Hump Day Headlines - December 2, 2009

Every Wednesday you will find links and top-line summaries to current events around the globe.

Obama orders 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan [BBC]

- US President Barack Obama has ordered 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan but warned America would begin to withdraw its military forces by 2011. Soldiers will be deployed as quickly as possible, bringing US troop strength in the country to more than 100,000
- Some 32,000 other foreign troops are serving in Afghanistan but Nato allies have been cautious about further contributions. Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged members to do more. He told reporters on Wednesday that 5,000 extra troops would be sent in 2010, and “probably” a few thousand in addition
- However the BBC’s Ian Pannell in Kabul says there is concern that putting a date on a US withdrawal sends the wrong signal and risks giving encouragement to the Taliban. Rising violence – more than 900 US soldiers have died in Afghanistan – and August’s discredited elections have fanned mounting domestic opposition to the eight-year-old war

Suspect Slain in Seattle; 4 Are Held as Flight Aids [New York Times

- Maurice Clemmons, the man suspected of fatally shooting four uniformed police officers was shot and killed on a residential street early Tuesday morning by a police officer who chanced upon him during a routine patrol when investigating a stolen car, the authorities said
- The case has sparked anger because Mr Clemmons' 95-year sentence for crimes in Arkansas was commuted in 2000 by then governor Mike Huckabee. However, Mr Clemmons quickly reverted to his criminal past and was back in prison in 2004. He was released again in 2004
- The four officers - Sgt Mark Renninger and officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold and Greg Richards - were shot dead at the cafe in Parkland, some 40 miles (65km) south of Seattle

'Spam gang' leader faces $15m fine [BBC]

- New Zealander Lance Atkinson and his US accomplice Jody Smith sent billions of illegal e-mails marketing prescription drugs and and weight-loss pills. US authorities claimed the gang – known as HerbalKing – “deceptively marketed” the drugs on the internet
- Three companies affiliated with Mr Smith are liable for a further $4m, following the case. The e-mails marketed various pills which the gang claimed were generic versions of US-branded and licensed medications. However, they were actually imported from India, unapproved and “potentially unsafe” according to authorities
- The HerbalKing gang were named the “number one worst spam gang on the internet” for 2007 and 2008 by Spamhaus. They are thought to have been active since at least 2005 and at their peak may have accounted for one third of the world’s junk e-mail. Spamhaus estimates that up to 94% of all e-mail is spam

Somali sea gangs lure investors at pirate lair [Reuters]

- In Somalia’s main pirate lair of Haradheere, the sea gangs have set up a cooperative to fund their hijackings offshore, a sort of stock exchange meets criminal syndicate. It is a lucrative business that has drawn financiers from the Somali diaspora and other nations — and now the gangs in Haradheere have set up an exchange to manage their investments
- “Four months ago, during the monsoon rains, we decided to set up this stock exchange. We started with 15 ‘maritime companies’ and now we are hosting 72. Ten of them have so far been successful at hijacking,” wealthy former pirate Mohammed said
- Haradheere, 400 km (250 miles) northeast of Mogadishu, used to be a small fishing village, now it is a bustling town. Somalia’s Western-backed government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed is pinned down battling hard-line Islamist rebels, and controls little more than a few streets of the capital. The administration has no influence in Haradheere — where a senior local official said piracy paid for almost everything

With Deal, G.E. Clears Path to Sale of NBC [New York Times]

- General Electric has reached a tentative agreement with the French media conglomerate Vivendi that clears the way for the sale of NBC Universal, including the flagship NBC network, to Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator. Under terms of the deal, G.E. will buy Vivendi’s 20% stake in NBC Universal for about $5.8 billion
- While a deal between G.E. and Comcast still could hit a snag over the final price, it is considered highly likely: G.E. wants to sell NBC because of rising losses, and Comcast wants to buy it to control more of the television programs and movies that flow through its cable systems
- In the proposed deal, Comcast will contribute its own cable channels, which include Versus, the Golf Channel and the E Entertainment channel, and a modest amount of cash, about $5 billion, to a joint venture in which it will own 51 percent. G.E. will retain a 49 percent stake, and would likely reduce its ownership over several years

Dubai ruler plays up strength as Gulf markets fall [Reuters]

- Gulf markets dropped again on Tuesday, taking little comfort from Dubai World’s plan to restructure about $26 billion of debt and despite reassurances on economic resilience from the rulers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Dubai stocks fell a further 5.6% and the Abu Dhabi bourse lost 3.6% on their second trading day since Dubai last week asked creditors of Dubai World and its property arm Nakheel for a six-month delay on debt repayments
- Dubai’s troubles could shift political power in the UAE, a seven-emirate federation celebrating 38 years of unity on Wednesday, toward oil-producing Abu Dhabi and away from its exuberant neighbor.
- The Abu Dhabi stock market had plunged 8.3% on Monday, its worst one-day drop on record, while Dubai’s fell 7.3%, its biggest in more than a year

In Japan, an Odd Perch for Google: Looking Up at the Leader [New York Times]

- After eight years, Japan is one of a few major countries Google has yet to conquer. The Web giant still trails far behind Yahoo Japan, the front-runner here, operated by the Japanese telecommunications giant Softbank. In a reversal of the rivalry in the United States, Yahoo Japan dominates Japan’s Web search market with 56.5% of all queries. Google, at 33.7%, is a distant second
- Unaccustomed to being second, Google is bending some of its most time-honored traditions in a renewed push into the Japanese market. Earlier this year, Google’s splash page for Japan abandoned the company’s classic spare design and added links to YouTube, Gmail and other services — an attempt to lure Japanese users who favor sites decorated with a cacophony of text and graphics
- Japan is one of the world’s most wired countries, with more than 90 million regular Internet users — of which three-quarters use fast broadband connections and two-thirds also log in from cellphones. And despite a sluggish economy, Japan’s 6.6 trillion yen ($77 billion) advertising market remains the world’s second-largest

Upstart Chinese Telecom Company Rattles Industry as It Rises to No. 2 [New York Times]

- This month, Telenor chose Huawei Technologies, a Chinese equipment maker, to build its ultrafast network based on a technology called L.T.E., or Long Term Evolution. Grabbing the contract in the heart of Scandinavia was the latest coup for Huawei, the rising star of the mobile equipment industry. The company’s low-cost, multipurpose networks have catapulted it to No. 2 in the world, behind Ericsson
- Huawei leapfrogged Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens in quarterly sales this year, according to Dell’Oro, a research firm in Redwood City, Calif. But Huawei, a private company founded in 1988 by Ren Zhengfei, a former officer of the People’s Liberation Army, has fought the perception that it has ties to China’s government and military
- Huawei is based in Shenzhen, like ZTE, in mainland China near Hong Kong. The company has grown beyond China’s borders, with foreign orders accounting for 75% of its $18.3 billion in 2008 sales, up 43% from a year earlier. Huawei’s profit rose to $1.2 billion, from $957 million in 2007

Somali pirates capture huge tanker taking oil to US [BBC]

- The Greek-owned Maran Centaurus was about 1,300km (800 miles) off Somalia when it was hijacked on Sunday, said the EU Naval task force (Navfor). The ship was full of oil and is believed to be one of the largest yet seized by Somali pirates. There are 28 crew members on board
- In recent months, the pirates have started operating further from the Somali coast. They are believed to use “mother-ships” to reach the high seas, before using small skiffs to carry out their attacks. Pirates are currently holding 11 vessels and 264 crew members in Somalia
- War-torn Somalia has had no functioning government since 1991, allowing pirates to operate along the lawless coast almost with impunity

- Large Hadron Collider sets world energy record [BBC]
- Drug hitmen in suits kill key witness in Mexico [Reuters]
- G.M. Asks Its Chief to Resign [New York Times]
- Suicide bomber kills Pakistan parliamentarian [Reuters]
- Philippine boxer Manny Pacquiao to fight election [BBC]
- Fred Joseph, Who Led Drexel in Its Heyday, Dies at 72 [New York Times]
- India’s economy continues to grow [BBC]
- Honduras elects Zelaya rival Porfirio Lobo as president [BBC]
- Susan Boyle’s debut album makes UK chart history [BBC]

A young Afghan boy gives the thumbs down to a passing NATO French Foreign Legion convoy near Surobi some 50 kms east of Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)