text:
Boeing will fix this problem — but can the company fix itself?
T.M. Sell
Boeing employees march up and down stairs entering and exiting Boeing 737 MAX 8 during a media tour of the plane at the Boeing plant in Renton, Dec. 7, 2015. (Photo © Matt M. McKnight)
Flying commercial jetliners is one of the very safest ways to travel.
Which is of zero consolation to anyone who's been touched in any way by an airplane crash.
In 2013, for example, more than 32,000 people were killed in driving-related accidents in the U.S. That compares with 443 killed in aviation accidents, of which 367 involved private planes – not commercial aircraft.
Still, if anything goes wrong with an airplane, it's a catastrophe. A fatal auto collision is a tragedy; an airplane crash is a seismic, communitywide gut punch. Insurance companies make clever commercials about protecting you from car mishaps; nobody in the world of advertising touches flight insurance with a 10-foot cockpit squeegee.
And as something becomes rarer, it becomes more trenchant, more remarkable, so horrifyingly uncommon as to command even more attention.
And yet, from the time when every aircraft was experimental (because they were all new), flying has only gotten safer.
While President Donald Trump can blithely tweet: "Airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly. Pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT. I see it all the time in many products. Always seeking to go one unnecessary step further, when often old and simpler is far better. Split second decisions are needed, and the complexity creates danger," in fact, over the 100-plus years of aviation history, flying has grown safer as the aircraft have become more complex.
By now, everyone is well aware that a pair of Boeing 737 MAX jetliners have fallen out of the sky for no apparent reason, first in Indonesia on Oct. 29 and most recently last Sunday in East Africa. Together, the crashes killed 346 people – everyone on board – and spread turbulence around the world.
Perhaps this is true nowhere more than here, in what was once the Jet City, where Boeing still has about 80,000 employees, and in Renton, where more than 10,000 workers, in part, crank out nearly 50 737s a month. When a plane goes down, everyone there, from designers to engineers to shop-floor mechanics, stops and asks, "Did I work on that plane?"
The Boeing 737! The world's all-time best-selling jetliner, the workhorse of airlines great and small, the plane so many predicted would fade into history, but instead regularly gets reinvented to become the little pair of engines that could. The 10,000th 737 rolled off the Renton assembly line just one year ago. The 747 had size; the 777 has elegance; the 787 has gee-whiz technology; but the 737 has resilience.
And when two of them crash within a few months, perhaps something is wrong.
What caused the crashes? It's too early to say.
It could have been a faulty sensor. Some supposition on the Lion Air crash is that the anti-stall mechanism kicked in, pushing the plane's nose down so it could pick up speed and pull out of the stall. The pilots, the theory goes, should have killed the auto-mechanism to retake control of the plane. This, the theory goes, they did not do. Although Lion Air has worked to improve its safety practices, it has been criticized for them in recent years.
Ethiopian Airlines is regarded as a stand-up operation and there's no reason to suspect that its excellent pilots weren't properly trained. Nonetheless, the Federal Aviation Administration, in grounding the 737 MAX fleet in the U.S. this week (following the lead of basically the entire rest of the world), has hinted that there are similarities between the two incidents.
The orange boxes — they only turn black after the fires that usually accompany jetliner crashes — are still being dissected. In time, the cause will become clear and a solution will be found. The latter-day company that builds them, Boeing, is still pretty good at building things, and also at fixing them.
And still, when a single plane crashes, the results are terrifying, horrifying, unconscionable. Hundreds of lives, gone in an instant.
And still, flying has gotten safer.
Predictions of impending danger have been regular and endless. The deregulation of airlines in 1977 created a flock of nearly fly-by-night operations that featured lower ticket prices and short operating histories.
Some folks predicted that the sheer rising number of passengers and flights would mean that accidents could increase even as flying got safer. Apparently, not so much
The chorus of hand-wringers suggested that the declining number of military pilots — who learn how to pretty much get out of anything, and who used to provide airlines with regular squadrons of rigorously trained employees — would mean more accidents.
Even when things did go wrong, problems were addressed and solved. After a couple of 737s suffered what appeared to be uncommanded rudder movements, causing the planes to head groundward much too soon, Boeing announced in the mid-'90s that it had found a cause, and fixed it. Heralded at the time as Boeing finally admitting that there was a problem with the jet, it was actually just the company announcing, after several years of trying, that they found a way to replicate the problem so they could make it right.
Doomsayers predicted that all the software code in the 777 would result in myriad problems. To date, in nearly 25 years of service, the 777 has been involved in nine incidents, only two of which involved fatalities.
And still, flying just got safer. The Aviation Safety Network found that fatal airliner accidents fell from more than 4.0 accidents per million flights in 1977 to under 0.4 per million in 2017. If you look more closely at the numbers, statistically speaking, you're in more danger on the ground than you are in the air.
Get daily news in your inbox
This newsletter curates some of the most important headlines of the day from Crosscut and other news outlets.
Each morning, Crosscut's newsletter gives you some of the most important headlines of the day.
If there's cause for concern, it's probably more about the people who run the company than the people who actually build the planes.
The problem with much of the naysaying in past analyses of Boeing is that it simply doesn't make sense for a company in a competitive market to make a product that kills people. (Except maybe tobacco.) It's not a sustainable business model.
If people don't trust aircraft, they don't fly; airlines don't sell tickets and don't buy aircraft. If passengers didn't care about safety, we'd all still be flying DeHavilland Comets, which had the unfortunate habit of coming apart in midair.
But this is Boeing, the company that spent millions to move its headquarters to Chicago so it could lay off anybody anywhere and not run into them in the grocery store. This is the company that spent nearly $1 billion to open a second 787 production line in South Carolina, so it could save $9 million a year in labor costs and stick it to the Machinists Union.
Boeing recently announced that it wants to replace some safety inspectors with machines, which will apparently allow machinists to check their own work. What could go wrong? Self-driving cars are perfectly … no, wait.
The heart of the problem is what we might call hypercapitalism: The religion of the modern American corporation is that they can make higher profits every year. No matter what.
Of course, this is as absurd as it is dangerous.
There are really only two sources of economic growth: gains in population and gains in productivity. The former isn't really a business strategy; the second is unpredictable. Technology tends to advance and then plateau at a point where existing technology can be made no more efficient.
That has prompted firms in our time to cut wages and workers, squeezing out every drop of labor from those who remain. And now, if your job can be done by a robot, it probably will be.
Technology has made aircraft much, much safer, but more technology is not necessarily better. People helped by technology can be very productive and creative, even if they cost a little more.
Some progressives and others of the postmodern left will claim that the problem is the profit motive in general, but the numbers aren't with them. During the Cold War, Soviet-run Aeroflot had more than 8,000 passenger fatalities, more than four times the runner-up (Air France, if you're keeping score). Communism ended, and their numbers got a lot better.
Still, left entirely on their own, markets and the people who live by them tend to behave like unchaperoned teenagers at a beach party. The old Boeing used to play for the long game, building products with a shelf life that could be reinvented and improved and continue to make money.
New Boeing is parting itself out, sending out work to its far-flung empire to be conducted by people with less experience and who get paid less. Meanwhile, it has chased legions of experienced talent out the door through early retirements or sheer annoyance.
Boeing's stock price has soared, but at what cost? Is continually cutting costs a sustainable model when customer safety is perhaps the most essential variable in your marketing equation? Boeing execs would no doubt bristle at the mere suggestion that they would cut corners on safety to save money, but human beings have a remarkable capacity to convince themselves of nearly anything.
Will this reach the level of compromising safety? Hard to say, but we shouldn't want to have to test the theory. At the same time, it's worth restating that the causes of the recent crashes are not known and that there's no evidence that safety has been compromised.
Boeing will fix this problem, if only because there are still a lot of good people in Renton and elsewhere who understand that what they do affects people's lives. But in the longer term, the company may have to make some choices about its direction and how it operates, choices that really shouldn't be so difficult.
A Seattle photographer's firsthand account of the Jan. 6 chaos
Nate Gowdy discusses the Capitol attack and his new photo book 'Insurrection.'
Margo Vansynghel
'Ask for Jane:' Who were the pre-Roe underground abortionists?
Half a century ago, Northwest activist Judith Arcana was one of more than 100 women known as 'Jane' who aided and abetted illegal abortions.
Megan Burbank
Guest Opinion,
History,
Seattle & King County,
Transportation,
T.M. Sell is professor of political economy at Highline College.


Grace Chapel, religious organization, listed under "Religious Organizations" category, is located at Woodruff WI, 54568 and can be reached by 7153589812 phone number. Grace Chapel has currently 0 reviews.
Browse all Religious Organizations in Woodruff WI. Discover census data for Woodruff, WI.


text:
Is 2021 the Year of the River?
September 22, 2021 September 22, 2021 ASNF
A slew of water protection measures emerging to combat droughts suggests a shifting current.
We're poised for real transformation, from investments in better, more equitable water infrastructure to the biggest river protection and restoration proposals in history," says Tom Kiernan, the president of American Rivers, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. "This could be the year for historic wins."
One notable effort is U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson's plan to breach four dams on the lower Snake River in Washington state. Simpson's proposal is a serious stab at resolving the Northwest's "salmon wars," as the Republican representative from Idaho calls them. When the four dams in question were built in the 1960s and '70s they flooded 14,400 acres and decimated salmon and steelhead populations that migrate from the ocean to spawning habitats in the wilds of Idaho.
Simpson hopes to bundle his $33.5 billion proposal into President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill. Admittedly, the plan faces an uphill battle with key senators in Washington state publicly rejecting the dam-breaching proposal.
How the Largest Dam Removal Project in History Will Commence Next Year
But Simpson's bill doesn't stand alone. In Oregon, the proposed River Democracy Act would protect 4,600 miles of rivers under the Wild and Scenic River designation. Similar bills in Washington state and Montana would protect 464 and 336 river miles, respectively. And President Biden has pledged to conserve 30 percent of the nation's lands and waters by 2030.
Dam it to hell! Salmon were once abundant in Hells Canyon on the Snake River. Getty Images
What's behind all this concern? As the West enters its 21st year of drought, the value of water is becoming painfully clear. So is its looming scarcity. Reservoirs that millions depend on—Lake Mead for instance—are creeping closer and closer to acute shortages. By May this year, most of California had entered a "drought emergency."
"Water quantity and flow is just increasingly becoming super important," says Jerry White, the Spokane Riverkeeper in Washington state.
5 of the Most Amazing Multi-Day River Trips
When and where to go — and who to go with.
While it's hard to say whether 2021 is a unique year in the river advocacy world, it's obvious "threats to rivers are greater than ever," says John DeVoe, executive director of Oregon-based WaterWatch. While that's dire news, DeVoe points to a note of hope. More "indigenous people are executing their rights in ways that they didn't previously."
Exactly right, says Shannon Wheeler, chairman of the Nez Perce Tribe, one of two tribes with treaty rights to the fish in the Snake River. In past decades the Nez Perce have poured millions of dollars into salmon recovery by growing hatchery fish and improving habitat. The tribe supports Simpson's ambitious proposal.
"We can change," says Wheeler. "But can the salmon change?"
The 2021 Dodge Hellcat Can Drain Its Fuel Tank in 11 Minutes
The Best Gifts for Diehard Fans of Any Sport

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Those who want to avail this offer should first check their eligibility and then only claim Airtel's free data benefits by calling on toll-free number 51111. Customers can do this through My Airtel App as well. Users will get 30 GB free data within 24 hours after making the claim. Under 'Mera Pehla Smartphone' scheme, Airtel has reached an understanding with handset manufacturers like Samsung, Intex, Karbonn, Lava, Celkon, Motorola, Lenovo and Nokia to provide users cashback offers and special bundled plans.
Airtel's new Rs 419 prepaid recharge pack offers 105GB data! Better than RJio?
Airtel Postpaid rolls out new plan priced at 399; should you buy?
Airtel is offering 30GB free data to users who upgrade to a 4G smartphone, under the company's 'Mera Pehla Smartphone' programme. Airtel has come up with a new offer to try to fight off the strong Reliance Jio challenge and retain its apex position. The telecom firm is providing 30GB free data to users if they upgrade to 4G smartphone, under the company's 'Mera Pehla Smartphone' programme. For availing this offer, Airtel customers having 2G/3G mobile need to upgrade them to 4G smartphone besides being on the company's network. Under 30GB data, Airtel is giving 1GB free data everyday for 30 days to its prepaid customers. It may be noted that free 1GB data will be over and above any pack that users recharge. The postpaid customers will however get 30GB additional free data with rollover facility in their first bill cycle.
Through a statement, CMO, Bharti Airtel, Vani Venkatesh, said, "While 4G smartphones are fast becoming the norm, for millions of customers with feature phones/3G devices the upgrade to a 4G smartphone is a big decision and a long term investment. This is one of the largest customer rewarding programs and with this initiative our customers shall get an opportunity to experience the online world at 4G speeds and fully unlock the potential of their smartphones."
"We believe this will help millions of our customers to fulfil their aspiration of owning a 4G smartphone by making the transition more rewarding," Vani Venkatesh added.
It may be noted that Airtel has recently came out with a new cashback programme, wherein, it offered Rs 2,000 cashback on select 4G handsets from telecom brands like Nokia to compete against Reliance JioFootball cashback offer.


text:
How Xbox One's 'ReCore' Isn't What You Expected
If all you know about ReCore comes from the game's first trailer, which debuted at E3 2015, I'm sorry to say you got the wrong impression. That's not your fault, of course, but the ReCore from that trailer is very different from the ReCore that's actually coming out on September 13 for Xbox One and PC. Unlike what the trailer would have you believe, it's not a somber, narrative-driven game about a woman and her beloved robot dog crossing the desert. It's something else entirely.
And that something looks pretty good so far, which is no surprise, seeing as ReCore is being spearheaded by some seriously talented game makers. One is Keiji Inafune, one of the masterminds behind classics like Mega Man, Resident Evil, and Onimusha (to say nothing of his contribution to DuckTales and Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers). To make the game a reality, Inafune has partnered up with some of the key figures behind the classic GameCube and Wii series Metroid Prime. That's some considerable talent all working on something that's becoming increasingly rare: a new game that's not a spinoff or sequel to anything else.
Despite the apparent misdirection from the first trailer, the setting remains the same, at least. The game does take place on a vast desert planet called Far Eden. It's a post-apocalyptic setting, so humans have nearly been wiped out, and the planet is overrun by robots. You play as a woman named Joule Adams who teams up with a few good robots to fight off the bad robots and bring humanity back from the brink of extinction.
This year's E3 trailer cut much closer to the root of what the game is. Gone is the melodramatic stringed instrument soundtrack. In its place is an upbeat dance/pop song that fits better with what players actually do in the game: run, jump, and shoot. This is a fast-paced action platformer that requires quick reflexes and a whole lot of on-the-fly weapon changing.
The game uses different colored enemies that are weak to bullets of the same color. The idea is for you to switch out your bullets on the fly as you fend off multi-colored swarms of enemies. You also have a rapid-fire rifle that doesn't do much damage but somehow replenishes your ammo when you hold down the right trigger. To put a real dent in an enemy's health, you have to use the right bumper to charge up and unleash a powerful attack.
You're not all by your lonesome as you blast robotic enemies to oblivion. You're accompanied by several robot companions, each of whom has a color that lines up with your bullets and enemies. These friendly robots also grant you unique abilities, much like the various forms of Rush the dog in the original Mega Man games. For instance, Seth is a spider-like robot who can climb on walls and ceilings to help you grapple to otherwise inaccessible areas. Duncan is the heavy-hitter of the group, with a stomping attack that causes area damage.
ReCore | Microsoft
The levels play out with enemy choke-points for you to blast through, platforming sections that require precision jumps, and giant robotic bosses that can take a whole lot of damage. While the game is full of shooting, the developers say that aiming isn't the important part. What's important is that you choose the right bullets and robo-companion for the enemy in your crosshairs. It's a game about combos, not headshots.
So no, ReCore isn't the somber, lonely experience it appeared to be in the initial trailer. It's a much more intense game that rewards quick thinking and an itchy trigger finger. Which is probably for the best, seeing as Mega Man games don't give you much time for reflection. To see if it's a successful blend of platforming and strategic combo-based shooting, we'll have to wait for the game to launch on September 13.
Follow Chris on Twitter @_chrislreed
Check out Entertainment Cheat Sheet on Facebook!
More from Entertainment Cheat Sheet:
Top 10 Upcoming Xbox One Exclusive Games
How Microsoft is Changing the Way it Does Xbox One Games
The 7 Worst Xbox One Exclusives Released So Far


We have unscrambled word aaabcn and found several words from the letters out of aaabcn. You can use following links below to get list of these words.
aaabcn has been asked as jumble word on popular word game Daily Jumble.
Word unscrambler found 1 different 6 letter words made with letters A A A B C N. You can find other unscrambled 6 letter words below.
Word unscrambler found 1 different 5 letter words made with letters A A A B C N. You can find other unscrambled 5 letter words below.
Word unscrambler found 7 different 3 letter words made with letters A A A B C N like aba and ana. You can find other unscrambled 3 letter words below.
Word unscrambler found 5 different 2 letter words made with letters A A A B C N like aa and ab. You can find other unscrambled 2 letter words below.


text:
Charles Pascal Joffrion est un homme politique français né le  à La Châtaigneraie (Vendée) et décédé le  à Fontenay-le-Comte (Vendée).

Médecin, il est député de la Vendée de 1822 à 1827, siégeant dans la majorité soutenant le ministère Villèle.

Sources

Député de la Vendée
Député de la Restauration
Naissance à La Châtaigneraie
Naissance en avril 1770
Décès en novembre 1849
Décès à Fontenay-le-Comte
Décès à 79 ans

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


A biotechnologies company that in 2011 selected Leland Industrial Park for a manufacturing site will begin renovations there next month and set the stage for more than 50 new hires.
CMS Food Solutions Inc., which produces a "revolutionary" anti-bacterial wash for fruits and vegetables, planned to invest $4.4 million in the Leland facility and create jobs with an average annual wage of about $43,000, according to state and county commerce officials.
Brunswick County's average annual wage is $30,160, according to the Brunswick County Economic Development Corporation (EDC).
Jim Bradshaw, EDC's executive director, said Friday that CMS began initial renovations last year but paused in order to focus on contract development. The company will resume the preparation of its Leland facility in February with a goal of completion later this year.
The company is headquartered in Danbury, Conn., and lists a second manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas.
The governor's office in Raleigh announced first news of the recruit in November 2011, noting the assistance of a $32,500 grant from the One North Carolina Fund.
The fund, under the N.C. Department of Commerce and composed of appropriations from the N.C. General Assembly, serves to recruit and grow jobs in "high value-added, knowledge-driven industries," its website says.
The grant did not involve up-front cash, former governor Bev Perdue noted at the time. Recipient companies have to meet job creation and investment performance standards.
Bradshaw said he invested roughly six months in the recruitment of CMS, which had considered sites in several different states for the manufacturing facility but chose Leland Industrial Park for the area's quality of life, access to major highways and a reliable workforce.
The 2,200-acre Leland Industrial Park, which includes CSX rail access, is off U.S. 74/76 eight miles west of Wilmington.
Brunswick Community College will help to train the company's employees, according to EDC.
CMS's main product, an antimicrobial produce spray called G-99, "is the most advanced product available for the control of food-borne bacteria," CMS Chairman Jim Burns said in a press release.


Love me or hate me are both in my favor. If you love me, I'll always be in your heart. If you hate me, I'll always be in your mind.
Finally, I edited these pictures. We took so many that it was hard to choose only few to show you folks!
Today I'm not into talkin (writing) mood,so I decided to put some of my favorite qoutes under the photos.
Beautiful pictures and amazing quotes! Those are some of my favorite quotes too!
Wow that first picture of you is breathtaking? You look even more gorgeous than usual!
You look beautiful! I love these quotes. They are great ones to remember!


text:
Department of Community Justice
DCJ Adult Services
Pretrial Services Program (PSP)
DCJ Adult Services Home
Sex Offender Supervision
Probation, Parole, and Post-Prison Supervision
Court Services and Intake
SIRN
Adult Supervision and Services
County Services2
Sites2
Contact Pretrial Services (PSP)
PSP Main Number:
PSP Automated Number:
The Pretrial Services Program (PSP) has two primary goals: to protect community safety by evaluating the risk of releasing defendants prior to trial and supervising them in the community to ensure that they appear at scheduled court hearings.
Release Investigations
Defendants may be released to PSP or referred for further evaluation under the authority granted by the Multnomah County Circuit Court. PSP evaluates each defendant's public safety and flight risk, using a validated risk instrument, and then makes a recommendation to the court about the defendant's suitability for release to the community. In some cases, PSP may determine that individuals are not eligible for release based on identified risk factors and other findings.
Pretrial Supervision
PSP supervision allows defendants an opportunity to remain employed, in school, continue any medical services (drug/alcohol/mental health treatment), and remain in their community pending resolution of their court case.
Defendants are monitored through a combination of phone contacts, office appointments and, in some cases, electronic monitoring.
PSP supervision ends after the defendant's criminal case is resolved.


text:
Egypt elections
This week in conflict… December 4th- 10th, 2010
In an attempt to reduce the risks of nuclear weapons proliferation, the International Atomic Energy Agency voted to set up a global nuclear fuel bank that aspiring nations could turn to for reactor fuel instead of making it themselves. Billionaire Warren Buffett pledged $50 million towards the project.
December 10th was Human Rights Day, a day for the promotion and protection of human rights that marks the anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
December 9th was International Anti-Corruption Day at the UN headquarters. Recent reports suggest that one in four people in the world paid a bribe over the past year to government institutions.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange turned himself in and was arrested on Tuesday following an Interpol arrest warrant for sexual crimes. Assange denies the charges and has so far been denied bail. So-called "hactivists" have began a cyber war attacking MasterCard, PayPal, Visa and a Swiss bank for blocking payments to Wikileaks.
Nineteen countries have declined invitations to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Norway on December 10th, which is allegedly tied to Chinese pressure over the awarding of political dissident Liu Xiaobo. Afghanistan, China, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sudan, Tunisia, Ukraine, Venezuela and Vietnam were all absent. The Nobel committee left a symbolic empty chair for Xiaobo on stage during the ceremonies.
Canada, Russia and Japan were under intense pressure to soften their opposition to the Kyoto Protocol during the Cancun climate summit, which ended this week. Details of a deal are to be released shortly.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Yukio Takasu of Japan as the special adviser on human security this week, after the General Assembly issued a resolution to continue discussions on the issue earlier this year.
The African Union (AU) has appointed Guinea's outgoing military leader Sekouba Konate to head its standby military force, it was announced on Tuesday. Konate would be put in charge of peacekeeping and intervention for a proposed African Standby Force.
The UN mission in Chad and Central African Republic (MINURCAT) is wrapping up by the end of the year at the request of the Chadian government. The 5,550 peacekeepers in the area were charged solely with protecting civilians.
Seven people were killed in a fresh attack in Nigeria late Friday. The attack was reported to be a suspected reprisal of the alleged killing of a Fulani herdsman. On Sunday, the Borno State police command said five people including two suspected Boko Haram gunmen died in a gun battle on Saturday night. The Nigerian military acknowledged on Monday that civilians died in recent battles with criminal gangs in the oil-rich south and parts of the north in the military offensive against the Niger Delta Liberation Force.
WikiLeaks brought to light evidence that two companies, drugmaker Pfizer and oil-giant Shell, are both collecting information on the Nigerian government in an effort to ensure their respective activities go on in the country without interference following major scandals. Shell took it one step further with it's Wikileaks cable claiming the company to have actually inserted staff into the main ministries in the government.
Unrest continued in Cote D'Ivoire following last week's elections results that left the country's constitutional court announcing separate results from the electoral commission that resulted in two Presidents being sworn in by separate bodies. South African leader Thabo Mbeki was called in to mediate, but left days later without success. The AU and ECOWAS have suspended incumbent Gbagbo from activities and several international bodies are preparing sanctions. By Friday, Gbagbo gave hints that he might be willing to talk.
Egypt faced its second round of parliamentary elections on Sunday, a week after the first round was condemned for alleged fraud. The National Democratic Party is said to have won with a massive majority, amid allegations of fraud, after the Muslim Brotherhood and Wafd party pulled out. The UN refugee agency is urging Egypt to intervene to secure the release of about 250 Eritreans who have been held hostage for at least a month by human traffickers in the Sinai. The hostages are said to be bound by chains around their ankles, deprived of adequate food, tortured and branded like cattle.
At least 22 people were killed and more than 35 others wounded in two days of fighting between the African Union and the al-Shabaab fighters in Mogadishu, Somalia. The AU backed government troops claimed to kill some 43 fighters as well.
In 2008, Somali pirates discovered a Ukrainian freighter packed with weapons, including 32 Soviet-era battle tanks, headed for the regional government in southern Sudan. The Ukrainian and Kenyan governments both insisted that the tanks were intended for the Kenyan military. WikiLeaks documents have just confirmed that the pirates were telling the truth.
Kenyan police announced that they have arrested 346 foreigners after two separate grenade and gun attacks last week that killed three policemen. The suspects are allegedly of Ethiopian and Somali origin.
Opposition MPs have claimed the government is arming people in northern Uganda, and the the Inspector General of the Police is recruiting 100 youths from each village to form brigades to aid cheating in the upcoming elections. The government denies all allegations.
Local leaders in southern Sudan are calling on the government to arm the local Arrow Boys militia to protect civilians from attacks by the LRA during the January referendum. The militia promises they will return the weapons once the "job" is done. The Sudanese army clashed with troops loyal to a former Darfur rebel leader in southern Sudan on Thursday. The rebel leader is accused of moving his troops to southern Sudan in order to prepare for war. The Sudanese government is claiming that Darfur's largest refugee camp, protected by the UN and the AU forces, is hiding rebel fighters. The military has threatened to take action. On Friday, the South Sudan army accused the north of bombing its territory in three air attacks in a week, dropping some 18 bombs.
A blast in eastern an Afghanistan army base killed at least two coalition troops and two civilians on Sunday. On Monday, the ISAF announced they were investigating a possible "friendly-fire" incident in Helmand province from Sunday where an ISAF service member had been killed; and 2 ISAF service members were killed in alleged separate insurgent attacks in Kabul. On Wednesday, two ISAF service members were killed in an attack by insurgents in Kabul; and an air strike by international forces in southern Kabul killed two Afghan soldiers and wounded five more. On Friday, an ISAF service member was killed by a roadside bomb in Kabul.
Thousands of people were dispersed by tear gas and a water canon on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia following an opposition-backed rally against the federal government's involvement in a dispute over drinking water. Some 48 people were arrested.
Russian airplanes are said to have flown in the region of a joint US-Japanese military drill this week, heightening tensions between Tokyo and Moscow. Military exercises between the US and Japan took place from December 3rd to 10th, with some 44,500 personnel.
Land tensions in the Indonesian half of Timor island have recently led to outbreaks of violence. Large numbers of former refugees complicate the issue, as access to precious little cultivable land is in short supply.
Wikileaks cables have brought to light the possibility that Myanmar/Burma might be building missile and nuclear sites with North Korean support. Surface-to-air missiles are said to be being built and Burmese workers are constructing a concrete-reinforced underground facility. One of the largest rebel groups in the country say that fighting will escalate if the new government fails to start talks with major ethnic groups, following the recent problematic elections that say the military-backed party win with an overwhelming victory.
Sri Lankan rights groups reported that a five-minute video clip that showed blindfolded, naked men being shot dead at close range last month warranted a UN investigation. The government denies that the video, leaked by a Tamil Tiger rebel tv station, is authentic.
The International Criminal Court announced on Monday that they have opened a preliminary investigation into possible war crimes by North Korea regarding the recent clashes with South Korea. South Korea began live-fire artillery drills on Monday, ignoring the North Korean warning of war. The North Koreans in return launched apparent artillery drills.
Hundreds of protesters in Hong Kong protested this week for China to free dissident Liu Xiaobo so that he can formally be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. The award was denounced by the Chinese, who had their own peace prize to award on December 9th.
Two suicide bombers attacked a meeting of pro-government elders in northwest Pakistan on Monday killing at least 40 people and injuring dozens more. US drone missile attacks are said to have killed another at least five people on Monday. On Tuesday, suspected twin suicide blasts killed at least 50 people and injured many more at a government compound in northwest Pakistan and police say another suicide bomber attacked a convoy carrying the top official in a southwestern province. On Wednesday, a suicide bomber blew himself up beside a crowded bus, killing some 14 people, and wounding many others in Kohat. On Thursday, four suspected militants were killed after insurgents attacked a check post killing a paramilitary soldier. On Friday, a suicide bomber blew up a trailer packed with explosives outside a hospital in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 15 people and wounding many others; and Pakistani security forces are said to have killed 5 suspected militants in a clash.
A bomb hidden in a metal canister exploded as thousands gathered for a Hindu ceremony in India, killing a toddler and triggering a stampede that left many wounded. The Indian Mujahideen allegedly sent a five-page claim of responsibility for the attack.
Dozens of people were injured on Easter Island after evicted islanders clashed with riot police. About a dozen buildings are being occupied by native Rapa Nui who say Chile illegally took their family's ancestral homes.
Protesters in Haiti clashed on Sunday with riot police demanding the annulment of last week's elections. The police responded with tear gas that left stinging gas clouds blowing over a large camp of homeless survivors from the Jan 12 earthquake. By Wednesday, the violent protests had essentially shut down the country, closing businesses, schools and shops. On Thursday, election officials announced they would review the disputed results in an effort to diffuse the violence.
Gunmen ambushed and killed four policemen in their patrol car on Saturday in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. On Wednesday, an 8 month old, a 16 year old girl and federal officer were gunned down in a series of shootouts between police and suspected La Familia gunmen. On Thursday, gunmen forced drivers from their cars, and set vehicles on fire in the middle of major intersections in Morelia. The suspected leader of La Familia is thought to have been killed in a resulting shootout.
An Argentine energy company operating in Brazil has suspended production at several sites after labor protests are said to have gotten violent over the weekend.
San Diego demolition teams burned down a house on Thursday that is said to have the largest cache of homemade bomb-making materials ever found in the US. The occupant of the home has so far pleaded not guilty to all charges, and police are unsure what plans he had with the explosives.
Guatemala's Congress passed a bill that would allow the government to confiscate property from convicted criminals in an effort to tackle the wealth of drug traffickers. The bill will allow the state to use, donate or auction seized goods.
Several Iranian pilgrims were killed in Baghdad on Saturday in separate bomb attacks, with some reports saying at least 16 were dead and more than 100 injured. On Sunday, gunmen killed a couple in their home in eastern Baghdad; gunmen in a speeding car killed a civilian in west-central Baghdad; and gunmen attacked a police checkpoint and killed two policemen in Mosul. On Monday, a roadside bomb exploded in central Baghdad wounding two civilians and another roadside bomb exploded killing two and injuring several others in Baquba. On Wednesday, a bomb targeting Iraqi army patrol killed two civilians and wounded 17 others in Taji; seven Iranian pilgrims were wounded in a roadside bomb attack near Baghdad; a roadside bomb near a police patrol wounded two policemen in southwestern Baghdad; and gunmen opened fire on the home of an Iraqi interior minister, killing his daughter and wounding two other family members. On Friday, a roadside bomb targeting Iraqi police wounded two policemen in southern Baghdad; another roadside bomb killed one civilian and wounded five others in southern Baghdad; and gunmen in a speeding car opened fire at an Iraqi police checkpoint, killing two policemen and wounding two others in Tikrit.
Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, announced that his governing body may be dissolved if a peace deal cannot be agreed upon with Israel and the international community. US-brokered peace talks have been deadlocked since September. Brazil has decided to recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, much to Israel's disappointment and days later Argentina followed suit. It appears the US has given up its effort to persuade Israeli PM Netanyahu to renew the expired freeze on Jewish settlement construction, leaving Middle East peace talks in limbo.
Iran claimed on Sunday that it was now able to use domestically mined uranium to produce nuclear furl, giving it complete control over its process. The move would allow Iran to bypass UN sanctions on import of the material. Nuclear talks began on Monday between Iran and several other global powers, and ended on Tuesday with no agreement but the parties agreeing to meet again in Istanbul next month. Iran, however, is refusing to talk about stopping its enrichment of uranium at the next meeting. On Tuesday, three journalists and the financial manager of a leading Iranian daily were arrested in Tehran with unknown charges, after releasing a special edition containing articles and interviews by critics of the government.
Syria's interference in Lebanon and alleged increasingly sophisticated weapons shipments to Hezbollah have prompted Israel's military to consider a strike against a Syrian weapons depot. Israel has said they have tracked nighttime missile shipments by Syrian personnel to the Lebanese border.
A rally west of Kuwait City on Wednesday injured at least five people, and has put the Prime Minister under questioning. Opposition MPs accuse the government of trying to undermine the status of the constitution in a bid to suppress freedom and democracy.
A football game turned violent in Amman between two Jordanian clubs on Friday. Some 250 people were injured after a metal fence collapsed during clashes, and eyewitnesses say that several people were beaten to death by police trying to prevent an escalation of violence.
Thousands of supporters of Macedonia's leading opposition protested in the capital on Sunday to call for early elections. They accuse the conservative government of mismanaging the economy and criticize its failure to bring the country closer to the EU and NATO.
Police and demonstrators clashed in Greece, after thousands of people gathered to mark the anniversary of a police shooting.
Protests in Britain over drastically increasing university tuition fees got violent this week. Police have been accused of "kettling", a practice that hold demonstrators in small periods of space for long periods of time.
All the top police officials in a town east of Moscow, Russia were fired after locals complained of police ignoring crimes. The prosecutor-general announced that four criminal cases were opened against policemen suspected of intentionally obstructing the investigation of numerous crimes.
Posted in rebecca sargent's posts, This Week in Conflict and tagged Afghanistan, African Union standby military force, al-Shabaab, Arrow Boys, Boko Haram, Brazil, British protests, Burma, Cancun climate summit, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Cote D'Ivoire elections, Darfur, Easter Island, Egypt elections, Gbagbo, Greece protests, Guatemala, Haiti elections, Human Rights Day, ICC, India, Indonesia, International Anti-Corruption Day, International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran, Iraq, ISAF, Israel, Jordan, Julian Assange, Kenya, Kuwait, land tensions Timor, Lebanon, Liu Xiaobo, LRA, Macedonia elections, Mexico drug violence, MINURCAT, Myanmar, NATO, Nigeria, Nobel Peace Prize, North Korea, nuclear weapons in Iran, nuclear weapons proliferation, Pakistan, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Pfizer, Rapa Nui, Russian police, Shell, Somalia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, UN human security, US-Japanese military drills, WikiLeaks on December 11, 2010 by apeaceofconflict. Leave a comment
This week in conflict… October 30th-November 5th, 2010
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has released its 2010 Human Development Report entitled "The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development" that examines progress in health, education and income. The report uses a "human development index" (HDI) which ranks 135 countries for comparable data. The report warned that a continued failure to tackle climate change was the biggest challenge to the anti-poverty drive. It listed Norway, Australia and New Zealand as the best countries in the world to live, while Zimbabwe, Niger, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were listed as least desirable places to live. Japan was listed as the country with the highest life expectancy (83.6 years), and Afghanistan had the lowest life expectancy (44.6 years).
The first comprehensive report into cluster bombs around the world was released by Cluster Munition Monitor on Monday. The report found that Norway, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Colombia, Moldova and Montenegro have destroyed their weapons and that 11 other countries were in the process of doing so. The UK is said to have destroyed more than a third of its stockpile.
Several bombings targeting embassies and major world leaders, including US bound packages found in Dubai and Britain, a spate of mail bombs in Greece, suspicious packages to France's Nicholas Sarkozy, Italy's Silvio Berlusconi and Germany's Angela Merkel were intercepted this week. Intelligence agencies have cited both domestic terrorists (in some of the Greek cases), and the Yemen-based group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as possible suspects, and are conferring with the other bomb cases to determine if they were built by the same people.
The International Food Policy Research Institute released its 2010 Global Hunger Index this week. Four nations ranked "extremely alarming" were all based in sub-Saharan Africa.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for generous contributions to the UN peacebuilding fund, that was set up in 2006 to support efforts to augment peace and stability in countries emerging from conflict. The Fund has so far received $342 million, exceeding its initial target of $250 million, with 46 countries contributing.
Companies and states investing in large-scale land deals must be held to standards of transparency and accountability to ensure that their deals are not threatening human rights or food security a new report released by the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law announced on Monday. The report analyzes the immediate and anticipated impacts of large-scale land deals in parts of Africa and South Asia.
A report by the Open Society Justice Initiative was released on "Corporate War Crimes". The report details how corporate pillage can be tried as a war crime as both the Hague Regulations of 1907 and the Geneva Conventions prohibit pillage, as well as most domestic jurisdictions and international courts.
Fresh fighting is said to have erupted in southern Darfur on Wednesday between fighters from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and security forces, as rebels ambushed a government food and supplies convoy. JEM spokesmen announced that at least 50 people were killed in the attack. The spokesperson for the South Sudan referendum commission announced on Monday that he was resigning and spoke of deep disagreements with the head of the commission and its secretary general. He also expressed skepticism that the vote will be held on time, suggesting instead it be moved to April or May so that it can be more effective. Sudan's southern army accused soldiers from the north of ambushing its men on its territory on Sunday, in violation of the 2005 peace deal. The northern army denied it had any troops south of the border. On Tuesday, the government shut down the Khartoum office of Radio Dabanga and arrested 13 of the staff for reporting negatively on Darfur. On Thursday, three people in a Latvian helicopter crew working for the World Food Programme in South Darfur were kidnapped at gunpoint.
In a strange move, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ordered her entire cabinet to take "administrative leave", a euphemism for suspension, until further notice. She implied in her order that those not ordered back to work, within an unspecified time, should consider themselves dismissed.
Guinea's run-off elections are in threat of being delayed again, as thousands of Guinea voters have been displaced from last month's violence and will be denied their voting rights. The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect issued a statement on Thursday saying the situation in the Guinea requires international action to prevent mass atrocities from happening during the second round.
Ivory Coast will be heading to a run-off election next month, after it failed to determine a majority candidate in its first Presidential election in more than a decade. Laurent Gbagbo will now face off against Alassane Ouattara on November 28th. Some 80% of registered voters peacefully cast ballots on Sunday. Third place candidate Henri Bedie called for a recount as the results went against his favor, although the elections have been widely regarded as fair and free. Experts fear an escalation of violence in the upcoming run-off elections.
At least 57 Muslim Brotherhood candidates have been barred from Egypt's upcoming parliamentary election, it was announced on Wednesday. The group, who won 88 out of 444 seats in the 2005 elections, have claimed that the authorities are doing whatever they can to limit challenges to the ruling National Democratic Party, although the government has said the candidates will have an opportunity to appeal the decisions.
Tanzania participated in its presidential election on Sunday, with incumbent Jakaya Kikwete reported as the winner with a landslide 61% of the votes. The parliamentary polls were contested by the main opposition leader on suspected fraud, whose claims were later rejected by election officials. A second opposition party criticized the poll on Thursday after the National Electoral Commission admitted on Wednesday that there could have been irregularities in vote tallying. Clashes erupted between opposition supporters and riot police during the delay of vote counting. Some voters were shocked to find their names listed as dead on voter lists while they were still very much alive, along with other irregularities such as missing names, claims of malpractice and protests.
A new round of informal talks of fighting parties in the Western Sahara will take place in New York next week. Morocco and Frente Polisario will both send delegates, as well as neighbouring states Algeria and Mauritania. Moroccan authorities say they dismantled two al-Qaeda terrorist cells this week.
At least 15 people are dead following an attack by militants on government soldiers in Mogadishu, Somalia on Sunday. On Monday, the African Union Mission in Somalia announced it will train an additional 800 policemen to provide security to Mogadishu. Somalia's parliament approved a new Prime Minister on Sunday, in a vote of 297 to 92. The new PM, Mohamed Abdullahii Mohamed is considered as someone who could potentially bridge the gap between various groups.
An explosion rocked a government guest house in Nigeria's Niger Delta on Wednesday. Officials were not immediately clear on the cause of the blast or who was responsible.
A Ugandan newspaper again published photographs, along with names and home addresses of gay Ugandans on Monday. A human rights group is now seeking a legal injunction against the publication.
The Central Intelligence Organization in Zimbabwe is said to have seized donated portable radios from villagers in Chitowa district. The radios were distributed by a civil society organization to help improve access to information for marginalized groups in the area. Violence was said to mar the conclusion of the constitutional outreach meetings, as a MDC supporter was stabbed in the head by ZANU-PF thugs. Around 52 meetings have so far been abandoned or disrupted because of ZANU-PF sponsored violence.
At least 21 census agents are said to have been abducted while updating votes' rolls for upcoming elections it was announced on Monday in the Central African Republic. The agents were intercepted by members of the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP) who confiscated the information that had been gathered and destroyed it and are holding the agents hostage.
More than 600 women and girls were raped during the mass expulsion of illegal immigrants across the Congo-Angola border, the UN announced this week. Many of the victims were locked in dungeon-like conditions for several weeks and raped repeatedly by security forces. Many rape victims in the DRC, keen to keep their family reputation in tack and lacking confidence in the police, opt to take justice into their own hands and come to amicable settlements with their attackers.
NATO has claimed that some 30 insurgents were killed in an overnight raid on Saturday in eastern Afghanistan in an attack that wounded five coalition soldiers. Also on Saturday, two ISAF troops were killed in separate incidents in Kabul; and more than 10 suspected insurgents were killed in Helmand. On Sunday, the ISAF announced it had killed as many as 78 insurgents in air strikes. On Monday, Afghan and foreign troops announced that they had seized nearly 24 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, to be used in homemade bombs, killing at least 15 insurgents in the process; two ISAF service members were killed in a roadside bomb in Kabul; a large number of insurgents attacked and seized Khogyani district in Ghazni province; and two female Afghan aid workers were killed in Kandahar. On Tuesday, a NATO troop member was killed in an insurgent attack in Kabul; Afghan and ISAF troops killed several insurgents in the east in an operation targeting a Taliban leader; and an armed suspected insurgent was shot dead and two suspects arrested in an ISAF/Afghan raid in Helmand. On Wednesday, insurgents firing on NATO troops killed five Afghan civilians and wounded nine others in Helmand; five insurgents were killed while trying to plant a roadside bomb west of Kabul; two ISAF troops were killed in separate attacks in Kabul; and Afghan and ISAF troops killed "several" insurgents and detained several more during an operation in Helmand. On Thursday, two ISAF service members were killed following an attack in Kabul; ISAF forces fired a hellfire missile from the air at two people appearing to be carrying weapons by motorcycle in Kandahar; four insurgents were killed in an Afghan and foreign patrol in Helmand; and an ISAF service member was killed in an insurgent attack in Kabul. On Friday, a teenage suicide bomber killed at least 9 people and wounded some 30 others at a bazaar in the west; six ISAF service members were killed in insurgent attacks and roadside bombs; and a senior leader of the al-Qaeda linked Haqqani network and several insurgents were killed in a coalition air strike. The US special envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan has down played reports of reconciliation talks with the Taliban, announcing that while more were coming forward, the leaders were not. The US military's claim that it had a successful campaign fighting the Taliban in Arghandab Valley infuriated local people who said the conflict destroyed their harvest this week. A US led campaign is also said to have destroyed or damaged hundreds of houses this week, despite a US strategy designed to weaken support for the Taliban by limiting harm to civilians. The UN mission in Afghanistan announced on Sunday that it had set up a group of experts to support the work in the newly-formed peace council. NATO faces a shortage of specialist instructors to train Afghan forces, so has begun to send hundreds to study outside Afghanistan. The Taliban's ability to produce large numbers of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) has been reported to be severely constrained this week due to an apparent shortage of ammonium nitrate. The Taliban claimed this week to have struck a deal with as many as 19 police officers who are said to have defected to the Taliban, leaving behind a burning police station.
On Monday, a US drone attack killed at least five people in northwest Pakistan, bringing the US drone attack count to 21 in Pakistan in the last month alone. On Tuesday, gunmen kidnapped seven employees of a state-owned oil and gas company in Pakistan. Three attacks by US drones are said to have killed at least 12 suspected fighters in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, a bomb blast damaged a building of an Islamist party in Peshawar. On Friday, a suicide bomber demolished a mosque in the north-west during prayers, killing at least 66 people; and a grenade blast killed at least three people at another mosque on the Afghan border.
Indian troops in Kashmir shot dead six separatist militants in firefights on Tuesday. Concerns were raised that militants may be stepping up violence ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit this week.
Protesters in southwestern China overturned and torched dozens of vehicles over what they say is an illegal land grab for a construction project on Thursday. Around 2,000 paramilitary and riot police were eventually deployed and around 20 people were said to have been injured.
The Philippines was on heightened alert this week for possible terrorist attacks after American, British, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand governments warned their citizens of potential attacks. The Philippine military said it did not have similar information on an immediate threat, but took the advisories seriously.
Japan issued a warning to Russia following President Medvedev's November 1st visit to disputed islands in the North Pacific that both countries make claims to. Russia rejected the warning claiming it does not take advice from anyone when traveling within Russian territory.
The results of the Kyrgyzstani elections were released on Monday, and were assessed by observers as positive, transparent and well organized. The parliamentary elections took place on October 10th.
Last week's exchange of gunfire across the Korean border was likely an accident and not a provocation, a top lawmaker and former army general announced on Monday. Media reports have downplayed the skirmish, and there have been no signs of escalation. On Wednesday, a North Korean fishing boat allegedly straying across the Korean border in the Yellow Sea, was fired upon by the South Korean Navy with warning shots.
Two main opposition parties in Burma/Myanmar have accused the political group of the military government of "cheating" and "threatening" voters ahead of this weekend's elections. The election has so-far been considered a sham, as reporters and observers are to be denied access to the country during the vote.
The government of Cambodia demanded the removal of the director of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the country and stated that the government intends to force the office's closure. The government is claiming that the office acted as a "spokesperson for the opposition party".
Central and North America
Four Americans were killed in separate attacks in Ciudad Juarez between Friday and Sunday, and the charred body of a Canadian businessman was found on Saturday inside the trunk of a car in Guerrero. Suspected drug hitmen tossed grenades at four police stations across Monterrey on Saturday, killing one civilian and wounded 17 others. Mexican authorities found at least 18 bodies in a mass grave near the resort city of Acapulco on Wednesday. Police have not yet confirmed whether the bodies are those of the tourists who went missing in late September.
The US military's ban on openly gay troops is to remain in place while the Obama administration challenges a court ruling overturning the policy. Obama says he supports ending the "don't ask, don't tell" rule, but argues that congress and not the courts should make the decision. For the first time, US human rights practices will be under review by the UN Human Rights Council on Friday. The US has announced that it is open to fair criticism of its human rights record. On Friday it was reported that the US defended its "proud" human rights record, which included the Guantanamo scandal, obstacles to Hispanic immigration, discrimination of Muslims and children's rights and was largely unapologetic for its behaviour.
Gunmen in Honduras opened fire on a group of people in a neighbourhood sports fiend, killing at least 14 on Saturday. It was not immediately clear what triggered the attack, but drug trafficking between rival gangs was suspected.
Colombia has suspended seven army officers and soldiers for failing to control their troops in connection with the brutal murders of three impoverished children last month. One of the officers has acknowledged raping the young 14 year old girl before she was killed, and has also confessed to having raped a 13 year old girl in a separate incident on October 2nd.
Dilma Rousseff won Brazil's Presidential election to become the first woman to lead the country by beating rival her rival with 55.5% of the vote in the run-off election. Rousseff vowed to eradicate poverty affecting 20 million people in the country.
A Peruvian blogger was sentenced to three years in prison, a fine and 120 days of social work for "aggravated defamation" of a politician after posting an article that linked to several media outlets that discussed criminal accusations against a former minister and congressman. The sentence has generated political and media uproar in the country and has been called unprecedented and unconstitutional.
On Saturday, gunman attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint in Abu Ghraib killing two soldiers and wounding five people; gunmen wounded a policeman in Kirkuk; a sticky bomb attack killed a driver in Baghdad; an 8 year old boy was killed and two of his family wounded after a grenade he found exploded in the southwest; and a roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol wounded three civilians in Mosul. More than 50 people are said to have been killed after Iraqi security forces stormed a Catholic church in Baghdad on Sunday to free hostages being held by gunmen. Also on Sunday, four Iraqi soldiers were wounded after two mortars landed at an Iraqi army base in Mosul; a car bomb exploded in the north, killing one leader of a government-back militia and wounding three passers-by; a roadside bomb wounded one policeman and two civilians in Baghdad; and another roadside bomb wounded two civilians in Baghdad. On Monday, the chief of a northern police station was killed and his driver wounded in a sticky bomb attack; and Kurdistan security forces killed a gunman carrying around 25 kg of explosive materials at a checkpoint. On Tuesday, more than 36 people were killed (later reported to be as many as 63 people) in a series of apparently coordinated blasts in Baghdad; an off-duty policeman was killed in a roadside bomb in Falluja; a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded four policemen in Mosul; a roadside bomb targeting another police patrol wounded three policemen in Mosul; a man was found suffocated and torched to death in Kirkuk; gunmen shot and killed a merchant in Kirkuk; gunmen shot and killed a government backed militia leader in front of his house north of Baghdad; and gunmen shot and killed a civilian in Kirkuk. On Wednesday, armed men killed a 17 year old boy in front of his home in Mosul; a roadside bomb on a motorcycle wounded two firemen in Ramadi; another roadside bomb in Ramadi wounded two civilians; a car bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol wounded three soldiers in the north; and gunmen threw a hand grenade at a police patrol, wounding a woman in Mosul. On Thursday, four soldiers and two policemen were wounded in three roadside bombs in the west; three children were wounded in a bomb attack in Mosul; police found the body of a man riddled with gunshot wounds to his chest and head in Mosul; three policemen were killed and six wounded during a bomb detonation in the north; two roadside bombs killed a driver in the west; three policemen were wounded in an attack on a police checkpoint near Falluja; three other policemen were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Falluja; and two interior ministry officers were wounded in a sticky bomb attack in Baghdad. On Friday, nine civilians were killed in a bomb attack in Baquba; and a roadside bomb killed a government-backed Sunni Sahwa militia leader in Kirkuk.
Iran has arrested four men it claims were paid by a British based man with Kurdish sympathies to carry out a series of assassinations. The arrests are thought to put further strain on the already troubled relations between Britain and Iran.
The government of Yemen has launched a major offensive against al-Qaeda, and in particular a Saudi bomb maker behind a year-long wave of bombing attempts, and is suspected of the bombing of a major oil pipeline this week. At least two Yemeni soldiers and one attacker were said to have been killed after anti-government fighters attacked a military checkpoint on Wednesday. On Thursday, a car bomb in the south killed two people and wounded at least 13 others; a masked gunmen shot and wounded a soldier manning a checkpoint; and southern secessionists took to the streets in a weekly demonstration to protest against the detention of separatists.
A Palestinian leader of an extremist group was killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, a Hamas police officer shot dead a Palestinian salesman and wounded his assistant in a market in a refugee camp west of Gaza City. Israeli undercover agents have been accused by human rights group B'Tselem of abusing Palestinians during questioning at a detention centre. Israel rejected the allegations.
Israel has suspended dialogue with the UK in protest over a British law that allows UK courts to prosecute visiting Israeli officials for alleged war crimes. The UK has said that the law needs to be changed, but have not suggested when.
At least 32 people were injured after a suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in Istanbul, Turkey on Sunday. Kurdish fighters have denied responsibility and announced the extension of a unilateral ceasefire. On Thursday, a group connected with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) claimed responsibility for the attack.
An Arab woman on vacation in France was attacked by a French retiree for wearing a full-face veil. The case has highlighted potential problems with the recent law enforcing a veil ban.
A suspected militant detonated an improvised grenade during a raid on a suspected rebel hideout on Monday, killing himself, and injuring at least 10 police officers in Chechnya.
Kosovo's parliament voted overwhelmingly to oust the governing coalition this week and announced that its first elections since declaring independence from Serbia would be held December 12th. Kosovo entered a political deadlock when the President resigned in September.
Anti-government protesters were allowed to rally on Sunday in Moscow's Triumph Square for the first time in years after authorities granted them permission. Opposition attempts at rallying have previously been broken up, with protesters detained or arrested. Russian police officers conducted an armed raid on Tuesday of a bank belonging to a billionaire. The billionaire suggested that the raid was connected to his support of opposition newspapers. Investigators said they were searching for evidence for a criminal case that was opened some time ago.
Georgia announced on Friday that it had detained some 15 undercover agents working in Georgia. The spies are said to have been passing on information about Georgia's armed forces, weapons purchases, military communications and coordination with foreign armies. Relations between the two countries have remain mostly frozen since the war in August 2008.
Britain and France signed defense agreements on Tuesday to expand their cooperation, including the creation of a joint expeditionary force, shared use of aircraft carriers and combined efforts to improve safety and effectiveness of nuclear weapons. The cooperation pact is set to last 50 years and will transform the way the two countries fight wars and compete for defense contracts.
Posted in rebecca sargent's posts, This Week in Conflict and tagged 2010 Global Hunger Index, 2010 Human Development Report, Afghanistan, al Qaeda, Alassane Ouattara, "The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development", Brazil elections, Burma/Myanmar elections, Burqa, Cambodia human rights, Central African Republic, Chechnya, China, cluster bombs, Cluster Munition Monitor, Colombia, Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace, Corporate theft, Cote D'Ivoire elections, CPJP, Darfur, Dilma Rousseff, drug violence in Mexico, Egypt elections, embassy bombs, freedom of assembly in Russia, freedom of the press in Peru, French veil law, Frente Polisario, gays in the military, Georgian-Russian relations, Guinea elections, Henri Bedie, homosexuality in Uganda, Honduras, India, International Food Policy Research Institute, Iran, Iraq, ISAF, Israel-Palestine, Israel-UK relations, Ivory Coast elections, Jakaya Kikwete, Japanese-Russian relations, JEM, Justice and Equality Movement, Kashmir, Korean relations, Kosovo parliament, Kurdistan Workers Party, Kyrgyzstan elections, land deals, Laurent Gbgabo, Liberia, MDC, Mexico, Morocco, Muslim Brotherhood, NATO, Niger Delta, Nigeria, niqab, OHCHR, Pakistan, peacebuilding, Philippines, pillaging, PKK, Radio Dabanga, rape in the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan referendum, Sudan, TAK, Tanzania elections, terrorist attacks, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, Turkey, UK-France relations, UN Development Programme, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN peacebuilding fund, UNDP, US drone attacks, US human rights, Western Sahara, Yemen, ZANU-PF, Zimbabwe on November 5, 2010 by apeaceofconflict. Leave a comment
This week in conflict… October 9th-15th, 2010.
The UN pre-talks for the world climate summit in China ended in disappointment as negotiators from 177 countries fought over the main aspect of how to finance climate protection and the legal form of a future global climate agreement. The six days of negotiations were marred by open conflicts between the US and China, with the Chinese holding the US and other developed nations responsible for the apparent deadlock in negotiations.
The top UN official fighting to end the recruitment of child soldiers appealed to governments to provide the necessary resources to ensure the reintegration of children into civil society once they have been freed. A new report released this week outlines some of the successes over the past year, and some of the major challenges facing children in war zones.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon outlined measures to strengthen the UN's role in helping countries emerging from conflict to maintain peace and entrench stability in a report released on Thursday. He also spoke of the need to provide UN staff deployed in crisis situations with proper training to enable them to perform the full range of their responsibilities.
India, Germany, South Africa, Colombia and Portugal will all take their place on the UN Security Council for their term after being elected to two-year terms. The council is made up of 5 permanent veto-holding members — France, Russia, China, the UK and the US, as well as 10 non-permanent members. Brazil, Gabon, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nigeria and Lebanon are all on the council until 2011. Canada abruptly withdrew from the contest allowing Portugal to take its place, after neither won the required votes (128 votes) for victory (Portugal with 113 votes and Canada with 78 votes).
NATO's secretary-general has urged member states to endorse a proposed anti-missile system that would link alliance members into a common network, saying it was NATO's responsibility to build "modern defenses against modern threats". NATO defense and foreign ministers held a rare joint session in Brussels on Thursday to discuss a draft of a new "strategic concept" for the alliance, which is expected to focus on new threats including missiles from hostile states, terrorism and cyberattacks ahead of the Lisbon summit in November.
The UN is owed $4.1 billion by member nations with the US accounting for more than a quarter of that figure, officials announced on Thursday. Chile, Iran, Mexico, and Venezuela accounted for 9% of the arrears, and another 68 countries made up 3% of the arrears. Only 13 countries out of 192 have paid their contributions.
French authorities have arrested a leader of the FDLR who is accused of carrying out mass rapes in the DR Congo. ICC chief prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo said the arrest was a "crucial step in efforts to prosecute the massive sexual crimes committed in the DRC. On Thursday, a senior UN official said the UN Security Council should consider sanctioning Lieutenant Colonel Serafim of the FDLR over the rapes of hundreds of villagers in the east in August as well. Those who were raped by rebels over the summer are said to now be facing the same abuse from Government troops.
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is reported to have ambushed a town in northern Central African Republic, abducting young girls, looting and setting shops on fire in what the UNHCR has described as intensified attacks since September. The group is said to have committed more than 240 deadly attacks this year, displacing thousands.
A new school to train soldiers of about a dozen African countries in peacekeeping operations has been launched in the Congo (Brazzaville) with financial support from France. The school is set to train hundreds of students a year.
The former deputy leader of Niger's ruling military government was arrested on Wednesday, just days after his post as the junta's number two leader was eliminated. It was not immediately clear why the leader was arrested.
Sudan's president has accused the country's southern autonomous leadership of breaching terms of a peace deal and warned that civil war could re-erupt if the two sides did not settle their disputes before the secession referendum. On Friday, a UN panel said that plans for the referendums are being hampered by delays, poor funding and negatively charged atmosphere of threats and accusations. The latest round of talks between the north and the south over the oil-producing Abyei region have failed to reach an agreement just 90 days before the referendum to decide its fate. South Sudan independence supporters clashed with riot police and northern pro-unity campaigners in Khartoum on Saturday, highlighting the risk that simmering tensions might boil over. The president in South Sudan has asked the UN Security Council to send peacekeepers and set up a buffer zone along the north-south border ahead of the independence vote to help keep the peace and on Wednesday, the UN Security Council announced that peacekeepers could create limited buffer zones in hotspots along the north-south border, but were not capable of patrolling the entire border. On Tuesday, the UN-supported disarmament drive in the far south began, as the first of some 2,600 people set to be disarmed were disarmed, registered and issued certificates. On Thursday it was announced that the vote on whether the district of Abyei should be part of the north or the south will be delayed, as feared. Local residents responded by saying that a delay is unacceptable and that they may hold their own vote without the government. On Thursday, a renegade army commander began reconciliation talks with the president of South Sudan, as part of a new push to end southern divisions.
Gunmen in northern Nigeria shot and killed an Islamic scholar on Saturday after he had been openly critical of a radical sect behind a series of recent killings. Recent killings of police officers, traditional leaders and politicians in the area have raised fears that a radical Islamic group Boko Haram, are staging a comeback. Late Monday night, a police station was destroyed in an attack blamed on the group, after attackers deployed home-made bombs. On Wednesday, Boko Haram gave the government five conditions to be implemented for peace to be restored to their region: that the government stop arresting, intimidating and detaining their members; release all their members that are currently in detention unconditionally; allow their fleeing members to return home unmolested; give back all their places of worship, and denounce all forms of injustice. On Friday, a militant group announced it planned to carry out another bomb attack in Abuja this month, giving seven days of notice of the attack.
A Ugandan court has dismissed treason charges against Kizza Besigye, an opposition leader, paving the way for him to run against the president in the 2011 election. The opposition leader had gone into exile after losing to President Museveni in the 2001 presidential polls.
Guinea's presidential hopeful, Cellou Dallein Diallo is still opposed to taking part in a run-off election on October 24th, despite having agreed to share power with his opponent whoever wins. Last week, Diallo announced that he would not participate in the election unless the head of the electoral commission was removed. The two main political rivals agreed to share power regardless of who wins, by including the loser in government.
Ethiopia has signed a peace deal on Tuesday to end 20 years of war with a rebel faction in the Ogaden region, however, the deal remains unsure, as a spokesman for a rival wing of the rebel group called the deal "irrelevant". Ethiopian authorities have said that the deal represents 80% of the fighters.
Heavy fighting in Somalia's capital left more than 20 dead on Wednesday as soldiers clashed with al-Shabaab fighters. A mortar hit the main Bakara market killing 5 civilians, as the fighting escalated. The Somali President named a Somali-American to replace the Prime Minister who resigned last month on Thursday. The previous PM is said to have resigned after intense pressure from the president following a long-standing dispute. A Briton working for Save the Children in Somalia was kidnapped by masked Somali gunmen on Thursday, along with a Somali native who was later released. Witnesses say heavy fighting between government troops and al-Shabaab rocked the capital on Friday with civilian casualties.
Egypt's telecommunications regulator has imposed new restrictions on mobile text messages just ahead of the legislative elections that prohibit companies from sending out text messages en masse without obtaining licenses. Opposition activists say the new regulation stifles their ability to mobilize voters, as they have come to rely increasingly on the internet and mobile phones to organize and mobilize their supporters to sidestep government harassment.
Rwanda'a leading opposition leader Victoire Ingabire was re-arrested on Thursday after allegations that investigations into a former rebel commander facing terrorism charges also implicate her. Ingabire had returned to Rwanda to contest the presidential elections this year, but was barred from standing, after being accused of crimes linked to genocide denial.
A top rebel leader in Cote D'Ivoire announced that the identity cards being issued to voters ahead of the October 31st election end once and for all the dispute which split the nation in two. The 2002-3 rebellion was largely driven by a row over citizenship rights. The UN Security Council renewed its arms, financial and travel sanctions to the country for six months on Friday, as well as a ban on trade in rough diamonds.
Eleven miners at a coal mine in Zambia were shot after protesting over what they said were poor pay and conditions on Friday. Police are said to be investigating the Chinese owners of Collum Mine Ltd. but have yet to arrest anyone.
Seven presidential candidates are to take part in the October general elections in Tanzania. The current president warned candidates to run peaceful elections campaigns and avoid any action that could cause chaos.
The Zimbabwean Prime Minister and his deputy boycotted cabinet this week, in escalating political tensions in the shaky inclusive government. Sources say the PM is angry over the President's unilateral decision to appoint new governors and other arbitrary appointments, triggering a constitutional crisis.
The wife of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, has been placed under house arrest in China following Liu's win late last week, along with more than 30 other intellectuals. Censors blacked out any foreign broadcasts of the win, and police were mobilized to quell any sign of domestic support. China also canceled its meeting with the Norwegian fisheries minister, living up to its promise that the move to award the dissident Liu the Prize would harm relations between the countries. On Tuesday, the government canceled another meeting with Norwegian officials, claiming that the award was an affront to the Chinese people and a ploy to try and change the country's political system. Also on Tuesday, a group of retired Communist Party officials and intellectuals issued an unusually blunt demand for total press freedom in China, stating that the current censorship and control violated China's Constitution. More than 100 Chinese Christians seeking to attend an international evangelical conference in South Africa have been barred from leaving the country because their churches are not sanctioned by the government.
Police sealed off residential areas and reimposed the round-the-clock curfew in Kashmir again on Tuesday in an attempt to pre-empt the first anti-India rally since authorities announced concessions to end violent protests. The hardline separatist leader in Kashmir called on residents to defy the curfew and go into the streets.
Detained Myanmar/Burma pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has announced that she will not vote in the upcoming elections, even though authorities have told her she is on the electoral roll. Suu Kyi's party was dissolved because it declined to reregister for an election it considered unfair and undemocratic and she has said that her ability to vote is unlawful, as convicted people are prohibited from voting.
North Korea put on the largest military parade it has ever had on Sunday in front of Kim Jong-il and his successor son Kim Jong-un. Kim Jong-il's oldest son, Kim Jong-nam announced his opposition to the hereditary transfer of leadership to his younger brother on Tuesday. It is suspected Kim Jong-nam, who fell out of favor after an embarrassing attempt to enter Japan to visit Disneyland in 2001, will not likely return to the country. On Friday North Korea vowed to attack South Korea if it resumed its propaganda war along the border, which was recently resumed.
Militants set fire to at least 29 fuel tankers in Pakistan in the latest assault on NATO supply routes to Afghanistan, which were reopened by Pakistani authorities on Saturday. Another truck was ambushed on Friday, killing two people. On Sunday, two US drones fired four missiles into a house, killing seven militants. Militants are said to have blown up three school buildings late Saturday, with no reported casualties. Pakistani security forces began a fresh military operation in the northwestern part of the country on Tuesday to comb for militants believed to have fled from the nearby Swat region. On Thursday, Pakistani police arrested a group of Islamist militants who were allegedly plotting to kill the prime minister and other top government officials.
Fourteen suspected terrorists were captured during a special operation in a northern area of Tajikistan on Tuesday. The Tajik government offered an amnesty to armed groups fighting government troops in the east on Tuesday if they declare a cease-fire. Two field commanders and 27 members of armed groups reportedly took the amnesty, agreeing to lay down their weapons and join forces with government troops to hunt down foreign militants on Friday.
Four Italian soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan on Saturday. The British PM announced on Monday that a British hostage who had been reported killed by captors, may have been accidentally killed by troops attempting to save her. On Tuesday, an unknown explosion of a grounded helicopter resulted in the death of at least one ISAF member, an air strike in a northern province killed two insurgents, an ISAF member died following an IED attack in the south, six Afghan civilians died in a rocket attack by insurgents, and two Afghan soldiers were killed in separate attacks. On Wednesday, seven NATO troops were killed in three separate attacks. On Thursday, at least 8 NATO troops were killed in five separate insurgent attacks. On Friday, NATO-led forces are said to have facilitated the passage of a senior Taliban commander to Kabul to hold talks with the Afghan government.
Five parties are said to have won seats in Kyrgyzstan's new Parliament following last week's election. The results would mean that the ruling nationalist party will be unable to govern on their own after winning just 8.69% of the votes. Twenty-nine parties contested the polls. On Tuesday, the United Kyrgyzstan party announced that it will hold nationwide protests to challenge the official results after it failed to clear the threshold to get into parliament. On Wednesday, an angry crowd attacked a defendant and three relatives of another defendant in trials related to the June violence in the south, following a series of similar attacks earlier in the week on other defendants.
Thousands of Thai anti-government activists gathered in Bangkok on Sunday to demand the release of protesters detained for their role in demonstrations and military clashes, breaking the state of emergency rules. Riot police surrounded the site, but there were no reports of violence amid the protests. On Thursday, four people were shot dead in the restive deep south in separate attacks. Police blamed the Malay Muslim rebels for the attacks.
Azerbaijan is said to be boosting its military defense spending next year by 90%. The country is in talks with neighbouring Armenia over Nagorno-Karabkh, which it lost to Armenian-backed forces in conflicts in 1991 and the President has claimed that his country should get the region back one day.
Suspected drug hitmen in Mexico have ambushed a group of traffic police patrolling a highway on Monday, killing eight officers. Thirteen more people were killed between Tuesday and Thursday in the border city of Tijuana, including several decapitated bodies found hanging upside down from bridges. More than 2,000 police have been killed since 2006, and more than 29,000 in drug violence in Mexico.
Canada has lost the use of a United Arab Emirates military camp near Dubai from which it supported its troops in Afghanistan in an escalation of a dispute over landing rights. The decision has been tied with the failed efforts of UAE to convince Canadian authorities to allow its two major airlines to increase flights to Canada.
The Haitian UN peacekeeping mission voiced concern at reports that arms are being distributed in advance of next month's elections. The MINUSTAH peacekeeping mission called on all candidates in the election to think of the country's future and programmes that will restore hope to the people. Demonstrators have blocked the entrance to the UN military headquarters in Haiti, spraying anti-UN slogans on vehicles trying to enter on Friday, calling it an "occupation" and angry at the lack of security and assistance they offer to average Haitians. This violence comes the day after the UN announced it would keep its force in Haiti for at least another year.
An American Federal judge ordered a halt to the enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy which bans gay men and women from serving openly in the US military. Critics worry that the order may not make it through a Congressional vote, as an earlier attempt was defeated in the Senate this year. In a separate case, a judge ruled that the government cannot coerce a detainee to provide information for intelligence purposes and then use the evidence in criminal proceedings, in the first civilian trial of a Guantanamo Bay detainee. The judge did not express an opinion on the constitutionality of government agents using coercive methods to gain intelligence. The US is also in the process of reviewing its position on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, that lays out the fundamental rights and freedoms of the world's indigenous populations.
The Argentinian government has condemned a planned British military exercise in the Falkland Islands, calling the plan an "unacceptable provocation". The Argentinian deputy foreign minister demanded that the exercises be canceled.
An Ecuadorean court issued an order authorizing the jailing of 12 police officers for their role in the police uprising last week, that the President has called an attempted coup. The lawyer for the police officers said that his clients were being swept up in a "witch hunt".
Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez has begun a tour of seven nations, including Russia, Iran and Libya to discuss issues ranging from nuclear power and tanks to olive oil. In the past three years Chavez has bought at least $5 billion in weapons, including fighter jets, anti-aircraft missile systems and tanks from Russia.
Peruvian police have arrested a top commander of the Maoist Shining Path guerrilla group in an operation that also killed two rebel fighter on Wednesday. Police raids in the coca growing regions are part of an effort by the government to stamp out the remnant bands of Shining Path fighters and eradicate crops of coca, the raw material for cocaine.
It was reported this week that at least 10 Palestinian children have been shot and wounded by Israeli troops over the past three months while collecting rubble in or near the border. Israeli soldiers are routinely shooting at Gazans well beyond the unmarked boundary of the no-go area. The Israeli Prime Minister is said to have offered to renew a partial settlement construction freeze in exchange for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state on Monday. The offer was met with swift rejection from senior Palestinian officials, calling the two issues unrelated. Palestinians, backed by Arab powers, have given the US one month to persuade Israel to halt the building of settlements or risk the complete collapse of peace talks. On Wednesday, Palestinian authorities requested a map from the US showing where Israel sees its final borders and making clear whether they include Palestinian land and homes. Israel issued the building tenders for 238 new housing units in East Jerusalem on Thursday, which many called choosing "settlements over peace". Lawyers representing relatives of those who died in the Israeli raid of the Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May are urging the ICC to pursue those responsible, citing that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed.
Two apparently synchronized bombs exploded in southern Yemen on Monday, killing 2 people and wounding 12 others. The leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula announced the formation of a new army that would free the country of "crusaders and their apostate agents". On Tuesday, police arrested 19 al-Qaeda members who were accused of Monday's attacks. On Thursday, the governor of Abyan escaped an assassination attempt by suspected al-Qaeda mlitants, and the chief of police in an Abyan district was killed in an attack.
Iran has announced that it is ready to hold talks with six major powers over its nuclear programme in late October or early November. The US and its European allies fear Iran's declared civilian nuclear energy programme is a cover to develop the capability of producing nuclear weapons.
Iranian President Ahmadinejad arrived in Lebanon on Wednesday to visit the southern region near the Israeli border in a trip said to emphasize Iranian support for Hezbollah's fight with Israel. Both the US and Israel called his trip intentionally provocative.
Gunmen wearing Iraqi military uniforms broke into the homes of their own clan members on Monday and killed four people for informing on al Qaeda. Also on Monday, a senior police officer was wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad, a group of gunmen opened fire on a currency exchange office in Baghdad which killed five people, and three gunmen stormed a policeman's house and killed him in Falluja. On Tuesday, gunmen launched coordinated attacks on three Iraqi army security checkpoints in western Baghdad that killed one soldier, Iraqi forces killed a civilian by mistake in near Mosul as they chased smugglers near the border, and a roadside bomb wounded two Iraqi soldiers as it exploded during their patrol near Mosul. On Wednesday, four bombs exploded in western Baghdad, at least four policemen were wounded when a roadside bomb hit their patrol, a bomb attached to a government car wounded two of its passengers and gunmen in a speeding car opened fire at an employee of a state-run oil company. New US military statistics have placed the death toll for Iraqi civilians and security forces at 77,000 from January 2004-October 31, 2008, well below the count by the Iraqi Human Rights Ministry figure of 85,694 for the same period.
Twenty-three Shia activists were charged in Bahrain on Wednesday with terrorism and conspiring against the government, who are among hundreds of Shia opposition figures and activists rounded up in recent months ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections. Shias are the majority in Bahrain, but have long complained of discrimination from the Sunni government.
A dramatic rise in violent attacks on small town mayors in Sardinia, Italy has been linked to soaring job losses due to factory closures and the sheep market slump. A social services office was bombed, a shotgun was fired at the home of a mayor, a car belonging to a council official was burned, and a horse of a mayor was shot dead with its ears and tongue cut off.
Riot police clashed with protesting Culture Ministry workers who barricaded the ancient Acropolis in Greece on Thursday. Workers complained that they were owed up to 24 months' worth of back pay and faced dismissal when their contracts expire at the end of the month.
Clashes between far-right supporters and gay pride marchers rocked Belgrade, in Serbia on Sunday. Thousands of police officers sealed the streets and clashed with the rioters who were attempting to break through the security. Rioters also fired shots and hurled petrol bombs at the headquarters of the ruling Democratic party, along with the state TV building and other political parties' headquarters. Serbia's Appeals Court removed a war crimes conviction against a Bosnian official on Monday in a move that is said could ease ties between the two former Yugoslav states. Official relations worsened in 2007 after Serbia arrested Ilija Jurisic on charges that he ordered an attack on a column of the Yugoslav People's Army that killed at least 50 soldiers. On Tuesday a soccer match between Serbia and Italy ended in clashes and the hospitalization of 16 people after Serbian fans threw flares and fireworks onto the pitch and at Italian fans.
One man was killed after a group of Muslims were attacked as they left a mosque in Abkhazia on Monday. The attackers opened fire from a passing car. This is the third attack against Muslims in Abkhazia in the last two months.
Russia's main pro-Kremlin party are said to have won an overwhelming victory in local elections across the country on Sunday, but observers say the results are unsurprising as the vote was rigged. Claims of buying votes, ballot-stuffing, increased pressure on journalists and human rights activists from authorities during the campaign and the refusal of registration faced by independent candidates marred the results. On Tuesday, Russian authorities detained around 30 people for holding an unsanctioned rally to demand an end to naming mayors and regional governors instead of by elections.
Russia and Georgia have resumed internationally mediated talks in Geneva aimed at preventing another flare-up of violence following their brief 2008 war. The talks also include representatives from the two breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and is set to last one day.
Three members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and two soldiers in Turkey were killed in two days of fighting. The fighting comes despite a one-sided ceasefire declared by the PKK.
Moldova has become the latest country to ratify the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court on Tuesday. The treaty enters into force in January.
Posted in rebecca sargent's posts, This Week in Conflict and tagged Abkhazia, Abyei, Afghanistan, African peacekeeping school, Ahmadinejad in Lebanon, al Qaeda, al-Shabaab, Aung San Suu Kyi, Azerbaijan military, "Don't ask, Bahrain, Boko Haram, Central African Republic, child soldiers, China, Climate summit China, conflict October 9th-15th 2010, Congo, Cote D'Ivoire elections, Cote D'Ivoire sanctions, don't tell", DRC, drug violence Mexico, Ecuador unrest, Egypt elections, Ethiopia peace deal, Falkland Islands, FDLR, flotilla, gay rights, gay rights in Serbia, global conflict October 2010, Greece protests, Guantanamo Bay, Guinea elections, Haitian election, Hezbollah, ICC, Iran nuclear power, Iraq, Israeli settlements, Ivory Coast elections, Kashmir curfews, Kashmir protests, Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-un, Kyrgyzstan elections, Liu Xiaobo, Lord's Resistance Army, LRA, Moldova, Myanmar/Burma, NATO, Niger, Nigeria, Nobel Peace Prize 2010, North Korea, North Korea-South Korea relations, Ogaden, Pakistan fuel tanker attacks, Palestine-Israel, Peru, PKK, Russia-Georgia relations, Russian elections, Rwanda, Sardinia violence, Shining Path, Somalia, Sudan, Sudan referendum, Tajikistan, Tanzania elections, Thailand, Turkey, UAE-Canada military relations, Uganda, UN arrears, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, UN mission in Haiti, UN Security Council, US drone attacks, US military, US torture, Venezuela-Russian relations, Victoire Ingabire, Yemen, Zambia mining, Zimbabwe on October 15, 2010 by apeaceofconflict. Leave a comment


text:
Family, Fun, gap year, Planning, Travel Tips
Can I bring my dog with me to Bali? Is a popular question I often get asked. Technically speaking it is illegal to bring dogs in or out of Bali. Having said that, there are pet transportation companies that can make it happen. It is
Education, Family, Fun, gap year, Meet Expat Families, Meet other families, Planning, School, Visas
How to find the best schools in Bali in 2022
Last updated December 2021Bali attracts families around the world because there are so many schools that are nature-based, child-led and full of creativity. Having trouble choosing a school to send your children to in Bali? Curious about the Bali school education system? What are the Bali
Canadian expat family from panama to working in bali
Meet: Lauren, Michael, Hawksley(4) and Juniper (10 months) Originally from: Canada. My husband and I met in Canada 14 years ago and have since lived in Korea (2009-2010) and then spent 8 years in Panama before relocating to Bali in 2021. So we are Canadian at heart but
Accommodation, Education, Family, gap year, Meet Expat Families, Meet other Expats, Meet other families, Restaurants, School, Travel Tips, Uncategorized, Villas, Working
Travelling family from Switzerland living in Ubud and now Seminyak
Meet: Dawan, David and 5 year old Mirabelle Originally from: Dawan is originally from Thailand but grew up in Stockholm, Sweden. David is from Lausanne, Switzerland and Mirabelle was born in Switzerland. Arrived in Bali: September 2019 Home in Bail is: Seminyak currently for the last 4 months but prior to that