#1
The Tuaregs have collaborated with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (originally the Algerian Salafist Group for Combat and Preaching, which expanded to broader north African operations and affiliation with al Q in January of 2007) for some time.
Back in December they sold two German hostages seized in Libya to AQIM in Mali - AQIM released a photo of the hostages on a Mauritanian news website shortly thereafter.
#2
The Maghreb seems like a fine place to send all the Muslims we aren't allowed to imprison anymore. If they stay there we'll all get along just fine.
#3
Wonder if the Times realizes this is probably their last election no matter what so they might as well go out with a bang, or if some might reign it in and try for some credibility. .
#4
This is a hilarious article, but I remember when the aliens "Gephardtized" Steve Dallas's brain, turning him into a church-going New Age feminist vegan. I also recall McGovern and Kerry, among others, being accused of flip-flopping.
According to Wikipedia (I know, I know), the NYT mentions political flip-flopping back in 1890. (But they didn't have quantum theory back then.) Everything old is new again at the Times!
#7
A Feynman diagram of an encounter between a Romney and an anti-Romney. The resulting collision annihilates both, leaving behind a single electron and a $20 bill.
OK, that's funny! But then, I love quantum mechanics jokes.
The article, however, is a fine example of how the media will do *anything* to slime whoever even looks like they might be running against B-HO. Expect a lot more before November.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/02/2012 16:42
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#2
As per DRUDGE, the USDOD is doing a Nippon + ROK, vee activation of BMD as "just in case".
* OTOH FREEREPUBLIC > [US] NAVY: THE CRUISERS MUST GO. Seven AEGIS-capable CG's on the cutting block.
A number of Bloggers are worried about how the Navy-DOD is going to protect the Carriers from Iranian andor Chinese ASBMS, TLCMS, etc.
versus
* WAFF > NATO: MEMBERS SHOULD SHARE THEIR MILITARY SYSTEMS.
D *** NG IT, NOT A BAD IDEA, ESPEC AS PER "GLOBALISM" + OWG COSTS-SHARING, BUDGETING + PROPOSED 1000-FLAG OWG "TASK FORCE/NAVY" - SNIFF, SNIFF, IFF ONLY THEM WILY PROPELLERS OF THE FNS CV "CHARLES DE GAULLE" WOULD JUST AGREE TO STAY ON!
North Korea attempted on Sunday to lure foreign tourists to the hermit country to help celebrate a major anniversary, pledging to make "every possible sincere efforts" to show visitors a good time.
Preparations are under way at the scenic Mount Kumgang to arrange transport and lodging for foreigners who have apparently showed "keen interest" in visiting the communist nuclear-armed nation. Carter, Fonda, Belafonte, Moore, Penn, anyone blocking development of a budget for the US, ...
There are no official figures on how many foreign tourists visit North Korea each year, but their cash -- the North charges exorbitant prices for everything from beer to accommodation -- is a major boon to the moribund economy.
The resort at Mount Kumgang, where a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a soldier in July 2008 after allegedly straying from the area, was developed by the South Korean giant Hyundai Asan and opened in 1998.
It once earned the impoverished North tens of millions of dollars a year from South Koreans eager to see the other half of the Korean peninsula, but the tours have been banned since the fatal shooting of the South Korean housewife. I was afraid for my life! I thought she had a frying pan!
The development, which has since been deserted, "is fully open to all tourists in the blooming best tour season of April", a spokesman for the tourism authority in the Mount Kumgang area told state media KCNA.
The spokesman pledged "all kinds of special privileges" to tour firms willing to go there, stressing the North was in celebratory mood for the centenary of the birth of its founding president, Kim Il-Sung, on April 15.
"We welcome all the tourists coming to Mount Kumgang and will make every possible sincere efforts to let them spend pleasant days in the best scenic spot," said the spokesman. No, thanks. I choose life.
The resort in the coastal Mount Kumgang was developed with South Korean money as a symbol of reconciliation between the two Koreas, who are still technically at war after the 1950-53 conflict ended only in an armistice.
But the 2008 shooting there and a general deterioration in ties has seen the North and South fail to agree to find a compromise on tour groups from South Korea returning.
Frustrated with the long stalemate and desperate for foreign cash, Pyongyang last year stripped Hyundai Asan of its exclusive right to run tours to the idyllic area that boasts breathtaking views, lush vegetation and waterfalls.
Foreign tourists face immense restrictions on visits to North Korea, which can ordinarily only be made as part of a closely watched tour group. Most areas of the country are off-limits and visitors are forbidden to talk to the locals.
Pyongyang on Sunday renewed criticism of what it called South Korea's "grave provocation" over Mount Kumgang. Seoul has been lobbying for a blanket ban on all foreign tourists going there.
The North is set to lavishly commemorate the anniversary with various festivals and events including the launch of a satellite that has drawn widespread condemnation from the international community.
Pyongyang insists it is a peaceful space project but Washington and Seoul see it as a disguised missile test banned under UN resolutions.
The North, which desperately needs foreign aid to feed its 24 million people, slammed Saturday the US suspension of food aid over the disputed launch, calling the move an "overreaction". Overreaction or not, you can choose food for the peasants or a test flight for your ICBM program, and nobody cares about your stupid country enough to invade it.
The communist regime under the late ruler Kim Jong-Il set 2012 as the year to become a "strong and prosperous nation". Too bad he's not alive to witness the event.
#3
pledging to make "every possible sincere efforts" to show visitors a good time.
Picturing the graffitti now: "For a good time and real food, call Mrs. Kim at...."
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/02/2012 15:00
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#4
Actually, tourists would be a good thing for NK. I don't mean the usual isolated dog & pony show for some leftist bigwig. I mean swarms of middle class tourists, obviously well fed, wearing warm colorful clothes from Walmart, carrying cheap cameras and cellphones, in herds to big to hide. Let the Norks see how the rest of the world lives. And realize the only thing standing between them and prosperity is their own government and that pudgy kid.
#6
>realize the only thing standing between them and prosperity is their own government and that pudgy kid
We know nothing of how the culture has been ruined by generations of marxism. It might not encourage the reciprocal, stoic & ability to delay gratification that builds wealthy countries.
#7
I believe the Norks typically keep visitors on a very short leash and accompanied by official minders. Any deviation from the government approved path and itinerary would lead to immediate deportation. You would not be allowed to simply travel the countryside and talk to the average North Korean.
Only the official (and fed) party members would be allowed to even see any tourists in designated areas - never mind talk to them.
I think they also hold your passport while you are in the country.
I think I read about some guy getting in to see the big synchronized dance they put on.
#8
There have been tours to North Korea for years now. There's an outfit in Beijing run by a European, Koryo Tours, that does tours to North Korea, and this includes Americans. Individual tours are available, you don't have to go with a group if you don't want.
Standard Independent tour itinerary
4 night tour, Sat - Wed/Thurs
Sat
AM: JS152 Flight Beijing-Pyongyang 11:30 departure, 14:25 arrival.
PM: Customs at Pyongyang airport, meet guides, Mansudae Grand Monument, Arch of Triumph, Fountain Park, transfer to hotel.
OVERNIGHT: Sosan Hotel, Pyongyang
Sun
AM: Kumsusan Memorial Palace (Mausoleum of Kim Il Sung), Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetry
PM: Walk in Moranbong Hill, Kaeson Funfair, Mangyongdae Native House, Pyongyang Metro (2 stations), drive to Mt Myohyang
OVERNIGHT: Chongchon Hotel, Mt Myohyang
Mon
AM: International Friendship Exhibition (Hall of gifts to DPRK's leaders), Buddhist temple
PM: Return to Pyongyang, Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum (Korean War Museum), USS Pueblo
OVERNIGHT: Sosan Hotel, Pyongyang
Tues
AM: Drive to Kaesong, Panmunjom/DMZ, Kaesong Koryo Museum
PM: Return to Pyongyang, Schoolchildren's Palace performance, Juche Tower, Monument to Party Foundation
OVERNIGHT: Sosan Hotel, Pyongyang
Weds
AM: Depart Pyongyang by train departure at 10:10 PM: Sinuiju (DPRK customs), Cross border into China, Dandong city and on through China
OVERNIGHT: On train
#9
we still have an unfinished piece of business that G's itinerary reminds me of: blow up the USS Pueblo. Do it big and spectacular
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/02/2012 19:44
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#10
AFAIK any foreign tourists must also give up their Cell Phones, Laptops, Notepads, + any other Net-capable, etc. Personal Communication goodies.
> No criticisms or observations allowed to leave the country.
> Also good iff Pyongyang decides to kidnap the Tourists like they did post-WW2 + Cold War Japanese, SOKORS.
An Algerian man used a kitchen knife to slaughter his 16-year-old daughter after discovering pictures of American and Turkish actors in her mobile phone.
#1
You know when you do that kind of stuff, you get treated in the same manner. Or to paraphrase the Italian Condottieri Carmagnola facing the Swiss outside of Milan (1422), 'Men who did not give quarter did not deserve to receive it'.
After Khartoum denied that it had bombed civilians earlier this month, Sudanese aerial strikes last week were aimed at church buildings and schools in Kauda, South Kordofan state, a humanitarian aid worker said.
Antonov airplanes dropped bombs on Thursday and Friday (March 22 and 23), destroying some houses and cattle near the church buildings and schools but causing no casualties, he said.
Humanitarian agencies consider the Islamic governments targeting of civilians in the Nuba Mountains, which has a large Christian population, an ethnic cleansing against non-Arab peoples in the multi-ethnic state, with the added incentive of ridding the area of Christians, he said.
A Pakistani court has charged Osama bin Ladens three widows and two daughters with illegally staying in the country and sentenced them to 45 days in jail, according to their lawyers. In reality, that means 14 days in prison because they have already been in detention since March 3. The lawyers said that Bin Ladens family members will eventually be deported to their home countries.
Aamir Khalil, one of the lawyers, said "They (bin Ladens relatives) were sentenced to 45 days imprisonment and fined 10,000 rupees ($110) each. The money was paid on the spot. The Secretary of the Interior has been instructed to make arrangements for their deportation after that."
Some experts had said that Pakistan may have wanted a lengthy prison sentence for the family to prevent them from discussing details about their time in Pakistan.
#1
The money was paid "on the spot"? That means the lawyers were told about the sentence and fine in advance.
Where did the widows get the money for their legal defense, I wonder. Weren't Bin Laden's funds supposed to have been frozen? And I don't think he married women with paying jobs...
Posted by: American Delight ||
04/02/2012 21:42
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h/t Gates of Vienna
A long-lost medieval cookbook, containing recipes for hedgehogs, blackbirds and even unicorns, has been discovered at the British Library. Professor Brian Trump of the British Medieval Cookbook Project described the find as near-miraculous. "We've been hunting for this book for years. The moment I first set my eyes on it was spine-tingling."
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/02/2012 2:13
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#2
Now we just need for the POTUS to release one of his skittle-pooping unicorns (that's where Trayvon got his skittles?) to us so we can try the recipe.
An Egyptian trade delegation traveled to Israel on Sunday, in the first trip of its kind since former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... was tossed, Egyptian daily Al Ahram reported.
According to the report, the aim of the visit is to discuss solutions to the problems in the Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) agreement between Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the US.
Major Norwegian retailer suspends sale of Israeli cosmetic company products in 160 stores over their 'originating from settlements in occupied territories'
In response to VITA's boycott on the Israeli beauty company, a group of pro-Israel Norwegians created a Facebook page calling on the public to boycott VITA's 160 stores in Norway.
It appears that the recent ban of Ahava cosmetic products is not based on the publics' preference but is derived from some political agenda: One VITA's major shareholders is Norgesgruppen, which is also one of the largest importers of goods in Norway.
#1
Norway is the most anti Israel country in Europe (even more so than predominantly Moslem countries like Bosnia). However, it is not clear whether the general population is like that (yes, some opinion polls say the general population are Israel haters but those polls may be run by Israel haters so we don't really know).
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
04/02/2012 0:16
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#2
When I managed the logistics element of the Joint USN/Norway ("reverse FMS")Penguin Anti-Ship missile Program, I teamed with some wonderful Norwegian Navy/government technical folks. Having always been a staunch supporter of the State of Israel, I find it very difficult to accept that Norway is throwing Israel "under the bus"...However, since "Our" USA, the nascent "leader of the free world"; chooses to side with Tyranny. Nothing surprises these days...
#4
The Norwegians are probably stuck with the same problem America has: a "representative" government that doesn't truly represent them, and a media that propagandizes instead of truly informing, "for their own good".
Rebels fighting the government of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... in Syria will be paid salaries, the opposition Syrian National Council has announced.
Money will also be given to soldiers who defect from the government's army, the SNC added, after a "Friends of the Syrian people" summit in Turkey.
Conference delegates said wealthy Gulf Arab states would supply millions of dollars a month for the SNC fund.
The wealthy Gulf Arab states make an awful lot of promises. But nonetheless the Palestinian governments are going broke.
The meeting recognised the SNC as the "legitimate representative" of Syrians.
Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... dubbed the gathering of some 70 Western and Arab foreign ministers in Istanbul as the "enemies of Syria", and key players remained absent, including Russia, China and Iran.
"Tunisia can not normalize relations with Israel," Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Islamist movement that won the October 23 elections said on Sunday.
According to the official news agency TAP, "The president said the problem is with Zionism and not Judaism," said Mr. Ghannouchi at a ceremony marking Land Day.
According to London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, Israel's embassy in Cairo has been operating without a permanent residence for the past seven months. Sources told al-Sharq that Israel's ambassador to Cairo has been working out of his hotel room.
An Egyptian security expert claimed Egypt is refusing to sell or rent out a building to Israel.
#1
Well, it has been a good run for some decades now, after the Oslo Accords and $2 billion in US aid per year. The Israeli ambassador is not welcome, so it is time to leave. Not Israel's fault. The place is crazy in Egypt. It is sad but it is what it is. All the money in the world is not going to fix Egypt.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/02/2012 0:22
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#2
I've changed permeate changed to permanent (though original article still has permeate).
MOSCOW - Russian authorities closed Moscows Red Square on Sunday and detained dozens of people trying to hold a silent anti-government protest there, prompting opposition charges that they were denying Russians their right to free assembly.
Several hundred people responded to calls on the Internet to gather in Red Square outside the Kremlin wearing white ribbons or clothing as a symbol of protest, but found the iron gates to the sprawling square closed.
Police detained four people heading for the square from a nearby subway station, and later picked people out of the crowd at the gates and pushed them into buses. A police spokesman said about 55 people had been detained near Red Square for attempting to hold an unsanctioned demonstration.
Opposition leaders say the government violates Russians constitutional right to free assembly by requiring permission from local authorities for street demonstrations. Police often disperse unsanctioned rallies and detain protesters.
On Saturday, riot police detained about 60 people in Moscow and 15 in St. Petersburg, dispersing protesters shouting Russia without Putin and Freedom of Assembly: Always and Everywhere!
Activists said the authorities would have no reason to detain people simply strolling on Red Square with white ribbons. Bachina said she believed the square was closed because the authorities are frightened.
Police officers gave various reasons for the closure of the square, one saying it was shut for repair work, while another cited an unspecified event due to be held there.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/02/2012
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#1
Russians have rights?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/02/2012 16:05
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#2
On second thought, Guess Not.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/02/2012 16:07
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The Ministry of Defences delays in delivering a new system to resupply remote bases in Afghanistan have led to accusations that troops lives are being put at unnecessary risk. Cuts in the defence budget have been blamed for the delay, with reports that the MoD lost several of the expert staff involved in the overdue Urgent Operational Requirement.
The kit requested by commanders would allow the RAF to carry out precision air drops of supplies to forward operating bases in remote parts of Afghanistan. Without the ability to drop supplies from the air, some supplies have to be delivered by road, exposing supply convoys to the risk of attack and roadside bombs.
At least four British personnel have died on such resupply missions in Afghanistan.
Defence chiefs made an urgent request for a Joint Precision Aerial Delivery System in December 2009. The Daily Telegraph has seen a Ministry of Defence document showing the demand was approved as an Urgent Operational Requirement with a delivery deadline of January 2011.
The UOR system is meant to allow military commanders to fastrack vital kit through the notoriously bureaucratic defence procurement regime. The MoD says UORS provide the fast equipment solutions that ever-changing operations demand.
The MoD document, marked Restricted and dated 24 May 2010, is headed Approval note for UOR AO1527 Joint Precision Aerial Delivery System
It shows that the Treasury had given the go-ahead for the urgent purchase of an airdrop system at an annual cost of £9.8 million. The document also shows that the technology was expected to be in operational use by January 2011.
However, the system is still not in place, leading to warnings that troops are being exposed to additional risk as a result.
The delay was discovered by Stephen Barclay, a Conservative member of the Commons Public Accounts Committee and former soldier. It is a matter of great concern that this capability has not yet been delivered. Troops lives are at risk on resupplied convoys, so this is not just about pounds, shillings and pence. The MoD needs to provide a proper explanation of this delay.
In 2009, two British soldiers were killed and seventeen injured when the vehicles they were travelling in as part of a resupply convoy were blown up by IEDs planted on road. Two soldiers also died in 2007 on a resupply mission.
It is also understood that a significant number of service personnel have suffered serious injuries including some who lost limbs on supply convoys.
In evidence to the committee, the MoD admitted that the airdrop programme has been delayed, but denied that the loss of skilled personnel had been a factor. The MoD said: The reason why there has been a delay with the programme has not been because of manpower, but because the route for trying to obtain this capability was initially going to be by buying the capability commercially.
It was concluded in the end that we would not be able to get it into service quickly enough through the process of trials, and so a different route has been gone down, obtaining it by a different methodology.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/02/2012
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JERUSALEM: Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian gunman suspected of trying to plant explosives beneath a fence at the border with Gaza, the Israeli military said on Sunday.
Soldiers on Sunday recovered the remains of the gunman alongside an assault rifle, a statement from the Israeli military spokesman said.
Just an innocent, albeit well-armed... Come to think of it, what kind of an innocent plants explosives?
None of the militant groups in the Hamas Islamist-ruled Gaza Strip claimed responsibility for the incident, which Israel said occurred after dark on Saturday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Zimbabwe has indefinitely suspended weddings because it is working on a new certificate to curb marriages of convenience. The suspension saw scores of couples intending to tie the knot being turned away by magistrates' courts over the weekend.
Last week the Registrar General Mr Tobaiwa Mudede unveiled a new marriage certificate saying foreigners were now abusing the system to settle in the country.
In Zimbabwe?!?
He had said the new certificates were ready and would be dispatched to provincial offices countrywide. He said the new document had security features that made counterfeiting impossible.
Of late several Nigerians have been dragged to court for faking marriages with Zimbabwean women so that they can obtain residence permits. Last month a Nigerian businessman based in Harare was charged for marrying two Zimbabwean women using different names. He reportedly married one of the women without her knowledge.
Isn't that counterproductive for the usual benefits of marriage?
HARGEISA: At least four Somaliland troops and one rebel fighter loyal to the breakaway enclaves secessionists were killed during clashes on Sunday, both sides said.
This is northern Somalia across from Yemen; formerly British Somalia, nominally independent since the rest of the country slipped into chaos in 1991, though no other country recognizes them as sovereign.
The fighting first erupted in January after the leaders of the northern regions of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn decided to band together into a new state called Khaatumo and declared they wanted to be an independent region within Somalia.
Somalilands troops have since clashed with militia fighters loyal to Khaatumo, with reports of dozens of casualties. The newly declared Khaatumo state is near the border with Ethiopia and is a disputed area that Somaliland seized from Puntland in 2007, though relations between the two territories have improved since.
That area has tribes more loyal to the central and south regions than to the north, hence the fighting.
Militia loyal to anti-Somaliland groups in Buhodle and South Sool simultaneously began (fighting) in the early hours of dawn. The army repulsed attacks on both fronts, said Osman Abdillahi, a spokesman for Somalilands defense ministry.
Abdillahi said four Somaliland government soldiers were killed and 10 injured during the fighting. Mohamed Yousouf, a spokesman for the secessionists, said one of their fighters was killed and two were injured.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/02/2012
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CHAGAI: Dalbandin Rifles, a wing of Frontier Corps, on Sunday arrested 19 Pashtuns Afghan nationals under the Foreign Act in the Dalbandin area of Chagai district. According to officials, these Pashtuns Afghan nationals had entered the country and wanted to go to Iran. They were reported to be travelling without official documents. They were handed over to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) after completion of initial interrogation.
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For a map, click here. For a map of Durango state click here
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Four armed suspects were killed and another undisclosed number of others were wounded in an apparent intergang firefight in Durango state Saturday morning, according to Mexican news accounts.
Mexican security forces to include Durango state police agents and federal security forces were dispatched to Santiago Papasquiaro municipality Saturday morning. The site of the gunfight was reportedly on a 13 kilometer stretch of road between the village of Los Herrera and Topia municipality.
Security forces found four men dead. Two of the dead were identified as Luis Andres Garcia, 30, of Santiago Papasquiaro and Francisco Agredano Cadena, 30, of Guadalajara, Jalisco. The other two bodies were listed as no name at the state morgue. Reports say the firefight took place at dawn.
Security forces also seized a Jeep Cherokee SUV, a .38 Caliber revolver and an undisclosed quantity of powder cocaine.
Meanwhile in Durango city four individuals were found dead Sunday, all of whom died by strangulation. One of the dead was identified as Juan Jose Ayala Ruiz, 33, a fruit vendor by trade, who was found near Puente Negro, and the other was Joseph Soto Jesus Renteria, 24, who was found in Madero colony.
A third unidentified victim was found on Bulevar Francisco Villa, while a fourth was found near the intersection of Calles Isauro Venzor and Cuauhtémoc.
It is worth noting that many of the 331 dead found in Durango municipality in mass graves last year were also killed by strangulation, or by asphyxiation.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
This is coming at an interesting time. The Argentinian government has been cooking the economic books, especially with regard to inflation - so much so that the Economist had a detailed article on it recently. Anyone reporting real prices / inflation rate is subject to pressure and even arrest. But they've run out of room to maneuver, so it's back to the Falklands issue out of desperation.
Especially if there is really oil out there. The graft and corruption on future oil lease sales alone could keep the Kirchners in power another decade.
In what amounts to the start of a new trade war between the UK and Argentina, the banks - understood to include the Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Capital and Goldman Sachs - have been warned they face criminal and civil action in the Argentine courts.
The threats were made in a series of letters sent to as many as 15 banks by the Argentine embassy in London over the last ten days. The letter, a copy of which has been seen by The Sunday Telegraph, warns the institutions that even merely writing research notes on exploration companies involved in the Falklands constitutes "a violation of the applicable domestic and international rules".
Argentine domestic rules? Um, okay, I'm sure you can make them up. International rules? Which ones? Be specific...
There's so many of them, I sure some sympathetic legal entity will find a few.
Just need to ask some quango, I suppose...
The news - coming a day ahead of the 30th anniversary of Argentina's invasion of the Falklands which sparked the 1982 conflict - is likely to worsen tensions between the two countries. The Argentine government is continuing to push for sovereignty.
The two-page letter, to which a schedule of legal declarations about the Falkland's ownership are attached, is intended to warn off the banks from any further involvement in the South Atlantic oil industry.
In an element that is likely to heighten diplomatic tensions, the letter - written in Spanish - contains the header "2012 - Ano de Homenaje al doctor D.Manuel Belgrano". This is a direct reference to the Argentine economist after whom the ARA General Belgrano was named. The ship was sunk by British forces during the 1982 conflict.
The letter warns the banks to "bear in mind, when offering their opinions, risk ratings and investment recommendations, the existence and characteristics of the above mentioned sovereignty dispute and of the consequences of any unlawful hydrocarbon exploration activities in the Argentine continental shelf in proximity to the Malvinas [Falkland] Islands."
"It should also be borne in mind that . . . participation in those activities will cause companies directly or indirectly involved in them to be subject to such administrative, civil and criminal actions as may be provided for in the Argentive laws governing such activities."
It goes on to threaten that any oil company involved in "unlawful hydrocarbon exploration activities" will trigger legal proceedings.
The letters were sent to the individual banks by the Argentine embassy in London on March 20 and were not signed, but contained the crest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship. The document appears to be aimed at cutting financial support to the five London-listed exploration companies - together worth a combined £1.6bn - which are active in the Falkland's basin, of which Rockhopper Exploration is the largest by market capitalization.
The recipients of the letters fall into two separate categories - those who are advising the five oil companies and those who have written research notes either on the subject of Falklands oil or on specific companies. The banks and stockbrokers which have undertaken advisory and fundraising roles for the five which are believed to have received the letter include RBS, Credit Suisse, Barclays, and Oriel Securities. Those institutions whose research teams have written on the subject and have been targeted by the Argentine government are believed to include Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Edison Investment Research.
It is not thought that the letters have been dispatched to the oil exploration companies themselves at this time.
Juliet Blanch, partner and head of the international dispute resolution at law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, believes the legal threat could be a ploy by Argentina to try and cut off funding to the oil companies rather than having to resort to a protracted legal battle.
Ms Blanch said: "Clearly if Argentina has sent this letter to banks and advisers and not to the independent oil companies themselves, it could be interpreted as a ploy by Argentina to find a way to stop the exploration without having to resort to a legal solution which would be costly, protracted and uncertain. Argentina could be hoping that application of pressure to the financiers might result in a reassessment of the relationship between them and the oil companies."
None of the banks named chose to comment. The Argentine embassy in London did not return telephone calls yesterday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/02/2012
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Britain would have to hold its air base on the Falklands unaided for at least a week in the event of another Argentine invasion, a defence pressure group warned Sunday. The UK National Defence Association, which campaigns on military matters, claimed the archipelago was more vulnerable than at any time since the 1982 Falklands War.
In a report ahead of the 30th anniversary of the invasion on Monday, the body said Britain would find it difficult to "protect, reinforce or retake" the South Atlantic islands, largely due to the lack of aircraft carrier strike capability.
"Even in the most favourable circumstances... the deployment of additional fighters and a reasonable war-fighting force would take approximately a week," the report said. "In effect, this means that the British garrison would necessarily have to hold Mount Pleasant airfield and its environs for a week before help arrived. There would be no fighter cover for the landing force and shipping. There is no carrier... There is no question of providing air support using Royal Air Force fighters. There are no bases within range. In-flight re-fuelling, given the number of re-fuels required for a round trip of 8,000 miles from Ascension, would be impossible in the face of the threat posed by the Argentine air force. The UK would be hard put to protect, reinforce or retake the islands... history could well be about to repeat itself -- but this time with a different outcome."
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond told The Times last week that Argentina's ageing aircraft do not present a military threat. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "Unlike in 1982, we have a well defended airfield in the Falklands with ground-based air defences, and continue to have the ability to reinforce by air and sea. People should be reassured by the contingencies that we now have in place compared to 30 years ago. That said, there is no evidence of any current credible military threat to the Falkland Islands."
Britain has held the Falklands since 1833, but Buenos Aires claims the barren islands are occupied Argentine territory.
Diplomatic friction between Argentina and Britain has intensified since 2010, when London authorised oil prospecting in the waters around the windswept islands, which are home to less than 3,000 people.
#4
Hammond is correct about one thing: the Argie air force is aging. I think they still fly Skyhawks and older Mirages. And their transport ability stinks.
So with all the hand-wringing (and it's correct not to be complacent), I don't see the Argies making a move. Right now at least.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/02/2012 7:48
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That's a possibility we shouldn't laugh at. The Brazilians are a 'regional' superpower, and they might be sorely tempted if the Argentines offered them a piece of the action in return for some heavy-duty logistical support or even the 'loan' of a few aircraft and crews. Nobody down there has anything that can take the RAF's Typhoons one on one - but the Brazilian Navy is big enough and well-trained enough (not to mention having a functional aircraft carrier, the Sao Paulo)to land and supply troops for the Argentines - and at that point, attrition starts to rear its ugly head. Can the RN and RAF relieve the islands before the forces there are simply overrun? There won't be any help from the US this time, and it seems likely that The One would offer to 'mediate' a settlement which would leave the Falklands in Argentine hands permanently.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/02/2012 15:09
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#8
If the Brazilians got involved, I can't believe Uncle Sam would stand by while the Brits got hammered.
#12
she's going "Full Evita" blowing populist bullshit and riling up the rubes to distract from her (and her husband's) terrible policies. Inflation is really running at a pace so much higher than the "official rate" that noting and publishing that will get you harassed and arrested.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/02/2012 18:16
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#13
Brit subs were effective last time. With this much advance notice, the Argies would have a hard time getting an invasion force through them to the islands.
#14
That's back when Britain still had a navy. They BARELY have one now. It won't be a one-sided affair this time if they pull the trigger. I think Britain would ask us for help. And BHO would say no, if he's President.
Posted by: Charles ||
04/02/2012 21:27
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Moscow -- Former Soviet spy Leonid Shebarshin, who was very briefly head of the KGB, was found dead Friday in his apartment in Moscow, an apparent suicide, officials said. The 76-year-old left a suicide note, the state-run news agency Itar-Tass reported Friday, citing city police. A weapon was found near the body, Investigation Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
The contents of the note were not disclosed "in the interest of the investigation," according to police, the news agency said. Shebarshin was alone in the apartment, it added.
According to Itar-Tass, Shebarshin was born in Moscow in 1935. He served as an intelligence officer under diplomatic cover in Pakistan, India and Iran
Even more interesting...
and took high-ranking positions in the KGB beginning in 1983. He was appointed deputy chairman in 1989. He led the KGB for one day only, on August 22, 1991, and retired the following month.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/02/2012
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After finding a single shot pistol next to the body, upon examining the eight bullet holes to the temple, the medical examiner declared that it was the most serious case of suicide he had ever seen.
[/april fool]
#3
Who cares once they get what they want in America they will start preying on one another in their own office buildings just like in the good old days of Lenin and such!
AGADEZ, Niger: Booms from rocket launchers and automatic gunfire crackled Sunday around Mali's fabled town of Timbuktu, known as an ancient seat of Islamic learning, for its 700-year-old mud mosque and, more recently, as host of the musical Festival in the Desert that attracted Bono in January.
On Sunday, nomadic Tuaregs who descended from the people who first created Timbuktu in the 11th century and seized it from invaders in 1434, attacked the city in their fight to create a homeland for the Sahara's blue-turbanned nomads.
I have a novel idea: let the Tuaregs have a homeland. Put a fence around it. Let them be on the inside. It would save a lot of trouble.
Their assault deepens a political crisis sparked March 21 when mutinous soldiers seized power in the capital. The Tuaregs have rebelled before, but never have they succeeded in taking Timbuktu or the major northern centers of Kidal and Gao, which fell Friday and Saturday as demoralized government troops retreated.
The expression "from here to Timbuktu" conjures up the end-of-the-earth remoteness of the sun-baked frontier town. It does not express the town's dynamic role as a major crossroads for the caravan trade between the Arab north and black West Africa, bringing together black Africans, Berbers, Arabs and, above all, the Tuaregs.
The Tuareg set up their camel-skin and palm-mat tents in the dry season, attracted by Timbuktu's location where the Niger River flows toward the southern brink of the Sahara Desert, prompting some to call it the point where "the camel meets the canoe."
The tents soon gave way to sun-dried terracotta-colored mud brick buildings built in the Moorish style as traders, medical doctors, clerics, artists, poets and others settled.
From the sizzling desert sand and burning sun, one enters walled enclosures with a central courtyard and archways leading to the welcome cool of shadowy rooms where men chat over copious cups of strong, mint-flavored tea brewed thrice in a time-honored tradition. Women bake bread in the sand and cook spice-perfumed dishes of goat, cow and camel meat flavored with dried wild hibiscus flowers or the powdered leaves of the okra plant fried in shea butter.
Arab traders brought salt and other goods that reached North Africa's Mediterranean shores and traded it in Timbuktu for gold and, above all, the books that make the town a center for intellectuals.
"According to the inhabitants of Timbuktu, gold came from the south, the salt from the north and divine knowledge from Timbuktu," the Timbuktu Foundation says on its website.
Before the Americas were discovered by Europeans, Timbuktu had a population of some 30,000.
The town has been attacked and conquered in the past, most recently in 1591 by Moroccan troops who sacked Timbuktu and burned libraries.
Timbuktu is home to a library of ancient, camel-skin bound manuscripts covering science, astrology, medicine, history, theology, grammar and geography.
When France colonized West Africa starting in 1893, Timbuktu came under French rule until Mali became independent in 1960.
Throughout the invasions, the Tuareg considered Timbuktu their city. As France was negotiating Mali's independence, Tuareg leaders wrote to Gen. Charles de Gaulle in the 1950s, appealing for an independent homeland for the nomadic people made up of several tribes united by their common culture and Tamashek language.
Sporadic rebellions failed to wrest Timbuktu from government hands. When the 1990-1995 uprising to win autonomy for Tuaregs in Mali and Niger ended in peaceful negotiations, Timbuktu was the chosen site for the symbolic burning of weapons signaling an end to the conflict.
Recently, the town's tourism industry has been threatened by the rise of a thriving African branch of Al-Qaeda, whose fighters in November kidnapped a Dutch, a Swedish and a South African citizen from a restaurant in Timbuktu. A German man who refused to be taken hostage was executed.
Despite fears of insecurity, the Festival in the Desert was held in January, attracting people from 50 countries, according to its website, including a special appearance by U2 frontman Bono.
Continued on Page 49
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Yokay, I'll bite, I know I read that the "Pearl of the Sahara" fell earlier today.
YANGON: Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi won a seat in parliament on Sunday, her party said, after a historic by-election that is testing Myanmars nascent reform credentials and could convince the West to end sanctions.
Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party announced to loud cheers at its headquarters that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate had won in Kawhmu, southwest of the commercial capital Yangon, raising the prospect of her first role in government after a two decade struggle against dictatorship.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has won, an NLD official announced, referring to Suu Kyi by her honorific title. Myanmars Election Commission had yet to confirm any results from the by-elections for 45 legislative seats.
The United States and European Union have hinted that some sanctions - imposed over the past two decades in response to human rights abuses - may be lifted if the election is free and fair, unleashing a wave of investment in the impoverished but resource-rich country bordering rising powers India and China.
The charismatic and wildly popular Suu Kyi had complained last week of irregularities, though none significant enough to derail her partys bid for 44 of the seats. Suu Kyi made no immediate comment on her victory.
From dawn, voters quietly filed into makeshift polling stations at schools, religious centers and community buildings, some gushing with excitement after casting ballots for the frail Suu Kyi, or Aunty Suu as she is affectionately known.
To be regarded as credible, the vote needs the blessing of Suu Kyi, who was freed from house arrest in November 2010, six days after a widely criticized general election that paved the way for the end of 49 years of direct army rule and the opening of a parliament stacked with retired and serving military.
President Thein Sein, a general in the former military junta, has surprised the world with the most dramatic political reforms since the military took power in a 1962 coup in the former British colony then known as Burma. In the span of a year, the government has freed hundreds of political prisoners, held peace talks with ethnic rebels, relaxed strict media censorship, allowed trade unions, and showed signs of pulling back from the powerful economic and political orbit of its giant neighbor China.
It was rewarded last November when Hillary Clinton made the first visit to the country by a US secretary of state since 1955. Business executives, mostly from Asia but many from Europe, have swarmed to Yangon in recent weeks to hunt for investment opportunities in the country of 60 million people, one of the last frontier markets in Asia.
Voting took place under the watch of small team of delegates from the European Union and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), who were given only a few days to prepare inside Myanmar. They called themselves visitors rather than observers.
Whatever irregularities we saw in the polling stations we visited did not seem to be out of bad will or intentions, says EU delegate Malgorzata Wasilewska. It was more lack of experience or knowledge.
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Osama Bin Laden fathered four children while on the run in Pakistan in the nine years following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to his youngest wife while skipping from safe house to safe house among family.
'I can only begin to imagine that that looked like American reality TV,' Phil Mudd who helped lead the CIA's hunt for Bin Laden told ABC. 'That he was living in some version of the Kardashians in Abbottabad.'
At least Bruce Jenner is clever enough to have married only one of them.
During that time, the former Al Qaeda leader moved between five safe houses and at least two of the four children were born in a government hospital.
GAZA: Israel yesterday deported a Palestinian woman prisoner who spent 43 days on hunger strike to the Gaza Strip, under a deal that has been criticized by Palestinians.
Everything is criticized by the Palestinians...
Rights groups and the Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Ministry said she had been forced to accept the arrangement. But in a statement, Shalabi insisted she had agreed to the deal voluntarily.
And even if she didn't, she's off to Gaza regardless...
Hanaa Shalabi entered Gaza via the Erez border crossing, and was being transferred by a weapons carrier ambulance to a local hospital for tests.
Shalabi, who met relatives on the Israeli side of Erez before entering Gaza, said she was very happy to be in my country with my people, but that the encounter with her family was very difficult.
I was shocked meeting my family, and they were shocked to see me, she told the media on the Gaza side of Erez. The meeting with my family was very difficult.
Shalabi was received in Gaza by approximately 100 people bearing her picture and calling out her name.
Shalabi began her hunger strike after she was arrested on Feb. 16 and held without charge. On March 29, Palestinian authorities announced that Shalabi had agreed a deal with Israel under which she would be released and deported to Gaza for three years in exchange for ending her hunger strike.
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ION WAFF > [YouTube] HAMAS INTERIOR MINISTER: WE ARE EGYPTIANS!
HAMAS IM Fathi Hammad.
Actually, ole' Fathi allegedly said that HALF OF THE PALESTINIANS IN GAZA ARE EGYPTIANS, WHILE THE OTHER HALF ARE SAUDIS???
And the Mighty "Year of the Left Field" just keeps going + going + going + ......
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Sunday ordered to deport 929 non-Pashtun Afghan families whose members had been serving in the Afghan National Army.
Fair enough -- from the Pakistani perspective they are fighting for the other side.
The KP government sought details of non-Pashtun Afghan refugees from all over the province during its 66th cabinet session. The Provincial Home Ministry directed commissioners of all districts and police officials to take those non-Pashtun Afghan citizens who are working in the Afghan National Army into custody.
Three hundred and six head imams living in the province are also expected to be deported to Afghanistan.
According to details, 964 Pashtun Afghan citizens living in KP have purchased properties illegally, whereas 473 non-Pashtun Afghan relatives of several ministers and governors work illegally in the province. Most of them belong to northern Afghanistan and are presently living in posh areas of the province.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/02/2012
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#1
Cover up, they are most definitely NOY "Illegal", But the person letting them in Must ned a cover-up.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/02/2012 18:06
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BRUSSELS: Police have detained about 200 protesters who tried to break into NATO headquarters to demand nuclear disarmament and the withdrawal of all the alliance's forces in Afghanistan.
In a pre-announced action, the protesters of 'NATO GAME OVER' stormed the fenced-off area around the headquarters in Brussels, but none got into the compound itself. Belgian police chased the protesters around the fields and lined them up in large groups before they were taken away. The action came ahead of next month's NATO summit in Chicago.
Since May Day is about the same time, the cost of airfare to Chicago being too high and the Chicago cops a bit less understanding.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/02/2012
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These bozos are still at it? 10 years ago I worked at a tiny NATO installation in the Netherlands and got crap from the local moonbats about the nuclear weapons. Nothing inside the gate but offices, a really nice library, and a motor pool. But they'd insist that I was repeating what I'd been told to say, just a robot wearing that eeevil uniform. I'd say, yeah, you got me, the nukes are in the closet next to the general's office, so he can personally keep an eye on them, and maybe fondly polish them a little when the mood strikes him. That made them mad too. Can't win with these rubes.
KARACHI: Federal and Sindh governments on Sunday decided to give a free hand to police and rangers to take indiscriminate action against those who were disturbing order in Karachi.
Just when you think life is about as exciting as it can be, life proves you wrong.
The decision was made at a meeting between Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Interior Minister Rehman Malik. According to a handout, Malik said that extortionists, land and weapon mafias were involved in disrupting peace in the city. He asked all political parties to remove their party flags and banners from the city "otherwise police will do so".
Malik said that political parties could hoist their flags only on their special occasions with a prior permission of the local administration.
He said a decision had been made to take action against criminal elements in political parties, adding that the FC, rangers and police would act against miscreants without any discrimination. He assured businessmen that law enforcement agencies would provide them complete protection.
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Since 2001 donors have provided more than $52bn to Afghanistan. Barack Obama, the US president, has requested $12.8bn for the 2012 financial year alone, to equip and train Afghan forces.
Then there is declared money about $4.6bn which passed through Kabul's airport in suitcases last year, mostly to Dubai. The real figure could be much higher as Afghanistan has been the centre of a $68bn global opiate trade.
Afghanistan's central bank has now capped money leaving the country at $20,000, anything higher requires a bank transfer.
#2
Notice that our political leaders have established a timetable for physical withdrawal from Afghanistan, but no timetable for a foreign aid withdrawal will ever be announced...
Posted by: American Delight ||
04/02/2012 21:44
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QUETTA: Unidentified militants blew up a portion of an 18-inch gas pipeline in the Pirkoh area of Dera Bugti district on Sunday. Local Levies sources said the damaged pipeline was supplying gas from wells number 15, 21 and 19 to the Sui gas plant. Gas supply to the said wells was suspended after the explosion. The Levies Forces has cordoned of the area.
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The Foreign Secretary said the reality was that some governments - although not Britain's - would supply weapons to Mr Assads enemies if this best hope for peace failed.
"You'd better do as we say or our big brother is gonna get you! Okay, maybe his cousin. Or his cousin..."
The Foreign Secretary said the regime must now obey the Annan plan or face the consequences.
"What some countries are saying is 'if the Annan process does not work, we are going to have to look at arming the opposition'. At least, that's how I understand their position and that's what I think the reality is," said Mr Hague.
Britain is bound by a European Union arms embargo on Syria and will only supply non-lethal equipment, he added. But the Foreign Secretary noted that other countries have a different position.
"The Assad regime must engage properly with that process and implement the six-point plan because the calls by other countries not by the UK for arming the opposition will intensify if they don't do so," added Mr Hague.
The Annan plan, he said, represented the "best hope of a peaceful transition".
The regime, meanwhile, is suspected of endorsing the Annan plan merely as a ruse to buy time. Mr Hague made clear that he was alert to this danger, stressing that the peace plan "cannot be an indefinite process" and that Mr Annan should "provide timelines on what is going to happen over the coming days or weeks".
For Britain, America and France, a "plan B" in the event of the failure of the Annan mission would be to return to the Security Council and seek a UN resolution to escalate the pressure on Mr Assad. They would attempt to win over Russia and China by pointing to the collapse of the latest peace effort.
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Based on the results in Egypt and Libya etc., I'm inclined to back Pencil-Neck.
DAMASCUS/BEIRUT/ISTANBUL: Western and Arab nations stepped up pressure on President Bashar Assad yesterday, mistrusting his acceptance of a plan to end a year of bloodshed, but were not expected to arm rebels or fully recognize an opposition council.
Opening a "Friends of Syria" conference in Istanbul, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told foreign ministers and other officials from some 70 countries that the "legitimate demands of the Syrian people must be met, right here, right now."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Whom no one confuses for William Seward...
urged members of Assad's government to halt operations targeting civilians, or face "serious consequences."
Participants at the conference on Syria in Istanbul say Gulf countries are creating a multimillion-dollar fund to pay salaries to members of the rebel Free Syrian Army and soldiers who defect from the regime and join opposition ranks.
Clinton said the United States was providing communications gear and other aid to Syria's civilian opposition, and denounced Assad for failing to follow through on his agreement to a peace plan proposed by UN-Arab League special Annan.
"Nearly a week has gone by, and we have to conclude that the regime is adding to its long list of broken promises," she said.
The United States and its Gulf Arab allies, suspecting Assad of playing for time, urged Annan on Saturday to set a timeline for "next steps" if no ceasefire materialized.
A Western diplomat said the "Friends of Syria" would declare support for Annan's mission, but stress it cannot be open-ended. The diplomat said their communiqué would promise additional measures to protect the Syrian people, and say the UN Security Council, where Russia and China have twice blocked resolutions on Syria, should play an important role in ending the conflict.
"The wording is constructively ambiguous," the diplomat said.
Syrian media derided the Istanbul meeting, which the Baath newspaper described as "a regional and international scramble to find ways of killing more Syrians and destroying their society and country, to reach the broad goal of weakening Syria."
Annan will brief the UN Security Council today on his efforts to calm a conflict in which Syrian security forces have killed more than 9,000 people, by a UN estimate, while rebels have killed 3,000 troops and police, according to Damascus. His six-point plan demands that Assad order his military to cease- fire, withdraw troops from cities and open daily windows for humanitarian aid, but does not require him to step down.
Gulf Arab countries within the "Friends of Syria" group have pushed for more support to be given to the FSA, formed to fight back after months of violent repression of unarmed protesters.
But Western countries fear strident opposition from Russia and China, which did not attend the Istanbul meeting, as well as the prospect of being sucked into an intractable conflict. They have slapped sanctions on Syria, but these have failed so far to soften the government's crackdown on its opponents.
Wary of military intervention and unsure of the credibility of the fractious opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), Western powers have yet to discover how to unseat Assad.
Clinton urged the Syrian opposition to translate its vision for a democratic post-Assad era into a "political action plan to win support among all of Syria's communities".
SNC leader Burhan Ghalioun pressed the "Friends of Syria" to strengthen the rebel army and open humanitarian aid corridors.
In a separate statement, the SNC requested communications and other non-lethal equipment for the FSA, and possibly arms.
"The provision of arms is not our preferred option. We know it carries high risks of escalation into civil war but we cannot stand back and watch our people being massacred," it said.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France shared Turkey's desire for the SNC to be recognized as "the legitimate representative body of the Syrian people", but acknowledged a lack of consensus among the "Friends."
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At least one person was killed when two explosions rocked Mombasa town on Saturday evening.The blasts occured at a busy bus terminus in Mtwapa and a restaurant in Mombasa town.
In Mtwapa, explosives were hurled at a Christian prayer meeting, fifteen kilometres from Mombasa town centre, at about 6.30pm. The second attack took place shortly afterwards at a restaurant near the Mombasa Municipal Stadium.
The Red Cross Tracing and Psychosocial support desk set up at the Coast Provincial General Hospital stated that a total of 33 injured people had been received, 31 from Mtwapa and 2 from Tononoka. Among them was a boy and a girl aged 12 and 11 years respectively. All the 33 injured have been identified and their family and friends are informed of their progress.
On Sunday, the Coast Provincial commissioner Ernest Munyi assured residents of their security, urging them to continue with their normal lives. The administrator's reassurance however failed to assuage a number of foreign investors who threatened to move their businesses to other countries. The investors told the Nation on Sunday that they have been receiving threats to their lives. They accused the Police of inaction even after reports are made.
DAMASCUS/BEIRUT/ISTANBUL: Violence in Syria killed at least 34 people yesterday, among them 15 members of the security forces who died in firefights across the country, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The violence came a day after the regime of Assad declared that those seeking its ouster had been defeated and that it was now focused on stabilizing the security situation nationwide.
The heaviest fighting erupted in the town of Quriyeh in eastern Deir Ezzor province, killing five rebel fighters, four soldiers including an officer and a civilian, said the Britain-based Observatory.
A group of army deserters killed four other troops in an ambush on their convoy near the town of Jisr Al-Shughur in northwestern Idlib province close to the border with Turkey, it said.
In the same province, a sniper shot dead a woman near the town of Maaret Al-Numan and other fighting broke out near the town of Saraqeb between rebels and the army during a search operation.
The monitoring group said that in Daraa province in the south where the first protests against Assad's iron-fisted rule erupted in mid-March last year four soldiers were killed in clashes with rebels near the town of Jassem.
Another three soldiers who tried to defect during the fighting there were recaptured and shot dead by an officer, it added.
Security forces also killed two civilians at Um Al-Mayazen in eastern Daraaa province, and three members of the security forces died when their vehicles came under attack at Sem El-Julan.
Two civilians were also reported killed in Homs in the centre of the country, one when the Old City came under bombardment and the other who was shot dead.
In the north of Hama province, also in central Syria, three civilians were shot dead as security forces carried out searches in the Latamneh area. There was also trouble in the capital Damascus, with a young man reported shot dead in the Rukneddine district in the north of the city, again during a search operation by security forces.
Another young man was killed in a raid by security forces in the town of Dmeir in Damascus province, where four other people were detained, monitors said.
In Maaraba village, also in Damascus province, a soldier was wounded in an attack on a checkpoint. The Observatory also said government forces conducted searches and made a number of arrests near Douma, northeast of the capital.
Clinton said the United States was providing communications gear and other aid to Syria's civilian opposition, and denounced Assad for failing to follow through on his agreement to a peace plan proposed by UN-Arab League special Annan.
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Johnathon recently spoke to his father and told him he was moving into a very dangerous area and was concerned. His father asked if he was still carrying his bible. Johnathon replied that he was.
#2
A little research points out two very disturbing things. No, lets make that three. 1) Cavalry Scout - Killed by a sniper clearing a roof top. Which means Johnathan was out front. 2) First Deployment. 3) What the hell is wrong with the army? Aren't scouts supposed to be seasoned and knowledgeable about the area? Especially if the military has been in the area for 10 years? So why did they send out a 20 year old kid on his first deployment as a Scout in a very dangerous area who has never been in that area, while plenty others have and could have served as Scouts?
#4
We have a number of gentlemen, to call them what they are, who have what can only be described as having an in depth knowledge of small unit tactics, and who could possibly shed some light on this subject.
The Army has essentiall redefined the role of... "Scout." Historically, Army Scouts were used for recce and surveillance (R&S). The mission of the Scout Platoon or element of a larger force was NOT to be detected or to engage the enemy, but to report on enemy whereabouts ("FIX the enemy"), report on strength, disposition, and activities. The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have put Army Scouts out on routine day-time "presence patrols" which are essentially movements to contact.
#6
First lets clear something up from Spolumble: You have "Scout" confused with some older definition of the term. A US Army Cav Scout operates as part of a Scout Troop (Company), usually in a team or squad sized element. You write as if PFC Davis was operating on his own. Wrong assumption. Secondly, 20 years old, he was in at least 2 years, and had already been on deployment for 6 months, so although he wasn't salty yet, he was no cherry either. Airborne soldier (4/73 Cav Sqdn, 4th BCT, 82nd Abn Div).
I was a Cav Scout. It was our training and our job to be out in front of the main force, find the enemy, track him, report on him, direct fire or weapon systems onto him, and if necessary, engage him to disrupt him. The classic SALUTE tactical report. Dismounted patrolling, and counter patrolling are part of the job - and in the Airborne, a major part of it (compared to armored cav). We were trained constantly in E&E, as well as infiltration, and "not being seen" (fieldcraft). This was from the get-go, right out of advanced training. Recon, tactical movement through the FLOT and infiltration into the enemy was our specialty.
PFC Davis was undoubtedly NOT out there alone, he was part of a cav fireteam, and he had experienced NCOs leading him. He and his troop were likely on a mission to "prepare" a battle or movement area, which means they had to find advanced tactical positions for the regular infantry that were sure to follow - either reduce the enemy hide areas (by clearing them), thus denying the terrain to the enemy, or grabbing it for a recon position to decrease the likelihood of unobserved enemy activity against the main body or further friendly units in the area. Thats what Cav Scouts do.
The hard fact is that sometimes the bad guys do get one up on you - its part of war, and being in "indian country" as the first-in. The risk of death comes with the job. As I knew back in my day, so he also knew the risks when he volunteered. God rest his soul that he is coming home to rest too soon. Lets not forget what a loss we take daily by young men like him.
The benefits of JTTFs? They provide one-stop shopping for information regarding terrorist activities. They enable a shared intelligence base across many agencies. They create familiarity among investigators and managers before a crisis. And perhaps most importantly, they pool talents, skills, and knowledge from across the law enforcement and intelligence communities into a single team that responds together.
#4
Mexico is STILL a foreign country. If United States Intelligence is making contacts or recruiting sources in a foreign country certain, well established, long standing coordinating rules and directives apply. The unltimate coordinating and approving authority for these activities rests with the Director, CIA. The authority for these activities also holds responsibility and oversight for these contacts.
They can remain silent and deny all they want, but NO ONE in the US Gov't would ship that volume of small arms, clandestinely or otherwise, into a foreign country without the expressed knowledge and approval of the Country Team (US Ambassador, Chief of Station, Regional Security Officer, and LEGAT). It just ain't happening.
#9
If something makes no sense, you don't know the whole story. F&F makes no sense (and I don't buy the conspiracy to gin up gun control emotions, though at least it makes some sense.) We are missing some critical data, I think.
Aarhuis - More than 80 people were tossed in the calaboose on Saturday as protesters hurling rocks and bottles tried to interrupt an anti-Islamic demonstration by far-right groups from across northern Europe, Danish police said.
There were numerous brief scuffles throughout the day as police tried to separate some 2,500 counter-demonstrators from a few hundred people attending the anti-Islamic rally in Aarhus, Denmark's second-largest city. One police officer received minor injuries after being hit by a bottle, police spokesperson Georg Husted said.
Police said about 200 to 300 people from Denmark, Britannia, Germany, Sweden and Poland took part in what was billed as a "European counter-jihad meeting" to protest what they called the Islamisation of Europe. They were met by a 10-times larger counter-demonstration by left-wing groups under the banner "Aarhus for Diversity."
The anti-Islamic rally started with a moment of silence for the seven people killed by an al-Qaeda-inspired gunman in La Belle France.
Among the speakers was Tommy Robinson, the head of the English Defence League, a far-right group that has staged rowdy protests in Britannia, and has inspired smaller offshoots in a number of European countries.
Both demonstrations were peaceful until a group of black-clad, mask-wearing youth from the counter-demonstration tried to break through police lines, but officers in riot gear held them back.
After the rally finished, protesters hurled rocks and bottles at a bus carrying the far-right sympathisers as police vans escorted it out of the city centre.
The defence leagues and other counter-jihadist groups that have sprung up in Europe in recent years distance themselves from neo-Nazis and say they don't accept racism or anti-Semitism. Opponents say they are just a new manifestation of xenophobia in Europe, targeting Mohammedans instead of Jews.
Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian gunman who confessed to slaughtering 77 people last July, cited the English Defence League and other counter-jihadist groups in the anti-Mohammedan manifesto he released before the killing spree. Those groups have condemned his actions and dismissed him as a lunatic.
Mari Linolkken travelled from Norway to join the counter-demonstration in Aarhus, 200km northwest of Copenhagen, saying she felt compelled to stand up against the far-right movement after what her own country had gone through with Breivik's attacks.
"The English Defence League, Danish Defence League, the Stop Islamisation of Europe - we have experienced what their ideology means in practice," she said.
#4
Those in the "counter-demonstration" have previously supported Muslims on trial for raping and forcing into prostitution (via drugs) very young girls in the North of England.
Father of a man killed in a "shootout" with police last month filed a murder case on Sunday against 11 persons including the officer-in-charge of Shah Ali Police Station in the city.
Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Moniruzzaman, after a brief hearing, ordered a judicial inquiry in the incident. The magistrate earlier recorded the statement of the complainant, Md Dadon Miah, took into cognizance the charges against the accused.
The accused are OC Anisur Rahman, Sub-Inspector Md Zahid, assistant sub-inspectors Moshiur Rahman and Mozammel Hossain, and Jhut (garment by-products) traders Nantu, Ayub Ali, Kuddus, Sentu, Bulu alias Ripon, Shamim and Sakir.
Police had earlier claimed that the 26-year-old Md Masud was killed in a "shootout" with the law enforcers on March 25.
I think we missed that one...
In his complaint, Dadon Miah alleged that Jhut traders Nantu and six others had a feud with his two sons Masud and Asad for a long time over jhut business. As a result, the seven goons paid Tk 5 lakh to the OC to kill his son, adding that his son was a helper of ETC Paribahan Ltd, not an extortionist, he said.
Oh no, his boy was an honest jhut trader...
The complainant said on the night of the incident police called out of his son from their residence and took him to a place in the citys Mirpur Zoo area.
Could have been worse, he could have been shot in a banana grove...
Later police killed Masud and then made a drama of ''shootout'' saying he was killed during an exchange of bullets between the law enforcers and assailants, Dadon Miah alleged.
That's about how it's done, folks. Will the courts in B-desh catch on or do they enjoy the decreased workload courtesy of the RAB?
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Whew - thought they somehow got mixed up with choppers...
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/02/2012 2:37
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Bethany Joy Lenz aka Linda Halleck (as Joie Lenz) in "Thinner (1996)" aka Marni (as Joie Lenz) in "Bring It on Again (Video 2004)" aka Jess in "The Legacy (TV Movie 2002)" aka Rose Cronin (as Joie Lenz) in "Mary and Rhoda (TV Movie 2000)" aka Lisa (as Bethany Joy Galeotti) in "1973 (1998)" (age 31)
ISTANBUL - US will monitor actions by Egyptian politicians and hold them "accountable," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday, after the Muslim Brotherhood entered Egypt's presidential fray.
"We're going to watch what the political actors in Egypt do. We're going to watch their commitment to the rights and the dignity of every Egyptian," Clinton told reporters in Istanbul following a meeting of the "Friends of Syria" group.
"We will watch what all the political actors do and hold them accountable for their actions," she added when asked about the Brotherhood changing plans and announcing a candidate for the May 23-24 presidential vote.
The Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, said on Saturday it would nominate Khairat al-Shater, a professor of engineering and business tycoon, to contest Egypt's first presidential election since a popular uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak last year.
"We want to see Egypt move forward in a democratic transition, and what that means is you do not and cannot discriminate against religious minorities, women, political opponents," said Clinton, who did not mention the Brotherhood by name.
"There has to be a process starting in an election that lays down certain principles that will be followed by whoever wins the election. That is what we hope for the Egyptian people."
Not that we can do anything about it...
She added that she "really" hoped the Egyptian people got what they staged their uprising for, "which is the kind of open, inclusive, pluralistic democracy that really respects the rights and dignity of every single Egyptian."
Or they could elect an Islamicist party that will enshrine the holy book as the basis of all law. We all know how that's going to end...
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I would say that events have passed you by, O admin.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/02/2012 0:23
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I used to think her intelligent---not a good person, you understand---but intelligent.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/02/2012 7:44
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Or you'll do WHAT?
You ain't got IT, hillary. Your compatriot, Bill Mahler, identified someone who DOES, and the proof that you ain't got IT is that you refuse, for the good of the country, to step aside and let HER do it...
#5
Billary's boss went on Leno to brag about the US role in Libya. No BHO; no ikhwan terrorist governments. This administration was well aware of the MB's slave-of-allah program. Hell, BHO helped implement it.
This is coming at an interesting time. The Argentinian government has been cooking the economic books, especially with regard to inflation - so much so that the Economist had a detailed article on it recently. Anyone reporting real prices / inflation rate is subject to pressure and even arrest. But they've run out of room to maneuvers, so it's back to the Falklands issue out of desperation.
A group of British and American banks have been threatened with legal action by the Argentine government for advising and writing research reports about companies involved in the Falkland Islands' £1.6bn oil industry.
In what amounts to the start of a new trade war between the UK and Argentina, the banks - understood to include the Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Capital and Goldman Sachs - have been warned they face criminal and civil action in the Argentine courts.
The threats were made in a series of letters sent to as many as 15 banks by the Argentine embassy in London over the last ten days.
The letter, a copy of which has been seen by The Sunday Telegraph, warns the institutions that even merely writing research notes on exploration companies involved in the Falklands constitutes "a violation of the applicable domestic and international rules".
The news - coming a day ahead of the 30th anniversary of Argentina's invasion of the Falklands which sparked the 1982 conflict - is likely to worsen tensions between the two countries. The Argentine government is continuing to push for sovereignty.
The two-page letter, to which a schedule of legal declarations about the Falkland's ownership are attached, is intended to warn off the banks from any further involvement in the South Atlantic oil industry.
KABUL: Afghanistan named a three star general to take over Bagram prison from the US military and with him, final say over which prisoners are released, an issue with the potential to open another rift in relations between Washington and Kabul.
The issue of the release of any of the 3,200 people held in the prison at the sprawling American base, north of Kabul, is sensitive to both countries as Afghanistan assumes full security responsibilities ahead of departure of most NATO combat forces in 2014.
Washington fears the prisoners, most of whom it says are mid to high level members of the Taleban, might return to the battlefield as has happened in the past, citing the case of a Taleban commander transferred from Guantanamo Bay to Afghan custody in 2007 who ended up fighting coalition forces again.
They (the United States) can have a consultative role, but not a veto, said Aimal Faizi, chief spokesman of President Hamid Karzai.
Whats the point of the transfer if we dont have full control, he said, in remarks that have become increasingly assertive following a string of incidents that have strained US-Afghan ties, notably the killing of 17 villagers blamed on a US soldier and the burning of Qur'ans at the Bagram base.
Afghan General Ghulam Farooq Barekzai - formerly in charge of policy at the defense ministry - has been named to take over the Bagram detention center, a palace statement on Saturday said.
It was the first step toward handing over control of the prison to Afghan authorities and another move to transferring complete security responsibility to the volatile country before the planned pullout of most Western forces.
Afghanistan, which has long sought control of Bagram prison, says no sovereign country can allow thousands of its people to be held indefinitely under foreign guard and that it alone has the powers to determine what to do with them.
The two sides reached an agreement in March to shift the prison to Afghan control after months of wrangling and a key element of the pact was that Afghanistan would consult with the United States before freeing any of the men incarcerated there.
And if the United States provides its assessment that continued detention is necessary to prevent the detainee from engaging in or facilitating terrorist activity, Afghanistan is to consider favorably such assessment, the document said. US officials have interpreted that to mean that the two sides at the very least would have to agree before any of the detainees, many held for years without any trial, could be freed.
Prisoners there will gradually be transferred to Afghan custody over six months, and US forces will provide technical and logistical support for a further six months.
About 50 non-Afghan detainees at the prison will remain in US custody, both sides have said.
Under the agreement, Afghanistan also has to provide the United States access to the transferred detainees to ensure that they are being treated in accordance with humanitarian laws. They may also be able to interrogate them, which has long been a key US demand, US and Afghan officials said.
This is something that Afghan commanders at the prison will decide, said an Afghan government official, who declined to go into any more detail because of the sensitivity of the matter.
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SEOUL -- After a series of party meetings countrywide, North Korea has elected new leader Suet Face Kim Jong-un as a delegate to this month's ruling party conference,
A mere delegate? Someone's entire address book will end up in the camps for this.
It's a formality. He has to be a delegate so that he can be at the Supreme Assembly of the Worker's Party so that they can honor him, etc.
the North's state media said Sunday, in a move seen by outside analysts as another effort to consolidate Kim's grip on power.
The North's ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) plans to hold a special session on April 13 and is expected to appoint the portly young Kim, believed to be in his late 20s, to the post of general secretary of the party. The same post was held by his late father Kim Jong-il.
The fat boy young leader became supreme commander of the North's 1.1 million-strong military shortly after his father's death in December, as he progressively takes more control of the dynastic communist country.
Announcing Kim as a WPK delegate, representatives "praised him as the great statesman who is wisely leading the revolution and construction as a whole with his tested leadership," according to an English-language report by the Korean Central News Agency. Ahead of the upcoming special session, the party meetings represented "the unanimous will and desire of all the party members and other people," the report continued.
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ADEN - Militants killed seven Yemeni soldiers in an attack on their outpost in southern Yemen early on Sunday, the defence ministry said, a day after at least 20 troops were killed in a similar raid by Islamist fighters linked to al Qaeda.
The defence ministrys September 26 news portal said seven soldiers were martyred in a treacherous terrorist attack on their outpost near the city of Shibam, in the southern Hadramout province.
Almotamar, an online website run by former President Ali Abdullah Salehs General Peoples Congress party, said Sundays attack took place at dawn when militants stormed a military outpost.
The attack bears the fingerprints of al Qaeda, it quoted a security source as saying without giving further details.
The attack appeared to mirror Saturdays, in which militants raided the al-Hurur military checkpoint in the southern Abyan province, killing at least 20 soldiers, according to a senior military official.
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See also WORLD NEWS > US OFFICIALS SAY "THREAT FROM AL-QAEDA IN YEMEN [AQIY/AQAP] HAS BECOME GREATER AFTER AL-AWLAKI'S DEATH".
#2
The non-AQ Arabs seem very hesitant to go on the offensive and attack their enemies in their nests (except for Pencil-Neck.) Are they too weak, too scared, or too comfortable?
FRANKFURT - At least 15 German police officers were injured, one seriously, during rioting that lasted into Sunday morning, following an anti-capitalist protest in Frankfurt, police said.
Demonstrators threw paint bombs at the European Central Bank and attacked emergency vehicles on Saturday in violence which escalated after police tried to arrest several protesters in the heart of Germany's financial capital. Battles stretched through the night and one officer was taken to intensive care after being singled out by a handful of demonstrators. Officers who went to his aid were met with massive violence, police said.
Saturday's clashes mark one of the first significant outbreaks of violence in Germany connected to recent anti-capitalist demonstrations inspired by the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement.
Police said they arrested 465 people during the "anti-capitalist day" march.
A spokesman for the organisers, anti-capitalist alliance M31, said a group of around 200 protesters broke off the 6,000 strong demonstration and headed to the city centre.
"Frankfurt police intervened during the final part of the march, so we called off the protests. We are not responsible for what happened after that," the spokesman said in a telephone interview on Sunday. Police put the size of the march at 4,000 people.
A Reuters witness saw protesters hurling paint bombs and a road sign at the headquarters of the European Central Bank and rioters also threw rocks at a luxury hotel and office buildings in central Frankfurt.
Some of the demonstrators chanted "Fight the police" in English.
M31 said the demonstration was shadowed by similar events elsewhere in Europe.
"In Frankfurt, we sent a clear signal against current German and European politics of crisis regulation," M31 said in a statement. "Because of a few broken windows, the police brutally attacked our demonstration, injured dozens and arrested 200 demonstrators."
The group says it is making a stand against European governments' austerity measures and labour reforms.
Police used batons and pepper spray as they tried to arrest protesters and M31 said several people were injured as a result. Police said they did not know how many demonstrators were injured.
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KANDAHAR: An Afghan police officer, who was targeted by Taliban and survived 16 bomb attacks, was killed by an improvised explosive device (IMD) on Sunday, officials said.
Tor Jan, the leader of a police post in the southern province of Uruzgan, a hotbed of insurgency against the Kabul government and its Western allies, was renowned for leading attacks against the Taliban. Jan had survived 16 explosions, most of them aimed at him personally, but was killed when his vehicle was hit by a blast in Tirin Kot district where he was based, Uruzgan police spokesman Farid Ail told AFP.
He was very active against the Taliban. The Taliban considered him an enemy, he said, describing Jan as a brave officer. He had survived 16 such attacks. Today, in the 17th attack he was martyred.
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Extraordinary. would that there were more Tor Jans
JAMRUD: A key terrorist commander was killed during a gunbattle with law enforcement agencies in Orakzai Agency. Official sources said that Taliban commander Nasir Khan Zakakhel was killed during an encounter with security forces in Orakzai Agency a few days ago. He was wanted by the political administration for his involvement in terrorism and other criminal activities. Nasir Khan belonged to Zakakhel tribe of the Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency.
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For a map, click here. For a map of Durango state, click here New information from Proceso news weekly which says Ortiz Aguirre was strangled
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A former attorney general of the Mexican state of Durango was found strangled Saturday, only a few days after he was abducted, according to Mexican news accounts.
Ramiro Ortiz Aguirre was found dead alongside the Durango-Torreon road near the village of Estacion El Chorro. Earlier eports say Ortiz Aguirre had been beaten, then shot to death, but now reports say Ortiz Aguirre was strangled.
Ortiz Aguirre had been kidnapped last Wednesday evening at about 1800 hrs near the intersection of Bulevar Dolores del Rio and Calle Mina in Analco colony near Las Alamedas mall, where several armed suspects travelling aboard two trucks took him. According to reports, shots were fired. Ortiz Aguirre's wife was hit in the leg in the struggle.
Ortiz Aguirre was slated to undergo an election to become Director de la Facultad de Derecho y Ciencias Políticas or the law school dean at the Universidad Juarez del Estado de Durango.
Mexican security forces were sent to the site via an anonymous telephone call where Ortiz Aguirre was found at about 0825 hrs.
Appropriate thanks was subsequently transferred to Carlos the Rat's bank account from the station house coffee fund.
Ortiz Aguirre was appointed Durango state's Fiscalia General del Estado by former governor Ismael Hernandez in 2010. He retained his position with the election of Jorge Caldera. He resigned his position in June 2011.
Ortiz Aguirre presided over the exhumation of the 331 dead found between April of 2011 and January, 2012. The graves found throughout Durango city are arguably one of the worst mass graves in modern Mexican history. Many of the dead found were killed as far back as 2005, it was reported at the time.
A message was also found at the scene which said Ortiz Aguirre was responsible for some of the deaths in the mass graves.
Mexican press reports noted that at the time of his resignation he had a personal security detail for his protection, implying he had been under death threats. Reports also say his official security detail was withdrawn hours before he was abducted.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Secretary Clinton got some unpleasant news as she was working to round up support for US regional diplomacy in the United Arab Emirates this week: the UAE announced that it was closing down the offices of a prominent American quango linked to the Democratic Party. Though the incident lacked the drama of the arrests of quango employees in Egypt earlier this year, it was a slap in the face and a sign of just how tired many world governments are growing of this new cross between government and the private philanthropic sector.
A quango is a quasi NGO and in the United States many of them are focused on promoting democracy overseas. Although organizations like the National Democratic Institute and its counterpart the International Republican Institute are largely funded by the federal government, they operate under more or less independent boards of directors. They are modeled in some ways on the German political party foundations, again funded largely by taxpayers but operated under the authority of political parties rather than the government itself. The democracy quangos are set up to interfere with the politics of other countries. They dont necessarily take partisan positions in their elections, but they train democracy activists, provide them with support, and generally work to open up political space in target countries as a way of promoting the kind of political change Americans like to see.
The US and some other countries have enjoyed a free ride for a while. These organizations have been able to operate pretty freely in a large number of countries; we have in effect found a way of getting government-funded activities and organizations on foreign soil without having to observe all the tiresome, tedious formalities of diplomatic custom and usage.
When countries like the UAE start slamming the doors (and on the German foundations as well as the American ones) this is a sign that the free ride may be coming to an end. In the future, foreign countries may well demand that entities directly or indirectly funded by foreign governments operate only on the basis of a negotiated and mutually acceptable agreement. To many in the west, this will feel like a crackdown on free speech; to many in other countries it will feel like an anti-colonial assertion of national sovereignty.
Unfortunately, genuine NGOs are getting smeared with the quango label. It is easy for demagogic or anti-democratic politicians to attack authentic civil society movements and institutions by fuzzing the line between quangos and the rest. The west has colluded in fuzzing the difference as well, and that may have been a mistake. Quasi-NGOs have had a good run, but the combination of budgetary stringency at home and resistance abroad puts a question mark over their future.
#2
Bright Pebbles, I think your comment would be more true if it was phrased something like, "number of genuine NGOs after their tenth birthday".
I think a number start off with noble purpose and get quickly corrupted. I'm not sure how many new NGOs we have though, so this might be the way it was, and not the way it is.
#10
I was a believer in Amnesty until I saw one of their reports (back during the cold war) that had 80 something pages about the US being bad and five or six about the Soviets. Bias couldn't have been more obvious.
The Coalition is to revive plans first raised then shelved by the last Labour Government to track the activities of every Briton who uses a phone or the internet.
Proposed new powers, to be unveiled in the Queens Speech, will see a huge expansion in the amount of data communication providers are required to keep for at least a year.
It will allow the police and intelligence officers to monitor who someone is in contact with or websites they visit, although the content of such communications will not be accessed.
Civil liberty campaigners last night said the proposals were an unprecedented expansion of state intrusion more akin to China or Iran.
Labour faced fierce opposition in 2006 when it proposed creating a national database to store such information and later dropped all notion of the scheme just before the last general election.
But the new Government has revived the plans and while there will be no database, providers will be required to record all activities of their customers so they can be accessed if needed.
It comes even though the Coalition Agreement promised to "end the storage of internet and email records without good reason".
Ministers will argue it is essential to help combat terrorism and serious crime such as paedophile networks.
It raises the prospects of police or security agencies being able to monitor communications in real time on people they are investigating as well as trawling back through previous contacts.
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.
. 
North Korea attempted on Sunday to lure foreign tourists to the hermit country to help celebrate a major anniversary, pledging to make "every possible sincere efforts" to show visitors a good time.
MOSCOW - Russian authorities closed Moscows Red Square on Sunday and detained dozens of people trying to hold a silent anti-government protest there, prompting opposition charges that they were denying Russians their right to free assembly.
JERUSALEM: Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian gunman suspected of trying to plant explosives beneath a fence at the border with Gaza, the Israeli military said on Sunday.
Moscow -- Former Soviet spy Leonid Shebarshin, who was very briefly head of the KGB, was found dead Friday in his apartment in Moscow, an apparent suicide, officials said. The 76-year-old left a suicide note, the state-run news agency Itar-Tass reported Friday, citing city police. A weapon was found near the body, Investigation Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
Osama Bin Laden fathered four children while on the run in Pakistan in the nine years following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to his youngest wife while skipping from safe house to safe house among family.
GAZA: Israel yesterday deported a Palestinian woman prisoner who spent 43 days on hunger strike to the Gaza Strip, under a deal that has been criticized by Palestinians.
DAMASCUS/BEIRUT/ISTANBUL: Western and Arab nations stepped up pressure on President Bashar Assad yesterday, mistrusting his acceptance of a plan to end a year of bloodshed, but were not expected to arm rebels or fully recognize an opposition council.
DAMASCUS/BEIRUT/ISTANBUL: Violence in Syria killed at least 34 people yesterday, among them 15 members of the security forces who died in firefights across the country, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The violence came a day after the regime of Assad declared that those seeking its ouster had been defeated and that it was now focused on stabilizing the security situation nationwide.
Aarhuis - More than 80 people were 
KABUL: Afghanistan named a three star general to take over Bagram prison from the US military and with him, final say over which prisoners are released, an issue with the potential to open another rift in relations between Washington and Kabul.
SEOUL -- After a series of party meetings countrywide, North Korea has elected new leader 
KANDAHAR: An Afghan police officer, who was targeted by Taliban and survived 16 bomb attacks, was killed by an improvised explosive device (IMD) on Sunday, officials said. 
JAMRUD: A key terrorist commander was killed during a gunbattle with law enforcement agencies in Orakzai Agency. Official sources said that Taliban commander 
