new technical terms

WP: how the intelligence estimate on Iran changed from 2 years ago
"Drawing lessons from the intelligence debacle over supposed Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell required agencies to consult more sources and to say to a larger intelligence community audience precisely what they know and how they know it -- and to acknowledge, to a degree previously unheard of, what they do not know. " 'Do not know' is a new technical term for an NIE," said a senior official who was involved in preparation of the report, known as a National Intelligence Estimate."

NYT: evaluating the durability of reduced violence in Iraq

Slate: US Supreme Court considers whether habeas corpus applies to gitmo detainees
"What's unprecedented is the Bush administration's effort to run the detainees through stripped-down hearings and then hold them indefinitely, while at the same time barring them from trying to argue in a real court that they are entitled to something more."

Econ: more analysis of the Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Commission, and the likelihood of conflict
"The combination of Eritrea's antagonism towards the UN and the terror link proposed by Washington could lead to a sense within Ethiopia that an invasion would be tolerated by the international community, and it would take very little provocation to provide even a weak argument for launching an attack."

BBC: Rice visits Addis Ababa to hold meetings on several ongoing conflicts in Africa
NPR: on a related note, a new hebrew word aptly describes the Secretary of State's activities
"Le condel, verb, meaning to take a lot of meetings, to rush back and forth, but to accomplish nothing."

Econ: what happened in Russia?
"The irony is that United Russia would have won anyway—Mr Putin who has presided over economic growth is genuinely popular... The rigging matters nonetheless because it again demonstrates Mr Putin’s contempt not only for his critics, but for Russians as a whole."

Econ: what's happening in the Philippines?

Econ: what will happen in Venezuela?
"[Chávez's] aura of invincibility is forever damaged, and the battle for the succession seems bound to begin soon. Survival strategies no longer necessarily involve unquestioning loyalty to the “comandante”. Fractures may begin to appear in important institutions like the supreme court and parliament. The fight back is just beginning."

BBC: gunfight in Kashmir

BBC: awards for housing rights violators of the year: China, Burma, and Slovakia

BBC: Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta attacks Exxon-Mobile ship, disrupt peace talks in Niger Delta

BBC: UN force sides with Congolese army against renegade commander; army seizes rebel base

BBC: herd mentality