USA
The U.S.-Israeli Stuxnet Alliance | STRATFOR
U.S.: Chinese Automaker To Open R&D Center January 19, 2011
China’s Changan Automobile Group will open a research and development (R&D) center in the U.S. city of Detroit, Xinhua reported Jan. 19. Changan chairman Xu Liuping said the Detroit center will specialize in automotive chassis technology including performance development, computer-aided engineering and manufacturing process research. Xu added the R&D center will help improve Changan’s global product development system and help capture global automotive technology trends.
EUROPE
Poland: Russian Air Controllers Blamed In President's Plane Crash January 18, 2011
Russian air traffic controllers failed to warn the crew of then-President Lech Kaczynski’s plane that they were off course shortly before crashing in 2010, Polish Interior Minister Jerzy Miller said Jan. 18, AP reported. Miller, who heads the Polish panel investigating the crash, said the air traffic controllers confirmed to the crew the plane was on the correct course to land; however, the plane was actually flying about 70 meters below the level it should have been flying. It was also flying about 80 meters off course, Miller added.
Dispatch: Understanding Germany's Commitment to the Eurozone | STRATFOR
ASIA
A Paradigm Shift in Chinese Leadership Selection | STRATFOR
India: 3 Chinese Spy Suspects Arrested January 19, 2011
Indian paramilitary personnel arrested three suspected Chinese spies who were spotted taking photographs of their camps on the Rupaidiha check post of the Indian-Nepal border, the Times of India reported Jan. 19. Superintendent of Police Sanjay Kakkar said the soldiers held the three Chinese nationals overnight and during interrogation the suspects claimed they were engineers working in Nepal on a Chinese project. The suspects did not possess passports or visas and entered Indian territory illegally, Kakkar said
U.S.: South Korea To Increase Missile Range January 18, 2011
South Korea and the United States held negotiations in late 2010 to revise a bilateral pact to endorse South Korea’s intent to extend missile capability up to or beyond 1,000 kilometers to target anywhere in North Korea, according to a South Korean government source, Yonhap reported Jan. 19.
RUSSIA
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
IRAN
Iran: Missile Test At Nuclear Site Is Successful January 19, 2011
Iran successfully test-fired a mid-range surface-to-air upgraded Hag missile near its Khondab nuclear site, IRNA reported Jan. 19. According to Iranian Col. Far Mahini’s report, the missile, which was tested to enhance Iranian defense capabilities and to defend the sensitive areas of the country, hit its target successfully. Experts at the Khatamolanbia Air Defense Base upgraded the Hag missile system, and the test also provided data to evaluate the efficiency of the system and to enhance the technical and operations skills and knowledge of the Khatamolanbia staff. The report said Iran will conduct periodic tests nationwide to stay on full alert.
Iran: TU-154 Banned, Russian Pilots To Leave January 19, 2011
Iran banned the use of the Russian Tupolev 154 aircraft effective Feb. 20, citing recent incidents, Pravda reported Jan. 19. In addition, the Director of Civil Aviation Organization of Iran, Reza Nahdzhavani, gave all Russian pilots of civilian aircraft working in the country two months to leave.
Iran: Cost Of Gasoline To Increase January 18, 2011
Iranians will no longer be able to pay 1,000 rials (about $0.10) per liter of gasoline beginning Jan. 21, Reuters reported Jan. 18, citing Mehr news agency. According to the head of the Iranian Transportation and Fuel Management Office, Mohammad Rouyanian, motorists will still qualify for 60 liters (15 gallons) of “semi-subsidized” gasoline at 4,000 rials per liter, after which they will have to pay 7,000 rials per liter.
Iran: Blockade Of Afghan Fuel Trucks To End January 18, 2011
Iran will permit all fuel trucks frozen on the border to enter Afghanistan on Jan. 22, the Iranian ambassador to Afghanistan said in a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Tolo TV reported Jan. 18. The officials agreed that an Afghan delegation, including the ministers of finance and economy and the deputy commerce minister, will discuss the continued transport of oil with Iranian officials.
IRAQ
Iraq: Provincial Governor Cuts Baghdad Power Supply January 17, 2011
Kirkuk provincial Gov. Abdul-Rahman Mustafa said an electricity dispute with the Iraqi central government has led him to cut the power supply to Baghdad from the region, AP reported Jan. 17. Negotiations to share the electricity supply have failed, Mustafa said, so he began to shut off the power the evening of Jan. 17 (it will take 25 hours to completely shut the power off). Officials in Baghdad and Kirkuk said that between 200 and 500 megawatts of electricity are under discussion.
ISRAEL
Israel: Creation Of Homeland Security Ministry Announced January 19, 2011
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Jan. 19 the creation of the Homeland Security Ministry, naming outgoing Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai as chief, DPA reported. Vilnai, a former army major-general, is a part of Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s new faction Atzmaut. Outgoing Deputy Industry Minister Orit Noked will become agriculture minister, replacing Shalom Simhon, who becomes industry minister. The Israeli Cabinet ratified the appointment of Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon, from Netanyahu’s Likud Party, as welfare minister.
AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan: Bids On Hajigak Iron Deposit Invited January 19, 2011
Afghanistan invited 22 companies, including 15 Indian firms, to bid on its Hajigak iron ore deposit, Reuters reported Jan. 19. Bidding on the deposit, the largest unmined iron deposit in Asia, according to the Afghan Mines Ministry, will begin Aug. 3. The ministry anticipates exploration to start in 2012 despite security concerns. The deposit straddles the central provinces of Bamiyan, Parwan and Wardak, with only Bamiyan relatively peaceful. The estimated value of the reserves is $350 billion.
Afghanistan: Taliban Gains Might Lead To Opium Revival January 19, 2011
The growing Taliban insurgency in northern Afghanistan could lead to renewed opium cultivation in provinces where the crop was eliminated, U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime’s Afghanistan representative Jean-Luc Lemahieu said, The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 19. According to Lemahieu, Kunduz, Takhar and possibly Kapisa and Ghor provinces are “vulnerable to relapse” into opium production in 2011. Afghan Ministry of Counternarcotics spokesman Samer Abdul Qayyum said the northern provinces’ vulnerability was unsurprising given the steep rise in opium prices, adding the matter is a major concern for the ministry.
Afghanistan: Iran Sends Fuel Tankers January 19, 2011
Iran sent 40 fuel tankers to Afghanistan to settle a fuel problem following a meeting between Iranian ambassador to Afghanistan Fada Hossein Maleki and Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul on Jan, 18, ISNA reported Jan. 19.
Afghanistan: U.S. Marines Take Over Taliban Village January 19, 2011
U.S. Marines launched “Operation Godfather” on the village of Durzay, in Afghanistan’s Garmsir district and concluded that an early show of force - helicopters, trucks and convoys - caused the Taliban to back down and surrender the village without a fight, The Washington Post reported Jan. 19. U.S. forces recovered two dozen weapons caches which they said supports their theory the Taliban had planned to fight under better circumstances at a later time. After Durzay was secured, local farmers were warned their future harvests could not include poppies.
MIDDLE EAST
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
SOUTH OF THE BORDER
Venezuela: China To Fund 23 Projects January 17, 2011
The Development Bank of China helped create the $20 billion Large Volume Long-Term Financing Fund that will be used for 23 Venezuelan projects, Venezuelan Planning and Finance Minister Jorge Giordani stated Jan. 17, El Nacional reported. Of the total funds, $6 billion will be administered directly by the Venezuelan presidency.
Brazil: President Reevaluates Air Force Contract Bids January 17, 2011
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff plans to delay awarding a multi-billion dollar air force jet contract and reevaluate the finalists’ bids, Reuters reported Jan. 17, citing unnamed sources close to the decision. Rousseff has shown no clear preference toward any one finalist and plans to “start over” in her evaluation process, a senior government source said. Rousseff asked U.S. senators visiting Brasilia recently for additional technology transfer guarantees from the U.S. Congress to improve the Boeing bid, according to sources. There were early indications that the bidding process would see an overhaul by Rousseff, according to unnamed French defense sources.
Guatemala: State Of Siege Extended In North January 18, 2011
The Guatemalan government will extend the state of siege by 30 days in the department of Alta Verapaz, Prensa Libre reported Jan. 18. Since the state of siege began, security forces in Alta Verapaz arrested 18 suspects, including two suspected members of Mexican drug-trafficking cartel Los Zetas.
Mexico: Los Zetas Leader, Founder Arrested January 18, 2011
Mexican security forces arrested Flavio Mendez, alias “El Amarillo,” a suspected leader and founding member of drug-trafficking cartel Los Zetas, and his alleged bodyguard in Oaxaca state, W Radio reported Jan. 18.
MISC
Dispatch: The Economic Side of Hu's U.S. Visit | STRATFOR
January 18, Wall Street Journal – (International) Bioterror fears prompt U.S. to keep its smallpox cache. The United States and Russia will fight international efforts the week of January 17 to set a deadline to destroy the last known stocks of smallpox, saying the deadly virus is needed for research to combat bioterrorism. Members of the World Health Organization (WHO) will meet January 19 to begin debating the future of what is left of what was one of the world’s most lethal viruses before it was eradicated more than 30 years ago: samples are kept in tightly guarded freezers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and a Russian government lab near Novosibirsk. The U.S. says it needs to maintain the virus samples to develop new drugs and vaccines to counter a potential bioterror attack or accidental release of smallpox from an unsanctioned stock. “Our position is that we need to have the virus collections maintained for the foreseeable future,” said a U.S. official familiar with the matter. Russia also believes the virus should be kept for research and is likely to concur with the U.S. position, said an official in the Russian delegation to the WHO executive board. U.S. officials say they need in particular to finish developing and licensing antiviral medications to treat infected people. None are currently approved.
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704029704576088032149613692.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
January 16, Middle East Media Research Institute – (International) Jihadi cleric Anwar al-Awlaki to jihadists living in the West: Obtain money by any means possible, especially from the U.S. government and its citizens. In a new fatwa issued in the lead article of the fourth issue of Inspire magazine, which was published January 16, a Yemeni-American jihadi cleric encourages jihadists living in the West to assist the financing of jihadi activities through any means possible, including theft, embezzlement, and seizure of property. The U.S. government, and U.S. citizens are singled out as prime targets for these acts. Following are the main points and excerpts from the article: In an attempt to deal with the cash-shortage jihadist groups are facing, the cleric gives religious justification to any actions used by jihadists to obtain money. In the article, titled “The Ruling on Dispossessing the Disbelievers’ Wealth in Dar Al-Harb,” the cleric deals with the issue by ruling that Western countries are considered dar al-harb [the territory of war], countries on which the rules of war apply. Since this is the case, the cleric says Muslims living in the West are not bound by any laws or contracts that prohibit them to harm their countries of residence: “It is the consensus of our scholars that the property of the disbelievers in dar al-harb is halal [permissible] for the Muslims and is a legitimate target for the mujahidin.”
Source: http://www.memritv.org/report/en/4921.htm
Above the Tearline: Preparing for Crises While Abroad | STRATFOR
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