ISRAEL NOT HAPPY WITH CLINTON

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

ELVIS MY WAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPEzsLWmgac

Winter storm brewing for Midwest Chris Dolce – Thu Feb 26, 6:06 am ET

AccuWeather Fresh cold air has pushed south into the Upper Midwest from Canada. A developing area of low pressure in the Central Plains will eject east through the day Thursday spreading snow and a wintry mix from the Dakotas to the northern Great Lakes. Tonight, snowfall will spread eastward from northeast Wyoming across northern South Dakota. The snow will then spread east into central and southern Minnesota, central Wisconsin and into Northern Michigan. In general, totals in the 4 to 8 inch range are expected with locally 10" or more possible. Increasing northerly winds will cause some blowing and drifting of the snow across the Midwest. Some locations in the heaviest swath of snow include Pierre, S.D., Aberdeen S.D., Minneapolis, Minn., Eau Claire, Wis., and Green Bay, Wis. So far this season this corridor has a wide range of snowfall departures. Minneapolis has a deficit of 6 inches. Eau Claire is near their average seasonal snowfall while Green Bay is 32 inches above average! To the south of the significant stripe of snow will be a transition area of wintry mix with some icing. This corridor includes areas from around the Minnesota/Iowa border to southern portions of Wisconsin. An ice storm warning has been issued for a few counties in southern Wisconsin from Wisconsin Dells east to Sheboygan. On the southern end of this storm will be rain and thunderstorms spreading from the mid-Mississippi Valley and southern Great Lakes to the Ohio Valley by Thursday night. Rain in these areas could be heavy at times including the Chicago, Ill. area. A few severe storms are expected to erupt over far eastern Kansas, Missouri and west-central Illinois. Hail and wind would be the main threats, but and isolated tornado is possible near the warm front. This storm will head for the Northeast with rain and gusty southerly winds on Friday. The southern end of the front will sag into the Southeast with rain and thunderstorms. Some of the thunderstorms may turn severe in northeast Texas, central and southern Arkansas, extreme southeast Oklahoma, northern Louisiana, Mississippi and northern/western Alabama.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Australians brace for worsening wildfire weather Thu Feb 26, 5:13 am ET

MELBOURNE, Australia – Emergency officials warned residents in southern Australia that high temperatures, strong winds and lightning forecast for Friday could spark dangerous new flare-ups in the region's still-burning wildfires.Victoria state Emergency Services Commissioner Bruce Esplin said residents of southern Victoria — where wildfires this month killed more than 200 — need to decide quickly whether to defend their homes from the flames or flee.Exhausted firefighters on Thursday were still working to contain four major blazes in Victoria.Officials were increasingly worried that Friday's predicted temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) combined with strong, erratic winds and lightning could send the flames out of control.Schools and child care centers across the state will be closed Friday in anticipation of the extreme conditions, officials said. Parks Victoria told visitors to avoid camping in the region's national parks on Friday, with some parks closed completely.The official death toll from the Feb. 7 blazes remains at 210, though officials expect it to climb higher as more remains are identified from the rubble. On Wednesday, police said it could take another two weeks to conclude the search for dozens still missing. The fires also destroyed 2,029 houses, leaving 7,500 homeless.

Meanwhile, Victoria police on Thursday arrested two 18-year-old men accused of stealing items from a fire-damaged home — the first arrests associated with suspected looting from the Feb. 7 blazes.

US envoy, Netanyahu have 1st meeting on peace By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer – Thu Feb 26, 1:35 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Israel's next leader sat face-to-face Thursday with a man whose vision of Israeli-Palestinian relations is radically different from his own: the Obama administration's new Mideast envoy.Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu thinks negotiations on Palestinian statehood are pointless. But envoy George Mitchell wants Israel to resume negotiations to establish a Palestinian state.This is Mitchell's second Mideast visit since President Barack Obama took office last month. Hillary Rodham Clinton will make her first trip to the region next week as the new U.S. secretary of state.The attention follows Obama's promise to make Mideast peace a priority.Thursday's meeting was positive and productive, Netanyahu said, and the two still have a lot to talk about. Mitchell made no statement. He promised a vigorous push for Israeli-Palestinian peace on his first visit but offered no public glimpse into how the administration planned to do it. Mitchell was not expected to do so this time, either, a U.S. official said.Mitchell's visit comes amid ongoing talks on the region's future — on a Gaza cease-fire, Gaza reconstruction and Palestinian reconciliation.

Egyptian officials have been trying to mediate a long-term truce between Israel and the Islamic militant Hamas group that rules Gaza, to replace a fragile cease-fire that ended Israel's three-week offensive in Gaza last month.The two rival Palestinian groups, Hamas and the Western-backed West Bank government, are meeting this week for Egyptian-mediated talks on reconciliation.And dozens of countries will meet Monday in Egypt for a donors' conference to raise money for rebuilding Gaza after the Israeli offensive.One of Mitchell's immediate goals is to shore up the Gaza cease-fire, which continues to be shaken by low-level violence.On Thursday, militants fired two rockets at southern Israel and Israel later sent aircraft to raid southern Gaza. Hamas said the aircraft targeted five smuggling tunnels. Palestinian medical officials said three people were wounded, one critically. No one was injured in the rocket attacks.Mitchell is also expected to focus on the need to rebuild Gaza. The Palestinians hope to raise $2.8 billion at Monday's donor conference, where the U.S. is expected to pledge $900 million.

Mitchell and Netanyahu seem at odds on key underlying issues.

Mitchell wants to press ahead with peace talks that would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu avoids any talk of Palestinian statehood and says peace efforts should focus on building up the Palestinian economy. Mitchell has urged a freeze of Jewish West Bank settlements, while Netanyahu says existing settlements must be allowed to expand.On his arrival from Turkey, Mitchell headed straight into a meeting with moderate Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.Livni has spurned Netanyahu's attempts to get her to join him in a broad coalition government. She said she and Mitchell discussed the donor's conference and how it could help the people of Gaza.

She said Israel's policy was to help when it comes to humanitarian needs but without strengthening Hamas as a terrorist organization that controls Gaza.Netanyahu and Livni also met Thursday with the European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana.

The success of Gaza's reconstruction will depend largely on Israel reopening border crossings into Gaza. Israel and Egypt blockaded their borders with Gaza after Hamas militants overran the territory nearly two years ago. Israel has since let in limited humanitarian supplies. Truce talks recently deadlocked over Israel's insistence that Hamas release a captured Israeli soldier before border crossings are opened. A power-sharing deal between Hamas and the West Bank government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is also seen as key to reconstruction. Many in the international community shun the violently anti-Israel Hamas and won't send it money directly. In a report obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad asked donors to channel aid first and foremost through his West Bank government.

Feb 26, 2009 11:59 pm US/Eastern
Jewish Leaders Blast Clinton Over Israel Criticism

Zuckerman, Lawmakers, Local Jews Say Secretary Of State Not The Hillary Clinton They Used To Know Hillary Pressuring Israel To Speed Up Aid To Gaza Reporting
Marcia Kramer NEW YORK (CBS) ― Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to members and guests of the Asia Society Feb. 13, 2009, in New York City. Secretary Clinton's speech was made ahead of her first official trip to the East Asian countries.

In a swift about face from her views as New York's senator, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now hammering Israel over its treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.

As First Lady, Clinton raised eyebrows when she kissed Suha Arafat.Since she was then seeking a Senate seat the resulting brouhaha caused her to re-think her positions.I'm a very strong supporter of Israel, Clinton said back in February 2000.

On Thursday, as Secretary of State she had yet another about face in the form of angry messages demanding Israel speed up aid to Gaza. Jewish leaders are furious. I am very surprised, frankly, at this statement from the United States government and from the secretary of state, said Mortimer Zuckerman, publisher of the New York Daily News and member of the NYC Jewish Community Relations Council.I liked her a lot more as a senator from New York, Assemblyman Dov Hikind, D-Brooklyn, said. Now, I wonder as I used to wonder who the real Hillary Clinton is.Clinton's decision to hammer Israel comes as the Clintons and President Barack Obama are planning to give the Palestinians $900 million toward the rebuilding of Gaza in the wake of the Israeli offensive that was sparked by Hamas rocket fire. We are working across the government to see what our approach will be,Clinton said.

Is Hillary Taking Sides? Submit Your Comments Here.

I don't believe that we should be in a position at this point to do anything to strengthen Hamas,Zuckerman said.We surely know what Hamas stands for as I say they are the forward battalions of Iran.For some, Clinton's change of position is upsetting. I feel it's unfortunate that they don't continue the policy of the Bush administration, which was much more pro-Israel,said Akiva Homnick of Jerusalem. I happen to have a lot of family who live in Israel and I feel, personally, when you are dealing with people who are very strong against you, you have to stand up to them,said Tami Davudoff of Kew Gardens. Hillary had Mrs. Arafat here and she invited Mrs. Arafat for lunch when she was the first lady, added Babak Chafe of Great Neck. She is pro-Palestinian 100 percent, really. Of course, we always knew it.The easy way to make a peace agreement is to pressure Israel because you can't pressure the Arabs, said Solomon Loewi of Monsey, N.Y. All this could lead to a chilly reception when Mrs. Clinton arrives in the Middle East next week. The new U.S. envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, arrived in Israel on Thursday with a mission to inject new life into peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/

SPECIAL CONFERENCE MAR 23-24,2009,ALL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS WILL BE THERE,ALL THE EU MEMBERS WILL BE THERE,AND THE G-20 WILL BE THERE.THIS SAME GROUP OF EU,BANKERS,G-20 WILL ALSO BE IN LONDON IN APRIL TO LAY PLANS FOR THE NEW WORLD ORDER,ESPECIALLY THE G-20.https://futurefinance.wsj.com/index.php

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS FRI FEB 27,2009

09:30 AM -19.91
10:00 AM -79.88
10:30 AM -60.77
11:00 AM -65.47
11:30 AM -64.76
12:00 PM -14.33
12:30 PM -23.57
01:00 PM -25.80
01:30 PM -27.48
02:00 PM -11.15
02:30 PM -53.12
03:00 PM -46.99
03:30 PM -82.11
04:00 PM -119.15 7062.93

S&P 500 735.09 -17.74

NASDAQ 1377.84 -13.62

GOLD 945.50 +2.90

OIL 44.29 -0.93

TSE 300 8123.02 -63.80

CDNX 861.66 -1.15

S&P/TSX/60 489.56 -4.30

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -18.17%
S&P -16.65%
Nasdaq -11.77%
TSX Advances 963,declines 576,unchanged 251,Volume 3,018,895,391.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 409,Declines 368,Unchanged 334,Volume 184,936,921.

Dow -116 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -132 points at low today.
Dow +8 points at high today so far.
Natural gas at 6 year low.
Oil under $43.00,economic slide stalls oil rally.Before todays selloff ,gained 15% in 4 sessions.
Nasdaq big caps bounce today.

PAT ROBERTSON:This is the beginning of the end of America.Our finances are going into the toilet.Our dollar is not going to hold up anymore against the foreign currencies.We are no longer going to be the Economic leader of the WORLD.We will be paying off these debts for generations.This will usher in Inflation,possibly hyper-Inflation,the dollar will sink dramatically.This is a shocking,shocking budget.8,570 earmarks totaling $7.7 BILLION in pork.

GOLD opens at $960.80.OIL opens at $42.97 today.
CITIGROUP DOWN NEARLY 40% FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT OF DEAL WITH GOVERNMENT.HEAVY VOLUME FOR CITI PRE-OPEN,NEARLY 250 MILLION SHARES HAVE ALREADY TRADED.DEAL WOULD SIGNIFICANTLY DILUTE THE EQUITY OF CURRENT COMMON SHAREHOLDERS.

Other Banks weak also today.
Bank of America -19%
Wells Fargo -13%
Suntrust -13%
KeyCorp -10%
DOWN VOLUME AT START OF TRADING 55 MILLION SHARES,UP VOLUME 3 MILLION SHARES,DOWN VOLUME 18-1,NEGETIVE TO POSITIVE.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -147 points at low today so far.
Dow +8 points at high today so far.
KOHLS -6%
GAP earnings fall 8% on lower sales and margins.
S&P at 12 year low.
S&P moves below NOV INTRADAY low of 740.61.

THE STRESS TEST AND GDP.
-Government expects US,GDP to be down 2% in 2009.
-Government expects US,GDP to grow 2.1% in 2010.
-worst case scenario:down 3.3% in 2009,up .5% in 2010.
-IS THIS REALISTIC?

DAY TODAY PERFORMANCE - 12:30PM STATS
NYSE Advances 1,554,declines 2,069,unchanged 103,New Highs 7,New Lows 416.
Volume 10,250,720.
NASDAQ Advances 1,323,declines 1,259,unchanged 153,New highs 1,New Lows 270.
Volume 991,563,352.
TSX Advances 539,declines 743,unchanged 276,Volume 1,224,645,497.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 266,Declines 282,Unchanged 288,Volume 95,542,177.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -147 points at low today.
Dow +15 points at high today.
Dow -1.66% today Volume 667,954,045.
Nasdaq -0.98% today Volume 2,147,483,648.
S&P 500 -2.36% today Volume N/A
S&P on track for worst ever February.
S&P worst month since OCTOBER.
S&P down 11% this month.
S&P closes at 12 year low.
Dow ends below FEB 23,09 closing low of 7114.78.
Dow fell to new bear market intraday low.
Dow closes at 11-year low.
Dow posts worst February decline since 1933.
Dow falls for 6th straight month.
Dow suffers biggest decline since last OCTOBER.
Dow down 11.7% in FEBRUARY.
Dow transports down 15% this month.
Russell 2000 down 12% this month.
Nasdaq falls 6.7% in FEBRUARY.
Stocks off days highs.
Stocks give back mid-day gains.
General electric to save $9 BILLION annually as a result of Dividend cut.

RECORD LOWS DOW
-Sept 30,1996 5,882.17
-Oct 30,1996 5,993.23
-Nov 6,1996 6,177.71
-Dec 16,1996 6,268.35
-Apr 15,1997 6,587.16
-Apr 21,1997 6,660.21
-Apr 28,1997 6,783.02
-May 1,1997 6,976.48
-May 7,1997 7,085.65

RECORD LOWS S&P 500
-Sept 5,1996 649.44
-Sept 6,1996 655.68
-Sept 11,1996 667.28
-Sept 12,1996 671.13
-Oct 1,1996 689.08
-Oct 28,1996 697.26
-Nov 4,1996 706.73
-Nov 5,1996 714.14
-Dec 17,1996 726.04

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE,WEEKENDER
Dow -19.52%
S&P -18.62%
Nasdaq -12.63%
CANADAS WEEK ENDING STATS
TSX Advances 709,Declines 799,Unchanged 286 Volume 2,688,688,130.
TSX Venture Advances 412,Declines 388,Unchanged 357 Volume 187,759,107.

CNBC WORLD BANK,CURRENCY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izibupjHQig&eurl=http://www.infowars.com/cnbc-analyst-global-bank-global-currency-within-15-years/&feature=player_embedded

http://www.infowars.com/cnbc-analyst-global-bank-global-currency-within-15-years/

CNBC Analyst: Global Bank, Global Currency Within 15 Years
Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com Friday, February 27, 2009

Head of market analysis for Schneider Foreign Exchange Stephen Gallo told CNBC yesterday that the financial crisis will lead to the creation of a global central bank and a global single currency within 15 years, echoing the call of top globalists who have exploited the problems they created to push for a new world financial order.Highlighting the significance of the introduction of the Euro, Gallo said that the single currency was where we are headed globally on a monetary basis over the course of the next 10 to 15 years.Stating that one of the things that caused the financial crisis was an over expansion of the money supply on a global basis, Gallo said, Over the course of the next couple of decades central banks are going to need to pay more attention to what’s going on with the global money supply rather than the money supply just in their own borders, a necessity that, might call into question the need for some kind of global central bank or a global central bank that’s united by central banks for bigger monetary areas underneath that global central bank.As we have highlighted before, the elite have exploited the problem that they created to push for increased centralization and regulation of the world economic system in the pursuit of a de-facto global financial dictatorship.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, EU heads such as Joaquin Almunia and establishment media outlets like the Wall Street Journal amongst many others have all used the economic crisis as an excuse to argue for greater financial power, a new world economic order in which control is concentrated into fewer hands - with the IMF and the World Bank enjoying the spoils.UK Business Secretary and top Bilderberg member Peter Mandelson has also pushed for a Bretton Woods for this century,to help build the machinery of global economic governance.Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy all made the same appeal at a conference in Paris on the future of capitalism last month.Merkel called for the creation of a new global economic body under the UN, similar to the Security Council, to judge government policy.Sarkozy called for a new world, new capitalism during his speech, as he commented In capitalism of the 21st century, there is room for the state.Meanwhile, Blair called for a new financial order which he said should be constructed upon values other than the maximum short-term profit.The globalists created the problem of wildly irresponsible fractional reserve banking, the debt bubble and the credit crunch by ceaselessly inflating the money supply and now they are offering their solution to the crisis by posing as the saviors and promising to fix the crisis, but only if complete control of the global financial system be signed over to them.As Ron Paul, Peter Schiff and their ilk have tirelessly argued, the only way to solve the financial crisis is to allow incompetent banks and companies to fail, not to reward their misdeeds by giving them billions in taxpayer money. The only way to re-capitalize the world is to provide incentives for people to work hard and save money, not by creating more credit out of thin air, which is what caused the problem in the first place.The globalists’ call for a centralized global economic order has nothing to do with providing solutions to the crisis but everything to do with providing themselves with more power and control over the world financial system.

Citigroup's Latest Bailout Gives US More Control By: CNBC.com With Reuters | 27 Feb 2009 | 01:14 PM

The US government agreed to boost its stake in Citigroup to as much as 36%, shoring up the bank's capital and taking on far more control of the ailing banking giant. The government will convert up to $25 billion in preferred shares to common stock in its third attempt to prop up Citigroup in the past five months.Existing shareholders will see their ownership of the bank fall as low as 26 percent. The government stake is now close to 8 percent.While the latest rescue does not inject more money into Citigroup, it gives the government more of a voting stake and far greater influence over the bank's operations, short of outright nationalization.Shares of Citigroup [C 1.55 -0.91 (-36.99%) ] fell to a new 18-year low on Friday. The government is the new boss, said Mike Holland, the founder of money manager Holland & Co in New York.Every major decision is something that is not going to come out of Park Avenue, but is going to come from Washington, D.C.Citigroup in October and November received $45 billion of taxpayer money, as well as a government backstop to cap losses on $301billion of toxic assets. The bank will shake up its board and install a majority of new, independent directors. Five of the board's 15 members are either not standing for reelection or will reach retirement age by Citigroup's annual meeting in April.

Investors want to see heads roll because they're so angry at the entire banking industry, said Marshall Front, chairman of Front Barnett Associates LLC in Chicago, which invests $500 million. But Citigroup management is as well qualified to deal with the problems the bank faces now as anyone, and would not have the learning curve that new people would face.Front said the drop in the stock was not steeper because the stock long ago discounted substantial dilution, which is now being formally recognized.Friday's agreement calls for Citigroup to offer to exchange common stock for up to $27.5 billion of its preferred shares at $3.25 per share. The government will match the exchange up to $25 billion, provided private investors do the same. Citigroup will halt dividends on preferred and common stock.The agreement may be a template for other lenders that have taken government money.It will boost Citigroup's tangible common equity ratio, a measure of capital, to between 5.4 percent and 8.1 percent from the fourth quarter's 3 percent. On a conference call, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said senior executives completely remain in charge of day-to-day operations. Shares of other lenders also fell, including Bank of America [BAC 4.47 -0.85 (-15.98%) ] and Wells Fargo [WFC 13.27 -1.13 (-7.85%) ].

In an exclusive interview with CNBC, Citigroup Chairman Dick Parsons said there was no time frame for naming new directors. He also said that management has its arms around the situation and that the Obama administration has the right perspective on the financial crisis.Separately, Citigroup said it has recorded more than $8.9 billion of charges to write down goodwill and its Nikko Asset Management unit in Japan. The charges boost its fourth-quarter loss to more than $17.2 billion, and Citigroup's full-year loss to $27.7 billion.Citigroup and other large U.S. banks will soon undergo stress tests to assess their ability to cope with a severe recession, and whether they might need more capital.Referring to the new rescue, Pandit said, This capital should take confidence issues off the table, even in a stressed environment.Asked about nationalization, he added, This announcement should put those concerns to rest.The Obama administration has said it prefers to keep banks in private hands, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke this week rejected 100 percent government control of lenders.The United States already has a nearly 80 percent stake in insurer American International Group [AIG 0.45 -0.07 (-14.02%) ], while the British government owns 70 percent of Royal Bank of Scotland Group.There is so much going on in terms of trying to manage the continuing and unfolding drama around the credit crisis, said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey.At Citigroup, he said, the government didn't want to have to take any more than it had to.Pandit has split Citigroup into two: Citicorp, which has retail banking and other businesses that Citigroup wants to keep, and Citi Holdings, which includes troubled or underperforming assets it wants to sell or wind down.A higher government stake could complicate Citigroup's ability to operate in some of the more than 100 countries where it has businesses.Bank executives downplayed speculation that Citigroup might shed all or part of its ownership of Grupo Financiero Banamex, Mexico's second-largest bank.We're not open to the idea of offloading assets that we really want to keep, Edward Ned Kelly, head of global banking and Citi Alternative Investments, said in an interview.Banamex is a very important property to us, and we are intent on retaining it and maximizing its value. He also called the bank's Handlovy business in Poland an extraordinarily important franchise to us. Citigroup said the exchange could boost its share count as high as 21 billion from 5.5 billion now.It said investors including Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Singapore Investment Corp, Capital Research and Management and others have agreed to swap their preferred stock. The bank once had a market value about $270 billion. At its low on Friday, the value was below $9 billion.

No long-term inflation risk in Canada: Harper Thu Feb 26, 2:29 pm ET

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – The stimulus measures being taken by governments around the world could trigger higher inflation, although there are no long-term risks of inflation in Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Thursday.Harper told a news conference that despite the risks posed by stimulus measures, it is essential that governments spend more money to protect their economies.When governments and central banks are aggressively lowering interest rates and spending large amounts of additional money and doing large amounts of borrowing, there are risks as the economy improves that you would have inflation, that you would have crowding out of private investment, he said.We are worried about the short term and we've got to get things right now. I don't think in Canada we have long-term risks of inflation or crowding out because we've had better monetary policies (and) a stronger balance sheet and fiscal position.Last month Canada's minority Conservative government presented a budget that it said would rack up C$64 billion ($51 billion) of deficits over the next two years.Harper needs the support of one opposition party to pass the budget and warned against too many delays.Let's be very clear on this. These are confidence measures. We are not going to mess around with this, he said.Those votes are before Parliament so that this money gets flowing quickly. If the opposition doesn't like that they will find themselves in an election. So I tell them, Get it done, get it passed, and we'll get on with stimulating this economy, he said.(Reporting by Allan Dowd, writing by David Ljunggren and Randall Palmer; Editing by Peter Galloway)

Obama budget: Mammoth deficits but headed lower By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer FEB 26,09

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama charted a dramatic new course for the nation Thursday with a bold but contentious budget proposing higher taxes for the wealthy and the first steps toward guaranteed health care for all — accompanied by an astonishing $1.75 trillion federal deficit that would be nearly four times the highest in history.Denouncing what he called the dishonest accounting of recent federal budgets, Obama unveiled his own $3.6 trillion blueprint for next year, a bold proposal that would transfer wealth from rich taxpayers to the middle class and the poor.Congressional approval without major change is anything but sure. The plan is filled with political land mines including an initiative to combat global warming that would hit consumers with considerably higher utility bills. Other proposals would take on entrenched interests such as big farming, insurance companies and drug makers.Obama blamed the expected federal deficit explosion on a deep and destructive recession and recent efforts to battle it including the Wall Street bailout and the just-passed $787 billion stimulus plan. The $1.75 trillion deficit estimate for this year is $250 billion more than projected just days ago because of proposed new spending for a fresh bailout for banks and other financial institutions.As the nation digs out of the most serious economic crisis in decades, Obama said, We will, each and every one of us, have to compromise on certain things we care about but which we simply cannot afford right now.Signaling budget battles to come, Republicans were skeptical Obama was doing without much at all.We can't tax and spend our way to prosperity, said House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio. The era of big government is back, and Democrats are asking you to pay for it.

Obama plans to move aggressively toward rebalancing the tax system, extending a $400 tax credit for most workers — $800 for couples — while letting expire President George W. Bush's tax cuts for couples making more than $250,000 a year. That would raise the top income tax bracket from 35 percent to 39.6 percent for those taxpayers and raise their capital gains rate from 15 to 20 percent as well.Thursday's 134-page budget submission, a nonbinding recommendation to Congress, says the plan would close the deficit to a a more reasonable — but still eye-popping — $533 billion after five years. That would still be higher than last year's record $455 billion deficit.And the national debt would more than double by the end of the upcoming decade, raising worries that so much federal borrowing could drive up interest rates and erode the value of the dollar.Also, to narrow the budget gap, Obama relies on rosier predictions of economic growth — including a 3.2 percent boost in the economy next year — than most private sector economists foresee.There is already resistance from Democrats who are upset with the budget's plan to curb the ability of wealthier people to reduce their tax bills through deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions and state and local taxes.That tax hike would raise $318 billion over the upcoming decade toward a down payment on Obama's high-priority universal health care plan. Cuts to the Medicare and Medicaid federal health programs would supply an additional $316 billion, but that still wouldn't provide enough money to guarantee coverage for all, and Obama wants Congress to come up with hundreds of billions of dollars in additional hard-to-raise revenues to pay for the rest.Then there is the proposed clampdown on the Pentagon budget, which would get a 4 percent boost, to $534 billion next year, but would then get increases of 2 percent or less over the next several years. Domestic programs favored by Democrats would, on average, receive a 7 percent boost over regularly appropriated levels — even as many agencies are already swimming in cash from the just-enacted economic stimulus plan.Taken together, Obama's plan contains so many difficult-to-digest ideas that it's virtually certain to be significantly redrafted during debates later this year.

It's going to be a tough row to hoe, but he has large Democratic majorities and a lot of popular support and we're in times of crisis, said Robert Reischauer, president of the Urban Institute. So his prospects of him getting much of what he is seeking, while not good, are higher than ... we've seen in the past.Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., predicted Congress would pass much of Obama's plan, though with significant revisions. For instance, he's unimpressed with a proposal to reduce payments to farming operations with sales above $500,000 per year and says the plan to curb tax deductions for the wealthy faces uncertain prospects because of opposition from lawmakers from high tax states and universities whose endowments have shrunk.A plan to devote up to $250 billion to support as much as $750 billion in increased spending under the government's rescue program for banks and other financial institutions landed with a thud. Republicans scoffed at the idea that Obama's plan calls for much sacrifice on the spending front, citing the big increases for many agencies. they also pointed to tax increases and hundreds of billions in revenues from a contentious proposal to auction off permits for carbon emissions in a bid to address global warming. Obama and top aides emphasized that they didn't make the financial mess. Said the president: We cannot lose sight of the long-run challenges that our country faces and that threaten our economic health — specifically, the trillions of dollars of debt that we inherited, the rising costs of health care and the growing obligations of Social Security.For too long, our budget has not told the whole truth about how precious tax dollars are spent, he said. Large sums have been left off the books, including the true cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. And that kind of dishonest accounting is not how you run your family budgets at home. It's not how your government should run its budgets either.Among the many programs that would receive generous boosts are education and cancer research. The size of education Pell Grants would automatically increase every year by inflation plus 1 percent, while Obama promises to double cancer research over several years. He also wants to put the United States on a path to double foreign aid. Obama's budget contains almost $1 trillion in tax hikes over 10 years on individuals making more than $200,000 and couples earning over $250,000. About $350 billion more would be raised through a variety of other hikes, including raising taxes on hedge-fund managers by taxing their compensation as income rather than at the 15 percent capital gains rate. Obama would also increase taxes on corporate income earned abroad. Some $526 billion in revenue from carbon pollution permits would be used to extend the Making Work Pay tax credit of $400 for individuals and $800 for couples beyond 2010 as provided in the just-passed economic stimulus bill.

The budget would make permanent the expanded $2,500 tax credit for college expenses that was provided for two years in the just-passed economic stimulus bill. It also would renew most of the Bush tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003, and would permanently update the alternative minimum tax so that it would hit fewer middle- to upper-income taxpayers. Obama's $634 billion head start on expanding health care could easily double as lawmakers flesh out details in coming months on how to provide medical coverage to all of the 48 million Americans now uninsured while also trying to slow increases in costs. Health care costs now total $2.4 trillion a year and keep rising even as the economy is shrinking. Thursday's submission was an overview of a more comprehensive plan that will be submitted in April. Associated Press writers Martin Crutsinger, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Anne Gearan contributed to this report.

Financial crisis threatens east-west divide in EU
PHILIPPA RUNNER 26.02.2009 @ 09:24 CET

Eastern European member states' fears that they will be left behind by richer EU members in the economic crisis are growing ahead of the informal EU summit on Sunday (1 March).Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania and Bulgaria are hoping to pull Germany, the Netherlands and Nordic states into a coalition opposing the creation of eurobonds, Polish officials told daily Gazeta Wyborcza.We want to block the potential eurobond project. To do everything to prevent a two-speed Europe. The introduction of eurobonds for the eurozone only would mean precisely this, Polish deputy prime minister Grzegorz Schetyna said on Wednesday.A eurobond is a government I.O.U. guaranteed by all 16 members of the single currency group. The creation of eurobonds would help poorer eurozone members, such as Greece, borrow money more cheaply. But it could make the cost of borrowing go up for the 11, mostly eastern European states, outside the club.The eurobond idea was floated by Italian finance minister Giulio Tremonti at the Davos economic forum in January and has since been publicly backed by the International Monetary Fund.

Italy has the highest public debt in the eurozone, prompting a rise in the cost for borrowing money on the bond market as investors fear a default.German finance minister Peer Steinbruck and Carl Heinz Daube, the head of the German debt-issuing agency, the Bundesrepublik Deutschland Finanzagentur, are eurobond sceptics, however. Leaders from the group of nine eastern EU states will hold a pre-summit meeting together with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso at the Polish diplomatic mission in Brussels on Sunday morning.Polish prime minister donald Tusk will also meet German chancellor Angela Merkel in Hamburg on Friday.French, Italian and Spanish plans to pump billions into national car industries have also raised worries that western EU states will try to spend their way out of the crisis, no matter what the damage to single market principles.The fears strike at the heart of the post-2004 enlargement EU project, with former-Communist countries seeing the union as a chance to catch up economically after 60 years of unjust isolation.The Brussels summit must show that, while the crisis is hitting individual countries in various ways, the union speaks with one voice. That there is no division into better or worse [EU states],Polish Europe minister Mikolaj Dowgielewicz told the Polish daily.The crisis cannot be an excuse for dismantling the single market.

GMO maize strains move closer to approval
ANDREW WILLIS 26.02.2009 @ 17:53 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU scientists failed on Wednesday (26 February) to approve or reject a commission proposal to grant biotech companies a licence to produce two strains of genetically modified maize. The two strains being considered by a European Commission scientific standing committee, Bt-11 maize produced by Swiss company Syngenta and 1507 maize produced jointly by Pioneer Hi-Bred International and Dow AgroScience, however have both already been approved by the European Food Safety Authority. This decision only adds to our frustration with the lengthy and unscientific process to get our safe Bt11 maize product approved in Europe, Syngenta said in a statement. However, European environmental groups who oppose the maize strains on ecological grounds fear EU voting systems will result in the licences being eventually granted anyway. This is despite the fact that a majority of EU states currently oppose the cultivation of genetically modified crops. The commission is pushing forward with its completely pro-GMO agenda, Greenpeace activist Marta Vetier told EUobserver. At Wednesday's expert meeting, six member states (with 91 votes) voted in favour of the proposal whereas 12 (with 127 votes) voted against it. Scientists from seven member states abstained, while those from Germany and Malta were not present for the vote. The 127 votes against the proposal does not represent the qualified majority (255 votes) necessary to end the licence application so the decision will now go to the Council of Ministers - representing member-state governments - for a decision.

All of the evidence before member states provides a firm basis for authorisation, said Syngenta. We hope that the council will seize the opportunity provided by the next vote to give EU farmers a choice to use a technology capable of making a significant contribution to sustainable agriculture.Again here, a qualified majority is needed amongst ministers to either approve or reject the commission proposal to grant the 10-year licences to the two companies.In the event that this qualified majority is not achieved, the commission may decide to go ahead and issue licences. Precedent suggests that it will. To date only one GMO product, a maize strain produced by Monsanto, has been licensed for production in the EU and that was as far back as 1998 when rules governing such crops were different.In recent years however, there has been an increase in the amount of GMO crops imported into the EU for both human and animal consumption.

Debate on GMO crops

Supporters of GMOs argue that they are a legitimate food source, with the potential to bring down food prices and greatly reduce world hunger. They point to countries such as Argentina and the US where such crops are grown successfully. There is also extensive debate as to whether the EU's almost total ban on GMO production is in breech of WTO rules.Additionally, advocates argue that genetic engineering of crops so that they resist common pests results in reduced levels of chemical spraying, something environmentalists should welcome, they say. Environmental groups, however, point to a series of ecological concerns. The Bt-11 maize currently up for debate contains a gene normally found in the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis that causes the host species to produce a pest-killing toxin. They point to US studies identifying extensive detrimental effects on insects that come into contact with such plants, whether they are considered pests or not. There are also fears in the scientific community that bacteria can transfer such toxin-producing genes from one plant to another, thus transferring the pest immunity to other plant species that may not be considered beneficial to humans. Likewise, new pests will frequently replace those avoided by genetic engineering of plants says Ms Vetier, so the argument for reduced spraying has little validity, she argues.

Estonian sentenced for NATO and EU secrets to Russia
VALENTINA POP 26.02.2009 @ 09:26 CET

Herman Simm, a former Estonian defence official, was sentenced on Wednesday (25 February) to 12 and a half years of prison and €1.288 million damages for passing NATO and EU classified information to Russian intelligence services.Yes, I did work for foreign intelligence services. Yes, I did know the people whom I was sending the information were members of the Russian services, Mr Simm conceded on a video tape shown by prosecutors after the trial, which was held behind closed doors, AFP reports.When you did such a thing, you have to live with the consequences, he added.

He pleaded guilty, that is why the trial was brief, Kristina Ots, the court's spokeswoman explained. This was Estonia's first treason case since it regained independence from the Soviet Union, in 1991.The 61-year-old Mr Simm was accused of treason for having passed on to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) over 2,000 pages of secret documents on Estonia's defence policies and its external military relations.A graduate of a Soviet-era police academy in Moscow, Mr Simm started working for the Estonian defence ministry in 1995, as head of the information analysis office, and in 2001 was appointed head of the newly formed state secret protection department, responsible with issuing access to classified information and for handling NATO and EU data.We think that he started working for Russian intelligence in 1995, Gerrit Maeselu, a spokesperson for the Estonian prosecutor office told the New York Times, adding that Mr Simm was in a position to hand over intelligence on NATO starting in 2001, when Estonia began accession talks with the alliance, which it joined three years later.The Harju county court also ordered Mr Simm to pay €1.288 million to cover damage done to security systems and data systems, which must now be overhauled.

EU secrets compromised

The EU's internal security procedures were also compromised, as Mr Simm had total access to NATO and EU stuff and was handing everything he could find to his Russian handlers,one EU diplomat told the Financial Times.Prosecutors say Mr Simm delivered intelligence to two handlers from Russia's SVR, whom they identified as Valery Zentsov and Sergei Yakovlev. The Kremlin has denied working with Mr Simm.The former Estonian official had contacts in about 15 European countries, where he travelled for business or leisure, Mr Maesalu added. According to Estonian media, Mr Simm claimed to be a victim of Russian blackmail due to his former collaboration with the Soviet secret services, the KGB.Unlike other Eastern European countries, the KGB archives in Estonia were transferred to Moscow or destroyed before the country gained independence, after having been illegally annexed by the USSR. Former collaborators of the KGB were asked in the early 1990s to make themselves known. Approximately 1,000 people answered to this request after having been assured that they would not be prosecuted for the admission.Talking to EUobserver in November last year, after Mr Simm had been formally charged for treason, Estonian MEP Tunne Kelam said the case was rather grotesque,but probably not one-of-a-kind.Russia is interested in expanding its influence to all member states of the EU. It's part of their strategy to regain control over the former Soviet areas and to weaken the EU, Mr Kelam said, adding that the method used was a typically Soviet one.

Italy and Vatican threaten EU unity in drugs talks
LEIGH PHILLIPS 26.02.2009 @ 09:24 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Italy is threatening to undermine EU unity in high-stakes UN talks on drug abuse, with Rome appearing to take the lead from the Vatican in a recent u-turn on issues such as needle-exchange.Heading into a UN conference on 11 March whose outcome will set the international anti-drugs policy agenda for the next 10 years, the European Union, negotiating as one bloc, has so far backed greater emphasis on harm reduction.Harm reduction covers programmes such as drug replacement therapy, needle exchanges to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids and keeping non-violent offenders out of prison. The EU-backed approach stands in contrast to the US, Japan and Russia's prohibitionist line of a War on Drugs, which in some cases stretches to the use of military force in Colombia or Afghanistan. Until February, Sweden was the only EU member which questioned harm reduction. Health minister Maria Larsson explained to EUobserver that Stockholm believes some aspects of the policy are not in accordance with the UN Convention on Drugs and Narcotics.

Sweden did not block an EU common position on the issue, despite its views.

But Italy has now come out against the common position on harm reduction, in a surprise move that could undermine EU effectiveness in the UN talks, Italian opposition MPs Marco Perduca and Donatella Poretti told this website.The move, made on the insistence of national anti-drugs czar Carlo Giovanardi, comes just days after the Holy See on 12 February issued a communique condemning harm reduction as anti life.So-called harm reduction leads to liberalisation of the use of drugs, to an increase in the number of addicted people and to blurring of consciences, leading also to the loss of one's free will, the statement said. The conservative parties in Italy, when it comes to these moral issues, regularly take their opinions from the position of the Holy See,Mr Perduca said. Mr Perduca's libertarian Radical Party is currently part of a broader centre-left opposition in Italy. The country's last centre-left administration supported methadone and needle exchange projects, but drew the line at medical use of heroin and marijuana.It's puzzling why Italy continues with some harm reduction measures domestically, while it seems now [to be] opposing them at the international level, Open Society Institute global drugs programme director, Kassia Malinowska, said. It looks like they have capitulated to a public health policy dictated to them by the Church.

US will seek to end Iran's nuclear ambition By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer – Thu Feb 26, 9:07 pm ET

UNITED NATIONS – President Barack Obama's administration will seek to end Iran's nuclear ambition and its support for terrorism, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday — drawing an immediate rebuke from Iran's envoy.Ambassador Mohammad Khazee said the statement contained the same tired, unwarranted and groundless allegations that used to be unjustifiably and futiley repeated by the previous U.S. administration of President George W. Bush.Iran has never and will never try to acquire nuclear weapons, Khazee said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council immediately after U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice spoke. He also dismissed the charge that Iran engages in terrorism as baseless and absurd.Iran insists it is enriching uranium to produce nuclear energy for civilian purposes, but the U.S. and many European countries accuse Tehran of secretly seeking to build nuclear weapons.

Rice brought up Iran at an open meeting of the Security Council on Iraq, saying the long-term U.S. commitment to Iraq and the reduction of the U.S. military presence there had to be understood in a larger, regional context that included Afghanistan, the Middle East and Iran.The United States will seek an end to Iran's ambition to acquire an illicit nuclear capacity and its support for terrorism, Rice said, adding that the U.S. will aim to encourage both Iran and Syria to become constructive regional actors.The U.S. Mission to the United Nations said Rice had no comment on Khazee's letter.Rice's comments came as the Obama administration is conducting what she has called an urgent and early review of U.S. policy toward Iran.Obama has signaled a willingness for dialogue with Iran, particularly over its nuclear program. At his inauguration last month, the president said his administration would reach out to rival states, declaring we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded by saying Iran would welcome talks with the United States — but only if there was mutual respect. Iranian officials have said that means the United States would need to stop making baseless accusations against the Islamic Republic.On Wednesday, Iranian state radio said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's choice of Dennis Ross as her special adviser on the Persian Gulf signaled no change in the U.S. stance toward Iran. Ross strongly backs stepping up sanctions against Iran ... (and) supports profound U.S.-Israeli cooperation to confront Iran's nuclear activities,the broadcast said.(AP)Iran's deputy foreign minister for the Americas, Ali Reza Salari, said Thursday he believes there is room for advancement in the nuclear dispute with the United States, but said Iran is getting mixed signals from the Obama administration.I think somehow in that domain we are witnessing more rationality in the present U.S. administration. They are not talking with the same tone that existed before, Salari told reporters during a visit to Mexico City. But still, the signal that is reaching Iran from the United States is not a very clear and proper one. It's a mixed signal.The latest International Atomic Energy Agency report says Iran now possesses 1,010 kilograms — 2,222 pounds — of low-enriched uranium, raising concern that it now has sufficient uranium and the means to enrich it further to produce both nuclear fuel and the fissile core of nuclear warheads.In an interview last Friday on National Public Radio, Rice said the IAEA report confirms what we all had feared and anticipated, which is that Iran remains in pursuit of its nuclear program.Associated Press Writer Alexandra Olson contributed to this report from Mexico City.

Palestinian Hamas, Fatah to continue talking By MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press Writer – Thu Feb 26, 5:10 pm ET

CAIRO – Palestinian talks on finding a way for the rival Hamas and Fatah movements to form an interim unity government wrapped up after two days Thursday with a pledge to continue negotiations and to work toward elections for a new government.Although little substance emerged from the discussions in Egypt's capital, the pledge itself marked a modicum of progress toward ending bitter disputes dividing Palestinian factions.Fatah's envoy, Ahmed Qurei, said the parties agreed to set up five committees with representatives of all factions. They will deal with the issues of an interim government, presidential and legislative elections, restructuring security services, merging Hamas into the Fatah-run Palestine Liberation Organization and other matters.We have named the members of each of these committees and we have agreed on their general goals, Qurei told reporters.The committees will being work March 10, when the factions are to meet again in Cairo, with the understanding that their work will be completed by the end of March, Qurei added.

The groups would not speculate on what a unified government would look like or when elections could be held.The shape of the government, the members of the government and such matters will be discussed within the committees, said Mousa Abu Marzouk, Hamas' Syria-based deputy leader.Qurei and Abu Marzouk talked to reporters seated at a long table with representatives of 12 other Palestinian factions, all taking turns in answering questions in a bid to show a united front.This is a historical day, Qurei said. We pray to ensure that the train which has set in motion today will continue on the right path until it reaches the destination everyone is awaiting.

For host Egypt, which is mediating, the talks were a success, if only because a previous effort fell apart in November, when Hamas pulled out at the last minute in a dispute with Fatah over releasing Hamas prisoners.On Wednesday, Fatah and Hamas each agreed to release members of the other group that they have detained, but gave no specific numbers or other details.Gen. Omar Sulieman, Egypt's intelligence head and chief mediator, urged the Palestinians to work on ending their internal chasm. Your people are looking forward to seeing the beginning of your unity, he said on state TV.A senior Egyptian official said Egypt hopes a national unity government will be formed by April. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.Distrust between the Palestinians runs deep after a power struggle that included Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza in 2007, leaving Fatah in charge of only the West Bank.Tensions escalated after Israel's three-week offensive in Gaza last month, designed to stop Hamas rocket fire into southern Israel.Hamas claimed the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ran a Gaza spy ring that fed Israel information about Hamas targets during the fighting. Abbas' Fatah accused Hamas of killing and wounding dozens of Fatah activists under the cover of the war.In a separate effort, Egypt is trying to mediate a more permanent truce between Israel and Hamas to replace the shaky cease-fire that ended the offensive.The Palestinians say they need $2.8 billion to rebuild from the war, and Egypt is hosting a donors conference Monday at which the U.S. is expected to pledge $900 million. A power-sharing deal between Hamas and Fatah is seen as key to moving ahead because the international community shuns the violently anti-Israel Hamas and won't send money directly to it.Associated Press writer Hadeel Al-Shalchi contributed to this report.

Russia slams State Department report Thu Feb 26, 2:17 pm ET

MOSCOW – The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday criticized a new U.S. State Department report on human rights as biased.The annual human rights report, released Wednesday, accused Russia of worsening human rights problems and criticized the Kremlin's efforts to consolidate power by fashioning a compliant legislature through unfair elections.We hope Washington will correct its approaches in compiling such reports, the Ministry said in a statement.It said the report's conclusions about the war last summer between Russia and Georgia were odious and could not stand any criticism.The Ministry accused the U.S. of using double standards depending on the loyalty of a certain state to Washington's foreign policy course, the statement said. Georgia is pro-Western.The report cited numerous rights abuses, especially in the North Caucasus region, where disaffected social groups and insurgencies were active. It also decried the deaths, mostly unexplained, of five journalists.