Good morning/evening, here is my
World Roundup for
November
10, 2003
Legend:
fr = French language
it = Italian language
ro = Romanian/Moldovan language
es = Spanish language
de = German language
pt = Portuguese language
is = Icelandic language
su = Suomi language (Finnish)
nl = Dutch language
Everything else in English language
Note: Nothing which you can see on your evening news will be covered here.
Yesterday, some news of continuing protests and unrest in Georgia. Now it seems Shevardnadze wants to meet with the opposition candidates. This is a hopeful sign of progress. Meanwhile, Shevardnadze picked up the telephone and called Putin to tell him about the situation. Meanwhile, the protesters are keeping vigil despite a cold and pouring rain but "The situation has practically run out of control. It has really turned uncontrollable," Georgian Defense Minister David Tevzadze said earlier in the day. It seems now that the ball is in the opposition leaders' court, because they refuse to meet with Shevardnadze in his office, preferring instead a neutral ground.
Remember that phone call to Putin? Shevardnadze is about to do something he hasn't done in years, which is to travel to Adzharia. You'll remember from an earlier World Roundup that security in Adzharia is provided almost entirely by Russian troops. This is because, effectively, Tblisi and Shevardnadze have almost no control over this westernmost region of Georgia, more formally known as Apkhazetis Avtonomiuri Respublika. Further analysis here(nl).
In another former Soviet republic, the county of Moldova has a breakaway region called the Trans-Dniestr, which announced its independence from Moldova in 1992 but was not considered legitimate. The rebellion was squashed by Russian troops, who have remained to this day. The Trans-Dniestr region is populated mainly by Slavic peoples who speak Russian, while the other 3/4ths of the country speaks Moldovan (a Latin language). Friction has been escalating between the two sides. One concession made to the Moldovan government in Chisinau was to withdraw Russian troops from the occupied region. Unfortunately, Veaceslav Trubnikov, a high-ranking Russian State Department official has just come out against the withdrawal of Russian troops(ro). Look for things to escalate here in the near future.
An update on Liberia. President Bush regrettably declined to send troops, but UN boots on the ground have found city after city have found deserted towns emptied of all but looting insurgents, and terrorised civilians under rebel grip or lying rotting, dead, in the bush.
It already disintegrated the Dutch government once before, but now the survivors of Srebenica massacre in 1995 are suing the UN and the government of the Netherlands. Unlike Americans, the Dutch people do not have laws exempting them from war crimes.
More trouble with the concept of democracy and free elections as Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah is arrested (again) for opposing the perennial dictator of Mauritania.
The Economist magazine has a lengthy analysis of the Prime Minister of Slovakia. For those Skoda fans out there, this is where most of them are built.
Another election, this time in Guatemala will be held today. A lengthy analysis here(es) and here(es). For the record, the former dictator of the country, José Efraín Ríos Montt is on the ballot whose previous government was supported by former President Reagan.
For all you fans of The Matrix movies, the actor who played Agent Smith might star in a Bulgarian movie called "Neutral Zone".
And on a lighter note, I'm proud to introduce Romania's contestant for the upcoming Miss World beauty pageant in China (ro). And yes, a pic is attached to the article.
Paix