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Surprise: Who works the most hours in Europe?
By Samuel Burke
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the average Greek employee works 2,017 hours per year, more than their counterparts in any other European country. The Dutch, on the other hand, work on average 1,377 hours per year – the least amount in all of Europe. Germans work 1,408 hours a year – the second least amount in Europe. Of course, working more hours doesn’t always equal more productivity. Even if Greeks are working many more hours than Germans, the OECD finds that the Netherlands and Germany are the most productive countries in Europe. After the jump, see the lists of the countries that work least hours, plus a list of the most and least productive countries.
Most hours worked for total employment:
1. Greece
2. Hungary
3. Poland
4. Estonia
5. Turkey
6. Czech Rep
7. Italy
8. Slovakia
9. Portugal
10. Iceland
FULL POST
FULL-LENGTH EDITION: Syria's 'tipping point' massacre
Part 1: With the U.N.'s ceasefire plan in tatters and international unwilling to intervene, who can stop the violence in Syria? Part 2: Overestimating the Syrian military Former Syrian general Akil Hashem rejects Western claims that Syria's army are well equipped.
Syria's 'tipping point' massacre
With the U.N.'s ceasefire plan in tatters and international unwilling to intervene, who can stop the violence in Syria?
Overestimating the Syrian military
Former Syrian general Akil Hashem rejects Western claims that Syria's army are well equipped.
Episode #30: Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Air strikes would wreck Assad, says former Syrian general
By Mick Krever, CNN
Syrian defenses under a western attack would “collapse right away,” a former Syrian general told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour Tuesday.
Akil Hashem dismissed as “just excuses” the idea, promoted by Western intervention skeptics, that Syrian air defenses are very sophisticated.
It was an idea articulated by Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, in testimony before the U.S. Congress in March.
“They have approximately five times more sophisticated air defense systems than existed in Libya,” Dempsey said. “All of their air defenses are arrayed on the western border, which is their population center.”
Hashem refuted this.
“They know more than me that this is not the truth,” he said. “It is good to face civilians…but when it face a superior power, it will collapse right away.”
FULL POST
Green room discussion with Syrian military general
From Christiane Amanpour:
A conversation with a Syrian general. Who are the paramilitary thugs doing Assad’s dirty work – the close up killings? Watch what this retired Syrian general told me in our green room:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K9S9FDCPgA&w=420&h=315%5D
Good and bad of social media in a dictatorship like Syria
(CNN) - You've heard of CNN, but unless you pay close attention to photo and video credits on news sites, you've probably never heard of the Syrian group SNN.
The Shaam News Network is one of several groups that aggregates photos and videos taken by citizen journalists in Syria and tries to show them to the world.
Most recently, the group came into the news on Friday after it played a role in distributing images from a U.N.-condemned massacre in the village of Houla, which left 108 people dead, including some children who reportedly were axed to death. FULL STORY
Harry Belafonte on civil rights & non-violence resistance
Part 1: Harry Belafonte on non-violent resistance The singer and activist on civil rights in history and today. Part 2: Lyndon B. Johnson and Civil Rights CNN's Christiane Amanpour talks to historian Robert Caro about President Johnson. Part 3: Photos of President Lyndon B. Johnson A look at intimate yet forceful photos of President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Harry Belafonte: Non-violent resistance
Singer and activist Harry Belafonte on civil rights and non-violence resistance, in history and today.
Lyndon B. Johnson and Civil Rights
CNN's Christiane Amanpour talks to historian Robert Caro about President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Photos of President Lyndon B. Johnson
A look at intimate yet forceful photos of President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Episode #29: Monday, May 28, 2012
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/33361489 w=400&h=300]
'Sing Your Song' is film that looks at the singer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte. He was born in New York and raised in Jamaica, but returned to Harlem in his early teens where he discovered the American Negro Theater and began his life as a performer. Many people know him for his music, but he has also been a champion for human rights. The movie looks at his life in the arts, but also chronicles what it was like to be black singer in a time of Jim Crow laws. The film delves into his involvement in the Civil Rights movement, to which he not only gave his money but also gave his voice. Today, Belafonte is 85 years and remains politically active. You can see more about his film here and read the first pages of his book by clicking here.
CNN’s Meredith Milstein produced the interview with Harry Belafonte for television.
CNN’s Ken Olshansky produced the interview with historian Robert Caro for television.
Turkey's President on Egypt, Syria & Israel
By Lucky Gold, CNN
President Abdullah Gul of Turkey attended the NATO Summit in Chicago this week and appeared Friday on Amanpour. He was asked about the presidential elections in Egypt and whether Egypt’s military would willingly relinquish its power.
“The military is well aware that they cannot continue forever,” said President Gul.
“I went to Egypt,” he added. “I talked to all the military leadership, and they know that it is not their job to run the country. They are going to hand off the authority to the civilian government - but I think it needs some time.”
How much time, remains to be seen. However, he added, “I think the Egyptian army is ready to hand over the authority when the time is preferred.”
FULL POST
FULL-LENGTH EDITION: U.N. has no Plan B for Syria
Part 1: UN has no Plan B for Syria U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon tells CNN's Christiane Amanpour that the U.N. has no plan B in Syria. Part 2: U.S. plan for Afghanistan The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan tells CNN's Christiane Amanpour how the U.S. plans to scale back in the country.
Part 1: UN has no Plan B for Syria
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon tells CNN's Christiane Amanpour that the U.N. has no plan B in Syria.
Part 2: U.S. plan for Afghanistan
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan tells CNN's Christiane Amanpour how the U.S. plans to scale back in the country.
Episode #27: Thursday, May 24, 2012
U.N. Secretary General: 'We don't have a Plan B'
By Mick Krever
(CNN) – Despite U.N. monitors’ struggle to contain violence in Syria, the U.N. Secretary General told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour Thursday that there was no fallback.
“At this time, we don’t have a Plan B,” Ban Ki-moon said.
The nearly 300 monitors deployed across five Syria cities are making “all possible efforts to stop violence” and have had “some dampening effect,” Ban said.
But, he conceded, “We were not able to completely cease the violence.” FULL POST
Top US General: ‘Good enough’ is not good enough Afghanistan
By Samuel Burke
(CNN) - The White House has been scaling back both troops and expectations in Afghanistan as it scales down the war there. General John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, confirmed specifics of the drawdown, announcing that a quarter of American troops will be home by the end of September. But in an exclusive interview with Christiane Amanpour he said he'll need strong combat forces there for the foreseeable future.
The change of in the U.S.’ definition of success in Afghanistan has even resulted in the national security advisers’ publicly saying that the U.S.’ goal is to provide a modicum of stability for Afghanistan. Even though previously, the stated goal had been to defeat, prevent, and to have high expectations for a secure Afghanistan.
The New York Times reported that aides to President Obama informally called this strategy, “Afghan Good Enough.” General Allen firmly rejected this prescription to Amanpour. “I don't use the term, ‘Afghan good enough,’ he said. “Because we're all sacrificing way too much for something that's ‘Afghan Good Enough.’ I think that term understates or undersells the commitment that we've all made to this. Afghanistan is an important country in an important region. And the outcome of our investment – this global investment of 50 nations and ISAF and many other nations who've been involved for a long period of time with great generosity – is not about being good enough.”
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