Monday's Headliners

They do it all over the world elsewhere...

Kyrgyz protests spread

Opposition protesters, using sticks and petrol bombs, have seized Kyrgyzstan's second city as increasingly violent unrest swept the south of the country aimed at forcing President Askar Akayev to step down.

Central Asian Kyrgyzstan has become the latest ex-Soviet republic -- after Ukraine and Georgia -- to be rocked by anti-government protests in the wake of elections judged as flawed by international observers.

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Between a rock and a hard place, the Royal House of Saud has to balance its increasingly restive population against its US titty twister....

Saudi Arabia may hike oil supply to pull down prices

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[Petroleum Minister Ali Al-Naimi], who is on a three-day visit here, said his country could increase oil supply depending on demand, reported Xinhua.

"There is plenty of supply. What we in Saudi Arabia want is to alleviate this unnecessary concern about shortage of supply," he said, dismissing the perception that oil supply was limited.

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Wouldn't it be funny if the US actually took a case to the WTO...and lost? Don't get your shorts in a bunch, if it rules against us, we don't have to comply...

U.S., EU aircraft subsidy talks stall

Tensions between the United States and the European Union over subsidies for rival aircraft makers Boeing and Airbus escalated over the weekend as both sides resumed threats to launch a legal battle at the World Trade Organization.

"If the US decides to move to the WTO approach, which we hope they will not, obviously we would launch our own counter case," said a European Commission official, speaking on condition of anonymity, AFX News reported.

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Where Will Wolfowitz Take World Bank?

The World Bank has survived over the last 60 years by exercising its capacity to reinvent itself as circumstances--and particularly U.S. politics--require. Thus, the nomination of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz to be the next president of the World Bank could once again herald changes at the bank.

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The populist politics of the bank under Wolfensohn clearly made it vulnerable to change from a U.S. Republican administration.

The Wolfowitz nomination suggests the Bush Administration is seeking a reorientation of the bank--perhaps as significant as the one that Wolfensohn brought about--with global security concerns as the overriding agenda.

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Wolfowitz's belief (reinforced by his recent comments) that reducing poverty is a matter of enlightened self-interest will add to fears that the bank may be pushed toward prioritizing the pursuit of democracy and poverty reduction in those countries where wider (U.S.) geopolitical goals are at stake. Wolfowitz is currently being praised for his success in bringing democracy to the Arab world (somewhat prematurely, perhaps) and is very likely to use his leadership of the bank to pursue a good-governance agenda.

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NGOs that are concerned with promoting good governance may find their links to the bank strengthening, while those that target poverty reduction may find their access and influence diminishing.

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And if "bad" governments (read: leftist) can't get loans from the World Bank, it might be the best thing that ever happened to them, since taking the loans seems to ensure their long spiral into unpayable debt.

THE U.S. EXIT STRATEGY

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A chart showed a steady rise in Iraqi forces from 90,000, in October 2003, to 206,000 in April 2004. Suddenly there was a precipitous drop to 132,000.

The reason, Sullivan said, was that the U.S. had been counting police and soldiers who were on the payroll, as opposed to those actually reporting for duty.

With a new training program in place, the number climbed back up to 160,000 in August. But in September it dropped again to 90,000. This time, Sullivan said, officials decided not to count forces that had not yet been equipped, and to stop including night watchmen.

Now, Sullivan said, the number is back up to 142,472. But that figure, too, is misleading, Sullivan admitted, because tens of thousands are absent without leave at any given time.

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Uh-huh.

And finally, blame it on Turkey...

Turkey's decision continues to resonate

The level of insurgency in Iraq would not be so high if the U.S.-led coalition had been able to invade through Turkey, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Sunday.

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Never you mind. We'll take care of Turkey just as soon as we've dealt with Iran and Syria.