Tag Archives: government

Q&A: Taliban influence weakens Pakistan

Taliban advances in Pakistan are raising concerns in Islamabad and capitals as far away as Washington. How is the Taliban extending its influence in Pakistan It has extended its considerably over the last few years moving northwards along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, from South Waziristan to North Waziristan to Bajur and across now to Swat and Buner. But the Taliban has also extended its influence because it is now involved with several Punjab terrorist groups that have affiliated themselves with the border Taliban and have helped commit some attacks such as one on a police station in Lahore.

Share

Somali PM: Anti-pirate patrols not working

Somalia’s prime minister told CNN Thursday that the international naval patrols in the Gulf of Aden are not solving the problem of piracy in the region. Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke pointed to the recent increase in pirate attacks as evidence, and called for the U.N. arms embargo on Somalia to be lifted so the government can fight back against the pirates and local militant Islamist groups

Share

Kenyan corruption book spirited into country

A book detailing a culture of corruption in Kenya is making booksellers and government officials uneasy, but for different reasons. The fear of reprisals is keeping sellers from stocking it, while top officials named in the book are threatening to sue for libel. The book, “It’s Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower,” by Michela Wrong, focuses on John Githongo, whom the Kenyan government hired in 2003 to head an anti-graft unit.

Share

Pakistan sends troops to area grabbed by Taliban

Pakistani authorities on Thursday deployed paramilitary troops to a district, only 96 kilometers (60 miles) from the capital, where Taliban militants appeared to be consolidating control after this week’s land-grab. Militants locked up courthouses and seized court documents in the district of Buner, said police Superintendent Arsala Khan.

Share

Harman Says She’s the Victim in Wiretapping Controversy

Representative Jane Harman, under scrutiny for allegedly pledging in a 2005 phone call to try and help two former officials of an Israeli lobbying group accused of conspiring to pass classified information, told TIME on Tuesday that she is not worried about her fate. She frets far more, she claimed, about whether government agencies are listening to the conversations of private citizens. “My concern is not about me,” she said.

Share

Chaos in Tamil war zone, U.N. says

The Sri Lankan offensive against the faltering Tamil Tiger rebel movement has killed or wounded "significant numbers," and thousands are trapped by the fighting, the United Nations said Wednesday. The Sri Lankan army launched an operation against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam in the country’s north on Monday, and a deadline for the rebels to surrender passed Tuesday

Share

Rich face tax rises as UK crisis mounts

Britain’s finance minister on Wednesday said the country’s economy is facing its worst year since World War II as he unveiled measures including higher taxes for top earners in an annual spring budget aimed at countering recession. Laying out his government’s strategy for investment and financial cuts for the coming year, Treasury chief Alistair Darling warned of further tough times ahead, insisting there were “no quick fixes” to the current crisis.

Share

Russia Rearms

Russia’s leaders are getting used to cutting budgets this year. As the country sinks deeper into recession — unemployment, according to some estimates, is as high as 12% and the economy is predicted to shrink by about 4.5% in 2009 — the government is slashing spending at most of its ministries. The Energy Ministry’s budget is down by 33%, and that of the Transport Ministry by 30%

Share