Κονομάει χοντρά η Χαμάς απ’ τη φτώχεια και την απομόνωση…

Του Doron Peskin

ΠΗΓΗ: «ynetnews.com», 15.7.2014

17/07/2014 11:09

Με συμφωνίες ακινήτων πολλών εκατομμυρίων δολαρίων, πολυτελείς βίλλες και την μαύρη αγορά καυσίμων από την Αίγυπτο, οι κυβερνώντες της Γάζας έχουν συγκεντρώσει δισεκατομμύρια δολάρια ενώ ο υπόλοιπος πληθυσμός αγωνίζεται με την φτώχεια που φτάνει το 38% του πληθυσμού και την ανεργία που φτάνει το 40%.

Ενώ οι μάχες αναμένεται να επιδεινώσουν τα δεινά των κατοίκων της Γάζας, το οικονομικό μέλλον της Λωρίδας δεν ήταν ποτέ ευοίωνο. Η ανεργία στη Γάζα βρισκόταν περίπου στο 40% πριν την τελευταία σύγκρουση, με ανάλογο ποσοστό να βρίσκεται κάτω από το όριο της φτώχειας.

A mounting toll

Jul 14th 2014, 9:54 by N.S. | DONETSK

The Economist

VLADIMIR PISKUNOV once had roses in his garden, red and white ones lining the patio. He once had tomatoes, ripening alongside the cherry trees. He once had a roof over his house. He once had a wife. All of that was wiped out late in the afternoon of July 12th, when three Grad rockets hit 15 Lyubovich Street on the western edge of Donetsk. One landed directly on his house, blasting a crater through its center and killing his wife Tatiana, who was clambering to the basement for safety.

China: Wealth and Democracy

Will Western levels of income mean that China adopts Western models of democracy?

By Christopher Ernest Barber

June 10, 2014

http://thediplomat.com/2014/06/china-wealth-and-democracy/

In a recent article, I discussed a report tabled by the IMF on China’s economic future. In it, IMF economists Malhar Nabar and Papa N’Diaye argued that if Chinese authorities are able to complete the necessary economic reforms, then China will become a high-income economy by 2030. In nominal terms, high-income economies have a Gross National Income (GNI) of more than $12,616 per capita. This effectively demarcates those nations that are rich and those that are not. Of course, while China will enter the rich nations club, with its current GNI of $5,720, the dragon economy will have a long way to go in order to match the sheer wealth of the United States (which has a GNI of $52,340). Nevertheless, given its relative size, China is set to overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy by 2030.

Russia warns Ukraine of ‘irreversible consequences’ after cross-border shelling

By Karoun Demirjian and Michael Birnbaum July 13 at 7:46 PM

The Washington Post

MOSCOW— Russia on Sunday accused Ukraine of lobbing a shell over the border and killing a Russian civilian and warned of “irreversible consequences,” in a sharp escalation of rhetoric that raised fears of a Russian invasion in Ukraine’s east.

The accusation, which Ukrainian officials denied, set off furious denunciations in Russia, with one senior legislator calling for pinpoint airstrikes on Ukrainian soil of the sort he said Israel was making in the Gaza Strip.

Ukrainian security officials, meanwhile, said that about 100 military vehicles driven by “mercenaries” had attempted to cross the border from Russia early Sunday, and that Ukraine’s military had destroyed some of the vehicles.

Deadlock Blocks Iraqi Leadership Vote as ISIS Makes Gains Toward Baghdad

By ALISSA J. RUBIN and SUADAD AL-SALHYJULY 13, 2014

The New York Times

BAGHDAD — As Iraq’s deadlocked Parliament was again unable to reach a deal to name a new speaker on Sunday, Sunni militants carried out a raid near Baghdad, a symbolically significant attack signaling their intent to move closer, even if only by a few miles, toward the Iraqi capital.

Although the pretext for the delay was a severe sandstorm that prevented northern Iraq’s Kurdish lawmakers from flying to Baghdad, the real reason appeared to be that last-minute deals between the largest Shiite bloc and the Sunnis were falling apart.

Chechen in Syria a rising star in extremist group

(The Washington Post)

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS July 2 at 12:33 PM

BEIRUT — A young, red-bearded ethnic Chechen has rapidly become one of the most prominent commanders in the breakaway al-Qaida group that has overrun swaths of Iraq and Syria, illustrating the international nature of the movement.

Omar al-Shishani, one of hundreds of Chechens who have been among the toughest jihadi fighters in Syria, has emerged as the face of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, appearing frequently in its online videos — in contrast to the group’s Iraqi leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who remains deep in hiding and has hardly ever been photographed.

Kurdish region is exploring whether to be part of Iraq or whether to be independent

The Washington Post

BY KAREN DEYOUNG AND STEVEN MUFSON July 2 at 8:46 PM

Iraq’s Kurdistan region is pursuing two separate paths to the future, one as part of Iraq and one as an independent state, said senior Kurdish officials who met with Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Wednesday in Washington.

But even if a suitable government is formed in Baghdad — for Kurds, one that does not include Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — “we are not ready to go back to pre-June 9,” when Islamist militants began their advance across the northwest part of the country, said Fuad Hussein, chief of staff to Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Russia Demands New Cease-Fire in Ukraine as Foreign Ministers Seek Path to Peace

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORNJULY 2, 2014

The New York Times

MOSCOW — In a stern warning that cited civilian casualties in war-torn eastern Ukraine, Russia on Wednesday demanded that the Ukrainian government reinstate a cease-fire and halt its military operation aimed at suppressing the pro-Russian separatist insurrection that has destabilized the region for more than three months.

“Again we resolutely demand that the Ukrainian authorities — provided they are still able to evaluate sensibly the consequences of the criminal policy they conduct — to stop shelling peaceful cities and villages in their own country, to return to a real cease-fire in order to save human lives,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Why the run on banks?

Bulgaria

Jul 1st 2014, 17:32 by G.K. | SOFIA

IN A country struggling with rampant corruption, a weak judiciary and unstable government, the Bulgarian banking system has consistently won praise for its stable institutions, high liquidity and low risk. In the past few weeks that system has come under attack in the worst run on banks in 17 years.

The central bank said runs on First Investment Bank (FIB) and Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB), the country’s third and fourth largest lenders, in the past two weeks were part of a “deliberate and systematic attempt to destabilise Bulgaria's banking system”. According to the authorities, criminals tried to disrupt the system by sending e-mails and text messages urging people to withdraw their funds from several large banks.

Euro-Zone Inflation Rate Stays at Lowest Level in Over Four Years

Figures Underline the Scale of the Challenge Facing the ECB

The Wall Street Journal

By PAUL HANNON And TODD BUELL CONNECT

Updated June 30, 2014 6:38 a.m. ET

The euro zone's annual rate of inflation was unchanged in June, stuck at its lowest level in more than four years, while bank lending to households and businesses declined in May.

The ECB took steps on June 5 designed to stave off the threat of dangerously low inflation in Europe, including cutting a key interest rate below zero for the first time to get banks to lend more to credit-starved customers.