[ABC] Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees the FBI, said publicly this week that the government paid $900,000 to break into the locked iPhone of a gunman in the San Bernardino, California, shootings.
That would be the December 3rd, 2015 gun and bomb attack workplace incident by Syed Farook, also known as Syed Rizwan Farook, and Tashfeen Malik on his office Christmas party. Mr. Farook was an American-born Punjabi-American, so naturally he went back to the old country for a suitable wife -- she was working on her PhD in pharmaceutical science and was connected to Lal Masjid, the notorious Red Mosque in Islamabad that in 2015 was connected to ISIS, making her just the one for him. They were known wolves connected to the extremist scene in California and on social media to Al Nusra and Al Shabaab...
The FBI considers the figure to be classified information. It also has protected the identity of the vendor it paid to do the work. Both pieces of information are the subject of a federal lawsuit by The Associated Press and other news organizations that have sued to force the FBI to reveal them.
An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment Friday.
Feinstein cited the amount while questioning FBI Director James Comey at a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing Wednesday.
"I was so struck when San Bernardino happened and you made overtures to allow that device to be opened, and then the FBI had to spend $900,000 to hack it open," said Feinstein, D-Calif. "And as I subsequently learned of some of the reason for it, there were good reasons to get into that device."
Comey hinted at a ballpark range last year, saying the government paid more than he would earn in his remaining seven years on the job, an amount that would have been more than $1 million. He has called the sum "worth it."
This article starring:
Syed Farook
Posted by: Besoeker ||
05/06/2017 08:53 ||
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#3
The government didn't have an in-house capability?
Posted by: JohnQC 2017-05-06 09:54
Well, look at it this way - if the Gummint was working on one and it ever got out, that would be a sh!tstorm of near-Biblical proportions. The Bureau, on the other hand, probably thought like this: They knew perfectly well that there were tools out there to do whatever they needed, when they needed them they could buy them or contract them, and then they could stand up and say "We didn't have one when we needed it, so now we're going to keep hold of this."
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/06/2017 10:13 Comments ||
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#4
Yeah. If in-house capability is so special, whyn't the FBI have its own firearms factory?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/06/2017 10:15 Comments ||
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#5
#3 is more correct. They had to go through alot to get this phone un-locked. Even went to Congress.
When Apple revealed their corporate entity was bigger than Patriotic America, or that they didn't know how to unlock the device either, it became time for extraordinary measures.
We found the G. had no balls to force Apple, but they had a fat checkbook. The apparent solution is proprietary, the Feds can now crack Apple HDWR encryption (and perhaps others), covert international partners may now also have the capability and the FBI now has a math skunkworks outside the normal government channels that is free from oversight inspection and exposure(for a while).
I think they did pretty good. I wonder that Apple as an commercial entity shouldn't be considered a foreign sympathizer subject to audit and tariffs.
#8
I am losing confidence in the FBI. If they can't investigate the NSA enough to appropriate NSA's iPhone hacking tools then they have no insight at all into what is really going on.
[Tolo News] In his second address to thousands of his supporters in Kabul, Hekmatyar once again urged all anti-government gangs to lay down arms and join peace.
The leader of Hizb-e-Islami, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the World but who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil... , in an address to thousands of his supporter in Ghazi Stadium in Kabul on Friday, recalled his recent remarks about gunnies and said the Afghan war is being financed from abroad.
Hekmatyar said there are good as well as bad elements among anti-government armed gunnies and that this fact should be accepted.
"We should pay attention to this and we should accept it as a fact that every group has good and bad [figures] amongst them. Government’s oppositions and supporters have good and bad [figures] amongst them," he stated.
Referring to the war in Afghanistan, Hekmatyar said: "We hate those who insist on continuing the war in Afghanistan ‐ the war which sacrifices only Afghans and the war that is being justified and financed from abroad."
The Hizb-e-Islami leader once again called on the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... to quit insurgency and join the grinding of the peace processor.
"Anyone who wants an end to the war, anyone who wants a just peace and a fully Islamic administration in Afghanistan, is our brother, and will be with us and we will jointly strive for this goal," he said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the saloon, Butch got the bill for the damage caused by the fist fight, the mirror broken in the shootout, and drinks for everyone...... Hekmatyar criticized the decision based on which the National Unity Government was formed, saying that he is in favor of a ’centralized’ government in Afghanistan.
The Hizb-e-Islami leader appeared among his supporters for the first time in 20 years in Laghman ...It has a population of about 445,600, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. During the invasions of Alexander the Great, the area was known as Lampaka, wich is apparently Olde Macedonian for Laghman.The city of Mihtarlam serves as the bucolic capital of the province. The population is half Pashtun, the remainder Tadjik and Pashai. It had a reputionagreat wealth until it was conquered in the tenth century by Abu Mansur Sabuktigin.
He conquered it and set fire to the places in its vicinity which were inhabited by infidels, and demolishing the idol-temples, he established Islam in them, He marched and captured other cities and killed the polluted wretches, destroying the idolatrous and gratifying the Musulmans. After wounding and killing beyond all measure, his hands and those of his friends became cold in counting the value of the plundered property.
province last week.
On Thursday, he arrived in Kabul with a caravan carrying dozens of gunnies.
At a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Kabul on Thursday, Hekmatyar pointed out to many issues including peace with the Taliban where he called group as "brothers".
The peace delegations of Afghan government and Hizbe-e-Islami signed a peace deal in September last year. As part of this agreement, the first batch of the Hizb-e-Islami prisoners ‐ which included 55 inmates ‐ were released from Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul.
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05/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[AlAhram] Egypt will open its border crossing with Gazoo for three days starting Saturday, state news agency MENA reported.
The Rafah crossing will only be opened in one direction -- for Paleostinians stranded outside Gazoo to return home, MENA added.
Egypt has kept its border with the Gazoo Strip largely closed over security concerns following the ouster of Islamist ex-president Mohammed Morsi almost four years ago.
The crossing was last opened temporarily in March.
The border openings in recent months come amid signs of improving ties between Cairo and Gazoo's governing group Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",.
A senior Hamas delegation visited Cairo in late January. Hamas leader Mahmoud El-Zahar said at the time that Paleostinian and Egyptian officials had reached a border control agreement.
[Libya Herald] A group of hardline Misratan militias have lambasted the Khalifa Hafter-Faiez Serraj Abu Dhabi meeting, vowing to "crush" the UN-backed government as a result.
"If the world wants fair elections, it must remove the criminals," a statement signed by some dozen militias calling themselves the Misratan Revolutionaries Operations Room in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... The group is attached to the holy warriors, led by Misrata military council and its head Ibrahim Ben Rajeb, who for many weeks have been trying to bring down the municipal council and who in their latest move broke into a meeting chaired by Misrata mayor Mohammed Eshtewi and forced him to sign a letter of resignation, although he later retracted this.
In their statement, the group, which does not represent mainstream forces in the city, said it would "purify" Misrata of its municipal council.
It also threatened militias in Tripoli allied to the Presidency Council, including those led by Haitham Tajouri, Hashim Bishr, and Ghneiwa.
"We are ready to clear the capital of them," the militias declared.
In March, the mainly-Misratan forces supporting the would-be alternative "Government of National Salvation" (GNS) of Khalifa Ghwell were beaten by the local Tripolitan militias and forced out of the capital. These latter, now known as "the Quartet" (being Bishr, Ghneiwa, Tajouri and Abdul Raouf Kara), now effectively control the city along with their allies.
The Misratan statement follows a similar one from the GNS and its leader Khalifa Ghwell. It described Hafter as a "retired military citizen who does not have any political status" and Serraj as someone "who does not have a legal status".
It also said the apparent agreements between Hafter and Serraj merely offered the military the chance to control Libya’s resources and bring "tyranny" to the country.
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05/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Thousands of south Yemenis demonstrated on Thursday in support of a governor sacked by the president in a blow to his authority and his efforts to keep together a motley loyalist coalition.
In his war with Shiite Moslem rebels who control the capital Sanaa and much of the north, President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi has relied heavily on militia recruited in the formerly independent south, where separatist sentiment runs deep.
That has often forced him into a difficult balancing act with his other supporters -- Sunni Islamists and loyalist army units from the north.
Thursday's demonstrators converged on the region's main city Aden, where Hadi's government is based, from towns across the south.
Organizers called for sacked Aden governor Aidarous al-Zoubeidi to set up a "national leadership to represent the south" and pledged their allegiance to it, in a statement received by AFP.
Hadi dismissed Zoubeidi and state minister Hani bin Breik on April 27 in a move that was widely seen as reflecting divisions among his supporters.
The two men, who are both believed to be close to southern self-rule activists, played a key role in restoring security to Aden and adjacent provinces after the rebels were pushed out in 2015.
But they have rivals among northern generals who remained loyal to Hadi and among Islamist militia.
The recapture of the south depended heavily on the support of a Saudi-led coalition, and both Zoubeidi and Bin Breik are reported to have close ties with one of its key members, the United Arab Emirates.
Hadi spends most of his time in neighboring Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and the UAE is part of a coordination committee with the Yemeni government that has been set up there.
The south's independence ended when it united with the north in 1990. Four years later, it launched a bloody separatist rebellion which culminated in its occupation by northern forces.
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05/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] The terror group uses its magazine Rumiyah call on its members to carry out attacks on the day of the presidential elections in La Belle France on Sunday; 'Don't forget your duty as a Moslem. Choose a candidate to kill & polling station to burn,' states the magazine's article.
ISIS published an article in its magazine Rumiyah on Thursday, telling all Moslems who support it to carry out attacks in La Belle France on Sunday, when millions of French people are to vote for either centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, in the country's second round in the current presidential election.
"'Don't forget your duty as a Moslem. Choose a candidate to kill & polling station to burn," the magazine article states. ISIS supporters are urged to put their faith in Allah and rise up to act against them.
The article also says that in the current election, the question is not who of the "two devils" is worse. "They are idolaters," states the article, calling on its readers not to stand on the sidelines and wait, but destroy polling stations and have no pity for anyone who does not belong to their faith.
As Rumiyah's article began to circulate in several languages, it was reported that a soldier serving at a base north of Gay Paree was arrested on suspicion that due to his views becoming more radical and extreme, he was planning on carrying out an attack on Election Day. Upon his arrest, an ISIS flag was found in his car, in addition to a letter in which he declares that he intends to carry out an attack and weapons and ammunition.
Meanwhile, ...back at the game, the Babe was wondering why the baseball kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally it hit him... the verbal sparring between both presidential candidates continued on Friday. After Le Pen, who is trailing far behind Macron in the polls, encountered 50 activists who shouted and threw eggs at her, the far-right candidate tweeted that "Macron's supporters are bringing violence with them to wherever they go."
In a survey published on Friday, Macaron is predicted to win with 63 percent of the vote, compared to Le Pen's 37 percent. An earlier survey similarly found that Macron is set to receive 62 percent of the vote and Le Pen 38 percent. A third survey, however, found that about a quarter of French voters do not intend to go to the polls on Sunday.
According to the same poll, most of those planning not to vote are left-wing voters who were disappointed with the results of the first round, which had a 78 percent turnout. If such a low number of voters indeed shows up, it will be the lowest voter turnout since 1965.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] An International New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... opinion piece criticising the powerful Mighty Pak Army was censored by its local publisher Friday. The story saying Pakistain’s government protected Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... forces was censored by the publisher’s printing partner in that country, resulting in a blank hole on the front page of its international edition.
The article, a 4,800-word excerpt from a forthcoming book by NY Times news hound Carlotta Gall to be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt next month, appeared in the New York Times magazine in the US and was intended as a front-page article of the International New York Times. While the story appears on most copies of the international edition, it doesn’t show up in papers distributed in Pakistain, about 9,000 copies, according to the publisher.
The NY Times’s Pakistain printer, part of the Express Tribune newspaper in that country, removed the article without its knowledge, according to NY Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy.
"We would never self-censor and this decision was made without our knowledge or agreement," she said in an e-mail. "While we understand that our publishing partners are sometimes faced with local pressures, we regret any censorship of our journalism."
It is unclear if the NY Times will continue its partnership with Express Tribune.
Gall’s reporting looks at the ties between Pakistain’s main intelligence service, ISI, and the Taliban. Her article points to former Pakistain President Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... as one of the Taliban’s protectors who knew about the late Osama bin Laden ... who has left the building... ’s whereabouts in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
The article was hate speech and therefore fair game.
[DAWN] MARDAN: Police on Thursday claimed to have jugged Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! Ali Khan, an employee of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, for his alleged involvement in lynching of a student, Mashal Khan, taking the number of arrested persons in the case to 48.
District police officer Mian Saeed Khan told media persons here that they had taken into custody Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! Ali Khan, an employee of Abdul Wali Khan University, who was allegedly involved in the lynching of Mashal Khan.
He said that Ali Khan was also among the 49 persons nominated in the FIR. The DPO said he had sent on May 3 the documents, including a copy of FIR, photographs, warrants under section 204 CrPC and duly filled pro forma, in respect of the suspects named Arif Khan, son of Tor Khan of Irum Colony Mardan, and Ali Khan, son of Sardan Khan of Mohallah Allahdadkhel Hoti, along with their passport and CNIC numbers to the authorities concerned for placing their names on the exit control list (ECL) and arrest as and when they were spotted.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wine tasting, Vince was about to start on his third quart... Sardar Khan, father of Ali Khan and district council member of Awami National Party founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986. Part of the PPP-led cabinet 2008-13. The ANP is considered left wing, advocating for secularism, democratic socialism, public sector government, and economic egalitarianism.... in Mardan, told this scribe that his son was not arrested by police rather he himself took him to the office of DPO Mardan and handed him over to the police.
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05/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] The Iraqi government has denied reports in the local and international media that it has signed a deal with the United States that would allow US forces to stay in Iraq after the defeat of ISIS group in the country.
"We emphasize that there are no combat forces from any country on the Iraqi territories in the first place so that we can discuss [whether] they can stay or not," said a statement from Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi’s office Friday morning.
The government denies having any deals with any foreign country on keeping troops in Iraq post ISIS.
"The Iraqi government did not reach a deal with any country in relations to its military role with Iraq for the stage after the decisive victory over terrorism," the Iraqi government added.
Baghdad said it has its own plans and strategies to face future challenges by advancing the Iraqi army through training and arming its forces.
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05/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Russia has irrefutable evidence indicating that the events in Khan Sheikhoun were a provocation, and Moscow will continue convincing the West to change the position in this matter, Russian delegation head at Astana talks and Special Presidential Representative for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said.
"You understand perfectly well that Russia has all the irrefutable evidence that this is a pure provocation on the part of individuals and structures that are not interested in achieving peace on the Syrian soil, but unfortunately all our explanations, arguments, attempts to prove stumble into complete misunderstanding of the West," Lavrentyev told news hounds.
"Nevertheless, we will work in this direction, try to convince the countries to change their position in relation to the government of Syria," he added.
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05/06/2017 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Jets from the US-led coalition are barred from proposed safe zones in Syria set to be created under a deal inked by Russia, Iran and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , Moscow's envoy said Friday.
"In terms of their actions in the de-escalation zones then from this moment these zones are closed for their flights," the Kremlin's envoy to peace talks in Kazakhstan Alexander Lavrentiev was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
"Aviation operations, especially by the international coalition forces, are absolutely not envisioned," he said.
Regime backers Russia and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey on Thursday signed a deal at talks in Kazakhstan to set up four safe zones in the war-torn country.
The agreement did not explicitly mention the US-led coalition, which has been targeting jihadists from the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group, but Lavrentiev insisted that "flights cease over these territories."
"We as guarantors will closely monitor all operations," he said.
Moscow's envoy said this means coalition air power can now only focus on "Islamic State targets that are located in the area of Raqa, some populated areas in the region of the Euphrates, Deir Ezzor and further on to the territory of Iraq."
The exact boundaries of the proposed safe zones in Syria are yet to be defined but they are meant to focus on rebel-held territory.
The United States gave an extremely cautious welcome to the deal, citing concerns over Iran's role as a guarantor, even as it expressed hope that the agreement could set the stage for a settlement.
The limitations could throw up obstacles for any potential US operations in Syria in the future after President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... carried out Washington's first direct strike on the forces of Russian ally Bashir al-Assad last month over an alleged chemical weapons attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Hahaha...'no fly zones'.
Refugee camps or sanctuary city-states for combatants? New tribal clusters? With the mix of players I don't see this resolving conflict only increasing the friction.
However this may give the US a chance to step back from active engagement to take a breather. Always a good thing.
#2
This whole area reminds me of an earthquake building up to the big one. Lots of little shakes but the main fault is frozen solid as the pressure builds.
Then the main fault slips and..........................
[An Nahar] Russia on Friday said it had already stopped bombing in areas of Syria set to be designated safe zones under an agreement it inked with Iran and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... The three key powerbrokers signed off on a Russian plan Thursday to establish four "de-escalation zones" in rebel-held territory of the war-torn country in a bid to shore up a shaky ceasefire.
Under the pact -- which Moscow said comes into force from Saturday -- the three sides have a month to define the exact borders of the safe zones where fighting and air strikes should be halted.
Moscow -- which is flying an air campaign in support of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... -- said that in order to ease the deal it has stopped bombing the proposed zones.
"From 00:00 May 1 the use of Russian airforce aviation in areas corresponding to the de-escalation zones was halted," senior Russian military commander Sergei Rudskoi told a news briefing.
The safety zone initiative is the latest attempt by Moscow to forge an end to the six-year conflict after its military might turned the tide of the conflict in favor of Assad.
Rudskoi outlined the proposed zones in the northwestern Idlib province, the north of central Homs province, Eastern Ghouta near Damascus and an area of the south involving Daraa and Quneitra provinces.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
What is SAC's motto? If you can't stop me I will; If you can't make me I won't?
The LGBT SJW's, Rino's and Dems nix another
President Donald Trump's choice for Army secretary announced Friday that he is withdrawing his name from consideration.
"It is with deep regret today I am withdrawing my nomination to be the Secretary of the Army," Mark Green said in a statement.
The decision by Green, Trump's second pick for the post, came after his nomination ran into trouble following a backlash after past controversial statements on LGBT issues, Islam and evolution were revealed.
Green explained his decision to pull out from a military leadership position in the wake of this controversy.
"To meet these challenges, there should be no distractions. And unfortunately due to false and misleading attacks against me, this nomination has become a distraction," he said in his statement.
"Tragically, my life of public service and my Christian beliefs have been mischaracterized and attacked by a few on the other side of the aisle for political gain," he continued. "While these false attacks have no bearing on the needs of the Army or my qualifications to serve, I believe it is critical to give the President the ability to move forward with his vision to restore our military to its rightful place in the world."
Both the White House and Pentagon had told reporters earlier Friday there was nothing to announce regarding Green's nomination.
Green, a retired Army flight surgeon and West Point grad, was tapped in early April as Trump's pick after billionaire Vincent Viola withdrew over issues related to divesting from his financial holdings.Green, currently a state senator in Tennessee, faced rising opposition from LGBT activists and Democrats for his past comments about transgender people. "Aha!" moment
In 2016, Green told a tea party group, "if you poll the psychiatrists, they're going to tell you that transgender is a disease." In 2013, Green blasted President Barack Obama for supporting what he said were "'transvestites in uniform."
Green, who is a former Army doctor, is also a self-identified "creationist" who has delivered a lecture arguing against the theory of evolution. and that makes him unfit how?
Green had defended himself from criticism in a Facebook post last week, writing that the "liberal left has cut and spliced my words about terrorism and ISIS, blatantly falsifying what I've said."
Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain have also expressed concern over Green's past comments.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/06/2017 11:57 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Quartet
[Ynet] The terror group uses its magazine Rumiyah call on its members to carry out attacks on the day of the presidential elections in 
Pervez 
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Russia has irrefutable evidence indicating that the events in Khan Sheikhoun were a provocation, and Moscow will continue convincing the West to change the position in this matter, Russian delegation head at Astana talks and Special Presidential Representative for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
