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Oligarch investor in Sibir moves to Israel - Business News, Business - The Independent : "Chalva Tchigirinski, the beleaguered Russian tycoon who is being sued for alleged improper use of funds belonging to the London-listed oil company Sibir Energy and whose Russian companies are being investigated for supposed tax violations, has moved to Israel, The Independent can reveal. Mr Tchigirinski has taken an apartment in Tel Aviv and is planning to host an 'oligarchs' party' to celebrate his new base. The disclosure is likely to frustrate Russian prosecutors, who are investigating the Moscow Oil and Gas Company, MNGC and the Moscow Oil Company. All three companies were managed by Mr Tchigirinski between 2002 and 2006 and The Independent has obtained reports by the Russian tax authorities, who have been investigating alleged tax violations. State investigators recently raided the offices of a company called Magma, which is linked to the two Moscow Oil companies."

John Bolton Suggests Nuclear Attack on Iran : Information Clearing House - ICH : "October 15, 2009 'Faster Times' - Oct 14, 2009 -- This Friday, the American Enterprise Institute will host an event addressing the question “Should Israel attack Iran?” The event includes, among others, Iran uberhawk Michael Rubin and infamous “torture lawyer” John Yoo, but the real star is likely to be John Bolton, the former U.N. ambassador whose right-of-Attila views left him an outcast even within the second Bush administration. (Bolton was eventually forced out when it became clear that he would be unable to win Senate confirmation for the U.N. post.) If Bolton’s recent rhetoric is any indication, his AEI appearance may accomplish the formidable feat of making Michael Rubin sound like a dove. Discussing Iran during a Tuesday speech at the University of Chicago, Bolton appeared to call for nothing less than an Israeli nuclear first strike against the Islamic Republic. (The speech...

EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Kyrgyzstan: Gangs Govern Life in Many Kyrgyz Schools : "Organized crime is making inroads into Kyrgyz schools. This trend is forcing students like Turgunbek, a 16 year old at Bishkek’s School Number 67, to worry just as much about carving out a safe spot in the school’s pecking order as he does about his studies. The social order at some schools in the Kyrgyz capital has come to resemble that which exists in prisons. Students not only have to master the basics of reading writing and arithmetic, they must also develop a skill for astute observation in order to identify who is important and who is not. Those on the lowest rung of the gang ladder, dubbed bratishki, or followers, perform favors in exchange for power and protection from a bratyan, or an older brother. A few kingpins maintain control over a certain territory or social group. These school networks often have connections, according to Turgunbek and other observers, to older thieves-in-law - me...

ei: Gaza farmers struggle with damaged agricultural land : "GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - Thousands of Gazan farmers may be unable to replant their crops during the region's main planting season in October due to agricultural land still damaged by the Israeli offensive at the start of the year, and a lack of agricultural materials like seeds and fertilizers, according to officials. Half of Hatem Khubair's four hectares of farmland in Beit Lahiya, a city in the northern Gaza Strip, were destroyed during the Israeli offensive earlier this year. 'I can't afford to rehabilitate my land. The Israeli army bulldozed my crops -- onions and carrots -- and parked tanks on it, destroying the irrigation system,' said Khubair."

Taleban tax: allied supply convoys pay their enemies for safe passage - Times Online : "The West is indirectly funding the insurgency in Afghanistan thanks to a system of payoffs to Taleban commanders who charge protection money to allow convoys of military supplies to reach Nato bases in the south of the country. Contracts to supply British bases and those of other Western forces with fuel, supplies and equipment are held by multinational companies."

US Under Pressure to Revise National Intelligence Estimate on Iran -- News from Antiwar.com : "The 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran has been a thorn in both the Bush and Obama Administration’s side since its release two years ago. The report noted that Iran hasn’t had any nuclear weapons program at least since 2003." Not that this has stopped the respective administrations from claiming repeatedly that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, but it has certainly made the rhetoric far less credible. Even today intelligence officials defend the 2007 report , but growing pressure from abroad, notably Israel, is leading to calls for an official repudiation of the report .