[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Gunmen have kidnapped 15 oil workers on a road near Nigeria’s oil hub of Port Harcourt, police said on Saturday, in the latest unrest in the restive region.
"Fifteen oil workers, including their driver, were kidnapped yesterday (Friday) by unknown gunnies who hijacked their vehicle on Omoku/Elele road after shooting into the air to scare passersby," Rivers state police front man Nnamdi Omoni told AFP.
He said the workers, who were employees of Nestoil, an oil and gas service firm, were on their way to their office in Port Harcourt when they were seized. They are all Nigerian local staff.
Omoni said police was on the trail of the gunnies.
"We are combing the bush and creeks in the area. Our men are all over the place. We are doing our best to rescue the victims and apprehend the kidnappers", he said.
Omoni said police had recovered the bus after it was abandoned by the gunnies.
Kidnappings targeting prominent Nigerians and foreigners, especially in the oil-producing south, was rife in the 2000s until a 2009 government amnesty reduced unrest in the region.
The hostages are usually released after ransom payments.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/04/2016 00:00 ||
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African leader's plane diverted but aides refuse to answer health fears
FLIGHT trackers recording the movements of Robert Mugabe’s plane have shown it make a sharp turn towards Dubai midway through a flight to Singapore.
The Zimbabwean president, 92, is known to fly to the Far East for medical treatment due to his country’s ailing healthcare system.
However, an explanation as to why the Air Zimbabwe plane diverted unexpectedly to the Middle East in the early hours of Wednesday morning, not not been given. The jet had taken off from Harare for Singapore at 10.45pm on Tuesday.
Speculation mounted when government officials refused to reveal why Mugabe's jet had visited Dubai. His spokesperson George Charamana said: "Each time you people don’t know the purpose of the President’s visit, there is always a default explanation that he is ill.
“So the life of the President springs between a known mission and illness. If I don’t tell you the purpose, it should be illness.
“I will not give you the purpose of the President’s visit to run away from the default explanation. This is not new.
"It is year in, year out, he is sick, he dies and resurrects. His life until the age of 92 revolves around illness and death.”
Mugabe, Africa's oldest leader has been the president of the African nation since 1987 having been prime minister since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980.
The nation adopted the US dollar last year after rampant inflation wrecked finances. At one point the inflationary figure ran at almost 80 BILLION per cent.
His critics say he has presided over the destruction of a once-promising country with policies such as the seizures of white-owned farms. But Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party blames foreign powers for sabotaging the economy with sanctions.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/04/2016 00:00 ||
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From your lips to God's ears. I wouldn't cheer too soon for the poor people of Zimbabwe, however - as soon as ol' Bob's in the cold, cold ground there will probably be a dozen or so people claiming to be the True Heirs, and with the guns to make their arguments.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/04/2016 10:28 Comments ||
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It might be two years before they issue a death certificate.
As the previous poster has said "From your lips to God's ear" After what I saw in Rhodesia back the day, it cannot come too soon for this awful person to rot in a grave.
Reasonably honest reporting by the NYT. But they don't mention why Venezuela is such a mess. Must be a lot of that "bad luck" going around.
CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Nicolás Maduro was chased at a routine political event by a crowd of angry protesters banging on pots and yelling that they were hungry, just days after thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets to call for his ouster, local news media reported on Saturday.
Scenes from the confrontation late Friday, which also appeared in videos uploaded to social media, captured the attention of Venezuelans, many of whom blame the unpopular president for the country’s food shortages.
In one video, Mr. Maduro tries to calm the pot-bangers by walking among them, only to be surrounded as the furious crowd yells obscenities.
“What is this?” an astounded voice behind the camera asks in one of the video clips.
Mr. Maduro had traveled from the capital, Caracas, to Margarita Island off Venezuela’s northern coast to inaugurate a number of new public housing units and give a televised address. During the speech, he denounced his opponents’ calls for his removal from office, calling them “vampires” and saying they were preparing for violence.
Foro Penal, a Venezuelan human rights group, said 20 people had been arrested after the protest in the island town of Villa Rosa. Mr. Maduro’s office made no statement about the episode.
Venezuelan politicians wasted little time on Saturday in using the confrontation to advance their agendas.
“The people of Villa Rosa in Margarita have no fear,” wrote Henrique Capriles, an opposition governor who lost to Mr. Maduro in the presidential election in 2013. “Through banging pots, Maduro was run out of town.”
Pedro Carvajalino, a pro-government television anchorman, said the protesters had been sent by Mr. Capriles and other members of the opposition.
“It was a lack of respect to presidential dignity,” Mr. Carvajalino said.
If you want lack of respect for presidential dignity, come to the U.S.: we've been doing that for decades...
On Thursday, Mr. Maduro’s political opponents organized a mass protest in the capital, a gathering they called “the taking of Caracas.” It was the largest protest this year as many thousands descended on the capital from around the country, chanting, singing and venting frustration with the country’s chronic shortages, most critically of food.
The organizers are trying to use rising anger against the president to propel an effort to recall him from office by means of a popular referendum. If the referendum happens this year and Mr. Maduro loses, Venezuelans will have the opportunity to elect a new president. But the government, which is responsible for organizing such a vote, wishes to hold it next year. If Mr. Maduro loses in 2017, the leftist vice president will serve what is left of his six-year term.
Polls show that Mr. Maduro would be likely to lose a referendum.
The confrontation in Villa Rosa suggests that the tide may have turned in an area that once supported the president. It voted for Mr. Maduro and his predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chávez, in previous elections by significant margins.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/04/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
"Venezuelan President is chased by angry protesters." "Chasing leaders" could happen here. Are they armed with pitchforks yet? Another failed example of socialism. It has not worked anywhere. However, there is always some elitist group of neosocialists who think they are smarter than the last group of socialists.
#6
The Chinese official also attempted to block Rice and Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes after they lifted a blue rope holding back press and walked to the other side of it, closer to Obama.
So Rice and Rhodes decided to share Obama's "Face Time" and got slapped by a Chinese official. Dumb on all sides: the official was unaware of the celestial majesty (/sarc) of the two flunkies and they were dumb enough to get into the Press Box with the other peasants.
[Siasat] The officer in charge investigating British-Pak woman Samia Shahid’s ’honour’ killing in Pakistain has revealed that she was raped before her death.
Shahid, 28, from Bradford, was found dead in Pandori village in the house of her first husband Shakeel Ahmed on July 20 and the family claimed she had died a natural death, reports the Express Tribune.
Police charged Shahid’s ex-husband and father with her murder on Saturday.
"We have completed our investigation and concluded that her ex-husband Muhammad Shakeel and (her) father Muhammad Shahid were involved in her killing," said Abubakar Buksh, Deputy Inspector General of Police, in the region.
"Her ex-husband has also been charged with raping her," he said.
According to Shahid’s second husband Kazam, his wife had angered her parents by converting to Shia Islam, his sect, before their wedding.
The station house officer (SHO) of the Jhelum cop shoppe has also been tossed in the calaboose Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! for showing negligence in handling the British-Pak woman’s murder on July 20.
A high-level team constituted by the Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... government and headed by DIG Abubakar Khuda Bakhsh is investigating the case.
The investigation team on Friday ordered the arrest of Mangla SHO Inspector Aqeel Abbas for showing negligence in the case. Officials at the Mangla Police Station confirmed that Abbas had been arrested.
Shahid’s father has denied the charges, claiming his daughter died of natural causes.
Hundreds of women are murdered by relatives in the conservative Moslem nation each year on the pretext of defending the family’s honour.
Rights groups and politicians have for years called for tougher laws to tackle the perpetrators of violence against women in Pakistain.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/04/2016 00:00 ||
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I would like to know what role raping her played in regaining the family honor.
1) You were born female to a Pakistani family
2) Your family name is "Shahid"
3) Your father's name is "Muhammad"
4) Your commanded husband's name is "Muhammad"
5) You're in Pakistain
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/04/2016 18:16 Comments ||
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[DAWN] Two brothers were killed and their parents injured when their relative opened fire on them in Haleemzai tehsil of Mohmand Agency.
Officials said on Friday that Raman and his brother Rohullah exchanged harsh words with their cousin Yousuf of Babikhel over some issue. They said that Yousuf opened fire on them, killing Raman on the spot while Rohullah died in hospital.
The victims’ parents were also injured in the incident. They were taken to Peshawar in a precarious condition.
The Khasadar force has arrested three persons for investigation into the case.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/04/2016 00:00 ||
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Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Saturday that an agreement to freeze oil production levels could be worked out at the forthcoming meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Algeria, Sputnik reported.
On September 26-28, representatives of 73 member states of the International Energy Forum (IEF) are set to meet in the Algerian capital to discuss oil-related issues. OPEC members are expected to hold informal consultations on the sidelines of the IEF summit.
"In regard to the discussion of the situation in general, within its framework different proposals could be worked out," Novak said speaking about the possibility to freeze oil output during the upcoming meeting. "This issue would be worked out in the course of monitoring."
The minister said that Russia was open for proposals to coordinate its efforts with other oil producing states.
"We adhere to the position that our doors are always open in regard to the issues related to monitoring and coordination of activities, because the market situation is still complicated and it has not stabilized in the last two years taking into consideration the decrease in prices. I think that within the framework of the ministerial meeting, which will be held on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum, we will be able to discuss the situation with the colleagues."
Global oversupply and stagnating demand have caused oil prices to plunge from $115 per barrel in June 2014 to less than $30 per barrel in January 2016. Prices recovered amid Nigeria and Venezuela's output outages and growing demand in May, peaking at over $50 per barrel in early June.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/04/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Let me know how that works out, hmm?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/04/2016 10:18 Comments ||
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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.
African leader's plane diverted but aides refuse to answer health fears
[Siasat] The officer in charge investigating British-Pak woman Samia Shahid’s ’honour’ killing in Pakistain has revealed that she was raped before her death.
[DAWN] Two brothers were killed and their parents injured when their relative opened fire on them in Haleemzai tehsil of Mohmand Agency.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Saturday that an agreement to freeze oil production levels could be worked out at the forthcoming meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Algeria, Sputnik reported.
