TresSugar

Front Page: Pakistan's President Urgently Pleads Against War

LibertySugar — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:00:57 -0800

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari has asked India not to punish Pakistan for the Mumbai massacre. Zardari warned against letting non-state actors provoke a war between the nuclear armed neighbors. - Financial Times
Multiple bombs struck US and Iraqi security forces in Baghdad and Mosul, Iraq today, killing more than 30 people. - AP

New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress turned himself into New York City policy this morning. He faces criminal possession of a handgun charges after shooting himself in the thigh at a nightclub this weekend. - New York Times
Oil prices continue to fall, dropping six percent today to less than $51 a barrel. OPEC decided not to cut production at its latest informal meeting, causing the slide in price. - AP

Pakistan's New President Finds Himself in Awkward Trouble

LibertySugar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:00:00 -0700

When American politicians do something awkward they have to answer to YouTube, but Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, has to answer to religious leaders and feminists. A religious leader issued a fatwa, a nonbinding opinion on Islamic law, condemning Zardari for flirting with Sarah Palin at the UN. The radical prayer leader said Zardari disgraced the whole nation with "indecent gestures, filthy remarks, and repeated praise of a non-Muslim lady wearing a short skirt." He also added: "we are fighting the American war in our country and thousands of our people have been killed just to please Uncle Sam." And as for Pakistan's feminists, some say by calling Palin "gorgeous" Zardari looked at her merely as a woman and not a politician.

But that's not where the embarrassment ends. In an interview with Fox News, President Zardari repeated the debunked Internet hoax that Colonel Oliver North installed a home security system in the 1980s because he was scared of Osama bin Laden. To find out how Zardari has done damage control, read more.

North's actual testimony during the Iran-Contra hearings states that the security system was installed because threats were made on his life by terrorist Abu Nidal. Zaradari's spokeswoman explained the mix up to the New York Times saying: "The point President Zardari sought to make was more about how the US ignored the threat posed by al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden and less about the Oliver North comment or hoax." Let's hope a few awkward situations don't cause Pakistan to become more unstable.

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Front Page! Bush Administration Preps Obama For Crisis

CitizenSugar — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:35:30 -0800

George W. Bush's White House has prepared more than a dozen contingency plans for President-elect Barack Obama to use if he faces an international crisis after Inauguration Day. The extent of the transition, which also includes personal briefings by senior counterterrorism officials with their replacements, is unprecedented. - New York Times
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that British troops will fully withdrawal from Iraq by May 31, leaving the US as the only foreign military presence in the country. - LA Times

Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. claims that he went to federal agents in 2006, reporting what he believed was corruption and misconduct by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Jackson rejects the label "informant" and says his complaint was unrelated to the current investigation. - CNN
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said that there's no firm evidence that gunman from the Mumbai Massacre came from Pakistan, despite the fact that US, Indian, and British officials claim the attack originated from training camps inside Pakistan. - BBC News

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Front Page: Embassy in Serbia, Ceasefire Renewed, PPP

CitizenSugar — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:49:09 -0800

More is now known about the Serbian attack on the US Embassy in Belgrade. Some 1,000 protesters set the embassy ablaze in protest over US support of Kosovo's independence. After the mob was dispersed using tear-gas, one burnt body was found inside the building, though all embassy staff members were accounted for. In addition to burning the facade and setting fires within the embassy, protesters also ransacked a nearby McDonald's and Nike store. 140 people were injured in the incidents, 32 of them police officers. Security sources estimated that 150,000 people have joined the protests in total. The United Nations Security Council in a unanimous statement said they “condemn in the strongest terms the mob attacks against embassies in Belgrade which have resulted in damage to embassy premises and have endangered diplomatic personnel.”
Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr has ordered a renewal of the ceasefire his militia has been observing in Iraq for the past six months. The current ceasefire was set to expire on Saturday. The agreement states that his Mehdi Army will not attack rival armed groups or American forces in Iraq. US military officials are likely relieved as the ceasefire, in conjunction with the surge of US troops and the emergence of US-backed Sunni militia, are all credited with helping to stabilize parts of Iraq.
The party of the late Benazir Bhutto, which captured the largest number of votes in Pakistan's election earlier this week, is set to meet to select a Prime Minister. Asif Ali Zardari, the party's leader and Bhutto's widower, is not eligible to run for PM but retains great influence. The fate of Pervez Musharraf is not known.