Thursday, August 15, 2002
After the flood come the chemicals
The worst of the flood is over but Prague now faces a new threat, according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica. The floodwaters have damaged a factory situated some twenty km north of the city, which is now leaking chlorine. The leak has formed a large yellow cloud which is moving north-east of the plant. The nearby village of Neratovice is likely to be evacuated soon.
posted by Carla Passino at 3:10 PM
Wednesday, August 14, 2002
The Czech capital faces the peak of the flood
Prague braves the worst flood in two centuries as the river Vltava, swollen by days of heavy rain, overflows its banks. The rising waters have already swamped four neighbourhoods and electricity has been cut off in some areas. The old town has been evacuated and flood defences erected throughout the city. However, these may not be enough to contain the peak of the flood, which is forecast to hit the city centre later this afternoon. The Prague Post has the latest updates. My husband and I have been considering moving to Prague. I guess the flood has somewhat dampened our enthusiasm.
posted by Carla Passino at 12:53 PM
Tuesday, August 13, 2002
Terrorist groups around the world are forging lethal links with one another
The globalisation of the world economy is having an unpredicted and unpleasant side effect: terrorist organisations are becoming global too. Already in 1994, Mario Moretti - a member of Italian terrorist group Brigate Rosse - wrote of the ties between his group and the PLO in his book, Brigate Rosse, Una Storia Italiana. According to Moretti, a spin-off branch of the BR, called Barbagia Rossa, hid weapons belonging to the PLO in the inaccessible depths of the Sardinian mountains. The weapons, which included missiles, would thus be kept safe until needed. The historic link between Italian and Middle-Eastern terrorism has apparently been renewed. Last month, a leaflet supposedly written by Marxist terrorists BR-PCC, which allegedly killed labour reform consultant Marco Biagi on March 19 2002, spoke of a connection with Islamic cells operating in Italy - despite the fact that the two groups hardly share a common political vision. It would appear that new ties are being forged among terrorist groups that have little ideological or geographical contiguity. The BBC Online and El Pais both report that the IRA may have helped train the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for the attack which marked President Uribe's inauguration on Wednesday, August 7. The IRA has long been thought to solve its cash-flow problems by providing weapons and expertise to terrorist groups around the world. The dynamics of the FARC attack in Bogota on Wednesday corroborate this thesis. A set of radio-controlled bomb, typical of the IRA, was used for the first time in Colombia. Three Irish citizens, who are known to have spent some time in the FARC-controlled area of South Colombia are now being detained in Bogota. Unsurprisingly, they deny having any tie with either the IRA or the FARC.
posted by Carla Passino at 3:23 PM
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