• US Vice President Biden visits Baghdad
• What does US President Obama hope to accomplish on Africa trip?
• Wind companies in China poised for green policy boost

• Changes in US health and food policies reflect rising coherence in national consciousness
• Recounting Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's praise for the brilliant achievements and leadership of Invincible America
• Iceland: A warm reception for Maharishi's knowledge

• ANALYSIS-Honduran economy vulnerable in coup aftermath
• Honduras refuses to restore President; snubs OAS
• Mountain of debt: Rising debt may be next crisis in US

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Positive Trends
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

US Vice President Biden visits Baghdad
4 July 2009 - US Vice President Joe Biden made a previously unannounced visit to Baghdad on Thursday to meet Iraqi leaders and US military commanders just days after American troops withdrew from Iraqi towns and city centres. His visit comes at a critical time in US-Iraqi relations. Washington is putting more pressure on Sunni, Shi'ite, and Kurdish leaders to resolve disputes over oil revenues and regional boundaries that have stalled political reconciliation. Biden's three-day visit comes after President Barack Obama appointed him to help coordinate Iraq policy as US officials lay the groundwork for a full withdrawal of US forces by 2012. (more)

What does US President Obama hope to accomplish on Africa trip?
4 July 2009 - US President Barack Obama heads next week to Ghana for his first trip as President to sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana, a former British colony that was the first African nation to win independence in 1957, held a closely contested Presidential election which saw power peacefully transferred to opposition leader John Atta Mills in January. The Obama administration is keen to hold up Ghana as a model for the rest of Africa, where coups are not uncommon and elections are often marred by charges of vote-rigging and sometimes violence. (more)

Wind companies in China poised for green policy boost
4 July 2009 - China's ambitious plan to increase wind power capacity could attract up to $150 billion in investment, but Beijing will have to get serious about revamping regulations and building much needed infrastructure. China is set to raise its wind power capacity to 100 gigawatts (GW) by 2020, eight times its current level and more than Britain's entire current power capacity, as part of a stimulus package aimed at boosting renewable energy. (more)

New air quality regulations under consideration in China
3 July 2009 - China is considering new air quality regulations as it looks to build on its success clearing Beijing's skies during the Olympics, environmental officials from the capital said on Friday. In the year since the Games the capital has enjoyed extended periods in which the skies have appeared their cleanest for years and officials say they are still pushing for further improvements even without the scrutiny brought by the Games. (more)

Russia's President says US and Russia must put aside differences
3 July 2009 - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday Washington and Moscow must set aside the power politics of the past and use a forthcoming summit to unite in tackling global economic and political problems. President Barack Obama's first visit to Moscow next week is expected to demonstrate the first fruits of his and Medvedev's attempts to 'reset' thorny relations, which reached post-Cold War lows under the previous US administration. (more)

Russian gambling halls shut down in most cities
3 July 2009 - One of the glitziest symbols of cash-splashing Russians vanished from Russia's cityscapes Wednesday as a law banning casinos, slot-machine parlours, and betting halls outside four remote regions of the country came into effect. The gambling law confines gambling to four special zones in far-flung regions of Russia, most thousands of miles away from Moscow. The industry is seen by officials as a breeding ground for corruption and organized crime. (more)

Say no to vodka, President tells Russians
3 July 2009 - President Dmitry Medvedev has told Russians they must kick the alcohol habit. Health Minister Tatyana Golikova has been ordered to devise an anti-alcohol strategy. The Russian government is also trying to wean Russians off gambling. From Wednesday, all gambling halls and casinos will shut and gaming will be allowed only in Las Vegas-style zones in four rarely visited regions of the country. (more)

South Africa economy to start recovery end 2009: Finance Minister
3 July 2009 - South Africa's economy will start to recover from recession later this year, with growth over the next few years seen at about 2.5 to 3.5 per cent, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Wednesday. 'Our view is that the economic recovery will start later this year, but it will be a slow, gradual recovery with employment growth lagging the economic recovery,' Gordhan told Parliament. (more)

Arms control talks top the US-Russian agenda
2 July 2009 - Arms control is at the top of the agenda for President Barack Obama's 2 1/2-day visit to Moscow starting Monday. Officials and experts on both sides say ongoing talks about a new arms control treaty might form the foundation of a new, less rancorous relationship between Washington and Moscow. Cuts in nuclear arsenals could also give the US and Russia added credibility as they try to persuade Iran and North Korea to abandon their nuclear programmes. (more)

Russia bans all gambling and shuts casinos
2 July 2009 - Russia closed down its casinos overnight as gambling was banned nationwide. Vladimir Putin, now Prime Minister, came up with the idea in 2006 when he was President after the Interior Ministry linked several gaming operations in Moscow to Georgian organized crime. Though gaming establishments knew the shutdown date for at least a year, few thought the government would go through with it, but officials moved in overnight to close them down. Some addicted gamblers thought the ban might help them. 'Maybe this is all a good thing. I'm a family man and I come here every day and lose all my money. I'll be happy to see them go,' said a 40-year-old Muscovite. (more)

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

Changes in US health and food policies reflect rising coherence in national consciousness
2 July 2009 - Dr Robert Schneider spoke recently about the current crisis in health care in the United States, which is directly related to the economic situation both in the US and globally. He cited three 'remarkable' reforms in health care, the US Food and Drug Administration, and the American Medical Association, which he sees as directly resulting from the rising coherence created in society by the Invincible America Assembly Assembly in Iowa, USA. (more)

Recounting Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's praise for the brilliant achievements and leadership of Invincible America
21 June 2009 - Recently reviewing achievements of the Global Country of World Peace in the United States, Dr Bevan Morris, Prime Minister of the Global Country, recounted two momentous occasions in 2007 and 2008 upon which Maharishi Mahesh Yogi praised the brilliant leadership of Raja John Hagelin, Raja (Administrator) of Invincible America. Maharishi said that Raja Hagelin's 'natural aspirations' to create invincibility for the world were the success of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement Maharishi founded in Madras, India 50 years before. (more)

Iceland: A warm reception for Maharishi's knowledge
7 May 2009 - Dr David Lynch, along with an Icelandic Hollywood film producer, and Raja Tom Stanley, Raja of Iceland for the Global Country of World Peace, recently met with a prominent government leader in Iceland, as well as news media and the public. Their goal was to create integration in national consciousness and assist Iceland out of its economic turmoil by introducing Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation Programme. (more)

Global Country of World Peace celebrates Day of Lasting Achievements
27 April 2009 - On Monday 27 April 2009 the Global Country of World Peace celebrated the auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya, the Day of Lasting Achievements in the Vedic Calendar. The grand, global celebration was broadcast live globally via Internet on the Maharishi Channel from MERU, Netherlands, and also from the Global Capital of World Peace at the Brahma-Sthan (geographical centre) of India, and featured special live Vedic recitation performances by Maharishi Vedic Pandits in India and in MERU. (more)

India: Reviving the city of Ayodhya as a centre of Raam Raj - ideal administration - for the whole world
22 April 2009 - The ancient city of Ayodhya is significant in the Vedic Literature as the seat of the 'reign of Raam', where suffering belonged to no one. Through the programmes of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and initiatives such as the establishment of a Brahmanand Saraswati Nagar (administrative centre) and construction of a Raam Durbar--a 'Grand Assembly Hall' for 1,000 world leaders--Ayodhya will once again be a centre of Raam Raj, ideal administration, for the world. (more)

Maharaja Adhiraj Rajaraam introduced in Golden Dome as 'greatest scientist of all human history'
6 April 2009 - Maharaja Adhiraj Rajaraam, First Ruler of the Global Country of World Peace gave a beautiful address on 3 April in the Maharishi Patanjali Golden Dome of Pure Knowledge at Maharishi University of Management. Dr Bevan Morris introduced Maharaja to the whole community as the 'greatest scientist of all human history' for his historic discovery, under the guidance of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, of Veda and Vedic Literature in human physiology. (more)

Maharaja Adhiraj Rajaraam visits his Capital in Maharishi Vedic City, USA
5 April 2009 - Maharaja Adhiraj Rajaraam, First Ruler of the Global Country of World Peace, visited the seat of his administration in North America in Maharishi Vedic City, USA on Friday 3 April, and gave a beautiful address to 1,200 faculty, students, community leaders, and Invincible America Assembly participants in the Maharishi Patanjali Golden Dome of Pure Knowledge at Maharishi University of Management. (more)

Supreme knowledge to transform today's world: Maharishi's definition of Heaven on Earth in the economy and government, life and living
28 March 2009 - Maharishi Channel concluded the historic presentation of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's definition of Heaven on Earth, as part of current initiatives to promote invincibility for every nation through Maharishi's programmes. In the conclusion of his talk, Dr Neil Paterson said, 'With reference to economy, Maharishi defines Heaven on Earth as the experience of fulfilment in the state of self-sufficiency on one side and, on the other side, by the lack of the craving for wealth in the world.' (more)

Second Printing: Manual for a Perfect Government
9 March 2009 - Raja John Hagelin's upcoming address on 'National Security' at a conference 21 March highlights growing recognition of the urgent need of governments for programmes based on total Natural Law. In Manual for a Perfect Government, now in its second printing, Dr Hagelin shows how, through educational programmes that develop human consciousness, and through policies and programmes that effectively harness the laws of nature, it is possible to solve and prevent acute social problems, and profoundly enhance governmental achievements. (more)

Maharishi's Invincible Defense Technology: The Technologies of Consciousness
6 March 2009 - In context of Raja John Hagelin's upcoming address on 'National Security' at a conference on 21 March, Global Good News presents a second article about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Invincible Defense Technology, about the Technologies of Consciousness on which this proven, practical approach to world peace and national invincibility is based - which have been validated by more than 50 replications and 23 studies published in leading peer-reviewed scientific journals. (more)

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Flops
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

ANALYSIS-Honduran economy vulnerable in coup aftermath
4 July 2009 - Honduran business leaders are nervous last weekend's military coup could trigger retaliatory sanctions that would damage an already struggling economy and key industries like coffee and textiles. Falling US demand has already cost the 'maquiladora' or assembly-for-export factory sector, some 19,000 jobs since last year, and economic growth is expected to halve to less than 2 per cent this year as exports and remittances fall. More than 70 per cent of the population is poor and around 40 per cent live on less than $1 a day. Cesar Leon, a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Guatemala, Honduras' No. 2 trading partner, said he could not rule out the possibility of closing borders to commercial trade again. (more)

Honduras refuses to restore President; snubs OAS
4 July 2009 - Honduras' refusal to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya despite an appeal by the top envoy for the Americas has put the impoverished nation on a collision course with the world community that could lead to its isolation. Honduras said it would no longer recognize the Organization of American States charter, claiming the diplomatic body attempted to impose 'unilateral and indignant resolutions' on the new government, which took power a week ago in a military-backed coup and forced Zelaya into exile. The move means Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Americas, will leave the OAS and will not face sanctions by the organization, though it would not prevent other groups and countries from suspending aid and loans. (more)

Mountain of debt: Rising debt may be next crisis in US
4 July 2009 - The Founding Fathers left one legacy not celebrated on Independence Day. It's the national debt. The debt stands today at a staggering $11.4 trillion -- equivalent to about $37,000 for each and every American. And it's expanding by over $1 trillion a year. The mountain of debt easily could become the next full-fledged economic crisis without firm action from Washington, economists of all stripes warn. Interest payments on the debt alone cost $452 billion last year, the largest federal spending category after Medicare-Medicaid, Social Security, and Defence. It's quickly crowding out all other government spending. And the Treasury is finding it harder to find new lenders. (more)

Iranian cleric: British Embassy staff to be tried
3 July 2009 - A top Iranian cleric said Friday that some of the detained Iranian staffers of the British Embassy in Tehran will be put on trial, and he accused Britain of a role in instigating widespread protests that erupted over the country's disputed presidential election. The announcement by Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati came a day after the European Union demanded Iran release the staffers, who were detained on 27 June. Britain is pressing EU countries to pull their ambassadors out of Tehran in protest. Jannati, a powerful hard-liner who is close to Iran's supreme leader, told worshippers during a Friday prayer sermon in Tehran that the detained staffers 'made confessions.' (more)

Q and A: What is behind Thailand's mysterious insurgency?
3 July 2009 - Five years after a violent rebellion erupted in Thailand's southern Muslim provinces, the conflict remains shrouded in mystery. No credible group has claimed responsibility for the near-daily attacks or made their demands public. The death toll from the unrest in Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat provinces is close to 3,500, with neither a military victory nor a political solution looking likely. Following is a list of answers concerning this elusive conflict. (more)

Ahmadinejad's rivals defiant on Iran vote
1 July 2009 - Two losing contenders in Iran's presidential election denounced the result Wednesday in clear defiance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's next cabinet would be illegitimate. Moderate former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi and reformist cleric Mehdi Karoubi unleashed fierce attacks on the outcome of the 12 June vote that returned Ahmadinejad to power. Mr Karoubi demanded the release of the 'thousands' of people he said had been arrested since the poll. Iran's police chief, Ismail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, put the total number of detainees at 1,032 and said most had been freed. The rest were 'referred to the public and revolutionary courts,' the semi-official Fars news agency quoted him as saying. He said 20 'rioters' had been killed and more than 500 police injured. (more)

Indian farmers who cashed out struggle with riches
1 July 2009 - In recent years, tens of thousands of villagers across India sold their fields to industrialists and developers building malls, suburbs, and factories for the new India. The farmers became rich overnight, and the prosperity reshaped villages like Munimpur, a dirt-laned hamlet on the fringes of New Delhi that is now crowded with satellite dishes, expensive cars and grand homes. But the new wealth has ruptured the age-old relationship that the farmers had with the soil. It has led to a string of crimes - murder, theft, assault - and troubles from property disputes to depression. Like lottery winners battered by their windfall, families that worked together for generations have been cleaved apart, upending life in a traditional land (more)

OAS delivers ultimatum to Honduras
1 July 2009 - Members of the Organization of American States have decided to give the interim government in Honduras 72 hours to reinstate democracy or face possible suspension, OAS chief Jose Miguel Insulza said on Wednesday. If within 72 hours the reinstatement doesn't happen, the assembly ... will meet again to suspend Honduras,' Mr Insulza said. He said the 72 hours would expire sometime on Saturday. Ousted President Zelaya vowed on Tuesday to return to Honduras flanked by foreign leaders to serve out his term, defying a warning from the government that ousted him that he faces immediate arrest. Because of the OAS setting an ultimatum for the interim government to back down, President Zelaya told reporters in Washington he now did not expect to return before the weekend. (more)

Iran declares election fight over, vote valid
30 June 2009 - Supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad celebrated Tuesday after Iran's highest electoral authority proclaimed the validity of its disputed election, paving the way for the incumbent to begin a second term despite claims of fraud. Pro-Ahmadinejad newspapers announced the Guardian Council's approval in large type on their front pages. Mr Mousavi has said President Ahmadinejad stole re-election through fraud and demanded a new election. Western analysts have described President Ahmadinejad's roughly 2-1 margin of victory as suspicious and improbable. The decision rules out the possibility of a new vote. (more)

Ousted Honduran leader may face arrest on return
30 June 2009 - Honduras' ousted President, bolstered by international support, said he will return home this week to regain control. The man who replaced him said that Manuel Zelaya could be met with an arrest warrant. The military coup provoked nearly universal condemnation from governments of the Western Hemisphere, and it sparked clashes in the Honduran capital that have left dozens of people injured. President Zelaya alienated the courts, Congress, the military, and even his own party, in his tumultuous three years in power, but maintains the support of many of Honduras' poor. Honduras had not seen a coup since 1978, when one military government overthrew another. (more)