#1
They have had their brand of "hope" and change for years. They are so "advanced" they should crash a year ahead of us... unless Obama can catch US up to them.
#2
Yes, and has been for several years. Now our markets are being flooded with money transfered from Europe. So now our markets will go as high as the fear and emotion will drive it. Obscene over valuation. Money made day by day week by week. Everyone will want in. Then panic to cash in. Real value is gone.
People will have everything in the market and poof it is gone. Massive transfer of wealth for those who get a jump on the beginning sell-off. People will sell their gold hoards because the market is doing much better. So no money, no home, no food, and no job. Obama will party till the music stops.
#3
Old Europe began going downhill in the late 1980's. You had to look hard to see it, but the signs were there. Eastern Europe, once they shook off the Soviets, took a decade just to get to the starting line. They're beginning to emerge financially, just in time for the West to destroy everything in a huge crash. Obama's gotta go, or we'll go down in the crash, too. If it gets too bad, I'm thinking of gathering up a few hundred of my friends and declaring independence. We have a perfectly good Constitution that isn't currently being used we can build on.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/02/2012 21:18
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#4
Transfer it anywhere you want; the value is gone.
Was he named Hans-Joachim? Seriously, though, Der Spiegel and the mother of the two jihadis -- a now-dead son and a daughter -- don't see why America gets to kill those engaged in the activity if they're holding German passports.
I certainly have no objection if the German drones take the bad boys out...
Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel-Karim Ali accused Gulf countries, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Wednesday of being behind the Syria-bound arms shipments that was intercepted recently by the Lebanese Army.
The ship was bound for the Syrian opposition ... especially that political and security leaderships in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other countries are behind these acts which undermine the security of Syria, Lebanon and the region, Ali said after meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Adnan Mansour.
The Lebanese Army intercepted Friday night a ship in Lebanon's waters. Its manifesto listed metal and the like, but an investigation revealed weapons aboard. The ship intended to dock at Tripoli port in north Lebanon; the weapons, which originated in Libya, were bound for Syria.
Lebanese Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr ordered Saturday that the 11-member crew of Lutfallah II be held for questioning. A statement released Saturday by the Lebanese Army confirmed the arms seizure and said the 11 detained crew members are of various Arab and foreign nationalities.
Ali said Wednesday that such interference in Syrias affairs has become public and under the cover of what he described as humanitarian and charitable associations or relief efforts.
Twenty were killed and scores were wounded in Cairo clashes that erupted on Wednesday outside the Egyptian Defense Ministry after a group of "unidentified assailants" attacked demonstrators protesting continued military rule.
A military junta took interim control of Egypt following a popular uprising that led to the ouster of long-time president Hosni Mubarak on 11 February 2011.
The generals have promised to transfer power to a civilian administration by January 1, but daily rallies demanding the junta step-down immediately continue to be staged.
Security officials in Cairo who spoke on condition of anonymity told reporters that the clashes broke out at dawn when a group of "unidentified assailants" set upon several hundred protesters who had been camped out in the area since early Saturday, when 119 were injured in a violent flare-up.
Wednesday's violence led several presidential contenders to shift the focus of their campaigns to the perceived failure of the interim junta to stop the bloodshed.
Some politicians from the newly elected Islamist-dominated parliament cancelled meetings with various generals as a show of disproval.
Initial reports on the ground indicated the assailants were soldiers in plainclothes who started the clashes by hurling cinder blocks at the demonstrators, but it remains unclear if that was actually the case.
Nor is it clear the victims were all protesters, or if any of the attackers were among the dead.
A year after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the United States has another opportunity on the horizon to take down a major terrorist figure, albeit in a much different way. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the confessed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, will finally begin a military commission for the murders of 3,000 Americans at Guantanamo Bay on Saturday morning, when he'll appear at a Guantanamo Bay courtroom for his belated arraignment. But even as the U.S. boasts about the justice its reformed military trials will dispense, those trials might ironically give the man known as KSM the conclusion he sees as a final victory: death.
It's been a long time since KSM was last in court. In 2008, during an arraignment for a commission that ultimately got cancelled, he quickly pled guilty to multiple murder counts. "This is what I want," he told the court, in English. "I'm looking to be martyr for long time."
That case was interrupted for a variety of procedural reasons, and KSM never got his chance. In the intervening years, Congress and the Obama administration reformed the controversial military trials -- making it easier to seek capital punishment, by providing detainees with so-called "learned counsel" lawyers specifically skilled at death-penalty cases, which makes such sentences less likely to be reversed on appeal. Last month, after flipping a key detainee to testify against KSM, the government brought charges against KSM and four alleged accomplices for the 9/11 plot. "If convicted," the Defense Department clarified, "the five accused could be sentenced to death."
#6
Would be a pity if the Gitmo dentist found out that KSM had impacted wisdom teeth, then he had to have a knee replacement and it wasn't done that well and then an abdominal resection...
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
05/02/2012 20:32
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#7
"I'm looking to be a Martyr for a long time" > KSM's "fatalism" has never been successfully changed or altered since the first time I met him.
A similar argument can likely also be made as per OSAMA.
#2
A blinding flash of the obvious, but it really is a pivotal point in American history. If the GOP cannot pull this one out, we may be doomed to a one party system. Of course that is Obama's goal.
#3
I call this the Obama shell game. You think you follow the shell movement but he has distracted you when you make your choice. Everything other than solutions will be offered. Bait and switch. Judge him for what he delivers not by what he says. Modern day con-artist. His devoted loyal base are the ones who will suffer the most.
#4
Just check to see if his lips are moving to determine whether he is telling the truth--and then disregard the message or take it with a heavy dose of salts.
You've had over three years to vet President Barack Obama. Yet in three years in office and over a year of campaigning beforehand, you have either been oddly uninterested or purposefully ignorant of Barack Obama's educational history. You were, however, quite interested in George Bush's transcripts.
This uncharacteristic absence of curiosity about an American president alarms us. At $15 trillion, our nation's debt is the highest it has ever been - and it keeps growing. We're not convinced that Barack is as smart as you media elitists keep insisting he is.
We therefore offer in reward $10,000 to anyone who provides the college transcripts of President Barack Obama. Occidental, Harvard, Columbia...any would represent more intellectual curiosity about the leader of the free world than the media has demonstrated since Obama won the Democrat primary.
Upon obtaining any of these transcripts, please contact war[at]thetrenches[dot]us for verification and payment. This offer goes into effect immediately.
Media, your stranglehold on the truth ends NOW. Let the vetting begin.
#1
If Bammer gets re-elected, the media won't vet him in 8 years. They will wait for history to judge him. Of course they will be writing the history narrative too. Should make for thin reading.
#2
Failed? They may have abdicated their traditional role as the press in a free society, but they succeeded in their goal of electing a particular candidate and your average NPR listener has no idea what is missing from their news stream.
#4
DC has always loved a party animal. The in-crowd will want in. Deals made. Media rubs elbows with the elites. This is the beginning of the privileged few. The Camelot the Democrats so dearly want. Perhaps a monarchy. The founding fathers were aware of this. When all parties allow this change no checks and balances. Modern day Napoleon.
US and allied officials said they are increasingly concerned that doctors working with al Qaeda's Yemen-based affiliate will implant bombs inside living militants in order to try to circumvent airport security measures and bring down aircraft.
Earlier this year, a missile fired by a CIA-operated drone killed a Yemeni doctor who had devised medical procedures which could be used to surgically plant explosive devices in humans, several US officials told Reuters.
However, another individual, the expert bomb-maker who came up with this tactic survived a similar missile attack last year. Counterterrorism agencies believe he is still engaged in active plotting against US and other Western targets.
Moreover, three US officials said counter-terrorism agencies report that other doctors in Yemen are prepared to surgically load bombs into the organs of militants.
The possibility of implanted bombs has been a concern for US officials since at least 2009, when two incidents occurred involving militants who had spent time with leading figures of Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) Chief testified to the Afghan Senate today that Maluvi Mohammad Ismail, who until last year served as the Military Council Chairman for the Taliban's Quetta Shura, had recently been executed by rival Taliban members along with 25 other "key rebel figures." NDS chief Lieutenant General Rahmatullah Nabil additionally noted that the former head of the Taliban's Recruitment Council, Ustad Yasir, a key ideologue for the Taliban movement, had been among those killed. And regional reports identified two other Afghan Taliban officials who had also been killed: Maulvi Shaheedkhel (Shahid Khel), allegedly the shadow governor of Laghman province, and a Taliban intelligence figure named Maulvi Ahmadullah Wror.
According to Nabil, Ismail and his supporters had been detained by Taliban fighters on the way to an airport in Pakistan's Balochistan province, as they were preparing to fly to a meeting for peace talks with the Afghan government, according to Pajhwok Afghan News. And in fact, local media reported on April 18 that several high-ranking Taliban members, including Ismail, Mullah Ahad Agha, and Mullah Ghulam Hassan, had been seized near Quetta by Taliban gunmen in early April. During the Taliban regime, Mullah Ghulam Hassan reportedly served as the minister of intelligence and Mullah Ahad Agha served as a Taliban commander in Zabul province.
Numerous Afghan security officials speaking on condition of anonymity indicated that members of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) had killed Ismail and his fighters near Girdi Jangle, a sprawling village just across the border from Afghanistan's Helmand province. Pakistani security officials responded negatively to the charges, denying ISI involvement and citing a lack of evidence that the killings even took place.
#3
What Besoeker said could explain this peculiar statement from yesterday's speech:
"The wages of war have been great for both our nations," Obama said
Several Saudi people suffering from physical and mental problems have fallen prey to an unknown man who lives in Egypt and claims he can cure them by sending over a Muslim jinn (genie).
All they had to do was to contact his aide in Saudi Arabia to arrange for a phone chat, so he can identify their exact malady and decide which genie they need.
People who spoke to the man in that country were asked to transfer a specific sum of money to his account so he can send them a Muslim jinn, the Saudi Arabic language daily Sabq said.
Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Gulf Kingdoms feared religious police, discovered the scam when they arrested the mans aide in the central town of Onaiza.
They asked a member to pose as a patient and contact that aide .the undercover was then told to phone the man in Egypt when he did, the man asked him to remit money so he can send him a Moslem jinn to treat him.
Sabq did not mention how many victims had been duped or say whether that mans recipe was useful for any of them.
Former IDF Intelligence head Gazit tells 'Post' he agrees with Diskin that attack wouldn't destroy Iran's program, and could even accelerate it, while enabling the Islamic Republic to legitimize efforts diplomatically.
Iran would possibly accelerate its nuclear weapons program after a future Israeli military strike, former IDF Intelligence head Shlomo Gazit told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. After the decade they spend recovering from the strike, they mean...
Gazit, a senior research fellow at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, made the comments in response to a question put to him by the Post over recent views aired by former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) director Yuval Diskin, who questioned the effectiveness of an Israeli strike.
#3
No such thing as a below zero probability, but our hero, former IDF intelligence head Gazit, fails to bracket the probability -- is it infinitesimally above zero or close to 100% (p=1)? Journalism departments around the world need to add a proper intro. statistics course to their core curriculum, so that they have eve a vague idea of what bloody questions need to be asked.
#4
IMO, Iran is prolly think that, ala the "Japan/Egypt" Nuke Model, + espec as per "Japan", it can have a PRO-NUCWEAP DESIGN, DEVLOPMENT, + TESTING PROGRAM, JUST NOT AN ACTUAL DEDICATED NUCWEAP PRODUCTION LINE.
Ditto as per MilTerrs, i.e. possessing Nuke-WMD knowledge + expertise, etc. just NOT any physical weapons per se [at least for a time].
The Maha-Rushian Questionne' remains can the US-West + Sunni Muslim Govts-States + UNO [UNSC + IAEA] trust Islamist Iran to be a "responsible" Nuclear Power, wid or widout any NucWeaps, + can Iran be trusted to keep such Techs, etc. from violent-minded MilTerrs, Islamist + Shia + Other, + aligned NGOS???
The U.S. military is discussing significant changes in its war plans to adhere to President Obamas new strategic guidance that downplays preparing for conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan, and counts on allies to provide additional troops.
War planning for Iran is now the most pressing scenario, or what the Pentagon calls a contingency.
U.S. Central Command believes it can destroy or significantly degrade Irans conventional armed forces in about three using air and sea strikes, according to a defense source familiar with the discussions.
Such strikes are an option in a response to Tehrans striking U.S. and international ships in the Persian Gulf and attempting to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the worlds oil is transported.
The Pentagon now is conducting a step-by-step surge of forces in the Gulf. It is maintaining two aircraft carriers in the region and is increasing the number of mine-detection ships and helicopters.
#5
If the US gets involved in Iran we should plan to do so without any serious ground forces and without any allies that might cause operation and political problems. Naval assistance and filling in for the US in other areas would be wonderful, we don't need to buy them off to add their planes to the sorties and that sort of thing.
#8
I've always been kinda hawkish on Iran but with Obama in control, I dunno. I might rather wait until after November to see if we can get somebody who is a little more reliable in the White House.
#9
The only reason Barry would do it would if he or Axlerod did the calculus and thought they could come up with a few extra votes to add to the ACORN votes, Mickey Mouse, etc., and the dead voters.
I wouldn't trust him to run a war against Iran. I didn't trust him to run a war in Afghanistan.
#12
Afghanistan is still hard going after 11 years. Catching lybian Kadaphi took several months rather than "a few days" per Hildabeast and Big Zero. I wouldn't count out the Soviets and china supporting an afghan style warefare.
Posted by: George Unique7923 ||
05/02/2012 22:11
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[Tolo News] As many as 19 cut-throats have been killed in festivities with Afghan cops in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) said Tuesday morning.
At least three other cut-throats were maimed and five others were nabbed Book 'im, Mahmoud! by Afghan National Police (ANP) as part of 11 separate operations in nine provinces.
The MOI did not disclose whether there were any security forces casualties nor if there were any Isaf forces involved in the operations which covered Kabul, Baghlan, Faryab, Kandahar, Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... , Maidan Wardak, Pashtun-infested Logar, Khost, and Farah provinces.
As a result of the operations, the ANP discovered and confiscated six different types of weapons, five heavy rounds, three anti-vehicle mines, one hand grenade, 372 kilograms of opium and eight cycle of violences, the MOI said.
Menawhile, Wardak provincial front man Abdul Wali told TOLOnews at least seven cut-throats were killed during an Afghan security troops operation on Monday night.
The operation was in the capital of Wardak and aimed to clear the area of cut-thoats, he said. Security forces seized many weapons and bombs as a result, he said.
There were no Afghan and civilians casualties during the operation, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2012
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The death toll in fighting between criminal groups and Mexican security forces in the Sierras of northeastern Sinaloa state increased to 32 as 12 more unidentified armed suspects were killed Monday, according to Mexican news accounts.
In a brief account on the website of Noreaste de Sinaloa, 10 suspects were killed near El Pichol and two more were killed near Bacayopa, which is closer to the Chihuahua state border. A reported additional two dead were reported in another area close to the border with Chihuahua state called Los Tascates.
Mexican Army and naval infantry forces have reportedly set up a cordon in the area to prevent armed groups from filtering back to the western side of Choix municipality. At least two naval infantry units were deployed near Chinobampo, which is south of Choix municipal seat to aid the Mexican federal security effort.
According to an article posted in its website Monday evening, El Debate news daily said the new count is based on coffins ordered by funeral homes in Choix municipality.
In a separate article on El Debate's website, Sinaloa governor Mario Lopez Valdez told reporters that security meetings are being held with the public security chiefs of nearby municipalities including Sinaloa de Leyva, San Ignacio, Concordia and Badiraguato. The newest security initiative has been dubbed Operacion Condor.
Operacion Condor is the name of a counternarcotics operation implemented during the 1970s in Sinaloa state aimed at drug eradication.
In the same report, Sinaloa state Secretearia de Gobernacion (SEGOB) Gerardo Vargas Landeros said that the area in eastern Choix municipality was under control of security forces. The problem now, according to the report, is armed groups moving to Chihuahua aboard vehicles falsely marked as official vehicles.
Three falsely marked vehicles have been found abandoned in San Vicente, Chihuahua, which is just across the border, suggesting some criminal elements have already passed over to seek refuge in Chihuahua state. The find also suggests that much of the fighting by armed groups have been delaying and diversionary in nature, presumably to allow a leadership element to escape security operations.
News reports say that armed suspects have been demanding food and water from local residents, and have passed easily through the military cordon to make those demands. Jose Carlos Urias Olguin, 42, was shot in the leg near his residence in the village of Potrero de Los Fierro after he refused to provide an armed suspect with food.
Reports of hostage taking by armed suspects have also been discounted, and appear to be anecdotal, though isolated incidents have occurred. Resident have also fled their homes, but officials have protested those actions are also not widespread.
Reports suggest that armed groups have recruited shooters from remote villages, presumably to reinforce their numbers in the area. The military has suspended normal transportation in the area, specifically to Casas Viejas and El Tablo, stranding some area residents.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Nigerian troops killed one suspected Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... thug Tuesday during a pre-dawn raid in the city of Kano over weekend attacks against church services that left around 20 people dead.
A military task force stormed a two-bedroom bungalow in the troubled northern city's Bubbugaje district, two days after attackers armed with bombs and guns sowed carnage among churchgoers on Kano's Bayero university campus.
Security sources told an AFP news hound on the scene that one suspected Islamist was killed when a shootout erupted during the raid while another managed to escape.
Brigadier-General Iliasu Isa Abba said the raid was part of the search for the perpetrators of Sunday's attacks, the latest violence against Christians blamed on Boko Haram's Islamists.
"This operation has links with what happened in Bayero university. The same set of people are part of the gang," he said.
Soldiers at the scene of the raid also set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up! three women, including a mother and a three-year-old girl, while security agents cordoned off the building. Three armoured carriers and a bulldozer were stationed in the area.
Items recovered included improvised bombs, an assault rifle, ammunition, knives, two laptops, a cycle of violence and fertilisers.
A bank deposit slip and a leaflet purportedly containing a message by the Boko Haram leader were also found in the building.
One of the tossed in the slammer Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! women told AFP she was married to a member of the group.
"I was married to my husband a year ago. We met in Wudil. I only came to know that he was a member of Boko Haram recently. He managed to escape during the raid this morning," the 18-year-old woman said.
Top security chiefs in Kano, including the military commander, police commissioner and head of the state security service, visited the scene and ordered that the partly damaged building be pulled down.
They also vowed further clampdown on Islamists as well as stiffer sanctions against property owners who rent out to unknown individuals.
"Wherever we find weapons of this nature that can be used to kill imnnocent people, certainly we are going to bring down the property," Abba told news hounds.
"This will serve as a deterrent to landlords that rent out their properties to unknown persons that could turn out to be terrorists," he said.
Abba said the targeted suspects were also wanted over January 20 attacks in Kano, the largest city in Nigeria's mainly Mohammedan north, when coordinated bombings and shootings left 185 dead, Boko Haram's deadliest attack yet.
The group has also been blamed for last week's kabooms at newspaper offices in the capital Abuja and the northern city of Kaduna that left at least nine people dead.
Boko Haram's increasingly bloody insurgency has left more than 1,000 people dead since mid-2009.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer, is roughly divided between a mainly Mohammedan north and predominately Christian south.
Boko Haram initially claimed to be fighting for the creation of an Islamic state in Nigeria's north, but its demands and structure have become less clear in recent months.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2012
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Federal prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against three Somalis charged with fatally shooting four Americans aboard a hijacked yacht last year.
Ahmed Muse Salad, Abukar Osman Beyle and Shani Nurani Shiekh Abrar could also face the death penalty on numerous other charges related to the February 2011 hijacking. They include hostage taking resulting in death, violence against maritime navigation resulting in death, and kidnapping resulting in death. In total, 22 of the 26 counts are death-eligible offenses.
The decision to seek the death penalty is made by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. A document disclosing the prosecutors' intent was filed Monday.
In all, 19 men boarded the American yacht during the hijacking. Four of the hijackers died on board including two who have also been identified in court records as those who shot at the Americans. One person was released by authorities because he is a juvenile. Eleven other men pleaded guilty to piracy and have been sentenced to life in prison for their roles in the case. A 12th man who never boarded the Quest and was identified as the lead hostage negotiator was convicted of piracy Friday. He also faces a mandatory life sentence.
[Yemen Post] Yemeni Ministry of Interior announced on Monday that it has nabbed Book 'im, Mahmoud! four suspected Somali pirates in Soqatra Island, southeast of the Yemeni province of Hadramout. ...the formerly independent Qu'aiti state and sultanate, annexed by Communist South Yemen in 1968, encompassing a region along the Gulf of Aden, extending eastwards to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman. The people are called Hadhramis and speak Hadhrami Arabic. The city Tarimis estimated to contain the highest concentration of descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (PTUI) anywhere in the world, approximately seven in every square yard... A senior security officer said today in a blurb that the secuirty forces locked away Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! the four suspects while they were at Samaha island in Qalansia. The Somalis were diving with full diving gear.
He said that the four suspects are aged between 26 and 40 years old. They were refered to prosecution for further interrorgation, afterwards.
The security official noted that Yemeni Coast Guards (YCG) was notified today that a number of Yemeni fishermen were attacked, shot at, and chased by Somali pirates in the Al-Gaitha city, the bustling provincial capital of Al-Mahara province.
The Coast Guards have been given the green light to deal with the pirates decisevly in order to deter such attacks.
Piracy in the Arab Sea and Gulf of Aden has dealt a blow to the Yemeni maritime activities. Many ships which used to transit in Yemen's ports have diverted their destination to other place because they are not safe from piracy in the Yemeni territorial waters.
They piracy thrived around Yemeni coasts, taking an advantage of the very weak navy.
Eight captured Yemeni fishermen were set free early this month by Spanish military ship after they were taken as prisoners by Somali pirates.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2012
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[An Nahar] Ten civilians killed by regime mortar fire and 12 troops died in festivities with rebels were among 26 dead in Syria on Tuesday just hours after a new U.N. call for all sides to respect a troubled truce.
U.N. chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... said it was vital that government and opposition alike cooperate fully with a hard-won U.N. observer force as it fans out in its mission to shore up the ceasefire agreement that took effect on April 12.
But despite his appeal, human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... monitors reported no let-up in the violence, a day after a series of blasts condemned by Ban as "terrorist kabooms" killed more than 20 people.
Nine members of a single family were among the 10 killed in the regime bombardment of a village in northwestern Idlib province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
A mortar round slammed into their home in Mashmashan village near the town of Jisr al-Shughour, the watchdog said, adding four women and two children were among the dead.
Elsewhere in the same province, random gunfire killed a 13-year-old boy in the town of Maaret al-Numan.
Outside Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... , gunfire from a minibus belonging to the security forces killed an 80-year-old man in the town of Qatna, while regime shelling killed a civilian in a village of central Hama province, said the Observatory.
In Deir Ezzor province in the northeast, 12 soldiers were killed in festivities with rebel fighters, said the watchdog.
One civilian was also killed during the fighting in the Busayra area of the province, in which troops responded with missile and heavy machinegun fire, it added.
Ban called on all sides to work with the U.N. observer mission as it expands from the current advance party of 30 to a promised full complement of 300 in the coming days and weeks.
"While noting improvements in areas where U.N. monitors are deployed, the secretary general remains gravely concerned by reports of continued violence, killing and abuses in Syria in recent days," a statement said.
He called "for armed violence in all its forms by all parties to cease immediately and full cooperation of all parties with the work of U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria as it expands its presence on the ground."
Two observers are already deployed in Idlib, a province bordering Turkey where rebel fighters of the Free Syrian Army have been active. There are none in Deir Ezzor.
Two observers each have been deployed in three other protest centers -- the flashpoint central cities of Hama and Homs, and Daraa province, south of Damascus and cradle of the uprising against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... 's regime that broke out in March last year.
The other 22 remain based in the capital.
In Monday's violence, bombings rocked Idlib city and the Damascus suburbs, with the deadliest hitting security buildings in Idlib.
"The blasts targeted two security headquarters, one housing air force intelligence and the other military intelligence," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The official SANA news agency said "terrorists" were behind the attacks by "jacket wallahs."
Meanwhile, ...back at the Esquimeau village our hero was receiving a quick lesson in aeronautics...... an Islamist group that has claimed several kabooms in Syria said it was responsible for a blast in Damascus last week that targeted security forces and an Iranian cultural center.
The Al-Nusra front said in a statement posted online that one of its members had attached an bomb to an army vehicle and that it detonated at the cultural center in Marjeh Square, "hitting two targets in the process."
Police said three people were maimed in the April 24 blast.
In his statement, the U.N. chief condemned what he called "terrorist kabooms" in Idlib and Damascus.
But the opposition Syrian National Council again accused the authorities of orchestrating the violence.
"The Assad regime is trying in various ways to mislead and distract (U.N.) observers in order to prevent them carrying out their work," the SNC said, calling for "an international commission of inquiry to uncover who was behind the kabooms."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2012
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#1
The UN illuminati only 'called' for the violence to end.
The 'Strongly Worded Letter®' was never sent so, naturally, the mayhem can continue.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
05/02/2012 9:08
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[Dawn] After protests on the campus and outside, the University of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar syndicate on Monday set aside the Academic Council's decision to include a controversial writer's books in MPhil and PhD courses offered by the English Literature department.
During a meeting, the syndicate decided to drop 'Shame' and 'Midnight Children' written by Salman Rushdie from the list of suggested books for PhD and MPhil courses of English Literature, according to a front man for the university.
"No book of Salman Rushdie is or will be included in MPhil and PhD courses of English Literature at the University of Peshawar," Akhtar Amin told Dawn.
When contacted, chairman of the department Professor Mojeebur Rehman insisted that the matter was based on a misunderstanding.
"There was a misunderstanding. Neither these books are on our list of suggested reading nor have we a single book of Salman Rushdie in our library," he said.
Sources in the university said the Academic Council had approved the two books for MPhil and PhD courses of English Literature but the syndicate decided to drop them from the list of suggested books without much discussion.
The inclusion of the two books in MPhil and PhD courses aroused anger on the campus and outside.
Rushdie is a controversial writer for authoring a blasphemous fiction, Satanic Verses.
Sources said the two books were part of a list presented to the Academic Council as suggested reading for MPhil and PhD courses and since the council 'overloaded with' the items on agenda, it approved the list without thorough examination.They, however, insisted that there were no ulterior motive behind the approval as some books were suggested for reading for the World English Literature for MPhil and PhD classes.
A source in the department said the World English Literature was a new course introduced to let students know of the contributions of non-English writers since all good books were authored by writers of the previously colonised countries.
He said some writers from India and Pakistain had recently produced better writings and the course intended to enlighten MPhil and PhD students about them.
He said the books suggested for MPhil and PhD reading included Arundhati Roy's 'The god of small things', Kamila Shamsi's 'Broken verse', a political fiction, and Daniyal Moheenuddin's 'In other Rooms, Other Wounds', which is about women in Pakistain.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2012
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#1
They're appropriate for a PhD course; they're damn near unreadable.
#5
"Atlas was unusual in its use of balloon tanks for fuel, made of very thin stainless steel (with the uncoated steel necessitating Convair to develop the anti-corrosive spray WD-40) with minimal or no rigid support structures. Pressure in the tanks provides the structural rigidity required for flight. An Atlas rocket would collapse under its own weight if not kept pressurized, and had to have 5 psi nitrogen in the tank even when not fueled."
Atlas F was LOX/Kerosene fueled, so no nasty oxidizer leftovers to worry about. And it's got a really BIG elevator...
#6
There's many yards of well-hardened concrete in those silos, plus, the US Geological Survey "USGS)lost the bubble" on their map filing system a decade ago...Silos are spread across a wide swath of rural US geography.
[Dawn] A powerful blast destroyed Quetta's Sariab Road on Tuesday, killing at least five people while injuring 10 others, DawnNews reported.
Rescue officials confirmed that at least five people had been killed in the incident. The dead also included Frontier Corps (FC) personnel, according to reports.
The loud kaboom, which was reported to be so powerful that it shook several buildings in the bustling provincial capital, took place at around 2:15pm near the Sariab grid stationon the outskirts of the city. The area, located near Quetta's Irrigation Colony, is known to be a busy locality.
Security officials said the explosives were planted under a car parked on Sariab Road, while an FC convoy was suspected to be the intended target of the attack.
The kaboom "took place as an FC (Frontier Corps) convoy passed by the car," local police official, Abdul Qayyum, told AFP.
Four FC vehicles damaged as a result of the blast, while one was completely destroyed. Four rickshaws also caught fire because of the kaboom.
A heavy contingent of local police and FC personnel reached the scene of the blast and cordoned off the area. The injured were meanwhile shifted to a local hospital by rescue workers.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2012
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[Yemen Post] The kidnapped Swiss teacher called on her government to work on setting her free. She was kidnapped in mid- March by al-Qaeda elements in the western impoverished-hit province of Al-Hodeida.
The hostage was teaching English in a languages institute in al-Hodeida.
On Monday, she was shown in a short video clip on a new-established YouTube account.
In the video, she said she was kidnapped on March 13th, and that she was treated well by her kidnappers.
It was not clear when the footage was taken but she mentioned that she had been kidnapped for four weeks.
The exact location of the hostage is still uncertain. But, her colleague said she had received a phone call from the hostage saying she was being moved to the southeastern province of Shabwa.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch, Butch and the Kid finally brought their horses under control... a tribal leader said that the kidnappers asked for unachievable conditions in order to release the hostage including that all of the Saudi female prisoners be released from custodies. Also, they asked for 50 million Euro as ransom.
However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... local sources reported that the Swiss hostage was being moved to the trouble-torn province of Abyan. ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... A French working with the International Committee of the Red Thingy (ICRC) was kidnapped from al-Hodeida about ten days ago.
Kidnappings in Yemen have increased in the past ten years with Jihadists and rustics using it as a way of pressuring the government into meeting their demands and paying them huge ransoms.
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05/02/2012
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[Dawn] Fighting continued into the night on Tuesday as more police contingents were called in to defuse the mounting insurgency by the criminals at the end of fifth consecutive day of the "Grand Operation" in Lyari, DawnNews reported.
According to police, the authorities have decided to block the entry points into the area to stop weapon supply.
They also have decided to call in expert snipers from the police training centre who will be placed in provisional check posts on rooftops which are under the police's control.
Despite several claims by police officials, security forces in Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... have not been able to progress farther than Cheel Chowk, as the 'Grand Operation' continued on fifth day.
Clashes between law-enforcement agencies and heavily armed criminals continued on Tuesday, as myrmidons resorted to the use of hand-grenades and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) in addition to using sophisticated automatic weapons against security forces.
Authorities had installed jammers on Monday night to block cellular access in the area. The move was viewed as a failure as the criminals were reported to be using walkie-talkies to communicate with each other.
It was disclosed that the criminals are in possession of more than a hundred sets of walkie-talkies.
In reports on Tuesday, a policeman identified as Tufail was killed during festivities near Cheel Chowk, while two more people were killed when police came under heavy gunfire and rocket attacks while progressing deeper into the areas near Cheel Chowk and Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... i colony.
Ten people were maimed when a mini rocket propelled grenade landed on the upper story of a hotel in Lea Market. Police shifted the injured to a near-by hospital for treatment.
During the past four days, more than 20 people, as well as six security personnel, have bit the dust in the aggressive operation. Meanwhile, ...back at the argument, Jane reached into her purse for her .38... hundreds of Lyari residents continued to flee the fighting as they relocate from the violence-ridden area.
At the entry and exit points of Lyari , people were seen waiting in their cars for their relatives, desperate to flee the fighting in one of the oldest localities in the port city of Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
Approximately 150 families from neighbourhoods affected by the operation --including Agra Taj Colony, Afshani Gali, Shah Abdul Latif Road, Ghas Mandi, Gul Mohammad Lane, Aath Chowk, Cheel Chowk, and other parts of Lyari -- were reported to have relocated to safer parts of the city the previous day.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2012
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A group of radical Muslims attacked police in the German city of Solingen on Tuesday during a far-right demonstration, injuring four. They were provoked by the anti-Islamic Pro NRW party, which displayed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Officials had warned that the publicity stunt could spark violence.
Some 30 Salafists were arrested after injuring three police officers and a passerby by throwing stones and wielding poles from protest banners, police said. Pro NRW, categorized as an extremist right-wing group by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, had staged a demonstration near a Salafist mosque in Solingen.
Reminds me of the KKK versus the Communists in Greensboro NC a generation back. These guys deserve each other...
The violence erupted when Pro NRW demonstrators showed controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad drawn by Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. One of his drawings was among a series of cartoons published by Danish newspapers in 2005 that led to worldwide protests by Muslims, who were offended by the pictures. Many Muslims believe that visual depictions of Muhammad should be prohibited.
"Several Salafists wearing turbans suddenly jumped over the cordon and threw stones at police officers and also hit them with flagpoles," police spokeswoman Anja Meis said.
Pro NRW has said it will run a "Muhammad cartoon contest" and put the cartoons on display outside 25 mosques in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The move, a campaign stunt aimed at generating publicity ahead of an election in the state on May 13, has been widely criticized.
German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich warned last weekthat the cartoon contest and the demonstrations near mosques could lead to violent clashes and also endanger German embassies and companies abroad.
Security authorities have voiced concerns that radical Salafists may see the provocation as an opportunity to seek confrontation in order to boost their own profile. Salafists have recently been in the news with a controversial campaign to distribute free copies of the Koran in German cities.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/02/2012
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#1
How about we riot and attack police because salafists are handing out korans. That offends me.
[Yemen Post] Media outlets close to the former president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... have released a statement in which it said the Republican Guard commander Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh has slammed a newspaper that "spies on military camps", pointing to Al-Ahali Newspaper.
They further Said the military commander called the Military Court to prosecute the newspaper (Al-Ahali)and its staff.
Al-Ahali had released a news story in which it stated that the Republican Guard commander has Apache war planes in Raimat Homaid camp located in Sanhan, the birthplace of his father.
Editor-in-chief of Al-Ahali Ali Al-Jaradi described the statement as a explicit threats against the newspaper and its staff, expressing surprise about what he called a severe attack against his newspaper.
"Raimat Homaid Camp is a regular training centre that was set up by the Defense Ministry and this newspaper has not the right to spy on the armed forces camps" the statement said.
it cautioned against the continuity of what he named a media campaign that targets the Republican Guard, criticizing the silence of Information Ministry towards that .
News website funded by Saleh have vividly campaigned against Al-Ahali and another newspaper, Akhbar Alyawam, citing that they cooperate with Al-Qaeda in Yemen.
Meanwhile, ...back at the precinct house, Sergeant Maloney wasn't buying it. It was just too pat. It smelled phony... a local organization, Freedom Foundation for media freedom, rights and development has condemned incitement campaign launched against Al-Ahali and Akhbar Alyawm newspapers by sources that they claimed they affiliate to the military institution.
The organization expressed sorrow as incitements against Al-Ahali were published in a number of local news websites.
It called the military institution to be wise and reasonable in dealing with publication cases, urging , in the meantime, media outlets to verify their information prior to publication.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2012
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[An Nahar] Five self-described anarchists were placed in long-term storage I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! in a plot to blow up an Ohio bridge but the public was never in any danger, the FBI said Tuesday.
The anarchists spent months discussing several different attacks before settling on the bridge near Cleveland.
They did not realize they were being closely monitored and had purchased inoperable explosives from an undercover FBI agent until they were placed in long-term storage I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! after trying to detonate the bombs.
"The individuals charged in this plot were intent on using violence to express their ideological views," Stephen Anthony, special agent in charge of the Cleveland division of the FBI, said in a statement.
"The Joint Terrorism Task Force will continue to be vigilant in its efforts to detect and disrupt any terrorism threat, domestic or international."
The FBI began to infiltrate the group at a protest in October after a confidential informant sent there heard them complaining that the rest of the people did not want to "act violently," the criminal complaint stated.
In later meetings, the group of young men said they wanted to attack "corporate America and the financial system" and discussed how they could make sure people didn't think their actions were "random acts" of violence, the charging paper said.
They initially plotted to distract the police with smoke grenades while knocking signs off bank buildings, but decided there weren't enough people in Cleveland willing to participate in a riot.
They eventually settled on the plot to blow up a bridge that spans the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, although they had also discussed blowing up a bridge downtown.
"Taking out a bridge in the business district... would cost the corporate big wigs a lot of money not just because of structural damage to the bridge but because it's going to stop a lot of people going to work," Brandon Baxter, 20, allegedly said in a secretly recorded conversation.
They eventually asked the confidential informant to reach out to his 'contacts' and help them buy riot gear and C-4 explosives.
One of the conspirators, Douglas Wright, 26, allegedly said he could raise the money by selling marijuana.
In the many conversations recorded by the informant, the men allegedly insisted that they weren't Death Eaters and didn't want to hurt anybody, debated how to download the Anarchist Cookbook without being traced online, and declared they would be sent to Guantanamo Bay if they got caught.
Some of the other plots discussed were: targeting the headquarters of a neo-Nazi or Ku Klux Clan group; attacking a hospital or bank with stink bombs, explosives or paint guns; sinking a cargo ship; derailing a train; and action at the G8 summit in Chicago or the Republican convention in Florida.
"The complaint in this case alleges that the defendants took specific and defined actions to further a terrorist plot," said Steven Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the northern district of Ohio.
"The defendants stand charged based not upon any words or beliefs they might espouse, but based upon their own plans and actions."
Wright, Baxter, and Anthony Hayne, 35, were placed in long-term storage I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! Monday evening on charges of conspiracy and attempted use of kabooms to damage physical property affecting interstate commerce. Also placed in long-term storage I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! were Connor Stevens, 20, and Joshua Stafford, 23.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2012
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#1
"The individuals charged in this plot were intent on using violence to express their ideological views," Stephen Anthony, special agent in charge of the Cleveland division of the FBI, said in a statement.
#5
Sketch of the FBI informant here. Defendant Baxter also suggested getting tacks that they could throw out of the back of the car if they get in a chase. This getaway tactic was last successfully used in a Batman episode from 1967.
"He's been troubled since he's been young, been in and out of hospitals, prisons, jails," the mother said. "He's just been a troubled soul since he's been born."
#7
"He's been troubled since he's been young, been in and out of hospitals, prisons, jails," the mother said. "He's just been a troubled soul since he's been born."
Well, your poor lost lamb will be in one of those jails for a VERY long time. The citizens of Northern Ohio may be as Blue State as it gets, but you do not want to threaten them.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/02/2012 18:06
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#8
From what I saw of them, I don't think these clowns could blow up their rubber girlfriends.
#9
They have recyclable "girlfriend" dolls. Ever tried to blow up a hemp "girlfriend"? Me neither
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/02/2012 21:28
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#10
tu wins the thread! :-D
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/02/2012 22:21
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#11
* KELLY HEROES > "ODDBALL" > YA SEE, MORIARITY, I TOLD YOU THE BRIDGE WOULD STILL BE THERE, THE BRIDGE IS STILL THERE .... [Binoculars = USAAC Bomb Run] NO, IT AINT - YA SEE WHAT DEM NEGATIVE WAVES DID, MORIARITY"!
Looks like MOSCOW = RUSSIA is also Bridge Problems ...
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > MOSCOW: [HuT = jailed] TERRORISTS PLANNED TO BLOW UP BRIDGE.
HuT Hard Boyz from Taijikistan.
Also from JABBA-NOT-PIZZA-THE-HUT ...
* SAME > FOUR BRITONS [HuT-ties/Hutties] PLANNED TO BLOW UP UK ARMY BASE [Territorial Army] USING TOY CAR.
Besides everthing else, e.g. Bikini Babes + Fresh Donuts, we learn today the Hard Boyz may also hate HotWheels + RCCars???
[An Nahar] Egyptian security services foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Cairo several months ago, the legal advisor of the kingdom's embassy said in local dailies on Tuesday.
Egypt "locked away Book 'im, Mahmoud! three Iranians planning to assassinate the ambassador, Ahmed Qattan," Al-Hayat quoted Sami Jamal as saying.
"Egyptian authorities informed concerned parties at the Saudi foreign ministry of the details of the plot, but the Saudi side opted to keep silent on the matter," Jamal said. The arrests were made three months ago.
"Everybody was concerned that foreign parties would exploit demonstrations by some (Egyptians) outside the embassy (in Cairo) to attack members of the mission," Al-Sharq daily quoted him as saying.
Questioned about the reports, a front man for Iran's foreign ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, told news hounds in Tehran that the allegation was "absolutely incorrect."
"Manufacturing such issues can only help divisions among Mohammedan countries and benefit the Zionist regime (Israel)," he said.
In remarks carried by Egypt's state-run news agency ...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?... MENA, an Egyptian source denied that his country had locked away Book 'im, Mahmoud! an alleged Iranian cell.
Riyadh on Saturday recalled its ambassador from Cairo after angry protests outside the Saudi embassy in Cairo over the arrest of an Egyptian human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... lawyer in the Gulf kingdom.
Saudi state news agency SPA said the Cairo embassy as well as the kingdom's consulates in the Mediterranean cities of Alexandria and Suez were closed.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2012
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[Yemen Post] The General People Congress has denied the news posted on Sunday about the leave of the former President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... to the United Arab Emirate and that he was pressured to depart.
Al-Moatamar net, the mouthpiece of the GPC, said that the news were baseless, pointing out that such news only serve those authorities that want to break down the GCC-drawn power transfer deal.
Rooters quoted Yemeni diplomatic sources on Sunday as saying that Saleh will leave Yemen temporarily after Gulf states leaned on him to get out of the way of his successor to ease tension complicating efforts to stabilize the country.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pound, Zebulon finally found just the friend he'd been looking for... Saleh received on Monday the UN Envoy Jamal Benomar amid allegations that his nephew, Tariq Mohammad Abdullah Saleh who runs the Special Forces and the 3rd Brigade, still refuses decrees of president Abdu Rabou Mansour Hadi of his dismissal.
According to Al-Moatamar Net, Benomar discussed with Saleh Yemen's updates and preparations for holding an inclusive national dialogue conference.
Media sources said on Monday that Benomar gave Saleh's relatives an ultimatum of two days to implement Hadi's decrees and threatened them of imposing international sanctions of they insisted on their positions.
The sources said Saleh asked Hadi to appoint his Tariq as a commander of the brigade and task the brigade to guard him, indicating that Hadi refused the demands of Saleh.
Hadi held meetings on Sunday with ambassadors of states oversee Yemen's power transfer and informed them about Tariq's continuous refusal to his decrees, media sources reported.
Hadi had appointed Tariq as a commander of the 37th Brigade in the southern governorate of Hadhramout, but he refused that and insisted to stay in his positions as a commander of the Special Forces and the 3rd Brigade.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2012
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[Dawn] Sindh home ministry on Tuesday announced bounty on most wanted criminals of the troubled Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... neighbourhood of Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , DawnNews reported.
According to a notification issued by the ministry, head money of Rs 2 million on Uzair Baloch, Rs 3 million on Baba Ladla, Rs 1.6 million on Ibrahim Katchi, Rs 1.5 million on Rashid Rekha and Rs 2 million on Zaman Mehsud has been declared for capturing them dead or alive.
On the other hand, the government of Sindh has offered surrendering option to gangsters belonging to the banned People's Aman Committee (PAC) who are putting up tough resistance in the ongoing "grand operation" for last five days.
Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri has said that the option was up for grabs for the criminals who would put down their arms and cooperate with the government.
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05/02/2012
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[Dawn] MULTAN: Police remained a silent spectator at the main gate of the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), as Islami Jamaat Tulaba ...the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami... activists barged in the university on Monday evening.
After entering the university, IJT activists raised slogans and reached Umer Hall. They left the university after negotiations with police. Police had been deployed at the main university gate after Thursday's firing.
Area magistrate Majid Kareem Farooq granted bail to 50 IJT activists against surety bond of Rs20,000 each. Police produced the accused in the court after two-day judicial remand.
The university administration had lodged an FIR after IJT activists who allegedly attacked the residence of university's resident officer, entered the university by force, resorted to firing and detained university's chief security officer on Thursday.
Another case was lodged against PSF activists for entering Ali Hall by force, resorting to firing and hurling threats at the university administration.
Resident Officer Dr Amanullah said IJT activists broke the locks in the presence of police, but police did not stop them. He said once again police just sent IJT activists away despite the fact that they were carrying weapons. He said the university administration would again submit an application to police for legal action against the 'myrmidons'.
Gulgashat SP Shoaib Khurram said he was not aware of IJT activists' action. "We cannot stop anyone from entering the university premises even if they are outsiders because there is no ban on the entry of outsiders in the university," he said.
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05/02/2012
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[Tolo News] Former US Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said that insurgency and chaos could increase if foreign forces withdraw before Afghanistan is ready.
Khalilzad stressed in an exclusive interview with TOLOnews Monday that an early withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan would be a mistake and could strengthen international terrorism.
"Some people think that the job has been done, Al-Qaeda has been weakened and the late Osama bin Laden ... who was laid out deader than a mackerel, right next to the mackerel... was killed. So, it's the time to go back home," Khalilzad said.
"If the US withdraw from Afghanistan [too soon], chaos will increase, Al-Qaeda will reunite and extremism will escalate."
He said that leaders of Afghanistan around the world should think "responsibly" about their country's future, otherwise it will again be threatened by great danger.
"Afghan leadership, whether they live inside or outside of the country, should think responsibly about Afghanistan. The country is still in war, and some countries are making conspiracies about Afghanistan," the former ambassador said.
"At the moment national unity is very important. The leadership should encourage the people."
He stressed that tensions between the US and Afghanistan have disappointed some of the US citizens and politicians, leading them to losing their trust in the partnership.
He believes the last Afghanistan's Caped Presidential election, among other things, had strained the two countries.
"The contention between the two countries has many reasons, such as the last presidential election," Khalilzad said.
"Another reason could be the negative thoughts about each other - there are negative points said about the US in Afghanistan," he added.
He said that Afghan and US governments should work on building a mutual trust and stressed that the US should put more pressure on Pakistain to change its policy towards insurgency.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2012
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
I detest Obama. But - if he can rapidly pull our forces out of Afghanistan, I will praise him enthusiastically on that one action.
To hell with the 9th Century barbarians in that godforsaken cesspool of a country.
Declare victory, pull out swiftly, give an absolute minimum of foreign aid, and make sure they understand: the next time anyone associated with any member of, or any area inhabited by, the collection of tribes that reside in the Afghan region (which cannot be plausibly be classified as a "country") causes any trouble for Americans - anywhere - we will obliterate life in that region, then make the rubble bounce, and then glaze the whole mess over "pour l'encouragement des autres".
#2
The thing is, as I understand it, the Taliban were an ISI -- that is Pakistani -- invention the first time, and are no less a Pakistqni invention now. So if any rubble is to be bounced, it ought to be in Islamabad to start. But nobody seems to be willing to make that particular threat
#5
Trailing Wife: It's not that the threat has to be said. It's we have to go through with it. I don't think we will at this point in time, not unless something REALLY REALLY BAD happens.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/02/2012 21:39
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It's okay. There's still ink in the ink pen and checks in the checkbook, so we have the money.
KABUL: US President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday signed a strategic partnership accord that charts the future of US-Afghan relations beyond the end of the NATO combat mission in the country.
Obama, on an unannounced visit to Kabul, acknowledged that there will be difficult days ahead for Afghanistan, but said the Afghan people were taking control of their own future.
"The wages of war have been great for both our nations," Obama said,
What on earth does that mean?
adding that he looked forward to a future of peace.
The two leaders shook hands after the signing, which took place in Karzai's palace in the Afghan capital.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/02/2012
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#1
Operation Spike The Football was just a little too transparent
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/02/2012 8:00
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#2
More like the Ickey Shuffle...
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/02/2012 8:45
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#3
Is this a treaty that requires Senate approval?
* TOPIX, PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > TALIBAN DISMISS US-AFGHAN [Bammer-Karzai] PACT, ANNOUNCE "SPRING OFFENSIVE". President Karzai denounced by the Talibs as one whom made or elected himself as Leader of the Afghan People, + also a weak, incompetent tool of Zionist Crusader Imperialist US-NATO. PACT IS INVALID DUE TO KARZAI BEING A FALSE LEADER.
First 'twas the US-AFPAK offer of "safe passage", now the Security Pact.
* TOPIX > 25,000 COMBAT TROOPS COULD REMAIN IN AFGHANISTAN UNTIL 2024.
(Sh.M.Network)-- At least 11 people have been killed in the latest festivities between Al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... cut-throats and Somali and Æthiopian troops in Somalia's southern of Bakol, locals said on Tuesday.
Residents told that the festivities sparked after Al-Shabaab cut-throats stormed the district of Hudur, 420 kilometers (260 miles) southwestern Mogadishu, where Æthiopian and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) troops were largely stationed.
Somali military officials told Shabelle Media station in the capital by telephone from Hudur town that the Al shabab fighters have overnight attacked the town from different direction to take it over. They also said the TFG forces alongside Æthiopian troops repelled the attacking bully boys, killing at least 7 fighters.
The official of Somalia military forces did not specify the casualties on TFG side during the battle in Hudur on Monday night which was a tough one that TFG and Ethiopian troops managed to drive back Al-Shabaab agents and maintain the control of the town.
Reports indicate that the fighting forced hundreds of local residents to flee from their houses as both warring sides were receiving reinforcements that could lead heavy and deadly battle.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2012
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[Dawn] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... on Tuesday said no province could launch a long march against the federal government because it was unconstitutional and unjustified and it would amount to be treason.
He was speaking in a TV programme "Prime Minister Online" jointly telecast by PTV and Samaa TV.
Replying to a question regarding the long march announced by the Punjab government, the prime minister said such act could be considered as "treason" as it would be a step of the provincial government against the federal government. "It is totally unacceptable," he added.
Referring to the attitude of Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders, he said they had no principles. The PML-N and the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) are making statements without any justification against the Pakistain People's Party (PPP), he added.
"I have full support of all the coalition partners and the long march will not be supported by other political parties," he said.
Answering a question about the achievements of the PPP government in the last four years, the prime minister said the biggest success of his government was the revival of 1973 constitution in its original shape and the consensus NFC award giving more rights to the provinces, besides granting autonomy to the provinces, self-empowerment to Gilgit-Baltistan and freedom to the media.
He said, when he was summoned by the Supreme Court for the verdict in contempt of court case against him, he was mentally prepared to go to Adiala Jail.
The premier said the sentence was just for few seconds as it was till rising of the court and the whole process was completed in just five to six minutes.
About a question regarding his previous statement to quit if he was sentenced, the PM said although a sentence was a sentence but his previous interview was before consulting his lawyer.
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[An Nahar] Hizbullah on Tuesday condemned the two bombings that rocked the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib on Monday, saying they were "part of a destructive, subversive plot aimed at eradicating any chance to reach a solution that would rescue Syria from the current crisis."
"These bombings that sowed death and destruction in a peaceful Syrian city seeking security and stability cannot be the work of a political opposition that wants the welfare of the country and its citizens, but rather criminal bombings aimed at undermining stability and raising tensions in the framework of implementing the conspiracy that is targeting Syria and the region," the party said in a statement.
On Monday bombings rocked Idlib city and the Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... suburbs, with the deadliest hitting security buildings in Idlib.
Idlib's blasts targeted "two security headquarters, one housing air force intelligence and the other military intelligence," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The official SANA news agency said "terrorists" were behind the attacks by "jacket wallahs."
Hizbullah said "these persistent criminal practices are a new evidence of the involvement of international and regional forces -- unfortunately Arab -- in a scheme to combat Syria and its resistance policy, through targeting civilians across Syria."
The party urged the Syrian people "to close ranks and show solidarity in the face of this conspiracy, and to throw support behind the Syrian leadership, in order to restore security in the country, achieve reconciliation and reach a new Syria."
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[An Nahar] Syrian security forces have kept heavy weapons in cities in breach of a U.N.-brokered cessation of hostilities, but the government and opposition both have committed truce violations, a top U.N. official said Tuesday.
The 24 unarmed military observers now in Syria have seen Howitzer guns, armored personnel carriers and other weaponry in cities, U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told a presser at U.N. headquarters.
Ladsous insisted, however, that the monitors were having a "visible impact" in cities where they have been allowed to go.
Withdrawing weapons and troops from Syrian cities was a key part of a six-point peace plan agreed by Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... and U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... . Syria has told the U.N. that weapons have been pulled back.
"Regarding the heavy weapons, yes, our military observers do see a number of APCs, for instance, they see a number of Howitzers and other military equipment in most places where they are," Ladsous said.
Syria has told the monitors that the armored carriers have been disarmed but this has not been verified, Ladsous added.
The U.N. Security Council has approved a 300 strong force to monitor the cessation of hostilities which started on April 12 but has barely held.
Ladsous said only 150 monitors have been promised by U.N. member states so far and that Syria has refused visas for three monitors. He refused to give the nationalities of the three, but at least one of the officers is already in Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... serving in the U.N. Truce Supervision Organization.
"If there is not sufficient cooperation on (visas) from the Syrian authorities, of course we will report to the Security Council," Ladsous warned.
Despite the slow pace of finding monitors, the U.N. official said he was "confident" that the full 300 force would be found and would be in Syria by the end of May.
Western nations have expressed strong doubts, however, that Assad's government will stick to the six-point plan proposed by Annan. The plan calls for the cessation of hostilities and moves toward a political process.
Ladsous said government forces and opposition groups have broken the truce.
"All the parties need to take further steps to ensure a cessation of violence in all its forms," he said.
"The important fact is that violations do come from both sides," he said while refusing to say whether one side had committed more breaches.
Without giving details, the U.N. under secretary general also said that opposition groups had been involved in incidents with the monitors.
"There have been several incidents of various concern, in particular with some opposition members," Ladsous said.
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] The soldiers who staged a putsch in Mali five weeks ago said early Tuesday they had defeated an overnight counter-coup by foreign-backed forces loyal to ousted president Amadou Toumani Toure. More details from Arab News here.
Gunfire had erupted at the national TV and radio station, the airport and at the garrison town near the capital Bamako that is the headquarters of the rebel soldiers led by Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo.
An employee of the TV and radio station, which had been held by rebel soldiers since the March 22 coup, told AFP that "there were deaths" in the shootout, without giving casualty figures.
The resurgence of fighting dimmed hopes for a quick return to order in the west African country where political chaos has allowed Tuareg rebels and Islamists to seize swathes of the vast desert north.
A soldier reading out a message on television on behalf of Sanogo said "foreign elements backed by dark forces from inside the country carried out these attacks," adding that some of them were cooled for a few years Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn must face a civil trial over an alleged sex assault in New York, a judge here ruled Tuesday, rejecting his last ditch attempt to claim diplomatic immunity.
The judge hearing the suit brought by Nafissatou Diallo ruled Strauss-Kahn had lost immunity because he'd resigned from the International Monetary Fund well before the civil action was lodged.
Bronx Supreme Court Judge Douglas McKeon called Strauss-Kahn's attempt to escape the civil trial "his own version of a 'Hail Mary pass'," -- an American football reference to the often desperate, long-distance throw a team will attempt in the final seconds of a losing game.
Diallo alleges the French politician forced her into oral sex Can't be done unless the woman has no teeth...
when she went to clean his room last year on May 14 at the luxury Sofitel in Manhattan.
Criminal charges were filed, but then dropped when Manhattan prosecutors decided that Diallo would not make a credible witness.
She subsequently filed the civil suit seeking unspecified damages over what she says was a brutal and "sadistic" assault by one of the world's most powerful men.
Strauss-Kahn's lawyers argued in court last month that his position as head of the IMF protected him from further legal action.
He had never claimed immunity at the time of his arrest and he resigned voluntarily from his post -- losing his privileges -- even before criminal charges were filed. But lawyers said this was a conscious choice so that Strauss-Kahn could clear his name through legal channels.
In his ruling, however, McKeon ripped Strauss-Kahn's bid to now reclaim immunity when he faced civil action.
"Mr Strauss-Khan cannot eschew immunity in an effort to clear his name only to embrace it now in an effort to deny Ms Diallo the opportunity to clear hers," McKeon wrote.
Strauss-Kahn says there was a consensual sexual encounter with Diallo in his hotel suite and denies any assault. Regardless of what happened, the scandal destroyed Strauss-Kahn's career, both as head of the IMF and as a would-be candidate for the French presidency.
Opinion polls at the time of his disgrace had pointed to Strauss-Kahn being able to beat incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy ...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit... , who is now struggling to avoid defeat against Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande in a runoff vote Sunday.
The incident in New York irreversibly tainted Strauss-Kahn. His increasingly sordid public image took another hit when separate, prostitution-related criminal charges were filed in La Belle France.
Last weekend, Strauss-Kahn, or DSK as he's popularly known in La Belle France, struck back, claiming that his downfall had been orchestrated.
Strauss-Kahn said that although he did not believe the incident was a setup, the subsequent escalation of the event into a criminal investigation was "shaped by those with a political agenda."
"Perhaps I was politically naive, but I simply did not believe that they would go that far -- I didn't think they could find anything that could stop me," he told The Guardian newspaper.
The Guardian said it was clear that "they" refers to people working for Sarkozy and his center-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party.
Sarkozy responded by saying Strauss-Kahn should "explain himself to the law and spare the French his remarks."
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Jenna Von Oy aka Six LeMeure in "Blossom (TV 19901995)" aka Stevie Van Lowe in "The Parkers (TV 19992004)" aka Jen in "What's with Andy? (TV 2001)" aka Trinket in "Pepper Ann (TV 19992000)" (age 34)
#2
Gypsy Rose Lee was born as Rose Louise Havoc. She became "Gypsy" at 15 and started her career in burlesque as a "literary stripper" reciting humorous lines, telling elaborate jokes and not revealing much skin until the end of her act. Her first official striptease was at the Gayety Theater in Toledo, Ohio.
I went to see Gypsy Rose with some friends. We were in our late teens. This "coming of age" outing would have been in the mid to late 1950s. She was truly the queen of burlesque. She had mastered the art of the tease in striptease. As she got towards the end of her act, the lights went to blue and dimmed as I recall. Gypsy made a few movies and was also an author--a brainy woman.
Of course we all went to see Gypsy to enjoy the literary readings and stories.
(Sh. M. Network)-- Two headless bodies of young boys have been found on Tuesday in a rebel-held area, south of Somalia's capital,Mogadishu, local residents said.
Witnesses who spoke Shabelle Media on condition of anonymity because of fears for his safety said the two beheaded bodies are still lying at Bar Ismail checkpoint in the heart of Afgoye, 30 Km south of Mogadishu.
Relatives and friends say they were denied access to remove the bodies from the area by Al shabab fighters. Bullets could be seen on the body of one of the two beheaded boys that is thought to the bullets he was killed, according to Eyewitnesses.
No group has grabbed credit for the killings, but Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... has beheaded individuals in the past that it accused of spying for theU.S.- and U.N.-backed Somali government led by president Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed.
Islamic beturbanned goons who now control few areas of south and central Somalia face increasing military pressure from Somali government and AU forces as well as fighters from Ahlu Sunna waljama'a (ASWJ), a moderate Sufi Moslem group that signed a power-sharing peace deal with the government.
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[Dawn] At least six more people were bumped off and 35 others maimed on Monday as a stand-off between police and heavily armed gangsters in Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... entered a fourth day.
Five vehicles were set on fire in different parts of the city in what police described as an attempt by the gangsters to divert attention of the law-enforcers from the ongoing operation in Lyari.
During the day, more than a dozen grenade and rocket attacks in the Kalakot, Nawalane, Hingorabad and Lea Market areas left a number of people maimed and dead. The maimed included two police officials.
In early morning gun and arson attacks, three people were killed and two buses were destroyed in Shershah. The attacks were carried out near a hotel and a bus stop.
A young man was rubbed out in Nayabad within the remit of the Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... i cop shoppe on Monday night.
The victim was identified as 20-year-old Nasir, the police said, adding that his affiliation to any gang had not been ascertained yet.
Earlier, another young man was found rubbed out in the Hingorabad area of Agra Taj Colony. The body was trussed up and bore a gunshot wound to the head. The victim was believed to have been kidnapped a few days ago, the police said.
In the same colony, at least eight people were maimed when some cycle of violence riders lobbed hand grenades at a commercial area. One of the victims, a 60-year-old man, later died during treatment at the Civil Hospital.
Gangsters also hurled hand grenades at a hotel in the Lea Market area, leaving more than half a dozen people maimed.
Sources in the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital said that some injured people had been shifted there from Lyari. They were being provided treatment, they added.
Two police constables, Nayyer Abbas and Sardar Khan, were also maimed in the attacks.
More than a dozen rocket and grenades were fired in Kalakot, Nawalane, and Hingorabad within the remit of the Kalri cop shoppe.
Suspected gangsters also set fire to an office of the Pakistain People's Party in the Kalakot area and a police post in the Garden area.
The heavily gunnies lobbed grenades and also fired a rocket in Kamil Gali within the remit of the Storied Baghdadi cop shoppe and other areas, including Singulane and Bakra Piri.
While police and gangsters continued to fight pitched battles in the narrow streets of Lyari, many people decamped homes and staged a rally against the crackdown. "They were threatened by gangsters to move out and stage protests against the police operation," said Sindh IG Mushtaq Shah.
With the support of FC personnel, the CID and local police are taking part in the Lyari operation to clear the area from gangsters. Police said many of them had managed to escape to other parts of the city.
The special investigation unit of police conducted a raid in Ilyas Goth, C-1 Area of Liaquatabad and tossed in the clink Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up! nine suspected gangsters affiliated with the Ahmed Ali Brohi gang. The police claimed to have seized two Kalashnikovs, a shotgun, a repeater, six pistols and two hand grenades.
While markets in those areas of Lyari where the operation was being conducted had already been closed for the past few days, the protesters, mainly comprising residents, forced traders in Kharadar and Jodia Bazaar to pull down shutters.
They marched to the Jinnah bridge and rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud seeking an immediate end to the operation.
At least five vehicles were set on fire in different parts of the city in arson attacks what police described as an attempt by gangsters to divert the attention of the police from the operation.
The police said two vehicles were set ablaze in Shershah, a bus was torched on Hub River Road, a vehicle was set on fire in Malir and another bus was set ablaze in Ibrahim Hyderi.
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] A woman and a young girl were killed in a battle between soldiers and army deserters suspected of ties to a local militia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the military said Tuesday.
A regiment "was attacked overnight Monday to Tuesday in Kirumba," in restive Nord-Kivu province, "by suspected Mai Mai hard boyz and soldiers who deserted" the army in early April, a commander told AFP.
"The attack left two civilians dead, a woman and her young daughter, who were killed when their home was destroyed by a bomb," said the commander who requested anonymity, adding that four Congolese soldiers were maimed.
In the past month, more than a dozen senior officers, former members of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) rebel group led by an indicted war criminal, have left its ranks along with several hundred men in Nord and Sud Kivu provinces.
The FARDC government troops have been pursuing the ex-CNDP fighters and violent festivities have erupted between the opposing sides since Sunday. An army statement on Monday said six deserters were killed and three soldiers maimed.
The latest attack took place for the first time in the region of Lubero, where the deserting ex-rebel soldiers are suspected of becoming allies of the Mai Mai militia, which was accused of mass rapes in 2010.
The CNDP was integrated into the national army in 2009 following a peace deal with their leader Jean-Bosco Ntaganda, nicknamed "Terminator", who was indicted by the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... in 2006.
But a group of several hundred CNDP loyalists defected earlier this month, citing unpaid salaries and inhumane living conditions among other complaints.
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(Sh. M. Network)- A suicide kaboomdestroyed a hotel in central Somalia town, causing several fatalities, including parliamentarians, witnesses said on Tuesday.
Witnesses at the scene said the apparent suicide kaboom took place at a café near a hotel in the heart of Dhusamareb town and that two MPs, Yusuf Mire Seerar and Abdiweli Sheik Mohamud and two guards were believed to be amongst the dead.
Ahmed Abdisalan, a politician and politician Hussein Warasme Samatar are reportedly seriously injured in the attack.
It was not immediately apparent how many the exact deaths,and who was behind the attack so far. Per Arab News, the body count is up to three...
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[Bangla Daily Star] Troops in Mali who launched a coup in March have exchanged fire with the presidential guard in the capital Bamako, officials and witnesses say.
A junta front man said guardsmen loyal to ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure were trying to reverse the coup.
The junta later said the situation was back under control, amid reports that several people died in the shootout.
While the junta has handed power to an interim government, it is still thought to wield considerable influence.
Message on TV
The gunfire followed an attempt by junta loyalists to arrest the former head of the presidential guard, journalist Martin Vogl in Bamako told the BBC.
He said festivities continued around the state broadcasting building and several other locations in the capital late into the night.
One eyewitness told the Rooters news agency that the streets were deserted. Electricity has been cut in several part of the city.
Members of the "Red Berets" presidential guards unit reportedly entered the broadcaster's building, which has been controlled by pro-junta forces since the coup.
"These are elements of the presidential guard from the old regime and they're trying to turn things around," junta front man Bacary Mariko told the Rooters news agency.
He later said the airport in Bamako had come under attack from anti-coup forces, and that he was expecting an attack on a pro-coup base in Kati, north of Bamako, according to the News Agency that Dare Not be Named news agency.
But several hours later the junta aired a message on Mali's TV, saying the airport, the state broadcasting building and the Kati base was under its control.
The March 22 coup, which ousted President Toure, was led by soldiers who accused Toure of failing to combat an insurgency in the north.
Last week the leader of the coup, Cpt Amadou Sanago, rejected the decision of West African regional bloc Ecowas to send troops to the West African country.
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(Sh. M. Network)-The national attorney-general of Somalia government issued an arrest warrant for the chief of Banadir region first degree court for his involvement in releasing of prisoners at Mogadishu central penitentiary during this month.
Dr.Ali Mohammed Yusuf who got in touch with Shabelle Media by phone made more comments about the arrest warrant for Aydid Abdullah better know as (Ilka Hanaf) by the office of The attorney-general and he said the judge was accused of releasing criminal prisoners on cash in illegal system.
Yusuf says after long running investigation into the case of the judge, the national attorney-general of Somalia government has decided to order the arrest of Mr. Aydid Abdullah and put on trail as soon as possible. He added: "This kind of crime committed by (Ilka Hanaf) is absolutely against the nationhood of Somalia and to move the country out of corruption."
"Numerous prisoners are now being held unlawfully at Mogadishu's central detention center whom the office of the national attorney-general is now aware of why they are in the jail and from where they were tossed in the calaboose Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! from," he added.
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[Dawn] US President Barack Obama Because I won... arrived in Afghanistan late Tuesday on a surprise visit a year after American elite Navy SEALs killed Al Qaeda chief the late Osama bin Laden ... who used to be alive but now he's not... in a raid inside Pakistain.
Obama was expected to sign a strategic partnership on future US-Afghan ties once American troops have pulled out of Afghanistan in 2014, with Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... , White House officials told AFP.
The US president, making only his third trip to Afghanistan since taking over as commander-in-chief in 2009, arrived at 10:20 pm and was also to address the American people from Bagram airbase at 2330 GMT, an official said.
Obama's last trip in December 2010 lasted only a few hours when he flew into Bagram air base, outside Kabul, to meet US troops but he did not meet with Karzai.
Ties between Kabul and Washington have strained since last May amid a series of bloody massacres and incidents by US troops against Afghan civilians as a 130,000-strong US-led NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... force fights a fierce Taliban insurgency.
The last of the remaining 87,000 American troops in the country are due to pull out by the end of 2014, some 13 years after a US-led campaign in late 2001 to oust the Taliban regime accused of harbouring bin Laden.
Relations between Pakistain and the United States also plunged over the May 2, 2011 raid that killed bin Laden, tracked down to a compound in the Pak military town of Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... after a decade-long global manhunt.
Obama's campaign last week released a video to mark the anniversary and suggested bin Laden might be alive today had Romney been in the White House.
US Senator John Maverick McCain ... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution... , who lost to Obama in the 2008 elections and who remains one of his most dogged critics, has said the advertisement politicised an issue that should not be fodder for November's presidential campaign.
"Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of September 11th and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad," he said.
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PARIS: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen delivered a further blow on Tuesday to President Nicolas Sarkozy's hopes of re-election by refusing to endorse him and telling her six million supporters to make their own choice at Sunday's ballot.
Sarkozy, who faces off against Socialist Francois Hollande on May 6, needs many of the 17.9 percent of voters who chose National Front leader Le Pen last week to switch to backing him in the runoff if he is to overcome first-round winner Hollande.
But Le Pen, who came third on April 22 with a score that eclipsed her father's record at the head of the populist protest movement, told a rally in Paris on Tuesday that she personally would spoil her ballot paper in the second round by choosing to vote for neither of the two remaining contenders.
"I will not grant my trust, or a mandate, to these two candidates," she told supporters at an annual commemoration of Joan of Arc, the national saint her group favors to the May Day celebrations held by international labor and leftist parties.
"On Sunday, I will cast a blank ballot." Le Pen did not further twist the knife for the conservative incumbent by urging her 6.4 million voters to do likewise. But in leaving them to make their own minds up she left it unclear how many will stay at home or even vote for Hollande, who is running a six- to 10-percentage point lead in opinion polls.
"I have made my choice," she said. "Each of you will make yours." Analysts had calculated that Sarkozy might need as many as 80 percent of Le Pen's first-round voters if he were to win. But polls indicate only about half of them intend to.
With a parliamentary election to come in June, National Front leaders believe they can break through and win seats in the legislature, especially if a heavy defeat for Sarkozy plunges his center-right UMP party into deeper disarray.
Being punished for economic gloom, rife unemployment and a widespread dislike of his presidential manner, Sarkozy is the most unpopular sitting president to run for re-election and the first in the 54 years of the current electoral system to lose a first-round vote to a challenger.
Hollande, a mild-mannered center-leftist running on a tax-and-spend platform, would be the first left-wing president in 17 years to lead the euro zone's second biggest economy.
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#1
>Le Pen wounds Sarkozy, refuses to endorse
MSM squeeze in progress. If she had aligned, headlines would be "Sarkozy harmed by far right alliance".
#5
The bottom line is that if the French elect the socialist, they are stupid beyond belief. It is the socialists who caused all of this mess, returning them to power will likely mean the end of the Euro and be terrible for France.
CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made his first live public appearance in mens' clothing in two weeks on Monday to announce a new workers' law prior to his return to Cuba for more cancer radiation therapy.
The 57-year-old socialist leader has been shuttling between Caracas and Havana for treatment on an unspecified cancer that is hampering his ability to campaign for an Oct. 7 presidential election in the OPEC member nation.
Chavez's last live public appearance had been on April 13, though he phoned state TV several times and was seen in a pre-recorded video from Havana.
"These are not easy days, but we are warriors against adversity," he said in an address to the nation announcing a major overhaul of labor legislation.
The Venezuelan president has become increasingly candid about the impact of radiotherapy and his fight against cancer, and rumors are rife that he may not reach the election or be in a fit state to govern afterwards should he win.
Chavez, though, looked relatively robust, albeit swollen-faced, and stood throughout his roughly half-hour address from the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas. He said he was flying back to Cuba later on Monday, but was in the final stages of radiotherapy and would soon be back to play baseball with military friends and beat opposition candidate Henrique Capriles in the October vote.
Polls show him well ahead, partly thanks to sympathy over his cancer and also due to his popularity among the poor founded on his government's heavy, oil-financed welfare spending.
Socialists usually do do well with the people to whom they're giving money...
"With faith in God, in Christ the Redeemer and with the immense love of the Venezuelan people ... we will get through. We will live, we will conquer," added Chavez, his voice choking and fighting back tears as he finished his address.
Using decree powers granted by Venezuela's National Assembly, where the government has a majority, Chavez signed the biggest labor law reform since he took power in 1999. Changes include an extension of maternity leave to six months, a four-hour reduction in the work week to 40 hours, and more severance benefits.
Already reeling from 13 years of socialism and an aggressive state policy against private business, some small companies fear the labor changes could put them out of business. Analysts say the state, whose workforce has ballooned due to nationalizations across large swathes of the economy, will face a much larger bill to comply with the reforms.
And opposition leader Capriles said at the weekend Chavez's reforms were clearly an electoral ploy and did not tackle Venezuelans' main concern: unemployment. Capriles, a young center-left governor who wants to copy Brazil's model of free-market economics coupled with strong welfare policies in Venezuela, also criticized the lack of widespread consultation over the labor changes.
"The labor law was discussed between the four walls of Miraflores palace among ministers and bureaucrats," he said. "It seems to be a law made for electoral purposes."
Chavez's opponents have criticized him for keeping the country in the dark about the extent of his illness, raising suspicions his cancer may have spread from an initial baseball-sized tumor that was removed from his pelvis.
Most recent opinion polls have given Chavez a comfortable double-digit lead over Capriles, who is struggling to capture public attention with a nationwide "house-by-house" tour. In an interview with a local newspaper on Monday, however, Capriles claimed private polling by his Democratic Unity coalition showed him "head-to-head" with Chavez.
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Just a little more hair + it'll be Milwaukee all over again.
[Yemen Post] Gunmen attacked on Tuesday a car of the French company Total in Yemen's eastern Hadramout ...the formerly independent Qu'aiti state and sultanate, annexed by Communist South Yemen in 1968, encompassing a region along the Gulf of Aden, extending eastwards to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman. The people are called Hadhramis and speak Hadhrami Arabic. The city Tarimis estimated to contain the highest concentration of descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (PTUI) anywhere in the world, approximately seven in every square yard... province injuring the company's security chief and killing one of his Yemeni guards, security sources said.
The second guard is at death's door, the sources said.
The gunnies planned to abduct the Frenchie in Sayoon but his guards, Yemeni soldiers, exchanged fire with them, the sources made it clear. "The French was at death's door and taken to hospital, while the attackers bravely ran away," they added.
The incident comes amid increasing kidnappings by al-Qaeda krazed killers, who have been fighting the army for the past few years in southern regions.
In March, a Hodeida-based Swiss female teacher and the Aden-based Saudi consul were kidnapped and taken to hides in Shabwa province. They have not been released yet. In April, a Frenchie was kidnapped in Hodeida and the efforts to release the three have failed including military raids in Shabwa.
In the past few weeks, hundreds of bully boyz have been killed and injured amid expanded military operations to face plans to occupy more towns in the south to expand their presence.
Last year, al-Qaeda seized some towns including the capital of Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... Zinjibar but more recently the forces, with support from the US and popular fighters, have cleared bully boyz from many in areas in this city.
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05/02/2012
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[Tolo News] Hundreds of Afghans demonstrated Tuesday over the deaths of four children who were killed when security forces clashed with Islamic fascistiin southern Zabul province yesterday, a local official said.
The demonstrations began around 8:00am and have continued into the afternoon in the Shajoy district of Zabul province, with the protestors accusing NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... 's troops for the civilians casualties, deputy provincial governor Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar told TOLOnews.
Afghan cops have arrived in the area to push back the demonstrators, he said.
The protesters, who were carrying the bodies of four children aged eight to 12, stopped traffic on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, and chanted anti-US slogans "death to America, death to Karzai."
The children died during a shootout between Taliban Islamic fascistiand NATO and Afghan cops in Shahjoy on Monday, Rasoulyar said.
The incident took place when Afghan and NATO troops, who were meeting local community leaders, came under attack by myrmidons, he said.
But local officials said that the initial findings suggest the deaths were caused by Taliban fire.
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05/02/2012
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[Tolo News] Sixteen Taliban cut-throats surrendered their weapons on Monday and joined Afghanistan's reconciliation process in eastern Nuristan province, local officials said.
"Sixteen Taliban cut-throats under Qari Abdul Khalil, a key Taliban capo, laid down their weapons and surrendered to the government yesterday," provincial front man Mohammad Zarin told TOLOnews.
He said that with the crossing over of these men, security will improve in the province.
Nuristan province borders with Pakistain and has seen higher beturbanned goon activity in the Bargematal, Kamdish, Waigal, Doab and Sokai districts of the province and targeting police checkpoints.
Zarin said that Afghan security troops recently began an operation to clear an area in Bargematal of beturbanned goons.
"Insurgents have been active in Bargematal's Aawala Gul village so the Afghan and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... troops launched military operations to push back the cut-throats and the troops have the support of the residents," he said.
A military operation two weeks ago injured an Afghan woman when a shootout with cut-throats broke out, he added.
There is no information about the casualties of cut-throats during the operation, Zarin said.
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05/02/2012
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It Seems Syria Calmed And Sarkozy Wins , France !Ole !
(Sh. M. Network) -- The police forces of theSomalia's northern semi-autonomous region of Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... on Tuesday said they had seized men carrying with a number of bombs in Bosaso operations, reports. I just keep getting fonder and fonder of Puntland...
The security officials of Puntland said that these operations which are aimed to assure the overall security situation in the coastal and commercial city of Bosaso town will continue.
"We discovered large amount of improvised bombs (IEDs) and spoilers against the peace at some villages and neighborhoods of Bossaso town on Tuesday morning during the search operations. The forces will not stop hunting down such people all over the region," the officials said.
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05/02/2012
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) Chief testified to the Afghan Senate today that 
cycle of violence
Somali pirates
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
After protests on the campus and outside, the University of 
[Yemen Post] The kidnapped Swiss teacher called on her government to work on setting her free. She was 
[Dawn] Fighting continued into the night on Tuesday as more police contingents were called in to defuse the mounting insurgency by the criminals at the end of fifth consecutive day of the "Grand Operation" in Lyari, DawnNews reported.
A group of radical Muslims attacked police in the German city of Solingen on Tuesday during a far-right demonstration, injuring four. They were provoked by the anti-Islamic Pro NRW party, which displayed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Officials had warned that the publicity stunt could spark violence.
[Yemen Post] Media outlets close to the former president 
Five self-described anarchists were 
[Yemen Post] The General People Congress has denied the news posted on Sunday about the leave of the former 
[Dawn] Sindh home ministry on Tuesday announced bounty on most wanted criminals of the troubled 
Syrian security forces have kept heavy weapons in cities in breach of a U.N.-brokered cessation of hostilities, but the government and opposition both have committed truce violations, a top U.N. official said Tuesday.
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
International Criminal Court
(Sh. M. Network)- A suicide 
[Bangla Daily Star] Troops in Mali who launched a coup in March have exchanged fire with the presidential guard in the capital Bamako, officials and witnesses say.
John 
PARIS: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen delivered a further blow on Tuesday to President Nicolas Sarkozy's hopes of re-election by refusing to endorse him and telling her six million supporters to make their own choice at Sunday's ballot.
CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made his first live public appearance 
[Yemen Post] Gunmen attacked on Tuesday a car of the French company Total in Yemen's eastern 
Hundreds of Afghans demonstrated Tuesday over the deaths of four children who were killed when security forces clashed with 
laid down their weapons
