Reactions to story from CSMonitor

• 

  Cables, dispatches and memoranda

  http://peacelikeariverblog.com/?p=980
  52 days ago in Peace Like A River · Authority: 27

  A brief world news roundup for 14 October 2008. United States & the Americas Army Times - 2 get Silver Stars for actions in Afghanistan ABC - The gate at the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey, Mexico, was pockmarked with bullet holes Monday, a day after assailants shot at the building and threw a grenade that failed to explode. No one was injured. CSM - Journalists targeted in latest Mexico drug violence; A newspaper editor, a columnist, police officers, and bar patrons are among those killed in separate acts of violence this past week. Forbes - The European Union proposed on Monday establishing a strategic partnership with Mexico to forge closer ties in areas including security, diplomacy, trade, and the environment. LA Times - Facing a crackdown in Mexico, smugglers turn to Argentina as a base for importing ephedrine, which is turned into meth destined for the U.S. The trade has brought killings and intrigue. Latin Business Chronicle - Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa expelled Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht last month, blaming it for faulty construction of the San Francisco hydroelectric dam. [And last week, the government rejected an offer from Odebercht to solve the dispute]. Will the Odebrecht expulsion stifle private sector interest in upcoming energy projects in Ecuador? Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia Russia Today - Russia’s two stock markets fell further on Monday despite government intervention aimed at helping overcome the global financial crisis. Despite trading on the exchanges being halted more than 10 times in the last two weeks, accompanied by new regulations which enable the Federal Financial Markets Service to order the exchanges to halt if they move beyond 5% of their opening marks on any day, Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin told journalists on Saturday that he saw little value in longer term closures. Moscow Times - In the first major sign that the liquidity crisis is affecting Russia’s state banking giants, VTB, the country’s second-largest bank, will apply for government bailout money to refinance its foreign loans for this year and next year, and plans to cut internal costs by 15 percent to 20 percent in the fourth quarter. Voice of Russia - Russian warships have weighed anchor at the end of a three-day call to the Libyan port of Tripoli. One of them, a frigate, is on its way to the Horn of Africa on a mission to bust piracy. The rest, led by the nuclear-powered cruiser ‘Peter the Great’, are under sail to the Caribbean for November wargames with Venezuela. RIA Novosti - Ukraine’s energy ministry has approved a Russian company’s winning bid to construct a nuclear power plant (NPP), Ukraine’s UNIAN news agency reported on Monday. RFERL - In a bid to improve relations with Uzbekistan, the EU has lifted visa bans on eight top officials held responsible for the mass killing of demonstrators in Andijon in 2005. They cited improvements in the country’s record in dropping the ban. However, officials privately concede that while real improvements are meager, the EU is increasingly interested in having influence in Central Asia An Iraqi airman gives another airman a water bottle, Oct. 11, 2008, at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. The Iraqi airmen were on a cargo resupply mission with the U.S. Air Force 370th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron. They are assigned to 23rd Squadron, which operates three C-130 Hercules aircraft used for transporting troops, supplies and distinguished visitors. (photo by Airman 1st Class Jason Epley) Middle East Asharq Al Awsat - Iraq’s prime minister said the 4,100 British troops in southern Iraq are no longer necessary to provide security, a newspaper reported Monday. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told The Times of London that there may be a need for a few British troops to remain for training and technical issues. But as a fighting force, al-Maliki said the British were no longer needed. AKI - Al-Qaeda in Iraq has denied responsibility for the recent killings of Christians in the northern city of Mosul, which have driven hundreds of families from their homes. “We honour the agreement signed in Mosul by Abu Hamza al-Muhajir and prominent Christian tribal chiefs in 2007,” said the Islamic State of Iraq’s spokesman in Mosul, Abu Uthman al-Ansari. Reuters - Syria has sent its first ambassador to Baghdad in decades, the Iraqi government said on Monday, the latest move from a fellow Arab country to strengthen diplomatic ties with Iraq. MNF Iraq - Four wanted men were among the 10 suspected terrorist detained by Coalition forces today during operations targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq in Mosul and Baghdad. Ya Libnan - Beirut- Lebanese Christian leader Michel Aoun surprised the Lebanese Christians and Muslims alike on Monday when he said that Iran was helping Lebanon to achieve national unity. Antoine Haddad a Lebanese political observer told Ya Libnan. “Aoun is stuck . His memorandum of understanding with Hezbollah is forcing him to take these positions of praising Iran and Syria and attacking Saudi Arabia. He is trying to earn the trust of Hezbollah and its allies because he knows no one on the other side trusts him anymore and he lost all their respect.” Al Ahram - Breaking with its customary reserve in dealing with Hizbullah, Cairo has invited the Lebanese resistance party for talks in Cairo. The move surprised many, as Hizbullah and Cairo don’t exactly see eye to eye on many issues, from Israel to Iran to Lebanese domestic affairs. But there are a host of reasons, most pragmatic, that enticed Cairo to move in that direction. ynet - Hizbullah leadership chose Hashem Safi al-Din to be the chairman of the organization’s executive council and, as such, the successor to the organization’s secretary-general, the Iranian newspaper Khoursid reported Monday. Iran Washington Post - The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said Sunday that American intelligence reports suggest Iran has attempted to bribe Iraqi lawmakers in an effort to derail a bilateral agreement that would allow U.S. troops to remain in Iraq after the end of this year. Press TV - Iran has dismantled an offshoot of the Jundullah terrorist group, which planned to carry out covert operations in the Islamic Republic. Before succeeding to accomplish their objectives, the members of the group were killed, wounded or taken into custody by Iranian intelligence officers during a confrontation in the Pir-Souran mountainous area of Sistan-Baluchistan Province bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan. Javno - Iran’s moderate former president Mohammad Khatami hosted several former Western leaders on Monday, a move analysts saw as a bid to boost his standing ahead of the country’s presidential election in 2009. Among the guests at a conference called “Religion in the Modern World” were former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan, former Italian premier Romano Prodi and former presidents Mary Robinson of Ireland and Jorge Sampaio of Portugal. France24 - A week-long strike against a new value added tax shut down Tehran’s bazaar on Sunday, until the Iranian government suspended the measure for two months. The bazaar reopened on Monday. Payvand - Photos: First Day of New School Year, Qom Seminaries South Asia CJTF-A - Members of the National Directorate of Security and Coalition forces captured a Taliban commander and three additional persons of interest in Kandahar, Oct. 5. Hafiz Abdul Khaliq, a known Taliban commander, and three militants were located through intelligence reports in known safehouses in Panjwayi District. Guardian - The Seray combat outpost is a base in Afghanistan’s Chowkay district, 10 miles from the border with Pakistan, manned by US army and Afghan national army soldiers. A small team of US marine tactical trainers is embedded to help the Afghans. Seray, high in the mountains, is attacked by Taliban fighters almost daily. While the photographs in this slideshow were taken over the course of a week, the audio is taken from a single five-hour attack on October 9. Péter Marton - Pomeranian grenadiers in the Hindu Kush: A look at the Afghanistan mission from a cost/benefit perspective. Free Range International - Traveling in the West of Afghanistan; The security situation in the western provinces of Afghanistan has deteriorated significantly over the last year. (great photos) Michael Yon - Since leaving the British embed, I’ve gone unilateral.  I flew back and forth between Kandahar and Lashkar Gah, drove around and talked with people down south, then flew up to Kabul.  In Kabul, I met Tim Lynch and Shem Klimiuk (a retired USMC and ex-Aussie paratrooper, respectively), and we drove in an unarmored truck east to Jalalabad.  The canyon-filled drive would be dangerous even if there was no war, but there is a war – a rapidly growing one — and Tim pointed out burnt spots on the road where ambushes had occurred. Press Trust - At least 10 Taliban militants were killed today by Pakistani security forces in fresh clashes in the troubled northwestern Swat valley. Exchanges of fire erupted after the security forces launched a search operation in a militant stronghold in Khwazakhela sub-district this morning. CBS - A 20-year-old American man was arrested late Monday at a checkpoint near the Afghan border in a tribal region where Pakistani troops are fighting Taliban and al Qaeda militants, police said. Officers were investigating what the man was doing in the border area. Khaleej Times - At least 27 Tamil Tiger rebels and five government soldiers have been killed in the latest clashes in northern Sri Lanka, the island’s defence ministry said on Monday. The ministry said the fighting took place on Sunday around Kilinochchi, the administrative centre of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the target of the current government offensive. Far East & Pacific news.com.au - Three key Islamic militants on death row over the 2002 Bali bombings could be executed as early as next week. The Indonesian Government took the unusual step of announcing that an announcement about the executions will be made on Friday, October 24. Jakarta Post - Cambodian and Thai foreign ministers failed to agree Monday in talks on their territorial dispute that recently erupted into a brief military clash. Foreign Minister Hor Namhong met for two hours with Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornwiwat in the first high-level encounter since the gunfight. Xinhua - Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie on Monday urged the United States to immediately abolish its proposed arms sale to Taiwan and end its military connection to the island, stressing the sales plan had damaged China-U.S. military ties. Bloomberg - China’s trade surplus widened to a record in September, boosting the currency reserves that may shield the world’s fourth-biggest economy from the global crisis. Exports rose 21.5 percent from a year earlier to $136.4 billion after gaining 21.1 percent in August, the customs bureau said on its Web site. Korea Herald - North Korea said that it will cooperate in the verification of its nuclear program and allow outside inspectors access to its Yongbyon atomic complex, Yonhap News Agency reported. Newsweek - Things are so buoyant that Indonesia invites comparison to another Asian giant: India. Both remain corrupt, chaotic and excruciatingly complex. Yet each is also an attractive emerging economy, and in India’s case, a star of the developing world. Could Indonesia be next? Its economy grew by 6.3 percent last year, the main stock exchange ranks among the world’s best performers since 2003 and last year foreign direct investment nearly tripled, to a respectable $4 billion. Europe Irish Times - European central banks said today they would lend out as much US dollar liquidity as commercial banks need in a further joint bid to tame money market tensions. In a joint announcement with the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank said they would meet all bids from commercial banks at a fixed interest rate. Times Online - Germany and France put mountains of cash on the table today as they led continental Europe in an offensive to rebuild trust in banks with state guarantees worth over €1trillion (£780 billion). Daily Spain - Spain’s socialist government will set aside a maximum of 100 billion euros (134 billion dollars) to guarantee inter-bank loans, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Monday. Kommersant - Gaz de France Suez, formed from the merger of Gaz de France and the Franco-Belgian Suez, Europe’s largest gas concern, has signed a development strategy with Russia through 2013. GdF is the world’s top seller of liquefied natural gas. It owns shares in gas liquefaction plants in Egypt, Norway and Latin America. Maclean’s - France’s first lady has become personally involved in the case of a former leftist terrorist from Italy, visiting the severely depressed woman in a hospital, the president said Monday. Balkan Insight - Blasts were heard and ambulances streaming out of the centre of Montenegro’s capital as pro-Serb demonstrators clashed with police during a rally against Montenegro’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence. Some 10,000 pro-Serbian protesters took to the streets of Podgorica for a rally against the government’s decision last week to recognise the independence of Kosovo, as the opposition harshly criticised the ruling coalition for “stabbing Serbia in the back.” Washington Times - Swiss authorities say they have found high concentrations of melamine in biscuits from Thailand and Sri Lanka and have called on other European countries to withdraw the products. Africa Press TV - More than 40 Ethiopian soldiers are killed after their vehicle hit a landmine near Bardale, a town 350 km from the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Garowe - Islamist fighters in Somalia’s southern port city of Kismayo executed a well-known clan militia commander Sunday night, local sources told Garowe. Reuters - Islamist rebels attacked African Union (AU) peacekeepers in Mogadishu for a second day running Monday after more than 800 AU reinforcements from Burundi arrived. Daily Nation - Pirates holding the Ukrainian ship carrying arms cargo are reported to have rejected mediated talks. The pirates are reported to have earlier agreed to discuss freeing the mv Faina they hijacked 18 days ago, but later refused as they are not happy with some of the local mediators. BBC - A Sudanese militia leader wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes in Darfur is in custody, a minister has confirmed. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman - known as Ali Kushayb - in February last year. IRIN - The cholera epidemic is still out of control across Guinea-Bissau, with the number of cases doubling in the past three weeks, bringing the total number of people stricken to 10,476 as of 9 October. AFRICOM - U.S. Navy Ship Elrod pulled into the port of Lobito, Angola on October 13, marking the second time a U.S. Navy warship has visited the city and the fourth U.S. Navy ship to visit the nation of Angola. Stryker vehicles belonging to the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, from Ft. Wainwright, Alaska, lie waiting in a motor pool with other equipment at a port facility in Kuwait awaiting transport to their respective units. Most of the brigade's vehicles were recently offloaded in Kuwait following a nearly 10,000 mile journey from southern California on the USNS Bob Hope (photo by Richard Hyde) The Global War Seattle Times - France, which opposed the Iraq war, is in talks to resume sales of military equipment to Iraq, French and Iraqi officials say. This means that France, a major global arms vendor and once a key supplier to ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, is maneuvering back into a lucrative military market that the United States has dominated since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. BBC - An Army interpreter serving in Afghanistan, described as a “Walter Mitty”-style fantasist, became an agent for Iran, a court has been told. Tehran-born Daniel James, of Brighton, translated for Gen David Richards, the former UK commander in Afghanistan. It is alleged he sent coded messages to an Iranian military attache in Kabul telling him “I am at your service”. FAS - Kidnapping and other forms of terrorist violence have developed into a significant form of asymmetric conflict, according to a new U.S. Army manual (pdf) that describes the theory and practice of kidnapping with numerous case studies from recent years. US Navy - The Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter released the following birthday message to the fleet in anticipation of the Navy’s 233rd birthday. “On 13 October 1775, the Continental Congress voted on a resolution to commission a swift sailing vessel with a crew of 80 men and ten carriage guns to embark on a three-month cruise intercepting transports carrying munitions and supplies to British troops in America. The resolution also called for a second vessel to be outfitted for the same purpose. The resolution passed, and the U.S. Navy was born.” Sights & Sounds CBC Dispatches - Unofficial help out of an unofficial war, or how medical care came to the badlands of Rio de Janeiro, no thanks to the city. The story of child labour and the man with fresh scars on his skull: how the children of Ghenghis Khan struggle for respect in Kabul. The candidate and Martin Luther King - why Barack Obama can’t cosy up too closely to the biggest icon of American civil rights. And why Pakistan wants Canadian troops out of Afghanistan J.J. Green - JJ Green’s complete interview with Professor Kim Hyun Sik, Kim Jong Il’s tutor as a child. CSM - Is US fighting force big enough? America needs a bigger military to stabilize weak or potentially threatening nations, some analysts argue. Reporter Gordon Lubold discusses the huge difference between the number of military and State Department officials in Iraq.
• 
  http://tywolosin.blogspot.com/2008/10/journalists-targeted-i...
  52 days ago in The Blog of Ty · Authority: 2

  Journalists targeted in latest Mexico drug violence A newspaper editor, a columnist, police officers, and bar patrons are among those killed in separate acts of violence this past week. By David Montero As drug-related violence continues to worsen across the border in Mexico, journalists are being increasingly targeted. Mexico's widening war with drugs has claimed more than 3,000 lives this year alone. On Sunday, assailants opened fire on the US consulate in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, reports the Associated Press. Nobody was injured in that attack, but on Saturday gunmen killed six young men at a family party in the gang-plagued Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, reports AP. Saturday night's mass shooting was the second in the border state of Chihuahua in less than a week. Just before midnight Thursday, gunmen opened fire in a bar in the city of Chihuahua, killing 11 people. The most recent violence underscores yet another frightening dimension in the violence: the targeting of journalists, the San Antonio Express reports. Link to con.

Advertise on Technorati