The easiest way to get rid of some of the surplus population, which is the other reason why the Pakistani authorities haven't bothered spending the relatively small amount needed to fix this annual problem.
[DAWN] SHANGLA/GILGIT: Torrential rains and flash floods wreaked havoc in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... and Gilgit-Baltistan on Sunday, killing at least 60 men, women and kiddies and injuring 67 others.
Landslides blocked main highways and link roads in Hazara and Malakand divisions while rivers and streams, becoming strong torrents after heavy rainfall, devastated the infrastructure.
Shangla is the worst-affected area in KP where the district disaster management cell confirmed 19 deaths. It said more than 30 people suffered injuries. Downpour triggered flash floods, washing away roads and bridges in Shangla, Kohistan ...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns.... , 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... and other parts of Malakand. A massive power failure hit major parts of Malakand.
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority said in a statement in 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. that the calamity had left 36 people dead and 27 injured. Twelve people were killed in Kohistan.
It said tents and other relief goods had been dispatched to the rain-hit areas, particularly in Malakand division.
According to the Met office, Peshawar received 45 millimetres of rain in about 24 hours.
Downpour which continued for the fifth consecutive day in Shangla raised the water level in Khan Khwar, Indus and Kana Khwar rivers.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2016 00:00 ||
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[WASHINGTONPOST] Gun battles rocked the capital of the Republic of Congo on Monday, shattering a relative calm that had followed President Denis Sassou-Nguesso’s reelection in a disputed poll last month.
Government front man Thierry Moungalla said that former members of the "Ninja" militia that fought Sassou-Nguesso in a 1997 civil war raided and set on fire military, police and local government offices but that the attacks have been contained.
Opposition leader Guy-Brice Parfait Kolélas, whose father led the Ninjas during the civil war, came second in the March 20 election. The Ninjas signed a peace accord with the government in 2003 after years of sporadic festivities, though rivalries persist along regional and ethnic lines.
Kolélas was not involved in the attacks, an aide said.
"The government . . . does not yet have proof that the candidates or their supporters were involved in this affair but . . . investigations are underway," Moungalla said on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
The fighting between security forces and unidentified gunnies was some of the worst to hit Brazzaville since 1997, when Sassou-Nguesso returned to power after months of urban warfare between rival militia groups in the capital.
He had previously ruled the oil-producing country from 1979 until he lost an election in 1992. Opposition supporters said in the wake of the March 20 election that they are frustrated that one of Africa’s longest-serving rulers can extend a tenure that has totaled three decades.
Witnesses said young opposition supporters chanted "Sassou, leave!," erected barricades near the main roundabout in southern Brazzaville’s Makelekele neighborhood, and set fire to the local mayor’s office and police headquarters.
The gunfire broke out in Makelekele and Bacongo, opposition strongholds, at 3 a.m. local time and lasted until 6 a.m. It resumed around 8 a.m. and intensified as military helicopters patrolled southern Brazzaville, witnesses said. Heavy-weapons fire could be heard.
Hundreds of residents of southern Brazzaville fled their neighborhoods on foot toward the north of the city.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
News and weather, well, sort of. It is the Congo.
For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Shelling and direct gunfire continued between Ukrainian forces and Russian backed separatists, mainly in western and northern Donetsk. The nearly constant exchange of gunfire has wounded three Ukrainian soldiers and one rebel soldier, according to Russian language news accounts.
However, the Russian operative who helped begin the civil war between Russian speaking Ukrainians and the newly formed Ukrainian government said on Sunday that both sides are lying about the casualties, saying the total wounded and killed is on a scale much high than is being reported.
According to a news account in lb.ua, on Monday morning rebel artillery hit Ukrainian positions mainly in the industrial zone known as Staraya Avdievka, the Donetsk airport area and in Gorlovka. In Staraya Avdievka, rebels hit targets for a total of 30 minutes using 82mm mortars.
In southern Donetsk rebels hit Shirokino with 82mm mortar fire.
On Monday afternoon, rebel artillery pounded Ukrainian positions once again in Staraya Avdievka and in Shirokino.
Ukrainian military officials refuse to say where the three Ukrainians were wounded.
Another report which appeared in lb.ua said that rebel hit Staraya Avidevka with mortar fire on Sunday.
Military officials wth the Donetsk ministry of defense said that Ukrainian artillery pounded their positions at Spartak Sunday night for a total of 20 minutes using 82mm and 120mm mortar fire.
Rebel forces at Yasinovataya exchanged gunfire with Ukrainian forces overnight.
A separate rebel report said that Ukrainian artillery struck rebel positions at Spartak, the Trudovskoy district of Donetsk city, the airport and at Yasinovataya.
In southern Donetsk Ukrainian artillery hit rebel positions at Kominternovo, Sahanka and Dokuchaevsk.
A third rebel news account said that one rebel soldier was killed in the shelling, but failed to disclose where the death occurred.
Yasinovataya
According to a news report posted at novorusinform.org, retired reserve FSB Colonel Igor Girkin was reported as saying that the casualty figures being reported by informal sources -- not the even lower official sources -- are an order of magnitude higher, and have already reached levels recorded during the Battle of Debaltsevo a little more than a year ago.
The writer, identified as Alexei Toporov, quoted Girkin as saying that the leadership in Donetsk, mainly Donetsk president Aleksandr Zakharchenko and Donetsk defense ministry Vladimir Kononov "could possibly recognize the scale of the losses, but can not do so due to pressure from Moscow."
Accoridng to the report, a militia officer identified as Aleksandr Varyag said that the Ukrainian attack on Yasinovataya in early March was "not a provocation, but a full scale attack."
The report quotes Varyag as saying the losses, dead and wounded civilians and soldiers are clogging hospitals on both sides of the line. Rebel military officials said just says ago that Ukrainian officials are deliberately under reporting losses, keeping them to five dead total per day.
According to Toporov's report, much of the artillery coming from the rebel side is characterized as counterbattery fire, artillery attacks specifically directed against opposing artillery with the intent of suppressing artillery fire.
Aleksandr Zhuchkovsky, who has been a leading figure bringing supplies to rebels since the start of the war, said he has not heard of such intense artillery fire for many months, and all of it concentrated.
Rebel reports are constantly charging Ukrainians with running artillery down to the line of contact, then instantly displacing them back to their positions away from the line of contact.
Girkin said the reports that he trusts are the informal casualty reports, far more than the official reports.
Girkin was Moscow's main operative in the Russian takeover of Crimea two springs ago, and in fomenting the Ukrainian civil war in the southeast beginning in June, 2014.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com and on Twitter. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraine by clicking here.
Azerbaijan uses retaliatory detachments that are punishing the servicemen who choose to back away from the fight, spokesperson for the Armenian Defense Ministry wrote on Facebook.
“According to confirmed sources, the combat efficiency of the Azeri troops has fallen so drastically that even hired mercenaries with vast terrorist experience are unable to help. At this moment, in these territories, Azerbaijan uses forces of punishment by death to those servicemen who choose to back away from the fight,” Artsrun Hovhannisyan wrote.
Now this is propaganda!
The situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone dramatically escalated on Saturday night. From regular shootings and frequent sabotage-reconnaissance attempts, Azerbaijan has now moved to large-scale attack all along the Line of Contact, using a variety of weaponry as well as artillery, armored vehicles, and air force. Both sides have suffered losses. I used to watch these festivities back in the early '90s, when the Soviet Union broke up. The Azeris must be really good lovers, because one thing they ain't is soldiers. Biden talks to Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden talked to the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan calling them to reach a comprehensive settlement of Karabakh conflict.
“As I told Presidents Aliyev & Sargsyan, comprehensive settlement in #NagornoKarabakh is critical for their stability, security, prosperity,” Biden tweeted.
So he didn't talk to them, he tweeted. That says a lot about American foreign policy these days, doesn't it...
Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan asks for stopping military operations, RIA Novosti reported Apr. 4. Armenia is ready for compromises in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said the report.
On the night of Apr. 2, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from Armenians, who were using large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians were shelled as well.
A counter-attack was carried out following the provocations of the Armenian armed forces on the night of Apr. 2.
Trend Azerbaijan is not a reliable source in this conflict. Salt required.
Azerbaijan's army may carry out strikes on the city of Khankendi and other occupied settlements, read a message posted on the website of Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry Apr. 4.
Then again, it may not...
"Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry has tasked all the types of the armed forces, including the rocket and artillery troops, to be ready to carry out crushing strikes from all heavy combat weapons on the Khankendi city and other occupied settlements, if the Armenians don't stop shelling Azerbaijani settlements in a short time," said the message.
If the Azeris could displace the Armenians they'd do so. There's certainly no love lost between the two. The fact that the Azeris are talking big means they aren't yet capable of acting big...
Armenian armed forces are targeting densely populated residential areas and civilians in order to retaliate for heavy causalities along the frontline, added the ministry.
[Iran Press TV] At least four Armenian military personnel have been killed in a series of festivities between Armenian-backed and Azerbaijani forces in the disputed Caucasus region of Karabakh.
"Four more military victims were announced today on the Karabakh side," in fresh festivities with Azerbaijan forces on Monday, said Hovhannes Guevorkian, Karabakh representative in La Belle France.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Guevorkia blamed Azeri forces for continued bombing of towns across the volatile region, saying the violence-wracked region would use fixed-wing combat aircraft if there was a new large-scale attack by Azerbaijan forces.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter awoke groggily, his hand still stuck in the Ming vase... a front man for the Armenia-backed authorities in Karabakh have accused Azeri forces of killing three civilians, including a 92-year-old woman, in the village of Talysh.
Armenian Defense Ministry front man Artsrun Hovhannisyan also claimed that the Yerevan-backed forces had "seriously advanced at certain sectors of the front line and took up new positions." The remarks were quickly dismissed as "untrue" by senior Azerbaijan authorities in Baku.
Azerbaijan and separatist forces in Nagorno-Karabakhk on Tuesday agreed on a cease-fire starting noon local time following three days of the heaviest fighting in the disputed region since 1994, the Azeri defense ministry announced.
The operations of Azerbaijani and Karabakh troops "have been stopped," the ministry said.
An News Agency that Dare Not be Namednews hound in the front-line area of Azerbaijan heard shelling Tuesday morning but there was no sound of fighting in the early afternoon.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/05/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Wow, shades of the old NKVD security battalions!
Yes I know it is most likely just Armenian propaganda invented from whole cloth, but still, talk about old school.
"You will serve on the front line, or you will serve as an example! *gunshot*"
#2
It's all very sexy, until it's not...the back-slapping camaraderie, vodka, uniforms, guns and tanks, etc. When the tactical advantage is lost and leadership fails, the fun suddenly stops and 'war is hell' kicks in.
#4
A sideshow to the Russia-Turkey-Iran-Syria-Iraq main event.
Azerbaijan has a large chunk of non-contiguous territory between Armenia and Iran. As about 35% of ethnic Azeris live in Iran and Iran wants to keep Azerbaijan in its place. My crystal ball foresees some 'liberation' of territory.
#5
I worked with an ethnic Russian refugee from Azerbaijan. She was in school in Russia when Azerbaijan separated from the USSR.
The massacres of ethnic Russian by roving Muslim gangs were never reported in the US media. NEVER.
Her family was one of thousands or 10s of thousands brutally massacred. Left her a damaged woman.
#6
As to the vodka comments... from what I understand the Azerbaijanis have the same recreational drug preferences the Iranians do - namely pot, opium and heroin.
#7
The massacres of ethnic Russian by roving Muslim gangs were never reported in the US media. NEVER.
I knew a nurse from Ichilov dep surgery. They used to treat Russian citizens who had their fingers chopped of by Chechen kidnappers---to encourage the families to pay. Something like 2 - 3 a week. Ichilov was like a world center for treating such people---mostly kids---cause Russians couldn't and "western" refused to admit they exist.
This is how China is downplaying the leak. It's America's fault, of course. The facts don't speak for themselves because as they are released, America is somehow injecting spin into their interpretation designed to discredit whomsoever they choose. Even though they are obviously innocent. And victims. Excuse will be updated at 11:00 after they have had time to see who is affected, how they can take advantage of it, or if it is high enough, how to deflect it.
A huge leak of confidential documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm alleged to have been a facilitator of money laundering for its clients has shocked international public opinion. Over 11 million documents were passed to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung by an anonymous source. These documents have been reportedly investigated by some 300 global journalists for a year.
The Western media soon collected the most eye-catching information from the documents and leaders of non-Western countries have been scrutinized. Most media led with the allegations that a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin had laundered $1 billion. The Western media has opaquely described it as "Putin's money laundering."
Some high-profile Western public figures were named, for example Iceland's prime minister was disclosed as having a huge offshore account. But this is just small potatoes compared with the alleged scandal against Putin.
In recent years, documents exposed by Wikileaks, Edward Snowden and this time, the Panama Papers, have all made headlines worldwide. Among them, Snowden's leaks sounded the most credible since they were exposed by an admitted whistleblower. While the Wikileaks website has at least a figurehead, nobody is clearly behind these latest leaks. However the documents revealed do have basic political targets, which is food for thought.
The Western media has taken control of the interpretation each time there has been such a document dump, and Washington has demonstrated particular influence in it. Information that is negative to the US can always be minimized, while exposure of non-Western leaders, such as Putin, can get extra spin.
In the Internet era, disinformation poses no major risks to Western influential elites or the West. In the long-run, it will become a new means for the ideology-allied Western nations to strike a blow to non-Western political elites and key organizations.
The online disinformation makes public opinion precise strikes possible for the West, which always "digs out" materials from the so-called confidential information. Despite different interests, Western countries are close allies in ideology. This is perhaps the basis for the concept of the "West." Public opinion of different Western countries is quite uniform.
It is risky to claim the leaked information is fabricated. It can be predicted that such disclosure will not survive if it embarrasses the West. But the West will be happy to see such leaks happen if their opponents are attacked.
Some are wondering why so many public figures handed over their secrets to the same law firm. But it is only a minor question. For ordinary people, it is useless to wrestle with the power behind the leak, which can wield such a huge amount of documents.
[Iran Press TV] Orders for US factories fell in February for the second straight month and business investment plans dropped by the largest amount in two months, the latest indications that economic growth slowed further in the first quarter.
New orders for manufactured goods declined 1.7 percent as demand fell broadly, the US Commerce Department said on Monday. Factory orders have declined in 14 of the last 19 months.
The Commerce Department also said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft fell by a steeper 2.5 percent in February, signaling a decline in business confidence and spending plans.
Demand for durable goods, everything from aircraft to computers and household appliances, dropped 3 percent in February. Orders for nondurable goods such as petroleum, chemicals and paper products were down 0.4 percent.
"This morning's report suggests a more sluggish manufacturing sector in the early part of the quarter," said Jesse Hurwitz, an economist at Barclays in New York City.
The report added to already weak American consumer spending and trade data.
US economic growth moderated further at the turn of the year after slowing to a 1.4 percent annualized pace in the fourth quarter. Estimates for first-quarter gross domestic product growth are currently below a 1 percent rate.
Manufacturing, which accounts for about 12 percent of the US economy, has been pressured by a strong dollar and weak global demand, which have undermined exports of factory goods, as well as efforts by businesses to reduce an inventory overhang.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2016 00:00 ||
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"This morning's report suggests a more sluggish manufacturing sector in the early part of the quarter," said Jesse Hurwitz, an economist at Barclays in New York City.
Then I believe there was yesterdays report of pending economic downturn from Trump. Not to be believed of course, due to his obvious lack of knowledge and bouts of insanity.
#4
Not to beleived of course, due to his obvious lack of knowledge and bouts of insanity.
In terms of a pending recession,Trump should be beleived no more or less then some of the most respected econimists that have expressed simmilar warnings. Or no more or less then some of the Prepper websites peddling MRE's and gold coins that also are predicting a pending economic collapse. Not sure of the technical term but I think it's called "throwing shit against the wall and seeing what sticks".
but the end of the Wisconsin Glaciation, about 10K yrs ago, was a rapid warm up with lots and lots of melting and for some decades in that period, it probably was 20mm/yr
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/05/2016 18:27 Comments ||
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#3
The Ordinance Office was in the sack for buying the H&K replacement for the M16 family, but it turned out to be such a turkey that the German army had to take it out of service after buying it(that bad).
Consolation prize.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
04/05/2016 19:18 Comments ||
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[IN.REUTERS] Air La Belle France said it would allow female cabin crew and pilots to opt out of flying routes to Tehran after some staff said they did not want to be forced to cover their hair when in Iran.
Air La Belle France, part of the Franco-Dutch group Air La Belle France-KLM, is preparing to restart flights to Tehran from April 17 after an eight-year hiatus due to sanctions.
After a meeting between Air La Belle France management and unions on Monday, the French carrier said it would offer female staff the choice of opting out of the flights.
Under Iranian law, women must cover their hair in public places. Unions had raised concerns over an Air La Belle France ruling obliging female crew to wear a headscarf on leaving a plane.
The debate on the wearing of headscarves and other religious symbols in public is particularly heated in La Belle France, which attaches importance to the separation of state and religious institutions.
"This obligation does not apply during the flight and is respected by all international airlines serving the Republic of Iran," Air La Belle France said in a statement on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
The stewardesses have more cajones than management.
The Pentagon has no clearly designated military official who'd be in charge of support in the event of a massive data breach by foreign hackers, according to Congress's watchdog agency. They probably proposed such a job, but couldn't find any takers.
In an analysis of the audit by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Defense One reports the U.S. Northern Command says it's the main Pentagon support arm in such breaches, while policies and some top brass say Cyber Command plays the lead in cyberthreats from abroad.
The Department of Defense needs to clarify its roles and responsibilities in an area of growing concern, Joseph Kirschbaum, GAO's director for defense capabilities and management, warns in the audit.
And until it does, the military "may not be positioned to effectively employ its forces and capabilities to support civil authorities in a cyberincident," Kirschbaum says.
"[Department of Defense] officials stated that the department had not yet determined the approach it would take to support a civil authority in a cyberincident and, as of January 2016, DOD had not begun efforts to issue or update guidance and did not have an estimate on when the guidance will be finalized," Kirschbaum said.
According to Defense One, the Pentagon is required by law to develop a plan by next month for Cyber Command to support civil authorities in the event of a nation-state cyber strike.
But a Northern Command plan, which is already Defense secretary-approved, states its commander would coordinate a civilian mission that "may include cyber domain incidents or activities -- with other DOD components supporting in conducting the missions," Kirschbaum notes in the audit.
The reasons for the discrepancies are due to the recent emergence of the cyberthreat, according to the report.
Northern Command officials say the Pentagon so far has never received a request for assistance from any lead federal agency for military support for a foreign cyberincident, the audit states ‐ but they expect more, Defense One reports.
#2
There is (or was) something called the 'chain of command'. Of course for the jacka$$ political types now interfering with normal military Command and Control, that term might be forbidden cause it reflects 'white privilege'.
#3
This is third party private sector task. I know the guy who was in charge of NASA's cyber security. He even wrote encryption that not only prevented data loss but counter attacked any thing that tried to break into data by killing the intruding system. Of course as a young guy he served in the 82nd Airborne division with combat experience. American Exceptionalism IS still alive.
Posted by: Unelet Protector of the Sith2424 ||
04/05/2016 19:17 Comments ||
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#3, thanks for the reassurance since the Executive Branch seems populated by mental deficients
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/05/2016 20:27 Comments ||
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h/t Instapundit
Diane Kroupa Filed Fraudulent Tax Returns While a Sitting U.S. Tax Court Judge Kroupa and Her Husband Conspired to Evade More Than $400,000 in Federal Taxes
#3
According to the indictment and documents filed in court, as part of the conspiracy to defraud the United States, Kroupa and Fackler fraudulently claimed personal expenses as Grassroots Consulting business deductions.
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.
[WASHINGTONPOST] Gun battles rocked the capital of the Republic of Congo on Monday, shattering a relative calm that had followed President Denis Sassou-Nguesso’s reelection in a disputed poll last month.
Azerbaijan uses retaliatory detachments that are punishing the servicemen who choose to back away from the fight, spokesperson for the Armenian Defense Ministry wrote on Facebook.
