Vows to end Afghan operations if India builds troops along border after Mumbai
Times (UK) Nov 30, 08 8:34 AM CST
(Newser)
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In a thinly veiled message to the US, Pakistan officials have threatened to withdraw troops fighting Islamists along Afghanistan if India builds up forces along the border it shares with Pakistan. Furious Indian officials have linked the deadly Mumbai terror operation to Pakistan. "If something happens on that front, the war on terror won't be our priority," a Pakistani senior security said ominously. "We'll take out everything from the western border."
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Sadr ally allegedly shoves speaker
New York Times Nov 19, 08 3:16 PM CST
(Newser)
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Discussion of the security deal between the US and Iraq deteriorated into a shouting match between members of the Iraqi parliament today, the New York Times reports. Parliament is scheduled to vote on the measure next week, but could not get through a reading of the agreement today before an opposition lawmaker allegedly physically attacked the speaker.
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OPINION
Washington Post Nov 15, 08 12:35 PM CST
(Newser)
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The global economic crisis is raising the threat to national security, the Washington Post reports. Experts and intelligence officials worry that mounting inflation and unemployment in Third World countries could spark radical movements and destabilize friendly governments. What’s more, strained budgets in the West mean less money to spend on the military and technology to counter the new threat.
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OPINION
Times (UK) Nov 8, 08 7:40 PM CST
(Newser)
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People the world over are investing their hopes in Barack Obama's warm, intelligent persona, but the president-elect is destined to disappoint, Matthew Parris writes in the London Times . Like any pop star or religious icon, he represents more myth than reality. The turning point will come when "Yes we can" meets the "No you can't" of global politics, a moment when Parris hopes Obama "will let us down gently.”
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Installation would 'neutralize' US shield
in Central Europe
BBC Nov 5, 08 1:06 PM CST
(Newser)
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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev delivered an aggressive speech against the US today, threatening to deploy short-range missiles and perhaps its navy to “neutralize” US plans for an anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Moscow perceives the American defense system—which Washington says is intended to deter “rogue” nations—as a direct threat, reports the BBC.
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Secret meeting is first between chiefs since Georgian conflict
AFP Oct 21, 08 4:14 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Ranking US and Russian military commanders met face to face for the first time since the Georgian crisis, the AFP reports. Few details emerged from the Helsinki meeting, but it appeared to be a first step toward a mending of relations. Michael Mullen, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the relationship “will not return to exactly where it was before Georgia,” but pointed out “that even in the darkest days of the Cold War we were talking to each other.”
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Crackdown aimed at drug, human trafficking
Los Angeles Times Oct 21, 08 3:10 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Mexico agreed yesterday to deport Cubans passing through the country to reach the US, the Los Angeles Times reports. Increased US patrols in the waters between Cuba and Florida have smugglers using land routes through Mexico to transport would-be immigrants. Mexican authorities have arrested 2,000 undocumented Cubans this year, three times more than last year and 10 times more than 4 years ago.
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ANALYSIS
Jail, work, apathy behind 40-year
voting dip
Newsweek Oct 19, 08 6:27 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The percentage of men who vote has been falling for 40 years, and will likely continue to drop this year, Newsweek reports. Total voter turnout has been dropping since a record high in 1964, but men appear particularly hamstrung by gender-specific factors. More go to prison, fewer attend college, and the male work week has expanded 80% since 1980, apparently leaving little opportunity or interest to pull the lever.
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Insurgent leader specialized in recruiting
Associated Press Oct 15, 08 10:48 AM CDT
(AP)
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American troops acting on a tip killed the No. 2 leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq—a Moroccan known for his ability to recruit and motivate foreign fighters—in a raid in the northern city of Mosul, the US military said today. The man, known as Abu Qaswarah, was a charismatic leader who had trained in Afghanistan and managed to rally al-Qaeda followers in Iraq despite US and Iraqi security gains.
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Cuba's soccer prez denies the 2 men ever left for United States
Washington Post Oct 11, 08 2:52 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Two Cuban soccer players fled a US hotel in Virginia yesterday and may plan to defect, the Washington Post reports. Pedro Faife, 24, and Reynier Alcantara, 26, are slated to play in a World Cup qualifier tonight and have not turned themselves in to Customs—but Cuba's coach doesn't expect to see them again. "It is always a problem for the Cuba team," he said.
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OPINION
Accountability is nil, the president useless
Vanity Fair Oct 10, 08 2:28 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The credit crisis has laid bare the failings of US government, writes Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair , putting us on par with other banana republics such as Zimbabwe and Venezuela. How else to describe this "collusion between the overweening state and certain favored monopolistic concerns, whereby the profits can be privatized and the debts conveniently socialized"?
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UN monitoring halted, disarmament pact nearing collapse
Reuters Oct 9, 08 12:56 PM CDT
(Newser)
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North Korea sent 10 missiles to test-launch sites off the Yellow Sea today and halted UN monitoring of its nuclear complex, Reuters reports, in the latest hardline signal from the Communist regime as it flirts with scrapping a nuclear disarmament deal. Meanwhile, Pyongyang tested two ship-to-ship missiles in the West Sea on Tuesday, reports Chosun Ilbo —at an estimated cost of $1 million to the impoverished nation.
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