[Maan] Hundreds of people marched on Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday calling for Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Mursi to resign and demanding early elections, AFP correspondents and local media reported.
*yawn* Hundreds seems to be the useless protest size of the day, especially for a cause that formerly could attract tens of thousands. Thus is despair and surrender marked by the people who don't show up.
The demonstration was called by a number of opposition groups, including the Al-Dustur party of former UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei Egyptian law scholar and sometime Iranian catspaw. He was head of the IAEA from December 1997 to November 2009. At some point during his tenure he was purchased by the Iranians. ElBaradei and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for something in 2005. ElBaradei served on the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, a lefty NGO that is bankrolled by the Carnegie Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as George Soros' Open Society Institute. After the fall of Mubarak he ran for president. He lost. and the April 6 movement which spearheaded the 2011 uprising to oust then president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... Marches originated in various parts of the capital and were to converge on Tahrir Square, which was the focal point of the anti-Mubarak uprising.
At the head of one march people were carrying two large banners, one reading "an early presidential election" and the other "a unifying constitution for Egypt."
Marchers from the Tamarod (rebellion) campaign, which claims to have garnered more than two million signatures demanding that Mursi resign, collected more names from people along the route.
State media said security had been beefed up around the interior ministry, close to Tahrir Square, as it has been the scene of violent confrontations in the past.
The opposition accuses Mursi of governing only in the interests of his Moslem Brüderbund, while he insists he is the "president of all Egyptians."
Since Mursi was elected last June, Egypt has continued to suffer from a serious political and economic crisis, and there have often been frequent festivities, sometimes deadly, between his opponents and supporters.
Egyptian security forces clashed with young men in central Cairo after a protest by several thousand opponents of President Mohamed Morsi, state news agency MENA reported.
So is it hundreds or thousands? In real numbers, I mean, not Arab ones.
The forces fired tear gas at the youths throwing Molotov cocktails and stones at them. Police incarcerated Book 'im, Mahmoud! a number of men, MENA reported.
The Friday protest billed as a major demonstration against Morsi drew only a few thousand people, signalling how momentum for protests that erupted around the second anniversary of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... has steadily evaporated.
Members of "rebellion," an anti-Morsi campaign launched this month, gathered signatures at the demonstration for a petition calling for Morsi's removal and early elections.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/18/2013 01:14 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Ynet] A high alert has been declared in the international peacekeeping force base in Sinai against the backdrop of the kidnapping of Egyptian soldiers on Thursday, Egyptian media reported.
In the framework of the high alert the movement of servicemen in Sinai has been limited, and the observation outposts around the peninsula have been reinforced.
Quite a few of them are ours. Go carefully, guys, and come home safe.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/18/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
Protesters and disgruntled job seekers forced the closure of an eastern Libyan oil terminal on Wednesday for the second time in six months, disrupting exports, said an oil ministry official. Deputy Oil and Gas Minister Omar Al Shakmak said dozens demonstrated at Zueitina terminal, demanding the Libyan National Oil Corporation make good on pledges to hire 340 people.
This is the second time protesters have closed the terminal, through which flows 20 percent of Libyas 1.6 million barrels a day of exports. Zueitina is located 870 kilometers (540 miles) east of Tripoli. The first closure took place in December.
Also Wednesday, a Libyan man was shot and mortally wounded during a clash with security forces at a police station in the eastern city of Benghazi while trying to free an acquaintance, witnesses said. They say that after he died in hospital, a group of angry relatives returned to torch the station and ransack its offices.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/18/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
US Secretary of State John Kerry has urged the Nigerian army to show restraint and not violate human rights as it pursues an offensive against Islamist militants in the north-east.
Mr Kerry said there were "credible allegations" of "gross human rights violations" by the Nigerian military.
This week Nigeria launched its biggest offensive since the Boko Haram group began its insurgency in 2010.
A state of emergency is in force in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states.
"The United States condemns Boko Haram's campaign of terror in the strongest terms," Mr Kerry said in a statement.
"We urge Nigeria's security forces to apply disciplined use of force in all operations, protect civilians in any security response and respect human rights and the rule of law.''
Camps targeted
More than 2,000 people have died in the violence since 2010, most of which is blamed on Boko Haram.
On Friday Nigerian war planes and helicopter gunships attacked several militant training camps in the north-east, officials said.
One plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire, but Brig Gen Chris Olukolade said it had returned to base safely, while the "terrorist base" was subsequently "completely destroyed".
This is the first time Boko Haram has been reported to have used such heavy weaponry against aircraft.
A resident in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, told the BBC that the city was unusually quiet on Friday, with most people staying inside.
#4
Jawn doesn't want Islam's bloody frontier pushed too far back or via the same harsh methods and tactics to Bokos use to massacre Christians. Zero has decreed
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/18/2013 10:50 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Restraint and jawn in the same sentence make me want to go all ick.
There is an old saying in my business (which is making olde sayings, but I digress) lie down with the ketchup wake up with the restraints.
[Ynet] The website and Twitter feed of British newspaper the Financial Times were hacked on Friday, apparently by the "Syrian Electronic Army", a group of online activists who say they support Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... The group posted links on the newspaper's Twitter feed to a YouTube video, uploaded on Wednesday, which purports to show members of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front Syrian rebel group executing blindfolded and kneeling members of the Syrian army.
WASHINGTON, May 17 -- President Barack Obama plans to replace the top commander of U.S. forces in Korea, the Pentagon announced Friday, a move that comes as North Korea shows no signs of returning to dialogue aimed at easing military tensions and denuclearizing the peninsula.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the Pentagon would promote Lt. Gen. Curtis ``Mike'' Scaparrotti, formerly deputy commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, to the rank of a four-star general to serve as commander of the 28,500 troops in South Korea. The nomination requires Senate confirmation.
If confirmed, he will succeed Army Gen. James Thurman, who assumed the post two years ago and is retiring soon. In a news conference, Hagel extoled Thurman for his service.
The incoming head of the U.S. Forces Korea, Hagel said, has worked tirelessly on many important issues, lauding him as a proven combat leader.
Scaparrotti served in Afghanistan as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force's Joint Command in Kabul from 2011 to 2012. He has since worked as director of the Joint Staff, serving under Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"He commanded the 4th Infantry Division when it served as the nucleus of the Multinational Division Baghdad in 2006," according to the American Forces Press Service. "Scaparrotti, too, is an officer sculpted by combat."
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/18/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Moving a logistics support command under a combat command? This should be interesting.
[IsraelTmes] Two men jugged Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! on suspicion of involvement in March 2012 murderous attack on Jewish schoolMay
Two men suspected of being accomplices of Islamist terrorist Mohammed Merah were jugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! Tuesday near Toulouse ...lies on the banks of the River Garonne, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The Toulouse metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in La Belle France... Investigators believe the men helped plan a series of deadly attacks in March 2012. One of the suspects was released on Wednesday; the second remained in jug on Thursday.
Merah, a 23-year-old radical Mohammedan, killed a rabbi and three children in an attack on the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school, now called Ohr Hatorah, on March 19, 2012. The slayings came a few days after Merah bumped off three French soldiers in two drive-by shootings from a scooter near Toulouse. He was rubbed out on March 22 during a standoff with police.
French police have arrested and released several people and questioned dozens in connection with the shootings.
Will there be a new Crimean War to save the Turk? Who will take the place of the British?
Terrorist attacks on Turkish soil wont stop until the countrys Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, gives up on his support of rebel forces in Syria, British broadcaster, Neil Clark, told RT.
Turkish police have fired tear gas at protesters in a town near the Syrian border, which was the scene of a deadly double car bombing a week ago.
Demonstrators are angry over Ankara's support for the Syrian rebels, which they say is putting Turkey in the firing line.
World affairs journalist and broadcaster, Neil Clark, believes Erdogan must reconsider his policies and stop accusing the Syrian government of targeting the Hatay province, as it wouldve been an absolutely absurd move from Damascus.
RT: Tension and discontent on the Turkish-Syrian border is now escalating - what ramifications could this have?
Neil Clark: I think if I were Turkish I would be protesting too, because Mr Erdogan has made colossal blunder here because in August 2011 he took the line hes going to play a leading role in trying to topple the Syrian government. He allowed rebels to be based in the country. His government gave arms to them and equipment. And now its sort of a blowback time. We had some terrible bombings in Turkey this week and this will only continue, until Turkey changes course in relation to Syria.
[Ynet] Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday Turkey had already significantly reduced its oil imports from Iran, which is under the choke of US sanctions, and further cutbacks would depend on his country's energy needs.
"On crude oil, there has been a significant decrease in the amount of oil we import from Iran ... As to whether we would cut back any further, it will depend on our need. Time will tell," Erdogan said at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
President Obama asked, and therefore did not receive. Thus it is seen yet again that he is The Smartest Man In The Room.
[Ynet] Twelve years after Twin Towers fell, US politicians question whether law granting president broad powers to target terror still appropriate
The US Congress is rethinking the broad authority it gave presidents to wage a war on terror after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in light of how President Barack Obama Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back... has used the power to target suspected snuffies with lethal drone strikes.
Continued on Page 49
#1
If you check the record, Bush complied pro forma with the requirements of the War Powers Act. Obama, ie Libya, didn't and hasn't.
But Republicans and Democrats fear that they have given the president unrestricted power to use military force worldwide
That's been a structural problem since the reinstitution of the draft in 1948. The executive was never suppose to have such vast capabilities in peacetime to avoid 'military adventures' as the Founders viewed it. That long term structural problem resulted in the extensive accumulation of power over at the executive that we are witnessing now the consequence thereof.
The tool that Congress has is the purse strings. That means cutting off funds not just for general operation, but in utilization. However, with the exception of the Donk Congress cutting funding to aid South Vietnam in the 70s, there is little stomach among the Beltway Party to restrain that tool in the executive's hand. Hand wringing as we see here, but nothing real in execution.
A similar structural problem occurred when the Roman Republic 'won' the Second Punic War and found itself with dominions and military commitments throughout their world. Their city-state constitution was not designed for the proto-empire requirements that resulted in ever increasing power in the hands of the consuls, the results of which led to Pompey and Caesar.
#2
"I don't believe many, if any, of us believed when we voted for that -- and I did vote for it -- that we were voting for the longest war in the history of the United States and putting a stamp of approval on a war policy against terrorism that, 10 years-plus later, we're still using," Durbin said.
The usual fool fails to acknowledge the longest 'war' the United States engaged in was the westward expansion from its inception to the late 1880s, a low intensity conflict with major constabulary operations. From Frontier Regulars: The United States Army and the Indian 1866-1891 by Robert M. Utley, does this sound familiar?
Three special conditions set this mission apart from more orthodox military assignments. First, it pitted the army against an enemy who usually could not be clearly identified and differentiated from kinsmen not disposed at the moment to be enemies. Indians could change with bewildering rapidity from friend to foe to neutral, and rarely could one be confidently distinguished from another...Second, Indian service placed the army in opposition to a people that aroused conflicting emotions... And third, the Indians mission gave the army a foe unconventional both in the techniques and aims of warfare... He fought on his own terms and, except when cornered or when his family was endangered, declined to fight at all unless he enjoyed overwhelming odds...These special conditions of the Indian mission made the U.S. Army not so much a little army as a big police force...for a century the army tried to perform its unconventional mission with conventional organization and methods. The result was an Indian record that contained more failures than successes and a lack of preparedness for conventional war that became painfully evident in 1812, 1846, 1861, and 1898.
"Collectively these details raised the question of what the CIA knew, given that Agency operatives in Libya were rounding up SA-7s, ostensibly to destroy them, while operatives in southern Turkey were funneling weapons to the rebels." Making ching at both ends of the transaction...?
#1
Besides the government's initial reluctance to label them as Islamic terrorists, MAJ Nadal Hasan, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and the events in Benghazi may have a common, sinister denominator ?
#2
Who was Stevens
meeting with just before the attack? What superpower supports Assad? Who was/is Hillary's closest advisor, and was her influence felt in dismissing security as providing bad political "optics"? Was wacking the Ambassador to show displeasure with the weapons program for the Syrian rebels something a former KGB colonel might consider against an enemy he considers a feckless, cowardly amateur?
I'll try Benghazi for 500 Alex........
#4
Simply ut, Benghazi won't "Go Away" Because we the people re tired of the Lies spewing from Obama's mouth, and we re tired of the Hangers-on parroting those lies, seeking oBAMA'S FAVOR.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/18/2013 17:49 Comments ||
Top||
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan expects that the peace process with India will gain pace after the installation of new government.
We hope that the dialogue process would pick up momentum in all areas, Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said at the weekly media briefing.
The peace process has been on a virtual hold since the violations of the Line of Control in Kashmir at the start of this year. Tensions resurfaced when an Indian prisoner, Sarabjit Singh, died after an attack by inmates in a Lahore jail and a Pakistani, Sanaullah, was fatally beaten in Jammu jail. Another Pakistani, Abdul Jabbar, was injured in an attack in Tihar prison.
Aizaz said Pakistan had always emphasised continuity of the peace talks so that outstanding issues could be resolved. The peace process has remained accident-prone and there have been numerous starts and stops, which impeded progress towards normalisation of ties between the two countries.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while congratulating Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif on the victory of his party in the May 11 elections, had expressed the hope to work with him to chart a new course and pursue a new destiny in the relations between our countries.
Singh also invited Sharif to visit India at a mutually convenient time.
The PML-N chief, who is set to become the next prime minister, also extended an invitation to the Indian leader to visit Pakistan.
Sharif has been an ardent supporter of improvement of relations with India. Being an industrialist himself, Sharif is particularly keen to foster bilateral trade and is likely to move forward with the agreement reached last year to grant most favoured nation (MFN) status to India which could not be implemented by the weak PPP government, particularly while the country was going to the polls.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/18/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
[Jpost] Defense official: Israel thought Assad would fall sooner; J'lem sees fall of Assad, take over by rebels as less ideal scenario.
Not that their opinion matters a great deal, in this case.
The debate over the situation in Syria and Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... 's chances for survival has sharpened recently within the Israeli defense establishment. A senior defense official claimed recently in closed conversations that Israel has erred in its estimates of how quickly Assad would fall from power in Syria.
According to the official, Israel has "underestimated" Assad's strength and the inner life force of the Syrian regime.
Currently, there are differing opinions within the defense establishment about what to expect in Syria and what outcome for its northern neighbor would benefit Israel.
The opinion that the fall of Assad and the assumption of power by the rebels would be good for Israel has become less popular recently, as it has emerged that the infiltration of bully boy Jihad and al-Qaeda elements is deeper and wider than was originally estimated.
There are those who believe Israel should prepare for a scenario in which Assad survives, if not in his previous role as the president of "Big Syria" - then at least in his current situation in which he holds power in Damascus and in the corridors to the large coastal cities.
This scenario, which actually would entail the breaking up of Syria into three separate states, is likely the optimal scenario as far as Israel is concerned. However the defense establishment is stressing that all scenarios are possible in Syria and a change in policy by the West that will lead to military intervention could tip the scales toward one side or the other.
Not that their opinion matters a great deal, in this case
It's our back yard. IMO, it's long past time Israel started asserting itself as a regional super power (especially now when ME oil stops being strategically important to our patron).
#2
The situation that Assad survives, maintaining power in Damascus and in the corridors to the large coastal cities, would entail the breaking up of Syria into three separate states.
Israeli adopts historic British, one bite at a time, olifant eating foreign policy.
[Ynet] Jordanian media reported hundreds of demonstrators amassed in the capital Amman ahead of the "return march" toward the Israeli border, marking the 65th anniversary of the Nakba.
Jordanian security forces have been boosted at the al-Karame area near the border, where the march is expected to arrive.
*yawn* Hundreds is pretty pathetic for that lot. Call us when it's tens of thousands with hooded faces.
[Ynet] Knesset Member Ahmad Tibi (United List Ta'al) held a visit in Abu Dhabi and raised 8 million euros from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development for the creation of a culture center in Tayibe.
The center will consist of a theatre, a library, study rooms and spaces allocated for sports.
Buying influence while they still can -- before the U.S. becomes the world's leading oil and gas producer, and Israel becoming a leading regional producer.
[Maan] A Facebook page promoting Nakba commemoration events in Jaffa was temporarily blocked overnight, Paleostinian activists said Monday.
Fatima Huleiwi, an activist with Jaffa Youth, told Ma'an that it was not the first time that Facebook had blocked the group's user page.
"When we published material urging people to support hunger striking prisoners, our pages were blocked. Last night the invitation to an event commemorating the Nakba anniversary in Jaffa was also blocked on several accounts for hours," she said.
Sometimes right-wing Israelis report violations on the group's Facebook pages, Huleiwi says, and as a result Facebook temporarily blocks the site for several hours.
Jaffa Youth has to send a complaint to Facebook before they eventually unblock the page, she added.
[Ynet] La Belle France does not want Iran to participate in the international conference on Syria to be held in June, the French Foreign Ministry stated.
The statement was delivered after Russia demanded that Iran, fellow supporter of the Assad regime, will take part in the conference.
I do not understand this insistence by formerly powerful nations on demonstrating how very formerly that power has become.
[Ynet] Most refugees flee to Leb and Jordan; exodus accelerated over the past four months, says UN refugee agency
"The fact that more than 1.5 million have registered or have appointments with UNHCR sadly means the actual number is much higher," UNHCR said in a statement, without giving an estimate for the total.
"Refugees tell us the increased fighting and changing of control of towns and villages, in particular in conflict areas, results in more and more civilians deciding to leave," it said.
Most of the refugees have fled to neighboring Leb and Jordan where UNHCR said it had counted 470,457 and 473,587 respectively this week.
[Ynet] Alexei Pushkov, head of the foreign affairs committee in Russia's parliament, said that Moscow is against a no-fly zone in Syria "because they become the first step to an air campaign." He further added that sending S-300 to Syria "is a message ... we do not support any foreign interference in Syrian affairs."
"Syria has been asking from Russia to give it the possibility to defend it from air strikes," he told CNN's Ace newshound Christiane Amanpour.
Russia sold advanced Yakhont antiship cruise missiles to Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... , outfitted with an advanced guidance system that makes them more effective than the older version of the missile Russia sold to Syria, The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... cited two American officials as saying on Thursday.
The older version is the one that didn't notice Israeli airplanes heading toward and away from turning Syria's prized nuclear bomb manufactury into fine rubble, yes?
These missiles will allow Syria to thwart any attempt by international forces to reinforce Syrian rebels by imposing a naval embargo or no fly zone, Nick Brown the editor in chief of IHS Jane's International Defense Review told The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... It enables the regime to deter foreign forces looking to supply the opposition from the sea, or from undertaking a more active role if a no-fly zone or shipping embargo were to be declared at some point, Brown said, Its a real ship killer, he added.
According to the Times report, Syria ordered the coastal defense version of the Yakhont system from Russia in 2007 and received the first units in early 2011.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/18/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
It also keeps Syria working as a magnet drawing malcontents from Russia's eastern borders.
The United Nations nuclear agency failed to persuade Iran on Wednesday to let it resume an investigation into suspected atomic bomb research, leaving the high-stakes diplomacy in deadlock.
With Iran focused on a presidential election next month, expectations had been low for the meeting between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has been trying for more than a year to reopen an inquiry into possible military dimensions of Teherans nuclear work.
We had intensive discussions today but did not finalise the structured approach document that has been under negotiation for a year and a half now, IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts said after the eight-hour meeting, referring to a long-sought framework deal for the investigation.
Our commitment to continue dialogue is unwavering. However, we must recognise that our best efforts have not been successful so far. So we will continue to try and complete this process. No date was set for future talks.
Irans envoy, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said both sides had put forward proposals during intensive technical discussions and the aim was to bridge the differences in future talks. Iran denies it has any aims to develop nuclear weapons.
The United States, which accuses Teheran of using stalling tactics at the IAEA talks and parallel negotiations with world powers, said it expected the nuclear agency to eventually urge the UN Security Council, which has imposed several sanctions resolutions on Iran, to take more action.
At some point, the director general of the IAEA will have to return to the Security Council and say: I can go no further. There has been no response. You have to take further action, Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told lawmakers in Washington. That could happen in June or in September, she said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/18/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
"Russia has continued to ship weapons to Syria, despite the civil war there, but it so far has refrained from providing Damascus with the S-300s, which has a range of up to 200 kilometers (125 miles), and the capability to track down and strike multiple targets simultaneously with lethal efficiency."
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.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
