Titles:

Bank of England  governor:  Imbalances could trigger 1930s-style world-wide  economic collapse

US calls on Turkey to back NATO missile defense plans

UK can no longer mount military operations like Iraq invasion

Canada loses UAE military base in tit-for tat spat

Obama the crusading warmonger to visit Pakistan in 2011

News Details:

Bank of England  governor:  Imbalances could trigger 1930s-style world-wide  economic collapse
The world is facing a dangerous trade war which could spark a 1930s-style collapse unless policymakers can agree a common path on managing currencies and demand imbalances, Bank of England Mervyn King said on Tuesday. Speaking days before a meeting of G20 policymakers in Korea, King called for a "grand bargain" between major economies on exchange rates, rules for capital flows and realigning domestic demand to put the recovering global economy on a surer footing. King, the first G7 policymaker to so explicitly raise the prospect of a trade war since a row over global imbalances erupted this month, said "major surplus and deficit countries are pursuing economic strategies that are in direct conflict"."The need to act in the collective interest has yet to be recognized, and, unless it is, it will be only a matter of time before one or more countries resort to trade protectionism as the only domestic instrument to support a necessary rebalancing," King said in a speech in central England. "That could, as it did in the 1930s, lead to a disastrous collapse in activity around the world. Every country would suffer ruinous consequences -- including our own."

US calls on Turkey to back NATO missile defense plans
The United States called on Turkey on Monday to back NATO's proposed missile defense system and take steps to counter growing resistance in the U.S. Congress to any future sale of drone aircraft.  A long-time NATO member that aspires to join the European Union, Turkey must decide at a NATO summit in Lisbon next month whether to support a missile defense system that it fears could be seen as a program aimed against Iran -- a neighboring Islamic state which has deepened its ties with Ankara. Turkey earlier on Monday expressed some reservations about the system, saying it wanted more technical details and adding that it should not be presented as a defense against Iran. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking at an event in Washington on U.S.-Turkey relations, acknowledged ongoing talks with Ankara about Turkey's potential "technical and operational contributions" to a missile shield.  Still, Gates rejected media reports that Washington was pressuring Ankara to take part in the system; amid speculation Turkey might host an installation known as an X-Band radar. "Contrary to some press reports, we are not pressuring Turkey to make a contribution," Gates said, addressing a conference on U.S.-Turkish relations in Washington.

UK can no longer mount military operations like Iraq invasion
The government has decided that Britain will no longer be able to mount military operations on the scale of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the deployment in Afghanistan's Helmand province, it emerged on Tuesday as David Cameron unveiled the details of the strategic defense and security review. The prime minister insisted that the coalition was protecting Britain's future security today as he confirmed cuts to the armed forces as part of an 8% real-terms fall in the defense budget by 2015. But it emerged that the planned cuts to military personnel mean that the largest overseas deployment over the next decade will consist of 30,000 troops - two thirds of the number of British troops that took part in the invasion of Iraq. This suggests that Britain will also no longer be able to sustain the sort of long-term campaign it is fighting in Helmand when combat British troops end their mission in Afghanistan in 2015. A future "enduring stabilization operation" will consist of 6,500 troops - lower than the numbers currently in Afghanistan. The prime minister, who announced that the army will be cut to 95,000 by 2015, said that Britain should focus more attention on the causes of conflict to reduce the high costs of "just dealing with the consequences" of failed states.

Canada loses UAE military base in tit-for tat spat
Canadian troops will be pulling out early from an important military base in the United Arab Emirates after failing to reach an agreement with the government there for its continued use.  Camp Mirage in Dubai has been a staging ground for the Canadian Forces mission in Afghanistan but it's also become a pawn in a dispute over access to Canada's airspace. The UAE has been lobbying Ottawa to get additional landing rights for its two major commercial airlines and it's previously been reported that there is a link between those efforts and Canada's lease for the Middle East military base. Its existence is supposed to be kept under wraps for national security reasons, but Camp Mirage is a poorly kept secret.  Government officials would not confirm the end of Canada's lease agreement with the UAE, saying they don't comment on operational matters, but sources said the options to renew it were too expensive and not in Canada's interest.  Simultaneously, the UAE government issued a statement Thursday indicating negotiations over expanding the number of flights to Canada have broken down.

Obama the crusading warmonger to visit Pakistan in 2011
Pakistan on Wednesday praised US President Barack Obama for saying he would visit the country next year, calling it a sign of commitment between the troubled war partners. Obama, meeting with a senior Pakistani delegation, said he would not visit when he travels to neighboring India next month. But he committed to visiting Pakistan in 2011 and invited Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to Washington. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, speaking afterward at the Brookings Institution think-tank, called his meeting with Obama "very satisfying.""The fact that he has agreed to visit Pakistan next year, the fact that he has decided to invite the president of Pakistan to the United States of America, that is the level of engagement that is taking place," Qureshi said.The United States has played a delicate balancing act, seeking to show Pakistan it seeks a relationship beyond cooperation on Afghanistan while also trying to broaden its ties with India. But Qureshi acknowledged "obviously there are concerns" that remain between Pakistan and the United States. In a recent report to Congress, the White House said bluntly that, though it had made sacrifices in the US anti-terror campaign, Pakistan could do more to crack down on extremist safe-havens in lawless tribal areas.