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The A-O Report News Round Up

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For

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12-28-08

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Editor's Note: See our separate articles for coverage on Israel's strikes on Gaza.

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Pakistan Moves To Ease Tensions

Assures India It Wants No War

Pakistan told India on Saturday that it did not want war and was committed to fighting terrorism. The statement was made with the intent to reduce tensions between the two nations after Pakistani Islamic radical terrorists struck Mumbai, India in November.

The statement came even as Pakistan began to move troops to its border with India. Pakistan was redeploying thousands of troops from the Afghan theater to its border with India. That redeployment set off alarms in India, even as Indian forces were moving in what Pakistan perceived as preparations for an retaliatory attack. More details, LINK HERE.

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Pakistan Continues

Border Troop Movements

Pakistan began moving thousands of troops from the Afghan border toward India, officials and witnesses said Friday, raising tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors and possibly undermining the U.S.-backed campaign against al-Qaida and the Taliban.

The country also announced that it was canceling all military leave in the aftermath of last month's terror attack on the Indian financial capital of Mumbai.

India has blamed Pakistani militants for the terrifying three-day siege; Pakistan has demanded that India back this up with better evidence.

Pakistan's latest moves were seen as a warning that it would retaliate if India launches air or missile strikes against militant targets on Pakistani soil - rather than as an indication that a fourth war was imminent between the two countries. More details, LINK HERE.

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 Iran Sends Aid Ship To Gaza

Iran is sending a ship loaded with food, medicine and appliances to Gaza to provide aid to the Palestinians as reports circulate within Israel that IDF forcse have finished preparations for a large scale invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Israel has been blockading maritime shipping to the Gaza Strip so it will be very interesting to see how Israel responds to the Iranian aid move. For more details on this latest development, LINK HERE.

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Russia Braces for Riots

As Russian Ruble Falls in Value

Russia is bracing for further unrest as the rouble on Friday slid to a new low against the euro after a succession of moves to devalue its currency.

A cut on Friday extended six weeks of devaluations by Russia’s central bank designed to offset the impact of the global economic crisis and falling oil prices as the country’s main export commodity approached its lowest level since 2004.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader, warned Russia faced “unprecedentedly difficult and dangerous circumstances” and could be “heading into a black hole”. “It is not clear what the fate of our rouble will be or if society has sufficient financial and moral resources,” he said.

After the depreciation, which was the eighth so far this month, the rouble declined as much as 1.2 per cent to Rbs29.06 versus the dollar on Friday, a four year low. The rouble has now lost nearly 20 per cent of its value against the US currency since August.

Analysts at Barclays Capital said the best case scenario would see Russian policymakers, facing the mounting evidence of a recession, allowing a one-off depreciation of 10 per cent or more.

The rouble’s slide comes as the government faces scrutiny over its policies. A demonstration earlier this month in the far eastern city of Vladivostok marked the first major challenge to the Kremlin since the onset of the global financial crisis.

Mikhail Sukhodolsky, a deputy interior minister, warned on Christmas Eve that there could be further protests. “The situation may be exacerbated by a growth in frustration of workers over the non-payment of wages or those threatened with dismissal,” he said.

His remarks coincided with criticism of the Kremlin’s rough handling of the protests in Vladivostok. Moscow-based Omon riot police detained about 61 people in the protests against car import duties designed to prop up domestic car producers, but making foreign vehicles prohibitively expensive for ordinary Russians.

Mikhail Kasyanov, the former prime minister who now leads the liberal People’s Democratic Union opposition movement, said that an unspoken social contract between the government and the people, swapping political freedoms for prosperity and consumer goods, had broken down.  More details, LINK HERE.

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