Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Eurasia Review: News & Analysis

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• Obama And Romney Actively Seeking Ex-Pat Donations
• Iran Says Opposes Foreign Interference In Regional Affairs
• Iran Calls On IAEA To “Justify” Demands
• Tropical Storm Isaac heads For US Gulf Coast After Drenching South Florida
• Egypt: 76 Sentenced In Attacks On Israeli, Saudi Embassies
• Russia: Anti-Church Hysteria Spreads As Crosses Chopped Down
• US: Republicans Ready For Tuesday’s Convention Open
• ‘Virtual State’ And Virtual Terrorism – Analysis
• Kenya: Taming Hate Speech – Analysis
• Kosovo Plans To Privatise In North Anger Serbs
• Bangladesh: Government Defiant On Rohingya Aid Ban
• US Midwest Drought To Impact Altar Bread Prices
• US, Middle East Myths On Gender Equality
• Restoring Syria’s Uprising To The Syrian People – OpEd
• The Dispensability Of The Abbas Regime – OpEd
• Our SimCity Government – OpEd
• US, Mexico Enter Meth Enforcement Pact Despite Strained Relations – OpEd
• The Arab Spring Revisited: From Mass Protests To Local Revolts – Analysis
• Mauritania: Imams Plead For Moderation
• Interfaith And Intercultural Dialogue ‘A Big Litmus Test For The EU’ – OpEd
• Tracking The Transportation Of Violence In The Middle East – OpEd
• PKK Repeating Itself: Not Part-Time Guerilla But Full-Time Terrorist Organization – Analysis
• CAFTA-DR Governments In Contrast To Small-Scale Owners Parcel Engines Of Development – Analysis
• Investigator Who Cleared Obama In Scandal Is Campaign Donor – OpEd
• South Africa Concerned Over EU Iran Oil Sanctions
• Georgia: Ivanishvili Warns Supporters Over Majoritarian Contest
• We’re All Subsidizing Free Lunches For America’s CEOs – OpEd
• Media Missed The Point With Palestinian’s Auschwitz Visit – OpEd
• South Sudan: End Abuses By Disarmament Forces In Jonglei
• Researchers Develop Method To Grow ‘Cyborg’ Tissues

Obama And Romney Actively Seeking Ex-Pat Donations Posted: 26 Aug 2012 09:59 PM PDT By Simon Bradley Hollywood actor George Clooney, one of Barack Obama’s A-list charm ambassadors, is in Geneva on Monday for a VIP fundraiser. Both Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney have been aggressively courting Americans abroad. Geneva’s historic Old Town district is set to be a roadblock with Clooney flying in to headline the $15,000 [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Iran Says Opposes Foreign Interference In Regional Affairs Posted: 26 Aug 2012 09:51 PM PDT Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says Tehran opposes foreign interference in regional affairs, calling for the resolution of the existing crises through dialog. Salehi stressed that human rights should not become an excuse for such interference in the hands of certain powers, which have a long record of violating human rights. “It’s been over [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Iran Calls On IAEA To “Justify” Demands Posted: 26 Aug 2012 09:49 PM PDT The head of Iran’s Atomic Agency says Iran’s nuclear activities are completely transparent and Iran has no problems with IAEA inspections; however, the agency “needs to justify its demands for inspections of particular locations.” IRNA reports that Fereydoon Abbasi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Agency, said on Sunday that Iran has no intention of ending [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Tropical Storm Isaac heads For US Gulf Coast After Drenching South Florida Posted: 26 Aug 2012 09:45 PM PDT Tropical Storm Isaac lashed south Florida with winds and heavy rain on Sunday after battering the Caribbean, threatening to interrupt most U.S. offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and disrupting plans for the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Isaac is expected to strengthen to a Category 2 hurricane and hit the Gulf Coast [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Egypt: 76 Sentenced In Attacks On Israeli, Saudi Embassies Posted: 26 Aug 2012 09:43 PM PDT A man has been sentenced to five years in prison and another 75 people received one-year suspended sentences in Egypt for attacks on the Israeli and Saudi embassies in the capital Cairo last year, the Al Jazeera news network quoted a court official as saying. Omar Afifi, sentenced to jail on Sunday, was tried in [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Russia: Anti-Church Hysteria Spreads As Crosses Chopped Down Posted: 26 Aug 2012 09:40 PM PDT Four Orthodox Christian crosses have been chopped down in different parts of Russia. The incidents come after the Femen movement attacked a cross in Kiev to protest the sentence of the punk band Pussy Riot, who received two years in prison. Three crosses have been taken down in the Urals’ Chelyabinsk Region, and one in [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

US: Republicans Ready For Tuesday’s Convention Open Posted: 26 Aug 2012 09:37 PM PDT By Jim Malone Members of the Republican Party are gathering in Tampa, Florida amid the threat of bad weather for their week-long U.S. presidential nominating convention. Convention organizers have canceled their Monday program because of the approach of Tropical Storm Issac and hope to get down to business on Tuesday. Security officers were out in [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

‘Virtual State’ And Virtual Terrorism – Analysis Posted: 26 Aug 2012 09:04 PM PDT By N Sathiya Moorthy The revelation that most, if not all, of the SMS rumours that caused panic among North-East Indians studying or working in south Indian cities and towns originated in Pakistan should be cause for concern in more ways than one. It throws up possibilities of ‘cyber crime’ that had not been considered [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Kenya: Taming Hate Speech – Analysis Posted: 26 Aug 2012 08:52 PM PDT So much for “never again”. Five years after 1,300 Kenyans were killed and more than half a million displaced in the wake of a presidential election, one of the triggers of that violence, the inflammatory language of politicians, remains a serious threat to peace and stability as the country gears up for the next polls [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Kosovo Plans To Privatise In North Anger Serbs Posted: 26 Aug 2012 08:48 PM PDT By Linda Karadaku Kosovo’s Privatisation Agency is planning to sell two socially-owned enterprises in the Serb-dominated northern part of the country, a plan that is sparking reactions from Serbia. PPT, a joint bearings factory and Lola-Fot, a machinery parts factory producer, both in the municipality of Leposavic in the north, are the two companies, which [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Bangladesh: Government Defiant On Rohingya Aid Ban Posted: 26 Aug 2012 08:46 PM PDT A government official in Cox’s Bazar said Friday that Bangladesh will not reverse its decision to suspend operations of NGOs serving the Muslim Rohingya refugees in the country, despite an urgent call from an international rights group to allow humanitarian aid. “Two of the three NGOs that were ordered closed down in Cox’s Bazar last [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

US Midwest Drought To Impact Altar Bread Prices Posted: 26 Aug 2012 08:42 PM PDT By Brian J. Lowney Manufacturers of altar bread are preparing to face rising costs of wheat flour as grain prices fluctuate in the wake of a severe drought that continues to plague the Midwest and Western Canada, although they expect to pass along only a minimal price increase to their customers. In Clyde, Mo., Benedictine [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

US, Middle East Myths On Gender Equality Posted: 26 Aug 2012 08:40 PM PDT By Helen Rizzo The idea that the West and Middle East have extremely different views on gender equality has gained traction in recent years. However, feminists and progressive activists in the West and the Middle East share many values when it comes to gender equality. A deeper look at the diverse examples of feminist activism [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Restoring Syria’s Uprising To The Syrian People – OpEd Posted: 26 Aug 2012 08:35 PM PDT By Jamal Kanj The defection on 6 August of Syrian Prime Minister Riad Farid Hijab was a public relation blow to the regime of Bashar Assad but had no other significance. In Syria, power is in the hands of a security apparatus controlled by the Assad clan. Despite months of street protests, the Assad regime [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

The Dispensability Of The Abbas Regime – OpEd Posted: 26 Aug 2012 08:33 PM PDT By Ludwig Watzal When Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Ehud Barak are not demonising Iran and its leadership, their colleague Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman starts talking, or even better, writing bizarre things. In a letter to the Middle Eastern Quartet (US, Russia, EU and UN) he called for the ousting of [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Our SimCity Government – OpEd Posted: 26 Aug 2012 08:29 PM PDT Governments treat us like Sim-citizens: with fewer rights for us and no accountability for them By Paul Driessen and David Legates Back in 1983, during the information processing Cretaceous Period, Maxis developed a new genre of educational, yet entertaining computer games. The latest version will be released next year. SimCity allows players to build virtual [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

US, Mexico Enter Meth Enforcement Pact Despite Strained Relations – OpEd Posted: 26 Aug 2012 08:25 PM PDT The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Government of Mexico on Thursday agreed to join forces in combating the continuing problem of methamphetamine production and trafficking across the U.S.-Mexico border, according to DEA officials in Washington, D.C. Mexican Attorney General Marisela Morales Ibanez, who had been angry with the Obama administration over the Operation Fast [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

The Arab Spring Revisited: From Mass Protests To Local Revolts – Analysis Posted: 26 Aug 2012 08:21 PM PDT Televised pictures of mass demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square as well as in Tunis, Tripoli and Sana’a have been replaced by scenes of bitter military battles in Syria’s main cities and towns. However, the impression that the wave of peaceful protests that toppled the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen has lost momentum is deceptive. [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Mauritania: Imams Plead For Moderation Posted: 26 Aug 2012 08:18 PM PDT By Bakari Gueye Mauritanian imams celebrated Eid al-Fitr with fresh calls for moderation and peace. Islamic texts “advocate peace and brotherhood between all men”, Ahmedou Ould Lemrabott, imam at the Great Mosque in Nouakchott, said on Sunday (August 19th). He condemned “misinterpretations” of these texts and decried fanaticism. Instead of the High Council for Fatwa, [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Interfaith And Intercultural Dialogue ‘A Big Litmus Test For The EU’ – OpEd Posted: 26 Aug 2012 08:16 PM PDT By Dr. Nazila Isgandarova Dr. Nicolas Berger, the head of Amnesty International’s (AI) European Institutions Office, told Deutsche Welle in July that the fundamentals regarding the problem of refugees and asylum-seekers have not changed. In recent years, AI has also issued several statements, which criticize the EU for failing to provide a better situation to [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Tracking The Transportation Of Violence In The Middle East – OpEd Posted: 26 Aug 2012 06:27 PM PDT By Malik Ayub Sumbal Yas Air, an Iranian cargo airline, has become a nightmare for the United States amidst the United Nations sanctions, which failed to keep a check on arms shipments to Iraq and Syria from Iran. Yas Air portrayed itself as a private cargo company, but on the ground the Iranian Revolutionary Guard [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

PKK Repeating Itself: Not Part-Time Guerilla But Full-Time Terrorist Organization – Analysis Posted: 26 Aug 2012 06:25 PM PDT By Suleyman Ozeren The PKK terrorist organization has intensified its attacks in recent months. The organization has been benefiting from instability in the region emanating from the Syria crisis. In some parts of northern Syria, where the Kurdish population represents the majority, the PKK-affiliated PYD quickly organized itself. The PKK has enjoyed long-time support from [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

CAFTA-DR Governments In Contrast To Small-Scale Owners Parcel Engines Of Development – Analysis Posted: 26 Aug 2012 06:13 PM PDT By Mar Guinot Aguado Historically dependent on their neighbor to the North as the engine for development, the Central American countries agreed to fully open their markets to the United States in the late 2000s. The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), initiated in 2002 between El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Dominican [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Investigator Who Cleared Obama In Scandal Is Campaign Donor – OpEd Posted: 26 Aug 2012 06:05 PM PDT The financial institution executive who was in charge of the “independent probe” that ended up absolving the Obama Administration for wasting billions of taxpayers’ dollars spent on green energy schemes was neither bi-partisan or non-partisan, but a big contributor to the Obama reelection campaign, according to a report by a Washington, D.C., public-interest group that [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

South Africa Concerned Over EU Iran Oil Sanctions Posted: 26 Aug 2012 05:59 PM PDT South Africa will be sending a delegation to Brussels to discuss the impact on South Africa caused by the European Union-led sanctions on Iran crude oil exports. International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said it was important that South Africa briefs the EU on the effects of such sanctions on the economy, considering that [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Georgia: Ivanishvili Warns Supporters Over Majoritarian Contest Posted: 26 Aug 2012 05:56 PM PDT (Civil.Ge) — Leader of opposition Georgian Dream coalition, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is campaigning in Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region on August 26-27, called on supporters not to differentiate between supporting Georgian Dream in party-list and majoritarian contests when casting ballot in the October 1 parliamentary elections. “You have to realize it very well that a [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

We’re All Subsidizing Free Lunches For America’s CEOs – OpEd Posted: 26 Aug 2012 05:52 PM PDT By Scott Klinger and Sam Pizzigati A generation ago, on National Secretary’s Day, America’s top corporate executives used to take their prized office assistants out to lunch. Times change, and National Secretary’s Day has become Administrative Professionals’ Day. But something else has changed. These days, CEOs are getting the free lunches. Secretaries and all the [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Media Missed The Point With Palestinian’s Auschwitz Visit – OpEd Posted: 26 Aug 2012 05:49 PM PDT By Natalia Simanovsky In late July, Ziad al-Bandak, an advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, made an official visit to the Auschwitz Holocaust memorial to pay respect to the million-and-a-half victims of the camp, most of whom were Jewish. Yet the majority of media outlets in Israel and abroad only reported on the event a [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

South Sudan: End Abuses By Disarmament Forces In Jonglei Posted: 26 Aug 2012 05:45 PM PDT South Sudan’s military should take concrete steps to end human rights violations by soldiers carrying out a civilian disarmament operation in Jonglei state and to punish those responsible for offenses, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to President Salva Kiir. Human Rights Watch also urged the president to promptly swear in the members of [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Researchers Develop Method To Grow ‘Cyborg’ Tissues Posted: 26 Aug 2012 05:42 PM PDT Harvard scientists have, for the first, time created a type of “cyborg” tissue by embedding a three-dimensional network of functional, bio-compatible nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues. As described in a paper published August 26 in Nature Materials, a multi-institutional research team led by Charles M. Lieber, the Mark Hyman, Jr. Professor of Chemistry at [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.