Congolese army deserters led by ex-general Bosco Ntaganda were in a shootout with soldiers in the eastern DR Congo town of Kimbumba overnight, an army captain said Tuesday.
"We started fighting around midnight (2200 GMT Monday)," he told AFP.
"General Bosco Ntaganda was in the ranks" of the mutineers, who are former members of rebel group the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP).
"After a heavy shootout lasting four hours in Kibumba, we were backed by heavy weapons fire," said the captain, himself a former member of the CNDP who integrated into the army under a 2009 peace deal with Kinshasa.
The captain did not give a casualty toll. Hundreds of former CNDP members mutinied last month, complaining of inhumane treatment in the regular army.
Fierce festivities have broken out between deserters and loyalists, forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes.
"The mutineers dispersed ... into the woods behind Kibumba, which they crossed last night," the captain said, adding that they were "numerous" and were headed to Virunga, a nature reserve on the border with Rwanda famous for its mountain gorillas.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
I hope--against hope--that these clowns can tell the guerillas from the gorillas and from the civilians.
Ah, who am I kidding?
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
05/10/2012 9:25 Comments ||
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#2
And so it goes:
When will we learn the lesson which apparently has already been learned by a perceptive Kenyan -- the lesson that disparate ethnic groups and races, when they are forced by politics to live in the same society, do not unite -- they fight.
The leadership of South Korea's largest Buddhist order resigned en masse Thursday after video footage emerged of junior monks playing poker with thousands of dollars at stake.
Prosecutors launched a probe after the footage came to light this week of eight monks from the Jogye Order gambling at a hotel room in southern Jangseong County.
Gambling is illegal in South Korea, except for in special areas such as casinos for foreign tourists, and is also a breach of the Buddhist order's code of discipline.
The gambling, which took place last month, was filmed by another monk and the video footage was given as evidence to police. The eight monks were also allegedly drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes in breach of Buddhist rules.
"All the six members of the executive committee of the Jogye Order have tendered their resignations, holding themselves responsible for the incident," a Jogye Order spokesman told AFP.
Jaseung, head of the order, said the monks would face tough punishment and the order is expected to make an apology to the nation as early as Friday, Yonhap news agency said.
The gambling controversy is the latest incident in a long-running feud between supporters of the Jogye Order's current administration and its opponents, as the footage was secretly recorded by an opponent and then made public.
On Wednesday, one of the opponents, known by his Buddhist name Seongho, sued his eight fellow monks for gambling and betting "hundreds of millions of won."
Ismail Belghar is thought to be the first Muslim in Australia to be granted a judge-only trial on the grounds that a jury may be biased because of his religion.
This decision can be revealed after Belghar, 36, yesterday pleaded guilty to detaining and assaulting his sister-in-law after she "dared" to bring his wife to the beach without his permission. The court heard Belghar felt it "abhorrent" that his wife, Hanife Kokden, had been to the beach where she "displayed her body".
In March, the judge had granted Belghar a trial before a solitary judge after saying he may not receive a fair trial with a jury. Judge Solomon said, "The attitude of (Belghar) ... is based on a religious or cultural basis. In light of the fact there has been adverse publicity regarding people who hold extreme Muslim faith beliefs in the community, I am of the view that the apprehension by (Belghar) that he may not receive a fair trial is a reasonable apprehension."
The Moroccan immigrant had originally been charged with the attempted murder of his wife's younger sister, Canan Kokden, 25.
The Crown appealed the judge's ruling arguing that, were the judge correct, every Muslim would be entitled to a judge-only trial. Last week the Court of Criminal Appeal overturned the ruling and ordered Belghar be tried by a jury.
The trial was due to start yesterday when Belghar pleaded guilty to detaining Kokden for advantage to intimidate and assault. He denied attempted murder and that charge was dropped.
So faced with a jury, he plea-bargained...
The court had heard Belghar, who has been married to his wife for 11 years, learned she had been to the beach because her shoulders were slightly sunburned. He called his sister-in-law and said, "You slut, how dare you take my wife to the beach."
Just before Christmas, in the same year, Kokden came face to face with Belghar while out shopping with her brother. Belghar slapped her across the face then carried her to the railing around the car park where he held her out over it. She was freed when her brother tackled Belghar.
Friendly family. Must be a real joy in the late afternoon hours of Ramadan...
#3
Assuming no serious injury occurred to his victim, the guy needs to be sentenced to a lifetime of wearing the burka while outdoors, subject to random spot checks.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Outgoing French leader Nicolas Sarkozy ...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit... 's cabinet met for a last session Thursday as president-elect Francois Hollande ...the impending Socialist president of La Belle France... began talks with EU leaders on his plans to refocus European policy on growth.
Hollande also met with senior figures in his Socialist party to gear up for next month's parliamentary vote in which he hopes to win a majority of seats to help him push through his reforms.
He also hunkered down with aides on forming a government and preparing for his first foreign visit, to Berlin, where he is expected to get a frosty reception over his plans to renegotiate the European fiscal austerity pact.
Sarkozy's cabinet meeting was "emotional", participants said, with ministers giving the outgoing president a standing ovation after he told them he wished Hollande "good luck" following his election win on Sunday.
"Nicolas Sarkozy's main commitment in 2007, to put La Belle France on the move, has been met," Prime Minister Francois Fillon said after the session.
"We did this with a number of reforms that no one else managed, and we did it during a climate of crisis."
Government spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse said Fillon would tender the cabinet's resignation on Thursday and that it would take effect when Hollande is inaugurated on May 15.
Hollande meanwhile met with senior party officials at his campaign headquarters, where talks focused on securing the Socialists a majority in the two-round parliamentary vote on June 10 and 17.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2012 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Greece's leftist SYRIZA coalition and Socialist PASOK party have failed to agree on the formation of a coalition government.
Alexis Tsipras, the head of Coalition of the Radical Left, SYRIZA, said in Athens on Wednesday evening that he had abandoned his efforts to form a coalition government after the pro-austerity parties of Panhellenic Socialist Movement, known as PASOK, and the conservative New Democracy, declined to join an anti-bailout plan, Rooters reported.
PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos confirmed the failure after holding talks with Tsipras.
The New Democracy, SYRIZA, and PASOK respectively finished first, second, and third in parliamentary election on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Well, they're certainly off to a good start, aren't they?
To paraphrase Monty Python, Greeks throwing tantrums is no basis for forming a government.
A group of hardline Islamists has warned it will not let Lady Gaga set foot in Indonesia, challenging an army of fans awaiting a concert in the nation with the world's largest Muslim population.
The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) has vowed to mobilise 30,000 demonstrators to protest her scheduled performance in Jakarta on June 3 and to intercept her at the airport.
FPI Jakarta chairman Salim Alatas said, "We will stop her from setting foot on our land. She had better not dare spread her satanic faith in this country. Her style is vulgar, her sexual and indecent clothes will destroy our children's sense of morality. She's very dangerous."
But the FPI, infamous for making threats and then often failing to follow through, will face opposition from 40,000 fans planning to attend the sold-out show in Indonesia. Little Monsters - as Gaga's fans call themselves - tweeted their determination to see the pop idol perform in Indonesia.
"Little Monsters Indonesia vs FPI. I'm ready to fight," Bentaniokevin tweeted to the LadyGagaIndo Twitter account.
Lady Gaga may not be isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, even by pop star standards, but it's refreshing to some of her fans understand that free speech is worth fighting for. And who the real enemies of liberty are.
A page on Facebook, which is wildly popular in Indonesia, sought dancers for a Lady Gaga flashmob. The Lady Gaga Indonesia FB page has more than 42,000 "likes".
Hartoyo, a leader of gay rights group OurVoice said, "Lady Gaga is not an ordinary human being. She uses her popularity to defend minority groups, especially gays and lesbians. I would die for her."
Brave to say in a country where a number of people would like to make that a reality.
#2
Is it strength or weakness that the indonesian muslims pick a pop star as their target. I can see both sides but mostly it seems like a test. and if they fail such a visual test they'd look rather impotent. I suspect something bad will come out of this as a result.
[Iran Press TV] US police have tossed in the slammer Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! five Occupy protesters who attempted to swarm the Bank of America headquarters in North Carolina during its annual shareholders' meeting.
Some 500 people gathered outside the bank's headquarters in Charlotte on Wednesday, to protest the bank's role in the US housing crisis and foreclosures, as well as other practices it deems unfair to average citizens.
Protesters say the bank continues its practice of foreclosing on loan customers despite posting huge profit following the massive taxpayer bailout it received from the US government.
Sister Barbara Bush, an activist who works with disturbed homeowners, said that Bank of America is the hardest and most frustrating to work with.
"We find that we have no one to talk to because no one calls us back," Bush said.
The protesters represent members of the Occupy Wall Street movement, homeowners, students, immigrants, environmentalists, workers, women's rights organizations and peace activists.
The Occupy protesters have been repeating the slogan, "We are the 99 percent" to distinguish themselves from the one percent of Americans that are in possession of the nation's greatest wealth.
The Occupy Wall Street movement began when a group of demonstrators gathered in New York's financial district on September 17, 2011 to protest against corruption, the unjust distribution of wealth in the country and the excessive influence of big corporations on US policies.
More than 7,000 arrests have been made in 114 cities across the country since the start of the movement.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2012 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Congolese army deserters led by ex-general Bosco Ntaganda were in a 
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Outgoing French leader 
Greece's leftist SYRIZA coalition and Socialist PASOK party have failed to agree on the formation of a coalition government.
A group of hardline Islamists has warned it will not let Lady Gaga set foot in Indonesia, challenging an army of fans awaiting a concert in the nation with the world's largest Muslim population.
[Iran Press TV] US police have 
