Salah Ezzedine, Hezbollah's Madoff. Who is Salah Ezzedine? If you had asked the Lebanese people two weeks ago, you might have heard that Ezzedine was a pious man, a wealthy business man, sure, but a philanthropist as well who ran a charity organizing pilgrimage trips to Muslims holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. But today you'd hear a different story. Already dubbed the "Lebanese Madoff", in reference to Bernard Madoff, the New York failed financier whose multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme wiped out thousands of investors and charities worldwide, Salah Ezzedine is currently being held in custody on suspicion of fraud after he invested hundreds of millions of dollars of other people's money before declaring bankruptcy.
Hundreds of people had invested with him , including at least four senior members of Hezbollah who are said to have suffered serious financial losses as the result of this scheme which is suspected to amount to more than one billion dollars. As Menace to Hostages Grew, British Moved In. Iran Tests Shahab-3 Missile Ahead of Nuclear Talks (Update1) - B. Iran: la menace du Shahab-3. L'Iran vient de procéder à deux tirs d'essai de missiles Shahab-3, dont la portée maximale est estimée à 2000 kilomètres. Si tel est le cas, quelles cibles pourrait atteindre un tel engin tiré à partir du (vaste) territoire iranien, sachant qu'il s'agit d'un missile installé sur un lanceur mobile ?
En Europe : un Shahab-3 tiré du nord-ouest de l'Iran "bat" la partie orientale des Balkans, c'est-à-dire des pays membres de l'Union européenne et/ou de l'Otan - alliés de la France. Sont à portée des villes comme Bucarest, Sofia, Athènes, Istanbul... Plus au nord, Kiev (Ukraine) est menacé, comme Moscou, en limite de portée. Au Moyen-Orient : seraient sous le feu, l'ensemble du Proche-Orient arabe, en particulier Le Caire, en Egypte, Israel, la Turquie, toute la péninsule arabique. En Afrique : un Shahab tiré de l'extrême-sud de l'Iran pourrait atteindre Djibouti...
En Asie centrale : toutes les Républiques ex-soviétiques d'Asie centrale, l'Afghanistan et l'extrême-ouest de la Chine. Defeated Hezbollah accepts Lebanon election results - Haaretz - World | Africa | Suicide attack on Somalia base. BBC World Service - News - Somalia's latest government 'best hop. Somalia at Crossroads. Al-Shabaab militants have always officially denied links to al Qaeda and it is still unclear why this video was released at this particular time. But in the recent context of terrorist attacks by Islamist insurgents in the country, this video might be just another way for the insurgency to assert itself against the West. Somalia’s President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has been growing ties with the international community and the US has shown more interest and implication towards Somalia.
Sharif met last month with Hillary Clinton, who pledged to expand American support for Somalia’s government. It may seem odd that the US would support a President who imposes the Sharia (Islamic law) on its people. Listen to this interview with Jeffrey Gettleman of the New York Times which explains why Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed is the best thing that has happened to Somalia for decades.
Also the UN has just released a report stating that Somalia is facing its worst food crisis in the last 18 years. Barack Obama Prix Nobel de la paix. Obama wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel committee said they wanted to support Mr Obama's approach US President Barack Obama has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Nobel Committee said he won it for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples". The committee highlighted Mr Obama's efforts to support international bodies and promote nuclear disarmament. Mr Obama - woken up with the news early on Friday - said in an address at the White House that he was "surprised and deeply humbled" by the award. He said he did not feel he deserved to be in the company of some of the "transformative figures" who had previously received the award. Speaking outside the White House, he said he would accept the prize as a "call to action".
There were a record 205 nominations for this year's peace prize. Instead the committee chose Mr Obama, who was inaugurated less than two weeks before the 1 February nomination deadline. There was widespread surprise at the committee's decision.