Nuclear threat hangs over the subcontinent

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

Published in Conflict, India, Pakistan, Bombay, Citizens, Corpses, Gunmen, Hotels, India, Nuclear Threat, Pakistan, Security Status, Subcontinent, Terror Attacks

With the citizens of Bombay still mopping up the blood on their streets and counting the corpses in their hotels, attention has quickly turned to who is behind last week’s terror attacks. India says it has evidence that the gunmen who tore through its richest city were trained in Pakistan, and raised its security status [...]

Indian air and missile forces on war footing, Pakistani armored units diverted from Afghan border

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

Published in Conflict, India, Pakistan, Afghan Border, Asia, Conflict, Conventional War, First Steps, Frontier, India And Pakistan, Military Experts, Military Sources, Missile Forces, Nuclear Powers India, Tactical Nuclear Weapons, War Preparedness

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that on Sunday, Nov. 30, Asia’s two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, took their first steps towards a conventional war. India, claiming evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in the Islamist terrorist assault on Mumbai, placed its air and missile units on war preparedness, while Pakistan, disclaiming the charge, diverted its armed divisions [...]

Russia Tightens Europe’s Energy Noose

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

Published in Energy, Europe, Russia, Catalan, Cni, Construction Company, Energy Companies, Energy Supplies, Independent Oil Company, Intelligence, La Caixa, Long Time, Lukoil, moscow, Noose, Percent Stake, Repsol Ypf, Russia, Russian Energy, Sacyr Vallehermoso, Southern Europe, Spain, Spy Agency

A leaked intelligence document issued by Spain’s CNI spy agency in October warns that Russia is aggressively pursuing a plan to “monopolize access to energy supplies to Europe.” The report validates what many analysts have been saying for a long time, namely that Moscow is using Russian energy companies to gain geo-strategic control over northern, [...]

Somalia’s Pirates Flourish in a Lawless Nation

Posted by Matt in November 28th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Africa, 50 Million, Chaos, Countless Children, Desperation, Economy, Flourish, Handful, Lawlessness, Mogadishu, Piracy, Pirate, Pirates, Pirates Of Somalia, Profits, Somalia

This is the story of Somalia’s booming, not-so-underground pirate economy. The country is in chaos, countless children are starving and people are killing one another in the streets of Mogadishu, the capital, for a handful of grain.
But one particular line of work — piracy — seems to be benefiting quite openly from all this lawlessness [...]

Mexico: Borderless drug wars

Posted by Matt in November 26th, 2008 | 1 comment

Published in Americas, Mexico, American Congress, Borderless, Boston, Broad Daylight, Chief Of Police, Corrupt Police, Crimes, Doorstep, Drug Cartels, Drug Traffickers, Drug Trafficking, Drug Violence, Drug Wars, Federal Authorities, Federal Police Officer, Foreign Affair, Gangsters, Honolulu, Innocents, Kidnappings, Mexico, Money Laundering, Seattle, Sister Point, Slayings, Soil, United States, Wage War

The drug violence that has left nearly 4,000 people dead this year in Mexico is spreading deep into the United States, leaving a trail of slayings, kidnappings and other crimes in at least 195 cities as far afield as Atlanta, Boston, Seattle and Honolulu, according to federal authorities.
The involvement of the top four Mexican drug-trafficking [...]

Iceland faces tough times in wake of crisis

Posted by Matt in November 26th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Economy, Financial, Banking, Banks, Bleak Winter, Collapse, Consumer Price Inflation, Currency, Economic Contraction, Faces, Financial Crisis, Global Financial Crisis, Headaches, Iceland, Importers, Island Iceland, Tough Times, Unemployment

The crisis involved the collapse of Iceland’s banks and currency. The banks are slowly being rebuilt, but the crown has effectively ceased trading, creating headaches for importers.
…
Whether the currency is stabilised quickly or not, a bleak winter looms. Annual consumer price inflation exceeds 17 percent and is at its highest since 1990. Unemployment is set [...]

Iran says it now runs more than 5,000 centrifuges

Posted by Matt in November 26th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Iran, Nuclear, Centrifuge, Enrichment Program, Iran, Iranian Officials, Uranium Enrichment, Workhorse

The P-1 centrifuge is the workhorse of Iran’s enrichment program. It’s run in cascades of 164 machines.
In February, Iranian officials confirmed that they have started using the IR-2 centrifuge, which can churn out enriched uranium at more than double the rate of P-1.
Iran has said it plans to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment that will [...]

New Reports Cite China’s Dangerous Rise

Posted by Matt in November 25th, 2008 | no comment

Published in China, American Factories, Asia, Authoritarian Rule, beijing, China Economic, Chinese Industry, Congress, Consumers, Currency Reserves, Europe, Massive Transfer, National Security Interests, New Technology, North America, Security Review, Steady Influx, Trade Deficits, Transformation, Trillion, World Politics

The NIC notes that this transformation of world politics is the result of a massive transfer of wealth from West to East, from Europe and North America to Asia. The United States has transferred $1.2 trillion to China since 2001 by running massive trade deficits. These deficits have not only given Beijing the largest currency [...]

Russia is a Mess

Posted by Matt in November 25th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Economy, Financial, Russia, Bailout, Capital Flight, Corporate Balance Sheets, Countries, Credit Crunch, Current, Devaluation, Different Ways, Export Earnings, Financial Crisis, Global Economic Crisis, Global Financial Crisis, International Economic Crisis, Metals, Mortgage Defaults, Real Estate Bubble, Russia

Russia and the Global Economic Crisis
Any international economic crisis afflicts different countries in different ways, but an unfortunate few experience every painful dimension of it. In the current crisis, Russia is confronting virtually all the negatives at once–sharply declining export earnings from energy and metals, over-leveraged corporate balance sheets and a chorus of [...]

Is America’s new declinism for real?

Posted by Matt in November 25th, 2008 | no comment

Published in U.S., Assumption, Bush, Confidence, Decline, Declinism, Heart, Intellectual Trend, Nic Report, Real People, Relative Decline, Security Establishment, Unipolar Moment

The NIC report has made people sit up because it comes from the heart of the US security establishment. But it is part of a broader intellectual trend in America: a “new declinism”. This mood marks a complete break with the aggressive confidence of the Bush years and the “unipolar moment”. Its starting assumption is [...]