THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012
PAGE 3
NEWS OF THE WORLD
MIDDLE EAST
-Associated Press
Pakistanian attack creates tension with U.S.
ISLAMABAD — A brazen, 18-hour attack allegedly carried out by Pakistan-based militants on targets in the Afghan capital, including the U.S. Embassy, could spark fresh tension between Washington and Islamabad just as they seemed to be patching up their vital but troubled relationship.
The attack, which ended early Monday, will likely re-ignite anger in Washington over Pakistan's unwillingness to crack down on militants using its territory as a base to target neighboring Afghanistan. But the Obama administration must weigh the impact any public criticism of Pakistan may have on the country's cooperation with it in other areas, including getting supplies to troops in
The potential flashpoint comes days after Pakistan's parliament finally approved new guidelines for the country in its relationship with the U.S., a decision that Washington hopes will pave the way for the reopening of supply lines to NATO troops in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan and negotiating peace with insurgents there.
Pakistan closed its border crossings to NATO supplies in November in retaliation for American airstrikes that accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. It has taken the government months to navigate the delicate path of resuscitating ties with the U.S., a difficult process in a country where anti-American sentiment is rampant.
ASIA
Elected president hopes to reconstruct Dili
DILI, East Timor — Two former guerrilla leaders vied for East Timor's presidency Monday, each hoping to help steer the region's newest and poorest nation after U.N. peacekeeping troops begin their planned withdrawal later
drawal later this year.
Taur Matan Ruak appeared headed for an easy victory over Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres in the run-off vote.
according to an early quick count.
Guterres
according to an early quick count. Incumbent Jose Ramos-Horta, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, bowed out last month following a poor showing in the first round.
East Timor, a half island nation of 1.1 million people, voted overwhelmingly in 1999 to end 24 years of brutal Indonesia occupation that had left more than 170,000 dead.
When withdrawing soldiers and proxy militias went on a rampage, killing another 1,500 people and destroying much of the infrastructure, the international community jumped in to help, deploying U.N. peacekeepers and pouring in billions of dollars.
But the road to democracy has been anything but easy, with gang violence and splits in the army and police turning deadly several times and, six years ago, leading to the collapse of the government.
Investigation of Polish massacre ongoing
EUROPE
PARIS — The European Court of Human Rights said Monday it cannot rule on whether or not Russia properly investigated a World War II massacre of thousands of Polish officers because it has not received vital documents from Moscow to properly judge the case.
The court also said it considers the massacre in the Katyn forest a "war crime," but that it cannot force Russia to further investigate. Poland considers it a war crime, but Moscow has refused to apply the term.
The court found Russia in violation of the European Convention for
Human Rights for refusing to share investigation documents, and said that Russia's response to most attempts by victims' relatives to find out the truth about what happened had amounted to "inhuman treatment."
Fifteen Poles have complained that Russia failed to hold a proper investigation or to find those responsible for the 1940 killing by the Soviet secret police of some 22,000 Polish officers and intellectuals in the Katyn forest and other places.
Former president denounces coup
CARIBBEAN
BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau The second-place finisher in Guinea-Bissau's presidential election on Monday denounced last week's military coup, when soldiers attacked his opponent's home with grenades and arrested him weeks before the runoff vote.
Kumba Yala, a former president who was himself overthrown in a 2003 coup, issued a statement along with four other ex-candidates, saying they all "strongly condemn all forms of taking power by force."
The announcement came amid speculation about who is supporting the military coup leaders who grabbed power on Thursday — not long before voters were due to return to the polls for a second round in the presidential election.
Meanwhile, West African regional mediators headed to Guinea-Bissau for talks with the military coup leaders who seized power last week. On
AGRICULTURE
Sunday, they said they were forming a National Transitional Council along with various opposition parties but without the participation of Guinea-Bissau's ruling party.
Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr., who was the front-runner in this month's presidential runoff vote set for April 29, remains in military custody as does interim President Raimundo Pereira, who took power after Guinea-Bissau's president died in January.
A Portuguese government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters, said Portugal has received information that both men were doing well.
The prime minister needed insulin and the Portuguese Embassy organized for the Red Cross to get it to him on Saturday, the official said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this April 13 photo, farmer Jerry Rogers talks in his alfalfa field in Clint, Texas. An early springtime release of water to farmers on both sides of the river requested by Mexico and opposed by Texans has caused farmers to fear water shortages during the summer.
Texas, Mexico struck with severe droughts
ASSOCIATED PRESS
McALLEN, Texas — Melted snow providing water for irrigation had barely begun burbling down a bone-dry Rio Grande toward a thin 4-mile-wide strip of farmland straddling the U.S.-Mexico border when a war of words erupted.
Mexico wanted a traditional early release from reservoirs so spring planting wouldn't be delayed. Texas farmers, fearing a historic drought could tighten its grip again this summer, wanted to delay the release for a couple of months to ensure enough water was left to help crops survive the hottest, driest part of the year.
Dividing the Rio Grande's waters is a complicated annual undertaking governed by arcane agreements and imperfect calculations. When there's plenty of water it flows smoothly, but with farmers on both sides of the border confronting severe drought — officials expect to have about one-third of the water of a normal year — Texas officials quickly lashed out an international commission's decision to release the water, accusing it of putting Mexico's water needs ahead of
drought-stricken Texas farmers in the El Paso Valley.
Mexico is guaranteed a fraction of the water from Rocky Mountain snows that drain into two New Mexico reservoirs. Once released, the water flows down the Rio Grande toward Texas, where it's diverted to Texas and Mexican farmers by dams. Local irrigation districts move the water through canals to farmers' fields.
With water expected to be scarce this year, two irrigation districts in New Mexico and Texas — which receive most of the water — decided in February to take their first deliveries in May rather than in March as they typically do. The idea was to delay the irrigation season in an effort to stretch what little water would be available to the end of the growing season.
CRIME
But this posed a problem for Mexican farmers who need water to get their cotton started in late March and April. Mexico asked the International Boundary and Water Commission, a binational body charged with applying the treaties governing the river and boundary, to take its share in March.
Police crack massive online drug marketplace
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — A sophisticated online drug marketplace that sold everything from marijuana to mescaline to some 3,000 people around the world has been cracked with the arrests of 15 people in several countries, U.S. authorities announced Monday.
An indictment unsealed in federal court in Los Angeles claims eight men ran "The Farmer's Market," which allowed suppliers of drugs — including LSD, Ecstasy and ketamine
— to anonymously sell their wares online. They hooked up with buyers in 34 countries and accepted various forms of payment, including cash, Western Union and PayPal transactions, the indictment claims.
The market "provided a controlled substances storefront, order forms, online forums, customer service, and payment methods for the different sources of supply" and charged the suppliers a commission based upon the value of the order, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles.
From 2007 to 2009 alone, the marketplace processed more than 5,000 orders for drugs valued at more than $1 million, federal officials contended. It began operations as far back as March 2006, authorities said.
"For customers, the operators screened all sources of supply and guaranteed delivery of the illegal drugs," the statement said.
The alleged ringleader, Dutch citizen Marc Willems, 42, was arrested Monday at his home in Lelystad in the Netherlands, officials said.
Michael Evron, 42, a United States citizen living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was taken into custody on Sunday in Bogota, Colombia, authorities said.
The other six men were arrested at their homes. They are identified as Jonathan Colbeck, 51, of Urbana; Iowa; Brian Colbeck, 47, of Coldwater, Mich.; Ryan Rawls, 31, of Alpharetta, Ga.; Jonathan Dugan, 27, of
North Babylon, N.Y.; George Matzek, 20, of Seaucus, N.J.; and Charles Bigras, 34, of Melbourne, Fla.
It was not immediately clear whether the men had obtained lawyers.
The 12-count indictment charges all eight men with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and money laundering conspiracy. Some of the men also are charged with distributing LSD and taking part in a continuing criminal enterprise.
In addition, seven other people were arrested on suspicion of drug crimes Monday in the Netherlands, Georgia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and authorities seized hallucinogenic mushrooms, hashish, LSD, marijuana and Ecstasy, the U.S. attorney's office said.
All could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of conspiracy.
The investigation led to those arrests, but authorities still were trying to determine their connections to the
"Illegal narcotics trafficking now reaches every corner of our world, including our home computers," U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. said in the statement. "But the reach of the law is just as long. ... We want to make the Internet a safe and secure marketplace by rooting out and prosecuting those persons who seek to illegally pervert and exploit that market."
online marketplace, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin S. Rosenberg.
The two-year investigation, dubbed "Operation Adam Bomb," involved law enforcement agents from several U.S. states and several countries, including Colombia, the Netherlands and Scotland, the U.S. attorney's office said.
The case was filed in Los Angeles because some of the customers and an undercover agent who bought drugs through the marketplace are from the area, Rosenberg said.
The marketplace "was distributing dangerous and addictive drugs to every corner of the world"