Manifestations against World Cup in Brazil: Clash between rebels and police

PressTV has published a news regarding to the actual situation in Brazil, caused by the FIFA World Cup. According to this, opposers to this event gathered in Sao Paulo, more specifically in the suburb of Guarulhos, to demand better life conditions. They also said that the police started throwing tear gas and stunt grenades at them, whose response was to throw ignited fireworks at the security forces over there. A video of this violent manifestation can be seen at the link of this news.

This news could not be found in any brazilian newspaper I read. No matter how much you look into it, Brazil doesn't want to make a lot of fuzz about these kind of problems regarding the World Cup. This is right now the most anticipated event for most of the people in the world, therefore is only natural that brazilian government wants to hide this kind of setbacks from their foreign customers (who are pretty much the biggest income these days).

On the other hand, brazilian government also has their hands full with the police protests, therefore this could be another reason to "justify" the fact that they didn't publish this news. Rebellious policemen are in the streets because of a lack of a fair salary and at the same time people opposing to the WC are fighting the very few "loyal" officers because of lack of decent life conditions; this doesn't precisely say a good thing about the actual government. If all of this fuzz gets to the mass media, people will stop relying on the actual government and are going to think that the country is reaching way out of their hands, therefore chaos will only become bigger and bigger and then the actual government would have to resign one way or another.

Source: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/05/17/362955/sao-paolo-police-clash-with-protesters/

Two sides of the story: Talks in Venezuela

Taken from: http://www.islamicinvitationturkey.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/362987_Nicolas-Maduro-.jpg

Colombian paper El País says that venezuelan talks between Maduro's government and the opposition reached a dead end. According to them, it's quite complicated that any agreement might be reached because both parts are not willing to give in.

This news also says that, according to a MUD lecture, government has not only dishonored the commitments taken over a month ago, but also that they don't even know the consequences this has done to the internal situation of the country.

Another important point to consider from this paper is that both sides seem to have different views about these debates. Maduro's government see them as a space to debate about the country's internal problems, while the MUD want those dialogues to go beyond retorics and expect to actually see results.

On the other hand, Terra news says that Maduro has told the media news that dialogues with the opposition are "frozen", as the opposers would say, but they are "hotter" than ever.

Maduro says that the conversation is really hot right now because there are governors of all the country debating an endless flux of topics. He also says that the MUD was invited to the talks but they froze those by themselves because of lack of results.

From what I've read, I can tell that MUD is quite right in some points. Those conversations seem to be a lot like ... well, every single politics conversation ever made; a lot of people tirelessly defending their own ideas about the problems of the country without reaching a common veredict. 

I also noticed that Maduro uses the word "opposer" to describe pretty much everyone who's not part of his political view while the newspaper El País limited the use of this word to the MUD, therefore both sides are actually telling the truth about conversations being dead or alive, which is kinda paradoxical if you ask me.

Sources: http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2014/05/20/actualidad/1400552224_091772.html
http://noticias.terra.com.br/mundo/america-latina/maduro-diz-que-dialogo-com-oposicao-esta-mais-quente,5f19353f9c616410VgnCLD2000000ec6eb0aRCRD.html

China Hacking US: Two countries, two versions

Taken from: http://jto.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/w1-t1-chinahack-a-20140521-e1400553393423-870x479.jpg

According to USA Today, these five chinese military members hacked various U.S. enterprises to steal volumes of trade secrets and intellectual property. These companies are: Westinghouse Electric, U.S. Steel, SolarWorld, United Steel Workers Union, Allegheny Technologies Inc.and Alcoa.

They also say that they were using military and intelligence resources to download a massive quantity of data, such as strategic plans, prices, designs, costs from these industries, which include nuclear power, solar power and metals.

Of course China was prompt to react. According to China Daily, "Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang described the US move as "based on fabricated facts" and "grossly violates the basic norms governing international relations and jeopardizes China-US cooperation and mutual trust"."

China also defend itself by saying that USA did not say if the "hacking" was or not for military security purposes, pretext that has been used by the US to hack many other countries like China, in which case, not only government has been targeted by cyber spies, but also their companies and universities, as Snowden revealed.

Let's be honest here, am I the only one who thinks US government is being absolutely cynical? The NSA has been known to invade the virtual privacy of most countries in the name of security. Therefore, I'm not sure if USA has the right of making such a big fuss over this.

About China, well, I can't say they did or that they did not hack those companies and stole that amount of information. I don't have any proof to condemn or save them. Both USA and China are the ones that need to talk and see how they can solve this, because, if they don't, this could be a huge step into returning to an era of Cold War.

Sources: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/19/us-accuses-china-of-cyber-espionage/9273019/
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/us/2014-05/20/content_17519691.htm

Is Japan brainwashing kids?: China Daily appears to think so

Taken from: http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1802/PreviewComp/SuperStock_1802R-21640.jpg

According to China Daily, Japan is brainwashing kids by changing the texts in schools so the chinese Diaoyu islands are known as the japanese Senkaku islands.

Daily China also says that "The fact-twisting textbooks for schools will teach Japanese students a false version of history,which risks breeding generations of confrontation, says a Xinhua News Agency commentary" and that "Keeping Japan's younger generations, the future of the nation, ignorant of the truth of history shows the recklessness of the Abe administration and its willingness to gamble regional peacefor its own shameful aims."

As you would expect, there's nothing about such a thing in any japanese newspaper. I personally think this is not precisely because of a need to hide the truth but because it was a pointless argument to counter-attack. Even though the Senkaku (Diaoyu) islands conflict is still not solved and both countries have actually something to prove their sovereignity over this territory, this article is so poorly written and argumented that is a complete waste of time for any serious reporter to say something about it. This article shows more the unilateral, unchangable, point of view of the writer than a serious investigation been made about this "brainwashing", therefore it just makes no sense debating about it.

Source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/China-Japan-Relations/2014-01/30/content_17327188.htm

Syrian rebels armed with anti-tank weapons: Is US involved or not?

Recently, the rebels in Syria have been spotted holding a new weapon in their arsenal, a BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missile, which are US-made tube-launched, optically-tracked, wire-guided anti-tank missiles. You can watch some videos here, here, and here.

According to Fars News, the missiles have been seen at the hands of Hazem militants, who are loyal to former head of the military council of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) Salim Idris, in Idlib countryside in Northwestern Syria. These militants are recently operating MANPADS as well, shoulder-launched anti- aircraft missiles also made by the USA.

Fars News also reported that their sources said the US has supplied the anti-tank missiles to the militants fighting against Assad.

In RT is said that if this is true, it would be “the first advanced US weapon to be deployed in more than three years of civil war.”

They also say that "Syrian tank armor is not thick enough to withstand the BGM-71 TOW rockets. To save his tanks, Assad has shifted the brunt of his anti-rebel operation to heavy air force bombardments, which claim a heavy toll among civilians,” Debkafile continued. “Washington is therefore confronted with its next decision about whether to give the rebels sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons as well."

Taken from: https://fbexternal-a.akamaihd.net/safe_image.php?d=AQA-S6C0jiVZ_3q4&w=377&h=197&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.syrianperspective.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F04%2FUnited-States-secretly-sending-anti-tank-missiles-to-Syrian-rebels-reports-YouTube.png&cfs=1

On the other hand, according to Reuters, the shipments the USA sends to the syrian rebels are quite modest and they do not contain advanced weaponry, since they fear it could be taken by the syrian government, therefore MANPADS missiles are definetly not included in the shipments.

If the USA declaration about this is true, we could also look at other options about how could the rebels get such advanced weaponry:- It could have been supplied by Saudi Arabia. 

- It could have been acquired via the Lebanese black market.

- The missiles could have been captured from regime forces. Hizbullah is known to have TOWs in its inventory, and Iran is manufacturing its own copy of TOW, called Toophan, it could have delivered those to pro-Assadists. However, it should be noted that as of now there is no evidence of Hizbullah bringing its TOWs into Syria or of Toophan missiles being used by pro-Assad forces.

Taken from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/TOW_antitank_greek.jpg/350px-TOW_antitank_greek.jpg

The only way to verify the true supplier of these weapons is to wait until more photos and videos are taken, and then try to see which would be the true suppliers of such massive weaponry. Until then, even though the USA - support theory would be the most probable, it's not necessarily the true one, so there's no way to make a veredict.

Bibliography:

- http://rt.com/usa/us-syria-moderate-opposition-weapons-921/

- http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13930118000768

- http://spioenkop.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-new-weapon-on-syrian-battlefield-bgm.html

- http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/04/us-usa-syria-rebels-idUSBREA331ZI20140404

Nuova politica ambientale in Europa

Per il 2030, l'unione europea ha cercato di sviluppare una nuova politica ambientale. In particolare, i nuovi pilastri di questa nuova politica sono: la riduzione delle emissioni di gas a effetto serra; l’aumento dell’utilizzo di energie rinnovabili; delle politiche di efficienza energetica più ambiziose; la riforma del mercato delle emissioni; un nuovo sistema di governance; e una serie di nuovi indicatori per assicurare un sistema energetico competitivo e sicuro.

Un tema principale di questa è l’obiettivo di ridurre le emissioni del 40% rispetto al livello del 1990. Per raggiungere questo ambizioso traguardo, la Commissione ha previsto che i settori vincolati dalla direttiva sul mercato ETS dovranno garantire una riduzione del 2,2% annuo. Gli altri settori, non compresi nel mercato ETS, dovranno generare una riduzione del 20% al di sotto del livello del 2005. Questo sforzo sarebbe ripartito equamente tra tutti gli Stati membri. Inoltre, la Commissione invita il Consiglio e il Parlamento a concordare, entro la fine del 2014, che l’UE si impegni a realizzare una riduzione del 40% nell’ambito dei negoziati internazionali per un nuovo accordo mondiale sul clima, che si concluderanno nel 2015 a Parigi.

Presa da: http://www.noticiassin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Union-Europea.jpg

Personalmente aspetto che questa nuova politica ambientale non sia un fiasco come il protocollo di Kyoto. Sarebbe bello che ci sia per lo meno un paese del primer mondo che serva come esempio al resto del mondo per prendere coscienza del nostro mezzo ambiente (specialmente perché se é un paese primermondista sará molto piú menzionato per i mezzi di telelcomunicazioni internazionali).

Anche se il vero resultato di questa politica si vedrá nel 2030, se si vede per lo meno qualsiasi diminuzione delle emissioni di gas serra e un aumento dell' efficienza dell' energía a breve termine sará molto piú che quello che si viene facendo questo secolo. Perció, anche se l'idea di riparare il mondo suona molto utópica, se si puó per lo meno diminuire il danno che si viene facendo, quello giá é un guadagno per tutti noi.

Preso da: http://www.geopolitica.info/la-nuova-politica-energetica-e-ambientale-europea/

Ucraina richiama i riservisti

Il Consiglio di Sicurezza Nazionale ucraino ha deciso di richiamare i riservisti per “garantire la sicurezza e l’integrità del territorio”. Questo si fece per la contromossa di Kiev in seguito allo sbarco di truppe russe in Crimea ed alla presenza di migliaia di militari e mezzi corazzati  sul confine orientale dell’Ucraina,  i quali sono pronti per intervenire nel caso che arrivasse l’ordine d’attacco.

La giustificazione morale accampata da Putin per aggredire l’Ucraina si basa principalmente sul fatto che nell’est del paese ed in Crimea una buona parte della popolazione è russofona ma, non per niente l’invasione della Crimea e la conquista degli aeroporti e degli scali navali della penisola, avvenuta negli ultimi giorni con l’ausilio di 6000 uomini fatti sbarcare in territorio ucraino con un ponte aereo, è stata portata avanti scandendo lo slogan “difendiamo la popolazione russa!” e favorendo la nascita di gruppi paramilitari di guerriglieri sostenitori dell’ex presidente Yanukovich.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2tptCw2ScQ

La situazione in Ucraina ha diventato molto peggiore in un tempo relativamente corto. La Russia ha deciso di intervenire di una maniera molto attiva in questa rivoluzione dopo il ritiro dell' ex presidente Yanukovic. É molto piú probabile che questa invazione sia stata per il debito tanto grande che questo paese ha con la Russia che per "diffendere la popolazione russa", ma, considerando questo, se l'America anche decide di inviare truppe all' Ucraina, utilizzando uno slogan come "diffendiamo la popolazione ucraina" o qualisasi scusa "umanitaria", questo potrebbe diventare una vera guerra internazionale.

Il governo ucraino deve avanzare con moltissima precauzione d' ora in poi, giacché qualsiasi movimento mal fatto potrebbe fare la differenza tra il fine di una rivoluzione e l' inizio di una vera guerra con loro come l'epicentro, e se succede la seconda, é sicuro che l´Ucraina sará esterminata della faccia del pianetta.

Nuovo attacco dell’aviazione israeliana ad obiettivi Hezbollah, al confine fra la Siria e il Libano

Questo attacco é stato riferito da una fonte libanese e l’Osservatorio siriano sui diritti umani, vicino agli insorti e con sede a Londra, i quali hanno parlato di “Due raid israeliani che hanno colpito un obiettivo di Hezbollah alla frontiera libanese-siriana”, per la precisione “una base missilistica” del gruppo sciita, in Siria impegnato nel conflitto con circa 4mila militari a fianco di al-Assad.

La televisione al-Manar, vicina al movimento sciita libanese, ha invece smentito la notizia, riportando che “nessun raid israeliano ha avuto luogo sul territorio libanese”, pur ammettendo che vi sono stati “intensi sorvoli dell’aviazione del nemico sulla regione nord della Bekaa”.

Per quanto Israele non abbia ne’ ammesso ne’ smentito l’attacco, fonti hanno informato che ad essere colpita sarebbe stata una base nella valle di Bekaa con un razzo trasportabile Tochka, di fabbricazione russa e in grado di portare una testata nucleare, ed un SS- 21 Scarab, di fabbricazione statunitense, anch’esso montato sopra un camion, capace di portare una testata di 480 kg, con un raggio di 70 km.

Razzi di questo genere con testate convenzionali sarebbero stati sparati di recente contro le brigate degli jihadisti legate ad al-Qaeda nella battaglia per il controllo di Qalamoun, a 80 km dal confine siriano.

Nel gennaio 2013 i caccia israeliani avevano colpito in due attacchi il centro di ricerche militari di Jamaraya e un convoglio che portava armi in Libano, mentre nel maggio successivo avevano centrato un convoglio che trasportava armi, sempre per il gruppo paramilitare degli Hezbollah. A quanto si era appreso da al-Arabiya, si sarebbe trattato di mezzi che trasportavano missili sofisticati.

Preso da: http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/2/4/9/1647942.jpg

Il conflitto con gli Hezbollah vienne da tanto tempo fá e questo gruppo armato e financiato militarmente da paesi come Iran e Siria, non sarebbe niente stranno che sianno in possedimento di un armamento cosí sofisticato. Quello che per me fa particolarmente difficile il commentare qualsiasi cosa sú questa notizia é la quantitá di versioni della storia: Per un lato, sono quelli che dicono che non c'é stato nessun raid, e per un altro lato quelli che dicono che sono stati due. Con una informazione cosí sparpagliata e impossibilie emitire un giudicamento senza indagare di piú.

La unica cosa che io veramente credo e che nei raid dell' anno scorso veramente si sono trovati armamenti di alta capacitá di destruzione e che veramente si centrarono vari convogli che portavano armi al Libano. Questo sarebbe in funzione di difendere il paese e non considero che sia una cosa cattiva di fare, perció, lo único che posso dire é che se quelli raid sono veri, il governo israelí é in capacitá di smettere quel traffico e di evitare un attaco terrorista a maggiore scala.

Fonte: http://www.notiziegeopolitiche.net/?p=38672

Venezuela: Protesting against it's government

Since a week ago, Venezuela has been facing a series of protests because of Maduro's government. The inflation, the insecurity and the lack of basic products are pretty much the things that has been affecting the people in such a rate that they decided to rebel.

Maduro’s government on Monday gave three US Embassy officials 48 hours to leave the country, charging that the Obama administration is siding with opposition protesters, accusation that the U.S. government has denied. The three expelled officials — Breeann Marie McCusker, Jeffrey Gordon Elsen and Kristofer Lee Clark — all enjoyed the rank of second secretary, and two of them were vice consuls.  

In Washington, the State Department said it hadn’t received any formal notification of the expulsions. It also said reports that the U.S. is helping to organise protests are ‘‘baseless and false’’ and called on the Venezuelan government to engage the opposition in ‘‘meaningful dialogue.’’ 

Another problem with this protests is the media blockade made by the government. More than 1,000 students, who have spent the past week on the streets alternating between peaceful protests by day and battles with police at night, marched on Monday to Venezuela’s telecommunications regulator to demand it lift all restrictions on the news media’s coverage of the unfolding political crisis.  

Police repelled the activists with tear gas and rubber bullets but there were no reports of serious injuries. 

Several journalists have been harassed and detained in the past week. Colombia’s news channel NTN24 was taken off cable television while covering protests that ended in a battle between student demonstrators and security forces backed by armed pro-government militias.  

Three people were killed during those clashes last week, two students and a pro-government demonstrator.

Taken from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFS6cP9auDc

I'm not exactly a Maduro's fan, and I may not be Venezuelan but I bet people over there must be really having a hard time living under this kind of government.

If a president can't even guarantee the basic resources of it's people, like sugar, oil, flour, he's definitely doing something VERY wrong. People has their reasons to rebel and to make their voice to be heard, to ply for a solution to a really worrying issue. Even the infrastructure is quite deteriorated, as it is seen in Venezuela's capital, Caracas:

Taken from: http://youtu.be/7MNtp2NAcJY

So, if people's got that right, why should a government be so afraid, so tyrannic that they even decided to take away that right, blocking all the media? Is Maduro so blind that he actually thinks the venezuelan people are opposing because of a U.S. conspiracy? Can't he see it's his own fault by depriving the people he's supposed to help of everything? By destroying the country he's supposed to build?

As I said, I may not be venezuelan, but I certainly can't agree with a president that thinks he can do whatever he wants with his people and assumes there will be no consequences. That being said, I'm kinda glad that venezuelan people are standing up against that kind of mistreat. Even if the constitution says that a referendum to revoke Maduro from power can only be made two years from now, they must not keep quiet all that time. Sometimes, revolution is the only way to make a country snap out of it and start making things right, therefore, I actually wish the best of luck to Venezuela right now.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/9734789/Venezuela-tense-ahead-of-dueling-demonstrations

Syria goes to the second round of peace talks

Syria's government and opposition began a second round of UN-mediated talks in Geneva on Monday but failed to meet face to face, as a fragile ceasefire and "humanitarian pause" in the central city of Homs was extended for three days to allow the evacuation of more civilians.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the Algerian diplomat chairing the conference, met each side separately to urge them to focus on the two main issues of stopping the fighting, which has killed an estimated 136,000 people, and working out how to set up a "transitional governing body" to replace the current government in Damascus.
Brahimi appeared to signal a more discreet approach by failing to hold a press conference at UN headquarters after Monday's talks, as he did following every session during the first week at the end of January. On Friday he is to meet senior US and Russian diplomats in the hope that Washington and Moscow will exercise their influence with the warring parties.
Still, while the idea of pacific talks is on, the massacres in Syria have not been less than before. Faisal Mekdad, Syria's deputy foreign minister, said: "We can't achieve a thing until massacres in Syria come to a stop." It would be a waste of time to discuss Assad's departure, he added. The official delegation also presented a document to Brahimi formulating the now familiar demand that "terrorism" – its blanket term for all opposition to the president – must be defeated before political issues can be discussed.
On the other hand the opposition said that the government has killed more than 1,805 people since the start of the Geneva II process on 22 January. It said at least 834 people had been killed in Aleppo alone by more than 130 barrel bombs. It also referred to evidence released by international human rights groups about the large-scale demolition of entire neighborhoods with explosives and bulldozers.

Taken from: http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/51910e14ecad046e01000007/total-devastation-in-one-syrian-city.jpg

My opinion about this is that the syrian peace talks are going about as smooth as the colombian ones. Even if they make truces while they're at it but both parties immediately break them there won't be such thing as "peace", only more and more delusion.

I definitely agree with Faisal Mekdad's point of view: Negotiation cannot be started unless the massacres stop, just like here in Colombia. How do anyone expect to make peace negotiations while they don't have the minimum intention to stop killing people? Especially the innocent civilians who are being slaughtered in the middle of the crossfires? 

The answer I give is a simple "it's impossible". If syrian government and opposition really want to reach an agreement of peace, they shall start by at least diminishing the damage caused by war all over their country.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/10/syria-peace-talks-homs-ceasefire-extended

Elections in Afghanistan: A place for hope or fear?

Election campaigns have officially started in Afghanistan, a country plagued by violence since before anyone can remember, but still, the best hope their citizens have to reach a certain stability.

The posters and the propaganda have already started in many of the afghan cities, but the Al Qaeda already started with violent attacks even before the election, which they call "a waste of time", killing two people.

Because of this, all the eleven candidates were given armored cars and more than 36 policemen for their protection. The campaign ends by April 2 but if none of the candidates obtains at least 50% of the votes, it will be postponed until summer, situation that concerns foreign forces which expect to make (military) deals with Afghanistan.

Taken from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Afghan_elections_2005.jpg

This is indeed a start for the afghan people into the world of democracy. Eleven candidates, each one with the capacity to improve the conditions of a country remember only by terrorism and opium trades ... or at least that's what some people believe, but let's be honest, in a country where there's close to none freedom because of the unstoppable-like armed groups that can kill anyone that oppose them, a notable fame for fraud and a raging poverty there's just no easy exit.

Let's say one of the candidates gets more than 50% of the votes, doesn't face any murders during his campaign and basically has a smooth mandate. How is just one man going to actually face and erase all of the problems I mentioned right before? I'm not going to say future is looking bright there. To be able to solve all of those problems it's needed a long time and who knows what might happen in such an extensive period of time. There's also the international pressure if the internal stuff wasn't enough, and those decisions the president does will affect the normal citizens and the armed groups as well who might not be happy with whatever he decides.

Anyways, right now the only thing I got left to say is ... best of luck to whichever candidate gets the "crown".

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/02/afghanistan-election-campaign-begins

Ukraine repeals anti-protest laws and offers amnesty

After the retirement of ukrainian prime minister Nicolay Azarov and his cabinet, which according to the man himself, abandoned his charge to make a last attempt to peacefully resolve the current problem in Ukraine, the justice minister of the mentioned country Olena Lukash decided to bend on the anti-protest laws that had been going on since January 16 and also said that there will be given an amnesty for those rebels who seized the justice ministry (and then retired after Lukash threatened them to impose a state of emergency)  as long as they cleared out "all seized premiers and roads". 

Taken from: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-protests-generational-divide/25182439.html

To me this isn't really a victory for protesters because they still haven't really got what they've been asking this whole time, but at least the government looks like it's concerned enough about that rebellion that they are trying to avoid extreme measurements such as going into a state of emergency or becoming a dictatorship because that would only lead to massacres for both sides, leaving only death, despair and hatred towards each other. This, to me, is actually something that could give the protesters hope to see their goals fulfilled in a negotiation's table and not in a battlefield, so, I guess they'll just have to keep trying.

Sources: http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/27/world/europe/ukraine-protests/index.html?iref=allsearch
http://rt.com/news/ukrainian-minister-azarov-resigns-286/  (this one was only to get a little bit of information about the ukrainian now ex prime minister)