Hamas says 'gates of hell opened' as Israel kills military leader in Gaza
Ahmed al-Jabari's assassination in missile strike marks 'start of broader operation' that may involve ground troops, says Israel
Israel has launched a military operation to eliminate militants and weapon sites in the Gaza Strip, killing the commander of Hamas's military wing, in a move with potentially serious repercussions beyond its borders.
The assassination of Ahmed al-Jabari in a missile strike in Gaza City was the "start of a broader operation", according to the Israel Defence Forces, which it named Operation Pillar of Defence.
Ground forces were on standby, the IDF said. The Israeli prime minister,Binyamin Netanyahu, warned that the military was "prepared to expand" its Gaza operation.
A cabinet communique said the IDF would "continue vigorous action against the terrorist infrastructures operating from the Gaza Strip against the civilian population in Israel". It would, "to the best of its ability, work to avoid harming civilians".
Italy's €8.5bn bridge to nowhere
It's overpriced, favoured by the Mafia and at risk from earthquakes – but 15 years after it was conceived, it's still not been canned. Michael Day tells how an engineering marvel became a parable of modern Italy
It was supposed to be one of the engineering marvels of 21st century Europe. But despite decades of hype, plans for the world's biggest suspension bridge between Sicily and mainland Italy have yet to come to fruition, and most observers think they never will.
So austerity-hit Italians are now asking why the usually parsimonious Monti government has just signalled its continued financial support for what newspapers have dubbed the "phantom bridge". For a construction project, even a monumentally grand one, that's yet to see the light of day, an awful lot of money – €600m has already been spent.
TURKEY
Erdogan courts voters with the death penalty
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has opened a debate about reintroducing the death penalty in Turkey - probably with an eye on the presidential elections in 2014.
According to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it was the "very mild sentencing" of the Norwegian right-wing terrorist Anders Bering Breivik which triggered the initiative. How could it be possible that someone who had murdered 77 people should have to serve only 21 years in prison, Erdogan asked during an early November visit to Indonesia. He pointed out that countries such as the US, Japan and China continue to apply the death penalty - and that Turkey ought to reconsider its stance.
Upon his return to Ankara, Erdogan repeated his statement, causing confusion among both his supporters and the opposition. After all, it was only at the end of October during a visit to Berlin that he todl the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, that Turkey still had a strong interest in becoming a member of the EU. But that would be impossible should Turkey reintroduce the death penalty, as he himself must know.
Beyond Regulators' GraspHow Shadow Banks Rule the World
By Martin Hesse and Anne Seith
Beyond the banking world, a parallel universe of shadow banks has grown in the form of hedge funds and money market funds. They're outside the reach of conventional financial regulation, prompting authorities to plan introducing new rules to prevent the obscure sector from triggering a new financial crisis. But in doing so they risk drying up an important source of funding to banks and firms.
In the financial world, there is a narrow divide between heaven and hell. Frenchman Loïc Féry realized this when he was 33. He was a rising star in the banking world, managing the trade in complex loan packages for an investment bank. According to his business card, he was the bank's "global head of credit markets." But then one of his employees gambled away about €250 million ($317 million), and suddenly Féry was without a job.
That was in 2007. A number of investment bankers experienced a similarly precipitous fall in the turbulent years of the financial crisis. But, like Féry, many reappeared before long and became more successful than ever, in the world of the so-called shadow banks.
Africa 3.0: State of Dis-Unity
Unity State in the north of the Republic of South Sudan is rich in oil reserves - meaning, of course, that it should also be a driver of growth.
But in our travels across thirteen African countries, we have not encountered a region as hampered by under-development. Water is a commodity so scarce that showers are an absurd luxury, generators provide power for a maximum of a few hours a day, and petrol (ironically more expensive here than almost anywhere on the continent) must be shipped in by barge on the river networks.
Will South Sudan become Norway? Or will it become Nigeria? The answer lies almost entirely in the hands and deeds of those who run Unity State. The Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, which counts a leading Chinese oil parastatal as a major shareholder, is currently flushing the pipeline, dormant since Juba turned off the taps in a royalty dispute with Sudan. Soon, the oil will flow again.
Tragic killing of Honduran teen leaves US asking questions
In May, Honduran soldiers tracked down and killed a 15-year-old boy. This week, the boy's father found that the soldiers had been trained and equipped by the US. The State Department is pressing the Honduran government for answers.
By Alberto Arce and Martha Mendoza, Associated Press / November 14, 2012
U.S. officials are demanding answers after learning soldiers trained, vetted and equipped by the U.S. government chased down and killed a teenager in Honduras, where the U.S. is already withholding tens of millions of dollars in police and military aid over concerns about human rights violations.
Ebed Yanes, 15, was killed the night of May 26 after driving through a military checkpoint. His father, Wilfredo Yanes, a mild-mannered organic food supplier, tracked down the soldiers, eventually uncovering an allegedly high-level attempt to hide evidence. Further, his quest led to new information reported this week that the unit in question was supported by the U.S.
"The incident with Ebed Yanes was a tragedy and we urge the Honduran government to assure the perpetrators are brought to justice," State Departmentpress adviser William Ostick said Wednesday.
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