Firefighters were called to the office, near the 2000 block of North Federal Highway, at about 1:45 p.m. Friday, following lunch at Tony Chan's, FBI agents arrived about an hour later.
Mapquest footnote: Via I-95 N, 18 mins / 13.11 miles
Egypt's ruling military council said on Saturday it would clear protesters from a central Cairo square with "firmness and force" to allow life to return to normal. Because we got rid of the brutal---protester shooting---dictator, see. And now have freedom and democracy. Which makes protesters enemies of freedom and democracy, see. Dissent is no longer the highest form of patriotism in Egypt, either...
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/09/2011 17:35
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Byzantine [who by the way used to have ownership of the place]. The generals employed the useful idiots to clear the old dead wood in the hierarchy to make room for the next generation of old dead wood. I suspect the promotion rolls had become rather stagnate. It's an old pattern.
#4
From the Persian Empire, through the Roman Empire, someone in the palace gets the idea that the old guys aren't doing as good a job as they could. Not confined to Egypt but it certainly has its own version.
At a news conference New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, Senator-for-life from New York, renowned for his love of standing in front of cameras. Schumer has been a professional politician since 1975, when disco was in flower. D-N.Y., agreed, "I happen to think some of their cuts are extreme and go overboard. But every week they keep upping the ante and proposing extreme cuts." Whoa! That's so extreme!
Every week they send an email to the mailing list, asking for votes on several suggested cuts (with the amount of the savings over a given period of time noted) and suggestions for more. So they sneakily act with the confidence that voters support the proposals. Quite unlike Senator Schumer and his pals, who have only principle ("there's more money where that came from" and "benefits for support groups" mostly) and political habits to sustain them.
Over the next decade the cuts are expected to save hundreds of billions of dollars.
The deal mandates a host of studies and audits of B.O. regime policies. It also blocks additional funds for the IRS sought by the B.O. regime and bans federal funding of abortion in Washington, D.C.
The history of offers on this bill goes something like this. Democrats first offered no cuts, then $4 billion, then $6.5 billion, then $33 billion, then settled at $38.5 billion.
House Speaker John It is not pronounced 'Boner!' Boehner ... the occasionally weepy leader of House Republicans... made numerous adjustments to his offer in recent days too, but started at $32 billion, then with a Tea Party push went to $62 billion, then dropped to $40 billion, then $38.5 billion.
Democrats claimed they met Republicans halfway after the $10 billion in cuts that already passed this year were approved. They settled late Friday night at three and a half times more.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2011
10:50 ||
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#1
Baby steps
Posted by: regular joe ||
04/09/2011 13:14
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Ever tried to turn a sea tanker? In the financial world, the world is flat and finite. There is an edge to fall off.
#3
our total deficit is approx 14T w/a annual growth of 1T in deficit...doesn't 38B in cuts only represent a 3.8% reduction in our 1T annual deficit...yeah, good job congress (sarc/off).
#4
BH6, the next step is the 2012 budget. Sure hope Boehner has an encore planned...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2011 14:28
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doesn't 38B in cuts only represent a 3.8% reduction in our 1T annual deficit
Actually, the deficit is growing. Taxes collected are going down since wages are falling. But the spending keeps going up. Even after this "cut", federal spending is still going up 5.5%. This again, while wages are falling.
#6
time to remember that Republicans control just over one-half of the 3 branches of government. 4 branches, counting the MSM
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/09/2011 16:08
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The tanker analology is apt, and it will take years of constant, continuous pressure to keep the new course being followed. Some praise is due the Speaker, mosre praise is due Ryan and the 6.1 trillion proposal, especially the new thinking on medicare/medicaid. But it cannot be view as enough, the addiction on the left is too strong to slacken our efforts to encourage further successes, goad waivering, and attack any falling back on credit.
But equally important are the issues of entitlement fraud and waste, perhaps 25% of the current totals, and the abuse of our public largesse by immigrants, legal and illegal.
Illegal immigrants should never receive public funds except for emergency medical care, and even legal immigrants who arrive and immediately become wards of the state need to be looked at closely. We are no longer in need of people to fill our vast spaces, and frankly, the nation of immigrants story needs to be recast to much more selective admissions, not millions of unskilled laborers each year.
So bravo for a baby step, and keep going, or get out of the way!
#8
Hello NoMoreBS; Well said. The voices from the other side are cast in biased hues of color. The Roma gypsies have a long and tortured history. Many died in the Holocaust. This video I am posting is an outreach by a normally silent group. I like his music but ignore the anger. His words may have no meaning but it is what people think he is saying- that is the power;
#9
Again, the Fed is $$$ good = extant until this coming Thursday.
Shutdown or no shutdown, something has to give because US Debt is officially over 100%-n-counting of US GDP - its not offic 60% or 85% or even 93%, etc. anymore. AT THIS LEVEL, THE USA = UK = why don't we just turn over our NIMITZ-class CVNS + B-Bombers + Abrams MBTS, etc. to our international Allies in order to save the US Welfare-Nanny Super-State!?
US GLOBAL WELFARE-NANNY STATE - NO LONGER JUST "MULTI-NATIONAL" OR TRANS/MULTI-REGIONAL" BUT "UNIVERSAL" SOON TO BE "NEAR-SPACE"???
Plus of course "Globalism", + the OWG-NWO + related "-isms" that no American = Amerikan voted for???
(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Chuck Schumer Senator-for-life from New York, renowned for his love of standing in front of cameras. Schumer has been a professional politician since 1975, when disco was in flower. (D-N.Y.) vowed yesterday that the provision to defund Planned Parenthood ...has received federal funding since 1970, when President Richard Nixon signed into law the Family Planning Services and Population Research Act. that passed the House earlier this year is "never, never, never going to pass the Senate."
Schumer made the remarks Thursday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., at a "Stand Up for Women's Health" rally sponsored by the National Organization for Women, NARAL and Planned Parenthood.
"The dangerous, ideological cuts to Planned Parenthood that passed the House are never, never, never going to pass the Senate," said Schumer. "Let me repeat that, so all those who want to stomp on women's health and women's rights can hear us loud and clear. The dangerous, ideological cuts to Planned Parenthood that passed the House are never, never, never going to pass the Senate."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2011
10:48 ||
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#1
So, the Senator will have no trouble identifying in the Constitution this as a function of the Federal government? Ignoring, of course, that little line in the 10th - The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
#5
Proving once again that abortion is the only secular sacrament of the liberal theology.
Nonsense, Heriberto Shusonter9790. It is important to some, just as anti-abortion is important to only some on the conservative side. Some of the rest give it lip-service on both sides, and the remainder just don't talk about it if they can avoid it, because they really don't care.
#6
Proving once again that abortion is the only secular sacrament of the liberal theology.
Posted by: Heriberto Shusonter9790
Precisely Heriberto. I believe it's the terms of reference that we're all hung up on. The word "abortion".... so off-putting. The "woman's right to choose" naming convention really never caught on. Europe arrived at the solution decades ago. Permitting full term deliver, medical experimentation as needed, then Zyclon-B inhalers. Strange it is that Senator Schumer never learned of these, quite effective techniques.
#7
*Yawn* ... from the looks of it, PP spends anywhere from 1 to 2 million dollars *every* year on lobbying, independent political support, and campaign contributions- almost all to Democrats.
End of story. Schumer doesn't give a damn, he likes his gravy.
A man gets driven in a motorcade to sneer at a man who has to drive himself to work. A guy who has never generated a dime of wealth, never had to make payroll, never worked at any job other than his own tireless self-promotion literally cannot comprehend that out there beyond the far fringes of the motorcade outriders are people who drive a long distance to jobs whose economic viability is greatly diminished when getting there costs twice as much as the buck-eighty-per-gallon it cost back at the dawn of the Hopeychangey Era.
So what? Your fault. Should have gone to Columbia and Harvard and become a community organizer.
#2
Those new hybrid cars are going to cost a fortune to repair. Rubber gloves, rubber mat, rubber tools, special kill switch for emergency crews to provide assistance. I feel like a dose of Thatcher is in order;
h/t Gates of Vienna
The United States may consider sending troops into Libya with a possible international ground force that could aid the rebels, according to the general who led the military mission until NATO took over.
Army Gen. Carter Ham also told lawmakers Thursday that added American participation would not be ideal, and ground troops could erode the international coalition and make it more difficult to get Arab support for operations in Libya. Wudnerbar
h/t Gates of Vienna
A group of African students whose college tuitions are being paid by the U.S. government yesterday received a boost of additional funds to continue their educations -- and an executive from the private contractor coordinating the program just happens to be the wife of a senior Obama administration official, WND has learned.
According to a document uncovered by officials with T-RAM, the U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor blog, during a routine search of a federal contracting database, the U.S. Agency for International Development under the current initiative has already spent nearly $2.1 million to send 16 students from the southeast African nation of Malawi to colleges in their homeland as well as in the U.S. and Kenya.
Because the final "task order" of the contract is set to expire in May -- and since USAID says it is not finished fully training the Malawian students -- the agency has granted a $650,000 "bridge" contract to the Vermont-based organization World Learning.
The single-source, one-year award will enable the students to complete their degree programs, prevent damage to the reputation of the U.S. and will help USAID to avoid tens of thousands of dollars in expenses stemming from additional airfare and other logistical costs, USAID says.
World Learning's senior vice president for international development and exchange programs is Carol Jenkins. The group on its website touts that under Jenkins' leadership, "the unit has seen revenue increase by 14 percent with continued anticipated growth."
Jenkins is the wife of Robert Jenkins, director of the USAID Office of Transition Initiatives within the agency's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance.
#1
I have always said USAID would be the first budget cut I would make! They are a black hole for US taxes!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/09/2011 8:52
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USAID has been turned into a gigantic slush fund that is used to fund the leftist agenda overseas. W. Bush demanded that they not use their money to fund abortion under the name of "family planning", so they still fund abortion, often government coerced abortion and sterilization, under the name of "reproductive health services".
They are just as much on the chopping block as is NPR, so expect to see a lot more stories about "all the good things that USAID does".
#3
and an executive from the private contractor coordinating the program just happens to be the wife of a senior Obama administration official, WND has learned.
Simply 'community organizing' on an international level.
#5
Careful Pan; somebody might think your reference to a black hole concerning USAID to African students to be racist. i happen to think ANY aid outside our borders to those that don't tow our line is a black hole and should be cut off.
h/t Instapundit
Oprah Winfrey, the queen of daytime television, will not be publicly endorsing President Barack Obama for re-election in 2012, a source told Pop Eater.
Back in 2008, the billionaire talk show host endorsed then-Senator Barack Obama -- the first time she had publicly taken sides in a US presidential election. it is the end
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/09/2011 9:13
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This will just mean bigger headlines and more coverage when she changes her mind closer to the election. It gives the illusion of non partisanship and thus credibility at a time when Obamas ratings are so low her comments dont hurt him much.
It is also an attempt to reach out to fans she lost by her endorsement in the hopes they give her new channel a try because initial ratings on a new channel are gonna be critical to it's survival.
#4
"For 2012, much has changed for Oprah," the source told Pop Eater. "She now has her own cable channel called OWN that has been struggling to find an audience -- she isn't going to do anything to alienate them."
#9
I dunno ... she's a pretty shrewd marketer of her own brand, and I think she knows she really karked it with the conservative part of her core audience - a lot of whom were white - by going all gooey for the One ... especially now that he's tanking faster than the Titanic. I imagine she is distancing herself as fast as possible from the wreckage.
I strongly condemn the abhorrent violence committed against peaceful protesters by the Syrian government today and over the past few weeks. I also condemn any use of violence by protesters.
The United States extends our condolences to the families and loved ones of all the victims. I call upon the Syrian authorities to refrain from any further violence against peaceful protestors.
Furthermore, the arbitrary arrests, detention and torture of prisoners that has been reported must end now, and the free flow of information must be permitted so that there can be independent verification of events on the ground.
Isn't it amazing that, within only one week of Tiger Woods crashing his Escalade, the press found every woman with whom Tiger has had an affair during the last few years? And, they even uncovered photos, text messages, recorded
phone calls, etc.! Furthermore, they not only know the cause of the family fight, but they even know it was a wedge from his golf bag that his wife used to break out the windows in the Escalade. Not only that, they know which wedge!
And, each & every day, they were able to continue to provide America with updates on Tiger's sex rehab stay, his wife's plans for divorce, as well as the dates & tournaments in which he will play.
Now, Obama has been in office for a year-and-a-half, yet this very same press:
* Cannot find any of his childhood friends or neighbors;
* Or find any of Obama's high school or college classmates;
* Or locate any of his college papers or grades;
* Or determine how he paid for both a Columbia & a Harvard education;
* Or discover which country issued his visa to travel to Pakistan in the 1980's;
* Or even find Michelle Obama's Princeton thesis on racism.
They just can't seem to uncover any of this.
Yet, the public still trusts that same press to give them the whole true story....
#5
Good rant, Besoeker. Thought provoking. Actually, kinda scary.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/09/2011 13:19
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Kind of following B's lead; when Bambi is turned out of office and becomes a Regular Joe, will he be able to get a passport? I had to send in a certified copy of my birth certificate. Or does his Exhalted Status allow all that paperwork crap to be waived?
#7
Maybe a little off the topic of a warning to Pencil Neck. But, thinking about it a little more, one thing that makes it even more disturbing is that John McCain and the Republican Party didn't raise any of these issues either. Why not?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/09/2011 16:20
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McCain and the Repubs were so deathly afraid of being labelled "raaacists!11!!" that they didn't do even minor-league opposition research or ops. There is no excuse now. Everyone knows the race card will be pulled first, so just hit him with everything: he's incompetent/ineffectual, not a leader, an America-hating socialist, hates our allies, loves our enemies, spends more time golfing and vacationing than any other President (when he's not trying to crush our energy policy and economy), is a liar, a demagogue, employs pro-black racist DOJ staff, employs anti-Joooo staff,....
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/09/2011 17:08
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Nor could the MSM find any of the women BJ Clinton had raped, though they were shouting about it from the rooftops. And when it finally came out they said so little no one cared. Sorry, B, these are not issues that will move the American people. Much more disturbing is that the trunks cannot come up with another Gipper.
#10
Much more disturbing is that the trunks cannot come up with another Gipper.
The Trunks didn't "come up with" the Gipper. Reagan worked long and hard in the weeds to get where he was. The Republicans were more or less forced to accede because he had all the energy and momentum, and like Ms. Peggy Noonan, anyone who wants get ahead doesn't turn down a chance to jump on the bandwagon.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/09/2011 19:31
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1. O sez to Syrian govt to stop the violence in very strong words. Also condemns protester violence.
2. Syrian govt sez ""
3. Syrian protesters say "We'll be good."
4. Peace brakes out and there is a nation-wide group hug.
5. On to North Korea with the cue cards.
Success.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/09/2011 19:49
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#14
Hmmm...Syrian govt sez "W I L C O. We'll be good."
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/09/2011 19:51
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#15
McCain and the Repubs were so deathly afraid of being labeled "raaacists!11!!"
They were called Racists anyway. When you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't...the best policy is to leave scorched earth in your wake. Or something.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
04/09/2011 20:17
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#16
'zactly, SAM. If you're gonna get teh mud, might as well get down and dirty. McCain and his camp (helloooooo Lindsay!) were unable to understand Schumer Rules
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/09/2011 20:47
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A thought: in the old days, some unsupervised children of hardworking immigrants succumbed to temptation and became gangsters. How much of this is a similar impulse?
See the link in the title with a computer graphic concerning the San Fernando, Tamaulipas mass graves
Officials in Tamauliaps found two more gravesites containing an additional 13 bodies raising the death toll to 72 from 59 discovered last Tuesday, according to Mexican news sources. To read Rantburg's report on the original find, click here
ROME -- Italy and France agreed on Friday to carry out joint sea and air patrols to prevent Tunisian migrants from arriving in Italy, a move that appeared to ease tensions between them over how to contend with thousands of North African colonists who have landed in Italy since January. Do or become a ME muslim cesspool.
Italian officials boarded a boat filled with migrants in a port of the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Cede Lampedusa to Tunisia. Problem solved.
Thousands of North African migrants, mostly from Tunisia, have landed in Italy since January.
"We agreed on the need to develop a joint action between Italy and France on certain issues," Mr. Maroni said. He added that both countries would "take initiatives to block the departure of illegal migrants from Tunisia."
Since unrest began in Tunisia in December, leading to the overthrow of the president in January, more than 20,000 migrants have arrived on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa. But when the island became overwhelmed, Italy began moving them to District Nine makeshift tent camps on the mainland. Many have easily escaped by design and crossed the border into France.
The issue has underscored strains in the European Union over the application of the Schengen agreement, which loosens border controls among the union's 27 member nations, except Britain and Ireland. It also comes at a time when the domestic politics of both Italy and France are being shaped by parties with strong anti-immigrant agendas: the National Front in France and Italy's Northern League, of which Mr. Maroni is a member.
Congressional leaders, with barely an hour to go before a federal government, announced late Friday night they had reached a deal to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year.
House Speaker John Boehner, speaking briefly to reporters after talks had concluded, said the plan was to pass one last short-term spending resolution Friday night to buy lawmakers the time needed to prepare and pass the final budget bill. While I am glad our armed forces do not go without pay, my first question is "Who blinked"?
#1
So IIUC, IOW the Fed is $$$ good = solvent? until next Thursday or shortly afterward???
* ION RUSSIA TODAY > [US] CONGRESS, PRESIDENT [Bammer] WOULD BE PAID DURING US GOVT. SHUTDOWN.
Oh yeah, Amers + Netters/Bloggers are complaining.
Becuz iff there's one thing that US Govtcritters whom had officially raised US Debt to just over 100% of US GDP + climbing - YOU KNOW, "NEAR/APPROACHING INSOLVENCY" - need is another Pay Raise, regular full Paycheck while lessor US Govt.workers don't.
versus
* NEWS KERALA > REAGAN-ERA LAWYER DRAFTS OBAMA IMPEACHMENT OVER LIBYA INTERVENTION. Ex-USDOJ Official Bruce Fein, whom argues that POTUS Bammer has...
> MOCKED the Rule of Law in America???
> ENDANGERED THE VERY EXISTENCE OF THE REPUBLIC
[iff not the Nation]???
> PERPETRATED "HIGH CRIMES + MISDEMEANORS" warranting Impeachment???
> IFF THE BAMMER CAN NULL OR BYPASS "WAR POWERS ACT" AUTHORITY, THEN WHY NOT FOR US CONGRESSIONAL BUDGETING-N-SPENDING???
#2
Indeed, oh my. Wish our president wasn't such a used car salesman.
Posted by: Fi ||
04/09/2011 1:16
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It only passed because Obama was holding the troops hostage.
Posted by: retired LEO ||
04/09/2011 2:01
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I promise you the "Commander In Chief" did nothing at all to support our Soldiers.
I bet someone who cares gave this little man another week to figure out his position.
There was enough on the table that it appears both sides can claim the other blinked. %78 billion in cuts from Obama's request, 40 billion in real cuts. DC can't fund abortions, but Planned Praenthood continues to get % from feds for contributions to donks. Let the spinning begin. It will be like this till the TEA Party takes over or the markets collapse.
#8
While I am glad our armed forces do not go without pay, my first question is "Who blinked"? Posted by DarthVader
Their Leave and Earnings statements (which were prepared 4 days ago) HAVE been decremented. Time will tell if they are corrected by payday and the funds are deposited.
A simple Presidential Executive Order could have prevented this. I guess this means no Christmas basketball tour to Bagram Air Base is planned.
#11
Their Leave and Earnings statements (which were prepared 4 days ago) HAVE been decremented.
Maybe. If so, then it will be corrected on the following month's LES. They really don't want to handle 500,000 applications for correction of military records.
#12
DFAS is one of the worst government bureaucratic nightmares. They will screw up Soldier pay for fun.
I would fire them all if I could and higher a decent paymaster. Maybe Intuit?
#13
I had a friend who was "killed off" by DFAS three times. His wife found the first notice of retirement pay termination due to death rather humorous. The next two notices over a 3 year period were not as funny. They took months to correct.
#14
DFAS is a major headless chicken running. They use an ancient DOS program for payroll and leave requests. It can't track some kinds of leave and we still must use paper records for that. The program is *not* user friendly. Even long-standing employees have trouble inputting leave requests correctly.
The worst part is that timecards must be filled out and submitted to DFAS before the actual end of the pay period. There are only a couple of days to fix the inevitable changes and mistakes before pay goes out. Private businesses have the sense to run paychecks one pay cycle behind so they have to time to absorb changes, check figures and fix mistakes.
Even a few days' shutdown would have thrown a huge monkey wrench into this system. It would take a while to straighten it all out.
#16
Unfortunately, to replace such programs the process degenerates into a graft pit with influences demanding perfection [and still not getting it] rather than simply mod an existing system that covers a 100 percent of old needs and 70 percent of new requirements. Instead of what needs to be done, it devolves into gold plating and unending extension with each new 'idea'. Fortunately, life and death killed that bureaucratic mentality in getting combat stuff to the troops in the field these last few years. You think they could do the same back in the rear with the administrators. Nah.
Pak officials said on Friday that 50 gunnies and four soldiers had been killed in a district where the United States this week criticised the army's efforts to defeat the bad turbans.
The deaths, which could not be verified independently, were reported in Mohmand ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pashtuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Bloody Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... Agency, part of Tribal Areas on the Afghan border singled out for criticism in a White House report flatly rejected by Islamabad.
Local administration official Maqsood Hassan told AFP that gunnies attacked a security force patrol in the Baizai area of Mohmand, triggering an exchange of fire on Thursday.
"Four soldiers and 10 bad boyz were potted in the attack, which was repulsed," Hassan said.
"A separate air offensive targeting terrorist hideouts in different areas of Mohmand killed 40 rebels on Thursday," Hassan said, adding, "Troops used fighter jets and helicopters to pound rebel positions."
Local official Zabit Khan confirmed the incidents and casualties.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2011
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[Iran Press TV] The Pak government has rejected a Taliban proposal for negotiations and ceasefire but stipulated to consider the offer upon the Death Eaters' surrender.
Pakistain's Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. told the country's parliamentarians on Thursday that the government has received the offer but emphasized it will not talk with the "terrorists," a Press TV correspondent reported.
Malik reiterated that negotiations would be held with those who lay down their arms, adding that "the government will deal with the bad turban elements with full strength."
The minister also paid tribute to the hundreds of security forces killed during anti-Taliban operations in Swat and Malakand tribal regions.
Pakistain has deployed thousands of troops along the border with Afghanistan and added to its operations in the tribal regions to flush out Talibs.
However, The all-purpose However... in recent months Talibs have stepped up their attacks on police forces in what is viewed as retaliation for a recent Pak offensive against the Death Eaters.
Malik's remarks come a day after the United States released a report blaming Pakistain for not doing enough to counter militancy in the country.
Pakistain's military has rejected the report, saying the criticisms are aimed at justifying US failures in neighboring Afghanistan where hundreds of civilians have been killed in US attacks.
More than 4,000 people have bit the dust in attacks by bully boyz across Pakistain since 2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2011
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TEHRAN - Three gas pipelines have exploded in an Iranain province south of the capital Tehran, a news agency reported on Friday, saying the cause was unknown and giving no details of damage or casualties.
“The National Iranian Gas Company’s (NIGC) operation and rescue teams along with other governmental organisations are present at the scene and are investigating the reason for the explosion,” the semi-official Mehr news agency said. The explosions happened in the province of Qom in northern-central Iran.
The report comes two months after a similar incident in the same area. on Feb. 11, media reported simultaneous explosions on three gas pipelines near the city of Qom. An NIGC spokesman said at the time that “technical problems were not the cause” of the blasts but gave no further explanation.
Officials were not immediately available for comment.
The pipelines carry gas from refineries in southern Iran to the north and north-west, Mehr said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2011
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[Iran Press TV] Acting commander of Basij volunteer forces Brigadier General Ali Fazli says that the enemy is trying to create a rift among Iranians and their officials.
Speaking at a ceremony commemorating the late commanders of the 1980s Iraq-Iran War Lieutenant-General Ali Sayyad Shirazi and Brigadier-General Ali Memar in the central city of Kashan, Brig. Gen. Fazli said that the enemies of the Iran are planning new plots against the Islamic establishment.
He called on the Medes and the Persians and officials to not cease their support for Iran's Fearless Leader, the doddering but still vicious Ali Khamenei Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the clergy and scholars.
"The uprising of the Mohammedan people of Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and Egypt are modeled on the 1979 Islamic theocracy of Iran," Brig. Genl Fazli said.
He added that Islamic awakening is spreading throughout the world and said, "When the enemies failed to target the people of Iran, they targeted Mohammedans of other countries [in the region]."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2011
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BEIRUT — Lebanese judicial officials say a military prosecutor has indicted 11 people suspected of involvement in last month’s kidnapping of seven Estonian tourists.
The officials said prosecutor Saqr Saqr charged the 11 on Friday with forceful abduction. Seven are in custody. The officials say Saqr later referred the suspects to an investigative judge. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
The Estonians were cycling in the eastern Bekaa Valley when armed men wearing masks kidnapped them.
What were the Estonians doing there? The story somehow never quite gets around to that.
It wasnÂ’t clear whether the kidnappings were politically motivated, like the wave of abductions during LebanonÂ’s civil war. Kidnappings are less common now but the area where the group was kidnapped is known for lawlessness, drug trafficking and clan feuds.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2011
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#1
And what of the kidnapped Estonians? They are an afterthought in this story.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2011
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Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Paulina Porizkova aka the first woman from Eastern Europe to grace the cover of the Sports Illustrated swim-suit issue aka the second woman (after Christie Brinkley) to be featured on the swim-suit issue's front cover consecutive times (1984 and 1985). aka Nina in "Her Alibi" aka Dallas in "Thursday" (age 46)
[Ennahar] Seventeen people were killed and dozens wounded Friday by gunfire from security forces in Deraa (100 km south of Damascus), where several thousand protesters marched after Friday prayer, according to an activist of Human Rights.
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#1
Is Jose Ferrer still head of security forces at Deraa?
[Ennahar] Protesters packed Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday, piling pressure on the ruling military council to meet demands including the prosecution of Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... in one of the biggest demonstrations since he was ousted.
By early afternoon, the protest had swollen to more than 100,000. Thousands waved red, white and black Egyptian flags in scenes reminiscent of the height of the protests that toppled Mubarak and helped ignite revolts in other Arab countries.
"Oh Field Marshal, we've been very patient!" chanted some of the protesters, gathered in the square that was the hub of protests that toppled Mubarak from the presidency and left the army, led by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, in charge.
"Tantawi, Tantawi get your act together or do you want a pool of blood?" chanted some of the protesters.
It's fun being a mob when it gets results. The problem is afterward. Who was it that said, "A mob has many voices and no brain"?
The military has enjoyed broad support since it took control of the country on February 11 but frustrations have grown over the pace of reform. Attention is now focused on the perceived tardiness of legal steps against Mubarak and his entourage.
Mubarak and his family have been living in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh since he left Cairo on February 11.
The public prosecutor, who has filed charges against some but not all of the Mubarak-era officials, was also the focus of anger during a demonstration which one activist group declared "The Friday of Purification and Accountability".
A military helicopter hovered over the city centre as protesters poured into the square after Friday prayers to support demands including the removal of remaining Mubarak-era officials, such as the powerful provincial governors. Banners included economic demands, such as the imposition of minimum and maximum wages. "The revolution is continuing until democracy is achieved," read one banner.
"It's a strong message that the revolution is not over yet and is still going on and will not quieten down before its goals are realised," said Hassan Nafaa, a professor of political science and a prominent figure in the reform movement.
Street action remained "the real guarantee to the success of the revolution", coalition of youth activists said in a statement. "There has to be continued pressure for the quick and effective realisation of the demands of the revolution," it said.
"Oh Field Marshal, oh Field Marshal, we are staying in Tahrir," read one of the banners directed at Tantawi, who served as defence minister in Mubarak's administration from 1991 until he was ousted from the presidency.
The military has scheduled a parliamentary election for September. It has said a presidential election will be held in either October or November, until when the army will hold presidential powers.
At one point, eight young men in military uniform appeared on stage, calling for Tantawi's removal. It was not possible to verify whether they were serving in the military.
"The people want the Field Marshal to fall," one shouted over loudspeakers. Some in the crowd applauded and repeated the refrain. Others declared them imposters seeking to create trouble between the army and the reform movement and urged them to get off the stage.
"ENOUGH COLLUSION"
"We are calling on the Field Marshal to meet the demands of the people," said Ibrahim Ahmed, a 20-year old student. "Enough collusion in not carrying out prosecutions," he said.
The interim government installed by the military council has set up a new committee to uncover corruption from Mubarak's 30-year rule. The illicit gains panel is set to question Gamal Mubarak, the president's son, next week.
"If Mubarak is not prosecuted, we will go to Sharm el-Sheikh," read another banner held aloft by the protesters. The military has said the 82-year-old president, himself a former military officer, is banned from leaving the country.
The campaign against Mubarak-era figures has resulted in the arrest of once untouchable figures including the former interior minister and other ministers who held economic portfolios and are accused of corruption. Zakaria Azmi, a leading Mubarak aide, was the latest high-profile figure to be tossed in the calaboose. He was jugged on Thursday on accusations of illegal gains. Reformists questioned why it had taken so long.
"There is a feeling that the military council faces many restrictions," Nafaa, the political science professor, said.
"The aim of the protest isn't to criticise or revolt, but to express a sense of frustration because of the tardiness in bringing to trial those responsible for corruption," he said.
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TOPIX > EGYPT PROTESTORS: WE'RE WORSE OFF NOW THAN UNDER MUBARAK.
Uh, uh, OOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPSSSSSSSIES!?
We didn't think of the consequences before we began our riotin', didn't we???
#2
Worse off now?? Don't think that maybe someone could have planned this? Someone who will ride in on a white/black horse to save all you poor down trodden from the results??
It's almost always the second one into the market that makes money off the invention. It's almost always the second one in that wins the revolution.
[Ma'an] Paleostinian resistance factions resumed projectile fire toward Israeli targets Friday, less than a day after Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, officials declared a ceasefire, seeking to avoid further casualties.
The leading Gazoo party said it had secured pledges from most resistance factions in the coastal enclave, to stop fire if Israel would agree to the ceasefire.
An hour after the initiative was announced, a wave of Israeli air strikes hit targets across the Strip, killing four Al-Qassam fighters.
Israeli media accused Hamas of offering the ceasefire after a barrage of projectiles were fired, seeking only an escape from retaliation.
While one faction announced its refusal to participate in the ceasefire, and the DFLP said fighters launched projectiles toward Israel at approximately 3 p.m., others held off fire until 4:30, when the Al-Qassam Brigades launched the first set of projectiles.
4:30 p.m. The Al-Qassam Brigades say fighters fired six projectiles on Israeli military posts east of Rafah, and three mortar shells toward the former Sufa crossing, also near Rafah.
5:40 p.m. The armed wing of the PFLP, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said fighters launched two Grad-style projectiles toward Ashkol.
6:20 p.m. An gang affiliated with Fatah movement said fighters fired two projectiles on a Kibbutz east of Al-Qarara, in the southern Gazoo Strip.
7:15 p.m. The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades said fighters launched a Grad-style projectile toward Ashkol another one toward Ofakim, Israeli population centers near Gazoo.
7:18 p.m. The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said fighter launched six mortars toward the Israeli military post of Nahal Oz, east of Gazoo City.
7:30 p.m. The An-Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades said fighters launched projectiles toward the Zekem military post.
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Sorry it's so late edition. 19 Die in Northern Mexico
A total of 19 individuals were murdered in ongoing drug and gang related violence which included two Cajeme, Sonora police officers shot to death Monday.
Two unidentified men were shot to death in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Saturday. The victims were riding in a Chevrolet Cavalier sedan near the intersection of calles Lopez Rayon and Ignacio Allende in the Insurgentes colony.
One unidentified man was shot and wounded at a music concert at a fair in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Saturday night. The concert of the group Los Tucanes de Tijuana was hosted by the Expogan 2011, and was interrupted by the gunfire.
An unidentified man was found shot to death in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Monday. The victim was found in a vacant lot near a primary school near the intersection of calles Quiches and Yaquis. He had been shot in the head.
A man was shot to death in Chihuahua, Chihuahua. Cesar Javier Aguilar Najera was shot by armed suspects aboard a Ford Explorer near the intersection of calles Ramon Cordova and Tarahumara in the Revolucion colony.
An unidentified man was shot to death in Juarez Monday. The victim had been dumped near the intersection of Madrid and Lisbon and shot several times A total of 13 9mm spent cartridge casings were found at the scene.
Two Cajeme, Sonora municipal police officers were shot to death in Sonora last Monday. Efrain Rosas GarcÃÂa, 33, and Israel Tejada Aceves, 50, were found just a few meters from their patrol vehicle on the Porfirio DÃÂaz Irrigation canal just a few meters from the International Highway. Several spent AK-47 assault rifle spent cartridge casings were found at the scene.
Three men were shot to death in Chihuahua, Chihuahua last Monday night. Reports say Uriel Miguel Venegas, Alejandro Carrillo and Ricardo Mendoza were aboard a Ford Expedition SUV when they were shot by armed suspects in front of the Oxxo convenience store on Avenida Dostoevsky in the Alameda colony.
Two unidentified men were shot to death in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Wednesday. The victims were at a residence on calle Loma la Prieta in the Lomas de Universidad colony when they were shot.
An unidentified man was shot to death in Juarez Wednesday afternoon. The victim was at a residence near the intersection of Ignacio Zaragoza y Vicente Guerrero when he was killed. Reports say he was shot with an AK-47 assault rifle.
A severed head was found at Mexican Policia Federal headquarters in Chihuahua, Chihuahua early Thursday morning. The find was made near the corner of avenidas Tecnologico and Luz Corral de Villa in the Revolucion colony. The unidentifed victim's remaining parts were found at a nearby park with a message warning not to support the Sinaloa drug cartel.
An unidentified man was found dismembered on the Juarez-Chihuahua highway Thursday morning. With the body parts was a warning about supporting the Sinaloa drug gang.
An unidentified woman was found shot to death in Juarez Thursday morning. The victim was found near the intersection of calles Ojo de la Casa and San Isidro in the El Papalote colony shot three times in the chest and head.
One man was shot to death and another was wounded in an attack in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora Thursday. Killed were Jorge Alberto Caballero, 24, and Juan Antonio Tirado Acosta, 25. The officers were riding aboard a Toyota Rav4 SUV on Mexican Federal Highway 15 when they were stopped by armed suspects who were riding in a Jeep Cherokee and a Subaru sedan, and fired on. Reports say AK-47 assault rifles were used in the attack.
One unidentified man was shot to death and another was wounded in an attack in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora Thursday. The shooting took place near the intersection of Avenida Paseo Miravalle and Calle Primavera where the victims were on foot when they were shot.
An unidentified man was found shot and beheaded in Torreon, Coahuila Wednesday. The victim was found in the trunk of a Honda Civic parked near the intersection of calles Cisneros and 20 de Noviembre in the 20 de Noviembre colony.
[Arab News] UN peacekeepers have surrounded the "last defenders" of Ivory Coast incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, ... President-for-Life of Ivory Coast since 2000. Gbagbo lost to Alassane Ouattara in 2010 but his representtive tore up the results on the teevee and Laurent refused to leave despite the international community's hemming, hawing, and broad hints... La Belle France said on Thursday, after a week of heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting... to unseat him.
Forces loyal to rival presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara have been waging an offensive in Abidjan to topple Gbagbo, who has refused to cede power after losing last November's election to Ouattara, according to results certified by the United Nations. ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
"At this moment the military situation is as follows; the UNOCI (United Nations mission in Ivory Coast) troops have surrounded in a limited area the last defenders of the previous president Gbagbo," French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet told the French Senate on Thursday.
A United Nations front man in Abidjan told Rooters that the United Nations had sent forces into the Cocody neighborhood, where Gbagbo is believed to be holed up in his heavily defended compound, but did not plan to intervene.
"We have sent a patrol to Cocody and the surrounding area, but it is not to intervene," UN front man Hamadoun Toure told Rooters by telephone. "I am not aware that Ouattara has requested our intervention at this stage."
Ouattara's envoy to the United Nations, Youssoufou Bamba, said on Thursday he expected the standoff to be over soon, adding that Ouattara might within days end a ban on cocoa exports which he imposed in January to squeeze Gbagbo's access to funds. Ivory Coast is the world's leading cocoa producer.
"The standoff will be over very soon," he told a news conference in New York. "No negotiation."
Earlier, French forces hit military vehicles belonging to troops loyal to Gbagbo during a helicopter-borne mission that rescued Japan's ambassador to the West African country.
The French went in overnight after Gbagbo soldiers broke into the Japanese residence, where ambassador Yoshifumi Okamura and seven of his staff had taken shelter in a safe room, French armed forces front man Thierry Burkhard said.
Bamba said on Thursday India's ambassador to Ivory Coast was also being evacuated, while Israel and the United States had asked for help with evacuations.
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[Straits Times] THE United Nations ...an international organization whose stated aims of facilitating interational security involve making sure that nobody with live ammo is offended unless it's a civilized country... said on Friday it had so far registered 600 child soldiers, some as young as eight, fighting for gangs in the Philippines and expected the final number to be in the thousands.
The country's main Mohammedan rebel group, communist forces of Evil and Al-Qaeda-linked cut-throats were all on the UN 'list of shame' for recruiting boys and girls, UN representatives said.
'We have about 600 children registered (as soldiers) at the moment. We expect it to (eventually) be in the early thousands,' said Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN special representative for children and armed conflict.
'It (the problem) is not as widespread as in Africa but it still has to be dealt with,' she told a news conference.
The 600 were identified as members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's main Mohammedan rebel group which is now engaged in a ceasefire and peace talks with the government.
The children were registered by local community workers under a nine-month programme initiated by the UN in April with the consent of the MILF, said Ms Coomaraswamy.
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A futuristic laser mounted on a speeding cruiser successfully blasted a bobbing, weaving boat from the waters of the Pacific Ocean -- the first test at sea of such a gun and a fresh milestone in the Navy's quest to retrofit the fleet with a host of laser weapons, the Navy announced Friday.
"We were able to have a destructive effect on a high-speed cruising target," said chief of Naval research Rear Adm. Nevin Carr.
The test occurred Wednesday near San Nicholas Island, off the coast of Central California in the Pacific Ocean test range, from a laser gun mounted onto the deck of the Navy's self-defense test ship, former USS Paul Foster.
In a video of the event, the small boat can be seen catching fire and ultimately bursting into flames, a conflagration caused by the navy's distant gun. Some details of the event were classified, including the exact range of the shot, but Carr could provide some information: "We're talking miles, not yards," Carr said.
"This is the first time a [high-energy-laser], at these power levels, has been put on a Navy ship, powered from that ship and used to defeat a target at-range in a maritime environment," said Peter Morrison, program officer for the Office of Naval Research.
The weapon, called the maritime laser demonstrator, was built in partnership with Northrop Grumman. It focused 15 kilowatts of energy by concentrating it through a solid medium -- hence the name.
"To begin to address a cruise missile threat, we'd need to get up to hundreds of kilowatts," Carr said.
The Navy is working on just such a gun of course.
Called the FEL -- for free-electron laser, which doesn't use a gain medium and is therefore more versatile -- it was tested in February consuming a blistering 500 kilovolts of energy, producing a supercharged electron beam that can burn through 20 feet of steel per second.
The FEL will easily get into the kilowatt power range. It can also be easily tuned as well, to adjust to environmental conditions, another reason it is more flexible than the fixed wavelength of solid-state laser. But the Navy doesn't expect to release megawatt-class FEL weapons until the 2020s; among the obstacles yet to be overcome, the incredible power requirements of the FEL weapons require careful consideration.
#1
Meanwhile, SUPER-AEGIS is repor selling like hotcakes, being in mucho demand by international seekers + buyers.
* ION DEFENCE.PK.FORUMS > [Retired JSDF VADM] FAR EAST GOING BALLISTIC.
ARTIC = Friend andor Foe, East Asia is going NOT-LADY-GAGA oer Mil Buildups + new inter-State(s)Defense-Security coops + alliances. JAPAN CAN NO LONGER BE ON THE SIDELINES, ESPEC AS PER GROWING REGIONAL DOUBTS OER US MILPOL RELIABILITY.
#2
And That-Guy-from-Guam sill has not received his much-beloved, much-deserved Hoagies from DARPA, JPL - the Fed must still be love wid SOLYENT GREEN.
[Al Arabiya] A teenage boy incarcerated as an accomplice to Pakistain's deadliest suicide kaboom of the year has said that up to 400 jacket wallahs are being groomed to wage carnage in the nuclear-armed nation.
Umar Fidayee, 14, said the would-be bombers were being trained in North Wazoo, the premier al-Qaeda and Taliban fortress in Pakistain's tribal belt where U.S. officials want Pakistain to flush out Death Eater strongholds.
He made the remarks in an interview aired Friday from his hospital bedside, where he is being treated as his arm was amputated as a result of injuries he sustained after he was shot by a guard in the April 4 attack that killed 50 people at a 13th-century Sufi shrine.
Three hundred and fifty to 400 would-be suicide bombers are getting training in Mir Ali in North Waziristan
Umar Fidayee
It was Pakistain's deadliest kaboom since November.
Police incarcerated Fidayee as an alleged accomplice and said they removed his own boom jacket, which he failed to detonate in a crowd of hundreds in Dera Ghazi Khan just minutes after two other bombers blew themselves up.
Shown covered in tubes and bandages, the teen appeared to express remorse and lifted the lid on harrowing details of his training at the camp in the Mir Ali district of North Waziristan, which lies on the border with Afghanistan.
"Three hundred and fifty to 400 would-be suicide bombers are getting training in Mir Ali in North Waziristan," he said in the interview broadcast by Pak television channels Samaa, Express, ARY and Geo.
"I was trained for two months and saw many boys being trained there," he said, going on to appeal on Paks to "please forgive me".
He was initially unrepentant however, in the interview he said he is "seeking forgiveness' from the families of those killed and maimed.
"God has given me a new life but I am sad that we killed innocent people, innocent children," he said.
Fidayee said he was initially recruited on the understanding that he would be smuggled into Afghanistan to kill non-Mohammedans.
"But they brought me here to Dera Ghazi Khan. I told them 'there is no kafir (non-believer) here'," he said.
"They told me these people are worse than kafirs," Fidayee said.
"Become a fighter and you will go to heaven"
They told me these people are worse than kafirs
Exposing an apparently disturbing recruitment at the gates of an ordinary school in North Waziristan, the teenager claimed a man he identified as Qari Zafar convinced him to begin a life of militancy.
"He told me that all this education is useless and said 'become a fighter and you will go to heaven'," Umar told the news hounds.
He said he was told to attack the shrine 30 minutes after the other two detonated their bombs, in order to cause maximum carnage among those rushing to aid casualties of the first two blasts.
In a message to other potential suicide bombers he said: "Please refuse to carry suicide kabooms. Such attacks are forbidden in Islam."
Islamist gunnies have increasingly targeted Sufi worshippers, who follow a mystical strain of Islam, in Mohammedan-majority Pakistain.
Dera Ghazi Khan is close to Pakistain's tribal belt which is described by Washington as the most dangerous place on Earth and an Al-Qaeda headquarters.
More than 4,200 people have been killed across Pakistain in attacks blamed on homegrown Taliban and other Islamist bully boy networks since government troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad in July 2007.
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Target coordinates?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/09/2011 2:14
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As I've said before: the only difference between Pakistan and Palestine is size.
#5
And also because they expect to get their Islamic butts kicked.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2011 11:03
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#6
The Mighty Pak Army™? The deuce you say!
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/09/2011 12:26
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#7
Something must be done with the five million-plus madrassah students. There aren't enough jobs at the mosques and madrassahs to absorb even a fraction being graduated, not counting those whose schools send them out to beg for twelve years instead of beating them into proper memorization of Qur'an, Sunna, and Hadith. Cannon fodder is a solid option.
[The Nation (Nairobi)] Burundi's police on Friday foiled a demonstration planned to demand justice for an assassinated anti-corruption activist and tossed in the slammer two would-be protesters.
The demonstration had been organised to commemorate the second anniversary of the killing of Ernest Manirumva, a former deputy of the central African country's Olucome corruption watchdog. He was stabbed to death in 2009.
"We don't understand why the regime is preventing us from marching to demand justice for the third time in a year.
"It is a right enshrined in the constitution," Pacifique Nininahazwe, who heads a civil society group, said.
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[Ma'an] (Ma'an) -- UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon "condemned the recent rocket fire from Paleostinian turbans, which hit a school bus and injured two Israeli civilians," his spokesperson said in a Thursday statement.
"He calls for an immediate end to rocket fire," the front man said, adding that Ban was also concerned "at reports of civilian casualties from Israeli operations in Gazoo and calls for maximum restraint. He urges respect for international humanitarian law and calls for de-escalation and calm to prevent any further bloodshed."
The EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, strongly condemned the mortar and rocked attacks out of the Gazoo strip, expressing "deep concern at the current escalation of violence," a statement said.
Since Thursday afternoon, ten have been killed and dozens injured in a series of ten air strikes that have hit areas across the Gazoo Strip.
Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, announced a ceasefire deal at 11 p.m. on Thursday, which was followed by a midnight air strike.
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A top Kremlin official has told the United States Russia wants "red button" rights to a new US-backed missile defence system for Europe, a move that would allow it to influence the shield's day-to-day operational use.
President Obama is in the White House. He might say yes, so why not ask?
#3
"Red Button" Rights = a polite, PCorrrect-Deniable way of saying of RUSSIA GETS TO SHUT DOWN ANY EACH + ALL BMD MISSLE INTERCEPTORS - ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, POST-LAUNCH OR ON-THE-PAD, ETC.
Once again shows that Moscow does consider US GMD-TMD as "destabilizing" even iff they don't want to publicly admit it.
[Ennahar] Dozens of anti-government protesters in Yemen were shot and maimed in fresh festivities with police Friday as President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, after serving as a lieutenant colonel in the army. He had been part of the conspiracy that bumped off his predecessor, Ibrahim al-Hamdi, in the usual tiresome military coup, and he has maintained power by keeping Yemen's many tribes fighting with each other, rather than uniting to string him up. ... rejected a new deal to secure an end to his 32 years in power.
Saleh, facing an unprecedented challenge from hundreds of thousands of protesters, initially accepted an offer by Soddy Arabiaand other Gulf Arab states as part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to hold talks with the opposition.
Wednesday, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani said the GCC would strike a deal for Saleh to leave.
"We don't get our legitimacy from Qatar or from anyone else...we reject this belligerent intervention," Saleh told a crowd of tens of thousands of supporters in the capital Sanaa.
Frustration with the impasse may push the thousands of Yemenis who have taken to the streets closer to violence. Some 21 people died in festivities this week in Taiz, south of the capital and the Red Sea port of Hudaida.
"I don't think the GCC or the West want Yemen to go down the road of Libya, because that's exactly where it's going," said Theodore Karasik, an analyst at the Dubai based INEGMA group.
"The more entrenched Saleh gets, the greater the outside pressure, so this could really illustrate how much influence outside powers actually have over Yemen."
Fresh festivities broke out in Taiz Friday when hundreds of protesters clashed with police, who fired gunshots and tear gas. Two protesters were rubbed out and 25 maimed by gunfire, hospital sources said. Some 200 were hurt by tear gas inhalation.
The protesters had been carrying the bodies of five people killed earlier in the week to their gravesites when they ran into security forces.
In the port city of Aden, once the capital of an independent south, thousands of anti-government protesters gathered peacefully and in Hudaida, some 15,000 gathered to mourn protester deaths and demand Saleh step down.
"We're tired of this poverty and oppression in Hudaida and all of Yemen," said protester Abdullah Fakira. "Enough already."
Some 40 percent of Yemen's 23-million people live on less than $2 a day and a third face chronic hunger.
Not to mention thirst -- Yemen has been merrily using up its groundwater to grow qat.
Poverty and exasperation with rampant corruption, protesters say, drove the pro-democracy protests that began over two months ago.
AL QAEDA FEARS
Even before the protests, inspired by regional uprisings, Saleh was struggling to quell a separatist rebellion in the south and a Shi'ite insurgency in the north. The potential for a violent power struggle with the opposition also could give al Qaeda's Yemen-based regional wing more room to operate.
These factors spark concern for stability in a country that sits on a shipping lane through which more than three million barrels of oil pass each day.
Friday, local officials from Abyan, a hotbed for bully boy groups, told Rooters that military forces were trying to retake the city of Jaar, which state troops retreated from two weeks ago when they said they were overpowered by bully boys.
Security forces surrounded Jaar with tanks and artillery and clashed with what the official described as "jihadist bully boys," but they appeared to have decamped. He said troops would soon enter the city.
The United States and Yemen's key financial backer, Soddy Arabia, both targets in attempted attacks by al Qaeda's Yemen-based branch, appear ready to push aside Saleh, their long-time ally against al Qaeda to avoid a chaotic collapse in one of the Arab world's poorest countries.
"Saleh's options are gone. The Gulf initiative must have come as a shock from Soddy Arabia, which was his last ally," Mohammed Sharqi, the leader of a youth protest movement in Sanaa, said, referring to the plan for Saleh to step down.
In an apparent effort to avoid a snub to Saleh's main backer, a presidential aide told Rooters the comments were not aimed at Soddy Arabia's offer to host GCC mediated talks.
"Saudi efforts are welcome, but we reject Qatari intervention," he said.
"The president welcomes the efforts of our brothers in the Gulf to solve the crisis but rejects the statements from the Qatari prime minister which he considers interference in Yemen's affairs," he added.
Washington froze its largest aid package for Yemen in February after protests began, the Wall Street Journal reported.
How many aid packages have been frozen since this all started? Is it enough to cover the adventurism in Libya yet?
"The first installment of the aid package, worth a potential $1 billion or more over several years, was set to be rolled out in February, marking the White House's largest bid at securing Saleh's allegiance in its battle against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," it said.
Citing unnamed U.S. officials, the paper said the proposed package included up to $200 million in counter-terrorism support this fiscal year, up from $155 million in fiscal 2010, as well as a nearly equal amount for development aid.
The Washington Post said a Yemeni opposition party leader had told a U.S. embassy official in Sanaa about a secret plan to oust Saleh less than two years ago.
COMPETING FRIDAY PROTESTS
Pro-democracy protesters held a "Friday of firmness" in Sanaa, shouting "You're next, you leader of the corrupt," as armored vehicles and security forces deployed across the city.
Some 4 km (2.5 miles) away, tens of thousands of Saleh loyalists were marching, waving pictures of the president and banners that read "No to terrorism, no to sabotage."
In a move that could spark festivities, some 700 riot police took up position in an area close to General Ali Mohsen's forces. The veteran commander defected from Saleh weeks ago, and his troops are protecting a protest camp near Sanaa University.
Earlier this week, festivities broke out between Mohsen's forces and armed rustics, killing at least three people.
"We want this regime to go. Enough lying and oppression. The (GCC) initiative came late and the only initiative we want is one that makes him step down," said 45-year-old Sanaa protester Mahfouz Salam.
Friday prayers traditionally have been a trigger for demonstrations which at one point looked to have brought Saleh's rule close to collapse. Both sides in the dispute are now considering the Gulf Arab plan for his orderly departure.
Talks with the opposition to negotiate a transition stalled weeks ago, and the GCC is having trouble obtaining agreement from all parties for its initiative.
The plan would guarantee Saleh and his family immunity from prosecution, an opposition source said Thursday, but youth activists have said that should be rejected.
"Saleh needs to understand that he is going," Sanaa protester Mohammed al-Sharaabi said. "Yet he is still looking for more guarantees."
Continued on Page 49
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[The Nation (Nairobi)] Rich and poor nations were on Friday close to agreeing on a roadmap for UN climate negotiations this year, but only after long-running feuds flared over who would do the most to tackle global warming.
The four days of talks had an apparently modest main goal of sorting out an agenda for the rest of the year's negotiations, which would lay the foundations for agreements at an annual UN climate summit in South Africa in November.
But delegates were forced into intense and long debates as poor countries demanded a greater focus on actions rich countries must take, particularly over cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that are blamed for global warming.
"There have been several days of honest, very straight forward talks among countries on what is the task ahead," UN climate chief Christiana Figueres told news hounds in the early evening before a final workplan had been agreed upon.
"It's a very important discussion, (so) it is not surprising that parties are still in that heated discussion."
Many delegates came to Bangkok with a sense of cautious optimism after rich and poor nations made a series of compromises to achieve breakthroughs at the last annual summit in the Mexican resort city of Cancun in December.
But the Cancun agreements focused mainly on the easiest steps to be taken, and the harder issues immediately flared when delegates began meeting on Tuesday.
"This year will be more difficult... the power struggle is back," La Belle France's ambassador for climate change negotiations, Serge Lepeltier, told AFP.
The talks began on Tuesday with poor nations demanding that rich ones agree to a second round of legally binding greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments.
A Green Climate Fund was established that aims to channel $100 billion annually from rich countries to poor ones to help them cope with climate change by 2020.
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04/09/2011
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#1
"The Power Struggle is back" > iff GUAM-WESTPAC, + US-WORLD, are wondering how COMET APHOPHIS 2029/30-2036 could possibly accidentally slam into the MOON, WELL WONDER NO MORE!
My fellow Americans = Amerikans of the OWG Mighty-USSA-versus-OWG-Weak-USRoA.
And like the loyal Space Rock that it is, APOPHIS is NOT a SOLAR STORM NOR A "PEAK OIL/RESOURCE" ENGINEER, ETC.
A futuristic laser mounted on a speeding cruiser successfully blasted a bobbing, weaving boat from the waters of the Pacific Ocean -- the first test at sea of such a gun and a fresh milestone in the Navy's quest to reoutfit the fleet with a host of laser weapons, the Navy announced Friday.
"We were able to have a destructive effect on a high-speed cruising target," chief of Naval research Rear Adm. Nevin Carr told FoxNews.com.
The test occurred Wednesday near San Nicholas Island, off the coast of Central California in the Pacific Ocean test range, from a laser gun mounted onto the deck of the NavyÂ’s self-defense test ship, former USS Paul Foster.
DARPA wants to put your strategic savviness to real military use by integrating its Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) configurations into the sub-hunting simulator game Dangerous Waters. Download and play the game, and your tactical prowess may just be implemented into ACTUV's prototype software.
DARPA's ACTUV program aims to develop new tools for anti-submarine warfare that include unmanned autonomous ocean-going vessels that can track quiet submarines hiding in the depths. But in order to figure out what tactics work (and don't work) for their ACTUV software, they need to test a variety of maneuvers and sub-hunting configurations in naval scenarios.
That's where the crowdsourcing comes in. At the end of each round, the software will ask if you want to send your game data to DARPA for analysis--and for possible use in the crafting of ACTUV's software brain, once it is developed. Corner the crafty AI sub commander, and your data could inform a future line of defense against threats from the deep.
#3
At the end of each round, the software will ask if you want to send your game data to DARPA for analysis--and for possible use in the crafting of ACTUV's software brain
Very smart. DARPA wants to use large numbers of human decisions (the successful ones) to program their ASW neural net.
[Al Jazeera] Forces loyal to Cote d'Ivoire incumbent Laurent Gbagbo ... President-for-Life of Ivory Coast since 2000. Gbagbo lost to Alassane Ouattara in 2010 but his representtive tore up the results on the teevee and Laurent refused to leave despite the international community's hemming, hawing, and broad hints... have regained ground in Abidjan and fully control the upscale Plateau and Cocody areas, UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said on Friday.
Le Roy said that Gbagbo's forces, under attack by those of internationally recognised President Alassane Ouattara, had used a lull for peace talks that began on Tuesday as a "trick" to reinforce their positions. They still had heavy weapons, though UN and French forces had destroyed some of them, Le Roy told news hounds after briefing the UN Security Council.
"We have seen heavy weapons to be transferred to the Cocody area, including this morning," he said.
Gbagbo forces were just one kilometre from the hotel headquarters of internationally recognised president Alassane Ouattara, Le Roy said.
"While we speak they may be very close to the Golf Hotel," he said.
Al Jizz's Haru Mutasa, reporting from Abidjan, said she had heard gunfire and helicopters from the direction of Cocody throughout the day.
The Constitutional Council declared Gbagbo the winner of the November 28 president election after nullifying earlier results that showed Ouattara emerging with the most votes, but the international community, including the United Nations, ...an international organization whose stated aims of facilitating interational security involve making sure that nobody with live ammo is offended unless it's a civilized country... has recognised Ouattara and is working to oust Gbagbo.
The fighting between the two sides has raged throughout Cote d'Ivoire and in Abidjan, the country's commercial capital, where both Gbagbo and Ouattara currently reside - Gbagbo in a bunker, Ouattara in the posh but heavily guarded hotel.
Reports of extreme violence have emerged in recent days. The Catholic charity Caritas on Sunday said that more than 1,000 civilians had been killed in the town of Duekoue and blamed Ouattara's troops for the violence. Since Friday, UN forces have found more than 100 bodies in several towns - some burned alive and others thrown down wells.
In Abidjan, Gbagbo has remained defiant in the face of increasing pressure. French and UN helicopters have attacked his presidential palace, where Gbagbo is staying with his wife, while Gbagbo's troops reportedly attacked the residence of the French ambassador, though a front man for the embattled leader denied that such an attack had occurred.
His RTI television also came back on the air Friday and broadcasted an appeal for support.
"The regime of Gbagbo is still in place, a strong mobilisation is required by the population," it said.
Gbagbo is believed to be defended by a force of around 1,000 presidential guard troops and youth militiamen.
Their possible advance led diplomats from 23 countries to ask UN and French forces for help evacuating. The United Nations said that Indian, South Korean, South African and Israeli diplomats had been moved away in armoured personnel carriers with military escorts.
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04/09/2011
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[Ennahar] The fighting raged Friday between rebels and forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Qadaffy ... dictator of Libya since 1969. From 1972, when he relinquished the title of prime minister, he has been accorded the honorifics Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya or Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution. With the death of Omar Bongo of Gabon on 8 June 2009, he became the longest serving of all current non-royal national leaders. He is also the longest-serving ruler of Libya since Tripoli became an Ottoman province in 1551. When Chairman Mao was all the rage and millions of people were flashing his Little Red Book, Qadaffy came out with his own Little Green Book, which didn't do as well. Qadaffy's instability has been an inspiration to the Arab world and to Africa, which he would like to rule... in the city of Misrata 200 km east of Tripoli, according to an AFP photographer, as part of a group of people led by authorities.
"There is an intensive exchange of fire with small arms, rockets and heavy artillery between the rebels and the military regime," the photographer said that journalists have advanced up to 5 km inside this city that spans some thirty miles.
Before the city hospital specializing in the analysis of blood, where the authorities have taken journalists to see the victims of the festivities, a military officer who was escorting the group was slightly maimed by sniper fire.
"We're thrown to the ground, before turning back," added the journalist.
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04/09/2011
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#1
If this guy survives both NATO and US Obama air strikes, he will have to pin the extra medals on his camel.
[Pak Daily Times] A man was killed and 14 persons, including nine personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC), were maimed in a remote controlled blast in Chitkan Bazaar area of Panjgur district on Friday.
According to official sources, unidentified persons had attached an bomb with a cycle of violence and parked it in the main Chitkan Bazaar.
They detonated it through a remote control when a vehicle of the FC was passing by the area.
Six civilians and nine security personnel received splinter wounds as a result of the blast.
Security forces cordoned off the area soon after the incident and took the injured to a nearby state-run hospital where one of the injured, identified as Abdul Hameed, pegged out.
The injured were identified as Aziz Ahmed, Habibullah, Sarwar, Waheed, Malik, Murad, Bilal, Atiqullah, Zahirullah, Bilawal, Abdul Haleem, Muhammad Jan, Asad, Muhammad Ashraf, Zakir Baloch and Muhammad Hameed. One of the injured is stated to be in a critical condition.
FC Inspector General, Ubaidullah Khan, strongly condemned the deadly blast and said some elements were playing in the hands of foreign elements to destabilise the province.
"People involved in these incidents only want to create law and order situation by targeting the people irrespective of their ethnicity," he stated in a statement issued here.
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[Iran Press TV] Azerbaijan's Islamic Party says it will go ahead with plans to hold a peaceful rally in Azadliq Square, despite the Baku governor's failure to issue a permit for the protest.
"The Baku governor's office violated the rights of Azeri citizens by preventing them from holding a social gathering at Azadliq Square and by neglecting their social freedoms as asserted by the Azeri Constitution," the party said in a Thursday statement.
In view of the people's demands, especially its members, the Azerbaijan Islamic Party is determined to hold a gathering, it added.
Azerbaijan's Islamic Party had applied for a permit to hold a rally in Azadliq Square on April 8 which was rejected by the Baku Governor's Office.
Deputy Head of the Azerbaijan Islamic Party Elchin Manafov said that although other opposition parties were offered an alternative place to hold their rallies, the Baku governor's office did not treat Azerbaijan's Islamic Party in the same manner.
Some local sources reported that the governor has tightened security measures around Baku Mosque due to concerns over Mohammedan uprisings and despite the postponement of the rally by the Islamic Party.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2011
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#1
Suggest alternative rally point be held in the central prison.
[Pak Daily Times] Insurgents have killed a local police official in northern Afghanistan, where the Taliban has been intensifying attacks, especially against those aligned with the government. Governor Sayed Anwar Rahmati of Sari Pul province says the police chief of Ghosfandi district was killed around noon Friday. Insurgents firing machine guns at police chief Daud Esiq Zai's patrol vehicle also maimed one of his bodyguards. Separately, NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... says a roadside kaboom killed a coalition service member Thursday in the south. At least 106 NATO service members have been killed this year in Afghanistan.
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[Bangla Daily Star] In a clash between police and BNP activists some 40 people including 12 copperswere maimed in Shakta union of Keraniganj on the outskirts of the capital yesterday.
To bring the situation under control, the law enforcers fired 25 rubber bullets and hurled 20 teargas canisters, said Assistant Superintendent of Police Mohammad Faruque Hossain.
Keraniganj police said local BNP leader Amanullah Aman and his several hundred followers around 5:30pm gathered at Shikaritola blocking the road to hold a rally of Shakta union BNP activists. The crowd caused traffic congestion in the area.
As the police tried to remove the crowd from the road, the BNP activists started throwing brickbats at them, said witnesses. They also damaged two vehicles including a police vehicle.
Chase and counter-chase also took place between the police and the activists of the main opposition. During the hour-long clash, Aman and some other leaders took shelter at the local BNP office.
Of the injured, two were rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and the others received treatment at local hospitals and clinics.
Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Asaduzamman of Keraniganj Police Station said 15 people were picked for assaulting coppers.
Aman told news hounds after the incident that some 200 BNP activists were maimed in the incident.
Some BNP activists alleged that local ruling party activists also attacked them during the clash.
The programme was announced earlier and as part of the arrangement, several arches were built five-six days ago, said party sources. Two days ago Awami League activists took down some of the arches.
Yesterday's attack on them was planned and it was made to foil the rally, party sources claimed. They were supposed to form a convening committee in the rally, they said.
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As the rocket fire from Gaza on southern Israel continued Friday, the Iron Dome missile intercepted three Grad rockets that were fired toward Ashkelon.
The rockets were fired near the southern Israel city on Friday afternoon. In addition to the three intercepted rockets, one rocket fell in an open area near Ashkelon. No one was hurt.
And twenty other rockets were shot off toward other Israeli communities, fulfilling Hama's unilateral hudna from the night before. More would have been, but Israel killed three Hamas rocket teams as they were preparing their murderous tools. Twelve or more civilian shields were wounded (the Hamas claims changed rapidly after the event).
#1
CNN + FOX + even NETWORK NEWS AM > Analysts + GUest Perts agree that iff the Militants keep this up, the IDF is gonna launch a serious ground MilOp into Gaza???
[Bangla Daily Star] Some 60 individuals, many associated with Awami League and BNP, have made fortunes through stockmarket manipulations, found the probe into the recent share debacle. Bangla, keep in mind, is only the 134th most corrupt of 178 countries surveyed in 2010.
Many of them can be tried under the existing laws of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, who headed the probe, told The Daily Star yesterday.
He also said the government can publish the report including the names mentioned. This view runs counter to that of the finance minister, who said he would not make the names public until he is convinced about the allegations.
Arguing for disclosure, Khaled said in many cases suspects' names are published on the basis of first information report.
He, however, stressed the need for detailed investigations to bring them to trial.
The committee has warned the government high-ups against the influence of market players like pro-AL business tycoon Salman F Rahman and former DSE president Rakibur Rahman.
"The government must stay watchful so that Salman, Rakibur and other top market players cannot influence policymaking or appointments to the SEC through recommendations or lobbying," said Khaled.
During the two-month investigation, the committee had talked to over 500 traders including all members of Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges, and also journalists, professors and researchers.
"We got the impression after talking to people," said Khaled, also chairman of Bangladesh Krishi Bank.
He said though the committee has named the individuals as suspects, there are strong grounds for the allegations. The SEC, however, has to conduct further investigation.
"In the report, we have detailed how the regulator should conduct investigation," Khaled said. "It [SEC] has to be completely restructured and its current leadership removed."
Khaled's comments came a day after the four-member committee submitted its 320-page report to Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
The probe body also found involvement of opposition-linked influential businessmen and traders in the stockmarket debacle.
It observed that the SEC will remain ineffective and exposed to manipulations as long as the market players are able to influence the regulator.
The committee said Salman and Rakibur were named as suspects also in the probe report on the stock manipulation in 1996.
The investigation into the recent bourse debacle found their roles to be under widespread public suspicion.
There have been allegations that the two influenced the SEC and lobbied for the appointment of Ziaul Haque Khandaker as SEC chairman and reappointment of Mansur Alam as SEC member.
Salman lobbied the Bangladesh Bank governor to soften the central bank's stance on BD-Thai Aluminium that had been involved in money laundering, said the report.
Besides, he had links with overpricing of shares and overvaluation of assets of GMG Airlines and Unique Hotel, it said.
Salman and Rakibur exerted undue influence on the SEC and tarnished the government's image in the process, the report said.
When contacted, Salman, now in London, said he would return home soon and go through the probe report.
"Whatever I did in the stockmarket had the approval of the SEC," said the influential businessman.
He could not find any reason why the probe committee has warned the government about him.
"I will look into the matter on my return home," he said.
Rakibur, a DSE director, has denied the allegation of influencing the SEC in any way.
"I have no power to influence the SEC. Is there any proof that I influenced it?" he questioned.
The probe has found instances of fraudulence in omnibus accounts. It traced existence of several lakh shadow accounts that had been used as tools for trickery.
But the committee could not look into them properly for lack of adequate time. It however sampled some accounts and examined them.
The report said the shadow accounts shown as omnibus accounts with merchant banks did not reflect deposits and withdrawals properly.
Some of the accounts belong to former BNP politician Mosaddeq Ali Falu, Unique Hotel and Resorts Ltd, former Awami League politician HBM Iqbal, Muniruddin Ahmad, Roksana Amjad, Golam Mostafa, Ahsan Imam, Yakub Ali Khandaker, New England Equity Ltd, Md Lutfar Rahman (Badol) and Shoma Alam Rahman.
Khaled said: "Trading through beneficiary owner accounts had been transparent in the secondary market, thanks to Central Depository Bangladesh Ltd. But suspicious trading had been done from omnibus accounts."
These omnibus accounts must be examined after reforming the SEC, said the former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank.
The committee recommended that the government turn these omnibus accounts into beneficiary owners (BO) accounts, otherwise the SEC would block them.
When the stockmarket was on a bullish run, some individual accounts showed high levels of transaction. The individuals include Golam Mostafa, Abu Sadat Md Sayem, Yakub Ali Khandaker, Syed Sirajuddoula, Md Kholiluzzaman, Md Shahidullah, Arifur Rahman, and Shoma Alam Rahman, said the report.
The then SEC Member Mansur Alam had a pivotal role in legitimising the irregularities. The chairman is also responsible for the wrongdoing, as the commission's approval could not come without his consent, said the report.
Executive directors Anwarul Kabir Bhuiyan and Tariquzzaman were at fault for supporting the chairman and the SEC member. Many SEC officials took undue advantage under the shelter of these four brass hats, according to the report.
"SEC Chairman Ziaul Haque Khandaker and executive directors Anwarul Kabir Bhuiyan and Tariquzzaman should be removed from the SEC and Mansur Alam should be investigated for irregularities," the report said.
The government has cancelled the contractual appointment of Mansur for his involvement in irregularities.
The probe found that Roksana Akter, wife of Anwarul Kabir Bhuiyan, traded shares worth a huge sum from her four accounts in a breach of SEC rules.
Bhuiyan, however, claimed he was unaware of his wife's involvement in share business.
"My wife is not financially dependent on me. She might be involved in stock business," he said.
Khaled said the SEC rules bar wife, children, parents or dependents of SEC officials from getting involved in share business.
Continued on Page 49
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[Ma'an] (Ma'an) -- Israeli air strikes and artillery fire have hit Gazoo nine times Friday, killing nine, and bringing the total number of dead since Thursday afternoon to fourteen, including civilians.
A mother and daughter, and elderly man were killed in two separate strikes near Khan Younis, a fourth - identified as an Al-Qassam Brigades fighter - was killed near Gazoo City, and two faceless myrmidons was killed when a shell hit his home east of Gazoo City.
A statement from Israel's military acknowledged civilian casualties, saying that the military "regrets that the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, terrorist organization chooses to operate from within its civilian population, using it as a 'human shield'."
Hamas officials in Gazoo released a statement accusing Israel of launching white phosphorus missiles toward civilian populations, a claim an Israeli military front man denied.
The military reported "heavy rocket and mortar fire," emanating from Gazoo Friday afternoon. A later statement said a total of five mortars and eight projectiles had been fired from Gazoo on Friday.
DFLP fighters claimed to have fired two projectiles at targets from the northern Gazoo Strip. A statement said the fire was a "response to Israel's lack of commitment to the truce [and its] continuing of shelling of our unarmed people."
In the early evening, Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades said fighters launched six projectiles and three mortars on an Israeli military post east of Rafah.
Friday attacks have been reported as follows:
6:30 Shell lands on home east of Gazoo City, two civilians killed, medics said, and ten others injured.
Witnesses said three shells landed on homes in the Ash-Shuja'iyeh neighborhood. Medics said all were transferred to the Ash-Shifa Hospital.
5:30 Israeli warships fire on shoreline near Rafah, no injuries.
4:30 p.m. An Apache helicopter fired one missile on residents of Beit Lahiya, killing two Al-Qassam members, identified as Raed Shehada, 27, Ahmad Abu Ghurab. The second died in hospital of injuries he sustained during the shelling.
In the Az-Zaytoun neighborhood of Gazoo City a resistance fighter was said to have "beat feet death," a statement from resistance groups said. The strike was aimed at a metal workshop, which was damaged.
Medics confirmed that there were no injuries reported from the area.
3:00 p.m. Air strikes hit a smuggling tunnel between Egypt and Gazoo. No injuries were reported, but witnesses said a large fire broke out in the area following the blast.
Witnesses said the tunnel had been used to smuggle fuel into Gazoo. Since January, Gazoo's power plant stopped using industrial fuel from Israel, and instead began relying on fuel imported from Egypt via the tunnels. The engineer responsible for developing the purifying mechanism for the fuel was kidnapped by Israeli intelligence officers while on vacation in the Ukraine. He is currently in prison on charges of assisting the resistance in Gazoo.
2:00 p.m. Israeli artillery fire hits the Al-Farahin area east of Khan Younis. A mother and child were killed and another of her children injured.
Israeli media reported shortly before the strike that five projectiles launched from Gazoo landed near Ashkelon, with no injuries.
Medics later confirmed that Najah Kudeih, 45, and her daughter Nidal, 21, were killed, while a second daughter, Nida, 18, was maimed. Three others were maimed.
1:30 p.m. A 55-year-old man was killed by an Israeli air strike which hit in the Qarara area east of the city. Medics identified the man as Talal Abu Taha, 55.
9:45 a.m. An Arclight airstrike combined with artillery hit the town of Khuza'a, east of Khan Younis, killing two.
Israel's military said in a statement that "forces identified two terrorist squads from the Hamas terrorist organization," adding that air and artillery fire were used and the military "identified hits."
Hamas' military wing, the Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, named those killed as Abdallah Al-Qarra and Muataz Abu Jamea.
8:00 a.m. An Israeli strike hit in an open area east of Rafah, no injuries were reported.
7:00 a.m. Israeli shelling on Rafah airport in southern Gazoo injured three, witnesses reported.
Thursday strikes kill five
Air strikes hit what was described by the Israeli military as positions in and around Gazoo City where projectiles had been fired from on Thursday, and other raids hit targets in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis.
The strikes killed four, identified as resistance fighters affiliated with Hamas. A statement from the Al-Qassam Brigades identified those killed as leader Salah Tarabin, 38, Musab al-Sufi, 18, Muhammad Almanmom, 25, and Khaled Aldbari, 23.
Thursday afternoon, Artillery fire also hit the southern Gazoo Strip, with witnesses saying artillery fire injured five people, including a small child, and killed Mahmoud Al-Manasra, 50, who died after shells landed near his home in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gazoo City.
In total, more than 40 people were maimed across the Gazoo Strip overnight.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"The strange thing about the dog is that it did not bark, my dear Watson."
[Arab News] Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh has strongly warned against maltreating women in any form and said this is totally against Islam. Of course, "women" has a rather strict definition, as does "mistreatment."
In his Friday sermon at Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh, the mufti said only bad people treat women badly. "The psychological or physical abuse of wives, daughters and sisters is against the Islamic Shariah and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad ((PTUI!))," he said. "Foreign women, especially infidels, are fair game!"
Al-Asheikh warned husbands and fathers who take the salaries of their wives and daughters that they are committing anti-Islamic acts. "The fathers who make it a condition to have their daughters' salaries before they give their consent for marriage are equally wrong. Husbands who force their working wives to share in home expenses are committing erroneous acts. Islam made it the responsibility of the man to spend on the house," he told the worshippers. "On the other hand, any infidel servants can be treated as you please, even to the extent of driving nails into them, and there is no obligation to pay them."
The mufti also said it is haram (forbidden in Islam) when husbands ask their wives who request divorce to return the dowry before they consent to divorce. He also said burdening women with bank loans and letting them suffer the payment of installments is equally haram.
The mufti said polygamy, which is allowed by Islam under the condition of being just and fair, is not a loose right. "The first wife should have all her rights," he said.
He also warned against relying on matchmakers who draw a bright picture of the groom who may turn out in the end to be an unethical and irresponsible man. "Matchmakers should convey a true picture of the groom and the bride," he said.
The mufti asked people to make the Prophet a role model in his treatment of women, citing a number of Hadiths that the Prophet never maltreated women. "The Prophet was completely refined in the treatment of his wives, daughter and other Mohammedan women," he said. "Infidels were a different story entirely."
The Prophet has said: "The best of you are the best to their wives; and I am the best to my wives."
The Ministry of Social Affairs has toll free telephone numbers in several cities and towns for women to report cases of violence against them.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2011
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#1
Well. Glad we have that sorted out then.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/09/2011 7:44
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#2
It's not abuse, it's how he expresses his love and desire for her to be as perfect as he believes her to be.
BAGHDAD - Iraqi security forces clashed with residents of an Iranian dissident camp north of Baghdad overnight, the Iraqi government said on Friday, and an Iranian opposition group said residents were attacked and killed. The government spokesman said five members of the Iraqi security forces were wounded in the incident at Camp Ashraf. Representatives of the camp called the incident a “criminal attack” and said 25 residents were killed and 320 wounded.
An Iraqi medical source at nearby Baquba hospital said they had received the bodies of three Iranians, while 16 Iranians, five Iraqi soldiers and one Iraqi policemen were brought to the hospital with injuries. The source requested anonymity since he was not authorised to speak to the media.
The 25-year-old camp, home to some 3,500 people, is the base of the PeopleÂ’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), a guerrilla group that opposes IranÂ’s Shia cleric leaders. Iran, Iraq and the United States consider the PMOI a terrorist organisation.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Ashraf residents threw rocks at security forces in what he called a “riot”. Troops had not opened fire, he said, contrary to reports by camp residents.
“The security forces have pushed back residents of Camp Ashraf inside the camp by force,” Dabbagh said. “The situation is now controlled.”
“I do not have any information about any deaths or injuries among the residents of the camp,” he said.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran, the PMOIÂ’s political wing, said Iraqi security forces had been ordered by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to attack the camp, in restive Diyala province about 90 km (55 miles) northeast of Baghdad in a remote location largely inaccessible to journalists.
“Al-Maliki, under orders of (Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei, has commenced an unprecedented murder in Ashraf,” the group said in a statement. “Forces under his command used Colts, automatic weapons and machineguns installed on armoured vehicles to open fire on residents.”
Ashraf has been a sore point for Washington, Baghdad and Tehran for years. The PMOI began as a group of Islamist leftists opposed to IranÂ’s late Shah but fell out with the ShiÂ’ite clerics who took power after the 1979 revolution.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who is visiting Iraq, said the U.S. military had reports of deaths in clashes at Ashraf but could not confirm them. “We’re very concerned with reports of deaths and injuries resulting from this morning’s clashes... I urge the Iraqi government to show restraint and to live up to its commitments to treat residents of Ashraf according to Iraqi law and their international obligations.”
Asked about any US military role, Gates said nearby forces might render medical help “but that’s about the extent of it”.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2011
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#1
Thanks, mainstream media, for that news. It turns out that Maliki is more like Janet Reno than I first suspected...
Posted by: American Delight ||
04/09/2011 18:43
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Three Juarez police officers were placed in six months preventative detention Friday for their alleged role in the abduction of four youths almost two weeks ago, according to Mexican press accounts.
Report have identified the three officers as Eugenio De los Santos Decuesta, 28, Francisco Javier Campoy Dominguez, 27, and Leonardo Ivan Loya Hernandez. All three identified as part of the security detail of new appointed Juarez Police chief Julian Leyzaola Perez.
The three officers are charged with abuse of authority, enforced disappearance of persons and vehicle theft.
Preventative detention is a legal measure imposed only by court order against individuals who are expected to undergo rigorous investigation for serious crimes. The normal term for preventative detention, colloqiually known as rooting, is 40 days.
Although reports do not mention it, it is possible the harsh length of detention is due to the seriousness of the crime, which now carries a life sentence in Chihuahua. The new harsh penalties were were enacted by newly Chihuahua governor Cesar Duarte as part of his crackdown in crime in Chihuahua.
The three officers are apparently also part of the "Delta Group" of the Juarez municipal police corporation. Its US equivalent would be a major case squad, which is a collection of police officers known for their superior weapons and tactical knowledge, who likely have a very broad mandate for taking down criminals in Juarez.
The arrests stem from an abduction by Juarez municipal police officers of four young men in broad daylight in front of a busy Juarez market in the Oasis Revolucion colony last March 26th. To read the Rantburg report on the abduction and accusations surrounding the newly appointed Juarez police chief, click here.
To date the whereabouts and fate of the four victims is unknown. Also to date, 15 Juarez municipal police officers have been interrogated by the state attorney general about the case.
In a possibly related development, three "narcopintas", or graffiti sites were discovered Thursday which threatened several Juarez police commanders as well as the commander of Juarez Municipal Police Delta Group. The graffiti were signed by "Diego", the street name of the Juarez Sinaloa Drug cartel group commander.
Friday morning a uniformed Juaurez police officer, Joaquin Parra Perez, was shot and wounded near the intersection of Avenida Tecnologico and Calle Pradera Dorada in Juarez as he was driving his Dodge Concorde. Parra Perez is expected to survive the attack.
Also, Thursday morning several women reportedly the mothers of the kidnapping victims confronted both Chihuahua governor Duarte and Juarez Mayor Teto Murguia in a protest near a state run medical clinic. Both men could only offer condolences to the distraught women.
DAMASCUS — At least 22 protesters were killed on Friday as anti-regime demonstrations and clashes with security forces raged around Syria, the head of the National Organisation for Human Rights said.
“We have the names of 17 demonstrators killed in Daraa, and we have been told of the deaths of two protesters in Homs and three in Harasta,” Qurabi told AFP by telephone from Cairo, where he lives in exile.
“We are aware that live bullets, tear gas and another gas that causes fainting were used,” he added.
QurabiÂ’s report was more or less in line with other activists, who earlier said 13 protesters had been killed in the flashpoint southern town of Daraa, a number of people wounded in the central industrial city of Homs and also spoke of fighting in Harasta.
The official SANA news agency said 19 members of the security forces were killed and 75 were wounded by “armed groups” in Daraa.
Amnesty International said it had confirmed eight people were killed in protests on Friday, six in Daraa and two in Homs in the west.
“The alarming reports coming from Syria today show that the authorities have not altered their violent methods for dealing with dissent,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty’s Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme.
An activist asking not to be named for security reasons told AFP the people in Daraa were killed when security forces opened fire with rubber bullets and live rounds to disperse stone-throwing protesters.
“Thousands of demonstrators leaving from three mosques marched to the courthouse but security forces dressed in civilian clothing fired tear gas to disperse them,” said the activist.
“Demonstrators threw stones and clashes ensued,” the activist said, adding that “the situation is very tense” in Daraa, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Damascus.
Protesters angered by the deaths set fire to the ruling Baath partyÂ’s headquarters in Daraa, he added.
State television said “saboteurs and conspirators opened fire on residents and security forces” alike in the town, killing two people — an officer and an ambulance man. State television broadcast footage showing young men in keffiyehs standing behind trees while the sound of automatic weapons fire could be heard.
The agricultural city of Daraa has been the focal point of anti-government protests marred by deadly violence that human rights activists blame on the security services and the government blames on “armed” groups.
President Bashar al-Assad, under popular pressure to introduce major political reforms and end emergency powers which give security services great leeway to crush dissent, had ordered a probe into previous protest casualties in Daraa.
Abdel Karim Rihawi, who heads the Syrian League for the Defence of Human rights, said several people were injured in clashes in the industrial city of Homs and that there had also been fighting in Harasta, north of the capital. Rihawi also said several thousand people demonstrated in the port city of Banias and Tal, 20 kilometres north of Damascus.
The rallies, he said, were staged in solidarity with the “martyrs” of protests in Douma, Daraa and Latakia.
Thousands also marched in five towns in northern Syria, mainly in predominantly Kurdish Hassake and Ammuda, calling for an end to emergency rule and the release of prisoners, another rights activist said.
“More than 3,000 people, Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians (Christians), demonstrated in Qamishli after Friday prayers before staging a sit-in on the main road,” Kurdish rights activist Radif Mustafa told AFP.
The rallies came a day after Assad granted citizenship to tens of thousands of Kurds who had been denied nationality for nearly half a century because of a controversial census.
In Douma, residents formed committees to verify the identities of people arriving for a rally to check they were not armed, a rights activist said. He told AFP demonstrators and authorities had reached an agreement allowing protesters to rally without security force intervention.
Until Friday, Syrian rights activists estimated that more than 130 people had been killed in clashes with security forces, mainly in Daraa and the port city of Latakia, since the start of political unrest on March 15. Officials have put the death toll at closer to 30 and blamed the violence on armed groups and foreigners seeking to divide the ethnically and religiously diverse country.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2011
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[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Barak says successful interception by missile defense system of 3 Kassam rockets fired earlier is "an extraordinary achievement for IDF."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2011
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#1
this humiliation of the ineffectual Gazooks will not stand! Let the seething begin
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/09/2011 8:24
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#2
It's their allen-given right to explode the Juice. The Dome is not fair!
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/09/2011 9:18
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#3
pretty obviously this is disproportionate. The Juice need to give the Paleos an Iron Dome too
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/09/2011 9:43
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#4
I would settle for putting just plain domes over the Paleos and letting them try to live on their own and build a functioning society separated from everyone.
#8
"Over the past 48 hours, terrorist organizations in Gaza fired over 120 Grad missiles, rockets and mortars at the Israeli home front, 50 of which were fired since this morning. Since Thursday, approximately eight Grad missiles and rockets were intercepted by IAF Aerial Defense Corps forces, using the “Iron Dome” system."
[Arab News] Turkey's government sparred with the military on Thursday amid tension over the trials of retired and active military officers and other alleged coup plotters, some of whom have been in jail for years. Turkey's military is not a good military to spar with.
This week, top prosecutors investigating the alleged plots by hard-line secularists against the Islam-based government were replaced in what analysts saw as an effort to restore confidence in the judiciary's handling of the cases.
Hundreds of people, including military figures, academics and journalists, are accused of involvement in conspiracies to topple the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which seeks a third term in elections in June.
Around 400 people, including some of Erdogan's fiercest critics, have been on trial since 2008, charged with terrorism as part of an alleged anti-government network called Ergenekon. Oz accused them of trying to pave the way for a takeover in 2003 through attacks designed to create chaos and trigger a military takeover.
Another 163 retired and active military officers were also tossed in the clink on suspicion of plotting a separate coup in a case known as Sledgehammer. The military, perpetrator of coups in the past, says the case is based on documents presented to a military seminar where scenarios of how to handle internal strife were discussed.
On Wednesday, the military criticized decisions to keep more than 100 active duty officers tossed in the clink pending the outcome of the trial, saying it could not understand the lengthy detentions. The statement on the military's website drew sharp rebukes from ruling party officials, who accused the armed forces of interfering with the independence of the judiciary.
"Court decisions may not be to everyone's liking," Huseyin Celik, a politician with the Justice and Development Party, said Thursday. "However, The emphatic However... if an armed organization reacts and makes an official statement, this amounts to interference in the judiciary." Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Sahin made similar remarks, according to Turkey's Anatolia news agency.
"So shut up!"
Supporters of the coup plot trials hail them as a pillar of democratic reform, an opportunity to unveil an alleged network of armed Orcs and similar vermin with links to the state who targeted perceived enemies over the decades. The cases highlight the gulf between the government, which has a strong electoral mandate, and opponents who alleged a government bid to muzzle dissent and undermine secular principles.
International observers initially welcomed the trials as a step toward transparency and accountability, but have grown increasingly uneasy at the long detentions of suspects without a verdict as well as concerns about freedom of expression in media reports on the cases.
The shakeup of prosecutors came after two investigative journalists, Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener, were tossed in the clink for links to the Ergenekon. Turkish and international media groups denounced the arrests, and the West raised concerns about free expression in Turkey.
"There were so many flaws in the way the cases were being handled," said political commentator Cuneyt Ulsever. "The journalists' cases were the drops that caused the glass to overflow." President Abdullah Gul, a close ally of Erdogan, has also expressed concern about how perceptions about the trials are hurting Turkey's image. Other government officials have acknowledged the trials are moving slowly, although they have also said the cases are a matter for the judiciary.
In such a highly charged political atmosphere, however, many analysts doubt the trials can be conducted entirely free of influence from Turkey's power structures.
In the judiciary's shakeup, lead prosecutor Zekeriya Oz, who had investigated the Ergenekon case from its inception several years, was transferred to the position of deputy chief prosecutor in Istanbul. Although a promotion, the new job effectively removes him from the coup plot investigations.
He was replaced Tuesday by Cihan Kansiz, a prosecutor who has led high-profile investigations, including that of the 2007 murder of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, and prosecutions of leftist Islamic fascistiaccused of terrorism.
Oz's deputy was also replaced.
Nihat Ali Ozcan, a political analyst at the Economic Policy Research Institute in Ankara, said Oz had become a polarizing figure but doubted that the new appointments would lead to a significant change in the course of the trials.
"The foundations have already been laid by Oz," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2011
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Posted by: Fi ||
04/09/2011 1:13
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#5
Well. The anti-war liberals may now have a war they like, being the lefties are for gays in the militaries. This is a close as an group of Islamic rebels will come to that for sure.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/09/2011 1:39
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#7
Ya just knew that Code Pink was going to turn up.
Posted by: retired LEO ||
04/09/2011 1:53
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#8
OK, now its turned stupid.
Everyone who wanted to know what Overlord would be like today, well here you go...really expect Team Daffy to not get wind of this? Jimminy Cricket anyone play no-rule paintball 101? Dirty Dozen? Did everyone sign in, don't forget your badges.
But putting on a uniform makes one not a civilian, so plain clothes in the cameras please, for UN and try-letter news sakes.
#10
sequins..... oh wait, Qhaddafy already uses them
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/09/2011 19:27
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#11
In my day it was easy. If it had a weapon and any kind of uniform, including casual attire, that was different to ours, it got slotted. Now we can shoot at anything that has pink on it, or....not? I get so confused, the rules and colours keep changing like almost for the first HD3D Television War with time sold as advertising in the breaks.
It's what the sleepers in the West don't know yet... to their detriment, uniforms are a craven issue. If they refuse to identify themselves as their own, they will all be treated the same.
#14
And thus it is demonstrated yet again why groups of combatants choose a "uniform" which makes them identifiable on the battlefield.
Terribly sorry, dear. The rebels somehow couldn't find enough time to trot down to Al-Neiman Marcus and put an ensemble together. Why, the poor dears have to share weapons - or wait until another rebel dies so they can take theirs.
Perhaps some eurodesigner can come up with a logo and a smart yet functional uniform. Maybe some of the lefties that have been supporting the o-so-chic Mexican terrorist-savant pipesmoker, sub-commander Marcos? Or maybe FARC can loan out their tailor?
[Al Jazeera] At least six people have been killed and dozens more injured by a suspected kaboom at a Nigerian election office hours before parliamentary elections, officials and police say. "Herbert! Did you hear that?"
"Yes, Lonzo! I heard it!"
"And you saw the wreckage fly by?"
"I did!"
"I suspect that was a bomb blast!"
"By Jove, I think you're right!"
Friday's blast in Suleja, on the northwestern edge of the capital, Abuja, went off after a fatal shooting in Borno state of four people, including an official of the ruling Peoples' Democratic Party.
President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau... condemned the kaboom and ordered an immediate increase in security at election offices hours before voting was to begin in polls that have already been delayed twice amid organisational chaos.
A front man for the state security service confirmed the deaths.
"Six people have been confirmed dead. We don't have much detail," Marilyn Ogar told the Rooters news agency.
Yushua Shuaib, a front man for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told Rooters: "There was an kaboom and there are several casualties. It was a suspected kaboom."
Al Jizz's Yvonne Ndege, reporting from Abuja, said politics in Nigeria was a "lucrative business" and "sadly some politicians are prepared to kill for the opportunity" to get into power.
The violence was a further blow to hopes of orderly elections in Africa's most populous nation.
Nigeria is due to hold parliamentary elections on Saturday, presidential elections a week later and governorship polls in its 36 states on April 26.
The elections were postponed twice after voters turned up at polling stations to find there were no ballot papers and other election materials.
Huge budget
The Independent National Electoral Commission was given a $570m budget last August just for overhauling voter lists and buying additional ballot boxes, leading some Nigerians to question whether they were getting value for money.
There are 73 million registered voters out of a population of 158 million and the budget means each of the 36 states would receive at least $15m.
Security forces cordoned off streets in the town, where three people were killed and 21 injured by an bomb thrown from a car at an election rally last month.
The run-up to the polls has been marred by isolated kabooms on campaign rallies, violence blamed on a radical sect in the remote northeast and sectarian festivities in the centre of a nation roughly split between a Mohammedan north and Christian south.
Human Rights Watch estimates that more than 85 people have been killed in political violence linked to party primaries and election campaigns since the start of November.
The leading contenders in the presidential vote include Goodluck Jonathan, who comes from the south and became president after the death of Umaru Yaradua last May.
Muhammadu Buhari, his main challenger and former president running on the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) platform, has major support in the country's mostly Mohammedan north.
Other candidates vying for the presidency include former anti-corruption chief Nuhu Ribadu, whose Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) party has a strong following in parts of the southwest, and Ibrahim Shekarau, governor of the northern state of Kano.
The PDP controls a comfortable majority in the parliament, but some analysts say the poll could significantly loosen its grip on the legislature.
The party has won every election since military rule ended in 1999. The previous two elections, held in 2003 and 2007, were marred by fraud and irregularities.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Ennahar] The new president of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, believes that Western countries are "indispensable" in the fight against al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) which has stepped up abductions of Westerners in Niger since 2008.
"In order to eradicate evil (...), Northern countries are indispensable for the formation, training and equipping of our forces of defense and security (FDS)," said Mr. Issoufou in an interview with the Journal of the Nigerian Army Green Beret.
"Not to be blind (in battle), cooperation with them in terms of intelligence is also essential," underlined Mr. Issoufou cautioning that "the threat of AQIM could destabilize the entire Sahara.
In a regional context, he thinks that with "logistical support of the North", the Sahel countries affected can lead the fight through the Joint Staff based in Tamanrasset (southern Algeria) and composed of forces in Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger.
Each state must use its own capacity to cope with the situation, "but we must pool the tasks of monitoring, prevention and response," said Mr. Issoufou, inaugurated president of Niger on Thursday, after his election on March 12.
Niger, one of the most "fragile" countries, should "imperatively" increase the quantity and quality of its armed forces and improve their equipment," he said.
He envisions a "deployment" of forces throughout the territory of his vast country, the creation of new barracks, outposts and sending Special Forces into border areas.
AQIM still retains four kidnapped Frenchies, kidnapped on Sept. 16 on a site of uranium mining in northern Niger and calls for "at least 90 million" for their release.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2011
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#1
In a regional context, he thinks that with "logistical support of the North", the Sahel countries affected can lead the fight through the Joint Staff based in Tamanrasset (southern Algeria) and composed of forces in Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger.
Meanwhile, South Africa, a country who a few short years ago could have led the anti-terror effort, still recovering from thousands of years of apartheid, sits this one out Chinese style. Hat tip to the African Congressional National Congress (ANC).
[Maghrebia] An unidentified official in Algeria's Public Works Department was injured by a roadside kaboom blast early Wednesday (April 6th) in blood-stained Tizi Ouzou, La Tribune reported. According to security sources, the homemade device went kaboom! near a road crew on the RN24 between Tigzirt and Dellys. The roadway between Tigzirt and Dellys is slated to reopen after 17 years. Repairs began this week.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Ennahar] Libyan rebels said on Friday they repulsed a government assault on the besieged city of Misrata but prospects faded for a military overthrow of Muammar Qadaffy.
NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... leaders acknowledged the limits of their air power, which has caused rather than broken a military stalemate, and analysts predicted a long-drawn out conflict that could end in the partition of the North African oil producer.
Or it could end in a NATO protectorate and Qadaffystan... for as long as NATO is willing to continue the costly work of protecting.
Let NATO share as equal partners with the rebels in the oil in the eastern part of the country and it could become profitable to protect Benghazi...
Alliance officials expressed frustration that Qadaffy's tactics of sheltering his armor in civilian areas had reduced the impact of air supremacy and apologized for a second "friendly fire" incident on Thursday that rebels said killed five fighters.
Misrata, a lone major rebel outpost in the west of the country, has been under siege by Qadaffy's forces for weeks. On Friday snuffies said they had pushed back an assault on the eastern flank of the coastal city after fierce street battles.
"The attack from the east has been repelled now and the (pro-Qadaffy) forces have been pushed back," rebel front man Hassan al-Misrati told Rooters by telephone.
The only active front in the war, along the Mediterranean coast around the eastern cities of Brega and Ajdabiyah, has descended into stalemate for a week with both sides making advances and then retreating behind secure lines at night.
On Friday rebels at the western boundary of Ajdabiyah, gateway to their Benghazi stronghold, decamped from an artillery bombardment but there was no sign of a government advance.
The head of U.S. Africa Command, General Carter Ham, said the conflict was entering stalemate and it was very unlikely the rebels would be able to fight their way into Tripoli.
POLITICAL SOLUTION
Early hopes that air attacks on Qadaffy forces would tip the balance in favor of the rebels have now evaporated and Western leaders are emphasizing a political solution.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen took a similar line to Ham on Friday. "There is no military solution only. We need a political solution," he told Al Jizz television.
NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu spoke of the difficulties facing alliance pilots because of Qadaffy's tactics. "The fact is they are using human shields and parking tanks next to mosques and schools so it is very hard to pinpoint any military hardware without causing civilian casualties," she said.
Analysts predicted an extended conflict leading toward possible division of the country between east and west.
"The opposition forces are insufficient to break this deadlock and so as things stand the march on Tripoli is not going to happen," said John Marks, chairman of Britain's Cross Border Information consultancy.
"This standoff looks like it could go on pretty much forever ... for now we have a stalemate so we are looking rather more at a de facto partition."
Geoff Porter of North Africa Risk Consulting agreed. "It is increasingly unlikely that the rebels will get anywhere close to Tripoli," he said.
The confusion on the desert battlefield has caused "friendly fire" incidents, increasing anger among the rebels, who said they lost five men on Thursday when NATO planes bombed a column of 20 tanks brought out of storage to bolster the eastern front.
REBEL RETREAT
The strike sent the rebels into a confused retreat back toward Ajdabiyah.
It was the second time in less than a week that rebels had blamed NATO for bombing their comrades by mistake after 13 were killed in an air strike not far from the same spot on Saturday.
Rebels in Ajdabiyah painted the roofs of their vehicles bright pink on Friday to identify them better to NATO planes.
"NATO is an alliance against the Libyan people," said Alaa Senudry, a rebel volunteer on he edge of Ajdabiyah.
At the same time as expressing anger about the attacks, the rebels have accused NATO of being too slow to order air strikes to support their rag-tag army, a charge denied by the alliance.
Misrata, Libya's third city, rose up with other towns against Qadaffy in mid-February and has been under siege for weeks after a crackdown put an end to most protests in the west.
Rebels say people in Misrata are crammed five families to a house in the few safe districts, to escape weeks of sniper, mortar and rocket fire. There are severe shortages of food, water and medical supplies.
The snuffies have used containers filled with sand and stone to block roads and break supply lines to Qadaffy forces including snipers in Misrata, the rebel front man said.
Ashour Shamis, a U.K.-based Libyan opposition activist, said the coastal town was key to breaking the stalemate.
"The reason is that Misrata has a big port that acts as a key supply route of food and medicine for Tripoli, and Sirte as well. To keep Tripoli going, Qadaffy needs Misrata."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2011
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#1
See also FREEREPUBLIC/TOPIX > THE BATTLE AGZ GADDAFI: NATO FEARS "WAR WITHOUT END" IN LIBYA.
and
* TELEGRAPH.UK > LIBYA TO UNLEASH WAVE [waves?] OF MIGRANTS ON EUROPE. 26000 Tunisian immigrants have arrived on Lampedusa since January 2011, ROMA WORKING OVERTIME TO GET EURO-STATES TO ACCEPT ITALIE' TRAVEL VISAS, ETC. FROM SAME, TO SAME, FOR SAME.
#4
Rebels in Ajdabiyah painted the roofs of their vehicles bright pink on Friday to identify them better to NATO planes.
Qadaffy's units to follow in 5...4...3...
On the other hand, the U.S. Justice Department said Obama's brief but expensive foray against Uncle Curly was "constitutional". So, though it's a clusterf--k, it was legal.
#5
Yeah, remember how the drooling lefties in 2009 wanted to hold hearings and have indictments for Bush and Company for the 'illegal war'. Someone in the White House was smart enough to avoid setting precedent for their little tour a few years latter on the calendar.
[Pak Daily Times] SRINAGAR: A bomb went off outside a mosque here on Friday, killing a prominent Mohammedanholy man, police and witnesses said. Maulana Shaukat Shah, chief of Jammu and Kashmire Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadith, which is involved in social work, was entering the mosque to lead Friday prayers when the bomb went off. No group has grabbed credit for the attack. Police, however, blamed the killing on the hard boyz fighting New Delhi's rule in the Himalayan territory.
Shah, who had survived several previous attempts on his life, was rushed to hospital where doctors pronounced him dead. Police said the killing had sparked tension in Srinagar, urban hub of the rebel movement. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced heightened security in Kashmire following the attack.
"We are looking at all aspects to determine who is responsible (for Shah's killing)," Abdullah said.
Shaukat has been targeted in the past by suspected hard boyz for his links with the moderate faction of separatists. Separatist violence in Indian-held Kashmire has fallen to its lowest since an armed rebellion broke out in 1989. But the state is still seething with anti-Indian sentiment.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Ma'an] Spokesman of the Gazoo government Taher An-Nunu said Friday that he had sent an official letter of complaint to the UN "and other involved parties" following the death of five civilians in Gazoo during the day.
Israeli air and artillery fire hit the coastal enclave ten times during the day. An Israeli military statement acknowledged the deaths, saying it "regrets that the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, terrorist organization chooses to operate from within its civilian population, using it as a 'human shield'."
An-Nunu said Israel was taking the opportunity while the world was "preoccupied with other events," in the near and far east, and said that by "carrying out a series of escalations of attacks."
He added, that Israel had shown that Israel had shown that it does "not respect the state of calm on which all factions had agreed on," referring to a proposed ceasefire deal announced by Hamas officials at 11 p.m. on Thursday night.
After a series of overnight air strikes killed four, Hamas fighters resumed launching projectiles, saying in a statement that six projectiles and three mortars had been launched Friday afternoon toward Israeli military targets near Rafah.
"We will not stand silent," he said of the escalation.
Earlier in the day a Hamas official accused Israel of using white phosphorus weapons during the day, a claim that was later denied by an Israeli military front man.
White phosphorus weapons were used on civilian areas by Israeli forces during their 2008-9 offensive, Operation Cast Lead. International conventions say the weapons are prohibited for use in civilian areas. In open-area combat, the phosphorus is used to light up targets.
In Gazoo, doctors who noted abnormal burns on patients being admitted during the war alerted officials, prompting an investigation.
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As I wrote last September, when Jones threatened to burn a Koran, the "violence stems from Islamic law, the Sharia, which insists that Islam, and the Koran in particular, enjoy a privileged status." That insistence, which has been asserted in the West since 1989, when Ayatollah Khomeini put an edict on Salman Rushdie for his novel, The Satanic Verses, must not be indulged. Islam is one religion among others, with no claim to superior status. Indeed closing down the claim to Islamic supremacism may be the single greatest challenge to modernizing Islam.
However distasteful, Jones' act is both legal and non-violent. He is not responsible for the 43 deaths; the repugnant, barbaric ideology of Islamism is to blame. When will U.S. politicians realize this basic fact and stand up robustly for the civil liberties of American citizens? Critiquing Islam, tastefully or distastefully done, is a Constitutional right. Indeed, done intelligently it is a civilizational imperative.
#5
Only if we can hold Newsweek, its editors and writer, responsible for the deaths following the bogus 'flushed Koran' story, so we can 'censor' print media. /sarc off
You want to abridge my 1st Amendment rights, we get to abridge yours.
#6
Heathen idolaters need no excuse to act like heathen idolaters. U.S. State Dept. needs to freshen up on reading Robert E. Howard. Oh, I forgot there is now P.C. and their "culture" is equal to ours.
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.
Congressional leaders, with barely an hour to go before a federal government, announced late Friday night they had reached a deal to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year.
Mohmand
Rehman Malik
BEIRUT — Lebanese judicial officials say a military prosecutor has indicted 11 people suspected of involvement in last month’s kidnapping of seven Estonian tourists.
[Ennahar] Seventeen people were killed and dozens wounded Friday by gunfire from security forces in Deraa (100 km south of Damascus), where several thousand protesters marched after Friday prayer, according to an activist of Human Rights.
[Ma'an] Paleostinian resistance factions resumed projectile fire toward Israeli targets Friday, less than a day after 
Laurent Gbagbo,
Wazoo
"He told me that all this education is useless and said 'become a fighter and you will go to heaven'," Umar told the 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
[The Nation (Nairobi)] Rich and poor nations were on Friday close to agreeing on a roadmap for UN climate negotiations this year, but only after long-running feuds flared over who would do the most to tackle global warming.
"It's a very important discussion, (so) it is not surprising that parties are still in that heated discussion."
"This year will be more difficult... the power struggle is back," 
Colonel Muammar Qadaffy
cycle of violence
[Ma'an] (Ma'an) -- Israeli air strikes and artillery fire have hit 
Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh
[Arab News] Turkey's government sparred with the military on Thursday amid tension over the trials of retired and active military officers and other alleged coup plotters, some of whom have been in jail for years.
Goodluck Jonathan
