ulster fry hangover

Hindu: riots enter their third day in Srinagar and other parts of the Kashmir Valley
"Life in Srinagar and other major towns of Kashmir valley remained crippled on Wednesday due to a spontaneous strike against alleged use of force by police against those protesting transfer of forest land to Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) for the third straight day.

One person was killed and nearly 100 others, including 22 policemen, have been injured in police firing and clashes between stone pelting demonstrators and law enforcing agencies during the past three days in the city.

Although no organisation has given a call for strike, shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed while public transport remained off the road in Srinagar and Ganderbal districts paralysing life, official sources said."

WashPost: US aid given to Pakistan largely unaccounted for
"The Bush administration has paid Pakistan more than $2 billion without adequate proof that the Pakistani government used the funds for their intended purpose of supporting U.S. counterterrorism efforts, congressional auditors reported yesterday. Their report concluded that more than a third of U.S. funds provided Pakistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were subject to accounting problems, including duplication and possible fraud."

NYTimes: Pakistani intelligence possibly linked to attempted assassination of Karzai
"In a news conference in Kabul, Sayeed Ansari, the spokesman for the Afghan intelligence service, said the Afghan authorities had evidence of the direct involvement of Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, in the assassination attempt.

He said the evidence was based on documents uncovered during the investigation into the assassination attempt, confessions from 16 suspects detained after the attack, and cellphone contacts."

Guardian: Morgan Tsvangirai calls for peacekeepers to sent into Zimbabwe
"we need a force to protect the people. We do not want armed conflict, but the people of Zimbabwe need the words of indignation from global leaders to be backed by the moral rectitude of military force. Such a force would be in the role of peacekeepers, not trouble-makers. They would separate the people from their oppressors and cast the protective shield around the democratic process for which Zimbabwe yearns."

Independent: The mercenary world of Mark Thatcher
"The Independent has established that his new-found reticence has not stopped Sir Mark from staying in the oil business, a venture, he declares, he finds hugely lucrative. Like most enterprises he has taken part in the exact details of what he does are rather hazy: "Oil futures", he would say airily when someone asks. " I make judgement calls on prices between when a tanker leaves a port and gets to its destination." The business does, however, take him to Russia, China and Japan; give him bank accounts in Cyprus and London and an extremely comfortable lifestyle in Spain and Britain. While in the UK he often stays at his mother's London house in Chester Square, Belgravia, and has been spotted huddled in "deal-making" meetings.

But then nothing is quite what is seems in Mark Thatcher's shadowy world."

BBC: 1. man murdered, allegedly by a faction or related subgroup of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), in Derry/Londonderry
2. "new high" for dissident republican activity in N Ireland

MSNBC: Saudis arrest hundreds of alleged Al Qaeda members
"Saudi Arabia is holding 520 suspected al-Qaida-linked militants in custody after a series of operations this year, the kingdom's Interior Ministry said Wednesday. . .

Some of the alleged militants are suspected of plotting attacks against the kingdom's oil and economic installations and planned to revive "criminal activities," the ministry said."

CNN: militants kill rival tribal elders in northwestern Pakistan
"The bodies of at least 12 to 15 members of a local 'jirga' -- or gathering of tribal elders -- were recovered near the town of Jandola, which adjoins the South Waziristan tribal district, police said."

BBC: Jackie Chan brings his message of non-violence to East Timor

in the field [euro cup happens]

specialists are busy specializing in non-blog-related activities for the next few weeks. be back soon...

well, that could have gone better

BBC: up to $23 billion gone missing in Iraq

WashPost: militias go after opposition in Zimbabwe
"The opposition says at least 60 of its supporters have been killed in the past two months. Tsvangirai, who has been the target of at least three assassination attempts, left Zimbabwe after the March vote but returned in late May to campaign for the runoff."

NYT: Indonesian terror network on the run
"The deadliest terrorist networks in Southeast Asia have suffered significant setbacks in the past three years, weakened by aggressive policing, improved intelligence, enhanced military operations and an erosion of public support, government officials and counterterrorism specialists say."

Economist: navies getting bigger and better in Asia
"Is this an arms race? As Asia's defence ministers and military chiefs gathered in Singapore last weekend for their main annual summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue (organised by the IISS), the conclusion of most analysts seemed to be: not yet. A classic arms race, says Mr Huxley, consists of two main countries that have one dominating dispute. Asia is different. Instead, it has the makings of a pair of opposing alliances. A “quad” group (India, America, Australia and Japan) plus Singapore now conduct naval manoeuvres together. So do China and Pakistan. But China and India seem keen to avoid provoking each other. Indeed, they are seeking to build good relations between their navies."

WashPost: the head of Saddam's tribe killed in a bomb blast

BBC: Pakistani lawyers begin "long march" from Sukkur to Islamabad against Musharraf
"The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad says the rally could be the first real challenge to Pakistan's fragile new civilian government. It could also increase tensions in the government as the junior partner, the Pakistan Muslim League of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (PML-N), is taking part in the demonstrations. On Monday, about 4,000 activists from various political parties gathered in Karachi and chanted slogans such as "Go, Musharraf, Go!" and "Musharraf is an American dog!""

Gdn: Burma releases a few opposition activists

Indian Express: RAND says the Pakistani ISI still backing militants
"The study by Rand Corporation, funded by the US Department of Defence, finds that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate and Frontier Corps have failed to root out Afghan insurgent groups based in Pakistan and, in some cases, individuals from these Pakistani organisations have provided direct assistance to such groups as the Taliban and Haqqani network."

Hindu: ethnic protest by Gorkha group shuts down tea and tourist center Darjeeling; West Bengal government not amused

Independent: Chavez says era of armed struggle in Latin America is over
"The armed revolutionary has no place in modern Latin America, the Venezuelan President has declared. Catching his critics off guard, Hugo Chavez called on the Marxist rebel army in neighbouring Colombia to lay down its arms and release its hostages, declaring that guerrilla armies are now "out of place"."

NYT: South Korea becomes home of virtual golf