Every Wednesday you will find links and top-line summaries to current events around the globe.
Bombs kill 12 in Russia, days after metro attacks [Reuters]
- Suspected suicide bombers killed at least 12 people in Russia’s North Caucasus on Wednesday, two days after deadly attacks in Moscow that authorities linked to insurgents from the region. The coordinated attack in the town of Kizlyar in Dagestan, neighboring Chechnya, was the latest outbreak in a surge of violence in the Caucasus that is challenging the Kremlin a decade after a war against Chechen separatists
- The bombings in Dagestan came 48 hours after Moscow was hit by its bloodiest attack in six years — twin morning rush-hour blasts that killed 39. Authorities blamed female suicide bombers with connections to the North Caucasus. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said a single group could have been behind the bombings in Moscow and Dagestan
- The Moscow metro attack fueled fears of a broader offensive by rebels based in the North Caucasus. It underscored the Kremlin’s failure to keep militants in check and contain violence to the region along Russia’s southern fringe. Putin, who led Moscow into a war against Chechen separatists in 1999 that sealed his rise to power, said on Tuesday those behind the bombings must be scraped “from the bottom of the sewers” and exposed
Afghanistan world’s top cannabis source: U.N. [Reuters]
- Long the world’s largest producer of opium, the raw ingredient of heroin, Afghanistan has now become the top supplier of cannabis, with large-scale cultivation in half of its provinces. Between 10,000 and 24,000 hectares of cannabis are grown every year in Afghanistan, with major cultivation in 17 out 34 provinces. While some countries grow cannabis on more land, Afghanistan’s robust crop yields — 145 kg of resin per hectare compared to around 40 kg per hectare in Morocco — make it the world’s largest producer, estimated at 1,500-3,500 metric tons a year
- For years Afghanistan has been the world’s largest producer of opium, a paste extracted from poppies and processed into heroin. While land cultivated with poppies fell by 22 percent last year, record yields meant production fell only 10%. The illegal opium trade is said to fuel the insurgency in Afghanistan with the Taliban siphoning off millions of dollars from the trade by imposing taxes on farmers and smugglers in return for ensuring safe passage of the drug
- One of the main reasons cannabis is so widely grown, is because of its low labor costs and high returns. Three times cheaper to cultivate than opium, the net income from a hectare of cannabis is $3,341 compared to $2,005 for opium. While cannabis production in 2009 was valued at an estimated $39-94 mn, this is only about 10-20% of the total farm-gate value of Afghanistan’s opium production, because so much more opium is grown
Families of 153 trapped Chinese miners fight for hope [Reuters]
- Over 1,000 rescuers fought against the clock at a Chinese coal mine where 153 workers were trapped by flooding in what could be one of the worst disasters to hit the deadly industry in recent years. China has the world’s deadliest coal-mining industry, with more than 2,600 people killed in mine floods, explosions, collapses and other accidents in 2009 alone
- Most of the 261 workers believed to have been underground at the time of the accident were migrants. Compared with other manual jobs, Chinese coal miners can earn relatively high wages, but the danger from floods, explosions, gas and cave-ins is ever-present. The mine is a major government-approved project and is expected to produce about 6 million tonnes of coal a year when it comes on line
- The majority of Chinese mining accidents have occurred in small operations and a campaign in recent years to close thousands of such pits has helped cut the annual death toll. But demand for coal to fuel the country’s strong economic growth means some reopen illegally or flout official rules. A gas blast at a coal pit in northeastern China in November killed at least 104 miners, while 74 died in an explosion in February at another mine
European Collider Begins Its Subatomic Exploration [New York Times]
- After 16 years and $10 billion — and a long morning of electrical groaning and sweating — there was joy in the meadows and tunnels of the Swiss-French countryside Tuesday: the world’s biggest physics machine, the Large Hadron Collider, finally began to make subatomic particles collide
- After two false starts due to electrical failures, protons that were whipped to more than 99% of the speed of light and to record-high energy levels of 3.5 trillion electron volts apiece raced around a 17-mile underground magnetic track outside Geneva a little after 1 p.m. local time. They crashed together inside apartment-building-size detectors designed to capture every evanescent flash and fragment from microscopic fireballs thought to hold insights into the beginning of the universe
- Among their top goals are finding the identity of the dark matter that shapes the visible cosmos and the strange particle known as the Higgs boson, which is thought to imbue other particles with mass. Until now, these have been tantalizingly out of reach
Suicides, Some for Separatist Cause, Jolt India [New York Times]
- Sai Kumar Meegada, a 20-year-old straight-A chemical engineering student at a prestigious university here, came home from breakfast one morning early this month, slipped a length of clothesline around his neck, tied it to the ceiling fan in his dorm room and hanged himself. With that, Mr. Meegada became one of a surprising number of people — many of them young and educated, with bright futures awaiting them — to have committed suicide over the battle to carve out India’s 29th state. Some estimates have attributed more than 200 suicides to the cause
- But these politically motivated deaths are just one aspect of a troubling trend. Suicide has become something of a phenomenon in India, especially in the south, which now has one of the highest suicide rates in the world — a fact that has both puzzled and alarmed public health experts. Suicides by indebted farmers are frequently reported in the news media and pointed to as a sign that India has forgotten its rural poor. But bankruptcy or poverty provoke less than 5% of Indian suicides. A family conflict, a broken love affair or an illness is a more likely spur
- Suicide is generally considered taboo in Hinduism, the religion of most Indians, because it disrupts the cycle of reincarnation that is central to the soul’s progress. But the willingness to die for a cause, as exemplified by Gandhi’s epic fasts during the struggle for independence, is seen as noble and worthy. Ancient warriors in Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India, would commit suicide if their commander was killed. And the practice of sati, or widow burning, although outlawed, remains a potent symbol of wifely devotion
On China’s Hainan Island, the Boom Is Deafening [New York Times]
- In the last two months, Hainan, an island the size of Belgium in the South China Sea, has become a potent symbol of China’s economic vitality — or, perhaps, its excesses. Even in a country where new wealth spawns new tales of luxury living every day, Hainan is viewed with a mix of awe, envy and disgust
- The boom here, unfolding as much of the world grapples with a recession, is fueled by a first-of-its-kind edict from the nation’s top leaders: On Dec. 31, the State Council, the Chinese cabinet, issued a memorandum that said Hainan had been designated a “test case” in developing an “internationally competitive tourist destination.”
- Investors are interpreting that as a no-holds-barred effort to remake Hainan into the Chinese equivalent of Monaco, Las Vegas and Hawaii. While there is no clear indication that the authorities will permit the introduction of licensed casino gambling, some are betting that Hainan could overtake Macao, the former Portguese colony that is now under Chinese sovereignty, as China’s preferred island of iniquity
Anglo Irish Bank to get 8.3bn euros in fresh bailout [BBC]
- The Irish government will inject another 8.3bn euros (£7.4bn, $9.9bn) into the nationalised Anglo Irish Bank, it has been announced. Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said pumping in more money was “the least worst option”
- The second bailout follows the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank last year. The Irish government also owns 25% and 16% stakes in Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland respectively. “Finding a long-term solution for Anglo Irish Bank is by far the biggest challenge in resolving the banking crisis,” said Mr Lenihan, defending the fresh injection of equity into the lender
- A further 2.6bn euros will also be invested in the Irish Nationwide Building Society, which struggled after it invested heavily in commercial property before the financial crisis. The injection of new cash is the first prong of the government’s strategy for dealing with its faltering banking sector. The second involves taking on the banks’ toxic assets in the state-run “bad bank” – the National Asset Management Agency (Nama). On Tuesday it announced that it would buy 1,200 bad loans from the banks for a total of 8.5bn euros – less than half their face value
North Korean mine ‘may have sunk warship’ [BBC]
- A mine laid by North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War may have caused the blast which sank a warship from the South on Friday, Seoul says. South Korean Defence Minister Kim Tae-young said the North had placed thousands of mines during the conflict – and not all of them had been cleared
- Rescuers saved 58 crew from the Cheonan and are still hunting for 46 more sailors believed to have been trapped. Divers who reached the ship on the sea floor reported no signs of life. Seoul has played down suggestions that Pyongyang could have deliberately sunk the ship, although Mr Kim said the possibility would be investigated
- He told a parliamentary meeting that the North had placed some 4,000 mines in its waters during the 1950-53 war. The 1,200-tonne Cheonan naval patrol vessel sank near the disputed maritime border with the North, known as the Northern Limit Line
Telecom Industry Ripe for Consolidation [New York Times]
- With global markets on the upswing and governments around the world looking to blanket populations with mobile broadband service, experts say the wireless industry is poised for a wave of mergers and deals that could reshape the industry. While the growth in demand for mobile data helped operators weather the economic downturn, the global financial crisis slowed the pace of M.&A.’s, or mergers and acquisitions
- The value of global transactions in the telecommunications sector fell to $80.4 billion last year from a peak of $284.7 billion in 2005, according to Mergermarket, an analysis firm. But already this year, deal making has picked up and the market is on track to grow by 50%. Of the $31.2 billion in transactions through March 18, 83% is tied to the Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú’s consolidation of his holdings in three Latin American carriers, América Móvil, Carso Global and Telmex Internacional, in deals worth $23.8 billion
- With Western operators cutting costs in mature markets, the bigger deals are seen coming in Africa and the Middle East, where mobile phone penetration remains low. The regional operators Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications of India, Etisalat of Abu Dhabi, Qtel of Qatar, Zain and Orascom have all built their groups through acquisitions
- Sony Pursues a Bold Success to Match Its Scale [New York Times]
- Supreme Court hands victory to mutual fund industry [Reuters]
- Abu Dhabi Sheikh, Sovereign Fund Head, Found Dead [New York Times]
- Superman debut comic raises $1.5m [BBC]
- Nets’ Likely Billionaire Owner Faces a Nation [New York Times]
- China jails Rio Tinto staff for 7-14 years [Reuters]
Mourners gather to mourn the loss of 39 civilians killed in Moscow’s bloodiest attack in six years — twin morning rush-hour blasts. Authorities blamed female suicide bombers with connections to the North Caucasus
via Life News: Moscow Bombing in Pictures
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