Free Republic

Excerpt - The Northern Fleet heading to Venezuela Order warships Northern Fleet went to the ocean trip, which will take place ships in ports of entry of Venezuela. The military stressed that this action was not politically motivated Moscow. September 22. INTERFAX.RU - Russia is determined to step up military cooperation with Caracas: Monday detachment of Russian Northern Fleet warships went to the ocean trip, which will take place ships in ports of entry and Venezuela held in conjunction with a fleet of the country's teachings. "The squad is to ship nuclear missile cruiser" Pyotr Veliky ", a large anti-submarine...

TALIBAN ABDUCT MORE THAN 140 CIVILIAN LABOURERS OF A CONSTRUCTION FIRM IN WESTERN AFGHANISTAN -GOVERNOR

via translation - ALERT - An Afghan consul kidnapped in Pakistan, his driver killed PESHAWAR (Pakistan) - The Consul General of Afghanistan in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, was kidnapped Monday by unidentified attackers who killed his driver in an ambush, announced the Afghan consulate.

DUBAI: The elusive al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden’s literary work will be published soon by an Oxford-educated academic expert in Arabic, according to media reports. Bin Laden's recitals at wedding banquets and other feasts during the 1990s were recorded on tapes recovered from his compound in Afghanistan in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks in the US. They were studied by Professor Flagg Miller, who teaches Arabic poetry at University of California, Davis, the report said. Bin Laden is a skilled poet with clever rhymes and metres, which was one reason why many people taped him and passed recordings around,...

Excerpt - ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - British Airways has suspended its flights to Pakistan because of security fears after a bloody suicide truck-bomb blast at a hotel in Islamabad on the weekend, an airline spokesman said on Monday. ~ snip ~

Pakistan firing on two U.S. helicopters MIRANSHAH (Pakistan) - Security forces in Pakistan have opened fire Sunday on two U.S. helicopters had violated Pakistani airspace over the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, officials announced Monday. "Pakistani forces fired on two U.S. helicopter gunships (...) and forced to return to Afghanistan, told AFP one of the local security services. "The helicopter returned fire after our troops," confirmed a second charge. The incident occurred Sunday evening near the village of Lwara Mundi, in the tribal district of North Waziristan, where Pakistani army is fighting against Islamist fighters near the Taliban and Al...

via translation - ALERT - Pakistan: the Czech ambassador was killed PRAGUE - The Czech Republic's ambassador to Pakistan, which had called for help from the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad shortly after the attack Saturday, died Sunday announced in Prague public television CT 24.

Excerpt - After dumping its $10 million contract with Jerry Seinfeld after just three ads (only two of which even aired) Microsoft has created new ad copy where regular people and a few celebrities say, “I’m a PC!” One problem with the campaign’s credibility: the ad work was created using Macs. Flickr user LuisDS found that metadata on the creative copy of the “stereotyped PC user” and other photos appearing on Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” website revealed that they were produced using Macs running Adobe Creative Suite 3. One might expect that Microsoft would use Windows PCs running its own...

Excerpt - Today Apple announced the Apple Ultracompact USB Power Adapter Exchange program. Apple has determined that under certain conditions the new ultracompact Apple USB power adapter's metal prongs can break off and remain in a power outlet, creating a risk of electric shock. We have received reports of detached blades involving a very small percentage of the adapters sold, but no injuries have been reported. ~ snip ~

Excerpt - SEOUL (AFP)--North Korea said Friday it no longer wants to be dropped from a U.S. terrorism blacklist and has begun rebuilding its atomic reactor following a deadlock in an international nuclear disarmament deal. A foreign ministry spokesman said work has been under way "since some time ago" to restore the plutonium-producing reactor, in response to the U.S. failure to drop it from the list. A ministry official earlier in the day had also told reporters at the inter- Korean border village of Panmunjom that the reactor is being restored. ~ snip ~

Excerpt - FRANCE 24 reporters accompanied a group of Taliban fighters on an attack against Afghan troops. The group’s leader has a warning for French troops after last month’s deadly ambush: leave now or face more. Wardak province in Afghanistan houses a road that connects the capital Kabul to the city of Kandahar. The road links the main US bases in the country, and is therefore a strategic target for Islamic militants. In the heart of the province, our reporters met Taliban commander Abu Tayeb, who was preparing his contingent of warriors for combat. The militants here are called “fedayeen,”...

RBC, 19.09.2008, Moscow 11:20:18.As of 11:05 a.m., trade was suspended again on Russian stock exchanges. The MICEX technical index surged over 15 percent, and the MICEX index was up 17.9 percent at 1,006.81 points. The RTS Stock Exchange held up trading for 1 hour and cited an overly rapid surge in share prices as the reason for the halt.

via translation - ALERT - India: shootout between police and Islamist activists in Delhi NEW DELHI - A shootout was underway Friday in a Muslim neighborhood in New Delhi between police and Islamist activists, announced televisions, nearly a week after attacks in the Indian capital, who have 24 dead.

Breaking News: SEC intends to temporarily ban short selling, but it's not clear if the commission has approved the move. Cox is briefing congressional leaders. Separately, the government is seeking congressional authority to buy distressed assets.

Nigeria: The main armed group claims to have destroyed a Shell pipeline LAGOS - The main armed group in southern Nigeria, Mend said they had destroyed Thursday evening a "significant pipeline" and belonging to Anglo-Dutch company Shell. At 17:30 GMT, "fighters of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta have destroyed with powerful explosives, a major oil pipeline belonging to Shell Development Company," in Rivers State in southern Nigeria's oil, said a press release the group.

Excerpt - DUBAI, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The United States has closed its embassy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa after an attack on the heavily fortified building, al Jazeera television said on Thursday. It was unclear from the report whether the closure was temporary or permanent. ~ snip ~

BRUSSELS, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia would be an ideal bridgehead for a U.S. invasion of Iran, Russia's NATO envoy said Wednesday. The United States and Israel have consistently refused to rule out the possibility of military action against Iran over its refusal to halt its uranium enrichment. At a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels Dmitry Rogozin said that Russian intelligence had obtained information indicating that the Georgian military infrastructure could be used for logistical support of U.S. troops if they launched an attack on Iran. "This is another reason why Washington values Saakashvili's regime so...

Today, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank (ECB), the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank are announcing coordinated measures designed to address the continued elevated pressures in US dollar short-term funding markets. These measures, together with other actions taken in the last few days by individual central banks, are designed to improve the liquidity conditions in global financial markets. The central banks will continue to work together closely and will take appropriate steps to address the ongoing pressures. Bank of England action The Bank of England will offer...

Excerpt- For Scotland's oldest bank, it was the suddenness of its rout that stunned. That and the silence at the top. That and the invisibility of leadership. That and the short-selling frenzy that descended on HBOS shares yesterday, like vultures on a corpse. This was the blackest day in Scottish banking. An appalling day of shock, confusion and disbelief. Many this morning will still be aghast at the speed of the bank's share collapse. Anger and a reckoning will come later. Today, the fate of HBOS, the savings of its 22 million customers, the prospects for its 72,000 staff and...

Excerpt - HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. military aborted an attempt to shoot down an incoming missile with two interceptors Wednesday after the target malfunctioned shortly after launch off Kauai. ~ snip ~