On August 15 Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the Russian Federation of having used cluster bombs in the conflict with Georgia. These accusations were widely repeated in the 'western' media. The Russian Federation consistently denied any use of cluster ammunition. As it now turns out the repeated HRW accusations were wrong. The 'evidence' provided by HRW was based on pictures and misidentified ammunition in those. The ammunition in question is of Israeli origin and was used by the Georgian military. The Georgian Ministry of Defense has now admitted as much. HRW now also acknowledges this in a new press statement. But it continues to claim Russian use of such weapons. It does so by pointing to its own older reports which clearly misidentified Georgian cluster ammunition as Russian made. HRW has still to show any proof for its continuing accusations against the Russian Federation.
On August 15 Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the Russian Federation of having used cluster bombs in the conflict with Georgia. These accusations were widely repeated in the 'western' media. The Russian Federation consistently denied any use of cluster ammunition. As it now turns out the repeated HRW accusations were wrong. The 'evidence' provided by HRW was based on pictures and misidentified ammunition in those.
The ammunition in question is of Israeli origin and was used by the Georgian military. The Georgian Ministry of Defense has now admitted as much. HRW now also acknowledges this in a new press statement. But it continues to claim Russian use of such weapons. It does so by pointing to its own older reports which clearly misidentified Georgian cluster ammunition as Russian made. HRW has still to show any proof for its continuing accusations against the Russian Federation.
Bangkok was braced for another night of unrest tonight despite the declaration of a state of emergency after one man was shot dead and scores were injured in street battles between supporters and opponents of the Thai prime minister, Samak Sundaravej. The emergency decree came at the climax of a week of increasing instability in the Thai capital where opponents of Mr Samak are trying to force him from power. But the commander of the army insisted that he would not use force to remove thousands of demonstrators who have taken over the prime minister's compound in a brazen display of anti-government disobedience. The Foreign Office warned British travellers to Thailand of likely disruption at airports and on railways, as trades unions promised to strike today in solidarity with the protesters
Bangkok was braced for another night of unrest tonight despite the declaration of a state of emergency after one man was shot dead and scores were injured in street battles between supporters and opponents of the Thai prime minister, Samak Sundaravej.
The emergency decree came at the climax of a week of increasing instability in the Thai capital where opponents of Mr Samak are trying to force him from power. But the commander of the army insisted that he would not use force to remove thousands of demonstrators who have taken over the prime minister's compound in a brazen display of anti-government disobedience.
The Foreign Office warned British travellers to Thailand of likely disruption at airports and on railways, as trades unions promised to strike today in solidarity with the protesters
Protests in Bangkok are dominated by the baleful influence of the ex-PM, now holed up in Surrey When the first fatality occurred in the clashes between rival "pro-democratic" forces in Bangkok early yesterday morning, people were shocked but not exactly surprised. Pressure had been building for more than three months, as yellow-shirted protesters styling themselves as the People's Alliance for Democracy appropriated royalist colours and nationalist language to oppose the government of prime minister Samak Sundaravej and his People Power Party (PPP). Late last year, Samak proclaimed himself a nominee of the party's mentor and financier, the former PM and now ex-Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra. Although he was ousted in a military coup in 2006, Thaksin's five-year premiership has cast a long shadow over Thai politics. As the first recent PM to threaten the symbolic dominance of the monarchy, he remains a controversial figure. He was supported initially by two main groups: elements of the middle class and the business community, many of Sino-Thai descent; and rural voters from the populous north and northeast. Both groups, who were exasperated by the bureaucratic and military establishment, saw in the billionaire telecoms tycoon someone who could restore national pride after the 1997 Asian economic crisis. A former policeman fond of swift action and populist mobilisation, Thaksin threatened the core elite - monarchists who occupy key formal and informal positions in the country.
When the first fatality occurred in the clashes between rival "pro-democratic" forces in Bangkok early yesterday morning, people were shocked but not exactly surprised. Pressure had been building for more than three months, as yellow-shirted protesters styling themselves as the People's Alliance for Democracy appropriated royalist colours and nationalist language to oppose the government of prime minister Samak Sundaravej and his People Power Party (PPP). Late last year, Samak proclaimed himself a nominee of the party's mentor and financier, the former PM and now ex-Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra.
Although he was ousted in a military coup in 2006, Thaksin's five-year premiership has cast a long shadow over Thai politics. As the first recent PM to threaten the symbolic dominance of the monarchy, he remains a controversial figure. He was supported initially by two main groups: elements of the middle class and the business community, many of Sino-Thai descent; and rural voters from the populous north and northeast. Both groups, who were exasperated by the bureaucratic and military establishment, saw in the billionaire telecoms tycoon someone who could restore national pride after the 1997 Asian economic crisis. A former policeman fond of swift action and populist mobilisation, Thaksin threatened the core elite - monarchists who occupy key formal and informal positions in the country.
The book [...] suggestsHe could ultimately face 1992-style protests that would make his premiership completely untenable. Such protests could occur if Thaksin becomes profoundly alienated from the urban electorate, who are numerically small but of immense political significance. This is the most dangerous of the four scenarios, in which the possibility of serious violence would be extremely real
He could ultimately face 1992-style protests that would make his premiership completely untenable. Such protests could occur if Thaksin becomes profoundly alienated from the urban electorate, who are numerically small but of immense political significance. This is the most dangerous of the four scenarios, in which the possibility of serious violence would be extremely real
SAHARSA DISTRICT, India (AP) - Hungry villagers rioted, desperate families swam for their lives and chaos spread across a wide swath of flooded plains in northern India Tuesday as authorities mounted one of the country's largest relief efforts. Soldiers and aid workers scrambled to reach hundreds of thousands of people still stranded on rooftops, trees and specks of dry land more than two weeks after monsoon rains caused the Kosi River to burst its banks and turn hundreds of square miles of Bihar state into a giant lake. The road linking Saharia village to the rest of the hard-hit Saharsa district washed away Monday. Those who could braved the fast-flowing, neck-deep water, carrying bicycles above their heads and bags of clothes on their shoulders. Some swam out into the stream, dragging frightened cattle after them. ``The water came on Saturday, and since then no government officials have come to us,'' said Ram Bachan Rai, 60, a Saharia resident.
SAHARSA DISTRICT, India (AP) - Hungry villagers rioted, desperate families swam for their lives and chaos spread across a wide swath of flooded plains in northern India Tuesday as authorities mounted one of the country's largest relief efforts.
Soldiers and aid workers scrambled to reach hundreds of thousands of people still stranded on rooftops, trees and specks of dry land more than two weeks after monsoon rains caused the Kosi River to burst its banks and turn hundreds of square miles of Bihar state into a giant lake.
The road linking Saharia village to the rest of the hard-hit Saharsa district washed away Monday. Those who could braved the fast-flowing, neck-deep water, carrying bicycles above their heads and bags of clothes on their shoulders. Some swam out into the stream, dragging frightened cattle after them.
``The water came on Saturday, and since then no government officials have come to us,'' said Ram Bachan Rai, 60, a Saharia resident.
WASHINGTON: Amid rising tensions over Georgia, US officials are increasingly concerned that Russia is moving to rebuild one of the most dangerous features of the old Soviet Union's security structure - its alliance with Cuba.Moscow has been signalling it wants to restore a relationship with Havana that included not only economic ties, but military and intelligence co-operation.The relationship brought the world to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when Russia secretly installed nuclear missiles on the island. It ended when a weakened, post-Soviet Russia finally closed a massive electronic intelligence complex in Lourdes near Havana in 2001.Russia "has strategic ties to Cuba again, or, at least, that's where they're going," a senior US official said recently.
WASHINGTON: Amid rising tensions over Georgia, US officials are increasingly concerned that Russia is moving to rebuild one of the most dangerous features of the old Soviet Union's security structure - its alliance with Cuba.
Moscow has been signalling it wants to restore a relationship with Havana that included not only economic ties, but military and intelligence co-operation.
The relationship brought the world to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when Russia secretly installed nuclear missiles on the island. It ended when a weakened, post-Soviet Russia finally closed a massive electronic intelligence complex in Lourdes near Havana in 2001.
Russia "has strategic ties to Cuba again, or, at least, that's where they're going," a senior US official said recently.
I give this one a better-than 50% truth probability:
McCain Speechwriter Trying To Write Lines That Don't Lead To Creepy Smile | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
PHOENIX, AZ--According to campaign sources, Joseph Chappel, a 38-year-old speechwriter for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), has spent the last two weeks attempting to combine words and phrases in such a way as to not provoke a tight-jawed, dead-eyed smile from the presidential hopeful. Dreading a repeat of last month's speech to a group of businesswomen in Ohio, during which McCain followed a mention of his wife with an awkward and eerie smirk, Chappel has avoided personal anecdotes for the new speech, omitted any mention of "God" or "this great nation," and cut several phrases that had the potential to draw the 72-year-old candidate's mouth open in a horrifying display of teeth and gums.
US Military presence Worldwide
Go and see picture and data...
Base? What Base? Many of the US forces in Kosovo are posted at Camp Bondsteel, a huge base near the city of Ferizaj/Urosevac. Until the US invaded Iraq, Bondsteel was the largest US base built overseas since the Vietnam War. Yet despite its size, Bondsteel is ignored in the Defense Department's "Base Structure Report," its annual accounting of Pentagon property owned and leased worldwide. Bondsteel was built (and has since been maintained) starting in mid-1999 by KBR, a former subsidiary of Halliburton, the firm Dick Cheney headed before becoming vice president. At Bondsteel's Laura Bush Center for Education, soldiers can even earn college credits from the University of Maryland or Central Texas College and learn foreign languages, with classes available in Albanian, Serbian, and German. Secret Activity The US military has faced allegations that it runs a Guantanamo-style prison at Camp Bondsteel. Council of Europe human rights commissioner Álvaro Gil-Robles leveled the accusation in 2002 after seeing Muslim captives at the base. But the US has officially contradicted Gil-Robles' charges.
Many of the US forces in Kosovo are posted at Camp Bondsteel, a huge base near the city of Ferizaj/Urosevac. Until the US invaded Iraq, Bondsteel was the largest US base built overseas since the Vietnam War. Yet despite its size, Bondsteel is ignored in the Defense Department's "Base Structure Report," its annual accounting of Pentagon property owned and leased worldwide. Bondsteel was built (and has since been maintained) starting in mid-1999 by KBR, a former subsidiary of Halliburton, the firm Dick Cheney headed before becoming vice president. At Bondsteel's Laura Bush Center for Education, soldiers can even earn college credits from the University of Maryland or Central Texas College and learn foreign languages, with classes available in Albanian, Serbian, and German.
Secret Activity
The US military has faced allegations that it runs a Guantanamo-style prison at Camp Bondsteel. Council of Europe human rights commissioner Álvaro Gil-Robles leveled the accusation in 2002 after seeing Muslim captives at the base. But the US has officially contradicted Gil-Robles' charges.
Lauren Booth, a human rights activist who is also Tony Blair's sister-in-law, said she is effectively trapped inside Gaza after being prevented by Israeli and Egyptian authorities from leaving. She arrived in Gaza on a "peace boat" ten days ago carrying human rights activists who wanted to draw attention to the tight blockade imposed in Gaza by Israel. But when the boat left last Thursday she decided to stay.Tony Blair currently serves as a Palestinian development envoy but it is not known if he has sought to intervene on behalf of his wife's half-sister. The spokesman for Mr Blair's office in Jerusalem was unavailable for comment."When I went to the Israeli checkpoint I was threatened with being shot four times," she said from a house in Gaza City."And when I went to the Rafah crossing (into Egypt) I had all the permission lined up at the top level but a lowly official stopped me from leaving."She described as "fantastic" British diplomats in the East Jerusalem consulate, which bears responsibility for Gaza and the West Bank, for trying everything to get her out.
She arrived in Gaza on a "peace boat" ten days ago carrying human rights activists who wanted to draw attention to the tight blockade imposed in Gaza by Israel. But when the boat left last Thursday she decided to stay.
Tony Blair currently serves as a Palestinian development envoy but it is not known if he has sought to intervene on behalf of his wife's half-sister. The spokesman for Mr Blair's office in Jerusalem was unavailable for comment.
"When I went to the Israeli checkpoint I was threatened with being shot four times," she said from a house in Gaza City.
"And when I went to the Rafah crossing (into Egypt) I had all the permission lined up at the top level but a lowly official stopped me from leaving."
She described as "fantastic" British diplomats in the East Jerusalem consulate, which bears responsibility for Gaza and the West Bank, for trying everything to get her out.
Thirteen of the 14 transmission lines serving the New Orleans metropolitan area are out of service due to the storm. This creates a situation where the New Orleans metropolitan area and a corridor along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge have become essentially an island, no longer electrically connected to the rest of the Entergy system and the electricity grid for the eastern United States. This "island" is south of Lake Pontchartrain and includes Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles and upper Plaquemines parishes, which are sometimes referred to as the "river" parishes. Entergy's Waterford 1, Nine Mile Point and Little Gypsy plants are now supplying all power to this zone because all transmission lines leading to and from there are out of service.
Palestinian Attack In Israel Part of God's Judgment, Said Recent Guest At Palin's Church [...] Describing a trip by his son to Jerusalem, Jews for Jesus founder David Brickner described the a July Palestinian bulldozer attack against Israeli civilians as part of God's "judgment."
[...]
Describing a trip by his son to Jerusalem, Jews for Jesus founder David Brickner described the a July Palestinian bulldozer attack against Israeli civilians as part of God's "judgment."
On the other hand, from yesterday's Forward
Michelle Obama Has a Rabbi in Her Family Capers Funnye, Leading Black Israelite, Is Aspiring First Lady's Cousin While Barack Obama has struggled to capture the Jewish vote, it turns out that one of his wife's cousins is the country's most prominent black rabbi -- a fact that has gone largely unnoticed. Michelle Obama, wife of the Democratic presidential nominee, and Rabbi Capers Funnye, spiritual leader of a mostly black synagogue on Chicago's South Side, are first cousins once removed. Funnye's mother, Verdelle Robinson Funnye (born Verdelle Robinson) and Michelle Obama's paternal grandfather, Frasier Robinson Jr., were brother and sister.
While Barack Obama has struggled to capture the Jewish vote, it turns out that one of his wife's cousins is the country's most prominent black rabbi -- a fact that has gone largely unnoticed.
Michelle Obama, wife of the Democratic presidential nominee, and Rabbi Capers Funnye, spiritual leader of a mostly black synagogue on Chicago's South Side, are first cousins once removed. Funnye's mother, Verdelle Robinson Funnye (born Verdelle Robinson) and Michelle Obama's paternal grandfather, Frasier Robinson Jr., were brother and sister.
Pakistan's prime minister survived an apparent assassination attempt Wednesday when at least two shots hit his limousine as he drove toward the capital. Officials said Yousuf Raza Gilani was unhurt and brought to safety after the incident on the main highway leading into Islamabad. Zahid Bashir, the premier's press secretary, said two bullets struck the driver's side of the vehicle in a "murder attempt."
Officials said Yousuf Raza Gilani was unhurt and brought to safety after the incident on the main highway leading into Islamabad.
Zahid Bashir, the premier's press secretary, said two bullets struck the driver's side of the vehicle in a "murder attempt."
Georgian crisis to affect Russia-U.S. cooperation in space? Tensions between Moscow and Washington are reaching as far as space. In 2010 NASA is due to retire the shuttle fleet that ferries U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station, but replacements won't be available until at least four years later. The plan was for Russia to step in with its Soyuz spacecraft, but analysts say Congress may not approve the deal because of Russia's response to the Georgian conflict. "It's a very tough spot for NASA because they really are not sure which way they will go. And no one really knows until the new president comes to office," said George T. Whitesides, Executive Director of the National Space Society. ...NASA is now looking to extend the shuttle programme beyond 2010, which is a potentially risky move."Most people acknowledge the space shuttle is an old vehicle. It's been flying since 1981 and many of its parts are getting to the point where they need to be refurbished. So, with each flight, the risks are higher," Whitesides added. ...But whatever U.S. Congress decides, NASA is in a lose-lose situation, as it will probably have to put politics before the safety of America's astronauts or the future of its space programme.
The plan was for Russia to step in with its Soyuz spacecraft, but analysts say Congress may not approve the deal because of Russia's response to the Georgian conflict.
"It's a very tough spot for NASA because they really are not sure which way they will go. And no one really knows until the new president comes to office," said George T. Whitesides, Executive Director of the National Space Society. ...NASA is now looking to extend the shuttle programme beyond 2010, which is a potentially risky move."Most people acknowledge the space shuttle is an old vehicle. It's been flying since 1981 and many of its parts are getting to the point where they need to be refurbished. So, with each flight, the risks are higher," Whitesides added.
...But whatever U.S. Congress decides, NASA is in a lose-lose situation, as it will probably have to put politics before the safety of America's astronauts or the future of its space programme.
