Le projet de réforme des retraites coûte cher à la cote de popularité de Nicolas Sarkozy. Selon le baromètre Ifop* publié dimanche dans le JDD, le président chute de trois points dans les sondages... http://www.leparisien.fr/politique/sondage-de-popularite-sarkozy-passe-sous-la-barre-des-30-24-10-2010-1121657.php
Monday, October 25, 2010
BP funds Tea Party climate deniers
I saw this and thought you should see it:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/24/tea-party-climate-change-deniers
Sent via the Guardian's iPhone application.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/24/tea-party-climate-change-deniers
Sent via the Guardian's iPhone application.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
(BN) Dam Is Step in Stabilizing Pakistan's `Epicenter' of Terrorism
Bloomberg News, sent from my iPhone.
Dam Is Step to Stabilize Pakistan Terror 'Epicenter'
Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Engineer Liu Zhangteng says he feels "very comfortable" when he walks to work at his construction site in the mountains of northwest Pakistan. It takes the presence of 1,500 local soldiers to sustain his tranquility.
Liu's employer, China's Sinohydro Corp., is completing the biggest building project in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border, where the army is fighting Taliban militants. The U.S.-funded Gomal Zam dam is a key part of Pakistan's effort to undermine the appeal of Islamic guerrillas in Waziristan, whose northern region U.S. military chief Admiral Mike Mullen calls the world's "epicenter of terrorism."
The dam's troops are among tens of thousands keeping control in South Waziristan and other areas that the army seized back from Taliban rule last year. Pakistan's army commander, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, is likely to underscore that insecurity as he fends off U.S. pressure for a new offensive during talks to conclude tomorrow in Washington, said political analyst Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani lieutenant general.
Pakistan's government has failed to establish firm civilian authority or genuine popular support in the areas it recaptured, say Masood and Ashraf Ali, executive director of the FATA Research Center in Islamabad. Its army has stayed close to the main roads and failed to engage Taliban who have re-infiltrated South Waziristan, according to a White House report to Congress quoted early this month by the New York Times and other U.S. news organizations.
'Aggressive Action'
A White House statement said President Barack Obama joined yesterday's U.S.-Pakistani talks, in which the State Department said the U.S. planned to again press Pakistan to step up attacks on militants. "Clearly, while we've seen aggressive action by the Pakistani military in recent months, more has to be done," , U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said yesterday.
The dam is to generate electricity and irrigate farmland for residents whose support the government needs for its fight against militants. A more peaceful south may free Pakistani troops for an offensive in North Waziristan sought by the U.S.
Construction began in 2002 and was delayed for three years after Taliban fighters kidnapped two Chinese engineers from the project in 2004. One died in a Pakistan army rescue operation.
The dam is 92 percent built, its project director, Colonel Muhammad Zaheer of the army's Frontier Works Organization said in an interview at the construction site.
'Hopeful Part'
Its completion, plus the army's construction of 220 kilometers (137 miles) of roads, will represent "the first time the government has actually implemented any of its many promises to bring development to South Waziristan," said the FATA center's Ali.
"That's the hopeful part," Ali said.
The center studies Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the border zone with Afghanistan that includes Waziristan and serves as a base for Taliban, al-Qaeda and allied Islamic militants.
While the army occupation has brought some calm to South Waziristan, it's not clear whether the government can win popular support and undercut militancy, Ali said. After years in which the Taliban have killed 800 traditional tribal leaders in the FATA region, the government has been trying to establish an anti-Taliban leadership among the local Pashtun tribes, he said.
"They have had no success," Ali said in an Oct. 10 phone interview. "Candidates are reluctant to come forward because they don't trust the government to protect them and to work cooperatively with the tribes."
Taliban Attacks
During a reporter's visit last month to South Waziristan, a rocky, mountainous district the size of the U.S. state of Delaware, Pakistani troops patrolled the roads in pickup trucks mounted with machine guns. Taliban gunmen have killed at least 10 Pakistani soldiers in small-scale attacks this month, according to reports in the newspaper Dawn -- a toll that the army's press office declined to confirm.
The army's presence in South Waziristan has reduced Taliban attacks across the border into Afghanistan's Paktika province, its governor, Mohibullah Samim, said in an Oct. 11 phone interview.
On Oct. 16 last year, the army moved into South Waziristan to clear about 10,000 Taliban guerrillas based in the homeland of the Mehsud tribe. While other Pakistan-based Taliban mainly fight U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, the Mehsud faction had led a domestic insurgency, hitting Pakistani government targets.
U.S. Funds
More than 200,000 Mehsud civilians -- most of the area's population -- fled before the fighting started and have spent the past year as refugees in nearby districts. While the army and government promise security and development help to those who go home, villages remain sparsely inhabited as civilians have resisted government appeals to return, tribal elders say.
The U.S. government agreed in July to pay $108 million for the dam. It will generate 17.4 megawatts of electricity starting next April, much of it for communities in and near South Waziristan, the Frontier Works Organization's Zaheer said. Pakistan's power production this year has fallen 5,000 megawatts or more short of demand, the nation's Water and Power Development Authority has said.
The government's inability to stabilize recaptured areas such as South Waziristan and Swat, northwest of Islamabad, has left the army "literally pinned down," delaying the possibility of any assault on North Waziristan, which now is the main base for the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other militants, Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an Oct. 16 interview on Bloomberg Television.
An assault on North Waziristan "could easily backfire" and "push militants back into the south," Masood said in a phone interview from Islamabad.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bill Austin at billaustin@bloomberg.net
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
VIDEOS. Lyon, Nanterre, Argenteuil... encore des violences en marge des défilés (depuis leParisien.fr sur iPhone)
En marge de la journée de mobilisation lycéenne et estudiantine contre la réforme des retraites mardi, des violences ont une nouvelle fois éclaté, opposant des petits groupes de casseurs aux forces... http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/videos-lyon-nanterre-argenteuil-encore-des-violences-en-marge-des-defiles-19-10-2010-1115531.php
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Recent writing and commentary on the terror threat in Europe and the United States
Shadowland: Time To Worry, 15 October 2010
Al Qaeda plots to attack Europe may be just a prelude to new strikes in the U.S. http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/15/time-to-worry.html
Newsweek International Cover: The Threat in Europe, 11 October 2010
This is the text of the article that appeared in the print magazine overseas. It has been pasted under the same URL as earlier versions written for the Web and there is some overlap in content, but also a lot of new material. http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/04/how-muslim-bashers-raise-europe-s-terrorism-risk.html
Video, France24 Debate: Terror in Europe, 5 October 2010
A discussion with CIA veteran Rolf Mowatt-Larssen at Harvard and Paul Wilkinson at the University of Saint Andrews
Part 1 - http://tinyurl.com/22q3rcy Part 2 - http://tinyurl.com/2d8l3n3
[There may be a French ad before it plays, but it's in English. It was also slow loading, but worth the wait, especially for Mowatt-Larssen's commentary.]
Al Qaeda plots to attack Europe may be just a prelude to new strikes in the U.S. http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/15/time-to-worry.html
Newsweek International Cover: The Threat in Europe, 11 October 2010
This is the text of the article that appeared in the print magazine overseas. It has been pasted under the same URL as earlier versions written for the Web and there is some overlap in content, but also a lot of new material. http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/04/how-muslim-bashers-raise-europe-s-terrorism-risk.html
Video, France24 Debate: Terror in Europe, 5 October 2010
A discussion with CIA veteran Rolf Mowatt-Larssen at Harvard and Paul Wilkinson at the University of Saint Andrews
Part 1 - http://tinyurl.com/22q3rcy Part 2 - http://tinyurl.com/2d8l3n3
[There may be a French ad before it plays, but it's in English. It was also slow loading, but worth the wait, especially for Mowatt-Larssen's commentary.]
Friday, October 08, 2010
2012 : DSK reste le préféré des électeurs de gauche (depuis leParisien.fr sur iPhone)
Dans un habile exercice d'équilibre, Dominique Strauss-Kahn admet, dans un entretien au Monde daté de vendredi, qu'il n'est pas indifférent aux sondages présidentiels qui lui sont actuellement très... http://www.leparisien.fr/election-presidentielle-2012/2012-dsk-reste-le-prefere-des-electeurs-de-gauche-07-10-2010-1099688.php
Attentat de Karachi : le juge revient sur la campagne Balladur (depuis leParisien.fr sur iPhone)
En marge de l'enquête sur l'attentat de Karachi (Pakistan), en 2002, qui avait coûté la vie à 11 Français, le juge Renaud van Ruymbeke a décidé mercredi d'enquêter sur d'éventuelles... http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/attentat-de-karachi-le-juge-revient-sur-la-campagne-balladur-07-10-2010-1099781.php
Interdiction de la burqa : la loi validée et applicable en 2011 (depuis leParisien.fr sur iPhone)
Le port du voile intégral dans les lieux publics est définitivement interdit en France. Adopté par le Parlement le 14 septembre, le texte vient d'être validé dans son ensemble par le Conseil... http://www.leparisien.fr/societe/interdiction-de-la-burqa-la-loi-validee-et-applicable-en-2011-07-10-2010-1099753.php
Un ophtalmo refuse de recevoir une fillette parce qu'«arabe» (depuis leParisien.fr sur iPhone)
Un ophtalmologiste d'Aix-en-Provence, dans les Bouches-du-Rhône, a refusé de recevoir Mohamed et sa fille de 6 ans, parce qu'ils étaient «arabes». «Je ne reçois pas les sales Arabes !», leur aurait... http://www.leparisien.fr/marseille-13000/un-ophtalmo-refuse-de-recevoir-une-fillette-parce-qu-arabe-08-10-2010-1100913.php
leParisien.fr sur iTunes : http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=300832619&mt=8
leParisien.fr sur iTunes : http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=300832619&mt=8
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Le Monde.fr: Cinq ans après, le journal danois qui a publié les caricatures de Mahomet est toujours menacé d'attentat
Cinq ans après, le journal danois qui a publié les caricatures de Mahomet est toujours menacé d'attentat
La police norvégienne a annoncé mardi que trois hommes arrêtés cet été en Norvège et en Allemagne préparaient un attentat contre le "Jyllands-Posten".
LE MONDE pour Le Monde.fr Olivier Truc | 29.09.10 | 10:53
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Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Terrorisme : douze arrestations dans les mouvances islamistes (depuis leParisien.fr sur iPhone)
Deux coups de filet dans la mouvance islamiste se sont soldés mardi matin par l'arrestation de douze personnes. Les interpellations sont intervenues pour des affaires distinctes dans la région de... http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/terrorisme-douze-arrestations-dans-les-mouvances-islamistes-05-10-2010-1096577.php
Risque d'attentats : Paris recommande la vigilance en Grande-Bretagne (depuis leParisien.fr sur iPhone)
Forte tension en Europe après les mises en garde des Etats-Unis et du Japon à leurs ressortissants sur les risques d'attentats dans cette région du globe. La France n'est pas en reste. Secouée ces... http://www.leparisien.fr/politique/risque-d-attentats-paris-recommande-la-vigilance-en-grande-bretagne-05-10-2010-1096834.php
Le Monde.fr: La vidéo d'un homme brûlant un Coran indigne la communauté musulmane
La vidéo d'un homme brûlant un Coran indigne la communauté musulmane
Dans ce film publié sur Internet, l'homme découpe une page du livre saint musulman puis l'enflamme, avant de l'éteindre en urinant.
LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | 04.10.10 | 20:37
Fausses alertes à la bombe à Paris : le suspect passe aux aveux (depuis leParisien.fr sur iPhone)
Les deux dernières fausses alertes à la bombe à la gare Saint-Lazare, c'était bien lui. L'homme de 53 ans, interpellé tôt lundi dans un foyer Sonacotra, à Meudon (Hauts-de-Seine), par la section... http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/fausses-alertes-a-la-bombe-a-paris-le-suspect-passe-aux-aveux-04-10-2010-1094856.
Strasbourg : le maire PS excédé par les actes racistes (depuis leParisien.fr sur iPhone)
Le maire de Strasbourg a lancé lundi un appel après la multiplication d'actes racistes depuis le début de l'année dans l'agglomération. Roland Ries (PS), pointant du doigt les partis d'extrême... http://www.leparisien.fr/politique/strasbourg-le-maire-ps-excede-par-les-actes-racistes-04-10-2010-1095312.php