Author: Greg Palkot

It’s being called by one insider “a dangerous ratcheting up of the arms race” between pirates and good guys

It’s being reported a Panama-flagged cargo ship off coast Somalia on its way to Mogadishu was attacked by pirates using guns and RPG’s. On their second try against the ship, one of pirates was hit and killed allegedly by an armed private security guard board.  

The pirates are tough guys, tough. When a nearby Spanish navy ship responded and also fired (warning) shots, the pirates didn’t stop.   The Spanish finally caught up with them and nabbed 6 pirates and took possession of the corpse.   The pirates’s boats were full of holes

It’s not known if anyone was hurt on the targetted ship

Piracy expert Andrew Linnington told Fox News the incident  is “deeply worrying.” As international navy’s  pile on the pressure pirates taking more extreme measures.  In the last six months there has been an  increase in violence on the high seas.

Add into that mix, private security guards which are increasingly being used by ships who are not always well-trained.  Fox News has learned,in fact, the guards on board the targetted ship  included a Somali and Kenyan who might not have been up to western standards.

Still,  with international forces themselves saying they can’t guard all ships use of private guards would seem inevitable. The fight goes on

It was meant to be about the manipulative power of authority, the control of television, and the twisted nature of reality shows.  It was that and then some.

Television producers in France mocked up a game show. Contestants were posed questions. If a contestant answered the question wrong, he or she would be commanded to throw a switch,  zapping a fellow contestant (literally) on the hot seat.

The victim in the hot seat appeared to get hit with up to 420 volts electricity.

All the while the audience shouted “punish them!”

The contestants and audience are real. They think the game is real. But the fellow on that “hot seat” is an actor faking it…quite well. He sounds like he is close to the point of dying.

While some of the contestants said “no,” that they would not electrocute the person in the hot seat, 82 percent contestants went along.

The show’s producers defend the program, part of a documentary dubbed “The Game of Death.”  They note it’s simply an update of a psychological experiment 50 years ago.

But the French are taken aback.  Top French commentator Christian Mallard told Fox it was “stupid and crazy.”

French newspapers dubbed it “bothering” and “unethical.”

The program is actually running on French government-owned TV.  There’s no word on what President Sarkozy might think about it.

And while some have likened it to how people obeyed the Nazi’s during World War 2, including some in France, there’s been no comment about whether this is a particularly French response to potentially deadly commands.

Arno Klarsfeld, son of noted Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld, told Fox News, “It’s nothing new, the new generation forgets but the media is taking it up again. In a ‘basic’ situation, humans can’t hold back their instincts.”

Most take it as a worrying statement for society today.   And maybe a good promotion for the television show Wednesday night!

It was meant to be about the manipulative power of authority, the control of television, and the twisted nature of reality shows.  It was that and then some.

Television producers in France mocked up a game show. Contestants were posed questions. If a contestant answered the question wrong, he or she would be commanded to throw a switch,  zapping a fellow contestant (literally) on the hot seat.

The victim in the hot seat appeared to get hit with up to 420 volts electricity.

All the while the audience shouted “punish them!”

The contestants and audience are real. They think the game is real. But the fellow on that “hot seat” is an actor faking it…quite well. He sounds like he is close to the point of dying.

While some of the contestants said “no,” that they would not electrocute the person in the hot seat, 82 percent contestants went along.

The show’s producers defend the program, part of a documentary dubbed “The Game of Death.”  They note it’s simply an update of a psychological experiment 50 years ago.

But the French are taken aback.  Top French commentator Christian Mallard told Fox it was “stupid and crazy.”

French newspapers dubbed it “bothering” and “unethical.”

The program is actually running on French government-owned TV.  There’s no word on what President Sarkozy might think about it.

And while some have likened it to how people obeyed the Nazi’s during World War 2, including some in France, there’s been no comment about whether this is a particularly French response to potentially deadly commands.

Arno Klarsfeld, son of noted Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld, told Fox News, “It’s nothing new, the new generation forgets but the media is taking it up again. In a ‘basic’ situation, humans can’t hold back their instincts.”

Most take it as a worrying statement for society today.   And maybe a good promotion for the television show Wednesday night!

Pirates continue to venture further and further out to sea in search of modern-day “booty.”  Luckily for the folks on the high seas, international navies are now hot on their trail.

The European Union’s anti-pirate naval force reports they’ve nabbed two more groups of buccaneers, some 1000 miles off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean.

“It just shows you the great work we’re doing in the Gulf of Aden,” EU’s Commander John Harbour told Fox News.

The latest run-in’s happened over the weekend and involved the Dutch Naval Frigate Tromp, as well as Swedish and Luxembourg aircraft operating out of the Seychelles islands. Two days after a German ship reported they were being attacked, the European forces caught up with a pirate mother ship, two skiffs and 9 pirates. 

At about the same time, closer to the Seychelles islands, the country’s own coast guard, with the help of the EU aircraft caught pirates in three other boats going after a Spanish fishing ship.

The months of March and April, with the monsoon subsiding, is a busy time for piracy and pirate chasing.  “There is a lot of activity and we have increased our resources,” Commander Harbour told us.

In fact, in the last three weeks, international navies have taken into custody 12 of what they call “pirate action groups.” At the same time, though, 2 pirate hijackings have occurred.

 The hunt goes on.

He bought them cars, weapons, expensive furniture and the finest food –all while their people starved.

Col. Kim Jong Ryul says he spent two decades traveling to European cities on shopping spree-missions for North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim il Sung, and then later for his son, Kim Jong Il.

Helping to lift the shroud on North Korea’s brutal and mysterious regime, the German-speaking Kim claims to have bought luxury cars, carpets and gold-plated handguns with cash sent from Pyongyang.  He says Mercedes was the favorite brand of the leadership, but they also liked Lincolns and Cadillacs.  He also obtained furnishings for the leaders’  numerous villas, and he bought food, food, and more food.

That’s what really got to Kim. “People were dying of starvation,” he told Fox News, “and they were eating food from all over the world.”

The North Koreans were also building up their stockpile of weapons, and Kim helped by buying arms, planes and spy gear.  He got around embargoes, he says, by paying top dollar and then some to eager European businessmen.

Where did impoverished North Korea get the money?

“For that they didn’t save,” he said. “Always the money came.”

In the mid 1990s, angry about North Korean policies, Kim faked his death and went into hiding for 15 years in a small Austrian village. Why did he do it? “Number one, for freedom,” he said.

Now, at 75, and at great risk to himself and his family still in North Korea, he’s decided to go public. Working with two Austrian journalists, who’ve checked his claims, he’s come out with a book entitled, “In the Service of Dictators.”

His assessment of Kim Jong Il: “He is human.  But the political ideas inside his head are of the devil.”

Kim dismisses Pyongyang’s nuclear saber- rattling as “propaganda,” and he has a message for the U.S. in how to deal with the North Korean regime: “Destroy it.”

Kim is now seeking asylum in Austria, where police are already keeping a close watch over him.  Considering North Korea’s history in dealing with dissidents, that’s a good thing.

Anti-government forces took to the streets of Tehran today.    They were using the anniversary of the Islamic revolution as an excuse to vent their anger.   But Iranian authorities were ready for them.  

Arrests were reportedly made,opposition leaders were attacked, and the internet was blocked.  

A journalist whose identity was withheld for safety reasons put it this way : “This time they were serious.  This time they meant business.”

This as the government “turned out” hundreds of thousands for a state-organized commemoration of the date. 

They heard Iranian President Ahmadinejad declare Iran a “nuclear state” by enriching a batch of uranium to 20 per cent.

He went further :

“Our nation has the courage to say if it wanted to build a nuclear bomb it could built it…and not fear the west.”

An official from a member state of the UN nuclear watchdog agency the IAEA told Fox News he was skeptical about the claim.   “That’s just ‘speech-ifying,’” he noted. 

As for the state of the opposition movement, this was supposed to be a make or break day.   The Iranian journalist told Fox News many activists were intimidated and stayed in their homes.   

Supporters hope the critics were not “broken” today.

The most telling thing about the incident at the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai last Saturday is what is not being “told” about it.

According to reporter Kevin Scott, a reporter for Gulf News, who we reached and who vouched for his account, an elevator full of passengers got stuck on its way to the 124th floor observation deck of the 160-story building Saturday night.

According to accounts, a bang was heard, smoke billowed, and those onboard had to make it out of the shaft via a ladder. Those folks and those stranded on the observation deck eventually made it back to “earth” courtesy a service elevator.

Fox News reached the management company which runs the building. The most they would tell us was the deck was closed due to “maintenance upgrades.”

Dubai’s Civil Defense office was reached. They acknowledge only that there was an “incident” Saturday night.

The Dubai police were not playing ball.

The Chicago-based firm, Skidmore Owings Merrill, which was the architect and structural designer of the building, deferred to their client.

Even a Virginia-based telcoms firm, whose employee was one of the few on-the-record witnesses, begged off allowing their man to go on the record in any way that might seem derogatory.

As for the state-run media in Dubai, according to our contacts on the ground, this was a non-story.

But the fact is there was apparently a life0threatening accident  high p in this new structure. And according to reports, its the second time an elevator has gotten stuck in the month since the building opened.

But the stakes for Dubai are high. Having seen its real estate bubble burst and its debt pile higher than the Burj, there is a lot riding on this new landmark.

Apparently authorities there are anxious for nothing to rock its foundations. And those dependent on the place are willing to play along,

Despite the distress of many visitors to the place this past weekend.

Iran is blasting into space, launching a ten foot-long research rocket with a very special pay load : A mouse, two turtles, and a can of worms.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called it a “big event.”  “The scientific arena is where we defeat the West’s domination,” he added.

The West is, taking this, and past Iranian “space shots” seriously.

The fear is “dual use,” that an Iranian missile could just as easily carry a nuclear payload.

This is one reason for the recent deployment of US Patriot anti missile defense in the Gulf region.

Iranian President Ahmadinejad is ALSO sounding conciliatory notes this week.    In an interview, he said Iran would now accept a UN offer to send its uranium abroad for enrichment in an effort to monitor its suspect nuclear program.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today he would welcome such an agreement.

But a spokesperson for the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA would only tell us they are “aware of media reports.”   A diplomatic source went furthere though, telling us they’re not aware of a formal acceptance of any offer from Iran.

This latest offer comes, perhaps not coincidentally, at a time when the US is looking to ratchet up sanctions against the Tehran regime.

Secretary of State Clinton was in Europe last week lobbying officials.

Some Iranians, at least, prepared to take more economic hits to defeat a hated regime.

And, the Iranian government is girding for new protests next week.  February 11 marks the anniversary of the Iranian revolution.   Threats this week of more executions of opposition figures is a sign Tehran is not taking chances. “Green movement” protestors say they’ll use it to attack the regime.

Tehran did offer another olive branch of sorts this week, the release of three American hikers they’ve held since last summer. They would be swapped in exchange for Iranians allegedly held by the US.

“No comment,” from a spokesperson of the families of the Americans.  No dice, more or less, from the State Department.

“They are not treating us well….we don’t have much time left.” Those are the words of Rachel Chandler.  She and her husband have now been held by pirates in Somalia for over three months since their yacht was seized in October.

In an exclusive video obtained by sister network Sky News the two are heard begging for help.   “I want to just say please to my government, get me and my wife out of here,” Paul Chandler said.

A doctor who examined the couple found them not well. Rachel especially said to be physically and mentally ailing.  The two are being held separately by the pirates but were allowed to be together in recent days on the advice of the doctor according to Sky.

A spokesman for the UK Foreign office claims it is doing “…everything we can to secure their release” but is refusing to pay any ransom.

Nick Davis of the Merchant Maritime Warfare Centre tells Fox News that the government is “not talking to the pirates.”

He claims that he spoke with the pirates and could’ve gotten the couple released for $200,000 last Fall.   The latest ransom demand is reportedly $2 million.  The problem, as Davis noted, is the couple does not have a large shipping or insurance company behind them.  “The (pirates) want someone to organize a release,” he said.

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair was on the hot seat today for events that took place years ago.   A panel investigating British involvement in the Iraq war grilled Blair. The war was deeply unpopular in the UK.

He is described as defiant and unrepentant.     He said that 9/11 had changed his thinking about the threat of Saddam Hussein and his alleged weapons of mass destruction.

“My view is that you could not take risks with that at all,” he told the panel.

As for actually going to war to take away the WMD threat, Blair asserted, “…if…there was no other way of dealing with this threat, we were going to remove him.”

And regarding his close ties with former President Bush on the matter, Blair said he was telling Bush, “…we are going to be with you in dealing with this threat.”

Outside the central London venue where the hearing was held there was a small group of protestors who remain upset about the UK Iraq involvement.

Daily Telegraph columnist Andrew Gilligan told Fox News the inquiry is important to Britons because the Iraq war is “…still unfinished business.”  In the eyes of many, he went on to say, “no one was held accountable.”

The inquiry is purely informational and no legal actionwill result from the questioning.

Talking to the Taliban was the “talk” of the international conference held today in London on the future of the war in Afghanistan.

In attendance was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and others.

With the war now in its 9^th year and the fighting as intense as ever, the US, the UK, and NATO are looking for a way out.

Among the proposals were “reintegrating” or “reconciling” Taliban fighters, even Taliban leaders using millions of dollars, jobs, and housing.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for a grand conference this Spring…even the involvement of Saudi Arabia.

“We must reach out to all of our countrymen,” Karzai said, “especially our disenchanted brotehrs who are not a part of Al Qaeda and other terror networks.”

As for the fight itself, host Prime Minister Brown claimed the “tide was turning,” that this point marked the beginning of a transfer of security to the provinces for Afghan forces, which he says could reach a total of 300,000 by next year.

“As they become stronger,” he said, “We can hand over to the them the responsibility of tackling extremists and our forces can start to come home.”

Still, many acknowledge Afghan troops are not close to taking over, and that the bulk of the fighting will be carried on by “surging” US forces whose numbers will reach 100,000 this year.

How much will NATO, criticized for not “stepping up” enough in the past, help out?

NATO Secretary General Anders Rasmussen told Fox News that the approximately 10,000 new non-US troops would match what US Afghan commander General Stanley McChrystal had called for

“The US will not stand alone,” he told us.

Promises were also made  to clean up the reportedly corrupt government of President Karzai.   Efforts which have also been made in the past.So much of what was discussed  hinges on  the government of Hamid Karzai delivering.

Secretary of State Clinton noted that the US would be “monitoring” the fulfillment of the Karzai governance promises.

In the end, the London Conference was as much about domestic politics in the the UK and elsewhere as it was about the Afghan conflict.    The war according to public opinion polls is unpopular.

The centerpiece of the meeting, talking to the enemy, shows how much participating politicians want to get out of this regional dilemma.

We’re told the US Navy is part of an international effort to find any survivors of the Ethiopian Air Lines crash off Beirut Lebanon.  The 6th Fleet guided missile destroyer USS Ramage which was on maneuvers in the area is involved, as is a P-3 Orion maritime search and rescue aircraft.

The airline is saying no Americans were on the flight.  There was a total of 90 people on board and feared dead. The majority of them are  Lebanese and Ethiopian.  There were two Britons, a French person and a Canadian.

A US official does tell us, though, that there are many “dual nationals” in Beirut, that is, those carrying both Lebanese and American passports, they don’t always show up on first review, so the last word on this will have to wait.

As for cause, locals tell us it was a stormy night in Lebanon and bad weather is being looked at as the principal cause.

Right now terror or sabotage is being ruled oiut.

Mechanical fault can’t be ruled out, although the type of aircraft, the 737-800, is durable.   The New York-based CIT Aerospace firm which actually leased the plane to Ethiopian Airlines referred questions back  to the firm.

The Beirut Airport is built right up against the densely populated outskirts of the city.  New video indicates two flashes came from  the plane over land but the craft went down into the sea.   A tragedy could have been worse.