CONFLICT & TERR0R 11/06

China, U.S. agree on defence hotline
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 4:15am
China and the United States agreed on Monday to open a military hotline as U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates held talks in Beijing that aim to strengthen ties overshadowed by distrust. Full Story

Pakistan police clash with lawyers
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 4:15am
Pakistani police have assaulted lawyers and political activists protesting against the emergency rule imposed by Pervez Musharraf, the country's president. Around 2,000 lawyers gathered on Monday in the eastern city of Lahore as police warned them not to violate a ban on rallies in Pakistan. Full Story

UN envoy continues Myanmar visit
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 4:16am
The United Nations special envoy is set to meet representatives from Myanmar's ethnic groups as he continues his visit aimed pressing the ruling military for political reforms. Ibrahim Gambari arrived in Myanmar on Saturday for his second visit to the country since the military's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests. Full Story

Centre-leftist beats general in Guatemala election
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 4:17am
Centre-leftist Alvaro Colom won Guatemala's presidential election on Sunday, denying power to a retired general who had sought to unleash the army to fight a violent crime wave. Mr. Colom, a soft-spoken textile businessman, beat Gen. Otto Perez Molina, the former head of army intelligence, by 5.4 percentage points with more than 95 per cent of votes counted. Full Story

PetroChina is world's top company
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 4:17am
Chinese oil firm PetroChina has trumped US rival Exxon Mobil to become the world's biggest firm by market value on its first day of trading in Shanghai. Strong demand pushed the shares in the firm up by more than twice the offer price, giving PetroChina a market value of about $1 trillion (#479.8bn). Full Story

Rice to be pressed for peace
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 4:18am
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice should hand timetables to Israel and the Palestinians for meeting their short-term peace obligations to boost trust ahead of a U.S.-hosted Mideast conference, a senior Palestinian negotiator said Monday. Full Story

Iraqi official gunned down in Baghdad
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 4:19am
Two carloads of gunmen ambushed a top aide to Iraq's Finance Ministry on Sunday in Baghdad, killing him and his driver, police said. The two were among 15 people killed or found dead in Iraq. The Finance Ministry had no immediate comment about the attack on Qutaiba Badir al-Din Mohammed, a Sunni adviser to Iraq's finance minister. Full Story

Belgium nears 5 months with no gov't
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 4:19am
Belgium heads for a record Tuesday  149 days with no government  unless the two winners of this year's elections suddenly resolve linguistic spats deadlocking their bid to form an alliance. Nearly five months after the vote, Yves Leterme, 47, the would-be Christian Democratic premier, has only a partial government program in hand. Full Story

Magma pushing through Indonesian volcano's crater
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 4:20am
Indonesia's steaming Mount Kelud volcano was dangerously close to an eruption on Monday as magma pushed through its blocked crater causing boiling water to spill down its sides, a volcanologist said on Monday. Water levels in the crater lake have also fallen because of cracks on its surface, damaging essential equipment used to monitor Mount Kelud, which has been on the verge of an eruption for several weeks. Full Story

Kurdish rebels operate freely
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 4:21am
Near the edge of this dust-colored mountain village, a man dressed in military fatigues, his AK-47 casually lying near his feet and a grenade dangling from his waist, keeps sentry along a dry, rock-strewn creek bed. The trail is a well-known route for smugglers, and they pass by frequently, crossing between Iraq and neighboring Iran, a steady procession of donkeys hauling food, fuel canisters and boxes filled with who knows what. Full Story

New Eritrea-Ethiopia war fearsPosted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 7:14amEthiopia and Eritrea may return to war over their disputed border without foreign moves to resolve the crisis, warns the International Crisis Group. The ICG wants US and UN intervention as the military build up by both countries on the border is at alarming levels. Full Story

Bosnian Serb PM vows no compromise on autonomy
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 7:17am
Bosnian Serbs rejected reform proposals by the country's peace envoy because they had already made enough concessions, the Prime Minister of Bosnia's Serb Republic was quoted on Monday as saying. Full Story

Italian police arrest Mafia's boss of bosses'
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 7:23am
Salvatore Lo Piccolo, who magistrates believe is the Sicilian Mafia's new boss of bosses was arrested on Monday after nearly a quarter of a century on the run, police said. Full Story

MI5 Chief: Some Terrorists Are Just 15
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 7:36am
The new head of security service MI5 has said the number of people involved in terrorist activity in the UK is rising - and some are as young as 15. Full Story

Egypt police jailed for torture
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 8:13am
Two Egyptian policemen have been jailed for three years each for torturing a bus driver during police custody. The police officers filmed the sexual assault of Emad al-Kebir, 22, on a mobile phone. The footage eventually emerged on the internet. Full Story

Abbas's security forces, gunmen clash in West Bank
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 9:56am
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's forces clashed on Monday with gunmen for the first time since their deployment in the city of Nablus as part of a Western-backed push to bolster West Bank security. Full Story

U.S. postpones Pakistan defense talks due to crisis
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 10:39am
The United States has postponed defense cooperation talks with Pakistan, scheduled for this week, due to President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of a state of emergency, the Pentagon said on Monday. Full Story

Poland's Iraq mission to end in 'current form': incoming PM
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 10:43am
Poland's new government plans to end the country's role in the US-led coalition in Iraq in its "current form" next year, prime minister-designate Donald Tusk said in an interview published Monday. Full Story

Taliban Seize Control of Third District in Western Afghanistan
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 11:04am
Taliban militants have taken control of a third district in western Afghanistan. Local officials say the militants captured the Khaki Safed district in the western Farah province late Sunday, with police and government officials fleeing without a fight. Full Story

Netherlands suspends aid to Pakistan
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 11:24am
The Netherlands has suspended aid to Pakistan after military leader President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule, Dutch Development Aid Minister Bert Koenders said Monday. Full Story

Somali Opposition Says Rebels Threaten to Step up Attacks
Posted on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 3:29pm
In a worrying sign that insurgent violence in the Somali capital could escalate further, the deputy chairman of the Eritrea-based Somali opposition group tells VOA that well armed rebels are prepared to step up attacks against Ethiopian troops in the city. Full Story


Courtesy Terrorism Research Center