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TEXT OF U.S. PRES. BUSH'S OPENING REMARKS TO ANNAPOLIS MIDEAST PEACE CONFERENCE Thank you for coming. Prime Minister Olmert, President Abbas, Secretary General Ban, former Prime Minister Blair, distinguished guests... We meet to lay the foundation for the establishment of a new nation — a democratic Palestinian state that will live side by side with Israel in peace and security. We meet to help bring an end to the violence that has been the true enemy of the aspirations of both the Israelis and Palestinians. [Full Transcript] LEBANON FACES DECISIVE VOTE IN BY-ELECTION, OPPOSITION SAID TO HAVE LEAD After last summer's brutal Hezbollah-Israel war, the people of Beirut, and Lebanon as a whole, are struggling to find a way forward. The nation has nearly split into pro-Hezbollah and pro-Western factions, and talk of civil war has repeatedly threatened to become reality. Now, in a by-election to replace assassinated Syria-critic Pierre Gemayel, the district of Metn will vote either for his Phalangist father, former president Amin Gemayel, or for Camille Khoury, hand-picked by Gen. Michel Aoun, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FMP). [Full Story] US CHRISTIANS BACK TWO-STATE SOLUTION IN ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT After years of Middle East policy dominated by the most vocal among evangelical Christian fundamentalists, those who believe Israel's domination of the Holy Land is a necessary step toward the battle of Armageddon and the second coming of Christ, moderate Christian voices are grouping together and seeking to be heard. They acknowledge that Palestinians have a right to a homeland as well, and that a sense of justice, and not dogma, should dictate policy. [Full Story] UN SECURITY COUNCIL ORDERS 26,000 PEACEKEEPERS FOR DARFUR, LARGEST MISSION IN WORLD Darfur, beset by years of bloody internecine violence, with the Khartoum-backed janjaweed militia killing civilians in numbers the US government has officially declared to be genocide. For years, human rights groups have pleaded with the international community to intervene, with or without the support of the Khartoum government. Now, the UN Security Council has ordered the world's largest peacekeeping mission to secure Darfur. [Full Story] MUSHARRAF, BHUTTO MEET IN SECRET EFFORT TO STABILIZE PAKISTAN GOVERNMENT Serious trouble started for Pakistan's president General Pervez Musharraf when a band of radical students, who seek to institute an Islamist state in place of Pakistan's strained democratic system, took over the Red Mosque in central Islamabad. Musharraf took power in a bloodless military coup in 1999, and has yet to restore the nation's democratic process. Musharraf has now met with Benazir Bhutto, exiled head of the main opposition party, in an effort to strengthen his government through a power-sharing deal with the nation's second largest political bloc. [Full Story] UK TREASURY TO CLOSE ARMS SALES OFFICE ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION The British Treasury department has announced plans to close the government's controversial office for arms sales, amid allegations of corruption in dealings with foreign governments and fears of proliferation. According to the Guardian, "The 450-strong defence export services organisation (Deso), based near Oxford Street in London, has long been the target of anti-corruption campaigners and opponents of the arms trade." [Full Story] NORTH KOREAN DENUCLEARIZATION COULD LEAD TO LASTING PEACE Reuters and the Wall Street Journal are reporting that US negotiations to achieve the de-nuclearization of North Korea may also lead to talks to officially end the 1950-1953 Korean war, which has been officially in a state of truce (at times fragile) since 1953. State Dept. negotiator Christopher Hill has said the 6-party regional talks could become comprehensive peace talks, with the aim of declaring an official end to the war by year's end. [Full Story] OUTER WALLS OF RED MOSQUE COMPLEX DEMOLISHED, MUSHARRAF GIVES ULTIMATUM TO MILITANTS INSIDE The standoff at the Red Mosque in the center of Islamabad, Pakistan, is nearing a potentially bloody crescendo. Pakistan's security forces have demolished nearly all the outer walls of the complex, and sporadic small-arms fire continues. At least 24 people have been killed since the hostage-taking and siege began 5 days ago. [Full Story] HRW CALLS FOR INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO MILITARY, CIVILIAN ASSAULT THAT KILLED 2 PALESTINIANS IN LEBANON The New York based group Human Rights Watch has called on the Lebanese government to launch an independent inquiry into the violence that killed 2 and injured 28 Palestinian demonstrators in late June. Those killed are reported to have been civilians who were marching, unarmed, in a demonstration aimed at raising awareness of their situation and forcing a solution that might allow them to return to their homes in the Baddawi refugee camp. [Full Story] BBC REPORTER JOHNSTON, HELD HOSTAGE IN GAZA, FREED UNHARMED Alan Johnston's ordeal became a global concern, when the BBC and his family organized a campaign to urge his immediate release. The release is a propaganda coup for the Hamas leadership, which after ousting Fatah from Gaza, has been stripped of its role in the Palestinian government. Former PM Ismail Haniyeh appeared with Johnston in a press conference at Haniyeh's Gaza residence and sought to project a new image of Hamas as keeper of law and order and responsible political leadership. [Full Story] DEVELOPMENT BECOMES A NEW GLOBAL IDEOLOGY Ideologically-driven revolutions have sought to implant Utopian movements where authoritarian regimes once stood, but all too often, they have brought about new authoritarian regimes, which view dissenters as immoral or unthinking pawns of the old regime, and therefore, a universal threat. Now, Foreign Policy magazine has asked the question of whether "development", as an international policy agenda, is becoming the new universalizing ideology, with all the relevant risks. [Full Story] US, IRANIAN OFFICIALS MEET IN BAGHDAD TO DISCUSS SECURITY, STRATEGIC CONCERNS Diplomats from the US and Iran have met in direct talks for the first time in more than a quarter century. There was little anticipated to be gained from the meeting, except perhaps a premise for future security negotiations and a possible increase in mutual confidence in the goal of securing Iraq. The meeting was described by participants as "businesslike", Iran proposed a three-way forum to negotiate security solutions. [Full Story] SARKOZY WINS FRENCH PRESIDENCY WITH 53% OF VOTE When the French socialist party put forward Ségolène Royal as the candidate to be the nation's first woman president, there was a general consensus that the conservative party, for all its luminaries, would not have a figure palatable enough to replace Chirac and defeat Royal. Now, Nicolas Sarkozy, an inflammatory and charismatic figure, has won the presidency with a hard-line platform that takes on some of the nation's most prized political idiosyncracies. [Full Story] SPAIN GOV'T REVEALS CONSERVATIVES FREED 295 ETA MEMBERS BEFORE SENTENCES WERE SERVED Spain's ruling socialist party (PSOE) has published information showing that the conservative Partido Popular (PP), currently in the opposition, freed 295 ETA convicts before their sentences were completed, during 8 years in power. The move comes as Popular leaders, attacking the PSOE government on a daily basis, has planned a massive demonstration for Saturday to accuse the government of caving to terrorism for freeing De Juana Chaos to avoid his hunger strike ending in death. [Full Story] IMPRISONED ETA FIGURE DE JUANA CHAOS REPORTED NEAR DEATH Spain's Basque region, known there as Euskal Herria or Euskadi, faces new tensions as supporters of hunger-striking convict say government has failed to push for lasting peace, conservative victims' families group pressures government to cease all negotiation with ETA or its banned political wing Batasuna. Demonstrations turned violent in Bilbao as demonstrators demanded a solution to the crisis. [Full Story] BUSH ANNOUNCES PLANS TO SEND 21,500 MORE SOLDIERS TO IRAQ After much speculation and many leaks, US pres. George W. Bush has announced he will send more than 20,000 additional soldiers into Iraq warzone, will require Iraqi government to take action against sectarian movements fomenting violence across Iraq. Bush also said that "Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me". [Full Story] DARFUR REFUGEE CRISIS WORSENS, STABILIZATION FORCE NEEDED The peace agreement signed between the main rebel faction in Darfur and the Khartoum government last May was tenuous at best from the outset, and seems in serious jeopardy of failing. The desperate situation in Darfur is now deteriorating, as violence against civilians not only continues but appears to be escalating, and foreign forces remain ineffectual. [Full Story] WAR TO UNDERMINE SOMALI FOOD, AID SUPPLIES After Ethiopia admitted to placing at least four thousand ground troops into Somalia, to aid the powerless 'transitional government' based in Baidoa, it became apparent that full-blown war had broken out between Somalia's neighbor and the militia of the Union of Islamic Courts, governing most of the country since early June. Now, aid groups say the fighting will disrupt efforts to get food and other aid to the millions of poor Somalis in need in the anarchic political and economic situation. [Full Story] ETHIOPIA INVADES SOMALIA, SEEKS TO OUST UNION OF ISLAMIC COURTS The Horn of Africa appears headed for open war, as Ethiopia has admitted, after a week of combat, that its forces are operating inside Somalia, in an effort to aid the powerless Baidoa government. Ethiopia has sided with the weak transitional government, itself exiled from the capital, while its neighbor Eritrea has provided assistance to the sectarian militia that has spent much of the year trying to pacify the country. [Full Story] FMR CHILEAN DICTATOR, AUGUSTO PINOCHET, DIES AT 91 General Augusto Pinochet, head of the Chilean armed forces, leader of the coup of 11 September 1973, that toppled the government and ended the life of socialist president Salvador Allende, has died. For 17 years, he ruled Chile with an iron fist, nationalized key industries and directed a campaign of kidnap, torture and murder against thousands of dissidents. [Full Story] HEZBOLLAH LEADS OPPOSITION COALITION IN BID TO OUST LEBANON GOVERNMENT Demonstrations in Beirut are threatening to topple the moderate government of PM Fouad Siniora. The militant group, Hezbollah, comprised of political, religious and militia factions, has called for the replacement of the sitting government and brought as many as 1 million supporters into the streets of downtown Beirut to show the strength of its political coalition. [Full Story] RISK OF RETURN TO CIVIL WAR IN D.R. CONGO Reports suggest there is a new risk of civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after the opposition party leader announced he rejects the election results that returned the presidency to Joseph Kabila. The Roman Catholic archibishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Frédéric Etsou, also denounced the election result as a rigged vote designed to deliver Congo's mineral wealth to western powers, telling Radio France International "results that are coming out are not the results that are being published". [Full Story] D.R. CONGO VOTES IN FIRST FREE ELECTIONS IN 40 YEARS The Democratic Republic of Congo voted Sunday in its first free and decisive presidential elections in four decades. It is hoped that a peaceful transition with a recognized, elected government, will bring peace to the war-ravaged country. More than four million people have been killed in civil war, just since 1998, and decades of instability and violent conflict have taken many more lives. [Full Story] OAXACA SCENE OF FEDERALES CRACKDOWN, STRIKERS DISPERSED In hopes of bringing peace and normalcy to strike-ridden Oaxaca, outgoing pres. Vicente Fox ordered 4,600 Federal Preventive Police, airlifted in from the capital, to occupy the city's central square, or Zócalo. The move came after 5 months of smothering general strikes, with a broad coalition of demonstrators demanding the resignation of regional governor Ulises Ruiz and establishing barricades. [Full Story] BOLIVIA INTENT ON REGAINING ACCESS TO THE PACIFIC After the 1879 War of the Pacific, Chile retained control of coastal territory that had previously been party of Bolivia, leaving the Andean nation landlocked. The nation famous as a symbol of Spanish imperial wealth, for the Potosí silver mines, the richest ever uncovered, would be geographically isolated and would become the poorest nation in South America. [Full Story] AT CUBA SUMMIT 50 WORLD LEADERS DISCUSS POLICIES AMONG 'NON-ALIGNED NATIONS' More than 50 heads of state have gathered in Havana, Cuba, for a summit meeting to organize a geopolitical policy that would resist unipolar US control of economic and strategic affairs. The summit is a prelude to the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York, this week. The summit placed strengthening of diplomatic institutions and promotion of economic development in poor regions as priorities. [Full Story] DARFUR AGAIN VERGES ON MASS KILLING, MILLIONS IN PERIL The troubled western region of Sudan, Darfur, is again at the center of a kind of perfect storm of cynicism, ignorance and neglect. Even as the UN Security Council has voted to authorize a force of 20,000 "blue helmet" peacekeepers, incorporating the 7,000 African Union (AU) soldiers already in the region, Sudan's ruler Omar al-Bashir has ordered the AU out and massed 10,000 soldiers on the edge of Darfur. [Full Story] TOP MEXICO ELECTORAL COURT TO DECIDE ELECTION TUESDAY Mexico's special court, established to resolve electoral protests in a constitutional process, has announced it will decide what the final official count is for the 2 July balloting, and whether or not the established count is valid. Felipe Calderón currently holds a 240,000 vote advantage in the official tally, and nothing points to the court annulling the election. [Full Story] UN-BROKERED CEASEFIRE COMES INTO EFFECT A ceasefire as laid out in UN Security Council resolution 1701, passed unanimously on Friday, came into effect this morning. Though Hezbollah launched a record number of rockets yesterday into northern Israel, and Israeli warplanes continue to batter Beirut and other sections of southern Lebanon less than half and hour before the 8am deadline, one hour later there were reports that Israeli aircraft were "absent" from Lebanese skies and that Hezbollah had ceased firing rockets into Israel. [Full Story] CASTRO HANDS OVER POWER, TEMPORARILY, TO BROTHER After nearly 5 decades in power, Cuba's authoritarian leader Fidel Castro, has relinquished power to his brother and appointed succesor, Raúl Castro. The move is supposed to be temporary, as a means of providing for a transition should complications arise or recovery be lengthy, after his surgery to correct acute intestinal bleeding. [Full Story] JAPAN TO AID IN SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES MONITORING TEAM Philippine president Gloria Arroyo's government announced Sunday from Malacañang presidential palace in Manila that Japan will be joining the International Monitoring Team officially aiding in the moderation of peace talks between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has been leading an insurrection on the large southern island of Mindanao. [Full Story] ISRAEL-LEBANON ESCALATION NOW MAJOR INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC CRISIS Diplomacy will play a vital role in any resolution to the Israel-Lebanon conflict, but will involve tough choices for any parties joining the negotiations. While having expressed visceral opposition to contact with Damascus, the White House is likely to have to cobble together an improbable coalition of rivals to achieve a functional ceasefire on the Israel-Lebanon border territories. [Full Story] ISRAEL EASES CONDITIONS FOR CEASE-FIRE United Press International is reporting Israel has eased the conditions it requires to suspend military operations and its blockade against Lebanon. PM Ehud Olmert, in a speech to Israel's parliament expressed his determination not to yield to any group that launches missiles into Israeli cities, but signalled that moving Hezbollah away from the Israeli border could bring about a cease-fire. [Full Story] ISRAEL-LEBANON CONFLICT RAPIDLY ESCALATING Israel's bombardment of Lebanon is described today as "relentless", with new targets in northern Lebanon having been hit and civilian death tolls and injuries mounting. Leaders at the G8 summit have issued a joint communiqué blaming Hezbollah attacks on civilians for the violence, demanding an end to rocket attacks, but calling on Israel to cease all operations in Lebanon that could harm civilians. [Full Story] MIDEAST ESCALATION COULD FLARE INTO WAR Israel's attack on Lebanon has escalated, with bombing of Beirut's international airport, the main highway between Beirut and Damascus, at least one power station, several bridges, and a mounting sea blockade. Israel says it holds Lebanon responsible for Hezbollah's abduction of two Israeli soldiers and is acting in self-defense. [Full Story] UN SMALL ARMS CONFERENCE SEEKS GLOBAL REGULATIONS The United Nations conference on light weapons proliferation is facing a burgeoning black market trade which spreads new and used small arms around the globe, fueling civil wars and organized crime. Recent months have seen a number of reports urging governments to tackle the problem; in May, the rights group Amnesty International reported the illicit trade was "out of control", fueled by an "opaque chain" of private interests. [Full Story] CATALUNYA VOTES FOR NEW ESTATUT, GAINS MORE AUTONOMY FROM MADRID Catalunya —commonly written 'Catalonia' in English—, a region of northeastern Spain, along the Mediterranean and the French border, has approved a new regional charter by popular referendum. The 'Estatut' gives the culturally distinct and historically complicated region greater autonomy over taxes revenues, policy and infrastructure. [Full Story] MOST WANTED INSURGENT LEADER KILLED IN AIR-STRIKE Reports from Baghdad suggest Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by a US airstrike on 7 June 2006. The official announcement was made by Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, and was later confirmed by US Gen. Casey. The White House issued a statement of cautious relief, saying the removal of Zarqawi could be a moment of hope for Iraq, but will not end the ongoing sectarian and insurgent violence. [Full Story] BACHELET DISMISSES POLICE COMMANDER FOR VIOLENT CRACKDOWN Michelle Bachelet's government has tried to bridge the divide between seizing a unique opportunity to increase spending due to the copper boom and demonstrating the fiscal responsibility she has promised will allow her government to build long-term reforms into Chilean social policy. But her $130 million spending plan does not include a major education-spending increase. High school students have been organizing to call for nationwide increases, saying only with better education is an egalitarian democracy truly possible. [Full Story] UGANDA TO DESTROY 57,000 WEAPONS The nation of Uganda is taking important steps toward reducing the risk of regional arms poliferation, by destroying a stockpile of old and out-of-use weapons and weapons seized from illegal sources. The move is part of Uganda's pledge to the 2004 Nairobi Protocol, which required signatory nations of Africa's Great Lakes region to reduce the threat of proliferation of light arms across borders, to the peril of civilian populations and political stability. [Full Story] BACHELET OUTLINES BROAD NEW SOCIAL SPENDING, BACKED BY STATE COPPER PROFITS Michelle Bachelet, Chile's first female president, has faced opportunity, temptation and regional economic upheaval, and she is showing signs of following the wisest course, while staying faithful to her pledges. In her first state of the nation address, the new president has said she will use windfall state profits from the inflated copper markets to fund social programs, but without relaxing her policy of strict fiscal discipline. [Full Story] AMNESTY REPORTS INTERNATIONAL ARMS TRADE 'OUT OF CONTROL' Amnesty International has published a new report examining the international arms trade, and its findings indicate there is little control on the expanding web of private interests seeking to profit from a proliferation of dangerous weapons. The report also illustrates the ways in which this scattering of dangerous weapons has lead to severe human rights abuses. [Full Story] CHAD CONFLICT RISK IN TURBULENT REGION In the region of the Chad-Sudan border, it is Sudan that has won most of the outside world's attention in recent years. This has been due to separate civil wars with rebels in the east, south and west of the country, the peace deal with the southern rebels and the ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing in Darfur. Now Chad, which has taken in huge numbers of refugees fleeing the genocide in Darfur, has a severe crisis with its own stability. [Full Story] PLANS MAY ALREADY BE UNDERWAY FOR IRAN STRIKE The New Yorker magazine has published a story by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh —who also uncovered the My Lai massacre in Vietnam and information leading to the revelations about Abu Ghraib— which cites sources with links to the Pentagon and to US intelligence as saying the Bush administration may already have plans to target Iran's nuclear research facilities with "tactical nuclear weapons", i.e. 'low-yield' bombs with radioactive fuel but massive destructive capability. [Full Story] 'PERMANENT CEASEFIRE' DECLARED BY ETA BEGINS TODAY Spain's 4-decade long conflict with terrorist group ETA, fighting for separation of the Basque country from Spain, today appears at an end. Two days ago, the organization surprised many by declaring a "permanent ceasefire", without receiving any guarantees about its goals or about the future of its membership. [Full Story] BACHELET TAKES OFFICE, CHILE'S FIRST WOMAN HEAD OF STATE Michelle Bachelet, winner of Chile's recent presidential election, has been sworn in and has taken power as the nation's first woman president. She inherits the economic legacy of fellow socialist, outgoing pres. Ricardo Lagos, who leaves surpluses in government revenue, a rapidly expanding economy and a well-functioning balance between free market policies and expansive social programs. [Full Story] OBSERVERS WARN UGANDA ELECTION PROCESS NOT FAIR Uganda is a complex political fabric in a volatile regional patchwork. The nation has been ruled for 20 years by one man at the head of one party (NRM), and now President Yoweri Museveni will face his first multi-party election contest. Recent weeks have seen arrests, allegations of intimidation and use of single-party government structures to impede opposition campaigns. [Full Story] PRÉVAL DECLARED WINNER IN HAITIAN ELECTION René Préval will be the next president of Haiti. After a week of violent protests and allegations of "massive fraud", with the candidate calling for peace and responsibility from supporters and an investigation into manipulations, the government of interim president Boniface Alexandre has declared Préval the winner of the 7 February elections. [Full Story] 4 MILLION KILLED IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO SINCE 1998 Ongoing armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken an estimated 4 million lives since 1998. Estimates range from attributing 2 to 4 million deaths to the 5 year war, to placing 3 million during the war and 1 to 2 million more in fractious post-conflict unrest and deprivation. The Lancet now reports 36,000 people per month are still dying from a combination of armed conflict, criminal violence, disease and malnutrition. [Full Story] CHILE ELECTS FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT Michelle Bachelet has a long and turbulent political biography. She and her mother were kidnapped and tortured by the Pinochet government, after her father was murdered for his political affiliation with the Allende government. They were forced into exile by the military regime and Bachelet has worked to restore democratic principles to Chilean government. Like Ricardo Lagos before her, she is a moderate socialist, intent upon leading Chile's governing center-left coalition, while continuing free-market policies, evening the wealth divide. [Full Story] CATALÁN SUPREME COURT RULES GOVERN MUST PROVIDE BILINGUAL INSTRUCTION For the 3rd time over the span of roughly 1 year, the Supreme Court of Catalunya has ruled that the Generalitat must provide bilingual instruction —the option to study in Castilian instead of Catalán— at least until the age of 8 in primary schools. [Full Story] POLITICS & CONFLICT OF LANGUAGE IN DIVERSE SPAIN Spain's opposition PP has accused the regional government of Catalunya of "investigating, inspecting and sanctioning" businesses that put signs exclusively in Castilian (the language commonly known as "Spanish", though it originates in the central Spanish region of Castile, and other regions use other languages), according to La Vanguardia newspaper. [Full Story] THE THREAT OF 'THE SINGLE GATEWAY' TO EVERYDAY LIFE On 1 November, the Financial Times reported Tony Blair's government would push ahead, despite grave civil liberties and identity-theft and black-market fraud concerns. According to the government the biometric features will turn the ID cards into "the single gateway into a whole range of services that people need in their everyday lives". It is not hard to see how such a declaration could indicate indifference to civil liberties. [Full Story] NO BUTTON TO PUSH, THANKFULLY It has been said in recent decades that leaders of nuclear-armed states have a "finger on the button". It is an alarming yet somewhat convenient concept, but it has not generally been all that accurate. It turns out, the push-button solution may be of rhetorical use, but it was never a real option in nuclear confrontation, and it cannot formulate a satisfactory outcome in resolution of difficult conflicts in a world of contingencies. [Full Story] UN REPORTS 5 MILLION NEW HIV CASES IN 2003 Even while other diseases are sweeping into the headlines (Malaria - Polio - SARS - West Nile), the UN reports that HIV, the AIDS virus, is spreading faster than ever. According to the new report, the UN found 5 million new cases of HIV infection worldwide during 2003. That's the highest number of new infections for any single year since the virus was discovered. The study also finds that 90% of those in desperate need of treatment are not receiving any. Even prevention measures are only accessible to 1 in 5, in the most at-risk populations. As a result, 3 million people were killed by AIDS during 2003, and the virus is spreading in all parts of the world. [Full Story] SPANISH AMBASSADOR EXPLAINS ELECTIONS, INVESTIGATION, URGES "WAIT AND SEE" Javier Rupérez, Spanish Ambassador to the US, spoke today to the American Enterprise Institute, for the New Atlantic Initiative, about Spain-US relations and the circumstances surrounding the Spanish parliamentary elections on Sunday. There has been a great deal of speculation about the broader significance of the Spanish vote, which ousted the sitting government, only days after the attacks. [Full Story] SPAIN ELECTS NEW GOVERNMENT Only three days after the worst terrorist incident in Spanish history, the stricken nation held its parliamentary elections. The Spanish people have replaced the governing PP with the PSOE socialist party, which had governed throughout the 1980s and the transition to democracy. Tension over issues of war and peace had been growing since 90% of Spain's population opposed its government's involvement in the Iraq war. Turnout is thought to be one of the major factors in the change in government, with fully 77% of eligible voters taking part in the election, an increase of 8.46% over 2000 turnout. In Catalunya, turnout was 12 points higher than four years ago. The new Prime Minister, Zapatero has pledged to combat terrorism as top priority. [Full Story] ARISTIDE RELINQUISHES POWER Haiti's first and only elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide has relinquished power in the midst of a violent uprising which has become the country's 33rd coup. He reportedly left the capital for the Dominican Republic, to fly on to another country. Observers now fear chaos and a brutal power struggle, as the forces arrayed against Aristide had included both political factions formerly loyal to Aristide, as well as paramilitary bands linked to the 1991 military coup and the notorious death squads of the early 90s. [Full Story]
SRI LANKAN PRESIDENT DISSOLVES PARLIAMENT Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has dissolved the country's parliament, in the wake of a power struggle with the Prime Minister, in which she seized control of the Defense Ministry. The PM had said he could no longer effectively deal with Tamil rebels in the ongoing peace process through which Sri Lanka hopes to end its 20-year-long civil war. The President has announced new elections, four years ahead of schedule; critics accuse her of trying to extend her term and consolidate power with a parliamentary majority, in itself not altogether likely. [For more: BBC] IRAN'S PARLIAMENT VOTES TO LIMIT POWER OF GUARDIAN COUNCIL Iran's reformist parliament gathered to pass a law, under condition of "triple urgency", to forbid the Guardian Council from banning candidates for political reasons. The special urgency is reserved in Iran's parliamentary structure for situations of great political or military peril; it is the first time since the Constitution's adoption in 1979 that Iran has used this level of legislative urgency. Members of the conservative Guardian Council have indicated their opposition to the law, saying it is "contrary to Islam and to certain articles of the Constitution". [For more: AVUI] US NOW CONSIDERING UN ROLE TO EASE POLITICAL TENSION IN IRAQ In the face of ongoing mass demonstrations in southern Iraq, spurred by demands for direct elections by Iraq's Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani, the Bush administration is reportedly contemplating a role for the UN as broker or moderator, in order to formulate a compromise system which would allow a speedy transition to Iraqi rule without fomenting sectarian rivalry. [Full Story] IRAN'S PRESIDENT PUSHES BACK AGAINST HARDLINERS Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has threatened the resignation of his entire administration, if a unilateral ban by ruling clerics on reformist candidates is not lifted. The move would be aimed at delegitimizing the unelected Guardian Council. Parliamentarians are staging a protest sit-in, now in its third day. The ruling religious council declared that it would not permit some 3,000 candidates to stand in upcoming elections, 80 of which are current MPs. [For more: BBC] BERLUSCONI TO FACE CHARGES Italy's Constitutional Court has overruled Berlusconi's immunity law on grounds of equality before the law. The controversial Prime Minister and media-tycoon had pushed the law through Parliament in order to obtain immunity from prosecution on corruption charges going back more than a decade. Equality before the law is written into the Italian Constitution, leading the court to withdraw the law suspending investigations of high-ranking governmental officials. [For more: Corriere] HONG KONG DEMONSTRATORS WANT FREE ELECTIONS A 2-mile long procession of demonstrators marched yesterday in Hong Kong, demanding the right to elect directly the Chief Executive and the entire regional legislature. The current CE was elected by an 800-member electoral panel loyal to Beijing. This past summer, 500,000 marched and successfully delayed the implementation of strict new security laws. The government issued a statement saying it had a responsibility to listen and to pursue democratic structures, under the Basic Law, the Hong Kong constitution agreed to by the UK and China before transition. [For more: NYT] CONSTITUTION ON HOLD FOR EUROPE EU leaders fail to reach agreement on distribution of legislative authority across the continent. Spain and Poland held a hard-line defense of their current level of representation, refusing "double majority" rule. By "double majority", laws would have to be approved by a majority of delegates representing 60% of the EU population. Constitution talks are thought to be off until 2005. [For More: BBC]
TAIWAN EMPOWERED TO VOTE FOR INDEPENDENCE Taiwanese leaders have said the newly passed law permitting a plebiscite on "national security issues" is not an assertion of independence. There will, however be another referendum in March, which the government says will only address indpendence directly if China attacks the island. The newly passed Taiwanese initiative permits the Taiwanese people to vote directly on independence if Taiwan's sovereignty is threatened. It has been suggested that the missiles China has pointed at Taiwan already qualify as such a threat, and that independence could now be officially proposed at any time. [For more: FT] PAKISTAN TO OPEN AIR TRAFFIC WITH INDIA After Pakistan and India agreed to a tentative ceasefire along the line of control delimiting the disputed border in Kashmir, Pakistan has said it will revive air travel between the two countries. Musharraf said he hoped the new links would serve as the beginning of a resolution to all other points of conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations. According to the Financial Times of London, India has refused to reopen comprehensive peace talks, demanding that Pakistan cease all support for Kashmiri separatists and Muslim militants. [For more: The News] IVORY COAST NEEDS PEACEKEEPERS The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) urged the UN to send a peacekeeping contingent to Ivory Coast to prevent a surge in violence which could erupt into civil war and destabilize the region. The request centered on the hope that the UN could provide broader legitimacy and greater force than ECOWAS in the peacekeeping mission there. American Ambassador to the UN Negroponte said the US would be "open to the suggestion." BURUNDI COALITION GOVERNMENT The new Burundian government includes members of the rebel faction, the Forces for the Defense of Democracy. The FDD leader was appointed Minister for Good Governance, as well as 3 other FDD members to ministerial positions, though the 4 appointees are currently outside Burundi. No date has been set for swearing in. Another rebel faction has refused to join the government. Burundi's ongoing civil war has claimed an estimated 300,000 lives and constitutes another ethnic rivalry between the Hutus and the Tutsis, the same rivalry which resulted in the Rwandan genocide. [For more: BBC] PEACE IN KASHMIR, AT LAST? Pakistan’s Prime Minister has announced a ceasefire to take effect at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Kashmir is the site of an ongoing, decades-old insurrection against Indian rule. Two wars have been fought between India and Pakistan over the disputed region, and both countries have tested nuclear weapons. Pakistan has been under increasing pressure to curb terrorism. If the ceasefire holds, it would be a long awaited opening to peace and stability. [For more: CNN] POLITICAL UPHEAVAL IN GEORGIA President Eduard Shevardnadze, embattled by an opposition that alleges widespread election fraud, has declared a state of emergency. Crowds of opposition supporters and leaders stormed the Parliament as President Shevardnadze addressed the first session since his party's dubious electoral victory. Reuters is reporting troops surrounding the Interior Ministry, though the military has not responded to the crowds. An opposition leader, Ms Burjanadze, declared herself interim president on national television. [For more: BBC] WILL ZIMBABWE SEE CHANGE? Today there is talk that Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe may be planning his departure from the political sphere. Though such would be good news for many of his constituents, it will not be an easy manoeuvre. Many observers and victims, both inside Zimbabwe and beyond, would like to see Mugabe tried for atrocities committed during his land-reorganization campaign, and others would like to prosecute him for the widespread corruption alleged to be associated with his government. It is feared that even for him to withdraw from his post, it may be necessary to undermine the democratic process, in order to place a successor favorable to his own interests.
SADDAM HUSSEIN CAPTURED IN TIKRIT US occupation authorities have confirmed that Saddam Hussein was captured in a raid near his ancestral home of Tikrit. The New York Times reports he was captured without a shot fired, while "hiding in a hole below the farm house, located in the town of Adwar". War opponents Chirac and Schroeder have said the capture of Hussein is a vital step toward stabilization of the region, citing the dictator's past crimes. Sen. Hagel hold ABC News that "this is far from over", warning that it is now crucial to ensure that the situation is handled properly. Le Monde reports that DNA tests were positive. SENATORS CLINTON AND REED IN KIRKUK Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) met with Abdel-Rahman Mustafa, Governor of Kirkuk, to learn more about the situation in the North of Iraq and to develop strategies for easing tensions. Mustafa reportedly told the senators that the most important thing was "making our voice reach the concerned sides" in the US. [For more: Salon.com] DHL CARGO PLAN STRUCK BY HOSTILE FIRE In the first such attack, Iraqi insurgents struck a DHL cargo jet in a rocket attack. DHL is the first commercial shipping service to open operations in postwar Baghdad, and the incident marks a dangerous escalation in the conflict between Occupation forces and opponents to the Occupation. [For more: DW] ITALIANS STRUCK IN NASIRIYAH, POLICY SHIFT 19 Italians (17 Carabinieri) killed in suicide bombing in Nasiriyah, along with 14 others. Ambassador Bremer visits White House: speculation suggests visit was impromptu and intended to address escalating security crisis in Iraq. The Bush administration has announced it now plans to accelerate the schedule for handing power back to Iraqis. The policy shift comes amid increasing hostility and reports that Iraqi civilians disillusioned with occupation are now joining insurgents. CHAOS THREATENS UNIVERSAL HISTORY The Iraqi National Museum has been the permanent home for many of the world's oldest and most precious artifacts. Some early stone tools dating back as long as 500,000 years are reportedly lost or destroyed. Sculptures, texts, and precious artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia, the "Cradle of Civilization" which sprung up in the famed Fertile Crescent, were vandalized or stolen by looters. REGIME IN IRAQ HAS FALLEN Reports have been circulating, in conjunction with images of Iraqis and Americans tearing down monuments to Saddam Hussein, that the dictator's regime has fallen. Iraq, as such, is now without any clear civil government. The regime's ambassador to the UN has said "the game is over", referring to the war, and the diplomatic debates. He, like many around the world, offered his wish that the Iraqi people be allowed to live in peace from now on.
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