Thursday, November 18, 2010

YemenWatch: Thursday November 18, 2010

President Saleh is a bit upset with all the criticism and boycotts involving Yemen.  He says that Yemen and the Yemeni people are victims too.

The Bani Thabian are denying foreign reports that their district is home to AQAP.  The head of the local council said there is no Al-Qa'eda and no air strikes.

According to The Telegraph (UK), the US knew about possible parcel bombs several months ago.  American officials claim to have intercepted test packages in September.

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The president of the Kuwaiti Football Federation said that Aden is safe for the Gulf Cup.  The Kuwaiti team arrives on Friday.

A man threw a hand grenade into a relative's house, where he was having a qat party.  Three people died and 21 were wounded.  He may have ties to the Houthis in the north.  It's a bit unclear right now.

A Yemeni C-130, on its way home from Jordan, ran off a runway and caught fire at Sana'a International Airport.

A Panamanian ship sank off the coast of Yemen.  All on board were rescued.

Schlumberger is in trouble for bribery.  The Wall Street Journal has an investigative report into the matter.  Apparently there is some sort of US law on foreign bribes.  Look, I'm all for people in America trying to keep bribes out of the picture in the US.  I firmly believe in getting things done on merit or cost.  But in some parts of the world, bribery is how you get things done.  It's not thought of as "bribes" it's thought of as the cost of doing business.  So if you tell American companies that they can't pay "bribes" in certain other countries, then you're putting them at a disadvantage, behind the other companies who are paying the bribes.  There's a big difference between bribing an official in America and bribing one in Yemen.

Also, the Yemeni volleyball team is having trouble concentrating at the Asian Games (cheerleaders!).  (h/t Waq al-Waq)

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