A Guantanamo Bay prisoner charged in the Sept. 11 attacks fired one of his military attorneys Monday in an apparent sign of frustration and distrust of his Pentagon-appointed legal counsel.
At the start of what is expected to be a four-day hearing to address pre-trial legal issues, Waleed bin Attash at first refused to speak when questioned by the judge about his desire to dismiss one of his three lawyers, Marine Corps Maj. William Hennessy. He hinted at his motivation later in an exchange with the judge about whether he wished to attend future sessions of the court.
"We have been dealing with our attorneys for about a year and a half and we have not been able to get any trust with them," the Yemeni said through an Arabic translator.
Bin Attash is one of the lesser figures among the five defendants in the Sept. 11 case. He allegedly ran an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan where two of the 19 hijackers in the terrorist attacks trained. He is also believed to have been a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden.
The ousted lawyer said in an interview outside court that he is prohibited from discussing the details of his conversations with the defendant. But he said there was no specific incident that precipitated his dismissal.
A tribal family harboring al-Qaeda militants east of the capital Sanaa is asking the government to halt US drone strikes in their area in order for them to deviate terrorism and evacuate foreign militants from their stronghold, said a tribal local source.
Al-Dhahab family, which briefly invaded Radaa province backed by al Qaeda militants one year ago, are now in al-Manasih, a nearby area serving as the family stronghold that has seen a number of US drone strikes targeting suspected al-Qaeda militants.
Since President Abdu Rabu Mansoor Hadi took office in 2012, the US has escalated its drone campaign targeting suspected al-Qaeda militants, the Yemen based off shoot US considers the most active branch of the global network.
Hadi has publicly acknowledged his approval for US to strikes within the country, hailing the campaign as having a zero margin of error. Locals where the drones have struck said that a number of civilians have been killed, including women and children.
A number of al-Qaeda militants are said to have flocked to al-Baithaa province, some 150 km southeast of the capital, Sana'a, when a 2012 government campaign against al-Qaeda in Abyan province dismantled their stronghold.
The government sent military reinforcements to Radaa last week to force the militants out, said Ali Al Tairi, a tribal leader in Radaa and one of the mediators between the government and the militants.
The reason why the government sent reinforcement is al-Qaedas presence here, Al Tairi said.
He said the reinforcement arrived to force foreigner jihadists from al-Manasih, the area al-Thahab family retreated to in January of last year.
Police in Mexico have recovered eight bodies from a well in the northern state of Nuevo Leon which they say are probably those of a band reported missing on Friday.
Twenty members of Kombo Kolombia were feared kidnapped when they disappeared after playing a gig on Thursday night.
Police said one of the band members managed to escape from the kidnappers.
He led officers to the well, where they found the bodies wearing the band's distinctive T-shirts, they added.
Forensic experts said there might be more bodies in the well than the eight they had recovered so far.
Iceland was handed a huge win today by the court of the European Free Trade Association.
The court said that Iceland did not break the law when it decided not to cover the losses of foreigners who had deposited money in Landsbanki, the Icelandic bank that failed in 2008.
The New York Times reports that this case has provoked intense animosity between Iceland and Britain.
"In a recent interview with British television, Iceland's president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, denounced Britain's 'eternal shame' for invoking the terrorism laws," the Times reports. "'We were there together with Al Qaeda and the Taliban on that list,' he said. 'We have not forgotten that in Iceland.'"
The Times also points out that Iceland's economy is improving. Fitch even raised its credit rating saying the country's ""unorthodox crisis policy response has succeeded in preserving sovereign creditworthiness."
#1
If you can't unlock it then you can't remove the pre-installed apps that transmit your location etc. to whoever your service provider allows access. If it's turned on, they know where you are.
#3
To be fair, they're trying to enforce the contract under which you bought an expensive chunk of electronics for a small fraction of the retail price. I don't see that prison is appropriate unless you're making a business out of it, though. And the point of the article--that our laws are unjustly broad--is absolutely correct.
Posted by: James ||
01/28/2013 22:19
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#4
Another reason I don't have a "smart" phone.
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/28/2013 23:18
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#1
surely Bloomberg drinks sodas with over 16 oz. He's the poster boy for hypocrisy.
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
01/28/2013 17:49
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#2
The US, Western Lefties didn't care to move to the Commie Bloc during the Cold War or even after - now that the USSR had self-imploded, they clearly feel the need to force the Free World to self-implode like the We-love-the-USSR-as-long-as we-don't-have-to-live-there USSR out of feel-good, equalist "fairness" regardless of the merits.
UNDER ANTI-US = ANTI-SOVEREIGN, "MULTI-POLAR" ETC. NAU, TRANS-NAU, + ULTIMATELY OWG
"GLOBALISM", THE PECKING ORDER FOR SCARCE $$$ WILL BE MUCH MUCH WORSE [+ lower] THAN UNDER THE CURRENT "NATIONALISM" + PRE-OWG, NAU "SOLE SOVEREIGNTY" ENTITY, as Any Each + All World Nations M-U-S-T "SHARE" RESOURCES FOR PURPOSES OF DEEP SPACE EXPLORATION + COLONIZATION.
Gott escape that wily dastardly intensive Earth, Planetary System-warming SUN that many GWCC Perts + Politicos claim is acting "normally"???
The New York Times reports today that the Pentagon is planning to install drone base in Niger, a move that almost certainly guarantees a long-term U.S. presence in North Africa. The official purpose of the base would be as a launching pad for unarmed surveillance flights to support French forces in Mali. However, it doesn't take much imagination to find other uses for such an outpost or the planes that are based there.
The United States currently has only has one permanent installation in Africa, another drone base in Djiboti. That outpost grows larger every year and is the main staging point for most of the armed drone attacks on Yemen. While that base allows Americans to easily reach Somalia, Sudan, and most of the Arabian peninsula, and their European bases allow them to reach the Sahara, having a permanent base in the heart of the region would allow them to make more flights, more often, and respond immediately to threats and developing situations. The Times's Eric Schmitt reports that officials "have not ruled out conducting missile strikes at some point" based out of the new base.
It would also send a clear signal that the U.S. now considers North Africa to be a theater in the never-ending, non-declared war on terror (with lowercase letters). Now that Afghanistan and Iraq are officially "over," the focus appears to be moving West, to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, to the ethnic and religious violence in Nigeria, to the scattered militias in Libya, and toward terrorist attackers like those who hit the Algeria gas facility this month. This just continues the pattern of the Sahara region drawing more and more of America's military resources and attention. And history shows that once the Pentagon establishes a presence in an foreign country, it becomes almost impossible to get them to leave.
It also proves that drones will continue to be the preferred first line of defense overseas. The Times also reports that Americans have already signed a "status of forces" agreement with Niger, the likely location of the new base. There are still several steps of approval to go through, but the wheels are in motion, and it won't be long before the drones will be in the sky.
#1
Sniff, sniff - came up wid dat all by himself did he???
Jihad-struck Central Africa is the oil-rich "no man's land" = neutral zone between Muslim North Africa + mainly Christian southern Africa, + Radicla Islam wants to make sure that they control all the Oil + Precious/Strategic Commodities there is.
* "Now that Afghanistan + Iraq are officially 'over'" > NOT in Radical Islam's mind, + the Islamist Jihad is GLOBAL NOT REGIONAL OR TRANS-REGIONAL.
"ISLAM RULES, OR ISLAM IS DESTROYED" = as far as Radical Islam is concerned, "TRUE/PURE ISLAM" IS N-O-T "RULING" YET.
The World is still in the birth pangs of the Islamist-desired future OWG Caliphate = Global Islamist-Jihadist State [Nuclear?] + Ummah.
Some Islamic scholars have made an open invitation to controversial author Salman Rushdie for a debate.
The scholars, who also happen to be the members of powerful All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), want Rushdie to join them for the debate on Islam and the prophet's life.
The invite came during a seminar in Mumbai on Sunday. Rushdie reportedly wants to visit Mumbai to promote Deepa Mehta-directed movie Midnight's Children, based on his novel by the same name.
The scholars were of the view that banning Rushdie or giving out death threats to him would serve no end. Instead, he should be engaged in an informed debate.
The move comes as a major change of stance from the members of Muslim community towards Rushdie. Various Islamic groups had earlier opposed the author's visit to India ever since his controversial novel Satanic Verses created a storm in the 1980s. They had cautioned the organisers of five-day Jaipur Literature Festival, which concludes on Monday, against allowing his participation.
The offer for debate came from senior lawyer and Muslim board member Yusuf Muchala and a professor of Law at Aligarh Muslim University, Dr Shakil Samdani.
However, the invite itself has triggered an immediate debate with the hard line Muslims rejecting the offer. Some of them said that the debate would give Rushdie an opportunity to hurt Muslim sentiments again.
The clashes between Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Ansarul Islam (AI) militant groups in Khyber tribal regions Tirah valley area entered their fourth day as the death toll rose to 58 on Monday.
Six militants were killed during the latest clashes. Those killed during the fighting could not be identified until the filing of this report.
Numerous militants also sustained injuries during the clashes.
Local political sources said both sides resorted to use of heavy and sophisticated weaponry during the fighting.
Fierce clashes had erupted three days ago when members of the Tariq Afridi faction of the banned TTP launched an attack in the Bagh-Maidan area of Tirah valley on Friday, capturing a building belonging to the AI militants.
Iran says it has successfully sent a monkey into space.
No, not Short Round, though it is a pleasant thought to consider...
The primate travelled in a Pishgam rocket, which reached an altitude of some 120km (75 miles) for a sub-orbital flight before "returning its shipment intact", the defence ministry said.
Iranian state TV showed images of the monkey, which was strapped into a harness, being taken to the rocket.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/28/2013 13:02
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#3
So, is that like, sending a Jew into space before a persian pure, or something? Because that sounds mightly unislameic and would require public hangings of all those involved.
#1
These days, that includes the young population in most Arab states that are run by dictators or monarchs. The dictators and kings don't want democracy, and Islamic radicals consider democracy un-Islamic. So the only way to vote is to set off a bomb somewhere. That somewhere, it turned out, was not at home.
Democracy is orthogonal to the discussion. In the neocon lexicon, the word "democracy" plays the same role as the word "Vietnam" (e.g. This is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules.) in Walter Sobchak's vocabulary every time Walter sees something he considers outrageous.
#2
The term rice Christian might be instructive in this respect. A number of Christians signed up to the religion in exchange for the benefits offered by Christian charities. Over time they became genuine Christians.
A lot of Muslims came to Islam the same way - they signed up to be eligible to join Muhammad's all-conquering war bands to engage in large-scale raids against the infidels - to loot, enslave or kill those who refused to pay tribute. As time passed, they became genuine Muslims.
Think of it as a Darwinian clash of the deities. Those whose gods are powerful help their religious adherents win wars. The more battles Muslim armies won, the more kingdoms converted to Islam in order to propitiate the Muslim deity. Islam's crisis today comes from the fact that it hasn't won a war against infidels for a long, long time. A victory against Assad the infidel will strengthen Muslims in their faith, whereas a defeat will make Allah look like a powerless deity.
Wouldn't surprise me if jihadists were going through the same process. The first ones join for pay, opportunities for rampant graft and death benefits, whereas their children grow up convinced of the rightness of the its world-conquering quest.
#3
" All agree that Islam was born in conquest (after finding that the missionary approach took far too long compared to military conquest) and has never discarded its mandate to convert the world, using force if necessary."
Most western politicians, if they know this, try as hard as possible to ignore it.
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/28/2013 17:22
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#4
Most western politicians, if they know this, try as hard as possible to ignore it.
lord garth, Seneca said: Religion is regarded by the common people as true, the wise as false and the rulers as useful.
As long as the politicians find it useful to ignore the obvious, they will keep using it.
[GUARDIAN.CO.UK] Islamist faceless myrmidons retreating from Timbuktu set fire to a library containing thousands of priceless historic manuscripts, according to the Saharan town's mayor, in an incident he described as a "devastating blow" to world heritage.
Hallé Ousmani Cissé told the Guardian that al-Qaeda-allied fighters on Saturday torched two buildings that held the manuscripts, some of which dated back to the 13th century. They also burned down the town hall, the governor's office and an MP's residence, and rubbed out a man who was celebrating the arrival of the French military.
French troops and the Malian army reached the gates of Timbuktu on Saturday and secured the town's airport. But they appear to have got there too late to rescue the leather-bound manuscripts that were a unique record of sub-Saharan Africa's rich medieval history. The rebels attacked the airport on Sunday, the mayor said.
"It's true. They have burned the manuscripts," Cissé said in a phone interview from Mali's capital, Bamako. "They also burned down several buildings. There was one guy who was celebrating in the street and they killed him."
He added: "This is terrible news. The manuscripts were a part not only of Mali's heritage but the world's heritage. By destroying them they threaten the world. We have to kill all of the rebels in the north."
On Monday French army officers said French-led forces had entered Timbuktu and secured the town without a shot being fired. A team of French paratroopers crept into the town by moonlight, advancing from the airport, they said. Residents erupted into the streets to celebrate.
The manuscripts were held in two separate locations: an ageing library and a new South African-funded research centre, the Ahmad Babu Institute, less than a mile away. Completed in 2009 and named after a 17th-century Timbuktu scholar, the centre used state-of-the-art techniques to study and conserve the crumbling scrolls.
Both buildings were burned down, according to the mayor, who said the information came from an informer who had just left the town. Asked whether any of the manuscripts might have survived, Cissé replied: "I don't know."
The manuscripts had survived for centuries in Timbuktu, on the remote south-west fringe of the Sahara desert. They were hidden in wooden trunks, buried in boxes under the sand and in caves. When French colonial rule ended in 1960, Timbuktu residents held preserved manuscripts in 60-80 private libraries.
The vast majority of the texts were written in Arabic. A few were in African languages, such as Songhai, Tamashek and Bambara. There was even one in Hebrew. They covered a diverse range of topics including astronomy, poetry, music, medicine and women's rights. The oldest dated from 1204.
Seydou Traoré, who has worked at the Ahmed Baba Institute since 2003, and fled shortly before the rebels arrived, said only a fraction of the manuscripts had been digitised. "They cover geography, history and religion. We had one in Turkish. We don't know what it said."
He said the manuscripts were important because they went kaboom! the myth that "black Africa" had only an oral history. "You just need to look at the manuscripts to realise how wrong this is."
Some of the most fascinating scrolls included an ancient history of west Africa, the Tarikh al-Soudan, letters of recommendation for the intrepid 19th-century German explorer Heinrich Barth, and a text dealing with erectile dysfunction.
A large number dated from Timbuktu's intellectual heyday in the 14th and 15th centuries, Traoré said. By the late 1500s the town, north of the Niger river, was a wealthy and successful trading centre, attracting scholars and curious travellers from across the Middle East. Some brought books to sell.
Typically, manuscripts were not numbered, Traoré said, but repeated the last word of a previous page on each new one. Scholars had painstakingly numbered several of the manuscripts, but not all, under the direction of an international team of experts.
Mali government forces that had been guarding Timbuktu left the town in late March, as Islamist fighters advanced rapidly across the north. Fighters from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) -- the group responsible for the attack on the Algerian gas facility -- then swept in and seized the town, pushing out rival militia groups including secular Tuareg nationalists.
Traoré told the Guardian that he decided to leave Timbuktu in January 2012 amid ominous reports of shootings in the area, and after the kidnapping of three European tourists from a Timbuktu hotel. A fourth tourist, a German, resisted and was rubbed out. Months later AQIM arrived, he said.
Four or five rebels had been sleeping in the institute, which had comparatively luxurious facilities for staff, he said. As well as the manuscripts, the fighters destroyed almost all of the 333 Sufi shrines dotted around Timbuktu, believing them to be idolatrous. They smashed a civic statue of a man sitting on a winged horse. "They were the masters of the place," Traoré said.
Other residents who fled Timbuktu said the fighters adorned the town with their black flag. Written on it in Arabic were the words "God is great". The rebels enforced their own brutal and arbitrary version of Islam, residents said, with offenders flogged for talking to women and other supposed crimes. The floggings took place in the square outside the 15th-century Sankoré mosque, a Unesco world heritage site.
"They weren't religious men. They were criminals," said Maha Madu, a Timbuktu boatman, now in the Niger river town of Mopti. Madu said the fighters grew enraged if residents wore trousers down to their ankles, which they believed to be western and decadent. He alleged that some fighters kidnapped and raped local women, keeping them as virtual sex slaves. "They were hypocrites. They told us they couldn't smoke. But they smoked themselves," he said.
The rebels took several other towns south of Timbuktu, he said, including nearby Diré. If the rebels spotted a boat flying the Malian national flag, they ripped the flag off and replaced it with their own black one, he said.
The precise fate of the manuscripts was difficult to verify. All phone communication with Timbuktu was cut off. The town was said to be without electricity, water or fuel. According to Traoré, who was in contact with friends there until two weeks ago, many of the rebels left town following La Belle France's military intervention.
He added: "My friend [in Timbuktu] told me they were diminishing in number. He doesn't know where they went. But he said they were trying to hide their cars by painting and disguising them with mud."
The recapture of Timbuktu is another success for the French military, which has now secured two out of three of Mali's key rebel-held sites, including the city of Gao on Saturday. The French have yet to reach the third, Kidal. Local Tuareg militia leaders said on Monday they had taken control of Kidal after the abrupt departure of the Islamist fighters who ran the town.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2013
12:25 ||
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#1
straining to maintain a good relationship with Egypt, an important U.S. ally
Somebody remind me why Egypt is considered an important US ally. Is it because we need a place to dump those surplus F-16s and M1A1s that are spewing out of our factories?
[SANA-SYRIA] The UN Secretary General, the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... , stressed that a political solution to the crisis in Syria is still possible, adding that "However difficult this situation is, we must push for a political solution."
The Agence La Belle France-Presse (AFP) quoted Ki-moon on the sidelines of the 34th World Economic Forum in Davos as saying that dialogue in Syria still possible, reiterating his support to the mission of the UN envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi.
Ban Ki-moon said that the UN Security Council must shoulder its responsibilities, adding that "It will be essential for the Security Council to overcome the deadlock, and find the unity that will make meaningful action possible."
He added that the failure of the major powers at the UN Security Council to take action would mean the abdication of collective responsibility to protect peoples.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2013
12:01 ||
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#2
Sounds like a code review I sat in on years ago. We're talking to HQ, which doesn't like the way we wrote the code. Our lead engineer says 'So, the problem is, our code doesn't conform to a nonexistent spec.' Complete silence from HQ for about 20 seconds.
#3
No, it's an agency that needs to have it's entire staff tried for treason as well as all the other crimes they've committed. They need to be held personally responsible.
#4
Raj that sounds like the story of my job for the last 4 months, except they want it delivered today. And as Dilbert put it: "I can fail at any speed you like."
I've been lumping Ansar Dine, MUJAO, and whatever Mokhtar Belmokhtar's calling his bunch of bandidos this week under the AQIM. It's not quite as hard to tell them apart as it is with the Afghan Taliban-Hekmatyar-Haqqanis in Afghanistan, but the differences are just about as insignificant.
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/28/2013
11:58 ||
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France warned Monday that extremists could prevail in Syria if nations fail to support the opposition coalition and don't deliver promised funds and political support soon.
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, addressing envoys from 50 nations that France is trying to coax into action, says that support is needed to ensure the world's credibility in the eyes of those fighting President Bashar Assad's regime.
"We have to give the Syrian people a clear signal: we are at your side," Fabius said.
The civil war in Syria, which began with an uprising against Assad's regime 22 months ago, has killed over 60,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee the violence, according to the U.N.
The meeting in Paris, attended also by three Syrian National Coalition vice presidents, comes two days before a donors conference in Kuwait.
Promises of funding and other aid made at a December conference of the Friends of Syria group have failed to materialize. France, which has spearheaded the formation of a viable Syrian opposition-in-exile, wants to make sure that aid which has been already promised comes through.
Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr requested the death penalty Monday for a Lebanese prisoner known as "the prince of Islamists" over the killing of a fellow inmate earlier this month, judicial sources told The Daily Star.
Yes, a punishment of some sort does seem in order.
Saqr's request comes in accordance with Article 549 of the Penal Code.
A police investigation revealed that Mohammad Youssef, also known as Abu Walid, gave orders to eight prisoners of the militant group Fatah al-Islam to kill Palestinian Ghassan Qindaqli.
Qindaqli, who was found hanging in his cell at the prison's Bloc B on Jan. 18, was serving a life sentence on multiple counts of murder and other drug-related offences in Roumieh Prison, Lebanon's largest.
Last week, Saqr issued an indictment against eight Islamists for the premeditated murder of Qindaqli. He also charged three Gendarmerie prison guards with "negligence of duty."
The men turned themselves in on condition that interrogations take place inside the prisoners' cells, security sources have said.
Police negotiated with the inmates last week via Muslim sheikhs in order to prevent bloodshed after the Army and police were ready to storm Bloc B where Fatah al-Islam detainees are.
Islamist inmates who have gone on hunger strike and carried out several riots throughout the years have imposed somewhat of a de facto rule in Bloc B.
India on Sunday successfully test-fired the underwater ballistic missile, K-15 (code-named B05), off the Visakhapatnam coast, marking en end to a series of developmental trials.
In its twelfth flight trial, the 10-metre tall Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) lifted off from a pontoon, rose to an altitude of 20 km and reached a distance of about 700 km as it splashed down in the waters of the Bay of Bengal near the pre-designated target point.
According to scientific advisor to the Defence Minister V.K. Saraswat, the missile was tested for its full range of 700 km and the mission met all its objectives. He said the impact accuracy of the medium range strategic missile was in single digit.
With the completion of developmental trials, the process of integrating K-15 missile with INS Arihant, the indigenously-built nuclear submarine, will begin soon. As many as 12 nuclear-tipped missiles, each weighing six tonnes will be integrated with Arihant, which will be powered by an 80 MWt (thermal) reactor that uses enriched uranium as fuel and light water as coolant and moderator.
India is only the fifth country to have such a missile -- the other four are the United States, Russia, France and China.
Meanwhile the reactor has been integrated with the submarine and it was expected to go critical in May/ June 2013. Once that was done, the harbour trials will begin.
Besides Arihant, three other nuclear-powered submarines were being constructed -- one at Visakhapatnam and two at Vadodara. India is also developing K-4 missile with a range of 3,000 km.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/28/2013
11:43 ||
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#1
Posted by: john frum ||
01/28/2013 11:48
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#2
Posted by: john frum ||
01/28/2013 11:54
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#3
Maybe it's me. But that missile doesn't have the usual conformation of a SLBM, where the vertical is precious, and more room given to the wide. Dunno. Maybe it's the scale.
#5
The Arihant's 4 tubes are subdivided to hold 3 K-15 missiles.
The subdivision structure can be removed to fit the K-4 missile which is a much fatter beast.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/28/2013 17:32
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#6
A tube on the pontoon. 120 degree sections
Posted by: john frum ||
01/28/2013 18:47
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An al-Qaeda-linked group fighting alongside Syrian rebels claimed responsibility Monday for a suicide car bombing that reportedly killed dozens of President Bashar Assad's loyalists last week.
Islamic militants have been the most organized fighters battling government troops in the 22-month-old conflict in which more than 60,000 people have been killed. Their growing prominence has fueled fears that Muslim radicals may try to hijack the revolt, and has contributed to the West's hesitance to equip the opposition with sophisticated weapons.
Jabhat al-Nusra, which the U.S. says has ties to al-Qaeda and has declared a terrorist organization, said in a statement posted online that one of its suicide bombers detonated a car bomb last Monday at the headquarters of a pro-government militia in the central province of Hama. It said the bomber drove a truck packed with explosives to the militia's complex in the town of Salamiya and blew himself up "to give the tyrannical regime a taste" of violence it has been inflicting on the Syrian people.
News out of North Korean in notorious unreliable, but food shortages in the country have gotten so bad and people so desperate that there are now reports of men murdering their own children for food. These startling reports were compiled by independent reporters commissioned by Asia Press, a independent press agency focusing on Asia, and were published by the Sunday Times. And here's one of the most disturbing thing you'll read this morning:
The source said: "While his wife was away on business he killed his eldest daughter and, because his son saw what he had done, he killed his son as well. When the wife came home, he offered her food, saying: 'We have meat.'
"But his wife, suspicious, notified the Ministry of Public Security, which led to the discovery of part of their children's bodies under the eaves."
#1
From prior reports the Chinese across the border have taken to keeping recently deceased above ground, until they are no longer 'fresh', before burial. Seems the NK's had been crossing the border and digging them up. This was reported about six months ago.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/28/2013 14:20
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Famine, cannibalism, general suckitude... but lots of Fairness and Equality of Outcome. Except for the nomenklatura, of course.
"Every Communist must grasp the truth: Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."
The solution to this problem is ... guns.
There are only 25 some millions of Norks. Someone could easily make and distribute 25 million of these guns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_gun) for $100 million.
没有一个人民的军队，便没有人民的一切。
"Without an army for the people, there is nothing for the people."
[PUNCHNG] Two Nigerian affiliates of the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb 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... and the Jamaatu Ansarul Muslimina fi Biladis- Sudan Never heard of that one before. We'll probably hear from them again.
are planning major reprisals to protest Nigerias participation in the Mali war, SUNDAY PUNCH authoritatively reports.
Nigeria has deployed forces in northern Mali to flush out the al-Qaeda-linked Islamist groups who have taken control of the vast desert territory.
Barely 48 hours after the Mali mission, terror operations increased in the northern part of the country with not less four attacks in three days leading to the death of about 30 people.
While claiming responsibility for the attack on Mali-bound soldiers in Kogi State and the kidnap of a French citizen, Francis Colump, in Katsina State, the sect said its actions were based on La Belle France and Nigerias major role in the attack on Islamists in northern Mali.
Security agents told SUNDAY PUNCH that the sects, particularly JAMBS, planned to protest Nigerias participation in the Mali war, in the form of kabooms and kidnap of expatriates. It was learnt that while JAMBS would concentrate on foreign targets, Boko Haram would focus on local targets.
A top intelligence officer, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said, The survival of JAMBS and Boko Haram depends on the survival of the Islamists in Mali. As of this moment, and not everything always goes the way you think it will, it looks like the Frenchies are going to chase AQIM out of Mali. That means the infestation returns to Algeria and to Mauritania and Niger as they're able. Mauritania seems to take the problem seriously. Nothing ever happens in Niger, so I don't know what'll happen there. This is classic guerilla warfare: they kick butt until they try to occupy territory, then, because they can be pinpointed, they're next thing to wiped out. The remnants will then resume trying to fight a war of onesies, twosies, until they've regained enough recruits and financing to try to occupy territory again.
If the snuffies in Mali are wiped out, that is the end of the ones in Nigeria and that is why Nigeria is at the fore-front of the Mali war. Cut out the tumor in Mali and the mets will die in Nigeria. I'm not sure that's what will actually happen. The money from Qatar will just start flowing directly.
We have reports that the violent sects here have been instructed to increase their terror acts and it is not surprising. That is why they have become very restive in the North. We are at the border to intercept whatever arms they are planning to bring in. We also have plain-clothes coppers in the North monitoring activities. We are ready for them.
The Deputy Public Relations Officer of the police, Frank Mba, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the police were aware of the plans of the sects, but he declined to provide details. Mba stated that the war in Mali was necessary to put an end to terrorism in that country.
All the terror groups in Nigeria receive major financing and training from Mali and it is expected that they will not be pleased with the war. They get support from Mali and we know they are not happy we are with the war, but Nigerians cannot to be held hostage. We are ready for them. We owe Nigerians a duty to be in Mali to totally eradicate terrorism from Nigeria, he said.
Similarly, the President of the Northern Civil Society Coalition, Mr. Shehu Sani, stated that the war in Mali posed a security challenge because JAMBS and other sects that are sympathetic to Malian Islamists would target countries that contributed troops to the multinational force battling Islamists in the country. Here we're back to the idea of the Insidious Doctor Fu Manchu trying to influence and control the actions of nations through rewards and punishments.
Nigeria has to cover its tracks at home. We are vulnerable to reprisals. There is no doubt that snuffies in Mali will inflict damage on countries participating in the war, he said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the buffalo wallow, Tex and his new-found Indian friend were preparing a little surprise for the bandidos... JAMBS, has launched a massive recruitment drive in the North. Reliable sources in the security services told one of our correspondents that the sect aimed to be bigger and deadlier than the better known Boko Haram sect.
In recent times, JAMBS, which has been described as an international terror group, has grabbed credit for some headline-grabbing terrorist acts. It was learnt that the ongoing recruitment by the sect, targets young persons, mainly men, indoctrinated to fight for the cause of the sect.
Even though the recruitment is restricted to the North for now, SUNDAYPUNCH gathered that the sect had plans to stretch its search for recruits to other parts of the country.
Sani said JAMBS was more dangerous than Boko Haram and that foreign interests have much to fear from the new group.
JAMBS is in competition with Boko Haram and it wont be difficult for them to get recruits in a society of millions of disenfranchised youths. It will be easy for them to get volunteers from the lower rung of the society. Its agenda is different from Boko Harams. The group is strictly toeing the instructions of the al-Qaeda which is to target foreign groups and persons.
What makes this group very dangerous is their mobility. You cannot say this is where they are located. They operate a mobile command and no part of Nigeria is immune to their acts. If they can attack troops in Kogi, that tells you the nature of the group.
It is difficult to estimate their actual number because they are not in a particular position, but I can tell you that they have high capacity to inflict lethal damage and to also carry our operations without being caught. he said
Sani said the sect was not interested in local matters like Boko Haram.
The Federal Government needs to know that this new group is interested in issues of global significance like events happening in Mali, the Middle East and in the Maghreb. The kidnapping of expatriates is an indication of what this group is about. They have a clear intention to pursue the agenda of the al-Qaeda. They are charting a new course beyond the shores of Nigeria, he added.
Mba however said it would be difficult for the sect to have a base in the North.
We cant tell you what we know about JAMBS. But it is important that we point out that it will be difficult for them to have a base in the North due to the heavy presence of the police and the military, he said.
The Federal Government had said the deployment of Nigerian troops in Mali was necessary to protect Africa from terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
I'm impressed. I honestly thought it would take the French a lot longer to do this. Not a quagmire, but longer. Good for them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2013 15:46
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#2
Algeria seems like the last place they'd run to.
#4
See also WORLD NEWS > [Middle East Online]EXPERTS: "ARAB SPRING" IS "QAEDA SPRING".
ARTIC > AQIM was just a wannabe, upstart, joint Gangster-Jihadist [Criminal-Spiritual] organization successfully suppressed by various ME Regional Strongmen, e.g. Uncle Muammar + Mubarak, etal. ... ...
Read, UNTIL POTUS BAMMER + ANTI-STRONGMEN POLICIES CAME INTO PLAY VEE US SUPPORT FOR THE VARIOUS "ARAB/MUSLIM/ISLAMIC SPRINGS" WHICH ALL
BUT TOTE REMOVED THE BARRIERS, PERSONAGES TO AQIM'S SUCCESS.
Not GWOT related, but worth reading. A concrete proposal with substance that would have the practical effect of overcoming poor home circumstances for some kids while improving our workforce overall - without lowering standards.
New estimates from a Norwegian research project show meeting targets for minimizing global warming may be more achievable than previously thought. Quick... someone call Al Gore!!
After the planet's average surface temperature rose through the 1990s, the increase has almost leveled off at the level of 2000, while ocean water temperature has also stabilized, the Research Council of Norway said in a statement on its website. After applying data from the past decade, the results showed temperatures may rise 1.9 degrees Celsius if Co2 levels double by 2050, below the 3 degrees predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Always promising what they can't deliver. Typical.
"The Earth's mean temperature rose sharply during the 1990s," said Terje Berntsen, a professor at the University of Oslo who worked on the study. "This may have caused us to overestimate climate sensitivity." That, and hype, and grants, and greed, and lust for power, and desire for control.
The findings also show the effect of reduced airborne particulates from burning coal, which may decrease the cloud cover that cools the earth, probably has less of an impact on climate through indirect cooling than originally projected.
#3
a Norwegian research project show meeting targets for minimizing global warming may be more achievable than previously thought.
Or said another way, this has been the biggest scam since the Piltdown Man, relying on cooked data and manufactured media hysteria. Maybe if we walk it back slowly, no one will notice.
As BP says, if your model does not fix the data, your model sucks. Science 101, folks.
#4
At some point CO2 has absorbed all the electromagnetic energy that it can absorb. It's an invisible gas -- most wavelengths go right through. This is why the 'tipping point' is so important to the climate people. Without it, you can't have a crisis. It's also pure conjecture and the weakest part of their entire argument.
#7
Cities affect weather thousands of kilometres away
Looks like the hysteria generating Post-normal bien pensants will have to get back to the drawing board.
As Charles Mackay says in his wonderful book Madness of Crowds:
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one."
#8
Interesting Tipper. I always called it the flocking effect. One horse bolts then all the others join in on the run. Then again we have Norway at about 1:42 the lemmings mass suicide(all but a few die the conservatives);
#10
I still can't believe that the The Earth's mean temperature rose sharply during the 1990s.
Heat Island effects and the type of data fudging that brought you the hockey stick were all too common for me to believe in as valid, honest, objective science.
#12
That is right Iblis. If there has been any extra absorption, it has come from (now banned) chlorofluorocarbons which absorb in an otherwise empty window in the electromagnetic spectrum.
[Times Of Israel] London Times report cites intelligence officials who say Iran hasn't evacuated area around Fordo plant; unclear if kaboom was 'sabotage or accident'
Israeli intelligence officials have confirmed that a major kaboom has rocked an Iranian nuclear facility, according to a report Monday in The Times of London.
The British daily cited officials in Tel Aviv who said the blast occurred last week, as originally reported on the website wnd.com.
Iran is not believed to have evacuated the area surrounding the Fordo plant, according to the same Israeli sources, who said that an investigation into the blast was ongoing.
"We are still in the preliminary stages of understanding what happened and how significant it is," one Israeli official told the London Times. He did not know if the kaboom was "sabotage or accident" and refused to comment on reports that Israeli aircraft were seen near Fordo at the time of the blast.
On Sunday, two senior Iranian officials dismissed reports of the kaboom.
Deputy head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency Seyyed Shamseddin Barbroudi said there had been no kaboom at the Fordo facility whatsoever, according to the official Islamic Theocratic Republic News Agency.
The chairman of the Iranian parliament's Committee for Foreign Policy and National Security, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, referred to rumors of the blast as "Western-made propaganda" and said they were "baseless lies" meant to impact ongoing talks on Iran's nuclear program, reported IRNA.
The original wnd.com report published Friday claimed that a blast deep within Fordo last Monday "destroyed much of the installation and trapped about 240 personnel deep underground," citing information from former intelligence officer Hamidreza Zakeri, who it said used to work with the Islamic regime's Ministry of Intelligence and National Security.
The article claimed the blast "shook facilities within a radius of three miles," that Iranian security forces had "enforced a no-traffic radius of 15 miles," that the Tehran-Qom highway was shut down for several hours after the blast, and that, "as of Wednesday afternoon, rescue workers had failed to reach the trapped personnel." It said US officials were aware of the reported blast.
Asked about the incident on Sunday, Home Front Defense Minister Avi Dichter, a former head of Israel's Shin Bet security service, said, "Any kaboom in Iran that doesn't hurt people but hurts its assets is welcome." Dichter was acting defense minister Sunday, in the absence of Ehud Barak.
Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but that claim has been rejected by much of the international community. The Islamic Theocratic Republic's consistent refusal to allow international inspectors into the Fordo nuclear facility has frustrated Western powers and officials at the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency.
#1
Interesting. Stuff like this makes you wish you were a fly on the wall in Netanyahu's office and could read the daily briefing from Mossad. HAHAHA!!!
#4
If this incident really was sabotage (and not a centrifuge accident) ... someone deserves to be awarded a medal.
No mention of whether Iranian workers are still trapped underground in the Fordow plant, or whether there were casualties. But it seems highly likely that some of the workforce must have been unable to escape the incident.
#7
In 2009, the EU took the MEK (aka Mujahadeen e Khalq aka The [Iran] People's Warriors) off the terrorist list. In Sept 2012, the US took them off the US terrorist list. Subsequently, several of the pro Mullah orgs in the US protested claiming that the unlisting would lead to the MEK engaging in sabotage in Iran.
Tee Hee.
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/28/2013 14:53
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#8
If there is any radiation leakage, I guarantee it is being picked up by satellites. That would make folks at CIA and NSA HQ do a little happy dance.
#14
"Would the explosion be big enough to move seismographs? The articles I've seen haven't mentioned such a thing..."
That's actually a very good point. I thought the same thing after you broke the original story last week. It seems like if the explosion actually shook the ground out to a radius of several miles around Fordo - then YES someone should have seen it on local seismographs in the ME. Not sure what the closest monitoring station would be.
Holocaust Day caricature of Netanyahu's wall of Paleostinian suffering in Sunday Times slammed as 'absolutely disgusting'; paper says drawing not anti-Semitic.
Naturally. The cartoon can be seen here. Judge for yourself, dear Reader.
Border Police arrest three Paleostinians carrying seven pipe bombs at checkpoint
Shots were fired at an Israeli bus south of Ramallah on Sunday evening. No injuries were reported.
The bus, traveling near the Israeli settlement of Anatot in the West Bank, northeast of Jerusalem, was lightly damaged by the shooting, NRG reported. IDF forces were searching the area for the perpetrators.
In a separate incident, Border Police foiled a terrorist attack on a West Bank checkpoint Sunday, arresting three Paleostinians at the Tapuach junction, south of Nablus and east of the Ariel settlement.
Authorities found seven pipe bombs and several improvised weapons in the suspects' car, reported Israel Radio. The three men admitted to planning an attack on the checkpoint during questioning.
And now, more details of Palestinian attack trends, from the Shin Bet year-end report:
The number of terror attacks in the West Bank rose from 320 in 2011 to 578 in 2012, while 282 attacks were carried out in Jerusalem, compared to 191 in 2011.
According to a Shin Bet report released Thursday, the increase is due in part to a 68% rise in what the security agency refers to as "popular" terror attacks -- mainly attacks involving Molotov cocktails. However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... the number of attacks involving firearms and explosives also grew by 42% -- 37 compared to 26 in 2011.
Ten Israelis were killed as a result of terror attacks in 2012, compared to 22 killed in 2011. Six of the victims were civilians and four were members of the security forces.
A staffer at left-wing Media Matters for America committed numerous felonies in the District of Columbia and around the country by carrying a firearm to defend the organization's founder, David Brock, The Daily Caller has learned.
According to a knowledgeable source, multiple firearms used to protect the Media Matters founder were purchased with Brock's blessing -- and apparently with the group's money.
Mr. Brock is a made, certified member of the nomenklatura. Nothing will come of this, just as nothing happened to David Gregory. You, dear reader, should not try this yourself.
TheDC has previously reported that Brock's one-time aide, Haydn Price-Morris, carried a concealed Glock handgun as he traveled with the liberal leader to public events in Washington, D.C.
But the extent of Brock's armed activities have been largely unknown until now, even among those closest to him. An array of current and former Media Matters sources, all with intimate knowledge about the inner workings of the organization, granted extensive interviews to TheDC.
Brock, whose struggles with mental health have seen him hospitalized in the past, became increasingly concerned by late 2010 that he was being targeted by right-wing assassins.
TheDC has learned that by that time, Brock had armed his assistant -- who had no permit to carry a concealed firearm -- with a Glock handgun.
Permits are for little people -- and especially, to be denied to little people...
According to an internal email exchange obtained by TheDC, the gun was purchased with cash in Maryland, likely to diminish the chances such a purchase would appear on the tax-exempt group's books.
If I were a Pub Senator I'd get this into the testimony on Diane Feinstein's bill. Members of the apparatchik class are buying illegal guns? Definitely want that in the Congressional Record...
Between Price-Morris' early 2009 arrival and late 2010 departure from Media Matters, he also acquired a shotgun for Brock's protection.
The EU has become the largest single donor to the Palestinians, contributing about 500 million ($720 million).Europe also channels an ocean of money to the anti-Israel NGOs. And don't forget the textbooks.
Over the past year, the Coordination Forum for Countering Anti-Semitism monitored incidents worldwide. In 2012, 6 of the 10 worst anti-Semitic attacks took place in Europe (the rest are shared among Iran, Yemen and United States).
Even more frightening are the new statistics about the popular feelings about the Jewish people in Europe.
Amid the rise in hate crimes in France, the World Zionist Organization calculated the level of antisemitism among French citizens. The survey revealed that more than 40% of the French population holds anti-Semitic beliefs. The survey also found that 47% of the population believes that "French Jews are more loyal to Israel than the country where they live."
The Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project found that 46% of Spanish residents held an unfavorable view of Jews. Meanwhile, 47% of Germans are of the opinion that "Israel is exterminating the Palestinians," according to a poll undertaken by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, affiliated with the German Social Democratic Party.
44 % of Italians are prejudiced or hostile toward Jews, according to a study recently issued by the Italian Chamber of Deputies's Committee.
You can find the same trend all over Europe. Half of the population holds deep anti-Jewish feelings.
I'm betting that if the Pew Research Center had done surveys in 1713, 1813 and 1913, that the 2013 numbers would look about the same...
#3
Europe spent all that time and trouble trying to kill 6 Million Juden only to be over-run by 20 million moslems. Nicely played bloodthirsty europeons.
Screw Europe. Say hi to Putin for me when he takes over.
Defense minister challenges idea that operation against Iran would develop into "full fledged war the size of the Iraq war."
The United States has prepared plans for a "surgical" military operation to delay Iran's nuclear program in the event that diplomatic efforts to thwart Tehran's drive for nuclear weapons capability fail, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview with The Daily Beast on Friday.
The United States also has plans to invade Canada and the Virgin Islands, should it prove necessary. Having plans proves nothing, as the former prime minister of Israel should well know.
Speaking from Switzerland, where he is attending the Davos World Economic Forum, Barak challenged the notion that a military operation against Iran would develop into a "full fledged war the size of the Iraqi war or even the war in Afghanistan."
"What we basically say is that if worse comes to worst, there should be a readiness and an ability to launch a surgical operation that will delay them by a significant time frame and probably convince them that it won't work because the world is determined to block them," Barak told The Daily Beast.
#5
Ole' Ehud repor doesn't believe that Iran will be able to mount any or much of a Regional or International Military, Proxy Terror counter-response in retaliation for any US andor Israel milstrike agz Iran's Nucprogs.
* WORLD NEWS > ISRAEL: IRAN SLOWING DOWN NUCLEAR PROGRAM, WON'T HAVE A BOMB BEFORE 2015 [or EOY = December 2016].
IIUC, IOW once again the USA = POTUS BAMMER has seemingly no real cause to initiate any sort of MilAction agz Iran, by the above between now 2013 thru Dec 2016 - WILL THE BAMMER STILL DEMAND THAT IRAN SUBORN ITSELF TO UNDER UN IAEA SUPERVISION COME MARCH 2013???
Iran has argued that to unilaterally suborn itself under the UN IAEA would be nationally degrading or humiliating - MORESO SINCE ISRAEL'S NUCPROG ISN'T, WASN'T, + WON'T BE SUBJECT TO SAME.
By extension, Iran has roughly three years to significantly improve + refine its NucProcesses, as well as pull an effective "North Korea" Scenario by either stockpiling enough NucMats for Nuke Bombs, andor to covertly manufacture a
number of de facto Working NucBombs in order to deter or retaliate agz any US or US-led Ground Invasion of Iran.
Iff Iran refuses to concede or compromise, will the Bammer initiate war sometime this summer???
For a map, click here. For a map of Zacatecas state, click here
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A total of six individuals have been killed or were found dead in ongoing drug and gang violence in Zacatecas state, including three armed suspects who died in an encounter with a Mexican Army unit, according to Mexican news accounts.
According to a news item posted on the website of El Sol de Zacatecas, a unit with the Mexican 97th Infantry Battalion exchanged gunfire with armed suspects who were travelling aboard two vehicles Saturday morning.
The gun battle took place in a location about 20 kilometers west of Fresnillo municipality where the army unit was on patrol. The unit apparently crossed paths with the small convoy and were fired on as armed suspects attempted to flee. Mexican Army return fire killed three.
One unidentified Mexican Army soldier was wounded in the encounter.
An undisclosed number of armed suspects surrendered to the unit, and the two vehicles were seized.
Three other individuals were killed in Zacatecas state, according to news items posted on the website of El Sol de Zacatecas.
Two woman were found dead on a road in Zacatecas municipality Wednesday. They were identified as Gloria Guadalupe Gomez Ruiz, 25, of Zacatecas municipality and Laura Ivone Rodriguez Cervantes, 22, of Guadalupe municipality. Both victims were found naked and had been tortured by a beating. They were strangled in the location they were found. Zacatecas Procuraduria General de Justicia or attorney general Arturo Nahle Garcia later dismissed speculations that the women were part of a wave of femicides in the state, suggesting that the victims were killed by local criminal gangs.
An unidentified man was found beaten to death between Jerez and Fresnillo municipalities Saturday afternoon. The victim was found near the village of Purisima del Maguey with a message from organized crime. The content of the message was not disclosed in the news item. However, reports did say the victim was caught in an intergang struggle in the area.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
NATO troop deaths are decreasing, as many countries continue withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, handing more responsibility to Afghan forces. But as Afghan troops have been pushed out on their own, often without the weaponry or bomb-detecting technology of NATO forces, they have been bearing the brunt of the war's violence. On Saturday, at least 21 policemen were killed by bombs in Kunduz, Kandahar, Ghazni, and Farah provinces.
Afghan officials said numbers for the year are incomplete, but between the army and national police, at least 2,071 troops were killed in 2012, with more than double that number injured, as compared to 2,177 U.S. servicemembers killed in the entire war, according to independent website iCasualties. For Western nations, whose publics have long been weary of an effort that seems to have locked into a stalemate, such numbers would be untenable. Even for Afghans, accustomed to nearly constant war over the past three decades, losing the equivalent of a brigade's worth of troops each year to death and injury is taking a toll.
The spike in casualties comes at a time when Afghan units can still rely on NATO troops for backup and, most importantly, air power assets likely to diminish over the next two years, as international militaries withdraw ahead of the Dec. 31, 2014 deadline for all combat troops to leave Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's security forces are still dependent on international troops for air support -- a situation unlikely to improve anytime soon with the recent scrapping of the entire fleet of Afghan C-27A cargo planes due to lack of spare parts. Afghan troops lack intelligence capabilities, artillery and effective countermeasures against roadside bombs, by far the biggest killer of Afghan soldiers, Ministry of Defense spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said.
In a country beset by joblessness, where most recruits join the military for a paycheck rather than patriotism, the increasing danger of military service is driving some out of the ranks. The Afghan security forces are currently close to their goal of 350,000 troops, but maintaining that is a challenge with a turnover rate of around one-third of the force annually. Compounding the increasing danger of the job, the cronyism that runs rampant through the Afghan government can have life or death consequences in the military, where the well-connected often get cushy postings in safe districts while their less fortunate comrades serve in insurgent-plagued regions.
nsurgents can rely on continued support from Pakistan and other regional powers, and Afghan troops will need assurances that they can rely on Western nations not only for backup but also to ensure the government they're fighting for has the resources to stay in power.
At least 18 people were killed or injured after an pre-dawn ambush Saturday by communist terrorists rebels in the central Philippine province of Negros Occidental.
Officials said New Peoples Army terrorists rebels attacked a truck transporting policemen and village security in the town of La Castellana.
The policemen were returning to their station when terrorists rebels, hiding alongside the road, opened fire on the truck as it passed in village. The ambush triggered a gun battle, but terrorists rebels overpowered the policemen and village guards.
DAMASCUS, Syria - The United Nations humanitarian chief was in Damascus on Sunday for talks with Syrian officials about the nation's conflict. Valerie Amos did not make any public remarks upon her arrival in Damascus on Sunday for a two-day visit, but at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, she said world powers had not done enough to lessen Syrian suffering.
The money spent on the Davos Forum might have put a dent in the suffering but that's completely different, of course...
"The humanitarian situation in Syria is already catastrophic and it's clearly getting worse," she said. "What we are seeing now are the consequences of the failure of the international community to unite to resolve the crisis."
Noticed that, did you Valerie? The Russians and Chinese are on one side, the Iranians and their minions are on another, the Lebanese are quaking in fear on another side, the Turks are seething on yet another side, the Israelis are warily watching from their side, the Sunni Arabs are on at least two sides, maybe three, the Euros are on the far, far side a long ways away, and the U.S. is on the side-line hoping not to be called to come into the game. You need those hexadecahedron dice the kids use in Dungeons and Dragons to roll hits for each side. So it's a failure to unite alright. You got it on the first try!
The U.N. says more than 60,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict in March 2011.
Living conditions have deteriorated across Syria during the 22-month conflict, which began with political protests that escalated into a civil war with scores of rebel groups battling President Bashar Assad's forces. Entire towns and neighborhoods have been damaged in the fighting, and more than 2 million people are internally displaced, with another 650,000 seeking refuge in neighboring countries.
Some areas face food shortages, and even areas that have been spared large-scale violence like Damascus lack sufficient quantities of gasoline, heating oil and cooking gas.
On Friday, the U.N. announced it was preparing to send $10 million in new U.S. aid to help alleviate hunger in northern Syria.
World powers remain divided on how to solve the crisis.
It's all those sides...
The U.S. and many Arab and European countries have called on Assad to step down, while Russia, China and Iran refuse any pressure from outside that seeks to hasten the regime's fall. On Saturday, Iran made its strongest warning to date that it could intervene militarily to help Assad's regime.
A senior Israeli Cabinet minister warned on Sunday that Israeli could attack sites in Syria if Assad's regime transferred chemical weapons to the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom confirmed to Israel's Army Radio that top security officials held a special meeting last week to discuss Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.
"It would be crossing a line that would demand a different approach, including even action," he said. Asked whether this might mean a pre-emptive attack, he said: "We will have to make the decisions."
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AL AIDO (SYRIA) In this green, mountainous part of northwest Syria, the boom of shells vibrates every few hours through dozens of villages abandoned by their terrified Kurdish inhabitants. Small groups of rebel fighters have now taken up position in some of the empty homes, patrolling the rocket-scarred streets in vehicles with markings declaring them to be the Commission for Civilian Protection.
But with the civilians gone, the insurgents real duty is to prevent any advance by Syrian forces located around five kilometres away.
This is effectively the front line, the grizzled 65-year-old commander of one unit, going by the name Abu Feras, said. Theres no clashes between the FSA (rebel Free Syrian Army) and the government, only shelling and bombing from the government positions."
According to Feras, government officers are afraid that their platoons of conscripts could desert at the first opportunity, while the rebels are too low on weapons and ammunition to forge ahead. The result is a stalemate which has made life impossible for the Kurdish civilians who used to live in the 60 villages in the area, in the northern reaches of Latakia province. Almost all have left, moving farther north towards the Turkish border where they feel safer.
For now, they are crammed into small houses left vacant by better-off Syrians near the border and who are now waiting out the war in Turkey. But more arrive each day, putting a strain on both lodgings and charity.
A minority traditionally at the poorer end of Syrian society, the Kurds have neither the money nor the means to stay in Turkey. Instead they can be seen cooking bread or drinking tea by the side of the road. In Khirbet Al Joz, a village butting the border, a local farmer was converting a parcel of his own land for use as a refugee camp able to shelter 10,000 people.
A large yellow bulldozer was seen levelling the earth for the 2,400 tents to be supplied by a Qatari company, which the farmer, Abdel Nasser Ahmed Fezoo, said was acting under Turkish authorisation.
We want to build a refugee camp in an area under FSA control, close to the border, Fezoo said.
There will be five to six people per tent. Bottled water will be delivered through Turkey. Theyll use ground water for washing. And Ill put latrines down by the creek, he said.
The better to spread disease...
Fezoo said he came up with the idea two months ago, when he saw that his village was full. Funding and support, he said, was coming from Turkish donors and from one foreign organisation that he declined to identify.
Can't be the U.N. Maybe it's the Saudis...
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[Al Ahram] The funeral at Al Mariam Mosque in Port Said was disrupted on Sunday by heavy tear gas shelling reportedly fired from the direction of the nearby army club.
Ten have been injured by either live ammunition or birdshot, according to General Manager of Port Said Hospitals, Abdel Rahman Farah.
The head of the Health Affairs Emergency Unit, Ra'ed Hussein, says Port Said hospitals have so far received 270 injured, mostly suffering from gas suffocation.
Angry rioters torched two clubgrounds for the police and armed forces according to Ahram Arabic website.
Alastair Beach, correspondent for the British daily, The Independent, describes to Ahram Online the tense scene in Port Said. Demonstrators express their anger towards the behaviour of Egypt's security forces during the funeral for the dozens killed in festivities with security forces on Saturday.
"One man told me Port Said is being subjected to a disproportionate level of brutality from security forces following the controversial ruling," Beach says, in reference to the death sentences issued for local Port Said residents that set their family members off in aggressive protests.
Port Said city fumed with rage after 21 of the 73 defendants in the trial of the killing of Ultras Ahlawy fans in February during a football match in Port Said stadium were given the death penalty.
"The doctors I spoke to at Port Said's general hospital said that of the 30 killed [yesterday] 29 had been shot with live ammunition. Protesters then pointed out that Cairo demonstrators were not killed with live rounds, so why are those from Port Said?" Cairo had seen demonstrations on the anniversary of Egypt's revolution on 25 January - just a day before the Port Said verdict was announced.
Families of defendants attempted to storm the prison, leading to festivities between security forces where thirty-two, including two coppers, were killed.
Beach tells Ahram Online that during the funeral one demonstrator burnt an Egyptian flag, while the crowds around him cheered.
Others joked that after the police's heavy-handed tactics Port Said should secede from Egypt to be "saved from the Egyptian government."
Further violence is expected in the Suez Canal city, Beach confirms.
"The situation will get messy. I spoke to one of the demonstrators; a young boy with blood on his jacket after he had been helping carry the dead yesterday. He said 'of course there will be more festivities after the funeral.'"
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Argentina said on Sunday it had agreed with Iran to establish a "truth commission" in a bid to resolve the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center that Argentine courts accuse the Iran of sponsoring, Reuters reported.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez agreed to open talks with Tehran on the attack last year in a sharp change in diplomatic policy that irked Israel and drew criticism from Jewish leaders in Buenos Aires and the United States.
Fernandez said foreign ministers from Argentina and Iran had signed a memorandum of understanding during a meeting in Ethiopia. The accord between Argentina and Iran establishes a truth commission made up of foreign legal experts "to analyze all the documentation presented to date by the judicial authorities of Argentina and Iran," Fernandez said in a series of Twitter messages.
This is a prelude to a major whitewash. Wonder how much money Iran is giving Argentina and Fernandez?
Fernandez, who has close ties with other Latin American leaders who are on good terms with Tehran, such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, hailed the agreement as historic.
That's actually true in a sad way...
The five commissioners will be jointly nominated and will not be residents of Argentina or Iran, according to a document posted on Fernandez's Facebook page.
"Paging Carla del Ponte to the brown courtesy phone..."
After analyzing the evidence, "the commission will give its vision and issue a report with recommendations about how the case should proceed within the legal and regulatory framework of both parties," according to the agreement.
What 'legal framework' of Iran comes into play? The bombing occurred in Buenos Aires.
It also outlines plans for Argentine legal officials to meet in Tehran to question "those people for whom Interpol has issued a red notice."
In 2007, Argentine authorities secured Interpol arrest warrants for five Iranians and a Lebanese in the bombing of the center, which killed 85 people. Iran denies links to the attack. Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi is among the Iranian officials sought by Argentina, which is home to Latin America's largest Jewish community.
Western and Israeli sources have voiced concerns that Argentina may have lost its interest in pursuing investigations of the 1994 attack, as well as the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people two years earlier.
Lost interest right around the time Fernandez started playing snuggle bunnies with Hugo and Short Round...
The Islamic Jihad Organization, believed to be linked to Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, claimed responsibility for the 1992 bombing.
Fernandez said the accord, which must be ratified by Congress, showed Argentina "would never let the tragedy (attack) become a chess piece in the game of wider geopolitical interests."
"No, no, certainly not!"
"Dialogue (is) the only way to resolve conflicts between countries, however severe they are," she said via Twitter.
No. In this case you need to unearth the truth and punish the guilty.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2013
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I'm going odds-on that they'll decide it was George Bush's fault.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/28/2013 7:06
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#2
No fair! That's the free spot on the Bingo card!
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2013 8:14
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I can predict the result: "Da JOOOOZ didit!"
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
01/28/2013 13:31
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No fair! That's the free spot on the Bingo card!
[An Nahar] The United Arab Emirates is to put on trial 94 Islamists accused of plotting against the Gulf state, attorney general Salem Kobaish announced on Sunday.
He said the accused, whose arrests were announced in July, will go on trial for "having created and led a movement aimed at opposing the basic foundations on which the state's political system is built and at seizing power."
The group had formed a "secret organization" which was in contact with individuals and organizations "abroad", including the Moslem Brüderbund, Kobaish said, quoted by the official news agency WAM.
The attorney general said they had also created or invested in real estate companies to finance their organization, but he did not specify when their trial will begin.
On January 9, WAM reported that UAE prosecutors had begun questioning women allegedly linked to the group.
The UAE, a federation of seven emirates led by oil-rich Abu Dhabi, has not seen any of the widespread pro-reform protests which have swept other Arab countries, including fellow Gulf states Bahrain and Oman.
But authorities have stepped up a crackdown on voices of dissent and calls for democratic reform.
Dubai police chief General Dahi Khalfan has accused the Moslem Brüderbund -- which came to power after the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia -- of plotting against Gulf monarchies.
He charged the Islamists enjugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! since last year were linked to the group.
This month, local media announced that UAE authorities had nabbed Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! 11 Egyptian residents suspected of links to the Brotherhood.
The case has sparked a sharp deterioration of relations between Abu Dhabi and Cairo, already under strain since Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi's election as Egyptian president last June.
The Gulf country, where membership of political parties is banned, has rejected a request from Egypt for the release of its nationals.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2013
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BEIRUT - Fighting erupted on Sunday between Syrian troops and rebels around a train station in Damascus, as Syrian warplanes pounded insurgent positions to the east of the capital, a watchdog said.
The clashes broke out in the Port Said area and spread to the nearby Qadam train terminal, while the army shelled the Qadam district itself and neighbouring Assali, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The firefight led to the closure of a key highway that passes through the area and connects Damascus to the southern province of Daraa, the watchdog said.
On the outskirts of Damascus, warplanes launched strikes on the Eastern Ghuta region, focused on the town of Shebaa where clashes have raged in recent weeks between the army and insurgents, it said. Further northeast of the capital, rebels and troops battled around a military vehicle depot located between the opposition strongholds of Irbin and Harasta, the Britain-based Observatory said.
The Syrian Revolution General Council, meanwhile, reported that "heavy artillery and tank shelling hit Daraya from Mazzeh military airport and the Fourth Division headquarters on Moadamiyet mountain as fierce explosions shook the town".
The Observatory said that new army reinforcements had arrived to Daraya, southwest of Damascus, and were shelling the beleaguered rebel bastion, where troops have waged a fierce assault for the past two months in a bid to regain control.
If you read all this it sounds a little like the German press in late 1944. The Wehrmacht was always defeating the Soviet Red Army in every battle they fought -- and every battle was closer and closer to Berlin.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2013
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[Dawn] At least 12 more snuffies were killed Sunday as intense gun-battles continued between two rival groups in Pakistain's restive tribal region of Khyber agency, officials said.
Fierce festivities erupted three days ago when members of the Tariq Afridi faction of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) launched an attack in the Bagh-Maidan area of Tirah valley on Friday, capturing a building belonging to the pro-government Ansarul Islam (AI) orcs.
"The Ansar-ul-Islam group re-took their centre after intense fighting," said another senior local administration official.
The approximate number of deaths from three days of fierce festivities has now reached 52. A security bigshot confirmed the approximate corpse count and said fighting was ongoing.
The area is cut off to journalists and aid workers so it was not possible to confirm the corpse count independently.
The Ansarul Islam, led by local commander Munsif Khan, opposes Mangal Bagh ...a former bus driver, now head of the Deobandi bandido group Lashkar-e-Islam and the Terror of Khyber Agency... 's Lashkar-e-Islam and the TTP, who frequently launches attacks on Pak troops.
Sadat Afridi, a front man for the pro-government AI, says his group has vowed to flush out TTP snuffies from Tirah valley as they "carry out attacks on mosques and public places, which is against Islam."
Khyber is among Pakistain's seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with homegrown forces of Evil and home to religious hard boy organizations including the al Qaeda and Taliban.
The remote Tirah valley holds strategic significance for orc groups. On one side, it shares a border with Afghanistan. On the other it leads to the plains of Bara, which connect the agency to the outskirts of 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. Khyber also links several agencies to each other, serving as a north-south route within Fata. The region has been long fought over by a mix of orc groups, including the TTP, the Ansarul Islam and Mangal Bagh's Lashkar-e-Islam.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2013
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Russian security forces killed three suspected terrorists militants on Friday during a gun battle in the North Caucasus.
Security forces stormed a house where suspected terrorists militants were hiding out in the town of Chegem, near the regional capital Nalchik, after the terrorists militants refused to surrender.
In statement the National Anti-Terrorism Committee said, "Despite efforts to persuade the rebels to stop putting up resistance, they refused and opened intensive fire on security forces. The decision was taken to storm."
[MAGHAREBIA] Tunisians marked Mouled on Thursday (January 24th) despite a fatwa prohibiting any festivities.
Salafist imam Bechir Ben Hassen on January 20th issued a fatwa barring celebrations of the birth of Prophet Mohammad (PTUI!). The hardline preacher also banned preparation of the traditional assida pudding.
"The birth of our Prophet is only celebrated by those with the weakest faith. The Prophet's birthday is celebrated by folks who live for their stomachs," Ben Hassan said in a video on his Facebook page.
"We talk about him (the Prophet) for one night while abandoning his tradition throughout the year; this is hypocrisy," Ben Hassen added.
The first response to the fatwa came January 21st from the Mufti of Tunisia, Othman Batikh.
"The celebrations of the prophet's birth started with the companions, who grew very fond of the Prophet, and did it out of love and not to worship him. After his death, the companions continued celebrating the birth," the Mufti told Echorouk.
"So why is this considered wrong?" Othman Batikh asked.
Resentment over the fatwa quickly spread on Facebook. Some posts called for the preparation of zgougou pudding just to taunt the salafist preacher.
Tunisians, it became clear, had no intention of abandoning their traditional assida. Families spent the night preparing the pudding and making special dishes for children.
"This is an occasion to celebrate the birth of Prophet Mohammad and we are not willing to give it up," 40-year-old oil company worker Adel told Magharebia.
Assida ingredients depend on the region. Some preparations use only flour and butter ("white assida"), while others use zgougou, the Alep pine nuts common to the northwestern Tunisia.
Retailers feared people would embrace the fatwa and not purchase assida ingredients. But even though prices were higher this year, stores and markets were filled with people buying zgougou and dried fruit.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2013
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has recovered from a respiratory infection he contracted after undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba, a minister said.
'Fortyfive days after the complicated surgery, the patient recovers normally, his serious respiratory infection has been overcome. Though certain respiratory inefficiency persists, he is receiving the required treatment,' Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said on state TV.
And if you can't believe the state information minister, who can you believe?
He said that despite his illness, the 58-year-old Chavez continues to 'play active role' in the country's politics.
"What did he say?"
"Something like, 'como gurgle gurgle farc mummmphh gurgle,' minister."
"Okay, make that happen, and snappy!"
Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro said upon his arrival from Cuba Friday that Chavez was feeling much better than he has done since undergoing surgery. Chavez was smiling, optimistic, and believes the treatment will work.
Chavez, who has ruled Venezuela for 13 years, has had four operations for cancer and four courses of chemotherapy in Cuba and Venezuela within a year. His fourth operation, to remove cancerous tissue, took place in Cuba Dec 11.
His inauguration was slated for Jan 11, but he was unable to attend due to his impending death health reasons.
I think this is just 'happy news', and suggests that the behind the scenes fighting to decide who will succeed him hasn't yet been settled.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2013
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#1
Yes, it's just an infection. Yasser Arafat came by the other evening with flowers and some good scotch
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
01/28/2013 10:32
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"he's dead, Jim"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2013 14:40
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[Al Ahram] Country-wide violent clashes and political turmoil following the Port Said verdict sent the stock market on a downward spiral in early trading Sunday
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2013
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[Dawn] One of the five dacoits who were riding two cycle of violences was killed in an encounter with the Khanot police on Habib Mor near the Indus Highway late on Friday.
Police had also seized one Kalashnikov rifle with eight bullets from the dear departed and one abandoned cycle of violence without the number plate, sources said.
SHO of the Khanot cop shoppe Ghulam Abbas Bubbar said he along with a police party was on patrol when they had signalled five persons riding two bikes to stop, but they opened fire on police.
When the police retaliated, three men riding a bike fled while one of the two riding another bike was killed, but his accomplice escaped, leaving the cycle of violence. The dear departed was not identified. The body was shifted to the Hyderabad branch of the Liaquat University Hospital for medico-legal formalities.
The SHO claimed that the Kalashnikov rifle belonged to one of the two police constables, Abdul Majeed Pitafi and Sahib Khan Solangi, who had been killed on Jan 19 at the Dai Danu police checkpoint within the jurisdiction of the Khanot cop shoppe in Jamshoro district. He said that no police official was maimed in the firing by dacoits and only a police mobile was hit by some bullets.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2013
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Wait, isn't it supposed to be the other way around?
TRIPOLI - Libya's upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali's war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya's instability.
Fears are growing that post-Muammar Gaddafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad.
The possibility of a Mali backlash was underlined the past week when several European governments evacuated their citizens from Libya's second largest city, Benghazi, fearing attacks in retaliation for the French-led military assault against Al Qaeda-linked extremists in northern Mali.
All the while the Benghazi city fathers were telling them to stay...
More worrisome is the possibility that militants inspired by -- or linked to -- Al Qaeda can establish a strong enough foothold in Libya to spread instability across a swath of North Africa where long, porous desert borders have little meaning, governments are weak, and tribal and ethnic networks stretch from country to country.
Already, Libya's turmoil echoes around the region and in the Middle East. The large numbers of weapons brought into Libya or seized from government caches during the 2011 civil war against Gaddafi are now smuggled freely to Mali, Egypt and its Sinai Peninsula, the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Militants in Libya are believed to have operational links with fellow militant groups in the same swath, Libyan fighters have joined rebels in Syria and are believed to operate in other countries as well. Libyan officials, activists and experts are increasingly raising alarm over how militants have taken advantage of the oil-rich country's weakness to grow in strength. During his more than four-decade rule Gaddafi stripped the country of national institutions, and after his fall the central government has little authority beyond the capital, Tripoli. Militias established to fight Gaddafi remain dominant, and tribes and regions are sharply divided.
It's a tribal country. Gaddafi used brutality and fear to keep everyone in line -- that was the only 'national institution' that mattered. Now that's gone and tribalism has re-established its traditional authority; which is to say, not very much.
In the eastern city of Benghazi, birthplace of the revolt that led to the ouster and killing of Gaddafi, militias espousing an Al Qaeda ideology and including veteran fighters are prevalent, even ostensibly serving as security forces on behalf of the government since the police and military are so weak and poorly armed.
Recall too that Benghazi and the east have traditionally been a separately administered region, Cyrenaica, as opposed to the western Tripolitania. There's not much history to suggest that the two halves can work together.
One such militia, Ansar Al Shariah, is believed to have been behind the Sept. 11 attack on the US Consulate in the city that killed four Americans, including the ambassador. Since then, militants have been blamed for a wave of assassinations of security officers and government officials.
Earlier this month, former Libyan leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil warned the militant threat extends to efforts to establish a state that can enforce rule of law.
"Libya will not see stability except by facing them," he told a gathering aired on Libyan TV. "It is time to either hold dialogue or confront them." He listed 30 officials and police officers assassinated in Benghazi the past year.
The Mali drama illustrates how the threat bounces back and forth across the borders drawn in the Sahel, the region stretching across the Sahara Desert. Libya and Mali are separated by Algeria, but the two countries had deep ties under Gaddafi. Thousands of Tuaregs moved from Mali to Libya beginning in the 1970s, and many joined special divisions of Gaddafi's military where they earned higher salaries than they would have at home.
As Gaddafi was falling in 2011, thousands of heavily armed Tuareg fighters in southern Libya fled to northern Mali. The Tuareg are an indigenous ethnic group living throughout the Sahel, from Mali to Chad and into Libya and Algeria.
The fighters, led by commander Mohammed Ag Najem, broke the Mali government's hold over the north and declared their long-held dream of a Tuareg homeland, Azawad. But they in turn were defeated by militants, some linked to Al Qaeda's branch in North Africa, who took over the territory and imposed rule under an extreme version of Shariah.
Not a surprise, the al-Qaeda inspired thugs were more brutal and more serious about winning that fight, so they did.
This month, as militants moved south, France launched its military intervention to rescue the Mali government.
In retaliation, militants seized an oil complex in eastern Algeria, prompting a siege by Algerian forces that killed dozens of Western hostages and militants. The militant group that carried out the Algeria hostage taking, in turn, had help from Libyan extremists in the form of smuggled weapons and "organiational ties," the group's leader, Moktar Belmoktar said.
"Their ideological and organisational connection to us is not an accusation against a Muslim but a source of pride and honour to us and to them," Belmoktar, the one-eyed Algerian founder of the Masked Brigade, said of the Libyans in an interview.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2013
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I suspect 'tribes' are the natural organization of humans, that all our political structure is transient.
[An Nahar] The head of the Red Thingy has voiced his deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Mali, where French-led forces have been waging an offensive against Islamist groups in the north for over two weeks.
"Mali is one of the most profound humanitarian crises which we are dealing with today," Peter Maurer, head of the International Committee of the Red Thingy, told Switzerland's ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... SonntagsZeitung in an interview published Sunday.
"The situation concerns us greatly. Thousands of people and families have been driven out into neighboring countries since the outbreak of fighting and are heavily dependent on humanitarian aid," he said.
The ICRC is concentrating its efforts in the north of the country, where it is providing food for 500,000 people and has set up 10 health centers.
"Given the escalating violence and the many different factions involved in the conflict, the work is very difficult for us," Maurer said.
On Friday, the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva said 9,000 people have fled to neighboring countries since French-led troops launched an offensive against Islamists in northern Mali on January 11.
According to UNHCR figures, the total number of refugees in the region now exceeds 150,000 while about 230,000 are internally displaced.
"We are ready to expand our activities in Mali," said Maurer.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2013
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[An Nahar] Britannia's Foreign Office on Sunday urged its nationals to leave the self-declared nation of Somaliland, warning of a "specific" threat against Westerners in the northern Somali region.
I thought this was the stable part of Somalia...
Britannia had similarly warned of a "specific and imminent threat to Westerners" in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Thursday and urged its citizens to leave, swiftly followed by Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and La Belle France.
The Foreign Office said it already advises against all travel to war-torn Somalia including Somaliland -- a rare area of relative stability -- but now urged any remaining citizens to pull out.
"We are now aware of a specific threat to Westerners in Somaliland, and urge any British nationals who remain there against our advice to leave immediately," the ministry said in a statement.
"As our travel advice continues to make clear, kidnapping for financial or political gain, motivated by criminality or terrorism, remains a threat throughout Somalia."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2013
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Unless it involves Iran and the six million Jews of Israel. That will be be unavoidably regrettable, should it come to pass.
[An Nahar] U.S. President Barack Obama The Cambridge police acted stupidly... on Sunday vowed to prevent genocide, as the world marked Holocaust Remembrance Day on the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
"We honor the memories of the six million Jews and millions of other innocent victims whose lives were tragically taken during the Holocaust over sixty years ago," Obama said in a statement.
But he said the anniversary is also a "time for action."
"We must commit ourselves to resisting hate and persecution in all its forms. The United States, along with the international community, resolves to stand in the way of any tyrant or dictator who commits crimes against humanity, and stay true to the principle of 'Never Again,'" Obama said.
"By remaining vigilant against those who seek to perpetrate violence and murder, we honor those we lost during one of the darkest periods in human history," he added. Then his lips fell off.
Posted by: Fred ||
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ISMAILIA, Egypt - An Egyptian man was killed in Port Said on Sunday when thousands of people held funerals for 33 who died in protests at the weekend, a hospital official in the Mediterranean port said.
The head of Port Said hospitals, Abdel Rahman Farag, told Reuters the 18-year-old died from a gunshot wound in the chest. He said more than 416 people were injured as a result of teargas inhalation, while 17 suffered gunshot wounds.
Many of the 33 people who died in the city on Saturday were killed by gunshots.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2013
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Meet the new boss, same as the old boss
President Mohamed Morsy declared a state of emergency in Port Said, Suez and Ismailia for one month on Sunday night. Ahah. A state of emergency. Egyptians know all about those, since they had one for forty years. good thing we gave them F-16s Guess it'll be neglect and sand in the gears for the new toys, after all -- the new owners are busy with more basic concerns.
The state of emergency is effective in the three governorates starting tonight at 12 am.
He also issued a curfew from 9 pm to 6 am in all three cities for the next 30 days. that seems like martial law?
Morsy announced this in a televised address to the nation. "If I see the state with its people, institutions and public and private property in danger, I will be forced to do more than this for the interests of Egypt," he said.
"This is my duty and I will not hesitate when it comes to it," he added.
Morsy also called for a national dialogue with all political figures on Monday. The call came after the deadly clashes outside the presidential palace. This is his second attempt at a national Dialogue following a failed call in December, which opposition boycott. Hillary's Victory Party remains unperturbed
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/28/2013
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At least eight officers were killed in a mysterious twin-car bomb explosion Friday, Jan. 25 at Syrian regional intelligence headquarters in Quneitra on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. The blasts sent tensions shooting up on the Israeli and Jordanian borders with Syria. Israeli, Jordanian and US Special Forces posted in the kingdom went on high alert. Heavy Syrian reinforcements were seen streaming toward the two borders. This is a Debka report, but I heard it confirmed on one of the news channels this morning.
Some of the fatalities were Syrian, but Western intelligence sources disclosed to debkafile that most were high-ranking Iranian Al Qods Brigades and Hizballah officers
Syrian regime sources said the explosive devices were attached to the intelligence command building's outer walls. But the Western sources report that two large bomb cars were lying in wait on both sides of the road leading to the Syrian HQ and were detonated as the two-car convoy of Iranian and Hizballah officers drove by. There were no survivors.
Those sources also refute reports that the al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusrah fighting with the Syrian rebels claimed responsibility for the attack. This was a rare occasion when no Syrian opposition group issued any statement at all, they said. The speed with which Syrian army helicopters flew in to remove the casualties indicated their high rank.
In the view of a Jordanian military source, this attack by an unknown hand has delayed Bashar Assad's advanced preparations for an all-out armored offensive to finally crush the revolt against his regime. His first targets were to have been the rebel-held villages along the Israeli and Jordanian borders.
The Syrian ruler was working to a plan of operations his generals had drawn up with Iranian Al Qods Brigades strategists.
[An Nahar] French fighter jets bombed the far northern Islamist stronghold of Kidal in Mali and destroyed the home of the head of an al-Qaeda-linked group, a security source said.
"There were air raids on Islamist bases in Kidal," 1,500 kilometers (940 miles) north of the capital Bamako, a Malian security source said, adding that the home of Ansar Dine (Defenders of the Faith) chief Iyad Ag Ghaly was destroyed.
A local official gave a similar account.
"The French planes fired on a military camp at Kidal and destroyed Iyad Ghaly's home. There were also strikes by French warplanes to the west of Kidal, not far from the village where Iyad Ag Ghaly was born," the official said.
Kidal has been a bastion of Ansar Dine, whose leader Iyad Ag Ghaly is a former soldier and a Tuareg ex-rebel, who formed the group last year.
In April last year after a coup in Bamako, an alliance of Tuareg rebels seeking an independent homeland in the north joined forces with several Islamist groups, seizing Kidal first and then the northern towns of Gao and Timbuktu.
The Islamists quickly sidelined the Tuaregs, imposing a harsh version of Islamic sharia law in the region. Transgressors were flogged, stoned and executed, they banned music and television and forced women to wear veils.
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Tehran is looking seriously at a limited Syrian-Lebanese clash of arms with Israel -- possibly using Bashar Assad's chemical weapons as a trigger, debkafile's military and intelligence sources disclose. Reacting to this news, Israel announced Sunday, Jan. 27, the deployment of Iron Dome anti-missile batteries some days ago to reinforce security in northern Israel and the key Haifa port.
Israel announced the deployment of Iron Dome anti-missile batteries to reinforce security in northern Israel and the key Haifa port.
The Iranians see three strategic benefits in embroiling Israel in a limited war with its two allies, Syria and Hizballah:
1. A new outbreak of armed violence would direct world attention away from the Syrian civil war:
2. Israel would be sidetracked from a possible strike against Iran's nuclear facilities -- even a "surgical operation" such as Defense Minister Ehud Barak spoke of over the weekend -- by being thrown into multiple battles with Iranian forces in Syria and Lebanon, the Shiite Hizballah and the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihadi in the Gaza Strip.
The clash would be programmed to end without winners or losers like Israel's war against Hizballah in 2006 and its two anti-terror operations the Gaza Strip in 2009 and 2012. But meanwhile Israel would have its hands too full with threats on three borders to pursue military action against a nuclear Iran.
3. Tehran would buy another year's delay for spinning out its talks with the Six Powers (US, Russia, France, Britain, China and Germany) on their nuclear controversy.
At the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said "Israel faced some of the gravest threats in its existence" and they continue to run riot "in the east, the north and the south."
Behind his words, was an immediate neighborhood beset in last couple of weeks by al Qaeda's advance in Mali - now checked by French intervention; the Algerian gas field hostage siege; and the discovery of the strong interface among the various African Al Qaeda branches, including Egypt, in operations, logistics, shared arms suppliers and the pooling of jihadist manpower in the different arenas.
Israel's prime minister and security chiefs are clearly troubled by the perceived danger of the jihadist networks based in Egyptian Sinai and al Qaeda affiliates fighting in Syria joining up to attack Israel from two directions, the north and the south. This would be in keeping with the multiple, multinational terrorist threats surfacing in Africa.
With regard to Syria's chemical weapons, after convening an expanded security-diplomatic cabinet meeting last Wednesday, Jan. 23, the day after Israel's general election, Netanyahu remarked: "We have to look around us... What's happening in Iran and the lethal weapons in Syria, which is falling apart..."
He left the specifics to Deputy Prime Minister Sylvan Shalom, who said Sunday that if chemical weapons reached Hizballah or Syrian rebel hands, "Such a development would be a crossing of all red lines that would require a different approach, including even preventive operations."
But even Shalom did not specify where the red lines would be.
#1
It would make a nice distraction, from the Persian perspective. But last I looked, the Syrians were somewhat occupied.
The Hezbullies are always up for some fun, but since they've upgunned, the Israelis have no choice but to deal with them harshly. Chemical weapons could up the ante, but no one would be happy with the results.
#2
" Limited ...clash of arms" > I have to wonder iff China will do the same vee Nippon in NE Asia???
* TOPIX, FREEREPUBLIC > NORTH KOREAN CANNIBALISM FEARS AMID PEOPLE "EATING CHILDREN + CORPSES" [dead = cemeteries], + general hunting, murder of people as food.
PLA takeover of the DPRK = takeover of KNPA airfields, etc. = that much closer to disputed Senkakus/Diaoyus, Okinawa, + espec TAIWAN.
* SAME > [Daily Yomiuri] ASDF [Japan Air SDF] MONITORING SENKAKUS 24 HOURS A DAY/ RADAR-EQIUIPPED AIRCRAFT DEPLOYED IN BID TO PREVENT INTRUSION BY CHINESE PLANES.
#3
An open are fizzled nuke at one of the Iranian tests sites would definitely bring some more sanctions on Iran too. I mean how could the deny it wasn't their nuke?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
01/28/2013 14:53
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#4
What if both Hezbollah and Iran R Guard forces in Syria and Al Q forces in Syria had chem weapons and what if they used them on each other?
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/28/2013 14:57
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#5
DAILY TIMES.PK > OBAMA STRUGGLES OVER WHETHER TO INTERVENE IN SYRIA.
versus
* WORLD NEWS [Middle East Online] PARIS [France] PREDICTS RISE OF CALIPHATE IN SYRIA, iff West fails to materielly, $$$ support anti-Assad, anti-Qaeda, etc. Rebel opposition = Syrian National Council [SNC].
#6
WORLD NEWS > [Syrian Deputy IM Khalaf al-Meftah] DEPUTY MINISTER: WAR ON SYRIA [can]TRIGGERS WORLD WAR 3.
#4 dats fun to think about. One has to expect more than little ineptitude when dealing wid an Enemy that hasn't fought a war or high-level war in a while, as ditto for an Enemy that has never used HT Advanced Weapons or Miltechs before.
I suspect that both Iran + China will suffer such a prob in the initial or early phases of any mil conflict that occurs vee the US - truth be told, even the US = US-Allied will suffer similarly. OVER TIME, HOWEVER, THE RUST WILL EVENTUALLY INEVITABLY BE CLEANED OUT, + POOR-TO-MEDIOCRE MILPOL LEADERS WILL BE REPLACED WID COMPETENT DYNAMIC ONES - the issue becomes what will de facto won-versus-lost by the time it occurs as CHINA HAS BOTH "RELIABLE" MISSLE DEFENSE TECHS, SYS? AS WELL AS "RELIABLE" ANTI-CVN ASBMS IN ITS ARSENAL.
Iran has between now 2013 - EOY 2016 to acquire or dev its own indigenous NucBombs + GMD-TMD + ASBMS + .....@etc. to counter a US threat.
A US-Iran war might not occur until later this summer 2013 at the earliest - OTOH, iff the situation between China + Japan continues to escalate wid no let up, THE US CAN BE INVOLVED IN MAJOR CONVENTIONAL ANDOR NUCLEAR CONFRONTATION, WAR? AGZ CHINA ANYTIME BETWEEN NOW + EOY 2013.
> Iran + China concede = BAD FOR ANTI-US LEFTISTS-GLOBALISTS.
> Iran + China refuse to concede = US refuses to intervene, take action, or otherwise makes concessions in favor of Iran + China = GOOD FOR ANTI-US LEFTISTS-GLOBALISTS.
[Dawn] Like his other colleagues who spoke in the National Assembly on Saturday, the usually tough-talking interior minister, Rehman Malik, took the role of a preacher to make a holy, though ambiguous, offer to Taliban militants: "Return to the fold of Islam" to end bloodshed.
Lawmakers from both sides of aisle, including some non-Muslims, invoked Islamic teachings for the sake of peace in the country as the house suspended its normal agenda to hold a rare debate to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on a move from Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Religious Affairs Minister and chief whip of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
But there were not many listeners for more than 20 lawmakers who spoke to a poorly attended house, which met a day after Eid Miladun Nabi (PBUH), which was a national holiday.
The sitting, chaired by PPP member Yasmeen Rehman, started with only 18 members present and the attendance never reached even 30 at any time, although the quorum for the 342-seat house requires the presence of 86 members.
After some of his usual bluster, such as "munafiqeen" (hypocrites) misusing a religious platform for violence, like throats of Muslims cut in Swat valley during the 2009 Taliban revolt there, and appealing to ulema to bring perceived deviators to the right path, the interior minister, addressing the Taliban, said: "I invite you to give up terrorism."
Then asking them at whose behest they were fighting, he said: "I invite all Taliban to come into the fold of Islam and stop 'qatl-o-gharat' (murder and pillage)."
But the minister's remarks remained ambiguous as he did not say if a halt of violence by the Taliban could lead to a dialogue, which the government has said in the past could be held only with those militants who laid down their weapons.
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01/28/2013
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[Dawn] Seven men, including a prayer leader associated with the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), The false nose and mustache name of Sipah-e-Sahaba...
were rubbed out in different parts of the city since Friday, police and hospital sources said on Saturday.
They said that Noorul Bashar, 28, was the prayer leader of the Muhammedia Islamia Masjid in Orangi Town and a resident of nearby Bengali Para.
The police said that the victim along with two others was sitting near a cigarette cabin when two motorcyclists opened fire on them.
They said that the prayer leader died instantly and two others, Maulana Saleem Ullah and Shoaib, sustained bullet wounds.
The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where medico-legal sources said that the victim was shot in the head from a very close range as the bullet went through his skull.
The maimed were later shifted to the Liaquat National Hospital where they were stated to be in a stable condition.
A front man for the ASWJ stated that the victim was also a local leader of the party, while Maulana Saleem Ullah was a member of mosque committee.
He said that the ASWJ would observe a protest day on Sunday.
MQM man killed
A young man was killed and his brother maimed in an attack on them on Jahangir Road within the remit of the Jamshed Quarters cop shoppe.
The police said Sharafat Ali and Mubarak Ali, sons of Shabaan Ali, were at an air-conditioner and refrigerator repair shop where two motorcyclists came and sprayed them with bullets.
They said that Sharafat died instantly and his younger brother sustained critical bullet wounds.
The body and the maimed were shifted to the Civil Hospital 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... where sources said that deceased sustained four bullets and his brother sustained three bullet wounds.
The police said that they had collected 18 spent bullet casings from the spot.
They said that the two brothers, residents of PIB Colony, were employed in the Bloody Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and they worked part time at the repair shop.
The two brothers were stated to be affiliated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... Killings in Orangi
A 23-year-old man was rubbed out in Orangi Town within the remit of the Iqbal Market cop shoppe.
The police said that the victim, Waqar Ahmed aka Vicky, Vicky? I used to date a girl named Vicky in high school. Ahhh, Vicky! How sweet she was! Nobody filled a sweater quite like Vicky. I don't think this is the same Vicky, though.
son of Syed Nisar Ahmed, was affiliated with a banned religious outfit. He was a tailor by profession.
They said that the victim was targeted by two motorcyclists who rode away after their swift operation.
A 28-year-old man was rubbed out within the remit of the same cop shoppe. The victim was identified as Shabbir Ahmed, who was targeted near his house at Islam Nagar.
The police said that two motorcyclists killed the young man who dealt in shopping bags.
Man rubbed out in F. B. Area
Motorcyclists rubbed out a 30-year-old man, Waseem Zafar, in Block 11 of Federal B. Area within the remit of the Gulberg cop shoppe.
Witnesses said that the victim was sitting with his friends near his house when attackers opened fire on him. They said that one of the attackers also stabbed the victim when he fell down after being shot.
The police said that he was a former worker of a political party.
'Gangster' killed in attack
A 32-year-old man, who had recently come out of jail after serving over a two-and-half-year term, was rubbed out near Al-Makka hotel at Secor 5-B in Surjani Town.
The police said that Mirza Sabir Baig, son of Mirza Saleem Baig, was talking to someone on his cellular phone when two cycle of violences targeted him.
They said that the attackers rode away after their swift operation and the victim died before he could be shifted to hospital.
The police said that the man was involved in several criminal cases including murder.
They said that the victim was apparently killed by his gangland opponents.
Youth rubbed out by fleeing bandidos
A 25-year-old man was killed when one of the fleeing robbers opened fire in Federal B. Area.
The police said that two robbers were decamping with the booty after looting a fresh milk shop at Samanabad when people caught hold of one of them.
They said that the one of them opened fire and a bullet hit Muhammad Yousuf son of Illahi, who died instantly.
Onlookers and passers-by became enraged and brutally tortured the captured suspect who was later taken into custody by the police.
The police said that the victim ran a tyre mending shop in front of the robbed milk shop and he was shot when he attempted to grab one of the fleeing dacoits.
The tossed in the clink You have the right to remain silent... suspect was identified as Amir, hailing from Punjab.
Strangled
In Surjani Town, the body of a 30-year-old man was found in the bushes at a desolate place near Northern Bypass within the remit of the Surjani Town cop shoppe.
The police shifted the body to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he was identified as Adnan, son of Haji Akram, hailing from Balochistan. ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
Medico-legal sources said that the young man was strangled.
The police suspected personal enmity as a likely motive for the murder.
Woman killed
A 25-year-old woman was found strangled in her house in Sector 11-B of North Bloody Karachi.
The victim was identified as Sonia, wife of Muhammed Nawaz.
Her body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where medico-legal sources said that the woman was strangulated and her body also bore marks of torture.They said that the post-mortem report was reserved.
The police said that the body was later handed over to the victim's family, who would contact them after burial for lodging an FIR.
Body found
The body of a young man was found in the underground water tank of an under-construction building near Makki Masjid.
The Nabi Bux police shifted the body to the Civil Hospital for an appointment with Dr. Quincy and later moved to the Edhi's morgue at Sohrab Goth as the victim remained unidentified.
Medico-legal sources said that the victim was clad in shalwar-qameez and he appeared to be in his mid-20s.
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01/28/2013
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One of the UK's top accountants has joined the business backlash against attacks on corporate tax avoidance by politicians, telling the authorities to change the law if they are unhappy with the ethics.
Responding to calls for companies to "pay their fair share", Mark Otty, Ernst & Young's managing partner for Europe, Middle East and Africa, claimed a moral tax code would not work as companies had a duty to pay the lowest rate permitted.
His intervention follows Starbucks' threat to suspend millions of pounds of planned investment in the UK if the attacks continue. Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein has also warned that the row risks stigmatising "every right-thinking person who organises his or her affairs in a sensible way".
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Otty told The Daily Telegraph: "The only way you can resolve this issue is through a legal code. I don't see how you can have any assessment on payments of tax other than what is in the statute. The simplest solution is to stop banging on about morality and change the law. "
He says that because he's an accountant. The dear, simple creatures actually think that way, which is why so few go into politics.
His comments followed David Cameron's pledge to crack down on avoidance, some of which the Prime Minister said had become so "aggressive" it raised "ethical issues". Businesses which thought they could dodge their fair share of tax needed to "wake up and smell the coffee", Mr Cameron said.
Public anger has mounted at the way global companies such as Google, Starbucks and Amazon move profits from one country to another to lower their tax rate. While the behaviour is not illegal, MPs have called it "immoral".
"That money is ours. How dare they take it away as if they'd earnt it!"
[Al Ahram] Police and military security forces in Suez have postponed relocating 60 prisoners to Tora Prison in Cairo after tens of people have blocked the road in protest against the transfer.
Families of the prisoners demanded on Sunday that the prisoners stay in the city's main prison at Ataqa cop shoppe for their protection, in light of the current critical security situation in Suez and across the country.
Central Security Forces (CSF) and military groups were sent to the jail's area at Ataqa to maintain security measures, said the assistant manager at Suez Security Directorate Major General Hassan Eid.
Riots broke out in Suez on Saturday when the governorate building and four of its five cop shoppes were attacked by angry mobs in the wake of protests on the second anniversary of the January 25 Revolution.
The riots allowed about 19 prisoners to flee Suez cop shoppe and about 18 weapons were stolen.
Nine people were killed in festivities between protesters and police in Suez on Friday.
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[MAGHAREBIA] French-led troops were advancing on Timbuktu on Sunday (January 27th) after capturing a string of other towns in their offensive against Islamist militant groups in the north of the country, AFP reported. Yesterday it was reported they had taken it...
French air strikes destroyed the home of Ansar al-Din chief Iyad Ag Ghaly in Kidal overnight. The air raids come 24 hours after French and Malian troops seized Gao.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the troops were currently "around Gao and (will be) soon near Timbuktu".
Gao was under the control of the al-Qaeda-linked Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO). MUJAO said on Saturday it was ready to negotiate the release of French hostage Gilberto Rodriguez Leal. "The MUJAO is ready to negotiate the release of Gilberto," MUJAO spokesperson Walid Abu Sahraoui told AFP by telephone.
Meanwhile, African leaders were meeting in Addis Ababa on Sunday to discuss increasing the number of African troops to Mali.
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01/28/2013
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#1
Unconfirmed reports of elements of the 2me REP jumping in north of Timbuktu.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
01/28/2013 7:58
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#2
Cutting off supply and retreat routes?
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2013 8:12
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#3
Stories will come from this little war. Good ones I hope.
#4
There's one for your scapbook - the FFL can actually say they WENT to Timbuktu. Too bad it's in ruins when they arrive. They probably can't even order a good glass of cognac. Hahahaha!!!
A man suspected in the murder of two marines in Narathiwat province more than seven years ago was captured in a raid by combined forces yesterday. The raid was conducted in Rueso district after a tip that three suspected terrorists militants were hiding in the area, leading 100 officers to storm three locations.
Tuwae Useng Dokor was nabbed at a house in La Harn village. He is wanted for detaining and murdering Sub Lt Winai Nakbutr and Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Khamthorn Thong-iad at a childcare center on Sept 20, 2005. The homeowner, whose name was withheld, was also arrested for helping the murder suspect.
Mr Tuwae allegedly admitted to investigators that he was part of the network that killed the marines, but was not the killer. He will be taken to a paramilitary camp in an undisclosed location for further questioning, officers said, adding that two other suspects narrowly escaped during the raid.
Meanwhile, a combined security force yesterday combed parts of Bacho and Rueso districts of Narathiwat and Mai Kaen district of Pattani for evidence as they continued the hunt for four suspects wanted for the murder of a teacher in Bacho on Wednesday. Chonlathee Charoenchol was gunned down while supervising his students at lunchtime in the school cafeteria.
The assailants also stole Chonlathee's car. Pol Col Krisda Kaewchandee, Narathiwat's deputy police chief, said terrorists insurgents might be planning to use the stolen car to stage further attacks.
[FRANCE24] Anger over a long list of corruption scandals implicating bankers, politicians and even members of the royal family is on the rise in recession-hit Spain, putting the spotlight on the failure of the country's democracy to tackle the issue.
At demonstrations against government austerity measures, chants against alleged shady deals by Spain's elite are as common as those venting anger at tax hikes and spending cuts to social services and public workers' pay.
Around 200-300 elected officials out of more than 50,000 in the country are currently implicated in corruption cases in regions governed both by both the left and the right, said the head of the Spanish branch of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International, Jesus Lizcano.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2013
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#1
The state is totally rotten, let's make it bigger!
#2
Nobody gets upset about corruption til the money for payoffs runs out. Then they get all indignant.
(I bet they still got Franco in a freezer somewhere. Thaw him out.)
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/28/2013 11:32
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[Al Ahram] Thousands of Yemeni protesters take the streets to demand international probe into violations committed by Saleh's ousted regime amid the visit of a UN Security Council team to the country
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[Dawn] Eight police officers and three detainees were killed when their vehicle was blown up by a powerful homemade bomb in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, officials said on Sunday.
The incident happened late Saturday -- the same day that a suicide bomber killed 10 policemen in the northern city of Kunduz, taking the toll to 18 in a single day.
The detainees had been arrested on suspicion of planting a homemade bomb, officials said.
"Our police had an operation in Pero Qalacha area last night. They detained several suspected insurgents," Jawed Faisal, the Kandahar provincial governor's spokesman, told AFP.
"On the way back to the city (centre), their vehicle struck an IED (improvised explosive device). Eight police were killed and three suspects that they had detained during the operation were killed," Faisal said.
Six other officers and one suspect on board a second vehicle were wounded in the blast, he said.
Police spokesman Ghorzang Afridi described the bomb as "very, very powerful", saying it was an artillery shell attached to a detonator and possibly set off with a remote control.
The officials blamed the bombing on the "armed opposition", a reference to the Taliban who have waged an insurgency against the Western-backed government since being ousted from power in a US-led invasion in late 2001.
The Taliban were also accused of Saturday's suicide bombing in Kunduz which killed 10 officers, including the head of a counter-terrorism unit and the provincial head of the traffic police.
Afghan security forces are increasingly targeted by the Taliban as they take greater responsibility for the war ahead of the withdrawal of US-led Nato combat troops next year.
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01/28/2013
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[Al Ahram] Elite Syrian regime forces stationed at Mazzeh military airbase shelled the embattled town of Daraya just southwest of Damascus on Sunday, opposition activists and a watchdog reported.
"Heavy artillery and tank shelling hit Daraya from Mazzeh military airport and the Fourth Division headquarters on Moadamiyet mountain as fierce explosions shook the town," the Syrian Revolution General Council said.
Daraya has been the scene of a fierce regime onslaught with tank fire and air raids for more than two months as troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad seek to retake the beleaguered rebel bastion.
State news agency SANA reported late on Saturday that "our valiant army continued to pursue armed terrorist groups who had carried out killings and theft and targeted the infrastructure of Daraya."
An anti-regime activist living in the town told AFP that 90 percent of the residents had fled in late November amid escalating attacks and the arrival of elite Republican Guard troops.
Overnight, the Britain-based Observatory said nine people were wounded in a car bombing in Jaramana, a majority Christian and Druze district southeast of Damascus where more than 50 people were killed in car bombings last November.
The watchdog also reported fierce clashes between troops and rebels near an air force administration building in the nearby town of Maliha on Sunday.
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[FRANCE24] Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's chances of remaining in power are getting "smaller and smaller", according to a transcript of an interview with CNN released by Medvedev's office on Sunday.
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[An Nahar] Syria's high judicial council has announced a suspension of prosecutions of opposition members so they can join a national dialogue, state media reported Sunday, without detailing the nature of crimes affected by the ruling.
The report comes after Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar had earlier vowed to ease the return of Syrian opposition members living in exile so that they too can take part in the dialogue proposed by Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... on January 6.
"The high judicial council has decided to discontinue all prosecutions against opposition forces and individuals so they may participate in the national dialogue" the official news agency SANA said, without elaborating.
The council stressed that those "opposition forces will be designated by the government or first ministerial action group charged with implementing the preparatory phase of the program to resolve the Syrian crisis."
In his January 6 speech, Assad proposed a dialogue with opposition figures who were not "slaves of the West" and on condition that "terrorist attacks" came to a halt before any political transition.
The regime has branded activists and armed Orcs and similar vermin alike as terrorists.
Shaar, in comments reported by state media on Saturday, said the directive allowing Syrians living abroad to return was not a blanket amnesty.
"Executive orders will be issued to border crossings to facilitate and guarantee that all political opposition forces may enter the country, maintain residency and leave at will," Shaar was quoted as saying.
"There is a big difference between those who safeguard their nation and those who are complicit in foreign agendas."
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01/28/2013
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[Al Ahram] Sporadic festivities have continued for a third day in Downtown Cairo between protesters and Egyptian security forces.
The festivities began early morning on Sunday with both sides throwing rocks. Security forces responded with tear gas, pushing the battle back and forth between Qasr el Nil bridge and Tahrir Square.
On Saturday night, masked protesters dressed in black blocked 6th of October bridge in Downtown Cairo for the second time this week. Simultaneously, festivities were going on from the Semiramis Intercontinental hotel to Cairo's state TV building and indiscriminate arrests were made.
Since Friday, thousands of people in Egypt have taken to the streets to mark the second anniversary of the country's revolution.
Clashes have swept the nation since, leaving more than 40 people killed and hundreds injured.
The nationwide corpse count since January 25 includes those killed in the Egyptian city of Port Said, where at least 32 people were killed, two of which were coppers. Overall, at least 300 hundred were maimed.
Violence broke out in Port Said Saturday morning after a verdict was issued in a trial accusing 73 people for murder and other related charges in relation to last year's football massacre that killed more than 70 Ultras Ahlawy football fans.
The court sentenced 21 of the 73 defendants to death which sparked rage and sporadic gunfire across the port city. Intermittent violence there is still ongoing while army personnel continue securing the governorate.
Nationwide arrests
At least 130 people have been tossed in the slammer Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! nationwide since the festivities began on Friday, according to Ministry of Interior sources.
According to human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... lawyer Malek Adly, there are currently 22 people enjugged Please don't kill me! at Qasr Al-Nil prosecution and 24 in Waily prosecution.
In the port city of Alexandria, 24 are detained in Atareen prosecution. In Beheira, 5 are detained in Damanhour prosecution. In addition there are ten detained in Mansoura.
Those arrested from the march heading to the Shura Council on Saturday were all released, confirmed Adly.
Sarah Abdallah, an independent film editor, was arrested from her home in Garden City for filming the Qasr Al-Aini festivities from her balcony.
Abdallah's apartment was stormed by security forces where she was taken by the police.
Security forces have been trying to close off surrounding streets near the Shura council, Egypt's upper house of parliament, and setting up checkpoints to stop people indiscriminately.
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Posted by: john frum ||
01/28/2013 11:43
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#3
one of the cutest Jewish women to ever appear in Playboy
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/28/2013 11:57
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#4
Don't forget her role in Hee Haw
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/28/2013 12:07
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#5
I remember an episode of "Love Boat" where a passenger accidentally saw Barbie sunbathing nude. Barbie said, "haven't you ever seen a naked woman before" and the passenger said, "I thought I had"
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/28/2013 14:45
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#6
I seem to remember Miss Benton posing in Playboy somewhere around 1971 stolling around the grounds of the mansion walking a monkey on a leash. I'll leave the rest to my memory (accurate or not ;^)
#8
When Benton and Hefner were an item they appeared on Johnny Carson to which Johnny asked Barbi if she ever dated a person over 30 before? She answered no and so did Hugh Hefner.
[Al Ahram] As angry protesters set buildings ablaze and block thoroughfares throughout Egypt, Brotherhood leader Mohamed El-Beltagy urges the presidency and security ministers to impose emergency law
Posted by: Fred ||
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#2
When you stuff the ballot boxes and things like these happen, how could you be surprised, unless, of course, you believe your own lies. Not that others will pay attention to portents and signs.
Oil companies extracting oil from the Bakken and Texas' Eagle Ford shale fields are flaring (burning off) enough gas to power all the homes in Chicago and Washington combined. The light from the flares can be seen from space.
A leading factor in the tripling of the volume of flared waste gas over the last five years I mean, beside the seven-fold increase in oil production in the Bakken fields
is the low price of natural gas in North America, which can make it uneconomic to build pipelines and tanks to handle the gas released by oil production. There are some problems that you would rather have.
Continental said it already flared proportionately less gas than the industry average, was making progress on more reductions and agreed to report on its progress in 2013.
The North Dakota legislature is considering a bill to encourage flaring reduction through tax breaks. The state is also pushing producers to use gas to power drilling rigs.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
01/28/2013
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How can we be sold to the highest bidder if we have our own sources of energy for an economic recovery...an economic recover would spoil everything for the Dems.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
01/28/2013 10:36
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#3
"Desperately trying to derail Canadian oil sands
Radical activists launch more attacks on oil sands, Keystone pipeline, jobs and revenues
By Paul Driessen *** January 26, 2013"
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi declared a month-long state of emergency on Sunday in three provinces along the Suez Canal which have been the focus of anti-government violence that has killed dozens of people over the past four days.
Seven people were shot dead and hundreds were injured in Port Said on Sunday during the funerals of 33 protesters killed at the weekend. A total of 49 people have been killed in demonstrations around the country since Thursday and Morsi's opponents have called for more protests on Monday.
"Down, down Morsi, down down the regime that killed and tortured us!" people in Port Said chanted as the coffins of those killed on Saturday were carried through the streets.
In a televised address, Morsi said a nightly curfew would be introduced in Port Said, Ismailia and Suez, starting Monday evening. He also called for dialogue with top politicians. About 200 people protested in Ismailia after the announcement.
"One of the most important reasons for studying history is that virtually every stupid idea that is in vogue today has been tried before and proved disastrous before, time and again."
-- Dr. Thomas Sowell
[Dawn] A watchman was killed and two guards were maimed when an bomb went off outside the residence of a local industrialist at Par Hoti area here on the night between Sunday and Saturday.
Police and bomb disposal squad officials told journalists that unidentified persons had planted an improvised bomb outside the residence of Haji Samiur Rehman that went off during the night.
A watchman identified as Musa Khan was killed on the spot while two guards -- Khairullah and Umair -- were maimed in the blast. The injured guards were shifted to district headquarters hospital for treatment.
The bomb disposal squad officials said that the device weighed at least two kilograms. Hoti cop shoppestarted the paperwork but haven't done much else against unidentified persons and started investigation.
In Kurram Agency ...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora... , gun-hung tough guys looted passengers and set three vehicles on fire on Saturday, official sources said.
They said that the incident took place in Masozai area of the troubled central tehsil of Kurram Agency. They said that the passengers were coming from Khyber Agency to Kurram Agency in three double-cabin pickup trucks.
Asghar Khan, a passenger, said that around 100 gunnies stopped their vehicles in Zara Mela area and snatched cash and other valuables from them.
He said that the gunnies set the vehicles on fire after looting the passengers.
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[Dawn] Unidentified gunnies on Friday injured two people and kidnapped a hotel's manager in two separate incidents in the picturesque provincial capital.
The incidents appeared to be sectarian in nature though police didn't confirm it on the record.
A police official told Dawn that Ashiq Hussain from Parachinar and his friend, Fayyaz Khan from Kaga Wala 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. 's Badbher area, suffered minor injures after a motorcyclist opened fire on them near Kohat Bus Stand at 10:30pm.
When contacted, SHO of Bala Mani Police Station Ghaffar Khan said a man riding a cycle of violence fired shots from his pistol on Ashiq and Fayyaz and fled.
He said according to witnesses, the injured were attacked shortly after they left their workplace at Kohat Bus Stand for their room in a nearby hotel.
The SHO said though Ashiq belonged to the Shia community, it had yet to be ascertained whether he was subjected to sectarian violence.
Another police official said the injured being treated at Lady Reading Hospital were reported to be stable.
He said the two had told police that they had no enmity with anyone and knew nothing about attackers.
Also in the day, Kamal Hussain, manager at a hotel in Kocha Risaldar area, was kidnapped by unidentified people, said a police official.
He said Kamal, according to his family, had no enmity.
When contacted, officials of Khan Raziq Police station said they had learned about the disappearance of Kamal and had no information about his whereabouts.
He said police had yet to register an FIR of the incident.
Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called a hurried meeting of his closest advisors. It was to be his last. They discussed the officers's efficiency rating system... Waseem Abbas, front man for Imamia Students Organisation, declared Kamal's disappearance kidnapping and said that was part of growing sectarian violence.
He told Dawn that Kamal had long been working as a manager of the hotel and had recently opened his own shop in the surroundings of Imambargah Alamdar.
"He went missing shortly after leaving home to meet someone in the area," the ISO leader said, adding that Kamal's all three cellphones were switched off.
Mr Abbas criticised the government for failing to ensure protection of the members of religious minorities, especially Shias.
He said over the last few months, many Shias, including businessman Abrar Hussain, Dr Riaz Hussain Shah and Dr Shah Nawaz Ali, were killed and a judge was shot at and injured as part of sectarian violence, but police had yet to arrest a single attacker.The ISO leader warned that the people, especially Shias, might agitate against the government over failure to check the growing sectarian killings.
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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.
[GUARDIAN.CO.UK] Islamist 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
News out of North Korean in notorious unreliable, but food shortages in the country have gotten so bad and people so desperate that there are now reports of men murdering their own children for food. These startling reports were compiled by independent reporters commissioned by Asia Press, a independent press agency focusing on Asia, and were published by the 
New estimates from a Norwegian research project show meeting targets for minimizing global warming may be more achievable than previously thought.
NATO troop deaths are decreasing, as many countries continue withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, handing more responsibility to Afghan forces. But as Afghan troops have been pushed out on their own, often without the weaponry or bomb-detecting technology of NATO forces, they have been bearing the brunt of the war's violence. On Saturday, at least 21 policemen were killed by bombs in Kunduz, Kandahar, Ghazni, and Farah provinces.
[Dawn] At least 12 more 
Russian security forces killed three suspected 
[MAGHAREBIA] Tunisians marked Mouled on Thursday (January 24th) despite a fatwa prohibiting any festivities.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has recovered from a respiratory infection he contracted after undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba, a minister said.
[Dawn] One of the five dacoits who were riding two 
[An Nahar] U.S. President 
[An Nahar] French fighter jets bombed the far northern Islamist stronghold of Kidal in Mali and destroyed the home of the head of an al-Qaeda-linked group, a security source said.
[Dawn] Like his other colleagues who spoke in the National Assembly on Saturday, the usually tough-talking interior minister, Rehman Malik, took the role of a preacher to make a holy, though ambiguous, offer to Taliban militants: "Return to the fold of Islam" to end bloodshed.
[Dawn] Seven men, including a prayer leader associated with the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ),
[Al Ahram] Police and military security forces in Suez have postponed relocating 60 prisoners to Tora Prison in Cairo after tens of people have blocked the road in protest against the transfer. 
[MAGHAREBIA] French-led troops were advancing on Timbuktu on Sunday (January 27th) after capturing a string of other towns in their offensive against Islamist militant groups in the north of the country, AFP reported.
[FRANCE24] Anger over a long list of corruption scandals implicating bankers, politicians and even members of the royal family is on the rise in recession-hit Spain, putting the spotlight on the failure of the country's democracy to tackle the issue.
[Al Ahram] Thousands of Yemeni protesters take the streets to demand international probe into violations committed by Saleh's ousted regime amid the visit of a UN Security Council team to the country
[Al Ahram] Elite Syrian regime forces stationed at Mazzeh military airbase shelled the embattled town of Daraya just southwest of Damascus on Sunday, opposition activists and a watchdog reported.
[FRANCE24] Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's chances of remaining in power are getting "smaller and smaller", according to a transcript of an interview with CNN released by Medvedev's office on Sunday.
Syria's high judicial council has announced a suspension of prosecutions of opposition members so they can join a national dialogue, state media reported Sunday, without detailing the nature of crimes affected by the ruling.
[Al Ahram] Sporadic 
Oil companies extracting oil from the Bakken and Texas' Eagle Ford shale fields are flaring (burning off) enough gas to power all the homes in Chicago and Washington combined. The light from the flares can be seen from space.
Kurram Agency
[Dawn] Unidentified 
