World Bank's New Boss, American Soldiers at it again, Syria

New World Bank Chief

US nominee Kim Yong Kim has been chosen as the new president of the World Bank.Dr Kim will succeed Robert Zoellick, serving a five-year term beginning on 1 July.Aged 52, Jim Yong Kim is a doctor lauded for his pioneering role in treating HIV/AIDS and reducing the impact of tuberculosis in the developing world.

Mr Zoellick added:"Jim has seen poverty and vulnerability first-hand, through his impressive work in developing countries.

Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington suggested Dr Kim would make a very

different kind of leader."There's just no comparison between him and any of the prior World Bank presidents."he said"The others were political insiders.They spent most of their lives getting rich or becoming politically powerful, or worse.Kim, by contrast, has spent most of his life trying to improve the lives of poor people."

A revolutionary change awaits World Bank.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17735368

US condemns Afghan bodies 'abuse' by soldiers in 2010

Defence secretary Leon Panetta's spokesman pledged that the perpetrators would be punished.His comments came after the Los Angeles Times published pictures showing US soldiers posing with the mangled remains of suspected suicide bombers.

The photos came at a particularly sensitive time for US-Afghan relations.Some are seen grinning next to the bodies, while others are seen holding the corpse's severed legs while in another set of photos apparently shows soldiers from the same division holding a dead man's hand with the middle finger raised.

The pictures were said to be given by a US soldier "to draw attention to the safety risk of a breakdown in leadership and discipline"among American troops.The depicted soldiers had seen friends killed or wounded in suicide and other bomb attacks in the course of their year-long deployment, the paper said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17759417

Syria 'failing to keep to truce'

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of UN says Syria has failed to comply with its obligation under a peace plan to pull troops and heavy weapons out of urban areas.In a letter to the UN security Council, Ban Ki-moon called for an observer mission to be expanded to 300 as there are continued reports of violence in Syria, threatening the fragile ceasefire.

Ban Ki-moon also said that the level of violence dropped markedly when the ceasefire began. there had been an escalation in recent days. Breaches had also been reported by both sides.There was no significant release of detainees and no substantive progress.Observers were mobbed by protesters in the Damascus suburb of Arbeen but was later dispersed by firing projectiles.

Syria still in a transition period i guess, there is still an uncertainty that Syria would just break out into fights and maybe a civil war, we never know as both sides there are already breaching reports from both sides and if such breaching continues things would get ugly.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17765654