ain't like the t-shirt

General Fonseka, the loser of last month's Sri Lankan election, has been imprisoned after he threatened to challenge the result. The government said the revered General was "hell-bent" on betraying the country's "gallant armed forces" which refer to Fonseka's earlier statement that he was ready to provide evidence of war crimes against the Tamil Tigers to international prosecutors.

The streets of Colombo were filled with supporters of General Fonseka, president-elect Rajapaksa and security forces on Wednesday. Pictures of the running clashes are here.
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Iran will block internal access to gmail according to a Google spokesperson in San Francisco. The Ahmadinejad government is preparing for the anniversary of the 1979 revolution on Thursday. Anti-government protest have utilized state holidays to hold their own protests following the disputed elections this summer.
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Pakistani intelligence has reported that it has definitive evidence the Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud is dead. Official Taliban spokesmen have denied their leader's fatality, but on Tuesday an anonymous Taliban official said that Mehsud had died from injuries sustained during a January 14th drone attack.

say Auntie!!!

Iran will commence with the cutting of subsidies for basic commodities including fuel and food. Iranians, at present, can purchase fuel more cheaply than bottled water. The government will increase the prices of refined gasoline, water, electricity, wheat, sugar and rice to international market levels over the next five years.

Gasoline subsidies alone cost the iranian government over $100b a year.

The move will vastly improve the solvency of the state treasury, the rising prices may tip the volatile iranian populous past the boiling point. Opposition leader Mousavi has urged supporters to consider economic grievances with the regime, rather than politics or religion, to woo rural and less affluent constituencies.
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Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Leiberman said to Syrian President Assad that "in the next war [with Israel], not only will you lose, but you and your family will lose the regime".

President Assad responded today saying that "Israel is driving the region towards war, not peace." Several Israeli politicians called for Lieberman's removal, calling him a "war instigator".
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President Obama today condemned the proposed anti-homosexual legislation in Uganda as "odious". Ironically, the president's pointed words came at the National Prayer Breakfast, hosted by "the family", a religious/political organization that has sent multiple representatives to Uganda in promotion of anti-LGBT ideals.

The Ugandan legislation would sentence those guilty of "aggravated homosexuality" to death.

high rate, irate

Mahmoud al-Mabhoud, the founder of the militant wing of Hamas and a central go-between with Iran has been assassinated in a Dubai hotel. Mr. Mabhouh allegedly organized the capture and killing of two Israeli soldiers during the 1980s and had been imprisoned a number of times by Israel.

Police in Dubai issued a statement saying that a "professional criminal gang" had been tracking Mr. Mabhoud since before his arrival in Dubai, traveled on European passports and left the country before the body was discovered. Reports of how Mr. Mabhoud was killed vary and include electrocution, suffocation and poison.

Hamas officials have indicated that they will retaliate against the state of Israel "in a suitable time and place."

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Ahmadinejad has expressed his willingness to ship enriched uranium abroad to Russia and France for energy grade enrichment. The Iranian president said, "If we send our enriched uranium abroad and then they do not give us the 20% enriched fuel for our reactor, we are capable of producing it inside Iran."

The Iranian flip-flop comes after Washington announced its commitment to upgrade missile defense in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Late last week, the German multinational Siemens announced they would not seek future contracts within Iran under amplified U.S. pressure.
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U.S. drone strikes kill at least 17 and wounded scores more in the Dattakhel village in the Degan region of North Waziristan on Tuesday. Al-Jazeera's Kamal Hyder reported 19 missiles fired in coordination.

He said, "This would be the first time you get a coordinated attack by such a large group of drones since the attacks inside Pakistan began.

"Seventeen people have been reported killed. However, there is mounting fear that the death toll could be at least over two dozen or even cross 30."

The Long War Journal reports that five unmanned strike aircraft (Reapers and Predator drones) were involved in the attack. There are no estimates of civilian casualties.
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A portion of Ghandi's ashes were scattered into the sea off the coast of South Africa today by his family. The ceremony was attended by roughly 200 people on boats to mark the 62nd anniversary of the icon's death.

family dinners

Obama has launched a tax on multinational corporations that transfer technology developed in the United States to off-shore partners in friendlier tax climates. The administration has also limited multinationals' ability to borrow dollars for overseas investment.

The measure is part of the President's FY 2010 budget and aims to reduce the budget, however, Chairman Baucus and Ranking member Grassley of the Senate finance committee received the proposition coldly. Bankers and business types are pissed.

Under the president’s budget, the deficit would decline from 10.6% of GDP in FY 2010 to 3.9% by 2015. However, the deficit would never reach the 3 per cent level required to stabilise the ratio of government debt to national output, which would keep on rising to 77 per cent of GDP by 2020.
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Here is a bit of perspective on the possible ramifications and reverberations of the Chinese trade threats over the weekend. How far is China willing to go to hamstring the U.S. aerospace industry and what collateral damage will such aggressive behavior precipitate?

The FT's Jamil Anderlini and Kevin Brown explore the greco-roman-essence of bi-polarity.
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Moldovan oil company Ascom is facing anger from local Sudanese who feel poorly treated in the company's search for oil. The tale is analogous to many relationship between multinationals and indigenous populations around the world.

The rising tensions come as UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon warned that south Sudan may ardently seek independence from the north in a referendum next January. Mr. Ban comments signal international will to stem a possible break up over fear that secessionist movements could spread across the continent.

African Union chairman, Jean Ping, expressed similar fears and a "senior diplomat" identified the potential for independence movements in Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia.

sunsnow sunday

The Chinese government has threatened broad economic measures against American military contractors unless $6.4b in U.S. arms deals with Taiwan are canceled immediately. U.S. defense contractors including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon will face Chinese retaliation in other business areas in a tangible expose' of China's growing power.

“Such sales contribute to maintaining security and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said Laura Tischler, a State Department spokeswoman.

Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi said, The US should “truly respect China’s core interests and major concerns, and immediately rescind the mistaken decision ... in order to avoid damaging broader China-US relations.”
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Hank Paulson has accused Russia of propositioning China to sell Fannie and Freddie Mac bonds in late 2008 to induce a U.S. government bail out. The former U.S. Treasury secretary wrote “Russian officials had made a top-level approach to the Chinese, suggesting that together they might sell big chunks of their GSE (government sponsored enterprise) holdings to force the US to use its emergency authorities to prop up these companies,” in his recently published memoir, On the Brink.

The reported proposition was declined by the Chinese in the time surrounding the Russian-Georgian conflict.
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Pakistani media has reported that Hakimullah Mehsud has been killed "sometime in the last two weeks" by U.S. drone strike. Tehrik-e-Taliban spokesmen have denied the claims but have not provided video evidence that the group's leader is alive.

U.S. C.I.A. has increase drone activity following the attack on their Khost outpost.

I called this btw. wooop.
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Slate.com slide show of the Davos Economic Forum sessions and participants is here.

Turkey has signalled approval for Afghan government plans to reconcile with mid and low-level Taliban fighters through jobs and cash. The plan is reminiscent of the "Sunni Awakening" or "Sons of Iraq", where Sunni insurgents were paid to halt their insurgency and work with the government to provide security within their own communities.

(Here is an statistical update on the integration of the SOI from the Long War Blog.)

The statement came from a meeting in Istanbul between Afghan officials and various regional powers. The meeting included China's foreign minister, Iran's vice-president, Russia's deputy foreign minister, Britain's foreign minister and the deputy to U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke. Officials from Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, NATO and the European Union were also present.

High ranking officials from approximately 60 countries are slated to convene on Thursday in London to coordinate strategy and fortify support for Afghanistan.

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Afghan intelligence report has tied the Haqqani network, based in Pakistan, to the massive guerrilla attack on Kabul on January 18th. This announcement follows last week's statements by Secretary Gates urging Pakistan to do more to contain the Haqqani network.

The Haqqani network was one of the main recipients of foreign weapons and monies during the Soviet-Afghan war.

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France is now very close to approving a partial ban on Islamic veils following a report by parliamentary committee. The report states, "The wearing of the full veil is a challenge to our republic. This is unacceptable. We must condemn this excess."

The committee's near 200-page report has proposed a ban in hospitals, schools, government offices and on public transport.

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Here is a great photo slideshow of the Sri Lankan election.

flares

Both General Stanley McChrystal and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have hinted in the last week at the possibility of political negotiations with the Taliban. Both senior military leaders have outlined plans to co-opt middle and low ranking Taliban fighters with jobs and cash payments.

Dexter Filkins' op-ed in today's NYT quotes a Taliban spokesperson saying, “Nobody from the Taliban side is ready to make any kind of deal. The world community and the international forces are trying to buy the Taliban, and that is why we are showing that we are not for sale.”

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has shut down a television station for failing to broadcast one of his state speeches in its entirety. Chávez's popularity has slipped as the oil-rich country grapples with energy shortages, rising inflation and rampant crime, worrying officials as they prepare for parliamentary elections later this year.

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Here is a run-down of contributions to Scott Brown before and after his electoral victory.