Price Riots Spread in Mozambique — Voice of America

Protests against rising food and fuel prices have spread to central Mozambique, as isolated riots continue for a third day near the capital.

Demonstrators in the town of Chimoio used stones, clubs, and tires Friday to prevent markets and shops from opening. The Lusa news agency reports that six people were injured when police opened fire on protesters.

Read more ….

10 more killed amid Mozambique rioting — The Telegraph
Mozambique Riots Spread North, Protesters Injured in Clashes With Police — Bloomberg
Mozambique police fire rubber bullets at Maputo rioters — BBC
Mozambique: Violent Unrest, Frustration in Maputo — Global Voices
Factbox: Violence in Mozambique — Reuters
In pictures: Mozambique food riots — BBC

Riots Continue In Mozambique Over Food Prices is a post from: Updated News

In a new research paper I came across, Geoffrey Till, a top-notch historian and naval strategist, looks at the notion that this is shaping up to be China’s century, not America’s, and that the maritime decline of the U.S. is a foregone conclusion. He contends that predicting the rise and fall of great power maritime dominance is a bit trickier and harder to measure than many claim.

Read more ….

Previous Post: China Now Has More Warships Than The U.S.: IISS Report

My Comment: China definitely has a long way to go before they are a match to U.S. naval power. But as shrinking budgets and the future of joint naval ops become a matter of debate for many in the Pentagon and Congress, the trends are obvious …. the Chinese are not building a fleet to match ours, we are downsizing our fleet to meet theirs.

Is U.S. Navy Dominance Really Ending? is a post from: Updated News

The US aircraft carrier “USS George Washington” moves to come alongside the pier at a port in Busan, southeast of Seoul, on July 21. Photo from Press TV

China and the US have been staging near-simultaneous naval exercises this week in the oceans around the Yellow Sea in one of the most open displays of the rising competition between the two rival forces in north Asia.

The Chinese navy’s North Sea Fleet is practising shooting artillery in waters south-east of Qingdao until Saturday, while the US and South Korea are scheduled to hold a joint exercise in the Yellow Sea from Sunday.

Read more ….

Yellow Sea Venue for Rival War Games — Voice of America

China begins military exercises in Yellow Sea — BBC
Chinese navy to hold drills in Yellow Sea — AP
China announces navy drill ahead of U.S. show of force — MSNBC/Reuters
Chinese navy to hold drills in Yellow Sea — Huffington post
China Starts Naval Exercise On Yellow Sea Ahead Of Joint U.S.-South Korea Drill — All Headline News

US, SKorea to Hold Further Naval Drills — New York Times/AP
Second round of military drills in sea — Joong Ang Daily
S.Korea and US to stage joint naval drill — AFP
ROK, US to hold joint naval drills in West Sea Sept. 5-9 — Korea Times

China and the US battle to assert presence in South China Sea — Christian Science Monitor
US opposes use of force in South China Sea dispute — AP
Rising China tests the waters — Asia Times opinion
Power play in the South China Sea — Geoff Dyer, Financial Times
Avoiding a Tempest in the South China Sea — Council On Foreign Relations
China—United States: Resetting a Positive Course – Douglas H. Paal, Carnegie Endowment
A Chinese Summer, Revisited – The Diplomat

Dueling Naval War Games Between The U.S. And China is a post from: Updated News

At a State Department event marking the start of negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (l) shakes hands with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas while Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton watches. Elisa Miller-Photolink/NEWSCOM

Even before the Israeli-Palestinian talks began Sept. 2, an attack by Hamas and a death call by a prominent Jewish rabbi have signaled that extremists want to derail the negotiations. Benjamin Natanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas need to rally the center.

In coming weeks, if all goes well, the spotlight in the Middle East will be on direct talks that started Thursday between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). The two sides promise to meet every two weeks.

Read more ….

Israeli-Palestinian Peace: Lowering the Bar on ‘Progress’ — Tony Karon, Time Magazine

‘Jerusalem cannot be the capital of state called Israel’ — Jerusalem Post editorial

Israel and Palestine: A true one-state solution — George Bisharat, Washington Post

This Week at War: The Iraq Gamble: Can Obama turn the page on the war he never wanted? — Robert Haddick, Foreign Policy

Our distracted commander in chief — Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post

The Disintegration of Pakistan — Cyril Almeida, DAWN

India And China Keep Their Eyes on Each Other — Deccan Chronicle

Drugs and violence: Mexico’s addiction — BBC

Burma in the dock: U.S. support for U.N. war-crimes inquiry is in order — Nehginpao Kipgen, The Washington Times

Sarkozy is right about the Roma — Mary Dejevsky, The Independent

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials — September 3, 2010 is a post from: Updated News

(Click Image to Enlarge)

Speculation is rampant that North Korea’s Kim Jong-il will go public with plans to name his son his heir at a rare political conference.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il is expected to convene the first high-level conference of the ruling Workers’ Party in about 40 years amid widespread speculation that the world will finally get the answer to one great question:

Will Kim’s third son, Kim Jong-un, be confirmed as heir to power?

If so, he would be the third in a line that began when Kim Jong-il’s father, the late “Great Leader” Kim Il-sung, took over at the time of the founding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 1948.

Read more ….

North Korea Signals Succession Plans Under Way — NPR
North Korea Preps ‘Dear’ Leader’s Mystery 20-Something Son for Rule — J.J. Gould, The Atlantic
Kim Jong Un ‘rubber-stamping dictator’? — UPI
North Korean Congress May Discuss Kim’s Successor — Bloomberg
Pyongyang’s New Leader for the Old Guard — Andrei Lankov, Wall Street Journal
Amid succession fears, Kim Jong-un rising to power — Korea Times

Leadership Change To Be Announced In North Korea? is a post from: Updated News

A security guard stands outside the main offices of Kabul Bank on September 1.
Radio Free Europe

Obama administration officials rejected a call Friday for the U.S. Treasury Department to bail out the troubled Kabul Bank in Afghanistan, as nervous customers withdrew millions following a shakeup in the bank’s management.

With depositors making a run on cash, Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s brother said in a newspaper interview that the United States should intervene and possibly guarantee the Kabul Bank investments.

Read more ….

Previous Post: Run At The Kabul Bank Alarms Everyone. U.S. Treasury Being Asked To Bail Them Out

Kabul Bank run may pose more immediate threat than Afghan Taliban — Christian Science Monitor
Afghan Financial Crisis Panics Bank Depositors — AOL News
Karzai Calls Kabul Bank ‘Safe’ Amid Signs Of Panic — Radio Free Europe
Kabul Bank: Moral Hazard Personified — Wall Street Journal

No U.S. Bailout For Afghanistan’s #1 Bank is a post from: Updated News

According to a recent estimate by the C.D.C. an average of eighteen American veterans kill themselves every day. That number accounts for 1/5th of all of suicides in the United States.

These images are of call responders working for the Department of Veteran Affairs in Canandaigua, New York talking vets back from the edge. It’s the frontline of the government’s attempt to curb the rising suicide rate among active duty service members and veterans. The center is the only one of its type in the country, and was established in 2007 by the VA.

That year, the line received about 10,000 callers. In 2008, it received almost 70,000, and in 2009, just under 120,000. By June of this year alone, operators had already taken just under 100,000 calls.

Read more ….

My Comment: A riveting report and photo gallery on veteran suicides. The key paragraph is the following ….

That year, the line received about 10,000 callers. In 2008, it received almost 70,000, and in 2009, just under 120,000. By June of this year alone, operators had already taken just under 100,000 calls.

Read and watch the gallery.

An Average Of Eighteen American Veterans Kill Themselves Every Day is a post from: Updated News

U.S. Brokers Deal for Twice-Monthly Israel-Palestinian Meetings, Raising Commitment Level, Stakes.

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration moved to fast-track the Middle East peace process, gaining Arab and Israeli support for twice-monthly negotiations aimed at establishing an independent Palestinian state within a year.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed Thursday to convene a second round of direct talks in two weeks, culminating two days of meetings hosted by President Barack Obama in Washington that also included the leaders of Jordan and Egypt.

Read more ….

Mideast leaders to hold bimonthly peace talks — Yahoo News/AFP
Regular Follow-up Meetings For Middle East Peace Framework Deal — RTT News
Parties slate more peace talks in two weeks — International Business Times
Framework for Middle East peace agreed — ABC.net
Fast start: Netanyahu, Abbas meet alone for 90 minutes — McClatchy News
Middle East talks begin with work plan — L.A. Times
Netanyahu, Abbas seek ‘framework’ — Washington Times
Hamas among intractable issues in Mideast talks — Yahoo News/AP

Arab League chief wants to give peace talks a chance — Yahoo News/AFP
Scepticism abounds in Middle East after peace talks ‘show’ — AFP
Israeli, Palestinian leaders face critics of talks – AP
Palestinian Militants Protest Peace Talks — Voice of America
Int’l community applauds Palestine-Israel talks, but armed groups resent — Xinhuanet

West Bank city of Hebron could be powder keg as Mideast peace talks begin — L.A. Times
Israel and Palestine: A true one-state solution — George Bisharat, Washington Post
Experts Fear Mideast Talks Are Too Ambitious — New York Times
Mid-East talks: Regional voices — BBC

Framework For Israeli – Palestinian Peace Talks Agreed Upon is a post from: Updated News

Intelligence Community Exemplifies National Security System’s Broader Problems — World Politics Review

The Washington Post’s recent series, “Top Secret America,” depicts significant organizational challenges in the intelligence community. Many of its observations have merit, but organizational dysfunction is not confined to the intelligence system. The Post’s description of the sprawling, uncoordinated intelligence bureaucracy mirrors the shortcomings of the overarching national security system, which has repeatedly demonstrated that it is not capable of handling today’s threats and opportunities.

Read more ….

UK, Germany want 2-3 mths for A400M deal-French min — Reuters

India OKs $6.5B Plan To Build Stealth Destroyers – Defense News

U.S. Funding Boost Is Sought for Yemen Forces — Wall Street Journal

New Bundeswehr Baseline — Ares/Aviaiton Week

U.S. to Shun Military Drills in Turkey — Defense News/AFP

Analysis: Japan dilemma as economic dependence on China grows — Reuters

USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group to Deploy — Navy.mil

Infantry: Getting To The Bottom Of A Major Problem — Strategy Page

Fort Bragg probing base housing after 10 infants die — McClatchy News

Combat Zone Entitlements — DoD Live

F-22 Raptor in vertical attitude. You can even see the pilot through the canopy [Pic] — luckybogey.files.wordpress.com

Nuevo Laredo Mexican Drug Cartel Gun Battle Extreme Carnage Overview — Public Intelligence

On War: U.S. Marines Tattoos in Afghanistan — Denver Post

Military And Intelligence News Briefs — September 3, 2010 is a post from: Updated News

Protecting Military Networks Thinking about WikiLeaking? Think again. U.S. Navy

From Popular Science:

The recent WikiLeaks exposure was a huge black eye for the U.S. Department of Defense, supposedly one of the more secure state organizations we have working for us. Its impact clearly wasn’t lost on the Pentagon, whose blue sky research arm has launched a new project designed to ferret out malicious behavior on DoD networks. Named CINDER – Cyber INsiDER Threat – the project is designed not to sniff out people, but adversarial actions as they happen.

Read more ….

My Comment: I am skeptical that such a program will be successful …. but hey …. Darpa has surprised us on many occasions and should not be underestimated.

DARPA’s Cyber Insider Threat Program Is The Agency’s Great Hope For Ending Leaks is a post from: Updated News