Intercepted

A package marked "tractor parts" traveling from Iran to Venezuela was intercepted by Turkish customs officials and found to contain lab equipment capable of generating explosives.  

There were no traces of radioactive materials, but an investigation is under way, say officials in Turkey.  

In Ghana

John Atta Mills was sworn into office today as Ghana's new president.  John Mahama is his vice president.  

Oops

Pakistani National Security Adviser Mahmood Ali Durrani was fired today for telling reporters that the sole surviving Mumbai attacker, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, was Pakistani.  Oops.  

A spokesman for Prime Minister Gilani said he was fired for speaking on national security issues without the Prime Minister's approval, though many think the government was looking for a reason to rid themselves of the pro-American adviser.  

Many see this as a sign of the shaky and tenuous nature of governance in Pakistan.  

Perhaps the real story here is Durrani's eyebrows.  Eyebrow.  Look at that thing!

Out in the Cold

Serbs and Bosnians are facing the brunt of the European gas shortages brought on by the Russia-Ukraine spat with "a mix of incomprehension, anger and stoicism," reports RFE/RL.

Bolivarian Revolution, Please Hold

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has had to curtail government spending by declining oil prices, threatening the socialist model that nation is built upon and his position as a political and philanthropic leader in the region.  

The Miami Herald reported this morning that the first to go was Chavez's program that supplied free heating oil to poor people in the United States, but quickly changed the story after the Washington Post said that Chavez will continue the program, which supplies fuel to 200,000 American households in 26 states and 65 Native American tribes.  

Cutting domestic spending on Venezuela's poor would be disastrous for Chavez's political career; a referendum is around the corner to lift term limits on his presidency, he trails by 20 points in polls and his base of support is the poor.  

Next on the chopping block may be the subsidized and heavily discounted oil Venezuela sells to poor nations in the region.   

"Chavez's meddling (in foreign affairs) will certainly be a lot less effective in 2009," said former Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga.  

Change Gon' Come

Like some rich white folks locking the entrance to a gated suburban community, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has decided to beef up civilian and perhaps military defenses along the U.S.-Mexico border to guard against the violence stemming from the drug economy from spreading north.  

Officials at the DHS said the operations call for aircraft, armored vehicles and special teams, and if unable to be quelled by civilian units like border patrol and local law enforcement, the military may -- though not likely -- be called in for assistance.  

Napolitano is heading the Obama administration's HSD; it's been a long time comin', but I know a change gon' come.  

Down and Out

Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced plans to inject nearly $150 million to ailing industries in an effort to save jobs.  The move is part of a larger '25-point' plan that includes freezing gas prices and increased unemployment benefits, reports the BBC.  

Because 80% of Mexican exports go to America, and the dependence of many communities on remittances from Mexican laborers in the United States, the economic downturn here has had dramatic implications there.  

Plans for infrastructure building are expected to create another quarter-million jobs later in the year.