Docudharma Times Tuesday May 25

U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Military Acts in Mideast Region



By MARK MAZZETTI

Published: May 24, 2010

WASHINGTON – The top American commander in the Middle East has ordered a broad expansion of clandestine military activity in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and other countries in the region, according to defense officials and military documents.

The secret directive, signed in September by Gen. David H. Petraeus, authorizes the sending of American Special Operations troops to both friendly and hostile nations in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa to gather intelligence and build ties with local forces. Officials said the order also permits reconnaissance that could pave the way for possible military strikes in Iran if tensions over its nuclear ambitions escalate.

Heist-proof museums? U.S. buildings aided by design, location



By Jacqueline Trescott and Dan Zak

Washington Post Staff Writers

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Last week’s $123 million heist of cubist and post-impressionist works at the Paris Museum of Modern Art continues a rash of painting pilferage in Europe over the past decade, with sensational headlines vaulting across the Atlantic. Van Goghs vanish in Amsterdam in 2002! “The Scream” swiped in Oslo in ’04! Picassos purloined in Paris in ’07 and ’09!

Art crime is at least a $6 billion global business. So, at the risk of tempting fate, one wonders: Why not here?

USA

Obama administration conflicted about relying on BP to stop gulf oil spill



By Karen Tumulty and Steven Mufson

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The tenuous alliance among the Obama administration, the oil firm BP and Gulf Coast officials was visibly fraying on Monday, with exasperation on all sides mounting as oil from a deep-water gusher began lapping at the region’s environmentally fragile shoreline.

Meanwhile, the administration faced growing questions about whether it should be taking more control of the situation, rather than ceding so much of the decision-making about stopping the oil spill to the company that created it.

Deal could end ‘ don’t ask don’t tell’

Democrats hope to vote to repeal the military’s policy on gay service members, pending a Pentagon review.

By Christi Parsons and Lisa Mascaro, Tribune Washington Bureau

May 25, 2010

Reporting from Washington

President Obama reached a deal with key Democrats on Monday that could repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy governing gays and lesbians in the military – assuming Congress signs on.

The proposal would let lawmakers vote now to repeal the law and allow people who are openly gay to serve, once the president and top military leaders certify that the repeal wouldn’t threaten the military’s “readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention,” according to documents the sponsors sent to the administration.

Europe

Hamish McRae: A savage start? Maybe, but this is just the very beginning

All European governments have been under pressure to cut their deficits but the plight of Greece gave this a new urgency

Tuesday, 25 May 2010

There were two reasons, one external, one domestic, why the Government had no option but to start making some cuts to public spending right away.

First, the mood across Europe has radically shifted in the past few weeks, shifted indeed since the general election. All European governments have been under pressure to cut their deficits but the plight of Greece gave this a new urgency. The weaker countries had to move fast. So Portugal and Spain have introduced emergency packages and Italy is planning cuts. But even the strongest countries are moving: France to bring in new constitutional measures to move towards a balanced budget and even Germany has just announced it will start cutting spending and will continue to do so progressively in the years ahead. The UK, with a deficit far worse than any of these countries bar Greece, could not hope to resist this tidal wave.

FTSE 100 joins in sharp falls across European stock markets as debt fears dominate

The FTSE 100 fell sharply within minutes of the market opening on Tuesday as investors fail to see any quick fix to Europe’s debt crisis.

Published: 10:40AM BST 25 May 2010

The almost 3pc slide in the index of Britain’s biggest companies was matched across European bourses as the International Monetary Fund called on Spain to overhaul its ailing banking system. The declines in Europe’s capitals followed steep declines in Asia, where Japan’s Nikkei 225 finished a turbulent day down 3.1pc at 9459.89.

Greek’s debt crisis has been at the centre of investors’ attention this year but in recent weeks that has escalated into fears over the future of the wider monetary union that underpins the euro. A dramatic €750bn bail-out of the euro by its member countries has done little to ease fears in financial markets that the debt crisis that engulfed Greece will not eventually spread to other nations saddled with debt, including Spain and Portugal.

Middle East

Iran ‘ready for new chapter of co-operation’ – UN envoy  

Iran says its nuclear fuel deal proves it is ready to open a new chapter of cooperation with the West

By Barbara Plett

BBC UN correspondent  

In an interview Tehran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) urged the UN Security Council to respond positively.

Ali Asghar Soltanieh was speaking to the BBC on the day that Iran officially outlined the details of the fuel exchange to the the UN’s nuclear watchdog.

So far Western powers have said the agreement is too little too late, and are pursuing sanctions against the Islamic state.

 Did Israel offer to sell South Africa nuclear weapons?

Israel has long kept silent on its nuclear weapons capability. But The Guardian newspaper reported today that it had written proof of an Israel nuclear program as early as 1975. Or does it?

By Christa Case Bryant, Middle East editor / May 24, 2010

Boston

In an apparent blow to Israel’s policy of “nuclear ambiguity,” the Guardian newspaper in Britain today asserted that it had the first written proof of a robust Israeli nuclear weapons program that the country has never formally admitted to.

Relying on South African documents released to American academic Sasha Polakow-Suransky, whose book “The Unspoken Alliance: Israel’s Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa” is coming out tomorrow, the Guardian said that Israel had offered nuclear weapons of three different sizes to apartheid South Africa in 1975.

Asia

North Korean military ‘told to prepare for war’

 Monitoring group says Kim Jong-il ordered officers to be ready for combat after South Korea blamed Pyongyang for torpedo attack

Tania Branigan in Beijing

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 25 May 2010 09.35 BST

The North Korean leader has warned his military to prepare for war in case the South attacks, a Seoul-based monitoring group reported today, as tensions remain high on the divided peninsula over accusations that Pyongyang sank a South Korean warship.

Kim Jong-il ordered officers to be ready for combat via a broadcast made hours after Seoul blamed the North for the Cheonan disaster, according to North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity. Citing unidentified sources from the North, it said the command was read by General O Kuk Ryol, a confidant of the leader, and broadcast on loudspeakers last week.

Former Thai PM charged over Bangkok protests

AP

Tuesday, 25 May 2010

Thailand’s Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on terrorism charges related to the country’s recent bloody protests.

Mr Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup, is accused by the government of fomenting and backing two-month-long protests by the so-called Red Shirts who seized areas of downtown Bangkok before being overcome by army troops last week.

His lawyer, London-based Robert Amsterdam, said the government “has perverted justice through the laying of a charge that violates logic, law and any claim of hopes  for reconciliation”.

Africa

Ethiopia election marred by intimidation, say rights group

Human Rights Watch says poll, won by Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, was corrupted by threats

Associated Press

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 25 May 2010 08.29 BS

Ethiopia’s ruling party today called a rally in the capital, Addis Ababa, to celebrate its victory in national elections, but a US-based rights group claimed the ballot, carried out at the weekend, had been corrupted by irregularities.

Hundreds of federal police stood guard as supporters of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) gathered in the city’s central parade grounds.

Workers had constructed a platform overlooking the grounds and installed a glass box – possibly made of bulletproof glass – from which it was believed speeches would be made.

South Africa’s Julius Malema defends his radical views

The controversial leader of South Africa’s youth league has defended his behaviour after being disciplined by the ruling ANC.

The BBC  Tuesday, 25 May 2010

Julius Malema had provoked anger with a series of outbursts about race, Zimbabwe and President Jacob Zuma.

In a BBC interview, he refused to admit he had done anything wrong, and brushed aside the measures taken against him.

In a clear reference to in-fighting in the ruling party, he said he felt let down by those he had relied on.

Mr Malema’s brash populism has won him some support amongst poorer South Africans, BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding reports.

But his racially charged outbursts have angered and embarrassed many here.

Latin America

US warns Jamaica violence could spread outside Kingston

Violence sparked by an attempt by Jamaican police to arrest an alleged drug kingpin could spread beyond the capital, the US State Department has warned.

Published: 6:30AM BST 25 May 2010  

The country’s largest airport, near the capital Kingston, has been closed down as a result of the violence, and Americans have been warned not to travel to the area.

“The Department of State warns US citizens against travel to Kingston, Jamaica and its surrounding areas,” a travel warning said.

“Access to the Norman Manley International Airport has been blocked on an intermittent basis by gun battles between criminal elements and police,” the statement added.

“The possibility exists that unrest could spread beyond the general Kingston area,” it warned.

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