Main Hurdle in Afghan Withdrawal: Getting the Gear Out
By THOM SHANKER
Published: February 14, 2013
WASHINGTON — As the military begins carrying out President Obama’s order to cut force levels in Afghanistan by half over the next year, getting 34,000 troops out is the easy part: just deliver them to an airfield, march them by the hundreds onto transport planes and fly them home.
But after 11-plus years of war, the accumulated American hardware in Afghanistan amounts to more than 600,000 pieces of equipment valued at $28 billion. In that arsenal are systems that always present challenges to international shipping, including MRAP mine-resistant troop transports and Stryker infantry fighting vehicles, each built with tons of armor, and heavy tractor-trailers and tankers.
So far, the heavy vehicles have all been shipped out by air because Afghanistan is landlocked, it has a primitive road system and the Taliban remain strong in many parts of the country.
One in five reptile species face extinction – study
Half of all freshwater turtles close to extinction while three species, including jungle runner lizard, are possibly extinct
Nearly one in five of the world's estimated 10,000 species of lizards, snakes, turtles, crocodiles and other reptiles are threatened with extinction, according to a study conducted by 200 experts.
But the risk of extinction was found to be unevenly spread throughout the extremely diverse group of animals. According to the paper, an alarming 50% of all freshwater turtles are close to extinction, possibly because they are traded on international markets.
The study, published by the Zoological Society of London in conjunction with the IUCN species survival commission, is the first of its kind summarising the global conservation status of reptiles, and used 1,500 randomly selected reptiles worldwide.
TERRORISM
Pressure grows on EU to blacklist Hezbollah
Pressure is growing on the EU to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization. A probe has concluded that the Shiite group was behind a 2012 bomb attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. But how would it affect Lebanon?
When Hezbollah comes under pressure, it bans its members from talking. "Bulgaria? No comment." Rana, the organization's press spokeswoman in Beirut, is friendly but determined. "I am sorry - really," she added.
The press center is based on a busy street in Dahiya. Hezbollah dominates the district in southern Beirut. It is ubiquitous: in the schools and hospitals it has built or the high-rise buildings it financed.
"Lebanon is no longer imaginable without Hezbollah," said Björn Blaschke, the Middle East correspondent for Germany's ARD public broadcasting network. "It is part of the Lebanese government and represented in parliament. At the same time, it's also a social movement." Hezbollah, for example, also awards scholarships and financed orphanages.
'Act of Resistance': Making an Independent Film in Egypt
By Kristen Allen
This year's Berlinale line-up features just one film from Egypt, a country in turmoil where independent filmmakers face major challenges. But director Hala Lotfy has not only succeeeded, she is also helping other artists do the same.
As Egypt marked the second anniversary of the revolution that deposed autocrat Hosni Mubarak this week, the streets of Cairo filled with demonstrators demanding change once again. But far away in Berlin, another, much quieter form of Egyptian protest was also taking place.
The sole representative of Egyptian independent cinema at the Berlin International Film Festival, director Hala Lotfy presented her debut film, "Coming Forth by Day" ("Al-khoroug lel-nahar"). The story portrays the day-to-day drudgery faced by a young woman, who, with her mother, is caring for her bedridden father at home, a struggle contrasted with the possibilities of the world outside. And while it touches on questions of identity in relation to family and society, it's not the plot itself that is political, says Lotfy, but the act of making the film at all.
SADC mission could be suicidal
A 4 000-man regional force may not be strong enough to quell the rebels in the DRC, writes Mmanaledi Mataboge and Phillip de Wet.
South Africa plans to deploy troops to the most troubled part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) soon, on what could be the first aggressive, long-term engagement by the army since 1994. But how many troops will go, how long they will be committed and why they are really going remain unknown.
South Africa's army chief Lieutenant General Vusumuzi Masondo flew to the DRC this week to meet the commanders of the United Nations force stationed there to consider the feasibility and logistics of deploying soldiers.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) this week said it required only a mandate from the UN Security Council to go ahead with the deployment of an intervention force in which South Africa would have a key role.
Violence declines in Juarez - but at what price?
The police have become increasingly aggressive in Juarez, in hopes of reviving trust in the institution and respect from the populace and criminals alike. But some fear the police chief is propagating human rights violations.
By Steven Dudley, InSight Crime
There appears to have been a security miracle inCiudad Juarez, once one of the world's most violent cities. But while some applaud the city’s police chief, Julian Leyzaola, others fret about his near-systematic violation of human rights.
Leyzaola’s arrival in March 2011 coincided with a dramatic drop in crime and homicide levels; the homicide rate is now one-fifth of what it was in that month. In November, the city had 27 murders, its lowest monthly number in nearly three years.
The homicide rate, which reached an astounding 10 per day at one point, is down to about one per day. While this is still very high, the situation in Juarez now seems manageable.
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