Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wept and asked God to spare his life during a pre-Easter Mass on Thursday after returning from his latest session of cancer treatment in Cuba.
Very little is known about the 57-year-old socialist leader's condition, including even what type of cancer he has. Chavez has undergone three operations in less than a year, and received two sessions of radiation treatment.
He says the latest surgery was successful, that he is recovering well and will be fit to win a new six-year term at an election in October. Yet big questions remain about his future, and on Thursday the strain appeared to show.
In a televised speech to the Catholic service in his home state of Barinas, Chavez cried and his voice broke as he eulogised Jesus, revolutionary fighter Ernesto "Che" Guevara and South American independence hero Simon Bolivar.
"Never forget that we are the children of giants ... I could not avoid some tears," the former soldier said, his parents and other relatives looking on from the church rows.
"Give me your crown, Jesus. Give me your cross, your thorns so that I may bleed. But give me life, because I have more to do for this country and these people. Do not take me yet," Chavez added, standing below an image of Jesus with the Crucifix.
An Indiana man was rushed to the hospital Wednesday after his scrotum was the victim of a vicious attack by an ex-girlfriend, The Smoking Gun reports.
The victim told police that his former girlfriend, Christina Reber, stormed into his apartment as he was innocently sitting at his computer. Reber, who he had severed ties with a few days earlier, first struck him on the head and then grabbed his scrotum and began "squeezing as hard as she could." Naturally, he told officers that he "was in incredible pain when [she] grabbed his scrotum and began digging in her fingers."
The police report indicates that the scrotum area was "completely torn loose from his body." Reber reportedly "refused to let go of his scrotum," but that the victim was finally able to remove his balls from her vice-like grip.
As if the story isn't already good enough, the victim, who has not been identified, was taken to BALL MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. As far as we know, the hospital is not only for scrotum-specific injuries.
In an interview two days after the incident, the man told police that after his ex was done breaking his balls, his family jewels are so swollen that he is unable to work, and he isn't sure if there will be permanent damage.
Reber was charged with two felonies: aggravated battery and illegally entering the victim's home. She was also charged with a misdemeanor domestic battery.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/06/2012 15:18
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#2
Well, people are voting with their wallets and their purchases. I hope that they get the firearms and ammo that they need.
The other thing is training. Just as important. You will fight like you trained. Also if you are doing pistol practice, you will need a variety of paper targets with various adversaries printed on them so you can get the vital zones down by instinct. Most adversaries do not have bull's eyes painted on their outlines.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/06/2012 15:22
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#3
Been known for a while, Frank G. Never hurts to remind oneself though given all the Hollyweird misdirection as they're portrayed in movies.
#5
Ruger had to stop accepting orders. They're working on the 1,000,000 that they already have. At least Obama has done something for one US industry. No bailout required. I was already armed and prepared.
#2
The 'poll' on this article's page asks two questions:
1. Yes, parents can figure this out.
2. No, obesity is a national health issue and this contributes to it.
I opted for #1, but just after I pressed the button, I remembered that this was the 'Golden State'. Many folks there aren't used to figuring stuff out by themselves any more.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/06/2012 12:45
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Palestinians stunned to discover that world, Israel's Left no longer care about them
In an almost desperate bid to counter the new historical trend, pro-Palestinian elements recently attempted to change direction and bring the Palestinian issue back to the agenda, through what they referred to as "Land Day." But they failed.
For dozens of years, Arab regimes dealt with Israel and the Palestinians artificially, in order to hide what went on in their own countries and divert the attention of the Arab masses outwardly. Yet today there is no longer a need for this, as the Arab world's real problems have emerged in force.
And so, from being a major issue, and possibly the main issue, the Palestinians were pushed down to the bottom of the priority list; their Land Day did not receive any substantial coverage, neither in the Arab world nor in the Western world.
Today, when the Muslim Middle East is disintegrating into religions, ethnic groups, minorities and distinct regions, when the slaughter in Syria is merely intensifying (the number of fatalities is already nearing 10,000,) when Libya's militias are killing each other, Yemen is crumbling and Egypt is facing deep trouble, it turns out that relatively speaking, the Palestinian issue is the most stable in the Mideast.
Truth be told, that was always the case, yet for self-interested reasons the situation was distorted by various elements.
The Palestinians encountered another grave calamity: Israel's public opinion lost interest in them. For dozens of years, Israel's leftist camp turned the Palestinians into its defining issue. Yet suddenly the Left discovered that Israel moved on and that the issue is no longer on its agenda. When the Left also discovered that the Palestinians have no interest in peace or negotiations, just like Syria's Assad, it replaced the Palestinian agenda with a new one, premised on social issues like cottage cheese and the tent protest.
The Obama administration's man in charge of squeezing Tehran over its nuclear program is unapologetic for the difficulties faced by banks in their dealings with Iran since the U.S. tightened sanctions against the country.
Companies that trade with Iran are struggling to get paid and the biggest Asian countries are scrambling to work around U.S. sanctions that aim to deprive Tehran of revenue needed to develop its nuclear program. "I don't feel apologetic about it because that is the consequence of these banks in Iran willingly facilitating transactions for Iran's nuclear programs," said David Cohen, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the U.S. Treasury Department.
"If they are going to do that, they shouldn't be accessible to the international financial system. They shouldn't be financial institutions that any reputable bank wants to deal with," Cohen said in an interview.
The pressure has forced Iran to listen to U.S. demands, he said. "Do we think we have the attention of the leadership on their end? We have it like never before," he added.
Cohen's comments were a strong display of administration confidence in the measures against Iran, even as their effects have rippled through the marketplace faster than many had expected.
J.P. Morgan warned on Thursday of an acceleration of Iranian oil cutbacks, predicting Iranian supplies could be slashed by one million barrels a day in the first of the year. Since January, the price of oil has shot up nearly 15 percent.
#3
DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > US FBI TAUGHT [Counter-Terrorism = CT] AGENTS THEY COULD "BEND OR SUSPEND" THE LAW.
The Fed helps them to escape or avoid Reprimand, Prosecution, Investigation, Litigation, Termination and Imprisonment, etc. in order to save their own credibility + that of the US Gov in general.
IFF YOU'RE WONDERING HOW THE BAD BOYZ, ETAL. GOT TO BE THEIR BOSS + HIGHER, + HOW 9-11, ETC. OCCURRED UNDER THEIR NOSE, WELL WONDER NO MORE.
THEY SERVE + PROTECT THE VERY CRIMINALS + TERRORISTS, ETAL. THEY ARE LOOKING FOR.
#4
Looks like INTEL-PYWAR + OWG SKYNET-MATRIX has struck again.
----------
Sanctions no longer needed? because ...
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > OBAMA: IRAN CAN HAVE NUCLEAR PROGRAM | AFP: US WILL ACCEPT IRAN CVILIAN UCLEAR PROGRAM.
* SAME > THE ATLANTIC [Magazine]: NO IRANIAN NUCLEAR DOMINO, in Middle East even iff Iran gets Nukes.
* SAME > TURKEY [FM]: IRAN SUPREME LEADER'S DECREE [Ayatollah Khamenei] FORBIDDING NUCLEAR WEAPONS WON'T BE DISOBEYED, in Iran.
* SAME > FRANCE: IRAN MUST BOW | WSJ: FRANCE:
IRAN MUST TAKE FIRST NUCLEAR STEPS, to prove or demonstrate to G5+1 Powers at upcoming Nuclear Talks that it does not desire nor will dev Nuclear Weapons.
E-V-A-R!
versus
* OTOH SAME > US MISSLE DEFENSE SHIELD IN GULF[SecState Hillary] SIGNALS [pending]STRIKE ON IRAN: RUSSIAN LAWMAKER.
* SAME > [Rehash = 2008] "US MUST SHARE POWER IN NEW WORLD ORDER", SAYS TURKEY'S CONTROVERSIAL PRESIDENT [Gul].
Capitalism may be to blame for the lack of life on the planet Mars, Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday.
"I have always said, heard, that it would not be strange that there had been civilization on Mars, but maybe capitalism arrived there, imperialism arrived and finished off the planet," Chavez said in speech to mark World Water Day.
Chavez, who also holds capitalism responsible for many of the world's problems, warned that water supplies on Earth were drying up.
"Careful! Here on planet Earth where hundreds of years ago or less there were great forests, now there are deserts. Where there were rivers, there are deserts," Chavez said, sipping from a glass of water.
He added that the West's attacks on Libya were about water and oil reserves.
With her financial ability to extract money from people, she would have been appointed as a "bundler" for the Dems if she had been in the US Good point. She might have been seated next to Moo-chelle at the SOTU...
A 30-year-old Chinese woman was sentenced to death by a court in Wenzhou for "cheating" investors of 100.11 million yuan ($16 million) losing 94 million yuan in futures and gold trading, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.
The death sentence for Wang Caiping - who must first serve two years in prison - came days after Beijing launched a pilot program in Wenzhou to tame the informal private lending market to which the city's renowned entrepreneurs often turn.
Xinhua said Wang borrowed the money between January and October 2010 promising to buy equipment, invest in property and open credit guarantee firms, but instead used the cash to speculate in futures and gold trading along with her elder brother, Wang Guanglin, who is still at large.
After heavy losses, including 30 million yuan in September 2010 alone, Wang tried to negotiate with some of her creditors in November 2010, but they turned her over to police after the meeting broke up, Xinhua reported.
According to Xinhua, Wang said the 15 people had voluntarily given her money in return for handsome interest payments.
One of Wang's defense lawyers said the futures investment activities were legal and criminal charges against her were unfounded, Xinhua said.
But the intermediary court of Wenzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang province, ruled that Wang had committed the "crime of fraud of financing" and sentenced to death for the huge sum of money involved, Xinhua added.
#3
Geez guys, maybe we should send all of our Wall Street types to China.
Crazy. $16 million is chump change in our financial industry. If we shot everyone that embezzled over $16 million, there would be no one left to answer the phones.
Corzine is a lightweight in this kind of fraud. The clowns that pulled off the mortgage backed security scam took TRILLIONS out of our economy and from the Fed. Who says crime doesn't pay.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
04/06/2012 10:34
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#4
Maybe that was her problem...she just didn't steal enough.
#5
The entire reason China, especially Wenzhou, has a private lending market is that THE BANKS WON'T LEND MONEY. No way, no sir. They only lend to giant companies, at sweetheart rates. Wenzhou is much, much more entrepreneurial than the rest of China, no surprise the lending markets appeared here.
#7
The entire reason China, especially Wenzhou, has a private lending market is that THE BANKS WON'T LEND MONEY. No way, no sir. They only lend to giant companies, at sweetheart rates. Wenzhou is much, much more entrepreneurial than the rest of China, no surprise the lending markets appeared here.
March NFP big miss at just 120K. Unemployment rate declines from 8.3% to 8.2%. Futures slide, for at least a few minutes before the NEW QE TM rumor starts spreading. The household survey actually posted a decline in March from 142,065 to 142,034. Considering Birth Death added 90K to the NSA number, the actual number was almost unchanged. And as always, as we predicted when Goldman hiked its NFP forecast yesterday from 175K to 200K saying "if Goldman's recent predictive track record is any indication, tomorrow's NFP will be a disaster", Goldie once again skewers everyone. Finally, Joe LaVorgna's +250,000 forecast was just 100% off... as usual.
The unemployment rate drops to 8.2% for one simple reason: the number of people not in the labor force is back to all time highs: 87,897,000.
#1
the number of people not in the labor force is back to all time highs: 87,897,000
They never report the most interesting parts: (1) how many in that group were unemployed and voted for Obama in 2008, (2) how many in (1) will vote for him again, and (3) how many in the whole group will vote to re-elect him.
#2
And thus, Virgina, the Fed Govt. desires to ...
* CHINA DAILY FORUM > US: EVEN WORSE THAN THE SOPO [or PIPA], NEW CISPA CYBERSECURITY BILL WILL CENSOR THE WEB.
US HR3523.
Oer in the UK, the Brits are only now complaining about what has been occurring vee "Creeping", Super-Regulatory Authoritarian? = Totalitarian? Censorship + Monitoring of the Net = Personal Communications, Mail, etc. for at least 10 years.
A Chinese freighter has been hijacked by pirates off southern Iran, the Chinese Embassy in Tehran reported on Friday. The cargo ship, the Xianghuamen, belongs to Nanjing Ocean Shipping Co Ltd in Nanjing, eastern China, the embassy said in a posting on its website.
The ship was commandeered Friday morning in the Gulf of Oman near the south Iranian port of Chabahar, the embassy said.
The embassy is in touch with Iranian authorities and has asked the government to take all necessary steps to recover the vessel and its crew safely, according to the statement.
There were no other details, including the number of pirates or crew members.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/06/2012 12:36
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#3
Some interesting points here: Not clear if this was in international waters or the territorial waters of Iran. It looks like it might be within waters. If so, NOT a good pirate move. Plus with China -- they need to step up their pirate game a bit. Again, not a good idea for the Pirates -plus they picked on a "friend " of Iran. My bet - pirates will lose this one.
Hungarian anti-terror police have been dispatched to a village near Budapest after a man killed four people with a sword. The killer injured three others and may have taken hostages after the attack on Friday morning.
The drama was unfolding in the village of Kulcs, about 37 miles south of the capital. Police said they had identified the killer and were preparing to publish his photo.
Anti-terror police, a rescue helicopter and three ambulances were dispatched to the village in Fejer county. Fejer police spokeswoman Agnes Szabo said, "We are after the perpetrator of a very serious, multiple homicide."
One TV station has reported the killings took place in a family home where seven people lived. The motive and circumstances were not clear, the channel said.
Csanad Horvath, 24, was detained near the scene of the killings in an area of moorland in the village of Kulcs, around 60 kilometers (40 miles) outside the capital Budapest.
The MTI state news agency quoted police sources as saying Horvath had killed his father, his grandparents and his older brother following a row.
His mother, sister and a close relative were also badly injured in the attack and were now being treated in hospital.
#8
Family quarrel? We all know the real reason for this kind of violence is the easy access to swords in Hungary which is, of course, due to the weak sword legislation in the United States.
Yemen's defense ministry reports that two suspected suicide bombers have died in an explosion outside an intelligence building in the southern city of Aden. The men killed in Friday's blast in the al-Mansoura district were believed to have links to al Qaeda.
"Two suicide bombers belonging to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network were killed when their motorbike exploded... early on Friday in al-Mansoura," the defense ministry website said, adding that the intended target of the attack was a branch of the political security services.
A security official was quoted as saying, "The bomb-laden motorbike exploded with the two suicide bombers whose bodies were left in pieces before they managed to carry out their suicide attack that targetted a branch of the political security services in Mansura."
Security services had identified one of the two bombers as Fawaz al-Subaihi, who lived in the neighborhood where the attack took place. An investigation is currently working to identify the body of the second attacker, which was said to have been ripped to shreds.
A witness said Subaihi owned an area shop and "has no links to Al-Qaeda". The witness, who identified Subaihi by his remains, said the second attacker's body had been "torn to pieces".
#1
They should tie these body parts together and hang 'em from poles in the public square as an object lesson. While the stink might be offensive in a lot of places I'm not sure it would be noticable there.
A senior Chinese diplomat said on Friday an attack on Iran would invite devastating retaliation that would envelop the region and destabilise the global economic recovery, and added that the international community had to restrain itself from war.
Iran is locked in a dispute with the West over its nuclear programme, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes.
Israel and the United States have threatened military action against Iran unless it abandons activities which the West suspects are intended to develop nuclear weapons.
China, which has close energy and trade ties with Iran, has urged a negotiated solution to the dispute and long opposed the use of force or unilateral sanctions on Iran.
The comments by Chen Xiaodong, head of the Foreign Ministry's West Asia and North African affairs division, was China's strongest warning yet not to use force to resolve the dispute.
"If force is used on Iran, it will certainly incur retaliation, cause an even greater military clash, worsen turmoil in the region, threaten the security of the Strait of Hormuz and other strategic passages, drive up global oil prices and strike a blow at the world economic recovery," he said.
"There may be 10,000 reasons to go to war but you cannot remedy the terrible consequences of plunging the people into misery and suffering and the collapse of society and the economy caused by the flames of war," Chen said on a web chat hosted by Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily.
Speculation is growing that Israel could launch some form of strike against Iranian nuclear installations, which Israel sees as a threat to its existence.
#2
OOOOOOOOOOO, you just know Israel is going to go not-in-a-good-way ballistic when they learn the US = POTUS Bammer will accept a [conditional] Iran Civilian NucEnergy Program???
IMO Israel has little to no faith that Iran + pro-Islamist, post-Arab/Muslim Spring" Govts-States, other "Rogues" will prevent dangerous NucTechs from getting into the hands of Radical Islamist MilTerrs + aligned violent NGOS.
E.g. DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS [paraph]> ISRAELI NEWS: NUCLEAR IRAN + PAKISTAN TOGETHER MAKE A BIGGER/WORSE MESS.
-------------
FYI looks like the pressure on CHINA is itself increasing in the South China Sea.
To wit,
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > SOUTH CHINA SEA IS "PROPERTY OF THE WHOLE WORLD":INDIA.
Indian External Affairs Minister SM KRISHNA gives Indjuh's response to China' warning from yesterday vee Indo-Viet Oil, Energy joint exploration + development in China-claimed areas of the SCS.
* SAME > THE US IS TRYING TO CHOKE CHINA.
* SAME > BLOOMBERG: GAZPROM EXPANDS AFTER GAINING TWO OFFSHORE BLOCKS.
Beijing is reminded that it will also have to deal wid MOSCOW = RUSSIA in the SCS, besides the US + India + improved Vietnamese firepower + Japan, ASEAN, Iran-Pak-Turkic Navies, etc.
#3
OOOOOPPPSIes, FORGOT INDIAN DEFENCE FORUM > CHINA DOESN'T THINK THE IS AWESOME [nor Trustworthy any longer].
ARTIC = As far as China is concerned, US ACTIONS IN ASIA IS DESIGNED TO CONTAIN OR COUNTER CHINA.
On a separate note, SOME GUAM LOCALS believe that NORTH KOREA'S UPCOMING "SPACE ROCKET/
SATELLITE" LAUNCH CAN EASILY BE TARGETED/
VECTORED AGZ GUAM AS AGZ AUSTRALIA OR PHILIPPINES, ETC???
A security source says the Barisan Revolusi Nasional Coordinate insurgent group plans to infiltrate Songkhla's Hat Yai district in preparation for a possible fresh strike.
Intelligence reports indicate that Masae Useng, a suspected leader of the group, had sent terrorists insurgents from Narathiwat and Yala provinces to pose as businessmen to gather information in Hat Yai to prepare for another attack. They will work with another group of terrorists insurgents based in Songkhla led by Jema Wani and Pado Kongkhwai.
Songkhla's internal security operations office has ordered all vehicles and motorcycles traveling in the commercial area of Hat Yai to leave open their backs and pillions as part of security precautions.
The Police Operating Center for the Southern Border Provinces has issued a warning to watch out for five stolen pickup trucks that could be used as car bombs. The warning said eight pickup trucks and sedans were stolen in eight incidents between July 19, 2006, and March 29 this year in the deep south, and six of the owners were killed. Three of those vehicles were used as car bombs last weekend _ two in Yala municipality and one at the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel.
In Pattani, Pol Maj Gen Pichet Pititseth, the provincial police chief, has told plain-clothes officers to investigate garages suspected of modifying vehicles used by terrorists insurgents in car bombings.
In Panare district, Ha Masalae, the owner of a car care shop, was gunned down and Masukree Masalae, his son, was injured when they were attacked yesterday.
#1
Said it before: Search for Amman, truck, bombing, 2004. The Jordanian cops busted it before it went down. It was a big deal. Included poison gas. Now, where did that stuff come from? It's illegal, you know.
One thing you won't find in looking into that is any curiosity--officially and publicly--about the origin.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
04/06/2012 7:40
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#2
The United States has offered to help any post-Assad government secure Syrias stockpiles of chemical weapons and anti-aircraft missiles.
Somehow I seriously doubt this offer will gain the approval of the Assad gov't, the Russians, Chinese, or any emerging Mulsim Brotherhood regime.
I do think the liberal ninnies and thumbsucking nebishes over in Foggy Bottom are a bit surprised though.
When we we get some reality on Islam?
It was all right there in T.E. Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" for the reading. He called it then for what it was and our State Department acts as if each revelation of the dark face of Islam is a surprise and a new development.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
04/06/2012 10:30
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#4
I'm shocked, shocked to learn the Moslem Brotherhood reneged on its promises.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
04/06/2012 12:08
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#5
The US-NATO/EU + Israel coordinating wid new AQ El Supremo Zawahiri's Muslim Brotherhood agz Hezbollah + Iran.
D *** NGED MEL GIBSON!
[Shaking AM Fritter angrily].
[1781 CORNWALLIS' SURRENDER AT YORKTOWN = "THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN" here].
#6
Re: MuzzBro Cash-bundler Team visit to Pharaoh's WH yesterday, this will really make your hearts sing over the Easter weekend (at the link)...
http://lucianne.com/thread/?artnum=674453
#1
The proposed Sino-Thai "Kra Canal" Project, control of any + all International trade flows via Straits of Malaccas, + MALAYO-INDONESIAN CALIPHATE.
Lest we fergit, the GWOT + Islamist Jihad > as much as an INTER-MUSLIM COMPETITION AMONG MAJOR OR HISTORICAL ISLAMIC CENTRES OF THOUGHT + MILPOL POWER, as it is vee Islam/Islamism-vs-Non-Islam.
Pragmatically, 'tis the waging of Jihad WHERE THE US-NATO + GREAT POWERS ARE NOT, or in alternate WHERE THEIR INFLUENCE IS WEAK = NOT WELL/STRONGLY ESTABLISHED.
A United States court on Thursday sentenced a Russian arms trafficker to 25 years in prison for conspiring to kill US nationals and for providing weapons to a terrorist organization in Latin America, dpa reported.
And we're never, ever going to know the full story of his fall...
Judge Shira Scheindlin of the Federal District Court in New York City also fined Viktor Bout 15 million dollars. A jury had found him guilty of counts of conspiring to kill US citizens who assisted the government in Colombia more than a decade ago in the fight against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The US has declared FARC a terrorist organization.
Bout, 45, was also accused by Washington of trying to sell FARC 20 million dollars' worth of anti-aircraft missiles, other weapons and ammunition. He was convicted in November 2011.
The former Soviet Air Force officer was arrested in Thailand in March 2008 in a sting operation orchestrated by the US Drug Enforcement Administration and later extradited to the United States to stand trial for trying to kill US citizens.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2012
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#2
OK...so State got their prize. Now what? Swap? Pardon? Early release due to medical condition? If Viktor is truely looking at 25 years there's gonna be some skeletons comming out of closets...literally.
#4
Bout goes to jail for selling guns to FARC but Eric Holder sells guns to Mexican drug cartels and he's still the AG. Sounds like we're making a much bigger deal out of this than Bout is worth. I mean, it's not like he's the only arms dealer who ever walked the planet.
Iran's state-run Press TV is reporting the country has stopped selling oil to 2 Greek oil companies because they failed to pay their bills.
Thursday's report by the English-language channel says the two companies that have been barred from purchasing Iranian crude are Hellenic Petroleum and Motor Oil Hellas.
After Grad rocket hits Eilat, Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi tells new Military Intelligence officers Sinai will be characterized by 'increased instability' in coming years
Over the past two months the army has exposed more than 10 terror cells in the Egyptian-controlled Sinai Peninsula, IDF Military Intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi revealed Thursday.
Terrorists fired a Grad rocket at Eilat early on Thursday morning. No injuries or damage were reported.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony for new Military Intelligence officers, Kochavi said, "The Middle East, which has the highest pace of armament in the world, is changing its ultimate character beyond recognition. The winds of change may be carrying opportunity and a new message, but in the short and medium terms the risks are increasing. One of them is the Sinai sector. The attack on Eilat, the shooting attacks that emanated from Sinai -- these are mere expressions of the fundamental change the region is undergoing.
"Meanwhile, ...back at the argument, Jane reached into her purse for her .38... terror organizations are continuing to strengthen their hold (on Sinai). We will have to prepare for the security-related instability that will characterize this sector in the coming years," he said.
Earlier, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, IDF Chief of Staff Lt-Gen Benny Gantz, GOC Southern Command Maj-Gen Tal Russo and Military Intelligence Chief Kochavi met to discuss the rocket fire on Eilat.
The IDF has been on high alert across the Israel-Egypt border following several attempts to mount terror attacks in the sector.
"The situation in Sinai requires a different kind of deployment," Barak said. "This was a serious incident. We're studying it and we will go after those who fired on Eilat and targeted Israeli citizens."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also commented on the rocket fire on Eilat, saying that the defense establishment is "well aware of the fact that Sinai is turning into a rocket launching pad for terrorists.
"We are building a fence. It can't stop missiles but we will find a solution for that. We will strike those who aim to harm us," he said.
The IDF estimates that three rockets were fired towards Eilat at around midnight. One of them went kaboom! not far from a residential area, while two others were not located as of yet.
In December, The Jerusalem Post reported how Hamas had established rocket production lines in the Sinai and was also moving some of its weapons caches there to protect them from Israeli airstrikes
#1
IIRC TOPIX > NETANYAHU: SINAI NOW A "TERROR HAVEN", agz Israel.
Israelis are repor also becom increasingly worried or fearful that the 1979 Begin-Sadat Accords will be abrogated = nulled by the post-Mubarak, Muslim Brotherhood-led Govt. in Egypt.
JAKARTA, Indonesia: Four foreign victims of the 2002 Bali bombings testified Thursday in the trial of an Indonesian militant accused of helping to build the massive car bomb used in the terrorist attack.
Australians Jason McCartney, Peter Hughes and Stuart Anstee and American Steven William Cabler told an Indonesian court how explosives carried in a backpack and a van destroyed two packed nightclubs. The attack was Asias most deadly terror strike and killed 202 people, including 88 Australians and seven Americans.
Umar Patek, 45, a leading member of the Al-Qaeda-linked network Jemaah Islamiyah, was arrested last year in Pakistan. He is the last key suspect to be tried in the Bali bombings and faces a possible death penalty if found guilty of various terror-related and criminal charges.
Prosecutors plan to use the testimonies of the foreign victims to support their sentencing demand.
Their specific stories are at the link.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2012
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Sudan's al-Intiba newspaper reported that Israeli organizations have started transferring logistical and military equipment to South Sudan forces.
According to the report, jets belonging to an unknown organization have been landing at a Sudan airport at 3 am every day unloading missiles, military equipment and African mercenaries.
#2
Israel + Muslim Brotherhood working together, or at least NOT shooting at each other - whudda thunk such a thingy would occur during the Cold War or even after 9-11???
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik and some other officials had a narrow escape on Thursday when their aircraft made an emergency landing in Dera Allahyar, according to media reports. A special aircraft carrying Rehman Malik and other government officials made an emergency landing shortly after taking off. The aircraft had developed technical problems, a TV news channel quoted officials as saying. All passengers on board the aircraft, including Malik, remained safe. The pilot informed the control tower of technical problems and then made the emergency landing, they said.
The exact nature of the technical problems could not be immediately ascertained.
Insh'allan maintenance...
Posted by: Steve White ||
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AFP - The United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... agency for Paleostinian refugees is cancelling its annual summer camps for children in the Gazoo Strip, saying it has failed to raise enough money.
"It was decided to stop the Summer Games programme in the Gazoo Strip for 2012 due to not having received sufficient funding from donors, that is $9.9 million (7.5 million euros)," said Adnan Abu Hasna, front man for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in Gazoo.
Continued on Page 49
AFP - More than 2,300 Syrian refugees poured into Turkey during a 24-hour period, bringing to 22,000 the total number of Syrians seeking haven in the neighbouring country, a Turkish official told AFP on Thursday.
Turkey is home to a growing number of refugees fleeing the unrest in Syria, where more than 9,000 people have been killed since March last year, according to UN figures.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , said 2,350 refugees crossed the border during a single day.
Turkey says it's ready to extend help to the Syrians, but it also fears the number of arrivals could soar to the level of the half-million Iraqi Kurds who poured across the border to escape Saddam Hussein's repression during the 1991 Gulf War.
Turkish officials have contingency plans in the event of a larger-scale incursion as Syrian regime forces storm opposition towns near the Turkish border.
Currently, the government has set up nine locations including eight tented camps and a "container city" in Kilis, some 150 kilometres (95 miles) east of the Hatay camps, to deal with the influx.
Turkey, which is also playing host to a large Syrian opposition community including rebels defecting from the army, has broken a former alliance with the Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... regime and urged Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... to quit.
AFP - Iraq has approved a request from Kuwait's Jazeera Airways to operate services to Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... and Najaf, more than 20 years after direct flights between the neighbours were halted, officials said Thursday.
Nasser Hussein Bandar, the head of Iraq's civil aviation authority, said Jazeera Airways, which was founded in 2004, had requested four flights a week to Storied Baghdad and four more to the central Iraq city Najaf.
Karim al-Nuri, an adviser to Iraq's transport minister, confirmed that a deal was approved.
"This is a step on the path to resolve all the suspended files between Iraq and Kuwait," including unresolved disputes over borders, said Nuri.
AFP - A Paleostinian man suspected of mediating in the contested sale of a house in Hebron to Jewish settlers has been jugged, Paleostinian security sources told AFP on Thursday.
Israeli security forces on Wednesday evicted a group of settlers from a house in the West Bank city, a day after they were ordered to leave the property.
Six settler families had moved into the property a week ago, claiming they had legally purchased one floor of the building from its Paleostinian owners.
Paleostinian sources in Hebron said the property belonged to the Abu Rajab family, some of whom live on the first floor of the building, and that it was possible that a member of the family had sold the second floor of the house.
But the buyer was not settlers, rather a Paleostinian man originally from the Gazoo Strip, who is suspected of acting as a middle-man for Jewish groups involved in buying Paleostinian assets, the Paleostinian security sources said.
This go-between, who worked for Paleostinian national security in Ramallah before retiring, was jugged earlier this week by Paleostinian security forces, and was being held in Ramallah, the sources said.
They added that the member of the Abu Rajab family believed to have sold the asset to the middle-man had "beat feet to Israel."
The Israeli defence ministry said following the eviction that it would continue to examine the legal aspects of the property deal.
The house is near the contested religious site known as the Cave of the Patriarchs (or the Machpelah Cave) to Jews and the Ibrahimi Mosque to Mohammedans.
Hebron is the largest Paleostinian city in the West Bank, home to some 190,000 Paleostinian residents, but also a core of around 600 Israeli settlers who live in the heart of the city protected by a large Israeli military presence.
Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,has denied responsibility Nope. Wudn't us. for Wednesday's Grad rocket fire on Eilat. The group said in a statement that "The Israeli leadership's claims about the rocket fire from Sinai are false."
Hamas added that the Israeli accusations "are an attempt to pave the way for more aggressive operations in Gazoo."
QUETTA: Three security personnel were killed and another two were injured in a remote-controlled bomb blast in Turbat on Thursday.
The FC convoy came under attack near Mand in Turbat District. According to official sources, unidentified people planted an explosive device along with road in Balingor near Mand and detonated it when the convoy moved.
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WASHINGTON: The United States said on Wednesday it was ready to relax some sanctions on Myanmar to recognize its fledgling democratic transition, including a ban on US companies investing in or offering financial services to the country.
However, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stressed the Obama administration wanted to move cautiously, saying that the resource-rich Southeast Asian country has a long way to go to shake off decades of military rule.
Clinton hailed as a dramatic demonstration of popular will Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyis gaining of a seat in the lower house in a parliamentary by-election on Sunday which yielded a landslide victory for her party.
We fully recognize and embrace the progress that has taken place and we will continue our policy of engagement, Clinton said in a brief appearance before reporters three days after Suu Kyis party won 43 of 45 seats available in the by-election.
The package Clinton unveiled on Wednesday reflected a modest first step toward lifting the complex web of US sanctions that have contributed to the countrys isolation for decades.
The United States will seek to name an ambassador to Myanmar after an absence of two decades, to set up an office of the US Agency for International Development there and to support a regular UN Development Program operation in the country.
Clinton also said the United States was committed to beginning the process of a targeted easing of our ban on the export of US financial services and investment as part of a broader effort to help accelerate economic modernization and political reform. She provided no details.
Clinton said the United States was also ready to allow private US aid groups to pursue non-profit activities on projects such as democracy building, health and education and to give select Myanmar officials and lawmakers permission to visit the United States, relaxing long-standing visa bans.
US officials said they want Myanmar to free all political prisoners, lift restrictions on those who have already been released, seek national reconciliation, especially with ethnic groups that say they have long been oppressed by the central government, and to end any military ties to North Korea.
Walter Lohman of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, welcomed the cautious US approach, saying some steps should wait until after a 2015 election in which 75 percent of parliamentary seats in Myanmar will be contested.
We need to reserve some ammunition for the real goal - the 2015 general election. Lets not give it away too quickly, he said, saying he favored easing the visa bans, opening a USAID office and sending an ambassador but reserved judgment on easing the financial sanctions until there is more detail.
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#1
See also DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Boris Vokhontsky = Senior Fellow, RISS] THE 200 [or 2500] marINes, OR A STRATEGIC PIVOT: VOICE OF RUSSIA.
ARTIC > Among other, Boris argues that the US is trying to set itself up in Myanmar = Burma as part of its anti-China containment strategy throughout Asia-Pacific, + slowly minimize iff not eliminate China's historical influence in Myanmar + Region.
* ION CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > [Asia Times] THE US AS NUMBER TWO [No.2], behind Rising China.
ARTIC = Despite appearances to the contrary, there are indications that China is ALREADY WELL-AHEAD OF THE WORLD #1 US IN MANY ASPECTS.
* SAME > SMALL WARS LOOM LARGE ON CHINA'S HORIZON.
RELATED DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US NAVAL WAR COLLEGE PROFESSOR: CHINA COULD CRUSH VIETNAM + PHILIPPINES.
* SAME > CHINA'S MILITARY RISE: THE DRAGON'S NEW TEETH - A RARE LOOK INSIDE THE WORLD'S BIGGEST MIGGEST EXPANSION.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > ROK-US TROOPS DRILLED FOR INVASION OF NORTH KOREA UPON CIVIL WAR.
Premise of recent "Key Resolve" US-ROK Joint MILEX involved sending into the DPRK up to 100,000 troops to stabilize the country.
Again, China is unlikely to tolerate such unless China is in de facto charge of any pertinent Internat Force - as long as the ROK + US + UNCOM stay south of the Inter-Korean DMZ, China likely won't mil intervene in a DPRK-vs-ROK only shooting match back-n-forth across same.
AND LETS NOT FERGIT RUSSIA!?
* SAME > CHINA + ITS SUPPORT FOR PAK MAIN THREATS [to India]: ARMY.
* SAME > KEEP OFF SOUTH CHINA SEA, INDIA WARNED, by China again as per Oil-Energy Exploration.
ARTIC > CHINA = " ... NO JOINT COOPERATION IN ANY OF ITS CLAIMED MARITIME AREAS".
IMO China is not referring to just Indjuh, but also to any + all ASEAN + NAM GOVTS-STATES, + SSSSSSHHHHH the US - it is PC-Deniably becom more frustrated + intolerant at not having "sole/sovereign" Air, Naval Base Rights, etc. for the PLA vee the "First Island Chain"???
CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned home Wednesday night after his latest round of radiation therapy treatment in Cuba.
Chavez said he has been recovering well after a February surgery in Havana that removed a second tumor from his pelvic region.
"So far, fortunately there hasn't been any adverse reaction to the treatment," Chavez said. "All the exams that have been carried out have shown positive results of physical recovery."
Chavez underwent his second round of daily radiation treatments this week. He began the treatments in late March and has said he plans to have a total of five rounds to help prevent a recurrence of his illness.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2012
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#1
Does this call for the toast graphic I hope? A recurrence of tumors after chemo is not a good sign IIRC.
#2
Brazilian media is reporting that ailing Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will make an emergency trip to Brazil after allegedly suffering intestinal burns during his radiation treatment in Cuba.
"So far, fortunately there hasn't been any adverse reaction to the treatment," Chavez said Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. "All the exams that have been carried out have shown positive results of physical recovery."
However, the Brazilian daily O Globo reported a rumor from Venezuelan journalist Nelson Bocaranda that Chávez could be headed to the hospital Sirio e Libanês in Sao Paulo.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/06/2012 8:14
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Brazilian media is reporting that ailing Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will make an emergency trip to Brazil after allegedly suffering intestinal burns during his radiation treatment in Cuba.
Blackadder Dead (adj): As dead as a...great big dead thing.
Oz Dead (adj): Not only merely dead, but really most sincerely dead.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/06/2012 8:48
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#5
"Go for the pelvic region and the rest of the body will follow."
Is radiation enteritis an inevitable side effect of any effective treatment or is it more likely a result of medical malpractice?
Posted by: Phomonter Dark Lord of the Bunions8205 ||
04/06/2012 18:30
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Radiation enteritis
Changes in bowel movements may include:
* Bleeding or mucus from the rectum
* Diarrhea or watery stools
* Feeling the need to have a bowel movement most or all of the time
* Pain in the rectal area, especially during bowel movements
Other symptoms can include:
* Loss of appetite
* Nausea and vomiting
* Stomach cramping or pain
When symptoms become long-term (chronic), other problems may include:
* Bloody diarrhea
* Greasy or fatty stools
* Weight loss
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
04/06/2012 18:43
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"Ohhhh, radiation enteritis, huh? Man, that's painful. Hurts to eat, hurts to poop, hurts to move around."
Awwwwwww - ain't that just too bad....
Hurry up and die, Yugo - your commie buddies are waiting in HELL for you to join them.
Posted by: Barbara ||
04/06/2012 20:10
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#11
I suspect those symptoms are particularly acute when the sufferer is generally conceded to be a giant asshole
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/06/2012 21:19
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[TOLOnews] - Afghan Army Commandos are ready to take responsibility for the contentious night raids independently of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... -led forces, the army special forces chief General Sayed Abdul Karim said at the seventh graduation ceremony of Afghan commandos in Kabul Thursday.
The commandos were fit to launch operations against cut-throats in Afghanistan, Karim told the people attending the graduation of the 144 new commandos, saying the cut-throats did not have the ability to resist and fight against the Afghan special forces.
His comments were a pointed reference to the ongoing negotiation between the US and Afghanistan over army night raids on Afghan homes, undertaken to combat orc activity.
Director of Infrastructure for the Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Mohammad Moein Faqir added that the support of Afghan people for the national forces was necessary for in order to be able to destroy the insurgency.
"Your enemies don't want you to have a peaceful Afghanistan so be decisive and irreconcilable [to their ideas]," he said.
Karim said the seventh graduation has brought the total number of Afghan soldiers with special forces training to more than 1000.
US officials said Tuesday that an agreement between the US and Afghanistan over the night raids was close, even "days away". The deal is expected to put Afghans in the lead for night raids and call for Afghan judges to issue warrants for the operations, officials said.
Afghan forces currently lead about 40 percent of the night raids, according to Pentagon press secretary George Little.
#2
Will they be tucking in American troops and guarding them also? Was it some of those suave well trained Afbros that let the bomber in that blew up a half dozen spooks?
Posted by: Jack Grundy2854 ||
04/06/2012 19:22
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Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... recently declared number of new surface-to-air missile systems operational; IDF modifies way it flies in North, particularly when conducting missions over Leb.
Despite the ongoing internal unrest, Syria is continuing to upgrade its military capabilities and recently declared a number of new surface-to-air missile systems (SAMs) operational.
Over the past year, Syria has received a number of SA- 17 batteries from Russia under a deal signed several years ago. Two batteries are already reportedly operational and deployed along Syria's border with Leb. A third is undergoing training.
As a result, the IDF has modified the way it flies in the North and particularly when conducting missions over Leb, where it continues to fly to gather intelligence on Hezbullies activities.
Also known as the Buk System, the SA-17 has a range of about 30 km. and can intercept multiple targets flying at altitudes of over 40,000 feet. The launchers are mounted on trucks and are mobile, making them difficult targets.
Another system that recently became operational is the Yakhont anti-ship missile which has the Israeli Navy concerned about the possibility that it will also be transferred to Hezbullies ahead of a future conflict. Syria already tested the Yakhnot in recent maneuvers and it is said to be a sophisticated missile with a range of about 300 km.
"The military is not overly affected by the resistance and is continuing with its procurement plans as well as the integration of new capabilities into operational service," a senior IDF officer recently explained.
In addition to establishing the new SAM batteries, Syria is also believed to be in talks with Russia about upgrading some of its older model combat aircraft with structural overhauls as well as the installation of new avionics.
Syria is believed to have invested billions of dollars in the past 10 years in new SAMs aimed at undermining Israel's ability to operate in Syria or Leb in a future war. Israel fears that some of the systems might make their way into Hezbullies hands in Leb such as the SA-8 truckmounted system.
Israel is concerned with the increase in the transfer of weaponry from Syria to Leb in recent months. Hezbullies is believed to have obtained several dozen more M-600 long-range missiles, as well as additional 302 mm. Khaibar-1 rockets, which have a range of about 100 km.
It is already believed to have a significant arsenal of M600s, which are manufactured in Syria as a clone of Iran's Fateh-110. The M600 has a range of around 300 km. It can carry a half-ton warhead and has superior accuracy.
Israel's primary concern is with the possibility that Hezbullies will get its hands on some of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.
Western countries have prepared various contingency plans for such a scenario, including the possible bombing of such a convoy if it were detected and the possible insertion of commando forces to secure the chemical stockpile if and when Assad falls.
AFP - Overnight blasts in southeastern Turkey on Thursday temporarily shut down a pipeline pumping oil from Iraq, with Kurdish rebels suspected to be behind the kabooms, authorities said.
Three blasts hit the section of the pipeline running near the border city of Idil in the Sirnak province, sparking a fire, said a statement by the Sirnak regional government.
The blaze was put out around 0730 GMT, it said, adding that an operation has been launched for those responsible.
Militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, have sabotaged the pipeline several times in the past as part of its armed campaign against the Ankara government.
The pipeline has also been repeatedly attacked by Sunni Arab cut-throats inside Iraq since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.
The 970-kilometre (600-mile) pipeline runs from Iraq's northern oil hub of Kirkuk to the port of Ceyhan on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, pumping 450,000 to 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
ABU DHABI: The Foreign Ministry of the UAE has shut down offices of some foreign organizations because they have violated the countrys rules.
Either countries are playing follow the leader or the various governments out there are really steamed about the Quangos, and have decided not to put up with them any more.
In a statement, Dr. Abdul Rahim Al Awadhi, assistant UAE foreign minister for legal affairs, said these institutions violated the terms of their licenses.
Some foreign institutions were operating without licenses. This obliged the legal authorities to issue instructions that they should cease their work in the UAE, WAM quoted Al-Awadhi as saying. He did not name the affected institutions.
There were media reports that the Dubai office of the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Abu Dhabi office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, an organization based in Germany, were shut down last week.
The NDI is a US-funded pro-democracy group and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation has close ties with German Chancellor Angela Merkels party, Union of Christian Democrats.
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Diora Baird aka Bailey in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)" aka Rachel in "My Best Friend's Girl (2008)" aka Jamie in "Young People F#*king (2007)" aka Lily in "South of Heaven (2008)" aka Sammi Lovett in "Concrete Blondes (2012)" (age 30)
AFP - Iraq's runaway Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi has accused Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite government of waging a systematic campaign against Sunni Arabs in Iraq.
In an interview with the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera network aired late on Wednesday, Hashemi said the accusations against him of running a death squad "have a sectarian dimension," noting that he is the "fifth Sunni figure to be targeted" by Iraq's Shiite-led government.
"More than 90 percent of the detainees in Iraq are Sunnis," said Hashemi, who pledged to return to Iraq to carry out his vice presidential duties despite Maliki's demands for him to face trial.
Hashemi sharply criticised Maliki, saying that "corruption in the country is widespread" and warning that the prime minister's policies were threatening "the unity of Iraq."
Hashemi also alleged that Maliki's government is providing "military assistance" to Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... 's regime, arguing that his support for Syria's leadership, which he has previously accused of funding terrorism, is motivated by sectarian considerations.
"There is information about Iraqi militias fighting alongside the Syrian regime," Hashemi told Al-Jazeera. There are also "unconfirmed reports that Iraq's airspace is being used to help (Assad's) regime," he added, hinting at Iranian involvement.
Maliki has rejected attempts by Sunni-led Gulf Arab states to arm Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow Assad, arguing that such a move will trigger an even bigger crisis in the region.
The Syrian uprising has raised regional sectarian tensions.
Syria's minority rulers are Alawites -- an offshoot of Shiite Islam -- who are trying to cling to power by brutally suppressing anti-regime protests led by the country's majority Sunnis.
In Iraq, a Shiite-dominated government has ruled over the minority Sunni Arabs since the 2003 US-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein.
Hashemi spoke to Al-Jazeera in Doha during a controversial four-day visit that sparked a wave of criticism by Iraq's Shiite leadership, which demanded that Qatar extradite the runaway leader.
Qatar rejected Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... 's request, saying it violated "diplomatic norms."
Hashemi travelled to Soddy Arabia on Wednesday, where he met Prince Saud al-Faisal, the kingdom's foreign minister.
He has said he would return to Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdistan, which he decamped to in December.
Long story but more detail, including another rebel faction run by al-Qaeda sympathizers.
BAMAKO, Mali: The rebel group that recently seized control of Mali's remote north in a maneuver that effectively partitioned the country in two announced a cease-fire Thursday, saying they had reached their military goal.
Moussa Ag Assarid, a spokesman for the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad, said the group was declaring the cease-fire to allow humanitarian aid to resume in the north, where shops were looted.
In Ivory Coast, the military chiefs of the nations bordering Mali met Thursday to hash out their plan for a military intervention. Deputy Ivorian Defense Minister Paul Koffi Koffi said military action is being considered both to reverse the coup that deposed Mali's president last month, as well as to preserve Mali's territorial integrity after the rebel advance in the north. He instructed the army chiefs of the 15 nations in West Africa to draft a detailed plan, including how many troops each intends to send, how quickly they could ready them and what logistical means they plan to contribute.
There's a plan that will die quietly...
In Paris, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France is ready to help African forces on a logistical level. The chief of staff of the French army, Adm. Edouard Guillaud, traveled Thursday to Burkina Faso to discuss details with the president.
The rebels launched their insurgency in January, saying they wanted to establish an independent Tuareg homeland in the north, known as the Azawad.
You boys definitely need a new name for your homeland...
They only succeeded in taking small towns until March 21, when disgruntled soldiers stormed the presidential palace in the distant capital of Bamako, overthrowing the democratically elected president. In the confusion that followed the coup, the rebels launched a new offensive and succeeded in taking the capitals of the three main northern provinces, including Kidal, which fell last Friday, Gao on Saturday and Timbuktu on Sunday.
"The NMLA has reached the end of its military operations for the liberation of the territory of the Azawad," said Assarid, speaking by telephone from Paris.
"Since the day before yesterday when our units reached Douentza which we consider to be the frontier of the Azawad," he said, referring to a town some 600 kilometers (375 miles) from Bamako, "the military offensive is declared over."
Assarid's group is the largest rebel group involved in the offensive, but it is not the only one, and in the three main towns in the north, local officials say they cannot be sure which of the rebel armies has the upper hand. Western observers have expressed concern over the presence of an Islamist faction called Ansar Dine, which planted its ominous black flag in all three of the provincial capitals. This week, the group announced it was imposing Sharia law in the ancient city of Timbuktu.
The mayor of Timbuktu said nearly all of the estimated 300 Christians based in the city fled after Ansar Dine's spiritual chief Iyad Ag Ghali gave an interview on local radio outlining the tenets of Sharia law: Women are to be covered at all times, thieves will have their hands cut off and adulterers will be stoned.
"The problem for us is that we don't know who is the master of our town," said the mayor, Ousmane Halle, who explained that the Islamist faction had taken over the city's military camp, while the secular rebels were stationed at the airport.
"What I deplore is the departure of the Christian community," he said. The city has been honored as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its collection of ancient Islamic manuscripts, propagating a moderate interpretation of the religion.
"Many said to me that they are obliged to leave," he said. "And they are right. I cannot guarantee their safety. And these are people that have lived side by side with us for centuries."
Once a diplomat assigned to Mali's consulate in Saudi Arabia,
ah-ha...
the Islamist leader Ag Ghali used to be in regular contact with the United States Embassy in Bamako, according to diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks. For years, he was a Tuareg rebel leader and acted as a go-between when foreigners were kidnapped by a branch of Al-Qaeda based in the north of Mali. Although he is believed to be in touch with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, there is no evidence that he himself has taken part in terrorist activities.
The imposition of Sharia has worried analysts and country watchers. Besides Timbuktu, the Ansar Dine faction is accused of destroying bars in Gao and Kidal, and of forcing shopkeepers there to take down pictures of unveiled women.
On Thursday, gunmen seized seven workers from Algeria's consulate in Gao. Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci told the state news agency Thursday the group was forced to leave the consulate and taken to an unknown location. He added that the government was mobilized to ensure their release as soon as possible.
In Abidjan, where the military chiefs were meeting, the head of Ivory Coast's army said that the possible link between the rebels and terrorism is reason enough for a possible military intervention.
"The advance of the National Liberation Movement of Azawad, associated with terrorist groups like AQIM and Ansar Dine and others, gives sufficient reason to the entire region to be put on notice," said Gen. Soumaila Bakayoko.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
So like these a$$holes to say "Okay we won (for now) so everybody has to stop shooting."
Let's see what Obamanation says about this next opportunity to distract the US from his ongoing disaster.
LUBBOCK, Texas - A Texas judge presiding over the case of a Saudi student accused of attempting to build and detonate bombs against targets including the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush has recused himself before the scheduled start of the trial.
US District Judge Sam Cummings issued the order Wednesday without explanation, and it was unclear on Thursday whether the trial would be reset.
US District Judge Donald Walter of Louisiana was appointed on Thursday to handle the case. The appointment was made by US District Judge Sidney Fitzwater of Texas.
Khalid Aldawsari, a 21-year-old Saudi citizen who came to the United States on a student visa, was scheduled to stand trial later this month on a charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
The Saudi national is accused of targeting several U.S. locations, including power plants, nightclubs and Bush's home in Dallas. He was incarcerated in February 2011 after authorities said he tried to purchase a large amount of a suspicious chemical.
#3
Can't really tell what's going on. Someone with more experience want to interpret the events of this video?
Gromky, small craft with pirates approaches vessel from the starboard side, Security personnel open fire, small craft impacts hull of larger vessel, (probably because driver is dead) security continues to fire at pirates in the water.
The second engagement, pirates seemed to veer away as they started taking fire. Couldn't really tell because the production values were poor. :-)
Some denizens of the deep got to eat well!
If they would start a TV reality show with this sort of fare, I'd start watching TV again.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
04/06/2012 11:53
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#4
a Somali safari on the seas. I'd pay for a week or two. No limit, no catch-and-release
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/06/2012 12:29
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#5
"The second engagement, pirates seemed to veer away as they started taking fire. Couldn't really tell because the production values were poor. :-)"
You have to be kidding. Do you think this was tv show or movie?
AFP - Salafist sheikh Hazem Abu Ismail could be barred from pursuing his bid for Egypt's presidency because his mother held a US passport, the electoral commission said on Thursday.
Under the electoral law, all candidates for the presidency, their parents and their wives must have only Egyptian citizenship.
Commission chief Hatem Begato said the agency had received information according to which Ismail's mother had "used an American passport for travel to and from Egypt" before her death.
A statement given to journalists said "Nawal Abdel Aziz Nur, the mother of presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, held a US passport with the number 500611598."
Citing the interior ministry's passport department, it said she had used the document for travel to the United States and Germany, as well as within Egypt.
The commission said files would be examined on April 12 and 13 and that any candidate not fulfilling the requirements would be informed. Those rejected would then have 48 hours to appeal.
The final list of candidates will be announced on April 26, the statement said.
Abu Ismail's supporters have said they will demonstrate in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday to protest against the possible invalidation of his candidacy.
Abu Ismail launched his candidacy on March 30 with a large motorcade that headed to the electoral commission headquarters in Cairo.
He advocates a strict interpretation of Islam similar to the one practised in Soddy Arabia and has become a familiar sight in Cairo, with his posters adorning many cars and micro buses.
The May election will mark the beginning of a handover of power by the ruling military to an elected civilian leader, following last year's popular uprising that overthrew veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... Abu Ismail will compete with more moderate Islamist candidates, such as senior Moslem Brüderbund figure Khairat El-Shater, as well as former regime figures such as Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa ... who has been head of the Arab League since about the time Jerry and Dean split up ... , an ex-foreign minister who headed the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... , and former premier Ahmed Shafiq.
Islamists have made big strides since Mubarak's ouster, winning majorities in elections to both houses of parliament.
The Moslem Brüderbund's Freedom and Justice Party won the most seats in parliamentary elections earlier this year, but the Salafists ...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... captured nearly a quarter themselves.
Iran's crude oil production could fall 1 million barrels per day by the end of June to below 2.5 million bpd, JPMorgan said in note to clients on Thursday, saying refiners have cut demand for oil from the Islamic Republic faster than previously expected.
In one of the largest forecasts yet on the effects of U.S. and European Union sanctions, JPMorgan's energy research team said evidence of deep cuts in Iranian crude imports by European, South African and Japanese refineries so far this year, and expected further cuts from others, had not yet been offset by Chinese buying, Reuters reported.
"In total, the reported shifts ... may account for a further reduction of nearly 300,000 bpd in Iranian crude sales during April, which would imply lost sales are now approaching 700,000 bpd below January levels," wrote JPMorgan's energy research team, led by former International Energy Agency (IEA) analyst Lawrence Eagles.
"This is substantially faster than we expected and with likely further adjustments to come ... it would imply output could continue to push down below 2.5 million bpd by the time the embargoes are officially implemented, a net loss of 1 million bpd from January's level," the note stated.
U.S. and EU sanctions on countries importing Iran's crude oil exports are to go into effect by July 1.
The United States has been leaning on countries to reduce their imports of Iranian crude as part of broad-based sanctions aimed at pressuring Tehran to curb its nuclear program, which the West suspects is a cover to develop atomic weapons but which Iran says is purely civilian.
Countries risk being cut off from the U.S. financial system unless they can show they have taken steps to substantially reduce their reliance on Iranian oil, though some traders and analysts have questioned Washington's willingness to target China and India, Iran's two largest oil customers.
So far the United States has given waivers to Japan and 10 EU countries who have cut back on purchases.
Champ loves his waivers...
Japanese refiners will cut Iranian crude imports further again in April as they shy away from renewing annual contracts.
Reuters reported in late March than Iran's oil exports had fallen by 300,000 bpd, or 14 percent, in the previous month.
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See also FREEREPUBLIC > GLOBAL OIL PRODUCTION TROUBLE - ITS NOT JUST IRAN.
Oil produc hold-ups, snafus + glitches, in various international regions.
I still say that, all things equal, as per "PEAK OIL/GAS/RESOURCES" the greatest single threat stems from lack of common consensus among US-World Govts + Perts - DITTO AS PER SOLAR-VS-MAN-MADE GWCC.
E.g. last month's "PEAK FLORA/TREES/WOOD" = this month's "PEAK TUNA/FISH" [again]???
#2
Article as usual omits perspective. From Wikipedia: 2011 daily world oil production was 87.5 million barrels. Of this Russia produced 10.5, Saudi Arabia 8.8, USA 7.8. No data posted for Iran more recently than 2009.
News articles always talk about prospective demand and seldom about actual production.
Sadly, nothing to do with skiing, chocolates, or cheese fondue. But surely it's a good sign when they start developing their own dialect of English...
[TOLOnews] - A jacket wallah detonated his body-borne explosives outside a girl's school in northeastern Badkahshan province on Thursday, killing an Afghan local police (ALP) chief and one other person.
Sixteen others were maimed in the attack which took place in the Kishim district in the afternoon.
ALP chief Nazok Mir, an area elder who commanded Afghan fighters against the Soviets in the 1960s, was killed by the kaboom, according to the head of the 303 Pamir corps in northern Afghanistan, Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai.
Most of the casualties were civilians, Ahmadzai added.
No group, including the Taliban, has yet grabbed credit for the attack.
The attack comes as eight ALP personnel were killed in a Taliban attack late Wednesday in western Farah province, and nine other ALP men were killed in Paktika ...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo... on Friday by a fellow policeman who, according to Taliban, returned to join the thug group.
A pilot made an emergency landing during a flight in Australia, reportedly telling air traffic controllers, "Look, you're not going to believe this. I've got snakes on a plane." Samuel L. Jackson to the White Courtesy Phone
Australia's ABC News reported that Braden Blennerhassett, 26, swiftly put the Air Frontier plane on the ground after making the unusual mayday call during a flight from Darwin to the remote town of Peppimenarti on Tuesday. Air Frontier offers charter and scenic flights throughout Australia's northern territory.
"My blood pressure and heart rate was a bit elevated -- it was an interesting experience," Blennerhassett told Nine News. "As the plane was landing, the snake was crawling down my leg, which was frightening." They'd of had to use a high pressure washer to clean out that plane if it was me in there.
On the ground, a firefighter discovered that the snake that crawled down Blennerhassett's leg was not alone -- a green tree frog was also on the aircraft, Nine News reported. No other wildlife was found, and both animals had disappeared by the time a wildlife ranger came for them.
It is thought the snake, believed to be a non-venomous green tree snake, may have been hunting the frog, Nine News said.
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D *** NG IT, we know the Truth - the Frog planned the whole thing!
Nicolas Sarkozy warned French voters Thursday they should re-elect him as president to pursue his cost-cutting plans or face the kind of debt crises that have gripped Greece and Spain.
Or elect him and end up like Italy...
Speaking at the launch of his manifesto, just 17 days before the first round of voting, Sarkozy said France faced a "historic choice" between his austerity measures or a disastrous return to uncontrolled spending.
"Certain countries in Europe are today on the edge of a precipice," he warned, promising that under his continued leadership France could rediscover "competitiveness, innovation, investment, reduced spending."
Sarkozy accused his Socialist challenger Francois Hollande of promising "a festival of new spending that no-one knows how to pay for, as if the world did not exist, Europe did not exist, the crisis did not exist.
"The situation today that our Spanish friends are going through, that our Greek friends have gone through, reminds us of reality. Look at the situation in Spain, after seven years of Socialist rule," he said.
Spain's budget minister admitted this week that Madrid is in a "critical situation" as government debt and unemployment surge higher -- mirroring the problems that led Greece to seek an EU and IMF bail-out last year.
Hollande responded with scorn, declaring the manifesto launch contained no ideas that had not been floated before, and arguing that it demonstrated that Sarkozy "has nothing to offer but austerity".
"It's a extension of his mistakes and failures. He planned a great event, then nothing came of it. All the measures he picked out, we'd heard before. It's like his record in office, but worse," said Hollande.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Scott Walker should use a variant of this "vote for me or end up like Illinois"
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said that it has been decided to impose a full closure on the West Bank ahead of Passover. It will be lifted on Saturday following a status evaluation.
Passage into Israel will only be allowed in humanitarian, medical and special cases, subject to the Civil Administration's approval.
KARACHI: Terrorists carried the day as seven policemen were killed in suicide and gun attacks in the city on Thursday.
In one of the incidents, a suicide bomber struck the convoy of Malir SSP Rao Anwar, killing four people and wounding 16 others. The SSP, who was in an armoured personnel carrier (APC), remained unhurt. Anwar claimed he was the target of the blast, which tore through a busy area lined with market stalls at around 10:30am.
The officer said agencies had warned him against such an attack a month ago.
[Following the warning], I had reduced my squad to avert a major loss of life, the SSP said, blaming the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for the strike.
Earlier, there were reports that the bomber, riding a motorbike, had hit the APC. Authorities, however, later said the attacker was standing by a road stall near Malir Halt intersection and jumped in front of the APC as the SSPs convoy passed by.
Officials of Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) and other rescue teams reached the site after the bombing and moved the bodies and injured to hospital. According to BDS, five kilogrammes of explosives had been used in the blast.
The day started with the target killing of three police officials in PIB Colony an area that has been in the grip of violence for the last week or so. Police said armed men, riding nearly half-a-dozen motorbikes and two cars, ambushed a Ferozabad police car and opened fire. Assistant sub-inspector Dhani Bukhsh and constables Ramzan Brohi and Muhammad Nisar were killed in the attack near Mina Bazaar, Aata Chakki bus stop.
The attack took place little before 5am, said Inspector Shahrukh, who is also PIB SHO. It occurred very early in the morning and there are multiple witness accounts that led us to determine that the attackers were on motorbikes and cars, the SHO added.
The attackers used 9mm and 30-bore pistols as well as sub-machine guns, said an investigator, adding, They attacked the police car from a very close range.
Sindh Home Minister Sindh Manzoor Wassan said that a conspiracy had been hatched to disturb order in the city. Speaking to reporters, he said some forces were trying to stir ethnic riots in Karachi.
DIG (East) Tahir Naveed blamed anti-state elements for the bombing of the SSPs convoy. He, however, ruled out any link between the bomb attack and ambush in PIB Colony.
An officer tasked with probing the attack on Rao Anwar said he had found leads about involvement of TTP and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in the bombing.
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvis Qari Attaur Rehman is seemed to be behind this attack, the officer told Daily Times on condition of anonymity.
SSP Rao Anwar has no history of being in a direct combat with terrorists from TTP. He has, however, been in association with CID SSP Chaudhry Aslam for operations against anti-state elements. Aslam is a frontline officer in the war against terrorism and his Defence residence was blown up in a terrorist bombing last year.
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Pakenstein's monster seems to be getting beyond its control. Not unlike Mary Shelley's creation.
IDF chief Gantz unveils new policy whereby any firing from Gazoo, Sinai will be met with attack on Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, fire from Leb will result in attack on Hezbullies and any overseas attack will prompt response against Iran
IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz on Thursday declared a change in army police whereby any firing at Israel's south will be met with an attack on Hamas, regardless of the group behind the fire. Similarly, any firing from Leb will result in an attack on Hezbullies, and any terror attack by Iran's emissaries overseas will prompt a response against Tehran.
Speaking at a conference in the Gelilot base, Gantz discussed the many threats Israel faces. "The IDF is Israel's sharpened sword and protector," he noted. He also addressed the firing of rockets at Eilat on Wednesday night.
It is estimated that three rockets were fired from Sinai, one of which went kaboom! near residential buildings. The remaining two rockets have yet to be found. There were no injuries. Egyptian officials denied that the rockets had been fired from Sinai, and one security official said the Israeli reports were erroneous.
Referring to last month's round of violence in the south, Gantz said: "After disrupting a lethal terror attack, we endured attacks from the Gazoo Strip for which Hamas was responsible. We acted with determination and caused grave damage to the terror organization. We proved once again that we are able to protect the lives of Israeli civilians and strike those who seek to harm us with force."
Gantz warned that "anyone who tries to test us, domestically or overseas, will find a sophisticated army ready to defend Israel and subdue its enemies."
Alluding to recent terror attacks in India, Thailand and Georgia, the IDF chief said, "We know the source of these attacks and those behind them must know that Israel's long arm will ultimately reach anyone who seeks to harm Israeli civilians and the Jewish people, Whether in Gazoo, Leb or anywhere else."
Jerusalem police and Shin Bet have placed in long-term storage in recent weeks 19 youths who reside in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of At-Tur on suspicion of plotting to attack Jews with rocks and Molotov cocktails and to torch cars. Some of the suspects were released due to their young age.
[AFP] - One man was killed and two others left fighting for their lives after a gunman opened fire on Thursday on a group of youths outside a hospital in Berlin, police said.
"A young man of 22, of immigrant origin, was killed and two young men were seriously wounded. Their lives are in danger," said a police spokesperson.
The spokesperson could not confirm the nationality of the victim but the attack took place in the Neukoelln district of the German capital, which has a large community of Turkish immigrants and their descendants.
Media reports said all five men in the group were of Turkish origin.
Police said they were now hunting the gunman who fled on foot.
"The attack took place around 1:15 am [23:15 GMT]. We do not know what witnesses saw but we are interviewing them," the spokesperson added.
Deadly street shootings are rare in Germany, which has strict gun laws.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria faced pressure from all sides at the United Nations on Thursday as U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan set a precise deadline for an end to the conflict with clear backing from Russia, China and the rest of the U.N. Security Council.
Speaking by video link from Geneva, Annan told the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly he was urging "the government and the opposition commanders to issue clear instructions so that the message reaches across the country, down to the fighter and soldier at the local level" at 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) on April 12.
"We must silence the tanks, helicopters, mortars, guns and stop all other forms of violence too - sexual abuse, torture, executions, abductions, destruction of homes, forced displacement and other abuses, including on children," he said.
Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari, however, hinted at a possible loophole in Annan's peace plan, which does not refer to the withdrawal of police forces. He told reporters the police were not covered by the April 10 deadline because "the deployment of the police is to protect the civilians."
By beating them to death...
Opposition activists say the army and police have been responsible for killing civilians in the government's yearlong attempt to stamp out pro-democracy demonstrations.
The former U.N. chief spoke after the 15-nation Security Council unanimously adopted a "presidential statement" endorsing next week's deadline and warning Damascus of "further steps" if it did not meet the deadline, which the Syrians have accepted. Annan's precise deadline and the latest council statement on the conflict backed by China and Russia, Syria's staunch ally and arms supplier, were the most recent examples of how U.N. pressure on Damascus to halt its yearlong assault is steadily increasing.
Russia and China twice vetoed resolutions condemning Syria, but in a diplomatic setback for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have recently supported several statements urging Damascus to accept Annan's plan and allow humanitarian aid workers access. It said the council "calls upon the Syrian government to implement urgently and visibly its commitments ... to a) cease troop movements toward population centers, b) cease all use of heavy weapons in such centers, and c) begin pullback of military concentrations in and around population centers."
The statement urges Damascus to "fulfill these in their entirety by no later than 10 April, 2012."
An earlier draft, obtained by Reuters, said the council "demands" compliance from Damascus. Western diplomats said the text was watered down to secure Russian and Chinese approval.
The agreed statement includes a second deadline that affects the opposition as well: "The Security Council calls upon all parties, including the opposition, to cease armed violence in all its forms within 48 hours of the implementation in their entirety by the Syrian government of measures a, b, c."
Annan made clear the second deadline for silencing all guns in accordance with his six-point peace plan will take effect at 6 a.m. Syrian time on April 12. In addition to a truce, Annan's plan calls for dialogue between the government and opposition on a "political transition" for the country.
Ja'afari blasted the president of the General Assembly, Qatar's U.N. Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser, for holding Thursday's meeting on the Syrian conflict. Ja'afari said he was using the assembly to push the agenda of Qatar, which supports arming Syria's rebels.
"The PGA (president of the General Assembly) has misused his post ... to impose on member states the Qatari and Saudi agendas," he said, referring to the "so-called Syrian crisis."
"The PGA is a biased person, deceiving all of us, cheating on his mandate ... serving his national agenda," Ja'afari said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the General Assembly that the violence in Syria was getting worse, despite Damascus' official acceptance of Annan's plan.
The Security Council statement asked Annan to update it on compliance with the timeline and warned that it "will consider further steps as appropriate." Russia and China, however, have made clear they would oppose any attempts to sanction Syria. The council also asks Ban Ki-moon to present proposals for a U.N. observer mission to monitor compliance with any future truce. As part of Annan's peace plan, the U.N. peacekeeping department is planning for a ceasefire monitoring mission that would have 200 to 250 unarmed observers. It would require a Security Council resolution.
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AFP - The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees is cancelling its annual summer camps for children in the Gaza Strip, saying it has failed to raise enough money.
"Great, just great, now how're we ever going to teach little Fatima how to explode herself on a Zionist bus?"
"It was decided to stop the Summer Games programme in the Gaza Strip for 2012 due to not having received sufficient funding from donors, that is $9.9 million (7.5 million euros)," said Adnan Abu Hasna, spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in Gaza.
He told AFP that UNRWA had received pledges of $3.3 million, "but that's not enough to cover expenses. That's why we decided to allocate these funds to basic humanitarian services and resume the games in 2013 if we get the necessary financial support," he said.
UNRWA's "Summer Games" programme caters to around 250,000 children at 1,200 sites in the Gaza Strip during six weeks of summer holidays.
Last year and in 2010 campsites were vandalised by unknown attackers but activities still carried on.
The attacks were blamed on Muslim extremists who view the camps as a symbol of Western corruption because boys and girls mingle freely.
Abu Hasna said that the cancellation of this year's events was a blow to the children and to around 9,000 older Palestinian youths who would have had summer jobs helping to run the camps.
UNRWA cares for nearly five million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, including more than one million in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Long piece about Hezbollah's intentions in the U.S. The current prevailing opinion is that the Hezbies make too much money here to want to conduct violent operations. But then, it's Hezbollah.
WASHINGTON - The warning last month from Representative Peter King, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, was blunt: An investigation by his staff had determined that "hundreds" of people he described as "Iranian and Hezbollah terrorists" were in the United States. But interviews with U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials, as well as private experts, about the Iranian-sponsored group paint a more nuanced picture. There is a threat, though whether it is imminent or extensive is far from clear, they say.
Mr. King sometimes plays to the cheap seats but it's a real concern.
An alarming part of the officials' assessments focuses on the apparent surveillance missions that Iranian diplomats and possible Hezbollah operatives have been seen conducting at sensitive targets such as New York subways and bridges, and at nuclear power plants and tunnels elsewhere in the United States in the past 10 years.
PNG the Iranian diplomats and arrest the Hezbollah operatives.
At the same time, U.S. officials caution that Hezbollah, a Shiite militia based in Lebanon, has largely avoided attacking U.S. targets since it carried out mass-casualty bombings in the 1980s against the U.S. Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut. One reason may be that it does not want to endanger its lucrative North American fund-raising operations.
The renewed focus on Hezbollah - which U.S. counter-terrorism officials regard as the most potent and disciplined of Islamic militant groups, even more so than al Qaeda - comes amid a growing confrontation over Iran's nuclear program.
An Israeli or U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear sites could prompt Hezbollah to change strategy, moving from surveillance and fund-raising in North America to launching retaliatory attacks on either country, several U.S. officials said.
Iranian-inspired surveillance missions in the United States have been scattered over a period of years. But, when combined with a handful of recent attacks or plots around the world, they have contributed to an assessment within the U.S. government that considerable violence directed against U.S. targets - at overseas installations or businesses, or at American soil - could follow any strike on Iran's nuclear program.
U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials, along with private experts, say there is little doubt Hezbollah has an extensive network of supporters, fund-raisers and potential operatives in the United States.
A law enforcement official said that the New York Police Department, whose monitoring of Muslim communities has prompted political controversy, believes that between 200 and 300 Hezbollah sympathizers live in New York City. Between 10 and 20 of those are relatives of Hezbollah leaders or fighters who were killed in action, said the official.
The NYPD's knowledge of Hezbollah's infrastructure is sufficiently detailed that it has identified three Lebanese towns - Bint Jbeil, Yanoun and Yatar - to which suspected sympathizers of the group have ties. At least a handful of people in New York connected with Hezbollah have also undergone military training in Lebanon, the official said.
A preliminary report issued by investigators for King, a New York Republican, said that pinpointing the number of Hezbollah operatives inside the United States was difficult because of the group's operational security. The committee report nonetheless cited the estimates of "some officials" that the group "likely" has "several thousand sympathetic donors" in the United States as well as "hundreds" of operatives.
But other officials familiar with up-to-date U.S. intelligence on Hezbollah said there was a big difference between a Hezbollah "supporter" and someone who would be willing to engage in violent activity. The officials said such distinctions have been blurred in public discussions about the domestic threat the group allegedly poses.
Over the years, U.S. federal authorities have brought numerous criminal cases against alleged Hezbollah operatives, most of them related to fund-raising or other support activity rather than plotting against U.S. targets.
The access to potential funding sources is one reason why Hezbollah has avoided targeting the United States or its interests, said Evan Kohlmann, an investigator who monitors militant websites for the government and private businesses.
"For the last 15 years, Hezbollah has regarded North America as a piggy bank," Kohlmann said.
Reliable figures for Hezbollah's fund-raising, which is done covertly, are not available.
Because the United States is such a critical source for funds and equipment such as night-vision devices that might be useful to its paramilitary operations, Kohlmann said, Hezbollah might be reluctant to embark on attacks inside the United States - even if prodded to do so by patrons in Iran. Attacks against U.S. targets overseas might be more likely, he said.
Kohlmann said that Hezbollah regards the U.S. as such an important supply point that the group supposedly has planted its own "procurement manager" somewhere in North America.
One factor heightening U.S. officials' concern about Hezbollah-related attacks is the accumulation of accounts of alleged attempts by Iranian operatives to "case" potential U.S. targets.
According to a New York law enforcement source, there have been several notable incidents of this nature involving individuals who turned out to be accredited to Iran's U.N. mission.
In a 2003 incident, New York police patrolmen observed a group of men videotaping the tracks out of the front window of a subway train traveling between Queens and Manhattan at 2 a.m. The Iranians were arrested, but later released after they produced diplomatic credentials. The law enforcement source said they were asked to leave the country.
In a 2006 incident, the captain of a sightseeing boat became suspicious after a group of Iranians taking his cruise along the East River broke into two smaller groups and started snapping pictures of the undersides of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. The six men all turned out to be covered by diplomatic immunity, the law enforcement source said.
In September 2008, three more Iranians with diplomatic status were observed taking pictures of rail tracks going into Grand Central Station that are not routinely accessible to members of the public.
And in a 2010 incident, security personnel at a heliport near Wall Street observed a group of men who claimed to be affiliated with an Iranian broadcasting network taking pictures of the framework supporting the heliport deck which was cantilevered over the river.
A federal official said that similar surveillance incidents had been reported in other cities such as Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Targets under observation included nuclear power plants, tunnels and casinos.
Some of the officials said that anxieties about possible Hezbollah- or Iranian-related attacks were increased in the wake of an alleged plot by Iranian agents to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington and other alleged Iranian plots uncovered recently in Thailand, India, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Methinks the Artic means the Hizzies Huzzies Hezzies Hassies, "E-T-A-L"???
Radical Islam's Jihad was always GLOBAL/
UNIVERSAL in scope, despite any rhetoric to the contrary.
#3
Why are we granting Iranian Diplomat's Immunity?
Iran does not have a diplomatic presence in the US, contrary to the impression this article tries to maintain. Today, there are no formal diplomatic relations between Iran and the United States. Due to poor relations between the two countries, instead of exchanging ambassadors Iran maintains an interests section at the Pakistani embassy in Washington, D.C.,[1] while the United States, since 1980, has maintained an interests section at the Swiss embassy in Tehran.[2]
#5
The Iranian diplomats are accredited to the U.N.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2012 8:03
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#6
"Nuanced picture" indeed. The United Nations has been a petting zoo for foreign espionage agents for decades. In the absence of placement and access there, we facilitate their coming here instead. We'll continue to write our reports and permit local law enforcement and the NYPD handle downside and clean-up.
#7
Se also DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER? HEZBOLLAH THREAT TO US UNCERTAIN, amongst many US Agencies, Officials, + Perts.
Not unlike "Peak Oil/Resources" + GWCC = MMAGWCC, the Universal or Common Consensus of our desired future OWG-NWO, + in our OWG MIghty USSA = OWG Weak USRoA SSR, is that there is none???
Despite, of course ...
* SAME > [Pakistan] HAFIZ SAEED CALLS FOR JIHAD AGZ AMERICA, to save Pakistan + Islam.
ARTIC > SAEED = Jihad and Only Jihad defeated the USSR, + is defeating America; JuD + LeT NOT AFRAID OF ANYONE, IN PAKISTAN ANDOR THE US, ETC.
A former CIA officer was indicted Thursday on charges of leaking secrets to journalists, including the name of a covert agent and the role of another CIA employee in classified operations. John Kiriakou, who had previously revealed the CIA's use of waterboarding of Al-Qaeda suspects, was charged in January with leaking secrets. The indictment allows the case to proceed to trial without an evidentiary hearing.
The indictment returned by a grand jury in Virginia charged Kiriakou with one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act and three counts of violating the Espionage Act. The indictment also charged him with making false statements to the CIA in an unsuccessful attempt to trick the agency into allowing him to include classified information in his 2010 book, "The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror."
Kiriakou first came to public attention in an interview with ABC News in December 2007 in which he became the first US official to describe how top Al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah was subjected to waterboarding, a technique widely viewed as torture.
The former CIA operative acknowledged later in his memoir, however, that he was not present when the interrogation took place.
A CIA intelligence officer between 1990 and 2004, Kiriakou was accused in the indictment of leaking information to reporters anonymously identified as "Journalist A" and "Journalist B."
The charges stem from an investigation into classified information, including photographs of a CIA official, that found its way into classified filings by defense lawyers representing detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, the US naval base in southern Cuba.
The indictment claims Kiriakou was a source of information for a June 2008 New York Times article that identified a CIA operative and revealed other classified information.
Kiriakou also was alleged to have lied to a CIA review board while he was seeking permission to publish a book about his experience.
But we're supposed to believe him now. Enjoy trying to defend yourself on the cross-examination, sir...
In the book, Kiriakou sought to include information about a "magic box," which was said to be a CIA scanning device allowing the agency to track Al-Qaeda suspects in Pakistan through their mobile phones.
He told the CIA review board that he had "fictionalized" that information when in fact he had not. The "magic box" technique was also described in The New York Times.
The charges of leaking secrets each carry a potential prison term of 10 years, while the false statements charge carries a possible five-year prison sentence.
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#2
The charges of leaking secrets each carry a potential prison term of 10 years, while the false statements charge carries a possible five-year prison sentence.
#4
Kiriakou is symptomatic of the pathogenesis of failure of the entire agency g(r)om. Yes, he's a drunken, dope dealing, womanizing scoundrel, but he's still my brother. Honestly, I doubt anything will come of it.
Oh man, this is going to get good. Keith Olbermann has officially filed a lawsuit against Al Gore's CurrentTV. TMZ has posted the entire lawsuit in PDF format. It lists the plantiifs as Keith Olbermann and the "Olbermann Broadcasting Empire, INC." The defendants are Current TV LLC and DOES 1-50. Olbermann's suit against Current TV lists eight complaints. The complaints include breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and six separate declaratory relief requests.
Olbermann's lawsuit claims he was "enticed to leave MSNBC and come to Current with promise of editorial control, freedom from corporate influence and the professional support to produce a high-caliber political commentary show of the type his viewers have come to expect."
#4
Kinda makes you nostalgic for the old trial by combat, fight to the death days. Maybe a pay-per-view event? Olbermann could finally get some decent ratings.
#5
unless that 'editorial control, freedom from corporate influence and professional support' stuff was in the written contract and defined to some extent, Olbermann's case is pretty thin gruel
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/06/2012 7:46
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#6
> Bathtub Boy VS. ManBearPig
Whoever loses, we win.
"Keith Olbermann was disheartened to discover Al Gore, Joel Hyatt and the management of Current are no more than dilettantes portraying entertainment industry executives." (bold added)
Olby should know dilettantes - he's a dilettante playing a human being (quite badly).
Posted by: Barbara ||
04/06/2012 20:04
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ISLAMABAD: Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director-general Shuja Pasha on Thursday told the memo commission that there was no coup plan after the May 2 incident.
"Lies! All lies!"
Pasha appeared before the commission and told it that the memo scandal was also brought into the notice of President Asif Ali Zardari, however, Husain Haqqani could tell the truth about the issue. The commission - headed by Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman and Sindh High Court Chief Justice Musheer Alam - is conducting the proceedings of the memogate issue at the IHC.
Pasha said that he was not convinced when Haqqani challenged the shots of Mansoor Ijaz's Black Berry as fake. On the contents of the memo, Pasha said "boots on ground" and "foreign input on the proposed national security team" were most important for him than elimination of the "S" section of the ISI.
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HHHHHHHMMMMMMM, HHHHMMMMMM, INDJUH COUP in JANUARY, PAKLAND COUP in MAY???
Dare we fergit - CHINA? POST-ELEX ANTI-VLAD PROTESTS IN RUSSIA???
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.
A United States court on Thursday sentenced a Russian arms trafficker to 25 years in prison for conspiring to kill US nationals and for providing weapons to a terrorist organization in Latin America, dpa reported.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
AFP - A Paleostinian man suspected of mediating in the contested sale of a house in Hebron to Jewish settlers has been 
CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned home Wednesday night after his latest round of radiation therapy treatment in Cuba.
[TOLOnews] - Afghan Army Commandos are ready to take responsibility for the contentious night raids independently of 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
AFP - Salafist sheikh Hazem Abu Ismail could be barred from pursuing his bid for Egypt's presidency because his mother held a US passport, the electoral commission said on Thursday.
Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa
Iran's crude oil production could fall 1 million barrels per day by the end of June to below 2.5 million bpd, JPMorgan said in note to clients on Thursday, saying refiners have cut demand for oil from the Islamic Republic faster than previously expected.
A pilot made an emergency landing during a flight in Australia, reportedly telling air traffic controllers, "Look, you're not going to believe this. I've got snakes on a plane."
Nicolas Sarkozy warned French voters Thursday they should re-elect him as president to pursue his cost-cutting plans or face the kind of debt crises that have gripped Greece and Spain. 
A former CIA officer was indicted Thursday on charges of leaking secrets to journalists, including the name of a covert agent and the role of another CIA employee in classified operations. 
Oh man, this is going to get good. Keith Olbermann has officially filed a lawsuit against Al Gore's CurrentTV. TMZ has posted the entire lawsuit in PDF format. It lists the plantiifs as Keith Olbermann and the "Olbermann Broadcasting Empire, INC." The defendants are Current TV LLC and DOES 1-50. Olbermann's suit against Current TV lists eight complaints. The complaints include breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and six separate declaratory relief requests.
