Geopolitical Monitor - News

BAGHDAD December 19, 2008 (AP) — Iraqi authorities released without charge the nearly two dozen security officials who had been accused this week of conspiring to revive Saddam Hussein's banned political party, the interior minister said.

BRUSSELS December 19, 2008 (Reuters) - Belgium's government collapsed on Friday after a top court found signs that it had sought to sway a legal ruling on the future of stricken bank Fortis.

December 19, 2008 (AFP) - The United States and Ukraine risked irking Moscow by signing a strategic accord Friday that calls for a US diplomatic post in Crimea, a Russian-speaking area where Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based.

MOSCOW December 19, 2008 (Reuters) - Russia will stop developing some strategic weapons if the United States drops plans for a missile shield in Europe, Interfax news agency quoted the commander of Russia's strategic missile forces as saying on Friday.

December 19, 2008 (Washington Post) - The Pentagon is drawing up plans to shut the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be prepared for any order from President-elect Barack Obama, who has promised to close the controversial facility after he assumes office Jan. 20, a defense official said yesterday.

December 18, 2008 (Al Jazeera) - A UN-backed tribunal has convicted Theoneste Bagosora, a former Rwandan army colonel, of organising the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

NEW YORK December 18, 2008 (AP) – Bernard Madoff's contention that he pulled off one of the biggest financial frauds in history without any help is being met with disbelief by his investors and experts in the securities industry.

BAGHDAD December 18, 2008 (AFP) – A top Iraqi general said on Thursday that security forces reportedly arrested in connection with an attempted coup were actually detained on suspicion of aiding "terrorism."

SEOUL December 18, 2008 (Reuters) - North Korea raised tension with the South on Thursday by accusing its rich neighbor of being behind espionage plots to undermine its communist system by trying to set up a secret religion and assassinate leader Kim Jong-il.

WASHINGTON December 18, 2008 (AP) – Former White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales misled Congress when he claimed the CIA in 2002 approved information that ended up in the 2003 State of the Union speech about Iraq's alleged effort to buy uranium for its nuclear weapons program, a House committee said Thursday.