May 6, 2007

On Iraq, Gates may not be following Bush's playbook http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gates6may06,0,2140065.story?coll=la-home-headlines

During a recent trip to the Middle East, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Iraqi government that time was running out and praised Democratic efforts in the U.S. Congress to set a timetable for withdrawal, saying it would help prod the Iraqis. He reiterated that point during a meeting with reporters last week. A spokesman for Gates insisted there was no distance between the Defense secretary's thinking on the timetable for Iraq and views held by the White House or Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. troops in Iraq. But his warnings to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki are just the latest indications from Gates that he believes the window of opportunity for the administration to get Iraq right is closing sooner rather than later. Any determination by Gates that time is running out on the current plan could severely complicate the administration's strategy this summer, a prospect that has begun to worry some backers of the troop "surge." Gates' sharpest public difference with supporters of Bush's strategy has been over the question of how long the buildup should last before undergoing a thorough assessment. Gates insisted for much of the year that the current Baghdad security plan be evaluated this summer — just two months after all five of the "surge" brigades are in place. And Gates occasionally scolded senior officers who have suggested otherwise. When Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, the chief military spokesman in Baghdad, suggested in recent weeks that a progress report may have to wait until the fall, Gates responded harshly. "I was a little disturbed, frankly, to hear that one of our military officers — and I don't know who it was — saying it will be fall before we have some good idea," Gates told a congressional hearing, unprompted by any question about timing.

Voting brisk as the French decide
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6629077.stm

France is reporting record turnout as voters choose between socialist Segolene Royal and conservative Nicolas Sarkozy for their next president. In a hotly contested poll, nearly 75% of voters had cast their ballots by late afternoon - the highest turnout at that point in more than 30 years. The two rivals are bidding to succeed Jacques Chirac after 12 years. Ms Royal has suggested a Sarkozy win might spark riots. Mr Sarkozy accused her of verbal violence. Polls opened at 0800 (0600 GMT) for mainland France's 43.5 million voters and are due to close at 2000 (1800 GMT).

Russian partnership with the West in peril http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Russian_partnership_with_the_West_i_05052007.html

In an effort to ease bilateral strains, Moscow and Washington have reached an unusual agreement to have their foreign and defence ministers meet, particularly to address Russian concerns about the missile shield. Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, a favourite to replace President Vladimir Putin next year, said Thursday that Moscow would no longer inform partners when it moves troops across its territory. The announcement, the application of a freeze Putin made on the Soviet-era Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, was the first concrete move in what are tense and possibly changing times. In this atmosphere of confrontation, some at NATO fear that Kosovo, where the alliance has some 16,000 troops and whose ethnic Albanian majority is impatient for independence, could ultimately pay the price.

Communist symbol returns to Russian Army's flag
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1915193.htm

Russia's Parliament has voted to restore the communist-era hammer and sickle to the official flag of the Russian Army. It is expect President Vladimir Putin will ratify the move in time for next week's commemorations marking the end of World War II in Europe. If so, Russians will again have the Soviet version of the victory banner for next week's Victory in Europe parade in Moscow. For many Russians, especially the elderly, its symbolism is immense. The red banner, together with the hammer, sickle and a white star, was the one raised on the Reichstag roof on May 1, 1945. Millions of people all over the world know that photograph, but in Russia its significance is much deeper, with the Soviet victory over fascism in World War II remaining something seen in almost religious terms.

Asian finance ministers agree on currency pact overhaul
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Asian_finance_ministers_agree_on_cu_05052007.html

Asian finance ministers agreed Saturday to pool part of their huge foreign exchange reserves to shield themselves against a repeat of the financial crisis that rocked the region a decade ago. Finance ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as China, Japan and South Korea also voiced optimism about prospects for their economies while noting such risks as slowing global growth. A decade after the regional financial crisis, ministers are now concerned about a tide of capital flowing into the smaller economies, whose exporters are struggling with stronger currencies that damage their competitiveness. While in 1997 many countries in the region were running current account deficits, several now have large surpluses and swelling foreign exchange reserves because of their export-driven expansions. In an effort to bolster their defences, ministers agreed in principle on a system of pooled foreign currency reserves to replace the existing bilateral emergency currency swap system.
In the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 10 ASEAN nations plus Japan, China and South Korea agreed to set up a bilateral currency swap scheme known as the Chiang Mai Initiative in a bid to prevent a repeat of the turmoil. Although the full details have yet to be thrashed out, the idea of the overhaul is to enable a country to borrow foreign currency from another more quickly to shore up its international reserves until a crisis passes. Asia now holds the bulk of the world's foreign reserves at some 2.7 trillion dollars, led by China, which alone has more than one trillion dollars. Economists warn that the reserves are far in excess of what is needed to ensure stability, leaving the risk of asset bubbles. Last year, the 10 ASEAN nations along with China, Japan and South Korea agreed to study the creation of a single Asian currency akin to the euro, but ministers said the issue was not even discussed this time around. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

FBI probing Posada's alleged links to Havana bombing
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/FBI_probing_Posada_s_alleged_links__05032007.html

The Miami Herald said FBI agents recently traveled to Cuba gather evidence on the attack, one of several Cuba claims was masterminded by Posada Carriles, including the deadly 1976 downing of a Cuban jetliner. The paper said the Havana hotel bombing is the focus of a federal grand jury probe in Newark, New Jersey. A Cuban-born Venezuelan national staunchly opposed to President Fidel Castro's government, Posada Carriles, 79, is currently under home detention in Miami awaiting trial later this month in Texas on immigration charges. Cuba claims Posada Carriles planned the 1997 bombing at Havana's Copacabana hotel that killed Italian tourist Fabio di Celmo, whose family is now seeking his prosecution for the crime. Posada Carriles was jailed in Venezuela in 1976 for allegedly masterminding the downing of the Cuban jet off Barbados, which killed 73 people. He escaped from prison in 1985, was sentenced to eight years in jail in Panama in a 2000 bomb plot to assassinate Castro, and was pardoned four years later. Declassified US documents show that Posada Carriles worked for the CIA from 1965 to June 1976. He also reportedly helped the US government ferry supplies to the Contra rebels who waged a bloody campaign to topple the socialist Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980s.

Power Station Under Threat from Dog-Sized Concrete-Eating Rats
http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=62185

A hydroelectric power station on the River Pica which supplies power to Montenegro is under threat from an army of rats reputed to be the size of small dogs. Authorities are attempting to come up with a plan to combat the invasion. Local workers are terrified of the animals. "There are thousands of them and they have eaten through all the cables inside the dam walls and are burrowing lots of holes inside it. We are afraid the dam might collapse..." one said. None of the workers will go in the station as it is at the moment. "It's like something out of a James Herbert book, they are even eating through concrete," a spokesperson said.

UFOs Spotted over UK, France on Same Day
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=79914

A commercial airline pilot has reported seeing two unidentified flying objects in the sky near Guernsey Island, England, on April 23, BBC informed. The pilot, Captain Ray Bowyer, reported seeing bright yellow flat disc shapes twice the size of a Boeing 737 some 15 miles north east of the island. "This is not something you see every day of the week - it was pretty scary," the shocked pilot said for BBC. At first he thought it was the sun reflecting from greenhouses in Guernsey. He said the objects were bright like the sun, but did not hurt his eyes when he looked at them. The stationary objects were also observed by other aircraft and the passengers on the plane. The same phenomenon was witnessed on the same day in southern France. Videos by people who saw it were published immediately on-line in several free-to-watch sites.

Grateful Dead memorabilia on auction in band's US birthplace http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Grateful_Dead_memorabilia_on_auctio_05052007.html

Guitars played by The Grateful Dead's legendary front man and gold records from the psychedelic-era band will be up for auction to the group's famously cultish followers beginning Tuesday. Rudson Shurtliff, an heir of a longtime Grateful Dead road manager Lawrence "Ram Rod" Shurtliff, hauled the band mementos to Bonhams Butterfields in San Francisco for an auction expected to attract bidders worldwide. One of the guitars even has a broken string from the last time that lead singer Jerry Garcia, whose death in 1995 caused the band to dissolve, plugged it in and played. Big ticket items include some of the band's "Wall of Sound" gold records and Garcia-played guitars, including one dubbed "The Eagle" and a circa 1975 electric guitar expected to fetch more than 250,000 dollars. Other items include two never-before-seen Garcia-drawn ink on paper drawings, tie-dyed sound speaker boxes, photographs, a concert rubber mat with dirt on it and an unopened box of Camel non-filter cigarettes.