ECN 10/30/07

Fatal blast near Musharraf's HQ
A suicide bomb attack has killed at least seven people and injured 11 near Pakistan's army headquarters, in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Officials said the blast occurred some 2km (1.24 miles) away from a secure compound containing the army HQ and President Pervez Musharraf's office.

Foreign fighters of violent bent bolster Taliban
By DAVID ROHDE
The foreign fighters are not only bolstering the ranks of the insurgency. They are more violent, uncontrollable and extreme than even their locally bred allies, officials on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border warn.
They are also helping to change the face of the Taliban from a movement of hard-line Afghan religious students into a loose network that now includes a growing number of foreign militants as well as disgruntled Afghans and drug traffickers.

As outsiders become more of the movement, I think the local population will grow further and further away for the movement.

Where Have the Skilled Workers Gone?
By Juliane Kinast, Christian Reiermann and Michael Sauga
The German economy has hardly regained its stride, and now businesses are complaining about a lack of well-qualified employees. Voices in both the political and business worlds call for new immigration laws. But should Germany let in more workers when it still has 3.8 million unemployed?

This suggests to me a two fold problem, first training of skilled workers is deficient and those that are trained are going else where (leaving the country). The US also is suffering from a lack of skilled workers but there also a very low unemployment rate.

France and Britain suggest tax cut on green products

30.10.2007 - 09:27 CET
Following a joint initiative of France and the UK, EU finance ministers will discuss cutting value-added taxes on energy efficient products in an effort to stimulate consumers to shop in a more environmental-friendly way.