Senator Obama arrived in Amman, Jordan early Tuesday after spending two days in Iraq.
In a news conference at The Temple of Hercules (pictured) before his meeting with the king, Obama vowed to work for a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations “starting from the minute I’m sworn into office.”
He said he will continue to regard Israel as a valued ally and “that policy is not going to change.”Obama said that if elected president, he would also “recognize the legitimate difficulties that the Palestinian people are experiencing.”
The king met with Obama behind closed doors at his private Amman residence, known as Beit al-Urdun, or the House of Jordan, according to a statement from the royal palace. The talks also focused on Iraq and Lebanon, were attended by fellow U.S. Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.).
Introduction to Chinese Human Rights 101. In an effort to ‘clean up’ Beijing and for “reasons of safety”, bars are forbidden to serve blacks and Mongolians during the Olympics and the Chinese government have deported Christians because they think they will cause trouble!
Bar owners around the Worker’s Stadium in downtown Beijing say that public security officials are telling them not to let in blacks and Mongolians or allow dancing during the Olympic Games next month — many of them have even had to sign a pledge reports the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper.
Street musicians are being banned, and so is the purchasing of medicines containing “stimulants” without a prescription. Public places must close by 2 a.m., and bar owners are being asked to remind their clients that they must always have an identification document with them.
Last September, police detained dozens of blacks in the Sanlitun bar district and according to witnesses, beat some with rubber truncheons. The son of Grenada’s Ambassador to China reportedly suffered a concussion from being clubbed on the head by police.
Police with dogs raided an African-owned bar this week and required blacks to provide urine samples to test for illegal drugs.
“When the police come, you have to run,” a woman from Liberia said. “I’ve lived in Holland and the United States and it was never like this. There is no ‘human rights’ here. It’s racist and it makes me feel very bad.”
Africans and Mongolians are perceived as criminals by Beijing authorities and have been included with other ethnic groups, political activists, outspoken entertainers and Christians as potential sources of trouble during the games.
Wachovia Corporation lost $8.86 billion in the second quarter, and said Tuesday it was slashing its dividend and cutting 6,350 jobs after losses tied to mortgages soared. Its stock fell as much as 12 percent in early New York trading.
The nation’s fourth-largest bank by assets says it lost the equivalent of $4.20 per share in the April-June period. In the same timeframe last year, the bank earned $2.34 billion, or $1.22 per share. The loss included a $6.1 billion charge tied to declining asset values.
Wachovia has dropped more than 75 percent in New York Stock Exchange composite trading since it spent $24 billion two years ago to buy Golden West Financial Corporation just as home prices were peaking.Golden West is a California mortgage lender known for exotic loans.
Big banks, such as Bank of America Corp. and National City Corp., have stopped making loans through brokers entirely, relying instead on their loan officers. National City said it was forced to do so by a continuing downturn in loan demand, while Bank of America said it saw better “long-term opportunity” in working through its own loan officers.
The Charlotte-based bank cut its quarterly dividend to 5 cents per share from 37.5 cents, which will conserve approximately $700 million of capital per quarter. In April, Wachovia slashed its dividend 41 percent. The company is moving to “sell selected non-core assets” and reduce the number of business customers who only use the bank for loans rather than other services. Wachovia expects to cut expenses during the second half of this year by $490 million and then reduce 2009 spending by $1.5 billion.
Wachovia shares have declined 65 percent this year, the second-worst performance on the 24-company KBW Bank Index behind National City Corp., Ohio’s largest bank. The stock fell to $12.36 at 9 a.m. in New York. Fitch Ratings cut Wachovia one level to A+ from AA-, citing its mortgage business.
Senator Obama arrived in Amman, Jordan early Tuesday after spending two days in Iraq. 
