WASHINGTON – Eight leaky patrol boats are at the heart of a bitter dispute between the Coast Guard and its former partners in the defense industry as the nation’s smallest military service struggles to update an antiquated fleet on a tight budget. In April, Adm. Thad Allen, Coast Guard commandant, announced at a press briefing that the service would decommission the eight patrol boats, worth around $100 million combined, just months after the first emerged from extensive work at a Northrop Grumman shipyard that included lengthening the hull by 13 feet. The lead vessel’s hull buckled on its maiden voyage, [...]
Asmaa Abdol-Hamid has made clear what she thinks of the Danish soldiers stationed in Iraq: They are occupying Iraq exactly like the Nazis occupied Denmark in the Second World War. Those who fight against them are, consequently, not terrorists, but freedom fighters, and their combat is absolutely justified. Abdol Hamid, who only appears in public with head and hair carefully veiled, is a candidate on the unified list formed by Socialists and Greens for the upcoming Danish Parliamentary elections. Her remarks in late July had immediate and wide-ranging consequences: The conservative politician Rasmus Jarlov filed charges against her for treason. [...]
TOKYO — In a desperate attempt to jump-start the ruling party’s fortunes after a recent electoral drubbing, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to announce a reshuffle of his Cabinet next week. But it’s going to take more than that if he wants to breathe life into his premiership. Last month, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost its majority in the House of Councilors, which is now led by a member for the opposition for the first time in 50 years. The loss was hardly a surprise — the government’s poll numbers had been on the slide almost since [...]
