[Washington Post] The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan apologized Friday for mistakenly killing a 2-year-old child during an airstrike, but Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the attack may scuttle a long-term security agreement with the United States.
In an angry statement late Thursday, Karzai said a suspected U.S. drone fired into a house shortly before noon in Helmand province, killing the toddler and wounding two women. Karzai said the strike had further shaken his confidence in the behavior of coalition forces, and he vowed that he would not allow thousands of U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan after 2014 if similar attacks continue.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Was the target of the missile in the house? Was he a legitimate target? If both are true then I don't see how it was a mistake or something to apologize for. War sucks and people die. But if the target was in 121 Main St and we mistakenly entered the address 123 Main St into the missile guidance, then we made a tragic mistake and should do more than apologize.
[THEGUARDIAN] Afghanistan's government has backed away from a proposal to reintroduce public stoning as a punishment for adultery after the leak of a draft law stirred up a storm of international condemnation.
The president, Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... , said in an interview that the grim penalty, which became a symbol of Taliban brutality when the group were in power, would not be coming back.
"It is not correct. The minister of justice has rejected it," he told Radio Free Europe, days after the UK minister Justine Greening urged him to prevent the penalty becoming law.
Afghanistan's penal code dates back over three decades. The government is drawing up a new one to unify fragmented rules and cover crimes missed out when the last version was written, such as money laundering, and offences that did not even exist at the time, such as internet crimes.
The justice minister presiding over the reform is an outspoken conservative who last year denounced the country's handful of shelters for battered women as brothels.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Because what would the world look like without worthless and useless fatwas from regurgitated failures of the caliphate from hell?
What one must be paid in the devils asshole to match academia in the US. Sounds attractive money wise, no?
[Libya Herald] The Libyan government has been told by the Iraqi authorities that execution of a fourth Libyan convicted of murdering Iraqis has been halted, Libyan news agency LANA reported today.
Today also saw the Libyan ambassador in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... called in by the Iraqi foreign ministry to protest the apparent killing on Iraqi lecturer, Hamid Khalf, who was kidnapped in Derna a week ago. A video was posted showing Khalf identifying himself followed by the execution of a hooded man sitting in a shallow grave. The Libyan foreign ministry later said that experts did not believe that the scene showing the killing was actually of Khalf's murder.
The video said that Khalf was being executed in retaliation for the hanging of Libyan Adel Zuwai on 7 November. News of this only broke ten days ago. It came as a surprise to the NGO Libyan Prisoners Abroad, whose Taha Shakshuki explained to the Libya Herald that his organization had been told that the next Libyan to die was a man called Abdulsatar Shalmani.
The LANA statement said today that the Iraqi government had told Libya that the execution of Libyan citizen "Adel Al-Shalali" had been halted on the orders of the Supreme Judicial Council. It added that the Libyan government had thanked its Iraqi counterpart.
The Iraqi comment on the calling in of Libya's ambassador in Storied Baghdad said: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ... strongly condemns this terrorist act abroad which is far removed from humanity and Islamic norms." However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... it is reported by Rooters that it went on to say that Iraq did not believe that the Derna killing reflected the position of the Libyan government or people.
Iraq has asked Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... to track down the professor's killers and prosecute people "who are trying to disturb the friendly relations between the two brotherly countries".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... on Friday called for Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... to stop targeting ordinary Nigerians, claiming the banned Islamist group had kidnapped scores of women and girls and used children as young as 12 in fighting.
The organization also called on the Nigerian government to investigate the forced disappearances of hundreds of men and boys at the hands of security services, as well as "credible" claims of torture and death in jug.
"Many Nigerian families have suffered, even lost loved ones, at the hands of both Boko Haram and the security forces," said the Africa director at the global rights monitor, Daniel Bekele.
"Boko Haram must desist from waging war on ordinary Nigerians, while the government should take urgent steps to hold to account soldiers who have tortured, disappeared and killed, regardless of rank."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Three Lebanese nationals suspected of being Hizbullah members were cleared of terrorism charges in Nigeria on Friday but one of the accused was convicted of a weapons offence and incarcerated Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! for life.
Mustapha Fawaz, Abdallah Thahini and Talal Ahmad Roda were tossed in the clink Please don't kill me! in May after the discovery of an arms cache in a residence in the northern Nigerian city of Kano.
They were accused of plotting attacks against Western and Israeli targets in Nigeria but denied the accusations.
Federal High Court Judge Adeniyi Adetokunbo Ademola said Hizbullah "is not an international terrorist organization in Nigeria" and therefore membership is not criminal.
He said there was "no evidence" that the group was planning an attack or had received "terrorism training" as the prosecution alleged.
All three men were also acquitted of money laundering charges.
But Roda was found guilty of conspiracy to import weapons into the country and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Defense lawyer for all three men Ahmed Raji told news hounds after the hearing: "We are happy and slightly not comfortable with respect to the third accused (Roda).
"The most important thing is that the grave aspect of the charges, that is terrorism, was knocked out. We are happy about that."
Raji said he would consult with Roda about a possible appeal against his conviction and sentence and added: "Speaking for myself, I think an appeal is worthwhile."
The trial featured several unexpected twists, including a testimony from Roda that an krazed killer cell in Nigeria had plotted to assassinate the Saudi ambassador.
In August, Fawaz testified that he had been harshly interrogated by Israeli security agents after his arrest.
He said the grilling was carried out by "six Israeli Mossad agents and one masked white man" who were primarily concerned with his contacts in Leb and demanded details of where weapons were stored in his home country.
Thahini testified that he collapsed after being denied sleep for five days in a similar interrogation by purported Israeli agents.
Israel raised concerns over alleged efforts by Hizbullah members to plan attacks in west Africa after the group was arrested.
Fawaz owns a popular amusement park in the capital Abuja called Wonderland, which the court ordered should be re-opened after the ruling.
He and Thahini were immediately released while Fawaz was escorted away in handcuffs, an Agence La Belle France Presse news hound in the court said.
Nigerian intelligence agents escorted journalists to a property in Kano on May 30 and showed them a bunker where a massive haul of weapons had been stored.
The spy chief in Kano, Bassey Etang, described the room as a "Hizbullah armory" -- a statement that raised eyebrows among some analysts.
He said investigations were needed to uncover potential links between the "Hizbullah cell" and Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... , the krazed killer Islamist group that has killed thousands in northern Nigeria since 2009.
There had previously never been any discussion of a connection between the party and the Nigerian forces of Evil and experts voiced strong doubts that such ties existed.
The court verdict is a fresh blow to Nigeria's main intelligence branch, the Department of State Services, which in September claimed that Boko Haram attacked troops outside a government building in Abuja.
Subsequent evidence, however, suggested the clash involved security officers and a group of squatters.
In a separate matter, Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour was informed by Leb's Charge d'Affairs in Abuja that Hassan Mohammed Merhi, a Lebanese national, has died of natural causes in Nigeria.
"The transfer of his body to Beirut is being arranged," the diplomat said.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is home to a sizable Lebanese population, including in the mainly Moslem north.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Federal High Court Judge Adeniyi Adetokunbo Ademola said Hizbullah "is not an international terrorist organization in Nigeria" and therefore membership is not criminal
you don't get out much, do you?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/30/2013 9:25 Comments ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] BNP Chairperson Khaled Zia today condemned filing a case against big shots of the opposition alliance for instigating Thursday's arson attack on a bus in the capital.
"I strongly condemn and protest suing the 18-party combine leaders for instigation," Khaleda said in a press statement this evening.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter wished he had a cup of coffee. Even instant would do... police have filed a case against 18 opposition leaders including BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir for criminal masterminding the torching of the bus at Shahbagh last evening that left two people dead and 17 injured.
Demanding immediate withdrawal of the case, she accused the government of pushing the country towards uncertainty.
Khaleda alleged that the government has cunningly avoided the dialogue offers for several times.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2013 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin, an adviser to opposition leader Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... , landed in jail in a vandalism case while he received interim bail in another similar case.
A metropolitan magistrate's court in Chittagong ordered him to be sent to jail in the case filed with Chawkbazar Police Station for vandalism and torching vehicles during the 71-hour countrywide road, rail and waterways blockade by the BNP-led 18-party opposition combine.
However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... the same court granted interim bill to the former Chittagong City Corporation mayor in another arson and vandalism case filed with Kotwali Police Station.
Law enforcers tossed in the clink Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! him at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong yesterday evening in connection with the two cases.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2013 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The BNP-led 18-party alliance yesterday called another three-day blockade of roads, rail and waterways from 6:00am today, hours after one ended leaving at least 19 people dead and scores injured.
The opposition said it was enforcing this blockade to press for immediate cancellation of the polls schedule and to protest implication of big shots in "false cases", especially the one filed yesterday for Thursday's arson attack on a bus in Shahbagh, and torture and repression of its activists.
BNP insiders, however, said the main reason was to resist the aspirants of the next parliamentary polls from submitting their nomination papers.
The Election Commission has fixed December 2 as the last date for submission of nomination papers.
BNP Joint Secretary General Rizvi Ahmed announced the blockade at a presser in the party's Nayapaltan headquarters around 9:30pm.
The announcement came just 12 hours before the programme begins, putting thousands of people travelling in harm's way.
For many people, the late announcement meant they did not get enough time to rearrange their day's activities.
The blockade deals a further blow to the country's education sector, as the government last night once again had to reschedule today's primary and ebtedai terminal exams. The exams will be held on December 6, from 9:30am to 12:00pm.
On top of that, like previous hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... s and blockade the opposition alliance did not make clear which sectors would remain out of the blockade's purview.
Meanwhile, ...back at the mall, Clarissa suddenly spied Mr. Bartlett at the checkout counter. He was buying Grecian Formula!... the BNP staged quite a drama in announcing its programme. Since the morning, it held three pressers to finally come up with the blockade.
In the first briefing around 11:30am, it had announced countrywide demonstrations for today demanding cancellation of the polls schedule and protesting "ruling party men's involvement in arson and vandalism" during the opposition's 71-hour blockade.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
It's Hartal season!
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/30/2013 9:27 Comments ||
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(Ay-Pee)The United States advised U.S. carriers to comply with ChinaÂ’s demand that it be told of any flights passing through its new maritime air defense zone over the East China Sea, an area where Beijing said it launched two fighter planes to investigate a dozen American and Japanese reconnaissance and military flights. Sigh. How low can we go?
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/30/2013 11:23 ||
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Was the bastard bought off or is he following orders or is he surrendering in principal?
#2
Nowwww this generation will get to see what owing billions and billions to these people will do to you. They can drop kick the economy of this country down to its knees any time they want to.
#3
...I'm not fond of defending this Administration, but this was the right thing to do. It's one thing to play games with a B-52, but if a 767 goes through there with no notice and some Shanghai Top Gun decides its an imperialist spy plane, then it's our fault because 'we didn't warn them'. This was the right call to make.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/30/2013 12:35 Comments ||
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#4
Mike, I agree with you on this call, but I'm bothered (to put it mildly) by the fact that we're playing war games with the Chinese with this gang of incompetents at the helm.
Posted by: Matt ||
11/30/2013 12:49 Comments ||
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#5
Mike, I agree with you on this call, but I'm bothered (to put it mildly) by the fact that we're playing war games with the Chinese with this gang of incompetents traitors at the helm.
Fixed it for you.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
11/30/2013 13:54 Comments ||
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#6
Why not bumbling, stumbling, inexperienced, incompetent traitors?
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/30/2013 14:14 Comments ||
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#7
Bobby "Boomer"
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/30/2013 14:42 Comments ||
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#8
U.S. carriers now, U.S. aircraft carriers next.
#10
let them know we consider it a free air and sea area and that actions against our forces and commercial carriers will be met with military and economic (refute all debts) forces. I can dream, right?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/30/2013 19:32 Comments ||
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Mike - "It'd be our fault?" You are absolutely wrong. We are Americans and we do not live on our knees. All this does is telegraph weakness.
Prostitution and human trafficking are rising so fast that prices are jumping quickly – generating significant inflation, Howard Young, an analyst on domestic conditions in North Korea, wrote on the NorthKorea.cafe24.com website.
Read this and then ask, why would prostitution and drug use spread if there is more food available this year compared to last year, as the two articles below this one suggest? Wonder who's getting all that extra food, because it's sure not the people...
“In the year 2006, prostitutes around Nampo station charged from 10,000 [North Korean] won [$11.11 USD] to 20,000 [North Korean] won [$22.22 USD],” he wrote.
Levels of prostitution in North Korea were suppressed and limited for the first 40 years of the stateÂ’s history after World War II. However, prostitution spread rapidly in the decade following the famine of the late 1990s under then-ruler Kim Jong-il, when as many as 3 million people starved to death.
Since then, the Pyongyang regime has never been able to reassert its control over food production while providing a barely adequate food supply to everyone else. In the looser economic conditions since then, many thousands of young women have turned to the sex trade to earn enough money to eat.
In recent years, harvests have been even poorer than usual in North Korea, owing to a combination of droughts, heat waves and fierce rains at unexpected times.
I rather suspect the Korean peninsula has had its share of drought, heat and rain over the last few centuries. I also suspect that the South has had pretty much the same weather as the North. Yet the South feeds itself and the North doesn't...
The disappointing harvests along with the generally extremely poor levels of economic management and administrative competence, led analysts including Andrew Natsios of Texas A & M University – the former leader of the United States government’s Agency for International Development – to warn that North Korea is likely to face a new food shortage crisis and even possible full-scale famine this year or next.
Only for the people, not for the nomenklatura or the army officers...
Food prices in North Korea have been rising because of shortages. And in such times, overall inflation tends to increase the costs of other goods, services and social activities even when – as is the case with prostitution – there is no shortage of willing providers of services, Martin Hutchinson, an analyst on developing economies and financial columnist for Reuters Breakingviews, told Asia Pacific Defense Forum [APDF] in an interview.
In recent years, the sex trade has metastasized, owing to the methamphetamine pandemic that has swept North Korea. As in other countries around the world, drug addiction and rapidly increased levels of prostitution go together. Female methamphetamine addicts increasingly turn to prostitution to get the money to pay for their habits.
“Because domestic demand for the hard drugs has been growing rapidly, their prices have skyrocketed as well and this in turn has led young female addicts to demand higher prices from their customers to pay for their increasingly expensive drugs,” Hutchinson said.
Current estimates by South Korean and U.S. analysts place the number of fulltime prostitutes throughout North Korea at around 25,000 in the state of 24.5 million people – a figure that Young agreed with. That would mean one full-time prostitute was working per 1,000 people.
The high estimate does not include the far larger number of women who supplement their meager income by occasional freelance participation in prostitution activities.
“Prostitution is a particularly difficult vice for even the best-organized communist government to suppress,” Hutchinson said.
“The vice trade is based on a simple one-on-one transaction between the customer and the supplier of services,” he said. “This does not require an extensive infrastructure such as the drug trade requires. It also means that the privacy of the act and the basic human desires it serves, allow the opportunity for the security apparatus members and senior officers charged with repressing it to indulge freely themselves without any serious risk of compromise or arrest.”
The age range of women involved in prostitution in North Korea is broad, stretching from 17 to 45, according to Young. The large percentage of women engaging in the practice again reflects the widespread and growing destitution and hunger pervading North Korean society.
A North Korean defector said there are about 500 prostitutes in a city which has a population of 400,000, Young noted. “If [we] depend on the simple arithmetic calculation and put North Korean population as 20 million, we can assume that there should be about 25,000 prostitutes in North Korea.”
A few years ago, that estimate would have been widely rejected as too high. The history of poor harvests, food shortages and the desperate demand for short-term extra income has made its mark. The hard drug pandemic may well have put those numbers too low.
In any case, the boast North Korean spokesmen made until recent years that there was no prostitution in their country rings hollow.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/30/2013 00:00 ||
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So is that what Rodman is doing over there?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/30/2013 11:23 Comments ||
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BEIJING -- North Korea is still struggling with chronic malnutrition with 84 percent of households having borderline or poor food consumption, United Nations agencies said on Thursday, despite a 5 percent rise in staple food output.
Overall production for this year's harvest is estimated at some 5.03 million metric tons, roughly a 5 percent increase from last year, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Program (WFP) said in a joint statement.
"Despite the improved harvest, the food security situation is still unsatisfactory with 84 percent of households having borderline or poor food consumption," it said.
"Despite continued improvement in agricultural production, the food system in the DPRK (North Korea) remains highly vulnerable to shocks, and serious shortages exist particularly in the production of protein-rich foods," said Kisan Gunjal, an FAO economist and co-leader of the U.N. agencies' mission in North Korea, in the statement.
"In the interest of increased protein consumption and to reverse the downward trend of soybean production, the price paid to farmers for soybean should be increased," Gunjal said.
Dierk Stegen, WFP's representative on North Korea, also said, "Improving the diversity and quality of food provided through the child institution system is essential to improving children's nutrition."
"We want to produce Rice Soya Milk Blend but can only do so if we receive sufficient donor support," Stegen said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/30/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
The DPRK is repor offering China control of state resource mines in exchange for more aid.
SEOUL -- North Korea is offering incentives to farmers who are productive, while cutting food rations for those who under-perform, a United Nations agency said Friday.
Perform or be shot?
According to the 2013 North Korea food production report by the World Food Programme (WFP), many cooperative farms across the country are giving incentives to members in the form of extra rations.
It said the move seems to be aimed at getting people to produce more and inject some spirit of competitiveness into the farming sector. The findings are based on interviews carried by the WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which sent a fact-finding team to the communist country from late September through mid October. The organizations talked to people from 77 households from 51 cooperative farms.
The country suffers from chronic food shortage with local food output unable to meet demand without foreign assistance.
It said productive farmers have been known to take home 65 kilograms worth of extra rations for a three month period from the cooperative he or she works for, depending on output. The WFP findings, on the other hand, showed some people have not received food rations from the state for up to four months.
The food program, meanwhile, said that North Korea's rice production is expected to reach a little over 2.90 million tons this fall, up 8.2 percent compared to 2.68 million tons tallied in 2012. It said output per hectare of rice paddy reached 5.3 tons on average, up from 4.8 tons the year before.
The WFP said of the total population, 16 percent are not suffering from food shortages, although conditions for the rest are not as good.
It said from November of this year to October 2014, the communist country will need an extra 340,000 tons of food to sufficiently feed its people.
Ask China...
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/30/2013 00:00 ||
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[NPR] The sentencing of a Somali-American man convicted of trying to bomb a holiday tree-lighting ceremony in Portland, Ore., in 2010 has been put on hold indefinitely. That move comes just days after the Justice Department notified his lawyers that part of the case against him had been "derived from" secret NSA electronic surveillance.
Both sides met Tuesday in the chambers of U.S. District Judge Garr King to discuss next steps. The judge later issued a public order delaying the sentencing of Mohammed Osman Mohamud, which had been scheduled to take place Dec. 18.
The move could foreshadow months or even years of legal wrangling, if the case becomes a vehicle to challenge the constitutionality of once-secret NSA monitoring of overseas email and social media accounts.
Mohammed Osman Mohamud, then 19, is shown after his arrest on Nov. 26, 2010, in Portland, Ore. Mohamud was convicted of planning to detonate a bomb during a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony, but his sentencing is on hold after revelations that Sherlocks relied to some degree on NSA surveillance.
A petty annoyance, yes, but possibly a gateway for more serious efforts...
[RussiaTimes] The hacktivist pro-Assad group known as the "Syrian Electronic Army" (SEA) briefly hijacked the Twitter feeds of TIME magazine in response to a critical description of President Assad's candidacy for its 'Person of the year' award.
The SEA has tweeted from TIME's official account: "Syrian Electronic Army was here via @Official_SEA16. Next time write a better word about the Syrian president #SEA".
That tweet was soon deleted.
The group referred to TIME's list of people -- politicians and celebrities -- selected as potential winners for "Person of the Year," the magazine's annual award.
Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... is one of the candidates, while the magazine describes him as: "Syria's ruler presided over a bloody year, shrugging off international concerns over the use of chemical weapons as the corpse count of his country's civil war eclipsed 100,000."
The voting closes on December, 4, with TIME's Person of the Year to be announced on December 11.
The SEA also claimed interfering with the vote on the US magazine's webpage.
TIME is not the first target of the notorious hacktivist group. The SEA, a group of hackers sympathetic to the government of Syrian President Bashir al-Assad, also grabbed credit for cyber-attacks on The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... , The Washington Post, The Huffington Post and Thomson Rooters.
In April, they also compromised the main Twitter account for the News Agency that Dare Not be Named. As a result of the online attack, the News Agency that Dare Not be Named -- one of the most trusted sources for journalists -- falsely reported that US President B.O. had been injured in a surprise attack on the White House, causing a brief panic online and even causing the stock market to fall by over 150 points.
The SEA also defaced a US Marine Corps recruitment website on September 2, posting images of US soldiers holding messages of contempt regarding possible American involvement in Syria.
Following that attack, the Federal Bureau of Investigation added the SEA to its list of wanted criminals.
"The Syrian Electronic army, a pro-regime hacker group that emerged during Syrian anti-government protests in 2011, has been compromising high-profile media outlets in an effort to spread pro-regime propaganda," the FBI advisory stated. "The SEA's primary capabilities include spearphishing, web defacements, and hijacking social media accounts to spread propaganda."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/30/2013 05:23 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Can't believe these guys are Syrians. I smell a Ruskie.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/30/2013 11:27 Comments ||
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#2
Why would anyone hack Time? Identity theft of its two readers?
[Pak Daily Times] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... on Friday alleged that the Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) came into power after striking a deal with the US.
While addressing newsmen, the PTI chief said that the PML-N government has introduced schemes for tax evaders. He said that "black money" cannot bring peace in the country even if it is filtered through different schemes and added that his party will hold a protest against inflation and price hike on December 22. Imran remarked that the information minister is behaving like the US State Department's front man. He alleged that the PML-N government is playing a double game and does not even have any unanimous policy within the party.
Talking about the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... forces' pullout from Afghanistan, Imran said that the US is not leaving Afghanistan even after the troops pullout. He said that country will run the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) programme for 10 years. The PTI leader emphasised that unless missile strikes come to an end, there cannot be any peace dialogue. He said that his party has blocked NATO supplies in accordance with the unanimous resolutions and as per the decision of the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. High Court. He said that they did not want a fight with the US, but only wanted to liberate this country (Pakistain) from "US slavery".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[An Nahar] Iran will not dismantle its nuclear facilities, President Hassan Rouhani said in an interview with The Financial Times published Friday after a historic deal between Tehran and world powers.
Asked by the newspaper whether dismantling Iran's atomic facilities was a "red line" for the Islamic republic, Rouhani replied: "100 percent".
Israel has bitterly opposed the deal struck in Geneva last weekend, saying that any pact with Tehran must have the sole purpose of dismantling Iran's nuclear capability.
Pending negotiations for a broader agreement, the deal struck in Geneva early November 24 calls for a six-month's freeze of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for limited sanctions relief.
But it does not call for dismantling Iran's nuclear facilities.
Rouhani meanwhile held out hope for further improvements in Iran's relations with the United States.
"Iran-U.S. problems are very complicated and cannot be resolved over a short period of time. Despite the complications, there has been an opening over the past 100 days, which can widen later," he told the FT.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
hmmm "red line"? Where have I heard that recently?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/30/2013 9:32 Comments ||
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#2
The difference is, Rouhani means it...
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/30/2013 10:39 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] The Iranian ambassador to Ankara acknowledged Friday that Tehran enjoys close ties with Turkey's intelligence services, a sign of warming relations between the two regional powers.
The comments by Alireza Bikdeli come just weeks after U.S. newspaper claims -- hotly denied by Ankara -- that Turkey blew an Israeli-Iranian spy ring to the authorities in Tehran.
Bikdeli told news hounds in Ankara that there was "improved cooperation" between the Iranian intelligence and security services and Turkey's National Intelligence Organisation (MIT).
Continued on Page 49
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[An Nahar] Hizbullah condemned on Friday the assault against a number of residents from the Jabal Mohsen neighborhood in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , saying that criminal gangs bent on creating sectarian strife were behind the attack.
It said in a statement: "The criminal gangs, which are being offered political cover by the March 14 camp, are continuing on driving their knife into Tripoli's bleeding wound."
"The gangs shot up four municipal workers simply because they belong to a sect, which has incurred the wrath of those who claim civility and a love for life," it added in reference to the Alawite sect, whose members form the majority of the residents of Jabal Mohsen.
"The actions of the criminal gangs do not reflect the national spirit of the residents of Tripoli," it noted.
"The actions instead represent the great desperation that the March 14 camp has reached due to its failure in banking on changes on the ground. It is therefore taking out its frustration through such barbaric acts," it added.
Hizbullah voiced its complete solidarity with the victims of Thursday's assault, saying that the whole of Tripoli is a victim of these criminal acts.
It condemned the "mentality of creating incitement that also leans towards extremism and rejects the role of state institutions."
It therefore called on the state and all of its agencies to assume their responsibilities in ending these criminal acts that are a threat to civil and national peace.
At least three Jabal Mohsen residents were maimed in a shooting in Tripoli on Thursday, stoking sectarian divisions in the city.
The state-run National News Agency said assailants shot the three men in their feet in the area of al-Zahriyeh.
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[An Nahar] Head of the Independence Movement Michel Mouawad called on Friday for forming a local "moderate front," strongly rejecting to accept Hizbullah as a dominant force in the country.
"A civil confrontation is the only mean to face extremism in Leb and the region," Mouawad said in a speech he gave at a celebration marking the 24th anniversary of his father President Rene Mouawad's liquidation.
"I call for forming a front of moderates of all sects."
Mouawad noted, however, that a moderate front does not mean a group with a neutral ideology.
"I urge a strong moderate front to face the Syrian regime's occupation," he said.
Mouawad stressed at the beginning of his speech that Leb is "not a land for jihad, al-Nusra or wilayat al-faqih."
He said: "Leb is a nation with an identity and a civilization and we will not accept an Israeli occupation, an Iranian domination or a Syrian mandate."
He explained that the problem with Iran is that it "violates Lebanese illusory sovereignty and identity."
"Iran, (Syrian President Bashar) Assad and jihadists are a danger threatening the Lebanese entity."
"But what we cannot accept is that a Lebanese party hijacks political decisions to benefit Iran and Bashir al-Assad," he added.
"We cannot accept that Hizbullah goes from being a partner in the country to becoming an occupier."
The northern leader explained: "When Hizbullah is above the law and when it announces its intentions to change our lifestyle and our identity, this is called an occupation."
With "full respect," the northern leader addressed Hizbullah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... , telling him that refusing a national consensus or a political cover "is not acceptable."
"The domination of one party over the Lebanese people is a rejected project. Religious coexistence cannot be guaranteed by becoming obedient and the path you are taking leads only to a total destruction."
However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... Mouawad pointed out that federalism and separation are not the solution either, stressing on the importance of the state, the National Pact and the Lebanese constitution.
Mouawad thanked Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... leader for delegating a representative to attend Friday's event, telling MP Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... , however, that Hizbullah's path "does not resemble" his ideologies.
"If Hizbullah's project wins, we will all pay the price," the Independence Movement leader stressed.
Addressing Aoun, Mouawad continued: "You belong to the party defending the state and legitimacy and I sincerely urge you to meet us and the moderate front to defend together Leb, its identity and the presidency."
The ceremony was held in Dbaye with the participation of a wide range of March 14 politicians and representatives of President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... , caretaker premier Najib Miqati, Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam, Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... as well as of religious figures.
President Rene Mouawad was killed on Independence Day in 1989 in an attack blamed on Syria by the Mouawad family and Damascus' foes in Leb.
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A senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official says effective measures to stop the flow of foreign-sponsored militants into Syria will help the forthcoming Geneva II conference on the ongoing Syrian crisis to bear fruit, PressTV reported.
"The success of the Geneva II [conference] depends on the halt of support for the flow of terrorists and arms into Syria," Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in Tehran on Friday.
Then his lips fell off and his nose grew significantly...
He described Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi's visit to Tehran ahead of the Geneva peace talks as highly significant.
Amir-Abdollahian added that Halqi, who arrived in Tehran earlier in the day, seeks to exchange views on the formulation of a political roadmap for the Syrian crisis and the establishment of regional peace, stability and security during his stay in the Iranian capital.
"The important point is that attempts were made over the past 30 months to eliminate Syria from the resistance movement or substantially weaken it through the flow of weapons and terrorists into the country," the Iranian deputy foreign minister stated.
As opposed to the flow of arms and 'volunteers' to Hezbollah and the Syrian army...
He added, "We are witnessing that the perseverance of the Syrian people, the Syrian Army and even the opposition supporting a political solution has resulted in great achievements, and most parties now believe that a political solution is the only viable way out of the Syrian crisis."
Amir-Abdollahian further noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran differentiates between opposition groups who support a political solution for Syria's future and foreign-backed militant groups operating inside Syria.
The top Iranian official said Tehran is holding consultations with regional allies as well as the Syrian government to work out a joint solution and help the coming Syrian peace talks in Geneva to emerge fruitful.
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Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi says Iran's success in working out a nuclear deal with the six world powers will be followed by the victory of the Syrian nation in the course of the crisis in the Arab country, PressTV reported.
Speaking to reporters upon his arrival at Tehran Mehrabad International Airport on Friday afternoon, Halqi expressed confidence that Iran's success in its nuclear dossier will lead to further victories in the region, including the triumph of the Syrian nation.
The Syrian prime minister noted that his trip to Tehran is mainly aimed at conveying Syria's congratulations to Iran over the achievement of the Islamic Republic's nuclear deal.
Iran and the six major world powers sealed an interim deal in Geneva on Sunday morning to pave the way for the full resolution of the West's decade-old dispute with Iran over the country's nuclear energy program.
In exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities,
...which is already in dispute...
the United States and its allies have agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against the country.
Halqi expressed gratitude to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and the Iranian nation over their support for Syria, and noted that the Syrian nation will soon celebrate its great victory in Damascus, representing the triumph of the resistance movement.
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The U.S. State Department extended six-month Iran sanctions waivers on Friday to China, India, South Korea and other countries in exchange for their reducing purchases of Iranian crude oil earlier this year.The waivers had been expected, Reuters reported.
Under a law governing sanctions imposed on Iran's disputed nuclear program by the United States, the State Department is required to determine whether the Islamic Republic's oil consumers have reduced their purchases.
The decision comes even after the United States and five other global powers, known as the P5+1, agreed in Geneva this month to ease Iran's access to about $4.2 billion in foreign currency reserves for six months in exchange for
...who the hell knows...
Tehran's taking steps to curb its nuclear program.
The waivers, which the State Department calls exceptions, mean that banks in the consuming countries will not face being cut off from the U.S. financial system for the next six months.
"We will continue to aggressively enforce our sanctions over the next six months, as we work to determine whether there is a comprehensive solution that gives us confidence that the Iranian nuclear program is for exclusively peaceful purposes," Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.
Since the beginning of the sanctions regime in 2012, all 20 of Iran's oil customers have qualified for the periodic waivers. But despite the Geneva agreement, the United States reserves the right to sanction any oil consuming country should it suddenly increase its purchases.
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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.
[Washington Post] The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan apologized Friday for mistakenly killing a 2-year-old child during an airstrike, but Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the attack may scuttle a long-term security agreement with the United States.
[THEGUARDIAN] Afghanistan's government has backed away from a proposal to reintroduce public stoning as a punishment for adultery after the leak of a draft law stirred up a storm of international condemnation.
Khaleda Zia
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[An Nahar] Hizbullah condemned on Friday the assault against a number of residents from the Jabal Mohsen neighborhood in the northern city of 
Michel Aoun
Najib Miqati
