James Carroll, the author of House of War, on the inexorable momentum of the Pentagon.
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News Alert for: World
15 March 2011
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| State Dept. advises against travel to Bahrain The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department is urging US citizens to avoid traveling to Bahrain due to "the potential for ongoing political and civil unrest." The department is also advising Americans currently in Bahrain to consider leaving. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Idling Japanese auto plants could affect North America production Detroit Free Press The earthquake-triggered tsunami washed away and destroyed these vehicles Friday in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki prefecture, in Japan. The amount of the post-tsunami damage was still being assessed, but Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Suzuki have all idled plants. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Quake, Tsunami No Reason To Quit Japan -US Fund Managers Wall Street Journal (Updates with data on US stock fund flows into Japanese equities in paragraph 12; performance details of Japanese equity funds in paragraph 13; and comment from an investment professional in paragraph 14.) Japan's devastating earthquake, tsunami and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| North Korea says willing to discuss uranium enrichment Reuters SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Tuesday it was willing to discuss its uranium enrichment program at nuclear disarmament talks, clearing one of the hurdles for the resumption of long-stalled international dialogue. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 14 killed, 40 wounded in Iraq's violence Xinhua by Jamal Hashim BAGHDAD, March 14 (Xinhua) -- A total of 14 people were killed and 40 others wounded on Monday in bomb and gunfire attacks in central and eastern Iraq, the Iraqi police said. The deadliest incident occurred in Iraq's eastern province of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Bangladesh Yunus appeal adjourned BBC News By Anbarasan Ethirajan BBC News, Dhaka The Bangladeshi Supreme Court has adjourned for two weeks the hearing on an appeal by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus against a High Court decision to uphold his sacking from Grameen Bank. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Suicide blast leaves 35 dead at Afghan Army recruiting center Boston Globe By Rahim Faiez AP / March 15, 2011 KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber posing as an army volunteer blew himself up outside a military recruiting center in northern Afghanistan yesterday, killing at least 35 people and escalating the insurgent ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
14 March 2011
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| India, Libya and the Arab League Indian Express The Arab League's decision over the weekend to support a 'no-fly-zone' over Libya should make it easier for India to make up of its own mind on the issue when the United Nations Security Council considers the issue shortly. In responding to the UNSC ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Factbox: Aid and rescue offers for Japan quake Reuters (Reuters) - An international rescue effort to help Japan seek survivors of a massive earthquake and tsunami and address an unfolding nuclear crisis is gathering pace, with around 70 countries offering assistance. -- The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Seoul chipmakers, refiners rally after Japan quake Reuters SEOUL, March 14 (Reuters) - Shares of South Korean memory chip makers and refiners rallied on Monday after a deadly quake and tsunami in Japan, lifted by expectations for a stronger yen and production disruptions there. Technology issues and refiners ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 60-yr-old rescued from floating roof NDTV.com AP, Updated: March 14, 2011 13:17 IST Minamisoma, Natori, Japan: Japanese troops have rescued a 60-year-old man who floated out to sea on the roof of his home when a tsunami engulfed Japan's coast following the massive earthquake. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Indian navy captures 61 Somali pirates Sydney Morning Herald The Indian navy has captured 61 suspected Somali pirates and rescued 13 fishermen after a firefight with a pirate mothership in the Arabian Sea, a navy spokesman says. "A total of 74 men have been apprehended, of which 61 are suspected to be Somali ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| An Interview with Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati TIME By Nicholas Blanford / Beirut Sunday, Mar. 13, 2011 In an atmosphere of revolutionary change in the region, TIME spoke to Lebanon's new prime minister Najib Mikati about the challenges of governing his fractious nation. Mikati, who is a Sunni Muslim ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| China won't give up on nuclear energy: report MarketWatch By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — China has lessons to learn from the accidents at Japan's nuclear power plants, caused by Friday's devastating earthquake, but won't give up on nuclear energy, Chinese Vice Minister for ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Volcano erupts in southern Japan UPI.com TOKYO, March 14 (UPI) -- A volcano belched in south Japan but it wasn't clear if its volatility was linked to the destructive quake and tsunami that decimated the northeast. Japan's weather agency reported the Shinmoedake volcano in far southern Kyushu ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
12 March 2011
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| Travel disrupted by disaster in Japan Los Angeles Times Hundreds of Japan-bound flights are canceled, visitors to Japanese theme parks are stranded, and Hawaii hotels and California campgrounds are evacuated. Travelers around the Pacific were stopped in their tracks by Friday's earthquake and subsequent ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| UN: Japan Requests Disaster Help From Four Foreign Teams Voice of America The United Nations says Japan has asked several foreign search and rescue teams to help Japanese authorities deal with the aftermath of a major earthquake and tsunami that devastated parts of Honshu island on Friday. The Geneva-based UN Office for the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| NATO endorses plan for Afghan forces to take over several areas Washington Post By Rajiv Chandrasekaran NATO defense ministers endorsed a plan Friday to hand over responsibility for security in three cities, two provinces and much of the capital to Afghan forces over the next several months, commencing the critical first step in a ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Internet abuzz after Japan disaster Times of India WASHINGTON: News of the magnitude 8.9 earthquake that hit northeastern Japan Friday, generating a 10-metre-high tsunami, sent millions of people around the world online in search of information and ways to help. On Twitter and Facebook, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Singapore's Sniffer Dogs To Japan's Rescue Bernama SINGAPORE, March 12 (Bernama) -- Singapore will send sniffer dogs to facilitate search and rescue (SAR) operations in the aftermath of the massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake which hit northeast Japan, killing hundreds and causing widespread devastation. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Powerful quake, tsunami kills hundreds in Japan Hawaii News Now Part of houses swallowed by tsunami burn in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture after Japan was struck by a strong earthquake off its northeastern coast Friday. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) Map locates epicenter of magnitude 8.9 earthquake off Japan's eastern coast. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Toyota, other carmakers close quake-hit plants Reuters TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Co (7203.T) said it has halted production at two factories with combined annual capacity of 420000 small cars built mainly for overseas markets, after a massive earthquake hit Japan the previous day. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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News Alert for: World
11 March 2011
| Japan hit by massive earthquake BBC News A powerful earthquake has struck off Japan's north-eastern coast, shaking buildings in Tokyo and forcing people out of their homes, witnesses said. Japan issued its most serious tsunami warning, saying a wave as high as 6m (20ft) could strike the coast ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Inside the home of one Benghazi family BBC News In the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, civilians are still getting used to life no longer under Colonel Gaddafi's control. Benghazi was one of the first cities to fall and has become what is effectively the headquarters of the anti-Gaddafi forces. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Qaddafi's Forces Have Momentum in Libya War on Rebels, US Officials Say Bloomberg By Tony Capaccio - Fri Mar 11 05:01:00 GMT 2011 Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's better-equipped forces have gained momentum against the rebels trying to drive him from power, senior US intelligence officials said. Appearing before the Senate Armed ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Pakistan test-fires nuclear-capable missile Times of India PTI | Mar 11, 2011, 10.44am IST ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today test-fired the short-range surface-to-surface nuclear-capable Hatf-II or Abdali ballistic missile that has a range of 180 km. An official statement said the test was conducted conducted ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| BBC staff face mock execution, UK reporter missing in Libya Indian Express Three British Broadcasting Corporation journalists were detained, beaten and subjected to mock executions by pro-regime soldiers in Libya while attempting to reach Zawiyah, the BBC said, while Britain's Guardian newspaper said on Thursday it was making ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Zimbabwe PM Morgan Tsvangirai wants Mugabe 'divorce' BBC News Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has called for a "divorce" from his national unity government colleague President Robert Mugabe. Mr Tsvangirai organised a news conference after his ally, Energy Minister Elton Mangoma, was arrested. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| US to send aid team to eastern Libya; Clinton to meet rebel representatives Washington Post By Karen DeYoung and Edward Cody The White House announced Thursday that it will send a government aid team into rebel-held parts of Libya and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she will meet next week with representatives of the transition ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| London's Heathrow T5 evacuated due to suspect package Xinhua LONDON, March 10 (Xinhua) -- London's Heathrow airport's Terminal 5 was partially evacuated due to a suspect package, local media reported on Thursday. The metropolitan police said they were dealing with a security alert and a small section had been ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Finding a Soul Mate for North Korea's Kim Jong-Un New York Times By MARK McDONALD SEOUL — At first she did not know what to make of being romantically matched with Kim Jong-un, that roly-poly bachelor, the presumptive future lord and master of North Korea. Should she be offended, amused, angry, what? ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
09 March 2011
| Clinton favours UN support on Libya Irish Times US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has made it clear Washington believes any decision to impose a no-fly zone over Libya is a matter for the United Nations and should not be a US-led initiative. Yesterday, Muammar Gadafy's tanks and warplanes ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Strong quake hits N. Japan, tsunami warning issued Reuters TOKYO, March 9 (Reuters) - A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 hit off the coast of northeastern Japan on Wednesday, the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) said, but there were so far no reports of damage from the quake. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| US plans to freeze assets of Libyans involved in attacks on civilians Washington Post By Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Brady Dennis US officials intend to freeze assets owned by some Libyan military, intelligence and government officials involved in attacks on civilian and rebel forces, officials said Tuesday. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| In Iran, Critic Leaves Key Post Wall Street Journal By FARNAZ FASSIHI BEIRUT—Iran's highest-ranking moderate official was ousted Tuesday from his position at the head of the country's powerful clerical committee, a move that appeared to consolidate power in the hands of the Islamic republic's hard-line ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Arab Countries May Back No-Fly Zone for Libya Within Days, Ambassador Says Bloomberg By Indira AR Lakshmanan - Wed Mar 09 05:01:00 GMT 2011 March 8 (Bloomberg) -- Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Institution's Doha Center in Qatar, discusses Egypt's new government and the civil war in Libya. Hamid speaks with Margaret ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 41 sought in Italian crime syndicate crackdown CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff An Italian police photo shows the entrance to a hiding place where 'Ndrangheta boss Francesco Maisano was arrested. Rome (CNN) -- Authorities have in custody 34 people and are seeking the arrest of seven more as part of another ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Scottish Police Arrest Suspect in Swedish Bombing New York Times By RAVI SOMAIYA LONDON — Scottish police said on Tuesday that they had arrested a man in Glasgow on terrorism charges related to a suicide bomber who killed himself and wounded two others in Sweden in December. The arrest came as part of an ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Prince William to visit disasters in New Zealand, Australia Detroit Free Press Buckingham Palace said Tuesday that Prince William will visit New Zealand and Australia next week on behalf of the Queen to tour areas devastated by recent natural disasters. His first stop will be Christchurch on March 17, where a magnitude-6.3 ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
08 March 2011
| Car bombing kills 20 in Pakistan's east Fox News | AP ISLAMABAD – A car bomb outside a gas station in Pakistan's third largest city killed 20 and wounded more than 100 people on Tuesday, underscoring the reach of al-Qaida and Taliban militants in the US-allied nation. The blast badly damaged the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Obama warns Gaddafi loyalists Washington Post By Scott Wilson and Joby Warrick President Obama addressed comments directly to Moammar Gaddafi's inner circle Monday in an attempt to pressure those helping prop up the embattled Libyan dictator with a tacit threat of future criminal prosecution. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Obama creates indefinite detention system for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay Washington Post By Peter Finn and Anne E. Kornblut President Obama signed an executive order Monday that will create a formal system of indefinite detention for those held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who continue to pose a significant threat to ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Prince Andrew: Envoy career plagued with controversy BBC News The Duke of York has come in for a steady stream of criticism over his friendship with US tycoon Jeffrey Epstein, who was jailed for sex offences. It is not the first time questions have been raised about Prince Andrew's judgement, and there are now ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Oman Removes Powerful Economy Minister Wall Street Journal By NOUR MALAS And ANGUS MCDOWALL ABU DHABI—Oman made another bid to end daily antigovernment demonstrations Monday by meeting one of the protesters' key demands—a sweeping cabinet reshuffle that includes the removal of the country's powerful economy ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Italian Island of Lampedusa Sees Increase of North African Refugees Voice of America Hundreds of refugees fleeing the political violence in North African arrived on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa Monday. Coast guard officials say 10 fishing vessels arrived early Monday with close to 850 people on board. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Ma denies falling into Beijing's trap Financial Times By David Pilling and Robin Kwong Ma Ying-jeou, president of Taiwan since May 2008, was elected on a mandate of reducing tension across the Taiwan Strait. Few can deny he has made progress. His rapprochement policy has produced a thaw in relations that ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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News Alert for: World
07 March 2011
| US defense chief pays surprise visit to Afghanistan Xinhua KABUL, March 7 (Xinhua) -- US Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived here on Monday to pay a surprise visit to Afghanistan, amid tightened security in Afghan capital city Kabul. Hundreds of Afghans held a massive protest against the United States in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Hague backs new mission to Libya BBC News Foreign secretary William Hague says more UK diplomats may be sent to Libya despite an SAS-escorted team being captured by anti-Gaddafi rebels. The diplomatic team, including six SAS soldiers, were freed two days after being detained in eastern Libya. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| After Cuts, Voters Back Ruling Bloc in Estonia New York Times By ELLEN BARRY MOSCOW — Early results in Estonia's parliamentary election on Sunday showed the ruling coalition headed for a victory, in a remarkable show of support for a government that has imposed harsh austerity measures to lift the country out of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Protesters Storm Egypt Security Offices Wall Street Journal By DAVID LUHNOW And MATT BRADLEY Egyptian protesters confront soldiers in front of the state security headquarters in Cairo on Monday, demanding entry to gather documents. CAIRO—Thousands of protesters stormed buildings belonging to Egypt's internal ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Cameron declares war on 'enemies of enterprise' WalesOnline by David Williamson, Western Mail PRIME Minister David Cameron yesterday sought to capture the votes of the small business community by declaring war on the “enemies of enterprise” at the Welsh Conservative conference. The Tory leader pledged to take ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| N. Korea seeks talks on repatriations: Seoul AFP SEOUL — Pyongyang has proposed talks with Seoul about the repatriation of a boatload of North Koreans who crossed the sea border last month, a Seoul official said Monday. The South refuses to return four of the 31 people in the boat, saying they have ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 3 Bangladeshis Die During Evacuation From Libya New York Times By NIKI KITSANTONIS and BRIAN KNOWLTON ATHENS — At least three Bangladeshi evacuees from Libya died Sunday after trying to swim from a Greek ferry onto the island of Crete, the authorities there said. It was one of the worst single incidents to stem ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| America's risky game in Middle East Xinhua BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- As unrest is rattling the nerves of some Middle Eastern and North African countries, the United States seems eager to step into the limelight and is banging the drum for "democracy." However, is America's high-profile ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Intervention: Four Options for US Military Action in Libya New Republic As Americans became transfixed by the violence and chaos in Libya, calls for US military action arose across the political spectrum. Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman, among others, advocated the creation of a no-fly zone and arming ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World | ||
| US offers aid for Egyptian democracy, but quietly Washington Post By Kathy Lally and Mary Beth Sheridan CAIRO - For years, the United States tried to offer democracy-building help here but was thwarted by an Egyptian government that was committed to the opposite. Now that the old prohibitions have been swept away by ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Six dead as An-148 plane crashes in southern Russia RIA Novosti All six people on board were killed when an Antonov An-148 airplane on a test flight crashed Saturday in the village of Garbuzovo in southern Russia's Belgorod region, an Emergencies Ministry spokesman said. Two Russian pilots (Yu. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 'US must keep Muslim Brothers from Egypt gov't' Jerusalem Post By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDE Exclusive: House Middle East subcommittee chairman blasts Obama gov't for not taking tougher line on Hezbollah in Lebanon, Muslim Brothers. WASHINGTON – The new chairman of the US House's Middle East ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Che Guevara pal Granado dies UPI.com HAVANA, March 6 (UPI) -- Alberto Granado, who was a sidekick to the late Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara, died Saturday in Havana. He was 88. Cuban television reported Granado's body would be cremated and his ashes spread over Cuba, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Cuba Set for Verdict on US Contractor, Reuters Says Bloomberg By Jose Orozco - Sun Mar 06 06:02:13 GMT 2011 (Corrects story published March 5 to say court case has concluded and verdict expected within days, after Reuters corrected original story.) A Cuban court said today it has concluded its case against US ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Libyan rebels capture British special forces men: Report The Hindu Eight British special forces commandos were captured by rebel forces in eastern Libya, the Sunday Times reported. The paper said the soldiers were escorting a junior British diplomat through rebel-held territory who was hoping to make contact with the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Medvedev orders Putin to tighten Russia's anti-gaming laws RIA Novosti Illegal casinos have mushroomed across Russia since a law came into force in July 2009 banning gambling everywhere except in four remote zones. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has instructed the government to improve legislation outlawing gambling, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| China state media slams calls for protests AFP BEIJING — China's state media stepped up its criticism of recent calls for anti-government rallies Sunday, saying stability was key amid concern unrest sweeping the Middle East could spread to the Asian nation. The reports come a day after a similar ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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News Alert for: World
05 March 2011
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| At least 9 killed, 33 wounded in blast at mosque in Pakistan CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff An explosion at a mosque in northern Pakistan on Friday killed at least nine people and wounded 33 others. Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- An explosion at a mosque in northern Paksitan during Friday prayers killed at least nine ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Bosnian ex-general detained in Vienna over war crimes Xinhua VIENNA, March 4 (Xinhua)--- A former Bosnian army general had been detained in Vienna on suspicion of war crimes during the 1992- 1995 Bosnian war, Austrian interior ministry confirmed on Friday. Jovan Divjak , the 74-year-old ex-general, was detained ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Will Libya's Moammar Gadhafi ultimately be toppled from power? Wall Street Journal Libya's Col. Moammar Gadhafi violently crushed protests raging across his country and his armed forces loosed mercenary soldiers upon the capital to shoot protesters, witnesses said, as military, police and diplomats abandoned government posts and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Former Nepal PM 'Kishunji' is no more Hindustan Times Former Nepal prime minister and one of the founder members of Nepali Congress Krishna Prasad Bhattarai died in Kathmandu late on Friday night. He was 87. Popular among his followers as Kishunji, the late leader succumbed to multiple organ failure at ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Key weapons depot for Libyan rebels is blasted Detroit Free Press Supporters of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi arrive at a rally Friday in Tripoli's Green Square. Rebels in some towns are running out of ammo. / BEN CURTIS/Associated Press BY MAGGIE MICHAEL ASSOCIATED PRESS Troops arrive: Two vessels carrying 1300 US ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Thousands Protest Detentions of Turkish Journalists New York Times By SEBNEM ARSU ISTANBUL — Thousands of people protested in two Turkish cities on Friday in response to the detention this week of seven journalists, a development that has prompted new expressions of concern from Europe and the United States about the ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
04 March 2011
| US Says Lost Former Agent May Be Imprisoned in Southwest Asia New York Times By BARRY MEIER The United States has evidence that a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who disappeared in Iran four years ago is alive and being held in the region, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement on Thursday. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Obama Keeps Libya Options Open Wall Street Journal By JULIAN E. BARNES And ADAM ENTOUS WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama said publicly for the first time that Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi must give up power, but didn't specify what the US planned to do to make that happen. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| China defense budget to stir regional disquiet Reuters A paramilitary policeman stands guard on the Tiananmen Square during the opening ceremony of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing March 3, 2011. By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - China will beef up its military ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| NEW: Obama expresses regret for the deaths of the Afghan boys CNN (CNN) -- President Barack Obama has expressed regret over a NATO air strike earlier in the week that resulted in the deaths of nine Afghan boys, according to a White House statement released Thursday. The president, during a video teleconference ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Sarkozy's Islam debate opens rift in ruling party Indian Express President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to hold a national debate on the role of Islam in French society has opened a rare rift in his centre-right party, damaging his credibility ahead of a presidential election next year. Fears about the role of Islam in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Bomb kills up to 13 at Nigerian election rally Monsters and Critics.com Nairobi - A bomb has killed up to 13 people at an election rally in central Nigeria, news reports said Friday. The bomb was thrown into a crowd of supporters of the ruling People's Democratic Party in the central town of Suleja late Thursday, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Pope Wins Praise for Repudiating Jewish Guilt for Jesus's Death Forward By JTA Jewish organizations are hailing Pope Benedict XVI's unequivocal repudiation of the claim that the Jewish people can be held forever responsible for the death of Jesus. The Vatican already rejected the claim in general terms in 1965 with the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Saudi Arabia Must Keep Pumping Oil to Buy Stability: Peter Coy BusinessWeek By Peter Coy March 3 (Bloomberg) -- It's been more than a week since youthful Saudi Arabian demonstrators bucked the regional trend and cheered their ruler, celebrating his return to the kingdom from medical treatment abroad. ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
03 March 2011
| Gaddafi warns 'thousands' will die ABC Online ELEANOR HALL: To Libya now and Colonel Moamar Gaddafi ramped up his threats in another speech overnight, this one warning that he would arm the population and that thousands would die if the West intervened to support the uprising against him. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| US supports war crimes tribunal for first time Washington Post By EDITH M. LEDERER AP UNITED NATIONS -- The UN resolution imposing tough sanctions against Libya marked the first time that the United States has given its support to the International Criminal Court and signified a remarkable turnaround, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Egyptian special forces secretly storm Libya Mirror.co.uk by Chris Hughes, Daily Mirror 3/03/2011 CRACK special forces troops have been secretly pouring into Libya to back the rebellion against Colonel Gaddafi. The elite troops moved in as the defiant tyrant vowed to “fight to the last man and woman” – and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Trial for accused CIA shooter resumes in Pakistan Reuters By Mubashir Bokhari LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Pakistani court resumed on Thursday the trial of CIA contractor accused of killing two Pakistanis in a case that has strained relations between the United States and its important Asian ally. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| BBC, Radio France International go off air in Ivory Coast Reuters Africa ABIDJAN (Reuters) - BBC radio and Radio France International (RFI) were taken off air in Ivory Coast on Wednesday, with both stations' FM bands producing nothing but fuzz. The BBC said on its website that the government of incumbent Laurent Gbagbo had ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Minister: Chavez, Gadhafi discuss mediation team for Libya CNN International By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN (CNN) -- Venezuela's president has spoken with embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi about a proposal to bring an international mediation team to Libya, Venezuela's information minister confirmed Wednesday. ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
02 March 2011
02 March 2011
| Pakistani minister 'assassinated' BBC News The Pakistani Minister for Minority Affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti, has died after gunmen opened fire on his car in the capital, Islamabad, reports say. He was travelling to work when through the I-8/3 area of the city his vehicle was sprayed with bullets, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Libya: Refugee Crisis Developing On Country's Borders AllAfrica.com The situation in Libya has become not just a political crisis, but a potential humanitarian crisis as well. Foreign workers and frightened Libyans are pouring to the borders to escape the turmoil, and international aid agencies are gearing up resources ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Libya: Cameron plan for no-fly zone shunned by world leaders Telegraph.co.uk David Cameron was looking increasingly isolated last night over his call for the international community to impose a no-fly zone over Libya. David Cameron was looking increasingly isolated last night over his call for the international community to ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 'Tear gas fired' on demo in Iran BBC News Iranian police have fired tear gas to disperse opposition supporters mounting protests in the capital Tehran. A BBC correspondent in Tehran said large numbers of riot police and militia on motorcycles in the city centre broke up any crowds that formed. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| U.S. official holds talks in S. Korea UPI.com SEOUL, March 2 (UPI) -- US special adviser on nuclear non-proliferation Robert Einhorn held talks in Seoul Wednesday on North Korea's nuclear program, officials said. Einhorn arrived Tuesday amid rising concern about the North's uranium enrichment ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Even a Weakened Qaddafi May Be Hard to Dislodge New York Times By STEVEN ERLANGER PARIS — The regime of the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, has been badly undermined, but he retains enough support among critical tribes and institutions, including parts of the army and the air force, that he might be able ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Thousands more Chinese evacuees homebound from third countries Xinhua BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Thousands more Chinese nationals were heading back home Wednesday from third countries after being evacuated from Libya, as part of China's ongoing evacuation operation. Between late Tuesday and early Wednesday, ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
27 Feb 2011
27 Feb 2011
| UK forces to resume Libya rescue BBC News RAF and special forces teams are expected to continue their mission to rescue the remaining 300 or so Britons still stranded in Libyan desert camps. Two RAF Hercules flew 150 oil workers, many of them British nationals, to the safety of Malta on ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Egyptian panel seeks more open elections, term limits Boston Globe By Sarah El Deeb AP / February 27, 2011 CAIRO — An Egyptian panel tasked with amending the country's constitution recommended easing restrictions yesterday on who can run for president and imposing presidential term limits — two key demands of the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Croatians protest veteran's arrest Aljazeera.net Thousands of people packed the main square in the capital Zagreb demanding that the government protect war veterans. Thousands of people have demonstrated in the main square of Zagreb, Croatia's capital, to support veterans of the 1991-1995 ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Gunmen Attack Iraq's Largest Oil Refinery New York Times By JACK HEALY BAGHDAD — Iraq's largest oil refinery, in Baiji, was crippled by a predawn attack on Saturday in which gunmen stormed the vast complex, killed one engineer and set off several bombs. Notes from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other areas ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Suicide Attack Continues Afghan Trend New York Times By ALISSA J. RUBIN KABUL, Afghanistan — A playing field in a remote area of northwest Afghanistan where a crowd had gathered was the most recent target for a suicide bomber who detonated himself on Saturday, in the seventh suicide attack in Afghanistan ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Man blows himself up outside Moscow shopping centre Sify Moscow: A man blew up himself with a grenade in an apparent suicide attack at the entrance to a shopping centre in Moscow Saturday, media reports said. Interfax news agency reported that the 41-year-old man drove up to the store on the Yurlovsky ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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News Alert for: World
26 Feb 2011
26 Feb 2011
| Violence escalates in Ivory Coast CNN International By Eric Agnero, For CNN Abidjan, Ivory Coast (CNN) -- Hundreds of people fled a pro-Alassane Ouattara neighborhood in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where forces loyal to incumbent President Laurent Gbabgbo have been fighting an armed Ouattara supporters for ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| New Zealand may face further quake aftershocks; Oz seismologist DailyIndia.com Wellington, Feb.26: An Australian seismologist has warned that Christchurch could face earthquake aftershocks for a year and added that Wellington is at risk of experiencing bigger earthquake. "I think there will be lots of aftershocks around ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Thousands rally in Bahrain ahead of possible talks San Francisco Chronicle Adam Schreck, AP Anti-government protesters march toward Pearl Square in Manama, Bahrain to pressure the monarchy for changes. Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters filled Bahrain's capital Friday to boost pressure for sweeping political ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Libya live report AFP 2159 GMT: This live report is concluding. Here is a recap of today's key events in the relentless surge of uprisings across the embattled region: -- Libyan President Moamer Kadhafi addressed a crowd of people on Friday in Tripoli's Green Square, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Thousands Rally for Reform in Jordan New York Times By RANYA KADRI and ISABEL KERSHNER AMMAN, Jordan — Thousands of people demonstrated peacefully for political reform in Amman, the capital, and in other Jordanian towns on Friday, with opposition forces drawing the largest crowds since the weekly Friday ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Spain Takes Energy-Savings Measures; PM Visits Tunisia Wall Street Journal By Jonathan House Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES MADRID (Dow Jones)--Spain announced a series of energy-saving measures as turmoil in North Africa sends oil prices soaring, while Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will travel to Tunisia to show his ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Britons urged on to Libya flight BBC News Any Britons still in the Libyan capital Tripoli have been urged to board the final government-chartered rescue flight due to leave the country later. Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was "very important" to get on board as violent anti-regime ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| China railway minister dismissed amid graft probe Washington Post AP BEIJING -- China's railway minister was dismissed Friday, following reports that he was being investigated by the Communist Party's corruption watchdog. Liu Zhijun had been head of the railway ministry since 2003. He was stripped of his title as ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Palestinians Seek New Path to State Wall Street Journal By RICHARD BOUDREAUX RAMALLAH, West Bank—Palestinian leaders here say they have lost faith in US mediation with Israel and are weighing a new strategy to press for independence, including an appeal for United Nations recognition of a state in the West ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google
News Alert for: World
25 Feb 2011
25 Feb 2011
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| Gaddafi blames al-Qaeda for revolt Aljazeera.net Embattled Libyan leader says protesters being manipulated as pro- and anti-government forces clash across the country. Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's leader, has said that al-Qaeda is responsible for the uprising against him, amid attacks by pro-Gaddafi ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| EU urged to share N Africa migrant rush BBC News Countries in southern Europe have urged the rest of the EU to share the burden of accepting migrants from North Africa as a new influx is predicted. Italy, Spain, France, Cyprus, Malta and Greece presented joint proposals at a meeting of EU interior ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Libya's Tribal Revolt May Mean Last Nail in Coffin for Qaddafi BusinessWeek By Caroline Alexander Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi spent most of his 41 year-regime trying to sideline the country's tribes. That may be something he's now regretting as his power unravels. Akram al-Qarfalli, a senior member of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| WikiLeaks: Judge backs Julian Assange extradition San Francisco Chronicle Matt Dunham / AP Britain will honor Sweden's request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face sex-crime allegations, a British judge ruled Thursday. Speaking to a packed courtroom in southeast London, Judge Howard Riddle said Swedish ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| China blocks LinkedIn amid protest calls Financial Times By Kathrin Hille in Beijing LinkedIn, the social networking site for professionals, has become the first major victim of increased internet censorship in China in the wake of an online campaign for pro-democracy protests. “We can confirm that access to ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Between Gaza and Tripoli Ha'aretz As Col. Gadhafi loses his grip on Libya, it is possible that someone is interested in sparking a new round of hostilities between Hamas and Israel. Could it be Iran? By Avi Issacharoff On Wednesday, it seemed that the terrorist organizations in the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Four Killed As Militants Attack NATO Fuel Tankers In Pakistan RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty At least four people are reported to have been killed in an attack in northwestern Pakistan in which militants targeted tankers carrying fuel for NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan. At least 11 tankers were reported to have been set ablaze in the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Path of peace is Israel's only choice in new Mideast Ha'aretz In view of what is occurring in our region and the international arena, Obama will not allow Israel the freedom to use force freely, neither against Iran, nor, heaven forbid, against an internal intifada of a million and a half Israeli Arabs. ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google
News Alert for: World
24 Feb 2011
24 Feb 2011
| Obama Vows to Put Pressure on Qaddafi, Sends Clinton to Europe for Talks Bloomberg By Nicholas Johnston and Indira Lakshmanan - Thu Feb 24 05:01:00 GMT 2011 President Barack Obama said the US is examining all options for pressuring Libya to end a violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrators, and he is dispatching Secretary of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Yemen president orders protection for protesters AFP SANAA — Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh ordered his security forces Thursday to offer "full protection" to anti-regime protesters and loyalists alike, after a crackdown on an uprising left at least 15 dead. "Ali Abdullah Saleh instructed all ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Hamas outposts hit in IAF strikes after grad fired on Negev Jerusalem Post By JPOST.COM STAFF AND YAAKOV LAPPIN Attacks come after rocket falls on Beersheba causing damage with residents treated for shock; no casualties reported on either side; Lieberman says "Israel will not remain indifferent to these acts. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Egyptian authorities impose travel ban on Mubarak associates Washington Post By Bassem Mroue CAIRO - Egyptian authorities on Wednesday banned a former prime minister and a former cabinet minister from leaving the country, a move that often precedes a criminal investigation and a possible trial, state television reported. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Fresh gun battles erupt in Ivory Coast's main city Reuters Africa By Media Coulibaly and Ange Aboa ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Gunfire and explosions shook Ivory Coast's main city on Wednesday as forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo pushed back into an area where gunmen backing his presidential rival repelled them a day before. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Davis case mishandled by interior ministry: Qureshi Hindustan Times Pakistan's former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has accused the interior ministry of "mishandling" the case of US official Raymond Davis, who faces trial for killing two Pakistanis, by not letting the matter be confined to his ministry. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Somalia: Heavy Fighting Breaks Out in New Mogadishu Areas AllAfrica.com Mogadishu — Bitter fighting between Somali army backed by African peacekeeping mission AMISOM and Al shabaab broke out in the Somali capital Mogadishu, officials and witnesses said on Wednesday. Officials said the fighting kicked off early Wednesday ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google
News Alert for: World
20 Feb 2011
20 Feb 2011
| Algerian police disperses protesters in Algiers Xinhua ALGIERS, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The protesters in Algeria on Saturday failed in organizing a rally against the government as thousands of police intervened. The security authorities have deployed thousands of policemen on the roads leading to the Concorde ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| World ruling systems discriminatory, unfair: Ahmadinejad ISNA TEHRAN (ISNA)-The world's ruling systems are discriminatory and unfair, said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "Iran and Germany can work on respect for nations' independence and cooperation based on respect and justice," Ahmadinejad said in a ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| For US, more at stake in Bahrain than base alone Times of India WASHINGTON: As political unrest shakes its tiny Gulf ally Bahrain, much more is at stake for the United States than just the fate of the US Fifth Fleet's base, analysts said. Also in play are Washington's extensive strategic ties with Bahrain's ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| China cracks down on call for 'Jasmine Revolution' Washington Post BEIJING - Chinese authorities cracked down on activists Saturday as a call circulated online for people to gather in 13 cities Sunday for a "Jasmine Revolution." The source of the call was not known, but families and friends reported the detention or ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| Tunisia: Islamist party condemns slaying of priest The Associated Press TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The Tunisian government and a long-banned Islamist party both denounced Saturday the grisly slaying of a Roman Catholic priest, while several hundred people gathered outside the French embassy in the capital to demand the recall ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| Iran warns opposition against staging fresh rallies Reuters TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran warned the opposition on Saturday against staging demonstrations after calls were posted on websites for a rally on Sunday to commemorate two people killed during protests this week, state media reported. ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| Thailand calls on UNESCO to postpone temple's listing Monsters and Critics.com Bangkok - Thailand has asked the United Nations to postpone the World Heritage listing process of a millenial temple on its common border with Cambodia until a territorial dispute has been settled, the prime minister said Sunday. ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| Cuba sets free defiant dissident BBC News The Cuban government has freed a jailed dissident who refused to go into exile in Spain as a condition for release. Ivan Hernandez, a journalist who was one of 75 opponents of the government arrested in 2003, was released along with six other prisoners ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| President to send more troops to northeastern Mexico CNN International By The CNN Wire Staff President Felipe Calderon said the troop increases are needed to fight the drug gangs' "criminality and their lack of scruples." (CNN) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Saturday ordered the Army to send four battalions of ... See all stories on this topic » | |
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Google
News Alert for: World
19 Feb 2011
19 Feb 2011
| Rights group estimates 84 killed in Libya protests The Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Libyan security forces have killed 84 people in a harsh crackdown on three days of protests, said the New York-based Human Rights Watch, even as the government shut off Internet in the North African country early on Saturday. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Obama held direct, secret talks with Afghani Taliban Jerusalem Post By JPOST.COM STAFF US President Barack Obama has held secret talks with leading members of Taliban in Afghanistan in order to "asses which figures in Taliban's leadership, if any, might be willing to engage informal Afghan peace negotiations, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Whaling talks confidential: Rudd Sydney Morning Herald The federal government has refused to be drawn on the tenor of a meeting between the Japanese foreign minister and Australia's ambassador in Tokyo following a premature end to the whaling season. Japan announced on Friday it was bringing home its ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Vietnam vows prosecutions over boat tragedy AFP HANOI — Vietnam will prosecute anyone responsible for the sinking of a tour boat in Halong Bay that killed 12 people, an official said Saturday, as relatives arrived to retrieve the bodies of the victims. Visitors from the United States, Sweden, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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Google
News Alert for: World
18 Feb 2011
18 Feb 2011
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| Vietnamese tour boat sinks; 12 killed Boston Globe AP / February 18, 2011 HA LONG BAY, Vietnam — Eleven vacationers from the United States, Britain, Australia, Japan, Russia, France, Sweden, and Switzerland died along with their Vietnamese tour guide yesterday in Vietnam's deadliest tour boat accident ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| US Tries to Head Off Vote Against Israeli Settlements New York Times By DAVID E. SANGER WASHINGTON — The Obama administration was trying Thursday evening to head off an imminent vote in the United Nations Security Council that would declare Israel's settlement construction in the West Bank illegal, but would not declare ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| US presses Bahrain to show restraint against protesters Washington Post By Joby Warrick The Obama administration pressed Bahrain to show restraint Thursday after a violent crackdown on demonstrators there forced US officials to once again decide how hard to press a key ally in the Middle East. Secretary of State Hillary ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Ivory Coast's Gbagbo Takes Control of BNP Paribas, SocGen Units BusinessWeek By Olivier Monnier Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Ivory Coast incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo ordered the seizure of “some” of the banks that closed this week in the West African country, including units of BNP Paribas SA and Societe Generale SA, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Chinese hackers targeted House of Commons CTV.ca Chinese government workers allegedly hacked into the House of Commons computer system targeting MPs with large ethnic Chinese constituencies. Chinese hackers not only attacked key federal departments: they also cracked into the computer system of the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Belarusian Court Sentences Opposition Activist Voice of America A court in Belarus has sentenced an opposition activist to four years in jail for taking part in a protest following President Alexander Lukashenko's disputed re-election in December. The court in Minsk convicted Vasily Parfenkov on Thursday of taking ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Egypt after Mubarak: Three ex-ministers arrested BBC News The authorities in Egypt have arrested three ex-ministers for corruption including the former Interior Minister, Habib el-Adly, judicial sources say. Mr Adly and the ex-ministers for housing and tourism, Ahmed Maghrabi and Zuheir Garana, were detained ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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Google
News Alert for: World
13 Feb 2011
13 Feb 2011
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| Death toll in Iraq blast rises to 36 The Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say the death toll in a suicide bombing on a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims has risen to 36. The blast went off Saturday, as pilgrims were returning from a religious ceremony. Police and hospital officials said Sunday that ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Ex-Philippine military chief who shot self buried Washington Post AP MANILA, Philippines -- A former Philippine military chief who committed suicide after being accused in a corruption scandal has been buried at a heroes' cemetery. Military pallbearers brought the flag-draped coffin of Ret. Gen. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Please stop picking on Muslims, Mr Cameron The Guardian I am a Muslim, I have lived in England all my life and every time I hear speeches like David Cameron's I find myself having to re-evaluate on which side of the fence I sit. ("David Cameron sparks fury with attack on multiculturalism", News). ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Muslims warned over Valentine's Day The Press Association Malaysian Muslims are debating whether to shun Valentine's Day after the government warned that the celebration was a "trap" that could trigger indecent behaviour. Although no laws prevent Malaysia's Muslim majority from marking the occasion with ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Man quizzed over bio-weapon threat The Press Association South African police say they have arrested a man accused of threatening to unleash biological weapons on Britain and the United States. In a statement, police said a six-month terror investigation by South African, British and US officials culminated ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Support for Japan's Cabinet Hits Record Low Wall Street Journal TOKYO—The support rating for Prime Minister Naoto Kan's cabinet dropped to an all-time low of 19.9% in the latest Kyodo News survey released Saturday, down 12.3 percentage points from the previous poll a month ago. The last time the approval rate for ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google
News Alert for: World
11 Feb 2011
11 Feb 2011
| Schoolboy' bomber kills 31 in Pakistan Financial Times By Matthew Green in Kabul and Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad A teenage suicide bomber wearing a school uniform killed 31 soldiers at a training centre in north-west Pakistan, raising fears that insurgents are stepping up attacks on security forces after a ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Campus responds to WikiLeaks UW Badger Herald By Katherine Krueger A University of Wisconsin panel weighed the implications of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks' controversial role in blurring the division between citizens and governments, a topic which has inspired transnational discourse about ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Crash investigation is under way BBC News Investigations are under way into the crash that killed six people at Cork Airport on Thursday morning. The wreckage of the Manx2 plane remains at Cork on Friday morning as air accident investigators try to find out precisely what went wrong. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| North Korea Reports Foot-And-Mouth Outbreak Amid Food Shortages Bloomberg By Bomi Lim and Sungwoo Park - Fri Feb 11 05:55:55 GMT 2011 North Korea confirmed an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease for the first time in four years that threatens to worsen food shortages in a country relying on handouts to feed its 24 million ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Chinese Foreign Minister, Visiting Zimbabwe, Sparks Hopes For Investment Voice of America Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi arrived Thursday for a two-day visit to Zimbabwe amid hopes in Harare for billions of dollars in foreign direct invesment investment from Beijing. Yang is leading an 11-member delegation and is expected to sign ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Egypt Uprising Draws Comparisons With Iran Voice of America On Friday Iran will mark the anniversary of its Islamic revolution. Thirty-two years on, world leaders are reassessing their relations with Egypt in the wake of the anti-government protests there, with some wondering whether it will follow a similar ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Ivory Coast UN Ambassador Seeks More Pressure on Gbagbo Voice of America The Ivory Coast ambassador to the United Nations is calling for more international pressure to make incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo cede power. The Ivorian diplomat warned the situation could turn more violent if outside help is insufficient to ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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Google
News Alert for: World
10 Feb 2011
| 'Schoolboy' bomber kills 31 in Pakistan Financial Times By Matthew Green in Kabul and Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad A teenage suicide bomber wearing a school uniform killed 31 soldiers at a training centre in north-west Pakistan, raising fears that insurgents are stepping up attacks on security forces after a ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Campus responds to WikiLeaks UW Badger Herald By Katherine Krueger A University of Wisconsin panel weighed the implications of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks' controversial role in blurring the division between citizens and governments, a topic which has inspired transnational discourse about ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Crash investigation is under way BBC News Investigations are under way into the crash that killed six people at Cork Airport on Thursday morning. The wreckage of the Manx2 plane remains at Cork on Friday morning as air accident investigators try to find out precisely what went wrong. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| North Korea Reports Foot-And-Mouth Outbreak Amid Food Shortages Bloomberg By Bomi Lim and Sungwoo Park - Fri Feb 11 05:55:55 GMT 2011 North Korea confirmed an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease for the first time in four years that threatens to worsen food shortages in a country relying on handouts to feed its 24 million ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Chinese Foreign Minister, Visiting Zimbabwe, Sparks Hopes For Investment Voice of America Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi arrived Thursday for a two-day visit to Zimbabwe amid hopes in Harare for billions of dollars in foreign direct invesment investment from Beijing. Yang is leading an 11-member delegation and is expected to sign ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Egypt Uprising Draws Comparisons With Iran Voice of America On Friday Iran will mark the anniversary of its Islamic revolution. Thirty-two years on, world leaders are reassessing their relations with Egypt in the wake of the anti-government protests there, with some wondering whether it will follow a similar ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Ivory Coast UN Ambassador Seeks More Pressure on Gbagbo Voice of America The Ivory Coast ambassador to the United Nations is calling for more international pressure to make incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo cede power. The Ivorian diplomat warned the situation could turn more violent if outside help is insufficient to ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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Google
News Alert for: World
10 Feb 2011
| Google worker 'willing to die' for Egypt revolt Sydney Morning Herald Freed Google worker Wael Ghonim, who has emerged as a prominent voice of Egyptian protests seeking to oust President Hosni Mubarak, told CNN he was "ready to die" for the cause. "I have a lot to lose in this life," Ghonim told CNN in an interview in ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Teen suicide bomber kills 20 at Pakistan army centre Reuters By Zeeshan Haider ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A boy in a school uniform blew himself up at a Pakistani army recruitment center on Thursday, killing 20 cadets, officials said, in an attack that challenges government assertions that crackdowns have weakened ... See all stories on this topic » |
| China respects will, choice of Sudanese people: envoy Xinhua UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- China respects the will and choice of the Sudanese people on the south Sudan referendum and appreciates the unremitting efforts of both the north and the south to promote the Sudanese peace process, a Chinese envoy ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Cambodian-Thai border rift sees no immediate settlement Xinhua PHNOM PENH/BANGKOK, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- As of Friday, two days have passed without gunshots disturbing the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple after the Feb. 4-7 bloody clashes between Cambodian and Thai troops, but there's a fear that real peace is still ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Israel Braces for a New Egypt Wall Street Journal Israelis are bracing for a more adversarial regime in Egypt, one they expect could lead their country to expand its army, fortify the two countries' desert frontier and possibly re-invade the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip. Three decades after Israel ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Egypt minister says army could act to protect nation Reuters Africa CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army could step in to protect national security if "adventurers" try to take power, the foreign minister said on Wednesday, in an apparent reference to protesters seeking an overhaul of the ruling system. ... See all stories on this topic » |
| What did father do with missing Swiss twins? BBC News The mother of twin six-year-old girls, who have been missing from their home in Switzerland for more than a week, has made a television appeal for their return. The girls, Alessia and Livia, were taken by their father, whose body has been found near ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Not 1989. Not 1789. But Egyptians can learn from other revolutions The Guardian 'No one predicted this, but everyone could explain it afterwards." Said of another revolution, as true of this one. "To be honest, we thought we'd last about five minutes,"one of the organisers of the original 25 January protest which began this ... See all stories on this topic » |
| British woman dies after botched butt 'enhancement' in a hotel USA Today By Kitty Bean Yancey, USA TODAY Police are investigating suspects in Tuesday'ss death of a 20-year-old British student who apparently had a cosmetic medical procedure done at a Hampton Inn near the Philadelphia airport. Claudia Adusei died, perhaps of ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Three car bombs kill 7, wound 78 in Iraq's Kirkuk Reuters By Mustafa Mahmoud KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) - Three car bombs aimed at Iraqi security forces killed at least seven people and wounded 78 in the northern city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, police and hospital sources said. The explosions were the latest in a ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google News Alert for: World 09 Feb 2011 | ||
| Egypt protests: US call to Hosni Mubarak's government BBC News The US has called on the Egyptian government to immediately lift the country's emergency laws, which have been in place for 30 years. Vice-President Joe Biden made the call during a telephone conversation with his Egyptian counterpart Omar Suleiman. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Assange Fights Extradition to Sweden Wall Street Journal By JEANNE WHALEN LONDON—A legal battle over whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face a sexual-assault investigation entered its second day Tuesday, with lawyers sparring over who had been more uncooperative: Mr. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| UDPATE 1-Activist's tears may be game changer in Egypt Reuters By Marwa Awad and Andrew Hammond CAIRO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - One man's tears provided a new impetus on Tuesday to protesters in Egypt seeking to keep up momentum in their campaign, now in its third week, to topple President Hosni Mubarak. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Former Liberian President Boycotts War Crimes Trial New York Times By MARLISE SIMONS PARIS — Expectations that an important war crimes trial would conclude this week were upended on Tuesday when Charles G. Taylor, the former president of Liberia, and his defense lawyers boycotted the final stage of the proceedings, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Will Egypt Unrest Undermine Middle East Peace Process? Voice of America Photo: AP Masses of demonstrators continue their protest against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Our correspondent looks at whether events in Egypt have any effect on the Middle East peace process involving Israelis and Palestinians. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Prosecutors to Request Berlusconi Be Tried in Prostitution Case BusinessWeek By Lorenzo Totaro and Chiara Remondini Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Prosecutors will request today that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi stand trial for alleged abuse of power and engaging in prostitution with a minor. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| After the Airport Attack, Russia's Most Wanted Terrorist Hones His Message TIME By Simon Shuster / Moscow Tuesday, Feb. 08, 2011 Islamist rebel leader Doku Umarov gestures in this still image taken from undated video footage. On Jan. 15, Russia's state news channel reported the death of Doku Umarov, the country's most wanted ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Russia Plays Down Journalist's Deportation Wall Street Journal By GREGORY L. WHITE And PAUL SONNE Russia's Foreign Ministry sought to play down the weekend deportation from Moscow of a reporter for the UK's Guardian, calling it a paperwork problem, but the British newspaper dismissed the explanation. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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Google News Alert for: World 08 Feb 2011 | ||
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| Thailand insists on not being the party starting crossfire with Cambodia Xinhua By Sinfah Tunsarawuth BANGKOK, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Thailand insisted on Monday that it did not start the recent crossfire with Cambodia and the country preferred to solve the current conflict with Cambodia through bilateral mechanism. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| NATO soldier killed in bombing in southern Afghanistan Monsters and Critics.com Kabul - A soldier of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed Tuesday in a roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said in a statement. ISAF did not reveal the nationality of the deceased, nor did it say ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Jerusalem council set to approve Jewish housing in Arab neighborhood Ha'aretz Several Palestinian families in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah will be evicted to pave way for two new buildings meant to comprise 13 apartments. By Nir Hasson The Jerusalem Municipal Committee for Planning and Building is expected to approve Monday ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Moscow Airport Bombing: Chechen Militant Claims Credit ABC News By LEE FERRAN and MATTHEW COLE Doku Umarov appears in a 16-minute video released on the internet, claiming the "martyr operation" was carried out on his orders. In a video, Umarov says the Muslims of the Caucasus were at war with the Russian ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Moment of truth as 64 homes lost in fire The Australian A couple who are believed to have lost their home in the Perth foothills console each other at the Armadale Arena yesterday. Picture: Colin Murty Source: The Australian IT was the most brutal of roll calls, and the last thing weary and anxious ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Japan, Russia squabble over islands Xinhua BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- The dispute over four islands known as the Northern Territories in Japan, and the Southern Kurils in Russia, have long been a sticking point in relations between the two nations. Japan is reiterating its call for Russia ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google News Alert for: World
07 Feb 2011
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| Jhalanath Khanal Sworn in as Nepal's New PM Voice of America Nepal's newly elected Prime Minister Jhalnath Khanal looks on after his swearing-in ceremony in Katmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Nepal's newly elected Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal was sworn in Sunday at a ceremony in Kathmandu, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Authorities evacuate 6000 after discovery of Second World War bomb in France AHN | All Headline News An unexploded World War Two bomb, which was apparently dropped 69 years ago, was discovered in Boulogne-Billancourt. French authorities on Sunday evacuated thousands of people from their residences after an unexploded RAF bomb, which was apparently ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Students 'mutiny' on Spain flight BBC News Spanish police have removed more than 100 Belgian students from a plane that was due to fly from the Canary Islands to Belgium. The Irish budget airline Ryanair says police were called after the university students became disruptive. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Karzai issues new call to NATO UPI.com MUNICH, Germany, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Coalition countries need to end their practice of directly providing reconstruction teams in Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai said in Germany. Speaking Sunday to the Munich Security Conference attended by foreign ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Widow of Pakistani killed by US man commits suicide BBC News The widow of a Pakistani man who was killed by a US citizen has committed suicide after taking poison. In her dying statement, Shumaila said she feared the American would be released without trial, police and doctors said. Her husband, Mohammad Faheem, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| O'Reilly-Obama interview: President says Egypt 'not going to go back' Chicago Tribune In an interview with Bill O'Reilly on Fox's Super Bowl pregame show, President Obama calls for a orderly transition to a new representative government in Egypt. By Michael A. Memoli, Washington Bureau In an interview with Bill O'Reilly, President Obama ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Iraqis demonstrate over lack of basic services Reuters Residents carry yellow cards as they protest to demand for better basic services and the release of detainees in Basra, 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad February 6, 2011. By Aseel Kami BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Hundreds of Iraqis took part in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Germany tap fountain of youth for Italy friendly Reuters Africa By Karolos Grohmann BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany meet Italy in a friendly in Dortmund on Wednesday in a repeat of the 2006 World Cup semi-final, but the hosts' young squad bears almost no resemblance to the defeated Germany team of five years ago. ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google News Alert for: World
06 Feb 2011
| Thailand, Cambodia Reach Ceasefire Agreement After Cross Border Firing Voice of America Thailand and Cambodia agreed to a ceasefire Saturday after renewed fighting in a disputed border region killed at least one soldier. A tentative ceasefire appeared to be holding late Saturday after Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged artillery fire ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Bush trip to Switzerland called off amid threats of protests, legal action Washington Post By Peter Finn A planned trip to Switzerland this week by George W. Bush was canceled after human rights activists called for demonstrations and threatened legal action over allegations that the former president sanctioned the torture of terrorism ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Looking to Egypt's Future, Merkel Recalls Her Past New York Times By JUDY DEMPSEY MUNICH — With an eye to her past in trying to build new democratic institutions in former communist East Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany spoke at the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday about how Europe should ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Hamas denies involvement in Egypt turmoil Xinhua GAZA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement on Saturday denied media reports that the Gaza-based group was involved in fueling tension in Egypt. Salah Al-Bardaweel, a Hamas spokesman, accused Egyptian media of "trying to implicate Hamas and the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Serbia Nationalist Opposition Holds Anti-Government Rally Voice of America Photo: AP Tens of thousands of Serbian opposition supporters have rallied against the government, calling for early elections and economic reforms. The protest was organized by Serbian Progressive Party leader Tomislav Nikolic who addressed the crowd ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Iran set to try US 'hiker spies' BBC News Three Americans are due to go on trial in Iran, accused of spying and illegally entering the country. Sarah Shourd, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer were arrested in 2009 as they were hiking near the Iran-Iraq border. Ms Shourd was released on bail in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Chinese-flagged ship not hijacked off Yemen, now safe: Chinese authorities Xinhua SANAA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- In response to earlier reports that a Chinese-flagged commercial ship was hijacked by Somali pirates off Yemeni coast, the China Maritime Search and Rescue Center (MSA) said Sunday that the ship has never been hijacked, ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
05 Feb 2011
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| On Egypt, Europe follows US line Washington Post By Anthony Faiola and Michael Birnbaum LONDON - After an initially cautious response, European leaders are largely backing the increasingly tough line on Egypt taken by Washington, with Britain, France and Germany reiterating President Obama's ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Cambodia, Thailand military commanders meet to find way to end clashes Xinhua UDOR MEANCHEY, Cambodia, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian and Thai military commanders on Saturday began here negotiations at 10:40 am over the military clashes took place twice at the border area near the 11th century temple on Friday afternoon and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Iran's top leader: Mubarak betrayed his people Marietta Times February 5, 2011 - AP TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak betrayed his people and the uprising against his rule is the appropriate response, Iran's top leader said during Friday prayers in Tehran. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also told ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Parliament Picks Insider As President Of Myanmar New York Times By THOMAS FULLER BANGKOK — A former prime minister and longtime adjutant to Myanmar's military dictator was elected president on Friday by the country's newly inaugurated Parliament, a move that cements the military's control of a new political system. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Amid crackdown, al-Jazeera endures Washington Post By Liz Sly BAGHDAD - Though few foreign news organizations have escaped the onslaught of attacks against journalists in Cairo by supporters of Egypt's regime, none has faced quite so many challenges as the pan-Arab al-Jazeera satellite network. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Withholding US Aid Carries Some Risks Wall Street Journal By KEITH JOHNSON WASHINGTON—The Obama administration, seeking to pressure the Egyptian government into an orderly political transition, has one big lever: Billions of dollars in US economic and military aid. Since street protests erupted, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Whales restrand themselves in New Zealand (Roundup) Monsters and Critics.com Wellington - About 70 pilot whales stranded themselves on two remote beaches in New Zealand Saturday, most members of a pod that had refloated themselves overnight after stranding 24 hours earlier. At least one of more than 40 whales beached on the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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News Alert for: World
04 Feb 2011
04 Feb 2011
| White House, Egypt Discuss Mubarak Exit Plan Fox News AP Feb. 3: Anti government protestors, right, clash with pro government supporters near Cairo's main square, Egypt. The Obama administration is in talks with top Egyptian officials about the possible immediate resignation of President Hosni Mubarak and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 2 chosen for presidential runoff in Haiti Arizona Daily Star Many Haitians sighed with relief Thursday after election officials announced that longtime opposition leader Mirlande Manigat will face Michel Martelly, a carnival singer known as "Sweet Micky," in a runoff presidential election next month. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Berlusconi passes tax changes, ignoring parliament Reuters By Giuseppe Fonte ROME (Reuters) - Italy's cabinet on Thursday approved tax reforms that had been rejected by a special parliamentary panel, sparking outrage from the opposition who accused Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of riding roughshod over ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Suspected gas explosions at Turkish plant kill 10 Reuters ANKARA (Reuters) - Two suspected gas explosions occurring several hours apart killed 12 people and wounded dozens more in an industrial zone in Turkey's capital Ankara on Thursday, local officials said. Six people were dead and eight people were hurt ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Algeria To Lift 19-Year-Old State Of Emergency Soon RTT News (RTTNews) - Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced Thursday that the 19-year-long state of emergency enforced in the North African country would soon be lifted, and promised to provide more political freedom in response to a wave of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Guantanamo inmate dies after exercising Sydney Morning Herald The US military said on Thursday an Afghan inmate at the American prison in Guantanamo Bay has collapsed and died after exercising on an elliptical machine. Awal Gul, 48, who was held at Guantanamo since 2002 over alleged links to the Taliban and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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News Alert for: World
03 Feb 2011
03 Feb 2011
| Leadership gap stokes fears MiamiHerald.com BY SHEERA FRENKEL JERUSALEM -- Israel's top military leadership was in turmoil Wednesday, lacking an army chief or even the prospect of an early appointment as the Arab world continued to erupt in upheaval around it. Israelis awoke to discover that ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Editorial: A Nobel leak? Web Devil By Editorial Board February 2, 2011 at 10:54 pm Earlier this week nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize closed, and amidst all the nominees, quite a controversial name emerged. Norway politician Snorre Valen, a member of the Socialist Left Party, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Pakistan court extends detention of U.S. diplomat Reuters By Mubashir Bokhari LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - An American who killed two Pakistani men in Lahore last week will be held for eight more days to allow for further investigation, a prosecutor said on Thursday, despite US statements that he enjoys ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Ban Ki-moon Condemns Egypt Violence Voice of America Photo: AP As rival groups clashed in Egypt's capital Wednesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called violence against peaceful protesters "unacceptable" Mr. Ban spoke alongside Britain's Prime Minister in London as they called for speedy political ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| At least 66 execution in Iran's death penalty in January - UN says Oneindia UNITED NATIONS: With at least 66 people having been executed in Iran in January alone, including several political activists, the United Nations (UN) human rights chief on Wednesday voiced alarm and once again called on the Government to halt the use ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Sad tale of Queen's stalker Boy Jones WalesOnline by Helen Turner, Western Mail Celebrity stalkers are often considered a product of the modern age, but a new book shows they have been around far longer. Helen Turner reports THERE is much for which the modern celebrity age can be blamed – but the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Al Qaeda suspects killed in Mauritania car blast Reuters By Laurent Prieur NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - As many as three suspected al Qaeda militants were killed when their vehicle exploded during a gunfight with Mauritanian soldiers on the outskirts of the capital early on Wednesday, a security source said. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Venezuela earmarks $697 mn for housing construction Fox News Caracas – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday announced that he had approved the allocation of 3 billion bolivares ($697.6 million) to community councils to build about 40000 houses. "Let's knock down the old house and make a new one," said ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| UK and U.S. had no "sinister design" on Iraq - Straw Reuters By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - George W. Bush and Tony Blair did not have a "sinister" agenda to invade Iraq in 2003, former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told a London inquiry into the war on the last day of its public hearings on Wednesday. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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Google
News Alert for: World
02 Feb 2011
02 Feb 2011
| US Christian group detours to Israel amid Egypt riots Ha'aretz Some 40 Chicago-based tourists said they were not scared by the emerging unrest, but felt it would be safer to cut short the Egypt leg of their trip. By Elka Looks When a group of roughly 40 American tourists landed in Cairo on Wednesday, the protests ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Egypt's Islamist Riddle Wall Street Journal The decision by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to not stand for re-election forces the US to confront a thorny dilemma—how to deal with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. The 83-year-old Islamic movement, Egypt's biggest opposition bloc, played a subdued ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| The Structure of the Muslim Nations in the Middle East: The Role of Turkey in ... Kurdish Aspect incompatible, and this consensus continues in some areas of the Muslim and Arab World. The real issue in the Middle East and some of Muslims nations is not democracy. What really is missing are the concepts of individual rights - the minority rights. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| For Yeltsin, Kremlin Seeks Yukos Review The Moscow Times By Natalya Krainova Dmitry Astakhov / RIA-Novosti / AP President Dmitry Medvedev paid tribute to late President Boris Yeltsin on what would have been his 80th birthday Tuesday by enlarging the Kremlin's human rights council and ordering it to examine ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| WikiLeaks cable shows three Qataris in Sept. 11 plot Reuters WASHINGTON Feb 1 (Reuters) - A classified US document obtained by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks shows three previously undisclosed participants in the Sept. 11, 2001 plot, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday. The three Qatari men arrived in the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Sudan protesters defiant despite police crackdown Reuters Africa By Khaled Abdelaziz KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese students defied arrests and beatings on Tuesday, pressing ahead with anti-government protests inspired by demonstrations in neighbouring Egypt. Opposition activists blame the government for rising food ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Car bomb kills nine in Pakistan market AFP PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A car bomb tore through a packed Pakistani market near a police station, killing nine people, in the fifth attack in the city of Peshawar in less than a week, officials said. The bomb, planted in a car, devastated shops and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Frozen assets should go to rebuild Haiti: Duvalier AFP MIAMI — Haitian ex-dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier said he never had his personal funds frozen during his 25 years in exile, and called for assets frozen by Switzerland to be used to rebuild Haiti. In an interview with Spanish-language ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
31 Jan 2011
31 Jan 2011
| US Arranges to Evacuate Americans Wall Street Journal By MAYA JACKSON RANDALL WASHINGTON—The State Department put into place an evacuation plan that includes emergency flights out of Egypt for US citizens, while warning Americans there to remain in their residences or hotels. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Governments move to fly nationals out of Egypt Hindustan Times Governments took steps on Monday to whisk their nationals out of Egypt on chartered or scheduled aircraft as demonstrators pressed their mass campaign to topple President Hosni Mubarak. the outcome appearing to depend greatly on whatever steps are to ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Indonesia sex tape star is jailed BBC News A court in Indonesia has sentenced one of south-east Asia's best known pop stars to three-and-a-half years in prison for making and distributing sex videos on the internet. The tapes of Nazril Irham, or Ariel as he is known, and two other celebrities, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Four killed in Pakistan suicide attack: police AFP PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Four people including three police officers were killed and 11 people wounded when a teenage suicide bomber blew himself up near a police van in northwest Pakistan on Monday, officials said. The attack was claimed by the Pakistani ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| S. Korea quizzes Somali pirates over shot captain Sin Chew Jit Poh SEOUL, Monday 31 January 2011 (AFP) - Five suspected Somali pirates who were flown to South Korea to face possible trial are being questioned about who shot and critically injured the captain of a hijacked ship, an official said Monday. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| PRESS DIGEST - Pakistani Newspapers - Jan 31 Reuters ADVISORY: On Feb. 7, the Pakistan Press Digest will be discontinued. If you have any questions or comments, please email chris.allbritton@thomsonreuters.com or call the Islamabad newsroom at +92 51 281 0016. These are the leading stories in Pakistan's ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google
News Alert for: World
30 Jan 2011
30 Jan 2011
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| Ivory Coast ballot recount 'grave injustice': Ban AFP ADDIS ABABA — A recount of Ivory Coast's disputed presidential election would be a "grave injustice," the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in remarks made public Sunday in Addis Ababa. "Reopening the results of the election would be a grave ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Trains collide head-on in Germany, 10 dead UPI.com MAGDEBURG, Germany, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- A passenger train collided head-on with a freight train in Germany Saturday night, killing at least 10 people, officials said. The fiery crash occurred at Hordorf near the Saxony-Anhalt state capital of Magdeburg, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Yemenis rally in support of protests in Egypt, 10 injured Xinhua SANAA, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Yemenis rallied here Saturday against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to support Egyptian protesters. The demonstrators also shouted slogans against President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, witnesses said. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Vandals rip heads off 2 mummies in Egyptian Museum CNN International Vandals ripped the heads off two mummies and tossed relics onto the ground in Cairo's Egyptian Museum, the country's antiquities chief said Sunday. But the group of about nine people did not manage to steal anything from the museum's collection, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Over 99 percent of south votes to split from Sudan Reuters JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - More than 99 percent of voters in Sudan's south chose to separate from the north in a plebiscite intended to end decades of civil war, a referendum official said on Sunday announcing preliminary results. "The vote for separation ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Protester's Street-Level View Of Egypt's Unrest NPR Host Scott Simon tells the story of the continuing protests in Egypt through the eyes of one protester, Omar Mohamad, an engineering teacher at Cairo University. This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News, I'm Scott Simon. Thousands of demonstrators have ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Kenya premier rejects Kibaki judicial appointments AFP NAIROBI — Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Saturday dismissed as "null and void" the president's appointments of new judiciary officials, saying he was not consulted as required by law. President Mwai Kibaki on Friday named Appeals Court Justice ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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Google
News Alert for: World
29 Jan 2011
29 Jan 2011
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| Egypt protests curb travel to Cairo International Business Times By IBTimes Staff Reporter | January 29, 2011 2:12 AM EST The United States, UK, Australia, The Netherlands and Sweden have advised against all non-essential travel to Cairo and in other cities of Egypt since thousands of protestors demanding the end of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Egypt army secures museum with pharaonic treasures: report Reuters CAIRO (Reuters) - Army units secured the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo against possible looting on Friday, protecting a building with spectacular pharaonic treasures such as the death mask of the boy king Tutankhamun, state TV said. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Why Does Italy Put Up with Berlusconi? TIME By Beppe Severgnini Monday, Feb. 07, 2011 Italy is at the mercy of an 18-year-old Moroccan and a dental hygienist. That's Italy, as in one of the founders of the European Union and the world's seventh largest economy. The Moroccan calls herself Ruby ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| France lesbian couple lose marriage court case ABC Online France has maintained its ban on gay marriage, with a constitutional court ruling that a lesbian couple with four children do not have the right to tie the knot. The couple, a teacher and a paediatrician who have lived together for 15 years, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Nigerian police: Gubernatorial candidate assassinated CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- A gubernatorial candidate in the northern Nigerian state of Borno was assassinated, and five police officers and the governor's brother were also killed in a gun attack outside a mosque Friday, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| President Mills arrives in Addis Ababa for AU Summit Ghana News Agency Addis Ababa (Ethipia), Jan. 28, GNA-President John Evans Atta Mills on Friday afternoon arrived in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian and African Union (AU) capital, to attend the 16th Ordinary Session of the African Union. The heads of state meeting, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Deputy provincial governor killed in S Afghanistan Xinhua KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Jan. 29 (Xinhua)-- Deputy provincial governor of Kandahar in south Afghanistan was killed in a roadside bomb on Saturday, reliable sources said. "Deputy provincial governor Abdul Latif Ashna was on way to office when a roadside ... See all stories on this topic » |
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Fire kills 11 off the coast of Java while three more die in train collision in Banjar district.
Last Modified: 28 Jan 2011 05:04 GMT
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At least 11 people have been killed after a fire broke out on a ferry travelling between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra, the transport ministry has said. The ferry caught fire in the Sunda Strait, about three kilometres from the port of Merak at the westernmost tip of Java, at around 3.30am on Friday (20.30 GMT on Thursday). "Eleven people have been killed, and 427 people have survived. We don't know how many people are missing, hopefully there are none," Wiratno, transport ministry director for maritime passenger services, said. Many passengers were transferred to a hospital in Cilegon on Java for treatment. Wiratno said a vehicle inside the ferry was the suspected source of the fire. Deadly train collision In a separate incident, at least three people were killed and a dozen injured when two passenger trains collided at a train station in Banjar district, on the border of West and Central Java. One of the trains slammed into another that had stopped at a track. "Three people were killed," Bambang Ervan, a transport ministry spokesman, said on Friday. Twenty-one people have been taken to hospital - some with critical injuries. Poor infrastructure, corruption and weak safety standards are often cited as factors contributing to frequent transport disasters in Indonesia. In October last year, 36 people were killed in a train collision in central Java. Up to 335 people were killed when a heavily overloaded ferry sank off the island of Sulawesi in January 2009. |
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Featured on Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera has obtained more than 1,600 internal documents from a decade of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Accused of killing 73 in an airline bombing, Luis Posada Carriles charged with immigration violations, not terrorism.
The real terror eating away at the Arab world is socio-economic marginalisation.
Al Jazeera travels to the birthplace of Tunisia's uprising and speaks to Mohamed Bouazizi's family.
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News Alert for: World
28 Jan 2011
28 Jan 2011
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| Outrage spreads as latest blast kills 48 MiamiHerald.com Angry Iraqis turned on police after a suicide car bomber attacked a public funeral in a Shiite neighborhood, leaving 48 dead and 121 injured. BY LAITH HAMMOUDI AND SHASHANK BENGALI BAGHDAD -- Another major attack rocked Iraq on Thursday as a suicide ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Yen, Dollar Strengthen as Asian Stocks Decline; Pound Weakens BusinessWeek By Candice Zachariahs and Ron Harui Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The yen and dollar strengthened against most of their major counterparts as a decline in Asian stocks boosted demand for safer assets. The yen also advanced on speculation Japanese exporters ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| French Leader Scales Back Ambitions for New Monetary System New York Times By KATRIN BENNHOLD DAVOS, Switzerland — When President Nicolas Sarkozy of France addressed the world's elite here last year, he proclaimed a grand vision of a new economic and monetary order — a new Bretton Woods, no less. Today, however, Mr. Sarkozy ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Indonesian ferry fire, train collision kill 16 The Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Hundreds of people were injured in Indonesia early Friday when two passenger trains collided and a crowded ferry burst into flames, officials said. The death toll from the twin disasters stood at 16. The accidents occurred 30 ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Hariri, allies will not join Mikati govt - sources Reuters BEIRUT Jan 27 (Reuters) - Former Lebanese premier Saad al-Hariri and his political allies will not join the government of his successor, Hezbollah-backed Najib Mikati, sources close to Hariri said on Thursday. "March 14 will not take part in the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Lukashenko to face EU travel ban BBC News The EU is to announce a visa ban and an asset freeze on Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, diplomats say. The measures, to be adopted by EU foreign ministers on Monday, will also affect almost 160 of his officials. Mr Lukashenko remained in power ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Find suggests modern humans took earlier path out of Africa Washington Post By Marc Kaufman For decades, the scientific consensus has held that anatomically modern humans first migrated out of Africa some 60000 years ago, heading north into the eastern Mediterranean region and on to Europe and Asia. But new research released ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google
News Alert for: World 24 Jan 2011 | ||
| Portugal's Anibal Cavaco Silva Re-Elected President Wall Street Journal LISBON (Dow Jones)--Voters in Portugal re-elected Anibal Cavaco Silva for a second presidential term Sunday, sending a message that they want political stability, but the seasoned president will face tough months ahead as the country seeks to extricate ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Analysis: South Sudan secession a risky precedent Washington Post By HAMZA HENDAWI AP CAIRO -- Southern Sudan's nearly certain secession from the Arab-dominated north is likely to set a dangerous precedent in an Arab world looking increasingly fractured along sectarian and ethnic lines. Southern Sudanese voted this ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Belgians Press Politicians to Form Government New York Times By STEPHEN CASTLE BRUSSELS — Defying the normal conventions of protest politics, more than 30000 Belgians rallied here on Sunday not to try to get rid of a government, but to press their squabbling politicians to form one. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Somali pirates threaten to kill Korean hostages Reuters By Abdiqani Hassan BOSASSO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Somali pirates threatened on Sunday to kill any South Korean seamen they take hostage in future in revenge for the killing of eight pirates by South Korean troops who stormed a hijacked vessel. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Analysts downplay fears of Tunisia political contagion Financial Times By Peter Guest Investors have been quick to try to dampen fears of political contagion across the Middle East and North Africa region following the Jasmine Revolution that overthrew Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on January 14. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| World's highest restaurant opens in Dubai Xinhua by Gerard Al-Fil DUBAI, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Visitors and gourmets who plan to visit Dubai's newest restaurant "At.mosphere" need a proper budget to dine there, as well as a head for heights. Located on level 122 at the world's highest tower Burj ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Zimbabwe's Mugabe Dismisses Surgery Reports, Says He Can Call an Election Bloomberg By Nelson Gore Banya - Mon Jan 24 06:01:30 GMT 2011 Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe dismissed reports that he underwent surgery in Malaysia as “naked lies” and said he may call an election without a new constitution being put in place. ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World 21 Jan 2011 | ||
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| Belarus leader set for new term BBC News By David Stern BBC News, Kiev, Ukraine Alexander Lukashenko is due to be inaugurated for a fourth term as Belarus's president in the capital Minsk, after his election last month. The inauguration takes place as European officials consider imposing ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| South Korea rescues hijacked crew BBC News South Korean navy commandos have stormed a ship which had been seized by pirates in the Arabian Sea. All the crew of the South Korean-owned Samho Jewelry were rescued, said Col Lee Bung-woo, a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Alan Johnson officer faces probe BBC News An officer who protected Alan Johnson and his wife when he was home secretary has been referred to Scotland Yard's standards watchdog, it has emerged. The news came hours after Mr Johnson stepped down as shadow chancellor on Thursday, citing family ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Haiti under pressure to amend initial vote results Reuters By Joseph Guyler Delva and Allyn Gaestel PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The United Nations and Western powers urged Haiti's authorities on Thursday to amend the preliminary results of flawed November elections, warning that failure to do so could ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Floods costing Australia $3B in lost farming, coal The Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Rivers surged to record heights and put rural towns and an already waterlogged city on flood watch Friday in a weekslong crisis that is costing Australia at least $3 billion in lost farming and coal exports. ... See all stories on this topic » |
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Thousands of homes swamped by rising waters as flood crisis moves from northeast to south over the weekend.
Last Modified: 16 Jan 2011 08:49 GMT
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Dozens of towns in Australia's Victoria state in the far south braced for unprecedented river levels days after the flooding crisis peaked in northeastern Queensland. About 14,000 homes in the second most populous state were hit by a record deluge on Sunday as the number of deaths rose to 17 in Queensland amid scenes of destruction. Homes were swamped to waist height as waters wreaked havoc on rural communities in Australia's southeast, levelling fences and trees and tearing up roads. Victoria suffered the worst wildfires in Australian history just two years ago in which 173 people died. Parts of the state were now facing a once-in-a-century flooding, with some towns having never experienced such inundation. Soldiers were helping people evacuate from their homes while desperate sandbagging was under way in a number of towns, where a season's worth of rain had fallen in just one or two days. "We are facing an unprecedented flood event on the Campaspe river," said Lachlan Quick, an emergency spokesman. "Water volumes of this size have never been seen down this river before." Four major rivers in Victoria were in full flood, with 43 towns, 3,500 people and 1,400 properties affected. No deaths have been reported so far in the state. Flooding also swept through the island state of Tasmania, washing away bridges and forcing hundreds of evacuations. The flooding in Victoria follows a six-week crisis in Queensland, where floodwaters swallowed an area the size of France and Germany combined, culminating in the swamping last week of Brisbane, Australia's third largest city, and utter devastation of towns to the west. Experts have linked Australia's downpours to an especially strong La Nina weather pattern bringing cooler water temperatures and exacerbating the traditional tropical cyclone season. Continuous flooding Five of Australia's seven states and territories have seen flooding since January 1. Al Jazeera's Andrew Thomas reporting from Brisbane said the cleanup operations were well under way in the second-largest city although the main focus is now on Victoria where the water has been rising quickly.
"Tens of thousands of volunteers were literally pouring into the affected suburbs [of Queensland] trying to clear out houses. "Earlier there were some reports about less affluent areas with high immigrant populations not getting the necessary attention but residents say it was because the floodwaters prevented volunteers from getting through." Our correspondent said there was a carnival-like atmosphere with children handing out biscuits, sausages and water to the "volunteer army" involved in the cleanup operation for days. Anna Bligh, the premier of Queensland state, said the death toll had risen to 17 since January 10, with the discovery of a woman's body in a house in the worst-hit Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane. As waters receded in Queensland, Bligh said the full scale of destruction was emerging, with the number of flooded homes and evacuations doubling in the past week and the number of properties affected by the waters trebling across an area with a population of 2.1 million. She warned people to stay out of floodwaters where possible, describing them as a "toxic" soup of rotting animal corpses and food, chemicals and debris. Wayne Swan, the treasurer for Queensland, toured the ravaged Brisbane suburb of Rocklea hit by the disaster as the federal and state governments pledged about $10m each to the relief fund, which has now raised more than $83m. "In terms of cost it's far too early to evaluate," Swan told AFP of the damage bill. "The priority is to provide immediate relief with emergency payments to the people affected. "There is certainly a huge impact in terms of tourism, in terms of the export of resources, especially coal, in terms of small businesses. But it's too early to say how much." |
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Featured on Al Jazeera
Beijing has invested billions in the oil-rich country and may now have to step up to ensure stability prevails.
The real terror eating away at the Arab world is socio-economic marginalisation.
Israeli racism may not be new but it is becoming more open, which raises the question - which way will the public tip?
Barack Obama largely ran on the platform of transparency, but such views have been left behind on the campaign trail.
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In Video
Google
News Alert for: World
16 Jan 2011
16 Jan 2011
| * Somali pirates hijack Sri Lanka-bound Korean freighter Colombo Page Jan 16, Colombo: Somali pirates have hijacked a Sri Lanka-bound South Korean cargo ship with 21 crew members on board on Saturday afternoon. Somali pirates on a boat have attacked the 11500-ton freighter Samho Jewelry in Indian Ocean, as the ship was ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Iraqi soldier kills two US soldiers in Mosul Reuters MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Two US soldiers were killed and a third injured when an Iraqi soldier opened fire on US troops during training in the northern city of Mosul on Saturday, the US military said. The incident occurred while US soldiers were ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| France's Le Pen Bids Adieu To National Front Party NPR by AP Enlarge AP French far-right Marine Le Pen, weeps at the national congress in Tours, western France, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011. Marine Le Pen, the 42-year-old daughter of France's best-known far-right leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, is seen as the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Marine killed Afghan policeman who pointed gun, military says Los Angeles Times The shooting in Helmand province in the south points up tensions between the Western military and Afghan counterparts in a crucial phase of their partnership. By Laura King, Los Angeles Times A US Marine shot and killed an Afghan policeman who pointed ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Iran Beats North Korea to Advance in Asian Cup New York Times By REUTERS Iran qualified for the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup on a goal by Karim Ansari Fard in a 1-0 win over North Korea in Qatar on Saturday. Osama Faisal/Associated Press Iran and midfielder Javad Nekonam, right, advanced to the Asian Cup ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| British-Pakistani Christians commemorate Taseer Daily Times LONDON: The Pakistan High Commission was presented with a wreath in memory of late Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer by the British Pakistani Christian Association. The flowers were presented on Friday evening as 'a show of representation of the love the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Protesters make the case for peaceful change Financial Times By Eileen Byrne in Sidi Bouzid, central Tunisia With soldiers at checkpoints examining vehicles on the main routes into town, residents of Sidi Bouzid retired to their houses at dusk Saturday in line with a nationwide 5pm. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| More German farms shut in dioxin scare BBC News Germany has closed 934 more poultry and pig farms as fears over the contamination of dioxin in animal feed continue. The move came after a manufacturer in Lower Saxony was found to have hidden some of the outlets it sold produce to. ... See all stories on this topic » |
| LATEST NEWS |
| China nudges U.S. on assets ahead of Hu trip |
| BEIJING (Reuters) - China would welcome assurances its financial assets in the United States are safe, a senior diplomat said on Wednesday, ahead of President Hu Jintao's visit next week, but played down rifts between the two powers. | Full Article |
| Obama approval rises as economy improves: poll |
| January 12, 2011 08:41 AM ET |
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is getting a bump in his approval ratings from an improving economy but Americans want him to focus on reducing debt and spending, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Wednesday. | Full Article |
| Arizona shooting suspect's family expresses sorrow |
| January 12, 2011 03:43 AM ET |
| TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - The family of the accused gunman in the Arizona shooting spree expressed sorrow on Tuesday over the "heinous events" while the congresswoman who was shot in the head showed signs of improvement. | Full Article |
| Sarah Palin accuses critics of "blood libel" |
| January 12, 2011 09:00 AM ET |
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prominent Republican Sarah Palin on Wednesday accused critics of "blood libel" by blaming her rhetoric for contributing to the shooting rampage in Tucson that killed six and wounded 14, including Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords. | Full Article |
| AIG agrees $2.2 billion sale of Taiwan unit after long delay |
| January 12, 2011 05:34 AM ET |
| TAIPEI (Reuters) - American International Group Inc accepted a $2.16 billion cash offer for its Taiwan Nan Shan Life unit from a group led by local conglomerate Ruentex, marking the beginning of the end of a drawn-out process fraught with political wrangling. | Full Article |
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| HEALTH NEWS |
| Dioxin-tainted pork possibly sold in Germany |
| WHO global plan to contain drug-resistant malaria |
| Analysis shows heart, stroke risk of pain drugs |
| Arizona trauma surgeon unfazed by shooting |
Google
News Alert for: World
12 Jan 2011
12 Jan 2011
| U.S. vice president arrives in Pakistan for talks Reuters ISLAMABAD Jan 12 (Reuters) - US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Pakistan on Wednesday for talks with President Asif Ali Zardari, as Washington seeks to pressure Islamabad to pursue militants while avoiding straining the relationship further. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Three face charges over Michaela McAreavey murder RTE.ie Police in Mauritius are expected to charge three men today in connection with the murder of Michaela McAreavey. The 27-year-old daughter of Tyrone football manager Mickey Harte was on her honeymoon on the Indian Ocean island. The three men arrested are ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| DIARY - Egypt - January 12 Reuters This diary is updated daily. New listings or amendments are marked *. All events/times provisional and in GMT (local time is GMT +2 for Egypt). CAIRO - An Egyptian court hearing held to try an Egyptian businessman accused of being assigned by Israel's ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presses Yemen on terrorism fight Los Angeles Times Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen, who says he is 'fully committed' to helping the US destroy an Al Qaeda offshoot. By Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Yemen on ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Obama calls Saudi king, voices solidarity on Lebanon Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called Saudi King Abdullah on Tuesday, wishing him a speedy recovery from recent surgery and saying he wanted to keep working with Saudi Arabia and others to stabilize the situation in Lebanon, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Nigeria clashes 'leave 13 dead' BBC News At least 13 people have been killed after further violence between rival groups near the central Nigerian city of Jos, witnesses say. Police spokesman Idako Andy told the BBC officers had been sent to a mostly Christian village in the Wareng area 40km ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Bhutto accused 'not a terrorist' BBC News A freed al-Qaeda suspect who has been linked to attacks on the late Benazir Bhutto is not a terrorist, Punjab's top judicial official has said. Qari Saifullah Akhtar was released in December after reportedly being placed under house arrest four months ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Portugal Finance Minister says no need for bailout BusinessWeek Portugal's finance minister says he doesn't expect his country will need a bailout to resolve its financial problems. Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said in a radio interview Tuesday the government is taking steps to reduce the country's high debt, ... See all stories on this topic » |
Central & South Asia
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Asia-Pacific
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Google
News Alert for: World
10 Jan 2011
10 Jan 2011
| Iran plane crash pushes death toll to 77 ISNA TEHRAN (ISNA)-Deadly plane crash in northwestern Iran pushed death toll to 77 and left some 26 others injured. The Head of crisis management organization of Iranian Ministry of Road and Transportation Ahmad Majidi said, "105 people including 94 ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Karachi rally backs blasphemy law BBC News Up to 50000 people marched through the streets of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi against a proposed softening of the strict blasphemy laws. The rally was attended by all major Muslim groups and sects in the city, including moderates and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Flash floods upend cars in another Australia town The Associated Press BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Flash floods swept through a northeastern Australian community Monday, overturning cars and flinging a van against several trees as relentless rains brought more misery to a region battling its worst flooding in decades. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| S Korea dismisses DPRK's renewed call for inter-Korean talks Xinhua SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- South Korea on Monday dismissed the latest call for inter-Korean talks by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as lacking sincerity, urging its northern neighbor to address pending issues first. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 14 Killed in Clashes With Police as Violence Spreads in Tunisia New York Times By REUTERS TUNIS (Reuters) — Fourteen civilians were killed in clashes with the Tunisian police over the weekend, the government said Sunday, in the deadliest violence in a wave of unrest that has lasted nearly a month. Protesters say they are angry ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| IAF hits 2 targets in Gaza; Hamas calls for quiet Jerusalem Post By KHALED ABU TOAMEH AND JPOST.COM STAFF Fearing Israeli retaliation over Kassam, mortar attacks on Negev, Hamas urges factions to abide by unofficial cease-fire. Hamas said on Sunday that it was in contact with other groups in the Gaza Strip to reduce ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Sarkozy seeks US backing to reform monetary system Financial Times By Ben Hall and Peggy Hollinger in Paris Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, arrives in Washington on Monday in an attempt to win President Barack Obama's support for his plans to launch an overhaul of the international monetary system during ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Issue of German journalists resolvable: Iran Tehran Times TEHRAN – Acting Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said the issue of the German journalists who were arrested in October in Iran can be resolved through negotiation. The two German journalists from Bild am Sonntag entered Iran on tourist visas and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| First anti-government protests staged in Bangkok since emergency rule CNN International By the CNN Wires Staff Thousands of "Red Shirt" anti-government protesters rally at Ratchaprasong intersection in Bangkok on Sunday. Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- Thailand's red-shirted anti-government protesters returned to the streets of Bangkok Sunday ... See all stories on this topic » |
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| US to 'expand Pakistan assistance' | ||
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Increased military, intelligence and economic support to be aimed at overcoming ally's misgivings, US daily says.
Last Modified: 08 Jan 2011 10:26 GMT
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The US has decided to offer more military, intelligence and economic support to Pakistan, in response to complaints from government officials there that the US government does not understand Pakistani strategic priorities, the Washington Post reports. The increase in aid comes despite ongoing US frustration over Pakistan delaying a ground offensive against suspected militant hideouts in North Waziristan. The plan to increase assistance was part of last month's Afghanistan war review carried out by the White House. Joe Biden, the US vice-president, plans to travel to Pakistan next week for meetings with General Ashfaq Kayani, the Pakistani army chief, and high-level government leaders. It is expected that he will consult Pakistani officials regarding the concrete details of the increased assistance during that visit. Biden will ask Pakistani officials to articulate their long-term strategy for the region, and to indicate precisely what assistance would be needed for them to move against suspected Taliban sanctuaries in the area bordering Afghanistan, the Washington Post reported. A publically released five-page summary of the Afghanistan war review refered only to unspecified policy "adjustments" vis-a-vis Pakistan. Anti-American sentiment Several administration officials said that the classified review identified areas where stronger efforts were required, rather than specific new initiatives. The US will be attempting to intensify efforts to overcome widespread suspicion and anti-American sentiment in Pakistan. Barack Obama, the US president, and his national security aides also rejected proposals made by some military commanders and intelligence officials to authorise US ground forces to conduct targeted raids on Pakistani soil, officials said. The review resolved to "look hard" at what measures could be taken to improve economic stability, particularly on tax policy and Pakistan's relationship with, and recent reliance on, international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund. It directed administration and Pentagon officials to "make sure that our sizeable military assistance programs are properly tailored to what the Pakistanis need, and are targeted on units that will generate the most benefit" for US objectives, a senior administration official who participated in the review and was authorised to speak about it on condition of anonymity. The review concluded that the US cannot afford to further alienate Pakistan, a crucial ally in efforts to target fighters in Afghanistan and to shut down militant sanctuaries. The official who spoke to the Washington Post also said that there was an understanding that a shift in focus from a classic "clear, hold and build" model of military operations could be replaced with a combination of political, military, counterterrorism and intelligence operations. North Waziristan operation Operations by the Pakistani military have pushed fighters into the North Waziristan agency, but no large-scale ground operation has so far been ordered in that area. Kayani has previously said that his forces are overstretched, but that the question regarding a North Waziristan operation was one of when, not if. In the meantime, an increasing campaign of drone attacks have targeted the suspected Taliban targets in the area. The CIA does not normally confirm drone operations, but it is the only organisation operating such aircraft in that area. Regarding Pakistan, the official speaking to the Washington Post said that the US administration realised that US policy makers had to "try to look at this through [Pakistan's] lens. Not because we accept it wholesale, but because their actions are going to continue to be driven by their perspective". The US is already projected to provide approximately $3bn in aid to Pakistan, but officials in Islamabad have complained that it is slow to arrive, and that specific military requests (such as for additional helicopters) have not been fulfilled. |
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N Korea makes fresh talks offer
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South describes proposal for unconditional negotiations as more concrete than previous one.
Last Modified: 08 Jan 2011 04:22 GMT
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North Korea has reiterated a proposal for unconditional talks with South Korea, in an apparent bid to ease tensions on the peninsula. The North's latest offer comes days after South Korea dismissed earlier calls for negotiation from the country. "We do not want to see the present South Korean authorities pass the five-year term of their office idly without North-South dialogue," the North's Committee for Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement. "There is neither conditionality in the North's proposal for dialogue nor need to cast any doubt about its real intention." The statement was released to the country's official Korean Central News Agency. Chun Hae-Sung, a South Korean unification ministry official, said South Korea will review the latest offer but that the North has not sent an official request for talks. The South had earlier this week dismissed calls for talks by the North, saying the country should show that it has changed through actions, rather than words. Lee Jong-Joo, a South Korean unification ministry spokesman, said this fresh offer for talks was more concrete than the previous one. Red Cross issue North Korea has also proposed an early resumption of talks between the two countries' Red Cross organisations on humanitarian issues, and other negotiations aimed at reviving economic relations. It also said that it would reopen an office at Kaesong City, near the border, that facilitated inter-Korean economic co-operation. That office had been closed after South Korea shut down almost all economic exchanges following the sinking of a South Korean warship in May last year. North Korea has consistently denied responsibility for that attack. Both South Korea and the US have been unclear as to what their preconditions would be to resume talks with the North. However, the US has urged the North to demonstrate a "seriousness of purpose". Tensions between the two Koreas escalated in November after a North Korean artillery barrage on a South Korean-held island near the disputed maritime border killed four South Koreans. |
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Google
News Alert for: World
08 Jan 2011
08 Jan 2011
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| Taliban bomb kills Afghan police chief, 16 civilians in Kandahar bathhouse Christian Science Monitor The Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing, which came only a day after the US announced it was sending more troops to Afghanistan. By Taylor Barnes, Correspondent / January 7, 2011 • A daily summary of global reports on security issues ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Algeria tense after riots Aljazeera.net Police step up security across Algiers in wake of second wave of riots protesting inflation and unemployment. Algerian police have stepped up security in the wake of the second night of violent rioting against high prices and a lack of jobs in the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Turkish, Greek PMs show unity over illegal migrants Reuters By Tulay Karadeniz ERZURUM, Turkey (Reuters) - The prime ministers of Greece and Turkey voiced solidarity in their approach to tackling the growing problem of illegal immigration, after the Greek government announced plans to fence part of its border. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Ex-MP spends first night in jail BBC News Ex-Labour MP David Chaytor has spent his first night in Wandsworth prison after being jailed for 18 months for fiddling his parliamentary expenses. He was sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty to fraudulently claiming more than £20000 in expenses. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Bad news for us, or just for birds? Los Angeles Times The mysterious appearance of dead flocks in Arkansas, Louisiana and elsewhere has many wondering what's going on. The Times talks to a wildlife expert. By Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times Roughly 5000 dead and dying blackbirds fell from the Arkansas sky ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| UK warns aviation of possible al Qaeda attack -BBC Reuters LONDON Jan 7 (Reuters) - The British government has warned the aviation sector of a possible al Qaeda attack, the BBC said on Friday. "There are indications that al Qaeda may be considering an attack against a UK airport or aviation sector target," the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Qaida kills 10 soldiers in ambush in south Yemen Xinhua SANAA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Militants of al-Qaida ambushed a military convey heading to a military base in Loder city in Yemeni southern province of Abyan on Friday, killing 10 soldiers and wounding two, security officials said. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Sarkozy takes G20 case to Obama as food prices soar Reuters By Emmanuel Jarry PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy takes his campaign for greater global food price and currency stability to Washington next week when he seeks Barack Obama's support for France's goals as head of the Group of 20 ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google
News Alert for: World
06 Jan 2011
06 Jan 2011
| UN Wants More Ivory Coast Peacekeepers as Gbagbo Keeps Blockade on Rival Bloomberg The United Nations wants to send as many as 2000 more peacekeepers to Ivory Coast as President Laurent Gbagbo maintains a blockade on the UN-protected Abidjan hotel used by his rival as a headquarters. “We are asking for reinforcements,” Under ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Sightseeing bus crashes in north India, 22 dead Washington Post By BISWAJEET BANERJEE AP LUCKNOW, India -- An Uttarakhand state official says 22 people died when their sightseeing bus overturned and crashed in a gorge in northern India. The private bus had been one of eight returning to Haridwar city when it ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Hijack attempt foiled aboard Turkish Air flight CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff A passenger on a Turkish Airlines flight from Oslo to Istanbul tried to hijack a plane similar to the one pictured. Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- A man claiming to have a bomb tried to enter the cockpit of a Turkish Airlines plane ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Russian icebreaker clears path to release trapped ships in Okhotsk sea RIA Novosti A Russian icebreaker on Thursday forced its way through ice to reach icebound ships in the Sea of Okhotsk, off Russia's far eastern coast. Admiral Makarov is 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) away from the ships, its captain said. Three ships have been trapped ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| 'Eli Yishai has to pay for the Carmel fire' Jerusalem Post By JPOST.COM STAFF Danny Rozen, who demanded that Yishai leave state ceremony, plans to sue, calls interior minister an "embarrassment to the State of Israel." Danny Rozen, the life partner of former Haifa Police chief Ahuva Tomer, told Israel Radio on ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google
News Alert for: World
05 Jan 2011
05 Jan 2011
| Pakistan shocked by assassination Washington Post By Karin Brulliard KARACHI, PAKISTAN - One of Pakistan's most openly progressive politicians was gunned down Tuesday in an act that violently highlighted extremists' tightening grip on the country even as the beleaguered government struggled to stay in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Dioxin Scare Halts German Egg Sales Food Safety News by News Desk | Jan 05, 2011 High levels of dioxins--chemical toxins that are byproducts of waste incineration--have shown up in eggs and animal feed in Germany in what news reports describe as a spreading scandal. In the past few days, some 1000 farms ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Netanyahu formally asks US to release convicted spy Pollard Washington Post By Joel Greenberg JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent a letter Tuesday to President Obama, formally asking for the release of Jonathan Jay Pollard, the American sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for spying for Israel in a case ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Top-of-the-line tuna sells for $400000 in Japan Reuters A bluefin tuna, sold for a record price, is moved using a trolley at the Tsukiji market after the New Year's auction, in Tokyo January 5, 2011. TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - A bluefin tuna, prized by sushi aficionados as a high-end treat, sold on Wednesday ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Spain Sees Progress on Deficit and Unemployment New York Times By REUTERS MADRID — Spain's jobless numbers fell for the first time in five months in December, data showed Tuesday, and the prime minister said the government beat its target for reducing its public sector deficit last year as it fights to fend off a ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Kenyan Minister Resigns To Face Corruption Investigation RTT News (RTTNews) - Kenya's Industrialization Minister Henry Kosgey Tuesday resigned from the government to face an ongoing corruption investigation against him in connection with second-hand cars import scandal. Kosgey's resignation came a day after Attorney ... See all stories on this topic » |
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Google
News Alert for: World
04 Jan 2011
| Main Pakistan opposition says will not move against PM Reuters ISLAMABAD Jan 4 (Reuters) - Pakistan's main opposition group will not push for a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani because to demand such a vote would fuel instability in the country, party officials said on Tuesday. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Iran: Scientist Tortured After Return, Web Site Says New York Times By WILLIAM YONG An Iranian nuclear scientist who said he had been abducted by the CIA has been imprisoned and tortured since his return to Iran in July, an opposition Web site reported Monday. The scientist, Shahram Amiri, spent the past two months in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Netanyahu slams Palestinians' new 'three no's' Jerusalem Post By HERB KEINON AND REBECCA ANNA STOIL PA leadership saying no to recognition of Jewish state, no to dropping demand for 'right of return,' no to security arrangements, PM says. Israel has an “arsenal of possible responses” it can deploy in response to ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Brazil Is Poised to Pressure Beijing on Currency Policy Wall Street Journal By JOHN LYONS And MATTHEW COWLEY SÃO PAULO—Brazil's overvalued currency may be turning the South American giant into a US ally on a key economic issue: Pressuring China to let its own currency strengthen to address global trade imbalances. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Report: Men involved in terror plot worked for British Consulate Ynetnews Two Hamas members who were arrested on suspicion of being involved in a plot to fire a missile at Jerusalem's Teddy Stadium during an Israeli premier league soccer match were employed as maintenance men by the British Consulate General, the Telegraph ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 2 Americans Die in Iraq; Local Forces Are Attacked New York Times By JOHN LELAND BAGHDAD — Two members of the United States military were killed Sunday night in central Iraq, the first such deaths here this year at a time when American casualties had become a rarity. Notes from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Africans Drown Trying to Reach Yemen on Rough Seas New York Times By REUTERS ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) — More than 40 African migrants trying to reach Yemen by boat have drowned in heavy seas off the coast and a second boat with as many as 40 people aboard is missing, Yemeni and United Nations officials said Monday. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Japan's Prime Minister Urges Talks on Raising Tax Wall Street Journal By TAKASHI NAKAMICHI TOKYO—Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he wants to begin talks with the country's opposition parties on raising the nation's consumption tax, with a target of having a plan in place by June. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| United States criticizes closure of OSCE mission in Belarus RIA Novosti The United States has criticized Belarusian authorities for terminating the OSCE mission in the country and called the decision "a step backwards" in the development of democracy in Belarus. Belarusian authorities have discontinued the mandate of the ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google
News Alert for: World
31 Dec 2010
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| Two killed and eight injured in bomb attacks on Baghdad Christians The Guardian Two people were killed yesterday and at least eight injured in a series of bomb attacks on Christian homes in Baghdad. The grenade and bomb attacks came a week after Islamist militants linked to al-Qaida threatened a wave of violence against Iraq's ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Greece: Bomb Explodes in Athens; No One Is Injured New York Times By NIKI KITSANTONIS A powerful bomb detonated outside a court building near central Athens on Thursday morning, but warning calls allowed the area to be cleared, the police said. There were no injuries, though the building and nearby cars were damaged. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| PM: Conflict continues due to refusal to accept Israel Jerusalem Post By HERB KEINON Netanyahu says countries perceive Israel as “guilty until it proves otherwise;” Israel must "delegitimize the delegitimizers;" National Security Council head Uzi Arad visits Jordan. The root of the Israeli-Arab conflict is not Israel's ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Yemen releases hundreds of rebels The Press Association A Shiite rebel spokesman said Yemen authorities have released hundreds of rebel detainees. Mohammed Abdel-Salam said at least 428 Hawthi detainees were freed on Thursday. Abdel-Salam said the release was mediated by Qatar, which brokered a cease-fire ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Polish court jails Swedish neo-Nazi for stealing Aushwitz sign AHN | All Headline News A Swedish neo-Nazi, who is accused of plotting theft of "Arbeit macht frei" sign from Auschwitz death camp, has been given 32-month jail sentence in Poland. Nearly a month after Swedish neo-Nazi Anders Hoegstroem confessed that he masterminded the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Pakistan faces US Mumbai lawsuit BBC News The Pakistani government says it will fight a lawsuit filed in the US against its intelligence agency. The case against Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been lodged by relatives of two American victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| First great-grandchild for Queen BBC News The Queen is "delighted" with the birth of her first great-grandchild, Buckingham Palace has said. The baby girl, the first child for the Queen's eldest grandson Peter Phillips and his wife, Autumn, weighed 8lbs 8oz. The newborn, who is 12th in line to ... See all stories on this topic » |
28 Dec 2010
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Blasts in Philippines and Nigeria kill at least 38 as church leaders call for peace.
Last Modified: 25 Dec 2010 12:56 GMT
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Fresh attacks against Christians in the Philippines and Nigeria have marred Christmas festivities as church leaders condemned religious persecution and called for global peace and reconciliation. As Christian leaders highlighted the plight of believers facing the threat of attacks around the world, a bomb in a church during Christmas mass in the southern Philippines on Saturday wounded 11 people, including a priest. Military officials would not immediately name any suspects in the blast on Jolo island, but the island is a known bastion of the Abu Sayyaf, an al-Qaeda-linked group, blamed for deadly attacks in the Philippines and for kidnapping priests and nuns. "There is a possibility that this could be the handiwork of the Abu
Sayyaf because they have been perpetrating similar attacks against the
Catholic church," Lieutenant Randolph Cabangbang, a military
spokesman, said. A series of blasts in Nigeria's central region killed at least 32 people and left 74 in critical condition on Christmas Eve, police say. The explosions struck during celebrations in villages near the city of Jos on Friday night, the state police commissioner said. "It [explosions] was caused by a series of bomb blasts. That is terrorism, it's a very unfortunate incident," Azubuike Ihejirika said. In separate attacks on Friday night, at least six others were killed and another eight wounded when gunmen attacked two churches in the northeast city of Maiduguri. Danjuma Akawu, secretary of the Victory Baptist Church, said about 30 men opened fire on his church, killing five people. Meanwhile at the other end of the city, Haskanda Jessu, a reverend of the Church of Christ in Nigeria, said that three men attacked his church, killing a security guard. Mohammed Abubakar, a local police chief, has blamed members of Boko Haram, an anti-western Muslim rebel group, for the church attacks. Gregory Yenlong, the information commissioner of Plateau State, of
which Jos is the capital, said there had been rumours of attacks aimed
at disrupting Christmas celebrations in recent days. The latest violence came as an audio-taped threat directed to "the unbeliever and Christian countries celebrating Christmas" would be targeted for attacks, the SITE monitoring group said on Friday. The recording bore the voice of a member of the Shumukh al-Islam forum, said the US-based monitor. 'True brotherhood' In Rome, Pope Benedict XVI prayed for God to punish the world's "oppressors" and bring about "true brotherhood" between peoples in his traditional Christmas message in Saint Peter's Basilica. "Lord make your promise come finally true. Break the rods of the oppressors. Burn the tramping boots. Let the time of the garments rolled in blood come to an end," Benedict said at the Christmas Eve mass in the Basilica. In Britain, the leader of the world's Anglicans urged people to remember those across the globe who face persecution because of their Christian faith. Rowan Williams' message was for his Christmas Day sermon, excerpts of which were released early on Saturday. "We may feel powerless to help; yet we should also know that people in such circumstances are strengthened simply by knowing they have not been forgotten," said the Archbishop of Canterbury. The sense of Christmas cheer was being sorely tested in parts of Europe where freezing temperatures have caused transport chaos, with thousands of travellers forced to spend the night in trains, on ferries or in airports as the snow piled up. |
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28 Dec 2010
Pakistan ministers to quit cabinet
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Karachi-centred political party serves notice on government following tensions with coalition partners.
Last Modified: 28 Dec 2010 08:10 GMT
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The second largest party in Pakistan's coalition government has
announced that its two ministers are quitting the federal cabinet. MQM announced the decision a day earlier, citing corruption, law and order and rising prices among the reasons for its decision to withdraw Babar Ghauri, the ports and shipping minister, and Farooq Sattar, minister for overseas Pakistanis. The party has, in the past, repeatedly threatened to pull out of the federal government. "They wanted to build pressure on the government," Zafar Jaspal of Islamabad's Quaid-e-Azam University told Al Jazeera. "It is a typical blackmailing move but a very calculated political one." Future in doubt The MQM's move comes just weeks after a prominent religious party left the government, raising questions about the government's future. The party said on Monday that the resignations were a first step and that a decision to stay or leave the coalition at federal and provincial levels would be taken in the near future. "We have two ministers in the federal cabinet and as protest have withdrawn them, but we will not sit on opposition benches," Haider Abbas Rizvi, a senior MQM leader, said. Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from the northwestern city of Peshawar said: "The MQM is saying that while it will quit the cabinet, it will not quit the government, perhaps to give a chance to the government to reform itself. "It will be interesting to see how the PPP responds and whether they want to keep MQM on board or not." Faisal Sabzwari, an MQM party leader, said: "The decision has been taken because the government did not pay any heed to our complaints about the remarks of Zulfiqar Mirza, Sindh home minister, maligning the MQM." Mirza prompted anger from the MQM by saying on television that most of the suspects detained in recent months over targeted killings had belonged to the MQM. The party complained to Yousuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister, and Asif Ali Zardari, the president, about it, but was unhappy with their response. Tensions are already high between the MQM and the Awami National Party (ANP), which represent different communities in Karachi, straddling political fault lines. The MQM represents the Urdu-speaking majority in Karachi and shares power in Sindh province and central government. Karachi, capital of Sindh, is plagued by ethnic and sectarian killings, crime and kidnappings. Multiple challenges Pakistan's ruling coalition faces several challenges including combating Taliban fighters and a fragile economy. It holds 181 out of 342 seats in parliament, nine more than the 172 needed to maintain its majority, including 25 members from the MQM. "Pakistan's government is in trouble, the parliament is not able to do anything," our correspondent said. "The political parties don't feel comfortable with this government, which has not performed well. Furthermore, Gilani's government is struggling to implement tax overhaul needed to secure the sixth tranche of an $11 bn International Monetary Fund loan keeping the economy afloat. The government is likely to be further distracted by the political turbulence, though the IMF's decision on Monday to grant a nine-month extension of the stand-by loan could give it some breathing space. The extension, aimed at giving Pakistani authorities time to complete sales tax and other overhaul, runs to September 30, 2011. |
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Google
News Alert for: World
28 Dec 2010
| Iran hangs man convicted of spying for Israel Jerusalem Post By JPOST.COM STAFF Teheran prosecutor says man was arrested several times for espionage; received $60000 for information on military, Revolutionary Guard navigation systems. The Teheran Prosecutor's Office said that a man accused of spying for Israel ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Suspect Package Disabled at Greek Embassy in Rome ABC News By Daniele Mari and Lanfranco D'Onofrio ROME (Reuters) - Bomb disposal experts defused an explosive package at the Greek embassy in Rome on Monday, days after parcel bomb attacks claimed by an Italian anarchist group wounded two people at the Swiss and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 2 suicide bombings kill 19, wound 45 in Iraq Washington Post By Aaron C. Davis RAMADI, IRAQ - Back-to-back suicide bombings Monday at a government compound in this western Iraqi city killed 19 and wounded 45, police said, in an attack that heaped tragedy on the families of victims of a similar recent bombing. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Terror suspects in custody over 'pre-Christmas plot' BBC News Nine men have appeared in court charged in connection with an alleged plot to bomb high-profile targets in London in the run-up to Christmas. The court was told that one of the potential targets was the London Stock Exchange. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Ancient Teeth Discovered in Israel May Point to Oldest Ancestors Bloomberg By Michelle Fay Cortez - Tue Dec 28 01:27:58 GMT 2010 The discovery of eight ancient teeth in a cave east of Tel-Aviv that was used thousands of years ago may point to the oldest human ancestors, a study found. The teeth are older than most of the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Chinese road accident kills 14 school children msnbc.com BEIJING — A three-wheeled vehicle plunged into a creek in foggy conditions in central China on Monday killing at least 14 children on their way to primary school, state media reported. The accident happened close to Hengyang city in Hunan province, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Jobs protests in Tunisian capital BBC News Scuffles have broken out in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, between police and protesters angry at high unemployment levels. Some 1000 protesters, mainly unemployed graduates, rallied outside the offices of the main workers' union. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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China demotes foreign minister
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Vice foreign minister Zhang Zhijun takes over as ministry's Communist Party secretary, outranking the foreign minister.
Last Modified: 22 Dec 2010 09:50 GMT
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China has replaced its top foreign ministry official amid a trend toward greater assertiveness in handling territorial disputes and participating in global organisations. Zhang Zhijun, the vice foreign minister, took over recently as the
foreign ministry's Communist Party secretary, state media reports said
on Wednesday, meaning he now outranks Yang Jiechi, the current foreign
minister. Zhang, 57, had served almost his entire career in the party's International Liaison Department, a type of shadow foreign ministry focusing on contacts with foreign political parties, until he became deputy to Yang last year. That party background may mean he has more of a say in policymaking than his predecessor, as China increasingly abandons its former low-key approach to dealing with the outside world. Economic powerhouse The country's rising economic clout amid the global economic downturn has emboldened Chinese leaders to demand a bigger say in global affairs such as climate change and at international organisations, including the UN. China's aggressive assertion of its territorial claims in the South China and East China seas have, meanwhile, sparked a backlash from other countries in the region, drawing them closer to Washington. The powerful People's Liberation Army is believed to be leading the calls for a tougher line in such disputes, while other cabinet officials have emphasised quietly advancing China's interests in economic, media and cultural spheres. Dai Bingguo, the state counsellor and China's most senior diplomat, is seen as balancing the different arguments, although the country's opaque political system ensures that such debates almost never make it into the public arena. Little is known about Zhang's personal style, although his party background and relative lack of experience working abroad suggest he will closely reflect the tone set by the party leadership. Zhang's appointment was announced on official websites, including that of the party's People's Daily newspaper, but no exact date was given. |
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Featured on Al Jazeera
After the latest failed missile defence tests, critics wonder why the US has spent $100bn on the system.
Barack Obama's base continues to call for greater resistance against the Republicans, but can he fight back?
The current austerity measures enacted in the UK has caused a revival of public activism after a long chapter of apathy.
Unless the US Congress takes a tougher line on lobbyists, Israel will continue building settlements on Palestinian land.
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Chinese customs officials say there is no ban on lobster imports from Australia via official route. -
The boat tragedy off the Australian coast highlights the difficulties of those seeking a better life. -
A routine check goes awry after Chinese fishermen stop South Korean
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As Europe struggles with austerity, Asian city becomes bastion of economic hope.
China-Pakistan bonds strengthened
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Chinese leader urges international community to recognise Pakistan's contribution in fighting extremism.
Last Modified: 19 Dec 2010 11:52 GMT
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Wen Jiabao, Chinese prime minister has promised to stand by Pakistan and the international community in fighting extremism in the country. He said, on Sunday, that Pakistan's efforts in the global fight against extremism should be recognised and respected by the international community. Strategic move The Chinese leader's comments have come just days after the United States said that Pakistan needs to step up its efforts in fighting armed groups, especially along the Afghan border. Wen was addressing a joint session of Pakistan's National Assembly and Senate, on the final day of a three-day state visit that mainly focused on trade and business ties between the longtime Asian allies. His comments appear to be part of China's strategy to lend support to old friend Pakistan, often criticised by the United States and many in the West as an unreliable, but necessary, ally in the war on terrorism. The threat posed by religious fighters in Pakistan is a growing concern for China given that the two share a common border. And in addition to this, China is also dealing with its own Muslim separatist movement. "Strengthening and promoting strategic, brotherly relations is our joint strategic choice and they are in the interests of two countries and their people," Wen said. The speech to Pakistan's parliament was the first by a Chinese leader. "Pakistan was at the front of the international fight against terrorism and made big sacrifices and important contributions, which were obvious to all," Wen told lawmakers. "The international community should affirm that and give great support as well as respect the path of development chosen by Pakistan," he added. He said the fight against terrorism should not focus on specific religions or ethnic groups, but rather on eradicating the "root factors breeding terrorism." Robert Gates, US defence secretary, said on Thursday that it [Pakistan] needed to do more to control the flow of extremists, which a US review of the Afghan war, said was the main obstacle to ending the conflict. Pakistan's porous border with Afghanistan is seen as a haven for armed fighters. "Rock solid" relations Al Jazeera's Pakistan correspondent, Kamal Hyder reported from Islamabad that, "The leader has said that the relationship between the two countries has withstood the test of time." China is Pakistan's closest friend in Asia, giving Islamabad military aid and technical assistance, including nuclear technology. And most Pakistanis view China as an ally that, unlike US, does not make demands in return for its assistance. But Beijing is hardly left empty-handed from its ties with Pakistan, which serves as China's gateway to the Muslim world and is a cheap source of natural resources to fuel its growing economy, as well as a balance against India's military rise. In addition, China has agreed to a $229mn donation to help Pakistan rebuild after this year's devastating floods. Hamayoun Khan, an independent analyst said that, "It's a clear signal of China's growing, assertive diplomacy." "They [China] do not want Pakistan to be entirely dependent on the United States and the International Monetary Fund, and then get dictation from them," Khan said. "China's massive investment in this time proves two things. One is that China is a genuine ally of Pakistan, and second, it is a clear signal to the US that if the US supports India against China, China will support Pakistan." During the visit, which followed a three-day trip to India, the two sides agreed to 35 new pacts expected to bring up to $30bn of investment to Pakistan over the next five years. By comparison, Wen signed $16bn in deals in India before arriving in Islamabad on Friday. Sino-Indian relations have been dogged by long-standing border disputes, which led to a war nearly four decades ago. |
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Featured on Al Jazeera
After the latest failed missile defence tests, critics wonder why the US has spent $100bn on the system.
Barack Obama's base continues to call for greater resistance against the Republicans, but can he fight back?
The current austerity measures enacted in the UK has caused a revival of public activism after a long chapter of apathy.
Unless the US Congress takes a tougher line on lobbyists, Israel will continue building settlements on Palestinian land.
What's Hot
Viewed
Emailed
7 Days
Featured
The mystery of missile defence
After the latest failed missile
defence tests, critics wonder why the US has spent $100bn on the system.
Google
News Alert for: World
22 Dec 2010
| Bomb Found on Rome Train Daily Beast A bomb was found on a train in Rome on Tuesday, although it appears that the device could not have been detonated. It was found in a train at a station in Rebibbia, on Rome's outskirts. Security teams were called in but the station was not evacuated. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Earthquake Near Japan Triggers Tsunami Warning NPR by AP A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 has struck in the Pacific Ocean, triggering a tsunami warning off the southern coast of Japan. Japan's Meteorological Agency said the quake occurred about 80 miles off the southern coast of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| The Concealed Battle to Run Russia The New York Review of Books by Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan Despite their professed mutual respect, Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, and his prime minister, Vladimir Putin, apparently cannot agree on one question—which of them will be running for the Russian presidency ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Japan's export growth accelerates BBC News Japanese export growth picked up for the first time in nine months in November, in part due to a weaker yen, official figures have shown. Exports grew by 9.1% compared with a year earlier, the finance ministry said, compared with 7.8% in October. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Montenegro: Premier Abruptly Resigns New York Times By AP Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, who has led Montenegro for almost 20 years, resigned abruptly on Tuesday. Mr. Djukanovic, 49, led Montenegro, a nation of 670000, through the turmoil of the 1990s Balkan wars and the postwar quest for independence ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| UN Security Council area evacuated due to "unidentified odor" Xinhua UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council area is being evacuated on Tuesday morning due to "unidentified odor," UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters here, adding the UN is working with the local authorities to find out the source ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Pakistan announces test of medium-range ballistic missile CNN International By Aliza I. Kassim, CNN (CNN) -- Pakistan conducted a test launch of a medium-range Hatf-V ballistic missile Tuesday, the military said. The launch was aimed at testing the operational readiness of the Army Strategic Force, and was carried out by the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Travelling hopefully: Your snow stories BBC News Germany's main air hub, Frankfurt, was forced to cancel almost 300 flights and Heathrow Airport in the UK said it would continue to run only 30% of flights until 0600 GMT on Wednesday. BBC News website readers describe their experiences of the heavy ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| UN restores gay reference to violence measure Reuters By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States succeeded on Tuesday in getting the United Nations to restore a reference to killings due to sexual orientation that had been deleted from a resolution condemning unjustified executions. ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Arms treaty with Russia nears Senate approval |
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama wrapped up enough support on Tuesday to win Senate approval for a strategic nuclear arms pact with Russia later this week, a key step in his drive to improve ties with Moscow and curb atomic weapons proliferation. | Full Article |
| South Korea army to hold huge drill, North silent |
| December 22, 2010 04:37 AM ET |
| SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea announced land and sea military exercises on Wednesday including its largest-ever live-fire drill near North Korea just as tension on the peninsula was beginning to ease after Pyongyang's attack on a southern island. | Full Article |
| Wall Street futures point to slightly lower open |
| December 22, 2010 04:41 AM ET |
| LONDON (Reuters) - Stock futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 all fell 0.1 percent, pointing to a slightly weaker start for equities on Wall Street on Wednesday. | Full Article |
| Divided FCC adopts Internet rules |
| December 21, 2010 07:09 PM ET |
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A divided Federal Communications Commission banned Internet service providers like Comcast Corp from blocking traffic on their networks, provoking warnings the rules would be rejected in the courts and threats from Republican lawmakers to overturn them. | Full Article |
| Africa has two species of elephants, not one |
| December 21, 2010 05:02 PM ET |
| CHICAGO (Reuters) - Instead of one species of elephant, Africa has two, researchers said on Tuesday, confirming suspicions about the two distinctly different looking pachyderms. | Full Article |
| Depleted Milwaukee Bucks batter champion Lakers in LA |
| December 22, 2010 02:57 AM ET |
| LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers were left stunned and humiliated after being upset 98-79 on their home court by the under-strength Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday. | Full Article |
| "Avatar" the most pirated film of 2010 |
| December 21, 2010 06:52 PM ET |
| NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Drumroll please ... "Avatar" is the most pirated film of the year, according to data released by a file-sharing blog. | Full Article |
| Traffic tip for Santa: reflective reindeer collars |
| December 21, 2010 11:23 AM ET |
| OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian reindeer owners have a Christmas safety tip for Santa -- put reflectors on his fleet-footed animals so they won't get hit by cars. | Full Article |
Asia-Pacific
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News Bulletin
Featured
The mystery of missile defence
After the latest failed missile
defence tests, critics wonder why the US has spent $100bn on the system.
What's Hot
Viewed
Emailed
7 Days
Google
News Alert for: World
21 Dec 2010
| ||
| Factbox: North Korea's nuclear programme Reuters SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has offered to allow UN inspectors back to its nuclear facilities to make sure it is not processing highly enriched uranium, a US state governor said on Tuesday after meeting officials in Pyongyang. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Powerful quake in southeastern Iran kills at least 7 Xinhua TEHRAN, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Seven people were killed and hundreds were injured after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake rocked Iran's southeastern city of Hosein Abad in Kerman province Monday night, satellite channel Press TV reported on Tuesday. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Abducted Mexican politician is released Washington Post By William Booth MEXICO CITY - Emerging with a long, white beard like Santa Claus or a castaway from a desert isle, a former presidential candidate and political heavyweight who was one of the most notorious kidnap victims in Mexico was released Monday ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Suspected Grenade Blast Kills Three in Nairobi, Standard Says Bloomberg By Eric Ombok - Tue Dec 21 03:56:53 GMT 2010 A suspected grenade explosion yesterday at a bus terminal in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, killed 3 people, including the man thought to have been carrying the device, the Standard newspaper reported today. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Malaysia probes bus crash that killed 27 Herald Sun Fire and Rescue department personnel carry out the body of one of the passengers of the ill-fated tourist bus which crashed at Cameron Highland. Source: AFP Fire and Rescue department personnel carry out the body of one of the passengers of the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Zimbabwe's Mugabe, Tsvangirai make rare joint appearance CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai that despite being "at each other's throats," they will continue working together in Zimbabwe's coalition government until elections are held. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi jailed for six years Times of India LONDON: Noted Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has been sentenced for six years in jail and barred from directing and producing movies for the next 20-years, according to his lawyer. Panahi, known for his internationally acclaimed movies like 'The ... See all stories on this topic » |
North Korea says won't react to South drill
1 / 35
YEONPYEONG, South Korea |
YEONPYEONG, South Korea (Reuters) - North Korea said it would not react to military drills staged by the South near their disputed border on Monday and, easing tension further, CNN reported that Pyongyang had agreed to the return of nuclear inspectors.
The mercurial North had threatened to strike back if its neighbor went ahead with the live-fire exercise, but hours after the artillery barrage ended said it was "not worth" a military response.
"We felt it was not worth reacting one-by-one to military provocations," the official KCNA news agency quoted the North's Korean People's Army Supreme Command as saying.
A diplomatic breakthrough looked possible after a report that North Korea told U.S. troubleshooter Bill Richardson it would accept the resumption of international inspections of its nuclear programme.
Monday's drill lasted just over 90 minutes, with near-constant artillery fire that shook air-raid bunkers on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong.
"I can't exactly tell how many have been fired, some are distant and some are noisy. The bunker is shaking and people here are worried, including myself," said a Reuters witness on the island.
On November 23, the last time Seoul conducted firing drills from Yeonpyeong close to the disputed maritime border off the west coast of the Korean peninsula, Pyongyang retaliated by shelling the island, killing four people, in the worst attack on South Korean territory since the Korean war ended in 1953.
The marines' exercise came hours after a U.N. Security Council meeting on the Korean peninsula crisis ended in deadlock, with Russia and China resisting an explicit condemnation of the North for last month's attack.
POTENTIAL BREAKTHROUGH
New Mexico Governor Richardson, visiting Pyongyang to try to ease tension, won agreement from North Korea to allow U.N. nuclear inspectors to return, according to CNN which has a team traveling with him.
Pyongyang "agreed to allow International Atomic Energy Agency personnel to return to a nuclear facility in the country and agreed to negotiate the sale of 12,000 ... fuel rods and ship them to an outside country, presumably to South Korea," CNN said, quoting correspondent Wolf Blitzer in Pyongyang.
"The North has also agreed to consider Richardson's proposal for a military commission between the United States, North Korea and South Korea as well as a separate hotline for the Koreas' militaries."
The South Korean Foreign Ministry said it could not confirm the agreement.
"We do not have the specific details yet, so it is too early to make an official evaluation," a spokesman said.
Richardson was visiting in an unofficial capacity, the traditional means of communication between the two sides, but it was unclear whether the reported agreement would ease tension, particularly given Pyongyang's poor record of honoring deals.
| Infighting delays new Iraq government |
| December 20, 2010 05:31 AM ET |
| BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Political infighting and last-minute horse-trading delayed the formal announcement of a new Iraqi government on Monday, lawmakers said, as Iraq sought to end a 9-month vacuum created by an inconclusive election. | Full Article |
| Wall Street futures point to gains for stocks |
| December 20, 2010 04:53 AM ET |
| LONDON (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to modest gains for Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials and Nasdaq indexes all up by around 0.1 percent by 0933 GMT (4:33 a.m. EDT). | Full Article |
| Internet road rules near FCC vote |
| December 19, 2010 01:40 PM ET |
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A controversial proposal for Internet traffic rules that would allow providers to ration access to their networks is scheduled to come before communications regulators for a vote on Tuesday. | Full Article |
| Astronauts successfully dock at space station |
| December 17, 2010 04:35 PM ET |
| MOSCOW (Reuters) - A shuttle carrying astronauts from the United States, Italy and Russia successfully docked with the International Space Station on Friday, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said. | Full Article |
| Eagles stun Giants, NFL playoffs taking shape |
| December 19, 2010 09:10 PM ET |
| NEW YORK (Reuters) - DeSean Jackson returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown as time ran out to lift the Philadelphia Eagles to a stunning 38-31 comeback win over the New York Giants Sunday as the NFL playoff chase intensified with two weeks to go. | Full Article |
| Oscar contenders jockey for position |
| December 20, 2010 01:25 AM ET |
| LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - And they're off. And it's The King's Speech in the lead. No, wait, it's The Social Network by a nose. Hold on, The Fighter is coming up fast on the inside track. | Full Article |
| Squeaky-clean Singapore in toilet manners campaign |
| December 17, 2010 12:28 PM ET |
| SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Squeaky-clean Singapore needs cleaner toilets and public awareness is one way to achieve this, a civic group said at the launch of the latest stage of its LOO campaign -- Let's Observe Ourselves. | Full Articl |
20 Dec 2010
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Google
News Alert for: World
20 Dec 2010
20 Dec 2010
| Gbagbo Accused of Recruiting Liberian and Angolan Fighters Voice of America Photo: AP A spokeswoman for Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of last month's Ivory Coast presidential election said embattled President Laurent Gbagbo has recruited fighters from Liberia and Angola to kill supporters of Mr. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| A bleak new year in Afghanistan The Guardian Your report and leader on Afghanistan (17 December) make depressing reading. While we can all agree that 2011 needs to be a year for "lasting and irreversible" progress, the signs are not looking good. This year is the deadliest for civilians in a ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Mexico Blames Fatal Pemex Oil-Pipeline Explosion on Drug-Related Violence Bloomberg By Jens Erik Gould - Mon Dec 20 06:01:00 GMT 2010 Mexican authorities blamed an explosion in an oil pipeline that killed 27 people on a criminal gang, signaling that the country's drug-related violence may be increasingly affecting its energy industry. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Taiwan stocks fall; techs down, tourism shares up Reuters TAIPEI, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks fell 0.56 percent on Monday after reaching a more than two-and-a-half-year closing high as investors took profits from tech firms on lingering fears over the impact on their profits from a stronger Taiwan dollar ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Indian PM rejects 2G scam claims BBC News Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that he had "nothing to hide" over the alleged under sale of mobile phone licences. He told a party meeting he was ready to be questioned by a parliamentary panel in the so-called 2G spectrum inquiry. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Senate GOP's McConnell says he'll vote against New START Washington Post By Mary Beth Sheridan Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) announced Sunday that he will vote against a new US-Russia nuclear-arms accord, a move that could pressure other Republicans in what is likely to be a close vote in the next few days. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Show China's areas as someone else's: Yashwant Indian Express In the light of China mysteriously recasting the length of its border with India, senior BJP leader and former External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha on Sunday said the absence of a “proper and equal” response from New Delhi to such “cartographic ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google
News Alert for: World
19 Dec 2010
19 Dec 2010
| Israeli airstrike kills 5 in Gaza Strip Washington Post GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP - An Israeli airstrike killed five Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. It was the deadliest attack against the coastal strip in months. The Israeli military said in a ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 35 people killed in boat capsize in Bangladesh Xinhua DHAKA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 35 people were killed and about 10 people went missing as a boat capsized in Bangladesh's Sunamganj district, 296 km northeast of capital Dhaka, on Saturday. Local private news agency BDnews24.com reported the boat ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Militants kill 10 Afghan soldiers in 2 attacks The Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Teams of militants assaulted the Afghan army in the north of the country and in the capital killing at least 10 members of the security forces on Sunday, officials said. On the outskirts of the Kabul, two insurgents strapped ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Germany's Merkel visits soldiers in Afghanistan The Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel told German troops in northern Afghanistan that their battles with insurgents there are a "new experience for us." Merkel spoke during an unannounced visit to her country's soldiers in northern Afghanistan, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Tourist's body found near Jerusalem, say police The Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The body of a female tourist, bound and with multiple stab wounds, was found Sunday near a road outside Jerusalem, police said. Her friend, an immigrant from the UK, had reported her missing a day earlier after she, too, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Maliki to announce a partial Iraqi cabinet this week Washington Post By Liz Sly and Aaron C. Davis BAGHDAD - Iraq's main Sunni bloc said Saturday that it will definitely participate in the next Iraqi government, after parliament implemented one of its key conditions and cleared the way for Shiite Prime Minister Nouri ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Britain snowed under in run-up to X'mas Times of India LONDON: Fresh snow brought much of Britain to a standstill on what is traditionally the busiest weekend for shopping and travel in the run-up to Christmas. Most of western Britain, Northern Ireland and northern Scotland suffered blizzards while the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| WikiLeaks cables: Michael Moore film Sicko was 'not banned' in Cuba The Guardian American diplomats made up a story that Cuba banned Michael Moore's 2007 documentary, Sicko, in an attempt to discredit the film which painted an unflattering picture of the US healthcare system, the film-maker said today. A confidential US embassy ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
18 Dec 2010
18 Dec 2010
| 141 inmates escape Mexican border prison The Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nearly 150 inmates escaped Friday from a state prison in the northern Mexico border city of Nuevo Laredo, and authorities said the breakout was probably helped by prison employees. The public safety department of Tamaulipas state, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Kyrgyz MPs approve govt in constitutional reform Reuters BISHKEK Dec 17 (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan's parliament approved a new government on Friday, effectively completing the nation's constitutional reform aimed at creating Central Asia's first parliamentary democracy and ending months of chaos. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Nigeria drops bribery charge against Cheney Boston Globe ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria withdrew corruption charges against former vice president Dick Cheney and companies including Halliburton after the company agreed to pay a fine and repatriate funds, a spokesman for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Vatican Shielded Dublin Priest Until He Raped Boy in Pub, Inquiry Says New York Times By AP DUBLIN (AP) — The Vatican tried to stop church leaders here from defrocking a particularly dangerous pedophile priest and relented only after he raped a boy in a restroom at a pub, according to an investigation released Friday. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Japanese Man Stabs, Beats Bus Passengers; 14 Hurt NPR by AP Enlarge AP A teacher of Edogawagakuen Toride High school, left, escort for their students to a station in Toride, Ibaraki prefecture, north of Tokyo, after their classes were canceled following a knife attack at the station Friday, Dec. 17, 2010. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Mexico mom killed demanding justice for slain teen Seattle Times Gunmen killed a mother who had been protesting in front of a governor's office in northern Mexico to demand justice for her slain daughter, authorities said Friday. By OLIVIA TORRES The Associated Press RAYMUNDO RUIZ / AP Human rights activists hang a ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Poles reject Russia crash report BBC News Polish PM Donald Tusk has criticised an investigation by Russia into a deadly plane crash which killed the country's president in April. He said it was "unacceptable" and some conclusions "without foundation". Russia recently handed Poland a draft ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| French Vogue's Top Editor to Leave at End of January New York Times By CATHY HORYN Carine Roitfeld, the sharp-boned, high-heeled stylist who turned French Vogue into a vehicle for profits and glamour, startled the fashion world on Friday by saying she would step down as editor in chief of the magazine. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| China: Last County Linked to Highway System New York Times By EDWARD WONG China announced Thursday that it had connected a Tibetan county, Medog, to the nation's highway system, ending the relative isolation of the area. Until Wednesday, Medog, in the eastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region, ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
16 Dec 2010
16 Dec 2010
| Afghan war's next debate: Troop withdrawal Washington Post By Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Scott Wilson President Obama's national security team this week revisited the same vexing issues it worked through a year ago in devising the administration's troop escalation in Afghanistan. This time, one key element was ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Missing Nepal plane found, all 22 onboard dead The Associated Press KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — All 22 passengers on a small plane died when it crashed in Nepal's mountainous east, searchers said Thursday after finding the wreckage of the plane that had gone missing a day earlier. The Rescue Coordination Committee at ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Kenyan Violence Probed by Court Wall Street Journal By SARAH CHILDRESS NAIROBI, Kenya—The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague said he will pursue cases against six Kenyan leaders for their alleged involvement in election-related violence two years ago, sending a signal to African ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Kremlin official blasts Moscow riots RIA Novosti MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russian deputy presidential chief of staff Vladislav Surkov condemned the recent riots in Moscow in an interview with a respected Russian daily. On December 11, nationalists and football hooligans clashed with police ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Violent protests cost Rome at least 20 million euros Xinhua ROME, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Parts of Rome were still smoldering on Wednesday after protests against the paper-thin victory in the parliamentary confidence vote for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi turned violent on Tuesday. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Man goes on rampage, kills 4 in Spain CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff Madrid, Spain (CNN) -- A man armed with a rifle killed four people in two towns near Barcelona on Wednesday, CNN affiliate CNN+ and Spanish media reported. The 57-year-old suspect owned a small construction company that reportedly ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Ukraine: Investigation of Ex-Premier New York Times By CLIFFORD J. LEVY Prosecutors are investigating a former prime minister, Yulia V. Tymoshenko, who is accused of mishandling hundreds of millions of dollars when she was in office, officials said Wednesday. Ms. Tymoshenko, now the opposition leader, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Israeli Spy Devices Can Monitor Lebanon, Syria, Report Naharnet Spying devices dismantled by the Lebanese army on two of the country's highest mountaintops -- Barouk and Sannine -- can reportedly monitor Lebanon and Syria. The Lebanese army announced Wednesday that it had dismantled what it said were Israeli ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| India Court Widens Probe on Telecom Scam Wall Street Journal By RAKESH SHARMA NEW DELHI -- India's top court Thursday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe all mobile phone spectrum allocations since 2001, and asked it to also look at how much money the government may have lost because of alleged ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
13 Dec 2010
13 Dec 2010
| 17 Sailors Missing as South Korean Trawler Sinks New York Times By MARK McDONALD SEOUL, South Korea — At least five crew members were killed Monday when a South Korean fishing trawler working off Antarctica sank around dawn, New Zealand rescue officials said. Seventeen crew members were still missing Monday ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Kosovo Prime Minister Thaci Retains Power, Exit Poll Shows BusinessWeek By Boris Cerni Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci won the first unsupervised general elections since the country broke away from Serbia almost three years ago, according to an exit poll. Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo won 31 ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Somali pirates seize Liberian vessel after busy week Monsters and Critics.com Nairobi - Somali pirates seized a Liberian cargo vessel almost 2000 kilometres off the coast off Somalia, the European Union's anti-piracy force said. The MV Renuar, carrying a 24-man Filipino crew, was taken Sunday 550 nautical miles (1020 kilometres) ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Bangladesh garment workers, police clash; 100 hurt The Associated Press CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh (AP) — Garment workers demanding the implementation of a new minimum wage clashed with police at an industrial zone in southeastern Bangladesh on Sunday, leaving up to three people dead and 100 hurt, police and news reports said. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Huge storm hits East Mediterranean Aljazeera.net Deaths as rain, snow and high winds lash Eastern Mediterranean, bringing months of drought to a dramatic end. An enormous storm has battered the eastern Mediterranean over the weekend, causing destruction in several countries and bringing to a dramatic ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Australia fears Israeli strike on Iran: cables AFP SYDNEY — Australian intelligence agencies fear Israel may launch a military strike on Iran to knock out its nuclear facilities, which they said could lead to nuclear war, leaked US diplomatic cables showed Monday. Secret cables from the US embassy in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| China defends its global rise AFP BEIJING — China on Monday defended its rising global status, saying countries should view themselves as "passengers in the same boat" and not fear Beijing's "peaceful" economic and political development. In a two-page commentary carried by the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Israel rejects Jerusalem split plan Aljazeera.net Prime minister distances himself from remarks made by Defence Minister Ehud Barak in favour of dividing Holy City. Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has made clear that comments by the country's defence minister, in favour of dividing ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Yad Vashem struggles to teach Holocaust to Arabs The Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Six decades after the Nazis murdered 6 million Jews, Israel's national Holocaust memorial has launched a new effort to educate the country's Arab minority — many of whom either deny the horror or undermine its scope. ... See all stories on this topic » |
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| Malaysia urged to end caning | |||||||
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Human rights organisation says ancient practice has reached "epidemic proportions" that amount to torture.
Last Modified: 06 Dec 2010 17:05 GMT
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Amnesty International has urged the Malaysian government to ban caning in prisons, saying the practice has reached "epidemic proportions" that amount to torture. The organisation said the punishment, which rips into the victim's naked skin, is being used for immigration violations, meaning thousands of migrant workers, refugees and asylum seekers are being subject to it. "It's intentionally inflicting severe pain and suffering - it fits the international definition for torture - something that's prohibited under any circumstances," Lance Lattig, one of the authors of the report by Amnesty told Al Jazeera on Monday. "According to our figures, more than 10,000 people are caned by authorities in Malaysia annually and this number is actually a conservative estimate," he said in a separate statement. He said the practice was introduced by British colonial authorities prior to Malaysia's independence in 1957 but that most former colonies had abandoned it. "It exists as a residue of an extremely brutal form of Victorian punishment that exists in very few other places," he said. Malaysia's government says the practice is a legal and effective deterrent against criminal activity. But a high level official told Amnesty that the punishment did not stop drug users or refugees, Lattig said. Amnesty's report detailed how "specially trained caning officers tear into victim's bodies with a metre-long cane swung with both hands at high speed". "The cane rips into the victim's naked skin, pulps the fatty tissue below, and leaves scars that extend to muscle fibre. "The pain is so severe that victims often lose consciousness. Blood and flesh splash off the victim's body, often accompanied by urine and feces," it said. The Malaysian government trains officers how to conduct caning and pays them a bonus for each stroke, the report said. It added that prison officers were given financial incentives for caning prisoners, being paid a bonus for each stroke, in some cases allowing officers to double their income. "Others take bribes to intentionally miss, sparing their victims," it said. The report said many of the foreigners sentenced to caning did not get legal representation or understand the charge. "They don't tell you what day you'll be whipped. You just know your number is coming closer,'' Amnesty quoted a Malaysian caned for heroin possession as saying. The caning is administered under criminal laws that are separate from Malaysia's Islamic laws, which also prescribe whipping for religious offences. |
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News Alert for: World
07 Nov 2010
07 Nov 2010
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| Bombers in Pakistan Strike Anti-Taliban Conference New York Times By ISMAIL KHAN and SALMAN MASOOD PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Two suicide bombers dressed as police officers detonated explosive vests at a meeting of hundreds of people with the top civilian official in the tribal agency of Mohmand, killing more than 40 and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Budget woe BBC News The Irish finance minister, Brian Lenihan, is expected to unveil the toughest budget in the country's history on Tuesday afternoon. It will also be the first since the European-IMF bail-out loan announced last month. BBC Northern Ireland's Dublin ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Lost balloonists' remains found BBC News Tributes have been paid to two US balloonists who went missing three months ago and whose remains have been found in the Adriatic Sea. Richard Abruzzo and Carol Rymer Davis disappeared in thunderstorms on 29 September during the Gordon Bennett race, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on Dec 7 Reuters France's richest woman, L'Oreal (OREP.PA) heiress Liliane Bettencourt, and her daughter said on Monday they had settled a family feud that had led to tax and political funding investigations. Nestle owns 30 percent in L'Oreal. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Israeli policies to blame for Gaza health woes, says medic AFP STOCKHOLM — The head of an award-winning group of Israeli medics said Monday the health woes of Palestinians in Gaza and Arab Bedouins living in the Jewish state were the direct consequence of government policies. As her group "Physicians for Human ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Allegedly drunk Chinese official kills 5 with car Washington Post AP BEIJING -- A Chinese government official suspected of being drunk killed five teenagers while driving over the weekend, the latest deadly hit-and-run case involving a government official. Gu Qingyang, the post office chief of Luoning county in the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Balkan leaders gather to promote reconciliation eTaiwan News By IRENA KNEZEVIC AP The leaders of Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro said Monday they will take their countries down the path of reconciliation and eventually reunite them again under the flag of the European Union. The presidents of the four ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
30 Nov 2010
30 Nov 2010
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| OAS says Haiti election was valid BBC News The joint mission from the Organisation of American States and the Caribbean regional grouping, Caricom, said delays at some polling stations were not reason enough to cancel the election. Most opposition presidential candidates had called for the vote ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Quake jolts north-eastern Japan (Roundup) Monsters and Critics.com There were no reports of casualties or damage to property. There was no danger of a tsunami, the agency said. The epicentre of the 12:25 pm (0325 GMT) quake was near the Ogasawara islands, which are about 1000 kilometres south of Tokyo in the Pacific, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Trove of Picassos Surfaces, and So Do Questions New York Times By SCOTT SAYARE Above and below, drawings that are part of 271 previously unknown works that Pierre Le Guennec, an electrician who had worked for Picasso, says were given to him by the artist. The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Bangladesh paralysed by opposition strike AFP DHAKA — Thousands of riot police patrolled the streets of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Tuesday as a nationwide strike called by the main opposition party brought much of the country to a standstill. One empty bus in the city was set on fire by ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Kenya: Prime Minister's Remarks Leave Homosexuals Fearful of Arrest New York Times By AP An official with Kenya's largest gay rights organization said Monday that its members were panicked following remarks on Sunday by Prime Minister Raila Odinga that homosexuals who were discovered having sex should be arrested. ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
29 Nov 2010
29 Nov 2010
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| Royal Commission inquiry welcomed by survivor TVNZ West Coast miner Russell Smith is welcoming news of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the disaster. The coal cutter survived the initial blast on November 19, and says there are so many questions to be answered. Smith can't understand how the blast ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| WikiLeaks: Red Crescent smuggled weapons for Iran Ynetnews Secret documents leaked by the controversial Web entity WikiLeaks say Iran used ambulances to smuggle weapons into Lebanon during Hezbollah's 2006 war with Israel. Additional documents exposed Sunday say Mossad chief Meir Dagan suggested the US make ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Bodies of twelve plane crash victims recovered Daily Times By Atif Raza KARACHI: Bodies of 12 victims of the Russian cargo plane were recovered on Sunday, while rescuers remained unable to recover the plane's black box from the rubble. According to reports, Russian cargo plane IL-76, Flight number MGCC142 ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Wikileaks docs: 'Israel overestimating Iranian nuke program' Ynetnews Wikileaks documents reveal that Israel's attempt to convey sense of urgency, its contradicting assessments on when Iran would achieve nuclear ability made US officials take its warnings 'with a grain of salt'. One US diplomat noted it was not clear ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Assange could face legal action: A-G The Australian FEDERAL Attorney-General Robert McClelland has foreshadowed possible legal action against the Australian founder of the WikiLeaks website. Julia Gillard told a news conference this afternoon that the government was keeping a "close appraisal" of the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Gillard Pledges to Push Climate Change, Health Care Wall Street Journal By RACHEL PANNETT CANBERRA—Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard vowed Monday to press ahead with economy-shaping initiatives on climate policy and health care in 2011 despite her center-left Labor Party's fragile grip on power. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Pfc. Bradley Manning, Lady Gaga And How 250000 Top Secret Documents Were Leaked Weasel Zippers Heads should roll for this – and I don't just mean that traitorous scum, Bradley Manning. The fact that the administration of President Barack Obama was given advance notice and yet, still allowed the leak of this information to proceed is ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
28 Nov 2010
28 Nov 2010
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| Curfew ahead of Ivory Coast vote BBC News A curfew is in place in Ivory Coast ahead of Sunday's presidential run-off election, forecast as a close race between President Laurent Gbagbo and opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara. At least three people were shot dead in Abidjan on Saturday in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| New Zealand Mine Blast Inquiry May Determine Future for Industry, Key Says Bloomberg By Wendy Pugh - Sun Nov 28 03:32:39 GMT 2010 The future of underground mining in New Zealand is likely to be determined by a Royal Commission that will investigate the cause of deadly explosions at the Pike River Coal Co. mine, Prime Minister John Key ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Iran Says Its First Nuclear Power Reactor Will Start Operating by January Bloomberg By Ladane Nasseri - Sun Nov 28 06:25:24 GMT 2010 Iran finished loading fuel into the country's first nuclear power reactor and aims to start up the plant in the southern city of Bushehr by late January, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Rio Gets Army Help Amid Unrest as Police Occupy Slums Bloomberg By Carlos Caminada - Sun Nov 28 05:01:23 GMT 2010 Rio de Janeiro police squads are advancing further into the city's biggest crime stronghold and hundreds of soldiers are guarding access to the slums as drug traffickers resist a two-day siege amid ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Militant leader among 12 caught in connection with Iraq church siege CNN By the CNN Wire Staff Iraqi Christians inspect the damage at Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral in Baghdad after a deadly church siege on October 31, 2010. Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- The leader of a Muslim fundamentalist militant group was among 12 arrested in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 'Iran Air hijacker linked to counter-revolutionary groups' Tehran Times TEHRAN - The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has issued a statement saying a man who tried to hijack an Iran Air passenger plane en route to Syria on Friday night had connections with counter-revolutionary groups. The suspect tried to create an ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Pakistan Offers Reward for Taliban Information Voice of America Photo: AP Pakistan is offering a reward of about $120000 for information about Taliban militants linked to attacks or planned attacks in the country. Interior Minister Rehman Malik announced the reward Saturday saying the government would be willing to ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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News Alert for: World
26 Nov 2010
| India marks 2 years since Mumbai terror attack Washington Post By RAFIQ MAQBOOL AP MUMBAI, India -- India marked the second anniversary of the Mumbai terror attack Friday with a parade of police forces and renewed pledges to seek justice against the perpetrators. The three-day assault by 10 Pakistani militants ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Dutch issue warrant for Nazi war-criminal suspect Boston Globe By Toby Sterling AP / November 26, 2010 AMSTERDAM — The Dutch government said yesterday that it has issued a European arrest warrant for one of the most prominent unpunished Nazi war crimes suspects — a Dutch collaborator convicted in the Netherlands ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Food Handouts May Influence Egyptian Poll Wall Street Journal By CAROLINE HENSHAW In Egyptian politics, the easiest way to most voters' hearts is apparently through their stomachs. With food price inflation running at nearly 20%, campaigners for Sunday's parliamentary elections are taking advantage of the high ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| U.S. Recruits Russia As Junior Partner To Maintain Global Dominance RIA Novosti By Rick Rozoff This past weekend the world witnessed an event that until recently would have seemed inconceivable: A Russian head of state attended a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Russia's Medvedev has made an odd choice of partners ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Students occupy Leaning Tower of Pisa BBC News Italian students protesting at education reforms have targeted two top tourist attractions, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Colosseum. Tourists were moved away as some demonstrators hung out a banner from the top tier of the medieval tower while ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Georgian Opposition Calls for Campaign of Civil Disobedience Bloomberg By Helena Bedwell - Thu Nov 25 15:04:20 GMT 2010 Several thousand anti-government protesters rallied outside the Georgian parliament building in Tbilisi today and called for a nationwide campaign of civil disobedience to unseat President Mikheil ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Ireland's Ruling Party Seen Losing Seat Wall Street Journal By QUENTIN FOTTRELL DUBLIN—Ireland's embattled ruling Fianna Fail party is expected to lose a long-held seat in a by-election in Donegal in the north-west of the country Thursday, likely to an opposition Sinn Fein candidate. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Search For Air France Wreckage To Resume RTT News (RTTNews) - France announced Thursday that it would soon have search operations resumed for recovering the wreckage of an Air France jet that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean 18 months ago off the coast of Brazil. "The fourth sea-search phase should begin ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Poland: Three Men Charged In Theft of Auschwitz Sign New York Times By VICTOR HOMOLA Two Polish citizens and a Swede have been charged with crimes connected to theft of the infamous “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign at the Auschwitz concentration camp, prosecutors in Krakow, Poland, said. The German-language sign, ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
08 Nov 2010
08 Nov 2010
| Turnout Appears Light in Myanmar New York Times By THE NEW YORK TIMES YANGON, MYANMAR — Polling places appeared nearly empty around Yangon on Sunday as the rest of the city went about its business during the first election in 20 years in this closed and tightly controlled nation. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Qantas Finds Leaks in Fleet Wall Street Journal By ENDA CURRAN SYDNEY--Qantas Airways Ltd. on Monday said its engineers found oil leaks in Rolls-Royce Group Ltd. engines on three of its grounded fleet of A380 jetliners, amid an investigation into the blowout of a turbine that forced one of its ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Gates: Threat of force not the only way to deter Iran Jerusalem Post By TOVAH LAZAROFF AND AP US defense secretary responds to Netanyahu's assertion that only military option will stop Iran's nuclear program; says sanctions are hitting Islamic Republic hard and should be given more time. US Defense Secretary Robert ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Clinton: US hopes Iraq government deal is close The Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday the US hopes Iraq is finally close to forming a new government — eight months after elections. Speaking in Australia, Clinton would not confirm reports that the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Kenyan administration police officer shoots 10 dead Reuters NAIROBI Nov 7 (Reuters) - A police officer attached to Kenya's provincial police shot 10 people dead at several bars in a small town northeast of Nairobi before surrendering, a police spokesman said on Sunday. "He shot 10 people in bars in Siakago. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Ghajar fumes over withdrawal plan Ynetnews Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to present Israel's plan to withdraw forces from Ghajar to the United Nations on Monday, news which sparked rage and discontent in the northern village. The 2300 residents of the village, which straddles the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Pakistan drone attacks 'kill 13' BBC News Two separate attacks carried out by suspected drones have killed at least 13 militants in north-west Pakistan, local officials said. The lawless region, a haven for members of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, has been repeatedly targeted by US drones. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Russia's Putin roars off in Formula One car BusinessWeek Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has taken a Formula One race car for a spin, reaching speeds of almost 150 mph (240 kph). Putin signed a deal last month with Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone to bring F1 racing to Russia starting in 2014. ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
07 Nov 2010
07 Nov 2010
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| Fear of volcanic ash cancels flights to Jakarta The Associated Press MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia (AP) — Just days before President Barack Obama's long-awaited visit to Indonesia, international carriers canceled flights to the capital over concerns about a volcano spewing ash hundreds of miles away. Malaysia was preparing to ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Yemen Judge Orders Arrest of Qaeda-Linked Cleric New York Times By ROBERT F. WORTH BEIRUT, Lebanon — A Yemeni judge on Saturday ordered the “forcible arrest” of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric who is believed to play an important role in the regional branch of Al Qaeda. Muhammad ud-Deen, via Associated ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Two vessels seized by Somalia pirates released CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- Somali pirates have released two vessels they've held for several months, appparently after ransoms were paid, officials and news agencies reported Saturday. On June 28, pirates hijacked the MV Golden Blessing, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Harriet Harman adds to pressure over No 10 media chief Andy Coulson The Guardian David Cameron faced renewed pressure over his decision to retain Andy Coulson as his communications chief last night after the former tabloid editor was questioned by police over allegations of phone-hacking at the News of the World. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Five policemen found dead in southern Afghanistan Monsters and Critics.com Kabul- Five Afghan policemen missing since an attack last week by Taliban rebels in southern Afghanistan have been found dead, an official said Sunday. The bodies were found Saturday night in Chek, a district in Wardak province, local government ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Azerbaijan holds general election BBC News By Tom Esslemont BBC Caucasus reporter Parliamentary elections are taking place in Azerbaijan, but opposition leaders say many of its candidates were prevented from registering. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe says officials ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| French still protesting pension reform, CNN International By the CNN Wires Staff A French democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT) militant blows in a trumpet on November 6, 2010 in Lille, France. Paris, France (CNN) -- Demonstrators returned to the streets across France Saturday to protest changes to the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Local Greek poll a test for rescue deal Washington Post AP ATHENS, Greece -- Greeks began voting Sunday in municipal polls seen as a crucial test of support for austerity measures in the crisis-hit country. Prime Minister George Papandreou has promised to call an early election if his Socialist government ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
06 Nov 2010
06 Nov 2010
| Mexico kills top drug lord at US border Reuters By Robin Emmott MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican marines killed drug baron Ezequiel "Tony Tormenta" Cardenas in a ferocious gunfight at the US border on Friday, a fleeting victory for President Felipe Calderon that is unlikely to quell raging ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Mass burial planned for volcano victims ABC Online Dozens of victims of Indonesia's erupting Mount Merapi who were killed by heat clouds are to be buried in a mass grave in Yogyakarta an official said. Indonesia's most active volcano, also known as the Mountain of Fire, has been erupting since late ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Rescuers pull bodies from crashed Cuban plane, black box found Xinhua HAVANA, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers on Friday removed bodies from the wreckage of a plane that crashed in central Cuba, as an emergency committee began investigating the air disaster, the worst in 20 years in the island country. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Bombings at mosques kill scores in Pakistan Washington Post By Haq Nawaz Khan and Karin Brulliard PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN - At least 64 people were killed in blasts at two Sunni mosques in Pakistan's restive northwest Friday, in the latest in a string of attacks on shrines and other places of worship around the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| UAE says investigating Qaeda claim for UPS plane crash Reuters DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates aviation authority is investigating a claim by Al Qaeda that it was behind the September crash of a UPS plane in Dubai, but has found no link so far, an official said on Saturday. "So far we have no evidence ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Passengers of failed Qantas flight resume journey to Sydney Channel News Asia By Dylan Loh | Posted: 06 November 2010 1404 hrs SINGAPORE : Some passengers of the aborted Qantas Boeing 747 aircraft bound for Sydney on Friday evening have resumed their journey to Australia. They left on Saturday on a scheduled 9:30am Qantas flight ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| France: Protesters Block Train Carrying Nuclear Waste New York Times By STEVEN ERLANGER Protesters blocked a train carrying nuclear waste back to Germany on Friday, chaining themselves to train tracks a few hundred yards from the railway station in Caen, in northwestern France. The train, with 11 carriages of treated ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Incumbent Wins Spirited Election in Tanzania New York Times By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN NAIROBI, Kenya — President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania was re-elected with 61 percent of the vote, the country's election commission said Friday, after a spirited contest marked by competitive campaigning but marred by relatively ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
05 Nov 2010
05 Nov 2010
| Death toll from Indonesia volcano doubles overnight Reuters A girl takes a picture of Mount Merapi volcano as it erupts and spews out clouds of hot gas and debris as seen from Wukirsari village in Sleman, near the ancient city of Yogyakarta, November 4, 2010. By Beawiharta SLEMAN, Indonesia (Reuters) ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Cuban airliner crashes with 68 people on board The Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — A Cuban airliner flying from the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba to the capital crashed after declaring an emergency Thursday evening with 68 people aboard, including 28 foreigners, state media reported. There was no immediate word on ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Haiti watches, waits as storm nears MiamiHerald.com The battered nation appeared likely to avoid a direct hit, but forecasters expect heavy rain to last for days -- raising the risks of deadly flooding. BY CURTIS MORGAN, TRENTON DANIEL AND JACQUELINE CHARLES PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Tomas was expected to sweep ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Development aid 'works' says UNDP BBC News By David Loyn BBC International Development Correspondent Launched 20 years ago with the simple line that "people are the real wealth of a nation", the United Nations' Human Development Report has become the most trusted annual indicator of progress in ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Small charter plane crashes in Pakistan's Karachi Reuters KARACHI Nov 5 (Reuters) - A small charter plane with at least 20 people on board crashed after taking off from Pakistan's Karachi airport on Friday, an aviation official said. Pervez George, a spokesman for Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority, ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Croatia: Apologies at Sites of '91 Killings New York Times By AP The presidents of Serbia and Croatia on Thursday apologized at the sites of mass killings during their 1991 war in a symbolic step toward reconciliation. President Boris Tadic of Serbia, left, became the first Serb leader to visit Ovcara, ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Hezbollah boycotts Lebanese national dialogue for first time Xinhua BEIRUT, NOV. 4 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah boycotted for the first time a session of national dialogue scheduled on Thursday. Hezbollah's Christians allies in the Free Patriotic Movement ( FPM) and the Marada Movement did not ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Canada couple give away $10m lottery winnings BBC News A Canadian couple who won $10.9m (£6.7m) in lottery winnings in July say they have given away $10.2m of the prize to groups in their community. Allen and Violet Large said they were plain country folks who needed no more than "what we've got". ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Clinton (again) denies presidential ambitions The Associated Press CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is again slapping down speculation that she harbors ambitions for another presidential run. In New Zealand on Friday, Clinton told a pair of television interviewers that she ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Delta flight makes emergency landing NDTV.com PTI, Updated: November 05, 2010 00:05 IST Mumbai: A Mumbai-bound Delta Airlines flight carrying 244 passengers from Amsterdam to Mumbai on Thursday night landed in emergency conditions at the airport here after an unidentified object was noticed in the ... See all stories on this topic » |
Qantas jet makes emergency landing
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Airbus A380 plane lands in Singapore with smoke coming out of its underside after mid-air engine explosion.
Last Modified: 04 Nov 2010 07:49 GMT
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A Qantas Airways A380 has landed safely in Singapore after running into engine trouble shortly after it had left the island state en route for Sydney. Fire engines immediately swarmed the aircraft as soon is it landed on the tarmac on Changi Airport on Thursday. The aircraft, carrying 459 people, suffered trouble with one of its four engines, in one of the most serious incidents for the world's largest passenger plane in its three years of commercial flight. Australian officials said no one on board was injured. Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen, reporting from Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, said the aircraft circled Singapore airport before it made a successful emergency landing. "The 433 passengers have safely landed after two hours of very scary moments in the air," she said. Mid-air explosion Initial media reports said the plane had crashed after an explosion over the Indonesian island of Batam near Singapore. "A piece of debris came down from the sky after witnesses reported a mid-air explosion over Batam," our correspondent said. A witness in Batam, told Indonesia's Metro TV: "After an explosion, the plane was still moving but smoke was trailing from one of its wings." One of the four nacelles - structures that house the engines - was missing and there appeared to be charring around that area of the plane.
Qantas, which operates six A380s, said it was grounding the aircraft pending a full investigation. "We will suspend all A380 takeoffs until we are fully confident we have sufficient information about (flight) QF32," Alan Joyce, Qantas' chief executive officer, told reporters in Sydney. There have been no fatal incidents involving A380s since they were launched in 2005 amid great fanfare as the greenest, quietest - as well as the biggest - jetliner. Earlier this year, one of the planes operated by Qantas burst two tyres when landing in Sydney and in September 2009 an A380 was forced to turn around in mid-flight and return to Paris. "This is probably the most serious incident involving the A380 since it began flying in commercial service," Tom Ballantyne, chief correspondent of Orient Aviation magazine, said. "There have been minor engine incidents before but nothing like this." Qantas has never had a fatal accident. A mid-air explosion blew a minivan-size hole in the side of a Qantas 747-400 in 2008 which Australian air safety investigators blamed on an oxygen bottle. The A380 has been bedevilled with production delays. More than 200 orders have been placed for the aircraft, and 37 are in operation worldwide, according to Airbus. Qantas said the incident did not impact its standing orders for more A380s. |
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Featured on Al Jazeera
Similarities exist in the political landscapes' of both the US and Israel, which left unaltered, could be of grave harm.
Yemen is being flooded with counterterrorism dollars, but is its faltering economy a greater danger than terrorism?
Myanmar is holding its first elections in two decades but the opposition condemn them as unfair and restrictive.
Political donations from nefarious groups are strangling US democracy, and a former Bush adviser is cashing in.
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Google
News Alert for: World
04 Nov 2010
04 Nov 2010
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| Iran Cracks Down as Subsidy Cuts Loom Wall Street Journal By FARNAZ FASSIHI BEIRUT—Iranian authorities are taking extraordinary security measures ahead of cuts to energy and food subsidies this month, in an effort to prevent unrest by a public upset about rising expenses and inflation. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Israel Attack Kills a Top Militant in Gaza New York Times By FARES AKRAM GAZA — A Palestinian leader of an Islamic extremist group inspired by Al Qaeda was killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Wednesday, according to the Israeli military. The car in which the killed militant was traveling ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Two killed in Serbia earthquake CNN International Rescue workers examine the collapsed roof of a building in Kraljevo, in central Serbia, on November 3, 2010. (CNN) -- Two people were killed and around 100 were injured when a magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck central Serbia overnight, the Ministry of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Iraq Reels After Attacks Wall Street Journal Iraqi policemen in Baghdad's Jihad district grieve during the funeral of a colleague killed during Tuesday's wave of insurgent attacks, in which at least 64 people were killed. BAGHDAD—Residents of the Iraqi capital held funerals Wednesday for victims ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| U.S. Drone Strikes Kill 12 In Pakistan's Tribal Region RTT News (RTTNews) - More than 12 suspected militants were killed Wednesday in three strikes by US unmanned drones in Pakistan's North Waziristan region, said officials. The first attack targeted a vehicle of militants laden with arms and ammunition in the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| US, New Zealand mend ties after nuclear dispute The Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The United States and New Zealand moved Thursday to fully restore relations that have been strained by a lingering 25-year nuclear dispute that has hampered military cooperation. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Suspect package found at airport BBC News Part of Glasgow Airport was evacuated after a suspect package was found in the search area of a terminal. A security officer thought a bag was suspicious and police were called in at about 2000 GMT on Wednesday. The bag and its contents were deemed to ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Japanese envoy's return to Moscow undecided Xinhua TOKYO, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said Thursday that the government has yet to decide when Masaharu Kono, Japanese ambassador to Russia, will return to Moscow. At a press conference, the top government spokesman made the ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
03 Nov 2010
03 Nov 2010
| Jailed oil executive says all of Russia has a stake in latest trial Washington Post By Kathy Lally MOSCOW - Freedom was so near for Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the once fabulously wealthy oil executive who was sent off to Siberia five years ago for tax evasion, although his real offense, his supporters say, was politically opposing Vladimir ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Obamas wanted to celebrate Diwali in India NDTV.com PTI, Updated: November 03, 2010 11:24 IST Washington: Barack Obama, who became the first US president to personally celebrate Diwali in the historic East Room in 2009, wanted to "specifically" celebrate the festival of lights with Indians, ... See all stories on this topic » |
| China shuns U.S. mediation in its island dispute with Japan CNN By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- The United States can forget about hosting trilateral talks involving China and Japan over the disputed islands, Beijing said via state media Wednesday. "The territorial dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Berlusconi: Gov't will last despite Ruby scandal BusinessWeek By NICOLE WINFIELD Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi insisted Tuesday that his government would last its full term despite a new clamor for early elections after he intervened to spare a teenage runaway named Ruby from possible jail time. ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Thai Floods Leave Residents on Rooftops as Death Toll Climbs BusinessWeek By Supunnabul Suwannakij and Daniel Ten Kate Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Floodwaters in southern Thailand's biggest city submerged streets, cut electricity and forced residents to their roofs, the latest deluge in a nationwide disaster that has now claimed ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Militants attack oil pipeline in southern Yemen BusinessWeek By AHMED AL-HAJ A Yemeni security official says militants have sabotaged an oil pipeline in southern Yemen, sending black smoke billowing into the sky. The official said he did not know if al-Qaida's local offshoot was behind the attack and he did not ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Kosovo PM says no-confidence vote breaks impasse BusinessWeek By NEBI QENA Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said a no-confidence vote Tuesdsay in parliament that could see his government collapse could help end a political impasse by paving the way for snap elections. The vote follows a decision by Thaci's ... See all stories on this topic » |
| 'Miraculous' more not hurt in Salford 'gas' blast BBC News Fire crews have said they are "amazed" more people were not seriously injured in a suspected gas explosion in Salford, Greater Manchester. Three homes were flattened and 20 properties were damaged in the blast in Merlin Road at about 0715 GMT. ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Tot caught in 7th-floor flat plunge Mirror.co.uk By Victoria Murphy 3/11/2010 A baby girl survived a seven-storey plunge after bouncing off a cafe canopy into the arms of a passer-by. The 18-month-old had been playing with her four-yearold sister on monday when she fell out the window of a flat, ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Former Russian PM Chernomyrdin dies aged 73 RIA Novosti MOSCOW, November 3 (RIA Novosti) - Former Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin died early on Wednesday morning at the age of 73, a source in the political establishment said. "Chernomyrdin died at 4 am Moscow time [01:00 GMT]. ... See all stories on this topic » |
US Republicans win House, gain in Senate
(4 hours ago) Today 03 Nov 2010
It was the biggest shift in power at least since Republicans gained 54 House seats in 1994. — Photo by AP
WASHINGTON: Disenchanted US voters swept Democrats from power in the House of Representatives and strengthened the ranks of Senate Republicans on Tuesday in an election rout that dealt a sharp rebuke to President Barack Obama.
Two years after Obama won the White House, voter anxiety about the struggling economy and discontent with his leadership fuelled big Republican gains that toppled Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from power and ushered in a new era of divided government.
Television networks projected Republicans would pick up at least 50 House seats, more than the 39 they need for a majority that would elevate conservative John Boehner to House speaker, put Republicans in charge of House committees and slam the brakes on Obama’s agenda.
It was the biggest shift in power at least since Republicans gained 54 House seats in 1994, when Democrat Bill Clinton was in the White House.
“Our new majority will be prepared to do things differently,” Boehner told supporters at a Washington hotel. “It starts with cutting spending instead of increasing it, reducing the size of government instead of increasing it, and reforming the way Congress works.”
Obama made a late-night call to Boehner to offer his congratulations and discuss working together to creating jobs and improving the economy, a Boehner aide said.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid pulled out a win in the country’s most high-profile Senate race after a heated re-election fight with Tea Party favourite Sharron Angle in Nevada.
Democrats also won key Senate races in West Virginia and California, where networks projected Senator Barbara Boxer would win re-election, ensuring Democrats would retain at least a slender Senate majority.
Republican control of the House will likely spark legislative gridlock, weakening Obama’s hand in fights over the extension of soon-to-expire income-tax cuts and the passage of comprehensive energy or immigration bills.
“The ability of this administration to get major new programs done was already limited. This just seals the deal,” said Jaret Seiberg, policy analyst with the investment advisory firm, Washington Research Group.
US stock futures pulled back from earlier gains as Republican chances of a Senate takeover waned. With opinion polls favouring Republicans, markets had factored in a Republican House win and Senate Democratic hold.
Investors said the outcome of Wednesday’s US Federal Reserve meeting was of greater market importance. The Fed is expected to announce it will pump billions into the economy to speed the recovery.
All 435 House seats, 37 of the 100 Senate seats, and 37 of the 50 state governorships were at stake in Tuesday’s voting.
Television networks said exit polls showed voters were deeply worried about the economy, with eight in every 10 voters saying it was a chief concern, and unhappy with Obama. Four of every 10 voters said they supported the Tea Party, and nearly three-quarters believed government did not function properly.
The Republican rout knocked nearly 30 Democratic incumbents out of the House, including veterans like Ike Skelton, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and John Spratt, chairman of the Budget Committee.
In the Senate, Republicans picked up Democratic seats in Indiana, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Arkansas as well as Obama’s former seat in Illinois. Democrats held the late Robert Byrd’s seat in West Virginia, Boxer won in California and Reid won in Nevada.
Florida Republican Marco Rubio and Kentucky Republican Rand Paul became the first Tea Party-backed candidates to win Senate seats, ensuring an influx of conservative views in the staid chamber. Another Tea Party favourite, Republican Christine O’Donnell in Delaware, lost her race.
Tea Party rises
Anger over government spending and economic weakness gave rise to the Tea Party, a loosely organised conservative movement that backed a message of smaller government and lower taxes.
“It’s a message that I will carry with me on day one. It’s a message of fiscal sanity. It’s a message of limited constitutional government and balanced budgets,” Paul told supporters in Kentucky.
Republicans picked up at least nine governorships from Democrats, including the battleground state of Ohio, and held the office in Texas in a race with important implications for the once-a-decade redrawing of congressional districts that begins next year.
Democrat Jerry Brown won in California in the race to succeed Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Obama will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) on Wednesday to talk about the post-election landscape.
Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said no significant legislation would pass without input from Republicans.
“We need to move beyond filibusters and enter a real conversation about passing legislation that this country needs,” he told Reuters.
Republican candidates had pushed an agenda of spending cuts and at least a partial repeal of Obama’s healthcare and Wall Street reforms, but Obama could veto their efforts.
Stocks in health insurers like UnitedHealth Group Inc, WellPoint Inc and Aetna Inc are likely to rise on Republican gains, even if a full repeal of healthcare reform is unlikely. — Reuters
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News Alert for: World
02 Nov 2010
02 Nov 2010
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| Indonesia Volcano Hinders Aid Work Wall Street Journal By PATRICK BARTA And YAYU YUNIAR Indonesian residents flee from a risky area on Monday, as the Mount Merapi volcano releases ash clouds in the village of Balerante. Aid workers responding to one of Indonesia's latest natural disasters are gearing up ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Germany, UK Restrict Flights, Parcels After Bombs BusinessWeek By Jeff Bliss and Mohammed Hatem (Updates with Qatar Air CEO comments from ninth paragraph, Asia security measures in 18th paragraph.) Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Germany and the UK restricted package deliveries from Yemen as the US tried to strengthen the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| China rejects US mediation in row BBC News China has rejected an offer from the US to host three-way talks with Japan over the future of a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the dispute involved only two nations, not the US. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Canada agrees to repatriate Guantánamo convict MiamiHerald.com BY ROB GILLIES AP TORONTO -- Canada said Monday it will allow a Canadian who is the last Western detainee at Guantánamo Bay to return to his homeland next year to serve out his sentence. Omar Khadr, 24, was sentenced Sunday to eight years for war ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Fatah, Hamas agree to meet in Damascus next week Xinhua GAZA/RAMALLAH, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement and its rival Fatah party said Monday that they agreed to hold their second round of reconciliation meeting in Syria's capital of Damascus next week. Ayman Taha, Gaza-based Hamas spokesman told ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Afghan civilian deaths caused by allied forces rise Los Angeles Times Internal US military statistics show 160 fatalities in 2010, up from 144 by this time last year. The greater use of attack helicopters has led to more accidental deaths. By David S. Cloud, Los Angeles Times US and allied forces have failed to reduce ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Zimbabwe won, Surat hooked to UN meet on blood diamonds Indian Express The diamond industry in Surat is keeping a close watch on a conference in Jerusalem, where a discussion on the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is underway. This UN launched scheme certifies the originality of the rough stones and blocks the sale ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| PM and SBY discuss Corby's fate ABC Online Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says he is open to the Government's idea of a regional processing centre for asylum seekers. Dr Yudhoyono held talks with Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Jakarta today. He says while he is open to the idea ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| UK's Thatcher to be released from hospital BusinessWeek The spokesman for Margaret Thatcher says the former British prime minister is returning home following more than two weeks in a hospital. Timothy Bell says Thatcher has been given the all-clear by her doctors and will be leaving London's private ... See all stories on this topic » |
China and India lead the way in Asia and UK perks up
Related Video
A worker jumps over a puddle near a residential construction site in Taiyuan, Shanxi province October 26, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Stringer
BEIJING/LONDON |
BEIJING/LONDON (Reuters) - Manufacturing growth in China and India powered ahead last month and UK industry also picked up steam, data showed on Monday, countering sluggishness in the U.S. economy and a faltering Japanese recovery.
Two surveys of Chinese executives showed broad-based strength in the manufacturing sector of the world's second-largest economy and helped boost Asian shares outside Japan by two percent.
The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to a six-month high in October of 54.7 from 53.8 in September, easily beating market forecasts of 52.9.
A figure above 50 denotes expansion; a reading below 50 indicates contraction.
Equivalent surveys from Europe are due on Tuesday but Britain's PMI showed manufacturing growth picked up pace last month for the first time since March.
Flash October figures for Germany, released last month, also gave a strong reading although much of Europe remains mired in debt and poised to cut public spending to deal with it -- a move that will crimp economic growth going forward.
The unexpected rise in Britain's index to 54.9 will increase doubts that the Bank of England will soon embark on more quantitative easing. It followed official data last week that showed the UK economy grew a surprisingly strong 0.8 percent in the third quarter from the second.
Investors are in little doubt, however, that the Federal Reserve, which holds a policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, is poised to inject more money into a struggling U.S. economy.
The United States reported on Friday that its economy grew at a tepid 2.0 percent annualized rate in the third quarter, reinforcing expectations the Fed will agree this week to embark on a new program of bond purchases.
U.S. October ISM data -- which match the PMIs -- is due later in the day and forecast to edge down.
"Quantitative easing is what the market's focused on. That'll lift all boats," said James Holt, a Sydney-based investment specialist at BlackRock, the world's biggest fund manager.
CHINESE, INDIAN STRENGTH
Manufacturing in India -- Asia's other emerging powerhouse -- put in a performance every bit as strong as China's.
The HSBC Markit PMI for India, Asia's third-largest economy, rose to 57.2 in October from 55.1 in September.
"The manufacturing sector remains supported by strong local consumption growth, and growing employment suggests that domestic demand will remain robust," Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian Economics Research at HSBC, said.
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Rousseff wins Brazil election
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Ruling party candidate has defeated rival Jose Serra in vote and will become Brazil's first female president.
Last Modified: 01 Nov 2010 07:54 GMT
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Dilma Rousseff has won Brazil's presidential election and will become the first woman to lead the Latin American economic powerhouse. Rousseff was declared winner of Sunday's poll by more than 10 percentage points, beating rival Jose Serra with 55.5 per cent of valid votes cast to his 44.5 per cent. The 62-year-old former guerrilla leader will be sworn in as the country's president on January 1 after running a campaign that highlighted her links to outgoing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In her first pledge as president-elect, Rousseff vowed to eradicate poverty affecting 20 million people in her nation. "I reiterate my fundamental promise: the eradication of poverty," the leftwinger said in her victory speech in Brasilia. "We must not rest while there are Brazilians going hungry." "Eradicating extreme poverty is my goal. But I humbly ask for the support of all who can help the country bridge the gap dividing us and make us a developed nation." Silva used his 80 per cent approval ratings to campaign for Rousseff, his former chief of staff and political protege. 'Solving bottlenecks' Rousseff will take power in a nation on rise, a country that will host the 2014 World Cup and that is expected to be the globe's fifth-largest economy by the time it hosts the 2016 Summer Olympics. "Her government will focus primarily on solving Brazil's bottlenecks," Fernando Pimentel, a close adviser to her campaign, said in a recent interview.
Rousseff has never held elected office and lacks the charisma that transformed Silva from a one-time shoeshine boy into one of the globe's most popular leaders. In the 1960s she fought against the military dictatorship ruling Brazil in the 1960s, spending time in prison before studying economics and making a name for herself as a competent technocrat. She held a range of mid-level government posts before Silva made her his energy minister, chief of staff, and then named her as his political successor. Silva has served two four-year terms and is barred by Brazil's constitution from running for a third. He has batted down chatter in Brazil's press that he is setting himself up for a new run at the presidency in 2014, which would be legally allowed. That does not mean many voters do not want him to stay. "If Lula ran for president 10 times, I would vote for him 10 times," Marisa Santos, a 43-year-old selling her homemade jewelry on a Sao Paulo street said. Rousseff's victory was not as straightforward as many predicted. In the first round of the presidential election on October 3, Rousseff got 46.9 per cent of the votes, falling just short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Serra finished second with 32.6 per cent. Marina Silva, a former environment minister and no relation to the president, took 20 million votes, leaving Rousseff and Serra to scramble for her supporters during the second round About 135 million voters were obliged to cast ballots on Sunday. Under Brazilian law, voting is mandatory for citizens between the ages of 18 and 70. |
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Featured on Al Jazeera
Actor-turned-director Aamir Bashir discusses his film about the plight of the Kashmiri people.
With an election Sunday, finance officials worry an overvalued real could hurt performance in the fast growing economy.
The world's most populous country is showing more international assertiveness, which bothers the US.
Investigation by Al Jazeera online correspondent finds toxic illnesses linked to BP oil dispersants along Gulf coast.
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Google
News Alert for: World
01 Nov 2010
01 Nov 2010
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| Analysis: Brazil's Rousseff faces fiscal and currency challenges Reuters By Ana Nicolaci da Costa BRASILIA (Reuters) - The same economic boom and free spending that propelled Dilma Rousseff to Brazil's presidency could become the biggest source of trouble during her first year at the helm of Latin America's largest economy. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Baghdad Church Attack Leaves 37 Dead Voice of America A church service in Baghdad has ended in bloodshed after Iraqi forces stormed the building and militants set off their suicide vests. Iraq's Interior Department said at least 37 people were killed during Sunday's church standoff, including at least ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Wen he was bowled over by India at Shanghai expo Hindustan Times Two days after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao kept the bilateral goodwill going with a 20-minute visit to the bamboo dome-shaped Indian pavilion at the Shanghai world expo. Wen, who is scheduled to visit India in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Pakistan drone attack kills five BBC News At least five militants have been killed in a US drone strike in north-western Pakistan, intelligence officials say. They say missiles struck a house in the Hyder Khel area of North Waziristan early on Monday. So far there has been no independent ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| China starts counting its 1 billion+ people CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff Beijing, China (CNN) -- Census takers are fanning out across China, aiming to visit 400 million households over 10 days. At last count in 2000, the country had 1.29 billion people. About 6.5 million census takers are knocking on ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Warm but guarded welcome awaits Obama in India AFP NEW DELHI — Barack Obama, who once listed Mahatma Gandhi as his fantasy dinner guest, claims a personal connection with the world's largest democracy but many Indians feel he has some way to go to lay claim to their affections. The US president arrives ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Germany stops freight from Yemen after bomb scare Reuters BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government said on Sunday that it, Britain, France and the United States had stopped all air freight from Yemen after the discovery of two bombs found in packages addressed to synagogues in America. ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google
News Alert for: World 31 Oct 2010 | ||
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| Feature: 70 wounded Gaza grooms celebrate marriage in mass wedding Xinhua by Hamoudi Gharib, Saud Abu Ramadan GAZA, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Sitting on his wheeling chair, Omer el-Khouli was very glad as he celebrated Saturday evening, with his bride, in a mass wedding ceremony organized by Gaza Strip ruling Islamic Hamas ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| The Ivory Coast votes for president after years of turmoil CNN International By the CNN Wire (CNN) -- Voters in the Ivory Coast head to the polls Sunday in the first presidential election in a decade for the top cocoa-producing west African nation. The election pits incumbent Laurent Gbagbo against 13 challengers, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Riyadh seeks to break Iraq deadlock Aljazeera.net Saudi king invites bloc leaders to Riyadh for talks aimed at breaking months of political deadlock. Saudi Arabia has invited Iraq's political leaders to meet in Riyadh in an effort to resolve months of deadlock over forming a new government. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Germany blocks air freight from Yemen Sydney Morning Herald Germany will no longer accept air freight from Yemen, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere announced after parcel bombs posted in that country were found on US-bound cargo flights. "The federal government assures that from now no freight coming from ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Medvedev's Vietnam Visit Brings Accord to Build First Nuclear Power Plant Bloomberg By Anna Shiryaevskaya - Sun Oct 31 06:36:37 GMT 2010 Russia agreed to build Vietnam's first nuclear power plant, in a ceremony in Hanoi presided over by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as he seeks to revive ties with the former Soviet ally. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Pirates Seize Liberian Tanker Near Somalia Voice of America The European Union anti-piracy task force says pirates have seized a Liberian-owned tanker off the coast of Somalia. The task force (EU NAVFOR Somalia) says the MV Polar tanker was attacked Saturday about 1100 kilometers off the coast of Socotra Island ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Pope warns young people not to treat love as merchandise for barter Scotsman POPE Benedict XVI has warned young people that the representation of love on the internet risks them losing their self-respect by pursuing affection as if it were "merchandise". Addressing a crowd of more than 100000 young people in the Vatican City, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| British dismantle IRA dissidents' bomb in beer keg Washington Post By SHAWN POGATCHNIK AP DUBLIN -- Northern Ireland police seized a dissident IRA bomb packed into a beer keg Saturday and were inspecting a potential car bomb parked outside Belfast International Airport, the latest efforts to undermine peace in the ... See all stories on this topic » |
'Bombs' found in US-bound cargo
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US president says two packages containing explosives were being shipped by air from Yemen to "places of Jewish worship".
Last Modified: 30 Oct 2010 09:29 GMT
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Security forces in the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates have intercepted two small packages containing explosive material that were being shipped by air from Yemen to "places of Jewish worship" in the United States, Barack Obama, the US president, has said. The packages were discovered on Friday at East Midlands airport, in Nottingham, around two hours north of London, and in Dubai, a major Gulf business hub. Both contained computer printer equipment packed with powder and attached to wires. Police in Dubai said the package they found bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda, and Obama has pointed the finger for the parcel plot at the extremist group's Yemen offshoot. Jane Harman, a Democratic congresswoman from California who was briefed on the incident, said the packages contained the explosive substance PETN, the New York Times newspaper reported. PETN is the same substance that was packed into the underwear of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man who attempted to ignite a bomb on board an airliner over the United States on December 25 last year. "Although we are still pursuing all the facts, we do know that the packages originated in Yemen," Obama said in a press conference on Friday. "We also know that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a terrorist group based in Yemen, continues to plan attacks against our homeland, our citizens, and our friends and allies." The discoveries came after a tip from Saudi Arabia, the White House
said, triggering a major security alert on three continents as officials
scrambled to check other cargo bound for the United states from Yemen. One package, found in the United Kingdom, was on board a UPS cargo plan, while the other, in Dubai, was found in a FedEx sorting facility. Al Jazeera's Dan Nolan, reporting from Dubai, said that authorities there would be pleased that the package had been found before it was put on a plane but also concerned given the volume of air traffic that passes through Dubai.
Multiple flights come into Dubai from Yemen every day, and the UAE-run Emirates airline operates five flights a day directly to the United States, Nolan said. Both UPS and FedEx said they had halted all packages being sent from Yemen to the United States while the incident is investigated. Bob Ayers, an independent security analyst, told Al Jazeera that
cargo is subject to less stringent security screening than passenger
luggage. The screening of cargo has been a point of debate in the United
States; in 2007, Congress directed the Transportation Security
Administration to screen all cargo carried on passenger flights
beginning this year, the Times reported. In September, a large fire broke out in the cargo hold of a UPS cargo plane shortly after it took off from the Dubai airport. The plane crashed, killing both crew members. Investigators suspect the fire may have started in a large shipment of lithium batteries, but they will probably now check to see if any cargo from Yemen was on board, Nolan said. High alert The tip by Saudi Arabia and subsequent discoveries prompted an international security scramble. Canadian and US fighter jets were scrambled to escort a passenger flight from the United Arab Emirates to New York City, and a UPS truck carrying two items from Yemen was stopped and searched in New York as well.
Two UPS planes parked at airports in Philadelphia and Newark, New Jersey, were moved away from terminals and searched. Britain is also on high alert. In Yemen, authorities launched an investigation. John Brennan, the US homeland security adviser, spoke with Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Yemeni president, on the phone and provided details about the intercepted packages, Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra reported from Aden. Saleh said Yemen would "do its best" to track down the source, Ahelbarra said. The impoverished Arabian peninsula country has been battling Houthi Shia rebels in the north, a secessionist movement in the south and a growing al-Qaeda presence. "Authorities here continue to reiterate that they are doing all they can to eliminate al-Qaeda from the country, amid growing international pressure," our correspondent said. |
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Featured on Al Jazeera
The world's most populous country is showing more international assertiveness, which bothers the US.
The growing use of online social networking, brings a host of new concerns, as life off and online merge.
The decision to deliver a death sentence to Tariq Aziz has caused a stir in the international community.
Political donations from nefarious groups are strangling US democracy, and a former Bush adviser is cashing in.
Google
News Alert for: World
30 Oct 2010
30 Oct 2010
| China Chastises Japan, US Over Territorial Disputes Before G-20 Summit Bloomberg By Daniel Ten Kate and Nicole Gaouette - Sat Oct 30 05:47:22 GMT 2010 China lashed out at Japan and the US for their stance on territorial disputes in waters off its coast as Asian leaders gathered in Hanoi, hindering talks on currency and trade ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Storms hampering aid efforts in Indonesia Seattle Times A group of private aid workers battled swells and driving rain that kept most craft on shore Friday to deliver food and other supplies to survivors on the islands hardest hit by a tsunami that killed more than 400 people. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Cameron's E.U. Austerity Drive: Mixed Results TIME By Leo Cendrowicz / Brussels Friday, Oct. 29, 2010 French President Nicolas Sarkozy (L) talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron (R) prior to a working session on the second day of a European Union summit on October 29, 2010 at the European ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Tropical Storm Shary approaches Bermuda The Associated Press HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) — Bermuda canceled ferry services and urged islanders to secure their boats as Tropical Storm Shary swirled toward the tiny British Atlantic territory Friday. The storm had sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph) and could gain ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Suicide bombing kills 25 in Iraq's Diyala province Los Angeles Times The nighttime attack targets a cafe popular with Shiite Kurds and may have been aimed at escalating religious and ethnic tensions in restive Diyala. By Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times A suicide bomber killed at least 25 people and wounded 70 others ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Yemen Emerges as Base for US Attacks New York Times By ROBERT F. WORTH BEIRUT, Lebanon — Not long ago, most Americans had scarcely heard of Yemen, the arid, Texas-size country in the southern corner of the Arabian peninsula. But on Friday, as news emerged of a plot to send explosives in courier packages ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Kenya: PS Thuita,Wetanguls Step Aside AllAfrica.com Nairobi — FOREIGN Minister Moses Wetangula and Permanent Secretary Mwangi Thuita yesterday stepped aside to allow investigations into the Sh1.75 billion Japan embassy scandal. Wetangula begrudgingly left office and blamed his political rivals and the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Spain jobless rate dips for first time in 3 years BusinessWeek Official figures show Spain's unemployment rate fell slightly to 19.8 percent in the third quarter, the first such decline in more than three years. The figure given by the National Statistics Institute on Friday compares to a joblessness rate of 20.1 ... See all stories on this topic » |
Exchange of fire at Korean border
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South Korean troops fire back after military unit comes under fire from the North, media reports say.
Last Modified: 29 Oct 2010 10:08 GMT
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North Korean troops have reportedly fired across the border into South Korean territory, media in the South has reported. A South Korean defence ministry official in Seoul confirmed Friday's incidents. YTN television said the shooting occurred in Hwacheon, about 90km northeast of Seoul. Yonhap news agency said South Korea immediately fired back against the North, and that the initial firing was in the direction of a South Korean military unit. Donald Kirk of the Christian Science Monitor newspaper in Seoul told Al Jazeera that it was still unclear whether there had been any casualties in the shooting. |
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Questions raised over efficacy of early warning system following Monday's tsunami that hit islands off Sumatra.
Last Modified: 29 Oct 2010 09:19 GMT
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At least 408 people have been confirmed dead after a tsunami triggered by a powerful earthquake hit Indonesia's western Mentawai Islands earlier this week, but officials say the death toll could be much higher. Harmensyah, the head of the West Sumatra provincial disaster management centre, said on Friday that rescue teams "believe many, many of the bodies were swept to sea". Bodies have also been found buried on beaches and even stuck in trees across the islands. "Of those missing people, we think two-thirds of them are probably dead, either swept out to sea or buried in the sand," Ade Edward, a local disaster management official, said on Thursday. "When we flew over the area ... we saw many bodies. Heads and legs were sticking out of the sand, some of them were in the trees. If we add another 200 to the toll it would be at least 543 dead." Rescue efforts hampered Bad weather that continues to hang over the western coast has made it hard for relief workers to ferry aid such as tents, medicine, food and water to the islands by boat from the nearest port of Padang, which is more than half a day away even in the best conditions. Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, one of the few television journalists on the islands, visited the village of Mantai Barubaru, where 74 houses, two schools and a church were swept away.
The government, he said, had already begun to deliver disaster relief supplies to the village, a corner of which has now been turned into a collective grave for victims, but strong winds and heavy rain are lashing the area. Our correspondent reported on Friday that the weather is hampering efforts by small boats to deliver supplies to outlying areas. The village residents who are driving the boats told Hay the rain makes it hard to see the debris that now pepper the shallow water, thanks to the tsunami surge. Almost 13,000 people are living in makeshift camps on the islands after their homes were swept away. Indonesia has dispatched troops and at least five warships to the region, but there is believed to be a need for more helicopters to reach the most isolated communities, some of which lack roads and wireless communications. Broken alarm system As the magnitude of the disaster became clear, many began asking whether an expensive warning system - established after the massive 2004 Asian tsunami, which killed at least 168,000 people in Indonesia alone - had failed. Tsunami survivors have said they had almost no warning that the wall
of water was bearing down on them, despite a sophisticated network of
alarm buoys off the Sumatran coast. "There are suggestions that, in fact, the [early warning system] has never worked properly since 2004," our correspondent said. "About 10 minutes after the quake we heard a loud, thunderous sound. We went outside and saw the wave coming. We tried to run away to higher ground, but the wave was much quicker than us," he told the AFP news agency on Wednesday. He said he managed to stay alive by clasping to a piece of wood. His wife and three children were killed. Indonesia straddles a region where the meeting of continental plates causes high seismic activity. It has the world's largest number of active volcanoes and is shaken by thousands of earthquakes every year. A 7.6-magnitude earthquake last year in Padang killed about 1,100 people, triggered by a 9.3-magnitude quake along the same fault line that caused the 2004 Asian tsunami. |
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Featured on Al Jazeera
Founders of the Zetas drug gang learned special forces techniques at Ft. Bragg before waging a campaign of carnage.
An inspiring story about the Rwandan genocide, a troupe of female drummers and the healing power of ice cream.
Barack Obama, a former law professor, should have a healthy respect for civil liberties, but his actions suggest not.
The US will continue to fail to convince Arabs that Iran, not Israel, poses the greatest threat to regional stability.
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Google
News Alert for: World
29 Oct 2010
29 Oct 2010
| Japan PM, China Premier to meet on Fri evening-NHK Reuters TOKYO Oct 29 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will meet on Friday evening on the sidelines of a regional summit in Vietnam, Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported. NHK said they are set to meet some time ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| U.K. Spy Chief Breaks Agency Silence Wall Street Journal By CASSELL BRYAN-LOW LONDON—In the first public speech by a serving head of the MI6, the UK's foreign spy agency, Sir John Sawers said fighting terrorism is the agency's top focus and condemned the use of torture in gathering intelligence. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Religious Leaders Urge Strong International Support Ahead of Sudan Referendum Voice of America Religious leaders from southern Sudan are urging strong international pressure on Sudan's northern-based government to ensure a January referendum on independence for the South takes place on time. Preparations for the vote have been running behind ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Anti-nuclear protests in Berlin BusinessWeek Greenpeace protesters have rappelled from the roof of Chancellor Angela Merkel's party headquarters and hung a massive anti-nuclear banner over the facade as parliament debates government plans to extend the lives of Germany's nuclear power plants. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Holocaust Crimes by German Diplomats Exposed in Study, Ending `Cover-up' Bloomberg By Catherine Hickley - Thu Oct 28 23:00:01 GMT 2010 Joschka Fischer, Germany's foreign minister under Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. In 2005, he commissioned a historical study of the role played by the Foreign Ministry during the Nazi era, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Russia's Kamchatka volcanoes calm after eruptions MSN Money MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's Emergencies Ministry says two volcanoes that erupted on the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, forcing flight diversions and blanketing a town with dust, have all but ceased spewing ash. Ash clouds from the remote volcanoes that ... See all stories on this topic » |
WikiLeaks should be declared 'enemy combatants',
says Fox News contributor
Sam Jones
Christian Whiton says whistleblowing website presents serious challenge to national security after leak of Iraq war logs
October 28, 2010 In an opinion piece on the Fox News site, Christian Whiton lambasts Congress and the White House for failing to tackle the leaking of hundreds of thousands of files about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and demands action. "First and foremost, it is important to understand that this is a serious challenge to our national security," he writes. "It's not about government transparency or free speech, which is the claim WikiLeaks and its leader, a certain Julian Assange, are making. Rather, this is an act of political warfare against the United States. "WikiLeaks is a foreign organisation that obtained these documents as a result of espionage and it means to use the information to thwart and alter US policy. Mr Assange said as much himself." Whiton's demands follow the release by WikiLeaks last week of 391,832 reports dubbed the Iraq war logs, which revealed evidence of the systematic use of torture by the Iraqi government installed by the US. The pundit accuses the Obama administration of falling "asleep at the wheel" and offers five courses of action: • Indict Assange and his colleagues for espionage. • Explore whether they can be declared enemy combatants, "paving the way for non-judicial actions against them". • Freeze WikiLeaks' assets and impose sanctions on any financial organisation working with them. • Allow the US cyber command to "prove its worth by ordering it to electronically assault WikiLeaks". • Hold "meaningful" congressional hearings to discover how such a massive leak could have happened. Whiton ends with the following plea: "How much will our information-collection capabilities have to be diminished, and how many of our friends and collaborators around the world must die, before President Obama and his friends on Capitol Hill start caring more about national security?" Assange has also been attacked by the Times columnist Hugo Rifkind – albeit in far more moderate terms. "I find Julian Assange … a frighteningly amoral figure," he writes today. "It's partly the concept of unredacted leaking in itself that makes a mockery of everything journalistic ethics ought to be. "Indeed, it does worse: it takes the agonised deliberations that occur in every newsroom over what to publish, and what harm it might cause (which often get it wrong, but do at least occur) and casts them as partisan and Goebbels-ish. Assange himself embodies this. For him, every criticism is a smear, and every critic has an agenda, probably emailed over by the Pentagon. Frankly, it's insulting." |
:: Article nr. 71278 sent on 29-oct-2010 01:44 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=71278
Link: www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/oct/26/wikileaks-fox-iraq-war-logs
Google
News Alert for: World
28 Oct 2010
28 Oct 2010
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| Argentina's powerful ex-president Kirchner dies Reuters By Helen Popper and Nicolas Misculin BUENOS AIRES, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Argentina's Nestor Kirchner, the president's powerful husband and a top contender to succeed her next year, died on Wednesday, lifting stock and bond prices but heightening ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| March in Israel Ends in Clashes In Arab Town New York Times By AP UMM EL-FAHM, Israel (AP) — Dozens of Jewish extremists carrying Israeli flags marched defiantly on Wednesday through Umm el-Fahm, an Israeli Arab town, chanting “death to terrorists” and touching off clashes between rock-hurling residents and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Mass burial for Java volcano dead BBC News In Indonesia a mass burial is being held for many of those who died when Mount Merapi erupted in central Java. Thirty-two people were killed when the country's most volatile volcano shot out clouds of searing ash and gas on Tuesday evening. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Kenya: Wetang'ula Denies Role in Embassy Saga AllAfrica.com Nairobi — Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang'ula on Tuesday denied responsibility for the embassy scandals in Parliament, instead blaming the officers in his ministry. A move to save the minister by removing his name from the report will be voted on ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Karzai extends deadline for disbanding private security firms Washington Post By Joshua Partlow KABUL - Under intense diplomatic pressure, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai offered a reprieve Wednesday to private security companies guarding foreign-funded development projects in Afghanistan, heading off at least for the moment ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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Indonesia's Merapi volcano kills at least 28
Related Video
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SLEMAN, Indonesia |
SLEMAN, Indonesia (Reuters) - One of Indonesia's most active volcanoes spewed out clouds of ash and jets of searing gas on Wednesday in an eruption that has killed at least 28 people and injured 14.
Mount Merapi, on the outskirts of the city of Yogyakarta on Java island, first erupted on Tuesday, a day after a tsunami pounded remote islands in western Indonesia, killing at least 113 people.
Authorities have been trying to evacuate more than 11,000 villagers living on the slopes of the volcano, where many houses have been destroyed, the ruins lying covered in white ash.
Kresno Heru Nugroho, head spokesman for Yogyakarta's Sardjito hospital, said 28 people had been killed by deadly bursts of hot air released by the volcano late on Tuesday. His colleague Endita Sri Andrianti said some were burned beyond recognition.
"We are still collecting details to identify them. Most of them were burned to death," she told Reuters by phone, adding that 14 villagers had suffered burn injuries.
Another hospital official told Reuters it was likely that among the dead was the elderly spiritual guardian of the mountain, Mbah Maridjan, believed by many Javanese to possess magical powers. Tests were being carried out to confirm a charred body found on the volcano was his.
"We will not get the results of the DNA test until tomorrow but we think it is the most likely possibility," Banu Hermawan said. "His shirt and sarong are the same as Mbah Maridjan's, and his size."
Maridjan's wife and children were at the hospital and had reported him missing, Hermawan said.
Many Indonesians posted tributes to the volcano's widely loved custodian via Facebook and Twitter.
Many of the victims had been found in or around Maridjan's house in the village of Kinahredjo, close to the volcano's crater, local media reported. A Reuters cameraman at Kinahredjo said he saw burns victims being brought down from the mountain in body bags. Houses in the village had been destroyed.
BLANKET OF ASH
"Several houses and cattle have been burned by the hot cloud from the mountain," cameraman Johan Purnomo said. "All the houses are blanketed in ash, completely white. The leaves have been burned off the trees."
Clouds of smoke and ash obscured the peak of the mountain, making it impossible to see if lava had begun flowing.
The country' top vulcanologist, Surono, said Merapi was now "quite calm."
"There are no signs of another imminent eruption but I cannot guarantee anything and we don't know if this is just a temporary rest," Surono said.
Google
News Alert for: World
27 Oct 2010
27 Oct 2010
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| Global extinction crisis looms, study says Washington Post By Juliet Eilperin A growing number of creatures could disappear from the Earth, with one-fifth of all vertebrates and as many as a third of all sharks and rays now facing the threat of extinction, according to a new survey assessing nearly 26000 ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Netanyahu Praises Israeli Troops Who Raided Gaza-Bound Flotilla Voice of America Israel's prime minister has praised the naval commandos who participated in the deadly May raid on a Gaza-bound ship, saying they acted "heroically," "ethically" and "with restraint." Benjamin Netanyahu told the men during a visit to their base in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Not too late for inclusive Myanmar poll: UN chief Reuters By Martin Petty BANGKOK (Reuters) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday his organization was committed to long-term engagement with military-ruled Myanmar and it was not too late to make next month's election more credible. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Egypt jails opposition campaigners before election The Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian security forces on Tuesday detained 57 campaign workers from the opposition Muslim Brotherhood while hanging election posters in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria ahead of next month's parliamentary vote. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Top international lawyers question ICC's focus on Africa Christian Science Monitor Three British lawyers specializing in international law spoke to the Monitor about prosecutions of Kenyans linked to the 2007-08 ethnic clashes that killed more than 1300. By Mike Pflanz, Correspondent / October 26, 2010 Courtenay Griffiths, ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google
News Alert for: World
26 Oct 2010
26 Oct 2010
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| Protests Against Sarkozy Pension Plan Ease; Students to March Bloomberg By Helene Fouquet and Gregory Viscusi - Tue Oct 26 06:11:41 GMT 2010 Protests against President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age eased as a quarter of France's refinery workers agreed to go back to work and garbage collectors ended a ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Skipper tells of terrifying Indonesian tsunami Herald Sun THE skipper of a surfboat caught up in the Indonesian tsunami has told of the terrifying vision of watching water being sucked away from his boat before a 4m wave hurtled towards him. Lee Clarke, the skipper of surf charter boat Freedom 3, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Aus PM condemns hurling of shoe at Howard Hindustan Times PTI Condemning the hurling of a shoe at Foreign Minister John Howard, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Tuesday said that there was "no excuse" for such actions. "There's no excuse for that kind of disrespectful conduct towards anyone. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Gunmen Kill 13 at Tijuana Drug-Treatment Center Wall Street Journal By NICHOLAS CASEY MEXICO CITY—Armed men carried out a massacre in a Tijuana drug-rehabilitation center, Mexican authorities said Monday, showing that violence persists even in one of the few border towns where officials claim to be defeating powerful ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| US rebuffs Wikileaks Iraq claims BBC News The US says it did not "turn a blind eye" to torture in Iraq, in response to allegations raised in files published by whistleblower website Wikileaks. Gen George Casey, who was in charge of US forces in Iraq from 2004 to 2007, said all soldiers were ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Greek PM Seeks Support For Measures To Avoid Default Wall Street Journal By Nick Skrekas Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES ATHENS (Dow Jones)--Greek socialist Prime Minister George Papandreou said Monday that reforms have to continue so that sacrifices pay off, and that coming local elections require voter responsibility to deal with ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google
News Alert for: World 25 Oct 2010 | |
| Haiti cholera toll tops 250 Reuters Relatives of Haitians suffering from cholera wait for news outside a local hospital in the town of Saint Marc October 22, 2010. By Joseph Guyler Delva PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - A multinational medical response has slowed deaths in a Haitian cholera ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| Pirates capture ship and tanker The Press Association Somali pirates have seized a German freight ship off the coast of Kenya - the second commercial vessel to be captured in the region in as many days, officials have said. The pirates took control of the German freight ship Beluga Fortune about 1200 ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| Bomb kills 5 people at Sufi shrine in Pakistan Washington Post By KHALID TANVEER AP PAK PATTAN, Pakistan -- A bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded at the gate of a famous Sufi shrine in central Pakistan during morning prayers Monday, killing at least five people, officials said. The blast at the Farid Shakar Ganj ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| Oil Rises a Second Day as Dollar Weakens, Hurricane Richard Heads for Gulf Bloomberg By Ann Koh and Ben Sharples - Mon Oct 25 06:04:20 GMT 2010 Oil gained for a second day as investors bought contracts against a weakening dollar and Hurricane Richard headed for the Gulf of Mexico, home to 31 percent of US crude production. ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| Bahrain Shiites retain chamber seats after vote The Associated Press MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Embattled by months of crackdowns, Bahrain's Shiite Muslim majority held onto its strength in parliament, according to election results announced Sunday, but fell short of dealing a humbling blow against the minority Sunni rulers ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| India asks Japan to help achieve infrastructure targets Hindustan Times India envisages financial outlays of over $1 trillion in the next Five Year Plan and while much of this would come "from within", it would welcome support from Japanese companies, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Japanese business leaders on Monday. ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| Sudan Expert Welcomes Khartoum's Referendum Pledge to Senator Kerry Voice of America The International Crisis Group's Special Advisor on the African Union and Sudan told VOA he welcomes US Senator John Kerry's announcement Sunday that the Sudan government has assured him it will respect the results of January's independence referendum ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| High alert for Indonesia volcano BBC News Indonesia has raised the alert for its most volatile volcano, Mount Merapi, to its highest level and warned villagers in threatened areas to move to safer ground. Officials said activity at the volcano, in central Java, had increased markedly over the ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| Middle East Yemen 'terror' suspect in new video Aljazeera.net A new recording featuring wanted Yemeni-US religious scholar Anwar al-Awlaki posted on the internet. A new video featuring Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni-American religious scholar who is on a US government kill or capture list, has been posted on the ... See all stories on this topic » | |
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Google
News Alert for: World
24 Oct 2010
24 Oct 2010
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| Attacked by 'devil', 11 jump out of window Times of India PARIS: Eleven members of a family jumped out of a window at their home in the outskirts of Paris, when they thought they were being attacked by a "devil". One of the people, a four-month-old girl, died in the incident. The incident took place in La ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Can Chile turn mine rescue into tourism dollars? CTV.ca British Prime Minister David Cameron, right, poses with a piece of rock from the Chilean mine, from where 33 miners were rescued, handed to him by Chile's President Sebastian Pinera, left, at his official residence at 10 Downing Street, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| In Caucasus violence, 4 militants, a police officer killed CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- A bombing and a shootout caused deaths and injuries on Saturday in Russia's tense Caucasus region, Russian media reported, citing local authorities. Two militants were killed and two police officers were ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Mugabe 'gives cash prize to BB Africa loser' Digital Spy By Colin Daniels, Entertainment Reporter President Robert Mugabe has reportedly given a cash prize to Zimbabwe's representative on Big Brother Africa, who came second. According to AFP, Munyaradzi Chidzonga was given a $300000 (about £191000) cheque ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Xi's past is likely to counsel caution Washington Post By Keith B. Richburg IN BEIJING For China's leader-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, growing up as the son of a prominent revolutionary brought more pain than privilege. His father - Xi Zhongxun, a contemporary of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping - lost out in a ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Exodus over women bishops: what will Rowan Williams do next? The Guardian News that fewer than 50 Anglicans are converting to Roman Catholicism has set cassocks twitching, leading to talk of an exodus and an earthquake in the Church of England and what the ramifications are for the archbishop of Canterbury, who is only ever ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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News Alert for: World
23 Oct 2010
23 Oct 2010
| French Senate Passes Pension Bill New York Times By STEVEN ERLANGER and ALAN COWELL PARIS — After nearly three weeks of debate and a series of national strikes, the French Senate voted Friday evening to pass President Nicolas Sarkozy's bill to raise the minimum retirement age to 62 from 60 and the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Astute grounding 'incredible', say locals Telegraph.co.uk The manager of the local lifeboat said it was "incredible" that the submarine had run aground inside buoys marking the safe channel past the Isle of Skye. By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent Ross McKerlich, 56, whose home overlooks the scene of the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| NATO secretary general seeks 'strategic partnership' with Russia RIA Novosti MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen dismissed the idea that Russia is likely to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the near future and called instead for a "strategic partnership" ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Cargo ship and ferry collide in busy Dutch canal Reuters A small passenger ferry lies capsized in the Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal after colliding with a German cargo tanker near Breukelen October 22, 2010. AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A small passenger ferry capsized after it collided with a German cargo ship in a busy ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Merkel-coalition agrees EU treaty change key goal Reuters BERLIN Oct 22 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that she and her other coalition partners agree EU treaty change is an important goal. In a surprise deal struck in the French town of Deauville, Germany secured a commitment from ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Kashmir ultimate issue to be resolved between India and Pakistan: US Xinhua WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- The United States believes that Kashmir is an ultimate issue that has to be resolved between India and Pakistan, US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said on Friday. Crowley told reporters at the department that ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 'Bionic' driver dies after crash BBC News A man thought to be the first to drive using a mind-controlled robotic arm has died in an Austrian hospital after a serious car crash. It is not known whether his bionic arm had any role in causing the accident. Christian Kandlbauer, 22, was found in ... See all stories on this topic » |
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News Alert for: World
22 Oct 2010
22 Oct 2010
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| Small Dutch passenger ferry capsizes after crash Washington Post By TOBY STERLING AP AMSTERDAM -- A German freight ship struck a small Dutch passenger ferry in a canal near Amsterdam Friday, capsizing the smaller vessel and knocking several people into the water, national police said. "At this moment emergency ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Police suspect terrorists behind Cotabato bus blast GMANews.TV UPDATED 11:30 am – Police investigators said they suspect that a terrorist group was behind Thursday's deadly blast in North Cotabato, which killed 10 people and injured 30 others. In a radio interview, North Cotabato police spokesperson Senior ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Bomb kills 6 Pakistani soldiers CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- A bomb exploded near a military convoy in northwestern Pakistan Friday, killing six soldiers, military officials said. The attack took place near a village in Orakzai -- one of seven districts in Pakistan's tribal region ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Chávez, Syria sign economic accords Boston Globe By Bassem Mroue AP / October 22, 2010 DAMASCUS — On the Mideast leg of an international tour, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela said Wednesday that he and his Syrian counterpart are “on the attack'' against Western imperialism. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Turkey Mulling Oil, Gas Search off North Cyprus ABC News AP By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS AP WRITER Turkey is considering starting oil and gas exploration off the northern coast of Cyprus, a senior Turkish Energy Ministry official said Thursday. The official said initial seismic research conducted in waters ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Waste dump protests in Italy BBC News Police and protesters have clashed near the southern Italian city of Naples over new waste dumps intended to ease the rubbish crisis in the region. Protesters set rubbish trucks alight and threw fireworks. A number of officers were injured. ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google News Alert for: World
21 Oct 2010
| Chilean miners' warning 'ignored' BBC News A Chilean politician has alleged that on the day the San Jose mine collapsed trapping 33 men, workers voiced safety fears but were told to stay on shift. Deputy Carlos Vilches said one of the miners had told him that managers refused their request to ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Bus explosion kills 7 in Philippines CNN By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- An improvised explosive detonated on a bus Thursday in the southern Philippines, killing seven people and injuring 20 others, state-run media said. The blast took place Thursday morning on the Kabacan-Matalam national ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Wuerl among 24 new cardinals Washington Post By Michelle Boorstein Pope Benedict XVI named Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl and 23 other Catholic leaders to the elite College of Cardinals on Wednesday, choosing men who share his orthodox approach to Catholic doctrine. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Maternity leave BBC News By Ben Shore BBC Europe Business reporter To think of maternity leave as a straightforward benefit to a new mum is wrong. European policy makers need to balance not just their desire to provide security for mothers, and to ensure they do not damage ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| SGPC writes to Obama: Don't put off visit to Golden Temple Indian Express The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex body representing Sikhs, on Wednesday sent a letter to US President Barack Obama, asking him not to cancel his planned visit to the Golden Temple and appealing to him that he might cover his ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| France prepares for more protests Aljazeera.net France is preparing for another day of confrontation as strikes continue ahead of a senate vote on changes to the pensions system. Oil refinery and port workers were among 500 protesters that blocked access to Marseille airport on Thursday, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Afghan Vote Tally Shows Big Fraud Wall Street Journal By MARIA ABI-HABIB KABUL—New faces will outnumber old ones in Afghanistan's new parliament, and nearly a quarter of all ballots cast in the election last month will be thrown out because of fraud, according to preliminary results released Wednesday. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Moscow Permits Small Rally Wall Street Journal By RICHARD BOUDREAUX MOSCOW—Officials here delivered a concession to a growing opposition movement by giving permission for a rally by up to 200 people, just five days after the Kremlin, which oversees the city government, named a new Moscow mayor. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Supreme Court in Britain Gives More Legal Force to Prenuptial Agreements New York Times By JULIA WERDIGIER LONDON — A ruling by the Supreme Court here on Wednesday gave prenuptial agreements more weight in divorce cases, bringing British law closer in line with that in the United States. The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Nicolas ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google News Alert for: World
20 Oct 2010
| CIA acknowledges "missteps" led to officers' deaths Reuters By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The CIA on Tuesday acknowledged "missteps" and "shortcomings" that allowed a would-be informant to enter a US base in Afghanistan and blow himself up on December 30, killing seven CIA officers. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Australia Shares End Down 0.7%; China Rate Hike Rattles Market Wall Street Journal SYDNEY (Dow Jones)--The Australian share market hit a two-week low Wednesday, with materials and energy stocks leading the decline, after global markets reacted negatively to the rate hike in China and concerns increased about the US mortgage ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Ed Miliband criticises defence spending review BBC News The government's defence review was a "profound missed opportunity", according to Labour leader Ed Miliband. He said it failed to offer a "strategic blueprint for our future defence needs" - a claim echoed by former armed forces chiefs Lord West and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Britain: Saudi Prince Guilty of Murder New York Times By RAVI SOMAIYA A Saudi prince was convicted of murder on Tuesday for beating his servant to death last winter in a five-star hotel suite in London. Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud, 34, a grandson of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Karachi shuts down to protest latest violence Reuters Men injured during an attack on a market wait for treatment after they were brought to a hospital in Karachi October 19, 2010. Violence continued in Pakistan's troubled southern city of Karachi on Tuesday, with at least 16 people killed in different ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Roadside Bombing in Iraq Strikes Convoy Carrying UN Diplomat New York Times By JACK HEALY and OMAR AL-JAWOSHY BAGHDAD — A roadside bomb struck the convoy of the top United Nations representative to Iraq on Tuesday after he had finished a meeting with the country's senior Shiite cleric to discuss the continuing political ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Congo's Former VP Bemba War Crimes Trial Gets Go Ahead Voice of America Photo: AP Jean-Pierre Bemba is seen in court at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. The appeals panel at the International Criminal Court later rejected former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba's bid to have charges ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Iraq To Prequalify Companies For 4 Refineries -Deputy Oil Min Wall Street Journal BAGHDAD (Dow Jones)--The Iraqi Oil Ministry has invited international companies to submit documentation to prequalify to build four refineries planned to meet increasing domestic needs, a deputy oil minister said Tuesday. "We have extended the deadline ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Canada denies Mabhouh murder suspect arrested Jerusalem Post By JPOST.COM STAFF AND YAAKOV KATZ Dubai police chief's claim that an individual involved in the January assassination has been arrested is "baseless" officials say. A Canadian official called Dubai police chief Lt.-Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim's claim that ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google News Alert for: World
19 Oct 2010
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| Gunmen Attack Parliament in Chechnya New York Times By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ MOSCOW—Gunmen burst into the Parliament of Chechnya in southern Russia on Tuesday morning, killing several people in a shootout, according to Russian news reports. Unnamed law enforcement sources speaking to Russian news media said ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 105 tons of marijuana seized in Baja California Los Angeles Times It is believed to be one of the largest drug busts in recent Mexican history, authorities say. The pot was hidden inside cargo containers stored in a warehouse in an industrial area of Tijuana. By Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times Baja California ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Bodies recovered from China mine BBC News The bodies of the last five Chinese miners trapped underground in Henan Province have been recovered, bringing the final toll to 37. Some 300 rescuers had been working since Saturday to reach the men after a gas leak at the pit in Yuzhou. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Pentagon braces for WikiLeaks disclosure on Iraq USA Today By Bertil Ericson, AFP/Getty Images By Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — A Pentagon task force was bracing Monday for the unauthorized release of perhaps hundreds of thousands of secret documents on the war in Iraq and has asked the news media ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| William keen to serve on front line The Press Association Prince William has expressed his "real determination" to serve on the front line in Afghanistan. The royal professed his desire to follow in the footsteps of his brother Prince Harry, who served in Helmand in 2008, during a documentary about the ... See all stories on this topic » |
China mine death toll rises to 30, says govt
Relatives and friends of a miner who was killed by an explosion grief
after identifying the body near the state-run Pingyu Coal & Electric
Co. Ltd mine in Yuzhou city, central China's Henan province on Sunday,
Oct. 17, 2010. – AP Photo
BEIJING: The death toll from a gas explosion in a coal mine in central China has risen to 30, with seven workers still trapped underground, the country's work safety watchdog said Monday.
Rescuers said Sunday there was little hope of finding any more survivors of Saturday's accident in the city of Yuzhou in Henan province, and that it would likely take several days to find those still missing.
Du Bo, the deputy director of the rescue operation, said the missing
miners were likely buried in the more than 2,500 tonnes of coal dust
that smothered the pit after the gas leak.
A total of 276 miners were
at work below ground when the disaster happened, and 239 managed to
make it to the surface, the national work safety agency said.
China's latest tragedy has highlighted the poor safety conditions in its mines, in which over 2,600 miners perished last year, according to official figures, but independent labour groups say the toll is likely much higher.
The government has repeatedly vowed to shut dangerous mines and
increase safety, but the accidents continue with regularity as mines
hustle to pump out the coal on which China relies for about 70 per cent
of its energy. – AFP
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Tags: China mine miners rescue
HIGHLIGHTS
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A Karachi volunteer’s trip to Shikarpur
What endangers the flood victims is not hunger, but the lack of an identity. -
PM’s speech
Clear lessons can be drawn from the latest near-upheaval in the country, if such incidents are to be avoided.
Lawyers for Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab will seek to overturn the penalty imposed by a lower court earlier this year.
Full Story
TOP STORIES
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Facebook founder eyes China, faces threats in Pakistan
Facebook has been restricted in China since July 2009 after the deadly ethnic unrest in the restive Xinjiang region. -
Iran detains seven Afghans after they cross border
Six Afghan officers and one soldier had driven into Sistan-Balochistan in a car with fake license plates. -
Bin Laden living comfortably in Pakistan: CNN
Locals and “some members” of the Pakistani intelligence are protecting him, CNN quoted a Nato official as saying. -
US asks China to stop deals with Iran
US intelligence believes Chinese companies and banks were involved in providing restricted technology to Iran. -
Roadside bomb kills three in Afghanistan
The three killed were civilians who were walking nearby the irrigation ditch where the bomb had been hidden in Herat.
MORE TOP STORIES
Google News Alert for: World
18 Oct 2010
| Death toll rises to 30 from China coal mine leak CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- The death toll from a coal mine gas leak in central China rose to 30 Monday after rescue workers discovered four more bodies, state media said Monday. Seven others remain trapped underground, but their chances of survival ... See all stories on this topic » |
| France pension protests escalate with new trucker, rail worker actions Xinhua PARIS, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Rail unions and truckers in France joined fuel blocking strikes on Sunday to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy's pension reform, exerting more pressure on the government. Across the country, gas pumps have been drying up as ... See all stories on this topic » |
| The problem with having a vernacular saint ABC Online By Scott Stephens Simply to allow St Mary of the Cross to be our "vernacular saint," to be but an expression of the Australian spirit, would effectively be to baptise our national way of life. (AAP Image) A great tide of joyous anticipation surged into ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Chilean miners: The running man BBC News As well as catering for the 33 Chilean miners' physical medical needs, the support team at the San Jose mine carefully monitored the men's mental health. Doctors were concerned that anxiety at being trapped for so long was pushing miner Edison Pena to ... See all stories on this topic » |
| France 'warned of terror threat' BBC News Saudi Arabia has warned France it is the target of an imminent al-Qaeda attack, French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux has said. He said Saudi intelligence agencies spoke of a threat to Europe, and "France in particular", from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Haiti prison riot leaves three dead Aljazeera.net Two inmates shot as they try to escape, while another trampled to death during incident in the country's largest jail. A riot at Haiti's largest prison has left three inmates dead. Two were shot as they were trying to escape from the roof of the ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Floods kill 20 Viet Nam News HA NOI - The National Hydrometeorological Forecast Centre issued a flood and landslide warning to residents living in the country's central provinces. Water in many rivers have risen to dangerous levels, including the Ca River in Nghe An Province and ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Iraq: 12 Die as Gunmen Storm Baghdad Gold Shops New York Times By AP At least 12 people died when gunmen invaded a row of gold shops in the Mansour District of western Baghdad on Sunday and ended up in a gunfight with security forces, police and military officials said. The gunmen used hand grenades and small arms ... See all stories on this topic » |
| New convoy to set sail for Gaza CNN By the CNN Wire Staff Jerusalem (CNN) -- A Gaza humanitarian convoy that includes passengers who survived a previous fatal flotilla incident has been delayed and is expected to set sail Monday in an attempt to deliver aid for Palestinians, ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google News Alert for: World 17 Oct 2010 | ||
| China's turn for mine rescue Detroit Free Press AP BEIJING -- China joined the world in breathless coverage of the Chilean mine rescue last week, but when a gas blast killed 26 Chinese miners and trapped 11 at a government-owned mine on Saturday, the national TV evening news didn't say a word. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| China Wants to Mend Ties With Japanese After Protest BusinessWeek By Bloomberg News Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- China said it wants to maintain ties with Japan after demonstrators in the nations staged protests over a ship collision in contested waters last month that brought relations to their lowest in five years. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| One Swedish soldier killed, two injured in Afghanistan RIA Novosti KABUL, October 17 (RIA Novosti) - One Swedish solider was killed and two others were injured after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in northern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) reported on Sunday. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Merkel: Multicultural society has failed BBC News Attempts to build a multicultural society in Germany have "utterly failed", Chancellor Angela Merkel says. In a speech in Potsdam, she said the so-called "multikulti" concept - where people would "live side-by-side" happily - did not work. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| State Department condemns east Jerusalem building Jerusalem Post By TOVAH LAZAROFF AND MELANIE LIDMAN US, Russia and France ask government to reconsider decision; US congressman: "Capital is not a settlement." The US, Russia and France have condemned Israel's plan to build 238 homes in two east Jerusalem Jewish ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Schalit family to rally at Degania for Gilad's release Jerusalem Post By JPOST.COM STAFF In response to reports that talks were renewed with Hamas for release of the captured soldier, Schalit family says they are not optimistic. Noam and Aviva Schalit, parents of captured soldier Gilad Schalit, and a group of supporters ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Government for change of tack in North Waziristan GulfNews By Mohsin Ali, Correspondent Islamabad: The government is expected to present its own plan for military operations in the North Waziristan tribal area along the Afghan border during a strategic dialogue with the US in Washington this week. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Tremors shake Tonga this morning TVNZ Two earthquakes have struck off the coast of Tonga this morning, the US Geological Survey said. The first moderate 5.8 magnitude quake struck at 2.27am, 155km east-northeast of Nuku'Alofa at a relatively shallow depth of 9.5km, the USGS said. ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google News Alert for: World 16 Oct 2010 | ||
| France set for pension protests BBC News Thousands of students are expected to join union workers in demonstrations in Paris and several other cities against plans to raise the retirement age. Strikes have shut most of France's oil refineries and depots and the fuel pipeline to Paris's main ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Do more to combat hunger, say NGOs Times of India On the eve of World Food Day and in the backdrop of the release of the Global Hunger Index report 2010, civil society organisations Friday said India should focus on inclusive growth with special focus on malnourished children to combat hunger. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| In Iran, Future of University Is in Flux New York Times By WILLIAM YONG TEHRAN — The future of Iran's largest academic institution is in question after the supreme leader stepped into a tug of war this week between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his rival Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Somalian Town Rocked by Kidnapping, Clashes Voice of America Photo: AP Somali gunmen have targeted aid workers near the Ethiopian border, kidnapping two men before fierce clashes broke out between two rival sects. The British-based charity Save the Children says a British national and a Somali man working for ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| US concern over Europe's military spending BBC News Hillary Clinton's admission that Washington is "worried" over the scale of the UK coalition government's planned spending cuts on defence comes ahead of next week's defence spending review. She also said Nato was the "most successful" defensive ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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Doc who ‘inspired’ torture program gets $31 million Army contract
By Daniel Tencer
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RAW STORY, October 14, 2010 A psychologist whose research was used in constructing the US's program to torture terrorism suspects has been granted a $31-million no-bid Army contract to provide "resilience training" to US soldiers. Mark Benjamin at Salon.com reports that University of Pennsylvania psychologist Martin Seligman's research "formed the psychological underpinnings of the Bush administration's torture program."
In a 2009 article, the New York Times described Seligman's small but crucial role in the establishment of the "enhanced interrogation techniques" used on terrorism suspects before the techniques were suspended in 2008. <
According to Benjamin, Seligman is "most famous for his work in the 1960s in which he was able to psychologically destroy caged dogs by subjecting them to repeated electric shocks with no hope of escape. The dogs broke down completely and ultimately would not attempt to escape through an open cage door when given the opportunity to avoid more pain. Seligman called the phenomenon 'learned helplessness.'" In an interview with Harper's in 2008, author Jane Mayer said that in 2002, as the US was trying to extract information from Abu Zybaydah, Seligman was brought in by the CIA to speak on his research. But Selgiman asserted that his involvement had to do with helping soldiers resist torture, not carry it out.
Benjamin notes that Seligman in considered by at least some of his colleagues to be a social conservative. He points to an online comment Seligman wrote, urging scientists to use their knowledge to aid in the war on terrorism.
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:: Article nr. 70779 sent on 15-oct-2010 01:34 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=70779
Link: www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/doc-torture-program-army-contract/
Google News Alert for: World
15 Oct 2010
| Liam Fox pledges continued Nato role for UK BBC News The UK will remain "a big contributor" to Nato, despite expected "sacrifices" at the Ministry of Defence, Defence Secretary Liam Fox says. His comments came after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the planned cuts were a "worry" to the US. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Longest tunnel nears breakthrough BBC News Swiss engineers are set to smash through the last pieces of rock to complete the digging of the world's longest transport tunnel. The two ends of the 57km (35 mile) Gotthard rail tunnel will meet after 14 years of construction work. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Queen cancels party in show of austerity Financial Times By James Boxell, Home Affairs Correspondent The Queen will reflect the sombre mood of austerity Britain by cancelling plans to hold a Christmas party for staff this year. Buckingham Palace said on Thursday that the Royal Household was “acutely aware of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| New Somali Prime Minister's "Experience" Praised by Analyst Voice of America Somalia's President, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, has appointed Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed as the country's new prime minister. Thursday's announcement comes just weeks after the previous prime minster, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmake, resigned after a long ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| DR Congo troops in rape and murder claim BBC News A UN envoy says government troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) might have committed rape and murder. The special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Margot Wallstrom, said UN peacekeepers there had information suggesting ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Georgia says Russia WTO membershp requires border deal Reuters GENEVA Oct 14 (Reuters) - Russia must come to an agreement with Georgia over customs controls on their internationally recognised border if it is to pursue its goal of joining the World Trade Organization, Georgia's first deputy foreign minister, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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Google News Alert for: World
14 Oct 2010
| Nobel part of 'ideological war' against China: state media Hindustan Times State-run Chinese media on Thursday accused the West of waging "endless ideological wars" against China, which is furious after jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. "The Nobel Peace Prize is not a lone voice," said an ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| With rescue, miners' private lives come to light The Associated Press SAN JOSE MINE, Chile — One is a great-grandfather four times over, another a 19-year-old dad. A third — the oldest — is 63, and has spent a half-century working the mines. A fourth had a wife and a mistress, too. The men who survived 69 days trapped ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Rescue order men pulled from Chilean mine The Associated Press In order, the men pulled from the San Jose mine in Chile, with some details on each: 1. 12:11 am - Florencio Avalos, 31, the second-in-command of the miners, was chosen to be first because he was in the best condition, and best able to deal with any ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| UN could police parts of north-south Sudan border Reuters Africa By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - UN peacekeepers could create limited buffer zones in hotspots along the border of north and south Sudan before a referendum on independence is held in the south of the country, Security Council diplomats ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Nepal Teen Stands Tall As World's Shortest Man NPR by AP Enlarge AP Nepal's Khagendra Thapa Magar carries a utensil on his head in the compound of his home on the eve of his eighteenth birthday in Pokhara, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| North Korea's Kim Jong Eun already getting some bad press Los Angeles Times Stories arise of sour grapes in the Kim family and abuse of farming officials who protested actions linked to the building of the future leader's estate. By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times Kim Jong Eun, newly anointed as North Korea's next leader, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Nigeria Files Charges in $180 Million Bribery Case Bloomberg By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo - Wed Oct 13 16:35:04 GMT 2010 Nigeria filed new charges against a suspect in connection with the alleged payment of bribes by companies including former Halliburton Co. unit KBR Inc., while prosecutors said other indictments ... See all stories on this topic » |
Last trapped Chilean miner rescued; ordeal ends
Chilean miner Pedro Cortez (C) waves from a stretcher after being
brought to the surface from the San Jose mine, near Copiapo, Chile on
October 13, 2010. Chile. The rescue of 33 miners trapped underground in
Chile could be complete “by the end of the day,” Mining Minister
Laurence Golborne said Wednesday about halfway through the dramatic
operation. – AFP Photo
COPIAPO: The last of the Chilean miners has been raised from deep beneath the earth. All 33 men have now been delivered from the longest underground entrapment in history.
The foreman who held the group together when they were feared lost was the last man out. Luis Alberto Urzua was hoisted to safety in a joyous climax to a flawless rescue that captivated the world.
The intricately planned rescue that ended late Wednesday moved with remarkable speed and flawless execution hauling up miner after miner in a cramped cage through a narrow hole drilled through 2,000 feet of rock.
The 33 men spent more than 69 days trapped in the lower reaches of
the mine after a huge collapse of rock blocked the way out on Aug. 5. –
AP
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Tags: Chile miners miners rescue Luis Alberto Urzua
HIGHLIGHTS
-
Solar towers to overcome power shortage
A team of energy experts should be formed to carry out further study in this regard. -
NRO hearings
Like it or not, the extra-slow game of chess between the court and the executive appears set to continue.
TOP STORIES
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UN could police parts of north-south Sudan border
Troops from both sides have clashed since the 2005, most recently in the contested Abyei oil region. -
Nato to lay out vision for cyber, missile defence
The meeting is expected to discuss 21st century threats such as cyber attacks and global terrorism. -
Three Nato soldiers killed in Afghanistan
The latest deaths bring to 584 the total number of foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan so far this year. -
Holbrooke backs US alert to travelers in Europe
France and Britain are among many European countries that have stepped up terrorism alert vigilance recently. -
Nato facilitating Taliban contacts with Afghan govt
The disclosure reveals a greater Western role than previously acknowledged in attempts to seek a political resolution. -
Ahmadinejad makes a show of strength in Lebanon
Iran’s president vowed before Hezbollah supporters that US and Israeli power in the Middle East will soon be eclipsed.
MORE TOP STORIES
- Shia imam killed and 28 wounded in Iraq attacks
- France says expatriate families should leave Yemen
- Six troops killed, including four in Afghan blast: Nato
- Thai police hold 15 Pakistanis, probe possible terror link
- More Taliban could be removed from UN blacklist: US
- Blast at Iran’s Revolutionary Guards base kills 18
Google News Alert for: World
13 Oct 2010
| '37 people' die in Ukraine crash BBC News At least 42 people have been killed and nine people hurt in a collision between a train and a small bus in eastern Ukraine, officials say. The incident happened near the town of Marhanets, south of the main regional city of Dnipropetrovsk. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Rescue workers reach crash site BBC News Rescue workers have arrived at the site near the Afghan capital Kabul where a civilian cargo plane with at least eight crew on board crashed on Tuesday. The aircraft was carrying supplies to Nato forces and had taken off from the US base at Bagram. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| US-Led Multinational Maritime Drill Begins Off South Korea RTT News (RTTNews) - A US-led multinational naval manuver, aimed at thwarting the transfer of weapons of mass destruction at sea, commenced Wednesday in South Korea, reported Seoul's official Yonhap news agency, quoting Defence Ministry officials. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 18 Guard members killed in Iran base blast Tuesday The Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's state news agency says 18 members of the powerful Revolutionary Guard force were killed in Tuesday's explosion at a military base in the country's northwest. IRNA's report on Wednesday says 14 other troops were wounded in the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Tanker collides with container ship in North Sea Financial Times By Robert Wright, Transport Correspondent A tanker owned by a high-profile Greek shipowner, suffered serious damage on Tuesday when it collided with a German-owned container ship off the coast of the Netherlands. The Mindoro, owned by Cardiff Marine, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Tsvangirai asks international help in Zimbabwe 'constitutional crisis' CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff Harare, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has made an international appeal to solve Zimbabwe's "constitutional crisis" following President Robert Mugabe's unilateral appointment of some senior government officials ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| We must restart our stalled nuclear talks Financial Times By Madeleine Albright and Igor Ivanov In September the US Senate foreign relations committee voted to support New Start, an important treaty limiting nuclear arms in America and Russia. It was a hopeful step, but sadly politics intervened. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Japan Signals South Korea as G-20 Head Should Stop Preventing Won Advance Bloomberg By Takashi Hirokawa and Toru Fujioka - Wed Oct 13 06:13:55 GMT 2010 Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged South Korea to stop preventing its exchange rate from appreciating and said competition with Japan's rival in the technology and automobile industries is ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Prosceutor requests part acquittal for Wilders Reuters AMSTERDAM Oct 12 (Reuters) - The Dutch prosecutor requested a Dutch court to acquit lawmaker Geert Wilders on a charge that he insulted Muslims as a group, news agency ANP reported on Tuesday. The prosecutor was wrapping up its case against Wilders on ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google News Alert for: World
12 Oct 2010
| Hungary braces for second toxic wave ABC Online ELEANOR HALL: Police in Hungary have arrested the chief executive of the company at the centre of a toxic sludge disaster that killed eight people. Hungary's Prime Minister told Parliament that those responsible would be called to account and he has ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Party Opposed to New Constitution Leads in Kyrgyzstan Voting New York Times By AP BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) — Kyrgyzstan's attempt to bring parliamentary democracy to Central Asia got off to a surprising start on Monday, when a nationalist party opposed to the country's new Constitution appeared to have taken a lead in the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Official inquest opens into the London subway bombings that killed 52 Los Angeles Times The initial focus is on delays and misunderstandings that held up emergency services after the coordinated suicide attacks on subway trains and a bus in 2005. By Janet Stobart, Los Angeles Times More than five years after a flurry of rush-hour bombings ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Two Arrested While Interviewing Condemned Iranian's Son New York Times By WILLIAM YONG TEHRAN — Iran's chief prosecutor said Monday that the police had arrested two foreigners masquerading as journalists who were caught in midinterview with the son of a woman convicted of adultery and murder and sentenced to death by ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Three dead, 14 wounded in Yemen blasts Sydney Morning Herald Three people were killed and 14, including two policemen, were wounded in twin bomb blasts at a sports centre in Yemen's port city of Aden, medical officials said on Tuesday, updating an earlier toll. In total, 17 people wounded in Monday night's ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Rwanda Welcomes the Arrest of Former Rebel Leader Voice of America Photo: AP Rwanda's Justice Minister said his government is pleased with the arrest Monday of a former rebel leader accused of masterminding genocide and violating human rights against Rwandans and Congolese villagers in 1994. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Greece: Police Officer Convicted in Killing That Led to Riots New York Times By AP A police officer was convicted of murder on Monday and sentenced to life in prison for the shooting of a teenager in central Athens that sparked nationwide riots in December 2008. The officer, Epaminondas Korkoneas, was found guilty of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Paula expected to turn into a hurricane CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- Tropical Storm Paula is expected to strengthen into a hurricane Tuesday, bringing flooding to parts of coastal Mexico and Honduras. As of 11 pm ET Monday, Paula was about 90 miles (140 kilometers) east-northeast of Isla ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| This dispute over a mosque is an argument about India The Guardian Why should a high-court judgment about the ownership of the site of a provincial Indian mosque razed 18 years ago resonate across India? Because more hinges upon the just resolution of the Babri Masjid dispute than the fate of a mosque. ... See all stories on this topic » |
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| Celebrating Nobel, woman arrested for splashing champagne CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff Hong Kong, China (CNN) -- A woman celebrating the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a Chinese dissident has been charged with assault for accidentally splashing champagne on a security guard outside the Chinese central ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Kyrgyzstan counts votes after landmark election Reuters Members of the local electoral commission count ballots at the end of the voting day of a parliamentary election in the city of Osh October 10, 2010. By Robin Paxton BISHKEK (Reuters) - Five parties passed the threshold on Monday to win seats in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 12 killed by bombs in Afghanistan Boston Globe AP / October 11, 2010 KABUL, Afghanistan — Roadside bombs killed 11 people including two NATO troops in Afghanistan yesterday, and a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle near a military convoy, killing a child and wounding two others. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Red Cap victims BBC News All six members of the Royal Military Police who were killed by a mob in Majar al-Kabir, southern Iraq, on 24 June, 2003, were based at Goojerat Barracks in Colchester, Essex. The soldiers were from 156 Provost Company, part of the 16th Air Assault ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Far Right Advances in Vienna Election Wall Street Journal By FLEMMING EMIL HANSEN VIENNA—Austria's far-right Freedom Party won more than a quarter of the votes in Vienna city elections on Sunday, in the latest sign that anti-immigrant parties are gaining ground across Europe. The Freedom Party, which achieved ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Search for Bangladesh bus after crash Sydney Morning Herald Bangladeshi rescue workers battled strong currents and rising public anger on Monday as they struggled to locate a bus 24 hours after it plunged into a river with about 50 people on board. The 52-seater bus veered out of control on Sunday morning and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Clinton off to Balkans to push EU integration San Jose Mercury News By MATTHEW LEE AP Writer WASHINGTON—Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is pressing political reforms to the restive Balkans with the hope that such changes will lead to the region's full integration into the European Union and NATO. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| India boat capsizes on Ganges, at least 36 dead BBC News Rescuers have retrieved 36 bodies from the Ganges river after an overloaded boat capsized in India's Bihar state. The country boat, carrying about 70 passengers, got caught in a whirlpool and sank in Buxar district late on Sunday, reports say. ... See all stories on this topic » |
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10 Oct 2010
| No new cracks found on red sludge pool in Hungary The Associated Press DEVECSER, Hungary — Hungarian engineers didn't detect any new cracks overnight in a red sludge reservoir that was at risk of collapse, officials said Sunday, expressing hope there wouldn't be a repeat of the toxic deluge that killed at least seven ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| North Koreans celebrate newly anointed Kim Jong Eun Los Angeles Times A military parade marks the 65th anniversary of the ruling Worker's Party and honors the successor to Kim Jong Il. By David Pierson Los Angeles Times Staff Writer North Korean leader Kim Jong Il presided over a military parade Sunday alongside his ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Kyrgyzstan votes in landmark election Reuters An electoral official helps woman to cast her ballot at a polling station during parliamentary elections in the city of Osh October 10, 2010. Kyrgyzstan will vote on Sunday to create the first parliamentary democracy in Central Asia, in an election its ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Bomb kills British aid worker, Afghan captors as NATO attempts rescue Washington Post By Joshua Partlow KABUL - A British aid worker who was kidnapped in northeastern Afghanistan two weeks ago was killed during an attempted rescue operation by NATO troops, US and British officials said Saturday. Linda Norgrove, 36, who worked on ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Ex 'Playboy' editor sent to prison over public indecency Jakarta Post The former editor of the now-defunct local version of Playboy magazine, Erwin Arnada, turned himself in on Saturday. He faces a two-year prison term, which was appealed but upheld by the Supreme Court. “As a law-abiding citizen, I am going to turn ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Pakistan ends blockade, reopens border to NATO supply trucks Washington Post By Karin Brulliard ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has reopened an important border pass to NATO convoys, 10 days after enacting a blockade that strained relations with the United States and was followed by violent attacks on supply trucks stranded inside ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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Arabs give US ‘one month to save peace talks’
The committee on the Middle East peace process, which groups 13 Arab
foreign ministers, also urged Washington to pursue efforts in the
interim to stop Israeli settlement activity. –Photo by AFP
SIRTE: The United States pledged to keep working to move the
peace process forward late Friday after Arab League ministers gave
Washington a month to save direct Middle East peace talks.
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Tags: Middle East peace talks settlement construction West Bank West Bank settlements Israeli-Palestinian talks
The ministers, meeting in Sirte, Libya, made it clear in a statement issued Friday that the Israeli-Palestinian talks would collapse if Israel did not halt its settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
The Arab League Follow-up Committee said in a statement it would meet “in a month to review the alternatives proposed by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to determine the necessary steps to be taken on this.”
The committee on the Middle East peace process, which groups 13 Arab foreign ministers, also urged Washington to pursue efforts in the interim to stop Israeli settlement activity.
It added that it “supports the position of the Palestinian president calling for a total cessation of (Israeli) settlement to allow the resumption of direct negotiations.”Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said the statement “offers huge support for the position of president Abbas.
“The committee will convene again in a month to study the alternatives, which gives the US administration a chance between now and then to try to find a solution to the settlements issue,” Abu Rudeina said.
Washington appreciated the Arab League’s statement of support for its efforts, US State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said in a written statement.
“We will continue to work with the parties, and all our international partners, to advance negotiations toward a two-state solution and encourage the parties to take constructive actions toward that end,” Crowley added.
An official who attended the Arab League ministers meeting told AFP on condition of anonymity that among the alternatives proposed by Abbas if the talks fail was asking the UN Security Council and Washington to recognise a Palestinian state on 1967 pre-war borders.
Another was a recourse to the UN General Assembly to demand that the occupied territories be placed under international mandate.
Abbas came to Sirte to seek Arab backing to withdraw from the peace negotiations after Israel adamantly refused to extend a freeze on settlement building that expired on September 26.
Last-ditch efforts to reach a compromise appeared to have failed, with Israel silent on the moratorium and the Palestinians insisting they would not talk while settlement activity continued on land they want as a future state.
The ministers’ statement came after Arab League chief Amr Mussa gave a dire assessment of the outlook for the peace talks, which resumed on September 2 after a 20-month hiatus.
“The situation is negative and is not favourable to direct negotiations,” Mussa said, adding there were many alternative measures the Arabs could take including “going to the (UN) Security Council.”
With the peace talks on tenterhooks, fresh violence erupted in the occupied West Bank when Israeli forces killed two Hamas militants said to be behind an August attack that killed four settlers, one of them pregnant.
And in east Jerusalem, two stone-throwing Palestinian boys were run over and injured by a car driven by a hardline Jewish settler leader.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reassured Abbas that Washington would try to coax Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into renewing settlement curbs “until the very last minute,” Abu Rudeina told AFP earlier.
In response, the Palestinian leader said he was “ready to resume negotiations on condition there is a clear freeze of the settlement activities.”
Netanyahu has made no move to renew the freeze, partly because he does not have the support for that within his mostly right-wing coalition.
On Friday, his spokesman could only say Israel was “interested in continuing the direct negotiations” aimed at securing a peace agreement within one year, and “hopes that the other side will not leave the table.”
Abbas had hinted to Palestinian officials in Amman that the crisis could even see him tendering his resignation in Sirte, an official with the Palestinian National Council said.
For the Palestinians, Jewish settlements are a major threat to the establishment of a viable future state in the West Bank, and they see the freezing of settlements as a crucial test of Israel’s intentions.
But Netanyahu on Thursday deflected blame towards the Palestinians.
“The question needs to be directed to the Palestinians: why are you abandoning the talks?” he told reporters.
“Don’t turn your backs on peace; stay in the talks. This is what needs to be asked today, and not of the Israeli government.” —AFP
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Tags: Middle East peace talks settlement construction West Bank West Bank settlements Israeli-Palestinian talks
HIGHLIGHTS
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Disparity in loadshedding schedule
We, the residents of Johair Street Karachi are perhaps the children of a lesser God. -
Not quite the Tea House
Can Punjab Café serve the purpose of a neutral venue for the exchange of ideas?
Google News Alert for: World
09 Oct 2010
| Arab League backs halt to peace talks Washington Post By Joel Greenber g JERUSALEM - Arab League foreign ministers on Friday backed the Palestinians' refusal to resume peace talks with Israel unless it halts new building in settlements. But they delayed for a month any further action, allowing time for ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Taiwanese fishing vessel reported pirated is free The Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya — The EU Naval Force says that a Taiwanese fishing vessel that was reported to have been hijacked by pirates was never attacked. The force said in statement Friday that the false report, which had been filed earlier in the day, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| A View From Israel: Madman or prophet? Jerusalem Post By ISRAEL KASNETT While many regard controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders as alarmist, others say he has deep perception of perils of radical Islam; West should heed his warnings. Some call him “flamboyant and extremist,” while others regard him ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Magnitude 5.5 quake hits near Costa Rican capital Reuters WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (Reuter)- A moderate 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck 20 miles (32 kms) from San Jose, Costa Rica on Friday and was felt as a strong tremor in the capital of the Central American nation, the US Geological Survey and witnesses said. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Rousseff struggles to win over Brazil's devout Reuters By Brian Winter SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The YouTube video that helped push Brazil's presidential election to a second round begins with Paschoal Piragine solemnly telling his flock: "In 30 years as a pastor, I've never done this before. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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A Long History of America's Dark Side
By Peter Dale Scott and Robert Parry
October 8, 2010 The American people are largely oblivious to this hidden tradition because most of the literature advocating state-sponsored terror is carefully confined to national security circles and rarely spills out into the public debate, which is instead dominated by feel-good messages about well-intentioned U.S. interventions abroad. Over the decades, congressional and journalistic investigations have exposed some of these abuses. But when that does happen, the cases are usually deemed anomalies or excesses by out-of-control soldiers. But the historical record shows that terror tactics have long been a dark side of U.S. military doctrine. The theories survive today in textbooks on counterinsurgency warfare, "low-intensity" conflict and "counter-terrorism." Some historians trace the formal acceptance of those brutal tenets to the 1860s when the U.S. Army was facing challenge from a rebellious South and resistance from Native Americans in the West. Out of those crises emerged the modern military concept of "total war" -- which considers attacks on civilians and their economic infrastructure an integral part of a victorious strategy. In 1864, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman cut a swath of destruction through civilian territory in Georgia and the Carolinas. His plan was to destroy the South's will to fight and its ability to sustain a large army in the field. The devastation left plantations in flames and brought widespread Confederate complaints of rape and murder of civilians. Meanwhile, in Colorado, Col. John M. Chivington and the Third Colorado Cavalry were employing their own terror tactics to pacify Cheyennes. A scout named John Smith later described the attack at Sand Creek, Colorado, on unsuspecting Indians at a peaceful encampment: "They were scalped; their brains knocked out; the men used their knives, ripped open women, clubbed little children, knocked them in the head with their guns, beat their brains out, mutilated their bodies in every sense of the word." [U.S. Cong., Senate, 39 Cong., 2nd Sess., "The Chivington Massacre," Reports of the Committees.] Though Smith's objectivity was challenged at the time, today even defenders of the Sand Creek raid concede that most women and children there were killed and mutilated. [See Lt. Col. William R. Dunn, I Stand by Sand Creek.] Yet, in the 1860s, many whites in Colorado saw the slaughter as the only realistic way to bring peace, just as Sherman viewed his "march to the sea" as necessary to force the South's surrender. The brutal tactics in the West also helped clear the way for the transcontinental railroad, built fortunes for favored businessmen and consolidated Republican political power for more than six decades, until the Great Depression of the 1930s. [See Consortiumnews.com’s "Indian Genocide and Republican Power."] Four years after the Civil War, Sherman became commanding general of the Army and incorporated the Indian pacification strategies -- as well as his own tactics -- into U.S. military doctrine. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, who had led Indian wars in the Missouri territory, succeeded Sherman in 1883 and further entrenched those strategies as policy. [See Ward Churchill, A Little Matter of Genocide.] By the end of the 19th Century, the Native American warriors had been vanquished, but the Army's winning strategies lived on. Imperial America When the United States claimed the Philippines as a prize in the Spanish-American War, Filipino insurgents resisted. In 1900, the U.S. commander, Gen. J. Franklin Bell, consciously modeled his brutal counterinsurgency campaign after the Indian wars and Sherman's "march to the sea." Bell believed that by punishing the wealthier Filipinos through destruction of their homes -- much as Sherman had done in the South -- they would be coerced into helping convince their countrymen to submit. Learning from the Indian wars, he also isolated the guerrillas by forcing Filipinos into tightly controlled zones where schools were built and other social amenities were provided. "The entire population outside of the major cities in Batangas was herded into concentration camps," wrote historian Stuart Creighton Miller. "Bell's main target was the wealthier and better-educated classes. ... Adding insult to injury, Bell made these people carry the petrol used to burn their own country homes." [See Miller's "Benevolent Assimilation."] For those outside the protected areas, there was terror. A supportive news correspondent described one scene in which American soldiers killed "men, women, children ... from lads of 10 and up, an idea prevailing that the Filipino, as such, was little better than a dog. ... "Our soldiers have pumped salt water into men to 'make them talk,' have taken prisoner people who held up their hands and peacefully surrendered, and an hour later, without an atom of evidence to show they were even insurrectos, stood them on a bridge and shot them down one by one, to drop into the water below and float down as an example to those who found their bullet-riddled corpses."
Defending the tactics, the correspondent noted that "it is not
civilized warfare, but we are not dealing with a civilized people. The
only thing they know and fear is force, violence, and brutality." [Philadelphia Ledger, Nov. 19, 1900] In a 1973 book, one pro-Bell military historian, John Morgan Gates, termed reports of U.S. atrocities "exaggerated" and hailed Bell's "excellent understanding of the role of benevolence in pacification." Gates recalled that Bell's campaign in Batanga was regarded by military strategists as "pacification in its most perfected form." [See Gates's Schoolbooks and Krags: The United States Army in the Philippines, 1898-1902.] Spreading the Word At the turn of the century, the methodology of pacification was a hot topic among the European colonial powers, too. From Namibia to Indochina, Europeans struggled to subdue local populations. Often outright slaughter proved effective, as the Germans demonstrated with massacres of the Herrero tribe in Namibia from 1904-1907. But military strategists often compared notes about more subtle techniques of targeted terror mixed with demonstrations of benevolence. Counterinsurgency strategies were back in vogue after World War II as many subjugated people demanded independence from colonial rule and Washington worried about the expansion of communism. In the 1950s, the Huk rebellion against U.S. dominance made the Philippines again the laboratory, with Bell's earlier lessons clearly remembered. "The campaign against the Huk movement in the Philippines ... greatly resembled the American campaign of almost 50 years earlier," historian Gates observed. "The American approach to the problem of pacification had been a studied one." But the war against the Huks had some new wrinkles, particularly the modern concept of psychological warfare or psy-war. Under the pioneering strategies of the CIA's Maj. Gen. Edward G. Lansdale, psy-war was a new spin to the old game of breaking the will of a target population. The idea was to analyze the psychological weaknesses of a people and develop "themes" that could induce actions favorable to those carrying out the operation. While psy-war included propaganda and disinformation, it also relied on terror tactics of a demonstrative nature. An Army psy-war pamphlet, drawing on Lansdale's experience in the Philippines, advocated "exemplary criminal violence -- the murder and mutilation of captives and the display of their bodies," according to Michael McClintock's Instruments of Statecraft. In his memoirs, Lansdale boasted of one legendary psy-war trick used against the Huks who were considered superstitious and fearful of a vampire-like creature called an asuang. "The psy-war squad set up an ambush along a trail used by the Huks," Lansdale wrote. "When a Huk patrol came along the trail, the ambushers silently snatched the last man on the patrol, their move unseen in the dark night. They punctured his neck with two holes, vampire-fashion, held the body up by the heels, drained it of blood, and put the corpse back on the trail. "When the Huks returned to look for the missing man and found their bloodless comrade, every member of the patrol believed the asuang had got him." [See Lansdale's In the Midst of Wars.] The Huk rebellion also saw the refinement of free-fire zones, a technique used effectively by Bell's forces a half-century earlier. In the 1950s, special squadrons were assigned to do the dirty work. "The special tactic of these squadrons was to cordon off areas; anyone they caught inside the cordon was considered an enemy," explained one pro-U.S. Filipino colonel. "Almost daily you could find bodies floating in the river, many of them victims of [Major Napoleon] Valeriano's Nenita Unit. [See Benedict J. Kerkvliet, The Huk Rebellion: A Study of Peasant Revolt in the Philippines.] On to Vietnam The successful suppression of the Huks led the war's architects to share their lessons elsewhere in Asia and beyond. Valeriano went on to co-author an important American textbook on counterinsurgency and to serve as part of the American pacification effort in Vietnam with Lansdale. Following the Philippine model, Vietnamese were crowded into "strategic hamlets"; "free-fire zones" were declared with homes and crops destroyed; and the Phoenix program eliminated thousands of suspected Viet Cong cadre. The ruthless strategies were absorbed and accepted even by widely respected military figures, such as Gen. Colin Powell who served two tours in Vietnam and endorsed the routine practice of murdering Vietnamese males as a necessary part of the counterinsurgency effort. "I recall a phrase we used in the field, MAM, for military-age male," Powell wrote in his much-lauded memoir, My American Journey. "If a helo [a U.S. helicopter] spotted a peasant in black pajamas who looked remotely suspicious, a possible MAM, the pilot would circle and fire in front of him. If he moved, his movement was judged evidence of hostile intent, and the next burst was not in front, but at him. "Brutal? Maybe so. But an able battalion commander with whom I had served at Gelnhausen [West Germany], Lt. Col. Walter Pritchard, was killed by enemy sniper fire while observing MAMs from a helicopter. And Pritchard was only one of many. The kill-or-be-killed nature of combat tends to dull fine perceptions of right and wrong." In 1965, the U.S. intelligence community formalized its hard-learned counterinsurgency lessons by commissioning a top-secret program called Project X. Based at the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School at Fort Holabird, Maryland, the project drew from field experience and developed teaching plans to "provide intelligence training to friendly foreign countries," according to a Pentagon history prepared in 1991 and released in 1997. Called "a guide for the conduct of clandestine operations," Project X "was first used by the U.S. Intelligence School on Okinawa to train Vietnamese and, presumably, other foreign nationals," the history stated. Linda Matthews of the Pentagon's Counterintelligence Division recalled that in 1967-68, some of the Project X training material was prepared by officers connected to the Phoenix program. "She suggested the possibility that some offending material from the Phoenix program may have found its way into the Project X materials at that time," the Pentagon report said. In the 1970s, the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School moved to Fort Huachuca in Arizona and began exporting Project X material to U.S. military assistance groups working with "friendly foreign countries." By the mid-1970s, the Project X material was going to armies all over the world. In its 1992 review, the Pentagon acknowledged that Project X was the source for some of the "objectionable" lessons at the School of the Americas where Latin American officers were trained in blackmail, kidnapping, murder and spying on non-violent political opponents. But disclosure of the full story was blocked near the end of the first Bush administration when senior Pentagon officials working for then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney ordered the destruction of most Project X records. [See Robert Parry's Lost History.] Living Dangerously By the mid-1960s, some of the U.S. counterinsurgency lessons had reached Indonesia, too. The U.S. military training was surreptitious because Washington viewed the country's neutralist leader Sukarno as politically suspect. The training was permitted only to give the United States influence within the Indonesian military which was considered more reliable. The covert U.S. aid and training was mostly innocuous-sounding "civic action," which is generally thought to mean building roads, staffing health clinics and performing other "hearts-and-minds" activities with civilians. But "civic action" also provided cover in Indonesia, as in the Philippines and Vietnam, for psy-war. The secret U.S.-Indonesian military connections paid off for Washington when a political crisis erupted, threatening Sukarno's government. To counter Indonesia's powerful Communist Party, known as the PKI, the army's Red Berets organized the slaughter of tens of thousands of men, women and children. So many bodies were dumped into the rivers of East Java that they ran red with blood. In a classic psy-war tactic, the bloated carcasses also served as a political warning to villages down river. "To make sure they didn't sink, the carcasses were deliberately tied to, or impaled on, bamboo stakes," wrote eyewitness Pipit Rochijat. "And the departure of corpses from the Kediri region down the Brantas achieved its golden age when bodies were stacked on rafts over which the PKI banner proudly flew." [See Rochijat's "Am I PKI or Non-PKI?" Indonesia, Oct. 1985.] Some historians have attributed the grotesque violence to a crazed army which engaged in "unplanned brutality" or "mass hysteria" leading ultimately to the slaughter of some half million Indonesians, many of Chinese descent. But the recurring tactic of putting bodies on gruesome display fits as well with the military doctrines of psy-war, a word that one of the leading military killers used in un-translated form in one order demanding elimination of the PKI. Sarwo Edhie, chief of the political para-commando battalion known as the Red Berets, warned that the communist opposition "should be given no opportunity to concentrate/consolidate. It should be pushed back systematically by all means, including psy-war." [See The Revolt of the G30S/PKI and Its Suppression, translated by Robert Cribb in The Indonesian Killings.] Sarwo Edhie had been identified as a CIA contact when he served at the Indonesian Embassy in Australia. [See Pacific, May-June 1968.] US Media Sympathy Elite U.S. reaction to the horrific slaughter was muted and has remained ambivalent ever since. The Johnson administration denied any responsibility for the massacres, but New York Times columnist James Reston spoke for many opinion leaders when he approvingly termed the bloody developments in Indonesia "a gleam of light in Asia." The American denials of involvement held until 1990 when U.S. diplomats admitted to a reporter that they had aided the Indonesian army by supplying lists of suspected communists. "It really was a big help to the army," embassy officer Robert Martens told Kathy Kadane of States News Service. "I probably have a lot of blood on my hands, but that's not all bad. There's a time when you have to strike hard at a decisive moment." Martens had headed the U.S. team that compiled the death lists. Kadane's story provoked a telling response from Washington Post senior editorial writer Stephen S. Rosenfeld. He accepted the fact that American officials had assisted "this fearsome slaughter," but then justified the killings. Rosenfeld argued that the massacre "was and still is widely regarded as the grim but earned fate of a conspiratorial revolutionary party that represented the same communist juggernaut that was on the march in Vietnam." In a column entitled, "Indonesia 1965: The Year of Living Cynically?" Rosenfeld reasoned that "either the army would get the communists or the communists would get the army, it was thought: Indonesia was a domino, and the PKI's demise kept it [Indonesia] standing in the free world. ... "Though the means were grievously tainted, we -- the fastidious among us as well as the hard-headed and cynical -- can be said to have enjoyed the fruits in the geopolitical stability of that important part of Asia, in the revolution that never happened." [Washington Post, July 13, 1990] The fruit tasted far more bitter to the peoples of the Indonesian archipelago, however. In 1975, the army of Indonesia’s new dictator, Gen. Suharto, invaded the former Portuguese colony of East Timor. When the East Timorese resisted, the Indonesian army returned to its gruesome bag of tricks, engaging in virtual genocide against the population. A Catholic missionary provided an eyewitness account of one search-and-destroy mission in East Timor in 1981. "We saw with our own eyes the massacre of the people who were surrendering: all dead, even women and children, even the littlest ones. ... Not even pregnant women were spared: they were cut open. .... They did what they had done to small children the previous year, grabbing them by the legs and smashing their heads against rocks. ... "The comments of Indonesian officers reveal the moral character of this army: 'We did the same thing [in 1965] in Java, in Borneo, in the Celebes, in Irian Jaya, and it worked." [See A. Barbedo de Magalhaes, East Timor: Land of Hope.] The references to the success of the 1965 slaughter were not unusual. In Timor: A People Betrayed, author James Dunn noted that "on the Indonesian side, there have been many reports that many soldiers viewed their operation as a further phase in the ongoing campaign to suppress communism that had followed the events of September 1965." Classic psy-war and pacification strategies were followed to the hilt in East Timor. The Indonesians put on display corpses and the heads of their victims. Timorese also were herded into government-controlled camps before permanent relocation in "resettlement villages" far from their original homes. "The problem is that people are forced to live in the settlements and are not allowed to travel outside," said Msgr. Costa Lopes, apostolic administrator of Dili. "This is the main reason why people cannot grow enough food." [See John G. Taylor, Indonesia's Forgotten War: The Hidden History of East Timor.] Public Revulsion Through television in the 1960-70s, the Vietnam War finally brought the horrors of counterinsurgency home to millions of Americans. They watched as U.S. troops torched villages and forced distraught old women to leave ancestral homes. Camera crews caught on film brutal interrogation of Viet Cong suspects, the execution of one young VC officer, and the bombing of children with napalm. In effect, the Vietnam War was the first time Americans got to witness the pacification strategies that had evolved secretly as national security policy since the 19th Century. As a result, millions of Americans protested the war's conduct and Congress belatedly compelled an end to U.S. participation in 1974. But the psy-war doctrinal debates were not resolved by the Vietnam War. Counterinsurgency advocates regrouped in the 1980s behind President Ronald Reagan, who mounted a spirited defense of the Vietnamese intervention and reaffirmed U.S. resolve to employ similar tactics against leftist forces especially in Central America. [See Consortiumnews.com’s "Guatemala: A Test Tube for Repression."] Reagan also added an important new component to the mix. Recognizing how graphic images and honest reporting from the war zone had undercut public support for the counterinsurgency in Vietnam, Reagan authorized an aggressive domestic "public diplomacy" operation which practiced what was called "perception management" -- in effect, intimidating journalists to ensure that only sanitized information would reach the American people. Reporters who disclosed atrocities by U.S.-trained forces, such as the El Mozote massacre by El Salvador's Atlacatl battalion in 1981, came under harsh criticism and saw their careers damaged. Some Reagan operatives were not shy about their defense of political terror as a necessity of the Cold War. Neil Livingstone, a counter-terrorism consultant to the National Security Council, called death squads "an extremely effective tool, however odious, in combatting terrorism and revolutionary challenges." [See McClintock's Instruments of Statecraft.] When Democrats in Congress objected to excesses of Reagan's interventions in Central America, the administration responded with more public relations and political pressure, questioning the patriotism of the critics. For instance, Reagan’s United Nations Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick accused anyone who took note of U.S.-backed war crimes of "blaming America first." Many Democrats in Congress and journalists in the Washington press corps buckled under the attacks, giving the Reagan administration much freer rein to carry out brutal "death squad" strategies in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua. What is clear from these experiences in Indonesia, Vietnam, Central America and elsewhere is that the United States, for generations, has sustained two parallel but opposed states of mind about military atrocities and human rights: one of U.S. benevolence, generally held by the public, and the other of ends-justify-the-means brutality embraced by counterinsurgency specialists. Normally the specialists carry out their actions in remote locations with little notice in the national press. But sometimes the two competing visions – of a just America and a ruthless one – clash in the open, as they did in Vietnam. Or the dark side of U.S. security policy is thrown into the light by unauthorized leaks, such as the photos of abused detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq or by revelations about waterboarding and other torture authorized by George W. Bush’s White House as part of the "war on terror." Only then does the public get a glimpse of the grim reality, the bloody and brutal tactics that have been deemed "necessary" for more than two centuries in the defense of the purported "national interests." Peter Dale Scott is an author and poet whose books have focused on "deep politics," the intersection of economics, criminality and national security. (For more, go to http://www.peterdalescott.net/) Robert Parry is a veteran Washington investigative journalist. (For his books, go to http://www.neckdeepbook.com) |
:: Article nr. 70550 sent on 08-oct-2010 20:11 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=70550
Link: www.consortiumnews.com/2010/100710a.html
Google News Alert for: World
08 Oct 2010
| Danube toxic sludge operation reaches 'crucial day' BBC News Experts tackling the toxic red sludge from a spill at an industrial plant in Hungary say Friday will be crucial in preventing the spread of pollution. The alkali sludge reached the Danube on Thursday and emergency workers are pouring huge quantities of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Security raised after Pakistan Sufi shrine attack The Associated Press KARACHI, Pakistan — Police stepped up patrols in Karachi on Friday to try and prevent renewed violence after angry mobs rampaged through the city in the aftermath of a suicide attack on a Sufi shrine that left eight dead and 65 injured. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| DIARY - France to Oct 30 Reuters Reuters' regional company diaries, covering earnings, shareholder meetings, news conferences and analyst meetings can be found by clicking on [WEU/EQUITY] for Western Europe. This diary is updated daily: new listings or amendments are marked with an ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Italy 'Important' for Investment of China's Foreign Reserves BusinessWeek By Bloomberg News Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Italy is an “important' market for the investment of China's foreign exchange reserves, China said in a trade and investment agreement signed with Italy. China will “pay attention to and evaluate opportunities in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Is Hizbullah trying to take over Lebanon with Iran's help? Jerusalem Post By KHALED ABU TOAMEH Analysis: The Lebanese guerrilla group is about to have its true face unmasked by the UN Hariri investigation - of course it's panicking. Hizbullah and Iran now have a common interest in escalating tensions in the Middle East: ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| US cautions Egypt against doing business with Iran Ynetnews Washington has expressed its regret over Egypt's recent decision to renew direct flights between Cairo and Tehran, after more than 30 years. The two nations have reportedly agreed to see 28 weekly flights between them – 14 in each direction. ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google News Alert for: World 07 Oct 2010 Attacks raise security fears in Yemen Boston Globe AP / October 7, 2010 SAN'A, Yemen — Assailants fired a rocket at a convoy carrying Britain's number-two diplomat in Yemen yesterday and a security guard killed a Frenchman working for an Austrian oil company in a pair of attacks that heightened fears ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Ruling in '98 East Africa embassy bombings is setback for US Washington Post By Peter Finn A federal judge in New York has barred a key prosecution witness from testifying in the trial of a suspect in the 1998 US Embassy bombings in East Africa after ruling that the government learned of the man through coercive CIA ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Rifts cloud UN talks on climate National Post Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, addresses the conference in Tianjin, China, this week. Representatives of 177 governments are trying to agree on the shape of the successor to the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Charlie the chimp has smoked his last Boston Herald By AP JOHANNESBURG - Charlie the chimpanzee has smoked his last butt ... after living to a ripe old chimp age, despite the coffin nails. Qondile Khedama, a spokesman for the central South African city of Bloemfontein where Charlie was a fixture at the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Prominent Ethiopian Opposition Leader Released From Prison Voice of America Ethiopian opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa (r) hours after she was released from jail by Ethiopian authorities, 06 Oct. 2010 Ethiopian opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa has been released from prison, 21 months after authorities revoked an earlier ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 28 dead in Vietnam floods, state media report CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff Villagers leave their flooded homes on a small boat in the central province of Ha Tinh, Vietnam, on Wednesday. (CNN) -- Torrential rain and flash floods has left at least 28 people dead in central Vietnam, state media reported ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| UN 'mulls expanded Somalia force' Aljazeera.net Ugandan president says the Security Council considering his request to raise more funds for peacekeeping mission. Uganda's president says the UN Security Council is considering his request to appeal for more funds to expand the peacekeeping mission in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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Google News Alert for: World
06 Oct 2010
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| Nigerian Government Searches for Culprits Behind Bombings New York Times By ADAM NOSSITER DAKAR, Senegal — Aftershocks from last week's deadly blasts in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, continued to reverberate on Tuesday as the shaken government pressed its search for the culprits. Security police officers questioned the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Trump 'Seriously Considering' 2012 Presidential Bid FOXNews He's not exactly throwing his hat in the ring yet, but real estate mogul Donald Trump told Fox News on Tuesday that he's giving his first serious consideration to running for president in 2012. Trump, who said that America has lost global respect, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Kim and Son Appear at North Korean Military Exercise New York Times By MARK McDONALD SEOUL, South Korea — The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, watched a live-fire military exercise with his youngest son and heir apparent in what was believed to be the first public appearance of Kim Jong-un since he was given the rank ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Court Hears Evidence in Saudi Prince's Murder Trial New York Times By JOHN F. BURNS A jury in London Tuesday heard how a 34-year-old Saudi prince assaulted a man he described as his servant several times in a hotel before the victim, Bandar Abdulaziz, 32, was found dead in February from a cerebral hemorrhage, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Israeli Army Investigates Video of Soldier and Prisoner New York Times By ETHAN BRONNER JERUSALEM — The Israeli Army opened a criminal investigation on Tuesday into an Internet video showing one of its male soldiers dancing suggestively next to a blindfolded, handcuffed Palestinian woman being held prisoner. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Cameron expected to attack dissidents in speech BBC News David Cameron is expected to strongly criticise the activities of dissident republicans in a speech to the Conservative Party conference later. His first speech to the party faithful as prime minister is thought to include several Northern Ireland ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google News Alert for: World
05 Oct 2010
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| German militants reported killed in Pakistan Los Angeles Times A CIA drone fires missiles into a compound in North Waziristan, a longtime extremist stronghold. The strike comes amid fears of a potential terrorist attack in Europe. By Alex Rodriguez and Zulfiqar Ali, Los Angeles Times Missiles fired from a ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| China's and Japan's leaders meet, signal a diplomatic thaw CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- China's and Japan's top leaders met in Belgium, indicating a thaw in relations since a diplomatic battle broke out last month over Japan's arrest of a Chinese fishing captain off the disputed Diaoyu Islands. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Thai Court Allows More Charges Against Russian Arms Dealer Voice of America Photo: AP With tight security and the flak jacket on, Viktor Bout, center, a suspected Russian arms dealer, leaves the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand, 04 Oct. 2010 A Thai court has ruled more charges against Russian arms dealer, Victor Bout, ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Car bomb explodes in Northern Ireland CNN By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- A car bomb exploded early Tuesday outside a bank in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, causing "substantial damage" to a nearby shopping center and bank, police said. No one was hurt in the incident, which happened just after ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Flash floods in eastern Indonesia kill at least 29 The Associated Press TELUK WONDAMA, Indonesia — Heavy rain unleashed flash floods and mudslides, killing 29 people in a remote corner of Indonesia that rescuers were still struggling to reach days after the storms began, officials and witnesses said Tuesday. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Two killed by bursting sludge reservoir ABC Online At least two people were killed when the dam of a sludge reservoir at a big alumina factory burst, flooding parts of three villages, the Hungarian government told news agency MTI. The National Disaster Unit told MTI that seven people were missing and ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Earthquake strikes off southern Japan Sydney Morning Herald A strong earthquake measuring 6.3 struck south of Japan's Okinawa island on Monday, US scientists said. The epicentre of the tremor was 36 kilometres under the Pacific seabed, 115km from Ishigaki-jima in the Ryukyu islands far to the southwest of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Australian police taser use in spotlight BBC News By Nick Bryant BBC News, Sydney There has been anger in Australia over the release of a video which shows an unarmed Aboriginal man being tasered 13 times by police officers. The incident occurred in Perth in 2008, and has been released as part of a ... See all stories on this topic » |
Brazil vote goes to runoff as Rousseff falls short
Brazilian presidential candidate for the ruling Workers' Party (PT),
Dilma Rousseff speaks after receiving the results of the country's
general elections, in Brasilia, October 3, 2010. Brazil's presidential
election is to go to an October 31 runoff after the ruling party
candidate, Dilma Rousseff, won elections on October 3 but not by enough
to avoid a second round, the High Electoral Tribunal said. - Photo by
AFP.
SAO PAULO: Ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff placed a strong first in Brazil's presidential election on Sunday, but she will face a runoff after some voters were turned off at the last minute by a corruption scandal and her views on social issues.
Rousseff, a former Marxist guerrilla who was handpicked by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to continue the center-left economic policies that have made Brazil one of the world's hottest emerging markets, had 46.7 per cent of valid votes with 99 per cent of ballots counted.
That result left her unable to get the 50 per cent of valid votes she needed to avoid a runoff vote between the top two candidates on Oct. 31, election regulators said. Rousseff will face her nearest rival, former Sao Paulo state governor Jose Serra, who won 32.7 per cent of the votes.
An unexpected late surge by a third candidate, the Green Party's Marina Silva, came largely at Rousseff's expense. Silva had 19.4 per cent of valid ballots and her supporters will now be a highly prized voting bloc in the second round.
Rousseff is favored to beat Serra in the runoff and become the first woman to lead Brazil, although a first-round victory would have given her a stronger mandate to push through reforms such as changes to Brazil's onerous tax laws.
Rousseff sought to put a positive spin on the outcome, telling supporters that a second round would give her more time to detail her proposals.
“We are warriors, and we're accustomed to challenges,” she said in a speech in Brasilia, flanked by her running mate and her party's top brass. “We do well in second rounds.”
Her campaign has been helped by red-hot economic growth and Lula's constant support. Neither Rousseff nor Serra is seen deviating from the mix of social programs and investor-friendly policies that have made Lula wildly popular, helping Brazilian markets to rally in the run-up to the vote.
Yet recent allegations of a kickback scheme involving a former top aide to Rousseff, plus questions among evangelical Christians about her positions on abortion and other social issues, appear to have instilled just enough doubt in voters' minds to cost her a first-round victory.
Rousseff had spent the past month well above the 50 per cent support level in pre-election polls, and the disappointing performance is likely to revive questions about her relative lack of charisma and thin executive experience.
Valdeci Baiao da Silva, a security officer in Brasilia, said the good economic times had made him a Lula supporter -- but he voted for Serra because Rousseff seemed unprepared and unpredictable.
“I think she might even disappoint (Lula),” he said.
At a church service in Brasilia, Pastor Otaviano Miguel da Silva urged his followers not to vote for candidates from Rousseff's ruling Workers' Party because “it approves of homosexuality, lesbianism, and is in favor of abortion.”
Brazil is overwhelmingly Catholic, but evangelicals are growing in number and pre-election polls showed them abandoning Rousseff in significant numbers as the vote grew closer.
Rousseff met with church leaders last week and affirmed her support for existing laws, but she may not have been able to overcome Internet videos showing previous statements in which she appeared to support the decriminalization of abortion.
Green Party candidate Silva, herself an evangelical, appeared to be the main beneficiary of the last-minute shift.
A former environment minister who quit Lula's government in 2008, Silva had said she would not make an endorsement in a runoff -- though her new position as a potential kingmaker could cause her to change her mind.
In her concession speech, she said the party would meet to discuss its loyalties in a runoff.
ROUSSEFF FAVORED IN RUNOFF
Serra, a former health minister and one of Brazil's most experienced politicians, now has an extra four weeks to chip away at Rousseff's lead. Still, political analysts say a major scandal involving Rousseff directly would be virtually the only scenario under which she could lose a runoff.
Lula will spend the coming weeks touting his accomplishments -- including 20 million people lifted out of poverty since 2003 -- and telling voters that Rousseff is the best candidate for the job.
Runoffs are common in Brazil -- Lula faced them in 2002 and 2006, and emerged with a strong mandate in both cases -- and Rousseff is expected to take victory.
“This is an electoral climate that favors the incumbent party,” political analyst Luiz Piva said. “Brazilians are generally very happy with their government.”
Investors have been happy too. Brazil's stock market, bonds and currency have all remained strong in the run-up to the vote -- a marked contrast to the panic that preceded the 2002 election of Lula, a former radical.
With the Brazilian real trading at a two-year high, some investors have speculated that the Lula government was waiting for the first-round election to pass before announcing measures aimed at containing the currency. – Reuters
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Tags: Dilma Rousseff brazil brazil elections brazil polls
HIGHLIGHTS
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Musharraf’s new political party
People should not take Musharraf’s confession as his weakness. -
Bar-bench crisis
The focus has shifted to a struggle that encapsulates all that is wrong with the Pakistani judicial mechanism.
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04 Oct 2010
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| Mitchell: Neither side wants to stop direct talks Jerusalem Post By HERB KEINON Abbas will continue 'searching for solutions' with US; Netanyahu expected to address issue in cabinet meeting. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is expected Monday at the weekly cabinet meeting to make his first public comments on the ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Kan's Approval Drops on China Ship Row, Polls Show BusinessWeek By Takashi Hirokawa and Kazuyo Sawa Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's response to a widening rift with China over rival claims to uninhabited islands has hurt his popularity, giving up most of the gains won last month after ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Global climate talks kick off in China CNN By the CNN Wire Staff UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) executive secretary Christiana Figueres speaks at the conference in Tianjin, China, Monday. Beijing, China (CNN) -- Representatives from about 200 countries start meeting on ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Afghan president begins disbanding private security firms Los Angeles Times The former Blackwater company is among four foreign firms Hamid Karzai has slated for closure. NATO and many international groups use private security contractors. Few believe Afghan police and military are ready to take over the role. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| US secretly shifts armed drones to fight terrorists in Pakistan Telegraph.co.uk The Pentagon and CIA are stepping up America's secret war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Pakistan by secretly diverting aerial drones and missiles from Afghanistan. By Toby Harnden in Washington Predator and Reaper drones have been lent by the US ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Iran, Egypt agree to resume direct flights for first time since 1979 Los Angeles Times By Borzou Daragahi and Amro Hassan Los Angeles Times Iran and Egypt, two countries that long have been openly hostile to each other, made a surprise agreement Sunday to resume direct flights for the first time since radical clerics ousted Iran's ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Dutch politician on trial on hate speech charges The Associated Press AMSTERDAM — Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders is going on trial Monday for alleged hate speech, even as his popularity and influence in the Netherlands are near all time highs. Prosecutors say Wilders incited hatred against Muslims with remarks ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Ayodhya dispute: Let's change the equation TwoCircles.net By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net The thinking is near unanimous among Muslims; Babri Masjid verdict should be appealed in the Supreme Court. Indeed, the case should go to India's highest judiciary body and all arguments should be made and heard ... See all stories on this topic » |
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03 Oct 2010
| Security in top gear as Delhi braces for Games extravaganza Times of India NEW DELHI: Their weapons drawn out, thousands of security personnel were on high alert in and around the Commonwealth Games Village and other venues as the Indian capital prepared for a gala opening on Sunday evening of the 12-day event that has drawn ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Indonesia investigates train crash that killed 36 The Associated Press PETARUKAN, Indonesia — Police were investigating a train crash Sunday that killed 36 people and injured dozens, putting a spotlight once again on Indonesia's aging infrastructure and poor safety record. The pre-dawn accident occurred Saturday as many ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Iran arrests Stuxnet 'spies' Jewish Telegraphic Agency By Ron Kampeas · October 2, 2010 (JTA) -- Iran announced arrests of people it linked to the Stuxnet malware, which has affected its nuclear facilities. Heydar Moslehi, the Iranian intelligence minister, did not say how many people had been arrested. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Assad: Peace talks aimed only to help Obama politically Jerusalem Post By HERB KEINON AND AP Ahmadinejad pledges to "expand resistance"; Assad says "strategic relationship necessary for independence and stability of Middle East." Syrian President Bashar Assad offered dim hopes on Saturday for any success in Middle East ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Gunmen kidnap 22 in Acapulco Los Angeles Times The Mexican tourists from a neighboring state were reportedly seized as they looked for lodging. By Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times Gunmen kidnapped a group of 22 Mexican men in the tourist resort of Acapulco, Mexican media reported Saturday. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Mrs Lee Kuan Yew dies at age 89 Channel News Asia SINGAPORE : Madam Kwa Geok Choo - the wife of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, and mother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has died on Saturday. Mrs Lee Kuan Yew, age 89, passed away peacefully at home at 5.40 pm. A statement from the Prime Minister's ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Otis L. Sanford: Attitudes start to turn on crisis in our schools Memphis Commercial Appeal By Otis L. Sanford A year ago this time, my pessimism about the state of public education was approaching an all-time high. The despair was not just because of failing students or ineffective teachers, although we have our share of both. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| 6 people killed in plane crash near Peru's Nazca Lines CNN International By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- Four British tourists and two Peruvians were killed when their plane crashed near Peru's famous Nazca Lines, the state news agency reported police said Saturday. The Nazca Lines are a series of massive geoglyphs that were ... See all stories on this topic » |
Google News Alert for: World
02 Oct 2010
| Indonesia train crash kills dozens BBC News A train crash near the Indonesian city of Pemalang in Central Java province has killed at least 35 people, officials say. Dozens more were hurt and many bodies were trapped in the carriages, though almost all have now been retrieved. ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Ecuador's leader finds new strength MiamiHerald.com Police were back on patrol in Ecuador, a day after five people died in an uprising that threatened the nation's democracy. BY STEPHAN KÜFFNER AND FRANCES ROBLES QUITO, Ecuador -- In a critical moment that helped bring the nation to its knees, ... See all stories on this topic » |
| North Korea Clears Way for a Third-Generation Kim Voice of America Photo: AP A worker in Paju, South Korea, looks at a picture of North Korea's Kim Jong Un on a TV news show. Experts say Kim Jong Il could be preparing his third and youngest son for leadership. This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. ... See all stories on this topic » |
| India marks Mahatma Gandhi birth anniversary Xinhua NEW DELHI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- India Saturday marked the 141st birth anniversary of its Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, with political leaders from across the spectrum paying homage to the man who led the country to independence. ... See all stories on this topic » |
| IMF programme, euro plans at stake in Latvian vote Reuters By Patrick Lannin and Aija Braslina Opinion polls before the election for the 100-seat parliament suggest the ruling centre-right coalition under Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis has a chance to return to power, most probably safeguarding the ... See all stories on this topic » |
| DR Congo demands justice for massacre victims The Beverly Hills Courier Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday demanded justice for the victims of genocide-style massacres described in a bitterly disputed investigation which has thrown the United Nations into a diplomatic storm. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made no ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Retirement-Age Increase Proposal in France Prompts Third Day of Protests Bloomberg By Helene Fouquet - Sat Oct 02 06:54:42 GMT 2010 France today faces demonstrations across the country, the third day of protests in a month over President Nicolas Sarkozy's proposed pension-system overhaul. Labor unions want the government to suspend ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Medvedev signs amendments to budget code RIA Novosti MOSCOW, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed amendments to the country's budget code, the Kremlin's press-service said on Saturday. The bill was passed by both houses of parliament in late September. ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Balloonists' survival 'unlikely' BBC News Two US balloonists who went missing over the Adriatic Sea while taking part in an endurance race are unlikely to have survived, race organisers have said. Richard Abruzzo and Carol Rymer-Davis disappeared in a thunderstorm on Wednesday off the east ... See all stories on this topic » |
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01 Oct 2010
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| Force of faith trumps law and reason in Ayodhya case The Hindu New Delhi: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has made judicial history by deciding a long pending legal dispute over a piece of property in Ayodhya on the basis of an unverified and unsubstantiated reference to the “faith and belief of ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Nigeria, at 50, Holds Week of Independence Celebrations Voice of America Nigeria's Foreign Minister said over 25 African heads of state and top government officials are in the capital, Abuja, to participate in the country's 50 th independence celebrations Friday. Aliyu Idi Hong told VOA Nigeria has always risen above its ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Hostages Seized in Niger Appear in Photo Published by French Newspapers Bloomberg By Albertina Torsoli - Fri Oct 01 06:12:14 GMT 2010 French daily newspapers Le Figaro and Le Parisien today published a picture of the seven hostages seized in Niger two weeks ago. The image shows the hostages sitting on sand and surrounded by armed ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Pro-Chavez Lawmakers Say Compromise With Chavez Foes Impossible Wall Street Journal CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Four days after Venezuelans voted to give opponents of hardline leftist President Hugo Chavez a much bigger voice in Congress, lawmakers who support the president say they have no plans to make compromises or other deals with their ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| UN to publish Congo rights report BBC News The United Nations is set to publish a controversial report into human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1990s. The final version is believed to have toned down its language after an earlier, leaked draft provoked a fury from ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| WikiLeaks chief lashes out at media during debate The Associated Press LONDON — WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange lashed out at the mainstream media during a debate at a London university Thursday, fighting back at a string of unfavorable stories that have appeared since his organization's publication of a cache of ... See all stories on this topic » |
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The American War Machine
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House of War [Click the title to buy this book] by James Carroll Houghton Mifflin 672 pages |
As a young boy, James Carroll saw the Pentagon as his playhouse—“the largest playhouse in the world.” While his father worked late, as a high-ranking intelligence official in the Air Force, Carroll would roam the empty corridors, sliding down the ramps connecting the building’s five concentric rings; running from water fountain to water fountain, drinking from as many as he could; examining the war memorabilia tucked in various corners; and getting lost in the labyrinthine vastness. Later on, as a seminarian and peace protester, the building came to mean something quite different to him: it was the brain center of the hated Vietnam War, and, even more ominous, of the nuclear madness that threatened the human race. In House of War, a book that is part history, part memoir, and part polemic, Carroll sets out to tell the story of “the Building”—a sprawling bureaucracy, Carroll argues, that is not only more powerful than the civilians who would seek to contain it, but that has “apparently broken loose from the constraints of human will.”
Carroll’s narrative opens in January 1943 with the dedication of the Pentagon. That very same week, Franklin D. Roosevelt announced that the Allied goal in World War II would be the unconditional surrender of the Axis forces, the government established the nuclear laboratory at Los Alamos, and the Air Force okayed the first bombing runs against German cities—reversing its policy against targeting civilians. “These three events,” Carroll writes, “were the beginning of a new American spirit of total war that culminated not only in the total destruction of Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, but also, ultimately, in the Cold War doctrines of massive retaliation and mutual assured destruction.” Even before World War II was over, Carroll argues, the leaders of the Pentagon viewed Russia as the new enemy and nuclear weapons as the tool of choice to use against it. In Carroll’s telling, the United States was primarily to blame for the Cold War’s dramatic escalation, because our government consistently ignored signals that Moscow was willing to step back from the conflict. The fact is, he writes, the Cold War was convenient, first because it could be used by the Army, Navy, and Air Force to justify competing and ever-higher defense expenditures, and later because it came to serve as the economic engine of the country—the “military-industrial-congressional-academic-labor-culture” complex of which Eisenhower warned. Carroll argues that every president who has come into office determined to sap the power of the Pentagon has instead been defeated by it. And now, even though the Cold War is over, our defense establishment continues to expand—as we build more nuclear weapons and turn to a doctrine of preventive war. “The Pentagon, world capital of a twenty-first century Pax Americana that assume[s], like Thucydides, the permanence of war,” he writes, “at last [has] a function worthy of its monumentality.”
James Carroll is the author of ten novels, including Mortal Friends and Secret Father. He is also the author of the best-selling Constantine’s Sword and American Requiem, which won the 1996 National Book Award. He lives in Boston with his wife, the novelist Alexandra Marshall.
We spoke by phone in May.
—Katie Bacon
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| James Carroll |
It seems to me that your book challenges a lot of received wisdom we have about the past sixty years, and that people may have a strong reaction to your depiction of the United States as more blameworthy in the Cold War than Russia was, or to your strong criticisms of our actions during World War II. Have you thought about how people are going to react to the book?
Well, I think there’s a large misconception in the American consensus that I see myself challenging. It’s the dichotomy between what’s called “realism” and, if you want to be pejorative, “soft idealism” or “moralism” or “pacifism.” The conventional wisdom, certainly the established narrative of the American post-Cold War and post-World War II story, is that the realists were right and the others were wrong. I think this whole notion is wrong-headed. What’s described as realism was a wild misperception of the reality that the United States was faced with from the beginning to the end of the Cold War. In the beginning of the Cold War, realists, typified at that point by George Kennan, saw the Soviet Union as a mystical totalitarian threat that was a challenge to the United States all over the globe. It turned out to be a wildly exaggerated notion of how threatened we were by the Soviet Union, and even George Kennan moved away from that perception.
The Soviet Union in 1947, 1948, and into 1949 was simply not the threat that American foreign-policy makers imagined it to be. At the other end of the Cold War, the realists were insisting that Mikhail Gorbachev was just another trickster Russian—we couldn’t trust him, his perestroika and glasnost were going to be a Russian trick, a Russian deception. And, of course, those realists, typified by, say, Casper Weinberger or Jeane Kirkpatrick, were entirely wrong about Gorbachev. The realists today have taken us into the Iraq War, another example of a wild misperception of what actually threatened the United States. My book challenges this dichotomy between realism and idealism. It’s true that I’m able to be categorized as—well, what’s the pejorative word?—a “peacenik.” But I would argue that the peaceniks, especially in the later years of the Cold War, got it right about how the Cold War might end. The realists got it wrong. So, that’s the largest challenge to the conventional narrative that I’m aware of. Of course, I expect the defenders of the realist position to take strident offense at House of War.
Why were the realists looking for an enemy after World War II? You’d think people would have taken a deep breath and said, “Okay, we defeated Germany, now we can relax a bit.”
You would. That was Truman’s impulse. He ordered a radical demobilization of the American military immediately at the end of World War II. I explain in House of War that the most important thing that empowered this kind of political paranoia was the budgetary competition between the United States Air Force, newly established in 1947, and the United States Navy, both vying for a shrinking military budget and especially vying for control of the new atomic bomb. The weapon they used in their contests with each other was to exaggerate the threat from the Soviet Union. The United States Air Force could make its case for a new fleet of intercontinental bombers by exaggerating the threat from Moscow. Similarly with the Navy. That contest basically resulted in the creation of massive forces that were far in excess of what was actually needed at the time. The most fateful consequence, of course, was that those people who wanted to maintain a monopoly on the atomic bomb were empowered by this intraservice rivalry. In the late forties, the United States should have been seriously pursuing international structures of control for the atomic bomb, and we didn’t. We chose to imagine that we could maintain an indefinite monopoly on the bomb—a belief that was based on faulty intelligence, a faulty assessment of the Soviet capacity to build a bomb of their own. In fact, the Russians exploded an atomic bomb in May of 1949. It was only then that the Soviets posed a major new threat to us. By then, the Soviets were responding to what they had seen coming from us. They had seen, first of all, not only that we had the bomb, but that we were prepared to use it. Joseph Stalin was a monstrous tyrant, but there’s absolutely no reason to believe that he would have madly pursued a strategic nuclear arsenal of the sort that he eventually went for if he wasn’t stimulated to do so by what he saw happening in the United States. That’s the second point that I make in this book, one that is no doubt controversial. I lay out the debate of historians on this question, and it’s a serious debate—much more serious than most Americans realize.
About what Stalin would have done?
About, really, what the origins were of the Cold War. And to what extent American fears of Soviet imperial reach exaggerated what was real and, therefore, in effect became self-fulfilling prophecies. I accept the reading of the Cold War by historians sometimes called “revisionists,” who see American responsibility for the onset of the Cold War as much more significant than traditionalists do. Traditionally, we’ve talked about the Soviet moves against Eastern Europe and Asia as if they were completely unjustified, far in excess of normal security reach, and representing a kind of quasi-religious, global totalitarian ambition to take over the world. I accept the reading of historians who think that the moves that Moscow was making at that point were much more properly understood as normal defensive postures, attempts to shore up its security border in Eastern Europe and to the east with China. So it was our wildly overblown perception of what their aims were that led us to mistake what was really a civil war between two factions in Korea as a global conflict orchestrated in Moscow. Post-Cold War archives reveal that that overblown view was simply wrong. Moscow was not calling the shots when North Korea invaded South Korea. Similarly, we misread the meaning of the revolution in Vietnam, seeing Ho Chi Minh as a puppet of Moscow when he was no such thing. We went to war in Vietnam to oppose Soviet communism. Well, the Vietnamese were not tools of the Soviets, much less of the Chinese. We also saw Ho Chi Minh as a puppet of Beijing when, of course, the ancient enemy of Vietnam has always been China. We had an inability to perceive the fissures among the various nations on the other side of the Iron Curtain: we missed the meaning of Tito’s break in Yugoslavia, we missed the meaning of the Chinese break with Moscow, we missed the meaning of the traditional enmity between the Vietnamese and the Chinese. All of those mistakes were the result of this global paranoia that was put in place at the end of the 1940s. So, that’s my perception, I’m clear about it, and you’re right to indicate that these are controversial assertions to this day. This is unfinished history. History has not made final judgments on these questions, and if my book can move the arcane debates of a small group of historians to a broader public, that alone will be a good thing.
| Mexico hunts landslide survivors | |||||||
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Disaster officials warn of no let-up in rainfall as rescuers find bodies of victims in two southern states.
Last Modified: 30 Sep 2010 06:12 GMT
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Rescuers searching for 11 people missing after their homes were buried by a landslide in southern Mexico have recovered four bodies, hours after at least 12 others died in a separate landslide in a neighbouring state. Emergency workers delivered blankets and supplies to surivivors of the incident in the remote mountain town of Santa Maria Tlahitoltepec, in Oaxaca state, which was hit by a landslide when a water-logged hillside above the town gave way early on Tuesday. Authorities initially feared that up to 1,000 people could have died in the incident, but later discovered that only 11 people were missing and none confirmed dead. But as rescue teams worked to find the missing, another rain-triggered landslide in Amatan, a town in Chiapas, left at least 12 people dead and another 13 injured. "Unfortunately there has been a new landslide ... . We are mobilising aid to help," Felipe Calderon, the Mexican president, said via his Twitter account as news of the Chiapas landslide broke. Officials are warning that there could be more landslides in coming days as southern Mexico experiences heavy rains. "There are fears of more landslides in Chiapas, Oaxaca and the mountainous zone in this strip of territory in the country's southeast, since the ground is softened, is saturated," Laura Gurza, chief of the federal civil protection emergency response agency, said. Rescue hampered The prospect of further landslides is hampering rescue efforts, with the search in Oaxaca suspended on Tuesday as rains continued to fall, only resuming on Wednesday. Residents of Santa Maria Tlahitoltepec carried out their own search and rescue effort, digging into the thick mud in an effort to find their neighbours. They said that most of the homes affected had been completely buried, and there were no signs of life under the mud. Oaxaca's civil protection operations co-ordinator, Luis Marin, said the state had seen three days of intense rain. The state government warned residents south of the city of Oaxaca of flooding from overflowing rivers and opened shelters in other parts of the state. Mexico has been suffering from heavy rains over the past week, threatening waterlogged sugar and coffee farms. Residents in the region's coastal and low-lying areas have been wading through flooded streets since Monday, trying to salvage their belongings. This year's rainy season has been the worst ever recorded in parts of Mexico, and weather experts predict that the wet weather could continue for up to a month. Meanwhile, in Colombia authorities said it would take at least a week to unearth up to 30 people who were buried by a landslide in the northwestern state of Antioguia, north of the capital Bogota. A torrent of earth swept onto a highway in the state on Monday as people were getting off a bus in the town of Giraldo, covering houses, vehicles and trees. "There are no survivors, that's for sure," John Freddy Rendon, the regional disaster relief chief, told the Associated Press news agency. He said the victims included children, pregnant women and the inhabitants of five houses. |
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Featured on Al Jazeera
A group of musicians from both the East and West have come together to seek a better future for the people of Pakistan.
The demonisation of Iran as a threat is all too common by Western and Arab states, based more on rhetoric than reality.
With Barack Obama heading towards his first Mid-term as president, concerns are developing among his core constituents.
A black family may occupy its most important residence, but Washington DC's African American population is in decline
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Korea talks end without progress
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First meeting in two years breaks down as North rejects Seoul's demand for apology over sinking of South Korean frigate.
Last Modified: 30 Sep 2010 07:05 GMT
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North and South Korea have ended their first military talks in two years without making progress on efforts to ease cross border tensions, officials from the South say. Seoul's defence ministry said on Thursday that officers from the two sides met at the border truce village of Panmunjom after the North accepted the South's revised date for the meeting. The meeting was aimed at easing tensions heightened by the sinking of a South Korean frigrate near the nations' disputed sea border in March, but the talks broke down after about two hours over the fate of the Cheonan. South Korean officers "strongly urged North Korea to admit to, apologise for and punish those responsible for the attack on the Cheonan warship", the defence ministry said in a statement. It also demanded the North "immediately stop its military threats and aggressive behaviour at sea borders". North's demand But the North said it could not accept the findings of an international investigation, which blamed the sinking and the death of 46 sailors on a North Korean torpedo. It reiterated its demand that North Korean investigators be allowed to examine the results. North Korea also called on the South at Thursday's meeting to stop activists from sending propaganda leaflets across the border, and complained that the South's warships have been crossing the disputed Yellow Sea border.
However, the South said that "responsible actions" by the North on the Cheonan incident are the key to solving the differences between the nations, the ministry statement said. The two sides did not set a date for a second round of talks, a ministry official told South Korea's Yonhap news agency. Don Kirk, the Korea correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, said the failure to reach agreement at the talks came at no surprise. "How are they going to make progress? North Korea is certainly not going to apologise or even acknowledge the sinking of the Cheonan," he told Al Jazeera from Seoul. "And there's not going to be a lot of change in the limit line in the Yellow Sea, which was the whole issue that triggered the Cheonan incident. So I'm not surprised there's no progress. "On the other hand, the fact that they met at all is progress in itself. They haven't met in two years and it's quite surprising that they should meet at all." The poorly marked western sea border, drawn by the UN at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, is a constant source of tension between the two Koreas. Long-standing demands Seoul has repeatedly rejected the North's long-standing demands that the sea border be changed. The navies of the two Koreas engaged in three bloody skirmishes near the area in 1999, 2002 and 2009. Military tensions have been high since the Cheonan's sinking. South Korea and the US say the vessel was sunk by a North Korean torpedo, a claim Pyongyang denies. The talks on Thursday came as South Korea and the US hold another set of naval drills in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of the Korean peninsula, near where the South Korean vessel sank. The exercises are the second in a series of joint manoeuvres focusing on anti-submarine warfare tactics, techniques, and procedures, according to the South Korean defence ministry. |
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Featured on Al Jazeera
A group of musicians from both the East and West have come together to seek a better future for the people of Pakistan.
The demonisation of Iran as a threat is all too common by Western and Arab states, based more on rhetoric than reality.
With Barack Obama heading towards his first Mid-term as president, concerns are developing among his core constituents.
A black family may occupy its most important residence, but Washington DC's African American population is in decline.
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US passes bill to penalise China
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China criticises legislation approved by House of Representatives aimed at pressuring it to let its currency rise faster
Last Modified: 30 Sep 2010 07:38 GMT
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The US House of Representatives has approved legislation that would allow the US to seek trade sanctions against China, a move aimed at pressuring the Asian nation to let its currency rise faster. China has criticised the legislation. The US vote comes amid a long-running dispute between the two economic powers over trade and jobs. The bill, passed by 348 to 79 on Wednesday, treats China's exchange rate as a subsidy, opening the door to extra duties on Chinese goods entering the US, some of which are already subject to special levies. To become a law, the measure has to be adopted by the senate, where its prospects are unclear. Senate supporters hope to get a vote on a similar proposal after congress returns following the November congressional elections. "China's persistent manipulation of its currency contributes to the outsourcing of American jobs and poses a very serious problem that requires real action," Sander Levin, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said. Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, said the bill would give the White House leverage in talks with China and "make it clear that if China wants a strong trading relationship with the United States, it must play by the rules". Before the vote, China's central bank reaffirmed its pledge to increase the flexibility of the yuan and improve the way it manages the exchange rate. Acknowledged the trade surplus with the US, Yao Jian, China's commerce ministry spokesman, noted after the House vote that China also has deficits with many Asian countries and regions. "The United States cannot say the yuan is undervalued simply because of the China-US trade deficit, and can't take protectionist trade measures on that basis," he said. Unfair advantage US politicians have long threatened trade retaliation for what they see as China's policy of undervaluing the yuan to give its exports an unfair advantage. But they have never sent the president any legislation to sign into law. Barack Obama, the US president, and Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, talked about China's currency and huge trade surplus with the US on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last week. "The reason that I'm pushing China about their currency is because their currency is undervalued," Obama said on Wednesday. "That's not the main reason for our trade imbalance but it's a contributing factor." Despite the yuan's modest gains against the dollar since China allowed more movement in June, International Monetary Fund economists estimate the yuan is 5-27 per cent undervalued. China's tight control over the yuan is under intense scrutiny as countries around the world look to export their way back to economic recovery, raising concerns they will intentionally weaken their currencies to gain an edge. Japan intervened this month to weaken the yen for the first time in six years. China's arguments The US move is certain to further roil relations with Beijing, which resents the criticism and says the decision about the speed of currency reforms is its alone. China, the largest foreign buyer of US government debt with holdings of nearly $847bn as of July, also says its big trade surplus with the US is due to Americans saving too little and no longer making the goods China sells. While Obama has not taken a position on the legislation, Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader, said politicians worked with the White House to ensure the bill did not violate World Trade Organisation rules. After holding the yuan steady against the dollar through the financial crisis, China began to allow for an upward drift against the dollar on June 19. Since then, the yuan has hit its highest level against the dollar in more than five years but, at just over two per cent. |
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Featured on Al Jazeera
A group of musicians from both the East and West have come together to seek a better future for the people of Pakistan.
The demonisation of Iran as a threat is all too common by Western and Arab states, based more on rhetoric than reality.
With Barack Obama heading towards his first Mid-term as president, concerns are developing among his core constituents.
A black family may occupy its most important residence, but Washington DC's African American population is in decline.
FBI targets US Palestine activists
Chris Arsenault
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Searches, subpoenas, but no charges for anti-war activists 'providing support to terrorists' in Colombia and Palestine. :: Article nr. 70283 sent on 30-sep-2010 06:49 ECT September 29, 2010 No charges "The FBI does not investigate any person or group because of their political views," said agent Rice. "We investigate allegations that federal criminal law has been violated." 'Suppressing political activity'
"If you write articles, is that
material support [for terrorists]? If you contribute resources for
computers or healthcare clinics in occupied territories, or territories
resisting government control, is that material support?" Visit to an occupied country In that spirit, Molm and other
American activists travelled to Palestine in 2004 to see the conditions
there for themselves. "Every day people [in occupied lands] go through
checkpoints with guns pointed at their heads and they have this
horrendous situation, but they continue to live and laugh," she said. Justifying terror cash "In Minnesota [the state containing Minneapolis where most searches took place] a lot of money was put into anti-terrorism efforts," says Sheila Regan, a reporter with the TC Daily Planet who has been covering issue for a local audience.
"It has one of the biggest
terrorism bureaucracies anywhere; they [security forces] need something
to do to justify their salaries," she told Al Jazeera. New activist tools When Molm went to Palestine in 2004, she says the American media were not at all interested in the public talks she gave or the "injustices" she witnessed. "Now I have major media stations asking what I saw there. Now I can talk about home demolitions and [Israel’s separation] wall." On this front, she says, the grand jury subpoena may prove helpful in the battle for the hearts and minds of average Americans. |
:: Article nr. 70283 sent on 30-sep-2010 06:49 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=70283
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30 Sep 2010
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| Rescue cage arrives at Chilean mine | ||||||
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Families of 33 trapped miners get a glimpse of the rescue capsule meant to bring the miners to the surface.
Last Modified: 26 Sep 2010 07:01 GMT
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The first of three rescue capsules specially built to lift out 33 miners trapped since early August has arrived at the San Jose mine in Chile. The man-size steel capsule, which was delivered on Saturday, will be used to pull the miners out one by one once one of the three rescue holes being drilled reach the men. The government says that should happen by early November or earlier if all goes well.
Laurence Golborne, the mining minister, and about a dozen family members of the trapped miners tried out the capsule, a tube made of steel mesh and sheets that is big enough to hold one person. "I'm very excited," Alberto Segovia, whose brother is trapped in the mine, told Al Jazeera. He was among those who stepped inside the custom-made capsule to test it out. "I was imagining that I was my brother coming out of the mine. It's very exciting." The capsule is nearly three metres tall on the outside. Inside, the space is 1.90 metre high and about 53 centimetres across. A microphone inside will allow each miner to stay in touch with those inside and outside the mine while being pulled up. Engineers said that the entire rescue operation will last longer than 24 hours. Two rescuers will be lowered into the mine to help each miner make the journey to the surface. The bottom of the capsule holds three tanks of compressed air - 40 per cent oxygen and 60 per cent nitrogen. Jaime Manalich, the health minister, said that that was enough air to allow for 90 minutes of breathing, sufficient for the caged journey from the belly of the mine to the surface. Meanwhile, three drilling machines continued tunnelling their way down to the men. "The machines are working normally. There are no problems," said Golborne, the mining minister. Of the three, the Strata-130 offers the earliest chance at a rescue. On Saturday it reached 175 metres down as it widened an earlier guide shaft to the adequate size for the men. |
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Featured on Al Jazeera
Melting icecaps in the Arctic circle are expected to open up Greenland to oil and gas exploration.
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With the 2010 primaries officially over, the aftermath has left both parties braced for a tumultuous Midterm campaign.
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Google News Alert for: World
26 Sep 2010
| 'Kashmiris speak of azadi passionately even in hospitals' Times of India On Saturday, the government unveiled a package of measures for Kashmir. This was almost a direct response to the suggestions made earlier this week by an all-party delegation to the state. The delegation included CPM politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Officials: Alleged US missiles kill 4 in Pakistan The Associated Press MIR ALI, Pakistan — Suspected US missiles targeted a vehicle Saturday in northwestern Pakistan, killing four alleged militants, intelligence officials said. It was the 17th such attack this month — the most intense barrage since the airstrikes began in ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| MANY WOMEN AND GIRLS LEFT OUT OF DEVELOPMENT GAINS, UN AGENCY REPORTS Accra Daily Mail (blog) In spite of strides made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), large numbers of women and girls, especially those in rural areas, have been left behind and continue to live in exclusion and poverty, according to United Nations data ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Rally driver Jimmy Girvan dies in competition BBC News A driver has been killed in the Colin McRae Forest Stages car rally in Aberfeldy, Perthshire. The event was cancelled following the death, at about 1245 BST on Saturday, of Jimmy Girvan, 56. The former Scottish Rally Champion's Subaru Impreza collided ... See all stories on this topic » |
Suicide bomber strikes in Russia’s Caucasus
The attacker set off explosives after approaching police guarding a
cordoned-off site where security forces had battled with suspected
militants. – Reuters (File Photo)
MOSCOW: A suicide bomber blew himself up in Russia’s North Caucasus province of Dagestan, wounding at least 26 people, Russian news agencies reported on Saturday.
The attacker set off explosives after approaching police guarding a cordoned-off site where security forces had battled with suspected militant’s hours earlier, Interfax reported, citing a local law enforcement official.
The blast late on Friday wounded 13 police officers and 13 civilians, the report said. Other reports said as many as 30 people were hurt.
Unidentified assailants gunned down a school principal in her home in Dagestan earlier on Friday, while separate shoot-outs killed 12 people across the North Caucasus.
The suicide bomber approached an area police had cordoned off in a bid to isolate a group of suspected militants, Interfax reported, citing the National Anti-terror Committee. It said two militants and two law enforcement officers had been killed before the operation was suspended after nightfall.
A decade after separatists were driven from power in the second of two wars in Chechnya, adjacent to Dagestan, the North Caucasus is plagued by near-daily attacks, mostly targeting police and other government forces. – Reuters
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Tags: Russia Blast Caucasus suicide bomb security forces
HIGHLIGHTS
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Aafia Siddiqui
Dr Siddiqui’s decision to take the witness stand against all legal advice was largely her undoing. -
Dangers of reporting from border areas
JOURNALISTS reporting from the border area often face the predicament on what to
Google News Alert for: World
25 Sep 2010
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| Pakistan plane lands in Sweden after bomb threat msnbc.com STOCKHOLM — A Pakistan International Airlines jet carrying 273 people bound from Canada for Pakistan landed Saturday at Stockholm's Arlanda airport because of a bomb threat on board, airport and police officials said. The unscheduled landing came after ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| Clinton and Abbas hold new talks BBC News Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will hold further talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday amid last-ditch efforts to keep newly-started Middle East peace talks alive. Mr Abbas has said talks will collapse unless Israel extends a ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| Irish terror threat rise worrying - Peter Robinson BBC News The raising of the threat level to Great Britain from dissident Irish republicans is worrying, Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson has said. Mr Robinson said the move underlined the need for adequate police resources to tackle the threat. ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| South Korea, North Korea Meet Oct. 1 on Reunion Venue BusinessWeek By Jungmin Hong Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea's Red Cross officials will hold more talks with their North Korean counterparts on Oct. 1 to try to decide where to hold reunions for families separated since the 1950-53 war. ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| Singapore confirms re-arrest of Mas Selamat Channel News Asia Singapore confirmed the re-arrest of Mas Selamat Kastari under the Internal Security Act on Friday. Mas Selamat is the leader of the Singapore cell of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who was in New York for the ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| Cuba pushes private enterprise to save socialism Reuters By Jeff Franks HAVANA, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Cuba's economic reforms began taking shape on Friday as the government said it would allow or expand private enterprise in 178 activities ranging from watch repairs to massages, to help assure the survival of ... See all stories on this topic » | |
| DR Congo mass rapes 'defy belief' BBC News The UN's human rights chief has said the "scale and viciousness" of mass rapes in DR Congo "defy belief", as a report into the attack was released. Navi Pillay said that, even for the region, the incident stood out because of the "extraordinarily ... See all stories on this topic » | |
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| 'US mosque row feeds radicals' | ||||||||
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Feisal Abdul Rauf, planner of New York Islamic centre, says Muslims 'part of the fabric of America' despite recent rows.
Last Modified: 12 Sep 2010 21:56 GMT
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The Islamic scholar behind plans to build a community centre and mosque several blocks from the site of the 9-11 attacks in New York has warned that retreating from the project would only strengthen the hand of extremists in both the Islamic and the West. But Feisal Abdul Rauf did not commit to keeping the centre at its current site, two blocks from the wreckage of the World Trade Centre, as it has been suggested that the facility could be moved to relieve tensions with opponents who say it should not be built so close to "Ground Zero". "The decisions that I will make -- that we will make -- will be predicated on what is best for everybody," he told ABC's This Week programme which aired on Sunday. "The radicals on both sides, the radicals in the United States and the radicals in the Muslim world, feed off each other. And to a certain extent, the attention that they've been able to get by the media has even aggravated the problem," he told ABC. Mosque controversy The centre, to be built on the site of a derelict clothing store in a neighborhood which houses other mosques and a strip club, was proposed by Abdul Rauf as a way of giving Islam a new face in the United States and supporters see it as a place for reconciliation between faiths. "My major concern with moving it is that the headline in the Muslim world will be Islam is under attack in America," the scholar told ABC. "This will strengthen the radicals in the Muslim world, help their recruitment." Abdul Rauf's comments come amid heigntened tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in the US and beyond, sparked in part by debates around the Islamic community centre in New York and plans, which have been canceled, from a marginal Florida pastor to publicly burn the Quran. Terry Jones, leader of a Florida church with less than 50 members, had promised to burn the Quran on September 11, but canceled the scheme on Saturday, saying that he would "not today, not ever" burn the holy book after Barack Obama, the US president, and other leading American military and political figures, condemned his plan. "The recent controversy, I think, has heightened the concern among Muslims, but we feel that there is a spike of Islamophobia which is reaching and perhaps even possibly exceeding what happened right after 9/11," Abdul Rauf told ABC. Quran protests Despite canceling the event, protests against the planned burning have erupted in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia and in the United States itself. In Afghanistan, security forces shot and killed two protesters on Sunday, as an angry crowd denounced Quran burning plans and chanted anti-US slogans in the eastern district of Baraki Barak, where they tried to storm the governor's office. Abdul Rauf said the row over the planned burnings "would have strengthened the radicals ... [enhancing] the possibility of terrorist acts against America and American interests". The scholar said that it was important to stress that Muslims are "part of the fabric of America" and that contrary to the claims of Islamic extremists, they are free to observe their religion and "thrive in this country". |
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Featured on Al Jazeera
Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, discusses whether the US is becoming less tolerant.
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Ghana may be championed for its political stability, but life for the average Ghanaian is defined by crippling poverty.
The US still cannot agree on how to characterise or conduct its 'war against al-Qaeda'.
Google News Alert for: World
13 Sep 2010
| REFILE-Turkish shares hit all-time high after reforms pass Reuters ISTANBUL, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Turkish shares .XU100 hit a fresh all-time high on Monday, rising 2.14 percent to 61905 points after Turkey gave its support to government-backed reforms in a referendum, in a boost for the ruling AK Party. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
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| Japan frees Chinese fishing crew BBC News Japanese authorities say they have released 14 crew members of a Chinese fishing trawler seized last week in the East China Sea. But the captain of the vessel remains in custody following the incident, which happened in disputed waters. ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
| Separatist unrest, violence sparks curfew in Kashmir CNN International Srinagar, India (CNN) -- A round-the-clock curfew continued Monday in the city of Srinagar -- capital of Indian-administered Kashmir -- and other major towns, two days after massive pro-independence rallies roiled Kashmir, which has been in the throes ... See all stories on this topic » | ||
