To bail out or not to bail out, that is the question

As Greece's troubles continue (save yesterday's temporary boost), the debate on whether the EU Treaties legally allow the EU to bail out one of its member states rages on. On his blog, the FT's EU correspondent Tony Barber claims that the "EU possesses the legal power to rescue Greece if necessary."

For what it's worth, we're not convinced it does, although there is so much ambiguity in the EU Treaties that it's probably going to be a case of 'where there's a will, there's a way'.

Barber refers to article 122 of the TFEU Treaty (former article 100), arguing:

The second clause states that when a member-state 'is in difficulties or is seriously threatened with severe difficulties caused by natural disasters or exceptional occurrences beyond its control, the Council [of national governments], on a proposal from the Commission, may grant, under certain conditions, Union financial assistance to the member-state concerned.'

However, as we set out last July, the 'no bail-out' clause in the EU treaties explicitly prohibits member states from taking on the financial 'commitments' of a national government (i.e. assisting in closing a budget deficit). And this is what the no bail-out clause says in full:

The Union shall not be liable for or assume the commitments of central governments, regional, local or other public authorities, other bodies governed by public law, or public undertakings of any Member State, without prejudice to mutual financial guarantees for the joint execution of a specific project. A Member State shall not be liable for or assume the commitments of central governments, regional, local or other public authorities, other bodies governed by public law, or public undertakings of another Member State, without prejudice to mutual financial guarantees for the joint execution of a specific project. (article 125 TFEU)

This 'no bail-out' article is supposed to guard against 'moral hazard', embodying the important principle that it us unreasonable and fundamentally undemocratic to let taxpayers in one country pay for the mistakes of governments (in Greece or elsewhere) in a different country (over which they have no democratic control).

In a written answer to former MEP Kathy Sinnott, the Council suggests that the 'no bail-out' clause is superior to the article allowing for financial assistance to member states. On how article 100 (now article 122) can be used, they said:

the Council recalls the terms of the Declaration on Article 100 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, which is attached to the Nice Treaty. According to this declaration, 'decisions regarding financial assistance, such as are provided for in Article 100 and are compatible with the 'no bail-out' rule laid down in Article 103...

The Council therefore refers to a "Declaration on Article 100" (that was attached to the Nice Treaty), which states that actions under article 100 must be "compatible with the 'no bail-out' rule".

But that may not be the end of the story. The EU doesn't exactly have a brilliant track record in abiding by its own rules (the EU hasn't managed to follow its own budget rules for 15 years).

The Council's written answer to Kathy Sinnott also reveals that the EU's member states have never thought to set out exactly what "exceptional occurrences" beyond the control of a member state might constitute. The Council said:

No definition of "exceptional occurrences beyond the control of a Member State" exists and the Council has never discussed it. Similarly, the Council has never discussed the possibility of invoking "exceptional occurrences" in the context of the current economic situation.

Tony Barber argues that "if you don’t define the 2007-09 world financial crisis as an 'exceptional occurrence', then it hard to see what type of event could ever fall into this category". With this reasoning the EU (including non-Eurozone members such as the UK) could be asked to bail out a eurozone member in trouble and as Barber notes, none of the Eurozone leaders have "any doubt whatsoever that, if the worst happens, they will have to rescue Greece.."

But such an interpretation would take some nerve. The Swedish and Finnish Finance Ministers have clearly said that a bail-out is legally impossible. And in the following interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, German EU law professor Matthias Ruffert completely rejects the idea that the financial crisis could credibly be defined as “exceptional occurrences beyond [the Greek government's] control”, saying: "state debt certainly cannot be counted among those." On whether "the financial crisis couldn't be seen as extraordinary and uncontrollable", he answers: "that wouldn't convince a judge. In other areas, jurisprudence strictly distinguishes between scientific and non scientific grounds in order to justify exceptions."

We suspect that this debate will drag on. One thing is for sure: the EU has an amazing ability to be creative with its own laws when the boat gets a bit rocky.

War News for Wednesday, January 27, 2010

U.S. military teams, intelligence deeply involved in aiding Yemen on strikes:

NATO, Kazakhstan agree on Afghan supply route:

Two Koreas trade fire:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Iraqi police say two people have been killed in a drive-by shooting targeting buses carrying Iranian Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad. Two police officials say gunmen in a speeding car opened fire Wednesday on the buses as they passed through a Sunni-dominated neighborhood in northwest Baghdad. The officials say an Iranian woman and a bus driver have been killed and that five pilgrims also have been injured. The buses were on their way to the shrine of Imam Mousa al-Kazim, a much revered Shiite saint.

#2: Three civilians were wounded on Tuesday by a sticky bomb explosion in northern Baghdad, a police source said on Wednesday. “A bomb, stuck to the car of Dr. Sawsan Abdulwahab, went off while passing Raghbat Khatoun neighborhood in al-Aadhamiya region, northern Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast injured the doctor and two passing civilians and damaged the car,” he added.


Kut:
#1: Anti-explosives department managed to defuse two bombs targeting Shiite visitors in western Kut, a source from the department said on Wednesday. “The two bombs, planted on the road linking between Kut and al-Ahrar district, were defused by the anti-explosives squad,” he source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The bombs were targeting visitors of Imam al-Hussein’s Arbaeen,” he added. “The first bomb consists of a mortar shell tied with a remote, while the second bombs contains 10 kg of C4,” he explained.


Mosul:
#1: Four policemen and one civilian were wounded in a suicide bombing attack in northwest of Mosul, a security source said on Wednesday. “A suicide bomber blew up an explosive belt strapped to his body on Wednesday (Jan. 27) near a police station in Zamar district, northwest of Mosul, targeting a U.S. vehicle patrol, injuring four policemen and one civilian,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast caused no injuries among U.S. troops,” he added.

#2: Gunmen shot dead a local district official in eastern Mosul, police said.

#3: Gunmen killed one person in a crowded market in central Mosul, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A bomb planted near a house in northwestern Pakistan exploded Wednesday after children playing nearby tried to open it, killing three of them, said police. The blast partly destroyed the house in Nanger Khani village in Upper Dir, an area near Pakistan's volatile Afghan border, said police official Gul Zameen Khan. Police are investigating why the bomb was placed there, he said.

#2: Thirteen police and civilian explosives experts were wounded Wednesday when a homemade bomb they were trying to defuse in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir detonated, said police official Iftikhar Kiani. The explosives were hidden in a milk container planted on a road leading to a military base, he said. Two of the wounded men were transferred to the garrison town of Rawalpindi outside the capital, Islamabad, because of the serious nature of their injuries, said Kiani.

#3: Taliban fighters have killed a pro-government militia leader in northwest Pakistan's Bajaur district, where helicopters have been shelling insurgent hideouts, officials said Wednesday. The body of Malik Manaris Khan, 47, was found riddled with bullets early Wednesday in Salarzai town, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) northeast of Khar, the main city in Bajaur, which is in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. "He was kidnapped on Monday along with two other tribesmen. Today (Wednesday), we found his dead body," said Naseeb Shah, a local administrative official, blaming the Taliban movement for the abductions. "He was leading an anti-Taliban lashkar (militia) in his village."

#4: "Helicopter gunships have been shelling Taliban hideouts in Salarzai and the adjacent town of Mamoond since Tuesday," Shah said. Another government official said that the shelling had killed at least six militants and wounded another four in the last 24 hours. "We have reports that at least six militants were killed and four wounded. Helicopter gunships also destroyed several hideouts and some trenches," Firamosh Khan, an administrative official, told AFP by telephone.

#5: update A suicide car bomber struck a barrier outside a U.S. base in Kabul on Tuesday, wounding six Afghans and eight American troops. NATO forces confirmed a car bomb struck outside the main gate of Camp Phoenix, saying it was aimed at a civilian convoy that was entering the controlled checkpoint. Eight American service members suffered minor injuries, according to a statement.

#6: Five police were killed as a roadside bomb struck their van in Zabul province south of Afghanistan early Wednesday, a senior police commander Abdul Razaq said. "The gruesome incident occurred in Shamonzai district early today as a result five constables of Border Police Force were martyred," Razaq told Xinhua.


DoD: Lance Cpl. Jeremy M. Kane

DoD: Sgt. Daniel M. Angus

DoD: Lance Cpl. Timothy J. Poole

DoD: Lance Cpl. Zachary D. Smith

REPUBLIC DAY - LOL!

I realise, as I write this that it's already 27 January in "The World's Largest Democracy."  OK, just a small jab by me. 

I have decided this is a good occasion for me to give some gifts to my loyal readers, as well as the Indian agents who regularly read my scribblings.

Let us begin with a song, called The Road To Khalistan:




 
I am astounded that no one has commented on the current header showing Sant Ji smiling at the flag of the Sovereign Republic of Khalistan flying proudly over what is now the Parliament Building of "the World's Largest Democracy."   As I do occasionally change the header, I'll reproduce it here for your perusal:

Clicking on either picture will take you to my Flickr account.

 
This is my answer to my picture of my impression of the Sacred Sarovar in June 1984.  This is not a literal picture, although it does look remarkably similar to what I saw back then.

Credits for the picture are at the bottom of this post.

Now, as I have said before, I get many weird and wonder things in my inbox, ranging from offers to enlarge an anatomical part that I do not possess to the occasional odd death threat to the truly wonderful.  As usual, if I find something particularly striking to me, I like to share it with you.  The following letter brought me much joy.  I hope it chardi kalas you up, as well!

Let 2010 Bring Freedom to the Sikh Nation

May Guru Bless the Khalsa Panth in 2010

With Freedom, Happiness, Dignity, and Prosperity

Liberating Khalistan Must Be Focus of New Year

Dear Khalsa Ji:


WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA, WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH!


The New Year is here. Please let me take this opportunity to wish a Happy New Year to you and your family and the Khalsa Panth. May 2010 be your best year yet. I wish you health, joy, prosperity, and above all, freedom.

The flame of freedom continues to burn brightly in the heart of the Sikh Nation. No force can suppress it. Guru Gobind Singh blessed the Khalsa Panth, saying “In grieb Sikhin ko deon Patshahi.” (“I bless the Sikh nation with sovereignty.”) The Sikh Nation must dedicate this year to working hard to achieve that goal. Self-determination is the right of all peoples and nations and self-determination is the essence of democracy.

James Madison, the primary author of the U.S. Constitution and the fourth President of the United States, warned of the “tyranny of the majority.” That is why the U.S. Constitution has strong protections for minority and individual rights and a republican, decentralized governmental structure. India, the self-proclaimed “world’s largest democracy,” is proof that Madison was absolutely right. Without effective protection for individual rights and those of communities and states, the majority runs roughshod over the rights, interests, and lives of the minorities. India does this to Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Bodos, Assamese, Manipuris, Dalits, and so many others.
 

It is time for the Sikh Nation to flourish. Sikhs have suffered too much already under the yoke of Indian persecution since independence, especially over the past 25 years. We have seen the attack on the Golden Temple, over 250,000 Sikhs murdered and over 52,000 held as political prisoners, the murder of the Akal Takht Jathedar, more than 50,000 Sikh youth tortured, murdered, then declared unidentified and secretly cremated, their bodies never returned to their families. Their families continue to suffer. We must help their widows and orphans. Let us find the vision to throw off this repression. With that vision, the Sikh Nation will flourish; without it, we will perish and India’s effort to eliminate Sikhism will succeed. The sooner we can liberate Khalistan, the better.

The Dera gurus are bent upon the destruction of the Sikh religion and they are backed by the Indian government. On December 10 in Ludhiana, they marched with the protection of the state government. When Sikhs protested, one Sikh was shot to death by the police. Many were beaten up just for peacefully protesting the Dera frauds. One Sikh was injured in the street. The police came while he was unconscious, then beat him up with their nightsticks.

Last week the Supreme Court ruled that Sikhs are Hindus. Sikhs are NOT Hindus. The Sikh religion was established by Guru Nanak. It has ten Gurus. The last guru, Guru Gobind Singh, gave Guruship permanently to the Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhs don’t believe in the caste system; Hindus do. The caste system is essential to Hinduism. Hindus don’t believe in equality. Sikhs believe all people are equal, including gender equality. Hindus believe women are inferior. Thus, Sikhs can’t be Hindus. At age 5, Guru Nanak refused to wear the Hindu ceremonial thread, the Jannau. Sikhism is the youngest religion in the world and its fifth largest.

Hindus claim that Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism are all branches of Hinduism. None of them is. I am surprised that they didn’t claim Christianity is a branch of Hinduism too. If Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and others are part of Hinduism, why are the Hindus killing and persecuting them? Guru Nanak and Buddha were from Hindu families. Jesus was from a Jewish family. Does that make Christianity a part of Judaism?

The Golden Temple has four entrances so that persons from any religion and any direction can come to pray there.

 

This oppression will only stop when Sikhs have their own sovereign, independent Khalistan. For the survival of the Sikh Nation, we must have our own independent country. Without political power, religions cannot flourish. Examples are before us. Look at the Jewish people. They were oppressed by the Romans in the time of Jesus and six million of them were murdered by the Nazis. Today, they have their homeland and they are thriving.

When Sikhs ruled Punjab, in the 18gth and 19th centuries, our religion flourished. But the British took over in 1849. In the following nine years, the Sikh population declined from 48 lakh to 24 lakh – a loss of 50 percent. Hindu rule has been even worse for our people than British rule. “Khalsa Bagi Yan Badshah.” We must achieve our dream of sovereignty for Khalistan.
 

Jinnah was a smart leader with foresight. He saw to it that the Muslims of the subcontinent got Pakistan. He had more foresight than the Sikh leaders had. The Sikhs took their share with India on the hollow promises of Nehru that we would have “the glow of freedom.” If this is the glow of freedom, I would hate to see slavery.

This repression may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Sikhs never saw Hindus as rulers. They were always oppressed. Sikhs protected them and fought for them. When Hindu girls were taken by the Muslim invaders, Sikhs attacked at night and rescued them. They took them to their homes and treated them as their own daughters and sisters. The Hindus have forgotten all those favors and sacrifices of the Sikh Nation. 85 percent of the sacrifices to free India from Britain were given by Sikhs.

The ninth Guru, Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib, was beheaded in Delhi to stop the conversion of Brahmins to Islam. Now Hindus practice forced conversions.

Khalsa Ji, let us make 2010 a year of freedom for the Sikh Nation. Do not forget the words of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Professor Darshan Singh: “If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a Sikh. The corrupt Akali leadership of Badal has a shameful alliance with the BJP, which has proven time and again that it wants to absorb Sikhism into Hinduism. The recent Supreme Court ruling that Sikhs are Hindus is a testament to that.

Khalistan is the only way that Sikhs will be able to live in freedom, peace, prosperity, and dignity. It is time to start a Shantmai Morcha to liberate Khalistan from Indian occupation. We must achieve our freedom by peaceful, democratic, nonviolent means. Let that be the mission of 2010.
 

Sikhs will never get any justice from Delhi. Ever since independence, India has mistreated the Sikh Nation, starting with Patel’s memo labelling Sikhs “a criminal tribe.” What a shame for Home Minister Patel and the Indian government to issue this memorandum when the Sikh Nation gave over 80 percent of the sacrifices to free India.

There is no place for Sikhs in supposedly secular India. In a free Khalistan, minorities will have equal rights and all will be respected. Citizens of free Khalistan will be prosperous. Development will take place immediately. The Sikh diaspora will invest heavily in an independent Khalistan. Billions of dollars will be invested.

Let us work to make certain that 2010 is the Sikh Nation’s most blessed year by making sure it is the year that we shake ourselves loose from the yoke of Indian oppression and liberate our homeland, Khalistan, so that all Sikhs may live lives of prosperity, freedom, and dignity. Now it is up to us. Do not waste this opportunity.

Khalistan Zindabad! May Guru bless the Khalsa Panth.

Panth Da Sewadar,

Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh
President
Council of Khalistan

*****************************************************
Photo Credits:
 
CREDITS: (All from Creative Commons)
[If I have missed anybody, please contact me and I’ll be happy to credit you]
divyanshs
For the beautiful original of Darbar Sahib (Amritsar): www.flickr.com/photos/divyanshs/3494158283/
Nevadatumbleweed
For the tanks (I added the Indian flags to these Sherman tanks):
www.flickr.com/photos/us_army_rolling_along/3218710072/
Akuppa
For floating head or two and a pointing finger: www.flickr.com/photos/90664717@N00/386333436/
Le Rétroviseur
For another floating head:
www.flickr.com/photos/ghalibonagiddy/3551648713/
.A.A.
For the legs: www.flickr.com/photos/sloth_rider/1492095586/
Liz Highleyman
For the Khalsa guard: www.flickr.com/photos/liz_at_blackrose/35311814/in/set-72...
Carsten Lorentzen
For the AK-47 (It’s not really an AK-47, but that’s another story): www.flickr.com/photos/lorentzen/2868243796/
s_w_ellis
For the Indian flag flying over Darbar Sahib: www.flickr.com/photos/s_w_ellis/4042601774/

Special thanks to Hardeep Singh and Gurmit Kaur for permission to use the lovely picture of the mother and son.

And also to my dear friend (and little sister) Kamal Kaur Badyal for permission to use several of her family members.

snap yo fingerz

i remember when this video came out in 2006 and it blowing my mind! black dice "broken ear record" came out and my buddies and i were freaking out about the hook on "smiling off" and i think paperrad were really blowing up on the internet around the same time. the punks even saw tuxdog graffiti on a truck in chicago! it was also the same summer that i started dating amber. i tried convincing her that "snap yo fingerz" should be our song and she said no. still working on that one!
anyhow, this song and video are amazing and one of my favorite things of the last decade. lil jon's album "crunk rock," which this is from, will hopefully come out sometime in spring 2010. i'll probably be listening to the album on youtube this summer!

more grass widow stuff

i think i've posted this video before... i really like that song lulu's lips at the end

HEY DAY

Kick-start

Open Europe has a short article in this month's edition of Parliament Magazine, detailing how the Spanish EU Presidency could contribute to getting Europe's economy back on track. We argue:

Instead of trying to make economic underperformance illegal and centralise more powers in Brussels, the Spanish Presidency should kick-start the new Lisbon agenda by empowering Europe’s businesses to create real jobs and growth....The threat to Europe’s overall competiveness arises not from a lack of binding targets or Commission powers, but from over-intervention and rules that de-incentivise growth, innovation and job-creation. Growth cannot be legislated – it receives its thrust from individuals, businesses and communities. Designing the right environment for these actors is therefore absolutely vital to unleash Europe’s potential and talent. And here the Spanish Presidency can help by resisting the temptation to pursue activist and mis-targeted regulatory policies.

War News for Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The Oakland Tribune is reporting a new death of a soldier which is not reported by the military. Army Sgt. Ryan Hopkins was found dead in his hospital bed at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas on Friday, January 8, 2010 after being injured during a fuel explosion caused by checking a vehicle’s fuel level with a cigarette lighter in Iraq on October 7, 2008.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in northern Afghanistan on Monday, January 25th. This is being reported as a Norwegian soldier, Claes Joachim Olsson who died four kilometers southeast of Ghowrmach, Badghis Province, Afghanistan.


Lawyer: FBI Concedes Aafia Siddiqui in US custody: From the mail bag-- another case of rendition -- whisker.

UK government adviser: Iraq war was illegal: Michael Wood - who was the chief legal adviser to the Foreign Office at the time of the 2003 invasion - told the inquiry Tuesday that he believed the use of force against Iraq in March 2003 was "contrary to international law" as it had not been authorized by the UN Security Council.

Officials tell AP Briton will be NATO Afghan boss: Two diplomatic officials say ambassador Mark Sedwill has been appointed to the post.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A suicide car bomber killed at least 18 and injured dozens more Tuesday in a strike against a police crime lab in central Baghdad. Rescue crews are still combing through the rubble looking for casualties. Officials say the majority of those killed were likely police officers who worked in the forensic investigation office at Tahariyat Square in the central neighborhood of Karradah. At least 82 people were reported injured. Police and hospital officials said the bomber in Tuesday's attack tried to drive a pickup truck through a checkpoint and blast walls protecting the forensic evidence office. Among those confirmed killed were 12 police officers and six civilians who were visiting the office. Officials said more than half the wounded were police.

#2: update Police and health officials say the death toll in Monday's suicide car bombings of three Baghdad hotels has risen to 41. The officials said on Tuesday that up to 106 people were wounded in the blasts, which struck in a span of 15 minutes. They targeted the Sheraton Ishtar Hotel, Babylon Hotel and Hamra Hotel, which are popular with Western journalists and foreign security contractors.

#3: Nine people were wounded when a militant threw a hand grenade onto a football pitch on Monday in Baghdad's Amil neighbourhood, police said.

#4: Two roadside bombs wounded five people on Monday in northern Baghdad's Adhamiya district on Monday, police said.


Yousifiya:
#1: Two civilians on Tuesday were injured in an explosive charge blast in southern Baghdad, a local police source said. “Today, a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in al-Yousifiya area, southern Baghdad, wounding two civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: Unknown gunmen on Tuesday abducted an employee working for the Health Department in southern Kirkuk, a source from the Joint Coordination Center said. “This morning, unknown gunmen driving an Opel Vectra without a number plate kidnapped a civilian in al-Hajaj neighborhood, southern Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The man was kidnapped while he was on his way to work, the source noted.

#2: Gunmen shot and killed two policemen on Monday in southern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: One woman and her daughter were killed by gunmen in eastern Mosul, a police source said on Monday. “The gunmen stormed their house in al-Zahraa neighborhood, eastern Mosul, and killed them using knives,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: An improvised explosive device went off on Monday inside a restaurant in northern Mosul, a police source said. “The bomb exploded inside al-Nojoom restaurant in al-Majmouaa al-Thaqafiya region, northern Mosul, causing only some material damage,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The bomb was placed inside a plastic bag in the restaurant’s second floor,” he highlighted.

#3: One civilian was killed by gunmen in northern Mosul on Monday, according to a police source. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on a civilian inside his store in al-Sukar neighborhood, northern Mosul, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: One civilian was killed by gunmen in eastern Mosul, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen shot and killed a civilian on Monday (Jan. 25) in al-Maared region in eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#5: A former Iraqi army officer was killed by gunmen in western Mosul City, a local security source said on Tuesday. “This morning, unknown gunmen killed Staff Lt. Col. Faysal Mohammed Saleh, an officer in the former army, in al-Mosul al-Jadida area, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#6: One civilian on Tuesday was killed in an armed attack in western Mosul City, a local police source said. “On Tuesday, unknown gunmen opened fire on a civilian in al-Abar neighborhood, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Gunmen killed four Afghan policemen at a checkpoint near a provincial government building in an overnight attack in southern Afghanistan, an official said Tuesday.

#2: In eastern Kunar province Tuesday, a NATO airstrike killed several insurgents who were maneuvering into fighting position in an area previously used to stage attacks on international forces, the coalition said in a statement. Spokeswoman Maj. Virginia McCabe said the number of people killed was between five and 10 militants.

#3: Pakistani security forces have killed 15 militants in a gunfight in a remote tribal district near the Taliban strongholds of North and South Waziristan, the military said Tuesday. The clash took place after militants attacked a security checkpost on Monday in the Tindo area of Kurram tribal district, more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) southwest of the regional capital Peshawar. "Terrorists attacked a security forces post in Tindo area, which effectively retaliated," a statement from the paramilitary Frontier Corps said. "During an encounter between security forces and terrorists, 15 terrorists were killed and several others have been injured while eight security personnel received minor injuries," it added.

#4: A district police chief and six other persons were injured in a bomb attack in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province on Tuesday, police said. The bomb, attached to a motorcycle, was detonated with the help of remote control when police chief Syed Farid Ali was heading to his office in his official car in Jaffarabad, a city about 300 kilometers southeast of Quetta, the provincial capital.

#5: A loud explosion was heard in the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday, Reuters witnesses and security sources said, but the cause was not immediately clear. "There has been an explosion. We have sent our people to investigate. We are not sure of the cause or if there have been any casualties," a security official said.

A suicide car bomber struck near a U.S. military base in Afghanistan's capital Tuesday, Afghan officials said. At least five civilians were wounded in the attack, but it was unclear if anyone was killed, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said. The head of Kabul's criminal investigations unit confirmed that it was a suicide car bomber but said he was on his way to the scene and did not yet have further details.


MoD: Lance Corporal Daniel Cooper

Google News Comes Back For More

Posted by Andy Golding and Kiran Gunda, Software Engineers

If you read news online, you've probably noticed that articles aren't static. They often change over time, to reflect things like typo fixes, shifts in emphasis, new information or corrections of previous mistakes. Sometimes they even switch URLs, or become unavailable after a certain period of time. As a human being, reading at most a few dozen articles a day, this is no big deal.

But if you happen to be, say, a news search engine that crawls hundreds of articles at thousands of sites every minute, this presents a unique set of challenges. How do you balance looking for new content against the need to update older content? How can you make sure the content is fresh, doesn't link to dead pages or display headlines that have been changed by the publisher?

To deal with these issues, Google News has implemented a recrawl feature that allows us to focus on getting the newest articles around while still ensuring that we're displaying the most up-to-date information. From the moment we discover a new article, we'll keep revisiting it looking for changes. Since we've noticed that most changes to articles occur just after they're published, we revisit articles most frequently in the first day after we've found them. In some cases, we'll even revisit articles we had trouble crawling the first time around. After that, we visit them less often. Either way, we try hard to present users with the freshest news. (We bet whoever wrote "Dewey Defeats Truman" wishes they had recrawl!)

For readers, this feature is intended to reduce the number of outdated headlines and dead links you might find. And for publishers, rest assured that we'll be back to find your latest stories and updates as soon as we can.

War News for Monday, January 25, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier in an IED attack near Sangin, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Sunday, January 24th.

NATO is reporting the death of an American ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, January 24th.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two more American soldiers in an attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, January 24th.


Iraq seals oil deal with Exxon Mobil, Shell group:

Iraq keeps banned bomb-detecting devices in use:

Pakistan’s Rebuff Over New Offensives Rankles U.S.

Afghanistan Postpones Parliamentary Election by 4 Months:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1-3: Iraqi police say three blasts have struck near three hotels in downtown Baghdad, killing at least 11 people. The officials say the blasts wounded at least 20 people.

#1: The first blast struck at about 3:40 p.m. near the Sheraton Hotel along Abu Nawas Street, just across the Tigris River from the Green Zone.

#2-3: The officials say two others struck near the Babylon Hotel and al-Hamra Hotel, which is popular with Western journalists.


Kut:
#1: Policemen found the body of a young man whose throat was slit with a knife and photos of his slaughter with the body, a security source in Wassit said on Sunday. “Reported kidnapped a couple of days ago, the young man, in his 20s, was found slain right in front of his house in the area of al-Falahiya, al-Kut city,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The police also found photos detailing the slaughter with the body,” he said, adding the corpse was removed to the al-Zahraa Hospital morgue in Kut.

#2: Security forces in Wassit defused on Monday a bomb that was planted in front of a local politician’s house in southern Kut. “The bomb is locally made,” a security source from the province told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: Two policemen were killed in the disputed northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Monday, police told the German Press Agency dpa. The two were shot on their way to work in the Hay al-Wasti district shortly before dawn, police said, adding they believed the gunmen had used silencers.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Separately, the police discovered eight decomposed bodies buried in a mass grave outside Fallujah, the source added. "The bodies were badly decomposed because they have been buried for several years when the city was under control of insurgent groups," he said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A rocket has struck a military base in Afghanistan while the Bulgarian defense minister was visiting some of his country's troops stationed there.Four Bulgarian soldiers were wounded in the attack on the base at Kandahar. Reports say the rocket struck about 200 meters from Defense Minister Nikolay Mladenov and his delegation. None of the officials were hurt. Some 270 Bulgarian troops are based in Kandahar.

Four Bulgarian soldiers and as many Romanian soldiers have been wounded in the southern part in Afghanistan during a missile shelling of an ISAF base in Kandahar Province on Sunday night, a NATO representative reported on Monday.

#2: A suspected U.S. drone crashed in Pakistan's tribal region, a Pakistani intelligence official told CNN. The unmanned aircraft went down about 8 p.m. (10 a.m. ET) Sunday night near the village of Hamzoni in North Waziristan, the official said. Hamzoni is about 5 km (3 miles) west of Miran Shah, a town well-known for Taliban and al Qaeda activity. The official said he did not know whether the aircraft was shot down or if it crashed because of mechanical problems.

#3: The Taliban have freed four Afghans abducted in the north earlier this month along with two Chinese engineers, who remain in militant custody, a police official said Monday. Two Chinese engineers and their two Afghan drivers and two guards were snatched in the province of Faryab on January 16, and the Taliban militia claimed responsibility for the kidnapping the same day. Faryab deputy police chief Mohammad Afzal Imamzada told AFP that the Afghans were freed after negotiations, while similar talks were underway to secure the freedom of the Chinese pair. "The Afghans have been freed but the Chinese are still there. The Afghans were freed under negotiations by tribal elders and we're trying to secure the freedom of the Chinese through the same way," Imamzada said.

#4: Taliban militants in North Waziristan killed seven people on charges of spying for the US-led occupation forces in Afghanistan and threatened spies with similar punishment if they didn’t stop working for their enemy. Four of the slain people were stated to be local Wazir tribesmen while the three others were said to be Afghan nationals, all residents of Afghanistan’s troubled Khost province, which borders North Waziristan.

#5: Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships attacked militants in the Kurram ethnic Pashtun tribal region on the Afghan border, killing 11 and wounding seven, government and security officials said. The assault followed a militant attack on a paramilitary force checkpost in which six soldiers were wounded.

#6: Police in Afghanistan's northern Saripul province discovered an explosive-laden minibus and thus foiled a terrorist attack on Monday, a private television channel reported. "A Minibus full of explosive device was intercepted by police in Saripul province today and thus thwarted a terrorist attack," Tolo broadcast in its news bulletin. Quoting local officials the television also said that two persons have been arrested in this regard.

#7: At least five people were injured in a blast in west Pakistan's Balochistan province on Monday, local TV channel reported. A loud blast rocked the central market of Panjgoor area of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, the private TV Express reported.


MoD: Rifleman Peter Aldridge