by Steve White
Moderator, Rantburg Defender-Scimitar & Times-Picayune
March 11, 2010, 1430 CT
Mark this date on your calendars. This is the day that Nancy Pelosi's term as Speaker of the House began to end.
Sometimes the end of a politician's career is indistinct. Scandal sometimes unfolds over weeks and months, and it isn't clear exactly when a politician's peers and the public reach the conclusion that said politician just isn't worth it.
But this one is clear.
As reported in the Corner this afternoon, the House voted 402-1 today to open an investigation of the House Democratic leaders and their handling of ethical allegations concerning former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY). The question is a simple one: what did Nancy Pelosi know and when did she know it?
The issue isn't just Mr. Massa's behavior and whether he violated House rules. That's bad enough for Speaker Pelosi and it conjures up images of the Mark Foley affair in 2006, which blew away whatever pretense the Republicans had then that they were fit to continue to govern.
The Corner notes the comparison to the Foley affair in 2006, but this is worse: apparently Rep. Massa had hired young gay men, underpaid them, and required them to live in his home. As the article says:
In hindsight, Democratic insiders wondered about activities that before had just seemed odd. They said Massa hired a surprisingly large percentage of young gay men, and paid them so little that staffers were forced to live in the house with him.
"Its not the gay part thats a problem, its the abuse, if its true," said one Hill source.
Nor has the last shoe dropped. While the national media has soft-pedaled Mr. Massa's problems, newspapers are starting to jump on the story. Today's big article is in the New York Daily News, and editors around the country are texting their political reporters demanding that they 'match' the story. A feeding frenzy will start; it is one of the things the media is good at, and once started it will continue until the story, and the people behind the story, have been devoured.
It is becoming clear that Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer and other key members of the Democratic leadership in the House were aware, at least to some extent, of Mr. Massa's problems and did nothing about it. Did they know about Mr. Massa's 'massages'? Did they know of his living arrangements? Did they know about his payroll and who was on it, and why? Did any of the staffers complain and if so, did that news reach the leadership? If so, what did they do about it?
We don't know what they knew and didn't know, and so far other than the usual denials, no one is talking.
That's the problem, and that's why today marks the first day of the end for Speaker Pelosi. The last day will come whenever the Speaker, and perhaps others in the Democratic Leadership, decide to put the House above their party and principle above politics, and resign their leadership positions. This will be painful for them and it will cost their party heavily in the midterm election, just as the Foley affair cost Republicans in 2006.
More than just a sex scandal, the current affair puts into focus what is wrong with the House today, as surely as the Foley affair did in 2006. Greed. Corruption. Abuse of power. Abuse of process. These are age-old problems and too many times such stories are buried as just politics as usual, as 'inside baseball' for Washington. Sometimes it takes a sex scandal to make clear just how corrupt the current leaders are.
This is such a time.
Speaker Pelosi should resign now. She should make clear what she knew, how she failed her responsibilities, and step aside so that new leadership in her party can step forward and begin to fix the many problems in the House.
The alternative is the water torture of the 24 hour news cycle, as drip, drip, drip the details will come out. That will be the end for her party.
It will also be a warning to the other party should it win power. Politicians being who they are, the Republicans likely won't learn from the experience. Pity. |
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| Posted by: Procopius2k|| 2010-03-11 16:30 ||Comments
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| Posted by: spotnpuff@hotmail.com|| 2010-03-11 16:34 ||Comments
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| Posted by: trailing wife|| 2010-03-11 16:39 ||Comments
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Plaintiffs missed service deadline
| A blog post but take a look as it serves up the original documents. As the author says, "But ACORN appears to have lost interest in the case since filing it, confirming my suspicion that it was little more than a press release on pleading paper." |
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A SCOTTISH whisky firm has unveiled bottles of what it claims is the oldest single malt whisky in the world, having spent the best part of a century inside an oak barrel.
Gordon and MacPhail's Mortlach 70-Year-Old Speyside was sampled at a launch party in Edinburgh Castle, where it was escorted through the doors by pipers and a military escort.
"It matured for 70 years in the cask and that is what makes it the oldest whisky in the world," a spokeswoman said.
The whisky was filled into its cask on October 15, 1938 by the grandfather of the company's managing directors David and Michael Urquhart.
There will only be 54 full-size bottles priced at STG10,000 ($16,300), with another 162 smaller bottles on sale for STG2000 ($3200).
The limited edition malt was matured in a former sherry hogshead cask made from Spanish oak. It has been bottled in a "tear shaped, hand-blown" crystal decanter with a silver stopper.
Whisky taster Charles MacLean described the single malt as "a delicate, fresh, vital, fruity whisky, with unusual attributes of waxiness and smokiness".
"It's the oldest cask of whisky that, in my knowledge, has ever been bottled," he said. "The spirit and the wood have inter-reacted beautifully over this long period of time."
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| Posted by: chris|| 2010-03-11 15:30 ||Comments
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 A 7.2 magnitude Chile earthquake rattled the swearing-in ceremony of President Sebastian Piñera, the country's first conservative president in more than 50 years. |
A 15-year-old French schoolboy sprayed a teacher with teargas after she described al-Qaeda as a "terrorist group", she told reporters on Tuesday as prosecutors began their investigation.
"I had just explained that the attacks on September 11, 2001 were carried out by the terrorist organisation al-Qaeda, as is written in the text book," said the history teacher, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"He stood up and declared that al-Qaeda is not terrorist and that neither is the Taliban," she said, adding that the boy had then pulled out a spray can and doused her and a teaching assistant with teargas.
Both staff members, who work in the small school in the central French village of Largentiere, made a criminal complaint against the boy, state prosecutors confirmed.
A youth court will be convened in the nearby town of Privas on March 16 to hear the case. |
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| Posted by: gorb|| 2010-03-11 11:47 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Procopius2k|| 2010-03-11 12:02 ||Comments
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| Posted by: DarthVader|| 2010-03-11 12:03 ||Comments
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| Posted by: chris|| 2010-03-11 12:42 ||Comments
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| Posted by: anap123@mail.com|| 2010-03-11 15:13 ||Comments
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| Posted by: tu3031|| 2010-03-11 16:16 ||Comments
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Bangladesh-born Rajib Karim, 30, of Newcastle upon Tyne, faces three charges under counter terrorism legislation.
He is accused of two counts of planning suicide bombings and his own martyrdom. One charge involves the UK and the other alleges that he plotted with contacts in his home country, Pakistan and Yemen.
All the garden spots ...
It is alleged that he deliberately stayed in Britain, obtaining a passport and getting a job at the airline to further the conspiracy.
Prosecutor Colin Gibbs told City of Westminster Magistrates' Court the charge sheet alleges he shared information about his work, including security measures, and offered to take advantage of planned strikes by BA staff to join the airline's cabin crew.
The computer expert also faced a third charge alleging he collected money and transferred it through trusted associates and wire services to terrorist associates overseas. All three offences are alleged to have taken place between April 2006 and February this year.
Karim was arrested by officers from Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command, working with colleagues in the north east of England, on February 25. They swooped on the office complex where he worked in Newcastle as a computer software developer and searched his home in the city.
Forensic specialists are continuing to sift through hundreds of files held on computers seized from his workplace and home.
Urgent inquiries are also understood to be under way in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Yemen to trace the others allegedly involved.
Karim, a well-built man with a thin beard and close-cropped hair, spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth during the 15-minute hearing. He wore a black fleece. His solicitor James Nicolls said he did not want his client's address made public over fears of reprisal attacks against his young family. He did not apply for bail. |
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| Posted by: gorb|| 2010-03-11 11:50 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Parabellum||http://sidemeat.wordpress.com/|| 2010-03-11 14:48 ||Comments
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An agent linked to disgraced Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan had offered Saddam Hussein a $150 million nuclear "package" deal guaranteeing Iraq a weapons-assembly line capable of producing nuclear warheads in as little as three years, the Washington Post reported today.
The offer made in 1990 to then Iraqi president as troops massed on his border near the start of the Persian Gulf War included not only weapons designs but also production plants and foreign experts to supervise the building of a nuclear bomb, the daily said citing documents uncovered by a former UN weapons inspector, David Albright.
Iraqi officials at the time appear to have taken the offer seriously and asked the Pakistanis for sample drawings as proof of their ability to deliver, the documents show according to the nuclear weapons expert, who describes the proposed deal in a new book, the Post said.
Khan's alleged interest in selling nuclear secrets to Hussein has been reported in numerous books and news articles. But the newly uncovered documents suggest that Khan's offer of nuclear assistance was more comprehensive than previously known, the daily said.
A 1990 letter attributed to a Khan business associate offered Iraq a chance to leap past technical hurdles to acquire weapons capability.
"Pakistan had to spend a period of 10 years and an amount of 300 million U.S. dollars to get it," begins one of the memos as cited by the Post
"Now, with the practical experience and worldwide contacts Pakistan has developed, you could have A.B. in about three years' time and by spending about $150 million."
"A.B." was understood to mean "atomic bomb," Albright wrote in "Peddling Peril: How the Secret Nuclear Trade Arms America's Enemies," released this week.
Aid from the Pakistani scientist could have accelerated Iraq's quest for a weapon if the Iraqi leader had not run out of time, writes Albright, a former UN inspector who now heads the non-profit Institute for Science and International Security.
One memo cited in the book promised to provide "all the vital components and materials" needed to make fissile material, and added that "two to three Pakistani scientists could be persuaded to resign and join the new assignment" in Iraq.
Pakistan says Khan acted alone in seeking to sell his country's nuclear secrets. But Khan, in a series of memos and letters obtained by The Post, says he carried out the instructions of senior government and military officials. |
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| Posted by: Paul2|| 2010-03-11 15:17 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Procopius2k|| 2010-03-11 09:19 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Steve White|| 2010-03-11 09:31 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Bright Pebbles|| 2010-03-11 11:28 ||Comments
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| Posted by: raubrey@sbcglobal.net|| 2010-03-11 11:35 ||Comments
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The Libyan president of the U.N. General Assembly is among more than 180 people banned from traveling to much of Europe due to a diplomatic row between Libya and Switzerland, Libya's U.N. mission said on Wednesday.
Ali Abdussalam Treki, former Libyan foreign minister and president of the General Assembly since last September, is on a list of Libyans whom Tripoli says are barred from obtaining visas in the so-called Schengen area. The borderless travel zone incorporates 25 European countries -- 22 European Union members plus Switzerland, Iceland and Norway -- where free movement of persons is guaranteed.
Libya is calling for an end to the visa ban for the people on the list, which was provided to reporters by its U.N. mission, and for both sides to resolve the dispute in arbitration mediated by a neutral country.
"We could have a solution, not to escalate everything," Libyan Ambassador to the U.N. Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgham told reporters at the country's mission. "We want a solution." Shalgam himself, as well as Libya's OPEC Secretary Abdullah Albadri, are on the list. A spokesman for the Swiss mission declined comment.
Libya said Switzerland started imposing restrictions on granting Schengen visas to Libyan citizens in August 2009, and later issued a list of people prohibited from obtaining visas. A Libyan newspaper wrote about the list in February, but the full list of names was only now made available.
Treki's spokesman said the assembly president "stresses the need to resolve this dispute in a manner that upholds the principles of international law." |
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| Posted by: Zenobia Anguth9505|| 2010-03-11 08:56 ||Comments
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| Posted by: 746|| 2010-03-11 10:17 ||Comments
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| Posted by: trailing wife|| 2010-03-11 16:43 ||Comments
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Terrorists Suspected Islamic militants shot dead three Thai workers and set their bodies on fire in the middle of road Thursday in Thailand's troubled south, police said. The three men, who worked for a telephone company, were killed as they travelled by pick-up truck in Pattani province. Police were unable to give further details of the victims, but said a fourth man escaped the attack.
Around the same time, in a separate incident in Pattani, a 61-year-old vendor was shot dead. |
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) must close at the end of 2011 for up to a year to address design issues, according to an LHC director. Dr Steve Myers told BBC News the faults will delay the machine reaching its full potential for two years.
The atom smasher will reach world record collision energies later this month at 7 trillion electron volts.
design was for 14 Tev
But joints between the machine's magnets must be strengthened before higher-energy collisions can commence.
The Geneva-based machine only recently restarted after being out of action for 14 months following an accident in September 2008.
plus setbacks caused by LHC created temporal anomalies, krenim time machine, going the wrong way around the sun etc. |
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| Posted by: Mizzou Mafia|| 2010-03-11 14:21 ||Comments
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| Posted by: idontknowbut@gmail.com||http://idontknowbut.blogspot.com|| 2010-03-11 16:21 ||Comments
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The South Korean Red Cross has delivered 20 tons of powdered milk to North Korea to assist expecting mothers and young children in the impoverished country.
A group of South Korean Red Cross officials crossed the heavily-armed border Wednesday morning accompanied by two trucks carrying US$138,000 worth of powdered milk.
The aid was delivered to North Korean officials in Kaesong following the communist regime's response in January to accept Seoul's offer last year to send corn, milk and medical supplies. |
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| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418|| 2010-03-11 02:49 ||Comments
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| Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC|| 2010-03-11 03:11 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Besoeker|| 2010-03-11 08:12 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Procopius2k|| 2010-03-11 14:28 ||Comments
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[Geo News] A passenger was caught with heavy cache of bullets and explosives at Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, while he was trying to fly off to Dubai via a private airline, Geo news reported as the incident happened in the wee hours on Wednesday.
Following the recovery of heavy amount of ammunitions and explosive materials, the flight was immediately called off.
According to sources, the passenger was hailing from Rajanpur as he was holding Rajanpur passport. The passenger has been taken under custody and is being investigated, airport security force said.
A Dubai-bound private airline's flight was immediately barred from departure at 11:30pm after recovery of ammunitions from a passenger meanwhile, all the passengers are being re-checked, sources said.
It is being reassured that there should be no other accomplice of the accused passenger on flight, sources said. |
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Law-enforcement agencies claimed to have arrested 60 militants, including two would-be suicide bombers, in a week-long operation, official sources said here on Wednesday.
The sources said security forces and the police continued a search operation in various parts of the district for the last one week and arrested 60 suspects, including two would-be suicide bombers. Security forces also seized huge quantity of arms and ammunition from their possession.
Our Daggar correspondent adds: Two militants were killed and another was arrested in a search operation in Elam area on Wednesday, official sources said. The sources said security forces and the police continued a search operation in the hilly area of Elam in Pir Baba for the second consecutive day. |
[Bangla Daily Star] Police yesterday arrested a Jamaat leader at Kandirpar in Comilla in connection with the violence at Khagrachhari on February 23 that left one Bangalee settler dead and 50 others injured.
Arrestee Md Eakub Ali Chowdhury is a member of Jamaat-e-Islami Khagrachhari unit and founder president of Parbattya Bangalee Chhatra Parishad.
According to Comilla police, he was arrested at his Kandirpar home in Comilla following a request letter from Abu Kalam Siddique, the superintendent of police of Khagrachhari.
He was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate Court of Comilla Wednesday evening and was subsequently sent to Comilla District Jail.
Additional Superintendent of Police of Khagrachhari Amir Jafar said they received some clues from earlier arrestees and collected detailed information on Eakub's involvement in the incident. He said they would want to bring him back to Khagrachhari through legal ways.
Gory clashes between Bangalee and ethnic people at several areas of Khagrachhari on February 23 left one dead and 50 injured. Around 120 houses were torched. |
[Bangla Daily Star] The judicial magistrate court in Habiganj yesterday granted seven days' remand for Huji operative Shah Mizanur Rahman Mithu, an accused in former finance minister SAMS Kibria killing case.
Judicial Magistrate Shamsul Islam granted the remand prayer after CID's ASP Rafiqul Islam, also the investigation officer of the case, prayed for ten days' remand on Tuesday.
Rafiqul told The Daily Star, "Mithu might be taken out of the Habiganj jail any time today for quizzing."
And he might be taken out any time tonight to assist in the search for a hidden arms cache ...
Rab officials caught Mithu on Sunday midnight from one of his relative's house in Nabiganj upazila of Habiganj district. On the following day, they handed him over to the Habiganj police and CID painfully quizzed him preliminarily on that night.
During the questioning, the Huji operative admitted his involvement in the grenade attack.
"It's okay, Chaudhray, we won't need the tongs after all."
"But Sarge, I just got them heated up!"
ASP Rafiqul submitted the remand petition while the Habiganj police produced Mithu before the court on Tuesday. The IO in his petition said, Mizanur Rahman Mithu had admitted his complicity in the sensational killing.
Mithu should be interrogated closely since the name of Badrul Alam Mizan, who is now in jail as an accused in the case, has come out in the statement, the IO said.
The IO also sought remand for former state minister Lutfuzzaman Babar in the same case on Tuesday.
The judicial magistrate set March 14 for hearing the remand prayer in presence of Babar. |
 The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 22% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-three percent (43%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21. That matches the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President (see trends).
Forty-two percent (42%) of Democrats Strongly Approve while 72% of Republicans Strongly Disapprove. Among those not affiliated with either major political party, 17% Strongly Approve and 45% Strongly Disapprove.
Fifty-seven percent (57%) believe that passage of the proposed health care legislation will hurt the economy. Just 25% believe it will help.
Sixty percent (60%) of parents believe that textbooks used by their students are more concerned about political correctness than accuracy.
Republicans hold a seven-point lead over Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot. |
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| Posted by: joshua.keeney@gmail.com|| 2010-03-11 08:22 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Besoeker|| 2010-03-11 08:33 ||Comments
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| Posted by: gorb|| 2010-03-11 09:51 ||Comments
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Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday unveiled a caustic budget plan that would borrow billions of dollars to stay afloat and push even more debt down the road, hoping to persuade leery lawmakers to instead raise taxes in an election year.
Quinn aides warned the plan would cost some 13,000 teachers and staff their jobs, cut off poor seniors from help in paying for costly prescriptions and shut down some health care programs for the indigent. But even after about $2 billion in cuts, the state would still be $11 billion in the hole.
Note that he isn't eliminating any state earmarks, consulting contracts for friends of the legislators, and various grants for graft, nor is he trimming union pension plans and state hiring. In other words, it's the usual "scare the rubes" tactic.
The administration's warnings served as the precursor for the Democratic governor's Wednesday budget address before a joint session of lawmakers who want to wrap up their business in two months so they can focus on their re-election.
Quinn is expected to restate the unsuccessful call he made last year for higher taxes. But the political dynamics for a tax increase have grown only worse as the election-seeking Democratic governor confronts campaigning legislators who fear a voter backlash in the Nov. 2 general election.
"He's not included a tax increase in this budget, and that's a conversation that has to happen," Jerry Stermer, Quinn's chief of staff, said of the governor's plan. "The General Assembly has not acted on a tax increase and have given signals they don't want to act on a tax increase."
Quinn's gambit, to propose cuts in education and social services, represents the latest step in the increasing divergence between the state's very real deteriorating fiscal situation and the rhetoric of politicians who believe the public doesn't want or trust Springfield to get any more money from their wallets.
Similar cries about slashing services last year ended up being papered over by increased borrowing. Many lawmakers privately expect that fears among rank-and-file lawmakers about a voter revolt will lead to a repeat of last spring's session. |
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| Posted by: Bobby|| 2010-03-11 05:47 ||Comments
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| Posted by: spotnpuff@hotmail.com|| 2010-03-11 08:30 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Besoeker|| 2010-03-11 09:27 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Steve White|| 2010-03-11 09:28 ||Comments
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| Posted by: DepotGuy|| 2010-03-11 10:54 ||Comments
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| Posted by: DarthVader|| 2010-03-11 13:33 ||Comments
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About 16 percent of Americans between the ages of 14 and 49 are infected with genital herpes, making it one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday.
It's a great time to be an old fart.
Black women had the highest rate of infection at 48 percent and women were nearly twice likely as men to be infected, according to an analysis by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 21 percent of women were infected with genital herpes, compared to only 11.5 percent of men, while 39 percent of blacks were infected compared to about 12 percent for whites, the CDC said.
There is no cure for genital herpes, or herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), which can cause recurrent and painful genital sores and also increases the likelihood of acquiring and transmitting the AIDS virus. It is related to herpes simplex virus 1, or oral herpes, which causes cold sores.
Several drugs are available to treat herpes symptoms and outbreaks, including acyclovir, which is available generically or under the Zovirax brand name, and valacyclovir, known generically as Valtrex -- both made by GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK.L). Ganciclovir, sold as Zirgan, is made by privately-held Sirion Therapeutics, Inc.
The CDC estimates that more than 80 percent of people with genital herpes do not know they are infected.
"The message is herpes is quite common. The symptoms can be often very innocuous," Dr. John Douglas of the CDC said in a teleconference.
"Because herpes is so prevalent it becomes ... a really important reason to use condoms on a consistent and correct basis with all of your partners," Douglas said. |
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| Posted by: tipover|| 2010-03-11 01:56 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Procopius2k|| 2010-03-11 09:10 ||Comments
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| Posted by: 746|| 2010-03-11 10:13 ||Comments
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52-year-old Anthony Digati was arrested for trying to extort $200,000 from an insurance firm by threatening to spam them with six million emails unless they paid up. Digati said he would use a spam service and his amazing talents as a "huge social networker" to drag the company "through the muddiest waters imaginable" and presumably unfriend everyone. He added that the price would increase to $3 million if they failed to pay up by Monday, according to federal authorities.
Six million spams? How could you tell that from a normal day in my email account? |
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| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418|| 2010-03-11 02:52 ||Comments
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| Posted by: armyguy|| 2010-03-11 07:36 ||Comments
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz presented Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan with one of the country's most prestigious prizes on Tuesday for his 'service to Islam'.
Erdogan earned the King Faisal International Prize for having "rendered outstanding service to Islam by defending the causes of the Islamic nation, particularly the Palestinian cause and the just rights of the Palestinian people," said Abdullah al-Uthaimin of the prize-awarding group.
"At the international level, he was a leading Muslim founder of the call for rapport between civilization and a passionate advocate of constructive dialogue, openness, and principles of international understanding and cooperation."
Seven academic researchers were also awarded King Faisal Prizes.
Algerian Abdurrahman Elhaj-Saleh and Lebanese Ramzi Baalbaki jointly earned the King Faisal Language and Literature prize for Arabic linguistic and grammatical research.
German Reinhold Ganz and Canadians Jean-Pierre Pelletier and Johanne Martel Pelletier shared the King Faisal Prize for Medicine for work on osteoarthritis.
U.S.-based mathematicians Enrico Bombieri and Terence Chi-Shen Tao split the King Faisal Science prize for their work in theoretical mathematics. |
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| Posted by: g(r)omgoru|| 2010-03-11 02:00 ||Comments
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[Bangla Daily Star] Myanmar's military rulers have barred pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running in upcoming elections and may force her own political party to expel her under a new election law unveiled yesterday.
The Political Parties Registration Law, published in official newspapers, prohibits anyone convicted by a court of law from joining a political party, making them ineligible to become a candidate.
It also instructs parties to expel members who are "not in conformity with the qualification to be members of a party," a clause that could force Suu Kyi's expulsion. Parties that don't register automatically cease to exist, the law says.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention, was convicted last August of violating the terms of her house arrest by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside residence. She was sentenced to a new term of house arrest that is to end this November.
The sentence was seen as a way to keep Suu Kyi locked up during the election campaign. Last month, the Supreme Court dismissed her latest appeal for freedom.
The new election law was immediately criticised by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party and by the United States and Britain.
League Deputy Chairman Tin Oo called the law unfair, politically motivated and designed to restrict activities of the party, which has already been battered by arrests and harassment.
"The fact that (party) registration will be allowed only after expulsion of a convicted member is too much. This is politically motivated" toward Suu Kyi, he told reporters.
The junta enacted five election-related laws Monday, two of which have now been made public. Three more are to be unveiled in coming days.
Myanmar election laws that bar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from standing in polls this year are "disappointing and regrettable", US envoy Kurt Campbell said Wednesday.
"I think it would be fair to say what we have seen so far is disappointing and regrettable," Campbell told a press conference during a visit to Malaysia, part of a tour of Southeast Asia.
Campbell said Suu Kyi should be released from house arrest so she can "play an active role in the political life of the country going forward."
"We've seen the first of five (laws). I think it would be fair to say that what we've seen so far is disappointing and regrettable," Campbell said during a visit to Malaysia.
The registration law says existing political parties have 60 days from Monday to register with an Election Committee whose members are to be appointed by the junta. The government currently recognizes 10 parties.
The law also bars members of religious orders and civil servants from joining political parties.
The date of the elections has not been announced, and Suu Kyi's party has not said whether it will contest the balloting.
The government announced in 2008 that elections will take place sometime in 2010. The last elections in 1990 were won overwhelmingly by Suu Kyi's party, but the military refused to hand over power.
Her party says the new constitution of 2008 is unfair and gives the military controlling say in government.
Suu Kyi's lawyer and a senior party member, Nyan Win, said the new law also bars people who have lodged an appeal against a conviction, which he said "clearly refers" to Suu Kyi.
"It is very unfair that a party member serving a prison term for his or her political convictions has to be expelled from the party. This clause amounts to interfering in party internal affairs," said Aung Thein, a lawyer who has defended activists in the country. He said the provision would exclude many pro-democracy individuals who have been imprisoned for their beliefs.
Human rights groups say the junta has jailed about 2,100 political prisoners.
It was widely assumed that Suu Kyi would be shut out since a provision in the constitution bars anyone with foreign ties from taking part in elections. Suu Kyi's now-deceased husband was British, her two sons have British citizenship, and she has been described by the junta as enjoying special links with Britain.
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Twenty-nine brigadiers, including Zahid Latif Mirza -- currently posted at Tampa-based US Central Command -- and President's Military Secretary Brig Mian M Hilal Hussain, were promoted to the rank of 2-star generals in the Pakistan Army on Wednesday.
Brig Agha Masood Akram, former assistant military secretary to then prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majid's Military Secretary Brig Muhammad Imran Zafar, were prominent amongst the promoted military officers to the rank of majors general.
Similarly, Pakistan's Defence Attache to China Brig Naveed Ahmed and Deputy Inspector General Frontier Corps Brig Nadir Zeb also got promotions as 2-star generals. A meeting of the Army Selection Board for promotion of brigadiers to the rank of majors general was held at the General Headquarters (GHQ).
Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani presided over the board meeting. In all, 29 officers have been recommended for promotion to the rank of major general by the selection board. |
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| Posted by: spotnpuff@hotmail.com|| 2010-03-11 08:21 ||Comments
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| Posted by: joshua.keeney@gmail.com|| 2010-03-11 08:30 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Anonymoose|| 2010-03-11 08:57 ||Comments
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| Posted by: DarthVader|| 2010-03-11 12:06 ||Comments
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[Al Arabiya Latest] U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates flew into Riyadh on Wednesday for talks expected to focus on Iran's nuclear program and Washington's push for tough sanctions against Tehran.
Gates was due to meet King Abdullah as the Obama administration kept up a concerted effort to rally international support for punitive sanctions against Iran, despite misgivings by China and other countries.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are "incredibly concerned about Iran's nuclear program," as well as its growing missile arsenal and "destabilizing" role in the region, a U.S. defense official told reporters earlier.
"The secretary will provide an update about where we are on our policy on Iran as we pivot from the engagement track to the pressure track," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Frustrated with Iran's response to U.S. overtures for dialogue, the Obama administration has shifted its emphasis, vowing to pile pressure on Tehran to persuade it to abandon its uranium enrichment work. |
[Al Arabiya Latest] A new play has shocked audiences in the Gaza Strip by shouting out what many in the Hamas-ruled territory mutter behind closed doors -- that Palestinian politicians are a bunch of crooks.
The biting comedy entitled "Umbilical Cord" goes after the Islamist Hamas and its secular Fatah rivals, accusing them of ignoring the suffering of their people and selling out to Iran and the United States, respectively. Though it takes to task all the main Palestinian factions, the play is remarkable for its criticism of Hamas, which has ruled the embattled territory since driving out its Fatah rivals in June 2007.
"I was afraid it would be prevented from being shown," said director Hazem Abu Hamid, whose invitations to the three-night run this week gave little hint of the content. "It's an escape valve for what people say in secret... their frustration about the division and their anger over the foreign aid that interferes with decisions."
Against the backdrop of a tumble-down refugee camp, the play's working-class characters relate tales of suffering under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade of the territory tightened after the takeover.
At one point a character representing Hamas claims to have liberated Gaza, from which Israel withdrew all of its troops and settlements in 2005, and of being "steadfast against the siege", drawing an angry reaction from other figures in the play.
"Gaza is under siege and every day the (Israeli) tanks enter," another character says. "The steadfastness against the blockade comes from our martyred children."
"But we bring you money in exchange for your martyred children," the man representing Fatah chimes in.
"Take my life and give me back my son. This is a dog's life, with no electricity, no flour, no jobs," says an actress playing a Palestinian refugee whose son was killed in an Israeli incursion.
Not the snappiest play around. Perhaps Sean Penn and Alec Baldwin could help them out ... |
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| Posted by: SteveS|| 2010-03-11 01:32 ||Comments
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| Posted by: g(r)omgoru|| 2010-03-11 01:40 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418|| 2010-03-11 02:47 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Swanimote|| 2010-03-11 11:07 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Hotspur666|| 2010-03-11 14:33 ||Comments
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[Iran Press TV Latest] With the launch of Iran's first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr long overdue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the nuclear facility will become operational in 2010.
"The Bushehr nuclear power plant will be launched this year. Adjustment and aligning work is now being done," Lavrov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying on Tuesday.
He, however, did not specify an exact date for the launch of the plant, explaining that Russia's state nuclear giant Rosatom was in charge of the timetable.
Earlier this month, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi had also announced that the 1,000-megawatt Bushehr plant would become operational this year.
"The Bushehr power plant will be launched according to schedule by the end of the spring (late June). There is no problem in the process," Salehi said.
The construction of the Bushehr plant started in 1975 when Germany signed a contract with Iran. Berlin, however, pulled out of the project following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
As a result of the withdrawal, Iran signed a deal with Russia in 1995. Under the Iranian-Russian agreement, the plant was originally scheduled to come on-stream in 1999 but the completion of the project has repeatedly been delayed. |
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| Posted by: SteveS|| 2010-03-11 14:11 ||Comments
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[Iran Press TV Latest] The European Parliament backs the findings of a UN investigation that highlights Israel's war crimes in Gaza during the December 2008-January 2009 incursion into the costal region.
On Wednesday, European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the European Union to "demand the implementation of the Goldstone report's recommendations."
The resolution, which was approved by a vote of 335-287, said that the EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, should monitor the progress of the implementation of the Goldstone report.
The report accused Israel of committing war crimes during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza while at the same time claimed that Hamas also violated international law to some degree.
It also called on both sides to prepare a report on the issue for further review by the UN. |
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| Posted by: g(r)omgoru|| 2010-03-11 01:45 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Goober Crealet3411|| 2010-03-11 09:08 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Spike Slerenter4467|| 2010-03-11 09:28 ||Comments
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| Posted by: phil_b|| 2010-03-11 09:45 ||Comments
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Afghan President Hamid Karzai has arrived in Pakistan to discuss the extradition of recently captured militant leaders.
Karzai arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday evening and will stay through Thursday. It is the Afghan leader's first trip to Pakistan since he was re-elected in a disputed presidential election in August.
The Afghan president is to meet with top Pakistani officials including President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Karzai's visit comes after Pakistani's Inter-Services Intelligence reportedly arrested several Taliban leaders, including second-in-command Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
However, a Pakistani court has restrained the government from extraditing militant leaders to any other country, raising the prospects of a new row between Kabul and Islamabad. |
Iran's president says the US must explain what its troops are doing in Afghanistan, as catching terrorists only requires intelligence work not military deployments.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the comment in a joint press conference with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai in Kabul on Wednesday morning.
The Iranian president was responding to a question about the recent arrest of Jundallah leader Abdolmalek Rigi.
"Rigi is supported by the same people [and] governments, who have ill intentions for the government of Afghanistan and the Iranian nation. Rigi was a terrorist, who along with his associates killed more than 140 people," said Ahmadinejad.
"Was Iran able to stop him? Yes, we arrested Rigi. Of course that was achieved with the cooperation of the Afghan and Pakistani intelligence services... but [in that process] Iran killed no innocent people," he added.
"Is this not an example of the right way to fight terrorism? Why those who claim to be eager to fight terrorism are unsuccessful? Well the answer is that they themselves started terrorism and they want to fight it now. But they can't."
Ahmadinejad said that fighting terrorism is not possible with military surge, adding that terrorism can only be fought with intelligence cooperation.
Ahmadinejad was also asked about the significance of the simultaneous visit of US Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Afghanistan, to which he responded by asking the American official about the objectives of his trip.
"My question to Mr. Gates is what is he doing here? Your country is 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) away from the Middle East...Are you here to capture terrorists? Well if so it is clear what you must do, but if you are here to do something else, admit to it." |
The German Ambassador to Tehran has been summoned by an Iranian parliamentary committee over Berlin's decision to release the leader of a Kurdish terrorist group 'Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK).
"As a country which has broad relations with Iran, Tehran expects Germany to end its support for the PJAK terrorist group," Mehr News Agency quoted the Chairman of the Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Alaeddin Boroujerdi as saying.
He added that Iran has strongly called on Germany to hand over the PJAK leader Abdolrahman Haji Ahmadi who is responsible for the killing of almost 300 Kurdish Iranians.
"The terrorist nature of individuals does not change through different nationalities. Germany should bring the PJAK leader to trial if it is truly determined in the campaign against terrorism," Boroujerdi said.
He expressed regret that the German police released Haji Ahmadi after his capture.
The German Ambassador Bernd Erbel vowed to convey Iran's concerns and expectations to his country's officials.
PJAK is an offshoot of the internationally-recognized terrorist group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which conducts deadly operations in Kurdish-populated regions of western Iran, as well as Turkey.
According to a New York Times report in October 2007, PJAK has "direct or indirect discussions" with American officials. Its ringleader reportedly visited Washington in the summer of 2007.
The group is even branded as a terrorist group by the United States. |
Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi has said that Iran is prepared to supply Zimbabwe with crude oil and refurbish its refineries.
Mir-Kazemi made the remarks in a Tuesday meeting with Zimbabwean Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Didymus Mutasa in Tehran.
"Zimbabwe is eager to utilize Iran's expertise for refurbishing of one of its refineries and to buy crude oil (from Iran)," Mir-Kazemi said.
He added that Iran has expressed its readiness to train the work force in the Zimbabwean oil industry in order to enable them to run and manage the country's oil operations in the future.
Mutasa, on his part, expressed optimism that Iran could supply the oil needed by Zimbabwe.
On Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran will help Zimbabwe as much as possible in view of the sanctions imposed on Harare by the West.
The Islamic Republic will stand by Zimbabwe against "illegal pressures," he said during a meeting with Mutasa. |
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| Posted by: nobody@home.com|| 2010-03-11 10:51 ||Comments
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[Maghrebia] Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Senegalese Armed Forces Minister Abdoulaye Balde talked Tuesday (March 9th) in Nouakchott about shared security concerns, ANI reported. "We discussed matters of common interest related to national defence as well as managing the common border," Balde said about the meeting with Ould Abdel Aziz. In an effort to stem illegal migration, terrorism and trafficking, Mauritania last month created 35 official checkpoints on its borders with Senegal, Mali, Western Sahara and Algeria.
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[Dawn] An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan again failed Wednesday to frame charges against five young Americans accused of plotting attacks with Al-Qaeda-linked groups, lawyers said.
The US citizens facing trial in the eastern city of Sargodha were arrested in December 2009. Judge Anwar Nazeer has rejected a plea by defence lawyers for them to be released on bail because of lack of evidence.
The judge has adjourned the hearing until March 17, public prosecutor, Naveed Akram Cheema said.
"Charges could not be framed against the accused today, because some documents were needed which were not annexed with the charge sheet filed by the police earlier," he said. "We requested the court that we want to attach these documents and the court has fixed March 17 for the next hearing," Cheema said.
The judge decided Wednesday to transfer the hearing from an anti-terrorism court to Sargodha district jail for security fears, lawyers told reporters.
The proceedings were held amid tight security and reporters were not allowed inside the prison where the accused have been languishing.
The men, aged between 18 and 25, face life imprisonment if found guilty.
A Pakistani court has also barred their deportation to the United States, where they all lived before travelling to Pakistan last year.
Just as well, Bambi would just apologize to them ...
The men have claimed to have been tortured in custody but prison officials have denied the accusations.
A US diplomat visited the court before the trial began and left before the hearing started, making no comment to reporters.
Pakistani officials say the men planned to travel to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban against US troops. They have denied links to Al-Qaeda and said they wanted to go to Afghanistan for charity work. |
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] The 670 Pakistani nationals, who went missing after 9/11 incident, have been languishing in various jails of Afghanistan, sources disclosed on Wednesday.
However, the government officials prepared a report stating 153 Pakistani nationals, who, according to them, were languishing in Afghan jails, the sources said. Sources in the NWFP government told this news agency that Afghan government did not inform it about the 670 Pakistanis, adding that record of only few Pakistanis is available. It is a fact that most of the youth from Malakand, Swat and other tribal areas had gone to Afghanistan on the invitation of Sufi Muhammad.
Sources said that 670 Pakistanis are still missing and have been included in the list of missing persons, while Afghan govt has officially confirmed 153 Pakistanis in their jails. According to sources, currently there are more than 500 Pakistanis, belonging to Malakand and other areas of the NWFP, are languishing in Afghan official jails and private jails of warlords. Most of the Pakistanis have been detained in Nangarhar, Kabul, Kanduz, Bagram, Herat and Mazar Sharif, sources added.
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| Posted by: Paul2|| 2010-03-11 09:17 ||Comments
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Foreign Minister Stephen Smith Tuesday said a fourth Australian passport-holder had been drawn into the murder of a Hamas leader in Dubai, after Interpol issued an alert for a suspect using the man's name.
A team of Australian Federal Police and Australian Passport Office officials are already in Israel to investigate the use of three fake Australian passports in the January death of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
Smith said that a fourth Australian passport, in the name of Joshua Krycer, had also been linked to the alleged assassination.
"Inquiries by the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Passport Office indicate the further passport presented in Dubai was fraudulently duplicated, as was the case with the initial three passports," Smith said.
"There is no information to suggest that Mr. Krycer, as with any of the other three Australian passport holders, was involved in any way, other than as victims of identity fraud," he said in a statement.
Mabhouh, a founder of the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, was found dead in his Dubai hotel room on Jan. 20. Police say he had been drugged then suffocated. |
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| Posted by: Willy|| 2010-03-11 12:56 ||Comments
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[Dawn] A suicide bomber killed five members of the Afghan security forces when he drove a truck carrying explosives hidden under firewood into an Afghan military base near the border of Pakistan, police said.
Dawlat Khan Zadran, police chief of southeastern Paktika province, said the bomber had driven the small truck inside the base in the remote Bermel district near the border with Pakistan.
He said another four people were wounded.
A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said by telephone from an undisclosed location the truck had been able to enter the base after fighters infiltrated the Afghan border police.
Mujahid claimed the truck was carrying thousands of kilograms of explosives and that the bomber had inflicted heavy casualties among Afghan and foreign troops.
The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force said no foreign troops were hurt.
In other incidents, a roadside bomb killed three civilians in southern Marjah and another killed two children in the north on Tuesday, government and security officials said. |
 [Al Arabiya Latest] Egyptian religious leader Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, the grand sheikh of al-Azhar, has died of a heart attack during a visit to Saudi Arabia, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported on Wednesday.
Tantawi, 81, was in Riyadh to attend the King Faisal awards ceremony, it said. Tantawi's moderate views has rankled hard-liners.
The news of his death was "an indescribable shock," his son Amr Tantawi told Egyptian television. "The family has decided that since God chose for him to die on Saudi land, he will be buried in al-Baqie" cemetery in Islam's second holy city of Medina, his son added.
Tantawi was apponted as the Grand Imam of al-Azhar since 1996. Al-Azhar, one of the most prominent seats of Sunni Islamic learning in the Muslim world, has schools, universities and other educational institutions across Egypt.
Abdullah el-Naggar, advisor to the sheikh, told Egypt's Nile News television the death was a surprise, saying that before leaving to Saudi Arabia the sheikh had seemed in "excellent shape and health."
A member of Tantawi's office, Ashraf Hassan, told Reuters that Mohammed Wasel, Tantawi's deputy, was expected to temporarily take over leading the institution until the Egyptian president appointed a new head for the body.
Most recently, Tantawi infuriated conservatives late last year by barring women from wearing the full face veil known as the 'niqab' at al-Azhar University. That step was part of the intensifying struggle between the moderate Islam championed by the state and a populace that is turning to a stricter version of the faith.
Al-Azhar receives most of its funding from the state.
When he was appointed, Tantawi was viewed as having relatively liberal views on issues such as women's rights but had been criticized by some for toeing the government's line.
In office, he opposed female circumcision as not an Islamic practice. |
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| Posted by: gorb|| 2010-03-11 09:49 ||Comments
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 WASHINGTON — The government ran up the largest monthly deficit in history in February, keeping the flood of red ink on track to top last year's record for the full year.
The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the February deficit totaled $220.9 billion, 14 percent higher than the previous record set in February of last year. The deficit through the first five months of this budget year totals $651.6 billion, 10.5 percent higher than a year ago.
The Obama administration is projecting that the deficit for the 2010 budget year will hit an all-time high of $1.56 trillion, surpassing last year's $1.4 trillion total. The administration is forecasting that the deficit will remain above $1 trillion in 2011, giving the country thrree straight years of $1 trillion-plus deficits.
The government's monthly budget report showed the record $220.9 billion deficit for February reflected outlays of $328.4 billion and revenues of $107.5 billion. The February receipts marked the first time that revenues are up compared with the same month a year ago since April 2008. Revenues had fallen for 21 straight months as the recession cut into both individual and corporate income tax payments.
Through the first five months of the budget year, government revenues totaled $800.5 billion, down 7 percent from a year ago, while outlays totaled $1.45 trillion, up a slight 0.1 percent from a year ago. The deficit of $651.6 billion through February is up by 10.5 percent from the $589.8 billion deficit run up during the first five months of the 2009 budget year. The government's budget year begins on Oct. 1. |
[Maghrebia] Guards at Morocco's high-security Kenitra prison on Tuesday (March 9th) thwarted an attempted escape by ten convicted Salafia Jihadia terror cell members, MAP reported. The inmates reportedly planned to use the sewage system to reach the yard and then scale the wall by using ropes made of rugs and sheets.
In 2008, a jailbreak at the same prison attracted widespread attention from Maghreb bloggers. Nine Moroccans convicted for the deadly 2003 Casablanca bombings pulled off an unprecedented escape in a hand-dug tunnel some 25 metres long and 1 metre wide. All were later arrested. |
 [Maghrebia] Algeria's Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) on Sunday released a video featuring Mebarek Yazid, aka Abu Obeida Youcef el-Annabi, Ennahar reported on Monday (March 8th). Since the GSPC charter clearly defines Abu Obeida's role as head of the Council of Elders, his appearance in the video to speak on behalf of the entire organisation shows that he has replaced AQIM's Abdelmalek Droukdel as GSPC emir, Ennahar noted. The video reportedly targets would-be terrorists from Mauritania, Mali and Niger to replace the significant decline in Algerian recruits.
Abu Obeida has been an outspoken critic of Droukdel's ideology. According to Ennahar, Droukdel has minimised the role of the Council of Elders ever since declaring allegiance to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. |
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| Posted by: Hotspur666|| 2010-03-11 15:35 ||Comments
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[Maghrebia] A Spanish woman held by Al-Qaeda in northern Mali is "safe and healthy" and on her way home to Barcelona, ANI quoted Spanish Vice-President Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega as saying on Wednesday (March 10th). Humanitarian aid worker Alicia Gamez and two male colleagues were kidnapped in Mauritania last November. The men are still held by al-Qaeda.
The status of the second female hostage remains unclear. Initial reports Wednesday said Philomene Kabore had been freed by al-Qaeda and would soon arrive in Burkina Faso. The Burkinabe-Italian dual national had initially refused to be released and leave her Italian husband, Sergio Cicala. According to a diplomatic source in Bamako quoted by AFP, Kabore remains in the al-Qaeda camp in northern Mali. |
Moscow has once again hit out at Washington's plans for stationing a missile system in Eastern Europe.
Russia cannot allow US plans to deploy elements of its missile system in Europe to threaten the effectiveness of its nuclear deterrent, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday. Lavrov also assured the US that there is no threat from Iranian missiles.
How would he know?
Washington says the system aims to counter possible missile attacks from Iran. However, Lavrov stressed that Tehran is unlikely to develop such missiles in the future.
The US has already begun negotiations with Romania and Bulgaria to host the system on their soil.
Lavrov has made it clear that such a system will not be accepted, as it is a threat to the effectiveness of Russia's nuclear deterrence.
Military experts say the planned missile system could be capable of hitting Russia's ballistic missiles in the next ten years.
The deployment of US interceptor missiles in the Black Sea region has caused high tension between Moscow and Washington over the past years. |
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| Posted by: g(r)omgoru|| 2010-03-11 02:02 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Oscar|| 2010-03-11 05:55 ||Comments
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The screening of Geert Wilders' controversial anti-Islam film in the U.K. Sunday outraged Muslims and rights organizations earning the far-right Dutch MP the labels "fascist" and "racist."
The film, called Fitna, was screened at the House of Lords in response to an invitation Wilders got on March 5 from Lord Malcolm Pearson, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and member of the House of Lords, and Baroness Caroline Anne Cox, cross-bench member of the House of Lords.
Wilders' trip to the U.K. is part of the Stop Islamization Of Europe (SIOE) campaign. SIOE is an organization whose goal is to prevent Islam from becoming a substantial political force in Europe. Wilders' visit is supported by the far-right English Defense League (EDL).
The film, which declares Islam is incompatible with democracy and calls the Quran a fascist book, was scheduled for screening in the U.K. in 2009. However, Wilders was denied entry to the country. He was accused of inciting hatred and designated a persona non grata. The ban was overturned in October 2009, a moved that Wilders called a "victory for freedom."
British rights groups slammed the visit and submitted a complaint to the Interior Minister, calling Wilders the Dutch version of the English Defence League (EDL), whose sole goal is to fight the presence of Islam in Europe, and the far-right British National Party (BNP), which restricts its membership to Caucasians only.
Protesters from Unite Against Fascism (UAF) waved signs that read "EDL+BNP= Nazi racist thugs" and chanted "EDL, go to hell, and take your Nazi mates as well." The police made sure to keep UAF protestors away from ADL supporters who carried signs welcoming Wilders.
Meanwhile, Muslims inside and outside the U.K. continued their campaign against what they perceive as systematic and intentional insults directed against their religion, their holy book, and their prophet.
The campaigns, which are mostly launched on the internet and call for boycotting countries that insult Islam, cite Wilders' movie, the Danish cartoons, and Theo Van Gough's movie Submission as just a few, yet flagrant, examples European insults to Islam..
However, online campaigns also indicate that Muslims are losing hope as they no longer trust that serious political action will be taken to stop spread of Islamophobia in Europe.
The ban on Wilders' film last year was not only praised by Muslims, but also by British officials who view the MP as a fanatic extremist intent on inciting intolerance in Europe.
British MP George Galloway expressed his support for the British government's decision to ban Wilders from the U.K.
"I believe that this man, Wilders, from Holland is a racist hater of Muslims, hater of Islam, and he shouldn't be allowed into our country to whip up that hatred," Galloway said in a T.V. interview. |
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| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418|| 2010-03-11 02:43 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418|| 2010-03-11 02:45 ||Comments
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| Posted by: DarthVader|| 2010-03-11 10:38 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Karl Rove|| 2010-03-11 13:13 ||Comments
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| Posted by: Hotspur666|| 2010-03-11 14:55 ||Comments
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 [Iran Press TV Latest] Two US drone attacks on Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region have killed at least 14 people and injured a number of others.
Eight people were killed when a drone fired five missiles at a vehicle in Mizar Madakhel village, Pakistani intelligence officials confirmed on Wednesday.
The second drone fired three missiles at villagers, who were recovering bodies from the site of the first attack, killing six others, Press TV correspondent reported. Several Pakistanis were also wounded in the strikes.
The US carried out numerous such attacks on Pakistan's tribal areas last year, killing hundreds of people -- mostly civilians.
Washington claims the strikes target pro-Taliban militants. Islamabad has repeatedly condemned the attacks, saying they violate Pakistan's sovereignty.
Earlier in March, a Washington-based think-tank reported that US drone attacks have killed over 1200 people in Pakistan over the past six years. |
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| Posted by: SteveS|| 2010-03-11 01:19 ||Comments
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| Posted by: M. Murcek|| 2010-03-11 03:10 ||Comments
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