Ad astra per aspera
The United States military was yesterday reinforcing the defences of Hawaii in response to increasing concern that North Korea, stung by new United Nations sanctions against it, may be preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile in the direction of the Pacific archipelago. The Pentagon was also monitoring a North Korean freighter, the Kang Nam, which in the past has been suspected of carrying cargo related to the country's nuclear industry. The UN resolution authorises international inspection of ships if there are "reasonable grounds" to think they are carrying such materials. US officials said they were confident that they would have all the necessary defences in place around Hawaii. They were responding in part to reports in the Japanese media that North Korea was planning to fire a long-range Taepodong-2 missile towards the islands on or around the 4 July holiday.
The United States military was yesterday reinforcing the defences of Hawaii in response to increasing concern that North Korea, stung by new United Nations sanctions against it, may be preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile in the direction of the Pacific archipelago.
The Pentagon was also monitoring a North Korean freighter, the Kang Nam, which in the past has been suspected of carrying cargo related to the country's nuclear industry. The UN resolution authorises international inspection of ships if there are "reasonable grounds" to think they are carrying such materials.
US officials said they were confident that they would have all the necessary defences in place around Hawaii. They were responding in part to reports in the Japanese media that North Korea was planning to fire a long-range Taepodong-2 missile towards the islands on or around the 4 July holiday.
Tension was growing in the Pacific today as the US navy prepared to intercept a North Korean cargo ship suspected of carrying weapons in defiance of a United Nations ban.The US navy has been tracking the Kang Nam since it left a North Korean port on Wednesday.It would be the first ship to be intercepted since the UN last week imposed sanctions on North Korea as punishment for conducting an underground nuclear test last month. The sanctions ban the import and export of nuclear material, missiles and all other weapons other than small arms.A destroyer, the USS John McCain (named after the father of the Republican senator and failed presidential candidate, who was an admiral), was awaiting orders to intercept the ship off the Chinese coast. The UN sanctions allow the US to hail a North Korean ship and demand to be allowed to conduct a search, but not to forcibly board it.North Korea has said a forcible search would be regarded as an act of war.
Tension was growing in the Pacific today as the US navy prepared to intercept a North Korean cargo ship suspected of carrying weapons in defiance of a United Nations ban.
The US navy has been tracking the Kang Nam since it left a North Korean port on Wednesday.
It would be the first ship to be intercepted since the UN last week imposed sanctions on North Korea as punishment for conducting an underground nuclear test last month. The sanctions ban the import and export of nuclear material, missiles and all other weapons other than small arms.
A destroyer, the USS John McCain (named after the father of the Republican senator and failed presidential candidate, who was an admiral), was awaiting orders to intercept the ship off the Chinese coast. The UN sanctions allow the US to hail a North Korean ship and demand to be allowed to conduct a search, but not to forcibly board it.
North Korea has said a forcible search would be regarded as an act of war.
I apprecaite that even a less than 1% chance would be a devastating event for the US, but they'd be better off explaing in words of one syllable or less to China that it is their interests to guarantee it will not happen. keep to the Fen Causeway
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev says his country is ready for a reduction of strategic weapons in an arms control agreement with the United States. Medvedev is due to meet President Barack Obama next month on replacing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Medvedev says Moscow wants binding arrangements outlined in one single, efficient document. He says Russia wants "a verifiable and real" reduction of offensive weapons as part of that deal. Russian officials have said previously that U.S. plans for a missile defense system will be problematic in the talks, though the US says the shield is designed against threats from Iran, not Russia.
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev says his country is ready for a reduction of strategic weapons in an arms control agreement with the United States.
Medvedev is due to meet President Barack Obama next month on replacing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
Medvedev says Moscow wants binding arrangements outlined in one single, efficient document.
He says Russia wants "a verifiable and real" reduction of offensive weapons as part of that deal.
Russian officials have said previously that U.S. plans for a missile defense system will be problematic in the talks, though the US says the shield is designed against threats from Iran, not Russia.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide truck bomb killed 50 people leaving a mosque on Saturday, hours after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged Iraqis not to lose faith if a U.S. military pullback resulted in more insurgent attacks. Almost all U.S. soldiers will leave urban centres by June 30 under a bilateral security pact signed last year, and the whole force that invaded the country in 2003 must be gone by 2012. "Don't lose heart if a breach of security occurs here or there," Maliki told leaders from the ethnic Turkmen community, reiterating a warning that insurgents were likely to try to take advantage of the U.S. pullback to launch more attacks.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide truck bomb killed 50 people leaving a mosque on Saturday, hours after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged Iraqis not to lose faith if a U.S. military pullback resulted in more insurgent attacks.
Almost all U.S. soldiers will leave urban centres by June 30 under a bilateral security pact signed last year, and the whole force that invaded the country in 2003 must be gone by 2012.
"Don't lose heart if a breach of security occurs here or there," Maliki told leaders from the ethnic Turkmen community, reiterating a warning that insurgents were likely to try to take advantage of the U.S. pullback to launch more attacks.
KABUL (Reuters) - The United States will order all its troops in Afghanistan to undergo new training after concluding that pilots violated orders in air strikes last month that it accepts may have killed as many as 86 civilians. In a long-awaited report, released six weeks after U.S. B1 bombers killed large numbers of civilians unleashing fury among Afghans, the Pentagon acknowledged that rules had not been followed, although it said the mistakes fell short of breaking the law. The bombings took place on May 4 in western Afghanistan after a day-long battle that saw Afghan security forces ambushed by Taliban fighters and U.S. Marines come to their aid.
KABUL (Reuters) - The United States will order all its troops in Afghanistan to undergo new training after concluding that pilots violated orders in air strikes last month that it accepts may have killed as many as 86 civilians.
In a long-awaited report, released six weeks after U.S. B1 bombers killed large numbers of civilians unleashing fury among Afghans, the Pentagon acknowledged that rules had not been followed, although it said the mistakes fell short of breaking the law.
The bombings took place on May 4 in western Afghanistan after a day-long battle that saw Afghan security forces ambushed by Taliban fighters and U.S. Marines come to their aid.
Failure by US forces to follow their own rules was the "likely" cause of civilian deaths in Afghan airstrikes last month, a US military report says.US officials looked at seven strikes on Taliban targets in Farah province on 4 May, and concluded that three had not complied with military guidelines. The report accepts that at least 26 civilians died, but acknowledges that the real figure could be much higher. The Afghan government has said 140 civilians were killed in the strikes. Washington and Kabul have been at loggerheads for weeks over the number of civilians killed in the incident.
Failure by US forces to follow their own rules was the "likely" cause of civilian deaths in Afghan airstrikes last month, a US military report says.
US officials looked at seven strikes on Taliban targets in Farah province on 4 May, and concluded that three had not complied with military guidelines.
The report accepts that at least 26 civilians died, but acknowledges that the real figure could be much higher.
The Afghan government has said 140 civilians were killed in the strikes.
Washington and Kabul have been at loggerheads for weeks over the number of civilians killed in the incident.
Oh .. you mean .. keep to the Fen Causeway
WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani warplanes resumed strikes against militant hideouts in South Waziristan on Saturday, security officials said, with more than 30 insurgents killed in the Afghan border tribal region in the past 24 hours. After securing much of the scenic Swat Valley in the past month, the military plans to extend its offensive with operations in South Waziristan against the main stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, a key al Qaeda ally. The operations came after Taliban gains in the region raised fears for the future of nuclear-armed Pakistan, a vital ally for the United States as it strives to defeat al Qaeda and stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan.
WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani warplanes resumed strikes against militant hideouts in South Waziristan on Saturday, security officials said, with more than 30 insurgents killed in the Afghan border tribal region in the past 24 hours.
After securing much of the scenic Swat Valley in the past month, the military plans to extend its offensive with operations in South Waziristan against the main stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, a key al Qaeda ally.
The operations came after Taliban gains in the region raised fears for the future of nuclear-armed Pakistan, a vital ally for the United States as it strives to defeat al Qaeda and stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan.
The speaker of Somalia's parliament has called for neighbouring states to send troops to the country within 24 hours.Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur made the appeal as fierce fighting that has spread to the north of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, continued for a second day. Islamist forces battling the country's transitional government briefly took over a police station and other key buildings in Karan district. Thousands are fleeing the area, previously a refuge for the displaced.
The speaker of Somalia's parliament has called for neighbouring states to send troops to the country within 24 hours.
Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur made the appeal as fierce fighting that has spread to the north of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, continued for a second day.
Islamist forces battling the country's transitional government briefly took over a police station and other key buildings in Karan district.
Thousands are fleeing the area, previously a refuge for the displaced.
Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has been forced to cut short an event where he was addressing Zimbabwean exiles due to jeering.Mr Tsvangirai was addressing more than 1,000 exiles, whom he urged to return home to rebuild the country, during an event at London's Southwark Cathedral. But his appeal was poorly received as questions were raised over assurances he made about the country's stability.
Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has been forced to cut short an event where he was addressing Zimbabwean exiles due to jeering.
Mr Tsvangirai was addressing more than 1,000 exiles, whom he urged to return home to rebuild the country, during an event at London's Southwark Cathedral.
But his appeal was poorly received as questions were raised over assurances he made about the country's stability.
The Obama administration's drive to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has hit a new snag: At least some of the 13 detainees accepted for resettlement by the island nation of Palau don't want to go there. Meanwhile, protests have erupted in Bermuda over its recent resettlement of four Uighur detainees, with the country's leader facing a no-confidence vote by his parliament. Dissent in the British island territory, which sits in the Atlantic Ocean east of North Carolina, came after Bermuda's acceptance of the men strained relations with London, which complained that the island's home-rule government failed to advise it about the decision.
The Obama administration's drive to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has hit a new snag: At least some of the 13 detainees accepted for resettlement by the island nation of Palau don't want to go there.
Meanwhile, protests have erupted in Bermuda over its recent resettlement of four Uighur detainees, with the country's leader facing a no-confidence vote by his parliament. Dissent in the British island territory, which sits in the Atlantic Ocean east of North Carolina, came after Bermuda's acceptance of the men strained relations with London, which complained that the island's home-rule government failed to advise it about the decision.
"Bad form"
Bermuda's acceptance of the men strained relations with London, which complained that the island's home-rule [sic] government failed to advise it about the decision
Colonial administrator acts independently. How embarrassing.
"Good form"
The archipelago of 21,000 people was held by a succession of foreign powers until World War II, when the U.S. captured it from Japan. The U.S. administered the island under a United Nations mandate until 1994, when it became an independent [sic] republic. Palau remains tied to the U.S., which subsidizes its economy and oversees its defense. ...The Obama administration official said the Palauans understand the U.S.--which subsidizes Palau's economy and oversees its defense--is under pressure to transfer detainees.
Colonial administrator may not act independently. How loyal. Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
Ethiopian troops have reportedly crossed into neighbouring Somalia after it made a plea for foreign troops to help it battle opposition fighters seeking to overthrow the government.Somalia's parliamentary speaker made the request on Saturday after several days of heavy fighting in the north of the capital, Mogadishu. "The government is weakened by the rebel forces. We ask neighbouring countries - including Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen - to send troops to Somalia within 24 hours," Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur, the Somali parliamentary speaker, said.Ethiopian troops last entered Somalia in late 2006 to support the then-government and drive out Islamic Courts Union fighters led by Sharif Ahmed, the current president.
Ethiopian troops have reportedly crossed into neighbouring Somalia after it made a plea for foreign troops to help it battle opposition fighters seeking to overthrow the government.Somalia's parliamentary speaker made the request on Saturday after several days of heavy fighting in the north of the capital, Mogadishu.
"The government is weakened by the rebel forces. We ask neighbouring countries - including Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen - to send troops to Somalia within 24 hours," Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur, the Somali parliamentary speaker, said.Ethiopian troops last entered Somalia in late 2006 to support the then-government and drive out Islamic Courts Union fighters led by Sharif Ahmed, the current president.
