It is of grave concern that President Obama is choosing to continue the aerial war in Afghanistan which the Bush Administration in August 2008 extended into Pakistan’s tribal areas. From the Washington Post:
At least 20 people were killed in northwest Pakistan near the border of Afghanistan on Friday in two suspected U.S. missile strikes, marking the first such attack in Pakistan’s tribal areas since President Obama’s inauguration.
A U.S. Predator drone fired three missiles at a compound about two miles from the town of Mirali in the tribal area of North Waziristan about 5:15 p.m., according to a Pakistani security official and local residents. The precision strike leveled a compound, which was owned by local tribal elder Khalil Malik, killing at least 10 suspected militants, including five foreign nationals, according to the Pakistani security official. The site of the attack is about 30 miles east of the Afghan border.
At least 132 people have been killed in 38 suspected US predator drone missile strikes inside Pakistan since August 2008 as the Bush Administration decided to pursue more aggressively Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents in the Pakistan’s tribal areas. The use of the specially equipped drones represented a fundamental shift in US strategy. After years of deferring to Pakistani authorities, the Bush administration turned toward unilateral American military operations in the hopes that the increased pressure on Islamic militants would yield quick results but the strategy risks alienating a country that has been a key counter-terrorism ally. The government of Pakistan, beyond its own incompetence, finds itself caught between Washington’s demands for action and the unpopularity of the US aerial campaign. With this attack, it is clear that when it comes to Pakistan nothing has changed despite a new Administration. However, an aerial drone war on Pakistan, no matter how well targeted and pinpointed, is bound to fail because the number of civilians killed is disproportionately high. In these attacks, it appears three children were killed. And that will lead to protests on streets of Pakistan and a further hardening of resentment against the US and the West. (more…)
When Nokia, one of the world’s leading mobile phone makers, relocated its German factory to the small Romanian village of Jucu, it brought the villagers much hope. Then the global financial crisis came along.
Global shipping is facing its worst crisis in decades, and for Greece this spells trouble. Shipping is essential to the country’s economy, and a slow trade in goods has been devastating. Nicole Itano reports from Athens.
Global shipping is facing its worst crisis in decades. In just a few months, dry cargo rates have fallen by more than 90 percent as a five-year boom has turned to bust. For Greece, which owns a fifth of the world’s fleet, that spells trouble.
“Panic is one word to describe what is going on,” says Polemis, sitting beneath an oil painting of one of his family’s first vessels, bought about 200 years ago.
“People are selling some ships in a panic mode … some companies will go bust.”
Greece has a lot to lose. At 170 million tons, its merchant fleet is the world’s largest. It is the second biggest contributor to Greece’s e240 billion (R3.2 trillion) economy, accounting for 7 percent of output.
“This is the worst it has ever been,” says George Xiradakis, the head of shipping consultancy XRTC in Piraeus. “Everybody will be affected. This is a globalised market, probably the first globalised market in the world.”
The global economic crash has slashed demand for transport of commodities to fast-growing nations such as China and India. On top of that, the credit crunch has made banks reluctant to lend money and provide financial guarantees to allow ships to sail.
Siddharth Kara: “Like any business, sex trafficking is governed by the forces of supply and demand. Understanding sex trafficking like a business will help us design more effective tactics to abolish these crimes.”
Siddharth Kara: “If someone like me can track down slaves and confront their exploiters, then more agressive interventions and elevated resources can surely bring an end to these grotesque crimes.”
This Carnegie Council event took place on January 9, 2009.
Along with other responsibilities, President Barack Obama is assuming control of the decades-long struggle to stop illegal drug shipments into the United States from Latin America and elsewhere. With drug-related violence soaring in Mexico, the issue is gaining new urgency at the same time US anti-drug cooperation with some Latin American nations is strained because of political differences. VOA’s Brian Wagner reports on the anti-drug issues facing the new president.
One response to the global crisis that is gaining enthusiastic momentum is the Transition Towns movement. Jennifer Gray, a pioneer in the Transition Initiative in the UK and cofounder of Transition US, describes it as “a community-led response to the twin crises of peak oil and climate change. It’s … positive, pro-active [and] engages the whole community in building resilience into their world.” Sharing highlights from The Transition Handbook by founder Rob Hopkins, she elaborates on a flexible twelve-step process to empower community organizers in unleashing the creative genius of their community and building an Energy Descent Action Plan. One innovative aspect is backcasting: envisioning one’s community in 20 years, and then designing steps to get from here to there.
Argentina’s economy is on shaky ground and a severe drought is adding to its financial woes. High temperatures and a lack of rain are devastating agricultural output, the country’s economic backbone. Now, much of Argentina is in a state of emergency.
Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman reports from the Northeastern city of Santa Fe, one of the hardest hit areas in the country.
President Barack Obama has chosen George Mitchell as special envoy to Israel-Palestine and Richard Holbrooke as special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Other developments since President Obamas inauguration on Tuesday include the decision to shut down Guantánamo and indications of a stronger stance with regard to China.
Gideon Rose of Foreign Affairs Magazine and Carol Giacomo of The New York Times editorial board join Martin Savidge to discuss the new direction of U.S. foreign policy.
The United Nations said today that the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe has killed more than 2,700 people and infected more than 50,000.
Ann Veneman, the executive director of the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), recently returned from Zimbabwe and joins Martin Savidge to discuss efforts to combat the epidemic, UNICEFs role in Zimbabwe and the relationship between Zimbabwes political impasse and its deteriorating health sector.