1. Global Terrorism Monitor
2. Political Risk Monitor
3. AML/CFT Monitor
4. Emerging Threat Monitor
5. Critical Infrastructure Monitor
6. Disaster Reduction Monitor
7. Recommended Reading
8. Asset Management Network News

1. Global Terrorism Monitor

Terrorism is a global phenomenon, and The Global Terrorism Monitor, is the only publication that directly addresses the key transnational issues this represents. Published monthly, it includes expert analysis, statistical trends, and the policies, practices, and technologies that help to mitigate this persistent threat.
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=TP
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GTM Africa
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In Algeria, a car bomb critically injured Mustapha Kertali. He was a member of the Armed Islamist Group (GIA) and then went on to join the armed wing of the banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). He became mayor of Larba in 1990 then returned to civilian life, where he has maintained a high profile. Those responsible for the bomb are unknown, but Islamic militants who consider him a traitor of the relatives of victims killed by militants are suspected.
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL14362360.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/14/africa/AF-GEN-Algeria-Bomb-Attack.php

Benmessaoud Abdelkader, a former member of the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, said that about 50 foreign recruits were disillusioned and leaving the group, as he has done.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=84558

Last month, the UN warned that forces allied to renegade General Laurent Nkunda pose a serious threat to stability in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where fighting, recruitment of child soldiers, and abuse of civilians continues. From his mountain hideout, Nkunda is issuing radio broadcasts, levying taxes, and settling legal disputes.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2864188.ece
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/05/AR2007080501346.html

The Ethiopian News Agency reports that the joint National Intelligence and Security Service and the Federal Police Anti-Terrorism Taskforce have foiled an alleged Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) plot to bomb infrastructures and public figures, and undertake assassinations.
http://www.ena.gov.et/EnglishNews/2007/Aug/14Aug07/34779.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6939271.stm

Moroccan police report that last Monday's attempted suicide bomber Hicham Doukali was a member of the main Islamic opposition group al Adl wa al Ihsane.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L17806312.htm

A foreign hostage died of illness in Nigeria, but his identity is unknown.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12420588.htm
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=86122
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f113082007.html

Ethiopian, Somali and insurgent forces are all responsible for rampant violations of the laws of war in Mogadishu, causing massive suffering for the civilian population. In "Somalia: War Crimes in Mogadishu", Human Rights Watch calls on the Security Council, during its current deliberations, to include a strong civilian protection mandate in any peacekeeping mission. Ethiopian officials have described the report as factually and morally unacceptable, one-sided, and failing to understand the issue of terrorism.
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/08/06/somali16599.htm
http://www.ena.gov.et/EnglishNews/2007/Aug/14Aug07/34780.htm

In the Morocco city of Meknes a man attempted a suicide bombing near a tourist bus, but injured only himself. Other suspects are being investigated.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/news/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/08/14/newsbrief-01
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20070813221042863C698547

Unknown gunmen kidnapped the mother of a Bayelsa state legislator. The 11-year-old son of another member Bayelsa State House of Assembly has been freed.
http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN428054.html

This article provides details of the expatriate hostage who died earlier this month.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/niger_delta/nd116082007.html

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has threatened renewed attacks on oil and gas installations within the area at the end of August due to perceived lack of genuine commitment on the part of government to address the issues at stake. However, violence in the Delta is already having a devastating effect on the oil and gas industry.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/business/august07/14082007/b114082007.html
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=86441
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/niger_delta/nd316082007.html

Rwanda has criticized Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for abandoning military operations against the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels, which includes members of Rwanda's former army and the extremist Interahamwe Hutu militia. DRC ways it wants to end bloodshed, while Rwanda believes FDRL is gathering strength to launch attacks against Rwanda. Subsequently, Rwandan radio reported that DRC military operations will continue with mixed and integrated army units.
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20070815141707474C819133
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6947399.stm
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708150380.html

In the Somali capital Mogadishu a landmine on Monday killed four police officers and one civilian. Another landmine missed a police vehicle and struck a bus, killing one and injuring three. Ethiopian soldiers fired on a bus Monday night. Six died during the attack and another six Somali civilians died of their injuries on Tuesday. 93 of the people injured are being treated in hospital. On Wednesday, insurgents threw grenades at police guarding the reconciliation conference, injuring one. Five soldiers died when their vehicle hit a landmine. A roadside explosion on Thursday killed three Somali policemen and injured many bystanders.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/55A3EEBB-33AD-4470-977E-B36B8C04118F.htm
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73724
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=87&art_id=nw20070814105730510C947633
http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Insurgents_throw_grenades_near_Somalia_reconciliation_venue.shtml

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/08/06/somali16599.htm

Al Jazeera has obtained the first ever interview with Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) Wahid faction commander Gaddoura, and spoke with the rebel soldiers fighting the government.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AE82D8AA-F244-4C77-9024-E8B5DDBE42BC.htm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3114F6D8-14BE-4F98-8A07-C1891FFB2712.htm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3FCDE853-533D-4DBB-BF4A-04ACA50C107B.htm

The SLA has accused Khartoum of arming and training forces of a tribal militia that has killed 170 civilians in South Darfur this week.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=84555
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GTM Americas
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In the latest spat between Argentina and Iran connected with the 1994 bombing of an Israeli community center, Iran has summoned five Argentine officials to appear in court to face charges of working against Iran's security. Argentina rejected the summons.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=19643&sectionid=351020101
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/16/africa/ME-GEN-Iran-Argentina-Court.php
http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=846739&ct=1043987

The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) has called on Prime Minister Harper to negotiate with the US for the immediate release of Canadian Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay. They note that the conditions in Guantanamo do not respect the rule of law, and Canada is the only Western country with a citizen still detained there. Australian and British citizens have all been repatriated.
http://www.thestar.com/article/245730
http://www.cba.org/CBA/News/2007_releases/2007-08-12_omar.aspx

Colombia's National Reparation and Reconciliation Commission issued a report that warns of a new generation of paramilitaries picking up where the disbanded United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) left off. They called on authorities to better target organized crime and resist the temptation to ally with the criminal gangs, whose drug trafficking operations provide revenue that can buy protection.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N15262361.htm
http://www.cnrr.org.co/new/interior_otros/informe_1_DDR_Cnrr.pdf (in Spanish)

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has rejected Colombian President Uribe's insistence that FARC must release its hostages first, before any other steps are taken. One of the most prominent of the FARC hostages is French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, who has now been held for more than 3,000 days. Uribe will meet next week with Venezuelan President Chavez, who has offered to assist with hostage mediation.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/13/america/LA-GEN-Colombia-FARC-Hostages.php
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/16/AR2007081601109.html
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN1641165620070817

Peruvian police report arresting at least 20 suspected Shining Path guerillas linked to drug trafficking.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070815/int/int2.html

The National Security Archive has obtained newly declassified documents that detail US concerns over Pakistan's relationship with the Taleban in the seven years leading up to 9/11, illustrating their firm commitment to a Taleban victory in Afghanistan.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB227/index.htm

The US Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs has made its first payments under the International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program.
http://www.ojp.gov/newsroom/2007/OVC07070.htm

The New York Police Department (NYPD) released an intelligence report. "Radicalization in the West" says that domestic terrorism threats have shifted from lone-wolf radicals to small, anonymous groups of disaffected men, particularly immigrants, who radicalize each other and create the greatest threat of homegrown attacks.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/pdf/dcpi/NYPD_Report-Radicalization_in_the_West.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/nyregion/15cnd-terror.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-homegrown16aug16,0,3860838.story
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1653566,00.html

US citizen Jose Padilla and Lebanese-born Palestinian Adham Amin Hassoun and Jordanian-born Kifah Wael Jayyousi have been found guilty of conspiring to murder, kidnap and maim people in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and elsewhere, from 1994-2001, and of providing material support for terrorism and conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism.. The prosecution relied on a seldom-tested conspiracy law and relatively thin evidence. All three men had denied the charges, and there are plentiful grounds for the appeals all are seeking.
http://miami.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/mm20070816.htm
http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/default.asp?file=/cases/padilla/index.html
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/story/206013.html (links to press conference transcript and alleged al Qaeda application)
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3488289
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2871547.ece
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/18/us/nationalspecial3/18legal.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/16/AR2007081601009.html
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17388559.htm
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0813/p01s03-usju.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0814/p11s01-usju.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0815/p01s08-usju.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0815/p08s02-comv.htm
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/16/america/NA-GEN-US-Padilla-Timeline.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2037444.stm

Pirouz Sedaghaty ("Pete Seda") was arrested when he arrived at the Portland International Airport, in the state of Oregon, on Wednesday. He had managed the Al Haramain Islamic Foundation charity. In 2005, while he was abroad, federal prosecutors charged him with conspiracy and tax fraud. He returned as an appeal on behalf of the charity is underway in San Francisco, California. (See PRM/Americas for more details on the trial, where the appeal involves secret NSA surveillance). Meanwhile, the National Association of Muslim Lawyers and the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys have written to Attorney General Gonzales, objecting to a list of more than 300 US Muslim organizations and charities named as un-indicted co-conspirators. They say this breaches Justice Department rules on naming un-indicted co-conspirators, served no clear law enforcement purpose, and smears the entire community of Muslims in the US. And the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has filed an amicus brief in the trial. CAIR and other organizations listed have received death threats and hate mail.
http://portland.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2007/fraud081507.htm
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/11872329339590.xml&coll=7
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/15/america/NA-GEN-US-Islamic-Charity-Fugitive.php
http://www.namlnet.org/pdf/AG_ltr_UIC_list_final(1).pdf
http://www.nacdl.org/
http://www.cair.com/default.asp?Page=articleView&id=2917&theType=NR
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/us/16charity.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20185599/site/newsweek/
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GTM Asia Pacific
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Professor Raiz Hassan, of Australia's Flinders University, heads the Suicide Terrorism Project, which has compiled a database of attacks by suicide terrorists from a variety of international sources. It reveals that between 1981 and 2006 13,195 people have died and more than 30,819 have been injured in just over 1,000 attacks. Suicide bombings are effective, readily explaining their growing popularity.
http://www.flinders.edu.au/?news=245

Convicted Australian terrorism supporter and former Guantanamo detainee David Hicks wants to disappear into the Bush when he is released at the end of the year. He has become an avid environmentalist.
http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=286273
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/hicks-wants-to-go-bush-after-release/2007/08/15/1186857523549.html

Dual Australian-Lebanese citizens Hussein Elomar and Ibrahim Sabouh face terrorism charged in Lebanon, where they and two others who were arrested but later released, may have been tortured.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/aussie-terror-suspect-tortured/2007/08/15/1186857578568.html?sssdmh=dm16.273974

Taiwan repatriated Yang Mingde and Lin Wenqiang, who hijacked a passenger plane from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan in 1993 and 1994 on Tuesday. Seven other hijackers had previously been returned to China, but these two faced other charges in Taiwan.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6239383.html

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's state of the union addressed claimed victory in the fight against terrorism:
"Act of terrorism which alarmed the community few years back has been overcome. We have succeeded in preventing and deterring acts of terror in our country. People's trust to the law enforcement and security apparatus is increasing. We need to show our appreciation to the Indonesian Police Force and other supporting parties in overcoming this terrorism threat. As I frequently mentioned, in the future, combating terrorism will not be superficial but will also touch and address the root cause of terrorism, such as backwardness, poverty, injustice, extremism, radicalism, and violence culture. We are deeply serious to prevent and to combat this terrorism, in order to save our nation and community, to present security and peace in our country as well as our responsibility and togetherness to global community to create peaceful and secured world."
http://www.presidenri.go.id/index.php/eng/pidato/2007/08/16/724.html

On the occasion of the holiday, six of the people convicted in connection with the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings had their sentences reduced by five months, and four others were given 2-month reductions. Hundreds of prisoners are traditionally given sentence reductions on Independence Day.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3491573

Kazakhstan prosecutors say that at least 13 members of the jihadist wing of the Salafi movement have been arrested.
http://www.eurasianet.org/insight/081507kz.shtml

Abu Sayyaf leader Umbra Jumdail ("Dr. Abu Pula") was trying to retrieve the remains of his right-hand man Edimar Salip in the middle of a gunbattle with soldiers when he was wounded. This was a blow against the group, as Philippine troops launched a fresh offensive in Jolo. On Thursday, Philippines government forces received information that Jemaah Islamiah bomber Dulmatin was injured in the same attack as Jumdail. More than 20,000 people have fled the area to avoid being caught up in the war between the Philippines military and Abu Sayyaf. On Friday fierce fighting killed 50 suspected militants and 15 marines. US-backed troops continued their offensive today.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=88329
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2007/08/14/military.launches.offensives.v..abu.sayyaf.html
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-29001920070816
http://uw2.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=88166
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2007/08/18/over.20.000.people.displaced.by.looming.war..html
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/19/asia/AS-GEN-Philippines-Fighting.php

In southern Thailand on Monday a Narathiwat salesman was killed in a drive-by shooting as he was selling goods from his pickup truck. On Tuesday in Narathiwat a bomb hidden in a motorcycle went off near a market, killing one man and injuring six, including three policemen. The Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) is suspected of a revenge attack. In another district a suspect free on bail was shot dead, apparently to prevent his testimony. Late Tuesday night two classrooms and mobile phone signal towers were set on fire. A whole school building was destroyed, and there were arson attacks on three vehicles and five public phone booths. On Wednesday in Pattani, a police team inspecting a highway studded with spikes and logs was attacked, injuring one policeman. In Narathiwat, unidentified gunmen shot two villagers from their truck, killing one and seriously injuring the second. In Yala insurgents fired on a health center and military camp, where one soldier was injured. On Thursday in Yala, hoax bombs were found in six locations, and there were arson attacks on vehicles and public phone booths. A police patrol was ambushed and responded, but there were no casualties. In Narathiwat a bomb hidden in a bush was detonated by remote control, slightly injuring three security forces on patrol. A school was set fire, and one of the buildings was completely destroyed. On Friday in Yala two rubber tappers survived a lone gunman's attempt to kill them, but they were shot and injured.
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GTM Europe
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Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of the Libyan leader, told the Austria Press Agency that Islamic extremists are certain to carry out more terrorist attacks in Europe, where any country engaged in Afghanistan or Iraq is a target.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/17/europe/EU-GEN-Austria-Gadhafis-Son.php

French police have discovered weapons and explosives suspected of belonging to Basque separatist group ETA.
http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_11988.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6945213.stm
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Hallado/arsenal/ETA/bombas/lapa/elpepuesp/20070814elpepinac_2/Tes (in Spanish)

Nazi war criminal Heinz Barth has died in Germany aged 86.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/14/europe/EU-GEN-Germany-Obit-Barth.php

German prosecutors arrested "Tolga D" as he arrived in Frankfurt airport on Tuesday. He is accused of recruiting a German citizen in Pakistan for terrorism and owning jihadi videotapes. He had been arrested in Pakistan two months ago and was deported from there for visa violations.
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=26&story_id=42905

German authorities released Eva Haule, a member of the Red Army Faction (RAF), on parole from prison, after she had served 21 years for three murders.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,500561,00.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2742164,00.html

A Calabrian blood feud left Italy for Germany on Wednesday, when suspected members of the Nirta-Strangio clan shot and killed six members of the Pelle-Vottari clan as they were celebrating the 18th birthday of one of the victims. This is the first time that such a Mafia feud has been exported to foreign soil, but their drug trafficking and other criminal activities have long been international in scope.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,500016,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,,2149596,00.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2267929.ece

Russia has launched a terrorism investigation into the derailment of an express train that injured 27 on Monday, the result of an improvised explosive device. The style of the attack is similar to that used in ultranationalist attacks. Photofits have been compiled of two suspects. On Thursday, Moscow, the surrounding region and the Far East were put on high alert.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/08/14/russia.train.reut/index.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-train15aug15,0,4705120.story
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/08/15/002.html
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070817/72143667.html
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/08/17/011.html

In Spain's coastal city of San Sebastian, supporters of Basque separatist group ETA attacked the headquarters of the Basque Nationalist Party on Tuesday night, and threw firebombs at bank branches and a court building. Overnight they stopped a bus and set it on fire. Two men, aged 20 and 21, were arrested. These incidents followed the discovery in France of a massive arms cache.
http://www.eitb24.com/new/en/B24_61674/politics/NIGHT-ATTACKS-Several-attacks-shake-Basque-Country/
http://www.eitb24.com/new/en/B24_61833/politics/DONOSTIA-SAN-SEBASTIAN-Assailants-set-fire-to-bus-threw/
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=81&story_id=42897

On Monday, Turkish forces arrested two suspected Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants in the southeastern province of Hakkari. One was slightly injured. Police detonated two roadside explosives.
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-28231.html

A Turkish passenger jet bound for Istanbul was hijacked from Cyprus on Saturday. A Turkish and a Palestinian man claimed to have a bomb, which turned out to be made of play dough.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/18/europe/EU-GEN-Turkey-Hijacked-Plane.php
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/08/18/turkey.hijack/index.html

The London Assembly's 7 July Review Committee has issued Volume 4: follow-up report. They find that "Overall, there has been significant and welcome progress in implementing our recommendations and addressing the issues we raised in our report. London is now even better prepared to respond to major incidents and we continue to be well served by emergency planners and responders who are world leaders in their respective fields. They make a number of additional recommendations, particularly related to the rollout of digital radio communications in the Metropolitan Police Service, London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service.
http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/7july/follow-up-report.pdf
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GTM Middle East
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Early on Tuesday Israeli troops backed by armored vehicles and aircraft raided the Gaza Strip and fired upon Palestinian militants. A Hamas militant and bystander were killed during the raid. Another Hamas militant and his mother were shot and killed as they left their home. At least 12 Palestinians were injured. That evening, Hamas forces raided the compound of the Dochmush clan, suspected in the kidnappings of BBC reporter Alan Johnston and Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. More than 20 people were injured.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/893322.html
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L13344555.htm
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3437797,00.html

In southeastern Iran, bandits kidnapped two Belgian tourists while they were visiting historic sites near the ancient city of Bam, where tourists have been kidnapped before. They were freed on Wednesday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/14/content_6526528.htm
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=19592&sectionid=3510212

Interpol has circulated an arrest warrant for Raghad Saddam Husayn Al Majid, the eldest daughter of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. She is wanted in Iraq for crimes against life and health, incitement, and terrorism.
http://www.interpol.int/public/Data/Wanted/Notices/Data/2006/06/2006_54606.asp

In Iraq on Monday a mortar attack in eastern Baghdad injured three people. In Hilla, gunmen killed one Iraqi soldier. A roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol, injuring three, and a mortar attack injured one. Near Tikrit, kidnappers seized the mayor of the town of Dijla. US forces report killing up to five men suspected of bringing weapons from Iran and arrested 13 in eastern Baghdad's Sadr City. They also report detaining 12 suspected Mehdi army militants and capturing a key financier of a militant group with ties to Iran. One US soldier was killed during combat operations in Baghdad. Three US soldiers died from injuries sustained in an explosion in Nineveh.

The deadliest attack in Iraq since the 2003 invasion took place on Tuesday, when four suicide truck bombs attacked two villages in the northern province of Nineveh. They targeted residential compounds of the minority Yazidi community, an ancient religious sect. The bombers, including one on a fuel tanker, slaughtered at least 344 people, with dozens still missing and hundreds more injured. The casualties continue to emerge from the rubble. The second deadliest attack was 23 November's last year when five car bombs and mortar attacks killed 225 people in the Sadr City area of Baghdad.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL1484109720070814
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2149392,00.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1AAA959F-B3B9-4B1C-9A49-5EA107415D90.htm
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/14/africa/ME-GEN-Iraq-Yazidis-Attacked.php
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12789352
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2149205,00.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/08/16/iraq.main/index.html
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2866788.ece
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=167316&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6949408.stm

Other attacks on Tuesday included a roadside bomb in the western Yarmouk district of Baghdad that injured two civilians, and a mortar attack in northern Ur district that killed two and injured four. 15 bodies were found across the city. In Diwaniya a drive-by shooting killed a policeman near his home. Falluja police found the body of a man tortured and shot. A police patrol in Hilla was attacked and the drive-by shooting killed a guard and injured two. Khalis police found the bodies of 15 Sunni Arabs shot and dumped near a gas station. In Kirkuk a roadside bomb injured two policemen and a civilian. Two more roadside bombs injured three Kirkuk policemen and four civilians. A gunman on a motorbike in Najaf killed a member of a joint Iraqi and US security coordination center. In Suwayra gunmen stormed the home of police officer Aqil Radhi Idan, killing his pregnant wife, brother, and son. A suicide bomber in Taj blew up a fuel tanker on a bridge. The bridge collapsed. Ten people were killed and six were injured. The US military reports killing four members of the Mehdi militia and detaining eight during a Sadr City raid, and detaining 16 suspects across the country. Iraqi and US forces report freeing six hostages from a suspected al Qaeda prison during a raid in Mosul. One US soldier was killed and three injured in combat in western Baghdad.

On Wednesday in central Baghdad a sniper killed two people. 15 bodies were found across the city. In Buhriz clashes between insurgents and Iraqi security forces left seven insurgents and one resident dead, and 12 residents injured. Sheikh Nadhim al-Bdairi, a Fadhila Party official in Diwaniya, was killed in a drive-by shooting. Doura insurgents killed three police commandos and injured two. A suicide car bomber attacked a judge's home in Hilla, killing at least five and injuring 12. In Kirkuk, two car bombs in a crowded market killed at least two and injured 33. A roadside bomb between Kirkuk and Daquq killed one person and injured two. Madaen gunmen killed one and injured a second. In Mosul, a suicide car bomb targeted an Iraqi police patrol, killing one policeman and injuring four. US forces report killing 11 suspected insurgents and detaining four during operations targeting al Qaeda in central and northern Iraq. Two US soldiers were killed and six injured in combat north of Baghdad.

On Thursday in central Baghdad a car bomb near al-Russafi Square killed nine people and injured 17. In southern Doura district, a roadside bomb targeting a police commando patrol killed one policeman and injured a second. In the eastern Zayouna district of Baghdad a roadside bomb injured five civilians. In west-central al-Zewraa Pari, a roadside bomb injured three. 19 bodies were found across the city. In Kirkuk a roadside bomb injured four policemen. A second bomb injured two more. In Tarmiya gunmen on a roof killed one US soldier. The US military reports killing 13 suspected insurgents and detaining 16 across the country. In Balad they report killing six al-Qaeda-linked insurgents and detaining 26.

On Friday 18 bodies were found across Baghdad. Haditha police found three tortured and shot bodies. Two bombs exploded in quick succession in Kirkuk, killing four and injuring 24. A drive-by shooting injured three people.

On Saturday a mortar attack in Baghdad's southwestern Saha district killed one person and injured six. 11 bodies were found across the city. A drive-by shooting in Hawija killed one police officer. Iskandariya police found three shot bodies. A mortar barrage in Khalis left seven dead, including an infant. US forces report killing two militants and detaining 16 during operations in central and northern Iraq.

Today in Baghdad four mortar rounds fell in the eastern al-Obeidi district, killing ten and injuring 42. In central Baghdad gunmen stopped a bus and seized 15 passengers, and a bomb on a parked motorcycle killed one and injured six. In southern Baghdad a bomb in a garbage dump killed one and injured three. In Kirkuk a roadside bomb killed two people. US forces reported killing three suspected insurgents and detaining 21 during operations against al Qaeda in central and northern Iraq.

The Netherlands has agreed to host a special court to prosecute those responsible for the death of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and other political figures.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23535&Cr=leban&Cr1=
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17212844.htm

On 12 July 2006 Lebanese Hezbollah fired rockets and mortars at Israeli border villages, while another Hezbollah entered Israel, killed three soldiers, and seized two. Israeli troops were unsuccessful in an attempted rescue and fighting escalated rapidly. More than a thousand Lebanese were killed, nearly all civilians. The country's infrastructure was reversed to a state similar to the end of the civil war. A UN brokered ceasefire came into effect on 14 August, which Hezbollah marked this week as its day of victory over Israel. In Israel, its defeat led to a yearlong series of inquiries and political disruption. Reconstruction has progressed slowly, largely due to the massive quantities of unexploded cluster munitions that Israel had dropped. The political upheaval in both countries persists today. Meanwhile, Hezbollah and its main supporter Iran are thriving. Hezbollah has been buying land north of the Litani River, and Hezbollah leader Nasrallah has warned Israel of a great surprise should it attack.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/14/africa/ME-GEN-Lebanon-Hezbollah.php
http://www.nysun.com/article/60487
http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/1099/1/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/12/wmid112.xml
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/893510.html
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=84551

The Lebanese Army, insisting that Fatah Al-Islam is in no position to set conditions, has rejected an offer that the militants would surrender to a Palestinian committee. On Monday Fatah al-Islam fired rockets into civilian areas around the camp, and a sniper killed one soldier. Low-scale air and ground activity continued until violence escalated on Thursday. The Lebanese army is pounding rebel positions in the refugee camp, three months after the deadly standoff began, and complains they don't have enough weapons. More than a hundred suspected militants have been arrested and charged with terrorism.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=99723&d=13&m=8&y=2007&pix=world.jpg&category=World
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=84577
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=19864&sectionid=351020203
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/18/africa/ME-GEN-Lebanon-Terrorism-Charges.php

Palestinian brothers Youssef and Younes Khaled Shibli, and two Lebanese men, Ismail Ali Sayyad and Mohammad Mahmoud Shabban, confessed to membership in a Fatah al-Islam sleeper cell responsible for three bombings on 18 July.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=84527

Abu Jandal al-Dimashqi, the self-declared leader of Tawhid and Jihad in Syria, claimed in an audio tape aired on Sunday that a group of Fatah al-Islam militants had escaped from the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in North Lebanon, and hinted they would be launching attacks inside Lebanon soon.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=84494
http://news.independent.co.uk/fisk/article2861723.ece

Usbat al-Ansar is one of a dozen armed Islamic groups within Lebanon's 12 refugee camps.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBIMr7c3jTCM

In the West Bank city of Jenin, Israeli Defense Forces raiding a village clashed with village gunmen, killing one Abu Amar Brigades gunman and a 16-year-old Palestinian boy, and injuring six others on Friday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/893868.html
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3438885,00.html

A committee overseeing a Qatari-brokered deal supposed to end a Shiite rebellion in Yemen on Saturday laid out a 20-day implementation timetable and gave the rebels 48 hours to accept it. The timetable was accepted late on Monday, but foot-dragging led to the Qatari's recall on Friday.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news135779.htm
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=84539
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=84589

Yemeni security forces on Monday arrested more suspects involved in last July's terrorist attack on Spanish tourists.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/13/africa/ME-GEN-Yemen-Terror-Arrest.php
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news135880.htm
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GTM South Asia
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In Afghanistan on Monday the Taleban freed two South Korean hostages abducted last month. They were freed as a goodwill gesture as the two women were in poor health. 19 hostages remain in captivity. Tuesday, a Polish soldier died during an attack in eastern Gardez area: the first Pole to die in Afghanistan. On Wednesday a landmine near Kabul killed three German police officers in a diplomatic convoy, and injured one, and a British security contractor was killed. On Friday a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the house of Zhari district governor Khairuddin. The governor and three of his children, all under age 10, were killed. Three civilians were injured. In other fighting the US-led coalition reported killing nearly a dozen insurgents after Taleban attacked an Afghan police-led force. On Saturday a suicide car bomber detonated west of Kandahar near a private security convoy, killing 11 civilians, including women and children, and four Afghan guards. Six guards and 20 civilians were injured. Today in southern Helmand province, four Afghan security guards died in a suicide attack and a Canadian NATO soldier escorting a convoy was also killed. Afghan and US-led coalition forces reported heavy Taleban casualties during the week, particularly in a major assault in Tora Bora, where al Qaeda and other foreign militants are believed to have taken safe harbor. It is the last known location of Osama bin Laden.
http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/afghanistan-south-korea-news-130807!OpenDocument
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/08/14/afghanistan.deaths/
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/15/news/germany.php
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=558
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/08/17/afghan.fighting/index.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/08/18/afghan.violence/index.html http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-08-19-afghan-violence_N.htm

A German aid worker and four Afghan engineers were abducted in two incidents n Saturday that are believed the work of a criminal gang.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6953849.stm

This article describes the Afghan army's efforts against the Taleban:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1653656,00.html

In Bangladesh 17 August marked the third anniversary of the 500 bombings in 300 locations across the country. Although six Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) leaders were tried and hanged, the masterminds who governed them have never been uncovered, and JMB is still active, but Lieutenant-General Masud Uddin Chowdhury says that JMB is on the run.
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=375
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=452
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKDHA11144920070812
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4158478.stm

Bangladesh police arrested suspected JMB militants Khorshed Alam, Abdur Rashid Babu, and Amjad Hossain.
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=547

In the Indian state of Assam, in the midst of Independence Day celebrations, the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) detonated four bombs, injuring two people. They again targeted Hindi speakers. On Friday a gun battle between army troops and ULFA left one militant dead. This month more than three-dozen people have been killed in Assam, most Hindi speakers.
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1115719
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200708180315.htm

In Karnataka state, police in the capital Bangalore arrested gang members Asghar Pasha, Gilani, Umar and Mohammad Zaheer who confessed to planning attacks across the city. An investigation into possible links with Maoist rebels continues.
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1116123

In Indian-administered Kashmir, an improvised explosive device exploded on Friday, killing two paramilitary troops and injuring six. Three more paramilitaries died of their injuries on Saturday. Separatists are believed responsible.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/August/subcontinent_August737.xml&section=subcontinent&col=

This week, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf admitted that support for militants emanating from Pakistan has caused problems for Afghanistan. The depth of this association is revealed in newly declassified documents obtained by the National Security Archive that demonstrate support for Taleban, aid, training, financing, and military assistance, in support of a Taleban victory in Afghanistan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/13/world/asia/13afghan.html

While US led forces conduct an offensive on the Afghan side of the border, related violence continues in Pakistan. In North Waziristan on Monday two roadside bombs in injured three soldiers. One of the 16 paramilitary troops kidnapped in South Waziristan n 9 August were found beheaded on Tuesday In North Waziristan a gunbattle left one civilian dead and three soldiers injured.. On Thursday in South Waziristan an armed clash left two soldiers and ten suspected militants dead, and a dozen militants injured. A roadside bomb in North Waziristan killed two soldiers, where on Friday fighting left seven soldiers and 15 militants dead. Late on Saturday militants attacked a North Waziristan checkpoint. A helicopter gunship was sent to retaliate, leaving seven people, including two women and two children dead.
http://www.dawn.com/2007/08/14/top5.htm
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C08%5C15%5Cstory_15-8-2007_pg1_7
http://www.pakistantimes.net/2007/08/17/top8.htm
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/166505.php/7-soldiers-15-militants-killed-in-Waziristan
http://www.rttnews.com/FOREX/politicalnews.asp?date=08/19/2007&item=4
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/August/subcontinent_August755.xml&section=subcontinent&col=

A recent surge in suicide bombings has been attributed to fallout from the Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) operation.
http://www.dawn.com/2007/08/17/nat2.htm

Pakistan's interior ministry ordered tighter security around English schools after intelligence reports suggest that militants are planning a Beslan-style attack.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\08\15\story_15-8-2007_pg1_4

The Sri Lankan government's hawkish threats against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, Tamil Tigers) have braced people for a deadly summer, complicated by the continuing threats from paramilitary groups. On Monday Sri Lanka's navy clashed with the Tigers, killing Chandrasekaran Pillai, the third most senior leader of the Sea Tigers unit, and six other rebels. Clashes on Wednesday left five Tigers and one soldier dead. Sea and ground clashes on Friday killed two Tamil rebels.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-srilanka15aug15,0,1755980.story
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2007/08/19/new07.asp
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070818_03
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aDHJKhPaMaPY
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/17/asia/AS-GEN-Sri-Lanka-Civil-War.php

Sri Lankans held a commemoration in remembrance of the 12 August 1990 Tamil Tiger massacre of 121 Muslims in an Eravur village.
http://www.lankamission.org/other%20pages/News/2007/August/2007-08-15bati.htm

2. Political Risk Monitor

What may appear to be a small local event, like publishing a cartoon, can often turn out to have a surprising international impact. Your subscription to the Political Risk Monitor provides this analysis, as well as detailed profiles of individuals and other entities. Each monthly issue also includes quick tips for executives managing multinational operations.
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=TP
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PRM Africa
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The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is holding a leaders' summit. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was given a hero's welcome, despite concerns that his country's economic meltdown could affect the entire region. The new chair is Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa. He plans to focus on infrastructure development as a regional priority. In March he compared Zimbabwe to the sinking of the Titanic. At the opening of the summit he called on Zimbabwe to maintain peace at all costs. Zimbabwe's justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, ridiculed the need for change or talks: "Political reform is not necessary in my country because we are a democracy like any other democracy. There can be no justification to make us [engage in] dialogue ... They [the opposition] are only interested in getting into power through unconstitutional means".
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=316769
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708160796.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6948813.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/zimbabwe/article/0,,2150368,00.html
http://www.sadc.int/

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda will re-survey their common border to establish owner ship of the disputed island of Rukwanzi, which is in the oil-rich Lake Albert.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news08162.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6948086.stm

Eritrea has begun imposing restrictions on the US embassy in Asmara. In response, the US has ordered Eritrea's consulate in California to close.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6944846.stm
http://eritrea.usembassy.gov/
http://www.ethioconsulate-la.org/

When residents of Mathare slum in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi staged a recent protest over a five-day water shortage, the police moved to break the demonstration, firing teargas and arresting some of the protestors.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73718

Continued violence in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, has led to claims that the state of anarchy depicts the entire Niger Delta as a failed state. On Thursday Nigerian troops and criminal gangs exchanged gunfire. The numbers dead or injured in the gun battle are unknown, but the fighting continued into Friday, when government forces restored some level of calm. People are fleeing the city.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/niger_delta/nd114082007.html
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/niger_delta/nd314082007.html
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20070816122352414C387343
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=316740
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6949589.stm
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73794
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73778

Opposition parties in the Republic of Congo have protested against the outcome of general elections held on 24 June and 5 August after the government was returned to power by a landslide victory.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73702

Election observers have called Sierra Leone's elections free, fair and credible. Early results give the opposition a lead in the polls, but a second round is likely.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L17412458.htm
http://www.ecowas.int/
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/document/34293/35144/167835/sierra_leone_elections_2007___interim_statement_by.htm
http://www.eueomsierraleone.org/
http://www.necsl.org/

Former South African Police Minister Adriaan Vlok was jailed for ten years, suspended as long as he commits no crimes in the next five years. He was convicted of plotting to kill an anti-apartheid activist. Volk said that the fear of communism coming to South Africa justified committing acts during the apartheid era, which he admits were wrong. His police chief Johannes Van der Merwe was also sentenced to ten years, and three other former security officials to five, but all under the same terms as Vlok. Victims of their crimes warn of verdicts that amount to impunity.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=316853
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=nw20070817174746498C258808
http://iafrica.com/news/sa/410478.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/17/wsa217.xml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6950553.stm

African Union chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said that enough African troops have been promised for the Darfur peacekeeping force and that other forces will not be needed, however it has yet to be determined that the right mix of skills is available. Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia Indonesia, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Senegal have all promised support.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6943435.stm

"Making Peace Our Own: Victims Perceptions of Accountability, Reconciliation and Transitional Justice in Northern Uganda" is a new report from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. They conducted private interviews with 1,725 victims of the conflict in 69 focus groups in Acholiland, Lango and Teso sub-regions of northern Uganda. Those surveyed hole both the government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) responsible for 20 years of atrocities, and want their leaders and others held responsible for these crimes. They feel the need to discover the truth, including the identity of the perpetrators and the nature of the acts they committed. Many feel angry and vengeful but have an overwhelming desire for reconciliation.
http://www.ohchr.org/english/docs/northern_Uganda_august2007.pdf
http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/F0B450C757F2EA07C125733700397F07?opendocument

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe marked Heroes Day on Monday with a vehement speech against the west, accusing former colonial power Britain of interfering and stressing that strict new pricing directives must be followed.
http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=23086&cat=1
http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=23155&cat=1
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PRM Americas
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The Toronto Star, a Canadian newspaper, has recently investigated the immigration consulting industry. "Lost in Migration" found many examples of bad advice clogging immigration and refugee systems with unsuitable candidates, and preventing many would-be candidates from acceptance. Those affected have little recourse.
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/226065

Cuban leader Fidel Castro released "The Empire and the Independent Island". The essay describes the US's illegal occupation of Guantanamo, and says that although the US pays $4,085 a month in rent, only one check has ever been cashes, and that was by mistake in 1959.
Part I:
http://www.granma.cu/espanol/2007/agosto/mier15/el-imperio-y-la-isla-independiente.html (in Spanish)
http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID={A30E2FD7-8324-43A2-84C4-A45388563E13})&language=EN
Part II:
http://www.granma.cu/espanol/2007/agosto/juev16/el-imperio-y-la-isla-independiente(II).html (in Spanish)
http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID={6DCD39F7-547D-4E91-B5AC-A5815DA20101}&language=EN
Part III and Final:
http://www.granma.cu/espanol/2007/agosto/vier17/el-imperio-y-la-isla-independiente-(III-y-final).html (in Spanish)
http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID={59432BA0-FFD8-4188-8E79-3294DE3C5FD8}&language=EN

Ecuador has opened the campaign season for Constituent Assembly elections on 30 September. There are more then 3,000 candidates and 26 political parties. The Assembly will be responsible for drafting a new constitution. The state is paying for all campaign ads.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/6239563.html

Political violence mounts in Guatemala with the death on Monday of a local mayor. Meanwhile, Accion Ciudadana has launched a project to enhance election transparency.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N14388022.htm
http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9622057
http://www.transparency.org/publications/newsletter/2007/august_2007/anti_corruption_work/guatemala

Haitian rebel leader Guy Philippe denies US accusations of drug trafficking, and accuses the US of trying to silence him for political reasons.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/08/16/haiti.rebel.ap/index.html

Last Sunday Peru published a new map, making a claim to the sea border with Chile that led to Chile recalling its ambassador on Monday.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/08/13/chile.peru.reut/index.html

The US Army released the Suicide Event Report. In 2006 there were 99 suicides within the Army, 30 of which occurred in Iraq or Afghanistan. This is an increase from 87 suicides in 2005 and 67 in 2004. The Army's suicide rate for 2006 was 17.3 suicides per 100,000 soldiers, compared to the overall US population rate, for the same age and gender group, of roughly 19 suicides per 100,000 people. Nonetheless, this is the highest rate in 26 years.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=47074
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2150040,00.html

White House deputy chief of staff and Bush political advisor Karl Rove is resigning effective 31 August and returning to Texas.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118698747711695773.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/washington/14legacy.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2148236,00.html
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2861719.ece
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6945028.stm

Congressional Democrats say they will continue to demand Rove's testimony even after he leaves the White House.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/13/AR2007081300778.html

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released "ADVISE Could Support Intelligence Analysis More Effectively". The report addresses how well the Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight, and Semantic Enhancement system enables intelligence analysts to search rapidly and integrate information to identify and understand potential threats to homeland security. Several factors put ADVISE at risk. Directorate of Science and Technology (SandT) "program managers did not develop a formal business case for the research and development project, in part because they were unaware of requirements to do so. In addition, program managers did not address privacy impacts before implementing three pilot initiatives to support ADVISE. Further, due to inadequate data access and system usability, Office of Intelligence and Analysis (OIandA) analysts did not use the ADVISE pilot. Finally, because SandT did not effectively communicate and coordinate with DHS leadership about the benefits of ADVISE, departmental components have been unwilling to adopt ADVISE to support their intelligence analysis operations. As a result of privacy concerns, DHS has discontinued the three ADVISE pilots. Further, due to a lack of stakeholder commitment, program managers have stated that continuation of the ADVISE program is in question if an owner cannot be found to pay for future system operations and maintenance costs." OIG makes a number of recommendations for improvement.
http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_07-56_Jun07.pdf

Attorneys for the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation are appealing a case involving their designation as a terrorist financier based on secret information. One of the key arguments in the appeal is that the organization was illegally spied upon. In several cases, the Bush administration has claimed that any disclosure about surveillance programs would reveal state secrets, refused to say whether the accused were tapped, and moved to dismiss the complaints. This time, the accidental disclosure of top-secret National Security Agency (NSA) call logs has allowed the charity to pursue a suit in federal court. A class action suit brought against ATandT for monitoring phone lines without a warrant is also under appeal. Both cases are being heard in the Ninth District Court of Appeals in San Francisco, California.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0814/p01s02-usju.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-secret15aug15,0,3599833.story
http://www.abanet.org/abanet/media/release/news_release.cfm?releaseid=167
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/js1895.htm
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/js1703.htm
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/06092007_us_classified_proposal.pdf
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2007_08.php#005398

In an unprecedented order, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) has required the US government to respond to a request it received last week by the American Civil Liberties Union for orders and legal papers discussing the scope of the government's authority to engage in the secret wiretapping of Americans. According to the FISC's order, the ACLU's request "warrants further briefing," and the government must respond to it by August 31.
http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/safefree/fisc_order_08162007.pdf
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/spying/31356prs20070817.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/18/us/nationalspecial3/18fisa.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/17/AR2007081701923.html

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has proposed radical constitutional changes, including extending presidential terms and eliminating limits on re-election, while insisting that he does not want to rule indefinitely.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/08/16/venezuela.chavez.ap/index.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,2150105,00.html
--------------------------------------------------
PRM Asia Pacific
--------------------------------------------------
Kyrgyzstan is hosting the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), where energy and security are the main topics of discussion. they signed a declaration Thursday on international security and stability, and other issues.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/17/content_6547249.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6949021.stm
http://en.rian.ru/trend/scobishk/
http://www.sectsco.org/

Australian government and opposition Labor members of an inquiry into the Federal Government's intervention in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory have recommended proposed legislation be passed, but have called for some aspects to be softened.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/plea-for-intervention-to-be-eased/2007/08/13/1186857428991.html
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/legcon_ctte/nt_emergency/info.htm

Post-election violence continued in East Timor, including arson and rock throwing that has driven thousands from their homes. Opposition Fretilin and government political leaders have been traveling to condemn the violence and tell village chiefs they will be held accountable for any attacks. An international police force is maintaining order, and has arrested at least 34 people. Emergency aid is arriving.
http://ochaonline.un.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1080
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/14/asia/AS-GEN-East-Timor-Aid.php
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldbriefing/story/0,,2148269,00.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/11/asia/AS-GEN-East-Timor-Violence.php

Indonesian prosecutors have asked the Supreme Court to re-open the trial of the sole suspect in the assassination of human rights activist Munit Thalib.
Police recently discovered that Indonesia's intelligence agency BIN ordered several assassination attempts, and will put pressure on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to reform the agency.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/16/asia/AS-GEN-Indonesia-Poisoned-Activist.php
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/spy-agency-accused-of-black-magic-murder/2007/08/16/1186857683438.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4544568.stm

Kazakhstan's intelligence service and President Nursultan Nazarbayev appear to have conducted intelligence operations against international monitors during the 2005 presidential election. Today's election seems equally flawed. Nazarbayev's party has won every available seat in parliament. Election observers say the poll did not meet international standards.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/17/world/asia/17kazak.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/08/19/kazakhstan.elections.reut/index.html

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has worked with the UN Environment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC) in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on the Talas Rivers project, which developed a method of joint use and protection of water resources, using a framework for Kyrgyz and Kazakh cooperation. They also worked on the South Caucasus Cooperative River Monitoring projects.
http://www.osce.org/item/25903.html

Papua New Guinea's parliament has elected Michael Somare as Prime Minister for a second consecutive term. He has announced a temporary cabinet. Australia says it will continue to press for action over the smuggling of fugitive Australian lawyer Julian Moti out of the country.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/13/asia/AS-POL-Papua-New-Guinea-Prime-Minister.php
http://www.thenational.com.pg/081407/nation4.htm
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/tensions-rise-over-moti-affair/2007/08/13/1186857427638.html

In Papua New Guinea, the descendants of cannibals who killed and ate four Fijian missionaries in 1878 have held a reconciliation ceremony to apologize for their forefathers' actions.
http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?id=070816062541.0i0fiik3
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/16/wpapua116.xml

Peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will resume next week despite ongoing military offensives in the south.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2007/08/15/government.pursues.peace.efforts.amid.offensives.html

On Monday, Thai Prime Minister General Surayud Chulanon led a march of thousands to encourage support for the proposed Constitution, which he hopes will be approved in the 19 August national referendum, the first in Thailand's history. This was part of a national campaign to encourage people to vote. Anti-constitution protesters are also active. 15,000 troops have been deployed to increase security at 2,558 polling stations in the troubled south.
http://www.asianewsnet.net/news.php?aid=11616
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=8246
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6949349.stm
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PRM Europe
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The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) with the UN Environment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC), have been involved in the Dniester project in Moldova, Ukraine and Transdniester, where they have worked with non-government organizations to engage water basin end users, lobbying for Moldovan legislation and developing regulation on public participation in water decision-making. The Dniester project has institutionalized cooperation along the River basin, developed an action program to improve the legal framework covering the River's water resources and supported confidence-building activities and the exchange of information between Ukraine and Moldova. They also worked on the Sava River Basin in Croatia.
http://www.osce.org/item/25903.html

Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat have agreed to meet with the aim of restarting stalled peace talks. Resolving this situation is critical to the island's economic development, including oil interests and EU membership.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100013_17/08/2007_86851

Denmark has sent a team to survey the Arctic seabed, and dismisses Canadian and Russian efforts to claim the territory.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/82B753FB-E09A-4E64-A9B0-9B13885C9565.htm
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/10/europe/EU-GEN-Denmark-Arctic-Claims.php

Second Lieutenant Lukasz Kurowski has become the first Polish fatality since the country joined NATO-led forces in March 2002.
http://www.thenews.pl/archives/1012-Polish-soldier-shot-dead-in-Afghanistan.html

On Monday an independent team of foreign experts, including Russians, launched an investigation into the firing of a missile in Georgia. On Wednesday Georgia cited the experts in saying they have proved that their airspace was violated from Russia. The experts confirmed that an aircraft crossed into Georgia three times, and mentioned that Georgia did not have this capability, but were unable to identify the aircraft's type or origin. In response, Russia has dispatched 25 military experts to cooperate in the investigation. On Thursday, Georgia suggested that the incident may have been linked to Russian military exercises in the North Caucasus. On Friday, Georgia said it had given up trying to persuade Russia to accept responsibility for the missile, and Russia's air force chief of staff suggested that Georgia had planted the missile.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20070813/71245007.html
http://www.civil.ge/IMG2006/IGEReportMissileIncident.pdf
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L15140963.htm
http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/1423_august_16_2007/n_1423_1.htm
http://en.rian.ru/world/20070816/71915020.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/17/europe/EU-GEN-Georgia-Russia.php
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-29031420070817

South Ossetia, a breakaway region of Georgia warned that it could block water supplies to central Georgia through three irrigation canals if Tbilisi refused to re-establish water supplies to Tskhinvali. Georgia is responding with diplomatic initiatives.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20070813/71250431.html
http://www.osce.org/georgia/item_1_24814.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/16/news/ossetia.php

Seventeen years after German reunification, archivists have found the first written proof that East German border guards had been ordered to shoot to kill anyone trying to escape to West Germany, including women and children.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,499626,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/13/world/europe/13germany.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2738535,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,499668,00.html

Greece will hold a snap election on 16 September.

The UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) started the process to conduct new local elections in the province, which the UN has run since western forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting, but NATO says it will not permit this.
Serbia wants to move its army and police back to Kosovo despite the likely increase in ethnic tensions that would result.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23524&Cr=kosovo&Cr1=
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/17/europe/EU-GEN-Serbia-Kosovo-Security.php
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/08/6CBE2C8E-8551-49A4-8C72-5169FF30A595.html
http://www.newstatesman.com/200708160015

Russia has resumed long-range bomber air patrols. This is a Soviet-era practice President Putin says is necessary to respond to security threats from others. Referring to the US, Putin said, "We have decided to restore flights by Russian strategic aviation on a permanent basis.... In 1992, Russia unilaterally ended flights by its strategic aircraft to distant military patrol areas. Unfortunately, our example was not followed by everyone".
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070817/72189719.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6950986.stm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/18/wputin118.xml

Russian authorities have released the Japanese fishing vessel Hoshinmaru and its crew on Thursday, after it received a bond from the ship's owner. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea had ordered the payment and release in a 6 August ruling.
http://www.itlos.org/start2_en.html

Russian authorities are investigating an ultranationalist online video that appears to show the execution of two men from Tajikistan and Dagestan, and beheading of one. A group calling itself the National Socialists of Russia says it carried out the attack. A man claiming to have distributed the material is being questioned.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/14/europe/EU-GEN-Russia-Hate-Crimes.php

Russia has named a British diplomat as an MI6 agent responsible for recruiting an associate of Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian spy murdered with Polonium-210.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/16/wspy116.xml

"Turkey and Europe: The Way Ahead" is a new report from the International Crisis Group. It "examines the country's EU prospects, which have floundered since 2005 because of an impasse over Cyprus, EU enlargement fatigue and Europeans' wariness of Turkey's relative poverty and democratic shortcomings. Returning to power with a strong mandate, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan now has an excellent opportunity to launch further bold reforms to rejuvenate the accession process. The EU must respond with strategic vision and leadership, not simply short-sighted to-do lists."
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=4992

Turkey's governing AK Party is re-nominating the controversial Islamist Abdullah Gul for the presidency. Gul has promised to run as a secularist.
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-28257.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/71B0E2BE-7B2A-41A1-9FAD-B54C0399663F.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6946269.stm

Ukraine's Central Election Commission voted unanimously to register Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc for the September 30 elections. She had previously been barred on a technicality.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/08/16/016.html

Britain's frontline troops in Afghanistan are being killed at such a rate that one in 36 would not survive six months in the country
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2246580.ece

The Royal British Legion "believes that our Servicemen and women deserve more from their government. By committing themselves to put their lives on the line for their country, they deserve immediate medical treatment and just compensation if they are injured". They have launched a campaign to improve treatment of military personnel, following concerns that the forces in Afghanistan and Iraq are overstretched.
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/index.cfm?asset_id=516704

The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee released "Global Security: The Middle East". Among the findings is that Britain's boycott of Hamas is counterproductive.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmfaff/363/36303.htm

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond launched a "national conversation" that sets out the Scottish Nationalist Party's plans for a referendum on independence, and other options.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/08/13163352
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2148807,00.html

Racist attacks in Scotland soared following the terrorist attack on Glasgow airport. Most affected was Strathclyde, where of over 250 incidents more than 10 percent were directly linked to the attack. Most attacks are directed against Asians. There have also been attempts to blow up an Asian shop and a mosque.
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1267872007
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PRM Middle East
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Egyptian villagers are increasing protests over shortages of drinking water, while the state continues to irrigate golf courses.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=167271&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17

In Hamas-controlled Gaza, Palestinian militants are enthusiastically working out ways to create new jobs and reduce crime, while their Fatah counterparts are increasingly disillusioned. Hamas is also cracking down dissent, with limits imposed on the press and public gatherings. Hamas supporters beat Fatah demonstrators on Monday. The Fatah-allied attorney general was briefly detained on Thursday.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0814/p06s02-wome.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/world/middleeast/14mideast.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E99185EF-7F95-4360-BFEB-8EC9ED85C8C3.htm
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=84560
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6950125.stm

Citing security concerns, Israel has cut off fuel deliveries to Gaza, blacking out most of Gaza City.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1186557474582&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DD449494-A7A9-4C76-B2BE-BEFEE8032DA3.htm
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L17791857.htm

Sweden has suspended all commercial flights to and from Iraq following an apparent rocket attack last week.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/14/europe/EU-GEN-Sweden-Iraq-Flights-Halted.php

Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki says that the Iraq crisis summit will start soon. In the meantime, an alliance of four Shia and Kurdish political parties has been formed to attempt to break the deadlock and arrange a summit. Sunni Arabs condemned the new alliance. Although talks are proceeding, there is no real progress.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GRA249861.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6949890.stm
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=84605
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/18/AR2007081800461.html

German Institute for International and Security Affairs researcher Guido Steinberg has completed "Iraq Between Federalism and Collapse". The study argues that Iraq is politically, ethnically and religiously fractured. Federalism is the last best hope, and if that fails the results could be devastating.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,500112,00.html
http://www.swp-berlin.org/de/produkte/swp_studie.php?id=7808&PHPSESSID=b948d59819a238d9be99c2004de57f8d (in German)

Following the murders last Saturday of Diwaniya Governor Khalil Jalil Hamza and police chief Major General Khaled Hassan have led to fears that factional fighting could quickly escalate and spread.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12386152.htm

Yasser Arafat's wealthy widow Suha has been stripped of Tunisian citizenship. She is now having fun living in Malta.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2866781.ece
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/15/warafat115.xml
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-28981120070814
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PRM South Asia
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Afghanistan hosted a 3-day workshop on Protection of Civilians in Afghanistan. Lack of security has rendered much of the southern region inaccessible for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and largely prohibits the access needed for the investigation of deaths and injuries of those caught up in the conflict. The number of civilians killed doubled from 2005 to 2006 and resurgent fighting in the south displaced 80,000 during the same period.
http://www.unama-afg.org/
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/08/12/world/asia/20070812_AFGHAN_MAPS_SHOW_index.html

Recent hostage dramas in Afghanistan have given Taleban media representatives an opportunity to put forward their message to a broad global audience.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/August/subcontinent_August749.xml&section=subcontinent&col=

India and Pakistan are marking 60 years of independence.
"India and Pakistan celebrate 60 years of independence"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,,2148921,00.html
"Sixty bitter years after Partition"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6926057.stm
"Tomorrow's World Power Turns 60"
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,499166,00.html
"Poverty and Riches in Booming India: Tomorrow's World Power Turns 60"
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,499166,00.html
"The Shared Past and Future: Part 1, Poll"
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/210147.html
"Pakistan marks 60th anniversary"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6945206.stm
"Pakistan Celebrates With Zeal, Fervor"
http://www.pakistantimes.net/2007/08/15/top.htm
"Pakistan releases 134 Indian prisoners"
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/13/content_6526662.htm
"Memories of a family torn in two"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6940781.stm

Nepal's former Maoist rebels plan peaceful protests to ensure that elections are held in November as planned. The interim parliament has made good progress, passing the Constituent Assembly Elections Court Bill 2064 on Friday.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL268229.htm
http://www.ekantipur.com/kolnews.php?&nid=119452

In southern Nepal, ethnic rights protests have continued. On Thursday there was a serious incident in a village school, when the Tarai People's Liberation Front shot and seriously injured a teacher, whom they claim had opposed their activities. Villagers retaliated, killing two of the attackers, and injuring two others.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/17/asia/AS-GEN-Nepal-Southern-Violence.php

Sri Lanka's minister of science and technology Tissa Vitharana is chairing the All Party Representative Committee (APRC), which is a group of political parties tasked to reach consensus on a cross-party devolution proposal. Vitharana says a broad consensus has been reached and he expects to provide a draft to President Mahinda Rajapakse by the end of next week. However, the key issue of whether Sri Lanka is considered "unitary" has not been resolved. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) demand an independent state in the north and east of the island, an option Rajapakse has rejected. Some of the parties participating in the APRC said that its failure to finalize the draft report as due on Wednesday suggests that the effort is dead.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/15/content_6537765.htm
http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-28991820070815
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=23021

3. AML/CFT Monitor

Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism is not simply an issue of compliance with local regulations. It is a global crime that can only be understood by crossing national or regional boundaries. Subscribers to the monthly AML/CFT Monitor receive information and analysis of worldwide incidents, trends, legal and regulatory issues, modalities, and related topics such as financial fraud and narcoterrorism.
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=TP
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AML/CFT Incidents/Cases
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Australia has jailed Vietnam Airlines pilot Van Dang Tran for up to 4.5 years after he was found guilty of participating in a A$6.5 million money laundering scheme.
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s2008189.htm

An unspecified insurgent group in the Indian state of Manipur has been demanding 30 percent of the profits pharmaceutical companies earn in the state, leading to limits on shipment and a shortage of drugs and supplies.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=0a05bdae-b243-486c-b9bc-768e5415187f&MatchID1=4510

Lebanese authorities have arrested Palestinian brothers Youssef and Younes Khaled Shibli, and two Lebanese men, Ismail Ali Sayyad and Mohammad Mahmoud Shabbanfor The three Fatah al-Islam members delivered about $40,000 to Fatah al-Islam deputy commander Abu Hureira, prior to his death, and participated in bombings.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=84527

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has admitted that support for militants emanating from Pakistan has caused problems for Afghanistan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/13/world/asia/13afghan.html

A Thai Third Army Commander claims that an anti-constitution group is illegally transferring money from a Burmese casino to buy votes.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=8232

In the US state of Arizona, Jeffrey Meranto was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution for money laundering related to tax underreporting and drug trafficking.
http://lawfuel.com/show-release.asp?ID=14214

In California, Delroy Barnes, Wilfred Blow, and George Burton, were charged with laundering the proceeds of illegal narcotics through US Postal Service money orders.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070817/NEWS01/308170020

Texas officials arrested 20 suspected drug traffickers, including Sergio Maldonado, the leader of a Gulf Cartel cell in North Texas. They will face charges of conspiracy, drug trafficking, and money laundering.
http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_228180412.html
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AML/CFT Legislation and Regulation
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To counter money laundering and drug trafficking in Afghanistan, Russian President Putin has proposed setting up security zones around the country.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20070816/71835466.html

Algeria reports the number of suspicious activity notifications jumped from 46 in January to 60 this month. The criminal funds were mainly transferred to Belgium, France, Lebanon and Turkey. Most notifications were submitted by the Local Development Bank (BDL) and Algerian People's Credit (CPA).
http://www.elkhabar.com/FrEn/lire.php?ida=77986&idc=52

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has released the 2007 Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada. This year approximately 950 organized crime groups were identified, compared to about 800 in 2006, operating in all communities, from major urban centers to rural areas. This rise is largely due to enhanced reporting. Last year the report identified the relationship between guns and gangs. This year builds on that by addressing the illegal firearms market. Illegal firearms are acquired through domestic theft and smuggling. Most smuggling is from the US, including licensed US dealers, straw purchasers, false identification, secondary US markets, and theft.
http://www.cisc.gc.ca/annual_reports/annual_report2007/frontpage_2007_e.htm

The Palestine Islamic Bank has frozen accounts of Hamas' security forces after mistakenly paying wages to its members. Hamas calls the move illegal. The freeze was undertaken at the request of the Palestinian Authority.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6944741.stm

German prosecutors are putting suspected Russian mafia boss "Alexander A." and two associates on trial for laundering EU8 million through German real estate deals. They are suspected of close connections with Russian oligarchs. In a groundbreaking approach, the indictment does not furnish evidence of the predicate crime. Instead, charges are based solely on the defendants' alleged membership of a criminal organization.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,499854,00.html

The Calabrian mafia hit in Germany this week raised the specter of an expansion of organized crime. The 'Ndrangheta are already laundering money in Germany.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2741538,00.html

Interpol has circulated an arrest warrant for Raghad Saddam Husayn Al Majid, the eldest daughter of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. She is wanted in Iraq for multiple crimes, including terrorist financing.
http://www.interpol.int/public/Data/Wanted/Notices/Data/2006/06/2006_54606.asp
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/hunt-for-saddams-daughter/2007/08/18/1186857839773.html

The Financial Action Task Force recently released a mutual AML/CFT evaluation of Greece. It identified numerous inadequacies in legal requirements, capacity, prevention, reporting, and other areas. They explain, "The AML Law came into force in August 1995 and was amended in December 2005 in order to expand the scope and clarify certain aspects of the definition of ML. In general, it appears that the ML offence is not effectively implemented. The limited data on prosecutions and convictions for ML show that there is a very low rate of conviction. The criminalization of terrorist financing is very recent (July 2004) and there have been no FT cases as yet. The provisions in relation to confiscation of criminal proceeds do not fully comply with the international standards and the lack of statistics inhibits the measurement of the current level of implementation. The level of implementation of S/RES/1267(1999) and S/RES/1373(2001) is inadequate. Generally, the data and other information available are not sufficient to positively conclude that there is an effective system for investigating, prosecuting and taking related action on ML and FT cases in Greece". The evaluators made a number of recommendations for improvement.
http://www.fatf-gafi.org/dataoecd/2/55/38987373.pdf

India's Finance Ministry is augmenting the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to include stock market trading, terrorism, wildlife protection and criminal misconduct by a public servant under its purview. At this time, the government does not believe that terrorists have infiltrated the stock markets. They are also calling on banks to install software in support of suspicious activity reporting.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/211055.html
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=90965
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Banking_Finance_/Software_to_track_all_your_bank_dealings/articleshow/2282156.cms

Thailand's Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) on Friday agreed to include anti-money laundering mechanisms in a draft organic law on House elections in a bid to stave off electoral fraud and vote buying.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/180807_News/18Aug2007_news13.php

US Secretary of State Rice has designated Fatah al-Islam as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Organization.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/aug/90852.htm

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added to its list of Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers 23 Colombian individuals and 23 Colombian companies tied to Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia ("Chupeta"), a leader of Colombia's North Valle drug cartel.
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp535.htm
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AML/CFT Modalities
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The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has released the 2007 Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada. It identifies these key criminal markets:
* Illicit Drugs: marijuana, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, methamphetamine
* Financial Crime: Mass marketing fraud, mortgage fraud, securities fraud, payment card fraud, money laundering
* Human Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons
* Intellectual Property Theft
* Vehicle Theft
http://www.cisc.gc.ca/annual_reports/annual_report2007/frontpage_2007_e.htm

Regarding money laundering, CISC reports that "The International Monetary Fund estimates that between $22 and $55 billion is laundered annually in Canada. Criminal groups will continue to manipulate Internet financial services, such as online payment systems and e-currencies as they can be highly secure, anonymous and operate outside the regulated banking system. In addition, crime groups will continue to insulate themselves through simpler laundering methods ranging from the use of cash-intensive businesses such as restaurants and casinos, to the purchase of luxury goods.
http://www.cisc.gc.ca/annual_reports/annual_report2007/frontpage_2007_e.htm

A recent Financial Action Task Force mutual AML/CFT evaluation of Greece identified a number of AML/CFT vulnerabilities, but emphasized that no comprehensive study has been undertaken. Law enforcement investigations have identified the following criminal activities that are predicates for money laundering:
"narcotics trafficking, trafficking in human beings and illegal immigration (which also generate forgery of documents as a secondary crime), prostitution, cigarette and other forms of smuggling, large scale tax evasion and serious fraud or theft and illicit gambling activities. Often, these crimes are conducted by criminal organizations originating in former constituent republics of the Soviet Union, as well as in Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, and other Balkan countries. Money laundering in Greece is controlled by organized local criminal groups. Greek organized criminal elements also play a significant role in the laundering of the proceeds of crime associated with narcotics trafficking and other serious offences. The police indicated that the various types of organized criminal groups are becoming more international in character, are using multiple different methods to launder their illegal proceeds, and are using modern and sophisticated technology in their criminal activity. Another risk factor is the large cash economy in Greece. Cash is traditionally the preferred method of payment by many in business, but also facilitates a widespread 'black' economy based on tax evasion. Various sources suggest that special additional risk factors in the Greek system are the potential abuse by lawyers of the wide scope and application of lawyer-client privilege laws."
http://www.fatf-gafi.org/dataoecd/2/55/38987373.pdf

Newly declassified documents obtained by the National Security Archive that detail US concerns over Pakistan's relationship with the Taleban in the seven years leading up to 9/11, include two documents that link Harakat ul-Ansar, a militant Kashmiri group funded directly by the government of Pakistan, [Doc 10] to terrorist training camps shared by Osama bin Laden in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. [Doc 16].
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB227/index.htm

4. Emerging Threat Monitor

Climate change, pandemics, and global economic imbalances are just a few of the threats emerging in this 21st century. Subscribers to the Emerging Threat Monitor stay a step ahead with monthly analysis of trends and responses worldwide. It offers executives a heads-up of new risks, and details of the policies and best practices gleaned from every country around the globe.
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=TP
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ETM Corruption and Transnational Crime
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Water governance was one of the most important issues on the World Water Week agenda. Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut said, "The OSCE has an important role to play in making use of water issues as a strategic factor of development and peace. Within the OSCE region, there are some 180 watercourses extending over the territory of more than one country. Co-operation is the only way to enhance development, security and stability throughout our common area". OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities coordinator Bernard Snoy adds, "Water is a political issue and can be a vehicle for enhancing democracy, public participation and for empowering local stakeholders". Improved water resource governance is also a prerequisite for achieving the goals as set out in the 2003 Maastricht Strategy Document for the economic and environmental dimension, in which participating States increased their commitments to ensure sustainable development.
http://www.osce.org/item/25903.html

The Santiago del Estero Small Farmers' Movement (MOCASE) revealed an incident of corruption involving both Argentina and Spain. Since then, they have been harassed and threatened.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38861

China has jailed former transport official Liu Kui for 15 years following his conviction for corruption and bribery.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/6240617.html

Papua New Guinea has become the 91st country to ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption.
http://www.transparency.org/news_room/latest_news/press_releases_nc/2007/2007_07_17_tipng_uncac

Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso, the son of the President of the Republic of Congo and director of the public agency that sells the country's oil, has lost an appeal to prevent his financial records from being made public, as Global Witness has done to demonstrate a pattern of possible skimming from oil sales. The High Court ruled that there was an important public interest in the publication of the financial documents, which came from a Hong Kong court in a vulture fund case.
http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_get.php/483/judgmentgwsassou150807final.doc
http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_get.php/482/the_judgement.doc
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6948281.stm

South Africa's Public Service Commission reported that the financial misconduct of national and provincial government departments has cost the country millions. In fiscal 2005-6 there were 771 reported cases.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=316552

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is on trial for the first of at least 12 cases of corruption. Thaksin's lawyers represented him, and because he and his wife failed to show at their trial, arrest warrants have been issued. Thailand is seeking his extradition from London, where he has been living.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=8233
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/17/wthaksin117.xml

Uganda is setting up an anti-corruption court.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news08143.php

Texas oilman David Chalmers and his two companies, Bayoil USA Inc. and Bayoil Supply and Trading Ltd., on Friday pleaded guilty to paying millions of dollars in secret kickbacks to Iraq in connection with the United Nations oil-for-food program.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17214873.htm
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ETM Economies and Financial Systems
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Following global market disruptions flowing from the US collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market, the US Federal Reserve "approved a 50 basis point reduction in the primary credit rate to 5-3/4 percent, to narrow the spread between the primary credit rate and the Federal Open Market Committee's target federal funds rate to 50 basis points. The Board is also announcing a change to the Reserve Banks' usual practices to allow the provision of term financing for as long as 30 days, renewable by the borrower. These changes will remain in place until the Federal Reserve determines that market liquidity has improved materially". Although Asian markets had been wobbly in the morning, after this announcement UK and US shares soared.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/monetary/2007/200708172/default.htm
http://business.guardian.co.uk/markets/story/0,,2151068,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6950731.stm
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=avHZRiysrTho

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has released its annual report. Director-General Pascal Lamy's foreword says that the most demanding task WTO this year is the conclusion of the Doha Development Round. The annual report describes this and other work on trade and environment, and on the Aid for Trade initiative for developing countries.
http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/anrep_e/anrep07_e.pdf
http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/reser_e/annual_report_e.htm

The International Labor Organization (ILO) welcomed delegates to an Asia-Pacific Forum on Growth, Employment, and Decent Work. ILO Director General Juan Somavia wrapped up the conference with a call to balance economic growth with national measures to ensure social welfare, and warned that weak job growth is not politically sustainable because over the long run it will expose different forms of social tensions already being expressed in various ways.
http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Media_and_public_information/Press_releases/lang--en/WCMS_083650/index.htm

ILO released "Visions for Asia's Decent Work Decade: Sustainable Growth and Jobs to 2015". The report finds that Asia's vast labor force of some 1.8 billion is expected to grow by more than 200 million by 2015, posing a series of environmental, economic and social challenges to the region and its rapidly growing economies.
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/asiaforum/download/visions.pdf

Growth in France and Germany slumped in the second quarter, at only .3 percent, down from .7 percent in the first quarter and below estimates of .5 and .4 percent respectively.
http://www.insee.fr/en/indicateur/indic_conj/indconj_frame.asp?ind_id=26
http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/Sites/destatis/Internet/EN/press/pr/2007/08/PE07__319__811,templateId=renderPrint.psml

More than 13 percent of Iranians live below the poverty line, at a time when prices for basic foods and services are rising.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=84475

The Central Bank of Nigeria has introduced a new policy direction that includes redenomination of the national currency and the goal of making the naira fully convertible by 2009. The Federal Executive Council is reviewing the new policy.
http://www.cenbank.org/OUT/SPEECHES/2007/Govadd14-8-07.pdf
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=86342
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f115082007.html
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f116082007.html
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ETM Environment and Climate Change
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Forests can absorb up to nine times more carbon dioxide than the production of biofuels could achieve on the same area of land.
http://www.worldlandtrust.org/news/2007/08/biofuels-costing-earth.htm

"Carbon Emissions Management" describes how climate change has altered international business, and describes ways the insurance marketplace must respond to new regulations on carbon emissions and other climate change risks.
http://www.rims.org/MGTemplate.cfm?Section=RMMagazine&NavMenuID=128&template=/Magazine/DisplayMagazines.cfm&IssueID=303&AID=3434&Volume=54&ShowArticle=1

Environmentalists and governments are campaigning against bottled water, and businesses are capitalizing on this bandwagon.
http://www.business-standard.com/opinionanalysis/storypage.php?leftnm=4&subLeft=2&chklogin=N&autono=294363&tab=r
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-water14aug14,0,5611898.story

In Brazil the destruction of the Amazon rainforest has decreased by 25 percent.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6944808.stm
http://www.mma.gov.br/ascom/ultimas/index.cfm?id=3537 (in Portuguese)

The 30th Congress of the International Association of Theoretical and Applied Limnology met this week in Montreal, where discussions of the growing problem of blue-green algae, whose worldwide expansion is fueled by warming climates, was a major topic of discussion.
http://www.sil2007.uqam.ca/
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=61db44ae-6352-48dd-992b-bb6c74d14d87&k=49676s
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=9d683646-fd3c-4a99-8727-791d975899c6
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/08/14/bluegreen-algae.html
http://limnology.eeob.iastate.edu/

Recent reports have suggested that the effects of radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster has left an exclusion zone in which there is a thriving ecosystem with rare species. A recent analysis of the impact on birds found that the negative effects were considerably greater than previously assumed, and that Chernobyl is no haven for wildlife.
http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/content/q56105043h53220x/?p=4d6fc799cd35403494aba0665c321d73&pi=17
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6946210.stm

A UK government briefing paper obtained by the Guardian reveals that Britain has no hope of getting near the EU's goal of 20 percent of energy from renewables by 2020, and even getting to nine percent from the current 2 percent would be challenging. The document suggests ways to juggle statistics to make the targets easier to achieve. Responding to the story, Prime Minister Brown said that the targets are ambitious and it would be a major challenge. However, that was not only for the UK, but was for all EU member states, and people should remember that the UK was one of the few EU states that was on course the meet our Kyoto targets of cutting carbon emissions. It was now for the Commission to propose how the EU-wide target be met by all member states.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/13/renewableenergy.energy
http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page12869.asp
http://www.newstatesman.com/200708160010
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6944212.stm

A climate change protest camp has been set up at London's Heathrow airport, under a limited ban. Participants oppose airport expansion and increased air traffic. Hundreds are expected to join in the weeklong protest. There is a significant police presence amid fears that militants may use the demonstration for illegal purposes.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2841356.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2148793,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6945300.stm
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/article2861742.ece
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/14/nheathrow114.xml

A US federal appeals court has upheld an order blocking Shell from undertaking exploratory drilling of the north coast of Alaska.
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/press/beaufort-oil-08-15-2007.html

Oil in aboveground tanks can leak into soil and nearby water, threatening human health and wildlife. To prevent certain oil spills, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule in 1973. EPA estimated that, in 2005, about 571,000 facilities were regulated under this rule. When finalizing amendments to the rule in 2002 and 2006 to both strengthen
the rule and reduce industry burden, EPA analyzed the amendments' potential impacts and concluded that the amendments were economically justified. However, EPA's economic analysis:
• did not analyze alternatives to the amendments, such as alternative lead times for industry to comply or alternative levels of stringency;
• did not present the compliance costs that EPA expects facilities to incur or save in the second and subsequent years under the amendments in comparable present value terms (through discounting); and
• provided only limited general information on the amendments' potential benefits in reducing the risk of an oil spill and its potential effects on human health and the environment.
In "Aboveground Oil Storage Tanks: Observations on EPA's Economic Analyses of Amendments to the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure Rule" the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommends that EPS improve its analysis by more closely following Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines. EPA says it will continue gathering data to improve its understanding of the regulated universe and oil spill risks and to address uncertainty and quantify benefits.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-763
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ETM Human Rights
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Botswana's Civil Aviation Department has issued new regulations that if pilots and air traffic controllers are found to be HIV positive their license will be revoked. This is in violation of the government's own HIV/AIDS policy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6950240.stm

Passport Canada has apologized for denying passports to three Sikh children because they were wearing turbans, a religious requirement protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The parents, also wearing them, were given passports. Passport Canada says the case is an isolated mistake.
http://www.worldsikh.org/0707/passportrejections.htm
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/08/17/bc-passportcanada.html

Kenyan journalists took to the streets of Nairobi to protest a proposed law that would require them to reveal secret sources. On Tuesday the attorney general said he would advise the president to veto the bill.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708150337.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6947884.stm
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73768

A Moroccan court sentenced journalist Mustapha Hormat Allah of "Al Watan al An" and the weekly's director, Abderrahim Ariri to eight months and a suspended 6-month prison term, respectively, for publishing secret military intelligence documents.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=316690

Russia's national media regulator has required the BBC Russian-language service be removed from the schedule of the last BBC FM distributor carrying it, deeming the broadcasts foreign propaganda.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20070817/72197435.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6951710.stm

Every Disabled Child Matters (EDCM) has launched a new campaign calling for the British government to end child poverty for families with disabled children by increasing support and awareness. 93 percent of families with disabled children suffer financial difficulties.
http://www.edcm.org.uk/Page.asp?originx_525gx_14990602932974f93t_2007814948p

A US judge has ruled that a lawsuit claiming that Chevron violated human rights in Nigeria should proceed. Chevron stands accused of recruiting military and police personnel to fire upon oil protesters in 1998, leaving two dead, as well as complicity in attacks on villages. This ruling could open the door to similar actions against other oil companies operating in Nigeria, or under similar circumstances.
http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN624458.html
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=86450
http://www.earthrights.org/legaldocs/rulings_on_chevrons_summary_judgment_motions.html

In January, officials in the departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would soon sign waivers helping refugees in camps outside the United States who had been barred entry under the USA Patriot Act and the Real ID Act because they had provided "material support" to armed groups such as the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, even though some of those groups have not officially been designated terrorist organizations. The waivers would also help applicants who were forced to aid some terrorist groups under duress. More than seven months later only four asylum seekers and five refugees have been resettled, and more than a thousand remain in limbo.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/12/AR2007081201013.html
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ETM Infectious Diseases
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Canadian researchers with the University Health Network have found that measuring the expression of certain genes during the early stages of illness may be able to predict a patient's risk of developing serious or even fatal complications for severe pneumonias with no known cure, such as Severe Acute Respiratory syndrome (SARS). The finding was based on a new study of Toronto SARS patients.
http://www.uhn.ca/news/Index.asp?ID=4500&category=8
http://www.thestar.com/article/247165

Belgium researchers have discovered that adjuvantation confers significant antigen sparing that could increase production capacity of pandemic influenza vaccine and suggests that such a vaccine could be deployed for immunization before a pandemic.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUKHAR74835520070817
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607612975/abstract

An Indonesian woman has died of bird flu in Bali, which was transmitted from her 5-year-old daughter. Yet another case occurred later in the week. These are the first human deaths from the virus on the hugely popular resort island, and could strike a serious blow to the tourism industry. Of 104 laboratory-confirmed cases to date in Indonesia, 83 have been fatal.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/08/13/birdflu.bali.reut/index.html
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/13/2003939.htm?section=world
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/bali-bird-flu-deaths-spark-tourism-fears/2007/08/13/1186857427632.html
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_08_16/en/index.html

Of 321 laboratory-confirmed human H5N1 cases, 194 have been fatal.
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/country/cases_table_2007_08_16/en/index.html

The number of children dying from malaria has dropped sharply in areas of Kenya where the disease is endemic as a result of a campaign to provide free insecticide-treated mosquito nets to families.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73761

Marburg hemorrhagic fever has been confirmed in a Ugandan mine worker and one of his close contacts. International teams are working to contain the deadly virus, and ecological studies are underway to establish the hosts and mode of natural transmission of the virus in the environment, particularly on the mines and surrounding area.
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_08_14/en/index.html
http://www.who.int/features/2007/marburg_virus/en/index.html

The Society for Applied Microbiology reports that scientists are researching the use of bacteriophages to counter the spread of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a technique once used by Red Army soldiers.
http://www.sfam.org.uk/newsarticle.php?170
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ETM Legal Systems
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About 60 percent of inmates in Nigerian prisons await trial, often for years, in unsanitary, overcrowded conditions.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73777
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR440192007

As results trickle in from Sierra Leone's presidential and parliamentary elections on 11 August, losing parties are likely to challenge the results in court. The problem is that the country is still emerging from a civil war and its institutions - particularly the judiciary - remain weak.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73760

The UK Independent Monitoring Board of HM Prison Pentonville published an annual report that describes Pentonville prison as a place of "endemic squalor and poverty of regime which ought to be a matter of deep shame to Government in twenty-first century Britain".
http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/subsection.asp?id=1087

Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary have published a follow-up review of Scientific Support Services within the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), which finds encouraging progress, but warns that many frontline officers still lack forensic awareness and the training delivered so far to these members of staff had not resulted in significant improvements.
http://www.cjini.org/News/documents/150807INETEXECMEDIARELEASEPSNISCIENTIFICSUPPORTREVIEW.pdf

An overhaul of Scotland's penal system to end the practice of automatic early release has been put on hold amid concern among ministers that key elements may be unworkable.
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1271872007

FBI Director Mueller notes of a hospital room meeting with former Attorney General Ashcroft confirms testimony of former deputy attorney general James Comey and contradicts recent testimony of current Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
http://judiciary.house.gov/newscenter.aspx?A=842
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/16/AR2007081601358.html

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a company cannot arbitrarily revise its contract online, without first notifying its users. The July ruling affects nine Western states in the district, and involved a case in which a phone service contract was altered after a merger, with major contract changes posted online, but customers were not otherwise informed.
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/1665312C85BA50868825731C00781F5D/$file/0675424.pdf

The American Bar Association's House of Delegates, meeting in San Francisco, has debated and adopted a number of ABA policies, including:
* A recommendation that urges Congress to override the president's executive order of July 20 that alters the US government's international obligations under the Geneva Conventions regarding the treatment and interrogation of detainees. The policy calls for detainees to be treated with the minimum protections set out in the U.S. Army Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogation of September 2006.
* A recommendation that "supports procedures and standards designed to ensure that, whenever possible, federal civil cases are not dismissed based solely on the state secrets privilege." If a plaintiff can prove a case with non-privileged evidence, the court should only dismiss the case if the court also finds in a confidential review that the defense would be substantially impaired by the inability to use privileged evidenced in its case, according to the proposal. The state secrets doctrine is at issue in litigation across the nation, and has been used extensively since Sept. 11, 2001.
* Approved a report that Congress should act in response to a recent court ruling on pay discrimination. In May, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., that Lilly M. Ledbetter – a female employee of Goodyear – could not sue for equal wages because she did not file her complaint within the 180-day time limit specified in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The new policy states that the ABA urges Congress to "ensure that in claims involving discrimination in compensation, the statute of limitations runs from each payment reflecting the claimed unlawful disparity." If adopted by Congress, such a policy would effectively allow employees to sue for pay discrimination at any time it is discovered.
* Address the appointment, retention and replacement of United States Attorneys and stating that their "professional judgment and discretion should be insulated from improper partisan political considerations."
* Encourage governments to facilitate voting by all individuals with disabilities, including those with cognitive impairments that increase in frequency with age.
* Call on law firms to discontinue mandatory age-based retirement policies and replace them with individual evaluations of senior partners.
* Urge support and services until at least age 21 for youth aging-out of the foster care system and transitioning to self-sufficiency, and placement of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth in homes that protect them from discrimination and violence.
* Affirm that dependence on alcohol or other drugs is a disease that should receive equivalent coverage under insurance as other diseases.
* Encourage governments, businesses, nongovernmental organizations and others to integrate rule-of-law initiatives with global environmental issues.
* Urge Congress to pass legislation strengthening protections for victims of human trafficking.
* Support international standards on judicial independence.
* Adopt principles to govern criminal legal system responses to major disasters that maintain fidelity to the rule of law.
http://www.abanet.org/abanet/media/release/news_release.cfm?releaseid=167
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ETM Natural Resources
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Denmark is the latest country to target resources in the Arctic seabed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6941134.stm
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/08/our-view-on-law.html

Gold miners in Guyana illegally used mercury, which has seeped into rivers and streams and made scores of indigenous villagers seriously ill.
http://www.miamiherald.com/915/story/205735.html
http://www.wwfguianas.org/gpa/index.html

Mexican miners at the Cananea copper pit have been on strike fore more than three weeks because they believe the mine is unsafe.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17457221.htm

As violence surrounds them, Somali officials are debating the use of the country's natural resources, particularly oil.
http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Debate_rages_in_Somalia_over_oil_rights.shtml

The Fur people of Sudan say they are not profiting from their natural resources.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3FCDE853-533D-4DBB-BF4A-04ACA50C107B.htm

A US federal appeals court has upheld an order blocking Shell from undertaking exploratory drilling of the north coast of Alaska.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N15288618.htm

Theft of copper wiring for train signals caused serious delays to the Dallas, Texas DART rail system.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/081607dnmetDART.38d0b68c.html

Yemen's Ministry of Oil and Minerals said that the percentage of assets controlled by Yemen would reach 90 percent in Occidental Company, 85 percent in the Austrian OMV Company and 93 percent in the national oil company Safer by the end of 2007. Yemen does not yet have sufficient qualified employees to do without foreign assistance.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news136237.htm

Zambian environmental authorities have approved three copper, gold, and uranium mining projects.
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page66?oid=25102&sn=Detail
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ETM Populations
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Don't miss the Al Jazeera special feature, "Abandoned by the world", about the plight of the world's stateless people.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/790225F4-CD7E-4CBF-B30A-7EAE12CD5339.htm

In Bangladesh, Indigenous people in Rajshahi demanded constitutional recognition of their rights and introduction of their mother tongues in primary education, to increase the literacy rate.
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=10

Germany's Federal Statistical Office reports that some 200,000 applications for parental allowance were granted in the first half of 2007. After around 60,000 applications had been granted in the first quarter, their number rose to 140,000 in the second quarter. For all of Germany, about 17,000 parental allowance applications filed by fathers were granted from January to June 2007; that is a share of 8.5 percent. If applicants reduce their working hours or give up work, the parental allowance will amount to 67 percent of their previous net earnings, with a minimum amount of EU 300 and a maximum of EU 1,800 per month. Non-employed persons also receive the minimum amount of EU 300. This minimum amount of parental allowance has been paid to 54 percent (108,000) of the mothers and fathers whose applications were approved in the first half of 2007.
http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/Sites/destatis/Internet/EN/press/pr/2007/08/PE07__321__22922,templateId=renderPrint.psml

Indigenous communities in the Republic of Congo have set up a national network to promote their interests and lobby authorities to support marginalized groups. They had been exploited in recent elections.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73720
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73742
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ETM Social Responsibility
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Former Strategic Director of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Paul Hohnen has released a paper on the use of government soft power to encourage companies' involvement in social and environmental issues.
http://www.hohnen.net/articles/2007_july_6_hohnen_soft_power_discussion_paper.pdf

This article discusses corporate social responsibility in Africa.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708150550.html

Hudson, a global employment agency, reports that 75 percent of US workers think companies have responsibilities to the community, but a resounding 70 percent don't consider a prospective employer's corporate social responsibility (CSR) program very important when it comes to evaluating job offers. Only seven percent of today's work force claims that they have ever rejected an offer based on the lack of a company's CSR program.
http://us.hudson.com/node.asp?kwd=08-15-07-corporate-social-responsibility
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ETM Technology
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The CD has turned 25.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6950845.stm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/09931D48-39FA-47BA-83FC-A564A91E1A57.htm

Purdue University researchers have demonstrated a new device that promised to significantly reduce the heat generated by semiconductors, using tiny ionic wind engines.
http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2007b/070813GarimellaIonic.html

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers have prototyped a lightweight paper battery that could serve as an enhanced power storage device for next generation consumer electronics.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/paperthin-battery-unveiled/2007/08/14/1186857468350.html?sssdmh=dm16.273747
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ETM Weapons (WMD, Proliferation)
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Six-party talks are underway in China regarding efforts to end North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/15/content_6538802.htm
http://www.state.gov/p/eap/trvl/2007/90866.htm
http://www.state.gov/p/eap/rls/rm/2007/91214.htm

Chinese President Hu Jintao, speaking at the SCO forum, called for peaceful negotiated settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/6240778.html

India's left remains opposed to the nuclear cooperation agreement with the US, but the ruling Congress party has launched a diplomatic offensive to win them over. Meanwhile, the US says it will scrap the agreement if New Delhi conducts a nuclear weapons test.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/210502.html
http://pmindia.nic.in/lspeech.asp?id=569
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200708132101.htm
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/210483.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India_US_flaunt_what_suits_them/articleshow/2283661.cms
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/aug/90050.htm

Japan is keeping a watching eye on the India-US agreement.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Picture_on_Indo-US_N-deal_becoming_clear_Japan/articleshow/2282898.cms

Australia is also raising nuclear proliferation concerns following Prime Minister Howard's decision to allow export of uranium to India. The plans have run into trouble over India's refusal to guarantee they will not conduct future nuclear weapons tests.
http://www.pm.gov.au/media/Release/2007/Media_Release24496.cfm
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/dirtybomb-warning-over-sale-of-uranium/2007/08/15/1186857521896.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/uranium-deal-with-india-hits-hurdles/2007/08/16/1186857683428.html

Vietnam has signed the Additional Protocol to its nuclear safeguards agreement.
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2007/vietnam_sgseminar.html

The European Commission announced a new medical intelligence system, MediSys, which will provide health authorities with real-time information about disease outbreaks or industrial accidents. It could also provide information that would allow quicker and more effective identification of and response to a bioterrorism incident.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1225

A US federal judge has ruled that five reporters must testify about their government sources in the case of bioterrorism expert Steven Hatfill, who claims the government provided information about him in the FBI investigation of the 2001 anthrax mailings, in violation of the federal Privacy Act.
https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2003cv1793-202
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/washington/14hatfill.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/13/AR2007081300991.html

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released "Better Management Needed for the National Bio-Surveillance Integration System Program". The report finds that the National Bio-Surveillance Integration System (NBIS) is falling short:
"Specifically, DHS has not provided consistent leadership and staff support to ensure successful execution of the NBIS program. For various reasons, NBIS ownership has shifted among department organizations numerous times, with corresponding fluctuations in the program approach, priority, and accomplishments. NBIS also has struggled since its inception to secure the staff needed to manage program activities effectively. As a result of the repeated transitions and staffing shortfalls, planning documents needed to guide information technology (IT) development have yet to be finalized. Program management has not effectively communicated and coordinated with stakeholders to secure the data, personnel, and information sharing agreements needed to support system development. Additionally, program management did not provide the contractor with adequate guidance, requirements input, or data sources to deliver a fully functional system. As such, the contractor may not fulfill NBIS capability and schedule requirements, which potentially could result in cost increases to the program."
http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_07-61_Jul07.pdf

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has joined Russia in condemning US missile defense plans in Europe. Ahmadinejad says that the US plan threatens all countries that oppose US influence. Russia's foreign minister says they see no threat from Iran. However, citing other threats, e.g. the US, Russia has resumed long-range bomber air patrols.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20070816/71839506.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2149953,00.html
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070816/71949222.html
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070817/72189719.html

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has signed a deal with US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns to provide $30 billion of military aid over the next ten years, a 25 percent increase from present levels.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/894255.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6949904.stm

Italian anti-mafia police have uncovered an alleged shipment to Iraq of 105,000 rifles, of which the US high command was unaware.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2147587,00.html

Russia has begun delivery of air-defense systems to Syria, rejecting warnings that some of the weapons could end up in Iran.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=84607

Robot warriors have already seen action in Iraq, and the US Army plans to replace a third of its armored vehicles and weapons with robots by 2015. These killing machines may one day come equipped with an artificial conscience, even to the extent of disobeying immoral orders.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1652481,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,500140,00.html
http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9028041

5. Critical Infrastructure Monitor

The 21st century is the interdependent century. Understanding the implicit and explicit networks on which we rely, and the interdependencies among the sectors of the critical infrastructure, is essential for business continuity, economic success, and our very survival. The Critical Infrastructure Monitor, published monthly, analyzes these sectors, regulatory frameworks, and issues of enterprise risk management in global supply chains.
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=TP
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CIM Agriculture and Food
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Increasing amounts of biofuels from crops such as sugar cane, beet, maize, wheat, oilseed rape and oil palm are being produced to reduce the carbon dioxide impact of transport, but this requires vast areas of land and is not the best way of using land to mitigate climate change. Not only is there a knock on effect in which as the UK produces more and more rape seed to cope with demand for fuel, the third world is left to produce fruit and cereals which in turn forces them to clear more endangered habitat at the same time as significantly increasing food miles. Instead, existing forests and savannahs should be conserved and natural forest and grassland habitats restored. Forests can absorb up to nine times more carbon dioxide than the production of biofuels could achieve on the same area of land.
http://www.worldlandtrust.org/news/2007/08/biofuels-costing-earth.htm

Basic nutrients people need to survive have been added to food around the world for almost a century, but West Africa is only now leading the way for the same life-saving technique to be rolled out in Africa, although experts warn it is just one small component in combating under-nutrition.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73733

International aid organization CARE has turned down US food aid and will phase out all monetized food aid by 2009 because they have found that subsidized imports reduce growth in local markets and destroys the very thing it is meant to promote.
http://www.careinternational.org.uk/CARE%20turns%20down%20US%20food%20aid%209831.twl
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6855599,00.html
http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN737762.html
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article2871490.ece

Traditional dry vault toilet systems have been around for centuries in Central Asia and parts of China where nutrients for agriculture are scarce. When Kabul was a small town, it was feasible and safe for donkey carts to carry excrement out of town for use as fertilizer. However, rapid urbanization is putting this traditional practice into question. as they could pose a threat to public health.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73691

Chinese agriculture experts believe that potato planting may help solve the problems of crippling drought and shrinking arable land, and may provide subsidies to encourage farmers to switch from rice and wheat.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/6239458.html

The Information Office of China's State Council released a white paper on Friday that revealed 85.1 percent of the country's food products passed quality checks in the first half of the year.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/17/content_6553424.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/17/content_6554927.htm

Blue ear disease has led to mass pig culls in China and Vietnam. The disease has spread to 25 of China's 33 provinces and regions, and has contributed to high inflation, with port prices up by nearly 86 percent this year.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/15/content_6532927.htm
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/15/business/pigs.php
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/16/business/AS-FIN-China-Pork.php
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HKG215324.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/13/9/pdfs/07-0399.pdf

A rise in crop prices threatens to increase prices on gummy bears and other sweets. Germany's food and beverage industry is lobbying for government subsidies for biofuel crops to be eliminated. http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,499655,00.html

The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) continued tests for foot-and-mouth disease. Suspect animals at a Romney Marsh farm and Chessington World of Adventures proved negative, and a south Wales meat plant was also cleared. The disease has been confirmed at two farms in Surrey, which are subject to a control zone.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/latest/2007/animal-0815.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6947235.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/footandmouth/story/0,,2149259,00.html

Earthbound, the largest US producer of gourmet salad greens, founded and owns Natural Selection Foods, which processed the bagged spinach that caused one of the worst food-poisoning outbreaks in recent years. This article describes its ongoing safety crusade.
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-spinach13aug13,0,2938603.story
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CIM Banking and Finance
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This article describes why computer models proved unequal to recent market turmoil:
http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto081420071448409042
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ fto081420071448409042.html

The Australian Senate Standing Committee on Economics is holding an inquiry into proposed laws to stop banks charging excessive penalty fees, and to allow customers to sue for damages.
http://www.stevefielding.com.au/html/media/SF 173_Aug162007.pdf
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/economics_ctte/index.htm

Many of the new practices that banks are using to verify users' identities are actually making their customers easier targets.
http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=131191&WT.svl=news1_3
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CIM Chemical
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In the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, a plastic pipe factory in the capital city, Lucknow, leaked chlorine gas that killed two, and at least eight were admitted to hospital. Investigators have sealed the factory and are investigating the chemical reaction involved. The owner has been arrested and faces charges related to standards, environmental and safety violations. The factory provided no safety equipment or ventilation.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/August/subcontinent_August514.xml&section=subcontinent&col=
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=250644

The European Commission has proposed a regulation to adopt the UN Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), which sets out internationally accepted definitions and criteria to identify the hazards of chemicals (called 'classification') and communicate these hazards via labels and safety data sheets. If the same classification criteria and labeling are used to describe the hazards, the level of protection of human health and the environment becomes more consistent, transparent and comparable throughout the world. The UK Health and Safety Commission has issued a consultative document on these proposals. Responses are due 2 November.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/consult/condocs/cd213.htm

In Romania, chemical producer Oltchim, prosecutors and labor inspectors have each launched independent investigations into Tuesday's polyether installation explosion at Ramnicu Valcea-based chemical plant. Of the eight people injured, one has died, four more have severe burns and may not survive, and three others were treated and released.
http://www.bursa.ro/on-line/s=english_section&articol=14888.html
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/world_&xml/&aspKath/world.asp?fdate=17/08/2007

The Chemical Industry Data Exchange (CIDX) has released a review of the use of RFID, including a new business value model.
http://www.cidx.org/Portals/0/News/CIDX_PR_2007-08-15.pdf
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CIM Commercial Facilities
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British Columbia, Canada, is spending huge sums to create a vast and highly complex security shield to prevent a terrorist attack during the 2010 Winder Olympics.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=2232768f-318c-4886-b184-e539f287bedb

Interest in securing US buildings has cooled since 9/11.
http://www.securityinfowatch.com/online/The-Latest-for-Systems-Integrators/Interest-Lagging-in-Building-Security-Technology/12021SIW303
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CIM Cybersecurity
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Microsoft released nine security bulletins that patch 14 vulnerabilities.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms07-aug.mspx

Microsoft has also released a Vista Kernel Patch Protection (PatchGuard) update.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/932596.mspx
http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/security_response/weblog/2007/08/driver_signing_on_vista_64_ati.html

Microsoft has also released patches for two vulnerabilities in Mac Office.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940763

Polish researcher Krystian Kloskowski reports that Microsoft's FlashPix ActiveX control included with DirectX Media 6.0 SDK contains a buffer overflow bug that can be exploited
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/466601
http://milw0rm.com/exploits/4230

A Yahoo Messenger zero day vulnerability can be exploited to hack a Windows PC.
http://www.avertlabs.com/research/blog/index.php/2007/08/15/more-on-the-yahoo-messenger-webcam-0day/

Symantec described a new high-risk vulnerability in which Microsoft Internet Explorer is prone to a buffer-overflow vulnerability because it fails to perform adequate boundary checks on user-supplied data.
http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/security_response/vulnerability.jsp?bid=25310

Sophos describes how easy it is to steal an identity on Facebook, and provides recommended privacy settings and general safety tips.
http://www.sophos.com/security/topic/facebook.html
http://www.sophos.com/security/best-practice/facebook.html

The cost of TJX's data breach, which exposed the personal data of at least 45.7 million customer credit and debit cards, rose to $256 million, more than ten times the original estimate, and could reach a billion. They explain:
"In the second quarter of fiscal 2008, the Company recorded an after-tax cash charge of approximately $118 million, or $.25 per share, with respect to the previously announced computer intrusion(s). This charge includes $11 million (after tax), or $.02 per share, for costs incurred during the quarter, as well as a reserve of $107 million (after tax), or $.23 per share, for the Company's exposure to potential losses. This reserve reflects the Company's estimation of probable losses, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, based on the information available to the Company as of August 14, 2007, and includes an estimation of total, potential cash liabilities from pending litigation, proceedings, investigations and other claims, as well as legal and other costs and expenses, arising from the intrusion(s). In addition, TJX expects to incur future non-cash charges of approximately $21 million (after tax), or $.05 per share, that are not included in this reserve and could be recorded in fiscal year 2009. Together, these cash and non-cash charges represent the Company's best estimate of the total losses the Company expects to incur as a result of the computer intrusion(s)."
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/tjx/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&newsId=20070814005701&ndmHsc=v2*A938775600000*B1187201383000*C4102491599000*DgroupByDate*J2*N1001148&newsLang=en&beanID=1809476786&viewID=news_view
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/08/15/cost_of_data_breach_at_tjx_soars_to_256m/

Pfizer employees' personal data has been compromised by the theft of two laptops, the second compromise in two months.
http://www.pfizer.com/contact/laptop_data_privacy.jsp
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=8af00085-8d2e-4267-b431-2344b0bfd97e
http://media.theday.com/gbl/media/dynamic/pdfnews/pfizersblumenthal.pdf

Russian Igor Klopov has been indicted in New York as the leader of an identity theft gang that targeted those on Forbes list of wealthiest Americans.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/16/america/NA-GEN-US-Identity-Theft.php
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/16/ap4028562.html

In Kansas, Doris Toledo and her daughters, Sonia and Sylvia, have been accused of using stolen social security numbers to obtain home loans for illegal immigrants.
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/236920.html

Personal data of individuals connected to the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research was found in a trash receptacle. The boxes were intact, suggesting that the data had not been compromised.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/17/AR2007081702623.html

The official website of the UN has been hacked, and is displaying a message protesting US and Israeli policies in the Middle East. Turkish hackers have been implicated.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6943385.stm
http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/un-website-hacked/2007/08/13/1186857383568.html
http://hackademix.net/2007/08/12/united-nations-vs-sql-injections/
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-28229.html

US Customs officials were unprepared for the weekend computer failures at Los Angeles International airport. They misdiagnosed the problem and took several hours to diagnose and fix it, mistakenly believing that the outage was just another of the frequent, short-lived outages they have experienced.
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-airport14aug14,0,5752079.story
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/14/content_6527540.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/business/14road.html

Ahead of the APEC summit, Google Maps have fuzzed out aerial images of Sydney's central business district.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/googles-photos-of-sydney-go-all-fuzzy/2007/08/13/1186857396182.html?sssdmh=dm16.273747

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released "Information Technology Management Letter for the FY 2006 DHS Financial Statement Audit". The redacted report includes notes of certain information technology internal control and operational matters and whether they contribute to material weakness for financial systems security.
http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIGr_07-53_Aug07.pdf
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CIM Dams and Bridges
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New technology may be able to increase bridge safety, including some unusual sensor and other high-tech tools.
http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201400224
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bridges15aug15,0,4260133.story
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2007/08/13/are_bridge_inspections_adequate/

The bridge that collapsed in China on Monday, killing at least 36, had been built without steel reinforcement bars.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/collapsed-bridge-built-without-steel-reinforcing/2007/08/15/1186857594681.html

The US state of Alabama is the only one without a dam safety program.
http://www.annistonstar.com/opinion/2007/as-editorials-0816-editorial-7h15u0313.htm
http://www.damsafety.org/news/?p=d42cd061-cae2-4039-8fc6-313975f97c36

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation has declared the Forge Pond Dam in Freetown unsafe and a danger to those who live downstream,
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/16/state_lowers_pond_calling_dam_unsafe/
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CIM Defense Industrial Base
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The Crane Company, a manufacturer of products, such as valves and marine components, has agreed to pay the US $7.5 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations, in connections with the company's failure to comply with Defense Department Qualified Products List (QPL) regulations, which require that product suppliers submit to government inspection prior to becoming qualified and being eligible to bid on government contracts.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/August/07_civ_618.html

Charlene Corley, owner of the now defunct CandD Distributors, has been accused of defrauding the Pentagon out of more than $20 million, in one case charging nearly $1 million for shipping two 19-cent washers.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/17/national/main3179391.shtml
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CIM Emergency Services
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Canadian research into the appropriate use of helicopter EMS determined that flights are appropriate if the patient required ICU admission, died during transport or within 24 hours, and, in the case of trauma, an injury severity scale (ISS) score was 12 or less. Over-triage (i.e. those not meeting these criteria) represented just over 13 percent of the 584 patients transported.
http://www.jems.com/news_and_articles/columns/Wesley/Appropriate_Use_of_Helicopter_EMS.html

India's National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) battalions will receive training from the National Disaster Management Authority to CBRN disasters or attacks.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=250884

Mexico is training its first EMS helicopter crew.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/aug/11/saving-lives-by-sky/

The BBC reports that in the event of a WMD incident, hospitals would be locked down and victims redirected to Mass Treatment Centers: mobile tents and decontamination units.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6948455.stm

The London Assembly reports that, two years after the 7/7 attacks, there has been much progress, but underground trains and emergency responders still lack effective emergency communications systems.
http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/7july/follow-up-report.pdf

A recent Harris Interactive poll lists firefighters as the most prestigious US occupation.
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=793

National Firefighter Health Week was marked 13-17 August. Each day highlighted a different health issue: behavioral health, cancer, heart health, nutrition, and lifestyle.
http://www.healthy-firefighter.org/

The US has spent more than $1 billion to strengthen first responders. It bought new equipment, including essential communication devices, but there is no money for maintenance. Unable to cover the monthly bills, much of the state-of-the-art equipment is now unused..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/12/AR2007081201244.html

The Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital in Los Angeles closed its Emergency Room last Friday after failing its latest inspection by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and therefore losing $200 million in federal funding. The controversial hospital is important to the community, but received national attention of reports of long patient waits, including one case in which an emergency call was used in an effort to get paramedics to the ER. Other emergency facilities are already overloaded and scrambling to address the additional volume.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-king14aug14,1,3849288.story
http://www.ladhs.org/mlk/
http://www.scpr.org/news/stories/2007/08/20/00_mlk_meeting_082007.html
http://www.the-tidings.com/2007/081707/mlk.htm

Efforts in Utah to recover six trapped miners ended abruptly when three rescue workers were killed, and six injured, highlighting the new risks presented by recent mines reaching new depths.
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=nw20070817093643496C162668
http://www.nbc13.com/gulfcoastwest/vtm/news.apx.-content-articles-VTM-2007-08-17-0028.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/us/16mine.html
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17280119.htm
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CIM Energy
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This article discusses the changing face of energy security:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C08%5C14%5Cstory_14-8-2007_pg3_5

Without prior notice, Burma's (Myanmar) military junta has drastically increased fuel prices, stopping buses and stranding workers:
* Compressed natural gas used by public buses rose 200 percent, from 500 kyat (0.38 dollars) per 50-liter tank to 1,500 kyat (1.15 dollars)
* One gallon (4.55 liters) of benzine jumped from 1,500 kyats (1.15 dollars) to 2,500 (1.90 dollars)
* Diesel doubled from 1,500 to 3,000 kyat
http://www.mizzima.com/MizzimaNews/News/2007/Aug/37-Aug-2007.html
http://nationmultimedia.com/worldhotnews/read.php?newsid=30045119

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) released "The Power to Reduce CO2 Emissions - The Full Portfolio". The study that shows that the aggressive development and implementation of a full portfolio of advanced electricity technologies could reduce the economic cost of cutting future US CO2 emissions by more than 50 percent while meeting the continuing growth in demand for electricity.
http://epri-reports.org/DiscussionPaper2007.pdf
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CIM Government Facilities
--------------------------------------------------
Australia is building a fence to shut down large sections of Sydney's central business district during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in September.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/show-id-to-get-past-great-wall-of-sydney/2007/08/16/1186857683326.html

Canada constructed high metal fences around the venue of the upcoming North American Leaders' Summit in Quebec. Local businesses have also been told to build barricades ahead of anticipated mass demonstrations.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/08/16/ot-montebello-070816.html

This commentary describes the possible impact of a British withdrawal from southern Iraq, where more than 80 percent of Iraq's oil is produced.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118723265350299305.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Somalia's government plans to construct a Green Zone similar to that in Baghdad.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6947370.stm

Following several prior terrorist attacks against US facilities in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the US Consulate will be relocated at a new location, which will also serve as the consul general's residence.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=99726&d=13&m=8&y=2007
http://jeddah.usconsulate.gov/news/highlights/u.s.-ambassador-ford-fraker-visits-new-u.s.-consulate-general-site-in-jeddah
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/12/06/jeddah.attack/index.html

In Sri Lanka, a state owned Security firm, Rakna Arakshana Lanka, was formed earlier this year to provide security for critical government installations. They are currently providing 500 security personnel for Ceylon Petroleum's oil storage facilities across the country.
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2007/08/19/fea102.asp
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CIM Information Technology
--------------------------------------------------
Some key components for laptops may be in short supply, potentially increasing prices later in the year.
http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20070815PD216.html

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a company cannot arbitrarily revise its contract online, without first notifying its users.
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/1665312C85BA50868825731C00781F5D/$file/0675424.pdf

Toshiba has recalled more defective laptop batteries, the latest of long-running problem with lithium-ion batteries made by Sony.
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07267.html
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/su/su_sc_dtlView.jsp?soid=1501060&ignore_sn=true
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/su/su_sc_dtlView.jsp?soid=1788033&BV_SessionID=@@@@1608339477.1186934831@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccceaddljkdggkgcgfkceghdgngdgnj.0&ignore_sn=true

Nokia announced that 46 million batteries used in its mobile phones could overheat and the company would replace them for no cost to consumers.
http://www.nokia.com/batteryreplacement/en/
http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Press/Press_Events/Launch13082007/vuygjbnhg6bvhjg/image58545123.jpg
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CIM National Monuments and Icons
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Australian researchers using NASA technology to map the medieval city of Angkor have discovered at least 74 new temples. A Cambodian official says that the discovery of the vast extent of the 12th century city serves as a wake-up call for the country to be more vigilant in conserving its heritage. Angkor was previously believed to extend over 400 sq km. It is now revealed to span more than 1,000 sq km. The sprawling complex was linked by a complex water management system.
http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1873
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=8244
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/668

Three days after historic tombs were bulldozed, the Barbados National Trust has called for stiffer punishment on those who destroy monuments. The current $500 fine has no deterrent effect.
http://www.nationnews.com/story/312056307662616.php

In the US state of Pennsylvania, the Gettysburg civil war battlefield is a popular national heritage site, but it is not protected.
http://www.dailypress.com/dp-01152sy0aug17,0,1381253.story
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CIM Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste
--------------------------------------------------
Canadian engineers are trying to find the precise problem with the hot water system in the Bruce nuclear power plant's Unit 6. It was recently returned to service after a 2-week outage, but has been shut down again for at least ten days.
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/247074
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2007/08/17/4424910-sun.html

Georgia has established a government commission to explore possible construction of a civilian nuclear reactor in the country.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15618

A strong earthquake last month damaged Japan's Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant. IAEA experts reviewed the incident and concluded that it had shut down safely, and the very small amount of radioactivity released was well below the authorized limits for public health and environmental safety. However, physical stresses resulting from the quake could affect the long-term safe operation of some plant components at the plant. Detailed checks and inspections by the operator and Japanese authorities are ongoing and significant work, such as detailed examination of the reactor vessels, cores and fuel elements, has still to be performed. Additional engineering analysis of some components would be an important consideration for determining whether they should be replaced earlier than otherwise anticipated. The quake significantly exceeded the level of seismic activity for which the plant was designed, but a design safety margin had been incorporated into the structures, systems and components, probably explaining why damage was less than could have otherwise been expected. Further technical analysis is essential to understand the precise design elements that resulted in the plant performance. It could take a year or more to restart power production.
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/PressReleases/2007/prn200716.html
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L17597951.htm

The UK Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) was set up in 2003 to provide independent advice to Government on the long-term management of the UK's solid higher activity radioactive waste. The terms of appointment of its current membership expires this month, and is being replaced by another advisory committee.
http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.1628125.0.row_over_disposal_of_nuclear_waste.php
http://www.corwm.org.uk/

Hot weather idled one of the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama, and forced a 25 percent cutback in the other two reactors because the water in the Tennessee River used to cool the plant was overheated.
http://www.sunherald.com/218/story/123085.html

US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff is proposing a $3,250 fine for a firm based in Chambersburg (Franklin County), Pa., based on a violation of agency requirements involving inadequate control and security of a portable nuclear gauge. The gauge contains radioactive material and is used for such industrial purposes as measuring the density of soil at construction sites.
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2007/07-043i.html
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CIM Public Health and Healthcare
--------------------------------------------------
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued new guidance for the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets to protect people from malaria. For the first time, WHO recommends that insecticidal nets be long-lasting, and distributed either free or highly subsidized and used by all community members.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr43/en/index.html

As demand for organs to transplant continues to outstrip supply, WHO has identified five organ trafficking hotspots: China, Pakistan, Egypt, Colombia, and the Philippines. Last month Israel uncovered an organ trafficking ring in Istanbul. This week another case was uncovered in the Czech Republic, where six people were charged. These cases are associated with areas of human trafficking, whose victims are increasingly associated with organ sales, particularly kidneys.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL0142628820070806?src=080707_0948_FEATURES_lifestyle
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL0172941920070806?src=080707_0849_FEATURES_lifestyle
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3428541,00.html
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/94527
http://launch.praguemonitor.com/en/150/czech_national_news/10930/
http://www.tribune.com.ng/17082007/news/news10.html
http://www.who.int/ethics/topics/human_transplant/en/
http://samvak.tripod.com/brief-organ01.html

Cholera has killed 419 people in Angola so far this year according to a new health ministry bulletin, but this is a sharp reduction from 2006, when 2,772 people succumbed to the waterborne disease.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73729

The European Commission has developed a medical intelligence system that constantly collects and sorts information from more than 1000 news and 120 public health websites in 32 languages. Complementing traditional approaches, the system, called MediSys, will provide health authorities with real-time knowledge about disease outbreaks or industrial accidents, thereby helping to identify such incidents as early as possible and so react in a timely way.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1225

Data from the US Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics indicates that although Americans are living longer than ever, US life expectancy has fallen from 11th to 42nd in the world over the last 20 years, the result of lack of health insurance, high obesity rates, and racial disparities. People in the Cayman Islands, Guam, Japan, Jordan, and most of Europe live longer.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/12/AR2007081200113.html
http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/index.html
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lifexpec.htm

New York City, however, has become a capital of longevity. The article "Why New Yorkers Last Longer" credits public health policy, community cohesion, and luck, for boosting overall life expectancy in the city.
http://nymag.com/news/features/35815/
http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/08/20070815_b_main.asp
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CIM Telecommunications
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Telecoms San Frontieres technicians and engineers have arrived in Peru to help earthquake recovery.
http://www.tsfi.org/tsfispip/article.php3?id_article=183&lang=en

The London Assembly reports that, two years after the 7/7 attacks, underground trains are still without emergency communications.
http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/7july/follow-up-report.pdf

A new Harris Interactive technology research study finds that 17 percent of US adults currently own or use a GPS location device or service. Although overall penetration rates are low, falling prices and technical improvements will help accelerate market adoption.
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=1241

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently ruled that a new generation of portable wireless devices designed to connect to the internet over television white space either interfered with television signals or was unable to detect them to avoid interference. Microsoft is now filing an appeal against this ruling.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/12/AR2007081201084.html
http://www.fcc.gov

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a company cannot arbitrarily revise its contract online, without first notifying its users. Although the ruling affects nine Western states in the district, and involved a case in which a phone service contract was altered after a merger, with major contract changes posted online, but customers were not otherwise informed. This opens the possibility of a class action suit against TalkAmerica.
http://www.out-law.com/page-8328
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/1665312C85BA50868825731C00781F5D/$file/0675424.pdf
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CIM Transportation
--------------------------------------------------
Cyprus has blamed a hijacking this week on poor security at Ercan airport in the Turkish-controlled part of the island, but the Turkish Cypriot transport minister says security measures are in line with international standards.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/18/europe/EU-GEN-Turkey-Hijacked-Plane.php

The Transportation Security Administration's (TSA's) proposed Secure Flight program is a scaled down version of an earlier proposal that called for the creation of a huge data mining operation to match passenger information against the terrorist watch list and other public records and analyze the data for hints of terrorist activity. Secure Flight calls for the matching of passenger names only against the terrorist watch list, allowing passengers to provide their dates of birth and gender to distinguish between names that closely match or are identical to ones on the watch list, but this raises both security and privacy concerns. At an estimated $140 million development cost, it may be preferable to provide a greater focus on intelligence gathering, spot checks of restricted airport areas, and airport employee screening.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0815/p03s03-usju.html

These articles discuss new airport security officers trained in behavior detection.
http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?ContentBlockID=358696a1-e368-4850-ac1b-fd9a244c4062
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/08/eye-flier-new-s.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20298840/site/newsweek/page/0/

International Maritime Bureau (IMB) data for the second quarter of this year demonstrate a 37 percent increase in acts of piracy and armed robbery, compared to the same period last year. Despite this spike, the 6-month total is roughly on par with 2006. So far this year 13 vessels were hijacked by heavily armed attackers, 152 crew members were taken hostage, 41 were kidnapped and three were killed. In 66 cases, either guns or knives were used.
http://www.icc-ccs.org/main/news.php?newsid=91

For the first time since 2005, pirates in the Malacca Strait kidnapped a tug crew, sparking fears of resurgence in cases of kidnapping for ransom.
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s2006171.htm
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view_article.php?article_id=82705

Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria have agreed to cooperate on maritime security and military issues.
http://www.afriquenligne.fr/news/daily_news/nigeria,_e.guinea_to_strengthen_military,_maritime_cooperation_200708166094/

US Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff addressed the quarterly meeting of the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations for US Customs and Border Protection noted the Container Security Initiative will expand to 58 ports by October 1, and handle over 85 percent of the trade coming into the US.
http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/speeches/sp_1187357854566.shtm

Following this week's explosion and derailment, Russia has increased security, particularly around the rail network and in major cities.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070814/71495833.html
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070814/71399100.html
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CIM Water
--------------------------------------------------
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) launched its Global Water Tool during World Water Wee. It's a free and easy-to-use tool for companies and organizations to map their water use and assess risks relative to their global operations and supply chains.
http://www.wbcsd.org/web/watertool.htm

Water prices in Australian cities will increase significantly to raise an estimated A$30 billion necessary to secure supplies.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/drought/water-prices-to-rise-in-cities/2007/08/15/1186857575445.html?sssdmh=dm16.273974

China suffers from a shortage of 30 billion cubic meters of water for irrigation every year. They are considering providing financial incentives to farmers to encourage them to switch from rice and wheat to potatoes, which are more drought-resistant and nutritious.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/6239458.html

Traditional dry vault toilet systems have been around for centuries in Central Asia and parts of China where nutrients for agriculture are scarce. However, some analysts say they are inappropriate for urban areas, as they pose a threat to public health.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73691

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has opened a water-supply network that will meet the needs of five villages and their 18,000 inhabitants in a region where various conflicts left them without drinking water or sanitation.
http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/congo-kinshasa-news-130807!OpenDocument

Nearly 2,000 people in the Ivory Coast city of Agboville are struggling to find drinking water after sewage-filled floodwaters poisoned wells that had been their sole source of water.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73734

This article describes a British water project for Tanzania that went awry.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2149462,00.html

American Water Works Association (AWWA), the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have developed a series of webcasts to help water utilities guard against possible terrorist attacks on water systems.
http://ww.pennnet.com/display_article/303663/41/ARTCL/Display/none/Webcast-series-covers-security-strategies-for-water-utilities/

US Senator Joe Biden introduced a bill that would provide grants for water treatment facilities to switch from using chlorine gas as a disinfectant to a safer alternative.
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2007/08/12/news/081307rzwatersystems.prt

Long before Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans' 3,200 miles of water and sewer lines were in disrepair. The New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board says the system today is held together by tape, glue, spit, or whatever they can find.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-06-new-orleans-water_N.htm

New York City is being fined $30,000 a day by the federal government for failing to comply with an order to hire a primary contractor for the proposed Croton Water Filtration Plant in the Bronx by February.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/nyregion/11plant.html

6. Disaster Reduction Monitor

Natural and manmade events are inevitable, but they need not become disasters. Subscribers to the monthly Disaster Reduction Monitor learn from past incidents to prevent future disasters. It includes analysis of historical events, emerging risks and risk mitigation, and features new techniques to address disaster reduction, ranging from technical advances to regulatory best practices and micro-finance.
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=TP
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DRM Incidents
--------------------------------------------------
A 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck central Peru on Wednesday. More than 500 are dead, 1,500 injured, and 17,000 displaced. Destruction of buildings and infrastructure was comprehensive.

A week of torrential rains in North Korea has left more than 300 people dead. Housing, transportation and other infrastructures in the poverty-stricken country have been destroyed.

A coalmine in east China's Shandong Province was flooded by surface water on Friday afternoon, leaving 172 miners trapped beneath the surface.

In northern India's Himachal Pradesh state, a cloudburst over the Himalayas caused a landslide that buried an entire village, leaving about 60 people dead. Rains in northern India continue, worsening the situation in Bangladesh, India and Nepal where more than 28 million people have been affected. The number of those killed is at least 500 and could number as much as 3,000.

A fire at an ammunition dump in Indian-administered Kashmir broke out last Friday, and was only brought under control on Monday. Five people were confirmed dead, 30 injured, and 25 missing. It will take some two months to clean up the affected area. The army dismissed claims from militants that they were responsible after investigations confirmed an accident.

An express bus in Malaysia crashed into a gulley, killing 20 passengers.

A bridge under construction in southern China collapsed, killing at least 41, with many still missing.

Rescuers found three more bodies in the wreck of a Minnesota highway bridge, raiding the number confirmed dead to 11.

A typhoon hit China this morning. It forced more than 900,000 people to flee, and spawned a tornado that left nine dead.

An explosion under a train in Russia has injured at least 60 people and 27 are being treated in hospital. A terrorism investigation has been launched.
--------------------------------------------------
DRM Response and Recovery
--------------------------------------------------
The UN is leading efforts to help North Korea recover from unprecedented flooding that has forced the secretive dictatorship to reach out for international assistance.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23516&Cr=korea&Cr1=
http://www.kcna.co.jp/index-e.htm
http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2600
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6948423.stm
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2869627.ece

Recovery efforts in Peru are hindered by the destruction of its infrastructure and severe aftershocks. A state of emergency has been declared. Looting and fights over scarce food have ensued.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/206010.html
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N16296310.htm
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17409038.htm
http://ochaonline.un.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1080
http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2603
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1F546A15-7FCC-4BD9-A424-6287BE8796D8.htm
http://www.careinternational.org.uk/CARE%20readies%20full-scale%20emergency%20response%20in%20Peru%20following%20earthquake%209834.twl

The cost of South Asia's worst flooding in decades has reached nearly $1 billion. These damages will rise, as floods continue. More importantly, 28 million people are now at risk since the flooding has damaged recently planted crops, threatening food security.
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=26
http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2594
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23526&Cr=Asia&Cr1=flood
http://www.careinternational.org.uk/?lid=9770&bid=308

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General's (OIG) "Interim Report, Hurricane Katrina: A Review of Wind Versus Flood Issues" has as yet found no evidence that wind damages were improperly attributed to flooding, but cannot rule it out because of complicating factors such as:
* Difficulty in distinguishing between wind and flood damage, especially when there is nothing left of the property except a foundation (slab)
* Language in homeowners' insurance policies that can exclude coverage if flooding occurs concurrent with wind or other causes of damage
* Adjusters either working for the Write-Your-Own Companies (WYOs) or for the companies hired by WYOs, which creates the perception of a conflict of interest issue
* Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) oversight of WYOs is limited
http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_07-62_Jul07.pdf

Efforts in Utah to recover six trapped miners ended abruptly when three rescue workers were killed. Six more were injured in the fresh cave-in. Stabilization experts have been called in.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_6643542
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DRM Risks
--------------------------------------------------
Hurricane Dean has become the first Category 4 storm of the season. Offshore oil workers are being evacuated.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/08/17/storms/index.html
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17457612.htm

China has blamed global warming for the extreme weather that has led to the death of 499 people in lightning strikes so far this year, nearly 200 more than in the same period last year.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK193605.htm

"The Flood" is a new disaster movie based on flooding in London. This article separates truth from fiction:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6939915.stm

Mining accidents in Utah this month point to the many new risks presented by recent mines reaching unprecedented depths. Poor maintenance doesn't help: the mine was issued 325 safety citations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/us/16mine.html
http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/5734/1/278/
--------------------------------------------------
DRM Mitigation
--------------------------------------------------
Five years ago the Czech republic was hit with the worst floods in its history, when within hours 50,000 people were left homeless, 200,000 were displaced, and 18 were dead. Damage exceeded $2.2 billion. After a $100 million investment, 95 percent of Prague is reportedly protected by a disaster of such magnitude, and in the event of a flood the new protection system could be erected within 24 hours. Much of the flood protection was coordinated with Germany, where 21 people died in the Elbe basin disaster.
http://launch.praguemonitor.com/en/145/czech_national_news/10611/
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/94419
http://launch.praguemonitor.com/en/145/prague_news/10629/
http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/08/15/floods.tourists/index.html
http://www.spacemart.com/reports/Satellite_Survey_Of_Elbe_Flood_Helps_Swiss_Re_Insure_For_Disaster.html

"Sink or Swim: Why Disaster Risk Reduction is central to surviving floods in South Asia" is a new report from Oxfam. The experience of this year's floods indicates that some flood defenses, such as the construction of river embankments, can make matters worse. They recommend that international donor governments and institutions should increase their investment in disaster risk reduction by building the resilience of flood prone communities and local authorities, in addition to the monies needed for short-term critical humanitarian response. They call on South Asian governments to implement policies including:
* Contingency plans at district and sub-district level, including boats for immediate rescue and evacuation, and food stocks to tide people over in the first phase of the flood.
* A re-assessment of the use of embankments as a flood-control policy to ensure that these do not exacerbate the problem.
* Building communities' ability to prepare for floods, including village-level early warning systems, first aid and local contingency planning.
* More investments in local flood-proof infrastructure: such as flood shelters, raised homesteads, grain banks, raised tube wells.
* All government policy in flood-prone areas should include reducing the risk of flood as a matter of course, including providing good drainage systems as part of all infrastructure development.
http://www.oxfam.org/en/files/BN_sink_or_swim_sasiafloods_0708.pdf/download

As floodwaters recede in Switzerland, the country is beginning to ask where the billions necessary for effective flood control measures will be found.
http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Billions_needed_for_flood_control_measures.html?siteSect=105&sid=8099184&cKey=1186994796000&ty=st

In the UK, the Buncefield Major Incident Investigation Board published the Explosion Mechanism Advisory Group report, which outlines additional work necessary to understand the explosion mechanism that produced such a forceful explosion with high overpressures.
http://www.buncefieldinvestigation.gov.uk/reports/buncefieldagr.pdf
http://www.buncefieldinvestigation.gov.uk/reports/exmechnote.pdf

"Improvements to Information Sharing are Needed to Facilitate Law Enforcement Efforts During Disasters" is a new report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General's (OIG). It cites a number of problems related to concerns over improperly disclosing information protected under the Privacy Act, and limitations under the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act.
http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_07-60_Jul07.pdf

7. Recommended Reading

World Water Week was held in Stockholm 12-18 August, focused on the theme "Progress and Prospects on Water: Striving for Sustainability in a Changing World". The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is the sponsoring organization. In today's closing address, SIWI Executive Director Anders Berntell said, "There is progress, but there is still far too little action and now when climate change is upon us and we need to adapt even faster. None of us can say we are prepared but it's clear that poor people will again suffer the most. Changes in water availability are what will hit us first with an altered climate; rising sea levels and floods in certain regions but drought in others. The pressure on infrastructure and physical planning will be considerable. Ecosystem management will be fundamental. The question remains relevant: Why is water still not high enough on the political agenda?"
http://www.worldwaterweek.org/

In connection with this event:

* The Asian Development Bank organized a side event, "Dignity, Disease and Dollars: Asia's Urgent Sanitation Challenge", to discuss why urgent action is justified.
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Events/2007/www-2007/default.asp

* The Co-operative Program on Water and Climate (CPWC) attended the meeting to discuss activities related to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change fourth report, which confirms the role of human activity in climate change. CPWC has a number of publications on water and climate risks.
http://www.waterandclimate.org/index.php?id=research674

* The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) South Africa presented a new water resource framework, and demonstrated new technologies.
http://www.csir.co.za/plsql/ptl0002/PTL0002_PGE013_MEDIA_REL?MEDIA_RELEASE_NO=7518311
http://www.csir.co.za/plsql/ptl0002/PTL0002_PGE132_BUS_AREA?DIVISION_NO=7318422&BUSINESS_AREA_NO=7355054

* The Global Water Partnership released the policy brief "Climate Change Adaptation and Water Management", which addresses water efficiency plans.
http://www.gwpforum.org/gwp/library/07_Climate_Press_Releasefinal.pdf

* The International Foundation for Science released "Strengthening Capacity for Water Resources Research in Countries with Vulnerable Scientific Infrastructure".
http://www.ifs.se/Publications/Strengthening%20Capacity%20for%20Water%20Resource%20Research.pdf

* The International Institute for Environment and Development works for more sustainable and equitable global development. They issued two briefing papers that summarize new research on payments for watershed services in the Caribbean and Indonesia.
http://www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=13541IIED
http://www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=13539IIED

* In "Making Anti-Corruption Approaches Work for the Poor", SIWI, the Swedish Water House and the Water Integrity Network offer three principles: integration, targeting and mitigation. These will help the development of pro-poor anti-corruption water sector strategies that target poverty reduction and improve livelihoods.
http://www.worldwaterweek.org/Downloads/Anti-corruption.pdf

* Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) released a new policy brief, "On the Verge of a New Water Scarcity"
http://www.worldwaterweek.org/Downloads/SIWI PB Water Scarcity.pdf

* The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) released a position paper on Natural Resource Tenure. The paper comprises agricultural land as well as urban land, water, wetlands, coastal areas, forests, rangelands, protected areas, genetic resources and, to some extent, sub-soil resources. It also shows how different development priorities as pro-poor growth, gender equality, democratic governance, peace and security are related to tenure.
http://www.sida.se/shared/jsp/download.jsp?f=SIDA37805en_Natural+Resource+Tenure%2C+position+paper_web.pdf&a=32805

* The Swedish Water House released "Planning for Drinking Water and Sanitation in Peri-Urban Areas". This report addresses the human health and development crisis by creating a framework for the sustainable planning of water and sanitation infrastructure in the developing world.
http://www.worldwaterweek.org/Downloads/SWH Report - Peri-Urban Areas.pdf

* The Swedish Water House, the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the International Water Management Institute suggest concrete management plans to stretch water resources in order to nourish both the world's ecosystems and food supplies. Their policy brief "Agriculture, Water, and Ecosystems", explains that by 2050, double the current amount of food will be needed to feed the global population. In the future, the water required for food and water needed to keep ecosystems healthy must be balanced carefully.
http://www.worldwaterweek.org/Downloads/Policy Brief - Agriculture Water and Ecosystems.pdf

* UN-HABITAT launched a new Global Water Operators' Partnership Alliance aimed at improving water and sanitation access for the poorest of the poor.
http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=5088&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0

* WaterAid focused on Millennium Development Goal challenges, highlighted in their report, "Global Cause and Effect: How the Aid System is Undermining the Millennium Development Goals"
http://www.wateraid.org/uk/what_we_do/policy_and_research/policy_news/5712.asp
http://www.wateraid.org/documents/global_cause_and_effect__mdg_midway_paper.pdf

Here is related news coverage:
"A matter of life and death"
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2166420,00.html
"Experts address world's water needs"
http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Experts_address_world_s_water_needs.html?siteSect=105&sid=8112319&cKey=1187331677000&ty=st
"How to Build a Modern City: Think Green"
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/08/17/urbanplanning_pla.html?category=earth
"Scientists, UN agencies meet to discuss world's water needs"
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/12/europe/EU-GEN-Sweden-World-Water-Week.php
"Water Experts Concerned Over Biofuels"
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5063101.html

Also note these selections of our prior coverage of world water:
"Water for Life"
http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Newsletters/2005/032705.html#FeatureArticle
"Water and Disasters: World Water Day 2004"
http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Newsletters/2004/032804.html#FeatureArticle
"World Water"
http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Newsletters/2003/032303.html#FeatureArticle
"Water Conflicts"
http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Newsletters/2002/072802.html#FeatureArticle

8. Asset Management Network News

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