Upon her arrival in New Delhi this week, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she expected the Pakistani regime to "cooperate fully and transparently" with India to try and bring the perpetrators of last week's terrorist outrage in Mumbai to justice. Ms. Rice's position -- though seemingly sensible -- is actually off the mark. The regime of President Asif Ali Zardari has no incentive whatsoever to cooperate with India to ensure that the terrorists who were responsible for the Mumbai attacks are actually apprehended. Pakistan has pursued a successful strategy of asymmetric warfare through jihadists since the outbreak of an ethno-religious insurgency in Kashmir in 1989. Part of Islamabad's strategy is to appear cooperative. After members of two jihadi groups, Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Lashkar-e-Taiba, attacked the Indian parliament on Dec. 13, 2001, for instance, then-President Pervez Musharraf nominally banned both entities. He placed their leaders under house arrest and had many of the terror groups' members arrested. On Jan. 12, 2002, he declared he would not allow Pakistani territory to be used for acts of terror. Thanks to persistent American prodding, the two sides embarked on a peace process in 2004. The two sides agreed on a cease-fire along the Line of Control, the de facto international border in Kashmir, expanded people-to-people contacts and loosened travel restrictions. Yet even in those times of apparent peace, Pakistan did not wholly abandon the jihadi option.
Upon her arrival in New Delhi this week, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she expected the Pakistani regime to "cooperate fully and transparently" with India to try and bring the perpetrators of last week's terrorist outrage in Mumbai to justice. Ms. Rice's position -- though seemingly sensible -- is actually off the mark. The regime of President Asif Ali Zardari has no incentive whatsoever to cooperate with India to ensure that the terrorists who were responsible for the Mumbai attacks are actually apprehended.
Pakistan has pursued a successful strategy of asymmetric warfare through jihadists since the outbreak of an ethno-religious insurgency in Kashmir in 1989. Part of Islamabad's strategy is to appear cooperative. After members of two jihadi groups, Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Lashkar-e-Taiba, attacked the Indian parliament on Dec. 13, 2001, for instance, then-President Pervez Musharraf nominally banned both entities. He placed their leaders under house arrest and had many of the terror groups' members arrested. On Jan. 12, 2002, he declared he would not allow Pakistani territory to be used for acts of terror.
Thanks to persistent American prodding, the two sides embarked on a peace process in 2004. The two sides agreed on a cease-fire along the Line of Control, the de facto international border in Kashmir, expanded people-to-people contacts and loosened travel restrictions.
Yet even in those times of apparent peace, Pakistan did not wholly abandon the jihadi option.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Fresh evidence unearthed Thursday by investigators in India indicated that the Mumbai attacks were stage-managed from at least two Pakistani cities by top leaders of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Indian and American intelligence officials have already identified a Lashkar operative, who goes by the name Yusuf Muzammil, as a mastermind of the attacks. On Thursday, Indian investigators named one of the most well-known senior figures in Lashkar, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. The names of both men came from the interrogations of the one surviving attacker, Muhammad Ajmal Kasab, 21, according to police officials in Mumbai. While Mr. Muzammil appears to have served as a control officer in Lahore, Pakistan, Mr. Lakhvi, his boss and the operational commander of Lashkar, worked from Karachi, a southern Pakistani port city, said investigators in Mumbai. It now appears that both men were in contact with their charges as they sailed to Mumbai from Karachi, and then continued guiding the attacks even as they unfolded, directing the assaults and possibly providing information about the police and military response in India.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Fresh evidence unearthed Thursday by investigators in India indicated that the Mumbai attacks were stage-managed from at least two Pakistani cities by top leaders of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Indian and American intelligence officials have already identified a Lashkar operative, who goes by the name Yusuf Muzammil, as a mastermind of the attacks. On Thursday, Indian investigators named one of the most well-known senior figures in Lashkar, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.
The names of both men came from the interrogations of the one surviving attacker, Muhammad Ajmal Kasab, 21, according to police officials in Mumbai.
While Mr. Muzammil appears to have served as a control officer in Lahore, Pakistan, Mr. Lakhvi, his boss and the operational commander of Lashkar, worked from Karachi, a southern Pakistani port city, said investigators in Mumbai.
It now appears that both men were in contact with their charges as they sailed to Mumbai from Karachi, and then continued guiding the attacks even as they unfolded, directing the assaults and possibly providing information about the police and military response in India.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has won a bid to suspend parliament, blocking an opposition attempt to topple his new government. The governor general agreed to Mr Harper's request, unprecedented in the country, after talks. If the request had been rejected, he would have had to step down or face a confidence vote he was sure to lose. Opposition parties had called the vote for Monday, accusing the government of failing to shore up the economy. Governor General Michaelle Jean agreed to prorogue - or suspend - parliament until 27 January when the government is set to present its budget. Ms Jean - the representative of head of state Queen Elizabeth - has the right to make a final decision on such matters.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has won a bid to suspend parliament, blocking an opposition attempt to topple his new government.
The governor general agreed to Mr Harper's request, unprecedented in the country, after talks.
If the request had been rejected, he would have had to step down or face a confidence vote he was sure to lose.
Opposition parties had called the vote for Monday, accusing the government of failing to shore up the economy.
Governor General Michaelle Jean agreed to prorogue - or suspend - parliament until 27 January when the government is set to present its budget.
Ms Jean - the representative of head of state Queen Elizabeth - has the right to make a final decision on such matters.
Power-sharing in Zimbabwe is dead and it is time for African governments to oust President Robert Mugabe, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said. His comments are some of the strongest by an African leader against Mr Mugabe, says the BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi. "It's time for African governments... to push him out of power," Mr Odinga said after talks with Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Power-sharing in Zimbabwe is dead and it is time for African governments to oust President Robert Mugabe, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said.
His comments are some of the strongest by an African leader against Mr Mugabe, says the BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi.
"It's time for African governments... to push him out of power," Mr Odinga said after talks with Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
BBC NEWS | Africa | Kenya PM calls for Mugabe removal
The BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi says the Kenyan prime minister had also held talks with Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa's governing African National Congress party. Mr Zuma has declared a new alliance between his party and the Kenyan leader, designed to elevate the Zimbabwe issue, she says. Mr Odinga said that if Mr Mugabe were isolated, he would have no choice but to quit. "I do believe strongly that if the leadership in South Africa took a firm stand and told Mugabe to quit he will have no choice but to do so," the Kenyan PM said. Mr Odinga was sure Mr Zuma, who is tipped to become president of South Africa next year, would have "no hesitation in taking that step".
The BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi says the Kenyan prime minister had also held talks with Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa's governing African National Congress party.
Mr Zuma has declared a new alliance between his party and the Kenyan leader, designed to elevate the Zimbabwe issue, she says.
Mr Odinga said that if Mr Mugabe were isolated, he would have no choice but to quit.
"I do believe strongly that if the leadership in South Africa took a firm stand and told Mugabe to quit he will have no choice but to do so," the Kenyan PM said.
Mr Odinga was sure Mr Zuma, who is tipped to become president of South Africa next year, would have "no hesitation in taking that step".
Six gunmen are reported to have been shot by Indian security forces at Delhi's main international airport, according to airport officials. Security had been strengthened at several Indian airports after warnings had been received of possible attacks.
Six gunmen are reported to have been shot by Indian security forces at Delhi's main international airport, according to airport officials.
Security had been strengthened at several Indian airports after warnings had been received of possible attacks.
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Security scare at Delhi's airport
The BBC initially quoted an incorrect claim from an airport worker that six people had been shot and killed at Indira Gandhi International Airport. But the Indian authorities have since denied that there was any shooting incident at the airport.
The BBC initially quoted an incorrect claim from an airport worker that six people had been shot and killed at Indira Gandhi International Airport.
But the Indian authorities have since denied that there was any shooting incident at the airport.
When the brain spends more time on technology-related tasks and less time exposed to other people, it drifts away from fundamental social skills like reading facial expressions during conversation, Small asserts. So brain circuits involved in face-to-face contact can become weaker, he suggests. That may lead to social awkwardness, an inability to interpret nonverbal messages, isolation and less interest in traditional classroom learning. Small says the effect is strongest in so-called digital natives -- people in their teens and 20s who have been "digitally hard-wired since toddlerhood."
So brain circuits involved in face-to-face contact can become weaker, he suggests. That may lead to social awkwardness, an inability to interpret nonverbal messages, isolation and less interest in traditional classroom learning.
Small says the effect is strongest in so-called digital natives -- people in their teens and 20s who have been "digitally hard-wired since toddlerhood."
Some research suggests the brain actually benefits from Internet use. A large study led by Mizuko Ito of the University of California, Irvine, recently concluded that by hanging out online with friends -- sending instant messages, for example -- teens learn valuable skills they'll need to use at work and socially in the digital age. That includes lessons about issues like online privacy and what's appropriate to post and communicate on the internet, Ito said.
A large study led by Mizuko Ito of the University of California, Irvine, recently concluded that by hanging out online with friends -- sending instant messages, for example -- teens learn valuable skills they'll need to use at work and socially in the digital age. That includes lessons about issues like online privacy and what's appropriate to post and communicate on the internet, Ito said.
Change is always bad. Well known fact.
TIJUANA, Mexico -- The sedated patient, his bullet wounds still fresh from a shootout the night before, was lying on a gurney in the intensive care unit of a prestigious private hospital here late last month with intravenous fluids dripping into his arm. Suddenly, steel-faced gunmen barged in and filled him with even more bullets. This time, he was dead for sure. Hit men pursuing rivals into intensive care units and emergency rooms. Shootouts in lobbies and corridors. Doctors kidnapped and held for ransom, or threatened with death if a wounded gunman dies under their care. With alarming speed, Mexico's violent drug war is finding its way into the seeming sanctuary of the nation's hospitals, shaking the health care system and leaving workers fearing for their lives while trying to save the lives of others.[...]An explosion of violence connected with Mexico's powerful drug cartels has left more than 5,000 people dead so far this year, nearly twice the figure from the year before, according to unofficial tallies by Mexican newspapers. The border region of the United States and Mexico, critical to the cartels' trafficking operation, has been the most violent turf of all, with 60 percent of all killings in the country last month occurring in the states of Chihuahua and Baja California, the government says. And it has raised fears that violence could spill across the border, because dozens of victims of drug violence have been treated at an El Paso hospital in the last year. The federal government argues that the rising death toll reflects President Felipe Calderón's aggressive stance toward the cartels, which has forced traffickers into a bitter war over the dwindling turf that remains.In fact, most of the deaths do appear to be the result of infighting among traffickers. But plenty of innocent people are dying too, and the spate of horrifying killings -- bodies are routinely decapitated or otherwise mutilated and left in public places with handwritten notes propped up nearby -- has left people from all walks of life worried that they might be next.
TIJUANA, Mexico -- The sedated patient, his bullet wounds still fresh from a shootout the night before, was lying on a gurney in the intensive care unit of a prestigious private hospital here late last month with intravenous fluids dripping into his arm. Suddenly, steel-faced gunmen barged in and filled him with even more bullets. This time, he was dead for sure.
Hit men pursuing rivals into intensive care units and emergency rooms. Shootouts in lobbies and corridors. Doctors kidnapped and held for ransom, or threatened with death if a wounded gunman dies under their care. With alarming speed, Mexico's violent drug war is finding its way into the seeming sanctuary of the nation's hospitals, shaking the health care system and leaving workers fearing for their lives while trying to save the lives of others.
[...]
An explosion of violence connected with Mexico's powerful drug cartels has left more than 5,000 people dead so far this year, nearly twice the figure from the year before, according to unofficial tallies by Mexican newspapers. The border region of the United States and Mexico, critical to the cartels' trafficking operation, has been the most violent turf of all, with 60 percent of all killings in the country last month occurring in the states of Chihuahua and Baja California, the government says. And it has raised fears that violence could spill across the border, because dozens of victims of drug violence have been treated at an El Paso hospital in the last year.
The federal government argues that the rising death toll reflects President Felipe Calderón's aggressive stance toward the cartels, which has forced traffickers into a bitter war over the dwindling turf that remains.
In fact, most of the deaths do appear to be the result of infighting among traffickers. But plenty of innocent people are dying too, and the spate of horrifying killings -- bodies are routinely decapitated or otherwise mutilated and left in public places with handwritten notes propped up nearby -- has left people from all walks of life worried that they might be next.
In another regulatory action in the waning days of the Bush administration, the Interior Department on Thursday unveiled a new rule that challenges Congress's authority to prevent mining planned on public lands. Congress has emergency power to stop mineral development, and has used it six times in the last 32 years. The most recent was in June, when it put a three-year moratorium on uranium mining on one million acres near the Grand Canyon. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has ignored that Congressional directive, saying it was procedurally flawed. The new rule issued by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management comes as environmental groups are suing the bureau in federal court for failing to obey Congress's directive, which under a 1976 law can be invoked when "an emergency situation exists and extraordinary measures must be taken to preserve values that would otherwise be lost." The revision of the rule eliminates all references to Congressional authority. The revision moved through the often-cumbersome rule-making process with lightning speed; it was proposed in October, and the public was given just 15 days to comment. The rule seems intended to speed a judicial confrontation on the constitutionality of the 1976 law, and to underscore the Interior Department's determination to leave public land near Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona open for mineral development.
In another regulatory action in the waning days of the Bush administration, the Interior Department on Thursday unveiled a new rule that challenges Congress's authority to prevent mining planned on public lands.
Congress has emergency power to stop mineral development, and has used it six times in the last 32 years. The most recent was in June, when it put a three-year moratorium on uranium mining on one million acres near the Grand Canyon. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has ignored that Congressional directive, saying it was procedurally flawed.
The new rule issued by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management comes as environmental groups are suing the bureau in federal court for failing to obey Congress's directive, which under a 1976 law can be invoked when "an emergency situation exists and extraordinary measures must be taken to preserve values that would otherwise be lost."
The revision of the rule eliminates all references to Congressional authority. The revision moved through the often-cumbersome rule-making process with lightning speed; it was proposed in October, and the public was given just 15 days to comment.
The rule seems intended to speed a judicial confrontation on the constitutionality of the 1976 law, and to underscore the Interior Department's determination to leave public land near Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona open for mineral development.
Words honestly fail me. The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
BOGOTA, Colombia -- The pied piper was a gangly, long-haired entrepreneur whose remarkable success story seemed to augur well for those who invested in his get-rich scheme. David Murcia, 28, had gone from being a traveling salesman making $130 a month to living in a luxury high-rise, driving a Ferrari and forging ties with government officials. Investigators now say Murcia ran a secretive, hydra-headed enterprise -- part pyramid scheme, part money-laundering business -- that provided investors with returns of up to 300 percent in just a few months. His company, DMG Group Holdings, along with 250 other pyramid schemes nationwide, attracted hundreds of thousands of working-class people starry-eyed with promises of an easy payday. But DMG and the others -- including the now-infamous DRFE, whose initials stood for "Fast Money, Easy Cash" -- soon collapsed, and Murcia and his associates are in jail. The attorney general's office said that perhaps as many as 4 million people in a country of 44 million lost money, an estimated $1 billion in four hard-hit southern states alone. The ensuing scandal has riveted this country, shaken the economy and damaged the so-called Teflon president -- Álvaro Uribe -- like nothing before. A weekend poll on Uribe's governance showed that 77 percent of Colombians surveyed in the country's south believe that things are going badly, and support for his reelection bid is wavering.
BOGOTA, Colombia -- The pied piper was a gangly, long-haired entrepreneur whose remarkable success story seemed to augur well for those who invested in his get-rich scheme. David Murcia, 28, had gone from being a traveling salesman making $130 a month to living in a luxury high-rise, driving a Ferrari and forging ties with government officials.
Investigators now say Murcia ran a secretive, hydra-headed enterprise -- part pyramid scheme, part money-laundering business -- that provided investors with returns of up to 300 percent in just a few months. His company, DMG Group Holdings, along with 250 other pyramid schemes nationwide, attracted hundreds of thousands of working-class people starry-eyed with promises of an easy payday.
But DMG and the others -- including the now-infamous DRFE, whose initials stood for "Fast Money, Easy Cash" -- soon collapsed, and Murcia and his associates are in jail. The attorney general's office said that perhaps as many as 4 million people in a country of 44 million lost money, an estimated $1 billion in four hard-hit southern states alone.
The ensuing scandal has riveted this country, shaken the economy and damaged the so-called Teflon president -- Álvaro Uribe -- like nothing before. A weekend poll on Uribe's governance showed that 77 percent of Colombians surveyed in the country's south believe that things are going badly, and support for his reelection bid is wavering.
