[Maghrebia] A new Tunisian law will boost investor confidence and facilitate a crackdown on terrorist financiers and money launderers, say the country's legislators and financial sector experts.
The law, enacted by Parliament last Tuesday (July 21st), aims to harmonise Tunis' legal framework with UN resolutions and treaties designed to freeze flows of money used to bankroll terrorism.
"The law comes at just the right moment, especially since Tunisia is opening its financial services sector to private sector investors, and we have to protect the financial system from exploitation by con artists, criminals, and terrorists," said banking and finance expert Salem Ben Aziza.
During the law's presentation to Parliament last week, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Bechir Tekkari said that the legislation was aimed at protecting Tunisia's financial sector from criminal acts, particularly given Tunis's preparations for more openness to global financial markets.
The new law complements Tunisia's 2003 Anti-Terrorism Law, which set up a financial analysis commission at the nation's central bank, and comes in the context of a 2004 memorandum of understanding signed by 14 Arab countries, including Maghreb nations, which set up a financial working group for the Middle East and North Africa to combat money laundering and terror financing. In 2007, Tunisia hosted an Arab conference on the role of the financial and banking institutions in combating money laundering.
"The law ... is essential to keeping abreast of the international standards that Tunisia has willingly adopted to enhance financial transparency and get in step with international standards," said Tekkari. "These international standards provide the necessary safeguards against those who engage in suspicious financial dealings, and we'll review the composition of the financial analysis commission, approve the freezing of money of people who are proven to have engaged in suspicious financial dealings, or money belonging to people against whom resolutions were passed by UN bodies for their links with terrorist acts."
Tunisian lawmakers' concerns stem in part from the scale of money laundering, a crime which involves concealing the source of assets obtained through criminal activity. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates, between $600 billion and $1.6 trillion is laundered annually, including $400 billion routed through Africa. Terrorist activities may also be paid for with laundered money, according to the IMF, which in May 2009 launched a Multi-Donor Trust Fund to combat money laundering and terror funding.
In Tunisia, depending on the severity of their crime, convicted money launderers face imprisonment for up to 10 years and fines of 5,000 to 100,000 dinars. Legal measures, however, are just one piece in the overall framework for eliminating terrorism and money laundering, said experts contacted by Magharebia.
"Combating terrorism is a duty for governments worldwide, but they can't eradicate it as long as several conditions aren't in place, including ... opening the horizon for young people to deal with the fate of their country ... while guaranteeing their freedom of expression and activities, because political, cultural, financial, and emotional suppression helps create terrorism," said lawyer Bochra Bel Haj Hmida.
"In the end, the law can play its role in ensuring justice, rights, and freedom only when the necessary conditions are in place for the judiciary to render judgments that are fully independent from the political authority," added Hmida.
For now, the new law is being hailed as both a safeguard against terrorism and a step towards more openness and accountability.
"I think the new law is ... a response to international standards, and Tunisia is known to be a country open to the world," said Ben Aziza.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2009 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] In response to a request by Algeria, the UN on Monday (July 27th) suspended the consultative status of the Paris-based Arab Commission of Human Rights (ACHR) for one year, international press reported. Algeria claimed that the ACHR had violated UN rules by allowing "wanted terrorist" Rachid Mesli to serve as the human rights NGO spokesman in Geneva last year. Algeria issued an arrest warrant against Mesli in 1997 for fleeing a conviction for supporting terrorism. The former defence attorney had represented Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) leaders Abassi Madani and Ali Belhadj.
This article starring:
ABASI MADANI
Islamic Salvation Front
ALI BELHADJ
Islamic Salvation Front
Arab Commission of Human Rights
RACHID MESLI
Islamic Salvation Front
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] A two-day international conference begins tomorrow to pave the way for identifying the perpetrators of genocide during the Liberation War and developing a broad network to bring those responsible to justice.
"This conference is going to be held at a historic moment for the nation when the government is making a move towards the trial of war criminals," said trustee of Liberation War Museum Mofidul Haque at a press conference held at the museum premises in the city yesterday.
The conference titled Second International Conference on Genocide, Truth and Justice--organised by the Liberation War Museum at Cirdap auditorium--will bring together representatives from International Criminal Court, prosecutors involved in war crimes tribunals, International Council of Jurists, and academics from Hong Kong, Korea, Germany, Japan, Pakistan, Canada, Cambodia, UK and Bangladesh.
A special programme involving witnesses and victims of the genocide and representatives of post-liberation generation will be organised. Arrangements will also be made to ensure participation of the expatriate Bangladeshis via online video.
Mofidul Haque said Liberation War Museum held the first conference March last year to create consensus on the trial of war criminals at home and abroad.
Now that the nation had voted for a change upholding the values of Liberation War the government has also decided to try the war criminals and make necessary amendments to the International Tribunal Act 1973, he added.
"The conference, therefore, holds great significance for Bangladesh as well as the global community as it will manifest how societies victimised by genocides and mass atrocities move forward and how the world community can prevent such brutality from recurring in future," said Mofidul.
It also seeks to develop strategies for advocacy, lobbying and awareness about the recognition of the genocide in Bangladesh and related unresolved issues of justice and truth.
Asked if there were any probable hindrance in trying the war criminals, Liberation War Museum Trustee Akku Chowdhury said since the government is fully committed, they found no obstacle to it.
On remarks of a Pakistani delegate early this year that it was not the right time to go ahead with the war crime issue, he said Pakistan should come forward in trying the criminals who acted against humanity.
"All Pakistanis are not responsible for the crime," he said.
The conference can also be viewed by streaming video via Liberation War Museum website, www.liberation warmuseum.org/genocide.
Museum trustees Tariq Ali and Rabiul Hussain also spoke at the press conference.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2009 00:00 ||
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An alleged Muslim extremist from Ashby who claimed his confinement to a single cell at Belmarsh Prison amounted to "torture" and "inhuman treatment" has had his compensation bid thrown out by a top judge.
The man a Muslim convert brought up in Ashby, who cannot be identified for legal reasons claimed that putting him on his own brought back terrible memories of his torture and mistreatment when he was earlier imprisoned in Syria on suspicion of being an al Qaeda link man. He attempted suicide while held in a single cell at Belmarsh in April and May last year, and risked his own life by refusing to take either food or drink for more than two weeks.
His lawyers sought damages on his behalf from the Home Office, claiming his treatment at the jail amounted to inhuman or degrading treatment, banned by the Human Rights Convention. However, Mr Justice Irwin, sitting at Londons High Court, dismissed his case, ruling that, despite his genuine distress at being held in a single cell, his treatment was reasonable and proportionate and nursing and medical staff at Belmarsh had done their best for him. His cell at Belmarsh was really very different from the solitary confinement in which he had earlier been held by the Syrian authorities and the judge concluded: "What was done fell very far short of torture, or inhuman or degrading treatment."
The 27-year-old, who converted to Islam as a teenager, was arrested by Syrian police in 2006, while studying in the country. He was accused of being an extremist Muslim, with violent Jihadist beliefs, but denied he had any plans to join the insurgency in Iraq. Home Office lawyers did not challenge the broad picture the man painted of his mistreatment by the Syrian authorities, which included being exposed to extreme heat and cold, held in overcrowded conditions and beaten on his feet with a flex.
After his deportation back to the UK in 2007, he was made the subject of a control order under the Prevention of Terrorism Act on grounds that he intended to travel abroad for terrorist purposes and had acted as a link between UK extremists and al Qaeda. The Home Office said he had openly advocated support for violent extremist activities and been involved in attack planning overseas. He was remanded at high-security Belmarsh in late 2007 for allegedly conspiring to breach his control order.
At the High Court, his lawyers said his confinement in a single cell brought back nightmares and flashbacks of the torture he suffered at the hands of the Syrian authorities. After being held in solitary in the Middle East, a single cell made him extremely panicky, the court heard. Dismissing his damages claim, Mr Justice Irwin said the man had been engaged in something of a battle for control with the prison authorities and, amid an atmosphere of intense distrust, his confinement in a single cell was both reasonable and proportionate.
North Korea on Monday celebrated the completion of what it has hailed as a "world-class" hotel in the Majon resort area in Hamhung, South Hamgyong Province, North Korean Central Broadcasting reported Tuesday. The broadcast said the Majon Hotel "is equipped with top-class accommodation and recreation facilities such as an indoor swimming pool, a steam sauna, a public bath, and even a beach resort." Even a beach resort? Oh, well, it is a resort, after all ... Just don't go past the fence. That would be...unwise.
Although it did not specify the size, the broadcast called the hotel a "creation that illuminates the era of the Korean Workers' Party," suggesting it is relatively luxurious. 'relatively' being an, um, relative term in Nork-land ... Wow, Dad! Electricity!
Yes, son! Dear Leader invented it! Or was it Great Leader?
The completion ceremony was attended by key leaders of the party, the government and the military, including People's Armed Forces Minister Kim Yong-chun, party Secretaries Kim Ki-nam and Choe Thae-bok, and Prime Minister Kim Yong-il. In a congratulatory speech, Kim Ki-nam said the hotel was "another proud creation built thanks to leader Kim Jong-il's love of the people in the military-first era." Sure. Have one of "the people" try to check in...
The Majon resort area where the hotel is located is famous throughout North Korea. It has a sandy beach park 6 km long and 50-100 m wide along the east coast and 16 recreational buildings, 13 public buildings, and a boy scout camp -- all on an area measuring some 3 million sq. m. So this will be another one of those Norkie showpieces where the eight people that show up per year will be tended to by a staff of thousands?
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/29/2009 00:00 ||
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I have to say it looks a lot like our current motels, NOT "Vegas Grade" at all.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/29/2009 0:38 Comments ||
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And here I thought that they had finally finished that enormous pyramid of a "hotel" in downtown Pyongyang. Now *that's* a "creation that illuminates the era of the Korean Workers' Party". Well, insofar as they can afford the lights.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/29/2009 8:09 Comments ||
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#6
Hamhung is at about 40degrees N Latitude about the same as Atlantic City and I noticed from the article they have a 'boardwalk'.
Bet the Hamhung Hard Rock Cafe is really rockin at night. Maybe let the Donald know about this opportunity.
Posted by: Lord garth ||
07/29/2009 9:00 Comments ||
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Hey guys, be fair. The photo looks 'dated' and has the same lithographic color hues as a postcard from the 60s.
I'm sure it's much better there now.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/29/2009 9:48 Comments ||
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I'll believe it's a luxury resort when a Hollyweird bimbette checks in (for anything other than rehab).
MILAN -- Italy blocked the multimillion-dollar sale of two luxury yachts that Italian police say were destined for North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in violation of international sanctions.
With Kimmie's current state of health, you wonder if they're going to do a burial at sea ...
The 105-foot and 95-foot Italian-made seafaring vessels were ordered from the Azimut-Benetti boatyard, a maker of luxury yachts near Turin, by an Austrian company. A Chinese company stepped in later to complete the purchase, Italy's Economic Development Ministry said.
Italian financial police said the Chinese company paid a Hong Kong business to take delivery of the vessels, valued at nearly 13 million ($18.5 million). An investigation determined that the yachts ultimately were bound for the reclusive communist nation in violation of international sanctions barring sale of luxury goods to North Korea, the ministry said.
Apparently Kimmie has all the cognac and sarin he needs ...
Col. Antonio Leone, the financial-police commander in Lucca, said "it is an irrefutable fact" that Mr. Kim was the intended final recipient, according to Reuters. "There has been a thorough investigation, partly in Austria, backed up by confessions and investigative breakthroughs," he said.
A person answering the phone at the North Korean Embassy in Rome said no one was available to comment.
The yachts were initially confiscated by Italy's Economic Development Ministry but have since been returned to the boatyard, which has been allowed to keep the deposit. Azimut-Benetti isn't accused of wrongdoing and has cooperated fully in the investigation, police said.
The sale of luxury goods to North Korea is banned under a United Nations resolution in retaliation for the impoverished nation's nuclear-weapons program.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/29/2009 00:00 ||
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[Kyodo: Korea] The United States said Monday that any direct talks with North Korea would have to take place as part of the six-party negotiations aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear programs. ''Our long-standing policy is that we are open to a bilateral dialogue, but only in the context of the six-party talks,'' State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2009 00:00 ||
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Or the beautiful Irish lasses. Plus the Guinness.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/29/2009 18:21 Comments ||
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Yeah, maybe they could all die of 'cirrhosis' ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/29/2009 20:04 Comments ||
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#4
Number 1 cause of death in Ireland is "smoking in bed" eg passing out w/a lite ciggy in the gob.
Posted by: regular joe ||
07/29/2009 21:18 Comments ||
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#5
From the news association that can not be named...
Jabbarov's U.S. lawyer, Michael Mone, has compared his client to the comic film and TV character Borat in his naivete about the world. He says Jabbarov has been hoping to resettle in Ireland, in part, because it is a land with many sheep, and he was a shepherd back home in Uzbekistan.
Colombo, July 24 (PTI) India will help rebuild public and private infrastructure in war-ravaged Tamil-dominated northern Sri Lanka and has signed an agreement under which latest technology will be used for mass-scale construction there.
The pact will cover construction of buildings and utilities under the massive rehabilitation and reconstruction programme in the north, a statement by the Construction and Engineering Services Ministry of Sri Lanka said today.
The agreement between the Ministry's construction sector arm ICTAD and India's Construction Industry Development Council (a collaboration of government of India and the Indian construction industry) was signed in the presence of Construction Minister Rajitha Senaratne on Wednesday.
The Indian Council, a New Delhi-based national institute on building and construction, will assist in the local building and construction works.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/29/2009 00:00 ||
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You guys better rebuild, and rebuild good. Otherwise, more rebels are just going to come out of the woodwork.
#2
BHARAT RAKSHAK > ACT NOW BIG BROTHER [NOT Later]! Sri Lankan Society-Culture is INDIAN = HEAVILY INDIAN, hence it behoves India to proactively and IMMEDIATELY help and rebuild Sri Lanka, espec iff India desires to effec counter CHINA'S STEADILY GROWING SRI LANKAN + REGIONAL INFLUENCE.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The chief of Indian-administered Kashmir has resigned after a political rival accused him of involvement in a sex scandal. "After hearing this I will not be able to function as the chief minister, so I have decided to resign," a visibly upset Omar Abdullah said.
In his resignation letter, Abdullah asked the relevant authorities to initiate an enquiry into the allegations leveled against him. The authorities, however, have refused to accept his resignation while the members of his party have been trying to persuade him to reconsider his decision.
The development came after an opposition lawmaker and former finance minister, Muzaffer Beigh, claimed Abdullah was one of the accused in an infamous scandal that had rocked the regional capital, Srinagar, in 2006. Authorities uncovered a prostitution racket in 2006 involving dozens of underage girls whose clients allegedly included politicians, bureaucrats, security officials, and businessmen.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2009 00:00 ||
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Gaza -- Maan -- Gaza tunnel disasters continued on Tuesday night as two more collapsed injuring seven Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Palestinian medical sources at Abu Yousif An-Najjar Hospital confirmed.
It's almost as if all these disasters are planned disasters ...
A tunnel collapse on Monday killed seven, while four are still thought to be missing beneath the sand. The last body recovered was that of 24-year-old Ayman Abu Samak whose body was pulled from the debris on Tuesday.
So they can bury him again ...
Official de facto government statistics say 110 have died in tunnel accidents over the last three years.
Smugglers maintain a vast network of tunnels under the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The tunnels are used to guns and ammo import goods made scarce by an Israeli blockade of the territory.
[Al Arabiya Latest] United States envoy George Mitchell said Tuesday "good progress" was made during talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu despite having reached no deal on a Jewish settlement freeze. Not as easy to push around as you'd think, huh?
Echoing Mitchell's assessment of their two-hour meeting, Netanyahu said they would continue to make an effort which "will eventually succeed" to promote peace and security between Israel and the Palestinians and Arab countries in the region.
"We have made good progress," Mitchell told reporters. "We look forward to continuing our discussion to reach the point ... at which we can all move forward to achieve the comprehensive peace that I have described as President (Barack) Obama's vision but I know also is shared by the prime minister and by all the people of this region."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2009 00:00 ||
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If there is a time and place where not to "meddle", this is it.
[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Egypt on Tuesday condemned the Hamas move to ban Fatah members from traveling to a key party convention in the West Bank, saying the decision was "unacceptable."
The convention is to elect a new leadership of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' movement. Fatah says the meeting due next week is now in jeopardy because of Hamas' ban. Egypt's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki condemned Hamas' decision as "regrettable" and "unacceptable."
Zaki said Egypt would mediate to resolve the issue. His statement Tuesday was among the harshest criticism to date of Hamas. Hamas officials in Gaza say they will only let Fatah delegates leave if Abbas releases hundreds of Hamas prisoners in the West Bank.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
When Egypt finally can make Hamas behave properly on a single issue, then Hamas might be ready to negotiate seriously with Israel... or at least there is the possibility of semi-serious talks.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iranian authorities refused to issue a permit for a planned mourning ceremony for those slain during the worst crisis to rock Iran since the Islamic revolution three decades ago.
"No permit has been issued for gathering and marching for any individuals or different political groups," Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, the interior ministry's political director, told the Fars news agency.
Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who lost to incumbent hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had submitted request for a "silent" memorial in Tehran on Thursday which would feature recitals from the Koran.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] A top adviser to former presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei, whose son died in detention following his arrest during a post-election protest, says he will pursue his 'rights.'
Abdul-Hossein Ruholamini, head of Iran's prestigious Pasteur Institute, told Press TV in an interview that while he was proud of the achievements of the 30-year-old Islamic Revolution, he hoped his son's death would lead to efforts aimed at resolving some recent mismanagements in the system. "It is our unwavering belief that hopefully the blood of our innocent, martyred Mohsen would open up a path to untie some of the recent social and political knots and resolve mismanagement problems -- whether originating from individual or systematic sources," Ruholamini said.
Mohsen Ruholamini, a computer programming student who was in his 20s, was arrested July 9 during a demonstration. His family was told twelve days later that the son had died.
Ruholamini went on to explain that his son had taken part in the protests because of his "adventurous soul and deep aversion of dishonesty -- whether it was fabricated by people inside or outside the country."
"But I will not overlook his rights, even though he has departed and will not return... What I aim to do -- within the letter of the law -- is to pursue a serious campaign for the improvement of internal affairs."
"It is a given fact that if we want to have a model leadership, we should not besmear the whole system with our own mistakes, disappointments, our lack of experience and ineptness. Or with the slightest mishap, smaller or greater than this, lose our bearings," interjected Ruholamini.
Ruholamini condemned what he termed foreign media attempts to interfere in Iran's internal affairs. "It took our country thirty years to progress this far... We will survive this very hard tragedy, because we trust the system," he said. "We are part of a very big family and will resolve out problems in our midst."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] A powerful Principlist faction has warned the Iranian President against acting 'contrary to the will of the people' and 'the call of religious leaders'.
The Islamic Engineers Society said in a Tuesday letter to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that he had 'acted against his own interests' by appointing Esfandyar Rahim-Masha'i as head of the presidential office.
Ahmadinejad had initially appointed Rahim-Masha'i as the first vice president, a post he resigned from after the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, sent a handwritten note to the office of the president on the issue.
However, Rahim-Masha'i was later named the head of the presidential office, sparking a fresh row between Ahmadinejad and his supporters and opponents.
Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i was dismissed for allegedly opposing the appointment of Rahim-Masha'i as first vice president.
"It is notable to ask why Rahim-Masha'i is not dismissed despite the Leader's demand while some of the ministers are sacked because of their opposition to your decision," the letter read.
"It seems you want to be the sole speaker and do not want to hear other voices... therefore it is our duty to convey to you the voice of the people," the letter said.
The Principlist faction said it had previously warned Ahmadinejad in a private letter against his acts 'taken without any insight'.
The powerful faction said Ahmadinejad's decision had 'frustrated his supporters' and 'caused divisions'.
The letter warned that Ahmadinejad's inattention to the advice of the Leader and the country's religious leaders would have dire consequences and 'ultimately lead to the formation of a deviant sect'.
The Islamic Engineers Society asked Ahmadinejad to contemplate what happened to former Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mosaddeq and former president Abolhassan Banisadr 'whose opposition to the country's religious leaders' ultimately led to their overthrow.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Yikes. That's fairly hard-core. This appeared in Iran Press?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/29/2009 8:18 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The head of Tehran prisons, Sohrab Soleimani, denied that two protesters had died from prison beatings, insisting they had been struck down by meningitis. But opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, Ahmadinejad's closest rival, said that if one of the protesters had died of meningitis, "how come his teeth were broken?" "It was excruciating meningitis." Could have been cirrhosis ... I think spavins does that, too...
The reformist Sarmayeh newspaper also reported that the life of Saeed Hajjarian, an advisor to former president Mohammad Khatami being detained in Evin prison, was in danger. "He looked pale... very weak and seriously depressed... He had a foul body odour and said he had been kept in the sun as a pressure tactic," Hajjarian's wife Vajiheh Marsoosi was quoted as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2009 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.
[Maghrebia] In response to a request by Algeria, the UN on Monday (July 27th) suspended the consultative status of the Paris-based 
An alleged Muslim extremist from Ashby who claimed his confinement to a single cell at Belmarsh Prison amounted to "torture" and "inhuman treatment" has had his compensation bid thrown out by a top judge. 
North Korea on Monday celebrated the completion of what it has hailed as a "world-class" hotel in the Majon resort area in Hamhung, South Hamgyong Province, North Korean Central Broadcasting reported Tuesday. The broadcast said the Majon Hotel "is equipped with top-class accommodation and recreation facilities such as an indoor swimming pool, a steam sauna, a public bath, and even a beach resort." 
MILAN -- Italy blocked the multimillion-dollar sale of two luxury yachts that Italian police say were destined for North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in violation of international sanctions.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The chief of Indian-administered Kashmir has resigned after a political rival accused him of involvement in a sex scandal. "After hearing this I will not be able to function as the chief minister, so I have decided to resign," a visibly upset Omar Abdullah said. 
Gaza -- Maan -- Gaza tunnel disasters continued on Tuesday night as two more collapsed injuring seven Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Palestinian medical sources at Abu Yousif An-Najjar Hospital confirmed.
