I'm guessing that the RDSTP is the only media venue outside of bluegrass publications that has had more than zero photos of people holding mando-cellos or mandolas in the past ten years. By my count we're up to four, but there may have been more.
Keep up the good work, Fred.
Posted by: no mo uros ||
03/10/2013 7:39 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Welp, look like NMU has cracked the secret of Fred's primitive string fetish.
Next up Wymen with Ukes who bath intelligently designed.
[Tolo News] At least seven civilians and two Afghan security forces have been killed while 13 more civilians have been injured in a suicide attack outside the Ministry of Defence in Kabul city Saturday morning, officials said.
The attack took place about 09:00 am local time, shortly after the new US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Afghanistan on an official visit, chief of Kabul's Criminal Investigation Department General Mohammad Zahir said.
According to Ministry of Defence spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi, the bomber was on a bicycle and detonated his explosives at the first gate of the ministry.
"The bomber was on a bicycle, he was wearing a suicide vest and targeted the reception gate of the ministry. Unfortunately most of the casualties are civilians," he said.
Reports said a loud explosion was followed by the sound of gunfire, but there was only one insurgent attacker - the bomber.
More security forces arrived in the area and brought the situation under control as ambulances took away casualties to nearby hospitals.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast in a text message to media.
"More than 15 soldiers were killed in the attack. The attack happened during the trip of the US defence secretary, and the attack had a message for him," the Taliban said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
torched buildings in Cairo and tried unsuccessfully to disrupt international shipping on the Suez Canal, as a court ruling on a deadly soccer riot stoked rage in a country beset by worsening security.
Brilliant. Close off the last remaining source of foreign revenue in a land that can't feed itself.
The ruling enraged residents of Port Said, at the northern entrance of the Suez Canal, by confirming the death sentences imposed on 21 local soccer fans for their role in the riot last year, when more than 70 people were killed.
But the court also angered rival fans in Cairo by acquitting a further 28 defendants whom they wanted punished, including seven members of the police force, reviled across society for its brutality under deposed autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Security sources said two people, a man in his 30s and a young boy, had died in Cairo from the effects of tear gas and rubber bullets. A total of 65 people were injured.
The presidency said in a statement that the protests had not been peaceful and condemned violence against property. The cabinet issued a similar statement and called on Egyptians to unite and respect court rulings.
The stadium riot took place last year at the end of a match in Port Said between the local side Al-Masry and Cairo's Al-Ahly team. Spectators were crushed when panicked crowds tried to escape from the stadium after a pitch invasion by Al-Masry supporters. Others fell or were thrown from terraces.
Judge Sobhy Abdel Maguid, listing the names of the 21 Al-Masry fans, said the Cairo court had confirmed "the death penalty by hanging". He also sentenced five more people to life imprisonment while others out of a total of 73 defendants received shorter terms.
In Cairo, local Al-Ahly fans vented their rage at the acquittals, setting fire to a police social club, the nearby offices of the Egyptian soccer federation and a branch of a fast food chain, sending smoke rising over the capital. A military helicopter scooped up water from the nearby Nile and dropped it on the burning buildings.
"Ultra" fans, the section of Al-Ahly supporters responsible for much of the violence, said they expected retribution for those who had planned the Port Said "massacre".
"What is happening today in Cairo is the beginning of the anger. Wait for more if the remaining elements embroiled in this massacre are not revealed," the Ultras said in a statement.
In Port Said, where the army took over security in the city center from the police on Friday, about 2,000 residents who want the local fans spared execution blockaded ferries crossing the Suez Canal. Witnesses said youths also untied moored speedboats used to supply shipping on the waterway, hoping the boats would drift into the path of passing vessels.
Military police recovered five speedboats and brought them back to shore, but two were still drifting, one witness said.
Authorities controlling the Canal, an artery for global trade and major income source for the Egyptian government, said through traffic had not been affected. "The canal ... is safe and open to all ships passing through it," Suez Canal Authority spokesman Tarek Hassanein told the MENA news agency.
Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, a popular Salafi preacher, condemned attempts by the opposition and youth groups to "burn the country down" as a pretext to create a power vacuum and bring back military rule.
"We will face any attempts by the opposition ... to bring back military rule. We have popular blocs to protect and guard," Ismail said.
The Salafi Al-Nour Party and the Gama'a al-Islamiyya, blamed for a spate of violence in Egypt in the 1990s, made similar statements, calling on their followers to replace the police force should it pull off the streets.
General Ahmed Wasfy, who heads the army division in Port Said rejected calls for a return to military rule. The military is in charge of security in Port Said and other canal cities.
"The Egyptian armed forces is a combat institution not a security institution. No one can imagine the army replacing the interior ministry," he was quoted on MENA as saying.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/10/2013 10:39 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Pretty soon ships will start heading around the Cape of Good Hope again after Egypt descends into chaos.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/10/2013 13:43 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Or the civilized world will take over the property from Egypt. At least that's how it would have happened in the past. But today's 'civilized' world has no will. Except China... that would give them effective control of both the Panama and Suez canals.
#3
I doubt they'll do anything to the Suez. The military will mow the protesters down way before that happens.
Posted by: Charles ||
03/10/2013 14:46 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I realize how important the money from the Suez Canal is to Egypt, but how useful is the Suez nowadays to the rest of the world for shipping? Aren't a lot of today's ships too large for it? Or am I just blowing smoke thinking of something else?
Posted by: Barbara ||
03/10/2013 15:16 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Glenmore, won't happen. The Suez Incident of 1956 illustrates the issue. There is no country today (except perhaps Russia) who would be bold enough to try and seize the Suez given the inevitable world condemnation, progressive outcry and rattle-banging, and challenges from the locals.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/10/2013 15:55 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Barb, it's still very, very important... see SuezMax
The Suez Canal can (currently) take ships larger than the Panama Canal.
#7
The Canal is a very powerful symbol of global modernism and commerce (sort of an antithesis to I-lam?). Angry and desperate, yet distracted, people will, like a coyote, gnaw their own leg off (if only figuratively)....
#8
Transited the Suez in 87 on the Kitty Hawk, flight deck appeared to overhang both shorelines. Felt like we had a big target painted on us, even with armed Tomcats turning on the cats (the Dreaded Alert 5's).....
After multiple enlargements, the canal is 193.30 km (120.11 mi) long, 24 m (79 ft) deep and 205 metres (673 ft) wide as of 2010.
The canal allows passage of ships up to 20 m (66 ft) draft or 240,000 deadweight tons and up to a maximum height of 68 m (223 ft) above water level and a maximum beam of 77.5 m (254 ft) under certain conditions.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/10/2013 19:10 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Thanks, Ship - Rantburg U. strikes again. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara ||
03/10/2013 20:43 Comments ||
Top||
[Iran Press TV] An Egyptian protester has been killed in fresh clashes that erupted in Cairo following the announcement of a court ruling on last year's soccer riot.
The head of Egypt's emergency services, Mohammed Sultan, said a protester "suffocated" after inhaling tear gas and "died in the ambulance on his way to hospital" on Saturday.
However, other contradicting reports indicated that a protester was shot dead in clashes with riot police in central Cairo. A witness at the scene said he saw the protester being brought to a mosque near Liberation Square with gunshot wounds.
Earlier in the day, Egyptian soccer fans set fire to the country's soccer association and a police club complex in the capital following the announcement of the verdict.
Cairo Criminal Court upheld the death sentence for 21 defendants in the 2012 Port Said soccer riot trial. The court also handed life sentences to five other defendants, gave 19 lesser jail terms and acquitted 28 others.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[An Nahar] Chad's 2,000-strong contingent in Mali, which has played a leading part in the fight against jihadist militants, on Saturday officially joined the regional African force deployed there.
"As of today, our Chadian brothers who are fighting to liberate Mali are joining AFISMA," Ivorian army chief Soumaila Bakayoko, whose country currently chairs the regional bloc ECOWAS, told reporters.
"This is good news, it will strengthen cohesion," he said after meeting his counterparts in Dakar.
He said a Chadian general would take one of the two vice presidencies of the African-led force for Mali known as AFISMA.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
[FRANCE24] France's defense minister says two French citizens fighting alongside extremists have been detained over the past week in the West African country of Mali.
French authorities have warned that disaffected French radicals could travel to Mali to join al-Qaida-linked forces, and potentially come home with skills to stage terrorist attacks in Europe.
Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Europe-1 radio Friday that two Frenchmen have been detained in Mali since French forces launched a military campaign there in January.
One was detained by Malian police and extradited to France on Thursday, Le Drian said. He said the other was taken prisoner during fighting in northern Mali and will be extradited Friday.
About a dozen French citizens are believed to have traveled to the region to join the extremists.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
I bet the Leginaires had a few "words" with them...
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
03/10/2013 15:29 Comments ||
Top||
[Al Ahram] Following a court verdict on Saturday, rioters set two public buildings in Cairo ablaze, plunging Egypt into more chaos and giving beleaguered president Mohamed Morsi a fresh challenge as he bids to control an outpouring of anger in several cities.
The visibly angry crowd, identified by eyewitnesses as members of Ultras Ahlawy, a group of ardent Ahly supporters, embarked on a rioting spree after seven security officials were acquitted in the infamous Port Said football disaster trial.
Three people have also died, one an eight-year-old, in separate clashes between protesters and police forces on Qars El-Nil Bridge near Tahrir Square, which has been a hotbed for demonstrations since the 2011 uprising that toppled autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak.
Two of the nine security officials charged in the Port Said case received 15-year prison sentences each, but the verdict was not enough to placate the anger of Ultras Ahlawy members who vowed to take the matter into their own hands; intending to make up for what they perceive as lenient punishments for the culprits of Egypt's worst-ever football disaster.
Former Port Said security director Essam Samak and the head of the city's water-bodies security department, Mohamed Saad, were convicted for their role in the deaths of over 70 Ahly fans, who were confronted by a hostile Masry crowd at the end of an ill-tempered league game on 1 February 2012.
"Today's acquittals of most of the police 'dogs' are a clear sign that the trial was a sham and the officials we stressed should be convicted were intentionally found innocent," Ultras Ahlawy said in another strongly worded statement on their official Facebook page.
"What happened today in Cairo is only the beginning of our rage. Even more of it will surface if all officials involved in the massacre are not put on trial. We will not be placated by the sentencing of just two police 'dogs'."
The court also confirmed death penalties by hanging for 21 Masry fans and sentenced five more people to life imprisonment. The convictions did little, however, to appease the protestors who torched the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) premises and a police social club in the upscale Zamalek district, Cairo.
The EFA headquarter was also ransacked, with photos posted on social network sites showing men grasping the African Cup of Nations trophy, the precious prize Egypt's national team won three times in 2006, 2008 and 2010. The cup was later safeguarded by officials who were present at the scene, according to the Public Prosecution.
"Large numbers of Ultras Ahlawy burned all the documents and papers. The history of Egyptian football is now lost and cannot be recovered," said EFA chief executive Tharwat Sweilam.
The EFA opted against halting domestic football activity despite previous threats from Ultras Ahlawy that they would ruin any attempts to stage Premier League games "if justice was not done in the Port Said case".
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Al Ahram] Hundreds of people protested in Tunis on Saturday against the Islamist-dominated regime, in a rally that was orginially planned in support of women's rights, witnesses said.
"The people demand the fall of the regime!" protesters shouted as they carried placards criticising the composition of a new cabinet announced on Friday in the latest attempt to pull Tunisia out of its worst political crisis since the revolution two years ago.
"The cabinet reshuffle was a piece of theatre," read one placard.
The new cabinet unveiled by premier-designate Ali Larayedh from the powerful Islamist party Ennahda is to replace the team of fellow Islamist Hamadi Jebali who stepped down as prime minister last month after his own efforts to form a new cabinet failed.
Larayedh, the outgoing interior minister, was tapped to form the new government in the wake of Jebali's failure to do so, following the February 6 assassination of leftist leader Chokri Belaid that plunged Tunisia into turmoil.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Guardian Ng] The Military Joint Task Force (JTF) Saturday said it was "not certain" of reporting killing of seven foreign hostages by the Ansar al-Muslimeen (widely known as Ansaru), a splinter group of the Boko Haram sect.
The militant group announced the deaths of seven workers from a construction company, who had been taken hostage last month. It reportedly released video stills of some of the bodies and blamed the deaths on a joint Nigerian-British military operation intended to free the hostages. There was no immediate word from those governments.
The militants, on February 18, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the seven construction workers taken from their office in the Northeast.
An e-mail from Ansaru said it took the hostages two days earlier because of "transgression and atrocities" against Islam in Afghanistan, Mali and other locations.
Those kidnapped, included workers from Italy, Greece, Britain and Lebanon.
Gunmen took the workers from the offices of Setraco, a construction company in Jama'are, in Bauchi State, according to the Police.
The company is based in Abuja and is involved in many major road construction projects in northern Nigeria.
Last night, JTF's Spokesman, Lt Col Sagir Musa, told The Guardian that he was not "certain" of the report, adding that "it is not in my Area of Responsibility (AOR)."
The Guardian had tried to reach Spokesman of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Frank Mba, a chief superintendent of police (CSP) but the calls rang out. A text message sent to his mobile phone on the matter was not responded to as at the time of filing the report.
Meanwhile, the JTF in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, Saturday, said it killed 52 Boko Haram sect members, including 10 commanders in the last 10 days.
It carried out the operation in the Zajeri, Bulabulin and Bayan wards of the metropolis.
In a cordon-and-search mission, 70 suspected terrorists were also arrested in various parts of the wards, which are located two kilometres North-East of JTF headquarters.
The Friday operation that lasted over five hours, according to JTF sources, led to the discovery of a cache of arms and ammunition at a compound in Zajeri at about 7pm.
They include 28 rifles, 47 magazines, 20 Rapid Propelled Grenades and 11, 068 rounds of ammunition.
Displaying the terrorists' weapons and three operational Toyota Hilux vehicles to reporters yesterday, JTF spokesman, Lt. Col Sagir Musa, said the seizure, which includes three antiaircraft guns, is the largest ever made.
Other items include General Propelled Grenades (GPG) guns, G3 rifles, 10 Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) tubes, 17 Kalashnikov rifles, 20 RPG bombs, 12 RPG chargers, 1x36 hand-held grenades, a teargas rifle, 33 AK 47 magazines, 11 FN magazines, 3 G3 magazines, box of weapons cleaning kit, two technical vehicles with mounted anti aircraft stands, four swords and two knives, five units of walkie-talkies, four VHF hand-held sets, a router and assorted uniforms and kits.
The JTF statement reads in part: "based on information and intelligence report, series of operations were conducted by the Joint Task Force's Operation 'Restore Order' in the last 10 days in Borno State.
The latest was conducted at Bulabulin, Bayern Quarters and Zajeri in Maiduguri metropolis between 3-8pm on Friday. During these operations, there were exchanges of fire that led to the death of 52 Boko Haram terrorists, including 10 commanders of the sect. 70 terrorists were also arrested.
"In the period under review, the JTF lost two personnel, three were wounded and no civilian casualty was recorded.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
[Bangla Daily Star] Leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami brought out a brisk procession and blasted four cocktails in Fakirerpool area of the capital Saturday morning.
No one was reported injured, said Hayatuzzaman Mollah, officer-in-charge of the Motijheel Police Station.
The OC said over 150 Jamaat men brought out a procession in Fakirerpool area around 10:30am, demanding cancellation of death penalty for their Nayeb-e-Ameer Delawar Hossain Sayedee.
They also demanded immediate release of their all leaders, the OC said.
Being chased by police, the processionists fled the scene immediately after exploding four cocktails, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
#1
blasted four cocktails
But no sign of the dreaded shutter highball...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/10/2013 12:49 Comments ||
Top||
#2
But no sign of the dreaded shutter highball...
Maybe they used a Singapore Sling(shot) instead....
[Bangla Daily Star] Police arrested 14 activists of Islami Chhtara Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, in Chittagong on charge of planning subversive activities.
On information that a group of Shibir men were holding a secret meeting, law enforcers raided a building in the Haque Shaheber goli (lane) in the city Saturday afternoon, said Md Alamgir Hossain, officer-in-charge of Patenga Police Station.
Activists of Jamaat-Shibir carried out subversive activities in different parts of the country since the pronouncement of the war crimes trial verdict against Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee on February 28.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
[Bangla Daily Star] A drug pusher was killed in a "shootout" between his cohorts and Rab personnel in Savar early yesterday.
Drug people get the honour of Rab shootouts? When did that happen?
The dear departed, Munnaf Hossain alias Munna, 40,
...a middle class two-namer...
was accused in at least 30 cases
Whoa! That's a lot!
for various offences, including drug peddling, abduction and murder, said Savar Police. Not a nice guy, I guess
One hopes his mother loved him. It's so sad when even the miscreant's mother cares naught for him, be he ever so wicked.
Acting on a tip-off that a consignment of illegal drug was on its way to Savar, a team of Rab-4 conducted a drive in Khosrubagh area around 12:25am, said police. When it comes to drug, the early bird gets the goods.
Md Asaduzzaman, officer-in-charge of Savar Police Station, claimed that a "shootout" ensued after Munna and his gang opened fire on the law enforcers. What? No spidey sense? No tingling?
Not even Mahmoud the Weasel or one of his relatives. However did the Rab know where to find Mr. Munna, et al?
Munna was killed on the spot,
Whew! At least they did that much.
while his associates managed to flee the scene. ... as though they had never been... Rab seized a revolver, several rounds of bullet and 300 bottles of Phensidyl from the scene, said police.
Hurrah! It's been a while since Round of Bullet Man wrote the report.
Munna's body was taken to Dhaka Medical College Morgue for an appointment with Dr. Quincy.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
[Iran Press TV] Radical Palestinian-Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada has been arrested for allegedly breaching his bail conditions, the British Home Office says.
UK Border Agency (UKBA) officials arrested Qatada outside his home in the British capital on Friday, following raids by the Metropolitan Police Service Counter Terrorism unit.
His arrest comes days ahead of the British government's latest court bid to have him deported to Jordan, where he has been convicted of terror charges in his absence in 1999.
A Home Office spokesperson said, "The UK Border Agency arrested a 52-year-old man from north London for alleged breaches of his bail conditions imposed by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC)."
British justice system has accused Qatada of being linked to al-Qaeda and threatening the country's national security, but no charges have been introduced against him.
Abu Qatada was detained in October 2002 under anti-terrorism laws that authorized imprisonment of suspected terrorists without any charges.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Is he still on the dole? At one time it was like 4K pounds a week or something close to that.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
03/10/2013 10:17 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I look for the day we can say EX, as in Hugo's case.
What a slimeball.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/10/2013 12:48 Comments ||
Top||
The recently appointed tourism minister in western Jalisco state was shot to death Saturday while driving in a suburb of Guadalajara in an attack that may have been related to his business dealings, authorities said. of course...nothing to do with the rest of the killings No reason why it couldn't be both...
Jose de Jesus Gallegos Alvarez was shot with a 9-mm pistol during a chase as he drove his Toyota SUV in Zapopan, State Government General Secretary Arturo Zamora said. He said preliminary investigations indicated the attack was not related to Gallegos' work promoting tourism. Well, it's not helping
Jalisco is home to Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city, as well as such popular Mexican traditions as mariachi music and tequila, cartels and assassinations.
The attack may have had to do with his private business dealings, Zamora said. uh huh...you keep saying that
According to profile material, Gallegos, an engineer, was founder and president of Jegal Project and Construction Management, a key developer of the Mayan Resorts and several condominium towers in Guadalajara and resort cities such as Acapulco, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta. wellll, there you have it! An Engineer!
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2013 10:46 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
For a map, click here. For a map of Durango state, click here
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A press release by the new commander of the Mexican 10th Military zone, published in the online edition of yancuic.com, said that people near the La Laguna region can expect military checkpoints in the region.
Thursday, General de Brigada Georges Andre Van Lissum Foullon took command of the 10th Military Zone, whose headquarters are located in Durango city. The new appointment replaces General de Brigada Jose de Jesus Hernandez Rivera, who was appointed commander of Operativo Laguna, the new security operation begun late last month.
In terms of the type of commander the newly inaugurated president Enrique Pena Nieto wants as he prepares to stand the military down from security duties in Mexico's drug war, General Lissum Foullon is as good as it gets.
According to Mexican news sources, General Lissum Foullon was born in Mexico City on May 15, 1956, and joined the Mexican Army September 1st, 1971. He formerly held command of the Mexican 2nd Motorized Cavalry Regiment in Nuevo Laredo in Tamaulipas. Among his other duties, during that time he conducted a weapons buyback program in the city.
General Lissum Foullon was promoted to General de Brigada in November 2010, and was appointed commander of the Mexican 4th Military Zone based in Hermosillo, Sonora in 2011.
General Lisson Fullon was also military attache in Spain, a prerequisite for top military commands in the Mexican Army.
The general held command during the Tubutama, Sonora gunfight which killed 24 gang members in July of 2010. Two months after the end of that bloody dual, he commented that the local gang activity in his zone of operations was unlike other areas in Mexico, saying "...security systems, the state and municipalities, have been working properly and that's one of the parameters that we can see." The report began by saying southern Sonora state was one of the safest in Mexico.
During his tenure as commander of the 4th Military Zone he appeared to be the go-to guy for local news about the military, never at a loss to tout the activities and achievements of his command.
Mindful of the civilian component of his duties, the General was also quoted in a Sonora state newspaper as saying that education was the key to fighting drug trafficking, saying the rural areas are vulnerable, but adding that federal and state support for those area has improved.
But for the gun battles in Tubutama, the area of operation of the 4th Military Zone is basically a backwater. His new command encompasses most of Durango state including the capital city of Durango as well as the Durango side of La Laguna, currently a hard case for security and one of the most violent regions in Mexico.
His holding command of the 4th Military Zone for two years, apparently his first Military Zone command since making General de Brigada, speaks well of his command since Mexican Army general staff do not appear to like trouble and prefer to keep good commanders in place to train troops.
General Lissum Foullon will have his work cut out for him as the Operativo Laguna security program gets into place. At the moment, Mexican press is reporting that Mexican Army units will continue to cross attach with local and state police units to improve control and cross training in La Laguna.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
[Dawn] Activists of the banned myrmidon group, Lashkar-e-Islam, on Friday took away dozens of rustics in Akkakhel area of Bara tehsil over vaccination of their children.
However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... they were freed after the intervention of a local jirga.
The relevant officials refused to share information about the incident.
Local sources told Dawn that LI local commander Nazar Mohammad along with his gunnies picked up at least 50 people in Jansi area of Akkakhel after a polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... team vaccinated their children.
They said the kidnappers chained all kidnapped people and confined them in a compound.
The sources said a jirga of local elders later got all rustics freed only after they agreed to pay a fine of Rs20,000 each for vaccinating their children against polio.
They said 20 abductees paid the fine forthwith, while the rest would do so soon.
Meanwhile, ...back at the mall, Clarissa suddenly spied Mr. Bartlett at the checkout counter. He was buying Grecian Formula!... local officials said the health authorities with the help of security forces and local political administration had made a mechanism of 'window of opportunity' in Bara to carry out polio vaccination in areas, where they felt secure.
"Under the new mechanism, health teams are dispatched to areas where security forces have full control and the campaign is not confined to stipulated days," an official said, adding that polio vaccination in Bara was a continuous process since July last year.
The officials said the health authorities had established permanent transit points at all entry and exit points of Bara in order to reach out to the maximum number of children needing vaccination.
The Friday incident was the first of its kind in Bara after July 2012 when the new polio vaccination strategy was made and put in place with 100 per cent success.
The health officials said security forces were fully cooperating with them by providing security, while the local administration identified safe localities for vaccination and persuaded local residents not to oppose vaccination of their children.
The officials said around 35,000 children under the age of five in Bara were required to be vaccinated against polio, while a good number of local children had moved out of the restive area before settling either in Jalozai Camp or in rented houses in different parts of the province, including near 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. .
They said Bara had reported no new polio case since July last year that showed the success of the new polio vaccination strategy jointly executed by the health department, security forces and political administration.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami
[Al Ahram] A police officer in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore says hundreds of people attacked a Christian neighborhood and set fire to homes after hearing that a Christian man had committed blasphemy against Islam's prophet.
Multan Khan said Saturday that the incident started Friday when a young Muslim man accused a Christian man of committing blasphemy, which is a serious criminal offense in Pakistan that can carry the death penalty.
A large crowd from a nearby mosque went to the Christian man's home on Friday night and Khan said police took the man into custody to try to pacify the crowd.
Fearing for their safety, hundreds of Christian families fled the area overnight.
Khan said the mob returned on Saturday and began ransacking Christian homes and setting them on fire.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
[Al Ahram] A bomb blast inside a Sunni Muslim mosque on Saturday killed five people and wounded 28 others in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar, officials said.
The explosion took place while people were saying afternoon prayers in the mosque located in the densely populated Mohalla Baqar Shah area of Peshawar city.
"The death toll rose to five after a blast victim died of his wounds in hospital," local senior police official Khalid Hamdani told AFP.
Earlier another local police official, Imran Shahid, said the bomb was planted inside the mosque.
He said there were up to 40 people in the building at the time of the blast.
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf condemned the bombing and said "such acts of terror cannot weaken the nation's resolve to wipe out terrorism from our society", an official statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Was the bomb planted there? Being made there and prematurely explodated? Or was the bomber going for a last prayer before heading elsewhere to blow up, but Allan has a sense of humor?
[Al Ahram] Iraqi authorities deployed security forces around the main rallying point for Sunni protests in western Iraq overnight and warned on Saturday that the area had become a haven for terrorists.
The operation was likely to further heighten tensions between Iraq's Sunni minority and the Shiite-dominated government. It comes a day after a demonstrator was killed when security forces opened fire at another Sunni-led protest in the north of the country.
Witnesses reported seeing a large number of security forces, including more than 20 Humvees, deployed before dawn Saturday around the protest area on a highway in Ramadi, the capital of the vast western territory of Anbar. They said the forces withdrew from the area later in the morning.
The head of police for the western Anbar region, Brig. Gen. Hadi Arzeij, announced the crackdown in a televised press conference.
"The protest site has become a safe haven for some terrorists, terrorist networks and killers," he said. "As security forces, we do not allow a presence like this regardless of any pretext or excuse."
For more than two months, a site along the highway in Ramadi has been the center of demonstrations by Sunni Arabs against the Shiite-led government.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
Syrian Sunni Muslim rebels have launched a counter-offensive to ease an army siege on their strongholds in the central city of Homs, breaking through government lines in the north and west, opposition sources said on Sunday.
Homs, 140 km (88 miles) north of Damascus, lies at a vital road juncture linking army bases on the coast, where a large proportion of President Bashar al-Assad's minority Alawite sect live, and government forces in the capital Damascus.
Both sides have taken heavy casualties since the army went on the attack 10 days ago to take the central districts of Khalidya, al-Qusour and Old Homs, where rebel brigades have been dug in for months, according to opposition military sources.
Fighters based in the provinces of Hama and Idlib advanced on Homs this weekend from the north while brigades from rural Homs attacked government positions in the western Baba Amro district. This was overrun by the army after a long siege a year ago and subsequently visited by President Bashar al-Assad.
Abu Imad, an opposition activist in Homs, said the sound of aerial bombardment on Baba Amro was shaking the city.
[An Nahar] Clashes raged on Saturday between Syrian troops and rebels in Daraa in the south, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that loud blasts were heard in Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... province.
Meanwhile, ...back at the barn, Bossy had come up with a new idea... government forces used heavy artillery against rebel positions in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, it added.
Rebels and regime forces also clashed near a village where U.N. peacekeepers are being held hostage, an activist said, complicating efforts to free them.
U.N. officials have said arrangements are in place for the release of the 21 Filipino peacekeepers, but a rescue mission on Friday was aborted because of regime shelling in the area.
A U.N. team was en route to the village Saturday afternoon to retrieve the hostages but stopped several kilometers (miles) away because of the fighting, said a rebel front man.
Instead, rebels began escorting the captives to the nearby Syrian-Jordanian border, the front man told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named via Skype, insisting on anonymity for fear of reprisals.
At least 146 people were killed in violence in Syria on Friday, according to the Observatory, in a conflict the U.N. says has killed more than 70,000 people in nearly two years.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
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.
[Tolo News] At least seven civilians and two Afghan security forces have been killed while 13 more civilians have been injured in a suicide attack outside the Ministry of Defence in Kabul city Saturday morning, officials said.
PORT SAID -- Egyptian protesters 
[Iran Press TV] An Egyptian protester has been killed in fresh clashes that erupted in Cairo following the announcement of a court ruling on last year's soccer riot.
[FRANCE24] France's defense minister says two French citizens fighting alongside extremists have been detained over the past week in the West African country of Mali.
[Al Ahram] Following a court verdict on Saturday, rioters set two public buildings in Cairo ablaze, plunging Egypt into more chaos and giving beleaguered president Mohamed Morsi a fresh challenge as he bids to control an outpouring of anger in several cities.
[Al Ahram] Hundreds of people protested in Tunis on Saturday against the Islamist-dominated regime, in a rally that was orginially planned in support of women's rights, witnesses said.
[Guardian Ng] The Military Joint Task Force (JTF) Saturday said it was "not certain" of reporting killing of seven foreign hostages by the Ansar al-Muslimeen (widely known as Ansaru), a splinter group of the Boko Haram sect.
[Bangla Daily Star] Police arrested 14 activists of Islami Chhtara Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, in Chittagong on charge of planning subversive activities.
[Bangla Daily Star] A 
[Iran Press TV] Radical Palestinian-Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada has been arrested for allegedly breaching his bail conditions, the British Home Office says.
The recently appointed tourism minister in western Jalisco state was shot to death Saturday while driving in a suburb of Guadalajara in an attack that may have been related to his business dealings, authorities said.
[Dawn] Activists of the banned
[Al Ahram] A police officer in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore says hundreds of people attacked a Christian neighborhood and set fire to homes after hearing that a Christian man had committed blasphemy against Islam's prophet.
[Al Ahram] A bomb blast inside a Sunni Muslim mosque on Saturday killed five people and wounded 28 others in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar, officials said.
[An Nahar] Clashes raged on Saturday between Syrian troops and rebels in Daraa in the south, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that loud blasts were heard in 
