GORI, Georgia: As Russia said its military pullback from Georgia had been completed, though it still held several key areas of the country, the Georgian government began over the weekend to prepare cities and villages in the conflict areas for the return of thousands of refugees. Large columns of Georgian police special forces were visible in and around the city of Gori. The officers said they had arrived to provide security for returning residents. Georgian Army units also appeared in Gori for the first time since they retreated under heavy Russian bombardment two weeks ago. They were lightly equipped - most had only their rifles and pistols and rode in pickups and personal cars - and arrived at a base that had been ransacked.
GORI, Georgia: As Russia said its military pullback from Georgia had been completed, though it still held several key areas of the country, the Georgian government began over the weekend to prepare cities and villages in the conflict areas for the return of thousands of refugees.
Large columns of Georgian police special forces were visible in and around the city of Gori. The officers said they had arrived to provide security for returning residents.
Georgian Army units also appeared in Gori for the first time since they retreated under heavy Russian bombardment two weeks ago. They were lightly equipped - most had only their rifles and pistols and rode in pickups and personal cars - and arrived at a base that had been ransacked.
President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia said Sunday that he planned to rebuild his country's shattered army, and that even after its decisive defeat in the war for control of one of Georgia's two separatist enclaves he would continue to pursue a policy of uniting both under the Georgian flag. "It will stay the same," he said of his ambition to bring the enclaves, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, under Georgian control. "Now as ever."
"It will stay the same," he said of his ambition to bring the enclaves, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, under Georgian control. "Now as ever."
Any bets on his getting lots of directorships when he retires?
Russia's upper chamber of parliament has unanimously voted to ask the Russian President to recognise independence of Abkazia and South Ossetia. As the emergency session of the Federation Council began in Moscow, the presidents of the two breakaway republics have once again said they will never agree to remain within Georgia. In his speech, the President of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, said that both unrecognised states have more right to independence than Kosovo. "As President of South Ossetia and on behalf of the South Ossetian parliament and its people, with all gratitude to the President of the Russian Federation I once again call for the recognition of South Ossetia as an independent state," he said before the senators. Abkhazian President Sergey Bagapsh, for his part, said neither Abkhazia nor South Ossetia will live as one state with Georgia.
As the emergency session of the Federation Council began in Moscow, the presidents of the two breakaway republics have once again said they will never agree to remain within Georgia. In his speech, the President of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, said that both unrecognised states have more right to independence than Kosovo. "As President of South Ossetia and on behalf of the South Ossetian parliament and its people, with all gratitude to the President of the Russian Federation I once again call for the recognition of South Ossetia as an independent state," he said before the senators. Abkhazian President Sergey Bagapsh, for his part, said neither Abkhazia nor South Ossetia will live as one state with Georgia.
Pakistan's governing coalition is on the verge of collapse less than a week after the partners successfully forced out the country's former army chief and president, Pervez Musharraf. The Pakistan Muslim League (N) will meet Monday to decide whether to abandon support for the Pakistan People's Party, the coalition's senior partner, according to a spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League, Ahsan Iqbal. Mr. Iqbal says the Pakistan People's Party has "unilaterally" taken recent decisions, casting a pall over a political partnership formed after February's parliamentary elections. The coalition's two main parties have split sharply over the restoration of judges that Mr. Musharraf had ousted, as well as who his successor should be. "In a way, they are trying to drive us out of the coalition," said Mr. Iqbal in a telephone interview. "It seems they've made up their minds they want to do it themselves."
Pakistan's governing coalition is on the verge of collapse less than a week after the partners successfully forced out the country's former army chief and president, Pervez Musharraf.
The Pakistan Muslim League (N) will meet Monday to decide whether to abandon support for the Pakistan People's Party, the coalition's senior partner, according to a spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League, Ahsan Iqbal. Mr. Iqbal says the Pakistan People's Party has "unilaterally" taken recent decisions, casting a pall over a political partnership formed after February's parliamentary elections. The coalition's two main parties have split sharply over the restoration of judges that Mr. Musharraf had ousted, as well as who his successor should be.
"In a way, they are trying to drive us out of the coalition," said Mr. Iqbal in a telephone interview. "It seems they've made up their minds they want to do it themselves."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has sacked two senior military commanders over an air strike two days ago that he said killed 89 civilians. The president had previously criticised US forces for "unilateral operations" over the strike in the Afghan west. But he later appeared to suggest Afghan forces were partly to blame, ordering the removal of a general and a major. The US originally said its strike had killed 30 militants. It is looking into the claims of many civilian deaths.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has sacked two senior military commanders over an air strike two days ago that he said killed 89 civilians.
The president had previously criticised US forces for "unilateral operations" over the strike in the Afghan west.
But he later appeared to suggest Afghan forces were partly to blame, ordering the removal of a general and a major.
The US originally said its strike had killed 30 militants. It is looking into the claims of many civilian deaths.
Yet another policy failure due to political stupidity. keep to the Fen Causeway
Karzai's crew eat their own. keep to the Fen Causeway
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice returns to the Middle East on Monday in another effort to bridge gaps holding up an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal that Washington says could still be achieved this year. Few analysts believe Rice, who plans talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and negotiators from both sides, can secure a major breakthrough that would set Palestinians on a fast track to statehood.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice returns to the Middle East on Monday in another effort to bridge gaps holding up an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal that Washington says could still be achieved this year.
Few analysts believe Rice, who plans talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and negotiators from both sides, can secure a major breakthrough that would set Palestinians on a fast track to statehood.
Better late than never? No. Whatever their plans were, they are too late.
Yet again, they botched it, and whatever they are trying to do, the opposite will occur. Unfortunately, there are too many opposites available in a multi-dimensional universe.
My prediction is that the opportunity for a two state solution is dead. It will be one big country and the Israelis are now fighting the horrible feeling of being hoisted by one's own petard.
Further prediction: Israelistine. Capital, Jerusalem. Population: 58% non-Jewish by June, 2010. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
As for a single state, do you seriously think the likud are ever going to accept palestinians in the knesset ? that's another war.
Israel believes it can continue with this national security apartheid state forever. They have for the last 30 years, indeed much of the national mythology is built around that situation continuing. And with the USA totally beholden to supporting it, I doubt any politicians in the knesset sees any reason to change. keep to the Fen Causeway
The Israelis have the firepower, but I think that there is momentum building against the continued use of it...and the mentality of it. There is no denying that a large number of the population have been very trapped by their own propaganda, by the myth of Never Again.
But the movement is rising that Never Again means neither be The Effect or The Cause of the horrors.
And, the US is bankrupt. The time is coming when the rest of the world will trade other country's paper and no longer prop up the debt that supports the 100s of military bases and billions to Israel.
Negros in the Congress of the US? An integrated US Military only happened 50-some years ago. Palestinians in the Knesset? Notwithstanding that there have long been members of Israel's Arab population in the Knesset, I know what you mean and I agree that it is unbelievable. But the US is going to elect another person of Irish blood. And we used to be lower than dogs. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
They are encased in fear, shrouded by it. Their only recourse is to lash out at anyone or anything that threatens it. the only solution to threat is force and repression. It's the only language the untermenschen understand.
"Never again" has come to mean "let us do it instead", yet they cannot recognise this. Palestinians are just a "dehumanised other" that cannot be reasoned with, bargained with, negotiated with. Simply bombed and shot if they fail to comply with their imprisonment. To even suggest such a thing would be treaonable, remember Rabin was assasinated for even suggesting a resolution with the palestinians.
I fear for Israel. The rhetoric, if not checked, will lead, obviously not to Death camps, but a slow attrition of the land available to Palestinians until they have nowhere to go but the desert, to die as the Armenians did under the Ottomans. Abandoned without water; not murdered, but still conveniently dead. keep to the Fen Causeway
I fear for Israel, you say. Yet it is the Armenians who died. And the Ottoman empire is no more. (Wasn't much by then either.)
Will that be the demise of Israel, you insinuate? Or will they just go on, not unlike Andrew Jackson after the long march orders? Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
Many banks and companies are paying more to raise money in the bond markets than at any time since the recession in the early 1990s amid signs that the financial crisis is deepening.Spreads for US investment grade banks and companies rose to the highest level last week since the early 1990s, according to Lehman Brothers. Spreads measure the extra interest a company must pay above safe government bonds. This is known as the risk premium.One of the biggest concerns is the health of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the US government-sponsored enterprises that have run into trouble because of the US mortgage crisis. The mortgage financiers, which underpin the US housing market, paid the price for these worries when both were forced to pay record high risk premiums on dollar-denominated bonds this month.Other issuers forced to pay very high yields over government bonds this month include Citigroup, American Express, AIG and Deutsche Telekom. Jim Reid, a credit strategist at Deutsche Bank, said: "I think it is fair to say the crisis is deepening because people are very worried about the health of some financial institutions. Will more fail? The fact is if you mark to market some of the illiquid assets the banks hold at prices they could sell them in today's climate, it could make many of them insolvent."
Spreads for US investment grade banks and companies rose to the highest level last week since the early 1990s, according to Lehman Brothers. Spreads measure the extra interest a company must pay above safe government bonds. This is known as the risk premium.
One of the biggest concerns is the health of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the US government-sponsored enterprises that have run into trouble because of the US mortgage crisis. The mortgage financiers, which underpin the US housing market, paid the price for these worries when both were forced to pay record high risk premiums on dollar-denominated bonds this month.
Other issuers forced to pay very high yields over government bonds this month include Citigroup, American Express, AIG and Deutsche Telekom.
Jim Reid, a credit strategist at Deutsche Bank, said: "I think it is fair to say the crisis is deepening because people are very worried about the health of some financial institutions. Will more fail? The fact is if you mark to market some of the illiquid assets the banks hold at prices they could sell them in today's climate, it could make many of them insolvent."
In a replay of the last four months of 2007, interest-rate derivatives imply that banks are becoming more hesitant to lend on speculation credit losses will increase as the global economic slowdown deepens. Binit Patel, an economist in London at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said in an Aug. 21 report that nations accounting for half of the world's economy face a recession. The premium banks charge for lending short-term cash may approach the record levels set last year, based on trading in the forward markets, where financial instruments are sold for future delivery. Back then, concern about the health of the banking system led investors to shun all but the safest government debt, sparking the biggest end-of-year rally for Treasuries since 2000. ``These problems going into year-end are likely to be worse this time round because of the amount banks have to refinance in December,'' Thomson said, citing a figure of $88 billion. ``The suspicion is that banks are still hiding losses. The banking system relies on trust and at the minute there quite simply isn't any.''
The premium banks charge for lending short-term cash may approach the record levels set last year, based on trading in the forward markets, where financial instruments are sold for future delivery. Back then, concern about the health of the banking system led investors to shun all but the safest government debt, sparking the biggest end-of-year rally for Treasuries since 2000.
``These problems going into year-end are likely to be worse this time round because of the amount banks have to refinance in December,'' Thomson said, citing a figure of $88 billion. ``The suspicion is that banks are still hiding losses. The banking system relies on trust and at the minute there quite simply isn't any.''
The Bush administration is set to put a high-profile nuclear deal with Russia on hold, according to US diplomats. Officials expect Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, to recommend that George W. Bush, president, recall the civil nuclear co-operation agreement from Congress in the wake of Russia's conflict with Georgia."At this point, it's dead," a congressional staffer said. The deal would be one of the most visible victims so far of tensions between Washington and Moscow, which have risen to levels rarely seen since the end of the cold war. US officials have warned Russia it faces "consequences" for its conduct in Georgia and they increasingly write off Russia's hopes of joining the World Trade Organisation.
Officials expect Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, to recommend that George W. Bush, president, recall the civil nuclear co-operation agreement from Congress in the wake of Russia's conflict with Georgia.
"At this point, it's dead," a congressional staffer said.
The deal would be one of the most visible victims so far of tensions between Washington and Moscow, which have risen to levels rarely seen since the end of the cold war. US officials have warned Russia it faces "consequences" for its conduct in Georgia and they increasingly write off Russia's hopes of joining the World Trade Organisation.
The deal would be one of the most visible victims so far of tensions between Washington and Moscow, which have risen to levels rarely seen since the end of the cold war.
I have so much confusing in my mind. Looking for tensions reasons for Washington. Did Moscow turn down their offer for sending doctors to help with the Russian peacekeepers wounded and dying? Perhaps while in Beijing together, Bush promised Putin that he would like to march into battle together and Putin said he didn't want it botched up, then kept calling Bush Georgia. I suppose that would make tension.
Or perhaps Blackwater had some bible-thumping trainers still in country and the only pictures they could send Bush of the turmoil was those of them getting their asses kicked. Perhaps that is why Stratfor had people reporting back the minute the skirmishes began.
Bush was playing Uno while Putin was playing 3 dimensional chess. Tough break George...ia. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
Following one of the most violent weeks in Algeria for years, speculation is likely to intensify about the strength of an Islamist group linked to al-Qaeda and the security forces' ability to counter militants that have been using increasingly sophisticated and deadly means of attack.Although no group has claimed responsibility for either the suicide car bomb attack on a police academy on Tuesday or the two car bombings the following day - that time remotely detonated - the killings bore the hallmarks of a group calling itself al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).More than 50 people were killed in the attacks, taking the death toll for the month above 70. The bombings took place east of Algiers, in a region that is a stronghold of the group.
Although no group has claimed responsibility for either the suicide car bomb attack on a police academy on Tuesday or the two car bombings the following day - that time remotely detonated - the killings bore the hallmarks of a group calling itself al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
More than 50 people were killed in the attacks, taking the death toll for the month above 70. The bombings took place east of Algiers, in a region that is a stronghold of the group.
The cost to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae of raising capital is getting more prohibitive by the day, making it likely that the government will have to inject cash into the largest U.S. mortgage finance companies. Declines in the common stocks of the government-chartered companies accelerated last week to more than 90 percent for the year and yields on their preferred shares more than doubled on speculation Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson may need to bail them out, reducing or wiping out the value of the securities. McLean, Virginia-based Freddie fell 52 percent last week to $2.81 on the New York Stock Exchange and Fannie of Washington dropped 37 percent to $5. Their preferred shares are trading as low as 19 cents on the dollar on speculation their dividends may be suspended.
Declines in the common stocks of the government-chartered companies accelerated last week to more than 90 percent for the year and yields on their preferred shares more than doubled on speculation Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson may need to bail them out, reducing or wiping out the value of the securities.
McLean, Virginia-based Freddie fell 52 percent last week to $2.81 on the New York Stock Exchange and Fannie of Washington dropped 37 percent to $5. Their preferred shares are trading as low as 19 cents on the dollar on speculation their dividends may be suspended.
Long before the mortgage crisis began rocking Main Street and Wall Street, a top FBI official made a chilling, if little-noticed, prediction: The booming mortgage business, fueled by low interest rates and soaring home values, was starting to attract shady operators and billions in losses were possible. "It has the potential to be an epidemic," Chris Swecker, the FBI official in charge of criminal investigations, told reporters in September 2004.But sources familiar with the FBI budget process, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the growing fraud problem, say that he and other FBI criminal investigators sought additional assistance to take on the mortgage scoundrels. They ended up with fewer resources, rather than more. In 2007, the number of agents pursuing mortgage fraud shrank to around 100. By comparison, the FBI had about 1,000 agents deployed on banking fraud during the S&L bust of the 1980s and '90s, said Anthony Adamski, who oversaw financial crime investigations for the FBI at the time.
Long before the mortgage crisis began rocking Main Street and Wall Street, a top FBI official made a chilling, if little-noticed, prediction: The booming mortgage business, fueled by low interest rates and soaring home values, was starting to attract shady operators and billions in losses were possible.
Because too many people had an interest in not noticing it. Just remember how it was two years later, when the hard data on the bubble coming to an end was already available: denial was still unanimous.
In 2007, the number of agents pursuing mortgage fraud shrank to around 100. By comparison, the FBI had about 1,000 agents deployed on banking fraud during the S&L bust of the 1980s and '90s, said Anthony Adamski, who oversaw financial crime investigations for the FBI at the time.
Neo-liberalism in action. Money rules. If you have more it means you're a better person. The onlyexception is if you get caught getting rich illegally - thus the easy solution to eliminate those that could catch you. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
More than a year into the credit crisis, the world's top central bankers admit they are still in the dark as to what its ultimate impact on the global economy will be. By the same token they are unsure to what extent weakening growth will help to ease high inflation."There is enormous uncertainty about where we stand at the moment," Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel, said at the close of the Federal Reserve's annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.Mr Fischer told central bankers from 43 nations "we are in the midst of the worst financial crisis since World War II". But it was still not clear how big an event it would turn out to be.So far, he said, "in real economy terms we are not looking at anything exceptional". But the crisis was entering a "second round" in which economic and financial weakness could feed on each other.
"There is enormous uncertainty about where we stand at the moment," Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel, said at the close of the Federal Reserve's annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Mr Fischer told central bankers from 43 nations "we are in the midst of the worst financial crisis since World War II". But it was still not clear how big an event it would turn out to be.
So far, he said, "in real economy terms we are not looking at anything exceptional". But the crisis was entering a "second round" in which economic and financial weakness could feed on each other.
Two Zimbabwean MPs have been arrested, as they were due to be sworn in five months after disputed elections, an opposition spokesman says. They were detained as they entered parliament, said Nelson Chamisa. He said the police wanted to arrest 15 MPs, to ensure the ruling party wins the vote for the speaker of parliament.
They were detained as they entered parliament, said Nelson Chamisa.
He said the police wanted to arrest 15 MPs, to ensure the ruling party wins the vote for the speaker of parliament.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says his PML-N party is pulling out of the country's multi-party governing coalition. He has been in dispute with the country's biggest party, the PPP, over who should be the next president. The two sides also disagree on the reinstatement of judges sacked by former President Pervez Musharraf. The move throws Pakistan into further turmoil in a time of economic gloom and growing threats from militants.
He has been in dispute with the country's biggest party, the PPP, over who should be the next president.
The two sides also disagree on the reinstatement of judges sacked by former President Pervez Musharraf.
The move throws Pakistan into further turmoil in a time of economic gloom and growing threats from militants.
