Geopolitical Monitor - News

ISLAMABAD December 31, 2008 (Reuters) - A leader of a banned Pakistani Islamist militant group has confessed to being a main planner of the attack on Mumbai, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing a Pakistani investigator.

December 31, 2008 (AFP) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine on Wednesday of "severe consequences" if it disrupted gas supplies to Europe, as another New Year's Eve energy dispute went down to the wire.

December 31, 2008 (Raw Story) - The Justice Department this week released Attorney General Michael Mukasey's recommendation that President Bush invoke executive privilege in refusing to release to Congress transcripts of Dick Cheney's conversations with the FBI.

December 31, 2008 (Press TV) - Iran’s Air Force is on alert after the country’s president envisaged major regional developments in the wake of the Israeli raids on Gaza.

GAZA December 31, 2008 (Reuters) - Israel rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after Hamas rockets hit an Israeli town and Palestinians endured more air strikes on the last day of 2008.

December 30, 2008 (AFP) - Israel bombed Gaza for a fourth day on Tuesday, warning the blitz that has killed at least 360 people could last for weeks, as Hamas fired back with deadly rockets landing deep inside the Jewish state.

JAMRUD, Pakistan December 30, 2008 (Reuters) - Pakistan suspended supplies going to foreign forces in Afghanistan on Tuesday as security forces launched an offensive against militants in the Khyber Pass region, a government official said.

ISLAMABAD December 30, 2008 (Reuters) - Pakistan urged India on Tuesday to reduce tension by deactivating its forward air bases and standing down troops, but New Delhi angrily rejected suggestions it was aggravating tension with its nuclear-armed rival.

December 30, 2008 (Wired) - For several years the U.S. military has fought a covert war in Somalia, using gunships, drones and Special Forces to break up suspected terror networks -- and enlisting Ethiopia's aid in propping up a pro-U.S. "transitional" government. It's a relatively unknown front in the "war on terror," and one where the U.S. and its allies are losing ground, fast.

BANGKOK December 30, 2008 (Reuters) - Supporters of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra vowed on Wednesday to resume their street campaign in the new year to pressure the new government to call fresh elections.