Bill Clinton: President Obama not getting his due - Andy Barr - POLITICO.com

Bill Clinton: President Obama not getting his due - Andy Barr - POLITICO.com
By ANDY BARR | 6/28/10 10:25 AM EDT

Former President Bill Clinton says Barack Obama is doing a 'better job than he's given credit for.'

Clinton, speaking in Cape Town, South Africa as part of the Fortune/Time/CNN Global Forum, said that public perception of the president has lagged behind what he has done to benefit the country.

“I think he's done a better job than he's given credit for,” Clinton said. “I feel very strongly about this.”

The former president, who, like Obama, saw his polling numbers dip dramatically during his second year in office, said that Obama is not fully “responsible” for how he is perceived, adding that a dip in approval is “not avoidable” in an economic downturn.

BBC News - Should Gazprom fear shale gas revolution?

BBC News - Should Gazprom fear shale gas revolution?

By Konstantin Rozhnov Business reporter, BBC News European countries heavily dependent on Russian gas supplies are cheered by signs of a balance shift in the continent's energy market. Russia supplies more than a quarter of Europe's gas needs Dozens of companies, including world majors, have begun exploring or even drilling in search of shale gas, amid talk of huge reserves in the US, Poland and many other countries. Russian gas giant Gazprom's deputy chief executive Alexander Medvedev has reacted by branding shale gas projects as "dangerous", provoking suspicions that Russia could be unnerved by the latest developments in the world gas market. In 2009, Russia was beaten by the US to the title of the world's leader in gas production, but it still satisfies more than a quarter of Europe's gas needs.

Gallup: Conservative Numbers Head Toward Record Year

Gallup: Conservative Numbers Head Toward Record Year

Friday, 25 Jun 2010 04:09 PM

Conservatives in the United States are on track to record their highest annual statistics in the Gallup poll’s 18-year history of measuring conservative/liberal ideologies.

That nugget emerges from the results of a USA Today/Gallup analysis of eight surveys taken between January and June, which noted that 42 percent of Americans describe themselves as either very conservative or conservative. That’s up from the 40 percent figure recorded for all of 2009 and trounces the 20 percent who call themselves liberal or very liberal.

Bill O'Reilly: Stratfor.com Intel Briefing - Stratfor.com: Germany and Russia Move Closer

Bill O'Reilly: Stratfor.com Intel Briefing - Stratfor.com: Germany and Russia Move Closer
Stratfor.com: Germany and Russia Move Closer

June 22, 2010

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will brief French and Polish officials on a joint proposal for Russian-European "cooperation on security," according to a statement from Westerwelle's spokesman on Monday. The proposal emerged out of talks between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev earlier in June and is based on a draft Russia drew up in 2008. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will be present at the meeting. Peschke said, "We want to further elaborate and discuss it within the triangle [i.e., France, Germany and Poland] in the presence of the Russian foreign minister." On the surface, the proposal developed by Merkel and Medvedev appears primarily structural. It raises security discussions about specific trouble spots to the ministerial level rather than the ambassadorial level, with a committee being formed consisting of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Russia's foreign minister. All of this seems rather mild until we consider three things. First, proposals for deepening the relationship between Russia and the European Union have been on the table for several years without much progress. Second, the Germans have taken this initiative at a time when German foreign policy is in a state of flux. And third, the decision to take this deal to France and Poland indicates that the Germans are extremely sensitive to the geopolitical issues involved, which are significant and complex.

Russia Backs Report Critical of Its Caucasus Policy - NYTimes.com

Russia Backs Report Critical of Its Caucasus Policy - NYTimes.com

MOSCOW — To the surprise of human rights activists, Russian delegates to the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly on Tuesday approved a sharply critical draft resolution on Russia’s policy in the North Caucasus, which says “human rights violations and the climate of complete impunity were bound to foster the rise of extremist movements.”

This is hardly the first time that the Strasbourg, France-based assembly has issued a damning assessment of human rights in the North Caucasus, the mountainous region on Russia’s southern border where separatist wars in the 1990s have given way to a persistent insurgency. But never in 14 years of membership has Russia’s delegation voted unanimously to approve one, much less praised it as objective and balanced.

Moldova: What a Difference a Year Makes - New Europe

Moldova: What a Difference a Year Makes - New Europe

WASHINGTON - Exactly a year ago, Moldova was a mess. Two days after parliamentary elections, on April 7, 2009, initial results showed the Communist Party with a lead big enough to maintain control over the legislature and government, if not the presidency. In a country where freedom of expression had become an ideal, not a reality, and following an electoral campaign tightly controlled by the governing Communists, frustrations boiled over among some protestors, especially youth who took to the streets and ransacked the parliament and presidential buildings. Three people died in the violence, and others were subsequently subjected to brutal treatment and abuse by police.