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According to a recent Reuters report citing U.S Treasury Department sources, global foreign currency reserves swelled to $8.1 trillion by the end of 2009, more than covering the amount that was pulled out during the recent global economic throes. The figures were recently released as part of the long-awaited report by the Treasury to the Congress on exchange rate policies.

Hearing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's recent statement that the U.S. recession was “very likely over,” the 15 million people who are without jobs, the 10 million who are 'underemployed' and the 40 million odd people who are now living at poverty level in America, would have a raised a collective sigh of relief. Now, they can get on with their lives and go back to their consumption sprees. However, in my pedestrian mind, I fail to comprehend how people without jobs are going to spend money they don't have to raise the country out of its recession.

Our new twitter address is @vivalife1. The latest posts on our website can now be linked to from twitter.

New York Times journalist Stephen Farrell and his Afghan translator Sultan Munadi were recently kidnapped by the Taleban in the Kunduz province of Afghanistan. In a subsequent rescue bid by the British Army, Sultan Munadi, two Afghan civilians and a British soldier were killed, Stephen Farrell was rescued unharmed.

Stephen Farrell and his colleague had gone to the area to investigate about an earlier US airstrike on two hijacked fuel tankers, which resulted in a number of civilian casualties.