that Democratic and Republican leaders have "been able to broker a bipartisan compromise between the House and the Senate" to fully fund the Federal Aviation Administration.

"This agreement does not resolve the important differences that still remain," Reid said in a written statement. "But I believe we should keep Americans working while Congress settles its differences, and this agreement will do exactly that."

The dispute could be resolved as early as Friday, a senior Democratic leadership aide told CNN earlier in the day.

The aide described a series of "active, productive discussions" on the issue.

Earlier, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that President Barack Obama called House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday to discuss ways to resolve the matter.

The impasse has resulted in the furlough of roughly 4,000 aviation workers, as well as tens of thousands of additional layoffs in the construction industry and elsewhere.

The FAA has also been unable to collect federal taxes on airline tickets -- leading to a revenue loss of approximately $30 million a day. If the dispute continues until Congress returns from its summer recess in September, the federal government will be out more than $1 billion in revenue.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has been urging members of Congress to return to Washington from their summer break and, at a minimum, pass a temporary funding measure allowing the FAA and other workers to return to their jobs.

The Democratic-led Senate went on its summer recess Tuesday without approving what would have been the 21st short-term funding extension for the FAA. The Republican-led House previously passed a short-term extension, but included some changes opposed by Democrats.

The dispute over the extension involves language in the House proposal that would reduce or kill subsidies to rural airports, specifically targeting some in Nevada, Montana and New Mexico -- three states with influential Democratic senators.

A larger dispute behind the scenes also is a cause for the inaction. Republicans oppose a recent National Mediation Board decision backed by Democrats that makes it easier for airline employees to unionize.

The board's ruling made passage of a vote to unionize dependent on getting more than 50% support of those voting. For example, if a company has 1,000 workers but only 200 take part in the vote to unionize, the rule change would require 101 "yes" votes for it to pass.

Under old rules, more than 50 percent of all workers eligible to vote -- or 501 "yes" votes -- would have been required for it to pass. Workers who didn't cast ballots were counted as having voted "no," making it more difficult for supporters to succeed.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told CNN Wednesday he blocked a short-term compromise bid proposed by Democratic and Republican colleagues because of the organized labor issue.

At a news conference Wednesday, top Senate Democrats blamed Republicans for the work stoppage.

"This issue has nothing to do with essential air services (at rural airports) and everything to do with a labor dispute between airlines and the American worker," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada.

In response, Rep. John Mica, the Florida Republican who chairs the House Transportation Committee, said Senate Democrats have only themselves to blame.

"Senate Democrats had a House-passed FAA extension before them for two weeks but chose to do nothing," Mica said.

But LaHood said controversial items didn't stop lawmakers from passing extensions on other occasions.

"If you've got issues with labor, if you've got issues with money going to small airports to help airlines fly in and out, work that out," he said. "Don't hold the American jobs and American people hostage over controversial issues that were not a problem on 20 other times when Congress passed an extension."

As the dispute drags on, numerous FAA employees are being forced to dig into personal savings, prioritize their bills, and cut back on expenses in order to avoid financial devastation.

"We're pretty much going to burn through all of our savings within a month and ... now we're working on programs out there to give us no-interest loans," said Mark DePlasco, one of the furloughed employees.

"I don't think any of us can even fathom going without a paycheck for another month and a half or even longer."

CNN's Gloria Borger and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report

Missing credentials hamper jobless veterans

By Alexandra Alper

NEW YORK | Thu Aug 4, 2011 2:53pm EDT

(Reuters) - Army Officer Donna Bachler hasn't had a regular paycheck since she left active duty four years ago, even though she boasts the kind of skills employers vie for.

Bachler, 30, helped run the U.S. Army's postal service in Kuwait, tackling challenges such as how to crack down on mailed contraband and speeding the flow of mail to troops.

Now back in the United States, she gets by on her husband's salary, which will be cut by more than half when he retires from the military as soon as next year.

"One of the ways I sold (military service) to myself and my parents is 'it looks good on a resume,'" said Bachler, who estimates she has applied for at least 1,000 jobs since 2007. "Sadly, it doesn't."

As U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, tens of thousands of veterans are flooding the job market at a time when millions of civilians can't find jobs.

In June, unemployment among recent veterans grew to 13.3 percent, more than 4 percentage points higher than the national average.

From 2008 to 2010, that rate rose from 7.3 percent to 11.5 percent, and it's expected to climb further as more troops come home this year -- 10,000 from Afghanistan and, unless Iraq requests some to stay, the remaining 46,000 from that country.

"There is a sense of abandonment," said Daniel Nichols, former chief of staff for the Labor Department's Veteran Employment and Training Services (VETS). He is now director of Military to Medicine, which trains veterans and their spouses for jobs in healthcare.

'SERVED MY COUNTRY'

Veterans, he said, think: "I served my country and provided all this, and come back and what do I have now? Maybe a lot of bad memories that I don't want and skills that nobody recognizes."

With veterans' unemployment rising, President Barack Obama is scheduled on Friday in a visit Washington's Navy Yard to announce initiatives to prepare vets for civilian jobs.

In the tight job market, recent veterans say they're passed over for jobs not because they are unqualified, but because they lack required credentials, a formal education or a way to describe their military skills that employers understand.

"I compare myself to civilians I know and I have had leadership opportunities -- making the hard choice -- that I don't see in my civilian counterparts," said David Nawrocki, a 30-year-old staff sergeant.

He ran an ammunition supply point in Afghanistan and, as a logistics coordinator in Washington, worked out ways to save the Army more than $1 million earlier this year.

"I don't know how to translate it into civilian terms," said Nawrocki, who joined the Army at 17 and hasn't finished college.

He has applied for 800 jobs since February and has had just one interview. His Army job in Washington ended this summer.

More than a dozen government programs aim to tackle veteran unemployment through job search courses, career centers, hiring fairs and grants for states and local agencies.

But many former servicemen say what they really need is a waiver from the often lengthy training process required to get jobs for which they are already effectively qualified.

The GI bill and some Pentagon programs will reimburse vets for training and certification exams, but the training itself can last weeks to several years.

"They tell us, 'we give you training you can use in the real world,'" said Bachler. "Really? It's real world training but the real world won't take it."

According to the Defense Department, 88 percent of military jobs have "direct civilian counterparts." But most states require veterans to retrain before they can take similar civilian positions.

According to the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, paramedic training takes about 18 months. Air traffic controllers must retrain for one to two months according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

"They come back from doing 24/7 medic work and can't even drive an ambulance," said Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat who is chairwoman of the Veteran Affairs committee.

BILLS IN CONGRESS

Murray proposed a bill in May to ease licensing requirements for veterans in five military jobs with civilian equivalents. Republican U.S. Representative Jeff Miller proposed another, which focuses on five to 10 positions.

Nichols, the former chief of staff at VETS, is skeptical.

"They have studied those 10 MOS's since I was in there ten years ago," said Nichols, using the acronym for "military occupational specialty."

One of the biggest hurdles to helping veterans is the abundance of government agencies that aim to do it, he said. Three federal departments handle veterans' issues, and states set most of their own licensing requirements.

But six states have passed laws making it easier for veterans to get licenses, according to the House of Representatives Veterans Affairs Committee.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis says her department is doing its part.

"We're committed to doing all that we can to help returning service members navigate their way through the difficult transition into the civilian work force," she said in an email.

She pointed to a new Labor program offering free certification training for young veterans. The Veterans Affairs and Defense departments offer others.

But the Pentagon acknowledges it needs to do more.

Ed Kringer, director of the Pentagon's State Liaison & Educational Opportunity Office, says the department is conducting a "wholesale review" of employment for people leaving the military.

"We have heard the concerns and are actively engaged in addressing them," Kringer said.

Bachler thinks the U.S. military should give civilian licensing tests to all recruits at the close of training, as the British Armed Forces do.

In Virginia, a frustrated Sergeant Nawrocki is starting an online training course in logistics -- even though he has 13 years' experience.

"I know I can do the job but I know employers don't understand that and want to see the certification," he said.

(Editing by Warren Strobel and Vicki Allen)

Stocks Skid Amid Lack of Action From Leaders

LONDON — Stocks tumbled in Europe and on Wall Street on Thursday led by banks, while bond yields gyrated amid intensifying concerns about the weakening global growth outlook and the euro zone’s ability to find a path out of its debt crisis.

In Europe, there continued to be mixed signals from the authorities about how far they were willing to move to bolster their market support mechanisms. In the United States, weak economic activity has led to speculation about a possible new round of quantitative easing, the program of huge asset purchases, from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

“Everyone is watching for action from policy makers,” said Philippe Gijsels, head of research at BNP Paribas Fortis Global Markets in Brussels. And so far, he added, there had not been enough from Europe and the United States to stem plummeting confidence.

The Bank of Japan intervened Thursday to dampen the value of yen and signaled it would try to stimulate growth, while the Swiss National Bank on Wednesday took monetary steps to weaken the franc. Both currencies have benefited from inflows from investors seeking safe assets.

Having opened higher, European stocks tumbled in late trading and continued their recent slide after a weak opening on Wall Street. The benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 3.3 percent and the DAX in Frankfurt shed 3.4 percent. In New York the S.&P. 500 index was down 3.6 percent in late trading, over a 10 percent drop from its April peak. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 3.3 percent and at one point had lost more than 400 points.

“It’s all about sentiment at the moment and with the worries about sovereign debt, banks are at the center of the storm,” Mr. Gijsels said.

Shares in Lloyds Banking Group tumbled 10 percent in London. Barclays slid 7.8 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 6.1 percent, its lowest level since late 2009.

Analysts were also wary of possible bad news on Friday when the August U.S. jobs report will be released. A fear haunting markets in the United States is that the economy may be heading for a double-dip recession. Although the fractious debt ceiling debate is over, investors fear that spending cuts and weaker economic data point to a softer economy. The latest weekly jobless data Thursday again showed the economy was still fragile.

Keith Wade, chief economist at Schroders, said the investment house had cut its forecast for U.S. growth to 1.8 percent this year from 2.6 percent. He cited disappointing manufacturing and second-quarter growth data. In a report on the U.S. economy released Thursday, analysts at ING said, “Three years into the recovery U.S. growth remains feeble. The U.S. is starting to look more and more like Japan in the 1990s.”

The European Central Bank tried to act Thursday to calm jittery bond markets. The bank’s president, Jean-Claude Trichet, said the central bank’s program of buying government bonds, which has been inactive since March, had by no means been dismantled. He also announced new steps to keep banks supplied with unlimited, longer-term funds.

Mr. Trichet also said that the risks to growth weakening had intensified.Traders said the central bank had bought Irish and Portuguese government debt during day. Nick Kounis, head of research at ABN Amro in Amsterdam, said “the E.C.B.’s thinking may be shifting” from worrying about inflation to weak growth.But the bank did not cross the line by buying bonds of Italy and Spain, two countries with huge bond markets and currently seen as most vulnerable in the region. The move to buy Portuguese and Irish debt made little sense, given that they are insulated by their official bailouts and no longer have to raise funds on the market, said Michael Leister, a fixed-income analyst at WestLB in Düsseldorf, Germany. Mr. Trichet, however, had “opened the door to acting on behalf of Spain and Italy,” he added.The yield on the Irish 10-year bond fell 13 basis points, or 0.13 percentage point, to 10.50 percent. The Portuguese two-year yield slid 73 basis points to 14.57 percent. Spanish 10-year yields fell three basis points to 6.23 percent, while yields on Italian debt of similar maturity stayed higher at 6.14 percent.

“Over all, sentiment hasn’t changed yet,” Mr. Leister said after the E.C.B. had acted. “Everyone’s afraid that the debt spiral will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. And the E.C.B. is the only institution with the firepower to stop the situation in the short term.”

European leaders committed themselves last month to increasing the powers of the bailout fund, known as the European Financial Stability Facility, to allow it to enter the market itself.

Analysis: Palestine's U.N. bid is between history and hot air

By Tom Perry

RAMALLAH, West Bank | Thu Aug 4, 2011 3:05pm EDT

(Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas' attempt to upgrade the Palestinians' status at the United Nations, despite U.S. and Israeli opposition, signals a bolder approach by a leader keen to forge a legacy after years of failed peace talks.

But Palestinians are divided on the merits of the diplomatic offensive. In the West Bank, Abbas' Fatah movement bills it as a turning point in the Palestinian struggle, while in Gaza, a politician from rival Islamist Hamas dismissed it as hot air.

Israel is wary. The Palestinians will likely emerge from September's General Assembly meeting with a U.N. status upgrade that will give them access to dozens of U.N. agencies. But talk in Israel of a looming "diplomatic tsunami" has subsided.

Abbas' Plan A -- to secure full U.N. membership for Palestine -- is destined to fail. The United States, which has veto power in the Security Council, is expected to oppose a move viewed in Washington as unhelpful to its Middle East diplomacy.

Plan B, as outlined by Palestinian officials, is to ask the General Assembly to upgrade Palestine to a non-member state from its current status as an observer. That would not need Security Council approval and elevate the Palestinians' U.N. status to that of the Vatican.

Some argue unless it is part of a deep rethink of Palestinian strategy, the upgrade will have little more than symbolic value and bring Palestinians no closer to independence in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

"It's a first step, but without further steps it is politically meaningless," said George Giacaman, a political scientist at Birzeit University in the West Bank.

"If the Palestinian Authority has a plan for after September, it hasn't announced it."

Born of paralysis in the peace process, the September move is being portrayed by Palestinian officials in the occupied West Bank as a step toward leveling the playing field in the struggle with Israel.

Though they have stated an intention to seek full U.N. membership, the Palestinians have yet to submit their application to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the first step in the process.

However, they are confident of success in the General Assembly thanks to support from states including Brazil and Argentina, among the most recent to recognize Palestine.

The move brings with it risks, particularly to the international aid upon which the Palestinian Authority depends. The U.S. Congress in July passed a resolution urging a suspension of aid to the Palestinians over the initiative.

"UNPLEASANT, BUT NOT TERRIBLE"

But it will produce some tangible results, giving the Palestinians access to U.N. agencies and potentially allowing them direct recourse to the International Criminal Court, where they could pursue cases against Israel.

"It's about opening new doors for the cause of Palestine," said Mohammad Shtayyeh, an official involved in the bid.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not seem overly concerned by that prospect. When discussing September, his aides say he invokes a catch phrase from an old Israeli television commercial: "Unpleasant, but not terrible."

Israel seems more wary about the potential for September to trigger Palestinian protests inspired by the Arab Spring.

The Palestinian leadership has called for mass protests in support of the bid under the slogan "Palestine 194", referring to their aim of becoming the 194th member of the United Nations.

But while calling for peaceful protests, the leadership has been criticized for doing little toward organizing them.

"You can't get people out to demonstrate at the touch of a button," Fathi Barkawi, a Palestinian broadcaster, told participants during an official conference on ways to support the September initiative.

"Who said all the people have confidence in the leadership and will respond to them?" he added.

Reconciliation between Abbas' West Bank administration and Hamas in Gaza is seen as vital for mobilizing popular support behind the September initiative and, more broadly, any new Palestinian strategy.

The political impact of a status upgrade is in danger of being diminished by the split, which persists despite a deal earlier this year aimed at ending it.

The groups remain at odds over how to pursue their national cause. Hamas refuses to recognize Israel and advocates an armed strategy while Abbas opposes any form of violence and says negotiations are still his preferred path.

The Palestine Strategy Group, a think-tank, said in a new report international diplomacy such as the U.N. initiative can be just one part of a new Palestinian approach.

"The most important thing is Palestinian unity," said Hany al-Masri, an author of the document.

(Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah and Dan Williams and Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem; Editing by Sophie Hares)

Va. Tech lifts lockdown after possible gunman seen on campus

By Donna Leinwand Leger and Rachel Roubein, USA TODAy

WASHINGTON — Virginia Tech, scene in 2007 of the deadliest shooting at a U.S. college, lifted its campus alert Thursday afternoon after three children attending an academic camp said they saw a man holding an object that looked like a gun covered by a cloth.

The campus was locked down after the campers reported seeing a man near a campus dining hall, walking quickly toward volleyball courts, at 9:09 a.m. Police went to the area, and university administrators issued a campuswide alert at 9:37 a.m. on the university's website, text-messaging system, Twitter feed and classroom electronic bulletin boards.

The alert instructed students and employees to stay inside and lock their doors and said emergency personnel were responding to the situation.

Officials didn't find anyone but said there would continue to be a large police presence on campus throughout the day.

• BLOG: Va. Tech lockdown as the news unfolded

Amanda Huchler, 20, received the first alert in class on a digital bulletin board and as a text message on her cellphone at 9:38 a.m.

A few minutes later, "different professors came around to make sure we were locked in the classrooms," Huchler said. Although her professor advised her to stay indoors, Huchler left the building when class ended at 11:30 and went to her car.

Virginia Tech Police Dept. via AP

This composite sketch shows a likeness of the person seen on the Virginia Tech campus Thursday holding what looked like a gun.

More than 45,000 people subscribe to the school's alert system, along with an e-mail sent to the entire campus, school spokesman Mark Owczarski said. The school's outdoor sirens also sounded, he said.

Early in the afternoon, officials released a composite sketch of the person on the university website as officials continued the slow process of searching campus buildings. Classes were canceled.

"We're in a new era," university spokesman Larry Hincker said. "Obviously this campus experienced something pretty terrible four years ago. … Regardless of what your intuition and your experience as a public safety officer tells you, you are really forced to issue an alert, and that's where we believe we are right now."

The suspect was described as 6 feet tall with brown hair, wearing a blue-and-white striped shirt, gray shorts and brown sandals.

S. Daniel Carter, director of public policy for Security On Campus, a non-profit organization that monitors how colleges react to emergencies, said it appeared Virginia Tech responded appropriately. Carter's organization had pressed for an investigation into the school's handling of the shootings in 2007.

"You have to take all of the reports seriously because you cannot take the risk that there's something serious going on and you failed to act," Carter said. "The key is the community was informed, so they were able to take steps to protect themselves."

Federal education officials fined Virginia Tech in March for its response to the massacre that left 33 people, including the shooter, dead on April 16, 2007. The officials found that university administrators violated federal campus safety laws by waiting more than two hours to alert students that two students had been shot to death in a dorm and that the gunman remained at large.

Contributing: Associated Press

Syrie: Un homme d'affaires sanctionné par Washington pour ses liens avec Al Assad

Les Etats-Unis ont durci leurs sanctions contre la Syrie jeudi en inscrivant sur liste noire l'homme d'affaires et député syrien Mohamed Hamcho, que le Trésor américain accuse de protéger des intérêts du président Bachar al Assad et de son frère. Le Trésor a interdit les transactions avec Mohamed Hamcho et sa holding, le groupe international Hamcho, et compte geler leurs avoirs soumis au contrôle judiciaire des Etats-Unis. Le Conseil de sécurité de l'Onu a condamné mercredi la répression des manifestations par les autorités de Damas, qui font face depuis cinq mois à une révolte contre le régime du président Bachar al Assad.

L'Union européenne a confirmé jeudi un durcissement des sanctions contre la Syrie, dont l'ajout du ministre de la Défense et de quatre autres responsables sécuritaires à la liste des membres du régime de Bachar Assad soumis à un gel des avoirs financiers et à une interdiction de voyage.

Avec Reuters

Drought worsens in Midwest; parched Plains in bad shape

By Michael Hirtzer

CHICAGO | Thu Aug 4, 2011 2:48pm EDT

(Reuters) - Drought worsened in the Midwest during the last week as record-high temperatures stressed the developing corn and soybean crops, while cotton and pastures eroded amid a historic drought in the southern Plains.

Nearly 38 percent of the Midwest was "abnormally dry" as of August 2, the climatologists said in a weekly report, the most since December 2008.

Temperatures in the past week hit record highs from the Plains to the East Coast, in some cases rising above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) for the first time in more than 20 years.

"Exceptional drought" decreased modestly in Texas, the epicenter of the worst drought in decades, where 73.5 percent of the state was suffering from that most severe category, according to the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor, produced by a consortium of national climate experts.

Nearly 45 percent of Iowa, the top corn and soybean growing state, was "abnormally dry" and roughly 19 percent of Indiana was now suffering from "moderate drought," the report stated.

"The Midwest's problems were compounded by the fact that for some corn and soybeans, the heat wave coincided with the reproductive stage of development," the report said.

The scorching temperatures pushed Chicago Board of Trade corn futures up their 30-cent daily limit earlier this week before outlooks for cooler and wetter weather in the coming days helped pull prices down.

Excessive rains stalled corn and soybean plantings this past spring in some of the same areas now being hit by drought, and many analysts expect lower yields during harvest as a result.

DROUGHT INTENSIFIES IN OKLAHOMA

While the most severe drought lessened slightly in Texas, it worsened in neighboring Oklahoma where "exceptional drought" covered 64.3 percent of the state, up from 52.2 percent a week earlier.

Wildfires were reported in Oklahoma while the U.S. Agriculture Department this week rated the state's emerging cotton crop at 88 percent poor to very poor.

Parts of Texas received rain showers of up to 5 inches in recent days, providing some relief in what has been called the most severe one-year drought ever in the Lone Star State.

Cattle ranchers in the region have sold the animals to feedlots because there is no pasture in which to graze, while some farmers have abandoned corn acreage due to the dry weather.

"This historic drought has depleted water resources, leaving our state's farmers and ranchers in a state of dire need," said Texas agriculture commissioner Todd Staples. "The damage to our economy is already measured in billions of dollars and continues to mount."

(Additional reporting by Julie Ingwersen; Editing by John Picinich)

Tropical Storm Emily heads over quake-ravaged Haiti

By Joseph Guyler Delva

PORT-AU-PRINCE | Thu Aug 4, 2011 2:53pm EDT

(Reuters) - Tropical Storm Emily headed on Thursday over earthquake-ravaged Haiti, where hundreds of thousands of people left homeless by last year's devastating earthquake braced for high winds, torrential rains and dangerous floods and landslides.

Occasional light rains fell in the sprawling, mountain-cradled Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, where more than 600,000 survivors of the 2010 earthquake are still living in fragile tent and tarpaulin camps.

Forecasters said Emily, the fifth named storm of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, could move across the Caribbean and possibly brush eastern Florida this weekend but with its core remaining offshore of the U.S. mainland.

Emily was about 60 miles south-southwest of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince at 2 p.m. EDT, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The storm had sustained winds of 40 miles per hour and its center was expected to pass over southwest Haiti later on Thursday before tracking toward extreme eastern Cuba.

But Emily's movement across mountains on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola made up of Haiti and the Dominican Republic was "taking a toll" and the storm could "degenerate into a tropical wave later today," the center said in an afternoon advisory.

Haitian President Michel Martelly and civil defense officials issued public appeals for those living in low-lying or flood-prone areas of the hilly, quake-damaged capital to move to safer areas and not wait to be evacuated.

U.N. peacekeeping troops and civil defense authorities used buses to move some city residents from high-risk areas.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Emily could dump as much as 20 inches of rain over parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

As Emily moved over Haiti, authorities in the Dominican Republic issued flood alerts for some parts of the country after rainfall pushed up river levels.

Heavy rainfall poses a significant threat to Haiti, which is vulnerable to flash floods and mudslides because of its near-total deforestation. In June, at least 23 people were killed after rains unleashed flooding and mudslides.

Emily does not threaten oil and gas production facilities in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Some tracking forecasts show it crossing the Bahamas and approaching Florida by late on Saturday or early on Sunday.

While some earlier track predictions saw a possible south Florida landfall, others predicted the storm swinging north and staying away from the U.S. coast.

"Folks in eastern Florida should certainly be on their toes watching Tropical Storm Emily," said Dr. Gerry Bell, lead hurricane seasonal forecaster at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Hurricane expert Jeff Masters of private forecaster Weather Underground said the further west Emily shifted, the larger the chance of the storm making landfall in Florida.

"If Emily's circulation can survive the mountains of Hispaniola and/or the terrain of Cuba, conditions are favorable for moderate intensification," Master wrote in his blog.

On Thursday, NOAA raised its outlook for activity in the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, predicting it would produce between 7 to 10 hurricanes.

Three to five of those were expected to strengthen into "major" hurricanes of Category 3 or higher on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale, with top winds of at least 110 miles per hour, it said.

In May, NOAA projected 6 to 10 hurricanes.

(Additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher and Jane Sutton in Miami; Writing by Kevin Gray; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Football: Un jeune talent du FC Barcelone signe à Chelsea

Chelsea a annoncé jeudi la signature pour quatre ans du prometteur milieu de terrain espagnol du FC Barcelone Oriol Romeu. Âgé de 19 ans, ce joueur qui peut également évoluer en défense centrale a été transféré pour la somme de cinq millions d'euros, a confirmé de son côté le club espagnol.

L'accord passé entre les deux parties stipule toutefois que le FC Barcelone peut racheter son joueur au bout d'une saison pour 10 millions d'euros, mais aussi à l'issue de la saison 2012-2013 pour 15 millions d'euros. Romeu rejoindra Chelsea dès la fin de la Coupe du monde des moins de 20 ans, qui se déroule actuellement en Colombie et s'achèvera le 20 août.

Avec Reuters

Libye, Syrie, Liban, Iran… : des guerres programmées par les États-Unis

En 2007, le général américain Wesley Clark révélait la liste des sept pays ennemis à détruire dans les cinq ans…

Libye, Syrie, Liban, Iran… : des guerres programmées par les États-Unis

Pourquoi la France est-elle engagée militairement en Libye et diplomatiquement en Syrie, dans d’infernales galères prétendument au service des droits de l’homme ? Chacun peut constater avec quelle fougue Paris se montre indignée contre des hommes avec lesquels elle affichait hier d’éclatantes réconciliations…

C’est le cas de Bachar al-Assad, accusé d’avoir commandité le meurtre de Rafiq Hariri en 2005 (l'ex-Premier ministre libanais et grand ami de l’ex-président Jacques Chirac). Ces accusations n’ont pas tenu longtemps, certains témoins ayant été soupçonnés de mensonges, il a fallu se résoudre à désigner un autre coupable politiquement incorrect, en l’occurrence le Hezbollah, acteur fondamental de la vie publique libanaise. Bachar al-Assad est revenu temporairement en grâce et il assiste à Paris au défilé du 14 juillet 2008, en compagnie il est vrai d’autres chefs d’État invités pour une grand-messe euro-méditerranéenne.

Le 28 mars 2008, Bachar al-Assad recevait, à Damas, le libyen Mouammar Kadhafi, lequel avait décliné l’invitation du président Sarkozy, au motif que l’idée même d’une Union pour la Méditerranée n’était à ses yeux qu’un « appât », une sorte d’ « humiliation » : « nous ne sommes ni affamés, ni des chiens pour qu’ils nous jettent des os ! ». Cet état d’esprit n’était pas si déplacé comme l’ont prouvé les événements par la suite. Pourtant, à la mi-décembre 2007, le colonel était reçu à Paris et en grande pompe, jusqu’à être autorisé de planter sa tente bédouine sur la pelouse de l’Hôtel Marigny, afin que le Guide de la Jamahiriya libyenne puisse y recevoir ses invités, conformément à la tradition du désert qu’il respecte à la lettre. Le premier client miraculeux décidé à acquérir une poignée de Rafales (invendables) valait bien d’avaler quelques couleuvres (on oubliera volontiers l’épisode des infirmières bulgares)…

Mais, les deux hommes courtisés hier sont, aujourd’hui, les bêtes noires de la communauté internationale réduite comme peau de chagrin : États-Unis + Europe + Israël, parlant haut et fort au nom de la planète entière ! Il est vrai que la Russie et la Chine se sont laissées, bon gré, mal gré, forcer la main en votant la Résolution 1973 relative à la protection des civils en Libye. Mais aucun ne répéterait ce scénario avec la Syrie, au risque d’être sanctionné au Conseil de Sécurité par un veto des deux membres permanents précités.

En Libye, l’échec de l’Otan devient chaque jour de plus en plus patent. Les arsenaux sont vides, et il ne suffit plus aux opposants de recevoir in-situ les exhortations enflammées du triste Bernard-Henry Lévy, qui tisse l’étoffe de sa médiocre gloire parisianiste avec la vie des autres ! Faire couler le sang dans des guerres atroces (Yougoslavie, Irak, Soudan…) n’a jamais vraiment perturbé nos petits marquis, si joliment autoproclamés « nouveaux philosophes » ! Quant aux dissidents libyens armés et désormais encadrés par les forces spéciales de l’Otan (Grande-Bretagne et France exclusivement), ils marquent désespérément le pas, malgré les roulements de tambours de la grande presse qui ne manque pas une occasion d’exalter leur bravoure et de stigmatiser les exactions réelles et supposées des forces loyalistes.

La presse dresse le décompte macabre des morts dans les manifestations en Syrie, mais nous avons connu cette même presse plus fine bouche lorsque l’aviation de Tsahal bombardait en 2006 les infrastructures et la population libanaises, lorsque les Israéliens en guise d’adieu disséminèrent des centaines de milliers de bombes à fragmentation sur le Sud Liban, ou encore lorsqu’ils attaquèrent délibérément un poste d’observation des Nations Unies liquidant d’un seul coup cinq casques bleus… Une presse résolument modérée lorsqu’il s’est agi de dresser le lourd bilan de l’Opération Plomb Durci de janvier 2009 : mille trois cents morts civils…

Le 6 mai 2002, John Bolton, sous-Secrétaire d’État de George W. Bush, donnait une conférence à l’Heritage Foundation pendant laquelle Cuba, la Syrie et la Libye venaient rejoindre l’Iran, l’Irak et la Corée du Nord sur la Liste noire de l’Axe du Mal. Simultanément, le Secrétaire à la Défense, Donald Rumsfeld, rappelait que la Syrie figurait toujours sur la Liste noire des États soutenant le terrorisme international. Un an et une guerre plus tard, le commentateur de Radio France Internationale, Elio Comarin, le 14 avril 2003, n’hésitait pas à en déduire que « ces prises de positions semblent indiquer que Washington a déjà choisi sa prochaine cible ».

Le 10 mai 2002, le même Bolton, un homme prévoyant, envoyait une lettre au Secrétariat général des Nations Unies pour annuler la décision du Président Clinton de participer à la création d’une Cour Pénale Internationale. L’Amérique n’entendait, en effet, en vue des guerres imminentes (Irak), exposer ne serait-ce que d’un poil ses militaires à une justice qui ne doit s’appliquer qu’aux vaincus… et non à ses soldats auxquels la bride serait bientôt lâchée avec le beau résultat que l’on sait : six cent mille à un million de morts en Irak pour neuf ans d’occupation !

En fait, le principe d’une attaque simultanée de la Libye et de la Syrie avait été adopté à Washington, quelques jours seulement après les attentats du 11 Septembre. Le 2 mars 2007, à l’occasion d’un entretien télévisé, le général Wesley Clark, ancien commandant en chef de l’Otan, témoignait sans aucune ambiguïté et livrait le palmarès gagnant des sept États ennemis devant être détruits dans les cinq ans par les États-Unis : Irak, Syrie, Liban, Lybie, Somalie, Soudan, et in fine l’Iran. Qu’en est-il aujourd’hui ? L’Irak c’est fait, le Soudan est en bonne voie de décomposition, et pour la Libye c’est en cours. Quant aux autres pays, ils sont plus que jamais dans le collimateur d’Israël et des États-Unis…

http://www.partiantisioniste.com/actualites/libye-syrie-liban-iran-des-guerres-programmees-par-les-etats-unis-0825.html

Problèmes techniques sur les Bourses

La cotation d'indices boursiers de la zone euro, dont le Cac 40, ont été suspendus cet après-midi entre 16h28 et 17h22 en raison d'un problème technique, selon NYSE Euronext.

Les Bourses de Paris, Lisbonne et Amsterdam ont déjà été perturbées mercredi, avec un retard d'une heure dans la diffusion des niveaux de clôtures des indices.

NYSE Euronext connaît depuis quelques semaines des problèmes à répétition dans la diffusion des indices boursiers. Celui du vendredi 29 juillet a été attribué à la mise à jour d'un logiciel et à la forte activité sur les marchés.

E.M. avec Agences

Perquisitions chez les agences de notation S&P et Moody's

La justice italienne a saisi des documents dans des bureaux italiens des agences de notation S&P et Moody's dans le cadre d'une enquête portant sur des fluctuations «anormales» d'actions italiennes.

Le parquet de Trani, une ville située dans le sud de la côte adriatique, a ouvert deux enquêtes, une pour chaque agence, après le dépôt d'une plainte par deux organisations de consommateurs qui s'inquiétaient des conséquences des rapports de S&P et Moody's sur les cours de la Bourse de Milan.

Dans un communiqué, un S&P a estimé que l'enquête était «sans fondement».

Moody's n'était pas disponible pour faire de commentaire.

Reuters

Football : le Barça lourdement battu en amical par un club mexicain

Pep Guardiola / AFP

Le club mexicain Chivas de Guadalajara a battu mercredi le FC Barcelone (4-1) en match amical au Sun Life Stadium de Miami, avec notamment deux buts magnifiques de leur attaquant mexicain Marco Fabian. Les vainqueurs de la dernière Ligue des champions, sans Lionel Messi, Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano et Alexis Sanchez, menaient pourtant encore à la mi-temps grâce à un but de David Villa, mais Chivas a renversé la vapeur en deuxième période en inscrivant trois buts en l'espace de 12 minutes.


Marco Fabian

Alors qu'il continue sa préparation aux Etats-Unis, le Barça a été corrigé 4 à 1 par un club amateur mercredi. Les joueurs de Pep Guardiola ont été balayés en deuxième mi-temps sous l'impulsion de l'attaquant mexicain Marco Fabian.

Il a tout d'abord égalisé à la 60ème minute d'une frappe de 25 mètres avant de récidiver deux minutes plus tard sur un retourné acrobatique, servi par son coéquipier Omar Arello.

Des points à retravailler

Giovanni Casillas a ensuite inscrit le troisième but à la 72ème avant que Jose Luis Verduzco n'alourdisse la note en toute fin de match devant plus de 70.000 spectateurs. "Ce résultat nous montre qu'il faut encore travailler dur sur certains points", a affirmé l'entraîneur du Barça Pep Guardiola à l'issue du match.

Il s'agit là de la deuxième défaite des Catalans dans leur campagne de matches de préparation aux Etats-Unis, après le match perdu contre Manchester United (2-1) samedi dernier. Samedi prochain, les Blaugrana disputeront un autre match amical à Dallas contre Club America

Barack Obama : 50 ans, 10 vœux

Barack Obama fête ce jeudi son cinquantième anniversaire. FranceSoir.fr a établi une liste de dix vœux pour le 44e président des États-Unis

6. La fin des attaques personnelles Ses « ennemis », tel Donald Trump, devraient arrêter une bonne fois pour toute de le harceler sur sa supposée naissance hors du territoire américain. Barack Obama est né en 1961 à Honolulu, dans l'État d'Hawaii. Un point c'est tout.

Donald Trump SIPA

Cinquante ans. L'anniversaire est de taille pour n'importe quel homme. Le demi-siècle. Barack Obama franchit ce 4 août la barre symbolique. Le voici désormais dans le camp des quinquagénaires. L'occasion de lui souhaiter dix vœux... dans tous les domaines.

Être réélu en 2012, évidemment. La prochaine élection américaine se déroulera le mardi 6 novembre 2012. Si le vote avait lieu aujourd'hui, Barack Obama perdrait, ne recueillant que 39% des suffrages. Son adversaire républicain, quel qu'il soit, obtiendrait 47% des voix.

Elles hésitent encore, ces agences de notations, à abaisser la note des États-Unis, pour l'instant fixée à « AAA ». L'accord pour relever le plafond de la dette américaine a été adopté, soit. Mais rien ne dit que les toutes puissantes agences ne décident, in fine d'abaisser une note allouée aux États-Unis depuis 1917.

Le retrait des troupes américaines d'Afghanistan doit débuter à la fin de l'année 2011. Souhaitons à Obama de tenir ces délais, la guerre contre les talibans étant de moins en moins populaire outre-Atlantique. Pour 59% des Américains, la mission a été remplie avec la mort d'Oussama Ben Laden et les boys doivent désormais rentrer à la maison (source : Gallup).

Les États-Unis seront-ils épargnés par toute attaque terroriste sur leur sol ? Dix ans après les attaques du 11 septembre, quatre mois après la mort d'Oussama Ben Laden, un an avant l'élection présidentielle, la sécurité intérieure reste un des sujets majeures de la politique made in US. S'il veut avoir une chance d'être reconduit à la Maison-Blanche, Obama doit tout faire pour protéger au mieux ses concitoyens.

Charité bien ordonnée commence par soi-même dit l'adage. Le président veut que son peuple électeur se sente en sécurité. Mais qu'en est-il de sa propre maison ? Une petite fille âgée de six a réussi cette semaine à pénétrer dans l'enceinte de la Maison-Blanche en passant sous les barreaux... Mardi soir, c'est un sans-domicile fixe qui s'était invité dans les jardins présidentiels. On a vu maison mieux gardée.

Ses « ennemis », tel Donald Trump, devraient arrêter une bonne fois pour toute de le harceler sur sa supposée naissance hors du territoire américain. Barack Obama est né en 1961 à Honolulu, dans l'État d'Hawaii. Un point c'est tout.

Bill Clinton pourrait faire comme Donald Trump et « lâcher » Barack Obama. En juin, l'ancien président démocrate s'était fendu d'une longue interview dans Newsweek où il exposait une douzaine d'idées, inattaquables, pour réduire le chômage.

Du coup, on peut également souhaiter à Obama de voir le taux de chômage enfin diminuer aux États-Unis. Il était établi, en juin, à 9,20% de la population active alors qu'il était repassé sous la barre des 9% cet hiver (source : ministère du Travail américain).

Et si son camp démocrate s'épargnait les scandales sexuels du type Anthony Weiner, cet élu new-yorkais qui envoyait des photos de lui en slip à des femmes rencontré sur Internet. Au petit jeu de la morale, le parti de l'âne n'égalerait jamais les « vertues » dogmatiques du Tea Party. Mais à un an de l'élection présidentielle, il serait bien inspiré de faire quelques efforts de discrétion.

Juste pour lui faire plaisir : on souhaite à Barack Obama que sa ville de cœur, Chicago, organise les Jeux Olympiques d'été de 2020, malgré l'implication du couple présidentiel. La ville de l'Illinois avait échoué à l'organisation des JO de 2016, qui auront lieu à Rio de Janeiro. En 2012, les JO se passeront à Londres. L'Europe puis l'Amérique du Sud. Au petit jeu du turnover continental imposé par le CIO, l'Amérique du Nord a ses chances pour 2020।

rtl.fr

Syrian protesters criticize UN Security Council statement as insufficient

The UN Security Council yesterday condemned the Syrian regime's brutal response to a five-month uprising. But the Syrian opposition had hoped for a weapons embargo.

• 

A tank is seen along a street in Hama, Syria, in this undated still image taken from social media website uploaded on August 3, and dated August 1. At least 45 civilians were killed in a tank assault by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces to occupy the center of Hama, an activist said on Thursday, in a sharp escalation of a military campaign aimed at ending an uprising against his rule.

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

The United Nations Security Council ended months of diplomatic deadlock Wednesday night, coming together to condemn the Syrian government's brutal response to a popular uprising.

But those under the Syrian regime's thumb say that the UN response, which condemned the government for "widespread violations of human rights and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities," doesn't go far enough.

RELATED: Syria 101: 4 attributes of Assad's authoritarian regime

The Syrian opposition wanted the regime's leaders to be referred to the International Criminal Court and a weapons embargo to be put on the government. Human rights activists said that notably missing from the statement was a call to investigate the killing of some 2,000 Syrians, The Christian Science Monitor reported last night.

The Security Council had been divided for months on how to respond to the five-month uprising. The tipping point was the Syrian regime's invasion of the city of Hama on Wednesday, according to a diplomat who spoke to The Wall Street Journal. Permanent members Russia and China and temporary members Brazil, India, and South Africa all blocked a UN response for months, but the escalation of violence in Hama "made it increasingly hard for them to prevent the Security Council from speaking out," the diplomat said.

According to Al Jazeera, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had "lost all sense of humanity."

According to the Washington Post, at least 100 people were killed in the three-day offense on Hama. The report paints a chilling picture of Wednesday's incursion into the city:

Terrified residents cowered indoors as shells crashed into residential areas and snipers deployed on rooftops to shoot at anything that moved. Hospitals were said to be overflowing with injured people, and there were reports of bodies lying uncollected in the streets because ambulances were unable to reach them. …

An activist contacted by satellite telephone as he hid in his home with his wife and two children described a city gripped by fear – and bracing for a massacre on the scale of one perpetrated in the same city by Assad’s father, Hafez, in 1982, in which at least 10,000 people were killed.

UN officials characterized the condemnation as a "strong step," but the statement – which differs from an official resolution – has no way of enforcing its demands and no sanctions, the Journal reports. Syrian activists and human rights groups said it was an inadequate response to Mr. Assad's repeated use of military force to crack down on entire cities and detain and kill thousands since March, when the uprising began.

US judge allows American to sue Rumsfeld over torture

Translator contracted to Marines allegedly was 'put on ice,' abused by military in Iraq

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Jan Pitman / Getty Images

A judge is allowing an Army veteran who says he was imprisoned unjustly and tortured by the U.S. military in Iraq to sue former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld personally for damages.

WASHINGTON — A judge is allowing an Army veteran who says he was imprisoned unjustly and tortured by the U.S. military in Iraq to sue former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld personally for damages.

The veteran's identity is withheld in court filings, but he worked for an American contracting company as a translator for the Marines in the volatile Anbar province before being detained for nine months at Camp Cropper, a U.S. military facility near the Baghdad airport dedicated to holding "high-value" detainees.

The government says he was suspected of helping get classified information to the enemy and helping anti-coalition forces enter Iraq. But he was never charged with a crime and says he never broke the law.

Lawyers for the man, who is in his 50s, say he was preparing to come home to the United States on annual leave when he was abducted by the U.S. military and held without justification while his family knew nothing about his whereabouts or even whether he was still alive.

Court papers filed on his behalf say he was repeatedly abused, then suddenly released without explanation in August 2006. Two years later, he filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington arguing that Rumsfeld personally approved torturous interrogation techniques on a case-by-case basis and controlled his detention without access to courts in violation of his constitutional rights.

'They basically put him on ice'
Chicago attorney Mike Kanovitz, who is representing the plaintiff, says it appears the military wanted to keep his client behind bars so he couldn't tell anyone about an important contact he made with a leading sheik while helping collect intelligence in Iraq.

"The U.S. government wasn't ready for the rest of the world to know about it, so they basically put him on ice," Kanovitz said in a telephone interview. "If you've got unchecked power over the citizens, why not use it?"

The Obama administration has represented Rumsfeld through the U.S. Justice Department and argued that the former defense secretary cannot be sued personally for official conduct. The Justice Department also argued that a judge cannot review wartime decisions that are the constitutional responsibility of Congress and the president. And the department said the case could disclose sensitive information and distract from the war effort, and that the threat of liability would impede future military decisions.

Constitutional protection
But U.S. District Judge James Gwin rejected those arguments and said U.S. citizens are protected by the Constitution at home or abroad during wartime.

"The court finds no convincing reason that United States citizens in Iraq should or must lose previously declared substantive due process protections during prolonged detention in a conflict zone abroad," Gwin wrote in a ruling issued Tuesday.

"The stakes in holding detainees at Camp Cropper may have been high, but one purpose of the constitutional limitations on interrogation techniques and conditions of confinement even domestically is to strike a balance between government objectives and individual rights even when the stakes are high," the judge ruled.

In many other cases brought by foreign detainees, judges have dismissed torture claims made against U.S. officials for their personal involvement in decisions over prisoner treatment. But this is the second time a federal judge has allowed U.S. citizens to sue Rumsfeld personally.

U.S. District Judge Wayne R. Andersen in Illinois last year said two other Americans who worked in Iraq as contractors and were held at Camp Cropper, Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel, can pursue claims that they were tortured using Rumsfeld-approved methods after they alleged illegal activities by their company. Rumsfeld is appealing that ruling, which Gwin cited.

The U.S. Supreme Court sets a high bar for suing high-ranking officials, requiring that they be tied directly to a violation of constitutional rights and must have clearly understood their actions crossed that line.

U.S. contact with Sunni sheik
The case before Gwin involves a man who went to Iraq in December 2004 to work with an American-owned defense contracting firm. He was assigned as an Arabic translator for Marines gathering intelligence in Anbar. He says he was the first American to open direct talks with Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, who became an important U.S. ally and later led a revolt of Sunni sheiks against al-Qaida before being killed by a bomb.

In November 2005, when he was to go on home leave, Navy Criminal Investigative Service agents questioned him about his work, refusing his requests for representation by his employer, the Marines or an attorney. The Justice Department says he was told he was suspected of helping provide classified information to the enemy and helping anti-coalition forces attempting to cross from Syria into Iraq.

He says he always denied any wrongdoing.

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