All entries for Tuesday 23 October 2007

ICA Newsletter, week 4.

Hi and welcome to week 4 with ICA. Obviously this week has seen a few sporting failures for England whether through toes going into touch, technical problems or just plain uselessness, but we’ll just gloss over those….

First of all, 12 soldiers and 32 PKK, (Kurdistan Workers Party), rebels have been killed in clashes close to the Iraq-Turkey border. These clashes occurred just days after MPs in the Turkish parliament had voted overwhelmingly in support of a motion to allow the
military to launch cross-border offensives against rebels based in the mountainous areas of northern Iraq. The heightening of tensions along this border comes after an increase in the frequency of attacks by PKK guerrillas on targets in the south of Turkey. There has been increasing pressure on the Turkish government to act against the rebels, but the Iraqi and US authorities are against any incursion into Iraq for fear it may destabilise Iraq’s most peaceful region. Can the Turkish justify an incursion into foreign territory to prevent terrorism? And would such an attack work anyway, or would it be another Lebanon?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2196707,00.html

EU leaders have reached an agreement over the new EU treaty, (not a constitution, honest), after objections from Italy and Poland were overcome. The treaty includes the creation of a new longer term president of the European Council and an EU foreign policy chief. Gordon Brown said that the so-called ‘red lines’ declared around various policy areas had been protected, but still faced pressure to call a referendum on the treaty. So does the treaty really matter? And what would be the long-term consequences to Britain’s position within Europe if there was a ‘No’ vote?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6914468.stm

Former Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano has one the inaugural, $5 million, Mo Ibrahim Prize rewarding a retired African head of state for ‘excellence in leadership’. Mr Chissano brought Mozambique from civil war to peace and progress during his 19 years
in office. However, with many of his competitors for the prize having less than glorious records in office, is such a prize actually an incentive for good governance? And to what extent is poor governance an explanation for Africa’s development problems?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7056159.stm

In
other news:

Iran’s nuclear negotiator resigns -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7053963.stm

Global stocks see sharp
decline – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7055161.stm

Dumbledore outed -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7053982.stm

Sarkozy gets a divorce -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7050770.stm

Send in the ladybirds -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7054892.stm

: 23 Oct 2007 19:41 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem