Word: regions
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...tactics and small-to-medium firearms are limited. One frustrated American trainer of Afghan soldiers confided to me that his Afghan mortar team was going nowhere. With little understanding of geometry, the soldiers were depending on guesswork, rather than precision degrees, to aim their indirect fire - in a populated region where one or two degrees off could mean the difference between dead goats and dead civilians...
...year hailed as Africa's coming-out party on the world soccer stage began disastrously. On Jan. 8, militants mistakenly opened fire on a bus carrying Togo's national team, killing three people. The squad was traveling in the restive Cabinda region of Angola to play in the African Cup of Nations tournament, a tune-up for this summer's World Cup in South Africa. Separatist rebels apologized for the attack, explaining that an Angolan convoy had been their intended target...
Riots in the southern region of Calabria exposed deep conflicts over race and immigration in Italy. A Jan. 7 attack on African residents sparked clashes in the town of Rosarno that left more than 50 people hurt, including migrant workers, native Italians and police. Opposition leader Pier Luigi Bersani blamed the melee on "Mafia, exploitation, xenophobia and racism," while Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said Italians had been too tolerant of illegal immigration. Hundreds of immigrants were evacuated and more than 10 suspected mafiosi arrested...
...react to the Kazakh offer, may not take kindly to two of its former republics' striking an energy deal behind its back. The offer demonstrates, however, that many former Soviet states might not care anymore if they anger their former benefactor. A sense of defiance has grown in the region since the Russia-Georgia war, which proved that Moscow would not stop at economic bullying in its efforts to maintain influence over its neighbors. (Read "Russia's Gazprom Diplomacy: Turning Off Europe's Heat...
...partnership between Belarus and Kazakhstan, two of Russia's most loyal allies, does come to pass, it could further weaken Russia's influence in the region. But considering the dependence of both countries on trade with Russia, this still seems like a distant prospect, and some analysts say Kazakhstan's offer to Belarus is most likely a bluff. It would be costly and difficult for Kazakhstan to ship oil to Belarus, and Belarus could not afford to pay fair-market prices anyway, says Denis Borisov, an analyst at Bank Moskvy, one of Russia's largest banks. Kazakh companies could, however...