[Voice of America] Forty-nine suspects, including 19 Afghan police officers, have gone on trial in Kabul on charges linked to the mob beating death of a 27-year-old woman last month.
The televised proceedings opened Saturday with prosecutors arguing that the victim, Farkhunda, was beaten to death and burned March 19 in a frantic attack sparked by a cleric’s phony claim that she had desecrated a copy of Islam’s holy book, the Quran.
Most of the police are charged with neglecting their duty to prevent the attack, though some are suspected of direct participation in the killing.
Widely circulated video showed Farkhunda being beaten and run over by a car before being set on fire. Her body was then thrown into the Kabul River. The video also showed police doing nothing to prevent the attack.
#1
start with the cleric and kill your way to the lowest culpable rung
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/03/2015 10:31 Comments ||
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#2
This crap is so deeply embedded in the Islamic culture, the only thing to do is start arming and training the women. Give them sharp knives and instruct them regarding castration. Maybe this problem will eventually end.
GAROWE, Somalia -- Somalia’s Federal Government and Puntland have come to loggerheads over the future of Mudug region, edging consultative conference on the framework for action closer to collapse on Thursday, Garowe Online reports.
Puntland MP Saed Abdi Samatar (Surcad) who is representing the northeastern state in the ongoing meeting told Garowe Online that Mogadishu-based federal government delegates showed off reluctance about the proposed split of Mudug.
“Before everything, Puntland wants to come on board, and get clarified on the status of Mudug which was split into North and South,” said Surcad. “Somalia Federal Government representatives in the conference hall tried to keep us in dark about the matter, but we are keen to find ways for the matters besetting central state formation”.
Somalia Government and Puntland officials are discussing the sticking point that gave rise to the fresh dispute with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Puntland leader.
On July 30, 2014, Puntland protested the inclusion of Mudug in central state Map, withdrawing support for UN-backed weak central government.
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05/03/2015 00:00 ||
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TUNIS: Protesters took to the streets of Tunis demanding to know the truth about the fate of two journalists whose execution-style killing in Libya was claimed by the Islamic State group.
“Give us back Sofiene; give us back Nadhir,” the crowd of almost 200 demonstrators chanted as they brandished pictures of Sofiene Chourabi and Nadhir Ktari.
Journalist Chourabi and photographer Ktari went missing in eastern Libya last September, after being seized by an armed group.
An IS affiliate in Libya claimed in January that it had killed the two men.
But on Wednesday the Libyan government said that five detainees had admitted to killing five reporters from a local television station as well as Chourabi and Ktari.
Relatives of Chourabi and Ktari accuse Tunisian authorities of failing to obtain the release of the journalists when they were seized, and of inaction after their murder.
[Ynet] Authorities in Congo Republic will impose a ban on wearing the full-face Islamic veil in public in order to tackle a security threat from people using it to conceal their identity, the head of the Congo's Islamic Council said on Saturday.
Many of the Moslems in the oil-producing central African country come from French-speaking West Africa or Arab nations, Bopaka said. Less than 10 percent of Congo's 5 million citizens are believed to be Moslem. Neighbour Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... has been plagued by attacks by Islamist holy warrior group Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... in its northern region. Thousands of refugees have also fled to Congo from neighbouring Central African Republic, where Christian militia have targetted Moslems in the south of the country.
Islamic Council head Djibril Abdoulaye Bopaka said Congo's Islamic community, which he estimated at some 800,000 people, was in agreement with the measure after what he said were reports of individuals using this kind of veil to carry out illegal acts.
[Voice of America] NAIROBI—As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry prepares to discuss security cooperation, trade and human rights with Kenyan leaders, rights groups are urging the top American diplomat to use his visit to address alleged abuses by Kenyan forces in their anti-terror operations.
Kerry’s visit to Kenya comes on the heels of the devastating terrorist attack on Garissa University College in the northeast, which left 148 people dead, most of them students.
The al-Qaida linked militant group al-Shabab, an enemy to both Kenya and the United States, claimed responsibility.
Tom Mboya, a governance consultant in Nairobi, says security cooperation has to be a central issue during the secretary’s visit.
#4
At AP @#1: lecturing our friends and allies on their sins and failings is all Jahwn knows how to do. We're never right and our enemies are never wrong, and are just misunderstood to boot.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/03/2015 8:31 Comments ||
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UN aid agencies warn the growing standoff between protesters and the Burundian government over upcoming presidential elections may results in the country descending into chaos and possibly civil war.
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said it’s worried about increasingly repressive measures being taken by Burundi's government to stifle political dissent. Spokesman Rupert Colville pointed to a series of actions taken by authorities which he said seriously curtail people’s rights to freedom of peaceful expression and assembly.
“Hundreds of people have also allegedly been detained since the demonstrations began last Sunday,” he said. “And according to one credible report, over 400 individuals are being held in extremely overcrowded conditions, with detainees actually having to sleep standing up, it is so crowded.
[AnNahar] U.S. warships protecting American-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz may extend assistance to other countries' vessels, officials said Friday, after reports of Iranian forces harassing shipping.
The expanded U.S. naval presence is intended to signal to Iran that Washington is ready to safeguard shipping along the vital corridor, even at a moment of delicate diplomacy with Tehran over its nuclear program, experts said.
American warships started "accompanying" U.S.-flagged vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday in response to two incidents in less than a week in which commercial vessels were coerced or harassed by Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter approved the operation and "this is going to continue for an indefinite period of time," Pentagon front man Colonel Steven Warren said.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees forces in the Middle East, said it was possible the assistance could be offered to other merchant ships sailing through the maritime chokepoint, a crucial route for the world's oil.
"Our current plans are for accompanying U.S.-flagged ships, although there are discussions with other nations to include their vessels as well," Central Command front man Colonel Patrick Ryder told news hounds.
Officials did not say what other countries might take up the offer.
The USS Farragut, a guided-missile destroyer, and three coastal patrol craft -- the Thunderbolt, the Firebolt and the Typhoon -- are operating in the area.
The high profile naval presence was a response to the seizure of a Marshall Islands-flagged container vessel the Maersk Tigris on Tuesday by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, who fired warning shots at the ship.
And last week, Pentagon officials said a U.S.-flagged ship was "harassed" by Iranian patrol boats.
Iranian authorities said the Maersk Tigris was confiscated over a commercial dispute. But analysts were skeptical of the explanation and speculated it could be related to Tehran's proxy war with America's Gulf Arab allies in Yemen.
Whatever Tehran's motive, said Alireza Nader, an author and analyst at the RAND Corporation think tank "the U.S. had to demonstrate that the waters of the strait are secure and open to international shipping -- whether Iran intended to send a message or not."
The tension in the Gulf coincides with a diplomatic push by major powers for a deal to curtail Iran's nuclear activities before a June 30 deadline.
CNN News footage showed Rebels happily parading in banner-waving vehicle convoys through captured Assad strongholds .
* BHARAT RAKSHAK > ISLAMIST REBELS BATTLE SYRIAN ARMY NEAR ASSAD HOMELAND.
---------------
Not that I believe he will, but presuming that Baby Assad + Regime does indeed fall to the AQ/Nusra-led Rebels, THE USN IN YEMEN + PERSIAN GULF COULD VERY WELL END UP BEING THE MOST IMPORTANT US LINE OF DEFENSE IN THE ME AGZ RISING IRAN.
FYI FALL OF BABY ASSAD = AFAIC JUST ANOTHER REASON FOR THE US-NATO/EU, ETAL. TO SUPPORT PUTIN'S = RUSSIA'S TAKEBACK OF THE CRIMEA.
As the Hard Boyz + Global Jihad begin to spread in Russia + Central Asia, THE RETURN-N-REARMING OF GERMANY PROPER WILL BECOME THAT MUCH MORE IMPORTANT TO THE US-WEST, presuming again that any post-2017 Globalist POTUS successor to Obama continues wid the Bammer's MINIMALIST approach to FP + US-Global Security.
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait on Friday arrested a former opposition lawmaker for alleging Iran was pressuring the emirate to change the crown prince, the government and relatives said.
The Interior Ministry said Waleed Al-Tabtabai had been “arrested on the orders of the public prosecution for spreading false news about the internal situation and undermining the status of the crown prince on social media.”
The former lawmaker, a long-time critic of the Islamic republic, would now be referred to prosecutors for questioning, it added.
In comments posted Thursday on Twitter, Tabtabai wrote that Iran had been putting pressure on Kuwait to replace Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, 76, with a new heir who has strong relations with Tehran.
He said he hoped the attempts would fail.
Under the Kuwaiti constitution, the crown prince is proposed by the emir and approved by Parliament. Sheikh Nawaf, half brother of Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, was appointed to the post in 2006.
Tabtabai’s brother Anwar said the ex-lawmaker was arrested by secret service police.
COLOMBO: The US is working with Saudi Arabia, UAE and the UN to start peace negotiations between Yemen’s government and the Houthis, said US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Kerry said the US was working “very hard” to help negotiate a solution to the crisis in Yemen through the UN.
Speaking to reporters in Sri Lanka, Kerry said it was not inevitable that Yemen would become a failed state.
“I will not say yet that the verdict is in on what Yemen is going to be because we are trying very hard, working with the UN, working with our friends in the region,” he said.
“We are working hard to secure a negotiated process through the UN which will bring the parties together,” he said.
“We are having discussions over the course of every day right now in order to push toward this and our hope is that the UN process may be able (to) actually take hold before too long,” Kerry added.
On February 1, 2013, John Kerry was sworn in as the 68th Secretary of State of the United States.
Hillary Clinton is his predecessor, Redneck Jim. Not that either of them has made a positive contribution to the office, or demonstrated much more intelligence in the execution of their duties than a water flea.
Can you feel the excitement? Me neither.
The UN Security Council on Friday went into closed-door consultations on the crisis in Yemen, where fuel shortages are threatening relief operations as the Saudi-led bombing campaign entered a sixth week.
Russia requested the meeting to push for an end to the fighting or at least humanitarian pauses to give civilians some reprieve.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Thursday that dire fuel shortages were threatening to bring all relief operations to a halt "within days" and said deliveries must resume immediately.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said his government was "very concerned" by the crisis in Yemen and accused Saudi Arabia of showing little interest in resuming peace talks.
"We support negotiations but we don't see an interest on the part of those who are engaged in bombing, in engaging with the new special representative of the secretary general," Churkin told reporters.
Yemen has been since March 26 under brutal aggression by Saudi-US coalition. Riyadh launched the attack on Yemen in a bid to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive president Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi who is a close ally to Saudi Arabia.
On April 21, Saudi Arabia declared the end of the aggression, dubbed “Decisive Strom”. However, the Saudi-led warplanes are still conducting airstrikes on several areas across Yemen.
More than 3,500 people were martyred by the Saudi aggression, most of them are civilians. Thousands more were injured.
[Al Manar] Key infrastructure in Yemen, including water supplies, health services and telecommunications, are on the verge of breaking down due to the ongoing Saudi aggression which has caused a major fuel shortage, a United Nations official said Saturday.
Yemen has been since March 26 under brutal aggression by Saudi-US coalition which has besieged the Arab World poorest country.
"The services still available in the country in terms of health, water, food are quickly disappearing because fuel is no longer being brought into the country," Johannes van der Klaauw told AFP in Djibouti.
"Without fuel hospitals can't work, ambulances can't go out. You can't have the water system working because water has to be pumped. The telecommunication network risks shutting down. This all extremely preoccupying. If something is not done in the next few days in terms of bringing fuel and food into the country, Yemen is going to come to a complete stand-still," he warned.
The official said an arms embargo was also having an impact on the delivery of humanitarian supplies.
"We have the ships which can dock into the ports, we have the aircraft. However the arms embargo has unintended consequences for humanitarian aid," he said, adding that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for a "humanitarian pause".
"We must find a way to have this happen. At least for a couple of days."
[Al Manar] The Iranian foreign ministry summoned the Saudi charge d'affaires in Tehran on Thursday to protest against the Arab country's continued blocking of Iran's cargo planes carrying humanitarian and medical aid to Yemen.
During the meeting, an Iranian foreign ministry official described the Saudi fighter jets' move as unacceptable and against the human standards and the international aviation laws, and called for an immediate halt to the Saudi aggression against Yemen which started on March 26.Iranian aid plane intercepted by Saudi warplanes
The diplomat underlined that Tehran will continue its efforts to send humanitarian aids to the innocent Yemeni people and transfer the wounded to the Iranian hospitals, Fars news agency reported.
Earlier this week the Saudi warplanes prevented the cargo planes of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), carrying pharmaceutical aids, from landing in Sana'a International Airport.
Sources in the Yemeni capital said the Saudi warplanes targeted the airport seven times to make the Iranian plane avoid landing and return to Iran.
The air strikes also set fire to an aircraft belonging to the al-Saeeda airlines.
The sources said the cargo plane was due to take humanitarian aids to Yemen and take several civilians, who were critically wounded in the recent Saudi bombings, back to Tehran to receive specialized medical treatment.
Yemen has been since March 26 under brutal aggression by Saudi-US coalition. Riyadh launched the attack on Yemen in a bid to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi who is a close ally to Saudi Arabia.
On April 21, Saudi Arabia declared the end of the aggression, dubbed “Decisive Strom,” and the start of another campaign called “Restoring Hope.” The Saudi-led warplanes are still conducting airstrikes on several areas across Yemen.
Thousands have been martyred and injured in the attack, with the vast majority of them are civilians.
Posted by: badanov ||
05/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Logistical Resupply Fail
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/03/2015 10:36 Comments ||
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Turkish police on Friday used water cannon and tear gas to disperse May Day protesters in Istanbul as tens of thousands of labor activists turned out worldwide to defend their rights at a time of austerity.
Turkish police had blocked all vehicle access and cut public transport to prevent protests on Taksim Square in the centre of Istanbul, the traditional focus for protests in the country's largest city.
Police moved in on the protesters close to the shores of the Bosphorus as they tried to head towards the square, using water cannon trucks and spraying tear gas, an AFP correspondent said.
Even before the police moved in on the Besiktas protesters, Istanbul's police chief Selami Altinok had said that 136 people had been arrested in various points in the city during the day.
This is the first May Day in Turkey, a national holiday in the country, to be marked after parliament passed a controversial security bill this year giving the police greater powers to crack down on protests.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's administration -- shaken by weeks of deadly anti-government protests in May-June 2013 centered on Taksim Square -- is hugely nervous about public demonstrations ahead of June 7 legislative elections.
"If find that this insisting on (protests in) Taksim is wrong and has a purpose. Having a meeting in Taksim means basically paralyzing all Istanbul," Erdogan said in a speech at his Ankara presidential palace.
#9
Things are bad when you find yourself agreeing with the Mayor of Ankara. Marie does seem to be a few watts short of a light bulb--not the quickest bunny in the forest. The fact that she is a reflection on the higher ups makes one wonder about the higher ups.
"Pakistan belongs to its army, and not the other way round," said the general. "We'll thank you to never forget that again." Then he appreciatively sipped the single malt whisky profferred by his houseboy from one of the collection of crystal decanters on the sideboard.
[Dawn] ISLAMABAD: Following the ISPR's sharp reaction to MQM chief Altaf Hussain ...think of the head of the Barzini clan, only in Urdu... 's fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... speech on Thursday night, the Pakistain Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) issued on Friday show-cause notices to 14 private TV channels and barred all channels from airing "inflammatory content".
After Mr Hussain's speech that followed explosive allegations levelled by a Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... police officer, ISPR Director General Maj Gen Asim Bajwa responded by saying that the MQM chief's outburst against the military was intolerable and warned that legal action could be initiated against him.
"Altaf Hussain's speech on TV containing remarks about army & its leadership was uncalled for and disgusting," the military front man said in the first of a series of four tweets on the matter.
"Such reference to army or its leadership as reaction to arrest of criminals, who may have links with any political party, won't be tolerated. Irresponsible remarks and using media to incite the people of Pakistain to rise against the State will be pursued legally. Pakistain Army and LEAs will continue to execute operations as assigned to them (sic)," he said in messages posted on his Twitter account.
Then, on Friday evening, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting wrote to Pemra, asking the regulator not to allow the live broadcast of "hate speech" by politicians -- a barely veiled reference to Mr Hussain's tirade a day earlier.
The ministry said the government noted with concern the hate speech of a political leader, telecast live by most private TV channels on April 30.
"Pemra management may invoke Section 27 of Pemra Amendment Act-2007, whereby broadcasting or re-broadcasting any programme which is likely to create hatred amongst the people or is prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order or is likely to disturb public peace and is offensive, shall not be allowed by the authority," the information ministry told Pemra.
Even though the MQM chief offered to apologise for his remarks on Friday night, Pemra issued show-cause notices to 14 channels and also decreed in a separate advice to all TV channels --issued under Section 27 of the Pemra Ordinance -- which restrains them from airing any programme, speech or interview likely to create hatred against the country, judiciary and the armed forces or that is prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order or is likely to disturb public peace or is against national security.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Channels, fetch Caution and give him the #4 Walk - In -The-Park. No treats, back by Tea.
[Dawn] PESHAWAR: The district administration on Friday evicted around 90 Afghan families from an unregistered refugee camp on Pajjagi Road in Jabba Jheel area.
The evicted families had been living in the camp since 2002.
The relevant officials said the land where the camp was set up belonged to the army and that despite being given repeated notices, Afghan nationals were reluctant to vacate the area.
Some families were unregistered.
The district administration backed by police carried out operation in the camp.
A statement issued here said staff of the Afghan Commissionerate, police and civic bodies jointly conducted the operation.
The statement said around 700 houses and structures were demolished and 500 kanals of land worth billion of rupees were recovered.
It said the land would formally be handed over to the army after demarcation.
Afghan refugees loaded their belongings on trucks and pickups and moved to different locations.
A relevant official said registered Afghans were allowed to move to other registered camps, while undocumented Afghan nationals were sent home.
He said the relevant authorities had been serving notices on the camp's dwellers since 2002, but to no avail.
An elder of the camp complained that the administration began the crackdown without serving prior notices on the residents.
He claimed around 500 families lived in the camp.
The authorities have already launched a campaign against unregistered Afghans in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. and other parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... . Around 30,000 Afghan nationals have been sent home since December 2014.
Around 1.5 million registered Afghans nationals having Proof of Registration cards could stay in Pakistain by December 2015, while approximately two million Afghans have been residing illegally.
The federal government has planned to start registration of undocumented Afghans.
A commission comprising Pakistain, Afghanistan and United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... High Commissioner for Refugees will decide the fate of registered refugees in a meeting scheduled to take place in Kabul in August.
The federal and provincial governments have issued strict directives to the police and other law-enforcement agencies not to arrest or detain PoR cardholders.
However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... registered Afghans are detained at security checkposts.
The UNHCR and Afghan government have serious reservations about detention and harassment of registered Afghans by the police.
An official of the UN agency said the police recently locked away Book 'im, Mahmoud! 27 registered Afghan nationals, who secured their release after getting legal assistance from the protection cell of the UNHCR.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/03/2015 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] People in Pakistain who live under the threat of US drone strikes see a double standard at work in Washington.
Micah Zenko, a scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that based on averages within the ranges provided by the New America Foundation, the Long War Journal and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, there have been an estimated 522 US targeted attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia since Sept 11, 2001, which have killed 3,852 people, of whom 476 were civilians.
Last week, President Barack Obama I inhaled. That was the point... took the unusual step of acknowledging and apologising for a highly secret US drone strike that accidentally killed an American and an Italian aid worker held captive by Al Qaeda in Pakistain. The US government said their families would be compensated.
Continued on Page 49
BAGHDAD: Officials in Baghdad are blaming displaced Sunnis fleeing fighting for providing cover for militants to conduct a wave of bombings.
Baghdad has witnessed a spike in bombings in the past week with multiple blasts each day. On Thursday night six bombs claimed 21 lives.
Fighting in the western city of Ramadi sent at least 110,000 refugees fleeing toward Baghdad two weeks ago.
“There is a link between the recent attacks in Baghdad and the entry of displaced families,” Baghdad Provincial Council member Ghalib Al-Zamili told The Associated Press Friday.
He maintained that Islamic State militants used the refugees to infiltrate the capital.
There are reports that the displaced are being harassed in the mosques and makeshift camps where they have taken up residence.
Sunni lawmakers decry the accusations as scapegoating.
Posted by: badanov ||
05/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
He maintained that Islamic State militants used the refugees to infiltrate the capital.
#2
The New Iraq literally disarmed the Sunnis so they couldn't defend themselves against ISIS and is now blaming them for the successful invasion's consequences.
A published report says aircraft at the U.S. military base in Djibouti are often placed in danger because of hostile or lax civilian air traffic controllers who oversee the camp's runways.
The Washington Post, citing military documents and federal aviation experts, reports that controllers at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti have been seen ignoring air traffic while playing video games, making phone calls, sleeping or chewing the narcotic drug khat.
It says the controllers have resisted efforts by U.S. consultants to improve their performance. In one case, a controller threatened a U.S. Navy officer with a lead pipe and threatened to "slit Americans throats" if he ever saw them away from the base.
The Post says the situation has led to numerous close calls in the sky and on the runways, including a 2013 incident where a private plane carrying Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh almost collided midair with a Kenya Airways jet.
AMMAN: Jordan’s authorization of a breakaway wing of the Muslim Brotherhood has sent tensions soaring between the decades-old organization and the government, accused of exploiting the rift to weaken the kingdom’s main opposition force.
In early March, the government gave its consent to the formation of the splinter Brotherhood group, led by a former head of the movement.
The offshoot aims to severe ties with the Brotherhood’s arm in Egypt.
Analysts say Jordan’s recognition of the new group — known as the Muslim Brotherhood Association — risks fanning discontent among the traditional opposition power base at a time when the kingdom is battling militancy in neighboring Iraq and Syria.
“The authorities have given themselves a real dilemma by focusing on a small group without political weight or popularity,” said political analyst Mohamed Abu Romman.
Analyst Karim Kamhawi said the government could seek to follow the lead of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE in criminalyzing the group.
“But politically this would be a big mistake,” he said. “The fight between the Brotherhood and the state is a fight for democracy. The state needs to keep out of party political life.”
Posted by: badanov ||
05/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Splitters!
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/03/2015 10:39 Comments ||
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ANGON: Ethnic rebel group leaders began meeting Friday in northeastern Myanmar to discuss how to end the current fighting in the region and finalize a nationwide cease-fire agreement with the government.
The meeting which was taking place in Panghsang, the stronghold of the militarily powerful ethnic Wa group is attended by about 50 representatives from 12 ethnic armed groups including the Wa group. Meanwhile in a nearby region, fierce clashes between Kokang guerrillas and government troops have left hundreds killed.
US Secretary of State John Kerry hailed Sri Lanka's new reformist government Saturday for making "enormous progress" since the departure of strongman Mahinda Rajapakse and for pursuing reconciliation with Tamils after the island's devastating ethnic conflict.
As he met top officials including President Maithripala Sirisena, Kerry said he saw "extraordinary opportunities" opening up for bilateral ties and said Washington stood ready to help Colombo in any way it could.
"Today we have talked about the enormous progress Sri Lanka has made in just a few months," said Kerry as he appeared alongside Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.
"I'm here today because I want to say to the people of Sri Lanka that in (this) journey to restore your democracy the American people will stand with you," added Kerry.
"There is progress on democratic institutions, progress on creating more accountable government, passage of (the) 19th amendment in which the president kept his promise to reduce powers of the presidency."
Since coming to power in January elections, Sirisena has begun delivering on his pledges to reduce some of the powers of the president, effectively reversing changes brought in by Rajapakse to tighten his grip.
Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday in favor of restoring a two-term limit for the president and reviving independent bodies to manage key institutions such as the police and the judiciary.
Kerry also praised the new government for reaching out to the Tamil minority after the end of a 37-year ethnic conflict that claimed more than 100,000 lives.
"You are working on creating an enduring peace and you are working on providing prosperity for all of your people," he said.
Sirisena, who mopped up most of the votes among the Tamil minority in the polls, has vowed to pursue reconciliation efforts more vigorously than Rajapakse, who had a reputation as a hardline Sinhalese nationalist.
Samaraweera, who was on hand to welcome Kerry at Colombo airport, had equally warm words for his guest, the first US secretary of state to visit Colombo in a decade.
[PJMedia] Iran pundits know that serious undertakings by the regime require specific authorization from the supreme leader, Obama’s pen pal Ali Khamenei. An excellent Iranian source, with an excellent track record on such matters, informs me that the supreme leader issued a fatwa on April 14th to two of Iran’s most powerful killers, Generals Mohammad — Ali Jafari (head of the Revolutionary Guards), and Qassem Suleimani (head of the Quds Force), authorizing them to take any and all actions to destroy the Saudi royal family and its regime.
Posted by: Grunter ||
05/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#2
My bottom line: if there were any real Western leaders, we could easily and non-militarily cause the evil would-be empire in Tehran a lot of pain. Maybe even bring it down.
This is the era of the do nothing but golf presidency. Can't be bothered with the affairs of state and all that really boring stuff. Much more fun to hob nob with Hollywood celebs and clown around on TV.
[AnNahar] Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... will not tackle any internal Lebanese affair until it the end of the battle of Syria's al-Qalamun region, reported al-Jadeed television on Saturday.
An informed source said that "it is out of the question for Hizbullah to address any issue before the battle is resolved."
A battle for Syria's border region of Qalamun is imminent as Hizbullah and the Syrian army are making the final preparations for the fight, media reports said Friday.
Hizbullah's preparations with the Syrian army are focused on a battle that will fortify Qalamun's villages and those on the Lebanese side of the border, they added.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, Bart was wondering if fisticuffs would be appropriate at this point... the Kuwaiti daily al-Seyassah reported Saturday that six Hizbullah fighters were killed in Syria's Reef Latakia region on Friday.
They were killed when a residence housing ten party members was shelled.
The maimed were transferred to hospitals in Syria.
Some of the dead fighters were identified as Hussein Mohammed Nasrerddine, Bassem Tahmaz, Mortada Ali Youssef, and Hassan Jamal Taher.
Hizbullah announced Friday that the date and time of their funerals will be determined once they are returned to Leb.
Hizbullah has sent fighters across the border to aid Syrian regime troops in Qalamun and in several regions across Syria.
Its involvement helped the Syrian army recapture most of Qalamun from rebel hands.
The Lebanese army for its part has been battling Syria-based bully boyz from al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... and the 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.... group who are entrenched on the mostly non-existent border between Leb and Syria.
[Voice of America] The U.S. Central Command said Saturday that it was investigating claims that a U.S.-led airstrike in northern Syria killed at least 52 civilians, including seven children.
U.S. Army Major Curt Kellogg said authorities were seeking information to corroborate the casualties, first reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group . The group also reported 13 others missing.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said the strikes on the Aleppo provincial village of Bir Mahli occurred early Friday, as Syrian rebels and Kurdish militiamen battled Islamic State jihadists nearby. He said the death toll was the highest civilian loss in a single attack by U.S. and Arab forces since they started air raids against hard-line Islamist militant groups in Syria such as Islamic State.
U.S.-led forces are also targeting the group in Iraq.
The strikes had killed at least 66 civilians in Syria from the start of the raids on September 23 until Friday's attack, which brought the total to at least 118. The campaign has also killed nearly 2,000 Islamic State fighters, the observatory said.
Airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition have supported Kurdish militias battling extremists in Aleppo province, particularly in and near the flashpoint town of Kobani, located near the Turkish border and near Bir Mahli.
Backed by coalition airstrikes, Kurdish fighters drove IS extremists from Kobani in January.
The airstrikes have slowed Islamic State advances but have failed to weaken the militants in areas they control. The group has built its own government in Syria's city of Raqqa, where it is most powerful.
Iranian deputy foreign ministers Sayyed Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takte-Ravanchi continued their 2 rounds of negotiations with deputy EU foreign policy adviser Helga Schmid here, drafting the text of Iran-Sextet comprehensive nuclear agreement.
The first round of the Iranian and EU top diplomats' talks lasted five hours and after a four-hour break they got engaged in the second round of talks which lasted another three hours.
The drafting of the comprehensive agreement which had started at 9:00 am New York time (5:00 pm Tehran time) by the two sides technicians continued by the deputy foreign ministers and Ms. Schmid at 10:30 New Time (6:30 Tehran time).
The initial drafting of that text had actually started on April 22 by Araqchi and Schmid in Vienna.
The first issue finalized in the final agreement is the termination of the unjustly imposed anti-Iranian sanctions, which is termed by a top member of the Iranian team Araqchi as 'quite complicated.'
The drafting of the agreement was resumed in New York from the point that it had been left unfinished in Vienna.
The Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday in University of New York that if Iran and the so-called 5+1 Group will come up win an agreement in June the UN Security Council will a few days later issue a resolution under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, confirming the authenticity of that agreement.
In accordance with that resolution, the entire previous resolutions, including the UN resolutions that imposed sanctions against Iran, will be annulled and the US administration, too, will be obliged to abide by the terms and conditions of the comprehensive agreement.
The EU has ever since March, 2015, been playing a more proactive role in Iran-Sextet nuclear talks and turned the bilateral Iran-US talks into trilateral Iran-EU-US negotiations.
The EU foreign policy director Federica Mogherini held talks with the US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday in New York and told him that taking the last step in reaching a comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran is both vital for Europe and cooperation in reaching it is a 'pride for the EU'.
John Kerry, too, said that cooperation on the Iranian nuclear issue is the top priority in US-EU cooperation.
Posted by: badanov ||
05/03/2015 00:00 ||
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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.
[Voice of America] Forty-nine suspects, including 19 Afghan police officers, have gone on trial in Kabul on charges linked to the mob beating death of a 27-year-old woman last month.
COLOMBO: The US is working with Saudi Arabia, UAE and the UN to start peace negotiations between Yemen’s government and the Houthis, said US Secretary of State John Kerry.
[WeaselZippers]. 
US Secretary of State John Kerry hailed Sri Lanka's new reformist government Saturday for making "enormous progress" since the departure of strongman Mahinda Rajapakse and for pursuing reconciliation with Tamils after the island's devastating ethnic conflict.
