Security Council resolutions, Iraq,Israel,ec.

An interesting commentary on the issue in Jerusalem Post, particularly as it relates to US abstaining from using it's veto on the resolution about the Israeli siege of Mukata in Ramallah (of course they introduced a resolution draft on it as well), and the consistency in expecting compliance to those resolutions. Mostly in terms of just how much leeway you can afford with looking the other way if you're selling the case against Iraq with the resolution non-compliance (among other things, obviously) at the same time. All in all, seems like an unusually daft move on the part of Israel's government, caving into to the urge "to do something" and going about it in a rather unproductive manner to their own interests, seems like all it accomplished was to provide more ammunition for the anti-Israel camp. That said, US is putting some pressure on Israel over the issue, and if nothing else I suppose it serves as a reminder that the respective national interests obviously differ.

Ivory Coast, part II

Looks like the French rolled into Bouake, securing at least that missionary school on the way. More on it on CNN

Ivory Coast, coups, etc.

Yet another African coup attempt, looks like. So far the reporting from the area has been pretty fragmentary, but it seems the French troops are now in position in Abidjan (their base), Yamoussoukro and near Bouake. Bouake is under rebel control right now, and some Western citizens are trapped in the town (including 160 US citizens and some Europeans at a Christian Academy as well as the French citizens).

And as Reuters puts it: "The troops, from units experienced in getting foreigners out of African trouble spots, are poised to push into Bouake to rescue any foreigners whose countries ask Paris for help." Probably French Marines and/or Foreign Legion.
"We are here to approach the center of the crisis and the area where there is a threat to the expatriates," a senior French officer told Reuters. "We hope our presence will dissuade anyone from threatening their security."

More info: Brand new google news search, seems to work very well, it's scouring around 4000 news sites for new material continuously, freshest news from it so far was published 6 minutes ago.

Local commentary on Iraq

Mildly surprising as such, today's Ilta-Sanomat (a newspaper/tabloid with a large circulation by local standards and published by the biggest local paper media corporation) carries a strongly pro-invasion column right next to it's editorial page. Or in the words (translated by me, hopefully well enough) of the author Juha-Pekka Tikka:
"The weapon's inspections in Iraq are a good thing. For example, 25 divisions of extremely well equipped inspectors with air support sounds like an idea that should be acted upon immediately" .. "Or more seriously, the way to inspect for Saddam Hussein's weapons is to first remove him and inspect later".. "During the liberation of Iraq the rest of the world can just as well stick on the sidelines to discuss pacifism, just as long as the modern day Chamberlains stay out of the way of those with a job to do".

Later in the piece follows the usual Samuel Huntington and Mark Steyn quotes,etc. All in all, as far as I've noticed it's a somewhat unusual statement, if for no other reason than it's visibility and placement. The "all politics is local" statement applies here as well, until something bigger happens it's going to be mostly local news and economy.

Russia,Georgia. Part II:Oil Pipelines

Something from the local newsdaily Helsingin Sanomat(in finnish. to show "it's there") which slipped past me last time I wrote on the topic. Namely, the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline started (it was celebrated on wednesday in Baku). Of course what that means for Russia is that it destroys their monopoly on oil transport pipelines from the Caspian basin area, and thus lowers their influence in the former Soviet states (as in, control of the primary earner of hard currencies for the said countries). All in all, the pipeline should lessen the dependence on Persian Gulf oil in the west.
A good example of oil politics as well (the US-Russia setup in particular. Obviously Russia is served by the oil investment inside Russia proper, and more so if their infrastructure is built up to sell to US markets. And in the case of Central Asian republics, the same intererests do not quite meet when US & Co bypass their control to satisfy those same energy security needs).

Vladimir on the move again

Looks like Putin managed to maneuver himself into a position where it will be US moving forward his agenda. This time over Georgia (again). Selling point would be that if US bombs a country on suspicion of WMD development, they can bomb a country if it's used as a base for crossborder guerrilla intrusions.

Then again: "The State Department took "strong exception" on Thursday to any threats by Russia against Georgia and said the United States would "oppose any unilateral military action" there." (Maybe it's just me, but that does provide some comic relief. US govt organ protesting against unilateral action?)
And of course, Russia has a veto at the UN Security Council , so they can hold up US agenda there by themselves if need be. I smell an Iraq for Georgia swap coming, they'll vote for the Iraq resolution and and US won't get into the way if they arrange for some resolution on the Georgia issue.

From the Washington Post.

Russia,Georgia, Chechens.

Russia Journal reports on the ongoing tensions between Russian and Georgia, this time as a result of Russia's demand to stop Chechen fighters from operating from it's territory. Or as the article quotes:
"Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Georgia in a televised statement Wednesday that Russia would defend itself in line with United Nations Charter and its resolutions if the Georgian government fails to end rebels' raids into Russia's breakaway republic of Chechnya across the border."

An old fashioned conditional "or else.." statement in other words.

Biological Weapons, US, Russia

In something of a return to old style secrecy, Russia nixed the latest US attempt to get access to some of their genetically engineered bioweapon anthrax strains . As before, the labs run by the Russian military are off limits to foreign observers, in this case a delegation of senator Richard Lugar (of the Nunn-Lugar act fame, in this context. An arms reduction veteran) & Co. In the case of Anthrax strain, the main item of curiosity is it's potential vaccine resistance (which has been reported in scientific journals etc. Esp.to US vaccines).
-Washington Post

The Taxman Cometh..EU and Swiss Banking Laws

A news brief on Financial Times details the latest bit of trouble between EU and the Swiss, this time over banking secrecy laws.

"France, Britain and Germany on Friday demanded that a list of reprisals should be drawn up to put pressure on the Swiss, who are refusing to pass on information to EU tax authorities"

And of course it does coincide nicely with the concerns over money laundering and the financial traffic of variety of organizations.

In Local News: The economy is picking up

A news brief in local daily Helsingin Sanomat (In Finnish. To show "it's there") on the latest economic forecasts. The result? Economy should grow about 1.9% this year, and next year's estimate 3.7% (Obviously highly uncertain. Oil prices to begin with could still have a large impact,should they behave the same way than during the Gulf War. Assuming US actually gets around to doing something about Iraq rather than talking about it).

Pop artists in space

Now, after they've shot Lance Bass of N'sync into low earth orbit, maybe they could continue with the rest of the band. After that, moving onto Ricky Martin and Christina Aguilera would start to sound reeeally tempting.. :)