Hmm. . .

Iran is trying four citizens on charges of trying to topple the government with support from the U.S. government and the CIA, reports the Washington Post.

It'd be mighty presumptuous to make any connections, but it is a slight oddity that this comes a day after the NY Times report on Bush's expanded 2008 covert operations in Iran.  Hmm. . . 

Today, In Obama News

Obama is working on clarifying plans for closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, which he now says could take up to a year to finish.  

At the same time, his team is reassessing their Afghanistan strategy, saying the additional 30,000 troops they plan to send in will be more of an attempt to "buy time" to create a more concrete strategy than a complete turn-around of the situation.  

Some officials have written off the idea of a "stable, democratic Afghanistan" as entirely unrealistic, and are ready to make concessions and compromises in their final strategy.  

Vestiges of a Fascist Past

An NPR report looks at Italian views towards immigrants as of late.  "Once a poor nation that sent millions of its citizens abroad to find work," they write, "Italy now imports workers."

Which only serves to highlight the irony of increasingly vitriolic attitudes towards incoming workers.  With between four- and five million immigrants -- or roughly seven percent of the workforce -- Italians are among the most suspicious of immigrants, say some surveys. According to these surveys, a majority of Italians believe immigrants "have too many rights . . . that many should be deported, and that immigration has brought only crime." 

Italy has some of the west's most restrictive citizenship policies, and many human rights groups excoriate both the state and the citizenry for blatant racism and open police brutality towards immigrants.  These positions have strong support in Italy's center-right governing political parties, says the report.  

Just When You Thought it Was Over

Just when it looked as if the dispute between Russia and Ukraine over European gas shipments was solved, Russia claims that Ukraine is not sending the resumed gas flow westward into Europe.  Ukraine called on Russia to stop "blackmailing" them.  

The latest is a symptom of the lack of trust between the two countries, says one BBC reporter.  

EU monitors in Russia said the gas flow released was "very limited."

The Tragedy of Haiti

Haiti's humanitarian situation is expected to grow even more dire in the coming year due to what the Miami Herald is calling a "perfect storm" of unfortunate events, but what might be better labeled an outright shit-storm of tragedy and calamity.

A series of hurricanes this summer left nearly 800 Haitians dead and thousands homeless, wrecked farms and washed away millions of dollars worth of crops and livestock, increasing poverty and malnutrition.  

And if it can be said that the poverty in Haiti could possibly be worse than it is, rising poverty is expected to meet the global financial downturn head on this year, making matters worse. 

All the while, donor fatigue is setting in as less money is available for aid and little economic or social progress have been seen in Haiti in the past few years -- any of which was entirely wiped out by the hurricanes.  

The world financial catastrophe, says the Miami Herald, has largely stolen the spotlight from the tragedy of the 2008 hurricanes in Haiti, the nation's worst humanitarian disaster in 100 years.  

Meanwhile, the nation is struggling with an extremely fragile political system in a staggered process of reform.  

Read about the struggle at the Miami Herald link above.  

Leaving Mogadishu

To the praise of local residents, soldiers supporting the western-backed government in Somalia began pulling out of the capital Mogadishu yesterday.  

The troops arrived in 2006 to bolster the interim government in its fight against rebels at the time, an intervention that was deeply unpopular among the Muslim population in the area.  

Free Speech in Jeopardy

Tensions are surfacing between the Russian embassy in Tajikistan and Tajik media outlets, says a report on EurasiaNet.org.  

As many as one million Tajik migrant laborers work in Russia, and Tajikistan is heavily dependent on their remittances.  In December, two such workers were murdered in the Moscow region, sparking Tajik media criticism of Russia's lack of upholding migrant rights in the face of growing nationalism and xenophobic violence.  Making matters worse, Putin and Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov sought to limit the number of work permits for migrants shortly thereafter.  

Then, on December 24, the Russian embassy sent a letter to Tajik officials demanding that such critics and journalists be "muzzled," accusing them of deliberately distorting facts and insulting top Russian officials.  The actions only intensified media criticism.  

The two sides continue condemning one another.   

Communication Breakdown

Officials with the Indian government announced yesterday they plan to break all business, transport and tourist ties with Pakistan if the latter does not step up efforts in investigating the Mumbai attacks, reports the Pakistani newspaper the Daily Times.   

The official, Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram, said Pakistan has done "nothing" in assisting India.  

British delegates are meeting with Chidambaram later today.  

Chidambaram did not say when such actions will be taken but said cooperation is needed immediately.  

LDP in Peril

Yoshimi Watanabe, an official in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), split with ranks yesterday after his policy suggestions were ignored by Prime Minister Taro Aso, reports Asahi.

Watanabe also said Aso needs to "quit politics that give top priority to maintaining the administration's hold on power."  The remarks come at a critical time for the LDP, reports the BBC, who have approval ratings hovering around just 20 percent.  Some in the party, which has been in power for all but a few months of the last 50 years, fear that the resignation may signal more to come.  

Elections are scheduled for September.  

China Down

China's export numbers made their most precipitous decline in a decade in December, reports Market Watch

Peace Talks

The Khaleej Times reports on the ongoing Egyptian cease fire talks, saying that while Egypt is eager to end the fighting and Israel has shown interest in signing the current plan, Hamas leadership from Damascus and Gaza are having a tough time coming together and signing the agreement.  

The Cairo talks involve five Hamas delegates, three from Damascus and two from Gaza.  

Meanwhile, Qatar has requested an emergency Arab League summit to find a solution to the conflict, to which no Arab countries have as of yet signed on to.  Some are afraid that the meeting will prove ineffective, making Arab states look helpless, while others can't get passed certain divisions in the Arab world, a Reuters report makes clear.  

Egypt and Saudi Arabia are opposed to Hamas militants, while Syria and Qatar are sympathetic to them.  Egypt sees Qatar's announcement as a means of embarrassing or undermining talks in Cairo.

Protesters in Syria, Yemen and Iran have excoriated Egypt's refusal to open their border crossings with Gaza to allow civilians to flee the war torn area.  Egypt won't do it without support from the PA government in the West Bank.  

From the North

Shots were fired at Israeli troops stationed on its northern border with Jordan yesterday, reports Al Jazeera.  The shooters identities or affiliations remain ambiguous, and Jordanian officials deny any shots were fired.  

Jordan and Israel signed a peace agreement in 1994 and the border they share has largely been calm since.  

Phase 3

Israeli air strikes intensified as ground troops pushed into the suburbs of Gaza City, reports the BBC, and Hamas rocket fire into Israel continues.  

PA President Mahmoud Abbas decried Israel for attempting to "wipe out" his people.  The PA used to hold power in Gaza before elections in 2006 put Hamas in power, and many predicted the outcome of the current conflict would put Abbas's PA back in power there.  

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is headed to Gaza to push for an immediate truce.    

A Triumvirate Emerges

Clinton faces smooth sailing in her hearing to head the State Department, and John Kerry looks forward to filling Biden's former role as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reports the Washington Post, paving the way for a new triumvirate of American foreign policy leaders; Obama-Clinton-Kerry.  

Said Andrew Bacevich of Clinton in a FOX News report, "(she) certainly will be a very important voice when it comes to advising, but basic U.S. policy does not get made in the State Department . . . Her effectiveness will require to a considerable degree that she demonstrates that she's a loyal subordinate."  

Bacevich also hopes to see substantive statements on issues like Pakistan and the conflict in Gaza from Clinton during the hearing rather than the tired cliches we've already heard.  Norman's International could not have said it better.