The Associated Press: Concerns of civilian deaths rise in Sri Lanka.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan forces overran another village Monday and moved closer to seizing a strategic base from the Tamil Tigers, but concerns are mounting for the hundreds of thousands of civilians living in the rebels’ shrinking territory.
The government has chased the rebels out of much of their de facto state in the north in recent months — taking their administrative capital of Kilinochchi last week — but the offensive is complicated by the presence of an estimated 300,000 civilians in rebel territory.
January 5th, 2009 in
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Hindujas seek to gag BBC over ‘military sales’ sting - Times Online.
Undercover reporters persuaded the Hindujas to agree to supply 20 Stallion 4×4 trucks worth $750,000 (about £424,000) by posing as “security consultants” working for an unspecified aid agency in Sudan.
Ahead of any broadcast, the BBC has accused the Hindujas of breaking international sanctions that bar British citizens from entering into agreements to ship “military specification” vehicles to Sudan.
The Sudanese government has been accused of massacring thousands of people in the Darfur region. Any British citizen found breaking the law faces a six-month jail term.
However, the Hinduja Group claims the vehicles were not armour-plated and were therefore not of a military specification. It says it was told the trucks were for humanitarian use and it was unfairly duped.
Tomorrow, lawyers acting for the brothers, who are worth an estimated £2.1 billion, will attempt to stop BBC’s Newsnight programme, which intends to screen the investigation to coincide with the opening of the G8 summit on Wednesday.
US ‘will invade Mexico’ - Edinburgh Evening News.
Mexico’s self-proclaimed “Grand Warlock” says the United States will pull troops out of Iraq in 2009 and send them to the border with Mexico in an attempt to expand its territory.
The prediction from Antonio Vazquez comes with a word of warning though: his record of projecting the future is spotty at best.
Vazquez has been making predictions since 1980 on events ranging from international events to the private lives of celebrities, based on his reading of tarot cards.
Vazquez erroneously predicted last year that oil prices would be stable and that Cuba’s Fidel Castro and singer Britney Spears would die.
This year, he says Spears will continue to triumph.
January 5th, 2009 in
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BBC NEWS | Middle East | New US embassy opens in Baghdad.
The new US embassy in Baghdad has been opened, with a dedication ceremony attended by the Iraqi president.
The compound is one of the biggest and most expensive embassies the US has ever built, and was opened amid heavy security in the Iraqi capital.
On 1 January the US officially handed over responsibility for security in the fortified Green Zone to Iraqi forces.
The US also gave back Saddam Hussein’s palace there, which had been their headquarters in the city.
The new complex, which will house a total of 4,000 staff, has been built with security very much in mind, says the BBC’s Caroline Wyatt in Baghdad.
January 5th, 2009 in
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DefenseLink News Transcript: Secretary Rumsfeld Remarks at the Hudson Institute’s Presentation of the James Doolittle Award.
Now, the truth be told, I’ve been around so long that I also knew Jimmy Doolittle. (Light laughter.) I had several opportunities to visit with him. My recollection is it was out at Bohemian Grove, where he would attend periodically, and we’d pass and visit. He was always so interested. So I do thank you for this fine award which bears his distinguished name.
The Associated Press: Tsunami alert issued after strong Indonesian quake.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Authorities and witnesses say a strong earthquake in eastern Indonesia has sent panicked residents running outside.
The country’s meteorology and seismology agency warned that with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 it was strong enough to cause a tsunami. There were no immediate reports of giant waves.
It struck at 2:43 p.m. EST, around 85 miles off of Manokwari, Irian Jaya, at a depth of about 6 miles.
Hasim Rumatiga, a local health official, said electricity went off and residents ran to higher ground.
Indonesia straddles a chain of faultlines and volcanoes known as the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is prone to seismic activity.
A huge quake off western Indonesia caused the 2005 Asian tsunami that killed around 230,000 people.
January 3rd, 2009 in
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Earthquakes at Yellowstone Supervolcano: Update - Capital Commerce (usnews.com).
The University of Utah Seismograph Stations reports that as of 1800 MST on 2 January 2009, seismicity of the ongoing Yellowstone earthquake swarm continues. Over 500 earthquakes, as large as M 3.9, have been recorded by an automated earthquake system since the inception of this unusual earthquake sequence that began Dec. 27, 2008. More than 300 of these events have been reviewed and evaluated by seismic analysts. Depths of the earthquakes range from ~ 1km to around 10 km. We note that the earthquakes extend northward from central Yellowstone Lake for ~10 km toward the Fishing Bridge area, with a migration of recent earthquakes toward the north. Some of the dozen M3+ earthquakes were felt in the Lake, Grant Village and Old Faithful areas. Personnel of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory continue to evaluate this earthquake sequence and will provide information to the NPS, USGS and the public as it evolves.
January 3rd, 2009 in
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