The Danish authorities were clearing up yesterday after Copenhagen's customary calm was broken by riots which forced police to fire tear gas and arrest 300 people after a weekend demonstration. Trouble flared when 1,000 protesters gathered in the capital to protest plans to evict a group of young people from a city centre building. The graffiti-covered youth centre is to be handed over to a Christian congregation that bought it five years ago.Police said they had detained "200 to 300" demonstrators in the worst outbreak of unrest seen in Copenhagen for years. Flemming Steen Munch, spokesman for the police, said: "It was extremely violent. It looked like a war zone and it's been many years since we last had to use tear gas on the streets."Witnesses said cobblestones and fireworks were thrown at the security forces and at least one demonstrator had suffered respiratory problems after tear gas was fired. ... http://news.independent.co.uk censor News |
Editor - 12:11:00 12-18-06 |
SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH US GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS "We Have to Raise our Sights Beyond the Range of an M-16" |
In an interview with SPIEGEL, General David Petraeus, a former commander in Iraq who is now responsible for training United States Army troops, discusses the lessons of Baghdad, the reasons a war can't be won using weapons alone and why America's future warriors need a post-graduate education. SPIEGEL: General Petraeus, you were in charge of combat operations in Iraq, you supervised the built-up of the new Iraqi security force and now you oversee the training and education of Army officers here at Fort Leavenworth. Would you agree that you are trying to impose a sort of a cultural revolution on the United States Army? Petraeus: There is quite a big cultural change going on. We used to say, that if you can do the "big stuff," the big combined arms, high-end, high intensity major combat operations and have a disciplined force, then you can do the so-called "little stuff," too. That turned out to be wrong.... http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,455199,00.html
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Editor - 11:36:00 12-18-06 |
Enriched uranium from Germany arrives in Russia |
Russian experts working by night removed a large quantity of highly enriched uranium from a Soviet-era reactor in Germany on Monday and flew it to Russia for processing.Anti-nuclear protesters forced a convoy carrying the material to stop briefly despite efforts to keep the route secret and a heavy police presence. Some 326 kg (717 lb) of enriched uranium, enough for several bombs, was heading to a processing center in Podolsk, Russia from the former Rossendorf research reactor near Dresden, where the material was stored, U.S. and German officials said. Moscow's atomic energy agency Rosatom said in a statement on its website that the shipment had arrived in Russia. Roughly two-thirds of the uranium is highly enriched. In Russia it will be mixed with low-grade uranium to make reactor fuel that no longer represents a proliferation risk. ... http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2734736
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Editor - 10:24:00 12-18-06 |
Powell Questions Troop Increase in Iraq |
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is casting doubt on a plan under consideration by President Bush that would increase troops in Iraq, calling the U.S. Army overextended and ``about broken.'' The incoming Senate majority leader, however, offered qualified support for a troop surge, saying it would be acceptable for a few months as part of a broader strategy to bring combat forces home by 2008. ``If the commanders on the ground said this is just for a short period of time, we'll go along with that,'' said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., citing a time frame such as two months to three months. But a period of 18 months to 24 months would be too long, he said. Other Democrats, though, voice opposition to a troop increase in Iraq. ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6288697,00.html
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Editor - 09:59:00 12-18-06 |
Bush signs civilian nuclear deal with India |
Bush today signed a civilian nuclear deal with India, allowing fuel and know-how to be shipped to the world's largest democracy even though it has not submitted to full international inspections. The bill carves out an exemption in U.S. law to allow civilian nuclear trade with India in exchange for Indian safeguards and inspections at its 14 civilian nuclear plants. Eight military plants, however, would remain off-limits. "This is an important achievement for the whole world. After 30 years outside the system, India will now operate its civilian nuclear energy program under internationally accepted guidelines, and the world is going to be safer as a result," Mr. Bush said in a bill-signing ceremony at the White House. Critics have said the measure undermines efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and technology and could spark a nuclear arms race in Asia by boosting India's atomic arsenal. India still refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty... http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20061218-010619-2599r.htm
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Editor - 09:56:00 12-18-06 |
Nagasaki bombing labelled a crime |
One of Japan's most senior politicians has said the US atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 was impermissible from a humanitarian point of view. Shoichi Nakagawa, the policy chief of the governing party, said that the use of atomic weapons was a crime. Mr Nakagawa has attracted controversy recently, calling for a debate on whether Japan should have nuclear arms. He raised the possibility that North Koreans might try to attack Japan with their own nuclear weapons. Speaking in Nagasaki over the weekend, Mr Nakagawa - a right-winger - said that atomic bombings were a crime. The American decision to drop the atomic bomb was truly impermissible on humanitarian grounds, he said. He repeated the comments on Monday, telling Reuters news agency: "By dropping two atomic bombs, many people, including ordinary citizens, were killed... I believe that such an act can be called a crime." ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6189489.stm
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Editor - 09:52:00 12-18-06 |
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