This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.
Pakistan and India release each other’s fishing prisoners
On Monday, India released 39 Pakistani prisoners who had allegedly been fishing in India’s territorial waters in the Arabian Sea. Pakistan released 89 Indian prisoners who had been caught fishing in India’s territorial waters in the Arabian Sea. One fisherman had been imprisoned by Pakistan for 23 years. Dawn
Cuba’s Bay of Pigs Generation Celebrates 50 Years
April 17 is the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion, when the forces of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara defeated a small army of 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles. Cuba’s current leader, Raul Castro, is celebrating by holding the first Cuban Communist Party Congress in 14 years. Time
Syria’s security forces fire again on protesters
Syrian officials had hoped that President Bashar al-Assad’s ‘conciliatory’ speech to the nation on Sunday would be enough to calm the protests. But the fury of protesters only seemed to increase on Sunday — nor surprising during a generational Awakening era. Syria’s security forces fired on protesters with live bullets, injuring two people. Reuters
As Greece heads for debt default, the path has plenty of pitfalls
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That Greece will have to restructure its debt (a form of default) is now almost a foregone conclusion, as evidenced by the continued rise of bond yields on Friday. Last year’s bailout allowed Greece to make a few loan payments, but it only increased the size of Greece’s debt. The restructuring will have political consequences, since the politicians all told their citizens that they wouldn’t lose money. The bailout comprised direct loans from 15 eurozone countries. A restructuring could well mean losses for those 15 lenders, which would be deeply resented in Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and other strong countries whose voters were wary of the bailouts to begin with. Wall Street Journal (Access)
Upset victory in Finland puts European bailouts in doubt
The “True Finns” party, which opposes EU bailouts for any European country, won an upset victory in Finland elections on Sunday, throwing the EU bailout negotiations into disarray. Finland worked its own way through a 1990s recession, triggered by a banking meltdown that coincided with an export slump as the Soviet Union collapsed. Finns feel that the Greeks, the Irish and the Portuguese should do the same. Bloomberg
France stops all Italian trains carrying north African immigrants
Italy, which has been dealing with a flood of 20,000 Tunisian migrants pouring into Italy following the uprising in Tunisia, has followed through on its threat to provide travel visas to the migrants, allowing them to travel freely around Europe. Most of them speak French, and so most of them want to go to France, so Italy’s actions have infuriated French officials. So French border guards and riot police have been stopping migrants from Italy, and sending them back. All train services from Italy have been canceled. Telegraph
Financial crisis: US blames China, Brazil blames the US
Global finance chiefs, at the weekend meeting of the International Monetary Fund, disagreed as to who was most to blame for the financial crisis. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner blamed China and other developing nations for allowing their currencies to become too strong. Brazil Finance Minister Guido Mantega blamed loose monetary policies in the U.S., and other rich nations. (This reminds of 2005, when Fed Chairman-to-be Ben Bernanke blamed America’s debt on a “global savings glut.”) Bloomberg
Israel strives to foil new Turkish flotilla plan
Turkey plans to try again to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza by launching an aid flotilla after their June 12 elections. Israel is stepping up diplomatic efforts to derail the plan. The National (UAE)
The ‘birther’ issue
This “birther” issue has become incredibly crazy, with charges and counter-charges all over the map. There’s only one set of facts that make sense to me. As I wrote last year in a New York Times article from 2008 says that President Barack Obama was a Muslim at birth, and later chose to become Christian. So the only thing that makes sense to me is that Obama was born in Hawaii, as he’s said, but that his birth certificate gives Muslim as his religion, as Donald Trump has suggested. That would explain why Obama does not wish to release his birth certificate. This is the only set of facts that explain the craziness for me. NY Times
Coldplay fans least likely to have sex on first date
News you can use: According to a new survey by a dating web site, Coldplay music fans are least likely to have sex on a first date. Fans of Adele, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Kings Of Leon are also very unlikely to have sex on the first date. Fans of Nirvana, Metallica, Linkin Park, Kanye West, Gorillaz are most likely to be willing to have sex on the first date. NME Magazine
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