This morning's key headlines from
GenerationalDynamics.com:
- Greece's cash reserves will last until middle of October
- U.N. forms a special 'Iran team' to investigate nuclear program
- Egypt's President Morsi issues decree freeing jailed journalist
- Large anti-Muslim Brotherhood rally planned in Cairo Egypt on Friday
- U.S. plans to create missile defense shield across Asia
Greece's cash reserves will last until middle of October
European officials are saying that no new bailout payment will be made
to Greece until the an audit is completed by early October, to
determine whether Greece is able to meet its austerity commitments.
If Greece passes, it will receive the next bailout installment of 31.5
billion euros. In the meantime, Greece is issuing short term treasury
bills to bring in extra cash. It's freezing payments to suppliers,
it's frozen tax rebates, and it's cut other expenses, in order to
survive until mid-October. However, to make matters worse, tax
collections are down by 2.2 billion euros, as of the end of July.
Kathimerini
U.N. forms a special 'Iran team' to investigate nuclear program
Amid almost daily threats of attacks on Iran, the U.N.'s International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is forming a special Iran 20-person team,
drawing together sleuths in weapons technology, intelligence analysis,
radiation and other fields of expertise, to try to get to the truth
about Iran's plans for a nuclear weapons plans. Since Iran is
blocking many IAEA visits to places in Iran, apparently the new team
will look for evidence in other countries (or they could just google
"Iran nuclear"). My personal expectation is that there will not be an
American or Israeli attack on Iran, although many pundits are
predicting it. AP
Egypt's President Morsi issues decree freeing jailed journalist
Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi has issued his first presidential
decree, canceling the detention of defendants awaiting trial for media
offenses. Morsi was facing increasing criticism in Egypt for the
jailing last week of Islam Afifi, a critic of Morsi and the Muslim
Brotherhood, of which Morsi is a member. The new decree frees Afifi.
Morsi is the first freely elected president in Egypt's 5,000 year
history, and he's trying to establish himself as a different kind of
president than the deposed Hosni Mubarak. LA Times
Large anti-Muslim Brotherhood rally planned in Cairo Egypt on Friday
Friday is always the day of the biggest "Arab Spring" demonstrations,
because people pour out of mosques after Friday midday prayers and
take to the streets. A big demonstration in Cairo planned for this
Friday has generated controversy because it's targeting the Muslim
Brotherhood. One Muslim cleric infuriated a lot of people by
claiming, "Whoever joins the 24 August uprising ... will be committing
high treason against their nation, God, his prophet and Muslims." He
added: "Stand up against them. If they fight you, fight them back… if
they kill some of you, the martyrs will go to heaven; and if you kill
them, this will be righteous." However, Muslim Brotherhood
Secretary-General Mahmoud Hussein quickly said that every citizen
enjoyed the right to stage demonstrations – as long as said
demonstrations remained within the confines of the law and did not
damage public property. Organizers are promising that there will be
no violence, but we'll see. Al-Ahram (Cairo)
U.S. plans to create missile defense shield across Asia
The U.S. and Japan are planning a powerful new early-warning radar
system in southern Japan. The State Department says that the new
system is intended for protection from missiles from North Korea, and
has nothing to do with China, but most analysts believe that
protection from China's vast array of long-range missiles is at as
important an objective. There have been recent rumors that China is
testing a new intercontinental ballistic missile to strike any city in
the United States. Earlier this year, analysts revealed that China
was developing a new anti-carrier missile with the objective of
destroying American aircraft carriers in the Pacific. RT
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