[Tolo News] Mohammad Mohaqiq, the second deputy of Chief Executive Officer of National Unity Government (NUG), Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... on Friday met delegates from various national and international humanitarian organizations to help those affected as a result of the recent Taliban attack on Kunduz city and residents of Wardoj district in Badakhshan.
The fall of Kunduz last week left many civilians homeless.
"According to statistics, thousands evacuated the city and sought refuge in Takhar province and Kalafgan including 500 who are trapped in Sher Khan port. We want to know what the ministers and charity organizations are doing to provide them necessary assistance," he said.
Referring to the fall of Kunduz, Mohaqiq praised the courage and determination of Afghan troops, saying that Afghan forces showed that they can handle threats and are ready to thwart plots.
"The advance of the security forces proved that they had enough capability to compensate whenever a threat is posed," Mohaqiq said.
This comes at a time that a Kunudz MP Fatima Aziz has announced a hunger strike in protest over the situation.
"Our people do not have a morsel of bread, they are in extreme need and can not come out, we are here on strike to attract the attention of international organizations and the UN to come to their support," Fatima Aziz said.
"My whole family has been trapped in Kunduz war, please help the people," a resident of Kunduz said.
According to reports, residents in Kunduz are being subjected to horrific ordeals.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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[Tolo News] Afghan deputy Army Chief, who is leading the Kunduz battle, said on Friday that the Taliban intended to move their new leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour to Kunduz after capturing the city earlier this week.
Gen Murad Ali Murad said however that the gunnies failed to do so after the security forces launched two operations in Kunduz - which fell to the Taliban on Monday after hundreds of armed gunnies stormed the province, over ran government facilities and blocked all main routes leading to Kunduz.
"Taliban wanted to have control over Kunduz and bring Akhtar Mansour to the province to hold a presser there and also show their existence in Afghanistan and that it is through support of Pakistain," the four-star Afghan general said.
Briefing the foreign minister Salahuddin Rabbani who is also in Kunduz, Murad assured the people of Kunduz they would clear their province from gunnies and continue the operation until the gunnies are eliminated.
"The situation in Kunduz is under our control. However we are not allowing families to return back to their homes until we are not fully sure about the situation," said Murad, who is also the Afghan National Army (ANA) Ground Forces commander.
In addition, he explained that the Taliban had carried out severe brutalities and also looting sprees during their attack on Kunduz.
"What they [Taliban] have done to the people of Kunduz was different from those in other parts. They have looted people's properties, stolen vehicles and also women's jewelry. They have also killed a number of people at their homes," he added.
Rabbani, meanwhile, praised the security forces and also assured the residents of Kunduz that their province will soon be cleared of murderous Moslems.
"We have come here to tell our security forces that the entire nation is standing behind them," Rabbani said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the mall, Clarissa suddenly spied Mr. Bartlett at the checkout counter. He was buying Grecian Formula!... the Amnesia Amnesty International also expressed deep concerns over what it said "terrorize of Kunduz residents" by the Taliban and said the group was involved in mass murders and gang rapes in the province.
However the main roads leading to Kunduz are still blocked by the Taliban, and the reinforcement troops have not been able so far to get to the city.
A number of U.S. Special Forces have also reportedly taken part in the operation to retake the city.
Nearly 150 Taliban murderous Moslems, including foreign nationals have been killed in the Kunduz battle.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Getting a double-wide thru the passes is a bitch.
Somalia’s prime minister says the government wants to liberate all remaining territory held by the Islamic militant group al-Shabab in the coming year and have its own forces take over the country’s security from an African-led force in the next two to three years.
Sure. In the meantime, don't travel there...
Omar Sharmarke said in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday that he believes both goals are achievable.
He said al-Shabab “has lost a lot of ground” and “we are the only country that consistently has decreased this radicalization.”
Sharmarke said Al-Shabab carries out a major attack every two to three months, like the suicide bombing at the gate of Somalia’s presidential palace on Sept. 21, while in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hotspots there are sometimes several militant attacks a day.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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The Department of State reiterated its warning to U.S. citizens against all but essential travel to Somalia for the second time in a year, describing the situation in the country as “remaining dangerous.”
It's sad but necessary for us to remember that in a country of 315 million people there are enough of us who are 3 standard deviations from the mean of common sense who need to be warned not to travel to a war zone...
While the Horn of Africa nation continues to recover from over two decades of civil war, the department of state said in a statement released on Thursday that its citizens should avoid all travel to Somalia because of the general threat of violent crime, terrorism, and the targeting of foreigners for murder and kidnappings, particularly by the extremist terrorist group al-Shabaab.
The security situation in Somalia remains unstable and dangerous. Terrorist operatives and armed groups in Somalia continue to attack Somali authorities, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and other non-military targets. Kidnapping, bombings, murder, illegal roadblocks, banditry, and other violent incidents and threats to U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals can occur in any region of Somalia. In addition, there is a particular threat to foreigners in places where large crowds gather and Westerners frequent, including airports, government buildings, and shopping areas. Inter-clan and inter-factional fighting can flare up with little or no warning,’’ the department said on its website.
This replaces the Travel Warning of October 24, 2014 to emphasize the continuing threat of armed attacks, bombings and kidnappings in the Southern part of the country.
Last month, the US government reopened Somalia mission in neighbouring Kenya as part of its efforts to restore the diplomatic relations.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Hmmm... The Bahamas or Somalia for my vacation next month? I gotta think this one through...
The recent decision to ban female staff from wearing the full face veil aims to put an end to student complaints of "poor communication" in class, the head of Egypt's Cairo University said on Friday.
Although the head-to-toe covering known locally as the niqab is "not a phenomenon" among his teachers, Gaber Nassar said that he wants to "cure the disease" before it becomes one.
Islamic clerics and students have denounced the move as discriminatory, but Nassar said he has the backing of the Grand Mufti, Egypt's top religious authority.
The niqab, Nassar said, is especially problematic in language courses, where the cloth barrier of the veil hinders student-teacher communications - producing low grades and graduates incapable of enunciation.
The vast majority of Egyptian Muslim women wear a form of veil that covers the hair but leaves the face uncovered. However the number of women wearing the full niqab veil has increased dramatically in the past 10-20 years.
In 2009, Cairo University had banned both students and staff from wearing the niqab on campus or in the university's dorms. The ban was later overturned by a Cairo court following a lawsuit filed by a professor.
"That was unconstitutional because it said all of the university, we are saying now only the lecture halls," Nassar said, daring anyone to challenge his decree in court. "We are not banning the niqab, we are just regulating it."
The ban is already receiving mixed reviews among students.
"This is part of the greater war on Islamists," said a male student. "But it doesn't matter because bigger violations of personal freedoms happen and no one moves."
This is Egypt, after all...
Another male student said Nassar's "rationale makes no sense" and a teacher wearing the niqab "can easily just pull the cloth away from her face when she speaks, if their problem really is articulation."
Both students spoke on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Another male student said Nassar's "rationale makes no sense" and a teacher wearing the niqab "can easily just pull the cloth away from her face when she speaks, if their problem really is articulation."
the cloth covering her face sends a very articulate message without speaking. That's why they're banning it
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/03/2015 10:20 Comments ||
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#2
"Thank Allah for ankles! Oh, yummy!
But when they show faces, that's scummy.
We're weirdly lusty
And hot for these dusty
Professors wrapped up like our mummy."
The Saudi-backed Yemeni government of President Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi has decided to sever diplomatic relations with Iran, state-owned Aden television reported on Friday without elaborating. Bahrain had recalled its ambassador from Iran on Thursday.
Earlier in Geneva, the top UN human rights body approved a resolution on Yemen presented by Saudi Arabia - a major participant in the conflict. The Human Rights Council vote by consensus calls for Yemen to receive "technical assistance" on improving human rights. The UN estimates that more than 2,300 civilians have died since fighting escalated in the poor Arab Peninsula country in March, notably involving air power from a US-backed, Saudi-led coalition.
The measure that passed on Friday came after Dutch diplomats this week abandoned a separate proposal calling for an international fact-finding mission in Yemen.
Just what we need in Yemen, more facts...
Human Rights Watch, in a statement, called the Saudi-led resolution "deeply flawed" and said the Dutch backed down only after "intense pressure from Saudi Arabia."
"By failing to set up a serious UN inquiry on war-torn Yemen, the Human Rights Council squandered an important chance to deter further abuses," said Philippe Dam, its Geneva deputy director.
No worries, the HRC squandered all its credibility with its continued anti-Israel proposals...
The Saudi-led proposal calls on Yemen's government to take measures to protect civilians, and calls on armed militia groups to release political prisoners. It asks the UN human rights chief to report next year on the situation - though no debate on the matter is so far planned.
The United States, which has supported the Saudi-led military campaign notably with midair refueling aircraft, initially supported the Dutch resolution but also said it was seeking compromise.
US Ambassador Keith Harper decried the "terrible humanitarian toll" carried out by all sides in the conflict, and said the US would support further action by the council if human rights don't improve in Yemen.
The resolution came on the last day of the 30th session of the 47-member council, which was created in 2006 to keep an international spotlight on rights abuses on around the world - even if it cannot compel countries to act.
Separately on Friday, Unicef said that at least 505 children have been killed in Yemen, more than 600 have been recruited as child soldiers, and 1.7 million are facing the risk of malnutrition as infrastructure crumbles.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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[AA.TR] A Chinese political advisor has highlighted "counter-terrorism" as the main focus for the country's troubled western Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
Yu Zhengsheng has been on a tour of Xinjiang, where he attended a grand rally in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi for the region's 60th anniversary of autonomy.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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North Korea is likely to go for an ostentatious military parade for the celebration of the ruling party's founding anniversary later this month, instead of a much-trumpeted launch of long-range missile, according to officials on Friday.
North Korea is expected to celebrate the landmark 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Workers' Party of Korea on Oct. 10 with unusual events to show off its military might as the country has often done on major occasions.
Launch of a long-range missile has been the most speculated event, but officials said North Korea has so far not shown any signs of preparations for the launch before the anniversary date. Instead, the country is putting together a military parade at an airfield in Pyongyang, which may involve new types of weapons.
"Various equipment and troops like combat jets, artillery equipment and missiles have been deployed to the Mirim Airport in Pyongyang. The North is preparing a parade event in commemoration of the party foundation," a government official said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reportedly ordered "the biggest-ever" military parade for this year's anniversary.
The military event may involve a small-scale air show as well as a display of a new set of weapons including multiple rocket launchers, unmanned aerial vehicles and stealth very slender vessels, called VSV, according to other military officials. The military is also weighing the possibility of the North unveiling a new type of missile.
The parade may come in lieu of a long-range missile launch expected for the celebration later this month, with the country showing yet no signs of a missile launch.
"South Korea is closely watching North Korea's move. But there has been no sign of an imminent launch," said another government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The North has not taken its usual step of notifying the International Maritime Organization (IMO) or the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of launch activities, a process the country takes before firing a rocket.
Given that preparations for a rocket launch, such as fuel injection, usually take seven to 10 days, experts said it would be difficult for the North to launch a missile before the anniversary,
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Too bad for Pudgy, as ...
* BIGNEWSNETWORK > NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR BOMBS ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN [what US used on]HIROSHIMA'S, ENVOY SAYS.
NOKOR Amb. to the UK Hyon Bak Bong, whom also says that NOKOR will attack = nuke any target or place in Asia-Pacific it deems necessary iff a US-NOKOR war broke out.
D *** NG IT, NOKOR = PLA = WILL NUKE GUAM'S CAMEL ROCK - you know, BEIJING!
#5
Dear Leader's another year plumper:
"How shall I rejoice? It's a stumper.
Let's put on a derby
In which each unworthy
Nork general is lashed to a bumper!"
North Korean diplomats are under growing stress because most foreign dignitaries have turned down invitations to the Workers Party's 70th anniversary on Oct. 10. If stationed overseas, the diplomats have had to redouble their efforts to earn hard currency as the regime is in desperate need of funds for the extravaganza, a government source here said Wednesday.
Early this year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered officials to invite any senior figures from abroad to the party anniversary, according to the source. But almost none have bitten, not even in nominally allied countries.
Contrary to their earlier promise, former Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri and senior Vietnamese apparatchik Ngo Van Du have reportedly canceled their scheduled visit.
In Cuba, Leopoldo Cintra Frias, the armed forces minister, has not yet responded to the invitation.
Antonio Razzi, an Italian senator who has visited the North several times, has reportedly declined the invitation for fear that he would be taken advantage of by the regime's propaganda machine.
In Beijing, a diplomatic source said, "With only 10 days left before the anniversary, I haven't heard that China has received a formal invitation." It is unclear whether that is linked to China's firm opposition to another North Korean long-range missile test.
"During the UN General Assembly session, Chinese President Xi Jinping openly warned the North against any provocations," the source added. "China would lose face if the North did go ahead with a missile launch while a senior Chinese official is in the country."
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Bernie would go. Why didn't they ask him?
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
10/03/2015 16:23 Comments ||
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North Korean leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un gained around 30 kg over the last five years and now weighs apparently close to 130 kg.
A government official said Friday, "By analyzing His Enormity's Kim Jong-un's body shape and gait, we estimated he weighed less than 100 kg when he first appeared in public in September of 2010 but then rapidly put on weight."
He said the clearest signs are his belly and double chin. "When he’s standing while holding his hands behind his back, you can see his abdomen protruding, and his chin folds when he is spotted giving orders."
Plus, he waddles like the cartoon character Penguin, complete with walking stick...
Another government source here said Pudgy Kim rapidly put on weight after the execution of his uncle and former eminence grise Jang Song-taek in December of 2013. "Heavy drinking and overeating due to stress appears to be the main reasons," he added.
Others believe Kim put on weight on purpose in order to look more like his grandfather, plump nation founder Kim Il-sung.
And don't no one else try that in North Korea...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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The article is in German. Link to google translation.
Summary:
[HNA.de]. Police confirmed that it is current policy that ambulances won't enter the Calden refugee tent city. If they need to go in for medical reasons they will be under police protection.
This is due to an incident on 9/18. An ambulance had been called to the tent city. Both the crew and the vehicle were accosted by refugees.
Per the new policy patients will be brought to a peripheral reception area.
According to information provided to HNA (the newspaper) there were further incidents involving medical personnel in the Calden shelter (1380 refugees).
For instance a female M.D. was punched in the stomach by a male patient she was examining, the newspaper learned from a reliable source.
The female M.D. continued treating people at the facility, albeit making sure the police was always at calling distance.
Other M.D.s all male?
reported that the language barrier made examinations more difficult. They didn't report threats or assaults however. If there was a period of serious internal unrest in Germany, what would be the geopolitical consequences?
We might be about to find out.
[AA.TR] An arrest warrant has been issued for U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen in absentia for alleged "conspiracy, forgery of official documents and slander" as part of an ongoing "parallel state" probe in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... .
Istanbul's 14th High Penal Court issued the warrant late Friday after the court approved the indictment submitted by the Anti-Terror and Organized Crimes Bureau of Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
The indictment demanded a jail term of up to 34 years for Gulen on charges of "conspiracy, forgery of official documents and slander" as part of a probe over a 2011 complaint filed by Mehmet Nuri Turan, the founder of the Istanbul-based publishing house "Tahsiye", who had claimed that he was targeted by Gulen.
The prosecutor also sought prison sentences of up to 26 years for 32 other suspects each, including Samanyolu Media Group Chairman Hidayet Karaca and several police chiefs on charges of "membership to an armed organization, forgery of official documents and slander".
The court ruled for the arrest of prime suspect Gulen in absentia, on the grounds that he was a "runaway" and "there are phenomena of virtual criminal suspicion, concrete phenomena suggesting that he might hide" and the "measure of judicial control would be insufficient in face of the classification and nature of the crime".
Judges also wanted a letter to be sent to the Ministry of Justice so that a red notice could be issued by Interpol that could lead to the extradition of the suspect by U.S. judicial authorities.
The case will be tried at Istanbul's Silivri Prison and Correctional Facility, with the first hearings to be held on December 22, 23 and 24.
The prosecutor's office also said that a separate probe was underway against Ekrem Dumanli, columnist and editor-in-chief of the Zaman newspaper, in relation with the Tahsiye case.
The plaintiff Turan had said that Gulen first allegedly targeted the Tahsiye Publishing House in 2009. In a speech, the preacher had alleged that Tahsiye and its "Tahsiyeciler" group had links with bad boy organizations -- including an al-Qaeda-affiliated group -- Hezbollah in Turkey, and the Islamic Great Eastern Raiders Front.
Turan also said that Ali Fuat Yilmazer, a former head of police intelligence department, had also submitted a report in 2009 which alleged that Tahsiyeciler supported bad boy groups like al-Qaeda because of which the group was systematically targeted.
The same Tahsiyeciler group was also allegedly defamed as a shadowy organization in the "One Turkey" television series that used to broadcast on the private Turkish television network, Samanyolu.
Samanyolu television chairman was also detained in the parallel state probe for allegedly having ties with the Gulen movement.
The parallel state is a purported clandestine group of Turkish babus bureaucrats and bigwigs embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and police, led by Gulen and his Hizmet (Service) movement, which allegedly is plotting to overthrow the elected government.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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[AA.TR] Three Justice and Development (AK) Party members suspected of being involved in the attack on Turkish journalist Ahmet Hakan Coskun have been expelled from their party as a "precautionary move", a senior party official announced Friday.
Three AK Party members, said to be involved in the attack, were dismissed from the party as a precautionary move, AK Party Deputy Chairman and spokesperson Omer Celik announced via his official Twitter account.
"Such mentality has no place in our party. The ones who have such a mentality have been condemned by our party; [they] cannot even pass by AK Party, let alone be a member. Such people who resort to violence will be expelled swiftly. These people cannot have any organizational bond with AK Party," Celik said in a series of tweets.
Coskun, a columnist for the Hurriyet daily newspaper and host of a television show for CNN Turk network, suffered a broken nose and ribs following the assault on Thursday, according to media and hospital sources.
Police later detained four suspects in the attack, which took place outside Coskun's Istanbul home.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Such mentality has no place in our party.
Translation: Dummkoffs who are so easily caught have no place in our party.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
10/03/2015 21:12 Comments ||
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[AA.TR] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's Parliamentary Speaker Ismet Yilmaz claimed Friday that the PKK is being steered by external powers.
"The terrorist organization [PKK] is not domestic. It has become foreign forces' pawn," Yilmaz told Anadolu Agency's Editor's Desk. "How can killing innocent people be related to claiming rights?" he asked.
A former defense minister, Yilmaz stated that Turkey is in a very hard region, circled by problems.
"Terror will always exist. It is a cost of living in these geographies. But this nation has always saved its unity and solidarity despite the great powers and everything," he said.
He said that the nation does not support the PKK, adding: "The people have never taken its side. And the people will never take the [side of] a terrorist organization that became the foreign forces' pawn."
Yilmaz added that Turkish security forces' intelligence is very strong and it carries out operations in accordance with this intelligence to get concrete results.
"Turkey does what is necessary for the law," he said.
Renewed violence in Turkey has come in the wake of the July 20 Suruc massacre, blamed on Daesh. The subsequent PKK-linked murder of two Turkish coppers at their home sparked a new wave of conflict.
The fighting has seen the collapse of a fragile cease-fire which began early 2013 and was dubbed the "solution process".
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Which foreign power?
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
10/03/2015 21:14 Comments ||
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[DAWN] Army Chief General Raheel Sharif ..Pak chief of army staff, meaning he pulls the strings on the Nawaz Sharif puppet to make it dance and sing and not do much at all.... , while addressing a gathering at Royal United Services Institute in London, said that Kashmire is an unfinished agenda of Indo-Pak partition which needs to be resolved for the sake of peace and stability in the region.
According to details of the gathering shared by Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa on Twitter, the army chief said on Friday that "Indian intransigence and the violations at Line of Control are negatively affecting the region".
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm almost hoping for the day this Pak-India thing REALLY lights up. They can be the Land of The Pure Smoking Radioactive Rubble
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/03/2015 12:53 Comments ||
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[DAWN] Former president General (retd) Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... has rejected the statement of American journalist and lobbyist Mark Siegel and termed it as a pack of lies, according to a statement released on Friday.
"I never made a phone call to Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... while she was in the United States," said Musharraf.
The former president added that Benazir would not have approached him for security if she were scared of him.
"Mark Seigel's statement is a conspiracy by anti-Pakistain elements and our enemies want to use the statement against Pakistain," stated the former army chief.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[AA.TR] Hundreds of Jewish settlers on Friday attacked Paleostinian villages and spray-painted anti-Arab phrases in a fresh spate of so-called "price-tag" attacks in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to eyewitnesses.
"Jewish settlers attacked villages near the West Bank cities of Ramallah, Jenin, Tulkarem, Nablus and Hebron," one witness told Anadolu Agency.
"Settlers torched a car in Beitillu village near Ramallah and spray-painted anti-Arab phrases," another eyewitness said.
On Thursday night, hundreds of Jewish settlers attacked Paleostinian vehicles after two Israeli settlers were killed near the Itamar settlement in the southern West Bank city of Nablus.
Ghassan Daghlas, the Paleostinian Authority official in charge of settlement affairs, told Anadolu Agency that Jewish settlers -- under the protection of Israeli security forces -- had stormed the Paleostinian villages of Burin and Hawara in the northern West Bank and torched dozens of acres of Paleostinian farmland.
According to Daghlas, the Israeli army deployed forces both south and east of Nablus to protect the rampaging settlers.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
I fail to see any problem with this - payback & all that...
#2
Well, you see, Raj, the settlers are being Islamophobic - that's a no-no these days. (Being murderously anti-Semitic is perfectly acceptable, of course.) /sarcasm
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/03/2015 0:59 Comments ||
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#3
Naturally spray painting and burning a field are far more dastardly than murdering two people.
Posted by: Steven ||
10/03/2015 2:11 Comments ||
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#5
Her Daddy, said Nablus, once told her,
"Behold, when you get the cold shoulder,
Say 'Shalom aleichem,'
Then, settlers of Shechem,
Return for a pebble a boulder."
[AA.TR] The Malaysian prime minister condemned Israel Friday for what he called its "systematic dehumanization" of Paleostinians, saying the situation risked becoming a "catastrophe". Hand him the klik'r, he knows what to do.
Addressing the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... General Assembly, Najib Razak stressed that there was a need to "permanently address the injustice" suffered by the Paleostinians since 1948.
"Decades of impunity and the systematic dehumanization of Paleostinians has culminated in increasing violence, increasing illegal settlements, and increasing violations of rights," said Razak.
"If the world continues to turn a blind eye to their sufferings, we risk another catastrophe in the Occupied Paleostinian Territory," he said.
"We will also fail to uphold the right to self-determination, which was at the very basis of the United Nations when it was created 70 years ago."
Razak called for Israel to return authority over the Al-Aqsa Mosque -- Islam's third holiest site -- to King Abdullah of Jordan, whom he called its legal custodian.
Jordan administered the mosque up until the time of the 1967 Middle East War.
Razak added that it was Israel's duty to help Moslems from around the world to visit the site.
He also announced that Malaysia would accept 3,000 Syrian migrants over the next three years to help alleviate the current Middle East refugee crisis, saying the international community should be pushing for new solutions to it.
"The millions fleeing are people -- like us," he said.
"They should concern us all. We must respect our common humanity."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Must be a different Malaysia:
Malaysia Human Rights
Human Rights Concerns
The government tightened control of dissent and curtailed the right to freedom of expression and religion. Bloggers were arrested under the Sedition Act, and the Printing Press and Publications Act (PPPA) was used to control newspaper content. Ten people were arbitrarily arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA). Security forces continued to use excessive force while the establishment of an independent police complaints misconduct commission was postponed. Immigration personnel and volunteers conducted mass arrests of migrant workers. At least 22 people were sentenced to death. The number executed was unknown.
#7
In the book Buku Panduan Kemasukan ke Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam, Program Pengajian Lepasan SPM/Setaraf Sesi Akademik 2007/2008 (Guidebook for entry into public higher learning institutions for SPM/equivalent graduates for academic year 2007/2008), the Malaysian Higher Education Ministry defined bumiputra as follows, depending on the region of origin of the individual applicant:[4]
Peninsular Malaysia
"If one of the parents is Muslim Malay/Orang Asli[5] as stated in Article 160 (2) Federal Constitution of Malaysia; thus the child is considered as a Bumiputra"
Sabah
"If the child was born is Sabah or the father was domiciled in Sabah at the time of birth, and one of the parents is indigenous natives of Sabah as stated in Article 161A (6)(b) Federal Constitution of Malaysia; thus his child is considered as a Bumiputra"
Sarawak
"If both of the parent are indigenous natives of Sarawak as stated in Article 161A (6)(a) Federal Constitution of Malaysia; thus their child is considered as a Bumiputra"
[ALMANAR.LB] A senior US administration official says Russia will not be able to hold out long in Syria with "no future" for Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... in the Arab country.
Quoting several administration officials, CNN reported Thursday that no ambiguity remains about Russia's strategy in Syria. According to the report, President Barack Obama I bowled a 129. It’s like — it was like Special Olympics, or something... 's administration assessment is that Russia is seeking to take over the airspace in the region and be the agenda-setting force on the ground.
"The Russians can't be stupid," said a senior administration official. "This is going to be wildly expensive. And they can't hold out long."
"They know in the end there is no future for the guy (Assad) because the whole reason they had to come in is because Assad and his forces were extremely vulnerable," said the official.
The official who spoke on condition of anonymity called on Russians "to come to their senses, stabilize the situation and then we can agree on the Assad piece."
Russia launched Arclight airstrikes against the Daesh Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... murderous Moslems near the city of Homs on Wednesday after US refused to comply with Moscow's demand to take its warplanes out of Syria.
Another official, however, described Russia Arclight airstrikes against Daesh in Syria as a "strategic blunder".
CNN also quoted an unnamed official as saying that Washington has no plans to cede Russia any ground. He said it appears that Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... made a dramatic chess move that the Russians have not thought through.
On Thursday, the administration launched talks through video teleconference with Moscow military officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
US-ALLIES or RUSSIA-ALLIES, EITHER DESTROY THE ISIS/ISIL ASAP, OR FACE A NUCLEAR MUSLIM/ISLAMIC CALIPHATE + MUSLIM/ISLAMIC NUCLEAR NAPOLEON 2030 -2050.
Everything in-between is just Fluff-n-Bluff, Full of Sound-n-Fury, signifying nothing = meaning nothing to God + Madonna + My Ancestors.
#4
Wildly expensive. Didn't Obama just free up Billions for Iran, which can transfer to Russia via Syria?..or just straight to Russia to pay for that Clinton uranium transfer/purchase.
[ALMANAR.LB] Syria will take part in UN talks aimed at launching formal negotiations on ending its four-year war but will not be bound by their outcome, Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said Friday.
Moallem told the UN General Assembly that he understood the talks, proposed by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, to be "mainly to exchange ideas" and non-binding.
"I would like to announce here that Syria agrees to participate in the four brainstorming committees of experts proposed by the special envoy Staffan de Mistura," said Muallem.
De Mistura traveled to Syria last month to win Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... 's support for the new plan, the latest bid by the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... to lay the groundwork for peace after two failed attempt Curses! Foiled again! s.
The four working groups will tackle safety and protection, political and legal affairs, the military and counter-terrorism, and reconstruction.
The foreign minister made clear that fighting the so-called 'Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... group was the government's immediate focus and declared that the "Syrian army is capable of cleansing the country of those terrorists."
"Syria cannot implement any democratic political measures related to elections, a constitution or the like, while terrorism is striking at home," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2015 00:00 ||
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Senior U.S. military leaders and defense officials are debating whether military force should be used to protect Washington-backed Syrian rebels who have come under attack by Russian airstrikes in recent days.
The Associated Press reported early Friday that the question was part of a broader debate within the Pentagon about the the broader dilemma of how the administration should respond to what White House press secretary Josh Earnest described as Russia's "indiscriminate military operations against the Syrian opposition."
Tensions between the U.S. and Russia are escalating over Russian airstrikes that are serving to strengthen Syrian President Bashar Assad by targeting the so-called "moderate" rebels rather than hitting Islamic State (ISIS) fighters it promised to attack.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry says Ankara and its allies in the U.S.-led coalition are calling on Russia to immediately cease attacks on the Syrian opposition and to focus on fighting Islamic State militants.
Meanwhile, a joint statement by the United States, France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Britain expressed concern over Russia's military actions, saying they will "only fuel more extremism and radicalization." The text of the statement was released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Friday, and confirmed by the French Foreign Ministry.
The Pentagon on Thursday had its first conversation with Russian officials in an effort to avoid any unintended U.S.-Russian confrontations as the airstrikes continue in the skies over Syria. During the video call, Elissa Slotkin, who represented the U.S. side, expressed America's concerns that Russia is targeting areas where there are few if any ISIS forces operating. Slotkin is the acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.
A key concern is the prospect of the U.S. and Russia getting drawn into a shooting war in the event that Russian warplanes hit moderate Syrian rebels who have been trained and equipped by the U.S. military.
At U.N. headquarters in New York, Secretary of State John Kerry said: "What is important is Russia has to not be engaged in any activities against anybody but ISIL. That's clear. We have made that very clear."
"We are not yet where we need to be to guarantee the safety and security" of those carrying out the airstrikes, he said.
In an interview late Thursday on CBS's "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," Kerry described the military consultations as "a way of making sure that planes aren't going to be shooting at each other and making things worse."
"What is happening is a catastrophe, a human catastrophe really unparalleled in modern times," Kerry said of the Syrian crisis, adding that Russia should help the United States "persuade Assad to be the saver of his country, not the killer of his country."
U.S. officials made it clear earlier this year that rebels trained by the U.S. would receive air support in the event they are attacked by either IS or Syrian government troops. Currently, only about 80 U.S.-trained Syrian rebels are back in Syria fighting with their units.
The U.S. policy is very specific. It doesn't address a potential attack by Russian planes and does not include Syrian rebels who have not been through the U.S. military training, even though they may be aligned with the U.S. or fighting Islamic State militants.
So far, the Russian airstrikes have been in western Syria. The Syrians trained and equipped by the U.S. have primarily been operating in the north.
U.S. officials said the issue is one of many being hashed out by top leaders within the department and the military's Joint Staff. One official said they are weighing the potential fallout.
At worst, if Russia bombs rebels trained by the U.S. and American fighter jets intercede to protect the Syrians, the exchange could trigger an all-out confrontation with Russia -- a potential disaster the administration would like to avoid.
Fueling the concerns is the fact that Russia has aircraft in Syria with air-to-air combat capacity, even though ISIS has no air force and the only aircraft in the skies belong to U.S.-led coalition or the Syrian government.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook would not provide details of the talks with Russia. But much of the discussion involved proposals for avoiding conflict between U.S. and Russian aircraft flying over Syria.
Kerry said he foresees further consultations with the Russians about air operations. And Cook said the U.S. side proposed using specific international radio frequencies for distress calls by military pilots flying in Syrian airspace, but he was not more specific about that or other proposals.
Russia's defense ministry said that over the past 24 hours it had damaged or destroyed 12 targets in Syria belonging to the ISIS fighters, including a command center and ammunition depots. A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, Col. Steve Warren, said he had no indication that the Russians had hit Islamic State targets.
"While there is always danger of conflict, of inadvertent contact" between coalition and Russian warplanes, "we are continuing with our operations," Warren told reporters at the Pentagon.
This will be fun to watch...from another solar system.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Tolo News] Afghan deputy Army Chief, who is leading the Kunduz battle, said on Friday that the Taliban intended to move their new leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour to Kunduz after capturing the city earlier this week.
The Department of State reiterated its warning to U.S. citizens against all but essential travel to Somalia for the second time in a year, describing the situation in the country as “remaining dangerous.”
The Saudi-backed Yemeni government of President Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi has decided to sever diplomatic relations with Iran, state-owned Aden television reported on Friday without elaborating. Bahrain had recalled its ambassador from Iran on Thursday.
Pervez 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Senior U.S. military leaders and defense officials are debating whether military force should be used to protect Washington-backed Syrian rebels who have come under attack by Russian airstrikes in recent days.
