CAIRO Egypts president sent a bill that would regulate non-governmental organisations to the countrys interim parliament on Monday after months of criticism by rights groups concerned about stifling of their activities.
The text of the bill presented to the Islamist-dominated Shura Council was not made public, but a top presidential aide said that Mohammed Mursis legal team took into consideration concerns that had been raised by local and international groups.
NGOs allege past versions of the bill were an attempt to regulate the work of civil society by with murky, loosely defined oversight by security agencies of their work. One concern has been that security forces might be allowed to inspect the raw material gathered by human rights groups that collect sensitive testimony from witnesses.
Mursi said in a statement Monday that the bill is aimed at committing NGOs to the principles of transparency and striking a balance with the openness of Egypt after the uprising that toppled longtime President Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
Under Mubarak, local and foreign NGOs were not allowed to align themselves with political parties, involvement in politics was tightly restricted and elections widely rigged.
The United States criticised earlier versions as a step backwards.
Presidential aides said that under the proposed bill, civil society groups receiving foreign funding will not be allowed to support Egyptian parties or candidates. On the other hand, broad voter awareness activities would be permitted.
It was not clear what other restrictions might be imposed on foreign funding for local groups and the work of international NGOs. Those groups have been regarded with suspicion by Egyptian leaders, who have correctly regarded some of their work as foreign interference in domestic affairs.
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CAIRO -- When his neighbourhood is plunged into darkness, high school student Maximos Youssef is forced to study for his year-end exams -- critical in determining his future job prospects -- by the light of a candle.
Youssef says he is in no mood to learn, and the flame only makes sweltering summer nights without fan or air conditioner even hotter. But, he says, "there is no other option. We have exams. We need to study."
Look kid, when I was your age I walked to school through waist-deep snow, uphill -- both ways...
The 18-year-old is one of millions of Egyptians whose tempers have been frayed by the recurrent power cuts hitting the country in recent days, blamed on -- and contributing to -- the nation's plummeting reserves of foreign currency.
The outages have sparked scattered street protests across Egypt and calls on social networking sites for people to stop paying electricity bills, compounding the challenges facing President Mohammed Mursi and undermining the Islamist leader's attempts to restore a sense of normalcy after two years of turmoil since the country's 2011 uprising.
Mursi says Egypt only has 80 per cent of its electricity needs met and that its turbines are outdated. "We have a real energy problem in Egypt," he told reporters over the weekend.
That's what happens when thugs run your country for about a thousand years...
A surge in crime, persistent street violence and political instability have compounded the crisis by scaring away tourists and investors,
...which virtually no one in Egypt considered until after it was too late...
leaving the country cash-strapped for fuel needed to keep power stations running.
In the southern city of Luxor, a popular tourist destination, the lights went out in the international airport and in ancient Egyptian temples recently --raising fears that the power outages will further sap tourism.
Fuel shortages have already impeded daily life for millions. For months, drivers have had to wait hours in long lines to buy subsidised fuel.
'subsidized' being a key part of the problem...
Some factory owners have turned to the black market to cover their needs.
While blackouts occurred under Egypt's longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in the uprising, they became more frequent last summer. As temperatures climb again this year they have become part of daily life, even in the most upscale districts of the capital. The outages have come to symbolise the disorder of the post-Mubarak era.
"It certainly is state mismanagement," said Saber Mohammed Saber, a 30-year-old chauffeur. "The president is not competent," he said. "This didn't happen in the time of Hosni Mubarak."
They just told you it did...
Mursi says his government is arranging to cut off electricity for a maximum of two hours twice daily, but residents of poorer towns and villages complain that the outages last much longer. Amir El Deeb, 29, who lives in the poor Boulaq El Dakrour district of Giza near Cairo, says lights go out five times a day there. He is particularly concerned because the holy month of Ramadan begins in July and those who observe the daytime fast often stay up late at night for prayers and meals.
The government has urged citizens to reduce electricity use during the summer. Last year, Prime Minister Hesham Kandil was mocked for advising citizens to gather at home in one room and wear cotton as a way to cut down on air conditioning use. Political satirists dubbed him "Hesham Cottonil", referring to one of Egypt's largest undergarment manufacturers.
It's actually a good idea: market prices for fuel, and don't buy what you can't afford.
Many said Kandil's comments revealed that Mursi's government does not have concrete solutions to the power crisis, which has been politicised by opposition groups who say the government is failing to provide basic services.
The Egyptian Social Democratic Party for example last week launched an initiative to allow students to study in their offices nationwide under battery-powered lights.
Mahmoud Ramzy of the party says Morsi's government is approaching the problem in the same manner as Mubarak did, leaving "the citizen to bear everything."
"This is a problem because at some point the citizen will feel that he is the state and that there is no institution or anybody above him," Ramzy said. Some are already refusing to pay electricity bills to protest the outages. Omar Wally, a founder of a campaign on Facebook to boycott paying electricity bills, says Mursi has been in power for almost a year and the problem appears to have worsened.
"The state must provide us with a service if it wants us to pay. If there is no service, we will not pay," Walli said.
Another brilliant thought. I have a suggestion: separate the utility from the government, and let it charge what it can for the service it provides...
Electricity Ministry spokesman Aktham Mohamed Abou El Ela told that the government has earmarked $200 million to be used by the Oil Ministry to buy fuel for power stations.
Egypt pumps natural gas from wells in the Sinai. The Israelis shortly won't need that NG anymore. How about getting some NG-powered turbines and using those to make electricity?
The Israelis mostly haven't been getting Egyptian natural gas since Mubarek fell -- remember how the pileline kept getting blown up?
The government is vying for a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund
...another suckers bet to be covered by Uncle Sugar...
as one way to boost its foreign currency reserves, which have plummeted to $14.4 billion since the uprising. The reserves help pay for fuel subsidies that keep electricity bills relatively affordable.
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#2
Sell them Solar Cells, they require no fuel, it'll cut the fuel they use during the day, and allow the fuel to be burned at night.
HEY, 24 hour power.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/29/2013 10:37 Comments ||
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#3
You're forgetting the Insha'Allan installation and maintenance crews, Jim.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
05/29/2013 12:05 Comments ||
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#4
He is particularly concerned because the holy month of Ramadan begins in July and those who observe the daytime fast often stay up late at night for prayers and meals.
Mo didn't have electrical power! And that fasting might be for a lot longer than Ramadan. Allahu Akhbar
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/29/2013 12:17 Comments ||
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#5
Power? For what? For watching TV and surfing Internet? All of this is unislamic. In fact eleetrical devices are unislamic.
A Kuwaiti appeals court on Monday overturned a five-year jail sentence given to an opposition politician convicted of insulting the Amir in a speech, a defence lawyer said.
Under Kuwaits legal system, Musallam Al Barrak could still receive another sentence. The case will continue at the appeals court next month, lawyer Mohammed Abdel Kadr Al Jassim said.
A former member of parliament, Barrak has been out on bail since he was sentenced in April. He was found guilty by a court of insulting the Amir of Kuwait, His Enormity Highness Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, at a rally in October.
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Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya has said his dream is to eliminate Islamic insurgent leader Doku Umarov.
Kadyrov himself is no prize, but I won't shed a tear if he manages to whack Doku...
Speaking to journalists in the Chechen capital, Grozny, on May 28, Kadyrov said the search for Umarov continues but added he does not know whether Umarov is alive or not.
Kadyrov said that there are no longer militants in Chechnya's mountains, with the exception of some hiding along the border with Ingushetia. He also claimed that 30,000 former refugees returned to Chechnya last year.
#1
Chechnya reminds me of the old A Piece of the Action Star Trek episode where the society was based on a violent, dumb-assed, poorly written work of fiction.
North Korea on Tuesday said it is ready for talks to resume business in the Kaesong Industrial Complex if the South Korean factory owners visit.
No.
The North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland in a statement said, "South Korean authorities need not worry unnecessarily about the owners' safety. They can send them together with members of the complex management committee if they are still concerned."
The industrial park was effectively shut 50 days ago after the North closed the border amid rising tensions.
Until recently, the regime rejected South Korean offers of talks to salvage goods and raw materials left behind at the complex, blaming Seoul for the closure. Pyongyang cited annual South Korea-U.S. military exercises and South Korean media insults to its "dignity" as the reasons for the closure.
Tuesday's statement is only a partial concession since the invitation extends only to civilians rather than government officials members. The North Korean statement was about 2,400 words long, only 197 of which were about Kaesong. The rest was devoted to lambasting President Park Geun-hye and her administration.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
Must be looking for Hostages. And if they send the 'complex management committee' so much the better.
Factory owners and 'management committee' members probably make very good hostages. Some might even be politically connected.
#2
I wonder if South Korea's tax structure allows for writeoffs for nonperforming assets, because that's what you have here. If I were a factory owner, I'd look into it.
Evidence gathered by French authorities suggests the Muslim convert suspected of stabbing a soldier near Paris last weekend was acting in accordance with his religious beliefs, a state prosecutor said after the suspect's arrest on Wednesday.
Prosecutor Francois Molins told a news conference the suspect was seen on video surveillance camera "saying a Muslim prayer" minutes before an attack which came three days after the May 22 murder of a British soldier on the streets of London.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) informed President Barack Obamas administration ahead of time before traveling into Syria to meet with that countrys rebels, a White House official said Tuesday.
The senator made the administration generally aware of his trip, White House Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri said on MSNBC. Its something that now that its completed, we look forward to talking to him about the developments he saw on his trip.
A McCain aide told POLITICO the State Department didnt object to his Syrian sojourn.
I know they worked with the State Department with this, the aide, who was only authorized to speak on background, said. We didnt really have any issues with them on it.
Palmieri said McCains trip doesnt increase pressure on the Obama administration to begin directly arming the rebels or create a no-fly zone, two steps McCain has advocated for.
I dont believe his trip puts more pressure on us, she said. All of the options you described are what the administration is considering in terms of how we deal with Syria.
McCain is currently in Yemen and is expected to return to the United States by the end of the week.
#2
See also WORLD NEWS > SYRIAN MILITANTS ASK AMERICAN SENATOR [McCain] FOR TARGETED AIR STRIKES ON HEZBOLLAH.
and
* SAME > [Belfast Telegraph] ROCKETS STRIKE HEZBOLLAH STRONGHOLD [Lebanon] SPARKING FEARS SYRIA CONFLICT IS SPREADING AS ANALYSTS IN REGION FEAR SYRIAN CONFLICT IS TRUNING INTO A PROXY WAR.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > GHOUTA, NEXT TARGET FOR HEZBOLLAH AFTER QUSAYR?
* BHARAT RAKSHAK > [Telegraph.UK] SYRIAN REBELS CLING ON TO [roughly 20% of] OF QUSAYR.
#7
I'd say McCain lost it when his buddies in the media gleefully turned on him in 2008. He still seems desperite to curry their favor again and its just sad.
#1
A NFZ infers that the Bammer will send in troops or other mil assets which is contrary to what he's been doing + promising of late.
* TOPIX > [JPost] EU MOVES TO ARM SYRIAN REBELS SHOW CONFLICT WILL ESCALATE.
* FREEREPUBLIC > [Pajamas Media] CONTRARY TO OBAMA, THE TERROR WAR HAS BARELY BEGUN.
Decades-n-Generations.
Ditto as per any US mil conflict agz Iran andor China.
* RELATED INDIAN DEFENCE FORUM > FRANCE NOW ON THE SAME PATH AS UK: GRWOING GAP BETWEEN FRENCH AMBITIONS + CUTS IN DEPLOYABLE FORCES | THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL.
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > US NUCLEAR AIRCRAFT CARRIERS' CRUISES IN WESTPAC SENDS A MESSAGE: "I THE USA OR US NAVY AM THE BOSS, AND I WILL NOT LEAVE".
* TOPIX > [SCMP] PLA REVIEW WARNS "STRATEGIC UNCERTAINTIES" LOOM LARGE FOR CHINA.
#2
It's the Shaka kaSenzangakhona in him caving to the rebel devouring hearts and minds campaign. Teaming up and assisting cannibals, what could possibly go wrong.
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was petitioned on Tuesday for issuance of a declaration that no person, civil or military, can engage in any contact or negotiation with any private army (the Taliban), an act that is forbidden by Article 256.
...there's part of the problem: their Constitution has over 256 friggin' articles in it...
Freelance journalist Shahid Orakzai has filed the petition under Article 184(3) of the constitution, nominating as respondents the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee through its chairman and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general. He requested the court to instruct the ISI DG to identify the persons who are in contact with the Taliban and their mode of communication. Instruct respondent Chairman to preempt any contact/dialogue/negotiations on the territory of Pakistan between the enemy and any politico-religious person/party advocating peace with the enemy, the applicant pleaded. He further said that respondent JCSC chairman should be instructed to call a meeting of the committee to identify the areas in Pakistan wherein the rebels are threatening the security of the country and report the action to be taken against them. Orakzai contended that the court needed to prevent any move against the constitution that might undermine the security of the country and the discipline of the armed forces of Pakistan.
The courts attention is called to the plight of the combatant soldier and his loosening grip on the trigger when he discovers that his blood is now a matter of bargain for the next prime minister of Pakistan. Some judges of this court (who were locked in their homes) may kindly recall their feeling towards their betraying colleagues who joined hands with the military president in November 2007. All betrayals stink alike, Orakzai remarked.
He said that the armed forces had not lost any ground or territory to the rebels nor have they lost the will to fight, and the court could seek their view from JCSC chairman or any other officer mentioned in Article 243. Having suffered loss of life, they are bewildered by the sudden U-turn in state policy on the war, he noted. The petitioner also questioned whether the armed forces of Pakistan can propose a truce/ceasefire/end of hostilities to the enemy on the territory of Pakistan. Whether the armed forces shall uphold the constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court or by the federal government, he added
Orakzai asked whether any citizen is empowered by the constitution to negotiate peace with a private army waging war on Pakistan. He contended that it was the duty of the court to ask why the armed forces of Pakistan were being compelled to raise a white flag and why was the national flag being pulled down only a few steps from victory. This petition seeks an instant and immediate halt to the double-crossing move of some politico-religious elements to impose a disgraceful armistice, call it semi-surrender, on the bleeding armed forces of Pakistan. These elements are, in fact, seeking religious and moral victory for the Taliban rebels who literally stand divorced from the Islamic Republic.
Orakzai said that Article 190 binds all executive and judicial authorities throughout the country to act in aid of this court, and likewise the court is duty-bound to come to the aid of the armed forces in this critical hour. All those who have taken oath under the constitution are bound to show solidarity with each other, he said. This court shall appreciate the legal handicap of the armed forces who because of their discipline (as emphasised by Article 8) cannot themselves check the political moves aimed to defeat their constitutional duty.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
their Constitution has over 256 friggin' articles in it...
Ours probably does too, but I'm not going to go count all the 'the's in it to find out.
h/t Instapundit
A top Vatican official has said around 100,000 Christians are killed every year for reasons linked to their faith and pointed to the Middle East, Africa and Asia as the biggest problem areas.
Monsignor Silvano Maria Tomasi was quoted by Vatican radio on Tuesday as saying that the figures were "shocking" and "incredible". Nice of you to notice---despite being busy with more important things.
#1
And yet, every public high school in America and college and university in the West teaches kids that Christianity is the greatest force for murder and oppression in the world - and NPR and PBS reinforce this theme daily to their audiences.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
05/29/2013 5:30 Comments ||
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#2
Christianity is the greatest force for murder and oppression in the world
True; if Christians didn't exist that's 100,000 fewer murders and a bunch of other oppression that wouldn't be happening.
Laos has sent back to China nine North Koreans who fled their impoverished homeland. The deportation raises fears the defectors may be repatriated by Beijing to North Korea, where they are likely to face harsh punishment.
A South Korean source who works with defectors and who had been in contact with the nine North Koreans confirmed to VOA they were flown from the Laotian capital, Vientiane, to Kunming in southwest China on Monday.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency earlier reported on the defectors, who it said were 15 to 23 years old. Quoting an anonymous South Korean foreign ministry official, the report said Laos "unexpectedly" rejected the South's plea to send them to Seoul.
Were they in transit to South Korea by the usual indirect, circuitous route and got nabbed?
#1
I'm not expert enough to comment on current events, but I've gotten the impression from elsewhere that China has been dumping a lot of money in the forms of development loans into both Laos and Cambodia over the past couple of years, and as a result they're less satellites of Vietnam and more satellites of China these days.
(I confess to being ignorant about whether or not the term Satellite State is appropriate, or whether or not the term 'tribute kingdom' is more appropriate (and for which, oddly enough, there is no entry in wikipedia).
In addition, there's a term the Cool Kids have apparently been using in reference to SE Asian history called Mandala which looks like it was invented so they could pretend medieval SE Asia wasn't analagous to medieval Europe; they got hung up on the inherent fuzziness of everything, and forgot that hard-and-fast laws regarding feudal relationships in Europe only managed to be ironclad to the extent that someone was willing to go to war to enforce them. For instance, the question about whether the Normans who conquered and ruled England were vassals of the French, whether the Scots were or were not vassals of the English king who himself might be a vassal of the French... or king of France...
To give but two examples, others available upon request. Or just do what I'm doing now, read a history of Venice.
#2
China has been dumping a lot of money in the forms of development loans into both Laos and Cambodia
And both monetary and military aid to Burma Myanmar. I'm not sure that the term satellite state is appropriate either. Methinks it's more a matter of buying influence to counter India and to a lesser but significant extent, China's Asian-Pacific neighbors.
#3
I understood that The Artist Formerly Known as Burma and Myanmar was more of a Chinese Satelite ten years ago than today, what with their (partial) transition to Democracy and massive loans of Thai government money into their government's coffers (that they were supposed to spend on telecommunications and network stuff from companies like those owned by the Shinawatras, for which there was a military coup and all that jazz).
#4
Perhaps. However, Thailand itself has been purchasing Chinese weapons for the past couple of decades. So it may not really be a question of being a satellite, but more a willing dweller in the Chinese sphere of influence.
#4
Give the "Menatetz" מנתץ, "Smasher" a chance. I'll wager the Jooooooooo have extended the range with magic. Or will could let them check out the MGM-168. Or maybe they already have something similar, wouldn't surprise me much.
France is testing samples of suspected chemical weapon elements used against Syrian rebel fighters and smuggled out by reporters from Le Monde newspaper and will divulge the results in the next few days, a senior French official said on Monday. The official also said Paris recently carried out its own tests on other samples it had obtained that had indicated the use of battlefield gas.
Samples were handed to our intelligence services by the Le Monde journalists, the senior official said on condition of anonymity. Tests will be done on these samples and the results made known in the coming days.
The newspaper, in a report issued on its website earlier on Monday, said one of its photographers had suffered blurred vision and respiratory difficulties for four days after an attack on April 13 on the Jobar front, just inside central Damascus.
Undercover in and around the Damascus area for two months alongside Syrian rebels, a Le Monde reporter and photographer said they witnessed battlefield chemical attacks and also talked to doctors and other witnesses about their aftermath.
The French official, who was speaking after talks among US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in Paris, said the three ministers had agreed that any use of chemical weapons would be a game changer.
The question of chemical weapons can create a different situation because the divisions on that are not the same as on the Syrian conflict, the official said.
If we have enough elements that converge to say that chemical weapons were used, then we will have to take a decision with our partners to examine the possible consequences.
Boy oh boy did he just say a mouth full of nothing...
Syria, which is not a member of the anti-chemical weapons convention, is believed to have one of the worlds last remaining stockpiles of undeclared chemical arms.
The French official said the three men discussed the chemical weapons issue and the latest developments on the Syrian peace talks over dinner in a Paris restaurant after Lavrov and Kerry met earlier in the day.
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Ali Larijani has been reappointed as the speaker of Iranian Parliament. Some 213 out of 252 members of the parliament voted in favor of him. According to Mehr news agency, Larijani became the parliament speaker for next four years with 213 votes in favor, 13 against and 26 abstentions.
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An increasingly rancourous dispute over control of the opposition alliance has pushed the SNC to the brink of collapse in Istanbul over the past five days.
If we do not solve our internal problems here and now there will be no coalition left to speak of, an SNC member said.
What was supposed to be a brief conference dealing with a host of pressing issues has, instead, become an embarrassing display of internal politicking and inefficiency. It has undermined the already threadbare credibility of the main opposition alliance, both inside Syria and in the eyes of its international backers.
An opposition organiser in Damascus said the SNC had missed a chance to make itself relevant, just as the Syrian crisis is dramatically escalating and a strong, united opposition front was needed.
The fighting groups and the activists working inside Syria were demanding to be represented in the coalition but remain excluded, he said. Since it was formed the SNC has done nothing tangible on the ground, it is a failure.
Problems within the SNC came to a head in the early hours of yesterday morning
A secular grouping, led by veteran dissident Michael Kilo, together with other, smaller blocs, had sought to add 22 seats to the 63-member alliance. The Kilo grouping is a liberal, broadly secular bloc that its supporters say would counter the dominance of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and help reassure the SNCs international allies that it will safeguard sectarian and ethnic minorities.
But, in a 3am vote yesterday, after four days of deadlocked, at times angry, talks, just eight new seats were approved. Six members from Mr Kilos bloc, were given places in the SNC - far short of the 25 it had opened the negotiation process with on Thursday. Adding more than 20 seats would have significantly altered the balance of power within the SNC.
Broad inclusion of Mr Kilos group would have weakened a widely held perception of excessive dominance dominance of the Muslim Brotherhood, one major faction, and a grouping headed by the Qatari-backed SNC secretary general, Mustafa Sabbagh.
The SNC has a reputation even in opposition circles, as being controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, with backing of Qatar and, to a lesser extent, Turkey.
#1
At last check, Baby Assad is believed to be control of 70-85% of the country - he will stay in power unless Russia, China, + Iran abandon him to the Rebs or Al-Nusra etal; or else he is betrayed + assassinated from within like Uncle Muammar.
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.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya has said his dream is to eliminate Islamic insurgent leader Doku Umarov. 
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) informed President Barack Obamas administration ahead of time before traveling into Syria to meet with that countrys rebels, a White House official said Tuesday.
France is testing samples of suspected chemical weapon elements used against Syrian rebel fighters and smuggled out by reporters from Le Monde newspaper and will divulge the results in the next few days, a senior French official said on Monday. The official also said Paris recently carried out its own tests on other samples it had obtained that had indicated the use of battlefield gas.
Ali Larijani has been reappointed as the speaker of Iranian Parliament. Some 213 out of 252 members of the parliament voted in favor of him. According to Mehr news agency, Larijani became the parliament speaker for next four years with 213 votes in favor, 13 against and 26 abstentions.
An increasingly rancourous dispute over control of the opposition alliance has pushed the SNC to the brink of collapse in Istanbul over the past five days.
