What's going on in the World Today 110504

Forgive me for being off the net for a few days but my MO has been to publish things not on the nightly news....and everything has been about UBL, may be rest in piss.

Hope your having a great week

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USA
The Tactical Irrelevance of Osama bin Laden's Death | STRATFOR


 
EUROPE

Romania: ABM Platform Ready By 2015 - President May 3, 2011

U.S. Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher and Romanian President Traian Basescu announced that the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) defense platform will be built at the Daveselu air base near the Bulgarian border, AP reported May 3. Tausher said the interceptors will be operational by 2015, adding “we are right on track, right on time.”
 
ASIA
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

RUSSIA
Russia: 16 New Ships To Join Flotilla By 2020 May 4, 2011

Russian Navy Commander Vladimir Vysotsky said on May 4 that the Caspian Flotilla will take possession of at least 16 new ships by 2020, Interfax reported. Speaking at a session of the Russian government’s Maritime Board, he said the boats Tatarstan and Volgodonsk, which carry missiles, as well as three assault ships, will join the flotilla in 2011.

Russia: Caspian Fleet Upgrade Urged May 4, 2011

Russia’s Caspian Fleet is outdated and uncompetitive with most of its 148 ships over 30 years old, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said during a government meeting in the Caspian port city of Astrakhan, RIA Novosti reported May 4.

 Russia: Romania As U.S. Missile Shield Site Unpleasant May 4, 2011

Romania’s decision to host the U.S. missile defense system is unpleasant as it runs counter to the logic of ongoing U.S.-Russian dialogue over the deployment of the Eastern European missile-defense system, State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov said, Interfax reported May 4. Kosachyov said bilateral consultations — including a May 4 meeting with NATO’s member states’ chiefs of general staff — continue with the idea that negotiations will run through 2016-2018 and will be determined by the pace of other nuclear weapons programs, specifically Iran’s. He said there is plenty of time to get Russia’s proposals into a legal document, adding U.S. President Barack Obama prefers to proceed gradually unlike former U.S. President George W. Bush.

IRAN
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
 
IRAQ
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
 
ISRAEL

Israel: Settlers Call For Israeli Sovereignty In West Bank May 2, 2011

Settlers called for Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank on May 2 in light of the Fatah-Hamas agreement to form a unity government, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing a statement from the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. The statement, released after an emergency late-night meeting May 2, said Israel should be absolved of any obligation to allow for the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank.
 
AFGHANISTAN
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

MIDDLE EAST

Syria: Police Fire At Protesters - Video May 4, 2011

Syrian protesters submitted video footage overnight on May 3 depicting protesters at Aleppo University being fired upon by riot police, the Los Angeles Times reported May 4. Protesters alleged that police arrested dozens of students and used tear gas to disperse the crowd of approximately 1,500 who gathered at the university’s dormitories. Video footage of police firing on protesters during a candlelight vigil in the northeastern city of Kamishili also surfaced.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER

Mexico: Apodaca Police Chief Missing May 2, 2011

Nilton Alvarado Rojas, the police chief of Apodaca, Nuevo Leon state, has been missing since he responded to a report of three missing police officers, Nuevo Leon state Gov. Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz said May 2, El Universal reported. Six other police officers who accompanied Alvarado Rojas are also missing.
 kp
MISCmp
Above the Tearline: Osama bin Laden's Safe-House | STRATFOR

 Dispatch: A Palestinian Unity Government | STRATFOR

 
Except where noted courtesy www.stratfor.com