Warships from Tehran dock in Port Sudan as tensions between the two Middle East powers escalate
Iranian warships have arrived in Port Sudan in an apparent show of support for the government in Khartoum, one week after it accused Israel of bombing an arms factory in the Sudanese capital.
Iran's state news agency confirmed yesterday that two vessels, a destroyer and a helicopter carrier have docked in Sudan's main port on the Red Sea and their commanders will be meeting Sudanese officials.
While Iran said the mission was related to anti-piracy efforts, the move represents a possible escalation of a proxy war between Iran and Israel that has been playing out in the conflict between the Sudans.
Iran's state news agency confirmed yesterday that two vessels, a destroyer and a helicopter carrier have docked in Sudan's main port on the Red Sea and their commanders will be meeting Sudanese officials.
While Iran said the mission was related to anti-piracy efforts, the move represents a possible escalation of a proxy war between Iran and Israel that has been playing out in the conflict between the Sudans.
DEMOCRACY
Audit slams effectiveness of EU's Kosovo mission
An EU audit has leveled criticism against the European rule of law mission in Kosovo alleging that crime and corruption are still rampant. Hoping for progress, the European Commission wants to negotiate.
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) issued a sobering assessment that the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) is not efficient enough. The report, issued on Tuesday (30.10.2012)), asserted that a high level of crime and corruption are still present in the transitional country.
Court of Auditors member Gijs de Vries, who was responsible for the report, said the ECA found police are "not yet capable of dealings with serious financial crimes such as money laundering." In an interview published by the European Commission, de Vries added that "there is a lot of political interference with the judiciary and with the police."
Member states of the EU have contributed more than 4.7 billion euros ($6.1 billion) to support the mission since 1999.
Lawyers renew International Criminal Court bid to free Gbagbo
Hundreds of former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo’s supporters demonstrated outside the International Criminal Court where his lawyers argued anew for his release from detention.
Wearing their customary orange dress and wrapped in their country’s orange-white-and-green flag, around 600 supporters played the drums and sang while chanting: “Give back our president!” and ”ICC, president thief!” Inside the courtroom at the fortress-like building surrounded by barbed wire and electrical fencing in a southern Hague suburb, Gbagbo’s lawyer Emmanuel Altit argued that his client was not a flight risk.
Gbagbo’s lawyers on May 1 filed a request for his “interim release”.
But last Friday, the court turned down an appeal by his lawyers against a decision in July to continue keeping the former strongman behind bars.
Middle East
THE GULF'S BLACK TREASURE
Oil rulers toy with Armageddon
Oil rulers toy with Armageddon
By Hossein Askari
The Persian Gulf has every ingredient imaginable for stoking conflicts, revolutions and wars for all eternity. Just recall the long, though still highly partial, list of conflicts that are the region's inheritance (see Conflict without end, Asia Times Online, October 19, 2012). And don't forget that hardly any of these conflicts are ever reconciled, with the result that about eight out of 10 conflicts are resurrected.
Why is the Persian Gulf so cursed? Although it is the birthplace of Islam, a religion that preaches peace, justice and the unity of
Why is the Persian Gulf so cursed? Although it is the birthplace of Islam, a religion that preaches peace, justice and the unity of
humankind, the Persian Gulf has sectarian, tribal and ethnic divides and conflicts that appear timeless and likely to linger until the end of time.
But to our mind what stand out in the region as the fuels for conflicts to come, including Armageddon, are the vast oil and gas wealth under the ground, its highly skewed regional distribution (per capita) and the unimaginable human greed within the region and from much farther afield.
But to our mind what stand out in the region as the fuels for conflicts to come, including Armageddon, are the vast oil and gas wealth under the ground, its highly skewed regional distribution (per capita) and the unimaginable human greed within the region and from much farther afield.
Brazil laying down the law
Recent corruption and police misconduct cases in Brazil seem to signal impunity is giving way to justice, but the country has yet to confront its history of dictatorship-era human rights violations.
There have recently been a number of high-profile criminal cases in Brazil that have caused some to proclaim that a culture of impunity is finally giving way to a culture of accountability where criminals face justice. These cases include the current trials coming to a close associated with the Mensalão scandal, in which around 40 elected and appointed officials are being tried for their involvement in an elaborate Congressional vote-buying scheme that funneled public funds for political gain during the first Lula administration, and the recent conviction of two police officers for the 1996 massacre of 19 landless activists. Historically, few people have faced serious prison time for involvement in political corruption scandals in Brazil, but the Mensalão trials have shown that this trend may be coming to an end. Similarly, killings by the police in Brazil are much higher than in other countries; it is rare that officers who kill civilians while on duty are charged or convicted of wrong-doing, so the conviction against the two police officers for the 1996 massacre is a welcome change.
Sandy leaves trail of destruction, disbelief in its path
By NBC News staff and wire reports
From the devastated New Jersey shore to eerily empty lower Manhattan, tens of millions of Americans lived through Sandy's fury and were trying to come to grips with its destruction as the storm waters slowly receded.
The impact of the storm was virtually without parallel in the densely populated tristate region of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, with its destructive winds, heavy flooding and raging fires. Farther afield, powerful gusts felled trees and knocked out power for up to 8.2 million residents across the eastern United States, while heavy snow made travel treacherous at higher elevations. Nationwide at least 46 were confirmed dead of storm-related causes.
"This was literally the storm of our lifetime," said Longport, N.J., Mayor Nick Russo, as he surveyed the damage on debris-littered streets of his Atlantic coast town Tuesday. "No one has seen this type of damage, not even in the 1962 storm. The amount of sand, wood and concrete that has actually come up from the streets — it's not a good scene."
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