A number of military officials in Helmand province said on Wednesday that despite a surge in violence in Helmand province, President Ashraf Ghani has still to give the orders for a large scale offensive operation against the Taliban.
But provincial governor Hayatullah Hayat says plans are underway to launch a wide scale operation across the province.
"Our planning is underway, and soon, this week, our operations will be conducted and all the people support security forces in Helmand," said Hayat.
But TOLOnews correspondents Wali Arian and Abdullah Hamim spoke to security forces in Helmand province who said that the troops are unhappy about having to take a defensive position against the Taliban.
They said troops have called for the launch of an offensive operation as soon as possible.
"See at the moment war is going on and firing sounds can be heard," said Nagibullah, a border police force member.
"The front line of Taliban was in Nad Ali district of Helmand province where we defeated them and we will defeat them always," said Jabar, a public order solider.
According to TOLOnews' correspondents, Dasht Matkai area of Nad Ali district is the front line of the battle with Taliban. They said the insurgents are also holed up in civilian houses, which they are using to fire on security forces' strongholds.
"Some times militants attack and open fire but we are also equipped and prepared," said Marstyal another public order soldier.
"In Marja district small operations are underway but big operations will be prepared in wide and joint plans," said Khalilurahman Jawad a public order commander.
But some provincial council members have raised concerns over Ghani's failure to implement his own war orders against the Taliban.
"The president is different in action and speech and he is not putting his words into practice and it means he is kicking dust in people's eyes," said Karim Attal Helmand provincial council head.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Egypt’s president said on Wednesday that issues of human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. and civil liberties in his country should not be approached from a "Western perspective," due to domestic and regional conditions, days after authorities detained two journalists.
Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi told this to a US congressional delegation visiting Cairo, his front man said in an official statement carried by local paper al-Ahram.
Sisi also told the US delegation, which was headed by the chairman of the US House Committee on Homeland Security Michael McCaul, that the Egyptian government was committed to the rule of law and upholding the values of democracy.
According to Sisi’s front man, the meeting involved talks on volatile countries in the region. The Egyptian president also warned of the consequences of the "fall of nation states" in the Middle East, and its impact on the rise of holy warrior groups, al-Ahram reported.
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05/05/2016 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] A Cairo misdemeanour court sentenced on Wednesday political activist Sanaa Seif to six months in prison for "insulting the judiciary."
Last week, the prosecution referred Seif to court after she refused to cooperate with investigations conducted by the prosecution over accusations of inciting protests against the Egyptian-Saudi Red Sea island deal and distributing posters to citizens in the Moqattam area.
Scores of people were nabbed Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! across the country over the past two weeks at protests ‐ as well as from their homes and in cafes ‐ against Egypt's recent decision to acknowledge Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... 's illusory sovereignty over the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir.
The 21-year-old Seif described the investigations as a "farce," which the prosecution considered an insult to the Sherlocks.
"Since the judicial system has lost its illusory sovereignty, with it not issuing its own decisions, as it has lost its fairness as well as its commitment to delivering justice; and given that executive authorities are the ones running the state, I describe this investigation as only a farce, and this is why I refuse to cooperate with it," Seif told prosecutors last week, according to her sister Mona.
Seif, who is currently out on bail, did not attend today’s court session.
The political activist still has the right to appeal the decision, though she said on her Facebook account that she would not do so.
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05/05/2016 00:00 ||
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[AA.TR] A raid on Egypt’s journalists’ union head office this week could intensify opposition to President Abdel Fattah el Sisi, according to analysts.
On Sunday, police stormed the headquarters of the press syndicate in Cairo, arresting two journalists for allegedly inciting protests and plotting to overthrow the government.
Union officials condemned the raid as a "blatant assault on journalists’ dignity" and have called for the dismissal of the interior minister.
The syndicate was at the center of protests on April 25 over the government’s decision to hand over two Red Sea islands to Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... . The union said more than 40 journalists were nabbed Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! and assaulted during the protest.
Saed Sadek, an academic at the American University in Cairo, said a "revolution against the regime and its violations" could be sparked if other unions joined journalists against the government.
He said previous protests by labor unions, such as that which followed police assaults on two doctors in January, had failed to gain momentum. The demonstration by medics on Feb. 12 was the biggest since the 2013 military coup that unseated President Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president.
Sadek said protests by journalists could have a "critical impact on public opinion" amid Egypt’s current economic crisis.
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05/05/2016 00:00 ||
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[TV360NIGERIA] Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... ian President, Paul Biya, has reassured Nigeria that his nation would support the war against the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... terrorist group till it is defeated.
President Biya was speaking at a presser held in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital on Wednesday after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Cameroonian leader also denied reports that his country had harboured snuffies and wanted to withdraw from the fight against Boko Haram.
On his part, President Buhari told news hounds he was grateful to the Chad Basin Commission, the Multi-National Joint Task Force and the G7 countries for the support they gave Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram.
Last year President Buhari was in Cameroon for a similar visit to discuss ways of effectively tackling the Islamist group.
In a communique at the end of their meeting, they reaffirmed their continuous commitment to the fight against Boko Haram until they were finally exterminated from their countries.
They appraised the success recorded so far and pledged their readiness to work with each other in economic and infrastructural development.
The joint communique was presented by the Foreign Affairs Ministers of Nigeria, Geofrey Onyeama and his Cameroonian counterpart.
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05/05/2016 00:00 ||
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Jeddah- National Yemeni army officials revealed that Houthi militia and other insurgent allies following the ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh have recruited over 48 thousand minors inside Sanaa over the past few days.
Unlike other waves of recruitment, being run across other governorates, the Sanaa youth enrollment is for establishing a score of trained military brigades which are supervised by foreigners.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, officials confirm that militias have exploited the current ceasefire in many cities and governorates to launch a mass obligatory recruitment imposed on all shades to the social spectrum.
Many schools and colleges in each of Sanaa, Al Hudaydah and Dhamar have been transformed into military barracks and others into Shi’ite places devoted to religious rituals, officials reported.
Civil buildings are being misused and transformed into training camps for militias that would be later dispatched to join battlefronts against the Yemeni national army.
Brig. Gen Abdullah al-Subaihi, leader of the 15 MICA brigade and commander of the north-eastern front of Aden, told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Houthi militias and the Republican Guard (military guard loyal to the ousted Yemeni President Saleh) – since the launch of ceasefire- have been preparing , rearranging their forces and redistributing power on several fronts. They attempt to break through the lines of the national army.
Brig. Al-Subaihi gave emphasis to the fact that the minor members recruited are being approached in different ways, some were deluded with hatred and others were pressured by militias going after their guardian caretakers. Militias aim at exploiting youth in the upcoming period, after sparking clashes in main cities where the national army is centralized.
Brig. Al-Subaihi reassures that the national army is prepared for all possibilities, and is maintaining vigilance over all fronts.
[AA.TR] Yemen’s warring rivals are set to resume UN-brokered peace talks in Kuwait on Wednesday.
The resumption of talks comes three days after the government delegation suspended its participation in the negotiations, citing alleged ceasefire violations by the Shia Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... group.
The UN-brokered talks began on April 11 in an attempt to resolve the one-year conflict in the Arab country.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Senate, the partisans of Honorius went for their knives and the partisans of Stilicho went for the doors... Human Rights Watch ... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge.... on Wednesday called on Yemen’s warring rivals to address what it called "war crimes" during the conflict.
"It's crucial for the Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... peace talks to address past atrocities as well as future political arrangements," Joe Stork, HRW’s deputy Middle East director, said in a statement. "A mechanism should be put in place to investigate abuses, prosecute those responsible and assist the victims."
The government delegation has demanded the immediate implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which calls on the Houthis to withdraw from Yemeni cities and to lay down their arms.
According to UN figures, the ongoing conflict has led to the death of more than 6,400 Yemenis to date and forced some 2.5 million to flee their homes.
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05/05/2016 00:00 ||
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A Russian real estate agent operating in Turkey’s southern province of Antalya, who was detained for a short period before the G-20 summit in November 2015 on suspicion of being an ISIL militant, is now facing 15 years in prison. Russian citizen 34-year-old Aleksei Alekseev did not appear at the third hearing of the case at Antalya’s 2nd High Criminal Court, but was represented by his lawyer Nurali Çitil.
Alekseev came to Turkey via the Sarp border gate with his wife and two children two years ago after an investigation was opened in the Russian city of Tyumen concerning his activities after he converted to Islam.
A pious man. A heavily-armed, pious man...
In Antalya, the 2nd High Criminal Court opened a case into him for being a member of an armed organization, alleging that he provided accommodation for ISIL militants trying to cross over to Syria and Iraq. Several photographs of public buildings, their floorplans, the G-20 fair venue, passport photocopies, photos containing violent scenes, and armed people in camouflage dresses were found by investigators on his computer.
In his defense, Alekseev argued that he came to Antalya two years ago and was selling real estate especially to Russian citizens. He said it was natural to have photos of several sites on his computer because every realtor has photos of property that he is selling and of the surrounding neighborhood.
Especially of military installations, public buildings and day care centers. You never know when a terrorist is going to want to settle down in an army neighborhood with amenities and good schools...
Alekseev denied having any connection to the armed and camouflaged people seen on photos in his computer.
"Having people in the photos makes the properties more appealing to potential buyers -- that's settled science. Besides, it just that kind of neighbourhood."
The indictment said the anti-terror department of the Antalya police had information that Alekseev was providing one-night accommodation for militants crossing to the war zone as well as arranging plane, boat and train trips.
With 15 years in jail demanded for the defendant, Alekseev’s lawyer said he denied all charges.
"Lies! All lies! And I don't wanna go to a Turkish prison!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/05/2016 00:00 ||
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[BLOOMBERG] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... gave investors a taste of just how quickly local politics can undo their investment strategies.
In three days this week, the lira wiped out almost all of the gains achieved in the past two months as markets reacted to a deepening rift between Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that’s set to end with the premier leaving his job later this month. Government bonds plunged and the nation’s main stock index has suffered the worst losses worldwide.
The latest political convulsions have reignited concern that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ’s democratic institutions lack the power to resist Erdogan’s bid to expand his powers, which subsided after elections last year gave the AK Party from which he hailed a smaller majority than he would need to change the constitution. Burak Demircioglu at Istanbul-based Burgan Yatirim Menkul Degerler said further political upsets threaten to set off "very harsh" market reaction.
"I think spasms like that will become more frequent," Luis Costa, Citigroup Inc.’s London-based chief strategist for eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said in comments before the conclusion of a meeting between the two leaders late on Wednesday. "It is going to be a hot summer in Turkey."
Costa said if the lira drops toward 3 per dollar, this may trigger a selloff in shorter-dated Turkish debt, though he retains a position in two-year bonds. The currency slid 3.3 percent to 2.9469 per dollar by 10:22 p.m. in Istanbul, extending losses after a person familiar with the matter said the AK Party will hold a leadership contest within 15 days, and the premier won’t be a candidate.
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05/05/2016 00:00 ||
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LAHORE: At least six schools in various parts of the city were evacuated and closed for the day following a series of hoax calls about a bomb threat on Wednesday, police said.
The guards of two schools in Gulshan-i-Ravi ─ Government Girls' High School in G block and Saeeda Butt Private School ─ were alerted of a threat by a motorcyclist, after which the administration was informed and a call was made to 15 around 10:55am. The school was evacuated following the hoax, school sources said.
Government Boys High School in Chandni Chowk Sanda, Himayat-i-Islam school near Yateem Khana Chowk and two other schools in the Millat Park and Township areas were also alerted of threats, police officials confirmed.
Fear and panic spread following the hoaxes, with students trying to evacuate as swiftly as possible. Concerned parents also reached schools to pick their children up. The schools that received hoax calls were closed for the day.
Superintendent Police Iqbal Town Shaista Nadeem told Dawn, "Five or six calls were received [on 15] but no bomb was found. We even sent a Bomb Disposal Squad team to search them. We will identify the callers and arrest the people responsible."
Parents and students across the country have been edgy following the attack on Bacha Khan University in January, which brought back memories of the tragic Army Public School attack.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Pak authorities have opposed military action against the Afghan Taliban leaders days after President Ghani called on Islamabad to take actions against the group’s leaderships based in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. and Quetta cities.
The country’s foreign affairs adviser Sartaj PrunefaceAziz ...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in good jihadis and bad jihadis as a matter of national policy... has said such a policy had not brought results for 14 long years.
"Afghanistan has been insisting that if the peace negotiations do not start, then other option should be tried. But that option has been used for 14 years but it has not produced any result," he said.
President Ghani ordered the Afghan security institutions to start crackdown against the Taliban groups pursuing violence and asked Islamabad to take actions against the sanctuaries of the groups in its soil.
The remarks by President Ghani followed a deadly attack in capital Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... on a VIP protection unit which left at least 64 people dead and 347 others maimed.
In his remarks to announce the government’s stance towards peace efforts and fight against terrorism, President Ghani also added that Kabul expect Pakistain to bring the Taliban to the negotiation table".
However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... Aziz said "Results cannot be achieved in weeks but it takes time. I do not see any other option to bring peace to Afghanistan."
The remarks by Aziz comes as a Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) comprising of Afghanistan, Pakistain, China and United States representatives was formed to revive the stalled Afghan peace talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/05/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
The TB are a highly successful financial enterprise. Why task the military to destroy it ?
[ARA News] AMUDE – This week, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) started to build a new camp to host nearly one thousand newly displaced people who’ve fled fighting in Makhmour district, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I).
Kurdish officials have warned that thousands of displaced people will head to the Kurdistan Region due to the future Mosul offensive against the Islamic State (ISIS).
The US defence officials have stated that Mosul and Raqqa are a priority for the anti-ISIS coalition. US president Barack Obama told CBS news that he expects Mosul to fall at the end of this year.
“As the secretary has pointed out repeatedly, and others have pointed out, Raqqa and Mosul remain extraordinarily important objectives that we are focused on,” Army General Joseph Votel of the US Central Command said in a press conference.
“And there will be other areas that we will have to work on, as well. But those two [Mosul and Raqqa] remain extraordinarily important to us,” Votel added.
So far, 79 displaced families (376 individuals) have moved into the site. The camp is located in the grounds of a football stadium in Debaga near Makhmour in Iraqi Kurdistan. The facility will be expanded to shelter around 550 families.
The site was built in response to increasing numbers of newly displaced families at an existing camp in Debaga, which is now hosting around 8000 people. The families had fled villages east of the Tigris river to avoid being caught up in military clashes as the Iraqi Security Forces supported by Kurdish Peshmerga forces carried out operations to re-take control of villages held by the ISIS extremist group.
As many as 30,000 newly displaced individuals may arrive in Makhmour over the coming weeks as the military offensive continues, according to the UN If the real battle for Mosul starts, hundreds of thousands of civilians will most likely flee the city towards the Kurdistan Region.
“The newly-built facility will help to ease some of the overcrowding that we have seen since the latest fighting began”, said Fred Cussigh, head of UNHCR’s field response unit in Erbil. “People had been living in difficult conditions, with several families having to share a tent in some cases.”
New arrivals moving to the stadium site received mattresses and kitchen sets from UNHCR as well as kerosene for cooking, drinking water and basic food items from UNHCR’s partner, the Barzani Charity Foundation.
The agency is also drawing up contingency plans to be able to prepare for further fresh displacements. “The likelihood is that we will see increased numbers arriving and we are currently looking at other areas where we could establish new camps if necessary, capable of sheltering up to 20,000 individuals”, said UNHCR’s Fred Cussigh.
There are currently 3.4 million Iraqis displaced due to conflict in the country. More than one million are sheltered in the Kurdistan Region.
Speaking to ARA News, Peshmerga Commander Sirwan Barzani said: “We have more than 1 million refugees and we are not even a country.”
Barzani stressed there should be more financial support for the Kurdistan region and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
“There will be more [displaced people] after the Mosul operation, and if the Iraqi army crosses the river [into Qayarah], thousands more will come,” Barzani told ARA News.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) must immediately be pushed back from the Turkish border, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, who has intensified diplomatic efforts on Syria ahead of a May 9 meeting in Paris, adding that efforts were continuing to accomplish this goal.
Speaking to reporters in Ankara, the minister voiced frustration over ISIL’s persistent grip on Syria and Iraq despite what he said was a near two-year long effort by the U.S.-led coalition involving 65 countries.
“Daesh should be cleared from the region. This is the most permanent solution,” Çavuşoğlu said, using an Arabic term for ISIL.
“It should be removed from the Manbij region and cleared toward the south,” he said, referring to a town that has been used as an ISIL logistical hub.
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05/05/2016 00:00 ||
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Turkey and Saudi Arabia are unlikely to launch ground operations in Syria in the light of Russian air forces already stationed in the country, RIA news agency cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on May 4.
Speaking about the crisis in Syria, Lavrov said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is not an ally for Russia to the extent Turkey is for the United States.
“Assad is not an ally for us. Yes, we support him in the fight against terror and in preserving the Syrian state,” he told RIA in an interview. “But he is not an ally in the sense Turkey is an ally for the United States.”
Lavrov said Russia sees Syria peace talks in Geneva resuming this month but the right conditions had not yet been met for direct negotiations due to the “whims” of the opposition High Negotiations Committee and other countries including Turkey. Lavrov also said a meeting of the International Syria Support Group could be convened in the coming weeks.
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Secretary of State John F. Kerry vowed Tuesday May 3
not to allow Syria's largest city and onetime moderate opposition stronghold of Aleppo to fall to the regime of Syrian president Bashar Assad ‐ even if that means abandoning the fragile cease-fire that U.S. officials have been trying to uphold in the war-torn nation as of 1 May Assad's forces control most of west Aleppo, the airport to the east and the industrial zone to the north so Kerry might be talking about the municipal center of the city.
"If Assad's strategy is to somehow think he's going to just carve out Aleppo and carve out a section of the country, I got news for you and for him: this war doesn't end," ???? does anyone think the war is almost over????
Mr. Kerry told reporters at the State Department.
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[Al Ahram] The Syrian government has refused a UN request for humanitarian aid access to rebel-held eastern Aleppo, the UN said Wednesday, warning that the area could soon be besieged.
"The horrific fighting and bombardment in recent days, especially in and around Aleppo, is creating new areas with endless suffering and no access for humanitarians," said Jan Egeland, who heads an international humanitarian taskforce for the war-ravaged country.
Speaking to news hounds after a meeting of the taskforce created in February by the 17-nation International Syria Support Group (ISSG), he said the situation in Aleppo needed to change immediately.
"If not, eastern Aleppo may even become a besieged area," he warned.
Syria's second city has over nearly two weeks been hit by a wave of violence, including numerous attacks on hospitals and other medical facilities, that has killed more than 270 people.
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05/05/2016 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in 
[Al Ahram] The Syrian government has refused a UN request for humanitarian aid access to rebel-held eastern Aleppo, the UN said Wednesday, warning that the area could soon be besieged.
