A draft report by the US Government Accountability Office reveals between 100,000 and 300,000 barrels of oil from Iraq are unaccounted for and may have been siphoned off through corruption of smuggling. Based on an average of $50 per barrel,… Read moreBillions in Iraq oil money missing: GAO
From Newsday, May 12: Driveway hit-and-run shatters family Arjun Nalinvilawan couldn’t wait for Mother’s Day. “I was calling all my friends to find out what to get my mom,” he said. Instead of celebrating with mom on Sunday, the 16-year-old… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has prepared an aid plan for the refugees of Darfur which it will submit to the cabinet for approval in the coming days. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Haaretz that the ministry’s aid plan is intended to… Read moreIsrael to aid Darfur refugees?
The governments of Saudi Arabia and the US are working with other Middle East states to sponsor covert action against Iran, according to a report in the May edition of The Atlantic. The report also suggests that covert attacks are… Read moreSaudis sponsor covert action against Iran?
Iraq’s Kurdish regional government has mobilized 1,000 peshmerga troops to its border with Iran, ostensibly to stop the flow of men and weapons to support the Islamist militant group Ansar al-Islam. Maj. Gen. Jabbar Yawir said an Ansar-allied group calling… Read moreNext in Iraq: Kurdish al-Qaeda?
A roadside bomb has killed seven Special Forces soldiers in an ambush in Narathiwat’s Rangae district, in southern Thailand [May 10]. [The Nation, Thailand, May 10] Two policemen have also been killed in a raid on a security checkpoint in… Read moreThailand: Muslim separatists attack security forces
Yemen has recalled its ambassador to Libya over its suspected support to Shi’ite guerilla followers of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, who have been fighting government forces in the northern province of Saada since the beginning of the year. “The decision to recall… Read moreYemen: Qadaffi backs Shi’ite insurgents?
Tuareg guerillas in Mali, accompanied by Tuareg fighters from neighboring Niger, attacked a northeast police post May 11, the first attack since a peace deal with the government last year. The assault against the gendarmerie post at Tin-Za, north of… Read moreMali: Tuareg revolt back on?
Sudan has asked a UN team to travel to Darfur to evaluate the status and needs of 45,000 men, women and children who have crossed over from Chad in the last three months. Gathered in camps near the Sudanese border… Read moreArab refugees flee Chad —into Darfur?
The Chinese foreign ministry has announced the appointment of a new special representative to Africa and confirmed plans to send 275 military engineers for UN peacekeeping operations. The move comes just as China is coming under international criticism for its… Read moreChina to send military engineers to Darfur?
British civil servant David Keogh has been sentenced to six months after being found guilty of breaching the Official Secrets Act for leaking a classified memo about a meeting between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush in… Read moreBrit official gets prison for leaking Bush-Blair memo
A terrorism warning issued by US military authorities in Germany last month could involve plans by an the Kurdish Islamist militant organization Ansar al-Islam, anonymous officials said in a report on the ABC News website. Howeve, other anonymous officials denied… Read moreAnsar al-Islam to attack Americans in Germany?
