Hi there, !
Today Mon 05/08/2017 Sun 05/07/2017 Sat 05/06/2017 Fri 05/05/2017 Thu 05/04/2017 Wed 05/03/2017 Tue 05/02/2017 Archives
Rantburg
533258 articles and 1860578 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 60 articles and 157 comments as of 20:39.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion        Politix   
US drone strike leaves 7 ISIS-K militants dead in East of Afghanistan
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
10 15:17 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [6] 
4 10:12 Eohippus Elmuque5848 [3] 
2 14:00 Rex Mundi [3] 
17 22:20 USN, Ret. [4] 
1 12:09 Skidmark [3] 
1 12:13 Skidmark [8] 
1 12:22 Skidmark [2] 
0 [10] 
2 11:37 ed in texas [10] 
0 [8] 
14 22:11 P2kontheroad [8] 
1 12:25 Skidmark [3] 
3 12:14 Zenobia Floger6220 [3] 
1 10:18 gorb [] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
0 [3]
0 [6]
0 [1]
2 17:55 swksvolFF [11]
0 [4]
0 [6]
0 [6]
0 [3]
0 [4]
0 [3]
0 [8]
0 [14]
0 [5]
0 [5]
0 [3]
0 [4]
0 [6]
1 09:36 Frank G [6]
Page 2: WoT Background
5 20:23 Frank G [9]
1 07:58 P2Kontheroad [1]
0 [9]
0 [7]
3 15:00 Seeking cure for ignorance [5]
0 [3]
0 [4]
4 13:58 Frank G [6]
0 [4]
0 [1]
0 []
2 15:30 Zhang Fei [3]
0 [7]
2 15:45 Pappy []
Page 4: Opinion
3 15:18 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [3]
3 10:13 g(r)omgoru [3]
2 12:29 Skidmark [8]
6 14:48 trailing wife [1]
18 19:41 swksvolFF [6]
Page 6: Politix
5 23:34 Beau [4]
4 17:00 DarthVader [5]
1 12:52 Skidmark [1]
10 22:44 Crusader [4]
7 13:22 JohnQC [1]
8 19:29 P2kontheroad [2]
1 18:32 rjschwarz [10]
6 18:30 rjschwarz [6]
6 12:57 Skidmark [1]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Concealed Carry Saves Lives in Texas
[MSN] A "good Samaritan" with a gun killed an active shooter who may have been gearing up for a deadly rampage at a Texas sports bar Wednesday night, police said.

An armed "good Samaritan" - as the Arlington Police labeled him but NBC News clearly doesn't think so - happened to be eating at the restaurant with his wife. A concealed carry permit holder, he told her to get down on the ground and then shot Jones in the back.

"I don't think the shooter even knew where the rounds were coming from because he started shooting at the front door," Arlington Police Lieutenant Chris Cook said, who described the scene as "chaotic."

Use of force and firearms expert Emanuel Kapelsohn told NBC News that, from his understanding, the man who took down the shooter reacted appropriately.

"I think it's to be applauded," he said. "Not everybody in the world ought to own a gun. Not everybody in the world ought to carry a gun. Not everyone in the world ought to engage an armed criminal where innocent people could be potentially injured."

"But this good Samaritan obviously had the ability to do what he did," Kapelsohn added. "Who knows how many people would be dead if he had not acted?"
I heard this on the radio yesterday morning, but was surprised to see it make the major media.
Posted by: Bobby || 05/05/2017 07:43 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But, but ... now the active shooter can't get a fair trial!
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 05/05/2017 10:02 Comments || Top||

#2  According to one poster, Zona Caliente Sports Bar has a Hooters vibe but way better food.

A patron might have to duck a few rounds but the food is to die for.

I wonder what caliber the CCW holder "Good Samaritan" was carrying?
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/05/2017 10:03 Comments || Top||

#3  and then shot Jones in the back

A man after my own heart.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/05/2017 10:04 Comments || Top||

#4  "Active shooter" vs "passive shooter"?

I don't know why the PD coined the phrase "Active shooter". Of course he's "active" otherwise he wouldn't be a shooter.
Posted by: Eohippus Elmuque5848 || 05/05/2017 10:12 Comments || Top||


Girls Arrested, Teachers Hurt In School Melee
[THESMOKINGGUN] Eight teachers were maimed yesterday trying to break up a high school brawl involving a quartet of female pugilists who are now facing multiple criminal charges in connection with the 7:30 AM melee.

The fight at Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, a Philadelphia suburb, began as students were headed to their first period classes. As seen in the above video, after two girls began throwing punches at each other, two more students joined the fray.

The fight, recorded by several onlookers, prompted one student to offer color commentary on the indignity suffered by one combatant: "Oh, shit! Her wig came off!"

When a substitute teacher sought to intercede, she apparently caught an overhand right (or elbow) intended for an opponent. The teacher crumpled to the floor with a concussion.

Police tossed in the clink
You have the right to remain silent...
the four students on a variety of charges, including assault and reckless endangerment. Three of the girls were charged as juveniles, while Amber Lewis, 18, was charged as an adult. Lewis is locked up in the Montgomery County jail in lieu of $10,000 bond. Two of the defendants are sisters.

In a letter to parents, Ray McFall, principal of the 1500-student school, referred to the initial fight as a "physical altercation," adding that administrators would not tolerate fighting or "the filming of fights." McFall added that, "Both behaviors are beneath us and reflect poorly on our larger population."
Posted by: Fred || 05/05/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  reflect poorly on our larger population

Metro mega-school gen pop...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/05/2017 7:23 Comments || Top||

#2  My spin detector just pegged.
Posted by: gorb || 05/05/2017 10:16 Comments || Top||

#3  A bureaucrat brings us some clarity:
"A public school brawl is a rarity,
But students are frightened
And tensions have heightened
Since Trump," sez the un-Colin Flaherty.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 05/05/2017 12:14 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Delta kicks family off flt to facilitate stand-by passenger (Video)
Moved to Page 3

WAPO, same story.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/05/2017 06:43 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hat tip to the passenger and his wife. Notice how calmly the offended passenger continues to facilitate dialogue and the video recording of the event? He knows he has just hit the legal damages lotto and is trying to mentally select the color and optional equipment for he and his wife's matching 2018 Carreras and Ivy League colleges for the boys. It really is quite a lot to think about on such short notice.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/05/2017 6:55 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't think the passenger rules have been significantly updated since the Civil Aeronautics Board era. Maybe the 'contact' aspects need to be moved from the FAA to the FTC for administration and subject to existing legal precedents concerning such.
Posted by: P2Kontheroad || 05/05/2017 7:57 Comments || Top||

#3  As I understand the conditions of the ticket (contract) it only applies to the person named, so when the 18 year old did not use his, it reverted to the airline to sell again, not to the family of the non-flying passenger to use for their unticked baby.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/05/2017 8:27 Comments || Top||

#4  As I understand the conditions of the ticket (contract) it only applies to the person named, so when the 18 year old did not use his, it reverted to the airline to sell again, not to the family of the non-flying passenger to use for their unticked baby.

Yes, but this unhappy event appears to have taken place at a layover or stop, with Delta's full concurrence for the passenger switch at the flight's point of origin.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/05/2017 8:31 Comments || Top||

#5  So now we know where the fired United employees ended up finding a new job.
Posted by: gorb || 05/05/2017 10:11 Comments || Top||

#6  "Here, hold my gin."
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/05/2017 10:51 Comments || Top||

#7  Is this something that has been going on for a while, and we are only finding out about it now that people are posting video taken on their phones, or is this something new?
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/05/2017 10:57 Comments || Top||

#8  Its not new. Flying has sucked for as long as I can remember.
Posted by: Crusader || 05/05/2017 11:07 Comments || Top||

#9  Depends on the airline. Southwest has always been tolerable in my experience. Hawaiian has always been more than tolerable. The one time I flew JAL it was pretty good in spite of the long distance. United - not so much.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/05/2017 11:31 Comments || Top||

#10  Been flying since '67. Some airlines were very good some great and some just okay up until the '90s when amenities and courtesy started to wain.

After 9/11 it's gotten pretty bad all around with a few airlines trying to return to civility but amenities are few and far between unless you pay the big bucks for business or first class.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/05/2017 11:53 Comments || Top||

#11  I remember wishing I had been bumped from some US Air flights.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/05/2017 12:07 Comments || Top||

#12 

What Caused an Epic Meltdown at Delta
Posted by: newc || 05/05/2017 12:57 Comments || Top||

#13  In the video, an employee tells him refusing to get off the plane was a federal offense and he could be jailed.

"What blew me away was when they said, if you don't give the seat up, you're going to jail, your wife is going to jail, and they're gonna take your kids away," he told NBC4 Wednesday.


Was the employee representing himself/herself as a police officer? If so, that is an offence.

Southwest says they are not over-booking their flights. Of course, they don't go everywhere.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/05/2017 13:10 Comments || Top||

#14  The airlines claim not giving up your seat is disorderly conduct. In reality a flight attendant telling someone to get out of their seat and leave unexpectedly is disorderly conduct.

Try that on a Greyhound passenger and see what happens to you, not just by the passenger bit the whole cabin. 'Nother class of people, bro.
Posted by: Nero White 3083 || 05/05/2017 15:13 Comments || Top||

#15  What's disorderly is overbooking a flight and trying to unseat the seated passenger for the latecomer.
Posted by: gorb || 05/05/2017 16:24 Comments || Top||

#16  How long before phones must be turned off before entering the plane (for safety reasons of course), or forbidden in the cabin because of terrorism ( aka might film airline employees doing bad things)?
Posted by: rjschwarz || 05/05/2017 19:20 Comments || Top||

#17  Buried in news earlier this week was the story about the bumped (and bruised) United pax:
settled for am 'undisclosed sum.'
expect the Delta family will also be getting an 'undisclosed sum.'
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 05/05/2017 22:20 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Fears of Trump spur near-record cash transfers from US to Mexico
[FOX] With fears the Trump administration will tax or block south of the border cash transfers, remittances sent to Mexico from the United States jumped 15 percent in March from the same period last year – marking one of the largest cash transfers from Mexicans living north of the border to friends and family back home.

Mexico's central bank, Banxico, reported that around $2.5 billion in cash transfers were sent to the country from the U.S. last month, compared to $2.2 billion a year earlier -- and making March the third largest in U.S.-Mexico remittance history. In October 2008, individuals sent to Mexico $2.6 billion and in May 2006 $2.5 billion went to the country.

"This is due to uncertainty about the measures that Trump has announced, such as preventing any undocumented people from sending money abroad or applying a remittance tax of up to 5 percent,” Juan José Li Ng, a senior economist at BBVA Bancomer, told Reuters.
Lots of discussion about a federal gasoline tax hike. Apparently no discussion about a remittance on money transfers to the Mexicans. Our fine representatives at work in Washington.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/05/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Now we know for sure where they don't want to be hit.
Posted by: gorb || 05/05/2017 10:18 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Saudi king's new order loosens guardianship rules on women
[Ynet] 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...
's King Salman
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians....
has issued a directive to government offices that allows women greater access to government services without the consent of a male relative.

Women's rights activists say the memo, which has been circulating in government offices this week, codifies the rights of Saudi women to access a job, higher education or medical procedures, for example, without a male guardian's permission.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/05/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/05/2017 12:13 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Venezuela police fire tear gas at protest of thousands
[DAWN] Venezuelan police fired tear gas and protesters hurled petrol bombs as thousands rallied on Wednesday in anger at President Nicolas Maduro’s plan to rewrite the constitution. They were the latest festivities in more than a month of unrest sparked by Venezuela’s political and economic crisis.

Clouds of grey smoke from tear gas canisters filled the air as police with riot shields and trucks advanced along a major avenue in the east of the capital. Protesters at the head of the crowd hurled stones and Molotov cocktails and officers fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to push them back.

Protesters were inflamed above all by President Nicolas Maduro’s latest maneuver against opposition efforts to remove him from power. The socialist president launched procedures with the electoral council to convene a "constituent assembly" to rewrite the constitution. His centre-right opponents said that was a way of dodging elections in order to cling to power.

They blame Maduro for an economic crisis that has led to shortages of food, medicine and basic goods in the oil-rich South American nation. Maduro says the crisis is the result of a US-backed capitalist conspiracy.

Posted by: Fred || 05/05/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  I wonder how much more tear gas canisters cost than loaves of bread?
Imagine pelting a hungry crowd with muffins.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/05/2017 12:22 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
North Korea Accuses CIA Of Plotting A "Biochemical Attack" Against Kim Jong-Un
[Zero Hedge] In the latest verbal fireworks involving the Pacific Rim's most unstable nation, overnight North Korea accused the CIA and the South Korea National Intelligence service of supporting a terrorist cell plotting to kill its "supreme leadership" with a bio-chemical weapon and said such a "pipe-dream" could never succeed.
I believe someone said the same thing about indoor plumbing.
According to AFP, the North's Ministry of State Security released a statement saying "the last-ditch effort" of U.S. "imperialists" and the South had gone "beyond the limits."

"The Central Intelligence Agency of the US and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) of south Korea, hotbed of evils in the world, hatched a vicious plot to hurt the supreme leadership of the DPRK and those acts have been put into the extremely serious phase of implementation after crossing the threshold of the DPRK," the North’s KCNA news agency quoted the statement as saying adding that "They hatched a plot of letting human scum Kim commit bomb terrorism targeting the supreme leadership during events at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun and at military parade and public procession after his return home."

"A hideous terrorists’ group, which the CIA and the NIS infiltrated into the DPRK on the basis of covert and meticulous preparations to commit state sponsored terrorism against the supreme leadership of the DPRK by use of biochemical substance, has been recently detected."

In taking a page right out of the Turkish "shadow government" playbook, North Korea said the cell had "infiltrated" North Korea but the Ministry of State Security will "ferret out and mercilessly destroy to the last one the terrorists of the US CIA," the local ministry said as cited by the state’s KCNA news agency. Pyongyang identified one of the people involved in the "vicious plot" as "Kim," a timber worker who was allegedly bribed by the CIA while working in Russia in June 2014.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/05/2017 07:52 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  ... Actually, THIS worries me - "The imperialist running dogs were gonna whack our beloved Fat Boy, so we had no choice but to strike first."

Remember how many NATO/WARPAC scenarios started with a manufactured provocation from the Red side.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 05/05/2017 9:17 Comments || Top||

#2  They don't need to get that fancy. You love watching all the new military testing and have stands built for the viewing. We just wait until one kicks off and drop a cruise missile on your fat ass.

The fact your ass is still pudgy and not in tatters proves we don't want to kill you.

Yet.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/05/2017 9:18 Comments || Top||

#3  the state’s KCNA news agency. Pyongyang identified one of the people involved in the "vicious plot" as "Kim,"

what a surprise
Posted by: Frank G || 05/05/2017 9:34 Comments || Top||

#4  I wonder who could be blamed the 'biochem' attack after a night of kimchi burritos?

Posted by: Mullah Richard || 05/05/2017 9:36 Comments || Top||

#5  Damfino. You're sure somebody haven't filled Pudgy's salt shaker with LiCl?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/05/2017 10:03 Comments || Top||

#6  My God, Kim is getting into the jagermeister.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/05/2017 10:54 Comments || Top||

#7  We don't need to whack him. Just keep the pressure on until one of his generals does it for us.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/05/2017 11:36 Comments || Top||

#8  Just (low-dose) poison Pudge's scotch. Let time and his drinking do the rest.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/05/2017 12:32 Comments || Top||

#9  Sounds like a run of the mill Stalinist purge.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/05/2017 15:13 Comments || Top||

#10  It's too late. The biochemical damage to Kim's drain has already happened.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/05/2017 15:17 Comments || Top||


North Korea Warns China Of "Grave Consequences"
[Telegraph] Beijing has shown increasing concern towards Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme over fears that it is prompting the United States, Japan and South Korea to build up their militaries in the region.

The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) took aim at "a string of absurd and reckless remarks" from Chinese media towards the regime’s nuclear ambitions.

"The DPRK will never beg for the maintenance of friendship with China, risking its nuclear program which is as precious as its own life, no matter how valuable the friendship is," the hard-hitting commentary said, referring to the country’s official name.

"China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK's patience... (and) had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations."
Posted by: Chuth Elminetle4367 || 05/05/2017 04:11 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  grave consequences
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/05/2017 12:09 Comments || Top||


Economy
US crude plunges 4.8% to $45.52, posting worst close in more than five months
[CNBC]
Continuing the trend from yesterday.
Posted by: Fred || 05/05/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Worst"? Sort of depends which side of the transaction you're standing on.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/05/2017 8:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Certainly good for the consumer. I was sure it would never plummet to these levels and remain there for so long. I was wrong.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/05/2017 8:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Praise to the Frackers
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/05/2017 9:42 Comments || Top||

#4  I was thinking (hoping too, for other reasons) that it would be in the mid-high 50's or more by now, Besoerker.

Although it's good for the average folks fueling their 10-year old non-sparky vehicles at the pumps for sure.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 05/05/2017 9:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Last time crude was $45 I was paying $1.96/gal. Why is the price now $2.35? Changing to "summer blend"? Refinery repairs? Stock manipulation?
Posted by: Eohippus Elmuque5848 || 05/05/2017 10:00 Comments || Top||

#6  One of these days my dream* will come through.

*Bleeding hearts collecting for starving Saudi children.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/05/2017 10:06 Comments || Top||

#7  Sacramento area prices hover at the $2.85-95 mark now for Shell regular, and that is before additional 12 cent tax increase in November. As of November 1st, gas price will include 18 cents federal tax, 42 cents CA exercise tax and 9.8 cents sales tax. Almost 70 cents per gallon!
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 05/05/2017 11:24 Comments || Top||

#8  Last time crude was $45 I was paying $1.96/gal. Why is the price now $2.35? Changing to "summer blend"? Refinery repairs? Stock manipulation?

Taxes.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/05/2017 11:38 Comments || Top||

#9  #6 One of these days my dream* will come through.

Me too such as when the gas wars occurred in Detroit in the early '60s. You could drive up to Detroit and get $0.20/gal gasoline.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/05/2017 13:15 Comments || Top||

#10  Mid ''60s in Peoria was $0.18 JQC.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/05/2017 14:25 Comments || Top||

#11  IMO, this is a structural shift in the oil market. And oil will settle toward the cost of fracked oil, which I understand is dropping all the time.

If I were the Saudis, I'd be thinking about kicking off a war in the Gulf. Saudi and the Emirates can get most of their oil to market via pipelines that bypass the Gulf. Shiia Iran and Iraq can't.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/05/2017 15:23 Comments || Top||

#12  Yep,

Every time the Soddy's do something to prop up the cost of their oil, it encourages more oil production in the US and down go the prices again.

The oil price the KSA needs, given their vast horde of princes and Ferraris is around $100 a barrel, US shale oil is wildly profitable right now at $47 a barrel so the Soddy's are screwed.

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of folks. Do you suppose this means they will cut down on the funding to all of those Wahabi fanatics they've been financing all these years? AND the Moslem Brotherhood?

Times could get tough for the jihadi business as the revenue stream could dry up to a trickle
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 05/05/2017 15:36 Comments || Top||

#13  crude is up about 2% as of now
Posted by: lord garth || 05/05/2017 15:36 Comments || Top||

#14  Taxes of inflation. When the Fed magically created billions of unbacked dollars to bailout the connected, we pay the price via inflation. In 2006 the Treasury could mint 100 pennies for a dollar, today they can only mint less than four dozen. That is why the price of gas hasn't gone back down to pre-2008 levels.
Posted by: P2kontheroad || 05/05/2017 22:11 Comments || Top||


Europe
Paris at War with migrant gangs (Video)
No date or specific location provided, but from the signage, the area appears to be Maghrebin. From Wiki - Maghrebis in France or French Maghrebis are immigrants from Maghreb countries (mainly Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia) in France. The term may also refer to French-born persons who have Maghrebi parents or who have Maghrebi ancestral background. The term includes all ethnicities from the Maghreb living in France (Arabs and Berbers).
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/05/2017 07:04 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  Come on Marine (Le Pen)!
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/05/2017 12:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Posted to Youtube June 1 2016. So, nothing has changed apparently
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 05/05/2017 14:00 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Policeman killed in Lakki attack
[DAWN] LAKKI MARWAT: A policeman was killed in an attack by a group of criminals in Tajori town here late on Tuesday night.

A police official said that SHO Tajori Irfanullah along with a police constable came under attack when they were in the locality to confirm presence of a group of wanted criminals led by its kingpin Mohammad Ali.

"The proclaimed absconders fired at the cops when they saw them coming towards their hideout," he maintained, saying that as a result of the fire, constable Momin Khan was killed on the spot, while SHO escaped.

The official claimed that the SHO identified the fleeing attackers, who were named Mohammad Ali, Sabir and Noor Aslam. They were wanted by police in murder, attempted murder, attacks on police and other cases of heinous nature, the official claimed.

Soon after the cop’s killing, a contingent of police reached the area and tossed in the clink
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
several suspects in a search operation.

The dear departed cop was buried in his native Gandi Khankhel village with official honour.

Posted by: Fred || 05/05/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


North Korea claims armed 'tax officials' beat diplomat, wife in Karachi
[DAWN] North Korea's embassy in Pakistain has accused the country's tax authorities of assaulting a diplomat and his wife, claiming armed officials broke into their Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
home and held guns to their heads, an official confirmed on Thursday.

The written complaint, seen by AFP and addressed to the chief of Excise and Taxation department, demands action against the officials and warns the incident could seriously impact diplomatic relations.

It said at least 10 gunnies from the department burst into the diplomat's Karachi home on April 9 and attacked him and his wife, dragging her by the hair and hitting them both in the face before aiming guns at the couple.

They also shot at photographs of the couple, the letter alleges.

"This is a very serious issue and we have set up a high-powered investigating team to probe into the allegations framed by the Korean embassy," Shoaib Siddiqui, chief of the department told AFP.

The incident was recorded on closed circuit television cameras, the letter, dated April 27, claimed.

"We will examine the CCTV film so that we can identify the men," Siddiqui said.

The diplomat's role in Karachi is not known.

Posted by: Fred || 05/05/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Will need more nukes now.
Posted by: gorb || 05/05/2017 10:13 Comments || Top||

#2  They were from the Division of Bribe Assessment, wanting to know why they hadn't heard from the Koreans.
Posted by: ed in texas || 05/05/2017 11:37 Comments || Top||


Panama Papers are trash, claims Maryam
[DAWN] Maryam Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
, the daughter of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, triggered a new controversy on Tuesday when she took to social media to attack the authenticity of the Panama Papers and the journalists who exposed them.

Her tweets came as the Supreme Court announced the formation of a three-member bench to monitor progress on the investigation it had ordered in its April 20 verdict, where it had also ordered the constitution of a joint investigation team (JIT) consisting of personnel from various military and civil investigative agencies.

In a series of tweets, sent out after the prime minister’s address in Layyah, Ms Sharif dismissed the Panama Papers as "crap". She said the leaks had been "trashed in the rest of the world", adding: "Those relying on it to bring down [Nawaz Sharif will] bite the dust Insha’Allah".
Posted by: Fred || 05/05/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Science & Technology
SpaceX plans to launch first internet-providing satellites in 2019
[THEVERGE] SpaceX has its sights set on Mars, but that doesn’t mean it has forgotten about Earth. Elon Musk’s company yesterday outlined its plan to put a network of internet-providing satellites around our planet, stating in a Senate hearing on broadband infrastructure that it wanted to start sending the craft into space in 2019, before the full network came online in 2024.

SpaceX’s vice president of satellite government affairs, Patricia Cooper, said that the company was aiming to get a prototype satellite into space this year, before launching another in the early months of 2018. These prototypes will be used to demonstrate that the custom-built craft are capable of providing internet for Earth dwellers, but assuming the tests go successfully, SpaceX plans to start building the network proper in 2019.

SPACEX WILL LAUNCH THE SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKETS
The company will launch additional satellites in phases until 2024, at which point Cooper says the network should have reached full capacity, with the craft operating on the Ka- and Ku-band frequencies. SpaceX will be using its own Falcon 9 rockets to get the satellites into low-Earth orbit -- a measure that will help it save costs and ensure it’s not beholden to the launch schedules of other spacefaring firms.

Cooper said the plan would put 4,425 satellites into orbit around the Earth, operating in 83 planes, at fairly low altitudes of between 1,110 kilometers and 1,325 kilometers. The company will also support its network with ground control centers, gateway stations, and other Earth-based facilities. That makes it an ambitious plan, not least in terms of volume. There are only an estimated 1,459 satellites in orbit around our planet at the moment -- the SpaceX scheme would launch triple that figure, potentially cluttering up the space around Earth, making future launches potentially difficult and dangerous.

Posted by: Fred || 05/05/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What's the line on the spook launch?
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/05/2017 12:25 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
24[untagged]
9Islamic State
7Govt of Pakistan
3Govt of Syria
3Arab Spring
3Commies
1Govt of Pakistain Proxies
1Govt of Iraq
1Govt of Iran
1Hamas
1Hefajat-e-Islam
1Hizb-i-Islami-Hekmatyar
1al-Shabaab (AQ)
1Moslem Colonists
1Palestinian Authority
1Taliban
1TTP

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2017-05-05
  US drone strike leaves 7 ISIS-K militants dead in East of Afghanistan
Thu 2017-05-04
  Kurd, Turkish army troops fighting near Rojava
Wed 2017-05-03
  Taliban kill 27 ISIS militants in East of Afghanistan
Tue 2017-05-02
  FBI translator married ISIS terrorist she was supposed to investigate: report
Mon 2017-05-01
  Al-Qaeda ready to join forces with Saudi-led groups to fight ‘Houthi Shia’ in Yemen
Sun 2017-04-30
  Jaish Al-Islam executes Al-Qaeda commander as rival jihadists slaughter each other in Damascus
Sat 2017-04-29
  ISIS on its last legs as the Syrian Army imposes full control over gas field in east Homs
Fri 2017-04-28
  Fighting between Kurds and Turkish troops continue in Northern Syria
Thu 2017-04-27
  Damascus airport rocked after 'Israel air strike' on arms depot
Wed 2017-04-26
  Abu Sayyaf beheads captive Philippine soldier
Tue 2017-04-25
  Sweden arrests second suspect over deadly truck attack
Mon 2017-04-24
  Drone strike kills 5 Qaeda suspects in Yemen
Sun 2017-04-23
  5 terrorist suspects arrested in Brussels after arms, ammo & drugs seized in police raids
Sat 2017-04-22
  Dozens of About 140 Afghan troops dead in Taliban base attack
Fri 2017-04-21
  ISIS Media Chief dies in airstrike


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.
3.128.203.143
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (18)    WoT Background (14)    Opinion (5)    (0)    Politix (9)