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Date Entered
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French
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SUMMER
BREAK
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April 30, 2003
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CEOs urge improved France-US ties
The heads of 11 companies, from Microsoft France, IBM France and
McDonald's France to global accountants Ernst & Young, wrote an open
letter in the financial daily Les Echos saying
tensions over the war in Iraq
should not be allowed to hit trade.
"It would be dangerous to assume that the behavior of the market will
not change. If the flood of criticism and negative
reactions persist, commercial relations will be affected," the
letter read, referring to threats of consumer boycotts.
"Any deterioration in (bilateral relations) could provoke a technical
recession in France
and place the American economy in an even more fragile position, in a context
where its budget and trade deficits are already very high."
CNN Money
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Rumsfeld indicates U.S. troops to be pulled out of Germany
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has
been visting Iraq
this Wednesday. Following a stop in the southern city of Basra,
Rumsfeld moved onto the capital, Baghdad.
He met with the U.S.
appointed administrator for Iraq,
Jay Garner. Later, he spoke to U.S.
soldiers at Baghdad's airport.
Asked about rumoured plans that Washington
was planning to pull troops out of Germany,
Rumsfeld said the rumours
were true, but that the details had not yet been worked out. Those comments
came one day after Rumsfeld announced that U.S.
troops were pulling out of Saudi Arabia.
Deutsche Welle
|
Chile,
Mexico
Want U.S.
to Move Beyond War Differences
Maria Soledad Alvear, Chile's
foreign minister, says she has tried to overcome differences with Washington
over the U.S.-led war in Iraq
by focusing on the larger context of openness and trust between the two
nations.
Chile's
resistance earlier this year to U.S.
pressure to support a U.N. resolution authorizing war led U.S.
officials to express disappointment and prompted trade representatives to say
they did not know when a U.S.-Chile free-trade agreement -- already fully
negotiated -- would be signed or ratified. In an interview before a meeting
with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, Soledad Alvear
said the signing of a treaty would demonstrate that if a small emerging
nation like Chile could enter into such an arrangement with the world's most
powerful country, it would refute "any doubts, any apprehension or
misgivings" about free trade and set an example for the rest of the
world.
By Nora Boustany
The Washington
Post
|
Russia
and Syria
Eager to End Occupation of Iraq
DAMASCUS, April 29. Syria
and Russia on
Monday said efforts must be stepped up to end the "foreign
occupation" of Iraq
and safeguard Iraq's
security and territorial integrity. The call was made during a meeting in the
Syrian capital, Damascus, between
Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa and Russian
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Sultanov.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency said al-Sharaa
and Sultanov had agreed on the necessity to
intensify efforts to end the presence of US and British forces in Iraq.
In neighboring Jordan,
another visiting Russian official, Mideast
envoy Andrey Vdovin, held
talks with Jordan's
Minister of State, Shaher Bak,
on Iraq and
the Palestinian-Israeli crisis, the St. Petersburg Times reported.
News Agency Rosbalt
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April 23, 2003
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France
seeks suspension of Iraq
sanctions
United Nations, Apr 23 (UNI) France has urged the immediate suspension of
economic sanctions imposed on Iraq more than a decade ago, surprising many
members of the global body, including Russia.
''I have proposed that the decision be taken immediately to suspend the
civilian sanctions,'' Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sablière
told reporters yesterday, after a closed session of the powerful 15-member
Security Council.
But the United States
is apparently insisting that the sanctions should be lifted once and for all.
President George W Bush had earlier this month called for doing away with all
economic curbs against Iraq.
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German Spies in Iraqi Talks before War
Documents implicating German involvement in an attempt to cooperate with
the Iraqi secret service in the months before the Iraq
war have surfaced from the ruins of Baghdad.
Secret documents recovered from the bombed headquarters of Saddam
Hussein's secret service in Baghdad
show that German spies attempted to forge links with their Iraqi counterparts
over a year before the war began.
The papers, recovered by British journalists working for the daily
newspaper The Telegraph, describe a meeting between German secret service
agent Johannes William Hoffner, described as
"the new German representative in Iraq", and Taher
Jalil Haboosh, the
director of Iraq's intelligence service.
Relationship between secret services
Hoffner, believed to have entered Iraq
under diplomatic cover, met with Haboosh on January 29, 2002 and is quoted
within the documents as expressing a desire to develop a
"relationship" between the German secret service and the Iraqis.
The Telegraph's Sunday edition describes the passage in the document where Hoffner tells Haboosh: "My
organization wants to develop its relationship with your organization."
Deutsche Welle
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Spain:
Take That, Germany
In a reflection of Spain's
stronger economy, its 10-year securities now are more attractive than those
of Europe's former powerhouse
Cristóbal Montoro,
Spain's Economy &
Finance Minister, has been beaming at press events these days. He has every
reason to be happy: on Apr. 11, yields on 10-year Spanish government bonds
for the first time in living memory dipped below the returns investors get
from equivalent German government securities. That amounts to a huge vote of
confidence by the financial markets in Montoro's
prudent fiscal and economic policies. Of course, it also means Madrid
has to pay less to borrow money. According to analysts, the savings could
reach $500 million in 2003.
Businessweek
|
Russia
warns of North Korean 'catastrophe'
Russia last night warned of an imminent catastrophe in the Korean nuclear
crisis, despite signs that progress had been made in groundbreaking talks
yesterday between North Korea, the US and China.
"It is probable that, as early as tomorrow, there will be a
catastrophic development of events," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
Alexander Losyukov said.
Mr Losyukov claimed
the crisis over North Korea's
nuclear arms program had "reached an extreme stage", but failed to
give more details about his warning or what he meant by catastrophic.
The Russian warning came at the end of the first day of talks in Beijing
between US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs James Kelly
and officials from North Korea
and China.
Despite trying to broker a diplomatic solution, Russia
has not been included in the meeting.
The unsettling comments by Mr Losyukov, made after talks with Japanese officials in Tokyo,
were in stark contrast to other messages from the talks, which indicated that
some progress was being made.
By Shane Green
The AGE
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April 15, 2003
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France has no proof of US accusations against Syria
Paris Apr 15 (DPA) France has no proof that Syria has recently conducted
chemical weapons tests, as charged by U.S. Defence
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, French European Affairs
Minister Noelle Lenoir said today.
''We don't have the proof,'' Lenoir said on i-television.
Rumsfeld said yesterday that the United
States had evidence that Syria
had conducted a test involving chemical agents within the past 12 to 15
months.
Syria has
refuted the accusations.
Lenoir warned that the situation in the West Asia
was ''very fragile'' and urged the international community ''to do its
utmost'' to maintain stability in the region.
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German Economy in Stagnant State
FRANKFURT, Germany - Germany's economic misery won't ease soon, six top
economic institutes said Tuesday, predicting a third consecutive year of the
anemic growth that has pushed up unemployment.
Europe's largest economy will grow by only 0.5
percent this year, the institutes said in their twice-yearly forecast, a
closely watched event in Germany.
Following growth of 0.2 percent last year and 0.6 percent in 2001, that
would mean the longest period of such near-zero growth since Germany
emerged from the ashes of World War II.
"The German economy remains in a phase of prolonged weakness,"
they said in a joint statement that saw the economy gaining speed slightly
toward the end of the year as the world economy picks up too. They predicted
1.8 percent growth for 2004
DAVID McHUGH
Associated Press
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U.S. gathers info on citizens living in Latin
America
Over the past 18 months, the U.S.
government has bought access to data on hundreds of millions of residents of
10 Latin American countries — apparently without their consent or
knowledge — allowing myriad federal agencies to track foreigners
entering and living in the United States.
A suburban Atlanta company, ChoicePoint, collects the information abroad and sells it
to U.S.
government officials in three dozen agencies, including immigration
investigators who’ve used it to arrest illegal immigrants.
The practice broadens a trend that has an information-hungry U.S.
government increasingly buying personal data on Americans and foreigners
alike from commercial vendors including ChoicePoint
and LexisNexis.
U.S.
officials consider the foreign data a thread in a security blanket that lets
law enforcers and the travel industry peer into the backgrounds of people
flowing into the United States.
The information also can be used with other data-mining tools to identify
potential terrorists, or simply unmask fake identity documents, company and
government officials say.
By JIM KRANE AP
|
U.S.
threats to Syria
irk Russia
MOSCOW APRIL 15. Russia
voiced displeasure at accusations by the United
States that Syria
was harbouring overthrown Iraqi leaders and
possessed chemical weapons. Such charges "do not contribute to normalisation of the situation in Iraq
and to stability in the region as a whole, including the Arab-Israeli
settlement,'' the Interfax news agency quoted an
unnamed Russian diplomat as saying.
Another high-ranking source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told Interfax that Moscow
took "a sceptical view of Washington's
charges against Damascus.''
Meanwhile, a retired senior officer at the Defence
Ministry said Moscow had refused
to sell Syria
advanced anti-missile systems because of opposition from the U.S.
and Israel.
By Vladimir Radyuhin
The Hindu
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April 11, 2003
|
Leaders of Russia,
France,
Germany
meet on Iraq
Speaking between meetings Friday with Russia's
two main allies in the opposition to the Iraq
war, President Vladimir Putin said the United
Nations should now have the main role in settling the conflict.
Putin told a forum of German and Russian
politicians and businessmen -- on the sidelines of a summit with German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac -- that Russia
and Germany
remain "convinced of the lack of prospects for a military solution to
the Iraqi problem."
"We believe that the main task is to return the process of the Iraqi
settlement to the United Nations as quickly as possible," Putin said.
"Our nations can and must do everything possible to preserve the
stable global system of international law, which is founded on the primacy of
the United Nations."
Associated Press
|
Germany,France
cool on Iraq
debt write-off call
Germany
and France, two leading opponents of the U.S.-led war in Iraq,
gave a cool response on Friday to Washington's
call for them to forgive Baghdad
billions of dollars in debt.
German Finance Ministry spokesman Joerg Mueller
declined to say whether Berlin
would forgive some of the debt bilaterally as suggested by U.S. Deputy
Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
"It only makes sense to address this question with other countries in
the Paris Club (of creditor nations)," Mueller told a news conference.
"I don't think we have reached the point yet when we can carefully
look at and answer this question."
Reuters
|
Latin America: On the Road
to Militarization
Under the pretext of combating terrorism, the United
States plans to escalate its military
build-up in Latin America. Until at least June of this
year, US soldiers and military instructors are to be
sent to countries across the region with the objective of carrying out
bilateral or multilateral air, river and land exercises. With long-term
operations already being conducted in several countries, analysts have stated
that this new military build-up could lead the way to the militarization of Latin
America.
Latin American Press Org
|
Russia plans simulated trip to Mars
The Russian laboratory dedicated to space medicine has said it will
confine and isolate six cosmonauts for 17 months to test the ability of a
crew to survive a return trip to Mars.
Dmitry Malashenkov of
the Institute of Biological
and Medical Problems in Moscow (IBMP) says the chosen participants will have
to cope as if on a real trip to the red planet: "If a crew member falls
ill, the other members will have to provide aid on their own." If
outside help is needed, "it would be considered defeat, as if that
person had died."
The six chosen participants, probably all male, would be confined in three
modules with a total area of 400 square metres.
They would have enough food for the virtual journey, but water would be
recycled and oxygen would have to be generated. Malashenkov
said foreign astronauts would be considered, but did not give an expected
start date.
The New Scientist
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|
April 9th, 2003
|
France,
U.K.
disagree on U.N.
By Vaiju Naravane
PARIS APRIL 9. The tone was
cordial but the differences could not be concealed. Britain
and France
once again agreed to disagree over Iraq
with France
insisting that the United Nations alone should undertake the political,
economic, humanitarian and administrative reconstruction of post-war Iraq.
The visiting British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, in Paris for a meeting
with his French counterpart, Dominique de Villepin,
today said that Britain and the U.S. favoured
"the creation of a representative, democratic Iraqi government carrying
the consent of its people and responsible for its own security". He,
however, underlined that such a Government could not be created overnight.
The British Foreign Secretary thus gave journalists to understand that some
kind of interim administration led by the U.S.
would be inevitable until Iraq
was stable enough to elect a government of its own.
The Hindu.
|
Suspicious powder found in envelopes
Postal officials stopped the delivery of 900,000 pieces of mail on
Wednesday after a white powder was found leaking from two envelopes. Mail
officials around the world have been on the alert about the contents of mail
since anthrax-bearing letters killed five people in the United
States in fall 2001. After the envelopes
were discovered on Wednesday in the northern German town of Pattensen, officials ordered the
170 workers in the building to leave. Officials expect to know within two
days what kind of substance was in the envelopes.
Deutsche Welle
|
Journalists snub Spain's
prime minister and Britain's
Straw
Journalists snubbed Spain's
prime minister and Britain's
foreign minister Wednesday, putting cameras, microphones and notebooks on the
ground to protest the death of a Spanish TV cameraman killed by a U.S.
tank shell in Baghdad.
Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, arriving at the
Senate for a meeting with his party's lawmakers, found the floor outside the
chamber covered with equipment and 30 to 40 journalists standing in stony
silence.
Aznar has been a strong supporter of the war in Iraq,
although Spain
has not sent troops to fight alongside U.S.
and British forces
Associated Press
|
Iraq's
Impact on Russia
By Lilia Shevtsova
The majority of pundits would say that war in Iraq
has had no impact on Russia,
but they are wrong. The Iraqi debacle has already produced implications for Russia's
international role and domestic developments. The question is whether these
implications are for the short or long term.
First, the Iraqi crisis has provided proof that Russia
does matter, to the surprise of many analysts who had written Russia
off. Moscow's siding with Paris
strengthened French opposition to the United
States and thus, indirectly and definitely
unintentionally, helped to deepen the rift between the Western allies. I even
suspect that if Russia
had not condemned the United States
too strongly and hinted that it would abstain vis-a-vis
the second resolution on Iraq,
the United States
would have stood a chance of getting it endorsed by the Security Council,
thus legitimizing the war.
A new opportunity for international leverage has now opened for Russia:
siding with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and supporting his scenario of
going to the UN for the Iraqi peace settlement. Russia
could serve as a bridge between the allies, facilitating fence-mending. The
idea of Russia
in the role of mediator between Western powers may sound far-fetched, but it
is quite possible. French President Jacques Chirac would surely be less vocal
in blasting Washington without
President Vladimir Putin to back him.
Unfortunately, to date Moscow has
failed to make use of this opportunity.
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March 31st, 2003
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Germany
and France
discuss Europe's
role in Iraq
after war
France and Germany
held talks last night on Europe's role in a
post-conflict Iraq
as diplomatic efforts to heal the serious rifts created by the war
intensified.
The meeting in Paris, between Joschka Fischer, the German foreign minister, and
Dominique de Villepin, his French opposite number,
followed statements at the weekend by Gerhard Schröder,
German chancellor, in which he stressed the need for reconciliation in spite
of the deep differences between European states over Iraq.
By Haig Simonian
in Berlin and
Jean Eaglesham in London
Financial Times
|
German doctor resorts to unusual anti-war protest
As a form of protest against the Iraq
war, a German dermatologist in the state of Schleswig-Holstein has refused to
treat Americans, Britons and other supporters of the war. "I ban entry
to citizens of the United States
and Great Britain
as well as from other countries in favor of the war, to my clinic," the
61-year-old specialist for skin and sexually transmitted diseases, Eberhard Hoffmann said. "This war is a crime."
With regard to the Hippocratic oath of the medical profession, Hoffmann said,
"I am obliged to help in emergency cases, but otherwise I am free to
throw people out." A German military doctor is reported to have filed a
complaint against Hoffmann with the relevant medical authorities and has also
warned Hoffmann that German soldiers would stop going to him for treatment.
Deutsche-Welle
|
Can Latin America
Sieze the Middle Ground in the U.S.-Cuba Conflict?
With the eyes of the world turned to Iraq,
Cuban leader Fidel Castro last week arrested dozens of dissidents on the
island for conspiring against the Cuban Revolution with the
"imperialist" enemy to the North.
The wave of arrests, the most severe such crackdown in
more than six years, seemed a direct attempt to squash recent progress by the
Cuban opposition in challenging Havana's
authority. It also was Castro's way of thumbing his nose at recent U.S.
efforts to bolster dissidents by providing them with radios, computers and
copying machines.
Castro's latest antics provide an ideal opportunity for
Latin American leadership, just a week after diplomatic failure on Iraq left
many governments in the region frustrated and uneasy about the fate of
hemispheric cooperation. When Mexico
and Chile did
not stand behind the United States
at the United Nations Security Council in favor of immediate military action
in Iraq, many
feared--and continue to fear--a U.S.
backlash.
The Washington
Post
|
Russia
supplies the enemy
Whatever one may think of Russia's
political opposition to the war in Iraq,
no one denies Moscow's right to
it. Supplying arms to Iraq
is something else. Not only is this a clear violation of United Nations
sanctions, but Russia
has weapons that pose a lethal threat to U.S.
and British soldiers. Those are exactly the kinds of weapons that the Bush
administration has accused Russia
- and now Syria
- of supplying Iraq.
Whether President Vladimir Putin chooses to
acknowledge the sales or not, he would be well advised to make sure they are
stopped right now.
U.S.
officials say they have been pressuring Russia
for many months now to end sales of three types of equipment: night vision
goggles, anti-tank missiles and equipment that can jam global positioning
systems, used to guide "smart" weapons. The ability to fight at
night is one of the coalition's strengths; the Russian missiles can knock out
the mighty Abrams tank and smart weapons can be sent astray with the jamming
device. These things may have already been used to deadly purpose.
.
On Friday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also
said Syria
was shipping such equipment into Iraq,
although the Pentagon says it does not know if that, too, is Russian in
origin.
The New York Times
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March 29th, 2003
|
France
is back on side!
PARIS -- France's
government angrily insisted yesterday that it hopes U.S.-led forces win the
war in Iraq, signalling fear in Paris
that its image as an untrustworthy friend could seriously damage long-term
relations with Washington.
In an extraordinary statement for a major U.S.
ally, the Foreign Ministry said it was "indignant" at media
suggestions that French support for the United
States was ambiguous, and quoted Foreign
Minister Dominique de Villepin as saying he hoped
for an American victory.
The Edmonton
Sun
|
Protesters flock in Germany
THOUSANDS of demonstrators have encircled the US
military's European Command in the southern German city of Stuttgart,
linking hands in a human chain amid a new round of nationwide protests
against the war in Iraq.
About 6,000 people formed a five kilometre chain
around the facility's perimeter, which stayed in place for five minutes. They
were watched over by several hundred police officers, but no incidents were
reported.
The Associated Press
|
Spain's
Almodovar says ashamed by Oscar show
MADRID March 29 - Iconoclastic Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar, who won his second Oscar earlier this week,
said on Friday he felt ``shame'' at the treatment of those who spoke against
the Iraq war at the Hollywood awards.
Almodovar, who dedicated his Oscar at Sunday's
ceremony to ``all the people that are raising their voices in favour of peace'', said he had been surprised by his
original script award.
The Associated Press
|
Iraq war will spur terrorism: India, Russia
By Vladimir Radyuhin
MOSCOW MARCH 29. India
and Russia
fear that the war in Iraq
will lead to `radicalisation' of Islamic extremist
groups in Afghanistan
and Pakistan.
The problem was extensively discussed during the Indo-Russian Foreign
Ministry consultations here on Friday.
The Hindu
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March 16th, 2003
|
France
will 'go to the end' to avoid war
President Jacques Chirac showed no sign today of backing down from his
opposition to a U.S.-led attack on Iraq, saying in a 60 Minutes interview
that France "will naturally go to the end" in refusing to endorse
military action.
The interview was conducted before U.S. President George W. Bush and his top
allies said at an Atlantic island summit that they would make a final push
Monday to convince other countries - notably France
- to back war if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein does not immediately turn
over banned weapons they say he has.
Toronto
Star, Associated Press, KIM HOUSEGO
|
Germany
calls on nationals to leave Iraq
at once
BERLIN - The German foreign
ministry on Sunday urged all Germans in Iraq
to leave the country immediately and said it would close its embassy in Baghdad
when all German nationals had left Iraq.
"Germans in Iraq
are being called to leave the country immediately," the foreign ministry
said in a statement.
A foreign ministry spokeswoman said the German embassy would be closed
temporarily as soon as all Germans had left the country. Fewer than 40
Germans were still in Iraq,
among them several journalists, she said.
Reuters
|
US, Britain,
Spain
issue final deadline
The leaders of the United States,
Britain and Spain
have issued a final appeal to the UN Security Council on the Iraq
crisis. President George W. Bush said Monday was a deadline for diplomatic
efforts to convince Saddam Hussein to disarm. Following their crisis talks on
the Portuguese Azores islands, Bush and the British and Spanish Prime
Ministers Tony Blair and Jose Maria Aznar agreed to
seek a new UN resolution authorising the use of
force if Iraq
failed to disarm. But Blair said that decision time was approaching fast.
Speaking on German television, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder
said the chances for a peaceful resolution were "slimmer than
ever."
Deutsche Welle
|
Six Russia
Servicemen Killed in Chechnya
VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia
- Six Russian servicemen were killed by rebel gunfire or mines and attackers destroyed
two polling stations before a vote on a new Chechen constitution, officials
said Sunday.
The March 23 constitutional referendum has been promoted heavily by the
Kremlin and is billed as a step toward restoring order in the war-ravaged
republic.
Moscow contends that Chechnya's
rebels are losing power, but the latest attacks demonstrated just how
dangerous Chechnya
still is.
Three soldiers were killed and 10 others wounded in the past day in
attacks on Russian positions, and three others died when their jeep hit a
mine, an official in the Moscow-backed Chechen administration said Sunday on
condition of anonymity.
YURI BAGROV
Associated Press
|
|
March 12th, 2003
|
France
applauds 'statesman' Chirac
Before his re-election in May last year, Mr Chirac
was struggling to avoid prosecution on charges of corruption.
He had a reputation as slick operator and a charmer, but something of an
opportunist.
But now, says the French daily France Soir, he
has made a remarkable comeback.
The paper sums it all up in a front page picture of the president under
the headline: "March 2002-March 2003: the Year of Chirac."
BBC News
|
Interior Minister Criticizes Guantanamo
Ruling
German interior minister Otto Schily (SPD)
lambasted Tuesday's American court decision to deny suspected terrorists
being held at Guantanamo
Bay in Cuba
their due process in American courts. The U.S. Court of Appeals held that
suspected al Qaeda members and Taliban fighters
held at the U.S.
military facility are not automatically protected by the rights bestowed in
the U.S. Constitution. In Germany,
Schily said the decision raised "a very
serious problem that urgently needs to be resolved." The court's ruling upheld a previous court decision that the prisoners held
at Guantanamo Bay were not held on U.S.
sovereign territory and, therefore, were not under the jurisdiction of
the U.S.
judicial system.
Deutsche Welle
|
Spain
approves five new GMO maize varieties
Spain, one
of the few European Union countries to commercially grow genetically modified
seeds, has approved five new strains of GM maize for non-human consumption.
The government's official gazette for March 11 noted that the new
varieties were similar to two previously authorised
strains, but could not be used for human consumption until EU approval was
obtained.
Packaging for GM seeds meant for human consumption had to be clearly labelled "genetically modified variety".
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
|
Russia
warned on economic consequences of veto
The US
ambassador to Russia
said on Wednesday that economic and diplomatic relations with the US
could be damaged if Russia
vetoed a United Nations resolution authorising war
with Iraq.
In an interview with Izvestiya, a leading
Russian newspaper, Alexander Vershbow urged Russia
to "carefully weigh all the consequences" of its vote in the UN
Security Council. "It makes a big difference whether Russia
decides to use its veto or abstain," he said.
Financial Times
|
|
Feb. 27th, 2003
|
France may think again on Iraq
PARIS, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A
funny thing happened at the French National Assembly after its long debate
Wednesday that demonstrated overwhelming bipartisan support for President
Jacques Chirac's policy on Iraq.
There was no vote. It was a debate of purely intellectual interest that displayed
French unanimity in the face of American pressure.
President Chirac later explained that he had wanted no vote because he did
not want the Assembly to trespass "on the presidential reserve."
And it is true that the French constitution leaves foreign policy in the
president's hands. But a declarative vote of support would hardly have dented
the presidential prerogative.
There is an alternative explanation. A formal vote by the French
parliament would have made it far more difficult for Chirac to change his
policy in the future. A vote that committed France
to another six months of United Nations inspections would have tied his hands
-- even if Saddam Hussein refuses to scrap his illegal missiles, of if the
United Nations' Hans Blix concludes that the Iraqi
leader is indeed giving the inspectors the runaround.
Chirac is famous in France
for his ability to turn on a political dime, to switch positions for tactical
advantage. And there may be a good political reason for him to do so. It
would be premature to talk of a revolt against Chirac's Iraq
policy, but there are growing signs of serious discomfort in Chirac's own
party with the prospect of a U.N. veto that could leave France
dangerously isolated.
By Martin Walker
UPI Chief International Correspondent
|
Germany
Refuses to Provide More Aid to Turkey
German leaders think they have provided their NATO partner of Turkey
with enough military aid to defend itself from Iraq.
America,
meanwhile, awaits a Turkish go-ahead on deployment of U.S.
troops in the north.
NATO's military headquarters has given its 19 alliance members until
Friday to come up with concrete plans on the sort of military support they
are willing to provide to Turkey
if the alliance member is attacked by Iraq
during a U.S.-led war against Saddam Hussein.
But as early as Wednesday night, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer let Germany's
alliance partners know during a television interview that his government
would not go beyond its current contribution -- 46 Patriot air-defense
missiles and about 30 crew members for air surveillance planes.
On Thursday, Defense Minister Peter Struck seconded Fischer's statement.
"I think we have done enough for Turkey,"
Struck said.
Deutsche Welle,
Germany
|
Spain
and Italy
Take Identical Positions on Iraq
AGI) - Rome, Italy,
Feb. 27 - Spain
and Italy's
positions on developments in the Iraqi crisis "are absolutely the
same", said Spanish Premier Jose' Maria Aznar
after a meeting at the Prime Minister's office with Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
Aznar underlined that both countries hope to try
every possible method of reaching a peaceful solution to the crisis" and
at the same time "to disarm the regime of Saddam".
The Spanish premier also added that his country "believes in the central
role of the UN security council".
"We can never give up on peace. Even if there is just one last chance,
we will do all that is possible to take advantage of that", underlined Aznar, who also said that in order to disarm Saddam
Hussein, "we need to be firm, because without pressure, Saddam will not
disarm".
AGI
|
China,
Russia
stick to their stand
SINGAPORE
FEB. 27. The fault-lines within the power-sharing bloc of Five Permanent
Members (P-5) in the United Nations Security Council today acquired a
definitive edge as regards the escalating Iraq
crisis.
China and Russia
decided to stand firm against the United
States over its moves towards a
declaration of war on Iraq
to disarm it of its stocks and capabilities to make and deploy weapons of
mass destruction.
In the face of the U.S.' view on war as a viable option, China and Russia
today reached `a consensus' on the feasibility of asking the international
weapons inspectors to continue their work. They agreed that the U.N. Security
Council "should intensify its guidance (of the inspectors) and support
the inspection work."
Setting themselvesfirmly against war as an
option the Chinese Foreign Minister, Tang Jiaxuan,
and his Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov,
maintained that the crisis be "resolved within the framework of the
United Nations and through political and diplomatic means." The U.N.
Security Council Resolution 1441, which covers the dos and don'ts of the
ongoing inspections in Iraq,
besides a host of earlier resolutions on this issue "have provided the
necessary legal basis for handling (this) issue," the two leaders said
in a joint communique at the conclusion of their
talks in Beijing.
The Hindue National Newspaper
By P. S. Suryanarayana
|
|
Feb 20th, 2003
|
France
will take active role in Ivory
Coast security
ABIDJAN - French and West
African troops will jointly ensure the security of Ivory
Coast's new government.
French officials say the protection unit will fall under the command of a
regional force. They say its mission will be the security of the new
government and above all the new Prime Minister Seydou
Diarra.
CBC, 2-20-03
|
Volkswagen's profits stall as sales fall in Germany, U.S.
Volkswagen AG's profits fell 11 percent last year as revenue slipped 1.8
percent amid weak sales in key markets such as Germany
and the United States.
The German automaker said Wednesday it earned 2.58 billion euros ($2.76
billion) in 2002 compared with 2.92 billion euros a year earlier.
The Associated Press, 2-20-03
|
Costa Rica fires its UN ambassador
San Jose — Costa
Rica's United Nations ambassador was
ordered to resign after making unauthorized remarks in a speech to the
Security Council about Iraq.
Costa Rican government sources refused to release the text but suggested
remarks made by Ambassador Bruno Stagno may have
been construed as critical of the U.S.
position.
In a statement, Costa Rica's
Foreign Ministry said it "categorically disowns the contents of the text
read by the ambassador" Wednesday in the Security Council, where Costa
Rica does not have a seat.
Associate Press, 2-20-03
|
Russia
Suggests U.S.
Pressuring Inspectors in Iraq
With American officials and United Nations weapons inspectors asserting
that Iraq has
slowed the pace of its cooperation, Russia
suggested today that the inspectors were being pressured to produce negative
reports that could serve to justify military action.
Foreign Minister Igor S. Ivanov, who made the
suggestion, also hinted that Russia
might veto any new resolution by the United Nations Security Council authorizing
force against Iraq.
Yet, he also emphasized Moscow's
strong desire for Security Council unity.
New York Times, 2-20-03
|
|
Feb 15th, 2003
|
Anti-war Rallies Across France
Paris-AP -- The voices of anti-war protesters are being heard today in Paris
and other French cities.
As many as 400-thousand turned out -- many carrying posters denouncing
President Bush as a war-monger, and chanting anti-American slogans.
Some banners that were seen at a Paris
demonstration compared Bush to Hitler. And protesters shouted that Bush was a
"murderer."
The Paris march was organized
by dozens of leftist political parties, trade unions and others.
Paris AP, 2-15-03
|
Protests Mirror German Position
BERLIN, Germany
(CNN) -- Antiwar protesters staged rallies Saturday in hundreds of cities
around the world to show their opposition to the possibility of war with Iraq.
The group United for Peace and Justice has estimated that as many as 603
cities, worldwide, may see demonstrations before the end of the weekend.
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Berlin,
police said -- the crowds focused around the famous Brandenburg Gate.
The government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has shown unwavering
opposition to military action against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
CNN, 2-15-03
|
SPAIN:
Iraq
Hasn't Been Forthcoming
United Nations-AP -- Spain
is taking a tough line with Iraq.
The Spanish foreign minister says today's reports by the top U-N weapons
inspectors show Baghdad still hasn't been fully cooperative with them.
Ana Palacio addressed the U-N Security Council
following the inspectors' reports.
She says the inspections have shown some progress.
But she says they've also shown a "long list of areas" in which Iraq
hasn't been forthcoming -- and many unresolved issues. She says Spain
is awaiting "one sentence" from Iraq
that shows it's fully complying.
Associated Press, 2-15-03
|
Russia
Calls for Diplomacy With N. Korea
MOSCOW (AP) - Russian Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov called Saturday for the crisis
over North Korea's
nuclear program to be handled through diplomatic channels.
After meeting with South Korean presidential envoy Soon-hyung Chough, Ivanov said all
measures must be undertaken to ``return the situation on the Korean peninsula
to a political channel,'' ITAR-Tass news agency
said.
``Russia
is ready to actively participate further in resolving the situation,'' Ivanov was quoted as saying.
Associated Press, 2-15-03
|
|
Feb 12th, 2003
|
Pentagon Adviser Would Marginalize France in NATO
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Given the wrenching dispute over Iraq, the United
States should consider using a NATO decision-making mechanism to marginalize
France, senior Pentagon adviser Richard Perle said
on Wednesday.
He said he expects Germany,
also at odds with Washington
over possible military action against Baghdad,
to return in time to a good working relationship with the United
States.
But France's opposition reflects such a deep-seated commitment to building
Europe as a counterweight to the United States that Washington has little
choice but develop a defensive strategy against this, Perle
said at a breakfast meeting with defense writers.
France, Germany
and Belgium
provoked one of the most serious crises in NATO's 54-year history by blocking
the alliance from planning measures to defend neighboring Turkey
in the case of a U.S.-led war against Iraq.
February 12, 2003,
By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent
|
Germany:
Tape doesn't link Iraq,
al Qaida
BERLIN, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Germany said Wednesday a tape the United States
claims ties Osama bin Laden to Saddam Hussein does
not prove "links" between al Qaida and
Iraq.
"From what is known so far, we don't think we can conclude that there
is evidence of an axis or close link between the regime in Baghdad and al Qaida," government spokesman Thomas Steg told reporters.
The voice on the tape can be heard labeling Iraq's
leadership "socialist" and its members "infidels."
UPI, 2-12-03
|
Spain
bridles as Germany
drags feet on Turkish aid
By Daniel Trotta
COSTA TEGUISE, Spain, Feb 12 (Reuters) - NATO allies Spain and Germany,
both members of the U.N. Security Council, left a two-day summit on Wednesday
divided as ever on Iraq with Spain appearing to lecture Germany on its
trans-Atlantic commitments.
In their split, emblematic of wider discord within the European Union and
NATO, Spain
has emerged as one of Washington's
most active supporters in threatening war to force Iraq
to disarm. Germany
favours pursuing diplomacy first.
Reuters, 2-12-03
|
Russia:
Cozy Talks In Paris, But Putin Still Aiming To
Strike Delicate Balance On Iraq
Prague, 12 February 2003 (RFE/RL) -- French President
Jacques Chirac pulled out all the stops during Russian President Vladimir Putin's state visit to France
this week, even casting aside protocol on Putin's
arrival to personally greet him at the airport, instead of settling for the
customary first handshake at the Elysee Palace
in central Paris.
And Putin, who wraps up his three-day visit
today, repaid his host's consideration by publicly siding with France
and Germany,
in their bid to prolong United Nations inspections missions in Iraq
and avert U.S.-led military action against Saddam Hussein's regime.
Putin's signaling that he is not currently
prepared to support the United States
should it seek a further UN resolution comes just days of the crucial 14
February report by chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix
before the Security Council.
By Jeremy Bransten, Radio Free Europe,
2-12-03
|
|
Feb 11th, 2003
|
France Unveils Iraq Proposal as Alternative to War
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - France proposed on Tuesday expanding U.N. security
units in Iraq as part of an effort to bolster inspections as an alternative
to war, despite doubts raised by chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix.
Taking the offensive against the United
States and Britain,
the four-page French informal paper called for a tripling of the number of
inspectors and security units, presumably U.N. guards, to ensure that a
suspected site would remain "frozen."
France, which along with Germany, Russia and China, opposes a U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq, did not say whether its proposals, a virtual blueprint for
containment, could be turned into a resolution, should the United States and
Britain introduce a measure asking the council to authorize force.
By Evelyn Leopold, Reuters, 2-11-03
|
Iraq
dominates at Spain-Germany talks
Germany
and Spain
have begun a two-day summit which looks set to be overshadowed by the crisis
over Iraq.
The summit pitches Europe's staunchest opponent of war
- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder - against one of the US's
strongest backers, Spanish PM Jose Maria Aznar.
The two leaders travelled to Lanzarote
in the Canary Islands for the two-day summit.
Aznar has publicly backed US position Germany
has joined forces with Russia
and France to
release a joint declaration calling for more weapons inspectors and more
technical assistance.
Spain was
among the signatories to a declaration of support for the US.
BBC News, 2-11-03
|
Paraguay
Debates Impeaching President
ASUNCION, Paraguay, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Lawmakers in Paraguay debated on
Tuesday whether they should impeach the small South American country's
embattled president based on long-standing allegations of corruption and
misuse of state funds.
He is also charged with ordering the kidnap and torture of leftist
militants who opposed his administration.
After more than two weeks of debate, legislators opposed to President Luiz Gonzalez Macchi are
expected to make a decision later Tuesday.
2-11-03
United Press International
|
Russia
Sides with France
Against Iraq
Attack
PARIS (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin
warned Tuesday that U.S.
military action against Iraq
without U.N. consent would be a "grave error," and hinted that Russia
might use its veto on the Security Council against any "unreasonable use
of force."
Speaking through a translator on French television, Putin
said he saw no need at present for Russia
to use its veto as a permanent council member.
But asked if Russia
would support France
if it uses its veto, Putin said: "If today a
proposition was made that we felt would lead to an unreasonable use of force,
we would act with France
or alone."
Associate Press, 2-11-03
|
|
Feb 4th, 2003
|
France
Urges Expansion of U.N. Inspections in Iraq
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - France's
foreign minister called on the U.N. Security Council Wednesday to strengthen
its inspection regime in Iraq
and said military action against Baghdad
should be only a final resort.
"Given the choice between military intervention and an inspections
regime that is inadequate because of a failure to cooperate on Iraq's
part, we must choose the decisive reinforcement of the means of
inspections," Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin
said.
Reuters News Service, 2-4-03
|
Germany
Withholds Evidence from Sept. 11 Suspect
HAMBURG, Germany (February 5, 6:17 a.m. PST) - The government refused for
a second time to turn over evidence sought by defense lawyers of a Moroccan
man on trial in connection to the Sept. 11 terror attacks, drawing cries of
protest from the defendant in court Tuesday.
The defense team of Mounir el Motassadeq has been seeking files that were given to the
German government by another nation on a suspected al-Qaida
recruiter, Mohammed Haydar Zammar.
But the office of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in a letter read to the
court Tuesday that the material could not be turned over.
By GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press, 2-4-03
|
Spanish PM Defends War, Film Stars Don Anti-War Tags At Festival
MADRID - Spanish Prime
Minister Jose Maria Aznar defended on Sunday,
February 2, his unpopular backing of war on Iraq
against a continuous barrage of criticism at home, the latest of which was
manifested when artists participating in the Spanish Goya awards ceremony
wore anti war tags.
Aznar said Iraq
is a threat to
the world and to Spain
Aznar told the Europe Press news agency that all
governments, including Spain,
"have the information that the regime of Saddam Hussein, with its
biological and chemical weaponry and links to terrorist groups, poses a
threat to the peace and security of the world and of Spain".
The Palestine
Chronicle, 2-4-03
|
Russia
Supplied Uranium Fuel to South
Korea: Minister
Russia’s
Nuclear Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev for
the first time admitted that Russia
was selling uranium fuel to South Korea,
the Vremya Novostei daily
newspaper reported Wednesday, February 5.
Russia
“supplies uranium to South Korea
for nuclear fuel,” Rumyantsev said in an
interview, adding assurances that Russia
“has no information that Seoul
is working to use nuclear energy for military purposes.”
MOSCOW, February
5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies)
|
|
Jan 30th, 2003
|
Mutinational First
The RATP, the Paris public transport
authority, has decided to open its ranks to all applicants regardless of
nationality. This is a first for a nationally owned French company. Until now
only citizens from members of the European Union could be employed.
SARL BRUSSAC -THE NEWS - Jan 29th
|
Germany-funded Linux Software Arriving
KDE, one of the major interfaces designed to make Linux slick looking and
easier to use, has been upgraded, an effort that includes the first results
of work funded by the German government.
The software comes from the Kroupware project,
bankrolled by the German government to build open-source software that can
substitute for Microsoft's Exchange and Outlook.
CNET News.com / Jan 31st
|
An Appeal By The Spanish Students Union
To Student Organisations All Over The World To
Mobilize Against Imperialist War On Iraq
1.- Faced with the imminent war which US
imperialism is preparing against Iraq,
the Spanish Students' Union, as part of the
international week of action against the war, has called for a Students' Day
of Struggle on Thursday, February 13, which will consist of a national
students' strike and demonstrations in all cities in Spain.
Sindicato de Estudiantes
- Jan 31st
|
Construction and Cocktails
Armed with chainsaws, hammers, chisels, drills and bottles of hot water,
10 teams from around Europe started work Wednesday on
their creations for the ice-sculpture competition on the frozen beach of the
Peter and Paul Fortress.
The teams taking part in the competition come from eight countries,
including Sweden,
Finland, the Czech
Republic and Germany
in addition to Russia.
The Saint Petersburg
Times, Jan 31st, 2003
|
|
Jan 28th, 2003
|
Pulling together in Versailles
President Jacques Chirac and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder
have made a show of revitalized Franco-German solidarity with a joint
condemnation of any attack on Iraq
without United Nations approval. Their statement at Versailles,
while criticized by the United States,
highlighted this week's celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty, which committed former enemies France and Germany
to peace.
The ceremonies included the announcement of a series of joint policy
initiatives and, on Wednesday, the first joint session ever of the French and
German parliaments at the Versailles
palace, where peace treaties ending wars between the two countries were
signed in 1871 and 1919.
Carola Schlagheck,
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
2002
|
Mexico
puts Australia
in the shade
Which country's trade growth in the past decade is matched only by China?
Which country has free-trade agreements giving it access to 860 million
consumers in 32 countries covering 60 per cent of the world's gross domestic
product?
Many Australian exporters might be surprised to learn that the answer is Mexico.
Mexican manufactured exports to Australia
are typical of a developed country while Australia,
with its commodity exports, appears to be the developing country.
Sue Cant, The Age, Melbourne,
Australia
|
Deep-Water Worms Bring Up Idea of Life on Distant Planets
It has been more than 50 years since zoologists learned about the
existence of pogonophoras – small worms about
ten or twenty centimeters long. Those worms live in the ocean, at a very
large depth. The most peculiar feature of those animals is the fact that they
do not have a digestive system. They have no mouth, no intestines, no anal hole. On the other hand, the deep-water worms are
rather developed creatures from the point of view of their evolution. They
have a closed circulatory system, a rather complicated nervous network. They
also have a spinal pipe and a brain in their head part. Scientists of many
countries have been studying pogonophora worms for
decades. Soviet zoologists were not an exception. However, scientists
unveiled the secret of their nutrition only after they discovered giant
relatives of those worms at hydrothermal depths of the ocean – vestimentiferas.
Pravda, Jan 28th,
2003
|
|
Jan 21st, 2003
|
FRANCE AND GERMANY ARE TOGETHER
WASHINGTON - In Paris this Wednesday, the governments and parliaments of
France and Germany meet in joint sessions to discuss their vision for the
future of a Europe whole and free. With Berlin
and Paris as driving forces, the
effort by the current European convention to create a constitution for the
European Union represents as bold and revolutionary a concept as the
Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia
in 1787. Then and now, the issues are democracy, civil liberties, prosperity
and human rights - values today equally cherished on both sides of the
Atlantic.
International Herald Tribune --Jean-David Levitte
and Wolfgang Ischinger 1-21-03
|
MEXICO:
CHALLENGE ON U.S.
DEATH PENALTY
The International Court of Justice in The Hague
will hold a hearing on Tuesday on Mexico's
request that the United States
commute the sentences of 51 Mexicans on death row. Mexico
asserts that American officials failed to tell the condemned men of their
right to consular assistance at the time of their arrests, which is guaranteed
under international law.
New York Times, Tim Weiner, 1-17-03
|
North Korea
Responsive to Russian Plan
MOSCOW - After four days in Pyongyang,
Russian special presidential envoy Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said Tuesday that his meeting with National
Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong Il had been
beneficial and constructive.
The Russian package plan is known to include humanitarian and economic
assistance proposals for the guarantee of a nuclear-free Korean peninsula,
compliance with the 1994 Agreed Framework, and talks between North
Korea and the United
States, and other parties.
Jeong Byeong-seon
- The Chosun Ilbo 1-21-03
|
|
Jan. 17th, 2003
|
France calls for restraint on Iraq
French President Jacques Chirac has
delivered a blunt warning against any unilateral action on Iraq, saying it would contravene international law.
UN weapons inspectors must be
given the necessary time to complete their work in Iraq, Mr Chirac said after
talks in Paris with the UN's chief inspector, Hans Blix.
BBC News
|
Germany
Unlikely to Back Iraq
War Plan
BERLIN -- Germany is unlikely to back any U.N. resolution to
authorize war against Iraq, Defense Minister Peter Struck said in remarks
published Friday that spelled out the Berlin government's stance with unusual bluntness.
"The final decision can only
be made when it's clear what we are voting on," he told the Rheinpfalz daily. "But a 'yes' is basically not
imaginable anymore."
TONY CZUCZKA, Associated Press
Writer
|
U.S.
Defends Guantanamo
Detentions
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE,
Cuba— A year has passed since the first detainees captured in the war
on terrorism arrived at this outpost, raising questions about the length of
the mission and when, or if, the prisoners will be tried.
U.S. attorneys are reviewing international law to see
how it could be applied to military offenses. But no decisions have been made
and no preparations are underway for trials in Guantanamo.
The Associated Press
|
Russia strikes oil deal with Iraq
Relations between Moscow and Baghdad have been strained on the economic front after Iraq cancelled a key oilfield contract with a Russian
company last December.
But Iraq signed a new development deal on Friday with Stroitransgaz, a Russian oil and gas construction company
worth $3.4 billion to develop block four in Iraq's Western Desert.
Cnn.com
|
|
Nov. 18th, 2002
|
France
Train Employees Strike
Employees of the Eurostar Train Traveling
Between Paris and London,
Strike Over Terrorism Fears
To passengers, Eurostar is modern miracle,
whisking them between Paris and London
in three comfort-filled hours. But to Eurostar
workers who went on strike Monday to protest what they say is lax security,
the high-speed trains are terror targets waiting to be struck.
Associated Press, 11-18-02
|
Germany
Prepares for a Bioterrorist Attack
Like the US
and Britain, Germany
is stockpiling vaccines against biological weapons, but the government is
keeping mum about the specifics.
Since three terrorist suspects were arrested on November 9 in London,
the media there have been reporting that the men were preparing to carry out
a nerve gas attack on the city's subway system. British officials have tried
to reassure the public that no gas was found and that it is safe to ride the
"Tube."
DW-World.DE, 11-18-02
|
Spain
battles oil slick
MADRID -- Spain
battled to contain an oil spill yesterday from a stricken tanker as slicks
washed up on beaches and trapped wildlife.
The bulk of the oil -- some 77,000 tonnes --
remained aboard the Prestige, about 130 km off Spain's
Atlantic coast.
Calgary Sun, 11-18-02
|
U.S., Russia may ink deal to ship uranium to Y-12
The Y-12 National Security Complex would receive regular shipments of
highly enriched uranium from Russia
under an agreement expected to be completed early next year, officials said.
The nuclear material would be used to fuel several research reactors in
the United States,
including the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
said Bill Brumley, the federal manager at Y-12.
The project is part of an international effort to reduce the risk of
weapons-usable materials getting into the hands of terrorists or others
seeking nuclear capability
Associated Press, 11-18-02
|
|
Nov. 9th, 2002
|
France
and America,
Perfect Together
FOR eight tumultuous weeks, the French and the Americans played a
magnificently elegant diplomatic game. They feinted. They sparred. They
shared their feelings and pledged their trust. But they never threatened. And
they never leaked the secrets of their talks.
In the end, just days after elections in which President Bush's party
solidified its control of Congress, the two sides suddenly reached agreement
on a resolution in the Security Council giving Iraq
"a final opportunity" to disarm peacefully or face "serious
consequences."
New York Times, 11-9-02
|
Germany
views UN Security Council resolution as Iraq's
"final".
The German government viewed the latest
unanimous approval of the UN Security Council on Iraq
as "a final
chance" for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the media said Saturday.
Welcoming the UN resolution, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
stressed that the international community "had granted Iraqi President
Saddamn Hussein a final chance to comply with
international legal
obligations and prevent military action."
Berlin, IRNA, 11-9-02
|
President Fox praises Mexico's
role in Security Council decision.
President Vicente Fox on Friday applauded the U.N. Security Council's
unanimous vote to launch a beefed-up weapons inspection program in Iraq,
and trumpeted Mexico's
role in shaping the final resolution.
[...]
Other commentators have pointed to the U.S.
government's failure to legalize some 3.5 million undocumented Mexican
workers - a key objective of the Fox administration.
The News / Mexico.com, 11-9-02
|
France
and Russia
go along in the end.
Russia's
vote had been uncertain all the way to the end -- but the Russians ended up
going along with the other Security Council members in a unanimous resolution
demanding that Iraq
disarm.
Associated Press, 11-9-02
|
|
|
Terrorism Suspected in Yemen
Blast
AL MUKALLA, Yemen, Oct. 9 -- U.S. military investigators probing the
unexplained explosion that crippled a French supertanker here last Sunday now
believe the blast may have been caused by a terrorist attack, according to
U.S. officials.
By Karl Vick and Karen DeYoung Washington
Post Foreign Service
|
Germany
explains terror arrest
On 10 October 2002,
the Chief Federal Prosecutor, acting on the arrest warrant issued by the
examining magistrate of the Federal Supreme Court on 9 October, issued an
order in Hamburg for the arrest
of 29-year-old Moroccan national Abdelghani M, on
strong suspicion of supporting a terrorist grouping.
The accused has been indicted for having provided support for members of
the cell led by Mohammed Atta, who were
substantially responsible for the terror attacks on the United
States on 11 September 2001.
BBC NEWS
|
Latin America's unlikely
revolutionary folk hero
Step aside, Subcomandante Marcos. Latin
America's latest revolutionary folk hero is no longer the
masked, gun-toting Zapatista rebel from Mexico.
It's a bearded, bespectacled US
economics professor from New York's
Columbia University.
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Former World Bank chief economist and current bestseller.
US
economist Joseph Stiglitz's latest book takes the
IMF to task – and is rallying the Latin masses.
By Carlos Lozada. The Christian Science
Monitor
|
Russia
urged to reduce stockpile of weapons
WASHINGTON - The United
States and other industrialized
democracies are urging Russia
to speed efforts to reduce its vast, poorly secured stockpile of nuclear and
chemical weapons, a State Department official said yesterday.
By Harry Dunphy, Associated Press, 10/10/2002
|
|
Sept 28, 2002
|
Ivory Coast rebels
advance south, France holds back
BROBO, Ivory Coast,
Sept 28 (Reuters) - Rebel units were uncomfortably close to Ivory Coast's
administrative capital on Saturday but France held back from providing full
military backup for its former colony.
By Alistair Thomson,
Reuters
|
Germany,
Pakistan to join Security Council
UNITED
NATIONS -- Germany and Pakistan were among five countries voted
two-year terms on the Security Council Friday as the powerful U.N. body
struggled over how to deal with Iraq and global terrorism.
Associated Press
|
NIH Establishes
First Alliance with Latin America
VALPARAISO (Reuters
Health) - The National Institutes of Health (NIH) signed an alliance with the
Center of Neuroscience of Valparaiso Friday, with the objective of developing
collaborative research projects between the US and Chile.
By Gonzalo Argandona, Reuters
|
NATO and Russia
train for terror
MOSCOW, Russia -- Terrorists attack a chemical plant in Russia and local
rescuers, unable to cope with the extent of the disaster, looking for
European help is the premise of an anti-terror exercise being carried out in
Russia.
The three-day field exercise between Russia
and NATO is the first of its kind and scope but the 1,200 rescuers and
equipment are real.
By CNN's Jill Dougherty
|
|
Sept 26, 2002
|
American Evacuees
Flee Ivory Coast
YAMOUSSOUKRO, Ivory
Coast –– American schoolchildren flew to safety Thursday on the
first evacuation plane out of rebellion-torn Ivory Coast, while French troops
launched a full-scale evacuation of frightened Westerners from a rebel-held
city under threat of imminent government attack.
By Clar Ni Chonghaile, Associated
Press
|
Chancellor
holds thinned coalition, frayed ties to US
BERLIN - In the closest election ever
in postwar Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's
government appeared early today to have clung to power, but only barely and
with a significantly reduced majority in Parliament.
By Charles M. Sennott, Globe Staff
|
Bush stresses Latin America as US priority
MIAMI - Saying that Latin America ''often remains an afterthought
in American foreign policy,'' George W. Bush pledged yesterday to build
strong ties to the region, but pleased his South Florida audience by promising to retain
a tough stance against Communist Cuba.
By Glen Johnson, Globe
Staff
|
Russia
Military Helicopter Shot Down
GALASHKI, Russia
–– Chechen insurgents stormed into a neighboring Russian region
on Thursday, shooting down a Russian military helicopter and killing at least
14 servicemen on the ground in a fierce firefight.
By Yuri Bagrov, Associated Press Writer
|
|
Sept 8, 2002
|
Air France pilots
strike is felt at Logan
Sept. 6th--Air France
pilots announced a four-day strike beginning today, hitting Europe's aviation
success story with a bitter reminder of labor woes from years past, while
stranding airline passengers around the globe. The effects of the job action
from the 3,900 pilots locked in a wage battle with the French national
carrier were felt in Boston yesterday - even before the
strike began.
By Matthew Brelis, Globe Staff
|
German Police Foil
Plot
BERLIN, Sept. 6 -- German police have
arrested an al Qaeda sympathizer and his American fiancee on suspicion of planning to bomb the U.S. Army's European
headquarters and other targets in Heidelberg, Germany, on the anniversary of the
Sept. 11 attacks, a senior German law enforcement official said today.
By Peter Finn Washington Post Foreign Service
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Mexican Economy
Shows Some Growth
MEXICO CITY (AP), Sept.
6--In a hemisphere of economic turmoil, Mexico is showing signs of growth,
clinging tightly to stability and cutting spending in an effort to keep its
economy from being dragged down by regional chaos.
By TRACI CARL AP
Business Writer
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OPEC irked about Russia
VIENNA, Austria, Sept.
8— An oil price war loomed nearer Thursday when OPEC's most powerful
member said the cartel would let crude prices fall, if necessary, to pressure
Russia and other producers outside the group into cooperating with its plan
to cut output.
By Bruce Stanley The Associated Press
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