North and South Korea Exchange Fire: Two South Korean soldiers were killed earlier today as dozens of shells fired from the North struck a South Korean island near the countries’ disputed maritime border. South Korean artillery units returned fire after the North’s shells struck South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island at 2:34 p.m., The New York Times reports. The shelling followed revelations of two new nuclear facilities in the North — a light water reactor under construction and a modern plant for enriching uranium.
The Man Who Knew Too Little: Two senior Afghan officials say that a man purporting to be one of the Taliban's most senior commanders and who attended meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and NATO officials was actually lowly shopkeeper from the Pakistani city of Quetta. The Washington Post reports that the man claimed to be Akthar Mohammad Mansour, the second-ranking Taliban commander after Mohammad Omar, and he met with Karzai and Afghan officials at least twice in recent months to discuss possible peace negotiations, according to the Afghan officials.
Hedge Funds Raided: Government agents raided the offices of three large hedge funds yesterday, signaling that a three-year investigation was shifting into high gear and setting off shock waves in the financial world. The Wall Street Journal reports that in coordinated raids in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts, FBI agents seized documents at the offices of Level Global Investors, Diamondback Capital Management and Loch Capital Management. The American Lawyer reports that hedge funds, including those not raided thus far, have begun to lawyer up.
Piracy on Trial: The Christian Science Monitor reports that the first piracy trial in the U.S. since the Civil War is nearing a conclusion this week, as Germany's first such trial in hundreds of years opens. The trial in America this month has offered a rare glimpse into the US Navy's counterpiracy operations as well as the murky world of Somali pirates, who have plagued one of the world's busiest shipping lanes for years. Meanwhile, the trial of 10 separate Somali pirates opened in the German city of Hamburg on Monday, the first piracy trial in Germany for some 400 years. The men, between the ages of 17 and 48, stand accused of attacking the MS Taipan 560 miles off the Somali coast, according to Agence France-Presse.
Comments