• Chile outperforms Latin American markets
• Iraq says 650 doctors have returned from exile
• Norway eyes eco investment role for wealth fund

• Coherence-creating group planned for Indonesia; Yogic Flyers supported United Nations climate change conference in Bali
• Awakening of invincibility in Spain through Maharishi's programmes - Part I
• Announcing a special Live Broadcast Monday, 9 June, in honour of Raja John Hagelin

• Pakistan: Politicians jockey as violence hits
• Pakistan: Stability hope fades with coalition split
• Thailand: Protesters break into Premier's compound

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Positive Trends
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Chile outperforms Latin American markets
26 August 2008 - Chilean financial markets outperformed their Latin American peers on Monday after a report showed the economy expanded at a faster-than-expected pace in the second quarter, boosting the country's credit-worthiness and improving the outlook for stocks. (more)

Iraq says 650 doctors have returned from exile
26 August 2008 - Some 650 of the 8,000 Iraqi physicians who fled the country since 2003 due to violence have returned to their jobs in the past two months because of improved security, a Health Ministry official said Monday. Several weeks ago the government appealed to doctors to come home. Adel Muhsin, the ministry's inspector general, said the doctors have gone back to hospitals across Iraq. (more)

Norway eyes eco investment role for wealth fund
26 August 2008 - Oil-rich Norway is pushing ahead with plans to use part of its $400 billion sovereign wealth fund to invest in renewable energy development, a deputy finance minister said on Monday. This spring Norway began an evaluation of the fund's ethical guidelines, including the possibility of earmarking some of the cash for special purposes such as investing in environmental technology firms. (more)

Offshore windmill park approved by Denmark's Parliament
26 August 2008 - Denmark's Parliament on Monday approved the construction of a 400 megawatt (MW) offshore wind turbine park in the Kattegat arm of the North Sea between Jutland and the island of Anholt in 2012. 'The park will be the biggest offshore park in Denmark and provide electricity for about 400,000 homes,' the Danish climate and energy ministry said in a statement. (more)

Progress seen at UN climate conference
26 August 2008 - Delegates at a key UN climate conference made headway Friday on a plan to encourage developing countries to regulate carbon emissions by focusing on their largest industries. The meeting of 1,600 delegates and environmentalists from 160 countries was the third conference this year working on the accord, due to be adopted in Copenhagen in December 2009. (more)

US: California stop-smoking campaign saved $86 billion in health care costs
26 August 2008 - California's large-scale tobacco control campaign has saved $86 billion in health care costs in its first 15 years, US researchers said on Monday. Unlike many programmes which center on teens, the California programme focuses its tobacco-control efforts on adults through an aggressive media campaign and changes in public policy, such as promoting smoke-free environments. (more)

China, South Korea agree to keep working on North Korea deal
25 August 2008 - The leaders of South Korea and China agreed Monday to expand cooperation in political, economic, and other fields -- including North Korea's nuclear disarmament -- as the two Asian neighbours push for a new strategic partnership. China is South Korea's largest trading partner, with two-way trade reaching US$145 billion last year. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Chinese President Hu Jintao said they want to boost that figure to US$200 billion by 2010. (more)

South Korea, China urge cooperation over North Korea
25 August 2008 - The Presidents of China and South Korea at a summit on Monday called for cooperation in sputtering talks to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons while they pledged to boost trade between the major economic partners.A joint statement issued after their talks avoided criticism of any party in the nuclear talks. Chinese President Hu Jintao is on a two-day visit to South Korea. (more)

A shift by Syria on Lebanon suggests hard-liner softens
24 August 2008 - Syria's diplomatic recognition of Lebanon marks a symbolic turning point in the two neighbours' often turbulent history, and may have bigger significance for the Middle East and the chances of an overall peace deal with Israel. Ever since Lebanon was created by the region's French rulers in 1920, Syria had refused to acknowledge its sovereignty, leaving the Lebanese with a permanent feeling of living on borrowed time. Now Syria has agreed to recognize that sovereignty. (more)

Major events in Syria-Lebanon history
24 August 2008 - The following is a timeline of events that has lead to diplomatic ties between the two neighbours and possible Middle East peace. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Coherence-creating group planned for Indonesia; Yogic Flyers supported United Nations climate change conference in Bali
18 August 2008 - Speaking on 16 August 2008, while discussing plans for establishing a permanent coherence-creating group of Yogic Flyers to create invincibility for Indonesia, Dr Willem Meijles, Raja (Administrator) of Invincible Indonesia for the Global Country of World Peace, highlighted the activities of a group of Yogic Flyers that demonstrated great success in Bali in December 2007, supporting the final three days of the United Nations Climate Change Conference. (more)

Awakening of invincibility in Spain through Maharishi's programmes - Part I
17 July 2008 - Dr Antonio Bartolome, Raja (Administrator) of Spain for the Global Country of World Peace, gave an inspiring tribute to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and an historical perspective on the rise of invincibility in Spain trough Maharishi's programmes. (more)

Announcing a special Live Broadcast Monday, 9 June, in honour of Raja John Hagelin
9 June 2008 - The Maharishi Channel announces a special live broadcast on Monday, 9 June 2008, of an international celebration in honour of Raja John Hagelin, Raja of Invincible America for the Global Country of World Peace. The celebration will be broadcast live via satellite and over the Internet on the Maharishi Channel, Channel 3. (more)

Part I: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi establishes the World Capital of Raam Raj - Seat of administration through silence
12 January 2008 - On the evening of the day of Maharishi's inauguration of the Year of Invincibility - Global Raam Raj, on 12 January 2008, to the sound of Scottish bagpipers and fireworks in the magnificent gardens of MERU, Holland, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Founder of the Global Country of World Peace, founded the World Capital of Raam Raj located in the Brahmasthan - geographic centre - of India. (more)

Part II: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi establishes the World Capital of Raam Raj - Functioning capital in the Brahmasthan (geographic centre) of India
12 January 2008 - In his talk about the crowning achievement of the beautiful day of Maharishi's inauguration of the Year of Invincibility - Global Raam Raj, on 12 January 2008, Dr John Hagelin, Raja [Administrator] of Invincible America for the Global Country of World Peace, said that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has established the World Capital of Raam Raj, and it is beginning to function today in two vitally important ways. (more)

Transcendental Meditation and recidivism
2 January 2008 - Currently, about 1.4 million Americans are behind bars, and experts agree that conventional approaches to rehabilitating prisoners have failed. In fact, nearly two-thirds of all inmates who are paroled return to prison within three years. (more)

Report on the 28th Day of the World Congress of Rajas
22 December 2007 - On its 28th day, the World Congress of Rajas (Administrators) of the Global Country of World Peace heard a report on keeping the world's foods safe, discussed a chart on the structure of the rule from silence, and saw a presentation on advances in sustainable building. (more)

Bali, Indonesia: Coherence-creating group for United Nations Climate Change Conference - Part I
17 December 2007 - A group of 350 peace-creating experts gathered--through the generosity and incentive of Mr Declan Murphy, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and environmental activist--to practise Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation Programme and its advanced techniques including Yogic Flying in order to create an influence of coherence and positivity during the United Nations Climate Change Conference held 3-14 December 2007 in Bali, Indonesia. (more)

1st Resolution of the World Congress of Rajas of the Global Country of World Peace, proposed by Dr John Hagelin, Raja of Invincible America
23 November 2007 - On this 23rd day of November, 2007 in the Capital of the Global Country of World Peace in MERU, Holland, in the auspicious presence of His Majesty Maharaja Nader Raam, First Ruler of the Global Country of World Peace, in the sublime and royal atmosphere of the World Congress of Rajas, filled with the divine blessings of Guru Dev, having performed Puja to Guru Dev, all the assembled Rajas of Maharaja's Royal Court do hereby unanimously resolve to each individually assume responsibility, initially, to bring enlightenment and invincibility to one country of the world; and in the near future, to assume responsibility for additional countries, until the complete family of 192 nations is raised to enlightenment and invincibility. (more)

1st Session of the Global Congress of Rajas
23 November 2007 - Following Puja [a Vedic ceremony of thanksgiving] to the Vedic Tradition of Total Knowledge, Maharishi addressed the Congress of Rajas, on 23 November 2007, at the International Capital of the Global Country of World Peace, MERU, Holland (more)

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Flops
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Pakistan: Politicians jockey as violence hits
27 August 2008 - Government forces killed about 40 militants in clashes in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday as increasing violence and political uncertainty deepened by a split in the government drove stocks lower. Hopes for political stability in nuclear-armed Pakistan after Pervez Musharraf resigned as President last week were dashed, when the ruling coalition, led by the party of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, fell apart over a judicial dispute and replacing Musharraf. The wrangling has distracted the government's attention from mounting militant violence, critics say. Drawn out political uncertainty and militant violence have undermined confidence of investors, and stocks fell more than 4 percent to their lowest level in more than two years in intra-day trade on Wednesday. (more)

Pakistan: Stability hope fades with coalition split
26 August 2008 - Prospects for political stability in Pakistan faded on Tuesday, a day after a split in the ruling coalition, with a battle looming over who will become the next President of the nuclear-armed US ally. A week after unpopular President Pervez Musharraf stepped down, Pakistan's second biggest party, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, pulled out of the coalition alliance. The departure fears of a return of the fractious politics of the 1990s which were brought to an end by then army chief Musharraf's coup against Sharif in 1999. 'The implications of the coalition's break-up are immense,' a newspaper said in an editorial. 'Beside a worsening of the economic situation, the political instability could encourage the Taliban to step up their war on Pakistan.' (more)

Thailand: Protesters break into Premier's compound
26 August 2008 - A mob of anti-government protesters pushed their way into the compound housing the offices of Thailand's Prime Minister on Tuesday, one of a series of actions against state agencies in the capital. Earlier, mobs of alliance protesters took over a state-controlled television station and besieged several ministries in a self-described 'final showdown' to try to bring down the elected government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. It was the first time in recent years that a large crowd managed to get onto the Government House grounds. The protest group led months of demonstrations that ended in Thaksin's ouster by the September 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and abuse of power. The strategy of the alliance now appears to be to provoke a violent crackdown from the government, with the goal of winning public sympathy and perhaps compelling the army to step in to restore order. The need to preserve order and avoid violent clashes was one of the excuses given by the military for the 2006 coup. (more)

After 5 years of war, Iraqis desperate for water
25 August 2008 - Millions of Iraqis lack access to sufficient clean water and proper sewage five years after the US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. Water and sewage are perennial challenges in this arid country, where the overhaul of decrepit public works has been hindered by years of war and neglect. Nearly a billion litres of raw sewage is dumped into Baghdad waterways each day, enough to fill 370 Olympic-sized pools. The United Nations estimates that less than half of Iraqis get drinking water piped into their homes in rural areas. In the capital, people set their alarm clocks to wake them in the middle of the night so they can fill storage tanks when water pressure is under less strain. The shortages are also causing health problems. The Iraqi government has been criticized for dragging its feet in spending money budgeted for vital reconstruction. (more)

Sri Lanka: At least 74 killed in fighting
25 August 2008 - At least 74 people were killed during a Sri Lankan military push to take the symbolic capital of the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, the military said on Monday. Troops killed 67 rebels from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and wounded 70 over three days of combat from Friday on several fronts surrounding the separatists' northern strongholds, the military said. Seven soldiers died and 54 were wounded in the same combat, part of an eight-month assault by the government with the aim of crushing the rebels to finally end a 25-year-old civil war that has killed 70,000 people. Last week, the military said it was within artillery distance of Kilinochchi, the rebels' defacto capital and a symbolic target for the government. (more)

India: Government takes away farmer's land for factory, thousands protest
24 August 2008 - Thousands of protesters surrounded a factory building what is billed as the world's cheapest car, the Nano, in the biggest demonstration yet against seizure of farmland for industry in eastern India on Sunday. The protests that the Nano factory faces reflect a larger stand-off between industry in India and farmers unwilling to part with land in a country where two-thirds of the billion-plus population depend on agriculture. Around 400 acres of seized land are still being fiercely disputed out of about 1,000 acres acquired by the government. (more)

Canada admits it's a top ecstasy supplier
23 August 2008 - Canada is one of the top three world suppliers of the psychedelic drug ecstasy, and a significant supplier of marijuana to the United States, the government admitted on Friday. Echoing US concern, it noted ecstasy was now being made with larger quantities of the more-addictive methamphetamine, or meth, than was the case in the past, making the drug more dangerous. Police figures estimate that Canada produces as much as 3,500 tons of marijuana a year, most of it grown in British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario. The 2006 report did say marijuana seizures had fallen since 2003, but partly because growers have exported their 'technical expertise' to set up grow-ops in the Unites States. (more)

US: Farmers using biotech seed to pay less insurance
23 August 2008 - In a move that benefits biotech crop companies and their farmer customers, the US Agriculture Department has approved the expansion of a risk management program that effectively lowers crop insurance costs for producers planting certain biotech corn seeds. The program was expanded from the original 2008 pilot to include more states for Monsanto Co products and other corn hybrids from DuPont Co's Pioneer Hi-Bred business division, Syngenta and Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical Co. Farmers who plant certain corn hybrids will qualify for crop insurance premium reductions in some states. The lower crop insurance premiums will begin for the 2009 crop year. In order to be eligible, farmers must plant at least 75 per cent of their corn using specific biotech technologies. (more)

US: Food and Drug Administration to allow radiation of spinach and lettuce
23 August 2008 - Health regulators have approved the use of ionizing radiation for fresh spinach and lettuce, saying the technique already approved for other foods can help control harmful bacteria and other pathogens. The Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday the radiation treatment also would make the leafy greens last longer and give them greater 'shelf-life' for retailers and consumers. The FDA's ruling could impact a variety of produce companies. The agency granted the production change in response to a request by two industry groups, the National Food Processors Association (NFPA) and The Food Irradiation Coalition. (more)

Brazil: Rio in 'real war' with militia, gangs - Governor Sergio Cabral
22 August 2008 - Rio de Janeiro police are in a 'real war' against militias and drug gangs, the state Governor Sergio Cabral in charge of the region said. Governor Sergio Cabral last week called in the army to boost security ahead of local elections in October, citing the threat to free voting from traffickers and militias, some of whom are suspected of links with state-level politicians. Media have reported numerous cases of voter intimidation by drug gangs and militias, with many candidates complaining they have been warned away from campaigning in rivals' areas. Militias first started appearing in Rio the 1970s and have proliferated in recent years. Many blame politicians and the media for encouraging them to combat drug gangs. (more)