Israeli forces yesterday pounded dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip and dropped leaflets warning of an escalation in attacks, as southern Israel came under renewed Palestinian rocket fire. Last night, as flames and smoke rose over Gaza City, speculation grew that Israel was about to launch the so-called third stage of its offensive: the forcible entry into Gaza City by thousands of troops.

In response, Hamas said that the Gaza offensive had "killed the last chance for settlement and negotiation with Israel". Earlier yesterday, Israeli aircraft attacked more than 40 targets throughout Gaza, striking 10 rocket-launching sites, weapons-storage facilities, smuggling tunnels, an anti-aircraft missile launcher and gunmen. And civilians.

As they took their leave of the Saudi Arabian supertanker, they were "full of joy" at having pulled off the biggest coup in Somalian piracy.

After sailing hundreds of miles from their pirate base, they had seized a ship the size of an aircraft carrier carrying $100m of crude oil, faced down an international fleet for two months and extracted a reported $3m ransom for the release of the Sirius Star and its crew, including two Brits.

But yesterday came the news that some of the dozens of pirates involved had, in the words of one victim, "got their comeuppance". As they celebrated the success of the audacious operation, one heavily laden boat capsized and six of the 14 on board drowned.

At least in this great country of theirs (as they like to call it) the inauguration of a president is relatively swift, because we know how interminable everything else about the process is: the primaries, the election campaign, the transition.

And for some of those enjoying the pomp, circumstance and traffic that will engulf Washington DC on 20 January, the moments of real thrill will be briefer still. It may be the instant Barack Obama is sworn in, his hand on the same Bible used at the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, or when he utters that one line in his speech from the steps of the Capitol that all of our grandchildren may or may not always remember.

Near the old civil-war front line in the centre of Beirut stands a large digital clock with blood-red numbers. It has almost reached the neat, round figure of 1,500 and represents the days since Rafiq Hariri was murdered. You still hear people in Lebanon asking for "haqiqa" - "the truth"; my driver Abed even has a slim, black sticker tied to the mirror of our car with the word in Arabic script. The trouble is that as that figure on the digital clock goes on climbing, a lot of Lebanese are beginning to doubt they will ever know who murdered the billionaire and former prime minister - along with 21 others - on the Beirut Corniche on 14 February 2005. This St Valentine's Day massacre was caused by an estimated 1,700kg of explosives, but despite a massive United Nations inquiry involving Irish police officers, judges from Germany, Belgium and Canada, and the setting up of an entire tribunal headquarters in The Hague, no one has been charged.

A Royal Marine was killed by an explosion today in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said.

The Marine, from UK Landing Force Command Support Group (UKLF CSG), operating as part of 45 Commando Royal Marines, was killed in the Kajaki area, a spokeswoman said. Next of kin have been informed.

JAKARTA, Jan 11 (Reuters ) - An Indonesian ferry carrying 250 passengers capsized and sank after being battered by a large wave in storms in the country's east on Sunday, officials said, adding bad weather and nightfall made rescue efforts difficult.

Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry's crisis center, said six deaths had been confirmed in the accident, which occurred early on Sunday morning.

Eighteen people including one of the crew had been rescued, said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the Transport Ministry.

"We still don't know the fate of the missing people, whether they had lifejackets on when the ship was hit, and it happened at dawn so most people were probably asleep," Ervan said.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian special forces have killed a Taliban commander involved in recruiting suicide bombers and foreign fighters in Afghanistan, Australia's Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

The Taliban launched scores of suicide bombings across Afghanistan last year, mostly aimed at the 65,000 foreign troops in the country as well as Afghan forces. Most of the victims of the attacks are civilian passers-by, security experts say.

Mullah Abdul Rasheed was a "primary" facilitator of attacks using improvised bombs against foreign forces in the southern province of Uruzgan, the ministry said in a statement.

Barack Obama will mark a radical break in American foreign policy this week by unveiling a team of diplomats tasked with ushering in a new era of dialogue with enemies abroad.

As Hillary Clinton prepares for Senate confirmation hearings this week, she will head a group of advisers who are virtual opposites to the appointees made by President George W Bush. While Bush favoured aggressive neoconservative ideologues, Obama has selected people whose doveish credentials seem impeccable.

They will be responsible for reversing the political unilateralism of the Bush years and opening direct negotiations with hostile states, potentially ranging from Syria to Cuba and Venezuela and maybe including Iran and even Islamic militant group Hamas.

The Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army went on full alert Sunday, Jan. 11, after unknown gunmen in Syria opened fire on a group of Israeli military engineers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

According to an eyewitness in the Bekaa Valley, Hezbollah militants were seen taking their positions in the mountainous Knessineh area overlooking the Israeli-Lebanese border shortly after the Golan incident took place.

 

However, no one was hurt and it was not immediately clear who was responsible, an Israeli military spokesman said.

Foreigners in Sudan could be targeted by "outlaws" if the International Criminal Court pursues a case against Sudan's president, a top official says.

The ICC is widely expected to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir on charges that he masterminded a genocide in Darfur.

It is the most specific warning yet that foreigners could bear the brunt of public anger if a warrant is issued.

Diplomatic efforts by Khartoum to get the case deferred have so far failed.

Rescuers are intensifying their searches in highland areas of central Costa Rica after a powerful earthquake that left at least 19 people dead.

The 6.1-magnitude quake on Thursday at Poas Volcano National Park north of the capital, San Jose, caused landslides to block roads and damage buildings.

Red Cross officials now say 19 people have died, with others still believed to buried by landslides.

At least 40 people are still missing, and hundreds have sought refuge.

Temporary shelters have been set up in the region for those affected by the quake.

Officials have warned that the number of dead and injured is likely to rise as rescuers reach remote areas.

Votes have been held in Thailand for 29 parliamentary seats, seen as the first test of support for the new coalition government of PM Abhisit Vejjajiva.

His Democrat Party-led coalition came to power in December and only has a narrow majority in parliament.

The previous leadership was forced out by a court ruling and months of anti-government protests.

The court ruling also banned 29 MPs from politics, triggering by-elections across 22 states.

The previous governing party, allied to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is hoping to pick up enough seats to weaken the new government's hold on power.

Officials from China's southern Guangdong province are reported to have gambled away more than $3m (£2m) of public money in recent years.

Chinese media reports said more than 50 officials had been investigated and six had been jailed or punished.

The officials lost the money gambling at casinos in Macau, on cruise ships off Hong Kong, and betting on football matches, reports said.

President Hu Jintao has said battling corruption is a key priority.

The Indian government has appointed three leading businessmen to the board of scandal-hit software firm Satyam.

This comes two days after Delhi sacked the entire board of Satyam, a private company, as its founder and former chairman was arrested.

Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama, also a former Satyam director, were arrested on charges including criminal conspiracy and forgery.

Mr Raju admitted last week that the firm had been falsifying its accounts.

He said the company had exaggerated its cash reserves by some $1bn (£661m).

The affair is India's biggest-ever corporate fraud.

Alexander Nevsky, best-known for stopping the advance of the Swedes and Teutonic Knights into Russia in the 13th century, narrowly defeated 20th-century reformer and tsarist Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin in the "Face of Russia," a controversial seven-month contest on state-run Rossia television.

Nevsky, the prince of Novgorod and Kiev and grand prince of Vladimir, tallied 524,575 votes in the contest. He edged out Stolypin -- generally better known for having been murdered by a Russian terrorist than for his unfinished reforms -- who finished with 523,766 votes, cast by Internet and telephone. The contest is the Russian equivalent of the BBC program "Great Britons."

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin finished third, with 519,671 votes, while poet Alexander Pushkin finished fourth.

A total of more than 50 million votes were cast. ...

President-elect Barack Obama on Sunday promised to focus on Middle East peace from the start of his administration and to treat Iran with "respect" as he set out his foreign policy thinking in greater detail than before. But, in remarks that may prove disappointing to some of his supporters, he also warned that it would be a "challenge" to close the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay within 100 days of taking office.

In an interview with ABC News, broadcast on Sunday, Mr Obama steered clear of detailed comments on the fighting in the Gaza Strip, although in a response to a question about Israel's response to missile attacks by Hamas he emphasised the "basic principle" of a country's obligation to protect its citizens.

He signalled that he would not wait as long on the issue as either President George W Bush or former President Bill Clinton - each of whom hoped to seal an Israeli-Palestinian deal during their last year in office - and that it was important to avoid being seen as favouring one or other of the two sides.

January 2, 2009 (WASHINGTON) -- A privately held U.S. investment firm entered into an agricultural investment with a company controlled by the son of a South Sudanese general.

Jarch Management Group, Ltd, which is registered in the Virgin Islands, is managed by commodities traders and former State Department and Central Intelligence Agency officials, among others.

The investment group announced that it has purchased a 70% interest, by way of sub-participation, in a company incorporated in Juba, the capital of the autonomous region of Southern Sudan. This company, Leac for Agriculture and Investment Company Limited, is controlled by Gabriel Matip, the eldest son of General Paulino Matip Nhial, deputy commander-in-chief of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).

In addition, Jarch has leased a large tract of farmland in Mayom county of Unity State.

"Jarch has leased approximately 400,000 hectares gross of prime farmland from General Paulino Matip. In addition, Jarch will acquire more farm land within Southern Sudan," said a statement issued by the investment group.

The statement also noted that Mayom county, where the farmland was leased, contains some mineral resources, for which contracts will be executed by the Government of Southern Sudan in early 2009.

[...]

The privately-held firm operates in Africa to extract natural resources. The company is chaired by Philippe Heilberg, who during the 1990s worked in the commodities division of American International Group, a giant American financial company that nearly collapsed in 2008.

US and European banking chiefs will converge on Basel on Saturday for a behind-the-scenes meeting with central bankers and regulators to discuss the post-crisis regulatory framework.

The gathering, hosted by the Bank for International Settlements, is expected to see the attendance of such as Morgan Stanley's chief executive John Mack, Citigroup's chairman Sir Win Bischoff and Crédit Suisse's chief Brady Dougan. Other leading European institutions, including UBS and Deutsche Bank, are expected to be represented.

The presence of heavy hitters underlines the financial industry's desire to shape the regulatory framework that will govern the sector once the current turmoil abates. "It is important to be at the negotiating table well before decisions are made. We need to make our voice heard," a senior Wall Street executive said.

While most bank executives acknowledge the need for tougher regulations, many fear their capital requirements will be increased at a time when they are still grappling with the financial crisis and subsequent downturn in the global economy.

In an appropriate answer to Israel's current implementation of that threat, Norway's biggest newspaper VG on January 8 printed this cartoon which would be an awful car sticker (via annie in comments and Daily Norway).