In Lebanese Vote, Hopeful Signs for U.S.

BEIRUT, Lebanon — There were many domestic reasons voters handed an American-backed coalition a victory in Lebanese parliamentary elections on Sunday — but political analysts also attribute it in part to President Obama’s campaign of outreach to the Arab and Muslim world.

Most analysts had predicted that the Hezbollah-led coalition, already a crucial power broker in the Lebanese government because of its support from Shiites who make up a large part of Lebanon’s population, would win handily. In the end, though, the American-aligned coalition won 71 seats, while the Syria-Iranian aligned opposition, which includes Hezbollah, took only 57.
It is hard to draw firm conclusions from one election. But for the first time in a long time, being aligned with the United States did not lead to defeat in the Middle East. And since Lebanon has always been a critical testing ground, that could mark a possibly significant shift in regional dynamics with another major election, in Iran, on Friday.

Sources....http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/world/middleeast/09lebanon.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

U.S. envoy begins new Middle East peace push

U.S. President Barack Obama's special Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, began a new push to facilitate Israeli-Palestinian peace talks on Tuesday by opening a series of talks with leaders in the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is at odds with Obama over the president's demand to halt Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and has not endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state, a cornerstone of U.S. Middle East policy.
Obama spoke to Netanyahu by phone on Monday and the White House said the president "reiterated the principal elements of his Cairo speech, including his commitment to Israel's security."
In his address to the Muslim world in Cairo last week, Obama also called on Israel to freeze settlements.
Netanyahu is to make a major policy speech on Sunday in which a senior official said the Israeli leader would "articulate his vision on how to move forward in the peace process with the Palestinians and with the larger Arab world."
A statement issued by the Netanyahu's office said "President Obama said he was waiting to hear the speech with interest."
Mitchell opened his meetings in Tel Aviv with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and was later to travel to Jerusalem to meet Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and President Shimon Peres.

further info. on: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5560EX20090609

9 Hostage Officers Killed at Peruvian Oil Facility

Nine police officers were killed Saturday as security forces regained control of a petroleum facility from indigenous protesters in a remote jungle region, raising the death toll related to protests by indigenous activists since Friday above 30, Peruvian government officials here said.

Prime Minister Yehude Simon said the officers were killed in the events surrounding a push to retake a pumping station belonging to Petroperú, the national oil company, in the northern Bagua Province, where indigenous protesters had kidnapped 38 police officers. Twenty-two of the abducted officers were freed, but seven were still missing, officials said.

The killings came amid reports by indigenous groups that security forces killed as many as 25 protesters Friday in clashes at a different location in Bagua, where Indians had blocked a highway. Mr. Simon confirmed that at least 9 Indians had been killed and 155 wounded, and that a total of 22 police officers had been killed, intensifying the most acute crisis faced by President Alan García since he took office in 2006.

The bloodshed comes after two months of slow-burning protests, which spread from rain forests in Peru’s north to the country’s south, and have focused on interrupting petroleum production and transportation. In an increasingly well-coordinated movement, the lowland Indians are demanding that Mr. García withdraw decrees that ease the way for companies to carry out major energy and logging projects in the Peruvian Amazon.

After the operation at the Petroperú facility, officials said they were planning to re-establish the supply of oil to remote provinces that had been hit with fuel shortages and blackouts. Still, it was unclear how successful they would be when protesters were still blocking routes on important highways and rivers

Debris 'not from Air France jet'

Debris recovered from the Atlantic by Brazilian search teams is "sea trash" and not from a lost Air France jet, a Brazilian air force official has said.

Brig Ramon Borges Cardoso contradicted earlier reports, saying "no material from the plane has been recovered".
Teams found buoys and a wooden pallet and spotted a fuel slick, and are now searching for an airline seat and a chunk of metal seen earlier this week.
Relatives have been told that there is no hope of survivors being found.
In Paris, Air France Chief Executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon and Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta briefed passengers' relatives in a hotel near Charles de Gaulle airport where they have been waiting for news.
Mr Gourgeon said the Airbus A330 jet, which was carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, broke apart either in the air or when it hit the sea.

Obama Chides Israel, Arabs in His Overture to Muslims

CAIRO, Egypt -- President Barack Obama waded into the heart of the Middle East conflict Thursday by forcefully reiterating his support for a Palestinian state and admonishing the Arab world to pursue peace with Israel as he made his long-awaited appeal to mend the rift between America and the Muslim world.
In a wide-ranging speech before students at Cairo University that celebrated the common values of the two cultures, Mr. Obama called for a "new beginning" in the relationship.
"I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear," he said to repeated applause in the ornate-domed Great Hall. "But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. "
Most notable in the hourlong address was Mr. Obama's reiteration of his support of a state for Palestine, and his rejection of continued construction by Israel of new settlements on disputed land. The policy puts him in direct conflict with the new government in Israel, led by Benjamin Netanyahu. The president also demanded that Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, recognize Israel and renounce violence.
"Palestinians must abandon violence....At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine's," said Mr. Obama.
The speech was short on new policy prescriptions to address entrenched disputes. Translated into several languages, it drew swift reaction and intense interest throughout the region. After the speech, Mr. Obama flew to Europe, where he will visit a concentration camp in Germany on Friday and attend D-Day festivities in France on Saturday.


.for further details look into to : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124409999530984503.html

Tata Motors hopes to sell Nano in United States

Tata Motors hopes to sell Nano in United States


Tata Motors hopes to offer the Nano, dubbed the world's cheapest car, in the United States within two years, its chairman said.
"It will need to meet all emission and crash standards and so we hope in the next two years we will be offering such a vehicle in the U.S," Ratan Tata told a panel at the Cornell Global Forum on Sustainable Global Enterprise late Wednesday. The company plans to offer a European version of the car, which costs about $2,300, in 2011. Tata got the idea to make a car that poor people could afford while thinking about the motorbike and scooter riders who maneuver through the streets of Indian cities with their children on board. The four-seater car gets up to 65 miles per gallon (28 km per liter). Cheap labor helps to keep the price down.

North Korea tries US journalists

North Korea is thought to have put two US journalists on trial, on charges of committing "hostile acts".
Euna Lee, a Korean-American, and Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, were arrested on 17 March after allegedly crossing into North Korea from China.
The US has dismissed the charges as "baseless" and said the two women should be released immediately.
The trial comes amid growing tensions in the region following North Korea's recent nuclear and missile tests.
The women were working on a story about refugees fleeing the communist North for California-based internet broadcaster Current TV.
Some reports have suggested that they were arrested while on Chinese soil.
Amnesty International has said it is highly unlikely the two women will face a fair trial because of the judicial system's lack of independence or transparency.
North Korea's KCNA state news agency said the trial would begin at 0600 GMT, but there has been no confirmation as to whether proceedings have now started.