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USA
‘I Don’t Think This Place Is Worth Another Soldier’s Life’
By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, October 27, 2007; Page A01BAGHDAD, Oct. 26 Their line of tan Humvees and Bradley Fighting Vehicles creeps through another Baghdad afternoon. At this pace, an excruciating slowness, they strain to see everything, hoping the next manhole cover, the next rusted barrel, does not hide another bomb. A few bullets pass overhead, but they don’t worry much about those.
“I hate this road,” someone says over the radio.
They stop, look around. The streets of Sadiyah are deserted again. To the right, power lines slump down into the dirt. To the left, what was a soccer field is now a pasture of trash, combusting and smoking in the sun. Packs of skinny wild dogs trot past walls painted with slogans of sectarian hate.
Merrill Lynch Weighs Ouster of Top Officer
By LANDON THOMAS Jr. and JENNY ANDERSON
Published: October 27, 2007
The board of Merrill Lynch, its frustration mounting over the brokerage firm’s credit losses and the decision-making of its embattled chief executive, E. Stanley O’Neal, has begun to actively consider whether to replace him and with whom, according to people briefed on the board’s deliberations.
The discussions underscore Mr. O’Neal’s precarious position. Once credited with turning Merrill Lynch around, Mr. O’Neal is struggling to retain his job in the wake of a third-quarter loss of $2.3 billion and an $8.4 billion charge for failed credit and mortgage-related investments.
From CIA Jails, Inmates Fade Into Obscurity
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, October 27, 2007; Page A01ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — On Sept. 6, 2006, President Bush announced that the CIA’s overseas secret prisons had been temporarily emptied and 14 al-Qaeda leaders taken to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But since then, there has been no official accounting of what happened to about 30 other “ghost prisoners” who spent extended time in the custody of the CIA.
Some have been secretly transferred to their home countries, where they remain in detention and out of public view, according to interviews in Pakistan and Europe with government officials, human rights groups and lawyers for the detainees. Others have disappeared without a trace and may or may not still be under CIA control.
U.S. Army overturns convictions of Fort Lawton soldiers court-martialed in 1944 after riot, lynching
By Jonathan Martin
Seattle Times staff reporter
In an extremely rare move, the U.S. Army has overturned the convictions of 28 World-War-II soldiers who were court-martialed in 1944 after a riot and lynching at Seattle’s Fort Lawton.
The decision, released this morning, found the trial, held in the segregated Army of the time, was “fundamentally unfair” to the African-American soldiers, who were denied access to their attorneys and to critical investigative records.
Middle East
Turkey: Wait-and-see approach in Iraq
ISTANBUL, Turkey – Turkey’s leadership will hold off on ordering an offensive against Kurdish guerrilla bases in northern Iraq until the prime minister visits Washington early next month, the military chief said Friday.
The country’s civilian leaders, meanwhile, said they were not satisfied with proposals from Iraq’s U.S.-backed government for dealing with Turkish Kurd separatist fighters who take shelter across the border.
Discontent boils among Egypt workers
By Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 27, 2007
EL MAHALLA EL KUBRA, EGYPT — President Hosni Mubarak faces discontent from many quarters, but perhaps the most intense criticism resonates from the banners and shaking fists of militant workers who have broken away from government-controlled unions and staged sporadic strikes across the nation.The Egyptian government frequently muffles free speech and political dissent, but these ragged and often disorganized picket lines present a widening crisis for a president viewed as detached from the working class and unable to lift wages and stem double-digit inflation.
Europe
Europe faces tough choices on Iran
LONDON — With tough new U.S. sanctions against Iran now in place, the next step falls to European nations: Will they agree on biting measures of their own, the only way to make the unilateral U.S. action truly effective?European officials expressed worry Friday that the Bush administration’s designation of Iranian agencies and firms as supporters of terrorism and purveyors of weapons threatens efforts to bring Iran back into the fold of diplomacy. That could erect a formidable barricade against relations with Tehran for years to come, some analysts warned.
“It will make things much more difficult,” said Alex Bigham of the London-based Foreign Policy Center, echoing the uneasy sentiment across the continent about the go-it-alone U.S. stand. “Obviously this is about Bush trying to be tough and ratchet up the pressure on Iran, but also it’s kind of trying to lock in his successor.
Air France strike set to continue Saturday
ROISSY AIRPORT, France (AFP) – Air France flights continued to be disrupted Saturday after talks between management and cabin staff striking for more pay collapsed leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.
There was a glimmer of hope, however, as a union source said negotiations with the airline’s management would resume at 0900 GMT on Saturday.There were dozens of flight cancellations Friday on the second day of the strike, with more than half of long-haul flights as well as some 50 medium-haul services out of Paris’ main international airport Charles de Gaulle-Roissy cancelled.
Latin America
Court drops charges vs. Pinochet family
SANTIAGO, Chile – A Chilean appeals court on Friday dropped corruption charges against former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s widow and four of his children, who had been accused of misuse of state funds related to multimillion-dollar overseas bank accounts.
The Santiago Court of Appeals also dropped charges against 10 of the late dictator’s former associates and aides, court President Juan Eduardo Fuentes said.
Film casts light on rough justice in Rio
This heavily armed group wears black uniforms and their faces are often masked, and their symbol includes a skull with crossed pistols.
It is not some illegal paramilitary force but an elite battalion of the police in Rio de Janeiro known as Bope, the Battalion for Special Police Operations.They were created to deal with kidnappings, but their job now is to take on the most dangerous drug gangs in the country, a battle fought with high-calibre weapons in the city’s favelas or shanty towns.
Africa
Nigerian court grants jailed Biafran leader three-month bail
ABUJA (AFP) – A Nigerian court Friday granted the jailed Biafran separatist leader, Ralph Uwazuruike, three months bail to enable him attend his mother’s funeral, court officials said.
Presiding judge Binta Murtala-Nyako of the Abuja court said the temporary bail was granted following an affidavit by a local chief from Uwazuruike’s home who said he was required by tradition to be physically present for the funeral.
Rebel snub threatens Darfur talks
UN-African Union talks aimed at ending the four-year war in Sudan’s Darfur region are due to open in Libya later on Saturday.But two of Darfur’s main rebel groups have decided to boycott the talks in a row over invited factions, despite UN Security Council sanction threats.
The absence of key rebel groups could mean the talks may have to be delayed, says the BBC’s Amber Henshaw in Darfur.
Asia
Myanmar junta frees more protesters
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar’s junta has freed 87 more people arrested during last month’s crackdown, including more than 50 members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), party spokesman Nyan Win said.
As well as 12 monks and 14 students, the released detainees included Hla Pe, an 81-year-old NLD Central Executive Committee member, and Tayzaw Bartha, a 76-year-old Buddhist monk arrested in early August for staging a lone protest outside City Hall.
Government at Odds Over Declaring End to Korean War
Cheong Wa Dae appears to be at odds with the Foreign Ministry over the question of what a declaration of an end to the Korean War should amount to, and who should declare it. In a nutshell, the presidential office appears to look at a mammoth diplomatic task before President Roh Moo-hyun’s term expires in four months, and preferably before the December presidential election, while the Foreign Ministry is looking to the reality of international relations.
Cheong Wa Dae or The Blue House is the official residence for the President of South Korea