Iraq rally for Bush shoe attacker
Bush shoe-ing worst Arab insult
Thousands of Iraqis have demanded the release of a local TV reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush at a Baghdad news conference.
Crowds gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City district, calling for "hero" Muntadar al-Zaidi to be freed from custody.
Officials at the Iraqi-owned TV station, al-Baghdadiya, called for the release of their journalist, saying he was exercising freedom of expression.
Iraqi officials have described the incident as shameful.
A statement released by the government said Mr Zaidi's actions, which also included him shouting insults at President Bush, "harmed the reputation of Iraqi journalists and Iraqi journalism in general".
Correspondents say the protesters are supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr - a leading critic of the US presence in Iraq. Smaller protests were reported in Basra and Najaf.
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President Bush ducks as the shoes are thrown
The Iraqi government has demanded an on-air apology from his employer.
An Iraqi official was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the journalist was being interrogated to determine whether anybody paid him to throw his shoes at President Bush.
He was also being tested for alcohol and drugs, and his shoes were being held as evidence, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV channel said Mr Zaidi should be freed because he had been exercising freedom of expression - something which the Americans had promised to Iraqis on the ousting of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
"Any measures against Muntadar will be considered the acts of a dictatorial regime," the firm said in a statement.
The programming director for al-Baghdadiya, Muzhir al-Khafaji, described the journalist as a "proud Arab and an open-minded man".
He said he was afraid for Mr Zaidi's safety, adding that the reporter had been arrested by US officials twice before.
"We fear that our correspondents in Iraq will be arrested. We have 200 correspondents there," he added.
Do you feel this was an example of "free speech" or something more and illegal? WHy or why not?
Monday, December 15, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
US faces deep problems
Obama's challenge
The OECD paints a grim picture of the challenges facing the incoming Obama administration, which takes office on 20 January.
It says that "the US economy is going through an exceptionally difficult period" and despite major policy interventions, it is likely that "activity will get worse before it gets better".
The OECD suggests that the weakness will continue well into 2010.
It also warns that "house prices appear to have further to fall, and foreclosures are widely expected to rise."
The real economy is predicted to decline through 2010
The decline in household wealth of about 20%, due to falls in the stock and housing markets, is likely to affect spending and household consumption.
The OECD broadly endorses the need for a further stimulus plan, saying that "macroeconomic policy should stand ready to provide a renewed stimulus".
But it warns that, "given the underlying fiscal situation, the package should aim to be strictly temporary, timely and targeted" - an approach that appears to differ from the plan for big infrastructure projects that President-elect Obama has talked about.
And it adds that in the longer term, "the ageing of the population and other trends put the Federal budget on an unsustainable course" and says that increased tax revenue and controls on spending will be needed.
Financial disruption
The OECD says that "resolving the financial crisis could be a long drawn-out process", which could require substantial government spending just as in previous banking crises.
It says that the "full effects of the forceful easing of monetary policy will only be felt after financial market conditions normalise".
So it argues that big rate cuts by the US central bank, the Fed, "appear to be roughly appropriate in light of the adverse effect on real activity" of the credit squeeze, and says that "monetary policy should remain highly accommodative for quite some time to support the economy and the financial system".
However, it warns that in the long run, the regulatory system needs to be fundamentally reformed, or else the rescue of troubled financial institutions "could inadvertently serve to encourage imprudent behaviour" in the future.
"A major overhaul of regulatory and supervisory policy is necessary to remedy the deficiencies in oversight that the crisis revealed," the report says.
It also calls for reform of the supervision of mortgage brokers, underwriters and credit agencies to protect borrowers and investors.
And it says, more controversially, that in the long-term "it would be preferable to leave the securitisation of mortgages to the private sector," eliminating or reducing the role of the big government-sponsored agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were effectively nationalised by the government earlier this year.
What is one problem the United States faces in this article? What do you think Obama should do to help?
The OECD paints a grim picture of the challenges facing the incoming Obama administration, which takes office on 20 January.
It says that "the US economy is going through an exceptionally difficult period" and despite major policy interventions, it is likely that "activity will get worse before it gets better".
The OECD suggests that the weakness will continue well into 2010.
It also warns that "house prices appear to have further to fall, and foreclosures are widely expected to rise."
The real economy is predicted to decline through 2010
The decline in household wealth of about 20%, due to falls in the stock and housing markets, is likely to affect spending and household consumption.
The OECD broadly endorses the need for a further stimulus plan, saying that "macroeconomic policy should stand ready to provide a renewed stimulus".
But it warns that, "given the underlying fiscal situation, the package should aim to be strictly temporary, timely and targeted" - an approach that appears to differ from the plan for big infrastructure projects that President-elect Obama has talked about.
And it adds that in the longer term, "the ageing of the population and other trends put the Federal budget on an unsustainable course" and says that increased tax revenue and controls on spending will be needed.
Financial disruption
The OECD says that "resolving the financial crisis could be a long drawn-out process", which could require substantial government spending just as in previous banking crises.
It says that the "full effects of the forceful easing of monetary policy will only be felt after financial market conditions normalise".
So it argues that big rate cuts by the US central bank, the Fed, "appear to be roughly appropriate in light of the adverse effect on real activity" of the credit squeeze, and says that "monetary policy should remain highly accommodative for quite some time to support the economy and the financial system".
However, it warns that in the long run, the regulatory system needs to be fundamentally reformed, or else the rescue of troubled financial institutions "could inadvertently serve to encourage imprudent behaviour" in the future.
"A major overhaul of regulatory and supervisory policy is necessary to remedy the deficiencies in oversight that the crisis revealed," the report says.
It also calls for reform of the supervision of mortgage brokers, underwriters and credit agencies to protect borrowers and investors.
And it says, more controversially, that in the long-term "it would be preferable to leave the securitisation of mortgages to the private sector," eliminating or reducing the role of the big government-sponsored agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were effectively nationalised by the government earlier this year.
What is one problem the United States faces in this article? What do you think Obama should do to help?
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