NATO warns Russia not to interfere in Georgia

Posted by Matt in April 30th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Europe, Russia, Abkhazia And South Ossetia, European Union, Georgia, Georgia Russia, Georgian Troops, moscow, NATO, Peacekeepers, Tbilisi, Territorial Integrity

NATO warned Russia Wednesday to stop undermining Georgia’s territorial integrity, after Moscow announced it would send more peacekeepers to two rebel Georgian regions.
Russia’s move, to counter what it said was the massing of Georgian troops near Abkhazia and South Ossetia, raised concern in the United States while the European Union has said that any [...]

Mofaz: Iran could go nuclear in a year

Posted by Matt in April 30th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Iran, Nuclear, Atomic Bomb, Channel 10, Dialogue, Iran, Israel, Israeli Delegation, Israeli Intelligence, Nuclear Technology, Shaul Mofaz, tehran, Transportation Minister

Iran has taken command of its nuclear technology and could have an atomic bomb in a year, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz was quoted as saying Wednesday, citing Israeli intelligence.
According to Channel 10, Mofaz made the comments during talks with US officials in Washington where he leading an Israeli delegation holding meetings within the framework of [...]

Tests identify Russia’s crown prince, sister

Posted by Matt in April 30th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Russia, 1918, Bone Fragments, Civil War, Crown Prince, Czar Nicholas Ii, Dna Tests, Eduard, Prince Alexei, Regional Governor, Rossel, Royal Family, Russia, Sister Maria, Sverdlovsk Region, Ural Mountains

DNA tests carried out by a U.S. laboratory prove that bone fragments exhumed last year belong to two children of Czar Nicholas II, putting to rest questions about what happened to Russia’s last royal family, a regional governor said today.
Bone fragments dug up near the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg are indeed those of Crown [...]

Russia and Georgia rattle sabres

Posted by Matt in April 30th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Russia, Abkhazia, Breakaway, Central Government, Georgia, Georgia Russia, Georgian Authorities, Kodori Gorge, kremlin, Military Presence, Peacekeepers, Soviet Republic, Surveillance Drone, Tbilisi, Video Footage

GEORGIA and Russia agree upon one thing: the situation in the breakaway province of Abkhazia is bad and getting worse. Georgia, an ex-Soviet republic with close links to America, says that Russia is illegally putting more troops in the region. Last week it produced video footage of what looks like a Russian warplane shooting down [...]

US Air Force planned nuclear strike on China over Taiwan: report

Posted by Matt in April 30th, 2008 | no comment

Published in China, Military, Nuclear, Taiwan, U.S., Air Force History, China, Chinese Forces, Confrontation, Conventional Bombs, Dwight Eisenhower, Nuclear Bombs, Nuclear Escalation, Nuclear Strike, President Dwight Eisenhower, Risk, Strikes, Taipei, Taiwan, Top Brass, United States Air Force

The United States Air Force had considered a plan to drop nuclear bombs on China during a confrontation over Taiwan in 1958 but it was overruled, declassified documents showed Wednesday.
When he learned about it, President Dwight Eisenhower instead required the Air Force to initially use conventional bombs against Chinese forces if the crisis escalated, according [...]

CIA chief says China’s rapid military buildup troubling

Posted by Matt in April 30th, 2008 | no comment

Published in China, Military, beijing, Capabilities, China, Cia, Cia Chief, Michael Hayden, Military Force, Military Modernization, Rapid Military Buildup, Remarkable Speed, Risk, Scope, Weaponry

CIA chief Michael Hayden charged Wednesday that China was beefing up its military with “remarkable speed and scope,” calling the buildup “troubling.”
The Chinese, he said, had fully absorbed the lessons of both Gulf wars, developing and integrating advanced weaponry into a modern military force.
Hayden said while Beijing’s new capabilities could pose a risk to US [...]

Defusing Germany’s Demographic Timebomb

Posted by Matt in April 30th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Demographics, Europe, Berlin, Breeding Ground, Consequences, David Gordon, Economy, Family Minister, Gender Roles, German Family, germans, Germany, Germany Population, Germany S Population, Gordon Smith, Housewives, Neo, Pension System, Rage Against, Right Wing, Shrinking Population, Spiegel, Timebomb, Wing Extremism

Germany’s population is shrinking, with serious consequences for the country’s economy and pension system. Can Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen persuade Germans to breed? By David Gordon Smith in Berlin more…

SPIEGEL Interview with German Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen: ‘A Dangerous Breeding Ground for Right-Wing Extremism’
Rage Against the Baby Machines: Germany’s Neo-Housewives Spark [...]

Lots of talk about North Korea, but action plan from Israel

Posted by Matt in April 30th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Koreas, Nuclear, Contrasts, Enemies, Face Saving, Ferocity, George W Bush, Hawks, Intention, Memorandum, North-Korea, Nuclear Facilities, Nuclear Weapons Program, Preemptive Strike, President George W Bush, President Richard Cheney, pyongyang, Reluctance, Richard Cheney, State Department, Strategists, Vice President Richard Cheney

The ferocity with which Israel responded to the threat posed by a nuclear weapons program in the hands of one of its worst enemies contrasts with the reluctance of the U.S. to attack North Korea’s nuclear facilities over years of off-again, on-again efforts to get the North to abandon the program.
Although the U.S. has repeatedly [...]

If peak oil scares you, what about peak water?

Posted by Matt in April 30th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Australia, Britain, U.S., Water, Aral Sea, Array, Bathtub, Crisis Proportions, Developing World, Drought, Former Soviet Union, Ganges, Groundwater, Lake Mead, Own Backyard, peak oil, Peak Water, Poor Countries, Population Lack, Renewable Supply, Safe Drinking Water, Scarcity, State Of Georgia, Trickle, Waste Water, Water Aquifers

That the news is familiar makes it no less alarming: 1.1 billion people, about one-sixth of the world’s population, lack access to safe drinking water. Aquifers under Beijing, Delhi, Bangkok, and dozens of other rapidly growing urban areas are drying up. The rivers Ganges, Jordan, Nile, and Yangtze — all dwindle to a trickle for [...]

A Tantalizing Look at Iran’s Nuclear Program

Posted by Matt in April 30th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Iran, Nuclear, Centrifuge, centrifuges, Control Specialist, Desert, Forerunners, Headlines, Iran, Iran Nuclear, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, natanz, Natural Uranium, New America Foundation, New Generation, Nonprofit Research Group, Nuclear Arms, Nuclear Program, Photographs, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, reactors, Riddle, Spin

The sprawling site, known as Natanz, made headlines recently because Iran is testing a new generation of centrifuges there that spin faster and, in theory, can more rapidly turn natural uranium into fuel for reactors or nuclear arms. The new machines are also meant to be more reliable than their forerunners, which often failed catastrophically.
On [...]