9 killed in latest attacks in Somalia
Two British teachers and two Kenyans were among the victims of the attack by Islamic al-Shahab militia on Belet Wayne town. Al-Shahad insists the deaths were unintentional. (International Herald Tribune, 04/14/08)
Recount in Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe has insisted on an election recount (The Observer, 04/14/08), refusing to disclose any results until this has ended (Al Jazeera, 04/14/08). Opposition groups have accused Mugabe of using the recount as a cover for intimidation and even cheating. Government forces are already cracking down on opposition protests (AFP, 04/15/08), and militias have burnt huts as a warning to those who voted the wrong way (The Standard, 04/12/08). Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has fled the country for Botswana, fearing for his safety (Daily Nation, 04/15/08).
Lebanon marks civil war amid new danger
Crowds marched along the Green Line that once separated Christians and Muslims during the civil war of 1975-1990. They made it clear that they wanted an end to the sectarianism that was keeping the country from having a president. (Al Arabiya, 04/13/08)
Delayed responses in Iraq
Gun battles between Iraqi governmental forces backed by the U.S., and Shiite militiamen have caused around 200 deaths and 1,000 injuries so far (Then Times, 04/13/08). Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, even as the gun-battles rage on, is calling for the reinstatement of 1,300 Iraqi soldiers and policemen who were dismissed for handing their weapons to and joining the side of the Mahdi army last week (Al Arabiya, 04/14/08). Al-Sadr insists that those policemen and soldiers were only doing as their religious leaders asked. Handing away weapons is something the Iraqi army cannot afford at present – a quiet $236 million arms deal with Serbia recently netted for the army equipment that was mostly unusable (The New York Times, 04/14/08). Officials are upset that Iraqi army brass went behind the backs of the U.S. to procure the deal, and then messed up the entire thing. The question also still rages on five years after the invasion as to what happened to so many of Iraq’s ancient treasures that were looted from its museums during the invasion (The Times, 04/13/08). The Ministry of Defense is only now paying a boy who was accidentally shot in Basra by a British soldier (The Guardian, 04/15/08). In turn, the U.S. is finally releasing AP photographer Bilal Husein after imprisoning him without having his case heard for over two years (Yahoo! News, 04/14/08). Forces also found another one of many mass graves north of Baghdad (Reuters, 04/14/08).
Headscarved Turkish women prepare for long struggle
t was only in February that the ruling Muslim AK Party managed to un-ban headscarves in places like universities. With the country’s supreme court readying itself to shut down the AK Party itself for anti-secular activities, the future of the headscarf and the women who wear it is being brought into question once again. (Yahoo! News, 04/14/08)
Israel under a lens
Israel may be offering Palestinians a temporary cease-fire (UPI, 04/14/08), but is not giving up the use of psychological torture against Palestinian suspects it currently has in custody (Al Jazeera, 04/13/08). Israel is also refusing security to visiting former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (Al Arabiya, 04/14/08), even after showing strong feelings against the rocket attacks on on Sderot by Palestinians (BBC News, 04/14/08). His plans to meet with Hamas leaders are what soured the Israeli against him. Israel is also taking part in some highly suspicious military drills (Asia Times Online, 04/12/08), as the U.S. gets increasingly hostile towards Iran.
Putin offered key party position
The United Russia Party will be offering departing President/Prime Minister-elect Vladmir Putin the position of chairman, according to party sources. Such a seat would solidify Putin’s position and intentions to keep his influence on the Kremlin. (Al Jzaeera, 04/14/08)
Pakistan parliament calls for UN probe into Bhutto murder
With Pakistan’s parliament finally formed, things are getting done finally. The ruling coalition, so far with no protest from the opposition, has called for the UN to probe the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who died last December after a gun-bomb attack hit her convoy before the general elections. With peace restored in the capital, the Pakistani military is also coordinating better with the Afghan side (Reuters, 04/14/08), squeezing Taliban and Al Qaeda forces holed up in the border region of the two countries. (The Times of India, 04/14/08)
Nepal’s Maoists surge ahead in vote count
All polls say that the Maoists will be leading the government from this summer onwards. With grand plans such as that to boot out the king, they might still find some resistance from opposition parties. (AFP, 04/15/08)
U.N. rights expert calls Myanmar vote plan ‘surreal’
The government is detaining and repressing anyone who is campaigning against the May 10 constitutional referendum the government has set up. Forced referendums are hardly indicators of a changing government. (Reuters, 04/14/08)
Taiwan’s Ma: Meeting advances China ties
President-elect Ma Ying-jeou may be proceeding with caution, but he is nevertheless elated with the recent chat between his prime-minister-elect Vincent Stew and Chinese President Hu Jintao. The talk was meant to have begun the delicate process of unfreezing relations between the country and it’s powerful and oftentimes bully of a neighbor. (Yahoo! News, 04/14/08)
China to execute hundreds during Olympics: Amnesty
China may be planning to green up the Olympics this year (International Herald Tribune, 04/14/08), but they definitely will keep the streets running red with the blood of the executed. Amnesty International calculates that since China executes about 22 prisoners a day, it will have killed 374 people for the duration of the Olympics. (The Times of India, 04/15/08)
Housing woes in U.S. spread around the globe
Markets from Dublin to New Delhi and Hong Kong are slowing down, and even falling back. As with everything else, that which affects the U.S. affects the world. When mortgage providers tightened their rules in the U.S., their counterparts around the world did the same thing. Now people all over the world are feeling the sub-prime fallout. (The New York Times, 04/14/08)
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For more articles from GNN’s exclusive contributors, read Nathan Coe’s Labor News Roundup and mwm’s If you knew…