1. Aussies Imprisoned in Yemen
2. E Timor to Probe ADF Slayings Rumours
3. Iraq: Tipping Point for War’s Supporters?
4. Afghanistan War is ‘Cuckoo’, Says Blair’s Favourite General
5. Bullets Withheld from Fijian Army
6. Climate’s Last Chance
7. Amnesty Chief wants Hicks to Come Home
8. PNG: Government Must End Continuing Police Brutality against Children

1. Aussies Imprisoned in Yemen, Jane Holroyd, Age, 2006-10-30

   Three Australians arrested in Yemen have been in prison for at least two weeks with no consular assistance. The men, all from NSW, were arrested in Yemen, reportedly on suspicion of smuggling arms from Yemen to Somalia and of having links to al-Qaeda. DFAT said Australian consular officials in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh were liaising with British officials in Yemen to try to gain access to the Australians.

    

2. E Timor to Probe ADF Slayings Rumours, ABC News, 2006-10-30

   The East Timorese Government says it will investigate who is behind a campaign to bad-mouth Australian Defence Force (ADF) soldiers stationed in the country. Newspapers in Dili were reporting that Australian troops had killed at least two men found dead on a local beach. It is part of a growing anti-Australian campaign. East Timorese Acting Prime Minister Estanislau da Silva has vowed to find those responsible.

   • Ramos-Horta Defends Rejection of UN Peacekeeping Force, ABC, 2006-10-28

      

3. Tipping Point for War’s Supporters? Thomas E. Ricks and Peter Baker, Washington Post, 2006-10-29

   October 2006 may be remembered as the month that the U.S. experience in Iraq hit a tipping point, when the violence flared and shook both the military command in Iraq and the political establishment back in Washington.

   • The Wars within Wars Destroying Iraq, Tom Hyland, Age, 2006-10-29

   • Chalabi Prods U.S. on Iran, Thomas Wagner, Seattle Post Intelligence, 2006-10-28

   • Why Iraq’s Leader Balks at U.S. Demands, Tony Karon, Time, 2006-10-27

   • Saving Iraq: A Critique of Peter W Galbraith, Zaid Al-Ali, OpenDemocracy, 2006-10-26

      

4. Afghanistan War is ‘Cuckoo’, Says Blair’s Favourite General, Ned Temko and Mark Townsend, Guardian, 2006-10-29

   Tony Blair’s most trusted military commander yesterday branded as ‘cuckoo’ the way Britain’s overstretched army was sent into Afghanistan. The remarkable rebuke by General the Lord Guthrie came in an Observer interview, his first since quitting as Chief of the Defence Staff five years ago, in which he made an impassioned plea for more troops, new equipment and more funds for a ‘very, very’ over-committed army.

    

5. Bullets Withheld from Fijian Army, AAP, SMH, 2006-10-30

   Fiji’s Australian Police Commissioner has risked antagonising the country’s military by withholding a shipment of ammunition because of recent takeover talk. Andrew Hughes has refused to release 7.5 tonnes of bullets until he is assured they will not be used to remove the Government of the Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase.

   • Fiji Territorial Recall Sparks Coup Fear, NewsWire.co.nz, 2006-10-30

      

6. Climate’s Last Chance, Tim Flannery, Age, 2006-10-28

   The Howard Government seems recently to have accepted that climate change is caused by humans and needs to be dealt with. But has it really accepted this? And will its policies make a difference? The key to answering these questions lies in understanding how urgent the climate threat is.

   • Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, Cabinet Office, HM Treasury UK, October 2006

      

7. Amnesty Chief wants Hicks to Come Home, AAP, SMH, 2006-10-30

   The secretary general of Amnesty International has issued a plea for the federal government to bring terror suspect David Hicks home. In an open letter to Prime Minister John Howard, Irene Khan urged the government to return Guantanamo Bay inmate Hicks to Australia and try him under Australian law. She described the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba as a prison camp and a legal black hole.

   • Open Letter to Prime Minister John Howard Calling for David Hicks to Be Brought Home, Irene Khan, Amnesty International, October 2006

      

8. Papua New Guinea: Government Must End Continuing Police Brutality Against Children, Human Rights Watch Press Release, 2006-10-30

   Police violence against children remains rampant in Papua New Guinea, despite recent juvenile justice reform efforts, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Children and others in police custody are often raped and tortured.

   • Still Making Their Own Rules: Ongoing Impunity for Police Beatings, Rape, and Torture in Papua New Guinea, Human Rights Watch Volume 18, No. 13 (C), October 2006

      

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