NewsHour’s Jeffrey Brown speaks with The New Yorker’s John Lee Andersonabout how the militant threat to Somalia’s fragile government impactscounter-terror efforts. Anderson refers to Somalia as “the world’sultimate failed state” after almost two decades of neglect from theoutside world. He says that militant groups in Somalia aspire to belike Al-Qaida and foresees the crumbling nation becoming ahaven for terrorist organizations.
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Guam is preparing for its largest military build up since World War II.The U.S. territory is expecting an increase of 8,000 marines by 2014,as personnel and their families are transferred from the Okinawa base in Japan. The massiveexpansion is expected to cause an economic boom in Guam, providing jobsto around 30,000 of the island’s unemployed, but concerns about drasticpopulation increase and weak infrastructure worry some.
In the next six years, all diesel in India will have to be blended withbiofuel, like that found in Jatropha, a fruit which grows wild incentral India. The mandate has fueled a boom in rural farming of thefruit’s seeds, creating jobs and revenue for local Indians as they selltheir product to both public and private enterprises.
US Special Representative of the President for NuclearNon-Proliferation Susan Burk discusses the May 2010 Review Conferenceof the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The question on Burk’smind is, “How can we best work together?” She says that she andPresident Obama believe that finding areas on which member countriescan agree will help make the conference a success.
NewsHour’s Margaret Warner reports on the continuing protests in Iran. The death of Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, one of the founders of modern Iran, has given new life to opposition protests throughout the country. The progressive leader was opposed to the current government and known for supporting the expansion of civil liberties and women’s rights.
NewsHour’s Ray Suarez looks back on the climate change conference inCopenhagen, trying to make sense of a two-week-long struggle resulting in aninconclusive finish. Suarez says that the conference left the “new kidson the block” like Brazil and China sitting at the table with Obama inthe end and slighted European nations’ concerns.
WorldFocus’ Daljit Dhaliwal interviews Dan Rather, who recentlyreturned from his eleventh trip to Afghanistan. Rather toured Kunarprovince, one of the violent eastern regions of the country near thePakistani border. He said, cautiously, that he did see someimprovements over previous visits. Rather says the military effort hasfocused on consolidating military operations while soft power diplomacyhas worked to empower local villagers.
The Mexican government claimed a major victory in the war against drugcartels: kingpin Arturo Beltran Leyva was killed Thursday in a shootout with a Mexican navy unit. While his death was a victory, soldierson the front lines of the war on drugs still have grave obstacles.Global Post correspondent Yone Greeyo reports for NewsHour.
As Iraq opens up its oil fields to outside investment and signs MOUsand contracts with global firms, Iraq’s oil laws come under scrutiny.Hussain al-Shahristani, Iraq’s oil minister, and Issam al-Chalabi, theformer Iraqi oil minister speak with Al-Jazeera about Iraqi oil law –past, present and future.
Militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan have hacked U.S. military droneswith inexpensive software sold by a Russian company. The software,initially intended to enable users to download pirated music andvideos, has been used to see what the drones see as they go out for spymissions. The military is working to encrypt the drone’s feed so theproblem does not persist, but for now has to deal with the damagealready caused.
Paul Beckett, WSJ’s bureau chief in New Delhi speaks with Dr. AmartyaSen, Nobel laureate for economics at the Aspen India Institute’s 2009Ideas Conference. Sen says that India without question has madedevelopments in bringing justice to its citizens over the past twentyyears. However, he says there is no reason that India cannot movefaster toward reforms in areas such as child nutrition, medicine anderadicating poverty. Sen says the responsibility of the left in government is tochampion the underdog. br>
The Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) has been shut down byTurkey’s constitutional court following claims that the party has tiesto a Kurdish militant group, the PKK. The court ruling has incitedanger among the country’s Kurdish minority, and been at the root ofrecent violent protests. Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr reports.
President Barack Obama met with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman atthe White House. The two leaders discussed the situation with Israelwhere Sleiman asked the president to put pressure on Israel to enforceUN Security Council Resolution 1701. In turn, Obama emphasized hisconcerns about the extensive arms smuggling into Lebanon that couldserve as a threat to Israel.
Afghan and American security forces work together daily in Afghanistan,however this relationship is not always easy. With a difficult languagebarrier, differing leadership styles and a lack of resources, the taskof building up a self sufficient Afghan Army proves difficult. WPR’sDavid Axe reports for Voice of America.
Bangladeshis are bearing the burden of a climate change problem thatthey’ve done little to create. As leading nations converge at theclimate change conference in Copenhagen, Bangladesh continues to face agrim fate should global warming continue at an accelerated pace. Bymid-century, one-fifth of the nation could be under water, renderingabout 20 million people homeless.
International firms are raising security concerns as they compete fordeals to exploit Iraq’s oil fields. In light of a recent increase inviolence, major companies want reassurance that their investments willbe protected. Local Iraqis say security problems lay within afragmented system, often pitting local and central government forcesagainst one another.