SIX leading Arab economies, including Saudi Arabia, may reconsider pegging their currencies to the dollar, under their plans for a "euro-style" Arab single currency in the region.
Muhammad Al-Jasser, Vice-Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, the countryâs central bank, told The Times that the six oil-exporting nations â Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates â could link the proposed single currency to the euro, or to a basket of currencies
"We have to decide if it will continue to be pegged to the dollar or if we will do something else," he said, making clear that: "Nothing is ruled in or out."
Under proposals for an Arab single currency, first mooted in 2001, the six countries in the Gulf Co-operation Council are expected to take the next steps towards monetary union next year, paving the way for a launch of the currency, possibly called the dinar, by 2010.
As a first step, all six countries pegged their existing currencies to the dollar in 2002 in a move that reflected the fact that oil prices are denominated in dollars. But the dollar's slide on currency markets has triggered speculation over a rethink. Since 45 per cent of the six states' imports come from Europe, the euro's rise against the falling dollar has ratcheted up their import bills, potentially making an alternative peg arrangement more attractive.
The increased attractiveness of a stronger euro to Arab states was underlined yesterday as the UAE said that it might convert 5 per cent of its foreign currency holdings from dollars into euros.
But Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the billionaire Saudi investor, cast doubt yesterday over a change in the statesâ existing dollar peg. "Denominating in US dollars is the best scenario. The US economy has proven beyond doubt that it is the locomotive for growth of world economies," he said. Once again, I'll suggest that the seeds are there for the creation of a Middle East Common Market.
Thirty-three people were injured here yesterday when riot police and protesters clashed as police tried to prevent an unauthorized rally organized by the Committee for the Unemployed. Baton-wielding police hit dozens of people who had planned to pelt the Parliament building with eggs and tomatoes to show their disappointment over the way the government was dealing with unemployment in Bahrain. Most of the injuries were the result of police action. Thirty-two injured were discharged from hospital shortly after they arrived. A police officer was also injured in the clashes.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
In Bahrain?!?!?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
07/16/2005 11:37 Comments ||
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This is a translation of a post at Boxun, which broke the SARS story and has persistent rumours of human cases of bird flu in China. You have to scroll down to get the human translation by docomo. My read is in fact quite different to the posters in the thread. Were a major flu pandemic to break out, despite severe consequences, it would not result in 'regime change' in Western democracies, while it would seriously endanger the Chicom regime. So I think they may be testing bird flu containment by creating vaccine barriers and then releasing know strains and seeing if the vaccine barriers work. I know this sounds Dr. Strangelove conspiratorial but it has a certain logic. What if you were a Chicom leader and believed a major bird flu outbreak would lead to you and everyone you know hanging from a lampost, wouldn't you take the risk of testing in the field whether vaccines could stop its spread?
Since the first appearance of bird flu, the chinese government has made some detailed classification for the mutated virus. Contrary to most speculations, related government departments have taken necessary measures to contain and counter the spreading of the virus. However, the chinese government is worried about the anti-communist movement may be able to put more pressure to the control of the communist government at this moment.
Since 2004, the government has classified most infected or death cases caused by the virus, supplemented with the information gathered in qinghai. For non-fatal infectious diseases, the chinese government targeted at controlling information and quarantine measures. For infectious diseases which are fatal to human, the focus of the government is whether the virus can be converted to a biological weapon or not. The military will first research on the controllability of the virus. In some occasions, the virus may even be released to the public in order to test the effectiveness of the vaccines and preventive measures.
#1
My feeling is that bioweapons are overrated. It's hard to beat natural (Darwinian) selection for coming up with the most environment resistant bugs simply by having guys in lab coats spend a few years with test tubes. Naturally-evolving bugs have been doing their thing for millions of years. The day we figure out how to kill these bugs will be the day that we also figure out how to come up with better bioweapons.
#2
I have no doubt that someone somewhere will perfect the bioweapon someday. On the flipside I'm also quite optimistic that no one will be left to enjoy the victory.
#3
Influenza is an insane choice as a bioweapon, and is never seriously considered for such for a simple reason. It is too unpredictable. Unlike most other viral pathogens, influenza has an extraordinarily high number of what are called "flexible genes", genes that are very prone to mutation. It is just as likely to mutate to a less harmful state on the spur-of-the-moment (as did Swine Flu), as to mutate to a strain resistant to the current vaccine. Its mutations cover the gamut from selectivity in its victims (such as 'young men' killed by the Spanish Flu), to what species of mammals and birds it attacks or just uses as vectors. In addition, "avian" strains are very hard to make vaccine for in quantity, because they kill the chicken embryos used to make the vaccine, so other animals have to be used. On top of that, vaccine is only optimally effective for two or three months, and an influenza epidemic can circulate from nine months to a year and a half. In other words, while everybody wants and needs to test the HELL out of it, and control methods for it, NOBODY is going to fiddle with it in hopes of developing a weapon. (BTW, I just mentioned the "tip of the iceberg" with its eccentricities. Let it just be said that it is, and has long been considered to be the #1 *natural* virological threat to mankind in the world.)
#7
A really horrific pandemic has all sorts of *interesting* international effects. In the short term, it can radically change the outcome of wars, such as Korea, where the numerically vastly superior Chinese forces were decimated by hemorrhagic smallpox, otherwise the US could have been muscled off the peninsula or forced to use nukes. Otherwise, pandemics tend to work from the bottom up, taking out lots of peasants; otherwise, they free up huge amounts of farmland for more efficient agriculture, and when they are over, there are boom times from high wages and low unemployment. The Black Death of the 14th Century was followed by the Renaissance, and the Black Death of the 17th, by the Industrial Revolution. Today, my own personal projection from a real killer influenza is anywhere from 30M to 300M deaths, mostly in China, India and the 'nesias.
#8
I agree with Moose that using flu as a bioweapon is nuts, but what if the Chicoms could control/contain outbreaks of a killer flu and nobody else could? Or their troops were immune becuase they had a vaccine and nobody else did?
There is a school of thought that says WW1 came to an end becuase both sides were incapacitated by the flu pandemic. What if only one side was?
China has been unusually secretive and paranoid about bird flu. I think this document is probably a fake, but the possibility its not scares the hell out of me. Like the Moose I am well aware that disease pandemics are world changing events.
#9
And, everyone agrees the flu pandemic is coming and there is little we can do to stop it. Moose is right about the speed with which flus 'mutate' but the barriers to producing vaccines in short timescales are largely self-imposed in the West. These regulatory barriers don't exist in China. Lets face it, nobody is going to sue the Chinese government. BTW, there have been several 'bad vaccine' stories out of China recently, that coincidentally are in remote areas and coincide with military exercises.
A SUSPECTED home-made bomb in a tin caused the evacuation of residents on a street in Mt Isa, Queensland, police said today.
Officers said they went to a house in Second Avenue about 9pm (AEST) yesterday after reports there was a man inside with a sawn-off shotgun.
They allegedly found a number of firearms and some drug equipment. They also said they found a tin that appeared to contain an improvised explosive device.
An emergency situation was declared just before midnight, and surrounding homes were evacuated.
A police bomb technician destroyed the device safely, and residents were allowed to return home after 1am.
ICHNYA, Ukraine - The ammunition is stacked in mounds in a clearing, exposed to rain and sun. The crates that hold it are rotting. After more than a decade in the elements, many have ruptured, exposing high-explosive rockets and mortar fins.
This is the overstuffed ammunition depot behind the security fences at Military Unit A1479, a small base in the Ukrainian forest under military guard. At least 5,700 tons of ammunition, grenades and explosive powder have come to rest here, according to an unclassified NATO inventory. Almost all of it is unwanted. Much of it has expired, and some is considered too unreliable or too unsafe to use.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2005 00:00 ||
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...Dear God, what a mess this must be. Even US military ammo, probably the safest and most stable in the world, gets twitchy as it nears the end of its shelf life, and that is under conditions of proper storage, inspection, and maintenance. From what I know of Soviet era ammo, this stuff may well kill you if you look at it crosseyed.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/16/2005 1:53 Comments ||
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#2
So everytime there's a thunderstorm, the neighbors get a fireworks show?
#4
When I was young there were these Civil War/Spanish Am War/ WW-1 bunkers south of US Hwy 2 that went for miles. (note I don't say where). Nobody really dared enter them to examine or clean them up. Every once in awhile one would explode... Not sure if they ever cleaned them up.
(Of course not much use to terorists... one wrong move and bang... the stuff is just too old.)
#5
So, just thinking out loud here... if the stuff is that old, and that unstable... what would be wrong with the authorities looking away some dark night, and letting some ambitious jihadi or would-be arms merchant sneak in and try and lift a couple of pallets worth, on the sly.
I mean, explosive work accidents aren't neccessarily a bad thing, and this would reduce both the inventories of bad guys and old munitions in one fell swoop.
Bit noisy for the closer neighbors, though.
#6
I'm also wondering if this stuff is good ammunition, or the corrosive sort of ammo that you can buy cheap from former Warsaw pact suppliers, where you have to clean out the gun with windex after each batch shot at the range.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
07/16/2005 14:15 Comments ||
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PUTRAJAYA, July 15 (Bernama) -- The government needs to set up an independent press council urgently to ensure the media in the country adopted good and transparent practices. The Editor-in-Chief of Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) Datuk Azman Ujang said formation of the council would also maintain the media's credibility, the main asset of the media.
Azman, however, said some media practitioners disagree to the formation of such a council because they felt it would further control the media in addition to about 40 laws which curtailed press freedom. Touching on press freedom and responsibilities for the nation, he said the local media was facing a dilemma in striking a balance in news reporting.
He said "extreme self-censorship" or "leaning towards the government" might jeopardise media credibility to the extent of the readers refusing to buy newspapers... the situation did happen during the 1999 political crisis and many of the mainstream newspapers suffered a drop in sales.
At the same time, Azman said the leadership of the local media had succeeded in playing a balanced role and the media still enjoyed the freedom of news reporting. Meanwhile, Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) Prof Datuk Hamdan Adnan said the local media must be fair to all parties and report the news accurately...
Hamdan, who supports the formation of the council, said the government needs to review existing laws which stifled press freedom, especially laws considered to be "draconian" and outdated. He said the local media sometimes faced "secret syndrome" as they felt certain issues cannot be published or discussed critically as they are deemed to be a secret.
This situation could affect local newspapers' credibility, forcing the public to turn to the Internet for news...
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Herb Lehr hasn't been to Trinity Site since the day a mushroom cloud filled the early morning sky in the New Mexico desert. Standing 12 miles from the blast, he looked toward the Oscura Mountains and watched as scientists detonated the first atomic bomb 60 years ago Saturday, ushering in the nuclear age. ``All of a sudden this very bright light came out and where I was, it was intense enough that the whole mountain range itself was completely whited out,'' he said. ``I could see the ball and fire rising up. It was sort of awe-inspiring.''
This Saturday, Lehr will guide a tour bus from the National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque to the Trinity Site, on what is now the Army's restricted White Sands Missile Range. More than 5,000 people visited the site for the 50th anniversary, and officials said they are prepared for an increase for the 60th. But just like the 50th anniversary, no special events or speeches are planned.
For more than a year, Lehr was part of the top-secret Manhattan Project in Los Alamos that developed two atomic bombs that essentially stunned Japan into surrender and ended World War II. Lehr said he never fully understood the impact the bombs would have. Nevertheless, he said he would do it again. ``In a lot of respects I felt as if I had done something worthwhile,'' said Lehr, 83. ``I am in no way ashamed of what I had done in any way, shape, matter or form. I did what I was told to do. I did it to the best of my ability.''
At Trinity Site, visitors can walk on Ground Zero, where the bomb was detonated from a 100-foot steel tower that was vaporized by the blast. Ground Zero, now a gentle depression in the desert, is marked by a lava obelisk with a simple inscription: ``Trinity Site, Where the World's First Nuclear Device Was Exploded on July 16, 1945.''
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2005 00:00 ||
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A quick note: This is an extra opening, for the anniversary. Tthe Trinity site is opened to the public twice each year, once in April and in October.
#4
Here's a picture of Herb carrying the core. I'm particularly happy that he's in no way ashamed of what he did - it was necessary, and I am certain that the work and service of Herb and many many others has been the prime reason that there hasn't been a general war since 1945.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/16/2005 10:22 Comments ||
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#5
Addendum: It's most likely that it's only half the core! :)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/16/2005 10:23 Comments ||
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#6
If you are going to NM for any reason, let me recommend a visit to the National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque. Last time I went there I just missed a visit by none other than Gen. Paul Tibbets, who I would suspect might make a guest appearance, even though he is getting on in years. (If that's the case, though, it will be SRO).
#7
An uncle machined the case for a big bomb. He had no idea what it was and didn't care. After the two bombings he was told what it was for. He was sort of conflicted about it. Proud he did it but wished he had not been told.
A NUMBER of Sikh transit employees in New York have filed discrimination charges over a policy requiring them to display company logos on their turbans.
One case involved a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of Kevin Harrington, a Sikh subway train operator who has been forced to wear an Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) logo on his turban since January.
Five Sikh station agents, meanwhile, filed formal complaints on the same issue with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The employees charge that the headware logo policy - introduced after the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Centre - amounts to discrimination.
"The MTA honoured me for driving my train in reverse away from the towers on 9/11 and leading passengers to safety. They called me a 'hero of 9/11'," Mr Harrington said.
"I didn't have a corporate logo on my turban then. Why am I being threatened with reassignment in a rail yard unless I wear one now?"
A spokeswoman for New York City Transit declined to comment on the pending lawsuit, but confirmed that policy allowed for only MTA-approved headware.
"Sikhs are allowed to wear their turbans, but they must have the logo," she said.
The Harrington lawsuit was filed on his behalf by the Centre for Constitutional Rights and the Sikh Coalition, an organisation founded in the wake of the September 11 attacks to educate Americans about Sikhism.
A number of New York Sikhs were badly beaten after the attacks, after being mistaken for Arabs.
Two years ago, a Sikh man filed a lawsuit against the New York Police Department and its chief Raymond Kelly after being dismissed from the force for refusing to remove his turban or beard.
#6
Oh, don't be messing with Sikhs. They are usually hard working, middle class, respectable types whose only quirk is the turban, beard and knife (a very small, ceremonial one, if they have to.) They are also very big on giving to charity, and have several of their own charities that are very non-sectarian. I was very annoyed when the Army pitched them out for refusing to cut their beards. Dozens of top-notch NCOs were lost in the process, all because some wonk just couldn't deal with beards. And making a Sikh wear a logo on his turban is like demanding that Christians wear a McDonalds sticker over their crucifix, because "it's company policy" and crucifixes might "make some people uncomfortable". I hope they win the lawsuit, and I predict they will. They get hassled over the turban, beard and knife waaay more then other religions get crap for their eccentricities.
#7
If they don't like Sikhs working for them maybe they can hire some Salafists; they're much more flexible about any special dressing requirements, and usually keep their bombs hidden under an outer layer of clothing so as to not offend people.
Until they trigger the detonator, of course.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
07/16/2005 11:50 Comments ||
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#8
But Sikhs in Indian army/police wear the emblem on their turbans.
KENYAN security forces recovered five bodies of people believed to be the bandits who attacked a village in northern Kenya this week, bringing the death toll to 82 as search for the assailants intensified, police said today.
"Following intensive patrols by our security, five more bodies believed to be of bandits were discovered late yesterday (Thursday) at Pangale hills (northern Kenya), where our security men had a contact with the attackers on Wednesday," police spokesman Jasper Ombati said in Nairobi.
"This brings the total number of bandits killed to 15," he added.
Ombati spoke as a combined team of Kenyan security forces mounted a massive ground and aerial operation in northern Kenya to hunt for killers from the Borana clan who on Tuesday raided a Gabra village in Turbi, about 580 kilometres northeast of Nairobi, killing at least 56 people including 22 children.
In fighting that ensued on Tuesday, 10 of the assailants were killed, while a revenge attack by a group of Gabras resulted in the death of nine Boranas, including four children.
Two more Boranas were killed yesterday as the revenge attacks escalated, police said.
The two clans have been locked in long-drawn wrangles over access to water and pasture in the dust-bowl region.
CHITRAL: At least 100 houses were destroyed due to sliding of a glacier in Breeb village near Chitral on Friday. The glacier broke and moved towards Breeb village, causing heavy flood and damaging 27 shops. Around 200 houses were evacuated. The Chitral administration and Aga Khan Foundation have begun relief work. Meanwhile, a road was inundated at Garm Chashma, which broke the land link from Kohlot to Chitral.
Y'know, we don't get very many killer glacier stories here...
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2005 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Captain America ||
07/16/2005 3:05 Comments ||
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#3
Y'know, we don't get very many killer glacier stories here...
At yur prices is it any wonder?
Posted by: Abu Shawn ||
07/16/2005 8:11 Comments ||
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#4
Y'know, we don't get very many killer glacier stories here... I don't normally gratuitiously praise Fred, but this is a Rantburg gem. Pure genius, it just says so much.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Thirty-three people were injured here yesterday when riot police and protesters clashed as police tried to prevent an unauthorized rally organized by the Committee for the Unemployed. Baton-wielding police hit dozens of people who had planned to pelt the Parliament building with eggs and tomatoes to show their disappointment over the way the government was dealing with unemployment in Bahrain. Most of the injuries were the result of police action. Thirty-two injured were discharged from hospital shortly after they arrived. A police officer was also injured in the clashes.
CHITRAL: At least 100 houses were destroyed due to sliding of a glacier in Breeb village near Chitral on Friday. The glacier broke and moved towards Breeb village, causing heavy flood and damaging 27 shops. Around 200 houses were evacuated. The Chitral administration and Aga Khan Foundation have begun relief work. Meanwhile, a road was inundated at Garm Chashma, which broke the land link from Kohlot to Chitral. 
