News Round Up – 06 Sep 06

At home. A vast oil pool has been discovered in the Gulf of Mexico which could boost the nation’s reserves by 50%. A 50% increase in US reserves is a significant find. Another way to say this is that this field has the potential to reduce our dependency on foreign oil by 50%. ANWAR would reduce our dependency by another 5%. Today, the US import 55% of its oil. Between these two fields our dependency can decrease to 30%. Just imagine how we could reduce our dependency if drilling were allowed off the tip of Florida and the California coast.

Iran. Iran delays nuclear talks with EU – surprise. Economically linked Russia and China still believe sanctions would be counter-productive. Meanwhile, Ahmadinajad vows education crackdown to get rid of secular and liberal professors.

Lebanon. Nasrallah says he does not regret the kidnapping of two Israeli Soldiers that started the war. This guy is sounding more like John Kerry everyday. Annan is predicting the blockade to be lifted on Thursday. Meanwhile, an officer investigating the Hariri murder is wounded by a roadside bomb.

Palestine. Gazan police march through the streets protesting unpaid salaries and storm Parliament. Hamas states protests are an attempt to force it to form a national unity government. This place is sounding more like a democracy everyday.

Afghanistan. More than 50 Taliban have been killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday as Operation Medusa continues bringing the total since Saturday to over 250.

Iraq. Parliamentarian Tayseer al-Mashhadani, who was held hostage for two months, urged Iraqis to set aside their differences for the sake of their country. Iraqi, Coalition forces capture 30 insurgents, 38 suspected insurgents throughout the western Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Amid a steady counter-insurgency campaign in Baghdad, Fallujah and surrounding areas, combined U.S. and Iraqi forces continue to achieve major successes in locating and destroying enemy weapons caches hidden in those regions.