Beam, the maker of Jim Beam and Maker's Mark bourbons along with other liquor brands, has agreed to be acquired by Japan's Suntory Holdings Ltd. for approximately $13.62 billion.
Posted by: Black Charlie ||
01/13/2014 10:50 Comments ||
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#4
The Japanese buying American again. What was it last time, Rockefeller Center and Pebble Beach for breathtaking prices, then sold back for pennies on the dollar? Slurp!
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/13/2014 11:26 Comments ||
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#5
Black Female Texas Tea Party Member decides to tackle a Texas Rhino. Announces run for U.S. House, challenges Sessions.
"No President is going to change your life circumstances." Video from 2009 correctly predicting changes in the House in the 2010 elections.
#7
For what it's worth Maker's Mark is too treacle-y for my tastes; I prefer my Bourbon to be like Katrina Pearson: deep, complex, and with a bit of bite.
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/13/2014 14:22 Comments ||
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#8
Try the Jim Beam Devil's Cut.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/13/2014 15:59 Comments ||
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#9
Nominated For Addition to Fred's "Women Who Bathe Of Crazy That Begins With The Eyes"
[An Nahar] A Taliban jacket wallah riding a bicycle let 'er rip next to a police bus in Kabul on Sunday, killing a policeman and a civilian in the first major attack in the Afghan capital this year.
The attacker targeted the bus as it left a police training center on the Jalalabad road, a main route out of the city and a regular scene of myrmidon strikes in recent years.
"We have two people killed -- a policeman and a civilian," Hashmat Stanikzai, Kabul city police front man, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
He said the suicide bomber riding a bicycle targeted the police bus and that 20 police and passers-by had also been maimed, some of them seriously.
Sayed Gul Agha Hashimi, chief of Kabul's Criminal Investigation Department, confirmed the corpse count and estimated number of injured.
The bus was left at the side of the road with its chassis badly damaged and most of its windows broken.
Eye-witness Abdul Majeed, a stallkeeper who was at the scene, told AFP: "I saw a bicycle rider hit the bus and then heard an kaboom."
The Taliban, who have been fighting the U.S.-backed government since 2001, grabbed credit for the attack.
"One of our mujahideen fighters targeted a police bus belonged to the police training center," Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban front man, said.
"As a result of this attack, a number of coppers and officers were killed and maimed."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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[Tolo News] Nearly 20 forces of Evil surrendered their weapons on Sunday in western Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... province and joined the government grinding of the peace processor, local officials said.
Provincial Governor Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi said that 19 fighters renounced their Taliban ties as they handed weapons over to the government during in the province.
The forces of Evil have been fighting against the government in the Chesht and Krokh districts of the province, he said.
"This is a very clear message regarding the national solidarity of Afghanistan. They came and joined in the grinding of the peace processor," he said.
Officials of the Provincial Council have urged other forces of Evil to renounce violence and join in the grinding of the peace processor.
More than 1,000 forces of Evil have renounced violence in the province since the grinding of the peace processor began, officials said.
Recently, the Afghan cops have ramped up operations across the country in preparation for the upcoming 2014 elections.
There are over 350,000 Afghan soldiers serving at the moment. Foreign troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, after handing over full security responsibility to the Afghan forces.
Nevertheless, coalition and Afghan officials maintain that nearly all operational oversight has been handed over to the Afghan forces already.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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[Shabelle] war broke out between Somali Government forces and Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... fighter's in Banadir's Yaqshid specifically Towfiq suburbs.
A guerilla attack instigated the confrontations when Alshabab fighter's attacked a SNA base located in the suburbs which resulted to retaliation from the Government troops.
The Somali police situated in Yaqshid district immediately arrived at the scene but the shabab fighters withdrew and fled the area.
A Somali police front man in the district who shabelle radio contacted confirmed to the media service that an attack took place but declined that there were no casualties caused by attacks from their opponents.
In the past few weeks, Yaqshid district has come under attacks from Shabaaba fighters who often target Government bases. Security in the region has been beefed up.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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[MAGHAREBIA] Tunisian troops early Thursday prevented two separate attempts by terrorist gangs to infiltrate Kasserine neighbourhoods, Tunisie Numerique reported.
According to the interior ministry, authorities in Kasserine are hunting an Algerian national involved in the killings of Tunisian security forces in the Jebel Chaambi region.
Khaled Chaieb (aka Abu Sakhr Lokmane) was part of a terrorist group that fled Wednesday night after exchanging gunfire with an army unit.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Ansar al-Sharia
[MAGHAREBIA] A member of Algeria's Legitimate Defence Group (GLD) died Thursday (January 9th) from injuries sustained a day earlier during a terrorist abduction in Bouira, Tout sur l'Algerie reported. Terrorists forced the patriot to drive them through a security checkpoint in Kadiria, alhadath-dz reported. The civilian was mortally wounded when his abductors opened fire on ANP troops.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Violent festivities erupted Sunday afternoon between pro-Morsi students and security forces outside Cairo University with several students injured.
The festivities began when 10 pro-Morsi students
Waitaminit! All this fuss for less than a dozen protestors? I remember when the Ikhwan could call up tens of thousands for a flash mob. Ten is just embarrassing.
from "Students Against Coup" (SAC) organised a rally that roamed Cairo University grounds and then left campus heading from Al-Nahda Square to Dokki Street where they were met by security forces.
The students rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against this week's constitutional referendum, describing it as a scandal and demanding the reinstatement of ousted president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... . The students also chanted against the interior ministry. SAC has been calling for a boycott of the referendum.
"... And a pony!"
Security forces dispersed the protest with tear gas while students hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails, torching a police kiosk near Cairo University. Police managed to force the students to retreat back to Cairo University campus where they were continued to protest and hurl rocks at security forces.
Cairo University in Giza and Al-Azhar University in Cairo, along with Ain Shams University, also in the capital, have witnessed frequent violent festivities between security forces and pro-Morsi students since the start of the academic year.
Yes, but ten? A Texas Ranger would laugh himself silly.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Think of it this way: Just what kind of an education would you have really gotten if you HAD gone to Cairo University?
Even on a good day.
Don't you wish you were a Moslem and got a fine Moslem education? At a prestigious University in Cairo, say?
Yeah.
#4
#3 Pappy, at least at one time Cairo U. graduated some fine students.
Hey, I earned my BS from CU in archeology,
then an MA in ancient Egyptian cosmetology.
Now my future looks bright, with good remuneration,
as I run my own Parlor of Mummification!
[An Nahar] Rival turbans struck a truce Sunday and hugged each other in a neighborhood of the Central African Republic's capital on the eve of consultations aimed at replacing the president who resigned under international pressure.
The event reported by witnesses and CAR's chief of staff offered a glimmer of hope that weeks of deadly sectarian violence would end following the resignation Friday of Michel Djotodia, the mainly Christian country's first Moslem president who left to Benin on Saturday.
It followed deadly weekend violence including reports of cannibalism and widespread looting in the capital Bangui. The situation in Bangui was calmer overnight Saturday but looting was still occurring Sunday.
CAR chief of staff General Ferdinand Bomboyeke confirmed witness accounts of the laying down of arms which he said occurred after a "deal obtained" by the rivals fighting for days in a southern part of Bangui called Bimbo.
The fighting had involved men belonging to the mainly Moslem ex-Seleka rebels who brought Djotodia to power in March and Christian anti-balaka militiamen.
It was the first scene of this kind in Bangui following weeks of bloody sectarian violence.
The truce occurred after members of the French force in Bangui came to carry out a mediation effort, Roger Kombo, a CAR official said.
The fighters "hugged each other. They asked for forgiveness as people cheered," Kombo told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The fighters from both sides then went together to the neighborhood market and re-opened the checkpoint, allowing people in the area to travel about freely again, he said.
The neighborhood Seleka commander, Captain Souleimane Daouda, told AFP that "we reached a ceasefire" with the anti-balaka turbans in the area.
"There were negotiations all night. Early this morning we met. We told each other that we had no reason to fight since Djotodia is gone. We await instructions from the future authorities."
The National Transition Council, or provisional parliament, said it will on Monday begin its consultations with politicians and civil society members in a bid to elect Djotodia's successor.
The council's speaker, Alexandre-Ferdinand Nguendet, is tasked with convening a special session of the parliament to elect a new temporary president.
The council's deputy speaker Lea Koyassoum Doumta sketched out the criteria the new president must meet.
"He must be someone who can unite Central Africans, restore security, ease tensions, put everybody back to work, and pave the way for free, democratic and transparent elections," she told AFP.
Doumta said he must also "reassure" the ex-Seleka rebels as well as the anti-balaka groups formed to defend against and avenge the excesses committed by the former rebels.
The new president will inherit a country in turmoil with a climate of sectarian hatred, nearly a million people displaced in a country of 4.6 million, an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, a paralyzed government administration and an economy in chaos.
He will have little time to work magic even if he benefits from the political, military and financial support of the international community; the timetable for the transition calls for general elections to be held no later than the first half of 2015.
But La Belle France, the former colonial power which is spearheading international efforts to end the crisis here, wants elections to be held as early as the end of 2014.
Under the constitution that came into force when Djotodia came to power, the transitional president is excluded from running in the elections.
Despite the positive developments, there was still looting Sunday.
Near the 20,000-capacity stadium in the center of the capital, a gang of young men armed with machetes and clubs attacked a store, prompting the robust intervention of Congolese troops serving in the African peacekeeping force MISCA, an AFP correspondent said.
The Congolese troops chased the looters and tossed in the slammer Please don't kill me! four of them unceremoniously.
Similar incidents of looting, involving gangs wandering throughout the city in search of homes or stores to rob, were reported in other neighborhoods of Bangui.
Ten months of violence have displaced a fifth of the country's population, and the sectarian flare-up has killed more than 1,000 people in the past month alone, despite La Belle France's military intervention and the presence of the African peacekeeping force.
La Belle France has deployed 1,600 troops in the country to support MISCA, which is meant to have up to 6,000 troops but has not yet reached 3,500.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Seleka
[Al Ahram] Armed rustics attacked an army post in southeast Yemen on Sunday and killed four soldiers in the latest assault targeting security forces in the area since December, a military official said.
The attack took place near Shahr in Hadramawt province, which has been hit by protests against the central government since last month, after the army killed tribal chief Said Ben Habrish and his bodyguards at a checkpoint.
Gunmen and troops shot it out after the attack, witnesses said, adding that army reinforcements had arrived in the area.
The military official said a regional tribal alliance was behind the attack.
In addition to attacks on the army, the recently formed alliance of tribes in Hadramawt has sabotaged pipelines in the region at least two times in recent weeks.
On Saturday, members of the alliance killed two soldiers and maimed another in an attack on oil installations operated by Norwegian DNO in Hadaramawt, a security official had said.
Hadramawt was part of the formerly independent South Yemen, which was unified with the north in 1990.
A secession attempt four years later sparked a brief but bloody civil war that ended with northern forces taking over the south.
Southern grievances have hindered the political transition following the 33-year rule of President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... , who stepped down last year following Arab Spring-inspired protests.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
[PRIMENEWS.BD] Chittagong: At least three persons were killed and thirty others injured as a violent clash broke out between the activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League ... the student wing of the Bangla Awami League ... and Islami Chhatra Shibir ... the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh... at Chittagong university campus on Sunday afternoon.
One of the diseased was identified as Abdullah Al Mamun, a fourth year student of Marine Science department in the university.
Witnesses said the campus premises turned into virtually a battlefield as the two student fronts of Awami League and Jamaat were chasing at each other in presence of law enforcers.
Clashes began after Chhatra League brought out a procession and attacked Shah Amanat Hall in the afternoon protesting an attack on one of their activist.
Shibir activists blasted some crude bombs in the area.
Hathazari circle police Assistant Superintendent Nizam Uddin said law enforcers rushed to the spot and fired 12 rounds of blank shots to tame the situation.
A tense situation was prevailing at the campus following the violence. Police detained 18 persons in this connection.
Proctor Dr Khan Tawhid Osman said additional forces of police were deployed at the campus to avert further deterioration of the situation.
Earlier on Saturday, miscreants severed the tendons of the campus unit Chhatra League Organising Secretary Jalal Ahmed in Sylhet.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
Officials say they have detained five members of a "banned international terrorist organisation" in the North Caucasus region of Russia. The arrests were made in the town of Nalchik, some 185 miles east of Sochi, the site of next month's Winter Olympics.
The five suspects were in possession of "grenades, ammunition, and a homemade explosive device packed with shrapnel", the National Anti-Terrorism Committee said. The authorities did not provide further information on the terror organisation to which the men were alleged to belong.
[DAWN] The 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.... 's Lahore women wing president Neelam Ashraf's young son was found dead on Saturday in his car in Nishtar Colony under mysterious circumstances.
Nauman Ashraf, 28, a lawyer by profession, was shot in the head,
Yep, that's mysterious, all right. Especially if he's a right-handed man who was shot in the back left quadrant of his skull... twice.
initial police investigations said. He had returned from abroad recently for his marriage scheduled a week later.
Was the girl... unwilling?
Initially, the murder was linked to street crime by the victim's relatives. Later, in response to an investigator's claim that Nauman might have did away with himself, the family alleged police were deliberately complicating the case.
See? We aren't the only ones who wonder.
According to the latest version of the incident given by the family, Nauman was rubbed out by his friends over a property dispute. The victim's mother, Neelam Ashraf and a number of PTI leaders visited Nishtar Colony cop shoppe.
Quoting initial investigations, Model Town Division Operations SP Tariq Aziz told Dawn Nauman Ashraf left his house around 10:30am on Saturday telling his family he was going to some place near Kamahan village to see a friend.
He contacted his family last time by phone at 2:30pm and was later found dead at around 4:30pm in his car with a bullet wound in his head. Police found his cell phone and Rs12,000 cash in the victim's pocket which indicated that he was not killed during a robbery bid, the SP said.
Quoting the family, the SP said Nauman and his friend Waris were running a property business and the meeting was in that connection.
Nauman's uncle Munawar, in his application to Nishtar Colony police, has nominated Waris, his brother Khursheed and some unknown men.
The SP said the police had jugged Please don't kill me! the two nominated suspects, besides Khursheed's father Rasheed Ahmad and his brother Muneeb.
The body was sent to the city morgue for an appointment with Dr. Quincy and further investigations would be conducted on the basis of the autopsy report, Mr Aziz said.
Imran condemns: Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... has condemned the murder of 27-year-old Nauman Ashraf, son of PTI Lahore Women Wing President Neelum Ashraf, as well as killing of party ticket holder from PP-176 (Kasur) Masood Ahmed Bhatti.
In a statement issued here on Saturday, Mr Khan as well as PTI Punjab President Ejaz Chaudhry, Secretary-General Dr Yasmin Rashid and Information Secretary Andleeb Abbas expressed sorrow over the incidents.
Mr Khan said the killing of a young boy was highly condemnable especially for a lady, who had already lost her husband a few years earlier.
"This broad daylight murder is an example of how unsafe Lahore has become," Mr Khan said.
Ejaz Chaudhry demanded that an immediate investigation be launched to apprehend the killers.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Police on Saturday booked Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain chief Mullah Fazlullah ...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan... and his close aide Shahidullah Shahid The term 'booked' in this case is a legal fiction, since neither is in custody or ever will be in custody.
for the suicide kaboom on SP CID Mohammad Aslam Khan and his colleagues as the Rangers launched a 'massive operation' in the attacker's residential locality and claimed success, officials and sources said.
An investigation team traced the residence of the suspected attacker and picked up at least two family members of the suspected jacket wallah for questioning though police ruled out any arrest in this connection.
"They [two family members] have only been called for an interview," said a bigwig wishing not to be named. "A few crucial facts emerged during the course of the interview. It's not an arrest, neither can it be called detention. They were questioned to seek further clarity in the investigation process."
The PIB Colony cop shoppe registered an FIR (07/2014) under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) 324 (attempted murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistain Penal Code against unidentified suspects," said a PIB police official citing details of the FIR.
"Sections ¾ of the Explosive Act and 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act have also been incorporated in the FIR. The TTP chief Fazlullah and front man Shahidullah Shahid have been nominated as prime suspects with several other unknown persons on a complaint of CID Inspector Adil Khan."
On Friday, the police authorities investigating the Thursday kaboom on the CID SP, better known Chaudary Aslam, and his two guards concluded that a suicide bomber had rammed his explosives-laden pick-up truck into the slain police officer's bulletproof SUV when his motorcade was passing through the Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... Expressway.
Before arriving at the conclusion, the police were probing it as a remote-controlled roadside kaboom targeting the SP CID vehicle and his security convoy, but the Sherlocks found human remains at the scene of crime and a hospital examination showed that they belonged to a person who remained unidentified.
Hours after the identification of the attacker as 36-year-old TTP member Naeemullah, the police decided to register the FIR against the chief of the banned outfit. The investigation team being led by DIG-CID Zafar Bukhari said they had enough evidence to believe that Fazalullah and his close aide Shahidullah Shahid were behind the suicide attack. "Almost a month ago, SP Aslam had received a call over his cellphone from Shahidullah Shahid, which turned into a heated argument from both sides," disclosed SSP CID Niaz Ahmed Khoso, part of the investigation team set up by the Sindh police chief. "In that conversation, Shahidullah Shahid had directly threatened him with a fatal attack on his life."
Then following the Jan 9 attack, the TTP claimed the responsibility that also helped Sherlocks to spot them as major suspects, he said.
Lyari Expressway reopened
He said the part of the Lyari Expressway that had been cordoned off was now reopened for traffic. But police remained present there to collect pieces of evidence, as the exercise might continue for the next couple of days, he added.
The statements of the CID officials, who accompanied SP Aslam at the time of the attack, were recorded in the first phase, he added.
A statement issued by the Sindh police claimed to have recovered more evidence from the scene of the crime as radius of search by the Sherlocks had been extended up to three kilometers.
"The police have found many parts of the suspected Suzuki pick-up [truck] used in blast and more remains of the suicide member," said the statement. "The radius of search has been extended to two to three kilometres. People are requested to hand over to the police any part of a vehicle near blast site. They may call at 021-99231399."
Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called a hurried meeting of his closest advisors. It was to be his last. They discussed the officers's efficiency rating system... the Rangers with some 400 soldiers launched an 'intelligence-driven targeted search and cordon operation in Pirabad' -- the locality where the suspected attacker Naeemullah lived.
"During the search operation, 11 criminals and members of defunct organization have been incarcerated Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! ," said the Pakistain Rangers, Sindh, statement. "The operation was launched on the intelligence about the presence of bully boyz in the area which also led to the recovery of arms and ammunition."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Unknown gunniesrubbed out a senior opposition leader along with two others in Pakistain's northwestern city of 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. on Sunday, police said, hours after a kaboom in another part of the region killed five.
Mian Mushtaq, a former high-ranking member of the secular Awami National Party (ANP) that ruled the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province until last year, was in his car when he was attacked, senior police official Rahim Shah told AFP.
"Up to four gunnies had taken position on both sides of a road and as soon as Mian Mushtaq's car passed they started firing and fled in the nearby fields," Shah said.
"Mian Mushtaq and two others died in the firing," he added.
The ANP is known for its outspoken views against the Taliban and backed military operations against the turbans while it ruled the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province for five years till March 2013.
Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... 's 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) has now formed a coalition government in the province but ANP leaders remain in the Death Eaters' sights.
Earlier in the day two roadside kabooms targeting Amir Muqam of the ruling Pakistain Moslem League Nawaz (PML-N) party killed five of his security detail in the Martoong area of Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... valley, which the Taliban controlled from 2007-2009.
"At least five coppers were killed and four others were maimed," senior police official Abdullah Khan told AFP.
The dead and maimed were travelling in the security car that was leading the other vehicles, he said.
Another senior police official, Gulzar Khan, confirmed the attack, which was later condemned in a statement by the prime minister's office.
Khan said two improvised bombs weighing two kilograms (4.4 pounds) each were remotely detonated minutes apart and a third unwent kaboom! device found at the scene of the crime was defused by a bomb disposal squad.
Muqam, an adviser to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , told AFP that he was safe but distraught over the loss of the men in his security detail.
"I thank God for saving my life. I am very sad over the loss of my people who gave their lives while protecting me," he said.
He said that he was travelling in the area with some 15 vehicles in his convoy as part of campaign efforts for local elections.
The Pak Taliban, other Death Eater affiliates and al Qaeda-linked networks all have strongholds in the country's northwest, particularly in the semi-autonomous areas on the Afghan border.
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01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
[DAWN] Armed Death Eaters killed three people including a levies constable in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... 's insurgency-hit Kech district on Sunday, Police said.
Muhammad Akram, a levies official, told Dawn.com armed Death Eaters riding on a cycle of violenceshot up a constable in Mand Soro area of district Kech.
He said the Death Eaters took away the weapon of the constable, identified as Murad Bakhsh, after killing him.
In another incident, armed Death Eaters opened fire in Dashti Bazar area of Turbat and killed two people.
Imam Bakhsh, a police officer told Dawn.com that two armed Death Eaters riding on a cycle of violence carried out the attack.
"Both victims were dead on the spot," he said.
The attackers sped away on their cycle of violence after the strike. Police were quick at the scene as investigation into the incident went underway.
Armed Death Eaters also snatched weapons from a levies personnel in Panjgoor district of Balochistan.
A levies official, who requested anonymity, told Dawn.com that more than two dozen armed Death Eaters stormed a check post and snatched weapons from levies men.
"I have no information about the exact number of levies men," he said, adding that the levies men did not resist the attackers.
The Death Eaters managed to escape after the attack and there was no immediate claim of responsibility. However the officials say that Baloch turbans remain active in the area.
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01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
[An Nahar] A bombing targeting a general in northern Iraq Sunday damaged his vehicle but left him unharmed, an official said, the latest of several attacks in the normally peaceful Kurdish region in recent months.
The magnetic "sticky bomb" attached to Brigadier General Bakhtiyar Fayikh's car detonated around 8:00 am (0500 GMT) outside his home in eastern Sulaimaniyah, the second-biggest city in the three-province autonomous region of Kurdistan.
Fayikh is a member of the asayesh, Kurdistan's internal security force.
Asayesh front man Rizgar Hama Amin said the blast damaged Fayikh's car but left him unharmed, while Fayikh himself told journalists the blast was a "terrorist operation".
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01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Nationwide violence killed 34 people on Sunday while civil servants west of Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... returned to work under tight security with Iraqi forces locked in a deadly two-week standoff with bad boys.
Gunmen and security forces clashed west and south of Storied Baghdad, while bombings and shootings struck the capital and in northern Iraq, areas that have all borne the brunt of a months-long surge in bloodshed.
Armoured vehicles and tanks were meanwhile deployed at intersections in Ramadi, a former krazed killer stronghold where authorities have wrested control of all but two neighbourhoods from turbans as a crisis in surrounding Anbar province entered its 14th day.
Gunmen also hold Fallujah, ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids... another Anbar city and former bad boy bastion located 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Storied Baghdad.
It is the first time turbans have exercised such open control in major cities since the insurgency that followed the 2003 US-led invasion.
The worst of Sunday's violence, however, hit the capital and surrounding areas.
Car bombs in the predominantly Shiite area of Kadhimiyah and the confessionally mixed Allawi killed 14 people in total, while a roadside kaboom in west Storied Baghdad left another person dead.
Two turbans were killed by security forces just south of Storied Baghdad, while in Abu Ghraib, west of the capital, turbans attacked Iraqi soldiers, after which at least one helicopter opened fire.
The violence killed at least eight people and maimed 17, but accounts of the incident differed.
One security official said all of the dead and maimed were civilians killed by helicopter fire, while a second said the casualties may also include bad boys, and that the toll was for the entire engagement.
And a medical official said both soldiers and non-combatants were killed.
Violence in djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , Tikrit and Tuz Khurmatu, all restive areas north of Storied Baghdad, left nine others dead and dozens maimed, including two journalists injured by a magnetic "sticky bomb" attached to their car.
In Anbar, meanwhile, provincial council member Raja Barakat al-Aifan told AFP about 60 percent of government employees were back at work, after almost two weeks off due to the turmoil in the province.
Anbar governor Ahmed Khalaf al-Dulaimi had called for government employees to return to work on Sunday, the first day of the work week in much of the Arab world.
Also on Sunday, security forces backed by tanks battled turbans in Albubali, said to have become a stronghold of Al-Qaeda-linked fighters between Ramadi and Fallujah, according to two coppers in the area.
Iraqi forces opened fire on a gathering of bad boys, killing a number of them, one of the coppers said, but it was unclear how many had died as the security forces had not yet managed to make it to the site of the gathering to collect the corpses.
And Sabah Noori, the front man for Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service, said some of its members were missing in the area.
On Saturday, Fallujah residents who had fled the city began to return and most businesses had reopened.
But tribal leaders said a combination of anti-government rustics and fighters loyal to the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) still held the city.
Washington has piled pressure on Storied Baghdad to focus on political reconciliation, in addition to ongoing military operations, but a US official has warned the crisis could take weeks to resolve.
The UN Security Council has voiced support for the government campaign to retake the two cities.
ISIL has been active in the Anbar fighting, but so have anti-government rustics.
At the same time, security forces have recruited their own tribal allies.
The army has for the most part stayed outside of Fallujah during the crisis, with analysts warning that any assault on the city would likely cause significant civilian casualties.
The Iraqi Red Islamic Thingy said it had provided humanitarian assistance to more than 8,000 families across Anbar but that upwards of 13,000 had fled Fallujah, while the UN special envoy has warned of a dire humanitarian situation.
Fighting erupted in the Ramadi area on December 30, when security forces cleared a year-old Sunni Arab protest camp.
The violence spread to Fallujah, and turbans moved in and seized the city and parts of Ramadi after security forces withdrew.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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Nine more members of the New People's Army (NPA) surrendered on Friday to Philippine troops in two separate areas in Eastern Mindanao.
Eastern Mindanao Command officer Captain Alberto Caber said the first group who surrendered were Charlie Pasco, alias Long Hair; Jeffrey Pasco, alias Balbal; and Guiller Ombaoy, alias Ritchen. Caber said the three men were members of the NPA's Front 51 Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (SMRC).
Caber said the other six were identified as Rudy Sawang, a team leader of the farmer's sector; John Tomo; Lemuel Nalon; Anita Dalugan, a vice team leader of Women's sector; Luna Kaong; and Dina Daludo. He said these six militants were responsible for organizing farmers, women, and youth sectors in carrying out the NPA's recruitment and expansion in Barangay Tasiman in Lake Sebu.
Caber said, "The rebel returnees said hardships and false promises from their leaders, as well as frustrations in the actual practices of the group made them decide to return to the folds of the law."
[DAWN] Iran and six world powers have agreed on how to implement a nuclear deal struck in November, with its terms starting from Jan. 20, officials announced Sunday. ... and this is gonna work just ducky.
The announcement, made first by Iranian officials and later confirmed elsewhere, starts a six-month clock for a final deal to be struck over the Islamic Theocratic Republic's contested nuclear program.
It also signals an easing of the financial sanctions crippling Iran's economy, though some US politicians have called for tough measures against the country.
Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirming the news.
The agency said Iran will allow the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... ' atomic agency access to its nuclear facilities and its centrifuge production lines to confirm it is complying with terms of the deal.
European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... negotiator Catherine Ashton praised the deal in a statement, saying ''the foundations for a coherent, robust and smooth implementation ... have been laid.''
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called the deal ''a decisive step forward which we can build on.''
US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... welcomed the deal in a statement as well, saying further negotiations ''represent the best chance we have to resolve this critical national security issue peacefully, and durably.''
Under the November agreement, Iran agreed to limit its uranium enrichment to five per cent, the grade commonly used to power reactors.
The deal also commits Iran to stop producing 20 percent enriched uranium, which is only a technical step away from weapons-grade material, and to neutralize its 20 per cent stockpile.
In exchange, economic sanctions Iran faces would be eased for a period of six months. During that time, the world powers Britannia, China, La Belle France, Germany, Russia and the United States, would continue negotiations with Iran on a permanent deal.
The West fears Iran's nuclear program could allow it to build a nuclear bomb.
Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes, such as medical research and power generation. Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency reported Sunday that under the terms of the deal, Iran will guarantee that it won't try to attain nuclear arms ''under any circumstance.''
In a statement, US President Barack Obama They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them... said the deal ''will advance our goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.''
''I have no illusions about how hard it will be to achieve this objective, but for the sake of our national security and the peace and security of the world, now is the time to give diplomacy a chance to succeed,'' Obama said.
However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... US politicians are proposing to blacklist several Iranian industrial sectors and ban banks and companies around the world from the US market if they help Iran export any more oil.
The provisions would only take effect if Tehran violates the interim nuclear deal or lets it expire without a follow-up accord. However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... that has caused anxiety in Iran, where hard-liners have already called the deal a ''poison chalice'' and are threatening legislation to increase uranium enrichment.
In his statement, Obama said ''unprecedented sanctions and tough diplomacy helped to bring Iran to the negotiating table,'' but caution against implementing any more.
''Imposing additional sanctions now will only risk derailing our efforts to resolve this issue peacefully, and I will veto any legislation enacting new sanctions during the negotiation,'' he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
The Bammer's new BFF + OWG Co-Superpower IRAN has six months to prove + do something big agz the Qaeda Boyz, otherwise its back to the West threatening to attack its NucProgs again.
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] Nearly 20 
[An Nahar] Rival 
Officials say they have detained five members of a "banned international terrorist organisation" in the North Caucasus region of Russia. The arrests were made in the town of Nalchik, some 185 miles east of Sochi, the site of next month's Winter Olympics.
Nawaz Sharif
[DAWN] Iran and six world powers have agreed on how to implement a nuclear deal struck in November, with its terms starting from Jan. 20, officials announced Sunday.
