An angry Egyptian mob has lynched the teenage son of a Muslim Brotherhood leader, accusing him of killing a man over Facebook comments critical of the Islamist movement, security sources said Saturday.
The violence that took place on Thursday in the Nile Delta was the latest in a spate of vigilante killings in the region amid growing lawlessness since the 2011 revolution that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.
Yussef Rabie Abdessalam, 16, pulled out a gun and opened fire indiscriminately, killing a passerby and wounding another after a heated argument with a man who had openly criticised the influential Brotherhood on the Internet, the sources said.
His action sparked fury in Qattawiya, a village in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya, where Yussef s father, Rabie Abdessalam is an official at the local branch of the Justice and Freedom Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood of President Mohamed Morsi.
An angry mob surrounded the Abdessalam house seeking revenge, but the family refused to give Yussef up and hurled stones from inside the residence at the protesters.
A man outside the house was fatally wounded.
Police tried in vain to contain the violence and attempted to evacuate the Abdessalam family but the mob set fire to the house and in the confusion grabbed Yussef and lynched him.
The mob beat him up "and dragged him across 500 metres (yards) to his death," the Freedom and Justice Party said on its Facebook page.
"This is not a political incident," the Islamist party said, calling on all sides to show restraint.
But a security source and local media said the violence was triggered after comments hostile to the Muslim Brotherhood were posted on Facebook.
There have been several reports of lynchings in Egypt in recent months.
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/04/2013 19:02
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#7
The world is starting to remind me of one of those super-natural horror movies where the vampires & werewolves are rising and killing anyone in their path, including each other.
The Obama administration is trying to leverage new evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad's government used chemical weapons, and make a fresh diplomatic and possible military push with allies to end the country's civil war.
This renewed effort starts with Secretary of State John Kerry's trip to Moscow this coming week for talks with leaders in Russia, the Syrian government's most powerful international friend.
Russia, alongside China, has blocked U.S.-led efforts three times at the United Nations to pressure Assad into stepping down. The U.S. hopes to change Moscow's thinking with two new arguments, officials said: the evidence of chemical weapons attacks and, with the war now in its third year, American threats to arm the Syrian rebels.
Russia represents the most difficult diplomatic test as the U.S. tries to assemble a global coalition to halt a war that has claimed more than 70,000 lives.
Washington wants a peaceful resolution and sees U.N.-imposed sanctions against Syria as an effective tool for pressuring Assad into negotiations. With Assad's government unwilling to talk with the opposition, and Russia providing military and diplomatic backing, hopes of a negotiated transition are all but dead for now.
The stalemate and the risk of greater chemical weapons usage are driving President Barack Obama to explore new options, including military ones. But, he made clear Friday during a visit to Costa Rica, "I do not foresee
a scenario in which boots on the ground in Syria, American boots on the ground, would not only be good for America but also would be good for Syria."
Obama said at a Washington news conference earlier in the week that any new U.S. action should be taken prudently and in concert with international partners. Two days later, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said arming the Syrian opposition was a policy consideration.
Kerry's departure Monday for Russia sets the stage for some critical discussions.
When the bomb blasted his truck into the air and insurgents started shooting, “Doc Flores” went to work. The Navy hospital corpsman was deafened by the explosion. He couldn’t hear the bullets whizzing by, but he saw his Marines lying in the street. A Hero and corpsman, not a "corpseman"
Petty Officer 1st Class Benny Flores ran back and forth four times through gunfire to administer aid and help the wounded take cover from the ambush, military officials said. Blood from his own shrapnel wounds flowed down his arm, mingling with the blood of his comrades smeared across his tattered uniform sleeves.
For his actions April 28, 2012 in southwestern Afghanistan, Flores was awarded the Silver Star Friday at Camp Pendleton. He was selected for the nationÂ’s third-highest medal for valor in combat because of the lifesaving medical care he provided several U.S. and Afghan troops despite heavy gunfire and his own serious injuries, the Marine Corps announced.
Flores, a soft-spoken, humble sailor who grew up in Guam and Tinian, didn’t wake up that morning thinking “today’s the day I’m going to be a hero,” Maj. Gen. Charles Mark Gurganus said at the ceremony on the 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company parade deck.
Yet “even with his own wounds, he saw what needed to be done and he acted,” demonstrating extraordinary bravery and selflessness, Gurganus said.
Flores, now 30, was the field service medical technician for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force that day in the Zaranj district of Nimruz province, a relatively peaceful area near Iran.
The homemade bomb exploded next to the passenger door of the cab where Marine Master Sgt. Scott Pruitt was seated. The 38-year-old military accountant from Camp Pendleton had volunteered for the combat tour, his first. He was killed on the eve of his retirement. Damn. RIP Master Sgt Pruitt.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2013
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#1
There are few more brave than the US Navy corpsman. They have been covering themselves in well deserved honor, high levels of respect and admiration for decades.
#1
Wait wait wait, who is blowing up our balance sheet? As a co-owner of the now NY Metrosexuals, you can read a balance sheet right?
Pretty easy to make fun of the Ft. Dix six - only because it didn't happen. Any jokes about the Ft. Hood one? I'm sure cowboy hat man isn't laughing, nor his patients. And anyways, those bad guys were caught because good people were vigilant and had the guts to confront evil. By disavowing their actions you shame your prostitutes.
#2
Like being sorry a toilet
's purpose is to accept sh!t....
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/04/2013 11:58
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#3
Of course, the calls for designating Tsarnaev an "enemy combatant" was for interrogation not as a means to put him in the jug. Besides, now that Obama says he can kill US citizens without due process itÂ’s really a moot point. But you knew that already didnÂ’t you?
#4
One must wonder if "Maher" would have found some perverted humour or labeled the liberators of German concentration camps during WWII as "right-wing" reactionaries.
#1
Maybe the Koch Brothers should think of buying WaPo instead of the LAT. At this rate they'll get a bargain-bin deal.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/04/2013 19:26
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they don't even have to actually buy them. Just add that "they're looking" and price escalates as libs backfill to tey and profit, then hold off... The price continues to drop. Libs lose. The asshole leftist reporters are shown as hypocrites and agenda whores or quit if they eventually buy.... all along - the price falls once they decline publicly : win-win-win-win
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2013 20:31
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#3
S'what happens when better venues for classified ads and advertising in general are found.
And yes - alienating a significant portion of your potential reader base doesn't help.
This is crossing the red line by the Soddies. Don't they know he is a protected species, an aboriginal. The left will go into meltdown.
An Australian national detained by the Saudi Arabian government 18 months ago continues to be held in a jail outside Riyadh. There is now concern 25-year-old Shayden Thorne, who has been charged with terrorism-related offences, may face the death penalty.
Thorne was arrested in November 2011 after a laptop believed to belong to him was found to contain "terrorism-related material". Thorne's family say the laptop was borrowed from a mosque Ouch, that's a claim that would make a lot of sense, and get him off the hook in most western countries...
but security forces claim it was recovered during a raid on a gathering of extremists.
Bob Carr, the Australian Foreign Minister, has called for the incident to be settled quickly, and said "It's been going on for too long". The Saudis are willing to settle it quickly, I bet; beheadings can be scheduled seven days a week...
Carr refused to comment on Thorne's innocence or guilt.
"You are subject to the law of the country you are in. Shayden has chosen to live there for 12 years and the laws of Saudi Arabia apply to him or anyone else in his position," the 65-year-old Senator stressed.
In 2012, President Obama famously won 71 percent of the Hispanic vote to Mitt Romney's 27 percent. If all other factors remained the same, how large a percentage of the Hispanic vote would Romney have had to win to capture the White House?
But what if Romney had been able to reach a mind-blowing 70 percent of the Hispanic vote? Surely that would have meant victory, right? No, it wouldn't. Romney still would have lost, although by the narrowest of electoral margins, 270 to 268. (Under that scenario, Romney would have won the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College; he could have racked up huge numbers of Hispanic votes in California, New York and Texas, for example, and not changed the results in those states.)
The most serious of those problems was that Romney was not able to connect with white voters who were so turned off by the campaign that they abandoned the GOP and in many cases stayed away from the polls altogether. Recent reports suggest as many as 5 million white voters simply stayed home on Election Day. If they had voted at the same rate they did in 2004, even with the demographic changes since then, Romney would have won.
#1
You know, maybe, if you put the conservative at the head of the ticket rather than as an after thought to appease your base outside of the Beltway, you might actually attract far more of your base.
#2
I think Romney would have won (probably did, given an honest vote count) once he tromped B.O. in the first debate. Remember, he held up Champ's suit and shook it real hard and and the entire country saw that it was empty. But after that Willard fell back into safe mode. Rather than tearing him up again in the last two debates he recited his talking points and bored the people who were waiting to jump up and down and cheer.
Had he done that, and he has the intelligence to do it, the enthusiasm would have carried through to overcome the 115 percent turnout in urban areas; the unusually large turnouts in the counties, made up of people we've never seen before or will again until next election; the unceasing stream of lies and half-truths saturating Florida especially, probably all the swing state; and his hilarious claim to have somehow created X million jobs in the course of his administration while unemployment somehow remained at the very same level it had been when he started.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2013 11:35
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Lots of fraud. No question. But Champ still got lower counts than he did in 2008. Romney couldn't turn out his own voters, mostly because they weren't his. They were Republican / Conservatives, and they were not excited about a guy who indistinguishable from Champ on so many issues.
Posted by: Titus Ulans4144 ||
05/04/2013 12:59
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....a guy who indistinguishable from Champ on so many issues. Posted by: Titus Ulans4144
Your logic fails me Titus. I blame the "free stuff".
In Star Trek lore, the Borg was a collective of servile drone operatives that sought to assimilate other species into its "hive mind." Personally I prefer "goodlife",but VDH wields a mean allegory.
Something akin to that creepy groupthink arose when the Obama administration took power and sought to reformulate the so-called war on terror. Almost immediately, Obama operatives suggested that radical Islamists were no more likely than any other group to commit acts of terrorism. In fact, the very idea of terrorism -- not to mention a war against it -- was supposedly a Bush-administration construct unfairly aimed at Muslims.
The result has been that ever since 2009, various members of the administration collective have sought, each according to his station, to bring us into the network of not associating Islamism with terror. And the Borg have certainly been diverse, as all sorts of political appointees, opportunists, and career officers plugged themselves into the hive. Obama may have killed ten times as many suspected Muslim terrorists by drone as did Bush, but we were to assume that the fact that there were no Christian, Jewish, or Buddhist victims of Hellfire missiles was irrelevant.
Various members of the Defense Department soon were plugged into the new narrative of "this administration" and, as good automatons, were eager to spread the Borg directives. A memo sent by the Defense Department's security office to Pentagon staff members read, "This administration prefers to avoid using the term 'Long War' or 'Global War on Terror.' Please use 'Overseas Contingency Operation.'"
The hive thinking quickly spread throughout the Obama administration's intelligence apparat, as even those who once worked for George W. Bush and, in fact, had been deeply embedded in the Bush-Cheney anti-terrorism efforts were drawn into the Borg -- quite willingly and for careerist reasons.
The Saudi Justice Ministry says a special security court has issued 2,145 jail sentences for "supporting terrorism" since it was formed four and a half years ago.
The Specialized Criminal Court often tries suspects accused of affiliation with al-Qaida's local branch, which operates both in the kingdom and in Yemen.
But critics say it also tries human rights activists and other dissidents as well cases related to unrest among Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority.
It was unclear if "supporting terrorism" referred to all cases tried by the court.
Spokesman Fahd bin Abdullah al-Bakran told reporters late Friday night that the Specialized Criminal Court has already ruled in 1,080 cases and is still looking into another 419 cases that involve 2,800 suspects.
The imminent demise of the regime of Bashar Assad has been announced on numerous occasions over the last two years of civil war in Syria. But the regime has held on. Despite some advances by rebels in the south of the country in the early months of 2013, Assad shows no signs of cracking.
Indeed, in the last few weeks, the momentum of the fighting has shifted somewhat. Regime forces have clawed back areas of recent rebel advance. The government side, evidently under Iranian tutelage, has showed an impressive and unexpected ability to adapt itself to the changing demands of the war.
#1
Who has the will now.The rebels are from many countries. What homeland is theirs. What profit is to be gained. Throw more money but don't send our troops. I think the way out is only to work a deal with Putin. Give him what he wants for Russia and he will give up Assad. I think Obama has tried that. He failed because he dithered too long in my opinion. As the tide has turned so has the EU and US fortunes. I think the Kurds may yet do well also the Christians. Turkey will fair poorly. They backed the wrong horse. They haven't done much correctly for some time. The odd man out.
#2
Dale, DON'T throw money at them. If the Chinese want to give their money directly fine but let's not launder it for them.
I'm not sure that getting rid of Assad is in our best interest, given the alternatives.
Let the Kurds claw out a homeland from Syria, Iraq and Turkey if they can. Hope the "rebels" decimate the Hezzies but I don't think an AlQ based state is an improvement and might be a real disaster.
#3
It is imperative we keep some sort of fairness in play here. Say 45 45 10 on the cash and money side.
If one side gets desperate, well, then's the time to arc-light! (glug) then lay low again.
#7
bigjim:
"For once, just once, why don't we stay the f*ck out of what doesn't concern us."
If it weren't for the weapons that might go astray, that could be the smart approach. Not just chemical weapons, but also MANPADs and such.
Think Libya times 10.
An accused terrorist on Friday asked to be sent to a military tribunal at his first public appearance in federal court in Brooklyn after months in U.S. custody.
Saudi-born Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun, 43, an alleged al-Qaida operative, told U.S. District Judge Edward Korman that he didn't understand anything about the U.S. judicial system, but a military trial made more sense to him as a "warrior."
"Even if I didn't understand the system, I know there's something I did against them because I did fight against their forces," Harun said.
Harun is accused of fighting against the United States in the early years of the war in Afghanistan, and then plotting overseas attacks against U.S. interests. He was arrested in Libya in 2005, and has been in U.S. custody since last year undergoing interrogation. He was secretly moved to Brooklyn and arraigned last fall.
Korman said he had no power to move the case to a military court. Harun, in an amiable back and forth through a translator, said, "If this is how things are going to go, I'll just shut my mouth."
He later said he didn't want to work with an attorney, telling the judge, "Your government can do anything it wants to me."
Israel has carried out an air strike into Syria, targeting a shipment of missiles bound for Hezbollah guerrillas in neighboring Lebanon, an Israeli official said on Saturday.
Israel has made clear it is prepared to resort to force to prevent advanced Syrian weapons, including President Bashar Assad's reputed chemical arsenal, reaching his Hezbollah allies or Islamist rebels taking part in a more than two-year-old uprising against his government. Unfortunately, we cannot do the same for the weapons certain morons (to be charitable) preparing to sent to "rebels"
The USA with it's own border challenges now well in hand Tuesday met with the federal government to express their willingness to assist Nigeria in offering modern technological assistance to fortify security at the nation's borders with the aim of curbing the activities of terrorist in the country.
The leader of the US delegation, and the Counter Terrorism Deputy Secretary, Ms. Anne Witkowsky, said the aim of the visit was to avail Nigeria of the modern technology of securing borders by showing the Personal Identifications Secure Comparison System (PICES) and the Demonstration of the PICES equipment. Witkowsky explained that the PICES equipment was a border control system with ten fingerprints, which portrays that if the name and other means of identification were falsified or the spelling was off a digit, the ten fingerprints cannot be captured.
[Pak Daily Times] The All Pakistain Mohammedan League (APML) of former military ruler Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... on Friday announced to boycott the general elections 2013. Can't think of a better way to lose.
Addressing a joint presser on Friday, APML Secretary General Dr Amjad and Deputy Chief Coordinator Ch Shafiq said that "biased decisions and attitude of courts and election commission" against APML chief Pervez Musharraf left APML with no other option but to boycott the polls. The returning officers, election tribunal and later courts first rejected the nomination papers of Musharraf and later banned him for lifetime from contesting polls which, they claimed, hinted at the biased attitude of these institutions.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] The chief of the Pakistain People's Party Bilawal Bhutto would not be present in Pakistain on the election day.
Bilawal has already left the country and would not be addressing any party rallies or meetings due to threats to his life. Central party leader Taj Haider on Friday confirmed that consensus had been reached in the party and that, in the wake of serious threats to Bilawal's life, the party has advised him to not lead the election campaign in person. "We have already lost Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... and will not risk losing Bilawal. The threats to his life are very real," he said.
Haider would not say where Bilawal is right now. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... sources in the party said that he had left Pakistain earlier this week and would not be returning to the country before May 11, the election day.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2013
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[Jpost] While Tehran is dissatisfied with the cease-fire between Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and Israel, Cairo is doing its utmost to reinforce the calm.
Egypt and Iran are locked in a power struggle over their influence and conflicting aims in the Gazoo Strip, and Egypt appears to have the upper hand.
While Tehran is dissatisfied with the relative durability of the cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, and is pushing Paleostinian armed factions to violate the truce, Cairo is doing its utmost to reinforce the calm, which it views as serving Egypt's national interest.
Egypt is actively neutralizing attempts by Iran to send representatives and arms to Gazoo.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shattered spaceship, Fffflirgoll the Arcturan slithered stealthily toward the control room, where the humans had barricaded themselves... Qatar has invested massively in the Gazoo Strip, donating $452 million for construction works. The Gulf state's investment is having a moderating yet growing influence on Gazoo as it helps the Hamas regime consolidate its illusory sovereignty and economy.
As a result, tensions between Shi'ite Iran and Sunni Egypt, Qatar and Turkey -- which is also seeking an influence in the Strip -- are on the rise.
It's safe to assume that Hamas will do everything it can to maintain the truce, so that it can continue its efforts to deepen its foundations as the rulers of an Islamist enclave, wedged between Egypt and Israel.
Hamas is enjoying its new-found legitimacy in the Arab world and would like to avoid an Israeli air campaign or ground offensive. Its efforts are not always successful, but they are ongoing.
Hamas's armed wing, Izzadin Kassam, is disciplined and obeying the cease-fire orders.
Proof can be found in the lack of response to Israel's targeted air strike this week on a Salafi-jihadi weapons manufacturer who was linked to a rocket attack on Eilat from Sinai last month.
Hamas is seeking economic independence in Gazoo, while dealing with acute energy and water crises and inflation in the housing market.
Gazoo now buys all of its fuel from Egypt -- some 30 million liters a month. Its sole power plant has priority as a recipient of the fuel, a product of Hamas's efforts to reduce cuts in the electricity supply.
Qatar donated 30 million liters of fuel to Gazoo last year.
But complications in its delivery from Egypt means that only 10 million liters have arrived in Gazoo.
The regime is also levying taxes across the Strip to raise funds for itself.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shattered spaceship, Fffflirgoll the Arcturan slithered stealthily toward the control room, where the humans had barricaded themselves... Hamas is moving forward tentatively with an Islamization program.
Changes include police shaving the heads of youths with Western hairstyles, and passing into law the segregation of boys and girls in schools.
But Hamas is afraid of moving too fast or drastically and upsetting its population.
It appears as if Hamas's ambitions to solidify itself as a regime will act as a restraining force on its jihadi ideology, although unexpected incidents could remove that restraint at any time.
[Pak Daily Times] Fighting in northern Iraq killed nine police Friday, while a boom-mobile targeting worshippers near a Sunni mosque north of Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... left four dead, security and medical officials said.
The fighting between police and gunnies in west djinn-infested Mosul, including mortar rounds fired at checkpoints, killed nine police and maimed seven, police and a doctor said.
Four gunnies were also killed in the festivities.
In Rashidiyah, north of Storied Baghdad, the boom-mobilewent kaboom! as worshippers left Friday prayers at Al-Ghufran mosque, killing at least four people and wounding 22, an interior ministry official and a medical source said.
And in Al-Amil in south Storied Baghdad, a magnetic "sticky bomb" maimed a police captain, while a roadside kaboommaimed three more police in Taji, north of the capital, the ministry official and medical sources said. The violence came a day after the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... said April was the deadliest month for Iraq in almost five years. While violence has fallen from its peak at the height of the sectarian conflict in Iraq in 2006 and 2007, attacks remain common.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2013
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[Telegraph] The results aren't all in yet, but it's obvious what's happening: Ukip are the moral victors in yesterday's local elections. A party that was just two men on a golf cart ten years ago has placed second in South Shields and won county seats across the country. A few early observations:
1. The Lib Dems are at risk of becoming politically irrelevant. In South Shields they came seventh, a pathetic result for a governing party.
2. Ukip have helped to smash the BNP. By providing a non-racist Right-wing alternative, they reduced the BNP's result in the Spalding East and Moulton ward in Lincolnshire from 20.5 per cent in 2009 to just 3.9 per cent today.
3. Labour did well but its gains were only modest. It held South Shields (the kind of seat that a donkey in a red rosette could win) but on a lower majority. Miliband is not popular in southern England and that will prove a problem in 2015.
4. Dan Hannan's dream of a Ukip/Conservative coalition might actually happen in Lincolnshire and Gloucestershire -- a fascinating laboratory for any future pact.
But the big story is the rise and rise of a tiny party once derided by its critics as full of fruitcakes and closet racists. It probably won't gain any parliamentary seats in 2015: the electoral system is stacked against it and while Ukip's support is broad, it isn't deep enough in individual constituencies to win anything. This doesn't seem to trouble Nigel Farage who says that he sees his party as playing the same role that the SDP played in the 1980s -- driving the political agenda in his preferred direction. That statement could cause some controversy within Ukip because the party is split over whether it's a pressure group or a serious candidate for government. Farage is correct that its best shot at relevance comes from posing as the former, but the taste of victory in this round of elections could delude many activists that they stand a chance of becoming the latter. Success breeds success, but also hyperbole and vanity.
Either way, there's no escaping that Ukip has exploited the anger of a great many people. They're angry at the slow pace of reform coming from the Coalition, its prioritising of social liberalism over social justice, its failure to cut taxes for the middle class, its ring-fenced foreign aid budget and its poor economic record. The perpetually furious could have turned to Labour, but memories are long of how they spent all the money in the Noughties, and contempt is deep for Mr Miliband's student union style of politics. Many voters have reached the conclusion that the philosophical division between the parties is so narrow, that incompetence is so ubiquitous, that the personalities are so uniformly unreal that there really is no difference between the three main parties. Under those circumstances, why not vote for the anarchist fringe? Put a bit of stick about, as Francis Urquhart would say.
And then there's the personality factor. Cameron, Clegg and Miliband are all of a type: middle class, white, male, middle aged, middle-of-the-road, posh, suited and largely lacking in real world experience. By contrast, all the scandals surrounding Ukip this week only confirmed its accidental authenticity -- its refusal or inability to be anything other than crude, rude and painfully honest. It is also fun. Humour is very important in Anglosphere politics. For the English, wit is the way that we communicate fury, intelligence and love. There's something funny, and thus irresistible, about Farage with a cigarette in hand, hat on head, charming the voters with his market banter.
Yesterday, people voted Ukip partly out of anger and partly for a laugh. It's a very British revolution.
Update: Anthony Watts of wattsupwiththat.com has a nice little roundup of reports that Ukip is decidedly not in the Green (Britain-watermelon) camp. A nice bonus that will no doubt save the British taxpayer billions of pounds (or euros, or both).
#2
Many voters have reached the conclusion that the philosophical division between the parties is so narrow, that incompetence is so ubiquitous, that the personalities are so uniformly unreal that there really is no difference between the three main parties.
[Pak Daily Times] South Korea on Friday withdrew its last remaining workers from a joint industrial zone in North Korea at risk of permanent closure due to soaring military tensions.
It is the first time that Seoul has pulled out all its workers from the flagship project since it was opened in 2004, underscoring the severe deterioration in relations between the two Koreas.
The Kaesong Industrial Zone -- located 10 kilometres (six miles) north of the frontier -- was once a rare symbol of cross-border cooperation, but has fallen victim to the stand-off on the Korean Peninsula.
Seoul last week ordered all remaining South Koreans to leave after Pyongyang banned entry by southerners, pulled out its own 53,000 workers and rejected the South's call for talks on the impasse.
Most South Koreans had left by early Tuesday, and the last seven workers returned Friday after several days of talks with the North over issues such as unpaid wages for North Koreans, the Unification Ministry said.
Seoul sent two vehicles loaded with cash over the border as the last workers returned, to make the payments demanded by Pyongyang.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2013
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#1
So, ransom paid and workers freed.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
05/04/2013 9:29
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#2
Better split the sheets, SKor. Your Nork neighbors are frog in a box mental.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/04/2013 12:00
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#3
first SKor demand for any peace progress or food? Pay double that ransom back - in legitimate currency.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2013 12:33
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#4
It will be a lot harder for NK to find qualified replacement workers for that factory than it will be for the 'displaced' SK folks to find new jobs. Dunno who does a better job of foot-shooting, the NorKs or the Gazookians.....
[Pak Daily Times] Militants ambushed a security checkpost in Ladha area of South Waziristan tribal region on Friday. One security official was killed in the attack, whereas retaliatory action by security forces killed four militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2013
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[An Nahar] Politicians have reached an agreement on a future political system in Tunisia, ending a months-old stalemate that had blocked progress on drafting the new constitution, the head of the ruling Islamist party said on Friday.
"We have overcome the impasse, we are heading towards a mixed regime where neither the head of state nor the head of the government will have supreme control over the executive power," Rached Ghannouchi told Tunisian radio.
Ghannouchi did not go into detail on the question of the division of powers, saying only that the president and the prime minister would each have their respective prerogatives.
Ghannouchi's Ennahda party, which heads the coalition government after scooping the largest share of seats in the national assembly in Tunisia's first post-revolution polls, has until now been demanding a purely parliamentary regime.
But most political parties, including Ennahda's allies in the coalition, want key prerogatives to remain in the hands of the presidency, which is currently held by Moncef Marzouki of the secular, center-left Congress for the Republic.
Work on drafting a new constitution has been heavily delayed by this lack of consensus, with the main political parties having originally agreed that the text would be completed in October in 2012.
The latest draft, published late last month, was strongly criticized by lawyers and the opposition for being too vague on certain highly sensitive issues, notably religion, human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. and gender equality.
A national dialogue held under the auspices of the presidency is currently taking place in a bid to resolve these problems.
Prime Minister Ali Larayedh, appointed in March in the wake of a political crisis sparked by the liquidation of an opposition leader, has vowed to have the constitution adopted and legislative and presidential elections held by the end of 2013.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2013
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[An Nahar] A man who claimed in a widely publicized documentary to be an American soldier, missing since his helicopter was shot down during the Vietnam War, is actually Vietnamese, the U.S. said Thursday.
"Unclaimed", directed by Michael Jorgensen, which has generated an explosion of interest since its premiere this week, purports to have discovered U.S. serviceman John H. Robertson -- alive, well and living in the communist nation.
But a United States Defense Department statement said the man -- who appeared on film in an emotional "reunion" with Robertson's sister -- has been DNA tested and found to be a citizen of the Southeast Asian country.
"All claims and alleged live sighting reports related to Robertson have been investigated and found to be false," according to a release from the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office on Thursday, provided to Agence France Presse by the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi.
A tightly edited trailer for the movie, posted on production company Myth Merchant Films' website, does not show any clear full-face images of the Vietnamese man, known by the name Dang Ngoc Than.
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A tightly edited trailer for the movie, posted on production company Myth Merchant Films' website
shocked. shocked. Isn't this the same company that did John F'n Kerry's reenactments of his purple heart incidents?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2013 12:00
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So glad it isn't true after all. Because there really are people still being held in North Korea, and no doubt elsewhere in the former Communist world.
Philippine troops clashed Friday with communist terrorists militants in Zamboanga del Norte's Leon Postigo town.
Army officials said the battle erupted in a village in the hinterland where soldiers tracked down the New People's Army terrorists militants following a tip from residents about the presence of gunmen. The fighting lasted more than thirty minutes.
It was not immediately known if there were terrorist rebel casualties.
Lt. Col. Leonel Nicolas said, "The terrorists rebels were camping in the forested area and believed to have come fresh from extortion activities in the nearby communities of Leon Postigo."
Nicolas said they also recovered a shutter gun handgun, three sacks of provisions believed taken from locals and five bags containing personal belongings, subversive documents, medical equipment and ammunition left behind by the terrorists militants.
[Bangla Daily Star] The Hefajat-e Islam will lay siege to all seven entry points into the capital during its Dhaka blockade programme tomorrow to cut the city off from the rest of the country.
Leaders of the Qawmi madrasa-based organisation said they were planning to ensure the presence of around one lakh Hefajat supporters at each entry point -- Gabtoli, Tongi, Postagola Bridge , Babubazar Bridge , Kanchpur and Demra bridge, Mawa and Abdullahpur.
Apart from the Hefajat activists and supporters in Dhaka, around three lakh people from Chittagong, one lakh from Sylhet and 50,000 from Rajshahi will join the programme, hoped the leaders.
The Islamist organisation has already hired at least 3,000 vehicles, including buses, trucks, and microbuses, to bring people to Dhaka . Besides, many will come by train.
Though the Hefajat activists started arriving in the capital yesterday from different parts of the country, the majority of them will come in from today. Most of its senior leaders, including Ameer Shah Ahmad Shafi, will join the programme.
Police have said they will not interfere with the Hefajat's programme if it is held peacefully. "If they [Hefajat men] hold their programme peacefully, we'll assist them. But if they create anarchy and commit any offence, we along with the people will resist them and take legal action," Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (public relations) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Daily Star last night.
The Hefajat had announced the blockade programme at its rally at the capital's Motijheel on April 6 to press home its 13-point demand, which included punishment to bloggers for "defaming" Islam and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday called on the Hefajat leaders to withdraw their Dhaka blockade programme considering the ongoing rescue operation at the Rana Plaza collapse site at Savar.
Asked about the PM's call, Mainuddin Ruhi, joint secretary general of the party, said the prime minister's statement was unexpected, confusing and false.
"The government didn't meet any of our demands. The press conference was arranged to confuse the nation," he added.
Yesterday, at a press conference at the Lalbagh Madrasa in the capital, Nur Hossain Kasemi, convenor of the Dhaka city unit of Hefajat-e Islam, said Hefajat activists would lay siege to the capital after Fajr prayers on Sunday. He vowed to make the programme a success.
Several senior Hefajat leaders, however, complained that the government was already creating obstacles to foil their programme.
They claimed that the government and activists of the ruling Awami League had been instructing transport owners not to rent their vehicles to Hefajat men.
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ammo up and give them a whiff of grapeshot. Shutterguns to the front!
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2013 11:52
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[Pak Daily Times] Two Indonesians have been tossed in the clink Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! over a plot to bomb the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta, officials said on Friday, as snuffies rallying in the city called for "jihad in Myanmar" to avenge Moslem deaths.
The incidents highlight the growing anger in Moslem-majority Indonesia over a string of religious festivities in largely-Buddhist Myanmar that have left many minority Moslems dead and tens of thousands displaced.
At least one person was killed when mosques and homes were attacked in central Myanmar this week, the latest anti-Moslem unrest to cast a shadow over political reforms in the formerly junta-run country. Around 1,000 angry hardliners from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) converged on Myanmar's embassy in Jakarta on Friday, brandishing banners that read "we want to kill Myanmar Buddhists" and "stop genocide in Myanmar".
They torched the Myanmar flag, while chanting "burn down the embassy" and demanding to speak to officials inside, as hundreds of police in riot gear stood guard. "Our Moslem brothers and sisters are being attacked in Myanmar -- they are being raped and murdered," said Bambang, a 37-year-old street vendor, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. "I want jihad in Myanmar. Anyone mistreating Moslems should be killed."
The national head of the FPI, Habib Rizieq, shouted through a loudspeaker to whip up the crowd, mostly men wearing white Islamic skullcaps, as they marched on the embassy.
Earlier, officials said anti-terrorist police had detained two men suspected of planning a kaboom on the Myanmar embassy.
The suspects were tossed in the clink Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! late Thursday travelling by cycle of violence in a busy residential area in the south of the capital with five assembled pipe bombs, national police front man Boy Rafli Amar said in a statement.
The men, Sefa Riano, 28, and Achmad Taufiq, 21, planned to launch the attack on Friday, said a senior source at the country's anti-terrorist police, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered...
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[Pak Daily Times] Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. -bound Quetta Express train narrowly escaped a rocket attack in Much, Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , on Friday. Unidentified men fired rockets on the Mach Railway Station when the Quetta Express was passing by. However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... the rockets landed in an open area causing no loss. A heavy contingent of law enforcement agencies' personnel reached the site and cordoned off the area.
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[Pak Daily Times] Pak and Indian civil society activists have expressed sorrow on the death of convicted Indian spy Sarabjit Singh as a result of an attack on him in the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore by some fellow inmates.
"We the citizens of India and Pakistain are pained by the sad demise of Mr Sarabjit Singh as a result of a dastardly attack on him in the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore. ... We express our deep and heartfelt condolences for the family of the dear departed," a statement issued by PILER on Friday read. It said that given the statements by most Indian prisoners in Pakistain jails of good and humane treatment, "this unusual and inexplicable attack on Sarabjit Singh and the allegations of torture in the recent death of Chamel Singh in Pakistain jail indicate some conspiracy by vested interests to destabilise relations between India and Pakistain that were showing marked improvement in recent times".
The statement further said, "Hence we demand a thorough and complete investigation under the supervision of the UN or any independent international body. Prisoners anywhere are the responsibility of the governments and the government of Pakistain should immediately take strict and exemplary actions against all those responsible for the attack as well as the planners and conspirators. Pakistain and India should especially ensure that all steps are taken for complete protection and safeguarding all human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... of the prisoners of other country in their jails."
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[Bangla Daily Star] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums.. yesterday clarified the government's position on the 13-point demand of the Hefajat-e Islam.
"We've already gone through your [Hefajat's] demands. Many of these have already been implemented while some are in the process," Hasina said, addressing a presser at her official residence Gono Bhaban.
The Hefajat's first demand is a reinstatement of the phrase "Absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah" in the constitution as one of the fundamental principles of state policy.
Responding to this, Hasina noted the constitution begins with Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim [In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful].
"This is a verse of the Holy Koran. No other sentence could be more appropriate," she said, adding it demonstrates faith in Allah.
The PM also mentioned that Islam is now the state religion.
The Hefajat-e Islam, a Chittagong-based Islamist organization, at a rally in the capital on April 6, gave the government three weeks to meet its demands. Otherwise, the group threatened, it would lay siege to the capital tomorrow.
The demands include a law providing for capital punishment for maligning Allah, Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PTUI!) and engaging in smear campaigns against Mohammedans.
Speaking on the subject, the prime minister said the Information and Communication Technology Act, 2009 and Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) contained the provision of punishment for the offence.
The PM then tuned to the Hefajat's third demand -- stop all propaganda and "derogatory comments" about Prophet Muhammad (PTUI!) by the "atheist leaders" of Shahbagh movement, bloggers and other anti-Islamists; arrest them and ensure stern punishment to them.
She said the government had already locked away Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! four bloggers for making "derogatory comments" against Prophet Muhammad and they would be prosecuted if found guilty.
On the fourth demand, "Stop attacking, shooting, killing and persecuting the Prophet-loving Islamic scholars, madrasa students and people united by belief in Allah," the PM firmly said no such oppressive action has been taken.
Discussing the Hefajat's fifth demand for the release of "all the arrested Islamic scholars and madrasa students", Hasina said individuals, including Jamaat-Shibir elements, engaged in anti-state activities, had been arrested.
"If you have any knowledge of the arrest of any innocent person, give us the list. The government will release them with the highest priority."
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[An Nahar] The U.N. Security Council is not entitled to give the green light for inspections of Syrian refugee camps in Jordan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday, seeing it as an attempt to prepare "foreign intervention".
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) "is competent for (organizing) visits of refugee camps that have been set by the U.N., the Security Council has no competence for that," Lavrov said in Slovenia.
He added: "If there was an attempt to use the Syrian refugee situation to push forward some ideas about no-fly zones, then we and China might have seen in it an attempt to prepare a foreign intervention."
The 15 Security Council member nations discussed on Thursday the possibility of sending a delegation to visit the Syrian refugee camps in Jordan but Russia and China opposed the idea, diplomats said.
Jordan this week warned that the growing exodus of Syrian refugees who had flooded over its border to escape civil war -- already over 500,000 -- was placing a "crushing weight" on the country.
The UNHCR has said the number of refugees in Jordan could reach 1.2 million by the end of the year -- equivalent to one fifth of the Jordanian population.
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[An Nahar] Nigeria's former oil minister was kidnapped Friday by gunnies who stormed his vehicle outside a mosque in the restive city of Maiduguri, a stronghold of Islamist group 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... , his family said.
Shettima Ali Monguno, 87, served as Nigeria's oil minister in the 1970s and held the rotating presidency of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1972.
"The abductors got in touch and they put my father through on the phone, he spoke to us and said that he was fine. They made a ransom demand," the ex-minister's son, Abubakar Ali Monguno told Agence La Belle France Presse, declining to give a figure.
Other residents and relatives said that Monguno had stayed behind to greet well-wishers after prayers and was attacked shortly after entering his car.
While no group claimed the attack, Boko Haram has targeted prominent figures around the northeastern city, with liquidations and kidnaps for ransom.
Some analysts have said that Boko Haram is increasingly relying on ransom payments as a means to finance their insurgency, which has left thousands dead since 2009.
Monguno was among the group of elders who met with President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau... in Maiduguri in March to discuss the Boko Haram crisis.
He has repeatedly called for dialogue with the bad boy group and urged Jonathan to reduce the massive security deployment in the city, with a curfew forcing all residents to stay indoors after sundown.
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#1
I guess somebody was upset at not getting that fortune in laundered oil money deposited in their bank account, but instead getting their account emptied when they replied to that e-mail offer ...
[An Nahar] Tunisia's army Friday pressed its hunt for a jihadist group hiding out in a border region with Algeria, an operation in which 15 security force members have been maimed, the interior ministry said.
"The search operations by the defense forces and the national guard are continuing on Mount Chaambi," ministry front man Mohamed Ali Aroui told Agence La Belle France Presse.
He refused to give further details on the search or comment on ongoing operations in the Kef region further north, also close to the Algerian border, where another jihadist cell is being targeted by the security forces.
The army said on Thursday that the situation was "under control."
On the ground, troops have formed a security barrier around Mount Chaambi and set up checkpoints at the entrance to the picturesque provincial capital Kasserine, with reinforcements arriving on Thursday, an AFP journalist reported.
Tunisian forces have been hunting in the mountainous western region for the gang since it attacked a border post in December killing a member of the national guard, or auxiliary police.
The search has intensified this week, with around 15 soldiers and national guards maimed since Monday, some seriously, by homemade landmines laid by the gunnies, in the operation to flush them out.
The army says there have been no direct festivities, but that its men are using mortar fire and light weapons to demine the area, with members of the security forces saying they have recovered weapons and manuals on making explosives.
The standoff in Mount Chaambi appears to be the worst of its kind since festivities in 2007 between the army and Islamists in Soliman, near Tunis, in which a soldier, two policeman and 11 Islamists died.
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The United States believes Israel has conducted an airstrike into Syria, two U.S. officials tell CNN.
If I were the Israelis at this point, I wouldn't say a word to Champ and his team and if they asked, I'd blame the Ruritanians...
U.S. and Western intelligence agencies are reviewing classified data showing Israel most likely conducted a strike in the Thursday-Friday time frame, according to both officials. This is the same time frame that the U.S. collected additional data showing Israel was flying a high number of warplanes over Lebanon.
One official said the United States had limited information so far and could not yet confirm those are the specific warplanes that conducted a strike. Based on initial indications, the U.S. does not believe Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace to conduct the strikes.
They stood to one side and launched a bunch of missiles...
Both officials said there is no reason to believe Israel struck at a chemical weapons storage facilities.
Could have been a biological weapons storage facility, for example, or a baby milk factory...
The Israelis have long said they would strike at any targets that prove to be the transfer of any kinds of weapons to Hezbollah or other terrorist groups, as well as at any effort to smuggle Syrian weapons into Lebanon that could threaten Israel.
The Lebanese army website listed 16 flights by Israeli warplanes penetrating Lebanon's airspace from Thursday evening through Friday afternoon local time.
It's great how the Lebs know all about it and can't do a damned thing to stop it...
The Israeli military had no comment. But a source in the Israeli defense establishment told CNN's Sara Sidner, "We will do whatever is necessary to stop the transfer of weapons from Syria to terrorist organizations. We have done it in the past and we will do it if necessary the future."
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/04/2013
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IMO Israel has once again thrown down the gauntlet of challenge to Iran.
[Pak Daily Times] A Sunni Tehrik ...formed in Karachi in 1992 under by Muhammad Saleem Qadri. It quickly fell to trading fisticuffs and assassinations with the MQM and the Sipah-e-Sahaba, with at least a half dozen of its major leaders rubbed out. Sunni Tehreek arose to become the primary opposition to the Deobandi Binori Mosque, headed by Nizamuddin Shamzai, who was eventually bumped off by person or persons unknown. ST's current leadership has heavily criticized the Deobandi Jihadi leaders, accusing them of being sponsored by Indian Intelligence agencies as well as involvement in terrorist activities... (ST) leader, Khurram Qadri, was rubbed out near Food Street, Tibi City, on Friday.
Police said Qadri, 45, was a member of the Pakistain Sunni Tehrik Ulema Board and a resident of Samanabad. He was returning home in a rickshaw after leading the Friday prayer at Begum Shahi Mosque near the Food Street when two unidentified motorcyclists opened firing on him and fled. He received serious injuries and was rushed to the Mayo Hospital where he died. The body was removed to the city morgue for an appointment with Dr. Quincy. The Sunni Tehrik workers gathered at the Mayo Hospital and staged a protest demonstration against the killing of their leader. Police are investigating the incident.
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A paramilitary ranger was critically wounded in a drive-by shooting in Narathiwat province on Thursday night.
Police received a report about 8:10 p.m. that a ranger was shot and seriously injured on a bypass road in Sungai Kolok municipality. A joint police and military force went to the scene and found a motorcycle lying in the middle of the road and bloodstains. Villagers told them that the injured ranger had already been taken to the hospital.
He was identified as Ranger Suradi Puteh. Witnesses said Mr Suradi was riding pillion on his friend's motorcycle when a gunman in a pickup truck fired six shots at him and his friend. The attackers then fled. Suradi was critically wounded.
Police blamed separatist terrorists militants.
Before leaving for Pattani on Friday morning, Defense Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat said he will visit local security officials.
Asked about security measures for Thai Buddhists in the region after terrorists militants scattered leaflets threatening more violence until the government accepts demands of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), ACM Sukumpol said the measures will be taken in line with the changing situation. He said he does not believe the leaflets were issued by the BRN as they are easy to print and scatter.
Asked about the brutally slayings of six people, including a two-year-old boy, at the grocery shop in Pattani on Wednesday night, ACM Sukumpol said he did not want to discuss it as it would give credit to the bad guys.
[An Nahar] Syrian troops Friday bombarded Sunni areas of the Mediterranean city of Banias, a monitoring group said, warning of a new "massacre," as Washington said for the first time it was looking at arming rebels.
The opposition National Coalition earlier denounced a "large-scale massacre" by troops and Islamic fascistion Thursday in a Sunni village near Banias, a new front in Syria's war, citing witness reports of civilians being stabbed to death.
"The Coalition calls on the 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... and the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... to act rapidly to save the civilians of Bayda, Banias and other villages across Syria," it said in a statement, accusing the regime of "war crimes and genocide".
"Several sources in the village say at least 50 people were killed in summary executions and shelling in Bayda village," a southern suburb of the Alawite-majority city, Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The official SANA news agency said troops killed "terrorists" -- the regime term for gunnies -- and seized arms in an operation targeting rebels.
Regular forces were supported by pro-regime "shabiha" militiamen, said the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground for its information.
"Many villagers have fled to Sunni districts in southern Banias, as there is no refuge for them in Alawite areas," said Abdel Rahman.
The Banias region is predominantly Alawite, an offshoot of Shiite Islam and the sect of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... , while the gunnies battling to topple his regime are mainly Sunni Moslems.
On Friday, the army bombarded Sunni areas of Banias as heavy gunfire rocked southern parts of the city, the Observatory said.
Abdel Rahman said troops were raiding homes and making arrests "triggering panic" among residents.
"I fear that there could be a massacre like the one that happened yesterday in Bayda," he warned.
Elsewhere, rebels fired two rockets at Damascus ...The capital of Iran's Syrian satrapy... international airport, hitting an aircraft and a fuel dump and sparking a massive fire, SANA said.
"One rocket hit a kerosene tank and the other hit a parked commercial aircraft, badly damaging it," the agency said, adding traffic was "normal" and the fire had been extinguished.
Rebels have claimed several times to have fired at Damascus airport but it was the first such report from the official media.
With the Syrian conflict that has cost more than 70,000 lives now in its third year, the United States said Thursday it was taking a fresh look at whether to arm the outgunned rebels.
After having rejected the idea previously, President Barack Obama Why can't I just eat my waffle?... 's deputies were weighing the option of providing weapons to the rebels, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told news hounds.
Asked whether the U.S. government was rethinking its opposition to arming the rebels, Hagel replied with a firm "Yes." But Hagel said no decision had been reached.
Asked about Hagel's comments later, Obama said they represented the view he has expressed for "months".
"As we've seen evidence of further bloodshed, potential use of chemical weapons inside of Syria, what I've said is that we're going to look at all options," he said in Mexico.
But, Obama added, "we want to make sure that we look before we leap and that what we're doing is actually helpful to the situation, as opposed to making it more deadly or more complex."
Speculation has mounted the B.O. regime could reverse its opposition to arming the rebels after officials said last week that U.S. spy agencies now believe Syria's regime may have used chemical weapons on a small scale.
Meanwhile, ...back at the revival hall, Buford bit the snake and Eloise began speaking in tongues... the family of a U.S. journalist missing in Syria said he is believed to be in the hands of government intelligence agents at a detention center near Damascus.
James Foley, a 39-year-old freelancer who has filed reports for GlobalPost, Agence La Belle France-Presse and other outlets, has been missing in Syria for nearly six months
"With a high degree of confidence, we now believe that Jim was most likely kidnapped by a pro-regime militia group, commonly referred to as the shabiha, and subsequently turned over to Syrian government forces," said GlobalPost chief Phil Balboni.
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#1
I do feel sorry for the good guys caught in this war. All three of them - or is it four?
#3
..why do you restrict it just to the ME? see - Bangladesh In March 1971, the Pakistani Army began "Operation Searchlight," which targeted intellectuals, political activists, Hindus and other minorities.[2] The figure of people killed by Pakistani forces remains disputed, with estimates ranging from 300,000 to 3 million [3][4] about 8-10 million people became refugees in India.[5] - wiki
We don't need to scratch our way back to Tamerlane. All the anti-Western Civ traitors keep bringing up the Crusades which did about a speed bump in human carnage that their near contemporary managed to rack up among his own Muslims.
A limited cabinet reshuffle will see six ministers replaced in Egypt, state newspaper Al Ahram said on Thursday, citing government sources. The new ministers, who could swear oath on Tuesday, are expected to be those of justice, legal and prosecution affairs, culture, agriculture, planning and international cooperation, and one of the economic portfolio ministries, Al Ahram said, without naming the candidates.
The reshuffle is seen as an attempt by President Mohamed Mursi, who hailed from the Muslim Brotherhood group, to ease tensions with opponents.
Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, widely criticised as colourless and ineffectual, will keep his job in the limited reshuffle, a presidential spokesman said last week.
He's just the man for the job, too...
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
Making the deck chairs on the Titanic look desirable...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/04/2013 10:17
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[Pak Daily Times] Anti-Extremist Cell (AEC) of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) claimed to have tossed in the slammer Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! at least five alleged members of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) along with a huge cache of kaboom on Friday.
According to details, AEC chief SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan, while addressing a presser held at AEC office in Garden Police Headquarters disclosed the arrest of alleged TTP men namely Ziaullah aka Sham, Farhad Khan aka Hamza, Zafar Hussain, Rafique Ahmed and Ilyas. He said that the tossed in the calaboose Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! cut-throats belong to Fazalullah group of TTP.
The raid was conducted on a tip-off; SSP Khan said that the police received information about the presence of TTP men in Kati Pahari area on Shahrah-e-Noorjahan.
During the raid, police recovered 75 kilogrammes of explosives, two pressure cooker bombs, six tennis ball bombs, remote control, detonating cord, detonator, four hand grenades, a Kalashnikov, a .22 rifle, two TT pistols and a 9mm pistol.
AEC chief while quoting the initial course of interrogation said the arrested bully boyz revealed they were involved in the act of kaboom and murders in the city and their commander, namely Mustafa aka Jihadi provided the explosives for bomb making.
He further said that the suspects were also being questioned about their possible links to the ongoing series of blasts on the political parties.
The detainees also confessed that the group criminal mastermind, Jihadi and other companions, Abid Mucchar, Sajjad Langra, Yasir and Tariq are involved in attacks on political parties, and the recovered explosives were to be used for disrupting the elections.
The SSP said that further investigation is underway.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features. If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!... police claimed to have detained at least nine suspects during targeted raids in Sultanabad and Hijrat Colony on Friday. Saddar division SP Salman Hussain said that suspects were taken into custody during house-to-house search operations, while the entire locality was cordoned off. He said that the police wanted five of the detainees in different criminal cases. Police officials also claim to have recovered weapons and narcotics during the operation.
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#6
The only challenge the list provides is guessing which of the first two names is your PETA terrorist. I had to look up the bio of the french-sounding Black Panther, before I remembered her story. The other 28? Well, let's just make sure there's no profiling going on. Because that would be illegal.
We got trouble,
Where?
Right here! Right here!
To many Joes are named for Mo so we got trouble!
Where?
Right here! Right here in RiverCity!
First it's with the fasting...
Then they go to blasting....
Because of Mo's...
Where?
Right here! Right here in RiverCity!
First thing you know they'll close the pool hall,
and then massacre the band.
Why?
Because they'e moz....
[Pak Daily Times] Awami National Party (ANP) candidate on NA-254 Sadiq Zaman Khattak was bumped off along with his 4-year-old son by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain in Bilal Colony on Friday.
The ANP has given a call of mourning across the metropolis on Saturday.
Spokesperson of the outlawed TTP Ehsanullah Ehsan reportedly claimed the responsibility of killing the ANP candidate. As per details, four pillion riders shot Khattak and his son Ahmeal Sadiq dead near Rehmania Mosque located close to his residence in Bilal colony, Korangi. They were on their way home after offering Friday prayers. In the aftermath of the cowardly attack, panic spilled over in the vicinity, and people shutdown businesses and markets. Shahid Khattak, Muhammad Khalid, Islam Khan, Faisal Khan, Mansoor Rehman, Qayoomudin and two children were also maimed in the attack. The victims were taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where doctors pronounced Khattak and his son dead, and admitted the rest for treatment.
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[An Nahar] Rebels in Syria fired two rockets at Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... international airport on Friday, hitting an aircraft and a fuel dump and sparking a massive fire, the official SANA news agency reported.
"One rocket hit a kerosene tank and the other hit a parked commercial aircraft, badly damaging it," the agency said, adding that traffic at the facility was "normal" and the fire had been extinguished.
Rebels have claimed several times to have fired at Damascus airport but it was the first such report from the official media.
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[An Nahar] At least 80 people have been killed in the latest outbreak of fighting between Arab groups in western Sudan's Darfur region, tribal leaders said on Friday.
"Fighting was going on until last night and from our side we have 37 dead," said Ibrahim al-Sheikh, a leader of the Beni Halba tribe.
He claimed more than 100 members of the rival Gimir group were also killed but a Gimir chief, Abaker al-Toum, said 44 of his people had died.
The fighting took place in Edd al-Fursan, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of the South Darfur state capital Nyala.
Both sides agreed they were fighting over land, with each side claiming ownership.
The U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), cited the Sudan government's Humanitarian Aid Commission as confirming "new inter-tribal fighting between the Gimir and Beni Halba tribes over land ownership" in South Darfur.
"Seven people from the Gimir tribe were reportedly killed in an attack on 26 April. The fighting is continuing", OCHA said in its weekly humanitarian bulletin issued late on Thursday.
About 2,000 members of the Gimir and Assignor tribes have been displaced, said OCHA, citing government figures.
Toum, the Gimir chief, accused the paramilitary Central Reserve Police of siding with the Beni Halba.
"There is huge tension in the area. Beni Halba are preparing a large number of troops to attack, and Central Reserve and their weapons are part of this," he said.
The Central Reserve is one of the government forces used against rebels who have been fighting in Darfur since 2003 against the Arab-dominated regime in Khartoum.
Darfuri members of the Reserve formerly belonged to the Janjaweed, a government-backed militia which shocked the world with atrocities against ethnic minority civilians suspected of supporting the rebels.
A United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... panel of experts reported in February that eyewitnesses and victims blamed elements of the Central Reserve and other paramilitaries "for acts of harassment and intimidation" in rural areas or inside camps for Darfur's 1.4 million displaced.
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[Pak Daily Times] 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.... Chairman, Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... said on Friday that his party after coming into power will maintain zero tolerance against corruption, favoritism and injustice in the society by introducing massive reforms.
He said he would bring in reforms in Police, Local Government and Revenue Departments for solving day to day problems of a common man.
He was addressing a mammoth gathering held here Friday at Govt Post Graduate College Ground in 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.... , prior to addressing other meetings in Haripur, Mansehra ...a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south... and Battagram districts the same day.
Imran vowed that PTI after coming into power would leave no stone unturned to restore honour and respect of Paks across the globe and rather he would to make Pakistain a progressive democratic Mohammedan welfare state where people could get all their basic amenities of life at their doorsteps and will not go abroad for jobs.
He said PTI would transfer power to grass root level and for this purpose would conduct Local Bodies election within 90 days after formation of Govt.By this, he said, people would decide by themselves about developmental projects and others necessities of life at their villages and Union Council level.
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[An Nahar] Spanish police announced Friday they have seized a massive 32 tonnes of hashish hidden in a truck transporting melons from Morocco, one of the largest hauls on record in Spain.
There's got to be a really profound metaphor in here somewhere.
Police found the hashish, with an estimated street value of 50 million euros ($65 million), when they searched a refrigerated truck carrying melons from the Moroccan port of Tangiers.
On its arrival in the southern Spanish port of Algeciras on April 27, police searched the Moroccan-registered truck.
"On opening it, they found melons were being carried in the first two pallets, as the driver stated," said a joint statement by the police and Spain's interior ministry.
"Then as the agents checked the rest of the cargo they discovered wooden boxes, which were open at the top, containing packs of hashish wrapped in sacking."
A total of 24 boxes were discovered containing 32.38 tonnes of hashish and the driver was jugged Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! on suspicion of committing a crime against public health, police said.
The record for Spain dates to 1996 when 36 tonnes of hashish were seized in a boat in the country's southeast, leading to the arrest of 23 people.
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[Pak Daily Times] A Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor investigating the liquidation of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... and the 2008 Mumbai attacks was bumped off in Islamabad on Friday.
Gunmen on a cycle of violence fired multiple bullets on Chuadhry Zulfiqar Ali in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... Company area of the Sector G-9 while he was heading to an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi for hearing of Benazir Bhutto murder case.
The killing of the prosecutor comes days after a court sent former president and chief of army staff General (r) Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... on a 14-day judicial remand on charges of conspiring to kill Benazir Bhutto. Zulfiqar was reportedly set to oppose bail application by former president in this case on Friday.
Zulfiqar, who was driving his car at the time of the attack, was struck down in his prime due to a bullet in the head. His guard, a Frontier Corps personnel who was sitting in the rear seat, retaliated and injured one of the attackers. However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... the gunnies fled.
"Zulfiqar was driving his car at the time of the attack. The car crushed a woman passer-by after he lost control of it," police officer Mohammad Yousuf told media.
Zulfiqar received al least seventeen bullet wounds, according to initial autopsy conducted by a six-member medical board at the PIMS hospital.
Co-prosecutor Azhar Chaudhry told Daily Times that both he and Zulfiqar had been receiving threatening calls for some time. The unidentified callers warned them to stop pursuing Benazir murder case or face consequences, he said, and added that Inspector Ilyas and Civil Lines Police Station SHO Ijaz Shah, both witnesses in the Benzair liquidation case, were also warned to refrain from presenting themselves as witnesses.
Azhar said intelligence agencies had traced the calls received by them as having been made from different areas of neighbouring Afghanistan. He said they both had repeatedly requested the government for extra security but were provided only one FC guard each.
Ch Nisar, son of the slain prosecutor, complained that the government had failed to take adequate steps to protect the life of his father despite clear threats.
Zulfiqar was appointed as special prosecutor in the Benazir liquidation case when the investigation was handed over to FIA some four years ago. He had presented six challans in the court and was to present seventh challan. He also represented Pakistain in Mumbai attack case and was member of the judicial commission that visited India last year to investigate the case. He was also acting as FIA's special prosecutor in Hajj corruption scandal.
Several bar associations have announced to observe complete strike in protest against the killing of Chaudhry Zulfiqar.
President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... has ordered a thorough investigation into the incident to expose the real culprits involved in the murder of Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali.
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#1
The devolution of Pakistain appears to be accelerating.
And most cases involve motorcycles.
[Pak Daily Times] Two tossed in the calaboose Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! persons allegedly picked up by the intelligence agencies from Butkhela, Malakand, in 2009 and 2010 were produced before the Supreme Court for the first time on Friday after their arrest.
A three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had ordered the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... government to produce the two accused before it on May 2. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Ghulam Dastagir, Home Secretary Azam Khan and Additional Advocate General (AAG) Naveed Akhtar appeared before the apex court that had taken up the petition moved by right activists Asma Jehangir.
One of the detainees, Muhammad Ibrahim, was locked away Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! on n September 11, 2010, from Butkhela, whereas the other, Hidayat Shah, was arrested on December 23, 2009. Both were later sent to the internment centres set up under the Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulations (AACPR) 2011 promulgated by President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... in exercise of his powers under Article 247 of the constitution.
These internment centres set up under AACPR near Pak-Afghan border in the Orakzai Agency ... crawling with holy men, home to Darra Adam Khel, the world's largest illegal arms bazaar. 14 distinct tribes of beturbanned primitives inhabit Orakzai agency's 1500 or so square kilometers... allow the civil government to confine persons accused of terrorism. Asma described the AACPR law as worse than the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act introduced by India in 1985. According to the prosecution both the accused are residents of Butkhela -- an area that is situated in the jurisdiction of the PATA (Provincially Administered Tribal Areas). According to a statement submitted by the home secretary, the internment authorities had recommended the trial of both accused under terrorism charges after weapons were recovered from their possession, but they were later sent to the internment centres.
The apex court, however, expressed its surprise over why the accused were not sent to the courts to face trials and noted that all during the detention, the family members of these accused were not allowed to meet them. However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... the home secretary assured the apex court during the proceedings that the family members of the accused would be allowed to meet them. The court directed the AAG to regulate the meetings between the accused and the family members and submit a report to the registrar of the Supreme Court for perusal by judges in chambers.
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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.
An angry Egyptian mob has lynched the teenage son of a Muslim Brotherhood leader, accusing him of killing a man over Facebook comments critical of the Islamist movement, security sources said Saturday.
In 2012, President Obama famously won 71 percent of the Hispanic vote to Mitt Romney's 27 percent. If all other factors remained the same, how large a percentage of the Hispanic vote would Romney have had to win to capture the White House?
Pervez 
North Korea
[Pak Daily Times] 
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as 
Goodluck Jonathan
The United States believes Israel has conducted an airstrike into Syria, two U.S. officials tell CNN.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
A limited cabinet reshuffle will see six ministers replaced in Egypt, state newspaper Al Ahram said on Thursday, citing government sources. The new ministers, who could swear oath on Tuesday, are expected to be those of justice, legal and prosecution affairs, culture, agriculture, planning and international cooperation, and one of the economic portfolio ministries, Al Ahram said, without naming the candidates.
[Pak Daily Times] Awami National Party (ANP) candidate on NA-254 Sadiq Zaman Khattak was 
a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south...
President Asif Ali 
Orakzai Agency
