This week was marked by political anniversaries including the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian revolution (see Recommended Reading) and one year since the riots in France. It has also opened political opportunities, with important votes in Brazil, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Panama. Infectious diseases dominate news in Emerging Threats and Critical Infrastructure/Public health. Note that we have updated our Avian Influenza Special Report.

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3. AML/CFT Monitor

The AML/CFT Monitor is a monthly 16-page print publication. News highlights from the past week are provided in this free email update, but detailed analysis, background information and source documents are only available to subscribers. Purchase a subscription at our online store:
TAMNI Publications

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AML/CFT Incidents/Cases
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Australian police report 57 arrests in the past week in an operation that smashed the biggest money laundering ring ever known in the country.
http://www.crimecommission.gov.au/content/media_rel/2006/061027-Further_GORDIAN_Arrests.pdf
http://www.crimecommission.gov.au/content/media_rel/2006/061027-Ellison-Further_Success_Task_Force_GORDIAN.pdf

Canadian Michael Ritter is pleading guilty to money laundering in connection with a USD270 million Ponzi scheme in California. For pleading guilty to two charges, he will not be extradited to Los Angeles.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=d93b6793-99de-439e-9d34-422ad9c5de77&k=55721

Chilean investigators are examining reports that nine tons of gold was found in a Hong Kong bank under the name of Augusto Pinochet. HSBC is assisting with the allegation, but believes the papers implicating Pinochet are fake.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6091012.stm

Dutch police arrested John Deuss on his arrival from Bermuda. He faces money laundering and other face charges relating to the First Curacao International Bank (FCIB), which UK customs accuses of being the bank favored for carousel frauds. http://money.guardian.co.uk/news_/story/0,,1928941,00.html

A Nigerian High Court Judge has granted bail to Charles Okeke, Chair of the Orsu local government area of Imo state, who has been detained more than four months on money laundering charges.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200610260568.html

In Oklahoma, former town administrator David Dwain Redden pleaded guilty to laundering $300,000 in city funds.
http://www.sequoyahcountytimes.com/articles/2006/10/27/news/front3.txt

In Utah, James M. Gibbons III pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges in connection with a fraud ring involving Jordanian immigrants. Federal agents are investigating possible terrorist financing.
http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_299001915.html
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AML/CFT Legislation and Regulation
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Bermuda-based Ipoc International Growth fund reports that Russian prosecutors have cleared it of money laundering charges that arose from a dispute over an investment in Russian mobile phone operator Megafon.
http://www.euro2day.gr/articlesfna/22861844/

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada has added Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Faction of the Hezb-e Islami, the Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) to the list of named terrorist organizations subject to the Criminal Code.
http://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/app/DocRepository/1/eng/issues/terrorism/updates/2006_10_24_e.pdf

The European Commission has launched a significant counterterrorism investment that includes following-up initiatives in the fight against the financing of terrorism as set out in the joint strategy paper presented to the December 2004 European Council in the context also of international standards of the Financial Action Task Force, and studies on the financing of terrorism, in particular following the results of the study on the implementation of the FATF recommendations currently underway on the basis of the 2005 budget.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/06/400&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

The French Bar Council, the Bar Presidents' Council, the Paris Bar Council, and lawyers working at the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal have filed a motion before the Supreme Court that argues the new money-laundering decree illegally implemented the second European money laundering directive that extends the definition and scope of the crime, and breaches international laws, including the European Convention on Human Rights.
http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=122590&d=122&h=24&f=46

Russia's Interior Ministry reports that they registered some 7,000 money laundering crimes so far this year.
http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10926698&PageNum=0

In South Korea, the National Assembly's Finance and Economy Committee called for a review of transactions following a disclosure that US$13 million in remittances had been sent from South Korea to North Korea's Banco Delta Asia, which has been designated in the US as a primary money laundering concern.
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200610/200610240023.html

Thailand's Foreign Ministry is looking to enact revised money laundering and other legislation to make it easier to comply with UN resolutions, following the discovery that there were limitations in existing law that made it difficult to comply with UN sanctions on North Korea.

The Bank of England has added Sergei Bortnik, Andrei Migun, Alexi Rybakov, and Leonid Stansilavovich Yasinovich to the list of those subject to financial sanctions applied to Belarus President Lukashenko and other officials responsible for violations of international election standards.
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/news/2006/096.htm

The US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated Jhonny Cano Correa and Orlando Sabogal Zuluaga as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNTs) for their role as leaders of Colombia's North Valle drug cartel. OFAC also designated six entities and 16 individuals that have been controlled by or worked on behalf of the two North Valle cartel leaders.
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp151.htm
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AML/CFT Modalities
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The US Treasury, Federal Reserve Board and Secret Service issued their third collaborative report on the use and counterfeiting of US currency abroad, naming Colombia and North Korea as the largest producers of fake banknotes. The report says:
* Average incidence of counterfeit US currency passing is generally low both inside and outside the US, notwithstanding occasional large seizures of uncirculated counterfeits.
* Foreign banks and law enforcement agencies are eager to develop links with the Secret Service to detect and suppress counterfeiting activity.
* The interagency counterfeiting group has strengthened working relationships between the Secret Service and foreign financial and law enforcement organizations, which allowed for improved investigations and training.
* When counterfeit notes are found overseas, procedures invoked within each country vary widely. A lack of legal authority for banks and cash handlers to confiscate suspected or actual counterfeit U.S. currency increases concern about counterfeiting and hampers enforcement.
* The Secret Service U.S. Dollars Counterfeit Note Search website established in 1999, www.usdollars.usss.gov, has been extremely effective in aiding banks and cash handlers, their customers, and law enforcement in tracking and identifying counterfeit notes.
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp154.htm
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/other/2006/20061025/default.htm

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4. Emerging Threat Monitor

For detailed analysis, background information and source documents consider subscribing. Subscriptions to Emerging Threat Monitor can be purchased at our online store:
TAMNI Publications

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ETM Corruption and Transnational Crime
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UN Office on Drugs and Crime Director Antonio Maria Costa called on members of the newly formed International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities to hold their governments accountable to the commitments they have made under the legally binding convention against corruption.
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/press_release_2006_10_23.html

China has taken action against more than 67,500 government officials for corruption since 2003. The Shanghai pension fund scandal alone has led to the detention of more than 50 people.
http://english.people.com.cn//200610/24/eng20061024_314445.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6076726.stm

Iraq's former Finance Minister said that officials from the former interim government had stolen about $800 million that had been allocated for military equipment.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/19/60minutes/main2109200.shtml

The Russian government has been embarrassed by a list of the richest ministers. Natural Resources Minister Trutnev topped the list with 211 million rubles ($8 million)
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article1935930.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,1933801,00.html

New evidence uncovered by the Guardian newspaper suggest corrupt payments were responsible for an extra GBP600 million in inflated prices in the sale of Britain's Tornado warplanes in a 1985 deal with Saudi Arabia.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foi/story/0,,1933764,00.html

The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction reports that Halliburton subsidiary KBR is abusing federal regulations by inappropriately marking nearly all information about its operations as a US subcontractor in Iraq as proprietary.
http://www.sigir.mil/reports/pdf/audits/06-035.pdf

Jeffrey Skilling, the former CEO of collapsed energy giant Enron, has been sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison for 19 counts of fraud, conspiracy, and insider trading that contributed to the fraud that brought down the company. Skilling will appeal the sentence.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4279719.html
http://www.txs.uscourts.gov/notablecases/

Regina Chiluba, wife of the former Zambian president, has been arrested for alleged corruption in connection with receiving stolen state property. Her husband is also being tried on corruption charges.
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ETM Economies and Financial Systems
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In its 2005 Annual Report, the European Court of Auditors reports considerable progress by the Commission in introducing its new accounting system, but found weak internal controls for the majority of EU expenditure, both within Member States and at the Commission, and a high incidence of errors in the underlying transactions.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=ECA/06/29&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=ECA/06/28&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1448&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

India's National Security Council has recommended new law to deal with foreign investments that could pose a security risk.

Vietnam has taken the necessary reforms to be eligible for membership in the World Trade Organization.
http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news06_e/acc_vietnam_26oct06_e.htm
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/a1_vietnam_e.htm
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ETM Environment and Climate Change
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Living Planet Report 2006, a biannual report from the World Wildlife Fund, says that the world's natural ecosystems are being degraded at a rate unprecedented inhuman history. Humans are using the planet's resources faster than they can be renewed and populations of vertebrate species have declined by a third since 1970. US consumers are at the forefront of resource overuse, but also have some of the more effective opportunities to change.
http://www.worldwildlife.org/news/displayPR.cfm?prID=322

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change launched a new carbon credit mechanism to generate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in central and eastern European transition economies.
http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf

"At Loggerheads? Agricultural Expansion, Poverty Reduction and Environment in the Tropical Forests" is a new report from the World Bank. It says that preserving rapidly shrinking tropical forests and improving the economic prospects of millions of poor people requires urgent strengthening of national forest governance, supported with strong financial incentives. Carbon trading can also help protect endangered rainforests, by compensating nations to avoid deforestation.
http://www.worldbank.org/tropicalforestreport

The 15 States which were EU members before 2004 (EU-15) are committed to reducing their collective emissions in the 2008-2012 period to 8 percent below the levels of the base year (1990 in most cases). An 8 percent cut can be achieved in 2010 – the period's mid-point – only if ALL actions planned by Member States are fully implemented and deliver the emission savings anticipated. Seven EU-15 Member States project that they will exceed their individual emission limits, which are binding under EU law. For the 25 current Member States (EU-25), the overall emission reduction by 2010 would be 10.8 percent.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1488&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

"Surviving in a changing world: environment, security and microfinance" summarizes research on environmental degradation; insecurity due to resource scarcity conflict over resources; vulnerability to environmental hazards due to unsustainable land use, population pressures, and climate change; and vulnerability related to incremental environmental change due to a lack of adaptive capacity. The article uses case studies from Nepal and Sudan, and argues that microfinance is a useful tool to promote sustainable development.
http://www.optimistmag.org/
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ETM Human Rights
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In an effort to create greater public awareness of the world's 50 poorest nations, the UN today launched the 'Global Media Compact' to encourage international and local media companies to increase their coverage of developmental issues in vulnerable countries through innovative media initiatives.
http://www.un.org/ohrlls

UN experts urged the international community to act quickly to address serious and deteriorating human rights situations in Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, North Korea, Sudan, and Sri Lanka, offering many concrete suggestions to ensure human rights protection and humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations, and to support democratic reforms.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/gashc3859.doc.htm

UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak, warned that States still showing a lack of awareness over the seriousness of torture, despite obligations to criminalize the practice.
http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs//2006/061023_Nowak.doc.htm

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released their list of the worst violators of press freedom. The US now ranks 53rd, a fall in nine places since last year. In 2002, the US ranked 17th. RSF explains that " Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of "national security" to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his "war on terrorism." The zeal of federal courts which, unlike those in 33 US states, refuse to recognize the media's right not to reveal its sources, even threatens journalists whose investigations have no connection at all with terrorism." Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic rank highest. North Korea, at 168th, is the worst, and Turkmenistan and Eritrea just above.
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19381

The Supreme Court of the US state of New Jersey has ruled that gay couples are entitled to full rights and gave the Legislature 180 days to update or expand laws to ensure this, without specifying a name for the single-sex unions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/26/nyregion/26marriage.html
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ETM Infectious Diseases
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The World Health Organization (WHO) and 25 partner organizations unveiled a new strategy to fight the most neglected tropical diseases. The strategy begins by combining disease treatment regimes, then brings collective resources in a coordinated assault to deal with the afflictions.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr60/en/index.html

The deadliest of these is tuberculosis. Seven million people a year are infected, and 1.7 million die. The Lancet has published the International Standards for Tuberculosis Care. When national tuberculosis control programs and individual clinicians apply these standards correctly, multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis and—the recently defined—extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis should not develop.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473309906706041/fulltext
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473309906706284/abstract

WHO has called for industry to turn attention to the untapped market of diagnostic tools for low and middle income countries, where most cases of tuberculosis occur.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr61/en/index.html

Avian influenza H5N1 is known to infect birds, humans, and cats. This article describes the infection of a dog that ate an infected duck. Sparrows in China also carry the virus.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no11/06-0542.htm?s_cid=eid06_0542_e
http://english.people.com.cn/200610/27/print20061027_315600.html

The Harvard School of Public Health released a new national survey that finds when faces with pandemic flu, a large majority of Americans are willing to make major changes in their lives and cooperate with public health officials, but a substantial number of people have no one to care for them or would face serious financial problems if forced to stay home for a week or more. Fewer than one in five workers are aware of any workplace plan for pandemic response.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/press10262006.html

A new Global Pandemic Influenza Action Plan to Increase Vaccine Supply has been launched. WHO says the world is several billion doses short of the amount needed to protect the global population, and calls for immediate and sustained action to sharply increase the pandemic influenza vaccine supply.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr58/en/index.html

An influenza pandemic would be of global and national significance, affecting large numbers of defense personnel and challenging defense readiness. The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review pandemic preparedness. In "Influenza Pandemic: DOD Has Taken Important Actions to Prepare, but Accountability, Funding, and Communications Need to be Clearer and Focused Departmentwide" GAO calls for defined roles and responsibilities that are clearly communicated, a framework for funding tied to goals, a well defined and clearly communicated vaccine and antiviral distribution plan, and a departmental communications strategy.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-1042

NOTE: We have updated our Avian Influenza Special report. Purchase a copy here:
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TP&Category_Code=SPRT0001

A new side effect from HIV/AIDS drug treatment appears to be the emergency of previously suppressed diseases, including Leprosy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/health/24lepr.html

India has reported 119 new polio infections in the past month, bringing the total to 416, about a third of worldwide cases.
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ETM Legal Systems
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Turkey has strengthened safeguards against arbitrary detention, but some terrorist suspects have been held for up to 13 years without a guilty finding.
http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/320E87952D3D4DA8C125720F00820234?opendocument

The UK Home Office has released evaluations of police forces across the country.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6080314.stm

A UK Appeal Court overturned a ruling that expert witnesses should be exempt from disciplinary action, instead arguing that permitting "honest mistakes" made regulations toothless and prevented oversight.
http://www.gmc-uk.org/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6086792.stm

US police chiefs are asking for increased anti-crime funding in place of budget cuts to address rising violent crime.
http://www.policeforum.org/singlenews.asp?item_ID=1633
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ETM Natural Resources
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"Eye on EITI: civil society perspectives and recommendations on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative" discusses progress in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) goals to improve transparency and accountability for the huge revenues generated by the oil, case, and mineral industries.
http://www.publishwhatyoupay.org/english/pdf/pubs/eyeoneiti.pdf
http://www.eitransparency.org/

"Tarnished gold: mining and the unmet promise of development" is a new report that documents the gold mining activities associated with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank. The report argues that mining causes significant environmental and social damage and does not deliver poverty reduction and economic growth, highlighting the examples of Ghana, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, and Peru.
http://www.earthworksaction.org/publications.cfm?pubID=179

Did you know that the production of a single gold ring generates 20 tons of mine waste?
http://yosemite.epa.gov/r9/sfund/r9sfdocw.nsf/4b229bb0820cb8b888256f0000092946/b32731488ba88e8788257007005e943d!OpenDocument

The India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) and the Netherlands Society for Nature and Environment released "From Quarry to Graveyard: Corporate social responsibility in the natural stone sector". The report reveals pressing labor and social issues, including child labor, sub-standard wages, bonded labor, unsafe working conditions, limits to freedom of association, absence of collective bargaining, major environmental issues, and economic concerns.
http://www.indianet.nl/fromquarrytograveyard.html

In "Hooked on oil: breaking the habit with a windfall tax", the New Economics Foundation accuses the UK of squandering the profits of now dwindling fossil fuel income, which should be better used to invest in the transition to clean energy.
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/hookedonoil_231006.aspx
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ETM Social Responsibility
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The Ethical Trading Initiative released The ETI Code of Labor Practice: Do Workers Really Benefit?
http://www.ethicaltrade.org/Z/lib/2006/09/impact-report/index.shtml

Malaysian textile company Ramatex has agreed to Namibian workers demands for better wages and benefits. Ramatex is under fresh scrutiny regarding environmental practices following the discovery that the plant has polluted the ground water.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56084

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown addressed the HMRC Corporate and Social Responsibility Conference. He described the new ethic growing in the corporate sector:
* Managers who want to show that the bottom line for business is not only making good money but doing good as well;
* Company directors who understand that reputation and success depends on the investments made not just in new products but in the communities you  serve;
* Employees of companies who want not just to be employees but to contribute to a better society — 88 per cent of British employees believing, according to one recent survey, that it is important that the organisation they work for is committed to its values.
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/newsroom_and_speeches/press/2006/press_79_06.cfm

Coca-Cola has agreed to grant a 2.5 acre piece of land to the City of Atlanta for construction of a civil rights museum.
http://www2.coca-cola.com/presscenter/nr_20061023_corporate_civil_rights_contribution.html
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ETM Technology
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A group of scientific researchers and journals has developed a new web-based system to provider better and more timely data in the rapidly expanding field of thermodynamics. The ThermoML project has three major components:
* ThermoML itself, an IUPAC data format standard based on XML customized for storing thermodynamic data
* Software tools developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Thermodynamic Research Center (TRC) to simplify entering data into the system in formats close to those used by the original journal documents, displaying it in various formats and performing basic data integrity checks; and
* The ThermoData Engine, a sophisticated expert system developed at NIST, that can generate on demand recommended, evaluated data based on the existing experimental and predicted data and their uncertainties.
http://trc.nist.gov/ThermoML.html
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/jceaax/2003/48/i01/abs/je025645o.html

Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for Science and Research, gave a speech on "Scientific and Research Challenges for Europe within a Globalized World" to Harvard University. Rapid development presents challenges as in the case of China:
* In education, China increases its annual budget by 30 percent and will produce more engineers than either the EU or US this year
* In Research and Development intensity, China's growth rate is around 20 percent year.
* In business, an increasing numbers of multinationals are setting up R&D centers in China.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/06/634&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
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ETM Weapons (WMD, Proliferation)
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International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Mohamed ElBaradei reports that Iran has completed a second uranium enrichment cascade, ready for production. The Iranian Students News Agency says that the second centrifuge is already operating, and 300 more are planned in coming months.
http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-813181&Lang=E

Sanctions will not be imposed any time soon. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council have failed to reach agreement on a draft resolution that the US insists is too lenient and Russia rejects as too punitive. The draft demands a freeze on uranium enrichment, would bar sale of supply of nuclear or missile technologies, impose travel restrictions and seize assets of nuclear officials and Iranian companies, and permit Russia to complete the Busheher nuclear power plant but ban supplying fuel.

ElBaradei has called on the international community to start discussions with Iran and North Korea, suggesting that punitive sanctions ultimately would be ineffective. The International Crisis Group has a similar view.
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Transcripts/2006/newsweek201006.html
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4469&l=1

The US Department of state announced that the first meeting of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism is scheduled for Oct. 30-31 in Morocco.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/75173.htm

Chang and Chung, both ethnic Koreans, were arrested in China for attempting to sell a kilo of enriched uranium, which came from either Russia or North Korea.
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200610/200610240011.html

A drug search in the Los Alamos, New Mexico found computer disks associated with a contractor at Los Alamos National Laboratory, a nuclear weapons research facility. The disks contain classified material and may present a serious security breach.
http://www.lanl.gov/news/index.php/fuseaction/home.story/story_id/9261
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/25/AR2006102501639.html
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/51189.html

The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) says that the "variola amendment" that bans smallpox virus synthesis is too vague to be helpful in countering bioterrorism and instead hurts research, therefore it would be better repealed.
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/2006/1025/5
http://www.biosecurityboard.gov/

Senior Republican senator Charles Grassley blasted "dead-ends and a lack of progress" in the FBI's investigation of the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five people, and called for answers to the serious questions it raises.
http://grassley.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=5205

University of Kansas researchers are developing a powdered anthrax vaccine that could be administered through inhalers or a nasal spray rather than injections.
http://www.kansan.com/stories/2006/oct/26/vaccine/

Landmine Actions released "Foreseeable harm: the use and impact of cluster munitions in Lebanon 2006". The new report details the ongoing casualties caused by these weapons, and their severe impact on agriculture, water and reconstruction.
http://www.landmineaction.org/resources/ForeseeableHarmfinal.pdf

The Regional Center for Small Arms and Light Weapons (RCSALW) met to discuss requirements to collect and destroy small arms, and declared the Seychelles a haven of peace.
http://www.nation.sc/index1024.php?art=7470

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5. Critical Infrastructure Monitor

Critical Infrastructure Monitor gives you the background and analysis missing from these news briefings. Subscriptions can be purchased from our online store:
TAMNI Publications

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CIM Agriculture and Food
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Brazil and the EU have agreed on a new poultry meat import regime.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1487&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

The European Council has adopted new rules on the health of farmed fish.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1467&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Israel's attacks on Lebanon caused severe damage to agriculture and fisheries that will have long-term effects on food, water, and livelihoods of more than a million Lebanese. UN/OECD Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food recommended that Israel be held responsible under international law for any violation of the right to food and should comply with its obligations to pay reparations and compensation of on-going losses. It will take seven or eight years just to clear more than a million unexploded bombs littering the countryside, and making it impossible or dangerous to plant crops. Lebanon plans to take Israel to the International Court of Justice, and possibly to other international courts.
http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=a/61/306
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673606696128/fulltext
http://www.landmineaction.org/resources/ForeseeableHarmfinal.pdf
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CIM Banking and Finance
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The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) annual conference adopted new standards for supervision of insurers and reinsurers regarding liability management; technical risks and performance for life insurers; guidance on preventing, detecting and remedying fraud in insurance; and guidance on risk transfer, disclosure and analysis of finite reinsurance.
http://www.iaisweb.org/061024_IAIS_Press_Release_on_AC_closing_-_21_October_2006.pdf

Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Regions Financial, Wachovia and Morgan Stanley have joined the Financial Services Roundtable's Shared Assessment Program for data security assessments.
http://www.fsround.org/

Standard and Poors warns that rapid growth in the leveraged loans market has led banks to engage in more liberal lending because they have been able to pass risks on to hedge funds and other investors. In "The Outlook for Banks' Leveraged Finance Revenues and Risks", they warn that the large proportion of leveraged finance risk held outside the banking system presents a key downside in the possibility that changes in investor appetite for high-yield assets could force banks to absorb large loans on their own balance sheets.
http://www.standardandpoors.com
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CIM Cybersecurity
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Hackers have been breaking into customer accounts at large online brokerages in the United States and making unauthorized trades worth millions of dollars as part of a fast-growing new form of online fraud under investigation by federal authorities.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/23/AR2006102301257.html
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9004416

After finding that major banks have been disposing of confidential information in insecure rubbish bags, the UK Information Commissioner is considering an enforcement action.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2425085,00.html
http://www.a2mediagroup.com/?c=137&a=10289

Nucleus Research reports that companies should consider alternate authentication practices because strategies to improve password security have no impact. Many companies try to improve password security by adding complexity, such as requiring both numbers and letters or even special characters in each password, increasing the frequency that passwords are changed or requiring a greater number of passwords to enable access. However, as long as users write down or store their password, none of these efforts add any protection.
http://www.nucleusresearch.com/news.html

Privacy and security compromises of contactless credit cards are described in this article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/23/business/23card.html?
http://www.rfid-cusp.org/blog/blog-23-10-2006.html

The same vulnerabilities apply to the RFID passports issued by Ireland.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2415780,00.html
http://www.digitalrights.ie/2006/10/20/new-irish-passports-have-rfid-chip/

Heise Security warns of continued security flaws on online banking sites. The Bank of Scotland website has addressed the reported vulnerability.
http://www.heise-security.co.uk/news/79789
http://www.out-law.com/page-7413

Ireland is looking into immediate changes in the software used for its unreliable electronic voting system.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2416486,00.html

The National Institute of Standards And Technology established the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) just over a year ago to track computer system vulnerabilities. The number now exceeds 20,000, and is expanding by hundreds each month.
http://nvd.nist.gov/

In August, the UK House of Commons' Science and Technology Committee published a review of the National Identity Card Program that included a number of criticisms and recommendations for better transparency. This week, the government responded:
http://www.identitycards.gov.uk/downloads/govtResponse.pdf
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmsctech/1032/103202.htm

The Norwegian Defense Research Institute has one of the world's leading research teams into the growing phenomenon of "online Jihadism". The efforts, primarily for recruitment, have expanded to target broader audiences, including Europe and the US, for whom English subtitles are now provided.
http://www.mil.no/multimedia/archive/00077/Paths_to_global_jiha_77735a.pdf
http://rapporter.ffi.no/rapporter/2006/00915.pdf
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CIM Defense Industrial Base
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At the annual Joint Air Power Competence Center, NATO members considered myriad requirements and applications for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and a variety of other current and emerging issues.
http://www.japcc.de/index.php?id=55
http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/10/20/210107/JAPCC+air+power+conference+Potential+NATO+UAV+architecture.html
http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/10/20/210108/JAPCC+air+power+conference+Tactical+operations+require+new+UAV.html
http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/10/20/210110/JAPCC+air+power+conference+counter+UAV+capabilities+emerging+as+issue+for.html
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/flyingrobots.html

This article discusses the need for the navy to think afresh about how it purchases new technology.
http://www.asd-network.com/press_detail_B.asp?ID=9913
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CIM Emergency Services
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Los Angeles, California, analyzed the police department schedule of three 12-hour days. Although extremely popular among police, emergency response times have fallen and overtime costs have risen.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-flextime23oct23,0,4293233.story

The Maryland Department of Agriculture has begun planning for the evacuation of pets and farm animals in emergency response procedures.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/harford/bal-ha.farm15oct15,0,5995012.story

This article describes the difficulty in associating 9/11 dust with disease.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/nyregion/24toxic.html

George Washington University held a national EMS preparedness summit to discuss protection, preparedness, response and delivery. Participants addressed the major issues of funding, a national voice, surge capacity, and public awareness.
http://www.nationalemspreparedness.org/
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CIM Energy
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Australia is launching major initiatives in conservation as well as new energy production following a warning that the country is running out of power, and faces blackouts and skyrocketing prices within five years.

Burma is considering reopening onshore gas exploration in the north and delta region for foreign exploration.

China and Indonesia have signed a memorandum of understanding on energy cooperation.

China plans a new nuclear power plant with six reactors in Hunan province.
http://english.people.com.cn//200610/26/eng20061026_315270.html

The European Commission has adopted a recommendation to conclude a cooperation agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy between the Euratom Community and the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The agreement will complete the existing cooperation in nuclear safety and nuclear fusion by providing a stable framework for the development of nuclear trade between the two parties.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1463&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

The Commission has also approved construction of a new nuclear power plant in France.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1450&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Russia has extended its investigations into alleged environmental violations at the Sakhalin oil and gas project, and may prosecute its operation, Shell and its partners.

The UK is Europe's worst energy wasters, largely because they leave appliances on standby and chargers plugged in. The Habits of a Lifetime report looked into the energy habits of some 5,000 Europeans and determined that the Germans are the most efficient.
http://portal.est.org.uk/uploads/documents/aboutest/Energy Saving Trust - Habits of a lifetime report.pdf
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CIM Information Technology
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Sony's profits plunged 94 percent in the second quarter, and future orders are at risk following widespread battery recalls. Last week Sony itself as well as Gateway, Fujitsu, Sony, and Toshiba are all recalling Sony batteries: this involves nearly ten million laptops.
http://www.gateway.com/battery
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07011.html
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CIM Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste
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Cameco Corporation's uranium mine in Saskatchewan, Canada has flooded, forcing the mine to be abandoned.
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=bc3d9f35-ab74-4235-a751-1bdf904fad96&k=88454

The European Commission has adopted today a new Recommendation with measures to ensure adequate and properly managed financial resources for all decommissioning activities of nuclear installations as well as for the safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste.
http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1466&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Britain's Environment Secretary David Miliband told the House of Commons that the country's radioactive waste will be buried in a geologically suitable are.

The US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has completed security enhancements to protect against theft or terrorist attacks at 50 Russian navy nuclear sites two years ahead of schedule.
http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/docs/newsreleases/2006/PR_2006-10-24_NA-06-39.htm
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CIM Public Health and Healthcare
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Crushing pills to make them easier to swallow can cause serious side-effects or death.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-10-26T092830Z_01_L26738135_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BRITAIN-PILLS.xml

South Asia has dramatically reversed its HIV/AIDS policy to promise increased availability of antiretroviral drugs, as well as education and prevention efforts.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=288029

Scotland's five cancer radiotherapy centers are being inspected following the discovery of critical errors in the treatment plan of a cancer patient who received 19 overdoses during therapy for a brain tumor: she has since died.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6090266.stm

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to recommend that patients over 60 should receive a herpes zoster vaccine to prevent shingles.
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/news/pr/pr_zoster_oct2006.pdf

New York researchers report that annual CT scans could detect lung cancer early and make treatment possible.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/355/17/1763
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CIM Telecommunications
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The First World Congress on Communication for Development discussed how rapid technology advances could widen the gap between those with mobile phones and the internet, and the one billion people in the world without. Attendees discussed the close ties between communication and sustainable development, including the specific fields of poverty reduction, food security, health, governance and sustainable development.
http://www.fao.org/sd/dim_kn1/kn1_060601_en.htm

Number portability launched in Japan, and immediately led to falling stock prices for mobile phone operators who may face a price cutting war.

The European Ombudsman has opened an inquiry into mobile phone company O2's complaint regarding the European Commission's sector inquiry into the market for roaming services and their allegation that O2 has charged excessive roaming fees.
http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/release/en/2006-10-23.htm
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CIM Transportation
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A new airport security hole was revealed when a university student created a fake boarding pass using basic word processing software.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=355

The Transportation Security Administration has mandated new air cargo security measures on passenger aircraft.
http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/aircargo/steps.shtm

Undercover agents were able to smuggle prohibited items past Newark Liberty International Airport screeners more than 90 percent of the time.
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_300070703.html

California Governor Schwarzenegger issued an executive order creating a Maritime Security Council.
http://www.sdbj.com/article.asp?aID=65262501.1631741.1376986.4771947.0482555.233&aID2=105913

The International Maritime Bureau continues to issue a piracy alert for Chittagong anchorage in Bangladesh, where 40 incidents have been reported since 28 January.
http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracyreport.php

The UK has launched rail security patrols.

The US deadline for biometric passports has passed, with most visa-waiver countries in compliance.
http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1161876358429.shtm
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CIM Water
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In Ghana, mining has a major impact on water security.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200610250501.html

The Water Environment Federation has won a grant to implement a water security training program.
http://www.wef.org/CmsWEF/Pages/News/StoryPage.aspx?story_id=99486292&ID=wef&Section=Industry%20News

The National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) has asked the Department of Homeland Security to put water workers first in line for flu vaccines
http://www.watersc.org/enews/pdf/enews_19.pdf

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6. Disaster Reduction Monitor

News highlights from the past week are provided in this free email update, but detailed analysis, background information and source documents are only available to subscribers. Disaster Reduction Monitor subscriptions and other titles can be purchased here:
TAMNI Publications

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DRM Incidents
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A passenger plane with more than 100 people on board has crashed in Nigeria while taking off during a storm. Rescue operations are underway and there are reports of some survivors.

Fifteen of 125 passengers n a ferry carrying people home for the Eid festival died when the ferry sank after colliding with a cargo boat.

At least 42 people were killed and 43 injured when a bus carrying over 100 people plunged off the road into a ravine in western Nepal.

A bus in India's mountainous Sikkim state plunged into a river. It carried 60 people, of whom 42 were rescued and 21 confirmed dead.

A bus crashed down an embankment in Peru's southern Andes, killing 20 and injuring 12.

A mine explosion in China killed all 11 miners trapped in the explosion. Already this year more than 3,000 miners have been killed in such accidents.

China has stepped in to provide treatment for an outbreak of the deadly Lassa fever in Liberia. Liberian health officials had no facilities or drugs to address the breakout, which killed seven of the ten people first diagnosed. Details of recent infections are unknown.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56095

Vietnamese construction workers were crushed below the debris when a 4-story building collapsed, apparently due to a faulty steel structure. Seven were killed and four injured.

At least six people died and 18,000 displaced during monsoon rains in Sri Lanka's northwestern Gampaha district.

Flash floods in Kenya claimed five lived and destroyed 355 homes.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56086

Four US Forest Service firefighters were fatally injured on the Esparanza fire near Cabazon, California. A fifth is in critical condition, with burns on 90 percent of his body. California Governor Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency as the fire continues to burn and has already destroyed more than 60 square miles. It has been determined that the fire was set deliberately, and a $500,000 reward has been offered. With the death of the firefighters, this has also become a homicide investigation.
http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html
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DRM Response and Recovery
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An inquest in the UK into the deaths of Britons killed in a Bahrain party boat disaster heard that the boat was unsteady even before leaving port.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/6088666.stm

Brazil's defense ministry reports that analysis of the transponder in the small executive jet that hit Gol Airlines flight 1907, killing all 156 people on board, was not broadcasting its location at the time of the crash.

After 41 workers at a Mittal-owned mine in Kazakhstan died in an accident in September, President Nazarbayev's daughter's party Asar has drafted a bill that would toughen punishment for labor violations. Mittal is compensating the families of the dead and the five miners who were badly injured.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/20/business/EU_FIN_Kazakhstan_Mittal.php
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/13/europe/EU_GEN_Kazakhstan_Mittal.php

An Associated Press review of Hurricane Katrina claims reveals that the rich and the white filed the most insurance complaints.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/24/ap/national/mainD8KV2EP02.shtml
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DRM Risks
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AIR Worldwide reports that a new analysis of extratropical cyclones confirms that Europe could face winter storm losses of $50 billion.
http://www.air-worldwide.com/_public/html/newsitem.asp?ID=1048

The UK Office for National Statistics report that more than 25,000 people died in England and Wales last year due to cold weather. Although this represented a 19 percent reduction in excess winter mortality, Age Concern pointed out that this means eight older people died every hour last winter, and called for the government to ensure decent housing, energy efficiency measures, and a higher basic state pension to help older people stay warm. Help the Aged called for the need to step up the battle against fuel poverty
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=574
http://www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern/C1B722E163AD4A9A869BC69A3E716B7E.asp
http://www.helptheaged.org.uk/en-gb/Campaigns/News/Archive/Excess+Winter+Deaths.htm

Floods, sanctions, and other factors have led to critical food shortages in North Korea, which in turn could lead to a refugee crisis.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20646352-2703,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4072280.stm

AIR Worldwide released a new US Wildfire Model. Nationally, wildfires have cost the insurance industry more than $5 billion since 1980 with a majority of the losses occurring in California. The growth in insured losses from wildfires is a result of increasing property development in high risk areas, particularly property growth in the buffer zone between wilderness and the urban environment. US Fire Administration statistics indicate nearly 40 percent of new home development in the Western US is occurring in this interface, putting more property at risk every year.
http://www.air-worldwide.com/_public/html/newsitem.asp?ID=1034
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DRM Mitigation
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"Disaster insurance for the poor? A review of microinsurance for natural disaster risks in developing countries" is a new report from the ProVention Consortium. It analyzes case studies to examine benefits and limitations of microinsurance, which is used to transfer risk and protect low-income households and businesses against disaster losses. The study finds microinsurance can an effective risk-transfer mechanism and an integral part of an overall disaster risk management strategy, and addresses a range of challenges.
http://www.proventionconsortium.org/themes/default/pdfs/AIDMI_May06.pdf

The US Department of Homeland Security Inspector General has established an Office For Disaster Assistance Oversight
http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/press/OIGpr_ODAO_102006.pdf

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7. Recommended Reading

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the 1956 anti-Soviet revolution in Hungary. During this time, many publications have been released.

The New York Times reviews three new books that revisit the revolution: "Victor Sebestyen's "Twelve Days" offers a gripping, detailed reconstruction of the revolution; Charles Gati's "Failed Illusions," a searching, scholarly account of the political calculations of the Kremlin, the White House and the Hungarian Communist leadership; and Michael Korda's "Journey to a Revolution," an engrossing and moving memoir."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/books/Heilbrunn.t.html?ref=europe

Here are bibliographies and document collections that provide background, analysis and original sources:
British Library Holdings
http://www.bl.uk/collections/easteuropean/hungary56/hun56bibl.html
Institute for the History of the 1956 Revolution
http://www.rev.hu/archivum/kiadvanyok.html
Library of Congress
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/hungary/hu_bibl.html
The National Security Archive
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB76/

Here are recent stories covering the events of this week as well as 50 years ago:
BBC (UK)
-Eyewitness
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6069582.stm
-In Pictures
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6070552.stm
-Timeline
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5379586.stm
Guardian (UK)
- " 1956: The year that changed the world"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/egypt/story/0,,1928323,00.html
- 3-part series to mark the uprising::
"Political turmoil and street protests: rebellion's bitter legacy lives on"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1925428,00.html
"Great escapes - how the British welcomed fugitives from the Russian invaders"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1926859,00.html
"How Soviet tanks crushed dreams of British communists"
- Angie Konrad, "I fled the Hungarian uprising"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1925816,00.html
Swissinfo "Refugee remembers"
http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Refugee_remembers_Hungarian_uprising.html?siteSect=105&sid=7162110&cKey=1161505201000
UNHCR
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/UNHCR/7d764c0bbf1b4f309570abfc9eba6b13.htm
Voice of America
http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2006-10-05-voa2.cfm

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8. Asset Management Network News

We have updated our Avian Influenza Special report. It has grown from 16 to 20 pages and is chock full of advice for prevention, preparedness, and response. Purchase a copy here:
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