1. Indonesia: Nuclear Reactor Plan on Shaky Ground
2. Indonesia Winning War against Terrorism Five Years after Bali Bombing
3. More than 100,000 Timorese Remain in Refugee Camps
4. Labor to Review Military Priorities
5. Premier Says Turkey is ready for Split with U.S. over Kurds
6. Afghanistan-Pakistan: Zone of Insecurity
7. New Zealand Activists Held in Anti-Terrorism Raids

1. Nuclear Reactor Plan on Shaky Ground, Tom Hyland, Age, 2007-10-14

   With Indonesia planning to build nuclear power plants in an area prone to earthquakes, many are worried about the risks to the region. Australia’s position is ambivalent. Indonesia is a potential market for Australian uranium and under the 2006 Lombok Agreement the two countries are committed to peaceful nuclear co-operation. Yet, studies show a disaster in an Indonesian reactor would send fallout across northern Australia.

2. Indonesia Winning War against Terrorism Five Years after Bali Bombing, Shefali Rekhi, Straits Times, 2007-10-12

   Indonesian authorities have succeeded in gutting the top leadership of the Jemaah Islamiah network and whittling its core membership to a few dozen militants. The threat remains from splinter groups and militant leaders on the run. ‘Jemaah Islamiah remains intact as an organisation but it is unlikely that the group could be planning a major bomb attack,’ said Ms Sidney Jones, head of International Crisis Group in Jakarta.

3. More than 100,000 Timorese Remain in Refugee Camps, Marianne Kearney, ReliefWeb, 2007-10-11

   Almost 18 months after violence erupted in East Timor, more than 100,000 people are still living in camps or with relatives. The government and an aid agency (the Norwegian Refugee Council) have only managed to rebuild four of the 6,000 houses that were damaged or destroyed in last year’s crisis.

   • Timor Leste: Facts about NRC’s Country Programme, Norwegian Refugee Council

4. Labor to Review Military Priorities, Mark Dodd, Australian, 2007-10-15

   A Labor government would order a new defence white paper to prioritise Australia’s future military needs and has promised to put pressure on Washington to lift a ban on the sale of the stealth F-22 air superiority fighter. Labor believes it has identified major failings by the Howard Government to give taxpayers value for their defence dollars, in approved contracts worth more than $51 billion over the next decade.

5. Premier Says Turkey is Ready for Split with U.S. over Kurds, Molly Moore, Washington Post, 2007-10-13

   Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to seek – and win – parliamentary authorization next week to launch strikes in northern Iraq in the aftermath of Kurdish rebel attacks that have killed 30 soldiers, police officers and civilians in the past two weeks. Turkey has complained that since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Kurdish guerrilla leaders have operated freely in the north.

   • Kurdish Rebel Commander Warns Turkey against Attacks on Iraqi Kurdish Region, AP, IHT, 2007-10-14

   • Iraq and the Kurds: Resolving the Kirkuk Crisis, Middle East Report 64, ICG, 2007-04-19

6. Afghanistan-Pakistan: Zone of Insecurity, Paul Rogers, OpenDemocracy, 2007-10-11

   The combination of the increased military action in western Pakistan, and the US and British build-ups in Afghanistan, means that the Afghan/Pakistan border region is likely to become an area of intense confrontation. Moreover, if there were also to be a confrontation with Iran in the new year, that could all too easily spread into Afghanistan.

   • Germany to Keep Troops in Afghanistan, Nicholas Kulish, New York Times, 2007-10-13

   • Manley to Head Canada’s Afghan Mission Review, CTVNews, 2007-10-12

7. New Zealand Activists Held in Anti-Terrorism Raids, ABC, 2007-10-15

   New Zealand police have arrested about 14 people in a series of anti-terrorist raids across the North Island, with Maori and environmental activists the main target according to media reports. Detective Inspector Harry Quinn confirmed specialist staff were continuing to search addresses looking for people, firearms and ammunition. It is understood police plan to charge people under the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002.

   • Responding to the Threat of Terrorism, New Zealand Police

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