Tag Archives: AHN
Afghanistan war marks 10th year quietly
Kabul, Afghanistan (AHN) – Friday marks the 10th year of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. The milestone will pass quietly. There was little observance by U.S. troops still in Afghanistan who just weeks earlier celebrated the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
There is not much to celebrate or commemorate. More than 2,700 troops from the United States and its partners have died during the 10 years of war, according to a CNN count. Of those, 1,780 were American.
During the decade-long war, two landmark events occurred. The Taliban has been forced out of power and Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy Seals.
Since the conflict began, the number of casualties has risen every year with a significant increase from 2008 to 2009. At least 296 coalition troops died in 2008. The number nearly doubled to 517 in 2009, the year President Obama authorized a surge of 33,000 U.S. forces to Afghanistan to combat the violence.
In 2011, plans were outlined to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, beginning with pulling the 33,000 surge troops out by the end of 2012, and the remaining 68,000 by the end of 2014. The move was followed by withdrawal announcements by most NATO nations.
The Afghanistan war was once viewed as a necessity by a majority of Americans. It has now become widely unpopular as U.S. concerns have turned to the ailing economy and high unemployment. And many in Afghanistan are equally disappointed, saying they don’t see any changes in their country.
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Major banks downgraded as Fed leaves rates unchanged
NYC, NY, United States (AHN) – Ahead of the much anticipated release of the Fed’s additional stimulus for the ailing United States economy, Moody’s Investor Service downgraded three of the world’s largest banks.
Moody’s cut Bank of America’s rating two notches to Baa1; Wells Fargo’s long term debt was cut one notch to A1; and Citigroup’s long term rating was also cut one notch to Prime-2. Moody’s slapped a negative outlook on all three.
Shortly after 2:15 p.m. EST, the Fed announced no change in interest rates. The market reacted by falling nearly 100 points. Treasuries rallied.
The Federal also announced, in a move dubbed “Operation Twist,” that is would buy $400 billion of long-term Treasuries by the end of 2012, and sell an equal amount of short-term Treasuries in an effort to stimulate the economy by pushing the average maturity of its $2.7 trillion balance sheet further out.
Gold was off about $13 dollars before and following the news.
Now comes the digestion and analysis of the Fed’s words, tone and moves.
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Spain announces temporary tax cut to stimulate new house sales
Madrid, Spain (AHN) – Spain announced it would temporarily lower the rate of the value-added tax on purchases of a new house as one method of trying to increase sluggish home sales .
Finance Minister Elena Salgado announced the government would cut the VAT on newly built housing from 8 percent to 4 percent through the end of the year.
Although house prices have plunged since 2008, a large number of properties that were built within the past few years remain unsold.
Salgado said the government hopes that cutting the VAT tax in half will help eliminate some of the surplus housing stock on the market and stimulate the construction sector, which has high rates of joblessness.
The decision to halve the VAT tax temporarily on new homes was made at a cabinet meeting convened to find ways to stimulate Spain’s economy.
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Israel’s growing wealth gap fuels economic anger
Tel Aviv, Israel (AHN) – Protestors in Israel are still complaining about the growing gap between rich and poor there.
At least a quarter million Israelis have poured into the streets within the past month to protest income inequality there. Many Israelis are still protesting in the streets and living in tent cities that have sprung up.
The wealthy are called “tycoons,” and until recently the focus was on how much money they gave to charity.
But now the focus is shifting to the fact that a handful of families controls the 10 largest businesses in Israel and controls a whopping 30 percent of Israel’s economy.
The land once best known for the communal kibbutz where people worked together and shared equally in the fruits of their labor is now better known as the industrialized nation with the largest gap between rich and poor.
Although some people think that it is good that street protests have focused attention on the problem, others say that it is equally important to address other factors — such as the bottomless pit of tax dollars spent on Israel’s bloated defense budget, and on creating, sustaining and protecting settlements on Palestinian lands.
In addition, some people argue that the concentration of wealth within a handful of families is not unusual in democracies. Israel is roughly on par with Belgium, France, Sweden and Switzerland, but has a much higher concentration of wealth than in Britain, Germany and the United States.
Nevertheless, Israelis are angry about the concentration of wealth among a small group of companies owned by families. Those family-owned companies make competition impossible in a wide variety of business sectors in Israel where they control cellphone companies, supermarket chains, banks, insurance companies and the media.
Protestors have poured into Israel’s streets for three Saturdays in a row, with an estimated 250,000 protesting in the streets last Saturday.
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