The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and other ships in its strike group are heading west toward the Red Sea to help support a limited U.S. strike on Syria, if needed, defense officials said on Sunday.
The Nimitz carrier strike group, which includes four destroyers and a cruiser, has no specific orders to move to the eastern Mediterranean at this point, but is moving west in the Arabian Sea so it can do so if asked.
"It's about leveraging the assets to have them in place should the capabilities of the carrier strike group and the presence be needed," said the official.
"We try to reduce the physics of time and space so we can be as ready as possible should we be needed," said a second official, cautioning that decisions about ship positioning in the Mediterranean were still being finalized.
The Nimitz carrier group had been in the Indian Ocean supporting U.S. operations in Afghanistan but was due to sail east around Asia to return to its home port in Everett, Washington, after being relieved in recent days by another aircraft carrier, the USS Harry S. Truman.
Given the situation in Syria, U.S. military officials decided to reroute the Nimitz and send it west toward the Red Sea, and possibly the Mediterranean, officials said.
Syrians are fond of saying that their country is "the beating heart of the Arab world," having played an outsize role in the history and politics of the region, from the Islamic golden age in the 7th century and the Arab Revolt during World War I to the Arab-Israeli wars. After 2-1/2 years of civil conflict, however, it is becoming more difficult to think of Syria as the spirit and soul of the region.
There was a moment early in the Syrian crisis when one could imagine that foreign intervention would have had salutary effects. In January 2012, I wrote that it was "time to think seriously about intervening in Syria" and laid out moral and strategic arguments in a piece for the Atlantic's Web site. No link to the "I toldya so" article.
At that time, the conflict had killed 5,000 people, the vast majority at the hands of the regime. This was more than Moammar Gaddafi had killed on the eve of NATO operations in Libya. If Libyans deserved protection, then Syrians did, too. No blood for oil! Besides, some of see how well Libya turned out.
There is another concern that should figure into the president's calculations: The missile strikes the White House is contemplating would advance Syria's dissolution.
Assad would remain defiant in the face of an attack. It is not as if he is constrained now, but he would probably step up the violence both to exert control within his country and to demonstrate that the United States and its allies cannot intimidate him. Like a schoolyard bully, he'd make more innocents pay the price.
At the same time, the regime's Iranian patrons and Hezbollah supporters would increase their investment in the conflict, meaning more weapons and more fighters pouring into Syria -- resulting in more atrocities. And on the other side, Syrian opposition groups would welcome a steady stream of foreign fighters who care more about killing Alawites and Shiites than the fate of the country. This environment would heighten Syria's substantial sectarian, ethnic and political divisions, pulling the country apart. Like Yugoslavia, but with more brutality.
The formidable U.S. armed forces could certainly damage Assad's considerably less potent military. But in an astonishing irony that only the conflict in Syria could produce, American and allied cruise missiles would be degrading the capability of the regime's military units to the benefit of the al-Qaeda-linked militants fighting Assad -- the same militants whom U.S. drones are attacking regularly in places such as Yemen. Military strikes would also complicate Washington's longer-term desire to bring stability to a country that borders Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Israel. Washington just wishes this would all go away. Champ made nice to everyone, why can't they all just get along?
Unlike Yugoslavia, which ripped itself apart in the 1990s, Syria has no obvious successor states, meaning there would be violence and instability in the heart of the Middle East for many years to come. I like popcorn as much as anyone, but I think there may be better outcomes without our intervention. Champ already has zero credibility. Nothing he can do now to restore it.
Posted by: Bobby ||
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#1
there would be violence and instability in the heart of the Middle East for many years to come
#3
If there could be some way to contain Muzzie Community Activists without their problems spilling over to Israel, I am sure most of us would like nothing more than to see them resolve their internal issues to the last kaboom standing.
My cynicism, however, says that our Executive Branch, with support of many in Congress, is doing everything they can to bend to the wills of other than those of the American public at large.
I wish some Constitutionalist leader(s)(names anyone?) c/would step forward to, at least superficially and for the good of Country, make The President (only) look strong, while successfully bending the arc of his trajectory.
I believe we are doomed to be involved in a foreign civil conflict with no accrual of positive benefit or outcome near term, and the potential for long-term serious ugly; Syrian civilians shall become spoils.
War, like things that have T's or T's are gonna' be a problem, something I doubt Mr. Obama's staff has wrapped their heads around....
h/t Gates of Vienna these are Russians' POV not mine. But IMO, well worth knowing
...Simonyan: If you tune in to CNN or the BBC on a regular day, 80 or 90 percent of the stories are identical. We want to show that there are more stories out there than the 10-a-day that you usually encounter. I'm not saying that you should watch only our program; I'm saying that you should also watch it.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: The Russian media have a slightly more dramatic take on your objectives. Many are comparing the network to the Ministry of Defense. You said it yourself, when Russia goes to war
Simonyan: ... then we will join them in battle, yes. That goes for the country's real, armed conflicts. Do you remember the August war of 2008? Back then, most Western media outlets acted as if they were Georgia's ministry of defense.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: In 2008, Russian troops invaded Georgian territory after President Mikheil Saakashvili gave the order to attack South Ossetia, a separatist republic with close ties to Russia.
Simonyan: All of the Western broadcasters gave only the Georgian side of the story. Saakashvili was featured on all the networks; his statements were broadcast on all the programs. It was said that Russia started the war.* It was said the country's troops bombed a busy market in the provincial town of Gori. We immediately sent our correspondents out there, who found no trace of either shootings or bombings. Western broadcasters focused their entire coverage on the suffering of Georgian civilians. There was no mention of South Ossetians, meanwhile, who were suffering nightly artillery attacks at the hands of Saakashvili. It was pro-Georgian propaganda, pure and simple.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: It wasn't that one-sided. SPIEGEL, for one, reported at an early stage that it was Saakashvili who had fired the first shot. A European Union committee came to the same conclusion.
Simonyan: Sure, afterwards! But how many people actually ended up reading the EU report? The majority of people to this day believe that Russia started the war totally unprovoked. The evil Russia pounces on poor little Georgia.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: How do you explain Russia's negative image?
Simonyan: The West never got over the Cold War stereotype. One thing that only few journalists understand is that Russia started dissolving the Soviet Union of its own accord. We were the ones to realize that Communism was a failure. We understood that it was wrong to impose our will on other nations. We released the Eastern bloc into freedom. We are a different country today, one with a different mentality -- which is something that Western journalists sometimes find difficult to comprehend. You, for example, stated earlier that Russia was acting aggressively without backing it up with facts.
#1
Zerohedge implies that this is the only evidence
that's wrong
they have intercepted communications eyewitnesses satellite info and other stuff
zerohedge is dishonest or at least deceptive in a lot of his posting
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/01/2013 18:27
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It is not my place, well, maybe it is, to defend the veracity of Zerohedge.
Independent verification (is NSA doing anything out of country?) of the communications would be a good thing. Per The Guardian:
"The 8200 unit (an EXCELLENT resource) of the Israeli Defence Forces, which specialises in electronic surveillance, intercepted a conversation between Syrian officials regarding the use of chemical weapons, an unnamed former Mossad official told Focus. The content of the conversation was relayed to the US, the ex-official said." There is some serious wiggle-room here. Also, per The Guardian, William Hague (UK Foreign Secretary) confirmed the use of Sarin but, when pressed for his evidence, said "We absolutely cannot be specific about that because clearly those are intelligence sources that these things come from."
Eyewitness in the ME are a dime a dozen. "Rent-a-Crowds" are available to more than just Carlos Danger.
If satellites and analysis were were perfect, I would accept without question proof thereby obtained.
Additional evidence includes compounds indicating the "signature of Sarin" (per Secretary Kerry) (Probably methylphosphonic acid for which I can find no other precursor than nerve agents.). To believe that Mr. Assad would be any more inclined to use the stuff than "The Rebels" would take a greater leap than I am willing to, at this time, make.
"Attempting to drive the point home, Kerry referenced a photograph used by the BBC illustrating a child jumping over hundreds of dead bodies covered in white shrouds. The photo was meant to depict victims who allegedly succumbed to the effects of chemical weapons via Assads regime.
However, it was later exposed the photograph used had been taken in 2003 in Iraq. It was not related to Syrian deaths whatsoever and was later retracted."
Salt added by me for the nonsense about an "American Union"... h/t Gates of Vienna
Below is my translation of an interview with former Soviet dissident and political prisoner Vladimir Bukovsky by Alessandra Nucci, published in the December 2012 issue of the Italian periodical Radici Cristiane. What he says helps to understand what lies behind the European Union project and its similarities with the Soviet Union, a subject on which Bukovsky has written a book.
Vladimir Bukovsky, 70, is one of the most famous ex-political prisoners of the former Soviet Union. In total he spent twelve years in internment, in prisons, labour camps and psychiatric hospitals, before being released and swapped for the Chilean prisoner Luis Corvalan in 1976. Since then he has lived in Cambridge and has taken British citizenship.
In 2007 he co-authored with Pavel Stroilov EUSSR: The Soviet Roots of European Integration in which he reconstructs, on the basis of documents copied from the Soviet archives in 1992, plans to transform the European Union into a Union of Socialist Republics in all identical to the former Soviet Union.
...Are they therefore all socialists in Brussels?
The project is socialist. I do not know these people personally, but most of them are on the Left, more or less extreme. That means that they favour statist solutions and the regulation of everything. And they all talk like in Lenin's book The State and Revolution, which explains how the nation state will die. His words are that it will "fade until it disappears".
...Among your predictions for the EU-USSR there was also the gulag. Do you confirm it?
Unfortunately, yes. The EU is creating it slowly. Political correctness is imposed not by persuasion but by repression. In Britain just last month they jailed for hate speech a nineteen-year-old who had written something offensive on Twitter about a black football player. He was sentenced to a month and a half in prison.
As nobody protests, they will gradually widen the net and eventually we will get the gulag. And remember that the European police force is granted immunity, something that was not granted even to the KGB!
Is Barack Obama not part of all this?
For now, Americans do not perceive the European Union, do not see where it is going. But America has a parallel special project, the American Union. If the process includes the United States of America, what hope is there to stop this global government? It will fail, because it is too big to handle. It is impossible to govern such a huge entity. And notice that the most common resistance is not open, but passive: sabotage.
Security forces led by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced Sunday that they had foiled a bomb attack being plotted by Hamas militants in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which targeted a popular Jerusalem shopping mall during the upcoming Jewish High Holidays.
The Jerusalem District Attorneys Office has filed an indictment with the Jerusalem District Court against two of those allegedly involved in the plot - Ahmad Rishak, 23, from Shuafat and Ismail Abu Mfalfal, 27, from Abu Dis.
#1
I participated in a CMP event over 20 years ago. It was a blast, but I never took it far enough to quality for a free M1. A good friend did, though, and he said he would not do it again due to the amount of paperwork and background checks required.
[Foreign Policy] American intelligence agencies had indications and warnings three days beforehand that the Syrian regime was poised to launch a lethal chemical attack that killed more than a thousand people and has set the stage for a possible U.S. military strike on Syria. Yep, we saw em! All dressed up in rubber suits.
The newest scandal disclosure -- part of a larger U.S. intelligence briefing on Syria's chemical attacks -- raises all sorts of uncomfortable questions for the American regime government. First and foremost: What, if anything, did it do to notify the Syrian opposition of the pending attack? Questions? What uncomfortable questions ?
In a call with reporters Friday afternoon, senior administration officials did not address whether this information was shared with rebel groups in advance of the attack. A White House spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the information had been shared. Appears a few hundred civilians did not appear to get the memo.
But at least some members of the Syrian opposition are already lashing out at the U.S. government for not acting ahead of time to prevent the worst chemical attack in a quarter-century. "If you knew, why did you take no action?" asked Dlshad Othman, a Syrian activist and secure-communications expert who has recently relocated to the United States. We had to let the rockets fly to know what was in them.
He added that none of his contacts had any sort of prior warning about the nerve gas assault -- although such an attack was always a constant fear. Razan Zaitouneh, an opposition activist in the town of Douma, one of the towns hit in the Aug. 21 attack, said she had no early indication of a major chemical attack. "Even the moment [the attack hit], we thought it was as usual, limited and not strong," she told The Cable in an instant message. That only changed when "we started to hear about the number of injuries."
"It's unbelievable that they did nothing to warn people or try to stop the regime before the crime," Zaitouneh added. Unbelievable to you perhaps.
The U.S. intelligence community is now all but certain that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons on rebels and civilians in the suburbs of Damascus nine days ago. And part of that certainty were the military's signs of advance preparation for an attack.
"In the three days prior to the attack, we collected streams of human, signals and geospatial intelligence that reveal regime activities that we assess were associated with preparations for a chemical weapons attack," said a U.S. intelligence report the Obama administration leaked released Friday. "Streams of human, signals and geospatial intelligence" not available a year ago in Benghazi ?"
Multiple streams of intelligence indicate that the regime executed a rocket and artillery attack against the Damascus suburbs in the early hours of August 21," the report added. Satellites detected that the weapons were launched from territories held by the regime. They landed in rebel-controlled or contested neighborhoods. Yazir, POO and POI [point of origin - point of impact] confirmed, we think it's the 122nd Messkit Repair Rocket Battalion again.
The intelligence assessment is based on "a substantial body of information," including satellite imagery, intercepted Russian communications, and social media reports from the scene of the attack. Commonly referred to as multi-source intelligence, which is generally required to validate and confirm events.
And then there's this bit, further down the article:
In releasing the intelligence report, the Obama administration sought to assure Americans that its conclusions were based on multiple verifiable sources, including public accounts, and that the intelligence community had not repeated the mistakes of 2003, when it incorrectly judged that Iraq possessed chemical weapons.
It must be noted that the FP writer ignores the subsequent CIA mistake of asserting in their annual consensus report, whose acronym I have forgotten -- and then leaking the report to hamstring the president -- that Iran had most definitely given up the pursuit of nuclear weapons. Thus it is that some of us are a bit suspicious of such loudly trumpeted claims in support of the much loved successor to George W. Bush.
#1
If "we knew in advance" does not move the public opinion needle, it's on to the land of claims of increasing implausibility...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/01/2013 6:47
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Yes, thanks for adding the 2003 bit. The denial of the facts regarding Saddam's WMD efforts and senseless Bush bashing have become so perfunctory, I missed it entirely.
#1
I kind of agree with Krauthammer. A token slap on Syria's wrist will embolden Iran.
Although I also think Iran's anti-Israeli rhetoric is just that, rhetoric.
But if Hezbollah start firing rockets at Israel, and Israel smacks them hard and hits Syria, Iran may respond against Israel with chemical weapons, and frankly Israel may feel now is the time for a couple of tactical nukes against Iran's nuclear program.
#3
The Miscalculator in Chief, making a wrong call? What blasphemy. I generally listen closely to what the 'Hammer' has to say. A professional, psychiatric opinion is undoubtedly the correct approach when dealing with victims of lifelong narcissism.
"Narcissistic personality disorder symptoms may include:
Believing that you're better than others
Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness
Exaggerating your achievements or talents
Expecting constant praise and admiration
Believing that you're special and acting accordingly
Failing to recognize other people's emotions and feelings
Expecting others to go along with your ideas and plans
Taking advantage of others
Expressing disdain for those you feel are inferior
Being jealous of others
Believing that others are jealous of you
Trouble keeping healthy relationships
Setting unrealistic goals
Being easily hurt and rejected
Having a fragile self-esteem
Appearing as tough-minded or unemotional
In addition to these symptoms, the person may display arrogance, show superiority, and seek power."
We all know his speeches a full of "Me, Myself and I" but when he had that Photo Op Friday and said "His Military" it was all I could do to keep from throwing something through my 52" flat screen.
#5
Yes, always heartwarming to listen to these preppy, plastic, beltway folks who employ personal pronouns such as "I, me, we, us, our, ours" when referring to the tasks reserved for rough men who must remain ready to go into harm's way.
I despise these been nowhere, done nothing parasites, and their fungal, life sucking spawn.
[IDMN.DALLASNEWS] Home bakers tasted victory two years ago when the Texas Cottage Food Law made their businesses legal.
A set of revisions that take effect Sunday will sweeten the deal by expanding the list of places where home bakers can peddle their treats.
Under the updated law, cottage food producers can sell their goods at farmers markets, farm stands, fairs and festivals. Current rules require sales to take place exclusively at the baker's house.
"Most of us do custom work, so we just don't have people walking off the street to our homes," said Denise DelVecchio of Midlothian, a home baker who campaigned for the changes. "So we have a limited opportunity to market our business."
But as the farmers market season draws to a close, many home bakers will probably have to wait until next year to pitch their wares.
Several North Texas farmers markets are approaching the changes with caution.
The private operators of Dallas Farmers Market and Cowtown Farmers Market in Fort Worth have not discussed the law yet, representatives said. However, jam maker Kendra Myers of Fort Worth posted on a Facebook page for Texas home bakers that Cowtown Farmers Market had recently turned down her food because it's homemade.
Nonprofit organizers of farmers markets in White Rock, McKinney and Frisco said they are seeking guidance from their local health departments about the law's impact.
The Heritage Guild of Collin County, which runs the Historic McKinney Farmers Market, has questions about liability regarding products that have not been inspected, executive director Cindy Johnson said.
State law requires home bakers to label their goods as not inspected. Information about allergens and the name and address of the business also must be included.
While Historic McKinney Farmers Market supports the law, it also wants to avoid problems with customers, Johnson said.
"If we can find a way that we feel protects everyone, we'll definitely have some of those vendors in our spring market," she said.
Coppell Farmers Market will accept applications from home bakers, who will undergo the same process as other vendors, a spokeswoman said.
Others are finding business with churches. One of them is Jennifer Evans, who bakes cookies at her home west of Forth Worth. This fall, she will sell her sweets at the Victory Family Church craft fair in Burleson.
"It shows small businesses in Texas that there are opportunities," Evans said about the law.
EXPANDED MENU
For home bakers, an expanded menu under the amended law is the icing on the cake. The list includes candy, coated and uncoated nuts, fruit and nut butters, granola, roasted coffee and other items.
Goods that require temperature control, such as cream or custard pies, are still forbidden.
Legislators also folded in some new requirements.
Food must be packaged to avoid contamination, except for bulky items like wedding cakes.
And beginning Jan. 1, cottage food producers must have completed an accredited food handler course. Some online courses cost about $10.
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[An Nahar] As U.N. inspectors crossed the border from Syria into Leb Saturday, they were followed out of the war-torn country by a continuous flow of families desperate to flee the threat of U.S. strikes.
Cars filled with weary-looking passengers, their open boots packed to the brim with bags and suitcases crossed the Masnaa border post in a constant -- though not massive -- exodus as a U.S. intervention over a suspected gas attack appeared increasingly imminent.
"I'm going to rent a house near Anjar (in Leb's eastern Bekaa valley) and we will wait for things to calm down," said Abu Malek, a 31-year-old Syrian who works in an aluminum factory near the capital Damascus.
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#1
Even more folks that'll be upset that Champ is so wishy-washy.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/01/2013 18:13
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[APNEWS.MYWAY] Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will officiate at a same-sex wedding this weekend in what is believed to be a first for a member of the nation's highest court.
Ginsburg will officiate Saturday at the marriage of Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser and John Roberts, a government economist.
"Michael Kaiser is a friend and someone I much admire," Ginsburg said in a written statement Friday. "That is why I am officiating at his wedding."
The private ceremony will take place at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a national memorial to President John F. Kennedy. The 80-year-old Ginsburg, an opera lover, is a frequent guest at the center.
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So called 'blind justice' smiling at the rainbow once again. Who knew ?
[An Nahar] An Indian court found a teenager guilty on Saturday over the fatal gang-rape of a student in New Delhi, a crime that sparked revulsion and angry protests in the country, an official said.
"He has been held guilty for rape and murder and sentenced to three years subject to review," Anil Sharma, the chief investigating officer in the case, told news hounds outside the court in the capital, announcing the first verdict in the case.
The teenager, who was 17 at the time of the attack, was given the maximum penalty allowed after being tried as a juvenile, and the three years will include the time he has already spent in jug.
The 23-year-old physiotherapy student died of internal injuries after being raped and assaulted with an iron bar allegedly by six men on the night of December 16. Her male companion was also beaten up before both were thrown from the bus.
The attack brought simmering anger about endemic sex crime in India to the boil, and sparked weeks of sometimes violent street protests in the country.
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[An Nahar] Elephants lumber across a manicured pitch as riders wielding extra-long handled mallets chase a small white ball in the tropical heat. Welcome to polo -- Thai style.
About a dozen teams from around the world, including former New Zealand All Blacks rugby players and transgender beauty queens, are competing in the King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament in the Thai seaside resort of Hua Hin.
Even polo professionals taking part in the annual event say the pachyderm version is far harder than they are used to.
"The horses naturally move much quicker. The elephants don't actually trot which was a surprise," said Steve Thompson, owner of the Polo Academy in Dubai.
"We thought they'd run a little bit but they just walk very fast and as a result the gait that they use makes it quite unstable, so your hand-to-eye coordination is quite affected on the approach to the ball and of course it is much higher."
The tournament has come in for criticism from animal rights activists, who say elephants in captivity are often mistreated.
"Thailand should be focused on protecting these majestic animals in nature, not exploiting them for a fleeting moment of human amusement," said Ben Williamson of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
But the people behind the polo tournament insist the animals -- who spend the rest of the year working in tourist resors -- are well cared for during the event.
"They have a proper vet check up. They are fed. We look after them," said King's Cup organizer Tim Boda.
"If any of these elephants were not in the right condition, or not happy to play, they would be immediately retired. They stay with us for a week, basically a spa holiday in Hua Hin."
The King's Cup -- which raises money for elephant projects across Thailand -- runs until Saturday.
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[An Nahar] Congolese rebels on Saturday warned that they would battle to retake control in the country's troubled east if the government refused to halt its military offensive and begin negotiations.
The statement came a day after the M23 rebels -- a group of army mutineers -- announced a retreat from their positions following heavy fighting with the Congolese army which is backed by U.N. troops.
The rebels said their decision for a 'unilateral ceasefire' and withdrawal was aimed at "creating a favorable climate" for a "political solution to the crisis".
However, women are made to be loved, not understood... they warned that they were not prepared to wait long for the government to reciprocate.
"We demand that the Congolese government return soon to the negotiating table to find a political solution to the crisis," Bertrand Bisimwa, the political president of the M23 rebels, said in the statement.
"If the Congolese government pushes on with the military option to the detriment to the Kampala (peace) talks, our armed forces reserve the right to retake control" of positions just outside Goma.
Army front man Olivier Hamuli told Agence La Belle France Presse however that the rebels "did not withdraw, they were taken apart".
Both the army and Congolese authorities have confirmed that they have regained control of Kibumba from the rebels, and have pushed the M23 out of the area located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Goma.
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[An Nahar] Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... is scheduled to make speech on Saturday afternoon to mark the 35th anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr and his two companions, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday. If so, this is pretty large news. It means he's dumping his Hezbollah alliance in favor of neutrality.
Parliamentary sources revealed that the speaker is expected to announce that "he no longer seeks to be politically affiliated with any authority in Leb, especially the March 8 and 14 camps."
They added that he will not present any initiative to end the political deadlock in Leb.
The speech is expected to highlight the dangers facing Leb given the tense regional situation and therefore stress the need to form a political government that unites all parties, added al-Liwaa.
Berri will also warn against falling victim to attempts to create Sunni-Shiite strife in Leb.
The sources added that he will address the regional situation and the repercussions a western strike against Syria may have on Leb.
Berri's speech is scheduled for 5:30 on Saturday afternoon.
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[An Nahar] A meeting was held between Hizbullah and the Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... Movement in an attempt to preserve peace and deter tension in Leb as the result of any possible developments in Syria, media reports revealed on Saturday.
The An Nahar daily said that "indirect contacts" between the two parties were held, adding that "a Hizbullah affiliate held a meeting with Mustaqbal officials expressing willingness to exert all efforts needed to preserve calm in the streets and avoid any reactions over the unrest in Syria."
The meeting left an atmosphere of "relief", according to information "and was valued as a positive sign to deal with any possible repercussions on the internal arena as the result of the future developments in Syria."
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[Dawn] The kidnapped official of the Afghan Consulate Quetta has reached his home on Saturday.
Afghan Consul General Quetta, Ghullam Muhammad Bahadur told news hounds that Muhammad Hashim Ibrat, the kidnapped official of the Consulate has reached home. "Ibrat is safe and sound," Bahadur said.
Armed gunnies kidnapped the diplomat on July 28 from Satellite Town area of the 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... capital when he was on his way to office from home. Ibrat remained in the captivity for more than a month.
However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... an official of the Consulate, who requested anonymity, told Dawn.com that some important Taliban leaders were set free as result of Ibrat's release. "Taliban leaders were set free from Kandahar," he claimed.
The Afghan government was in close contact with Pakistain for an unharmed recovery of the diplomat. Islamabad based Afghan ambassador was in regular contact with the Pak officials to ensure the recovery of Afghan official.
No group had claimed the responsibility for the abduction.
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[Dawn] The anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday directed the police to provide it with the video footage of Jinnah Avenue stand-off.
The direction was issued by ATC judge Atiqur Rehman during the hearing of the post-arrest bail plea of Kanwal Sikander, wife of the gunman who staged the hours-long drama on August 15.
Since the media was not allowed into the courtroom, details of the proceedings were obtained from the lawyers.
Kalsoom Khaliq, the counsel for the tossed in the slammer Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! woman, contended before the court that her client had nothing to do with the stand-off.
She pleaded that Kanwal was not aware of her husband's intention.
"She was thinking that her husband had brought her and the children to Islamabad for picnic."
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[REUTERS] Republican Senators John Maverick McCain ... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution... and Lindsey Graham ... the endangered South Carolina RINO... on Saturday said they could not support isolated military strikes on Syria that are not part of a bigger strategy. "We cannot in good conscience support isolated military strikes in Syria that are not part of an overall strategy that can change the momentum on the battlefield, achieve the president's stated goal of (Syrian President Bashar al-) Assad's removal from power, and bring an end to this conflict, which is a growing threat to our national security interests," they said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2013
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#1
there is a good chance that Assad is so weak that a solid hit on the Syrian air force would end the regime
but what happens after the regime is an open question
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/01/2013 11:34
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Garth, no it's not. Syria will be taken over by Islamists.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/01/2013 14:44
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rambler
obviously an islamist takeover is possible; however in the past 6 months or so there has been considerable islamist vs islamist conflict and many shifting tactical alliances with the Kurds being the only group that really has a consistent and coherent network
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/01/2013 16:37
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[Bangla Daily Star] Odhikar's fact-finding report, "Assembly of Hefajat-e Islam Bangladesh and Human Rights Violation", is a composition of half-truths, biased and one-sided presentation of what happened on May 5 and in the early hours of May 6 in the capital, according to an analysis by The Daily Star.
The June 10 report says nothing about the destructive activities by Hefajat men, the involvement of Jamaat-Shibir activists and their instigation of acts of violence. But it has elaborately described the role of law enforcers and pro-ruling party men.
Hundreds of unruly Hefajat men were involved in widespread violence, including arson and even torching of bookshops that sold copies of the holy Koran. Though many TV channels broadcast the incidents live, Odhikar is completely silent about it. It has depicted Hefajat-e-Islam as a very peaceful organization and its leaders and activists as innocent individuals.
While being flushed out of Shapla Chattar, Hefajat men attacked a policeman with bricks near the Alico building in Motijheel, leaving him dead on the spot. A correspondent of The Daily Star covering the event on that night witnessed it, but the Odhikar report made no mention of it.
The 28-page report starts with an introduction of Hefajat and its objectives. It termed Hefajat a people's platform, a non-political and socio-cultural organization, and mentioned its objectives were to promote "social dialogue to dispel prejudices that affect community harmony and relations".
In reality, Hefajat's character is completely the opposite of what the Odhikar report states. The organization's recent activities, provocative speeches of its leaders, the 13-point demand, its anti-women and anti-constitutional stance clearly go against the spirit of community harmony. It is against the secular education policy and has staged violent demonstrations against the government's avowed policy of equal rights for women.
Hefajat is no longer a non-political organization. Practically, it is now a political force -- very much aligned with the BNP, Jamaat and other Islamist and smaller political parties.
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[An Nahar] Yemeni Prime Minister Mohammed Basindawa escaped unharmed as gunnies opened fire on his convoy in the capital on Saturday, a security source said.
"Four unknown gunnies opened fire on the prime minister's convoy in central Sanaa as he was heading home," the source told Agence La Belle France Presse, adding that no one was hurt in the attack.
Basindawa has headed a national unity government since December 2011, under a transition agreement paving the way for 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... 's ouster.
The impoverished Arabian Peninsula state has been rocked by deadly violence since Saleh's departure, particularly in the south and east of Yemen where al-Qaeda is active.
Basindawa was travelling in an armored car when the gunnies in a four-wheel drive opened fire before fleeing, the security source said.
It was the first such attack to target the premier, who was a leading opposition figure under Saleh, and several members of his government have also escaped liquidation bids.
Apart from the al-Qaeda threat, Yemen is also caught in a power struggle with southern separatists and faces a rebellion in the mostly-Shiite populated north.
The government on August 21 apologized to both southern separatists and northern rebels for wars against them, as part of efforts to encourage national dialogue aimed at drafting a new constitution and holding elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
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PARIS -- French President Francois Hollande reaffirmed to U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday his will to punish Syria for a suspected chemicals weapons attack but was under increasing pressure to put the intervention to parliament.
Obama and Hollande spoke by telephone before Obama's statement that he would seek authorization from Congress before any strike.
"The president reaffirmed to him his determination to act to sanction the regime," a source close to Hollande said. "Each country's pace of action must above all be respected. It's important for the Americans to have the green light from Congress."
However, pressure was now mounting on Hollande to also seek formal approval from parliament, which is due to hold a non-voting debate on Syria on September 4.
"Like the U.S. president, who decided to consult the U.S. Congress in the name of democratic principles, the French president must organize, after the debate, a formal vote in parliament," Jean-Louis Borloo, the head of French opposition party UDI, said in a statement.
A BVA poll on Saturday showed most French people did not want France to take part in military action on Syria and most did not trust Hollande to do so.
Not with a bang, but with a whimper. Let us hope the next lot of national leaders are made of sterner stuff.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/01/2013
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[An Nahar] More than a thousand anti-war protesters rallied in London's Trafalgar Square on Saturday to proclaim "victory" after Britannia's parliament blocked Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... from taking military action in Syria.
The activists filled the tourist hotspot with Syrian and communist flags, plus banners with slogans such as "No Attack on Syria" and "Hands Off Syria" in the rally organised by the left-wing Stop the War Coalition.
Kate Hudson, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, told Agence La Belle France Presse the protesters were calling for the government to stick by Thursday's vote, which saw politicians reject Cameron's bid for British involvement in possible U.S.-led military strikes against Syria.
"We're here also to send a very strong message to President B.O. in the United States. What's good here in Britannia -- that we don't need a war on Syria -- is also good for the United States," Hudson said.
"Every day, dozens if not hundreds of people are killed in Iraq as a direct result of Western intervention. We have to learn the lessons of that and not repeat that in Syria."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2013
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[Bangla Daily Star] A jacket wallah killed up to six Afghans and maimed 20 others in an attack outside a bank in the southern city of Kandahar as people were waiting to collect their salaries, officials said.
He said both police and civilians waiting to collect their wages were among the victims. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
"Tragically, the initial corpse count shows we have six dead and 20 maimed in this crowded part of the city, and most of the victims were civilians, and they came to the bank for their daily business activities," a statement from Kandahar media office said.
Kandahar police front man Ahmad Zia Durrani gave the toll as five people killed and 22 maimed, saying seven of those injured were coppers and the rest were civilians.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Afghan officials often blame Taliban bully boys, who are waging a nearly 12-year war against the US-backed government of President Hamid 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... , for such attacks.
Southern Afghanistan is considered a hotbed of the Taliban insurgency, and the hard boyz have a strong presence in Kandahar province.
Meanwhile, ...back at the secret hideout, Scarface Al sneeringly put his proposition to little Nell... a roadside kaboom hit a civilian vehicle in Sangin district of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province on Friday evening, killing 12 civilians including a woman, Helmand government front man Omar Zwak told AFP.
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[An Nahar] Police in Pakistain's capital Islamabad foiled an attempted boom-mobileing and seized an explosives-laden vehicle, officials said Saturday.
Sultan Azam, a senior police official, said the car was discovered at midnight Friday at a house in Bhara Kahu, a village on the northeastern outskirts of Islamabad. Police had raided the house after an intelligence tip.
Azam told news hounds the car was unregistered and had been loaded with 125 kilograms of explosives.
No arrests had been made but police were investigating, he said, adding: "Soon you will hear good news".
Pakistain private TV channel Samaa broadcast footage of the car, a Suzuki Alto, along with electronic wires, ball bearings, nut bolts and detonators.
Police said the explosives were concealed in the car's natural gas cylinder and doors.
Azam said police have tightened security in the capital after the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
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The U.S. State Department says North Korea has rescinded its offer for a senior U.S. envoy to visit Pyongyang to negotiate the release of a jailed Korean-American.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Friday the U.S. is "surprised and disappointed" by North Korea's decision, and is very concerned about the health of detainee Kenneth Bae. U.S. envoy Robert King was due to travel from Tokyo to Pyongyang Friday to request that Bae be freed on humanitarian grounds.
Bae, 44, is a Christian missionary who was arrested after entering North Korea as a tour operator last year. He was convicted of trying to topple North Korea's government and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. Bae's family says his health is quickly deteriorating. He has reportedly been moved from a labor camp to a prison hospital after losing more than 23 kg.
North Korea has detained at least six Americans since 2009. All have been allowed to return home before serving their full sentences. Most were released following visits by prominent Americans, including former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/01/2013
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[An Nahar] Nervous nibbles alone do not explain the weight that people tend to gain when they give up smoking, Swiss researchers said Thursday, turning the spotlight instead on a bacterial shift in the intestines.
Studies have shown that quitting smoking leads to an average weight gain of four to five kilograms (nine to 11 pounds) in the first year.
But according to researchers at Zurich University Hospital, former smokers who bulk up may not be eating more than before they kissed their cigarettes goodbye.
Noting that even people who cut back on calorie intake after quitting smoking tend to gain weight, Professor Gerhard Rogler said he and his colleagues had discovered another potential explanation: a change in the composition of the intestinal flora among smokers who kick the habit.
Their study, supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and published in peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS One, found that when a person stops smoking, the diversity of bacterial strains in their intestines shifts. It more resembles the gut flora found in people with obesity.
Both recent non-smokers and obese people tend to have more of two bacteria types, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, Rogler told Agence France Presse.
These germs are believed to use energy more efficiently and break down otherwise indigestible fibers -- and as a result, more of what the person eats is transformed into fat rather than excreted as waste.
The researchers studied the genetic profile of intestinal bacteria found in faecal samples provided by 20 volunteers over nine weeks.
The participants comprised five non-smokers, five smokers and 10 people who had quit smoking one week after the study began.
Little difference was seen in the bacterial biodiversity among the persistent smokers and non-smokers.
But among those who had just given up smoking, there was a clear shift towards more Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, the study showed.
Over the study period, the people who had quit smoking also gained an average of 2.2 kilos (4.8 pounds), even though they insisted that their eating and drinking habits were unchanged.
"Under the same living conditions, they gained weight after the cessation of smoking, and they showed a change in the microbiota," Rogler said.
While researchers have yet to prove a clear connection between the two developments, he pointed out that a number of other studies have also showed a link between intestinal bacteria and weight gain.
On Wednesday, a study published in the journal Nature found that individuals with low bacterial "richness" in their intestines were more prone to obesity and associated diseases such as diabetes, heart and cholesterol problems. Six bacterial species appear to play a key role in promoting this diversity.
Rogler said that more research was needed to answer the many questions that arise from such discoveries.
But he said it was clear we should pay more attention to how the environment influences gut functions.
"Nobody believed the people who stopped smoking and said they weren't eating more but still gained weight. Perhaps we simply should be more willing to believe what people tell us," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2013
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#1
Hmmm, it sems that a pill containing all the bacteria needed to maintain weight is needed.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/01/2013 9:00
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[Bangla Daily Star] Police tossed in the slammer Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! a youth and seized three locally made bombs and 12 parachute rocket flares in the port city of Chittagong Saturday evening.
The law enforcers said the youth, Farid Ahmed, 23, is a Shibir activist and a student of Government Haji Muhammad Mohsin College, reports our Chittagong correspondent.
Acting on a tip-off, police conducted a drive in Old Railway Station area and jugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! Farid around 6:15pm, said Zafar Iqbal, a sub-inspector at Sadarghat Police Station.
Police recovered the bombs and rocket flares from his possession, the cop said.
Mirza Sayem Mahmud, an assistant commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (Kotwali zone), told The Daily Star, in primary interrogation, Farid described the bombs as coconuts, but police discovered the bombs after searching his bags.
Farid might have gone there to carry out subversive activities, the official said adding that he was being interrogated by the police for further information.
Police said these rocket flares are used to give signal in ships but some of the myrmidons use it to throw bombs by customising the device.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2013
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#1
'Ctg' just doesn't have the same cachet as 'L.A.', though the two are beginning to resemble each other.
Terrorists Gunmen killed five worshippers at a Sunni mosque in Baghdad on Saturday. The terrorists militants fled the scene after carrying out the attack, which came during early morning prayers in the predominantly-Shia neighbourhood of Baghdad Jadidah, in the capitals east, two security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
One worshipper was also wounded in the shooting. A medical source confirmed the toll.
Just north of the capital, meanwhile, one Sunni anti-Al Qaeda militiaman was killed and four others wounded in a bombing.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/01/2013
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[An Nahar] A Vietnamese man's attempt to smuggle tropical fish into New Zealand in his pants floundered when he tried to get through customs with his pockets dripping water, officials said Friday.
The man arrived at Auckland airport from Australia this week and officials suspected something was fishy because liquid was seeping from the bulging pockets of his cargo pants, the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) said.
The man initially said he was carrying water from the plane because he was thirsty but a subsequent grilling uncovered the presence of the fish, the MPI said.
It said the man had seven fish, all an unidentified species of cichlid, secreted away in two plastic bags in his pockets. He told officers he was bringing them to New Zealand for a friend.
MPI spokesman Craig Hughes said the man will face charges under the Biosecurity Act, which carries maximum penalties of five years' jail or a NZ$100,000 (U.S.$78,000) fine.
"This appears to be a deliberate attempt to smuggle fish into the country without any consideration of the biosecurity risk involved," he said in a statement.
"That's something we take very seriously."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2013
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[ONLINE.WSJ] Buckyballs was the hottest office game on the market. Then regulators banned it. Now the government wants to ruin the CEO who fought back.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2013
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#1
I felt a huge desire for BuckyBalls, but went to the source and found this. Shattered I looked further. Going to buy nao.
[An Nahar] At least 38 people have been killed in two weekend attacks in Nigeria blamed on 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... hard boys, local government officials said Saturday.
Armed men killed 14 nomadic herders after invading their village, and 24 members of a vigilante group were killed in a separate incident, local officials in the north eastern state of Borno said.
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In a case that's ruffling feathers in Egypt, authorities have detained a swan that a citizen suspected of being a spy.
A few years ago the Egyptians were convinced the Red Sea sharks were Israeli spies, the Iranians were certain America had set spy squirrels upon them in their myriads... and didn't the Turks capture an Israeli spy heron or something a few years ago? Truly it is amazing what Western science can accomplish in the hands of infidels.
Officials say a man brought the suspected winged infiltrator to a police station on Friday in the Qena governorate, some 450 kilometres southeast of Cairo. Officials say the man suspected the bird was an undercover agent because it carried an electronic device.
The head of security in Qena said on Saturday that officials examined the bird and the device. Mohammed Kamal said the device was neither an explosive nor a spying device. It likely could be a wildlife tracker.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/01/2013
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[PROVIDENCEJOURNAL] -- President Barack Obama released a video message congratulating American Muslims on the many achievements and contributions they have made to American society from its early history to present day.
The video, which will be aired today at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) annual convention, highlights the myriad of ways the American Muslim community, and specifically ISNA leadership, has served as an effective partner in promoting inter-religious initiatives in the U.S. and religious freedom for minorities around the world.
DC Mayor Vincent E. Gray, one of the convention's keynote speakers, also recognized the significance of the American Muslim experience at the inaugural address. In his speech, he connected the current day plight of American Muslims with the aspirations expressed in Dr. King's historic "I Have a Dream" speech 50 years ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2013
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[An Nahar] Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... 's Ambassador to Leb Ali Awadh Asiri condemned Hizbullah members' searching of a Saudi Embassy car on Thursday, saying that such a development leaves a "negative impression" before the public, reported An Nahar daily on Saturday.
He told the daily: "No side has the right to perform the duties of the state."
He hoped that the incident would not be repeated, because it violates diplomatic norms.
"I have long expressed my keenness on the kingdom's ties with Leb, its people and government, but the incident contradicts these strong bonds," Asiri added.
He revealed that he had expressed his "strong objection" to the incident to caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour and later caretaker Premier Najib Miqati.
For his part, Mansour apologized for the Hizbullah's inspection of the car, saying that contacts are ongoing with the concerned sides in order to avert future incidents, remarked the ambassador.
The Saudi Embassy in Leb objected on Friday to Hizbullah's searching of one of its vehicles in Beirut, reported LBCI television.
It said that it filed the complaint to the Foreign Ministry after members of the party stopped an embassy vehicle in the Gallery Semaan area near Beirut's southern suburbs.
The members recorded the names of the embassy employees riding in the car before allowing them to continue on their way.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2013
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[Dawn] A provincial review board consisting of three judges of the Lahore High Court on Friday extended for a month the detention of Zubair alias Naik Muhammad, who has been linked to the gun attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore a couple of years ago. The board heard arguments of the Punjab government and the counsel for the detainee.
A section officer of the home department also appeared before the board and pleaded government's case. The detainee was also produced before the board.
The counsel for the accused argued that police failed to prove his client's involvement in the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team and the trial court granted him bail. He said the law enforcement agencies were victimising his client although he had nothing to do with any terrorism activities.
The representative of the home department told the review board that an appeal against the bail granted to the accused was pending adjudication before a high court bench. He said more terrorism incidents were feared if the accused was released therefore extension in his detention period was necessary, he added.
The board headed by Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh accepted government's request and extended the suspect's detention for one month.
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09/01/2013
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Syrian Government Use of Chemical Weapons on August 21
A large body of independent sources indicates that a chemical weapons attack took place in the Damascus suburbs on August 21. In addition to U.S. intelligence information, there are accounts from international and Syrian medical personnel; videos; witness accounts; thousands of social media reports from at least 12 different locations in the Damascus area; journalist accounts; and reports from highly credible nongovernmental organizations. the issue that stands out from this is that Assad must be desperate - using chem weapons near Damascus-- he apparently couldn't clear the rebels from those places with all the Hezbollah and Iran troops and his best Alawite regulars
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/01/2013
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#2
actually, the Obama admin did little to develop the Obamacare language, most of it was developed by people working for Senator Max Baucus and Representative Pelosi
however, a draft resolution that would authorize force was developed by the Obama Admin
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/01/2013 1:23
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#3
Meanwhile requests for info on Benghazi from both State and the WH linger. Obviously, backlog or 'process' isn't the excuse.
#4
Very true P2k. Anyone who believes the intelligence community isn't serving the political agendas of the regime [as opposed to National Security objectives] is sadly mistaken. Loathsome, cunning lapdogs the lot.
[An Nahar] Investigations with the suspects held over the bombings in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... revealed Syrian links to the attacks, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.
It has so far been found that the attacks were planned seven months in advance.
State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr had charged on Friday Sheikh Ahmed al-Gharib and Mustapha Houri with forming a terrorist cell and an armed gang and planting explosives in Leb.
He charged head of the Tawheed Islamic Movement Sheikh Hashem Minkara with withholding information.
Saqr also charged Syrian Captain Mohammed Ali and Ali Khodr al-Arban with booby-trapping cars.
Initial investigations revealed that the planning for the Tripoli attacks started seven months ago, saying that Gharib had met with captain in the Syrian intelligence Mohammed Ali in Damascus and Tartus in Syria, reported An Nahar.
Gharib had requested that he revise the attack plan with Minkara, who in turn requested to study the issue with Syrian security chief Ali Mamlouk.
Minkara has denied these claims.
Mamlouk and Lebanese former Minister Michel Samaha are wanted by Lebanese authorities on charges of planning terrorist attacks in Leb.
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(AyPee) Court rules against disclosure of WH visitor list
WASHINGTON A federal court was it? Yes, I see, here it is.
A federal appeals court has ruled that White House visitor logs for the president and most of the White House staff are not public information. Would that be the same 'people's house' which they [the people] can no longer visit ?
The 3-0 decision would keep the visitor records confidential for up to 12 years after President Barack Obama leaves office. And the purpose would be ?
The appeals court ruling deals a defeat to a private group that asked the Secret Service for all White House visitor logs from Obama's first seven months in office. Takes the bloody F right out of FOIA now doesn't it ?
The appeals court says Congress made clear that it did not want documents like the appointment calendars of the president and his close advisers to be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. I somehow don't recall disclosure having been a problem previously. The gov't monitoring of hundreds of millions of US Citizen e-mails and cellie conversations continues to be quite alright ?
A conservative-oriented watchdog group that sought the records says it is considering an appeal. More fallout from the Lois Lerner IRS failures, these pesky conservative groups.
#1
The appeals court says Congress made clear that it did not want documents like the appointment calendars of the president and his close advisers to be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
[Ynet] Gearing for possible US attack on Syria, IDF is bolstering troops in north, deploying defense systems in center. 'If Syria is attacked, Zionists will be attacked,' Iran army chief says
Lots of pretty photos (at least I assume they're pretty, though they are awfully sand-coloured) at the link.
The IDF is bolstering forces in the north, in preparation for a possible attack by the US, Lebanese media reported Saturday, referring more specifically to areas in front of the blue line in east south Leb and upper Galilee and the Golan Heights.
According to reports, IAF planes are continually circling above the same areas in south Leb. In addition, the IDF deployed all missile defense systems.
On Friday, the IDF deployed an Iron Dome battery in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan area. For the first time the battery is facing north. The system was deployed as a precaution ahead of possible Syrian retaliation to a potential US strike.
Iron Dome, Hetz and Patriot missile defense were also deployed in the north.
A security official told AFP Saturday that Syria expected a military attack "at any moment," just hours after UN experts probing a suspected gas attack blamed on the regime left the country.
Iranian army's Chief of Staff Hassan Firuzabadi said that "If Syria is attacked, the Zionists will be attacked," the Fars news agency reported.
President Barack Obama If you have a small business, you didn't build that... said on Friday the chemical weapons attack in Syria threatened US allies Israel, Turkey and Jordan and that while "nobody ends up being more war weary than me" he is considering a narrow, limited US response.
US attack
Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... , Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and other senior US national security officials will hold conference calls about Syria on Saturday afternoon with the Senate Democratic Caucus as well as the Senate Republican Conference, a White House official said.
President Barack Obama's top advisers were to make their case for limited military strikes against Syria to the full Senate on Saturday, presenting evidence of a chemical weapons attack last week that the White House says killed more than 1,400 people.
Obama has broad legal powers to take military action.
But not unlimited, and where the boundary sits is exactly the issue. Not that YNet wants to inform you, the reader, of that.
While he has said he has not made a final decision, he has made it clear that he believes the United States must do something to hold the Syrian government accountable for the attack.
No matter how ill-informed or superficial...
But US politicians have pushed for more information about Obama's intentions in Syria, with many expressing reservations about the cost and impact of potential strikes.
On Saturday afternoon, top national security officials will hold unclassified conference calls with the Senate Democratic Caucus as well as the Senate Republican Conference, a White House official said.
Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will participate, as well as Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Obama's National Security Adviser Susan Rice, and Admiral James Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Most Americans do not want the United States to intervene in Syria. A Rooters/Ipsos poll taken this week showed only 20% believe the United States should take action, but that was up from 9% last week.
Some politicians have said Obama should seek backing for the strike with a vote in Congress. "The American people I think really deserve that debate," said Barbara Lee, a Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, Democrat in the House of Representatives, in an interview with CNN.
[An Nahar] Syria said it has its "finger on the trigger" as it braces for what it considers an imminent Western military strike, as U.S. President Barack Obama Because I won... plans to address the nation.
"The Syrian army is fully ready, its finger on the trigger to face any challenge or scenario that they want to carry out," Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi said.
And a security official, asking not to be named, told Agence La Belle France Presse that Syria was now "expecting an attack at any moment."
The White House said Obama would speak to the American people at 17:15 GMT, but would not announce imminent military action.
Maneuvering over the past two days has appeared to signal that Obama has called for "limited" military strikes that could take place shortly.
But developments on Saturday could indicate an prolongation of the timetable for diplomatic reasons.
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... foreign minster, meanwhile, brought forward to Sunday a Cairo meeting that had been scheduled for Tuesday. Earlier this week, it placed the "entire responsibility" for the alleged attacks on Damascus, and any further condemnation of Assad's actions could give Washington extra diplomatic cover for military action.
Furthermore, U.N. front man Martin Nesirky said inspectors who spent four days investigating an alleged chemical attack last week would not issue a report on their findings until laboratory tests are conducted.
With the departure of the inspectors on Saturday opening a window for a possible U.S.-led punitive strike, the head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards warned that this would trigger reactions beyond the borders of Tehran's key regional ally.
"The fact that the Americans believe that military intervention will be limited to within Syrian borders is an illusion," said commander Mohammad Ali Jafari.
"It will provoke reactions beyond that country," and "reinforce extremism," he said, quoted by the ISNA news agency.
The inspectors, who flew to the Netherlands on Saturday, are due to report straight back to United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... and detail their conclusions on whether a poison gas attack actually did take place in Damascus suburbs on August 21.
Obama's administration says it already has firm evidence that the regime launched a chemical onslaught that killed 1,429 people, including at least 426 children.
That brought a contemptuous response from Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... , whose country is a close ally of Syria, saying claims the regime had used chemical weapons were "utter nonsense" and demanding proof.
The U.S. president said he was looking at a "wide range of options" but had ruled out "boots on the ground" or a "long-term campaign."
"We are looking at the possibility of a limited, narrow act," Obama said Friday, while stressing no final decision had been taken on unleashing military strikes against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... 's regime.
Syria has denied responsibility Nope. Nope. Wudn't us. for the alleged incident and has pointed the finger of blame at "terrorists" -- its term for rebels ranged against Assad's forces.
In Damascus, the mood was heavy with fear, and security forces were making preparations for possible air strikes, pulling soldiers back from potential targets.
Residents were seen stocking up with fuel for generators in case utilities are knocked out by a strike.
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[An Nahar] A front man for the Pak Taliban on Saturday denied media reports that the government was holding peace talks with the bad boy group.
Pak private media and most Urdu and English language dailies on Saturday ran headlines reporting the start of peace talks with the Taliban while some said there had been initial contacts with the hard boys
Shahidullah Shahid, main front man for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) told Agence La Belle France Presse that no contacts had been made between the group and any government official.
"I categorically deny the holding of peace talks on any level between the Taliban and Pak government," Shahid told AFP from some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location.
"No contacts have even been made between us, nor have we received any offer to initiate peace talks" Shahid added.
Pakistain's respected English language daily DAWN quoted Information Minister Pervez Rashid as saying the government was in secret talks with the TTP.
"Unofficial talks between the government side and Taliban are in progress," Rashid told the paper.
Rashid said the government's main objective was to restore peace and it would do everything possible to achieve that.
"We have to rid the country of the menace of terrorism for which all options would be utilized," Rashid was quoted as saying.
BBC Urdu, quoting an unnamed senior government official and a Taliban capo, also reported the beginning of peace talks.
"It is complete propaganda, the government must make it public if it has any proof of any such talks," Shahid said.
The reports of peace talks emerged almost two weeks after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... made an offer to the forces of Evil in his first televised address to the nation since taking office after winning elections in May.
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[JPOST] Mohamed Badie, the top leader of Egypt's Moslem Brüderbund, suffered a heart attack while in jail but his condition has since stabilized, state run al-Ahram newspaper said on Saturday.
State-run news agency MENA denied a report No, no! Certainly not! by the private al-Nahar website, that Badie, 70, had died.
Badie, the Brotherhood's general guide, and many other leaders have been incarcerated I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! in recent weeks in the toughest crackdown the Islamist group has faced.
Brotherhood front man Gehad el-Haddad said he had no information on Badie's health when asked to respond to reports that he had died in prison.
A medical team was sent to Torah prison on the outskirts of Cairo to assess Badie's medical condition earlier on Saturday, a security source told al-Ahram.
The source said his condition has stabilized and that the heart attack resulted from the "bad psychological state that he is going through".
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#1
The irrelevant Pakistani cock loving old fat southern tea baggers in Rantburg.com, the same and only 10/12 aficionados group of demented armchair generals, are scouring the net aggregating trash from every mooslem or cow worshipper dirty Indian blog to give a sense of importance to this crappy toilet blog. A word for you Indian/Pak/cocksuckers!!!
You and your view of reality is demented and irrelevant
#5
Admittedly my viewpoint is irrelevant, except for those who care what I might say over the tea things. But not a single other word of Lame Name's post applies. He really isn't good at this insult stuff, poor man. Must be awfully frustrating to be so ineffective.
#9
I find it additionally amusing that the poor idiot let loose his diatribe against the Indian subcontinent under an article from the Jerusalem Post -- an Israeli newspaper that my father used to have sent to him when I was a child -- about an Egyptian religious leader/politician.
[Bangla Daily Star] Led by five persons, the newly emerged krazed killer group Ansaruallah Bangla Team follows the ideals and policies of international terrorist outfits such as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Pakistain-based Tehrik-e-Taliban, revealed detectives.
Among the five, its spiritual leader Jasimuddin Rahmani was tossed in the calaboose Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! on August 15.
During interrogation, Jasim disclosed the names of Izaz Hossain, son-in-law of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) chief Saidur Rahman, and Major (sacked) Ziaul Haq, one of the conspirators of the foiled coup plot in 2012, a source in the Detective Branch (DB) of police told The Daily Star.
Saidur is now behind bars and Ziaul has been absconding.
The DB source, however, refused to name the two other leaders of Ansaruallah for the sake of investigation. At times, the two were even more influential than Jasim.
Monirul Islam, joint commissioner DB of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, yesterday said Izaz, who controls the web activities of the krazed killer group from Pakistain, had come to Dhaka a month ago.
"Staying for an hour at his residence in Mohammadpur, Izaz had contacted his three brothers," he added.
Izaz runs a computer business with his brothers. The DB on August 25 arrested one of his brothers Naimul Hasan, a suspected member of Ansarullah.
According to a previous DB blurb, Izaz, as the ameer of Jamaat ul Moslemeen, Bangladesh, about a decade ago used to preach the doctrine of Jihad if "establishing Deen [Islamic Sharia based law] was not possible in a non-violent way."
However, women are made to be loved, not understood... the organization became inactive when the leader of the international Jamaat ul Moslemeen, Jordan-born British citizen Sheikh Abu Isa Ali Arrifai Al Hashmi Al Koraisi alias Abu Isa, was arrested by British police in 2002. Later in 2008, Izaz escaped to Pakistain.
"A day after the last Eid-ul-Fitr, Jasimuddin Rahmani married the sister of two JMB members," said Monirul.
Regarding Major Ziaul, a source in the DB said he is the military commander of Ansarullah and helped the group develop its weapon and arms training manuals.
Despite being a resident of the cantonment area while in service, Ziaul used to offer his Juma prayers at Hatembagh mosque in the capital's Dhanmondi, where Jasim had been the Imam around 2008-2009.
The two came to know each other at that time, mentioned the DB source.
Jasim has connections with top leaders of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami's (HuJI Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. ) leaders, including Mufti Hannan and Maulana Abdur Rouf. Both leaders are now behind bars in the August 21 grenade attack cases, said Monirul.
Though Ansarullah does not have direct links to al-Qaeda, its top leaders had contacted several leaders of al-Qaeda at different times, noted the DB official.
For the affiliation of al-Qaeda, the krazed killer group is doing whatever is needed, he maintained.
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Hundreds of anti-war protesters carrying signs opposed to a military strike against Syria held a vocal demonstration Saturday at the White House, dpa reported. Using bull horns and holding a large banner reading "No war on Syria," the protesters called on President Barack Obama not to enter another war.
The protesters decried the recent wars the United States has fought, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Driving home that point, one poster read: "Endless war for the empire."
The demonstration was held as Obama prepared to speak on his deliberations over the US response to a poison gas attack in Syria last week.
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[Dawn] Three people were maimed and nine shops damaged due to a blast on Friday at the second floor of a three-storey plaza on Gulberg's Main Boulevard.The loud kaboom was heard in a radius of one kilometre, passersby said.
A bomb disposable squad, forensic experts and senior police officials visited the site. Some traders suspected that explosives were planted by snuffies and insisted on a thorough investigation, saying that as the plaza was owned by a police brass hat, anti-state elements might have targeted it. The police, however, ruled out terrorism calling it a 'gas blast'.
The police inquiries said the incident took place an hour before the inauguration of a new restaurant constructed on the second floor of the 'Mall 94'. The police said the huge blast had caused structural damage to nine shops in the plaza.
The roof of the second floor of the plaza and its boundary walls collapsed and the windowpanes of nearby buildings got shattered due to the impact of the blast.
Rescue 1122 officials said three people, including a security guard, suffered multiple injuries as shards hit them.
An official of the Rescue 1122 said the blast occurred in the kitchen of the restaurant and apparently it was a boiler blast.
Model Town Division SP (Operations) Tariq Aziz said gas leakage and accumulation at the blast site was the main cause of the incident.
"The blast had left a dangerous structural damage to the entire Mall 94", the SP said adding that the centre of the blast was the restaurant," he said.
When asked about the owner of the plaza, the SP expressed his ignorance.
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[An Nahar] Three founders of Femen said Saturday they had left Ukraine in fear for their lives after police discovered weapons in their Kiev offices that the feminist group says were planted.
Alexandra Shevchenko, Anna Hutsol and Yana Zhdanova "have fled Ukraine fearing for their lives and for their liberty" and would "continue their activities in Europe", said a statement on the group's website.
The three women decided to leave after Ukrainian police called them in for questioning on Friday, the statement said.
The group, known for its topless political protests, is facing a criminal investigation after police said they confiscated a TT handgun and a grenade from its offices in central Kiev on Tuesday.
Hutsol insisted the group did not have any weapons and suggested they could have been planted in the office while the activists were away.
The Ukrainian authorities have had Femen in their sights for some time. On Wednesday the group said it was moving out of its Kiev offices "for security reasons", alleging official wiretapping.
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#1
Fremen? I thought they were all still on Arakis.
[NationalMemo] Former Texas congressman Ron Paul will reportedly deliver the keynote address at an anti-Semitic conference in September, in the latest example of the three-time presidential candidate's close association with bully boys.
Paul will speak at the Fatima Center's "Fatima: The Path to Peace" conference, which will run from September 8th through the 15th in Niagara Falls, Ontario. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Fatima Center is part of the "radical traditionalist" Catholic movement, which comprises "the largest single group of serious anti-Semites in America," routinely attacking Jews as "the perpetual enemy of Christ."
The video badanov pulled a few weeks ago came from a website that was also keen on the Fatima people.
Along with Paul, the conference will feature Roberto Fiore -- a self-described neo-facist Italian politician who was convicted for conspiring to set off a bomb in a Bologna train station in 1980, and has been described by fellow Parliament member Glyn Ford as "absolutely the most extreme person who has ever served in the European Parliament" -- and John F. McManus, the president of the John Birch Society, a radical right-wing organization with which Paul is intimately familiar.
#1
The National Memo appears to be Democrat Propaganda Central. I don't think I care to read a word of slander they speak about anybody.
James C. the Cajaun Rage Muffin appears to be a big name at this site.
Does anyone think, really think, that Paul wants to see Jews and Israel wiped out?
Really?
I think it far more likely that there are associations between Democrats and RINOs and groups that want to see devout Christians disenfranchised and persecuted. That is the ball upon which eyes must be kept.
Of course, the SPLC does not stand to profit from those sorts of thoughts......
Posted by: no mo uro ||
09/01/2013 4:43
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#3
Regime hires PR firm to assist with Obamacare and.........other duties as assigned.
[Al Ahram] Egyptian security forces said they tossed in the clink Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! Saturday a top wanted hard boy in the Sinai Peninsula suspected of killing 25 off-duty coppers in one of the restive area's deadliest attacks. Meanwhile, ...back at the shattered spaceship, Fffflirgoll the Arcturan slithered stealthily toward the control room, where the humans had barricaded themselves... authorities arrested another top figure from former President Mohammed Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund group, whose supporters have held near-daily protests against the Islamist's ouster in a July 3 coup.
In a sign authorities are responding to an easing of those pro-Morsi rallies, the government once again shortened a military-imposed curfew by two hours, making the evening lock-up in nearly a dozen Egyptian provinces only seven hours.
However, you can observe a lot just by watching... the full 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew will remain in place for Fridays, when supporters of Morsi usually organize large rallies. Hundreds of his supporters, including leading Brotherhood members, have been arrested in a crackdown on the group.
Violence in the Sinai peninsula however has only worsened since Morsi's overthrow. The hard boy arrested Saturday is suspected of leading an al-Qaeda-linked group in an ambush where 25 off-duty coppers were lined up and shot last week, security officials said. The attack was one of the area's worst hard boy strike on security forces.
The hard boy, Adel Mohammed, also known as Adel Habara according to one official, has already been sentenced to death in absentia for killing soldiers in the Nile Delta last year.
Habara's arrest could potentially undermine hard boy activities in the area, where over two dozen coppers have been killed alone since July. The security official said two other suspects were arrested along with Habara.
Authorities have been engaged in a long-running battle against faceless myrmidons in the northern half of the strategic region, which borders the Gazoo Strip and Israel.
Earlier Saturday, security officials said 31 suspected faceless myrmidons have been arrested since Thursday, including three suspected of involvement in last week's attack and two caught seeking treatment for wounds sustained in festivities with police.
In other violence nearby, a riot police officer was shot in the chest Friday while on patrol in the city of El-Arish, the capital of North Sinai governorate, the Interior Ministry said Saturday.
According to one security official, four faceless myrmidons have also been killed since Thursday. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Since the ouster of Morsi, an Islamist, his supporters have been organizing regular protests calling for his return. Several thousand erupted into the streets on Friday.
Saturday's arrest in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria of senior Brotherhood leader Sobhi Saleh was made on charges of inciting violence and disrupting public order, according to security officials.
The son of another Brotherhood figure, Saad Emara, was also enjugged You have the right to remain silent... and ordered held for 15 days, pending investigations for charges of inciting violence.
Also on Saturday, Health Ministry front man Khaled el-Khateeb raised the corpse count in violence during Friday's pro-Morsi protests in several cities to eight. El-Khateeb said 221 were also injured - most of them in festivities between Morsi supporters and local residents.
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[Dawn] Unknown gunnies killed Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) leader Razaullah and injured his driver in Lakki Marwat district of the troubled Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province on Saturday evening, said police officials.
Additional Muharrir at Naurang Police Station, Fateh Khan told Dawn.com that the QWP leader was on his way home when unidentified myrmidons shot up his car near Gandi Chowk area, killing Razaullah on the spot and injuring his driver Momin.
Fateh Khan said Razaullah's car was being chased by the attackers before eventually opening fire at the stipulated time and place.
The QWP leader was paternal uncle of Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability... -Fazl (JUI-F) MPA Anwar Hayat.
Police have cordoned off the scene of the crime and an initial investigation into the incident was underway.
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[An Nahar] The head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards warned Saturday that a U.S. strike on Syria would trigger reactions beyond the borders of Tehran's key regional ally, ISNA news agency reported.
"The fact that the Americans believe that military intervention will be limited to within Syrian borders is an illusion; it will provoke reactions beyond that country," commander Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted as saying.
"Just as U.S. interventions in the Islamic world (Afghanistan, Iraq) have bolstered extremism, so will an aggression on Syria reinforce extremism and, as in Iraq and Afghanistan, its results will be pain, massacre and the exodus of the innocent population," he added.
U.S. President Barack Obama I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody... said on Friday the United States was weighing "limited, narrow" action against Syria, insisting the world had a duty to act after it concluded that the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... 's had gassed to death more than 1,400 people.
Syria's government has denied using chemical weapons and has pointed the finger at "terrorists" -- its term for anti-Assad rebels.
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[An Nahar] Rockets launched in a western-led attack against Syrian regime targets may pass through Lebanese airspace, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.
French military sources told the daily that the attack will place Leb at the forefront of the war against Syria, seeing as American warships have started to head to the Mediterranean.
Other military sources voiced their fears however that a French-backed attack against Syria will provoke a retaliation against French interests in Leb, namely its unit in the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... Interim Force in Leb.
The United States has been leading efforts to garner support for a brief military strike against the Syrian regime in light of reports that it had launched a chemical attack in the Ghouta region near Damascus last week.
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[Bangla Daily Star] A leader of Jubo League, a pro-Awami League youth body, was stabbed to death in the capital's Pallabi area yesterday morning.
Deceased Shah Ali Rocky, 28, vice-president of a Jubo League unit under ward-92, was a jhut (garment wastage) trader.
According to primary investigation, Rocky might have been killed due to an internal feud in Jubo League over jhut trading, said sources in the police.
They said two groups -- one led by the local lawmaker and the other by a top Jubo League (Dhaka North) leader -- were involved in jhut business in the area. Rocky belonged to the lawmaker's group.
Eyewitnesses said five miscreants had indiscriminately stabbed Rocky on road-4 in Mirpur-7, about 100 metres from the victim's house, around 10:30am. A lot of people had witnessed the killing.
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A leader of Al Qaeda's Iraqi branch called on Saturday on Egyptians to fight their army and derided the Muslim Brotherhood as "evil" for seeking power through democracy. The audio message by Abu Mohammed Al Adnani highlights the militant movement's attempt to use Egypt's July 3 coup, which toppled the country's first freely elected president, to bolster a hard-line ideology favouring armed struggle over peaceful politics.
In the 32-minute audio, Al Adnani derided the Brotherhood, from which ousted President Mohammed Mursi hails, as "a secular party with an Islamic cloak, worshipping power and parliaments, and their jihad is for democracy and not for God's sake."
It is "more evil and malevolent than the secularists, and if seizing power necessitates bowing to the Devil, they will bow without hesitation," he said.
Al Adnani is official spokesman of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which is battling Baghdad's Shia-led government. The audio could not be independently verified but appeared on a website commonly used by militants.
Al Adnani called on Egyptians, Syrians and Iraqis to "renounce peaceful calls and to carry weapons and join jihad for the sake of God ... We advise those in the Egyptian army to repent and to defect."
He described the militaries of Arab states as "armies of the oppressors," "renegades" and "infidels," especially the Egyptian army "which tries to prevent God's rule and establish secular rules."
He said 2011's Arab Spring uprisings went astray by focusing on rallies, rather than armed struggle.
Because Allah demands blood, apparently...
"Muslims who came out unarmed to remove injustice missed their way when they thought that redemption is achieved by getting rid of rulers and that change comes through demonstrations," he said.
He said dignity and freedom from oppression "can only be achieved through the rattle of the swords, shedding blood and sacrifice of life," he said.
He told Brotherhood members: "You have suffered yourselves from the reality of democracy and the loss of your power that you have sought for a century when the army snatched your power within one night and left you either arrested, dead or homeless."
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[Bangla Daily Star] Angry villagers yesterday beat four alleged robbers to death at different places of Hatiya upazila in Noakhali.
Locals caught the robbers while they were trying to flee from their hideouts as police have launched a special drive against criminals in the coastal area.
The dead are Ashraf, 35, chief of the infamous "Ashraf Bahini", his accomplice Kefayet Ullah, and two others, Osman and Sarwar, police said.
On Friday, two alleged robbers were lynched in the upazila. One was beaten to death while the other was killed in a "shootout" with police.
Meanwhile, ...back at the fist fight, Jake ducked another roundhouse, then parried with his left, then with his right, finally with his chin... police yesterday tossed in the slammer Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! 15 alleged robbers and recovered a light gun, three guns and 20 flares during the raid, said Noakhali Police Superintendent Anisur Rahman.
Ashraf, son of Asil Kerani of Mohammadpur village of the upazila, hid in the house of one of his sisters in Maijchara area on Friday night to escape arrest.
On information, locals besieged the house around 4:00am, said Anisur, quoting villagers.
Sensing trouble, Ashraf tried to flee the scene, but locals caught him after a good chase, the police officer said.
They then gave Ashraf a good beating, killing him on the spot, he added.
Ashraf was accused in at least 10 cases, including abduction, robbery and extortion, filed with different cop shoppes, said Khorshed Alam, officer-in-charge of Hatiya Police Station.
Kefayet Ullah, an accomplice of Ashraf, was killed in a mass beating in Kadira Sluice Gate area around 12:00 noon.
Two other alleged robbers -- Osman and Sarwar -- were lynched in Mohammadpur area around 2:30pm.
Police recovered the bodies and sent them to Noakhali Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsies.
Anisur said the drive against the robbers would continue until the area is free of criminals.
In 2003, more than 60 alleged robbers were reportedly killed in a similar pattern at Subarnachar upazila in the district.
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BAIDOA, Somalia - Hundreds of people took to the streets in Bay regional capital of Baidoa on Saturday against recently signed agreement between Federal Government of Somalia and Jubba Interim Administration, Garowe Online reports. The anti government rally was organized by the usual hooligans Bay regional administration and traditional elders and it commenced with demonstrators hoisting banners that read anti government slogans.
Addressing the crowd Malaq Ali Mumin, a well known traditional elder said, We have withdrawn our support from the Somali Federal government in Mogadishu, we call on parliamentarians and other federal government officials hailing from this region to come back.
Following growing tensions between Federal Government of Somalia and Bay and Bakool communities, a meeting held in Baidoa last Thursday by intellectuals and traditional elders announced that federal government officials are barred from arriving in Bay region.
In response to that decision, some Bay and Bakool parliamentarians urged the local communities and traditional elders to exercise responsibility.
The government led by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud signed an agreement with the current leader of Jubba Interim Administration Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe) on 28 August in Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
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[Bangla Daily Star] Two soldiers were killed in a firefight with communist guerrillas in the northern Philippines while in a separate clash police backed by helicopters stormed a rebel base near a mountain resort, officials said yesterday.
Up to 30 New People's Army (NPA) gunnies fought a two-day gunbattle with police forces near the resort town of Sagada, said Chief Superintendent Benjamin Magalong, the regional police chief.
"We used two ground-assault aircraft to neutralise snipers and improvised bombs at their camp," he told AFP in a telephone interview.
Sagada, which boasts caves, mountainside rice terraces and pine forests, is a town in the Cordillera mountain range that is popular with Western backpackers and local tourists escaping the tropical heat.
Magalong said civilians were in no danger during the fighting that ended Friday.
However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... two police special forces members were shot and maimed by rebel snipers on Thursday, leading to the decision to call in air support, Magalong said.
Elsewhere in the Cordillera, two soldiers were killed and three maimed in a separate firefight on the outskirts of Tabuk city on Thursday, an army statement said.
Cordillera police chief Magalong said the NPA camp that was overrun was a two-hectare (five-acre) training base hidden in a forest near the village of Aguid, at least four hours' hike from Sagada town centre.
All its defenders escaped, leaving behind guns, ammunition, improvised bombs, and documents, he added.
Sagada hotelier Karen Fiar-od told AFP residents learned about the fighting only from television and news websites.
"It's far from here, and it had no immediate effect on the local tourism situation," she said, adding local hotels had few guests anyway since it is the middle of the monsoon season in the area.
Magalong said the rebel camp violated an informal agreement that made Sagada a "peace zone" off limits to military and guerrilla units but not police over the past two decades, an arrangement that ensured tourist safety.
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[Al Ahram] Four police personnel were injured Saturday night in an armed attack by unknown assailants at the church of Abu Seifein on the outskirts of the Suez Canal city of Port Said. The police forces who were at the scene guarding the church were attacked by unknown assailants, who fired birdshot during a hit-and-run.
It remains unclear whether the assailants targeted the policemen or the church itself.
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[Dawn] Frontier Constabulary (FC) claim to have killed ten armed forces of Evil in 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... 's volatile Kech (Turbat) district on Saturday morning. Security forces launched a search operation in the troubled area after the forces of Evil attacked their convoy.
An FC official, who requested not to be named, said ten armed forces of Evil were killed and several others injured in a fierce battle in Mand area of Kech (Turbat) district.
He said two important commanders of a banned separatist group were also among the injured bully boys. "Since morning, severe battle is underway," he said.
He however did not confirm whether the injured forces of Evil were under the custody of security forces or not.
Both sides were using heavy weapons and more troops were dispatched to the restive Mand area to restore order.
FC Spokesman said forces had launched a search operation in the area following the attack on their convoy. "Forces did not suffer any human loss," he said.
The dead forces of Evil were yet to be identified since the search operation was still underway.
The situation turned tense and panic prevailed in the area after armed festivities.
Kech is the hometown of Balochistan Chief Minister, Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch. Armed forces of Evil have targeted security forces and pro-government politicians for over seven years.
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[Dawn] A US drone targeted a vehicle in North Wazoo tribal agency on Saturday, killing four suspected forces of Evil said to be of Turkmen origin.
According to local security officials and intelligence sources, the drone fired two missiles around 12:30 pm at a vehicle near a seminary in Hesokhel Musaki village in Mirali, around 40 kilometres east of Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , the main town in North Waziristan which is said to be a stronghold of Taliban and al Qaeda-linked krazed killers.
Multiple sources said four suspected were killed in the missile strike which destroyed the vehicle and severely damaged the walls of the seminary.
Intelligence officials said the four men were identified to be forces of Evil from Turkmenistan.
They said the funerals of the four were later offered in Mir Ali Tehsil and their bodies buried at the local graveyard.
Local krazed killer sources said the four foreigners, said to be members of the Islamic Movement Turkmenistan (IMT), were affiliated to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur faction of Talibs.
Bahadur is one of the most powerful krazed killer leaders in the North Waziristan border region, and is known to have links with foreign krazed killer groups.
He runs a coalition of various outfits in the tribal agency and is has close relations with the Haqqani group since the Soviet invasion. Reports suggest he is presently responsible for providing logistic support and other facilities to the Haqqani group.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella grabbed the cocoanut cream... Pakistain's foreign ministry condemned the strikes, calling them ''unilateral'' and a violation of Pakistain's illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity. ''Pakistain has repeatedly emphasized the importance of bringing an immediate end to drone strikes,'' it said, describing the policy as counter-productive and responsible for the deaths of innocent civilians.
''Such strikes also set dangerous precedents in the inter-state relations,'' it added.
US drone attacks are deeply unpopular in Pakistain, but Washington views them as a vital tool in their fight against Taliban and al Qaeda forces of Evil in Pakistain's semiautonomous tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
the four men were identified to be forces of Evil from Turkmenistan.
Once again we assist Pakistan in protecting its border integrity by terminating undocumented immigrants.
[Ynet] Disturbing clips released by rebels show blindfolded members of 'Shabiha' militia being shot to death
I did not watch the video at the link, as seeing disturbing things disturbs me.
I didn't, either. I disturb easily, too.
Syrian rebels operating in Quneitra uploaded to the Internet a number of videos over the past few days which document the execution of fighters who are loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... 's regime. The killings were carried out in retaliation for last week's chemical attack on rebel strongholds near Damascus.
One of the clips shows a blindfolded member of the pro-Assad 'Shabiha' militia being shot to death. Another video shows two Assad loyalists being shot to death.
The rebels who uploaded the disturbing videos took part in the capture of the Quneitra Crossing in June. The Syrian army later regained control of the border crossing.
The fighting in areas close to the border with Israel in the Golan Heights has subsided in recent days. The rebels control about 80% of the Quneitra region, but the Syrian army still controls strategic points in the area, including the Quneitra Crossing and the town of Khan Arnabah. Rebels affiliated with Global Jihad are continuing to establish their control in the southern Golan Heights.
Meanwhile, ...back at the saw mill, Scarface Al had tied Little Nell to the log and was about to turn on the buzz saw... Britannia's joint intelligence committee (JIC) concluded it is "highly likely" that the Assad regime was responsible for the chemical weapons attacks in Syria last week that have prompted moves towards launching military strikes.
In its assessment of the chemical weapons attack the JIC said the regime had launched at least 14 chemical weapons attacks in the past.
A US defense official said Thursday that the Navy has deployed a fifth destroyer to the eastern Mediterranean, as expectations grow of an imminent strike on Syria.
The USS Stout, a guided missile destroyer, is "in the Mediterranean, heading and moving east" to relieve the USS Mahan, said the official, who said both ships might remain in place for the time being.
[MIAMIHERALD] Senior administration officials say President Barack Obama I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money... had planned to take military action against Syria without congressional authorization, but told aides Friday night that he had changed his mind.
Obama announced Saturday that he wanted to launch a military strike, but would first seek politicians' approval.
The officials describe a president overriding all his top national security advisers, who believe consulting with Congress was sufficient.
The officials say Obama spent the week wrestling with Congress' role and made the decision Friday after a lengthy discussion with his chief of staff, Denis McDonough. They say Obama decided seeking approval would make the U.S. stronger even though he still believes he has the authority to act alone.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Something stuck to his golf shoe again? Those useful idiots doubting dems and French republicans will make it all go away. A bit more dithering should bring us back from the brink. All in all, a successful, low-cost diversion.
#3
The real question is that without Congressional approval and Constitutional authority to execute any military operation outside of immediate threat to the United States - aka outside the law, does such an act place the President in a position to be subject to international laws governing the acts and waging of war and thus surrenders the immunity of the office once left?
#5
does such an act place the President in a position to be subject to international laws governing the acts and waging of war and thus surrenders the immunity of the office once left?
Possibly. It may (Donald Sensing says it will) create a constitutional crisis.
Personally, if I was looking to force a decision on the legality of the War Powers Act, that would be the way to do it.
I'm skeptical. When Congress comes back, they spend a week posturing. The vote splits along party lines with just enough Dems defecting to throw it into No. Obama shrugs and says I tried to Do The Right Thing but the Evil Republicans stopped me. Man, those guys really suck. Sorry! More speechifying ensues.
#7
I dunno. There are enough "his guts, our blood" GOPers (Peter King, R-blowhard-NY) and "all wars are icky, always!" dems (take your pick) that it could be a bi-partisan squeaker either way. That'd really be a poke in the eye with a sharp stick for obooboo...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/01/2013 14:41
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#8
Bi-partisan squeaker on the side of the President, a no would have way too many ramifications for the body politik. A naw would be entertaining as hell tho, and historical even.
[An Nahar] As Leb reels from deadly kabooms that revived painful memories of the civil war, jittery authorities are banking on a smartphone application and other alert systems to prevent further bloodshed.
The attacks -- twin boom-mobiles in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... last week and a blast in a densely populated Beirut's southern suburbs eight days before -- have shaken the Lebanese just as a military strike on neighboring Syria appears imminent.
"See that car?", said Khairy Ghali, a 22-year-old waiter in a near-empty restaurant on Beirut's popular Hamra Street, pointing to a vehicle parked in front of the establishment's outdoor terrace.
"We don't know if there's anything in it... We're afraid, we come to work and we don't know if we'll go home or not."
Not content with the usual measures aimed at preventing further attacks, such as checking car trunks before vehicles enter vulnerable sites like malls and hotels, authorities have also decided to harness the power of smartphone technology.
The Lebanese army has launched an application called "LAF Shield" that allows citizens to take videos or photos of suspicious vehicles or objects and send them to the army command.
It also allows them to identify "dangerous sites" such as places where security incidents happened through an interactive site.
In a statement on its official website, the army said it aimed "to involve the largest numbers of citizens in defending the country."
Authorities have also called on people to put their names and telephone numbers in a visible place on their cars every time they park them, and more generally for residents to be ultra vigilant.
For the moment, the methods are working... almost to a fault.
"The operation room of the Internal Security Forces (the country's police) has been receiving more than 1,000 calls every day since the Beirut bombing from citizens all over Leb who tell us there are suspect cars," a security official told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"In some cases, it's clear that the vehicles are not suspect. Other times, police have to break windows and force open doors to inspect the vehicle," said the official, who wished to remain anonymous.
"But so far, all have been false alerts."
Photos circulating widely on social media also show signs posted on windscreens by jumpy drivers keen to avoid damage to their vehicles.
"It isn't booby-trapped. I'm nearby and will come back quickly," read one sign posted online.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
Yes, there is 'risk' associated, interring with The Natural Order, etc:
die·back [ dbàk ] plant decay: gradual decay that sets in at a plant's young shoots then works back to established stems or old wood, as a result of disease, seasonal change, or poor conditions
[An Nahar] The army announced on Saturday that it had jugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! two Lebanese in connection to the firing of rockets from southern Leb towards Israel.
The Army Command said in a statement that Youssef Mohammed al-Fleity and Omar Abdul Mawla al-Atrash confessed to transporting rockets from the Gazoo region in the Bekaa to individuals in the southern region of Tyre.
The rockets were since fired from al-Hawsh-Tyre region towards Israel on August 22.
Four Katyusha rockets were fired in the incident and Israel's Channel 2 said a rocket landed in the town of Nahariya.
The Israeli army said its Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted one of "three or four rockets fired from south of Tyre."
The other rockets did not land in Israeli territory.
Good lord -- the Palestinians on the Lebanese side of the border are as bad at missing entire countries as the ones in Gaza. An entire people whose theme should be
"Once ze rockets go up
Who cares vehr zey come down?
Dats not my depahtment,"
Said Werner von Braun.
The attack prompted Israeli warplanes the next day to strike a Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine-General Command (PFLP-GC) base in a valley in Naameh that lies 16 kilometers south of Beirut. The strike did not cause any casualties or material damage.
The PFLP-GC denied it was involved in the rocket attack.
On Friday, State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr ordered the arrest of two suspects linked to the incident.
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[Dawn] Sri Lankan customs agents claim to have seized 250 kilograms of heroin worth $19 million from a container sent from Pakistain, in what an official says was the largest-ever stock of heroin nabbed in South Asia.
Customs director Mali Piyasena says the heroin was found Friday at a terminal in the capital, Colombo. The heroin was concealed inside 17,500 small grease cans packed into a large container sent from 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... Piyasena says a Pak national and three Sri Lankans were incarcerated Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! in connection to the seizure and will be handed over to the police narcotics division after the completion of a customs investigation.
He says it was the largest-ever haul of heroin seized in South Asia.
Officials say Pakistain is primarily a transit country for opiates and heroin produced in Afghanistan and over 200 tonnes -- estimated to be worth between $25 and $30 billion -- annually passes through Pakistain "safely".
According to a report published in Dawn, Pakistain customs officials say between 210 and 240 tonnes of heroin was smuggled from Afghanistan and reached the global market after passing through Pakistain in the year 2011.
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[An Nahar] Divided over a conflict they failed to resolve diplomatically, Arab countries are powerless observers of possible U.S. strikes on Syria not designed to achieve what most of them want -- Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... 's downfall.
"The Arab countries are weak, preoccupied by their own internal affairs. Some of them care little about what will happen in Syria," said Emirati analyst Abdelkhaleq Abdallah.
"They are angry at the attitude of the international community which (they feel) has betrayed the Syrian people, but also by the fact that an Arab country is being targeted in unilateral strikes, without U.N. approval."
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... , which suspended Syria's membership in November 2011 and gave its seat to the main opposition group, has squarely accused the Assad regime of carrying out a chemical weapons attack in Damascus last week that killed hundreds.
U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... cited the pan-Arab body on Friday among a list of allies "ready to respond" to the chemicals weapons attack.
But influential League members, including Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, Leb and Tunisia, have expressed opposition to foreign military intervention in Syria.
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#1
"The Arab countries are weak, preoccupied by their own internal affairs. Some of them care little about what will happen in Syria... They are angry at the attitude of the international community which (they feel) has betrayed the Syrian people, but also by the fact that an Arab country is being targeted in unilateral strikes, without U.N. approval."
[Bangla Daily Star] Nineteen are traceless, five named twice, three alive. Six died in Narayanganj violence and one of heart attack. Slot number 10 is left vacant.
These are the holes a police investigation has found in the rights body "Odhikar's list of 61 people killed in the crackdown on Hefajat at Motijheel Shapla Chattar in the early hours of May 6."
The remaining 26 were not killed in the operation either.
Goodness. That does seem a tad excessive.
Police say they got the list in the documents seized from the Odhikar office and later released it to the media.
The Daily Star has conducted a quick investigation into some police claims and about 25 persons listed as dead.
According to police, Zahidul Islam Saurav of Nimai Kachari under Bagmara upazila of Rajshahi, Jasim Uddin of Comilla and Sohel, a student of Ujani Madrassa in Chandpur, are alive.
But our correspondents found no trace of Saurav and Jasim. There is no village called Nimai Kachari in Bagmara and neither law enforcers nor Hefajat leaders in Comilla could say anything about Jasim.
Can imaginary people be killed?
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Can imaginary people be killed?
It stands to reason that if they can vote, draw a paycheck and comment on blogs, they must be able to be killed.
[An Nahar] Tunisia's Islamist-led coalition has failed to agree with the opposition on how to end weeks of political deadlock, mediators said on Saturday, ahead of planned anti-government protests.
Tunisia was plunged into crisis by the July 25 liquidation of opposition MP Mohamed Brahmi, the second of its kind in six months, with both attacks blamed on krazed killerSalafists ...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... The powerful UGTT trade union, which has been playing the role of mediator, on Saturday presented the government's latest proposals on resolving the crisis to opposition group, the National Salvation Front (NSF).
But after the meeting, Hamma Hammami, a representative of the opposition, said the group had replied to the ruling coalition's proposals and that "the key to ending the crisis is in the (government's) hands."
Hammami refused to elaborate on the proposals, except to confirm reports that they envisaged a change of government by September 29 at the latest, after a month of national dialogue on the new cabinet and the future constitution.
But the NSF, a wide umbrella group of opposition parties, has repeatedly demanded the immediate resignation of the governing coalition, led by the moderate Islamist movement Ennahda.
It has refused to engage in any national dialogue until a non-partisan cabinet has been formed.
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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.
[IDMN.DALLASNEWS] Home bakers tasted victory two years ago when the Texas Cottage Food Law made their businesses legal.
[An Nahar] As U.N. inspectors crossed the border from Syria into 
[APNEWS.MYWAY] Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will officiate at a same-sex wedding this weekend in what is believed to be a first for a member of the nation's highest court.
[An Nahar] An Indian court found a teenager guilty on Saturday over the fatal gang-rape of a student in New Delhi, a crime that sparked revulsion and angry protests in the country, an official said.
[An Nahar] Congolese rebels on Saturday warned that they would battle to retake control in the country's troubled east if the government refused to halt its military offensive and begin negotiations.
[An Nahar] Speaker 
John 
Lindsey Graham
PARIS -- French President Francois Hollande reaffirmed to U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday his will to punish Syria for a suspected chemicals weapons attack but was under increasing pressure to put the intervention to parliament.
David Cameron
[An Nahar] Police in Pakistain's capital Islamabad foiled an attempted 
[WEEKLYSTANDARD] After delivering a statement on Syria this afternoon, Barack Obama jumped in the presidential limo and hit the links.
[An Nahar] A Vietnamese man's attempt to smuggle tropical fish into New Zealand in his pants floundered when he tried to get through customs with his pockets dripping water, officials said Friday.
At least 38 people have been killed in two weekend attacks in Nigeria blamed on 
[PROVIDENCEJOURNAL] -- President Barack Obama released a video message congratulating American Muslims on the many achievements and contributions they have made to American society from its early history to present day.
Najib Miqati
[An Nahar] Syria said it has its "finger on the trigger" as it braces for what it considers an imminent Western military strike, as U.S. President 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Nawaz Sharif
Hundreds of anti-war protesters carrying signs opposed to a military strike against Syria held a vocal demonstration Saturday at the White House, dpa reported. Using bull horns and holding a large banner reading "No war on Syria," the protesters called on President Barack Obama not to enter another war.
[Dawn] Three people 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
A leader of Al Qaeda's Iraqi branch called on Saturday on Egyptians to fight their army and derided the Muslim Brotherhood as "evil" for seeking power through democracy. The audio message by Abu Mohammed Al Adnani highlights the militant movement's attempt to use Egypt's July 3 coup, which toppled the country's first freely elected president, to bolster a hard-line ideology favouring armed struggle over peaceful politics.
Wazoo
[Ynet] Disturbing clips released by rebels show blindfolded members of 'Shabiha' militia being shot to death
[MIAMIHERALD] Senior administration officials say President 
[Dawn] Sri Lankan customs agents claim to have seized 250 kilograms of heroin worth $19 million from a container sent from Pakistain, in what an official says was the largest-ever stock of heroin nabbed in South Asia.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
