Reports on Friday (5 February) said Taiwan's military is set to buy three helicopters from German manufacturer Eurocopter, a subsidiary of EADS, with an option to buy up to 17 more. Taiwan's defence ministry spokesman Martin Yu said the contract for the EC-225 search-and-rescue helicopters was valued at $111 million. The European deal comes hot on the heels of last week's news that Taiwan will buy roughly $6.4 billion-worth of arms from US companies, prompting Chinese condemnation and threats of sanctions. Whether Europe will now come in for the same response is yet to be seen. Some analysts suggest Beijing's response may be more muted due to an unwillingness to fight on two diplomatic fronts as the same time.
Taiwan's defence ministry spokesman Martin Yu said the contract for the EC-225 search-and-rescue helicopters was valued at $111 million.
The European deal comes hot on the heels of last week's news that Taiwan will buy roughly $6.4 billion-worth of arms from US companies, prompting Chinese condemnation and threats of sanctions.
Whether Europe will now come in for the same response is yet to be seen.
Some analysts suggest Beijing's response may be more muted due to an unwillingness to fight on two diplomatic fronts as the same time.
An attempt to secure a wide-ranging public inquiry into how UK forces treated detainees during the Iraq war will be launched today. Lawyers for 66 Iraqis who claim they were abused by British troops are lodging a claim for a judicial review on behalf of all the alleged victims. Birmingham-based legal firm Public Interest Lawyers argues that the cases are so numerous and so similar that Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth must hold a single inquiry into the UK's detention policy in south-eastern Iraq. The allegations include claims that British troops subjected Iraqi prisoners to rape, sexual humiliation and torture.
An attempt to secure a wide-ranging public inquiry into how UK forces treated detainees during the Iraq war will be launched today.
Lawyers for 66 Iraqis who claim they were abused by British troops are lodging a claim for a judicial review on behalf of all the alleged victims.
Birmingham-based legal firm Public Interest Lawyers argues that the cases are so numerous and so similar that Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth must hold a single inquiry into the UK's detention policy in south-eastern Iraq.
The allegations include claims that British troops subjected Iraqi prisoners to rape, sexual humiliation and torture.
But I thought European occupiers were supposed to be so much better than the barbarian Americans... *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
AFP - A mortar bomb attack on the last day of a major mourning ceremony in Iraq killed 20 Shiite pilgrims and wounded dozens more on Friday in an atrocity blamed on Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein loyalists. The bomb struck pilgrims who were leaving the holy shrine city of Karbala, 110 kilometres (68 miles) south of Baghdad, where more than a million devotees had gathered to mark the festival of Arbaeen. It was the third major attack this week on worshippers who have for weeks been travelling there on foot for the climax of the event earlier on Friday.
The bomb struck pilgrims who were leaving the holy shrine city of Karbala, 110 kilometres (68 miles) south of Baghdad, where more than a million devotees had gathered to mark the festival of Arbaeen.
It was the third major attack this week on worshippers who have for weeks been travelling there on foot for the climax of the event earlier on Friday.
Two bombs targeting Shia Muslims exploded in Pakistan's largest city today, one outside a hospital treating victims from the first blast hours earlier. At least 22 people were killed and more than 50 others wounded. Police appealed for calm following the strikes in the chaotic city of 16 million people. Karachi has a history of religious violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims, and has been tense in recent weeks due to deadly clashes between rival political parties.
Two bombs targeting Shia Muslims exploded in Pakistan's largest city today, one outside a hospital treating victims from the first blast hours earlier. At least 22 people were killed and more than 50 others wounded.
Police appealed for calm following the strikes in the chaotic city of 16 million people. Karachi has a history of religious violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims, and has been tense in recent weeks due to deadly clashes between rival political parties.
By Charles HawleyFor years, Germans were just fine thinking of Afghanistan as merely a reconstruction effort -- and their political leaders were happy to keep that misconception alive. But since the bombing in Kunduz that killed several civilians, all of that has changed. Now the country is being forced to admit to itself that it's at war.
For years, Germans were just fine thinking of Afghanistan as merely a reconstruction effort -- and their political leaders were happy to keep that misconception alive. But since the bombing in Kunduz that killed several civilians, all of that has changed. Now the country is being forced to admit to itself that it's at war.
What an utterly twisted rhetoric. The majority of German public opinion rejecting the Afghanistan involvement was certainly viewing it as war... *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
REUTERS - A leader of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group travelled to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Wednesday for rare talks with the Islamist rival faction on an Egyptian-proposed reconciliation deal. The trip by senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath followed a signal last week from Hamas, which is shunned by the West for refusing to recognise Israel, that it was willing to agree on new Palestinian elections and possible power-sharing. Abbas, whose mandate is now limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank after Hamas ejected Fatah from Gaza in a 2007 civil war, needs to find accommodation with the Islamist group to enable him to speak on behalf of all Palestinians.
REUTERS - A leader of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group travelled to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Wednesday for rare talks with the Islamist rival faction on an Egyptian-proposed reconciliation deal.
The trip by senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath followed a signal last week from Hamas, which is shunned by the West for refusing to recognise Israel, that it was willing to agree on new Palestinian elections and possible power-sharing.
Abbas, whose mandate is now limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank after Hamas ejected Fatah from Gaza in a 2007 civil war, needs to find accommodation with the Islamist group to enable him to speak on behalf of all Palestinians.
Haiti's prime minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, announced that at least 212,000 people died in last month's massive earthquake, adding that the toll will likely rise "a little" as recovery crews find bodies when they raze demolished buildings.
As international relief reaches a growing number of Haitians, the UN says the country's AIDS response network is also recovering, but warns that thousands of displaced people, especially mothers and children, face a heightened HIV threat.
HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- Cuba bought 360 tons of rice worth 108 thousand sucres from Venezuela, which is the first commercial operation with the virtual currency created by the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA). (...) The Unitarian System of Regional Payment Compensation (SUCRE by its Spanish acronym) is a common account created in 2007 with the objective of reducing the regional trade dependence on the US dollar.
