[Jpost] Radical Mohammedans burst into a Tunisian school on Wednesday and assaulted its chief after he barred entry to a teenage girl wearing a face veil, or niqab, teachers said, an incident that underlined rising Islamist-secularist tensions.
Since secular dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was toppled in the first "Arab Spring" uprising two years ago, Tunisia has seen mounting strife between secularists who long held power and Islamists whose influence is increasing.
Moderate Ennahda Islamists who won a free election now head the Tunis government. But hardline 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... are pushing for Islam to be made the law of the land, raising secularist fears for a loss of individual freedoms, women's rights and democracy.
Murad Ben Hamouda of the teachers' union at Manzel Bouzelfa secondary school said Salafists stormed into the compound, smashed a few cars and "tried to kill the director for refusing the entry of a schoolgirl dressed in niqab into the classroom".
School superintendent Abdelwahed Sentati was beaten with sticks and stones, suffering several broken bones, Hamouda said, and the assailants then fled. There have been no arrests, and interior ministry police had no immediate comment.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi ordered to withdraw all the lawsuits filed by the legal affairs administration in the presidency against journalists, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
"The president's decision came out of respect for freedom of expression," Ehab Fahmy said in a press statement, Xinhua reported.
And that everyone was laughing at 'Rabbit Ears'...
According to the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, the prosecution has received over 600 legal complaints against journalists and media professionals since Morsi came to power in late June 2012.
Egypt's recent arrest of famous satirist Bassem Youssef over charges of mocking the president has raised concerns over freedom of speech, although the satirist's lawyer told Xinhua the presidency was not among the claimants.
Also in the statement, Fahmy said there was no dispute between the presidency and the military institution, which he called "a national body which we respect and appreciate."
"Please don't overthrow me!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/11/2013 00:00 ||
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"The president's decision came out of respect for freedom of expression"
A respect which, for most politicians, rapidly evaporates once they've amassed enough power to get what they want.
[Ynet] Arab allies Qatar and Libya gave cash-strapped Egypt a $5 billion double boost on Wednesday as the Arab world's most populous nation struggles to secure an IMF loan to ease its deepening economic crisis.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani said after talks with Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil that Qatar would provide an extra $3 billion on top of some $5 billion the Gulf state has already given Cairo, and would extend gas supplies to Egypt this summer as needed.
Promises, promises.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/11/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Let the Gulf states foot the bill for this bottomless pit of money, not the US.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/11/2013 10:38 Comments ||
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DHAKA: BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Wednesday night chaired a meeting of her party's Standing Committee in Dhaka to discuss the next course of action on opposition's ongoing anti-government movement. No immediate details were available.
Let me guess: they voted for another hartal...
The meeting began around 8:30pm tonight at the chairpersons Gulshan office to also discuss the current political situation and fix the next programme to overcome the ongoing political stalemate in the country, party sources earlier said.
The BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance enforced a countrywide 36-hour shutdown which ended at 6:00pm Wednesday to press home for its demands that included immediate release of its arrested top leaders and activists.
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04/11/2013 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel warned Wednesday that North Korea has come very close to a "dangerous line" with its sharp statements iand provocative steps.
Is a 'dangerous line' anything like a 'red line'?
"North Korea has been, with its bellicose rhetoric, its actions, has been skating very close to a dangerous line," he said during a press conference at the Pentagon. "Their actions and words have not helped defuse a combustible situation."
He emphasized that North Korea's threats should be ratcheted down and its actions "neutralized."
Hagel noted North Korea's young fat-faced leader, Kim Jong-un, is unpredictable amid reports that the communist nation may soon launch a ballistic missile with a range of 3,000-4,000 kilometers from a mobile launcher on the east coast. Some suggest the North may also be getting ready to fire other types of missiles into the Pacific.
In the event that Pyongyang remains recalcitrant, the U.S. is fully prepared to take any contingency measures, added the Pentagon boss.
"The reality is that he (Kim) is unpredictable. That country is unpredictable. If that is the reality that we're dealing with, and it is, you prepare for every contingency," Hagel said.
Sitting next to Hagel, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would not provide a detailed assessment of whether Pyongyang has mastered a technology to mount a nuclear bomb onto a missile.
"The proximity of the North Koreans to achieving a miniaturization of a nuclear device on a ballistic missile is really a classified matter," he said. "In the absence of concrete evidence to the contrary, we have to assume the worst case. And that's why we're postured as we are today."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/11/2013 00:00 ||
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Is that the RED line, or is it a little dilute on a graduated scale? Maybe a something of a pink line with shades of red?
#2
There is no way that North Korea would launch any large scale attack in the spring. It would be absolute suicide. They rely on the army to get the fields tilled and planted for their food crop. If the army is off fighting a war, the country would starve the following winter.
They might engage in some sort of spectacular antics but they aren't going to engage in any sort of massive attack in the spring. They would do that after the fall harvest.
#7
Champ is preparing to cross the Student Loan "Red Line" with the raising of interest rates. Of course the raise only applies to middle-class WASP college student basement dwellers. "The wealthy and the well connected" don't borrow money for Harvard or Princeton. Neither to the "disadvantaged" who attend VIA grants and scholarships. Social Justice marches onward!
#11
So now we are in the uncomfortable "posture" of wondering if and when this guy is going to do something and exactly what he will do. But from the looks of things he will do something. Will it be like Pearl Harbor or 9/11 or will it be an unarmed missile that crashes harmlessly into the ocean? We just have to wait and see, huh? I can't help thinking it would be better to do unto him first. At the very least it might be wise to send him a quiet, discreet little note to the effect that if he doesn't stand down we are going the blow the fuck out of his little country.
#12
Totalitarian despots generally require crisis or an enemy, or both to divert the truth and bring fear to the masses. The loathsome Kim Jong-un handily provides the current administration with both. When I hear of cretins like Rodman and Jaz-Z visiting rogue regimes with absolutely no comment or follow-up from the White House, I become suspicious.
#13
Im just hoping that all of the NORKS minisubs are accounted for . Perhaps they havent figured out how to mount a nuke on a missle . Shoving it in a sub with some deranged brainwashed fanatics is totally feasable , and if they REALLY REALLY wanted to , is the easiest option with biggest chance of success - Then slip in to denial mode - Cheonan .
#15
Foxy -- the crew wouldn't HAVE to know what's on board.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/11/2013 17:11 Comments ||
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#16
From an intelligence blog and unverified:
A friend works for DIA as a contractor in the HUMINT field. They just announced that they are terminating all of the contractors due to downsizing over budget issues. At best they might be rehired in October. Given that there are about 8.5 million contractors now working for the US Government and only 1.5 million civil servants, can the civil servants and active duty military in the Intelligence community pick up the slack? Contractors are doing most of the watch work (12 hr. shifts) which either goes unmanned or most civil servants will have to pick up.
#17
Kim Jong-Un has made a critical mistak here. He has backed himself into a corner - with no easy way out. The West is not going to give him any more handouts as a "payment" for threatening behavior. That optiin is gone. If he reverses his threats, then he loses face - especially amongst the military leadership within N. Korea that does not respect him. His only option is to create some sort of incident. But if he violates the borders with S. Korea, they will retaliate and try to take his head off.
It will be surprising if this doesn't go into some sort of conflict - maybe not full-blown war. But conflict somewhere in the Korean peninsula.
The U.S. and Japan are preparing to shoot down any medium-range missile North Korea is likely to launch. The Musudan missiles being readied on the east coast have a range of 3,000 to 4,000 km and could theoretically reach the U.S. territory of Guam. That means they would have to fly over Japan on their trajectory, prompting Tokyo to get ready to shoot them down.
The SM-3 missiles aboard two Japanese Aegis-class ships dispatched to the East Sea can shoot down a projectile from 150 to 500 km away. "The SM-3s are capable of intercepting the Musudan before it reaches its maximum altitude of 300 to 400 km," said a military source here.
But other experts believe that if a missile flies over Japan, it would fly so high above the island country's air space of some 100 km as to give Tokyo little reason to intercept it.
It is at any rate uncertain whether the SM-3 would succeed in intercepting the Musudan. Since 2001, the U.S. Defense Department conducted 30 tests gauging the SM-3's intercept capability and succeeded only 24 times, an 80-percent success rate.
Oh. Well. Only 80 percent. Pack it up, go home and cower under the bed, folks, it's only an 80 percent success rate...
But experts say the SM-3 needs further improvements since, for instance, it is not yet perfectly able to tell genuine missiles from decoys.
If North Korea aims missiles at Guam, the U.S. may also shoot them down. Washington has said it would deploy missile defense systems on Guam within weeks that could intercept missiles at a height of 150 km, but they are not in place yet. Instead, it may also have to rely on SM-3 missiles on Aegis ships.
"If North Korea fires a missile that lands close to Guam, this could be construed as an act of war, so we do not think that's a likely scenario," said a government source here.
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04/11/2013 00:00 ||
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Instead, it may also have to rely on SM-3 missiles on Aegis ships.
The same Aegis ships the White House blamed the Navy for placing on station 'without orders from above'...
The Philippine home of kidnapped Australian Warren Rodwell has not been sold, leading to questions about the source of a $94,600 ransom paid to Islamic terrorists for his release last month.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino has ordered an investigation into the ransom payment, which military officials have warned will be used to fund more kidnappings and terrorist attacks.
Miraflor Gutang, who married Mr Rodwell five months before he was kidnapped, has claimed she sold the house and other property to raise the ransom for an Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang. But days after the kidnapping on December 5, 2011, Ms Gutang told local reporters her family was poor and could not raise any ransom.
When Mr Rodwell was released after almost 15 months, he rebuffed her attempts to see him and went from the southern Philippines to Manila to recuperate from the ordeal which left him frail and emaciated.
Police involved in the case are refusing to discuss the source of the ransom money but other sources speculate the money came from Australia.
German federal prosecutors say they've charged four Islamic extremists with forming a terrorist cell with the goal of killing a small far-right party's leader.
The prosecutor's office said in a statement Thursday that Tayfun S., 23, Marco G., 26, Enea B., 42, and Koray D., 24, were all charged with membership in a terrorist organization, weapons violations and other crimes.
All are German citizens; their last names were not released due to privacy regulations.
Authorities have said the four are ultraconservative Salafi Muslims. That religious movement faces increasing scrutiny since its members clashed last year with police at a demonstration of the far-right pro-NRW party.
Officials say the suspects were arrested in March after two were caught scoping out the pro-NRW leader's home. Prosecutors say they had acquired bomb-making material.
[France24] A court in the southern French city of Avignon on Wednesday acquitted a mother facing charges of defending terrorism for sending her 3-year-old son to school in a T-shirt reading "I am a bomb" and "Jihad, Born on September 11".
A court in southern France on Wednesday acquitted a mother on trial for dressing her three-year-old son in a T-shirt reading "I am a bomb" and "Jihad, Born on September 11."
Bouchra Bagour, 35, was on trial in Avignon on charges of defending terrorism after sending her boy, named Jihad, to his school in the town of Sorgues wearing the T-shirt.
Bagour and her 29-year-old brother Zeyad, who was also charged and acquitted, had faced up to five years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros ($59,000) if convicted.
The court ruled that prosecutors had not proven that the defence of terrorism was "unequivocal", as required by the law.
"I am delighted, it was a discerning and legally justified decision that should put an end to this unfortunate affair," said Gaele Guenoun, the lawyer for Bagour, who was not present for the ruling.
Bagour had admitted to the court that sending her child to school wearing the T-shirt had been "tactless" but insisted it was not meant as a provocation.
She said she simply wanted to make note of her son's birthday on September 11 and did not intend to reference the 9/11 attacks in the United States in 2001.
Her brother, who had also faced charges for having bought Jihad the T-shirt, said after the ruling that he was "happy" and "relieved".
Sorgues Mayor Thierry Lagneau, who had expressed outrage at the incident, said the court ruling did not reflect the wishes of the local community.
"I have the feeling that the law does not reflect reality as it is seen by citizens," he said, adding that the ruling "gives the impression that everything is allowed."
[Jpost] Member of party's governing body criticized for meeting with Egyptian thugs.
The Social Democratic party of Sweden -- the country's largest political party -- has been accused of failing to confront anti-Semitism within the party's ranks.
Omar Mustafa, chairman of the Islamic Association in Sweden who was recently elected to the governing board of the Social Democratic party, was on Monday the subject of an expose in the Swedish anti-racist magazine Expo for questionable ties to documented anti-Semites.
On Facebook, Mustafa "liked" the page of Yusuf al-Qaradawi ...crackpot Egyptian Islamist theologian. He is best known for his program Shariah and Life on Al Jazeera, with an estimated audience of 60 million kindred souls worldwide. He is also well-known for IslamOnline, which occasionally advocates things like slavery and thumping the old lady with a rod no thicker than an inch, and has published more than 120 books, including Islam: The Future Civilization. Joe has long had a prominent role within the intellectual leadership of the Moslem Brüderbund. Some of his views have been controversial in the West, though less so among the rubes of the Mysterious East, and he was refused entry to the United Kingdom in 2008. In 2004, 2,500 Muslim academics from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and from the Palestinian territories condemned Qaradawi, and accused him of giving Islam a bad name.... , an Egyptian theologian who has called for suicide kabooms against Israelis.
In a recorded speech in 2009 on YouTube, Qaradawi justified the Holocaust, saying, "Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the [Jews] people who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by Hitler."
Mustafa also elicited criticism when he invited the Egyptians Salah Sultan and Ragheb al-Serjany to a conference in Sweden.
"These people have been openly anti- Semitic. Both have spread anti-Semitic propaganda," Willy Silberstein of the Swedish Committee Against Anti-Semitism told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday from Stockholm.
"Salah Sultan claimed on the television channel Al Jizz that the Jews during Passover committed ritual murder of Christians by using blood in unleavened bread."
Silberstein added that Serjany asserted that Jews control the international media.
In his discussions with Mustafa, said Silberstein, the Social Democrat said he would invite the Egyptians again as long as they do not say any anti-Semitic things when they are in Sweden.
Silberstein objected to this way of thinking, arguing Serjany and Sultan are given credibility solely by being invited.
Multiple Post emails to the Social Democratic party headquarters for a response to Mustafa's appointment, including the party's head, Stefan Löfven, were not returned.
But on Twitter, Social Democratic MP Veronica Palm welcomed Mustafa to the board of governors, writing, "Congrats, [you] joined me in Stockholm representatives in the [Social] Democratic party."
Silberstein called on the Social Democratic leader to speak up against Mustafa's connections to anti-Semites.
"When someone like [Mustafa] is elected to lead the biggest political party in Sweden, it allows anti-Semitism to make a step forward," he said. "Anti-Semitism is a problem in Sweden."
Lisa Abramowicz, the secretary-general of the Swedish-Israel Information Center, told the Post that Mustafa "should be removed from the board because he is still fluffy on what he thinks."
She noted it would "never be accepted if raving lunatics" made comments by other parties. "The person who invited such a person would be forced to leave the party."
As the largest party in the Swedish government, the Social Democratic party carries great weight among the media and public opinion.
Critics of the Social Democrats say they have been immersed in anti-Semitism scandals over the years.
In addition to the allegations of anti-Semitism facing Mustafa, last year the Social Democratic mayor of Malmö, Ilmar Reepalu, was also charged with anti-Semitism by Swedish Jews.
Reepalu said last year that the Swedish Democratic party had infiltrated the town's Jewish community to spread hate of Mohammedans.
Lena Posner Körösi, the chairwoman of the central Jewish council in Sweden and the Jewish community in Stockholm, tagged Reepalu as an "anti-Semite" in the Swedish Christian daily Världen idag because of his hate directed at Jews.
In 2010, a group of Mohammedans in Malmö shouted "Sieg Heil" and "Hitler, Hitler," and threw rocks and bottles at a small group of Jews peacefully demonstrating in support of Israel.
Reepalu said in 2010 that Sweden's Jews were largely culpable for the violence inflicted on them because they didn't "distance" themselves from Israel and the IDF operation during the Gazoo war.
Malmö has a population of 290,000 of which Mohammedan immigrants make up approximately 20 percent and out of Sweden's population of 9 million, there are 450,000 Mohammedans.
And then there is the Swedish Democrat alderman who had to resign after a few days ago after revealing the usual hate-filled thoughts on the Holocaust:
A Swedish local politician who resigned after questioning the Holocaust became the third public figure to be embroiled in scandals involving anti-Semitism in Sweden in recent weeks.
Alexander Kieding of the Swedish Democrats party, who was an alderman in the Stockholm suburb of Jarna, resigned last week from his rightist party and city council hours after the publication of an interview in which he said the Holocaust may have never happened, or that "Israel inflated the number" of victims.
The online edition of the Expo Idag daily, which published the interview, reported that Kielding left at the request of the leadership of the nationalist party, which was founded in 1988 but crossed Sweden's 4-percent voting threshold only in 2010. It now has 20 seats in the 349-seat parliament. It is also represented in 612 out of Sweden's 12,978 municipal councils.
On March 20, another one of the party's aldermen, Mikael Hoglund, said in an interview with Expo Idag that the party "hates Muslims" because of Jews. Hoglund, of Upplands-Bro near Stockholm, singled out one of the party's prominent lawmakers, Kent Ekeroth, who said in 2010 that his mother was a Jew of Polish descent. Hoglund also said Jews control the White House.
The party, which faced condemnations from across the political spectrum for the words of both representatives, has distanced itself from their statements.
[Jpost] A far-right Hungarian priest said an "anti-Zionist" demonstration will be held in Budapest on the first day of the World Jewish Congress' General Assembly.
Lorant Hegedus Jr., a Calvinist priest and member of the ultrarightist, anti-Semitic Jobbik party, announced that an "Anti-Bolshevik and anti-Zionist people's gathering" will be held in the Hungarian capital on May 4, the first day of the WJC annual assembly.
The WJC announced last month that it would hold its 2013 annual assembly May 4-6 in Budapest to show solidarity with Hungary's Jews, who are facing what organizers called "exceptionally strong" anti-Semitism. WJC rarely holds its congress outside of Jerusalem.
[Jpost] Turkey is building two camps along its far southeastern border with Syria to house a growing number of refugees from Syrian minority groups, mainly Assyrian Christians as well as ethnic Kurds, a government official said on Wednesday.
More 250,000 Syrians fleeing civil war in their homeland have registered in Turkey, most of whom stay in 17 camps along the 900-km (560-mile) border, although Turkish leaders say the total number of refugees is closer to 400,000.
Those who have fled are predominantly ethnic Arabs from Syria's Sunni Mohammedan majority, most of whom largely support the rebels fighting to overthrow Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... , who himself belongs to the Alawite minority of Shi'ite Islam.
Apart from housing refugees, Turkey, which also has a Sunni majority, has thrown its weight behind the rebels, giving them sanctuary, although it denies arming them. This has drawn accusations of sectarianism leveled at the government from Assad as well as Turkish minority groups and opposition parties.
Ankara strongly denies a sectarian or ethnic agenda.
[France24] South Wazoo, on the Pak border with Afghanistan, was the scene of a huge 2009 offensive against the Taliban. FRANCE 24 reports from a region where the bad boy threat is too close for comfort.
Nearly four years after Pakistain launched a major military offensive to wrest South Waziristan back from Taliban control, life there has returned to a semblance of normality -- in some areas at least.
But the situation in this mountainous region, which is part of Pakistain's semi-autonomous tribal zone bordering Afghanistan, is far from being at peace.
Since the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan, Waziristan has been home to the Taliban. North Waziristan continues to be a major theatre for controversial US drone attacks against Taliban targets.
A no-go area for journalists, FRANCE 24 visited South Waziristan chaperoned by the Mighty Pak Army, whose presence is ubiquitous in those areas they say have been cleared of the Taliban.
The army has checkpoints every few miles along the road, keeping a close eye on who passes by.
"The Taliban still plant roadside kabooms," one soldier told FRANCE 24. "Sometimes they even ambush us. Our lives are in danger -- 24/7."
The army is also working on winning the locals' "hearts and minds" through aid distribution and by constructing shops for those who lost their livelihoods during the fighting.
In one shop, FRANCE 24 spotted a packet of biscuits provided by USAID - a development agency run by the American government.
Shop owner Samiullah said he was unaware that they were American or that the US was providing aid to the region -- despite the US spending more than a billion dollars on its own hearts and minds effort since 2009, an effort that seems to be bearing little fruit on the ground.
Asking about the popularity of the USA's ongoing drone attack programme against Taliban targets, locals at the shop voiced their unanimous disapproval.
"Everyone here is very, very angry with these drones," Samiullah said.
KARACHI: Additional Inspector General Police Karachi Ghulam Shabbir Shaikh has ordered Muhafiz Force of Sindh police to provide security to polio teams in Karachi during the anti-polio drive in the city from April 15 to 17.
Better late than never...
In this regard presiding over a security review meeting at the Central Police Office here it was decided that for every phase of polio vaccination drive deputy commissioners and SSP of respective districts would hold meetings to ensure foolproof security of the vaccination teams.
When a polio team enters an area, the concerned police station would chalk out and implement is full security plan. In the sensitive areas additional deployment of police would be arranged besides enhanced patrolling.
Shaikh asked the police officers to take all-out efforts for the safety of polio teams as well as citizens.
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04/11/2013 00:00 ||
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KARACHI: Speakers at a conference on Wednesday demanded legislation to halt forced faith conversion, which was serious issue for Pakistani religious minorities.
Good luck with that one...
Addressing the two-day conference, Religious Minorities and Human Rights: Challenges and Opportunities that ended on Wednesday, the speakers demanded the provision for non-Muslim students to study their own religion (i.e. Christianity, Hinduism) in schools and compulsory status of the subjects of Arabic language and Islamiyat for non-Muslim students be removed. They said the State should take strict measures against the misuse of loudspeaker used for inciting hatred against religious minorities.
Addressing the conference, Chief Justice of Sindh High Court (SHC) Justice Mushir Alam underlined the need for concerted efforts in the South Asian states to bring harmony in diversity and pluralistic society and ensure peace in the region.
Earlier, in a resolution, passed on the occasion, the conference suggested that the South Asian civil society should take the initiative of developing a South Asian Charter for Minority Rights. It demanded that the discriminatory and potentially abusive against religious minorities clauses from the Pakistan Penal Code and other legislation be removed. There is a need to sensitize judges, lawyers and the judicial personnel, particularly of the lower judiciary, on equal citizenship rights of the minorities, the resolution added.
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Pakistan on Wednesday conducted a successful test of the intermediate range ballistic missile Hatf IV (Shaheen-1).
Did they peel off the North Korean label first?
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the missile is capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads to a range of 900km. An ISPR statement said that the missile incorporates a series of improvements in range and technical parameters of the existing missile.
Director-General Strategic Plans Division Lt-Gen. (Retd) Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, while congratulating the scientists and engineers involved in the project, said that the improved version of Shaheen 1 has consolidated and strengthened North Korea's Pakistans deterrence abilities manifold.
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Don't fergit Russia's test of its TOPOL-M ICBM.
[Ynet] US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will try to rekindle military cooperation between Turkey and its former close ally Israel in his first visit to the two countries since taking office, a Turkish official said on Wednesday.
Hagel, whose visit to Turkey will take place close to his Israel trip set for April 21-23, will also discuss regional issues, the official said. Turkey has borders with war-ravaged Syria, as well as with Iran and Iraq.
The Third Smartest Man InThe Room? Or should we just give up counting for this one.
Summary: Israel shows Secretary of State Kerry that wherever he goes he will always be The Second Smartest Man In The Room.
[Ynet] Israel refusing to give in to demands for gestures of goodwill, believes Paleostinians making demands for preconditions in bid to sabotage peace talks 'We are ready to discuss everything - in direct talks'
Talks yes, gestures of goodwill no. Senior officials in Jerusalem who were present during talks between US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Wednesday that Israel does not intend to present any confidence building measures towards the Paleostinians.
The sources claim that the "preliminary demands presented by the Paleostinians attest to the fact that they are peace refusniks. We on the other hand are not presenting any pre-conditions, not even recognition of Israel as the national home of the Jewish nation."
US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... is attempting to renew talks between the two sides but it is not going to be simple.
Possible gestures like releasing prisoners or withdrawal from Area C in order to enable the Paleostinian Authority to carry out projects were rejected outright.
"There will be no response to any demand where the purpose (of the demand) is to supply appease the Paleostinians and make them come to the table," an Israeli source noted.
"Ministers are unanimous over the decision of not giving in to any pre-condition. They present conditions in order to make the process of renewing direct talks difficult. There will be no gestures, especially not land withdrawals."
Netanyahu has extensive government and cabinet backing. This is why it was decided that no pre-conditions be made on the Israeli side. That said, even before Kerry's arrival, the prime minister refused to allow Palestinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... to present the US secretary of state with maps that include the borders he hopes will be included in the permanent agreement.
"We don't have any pre-conditions but the Paleostinians prepared a list with (demands) like a building freeze, releasing prisoners, and border deliberations before everything (begins). We are ready to discuss everything, but only within the framework of direct talks where we will demand recognition of the Jewish State and declaration of the end of the conflict."
The source speaks of Israeli inflexibility, while Netanyahu and Kerry have already discussed economic measures that Israel will offer to the Paleostinian Authority, even in Area C.
"You want cellular antennas? No problem. You want a sweage treatment facility? Can do. It's possible that in a month 10 prisoners might be released, but that's small change," the source added.
"With regards to the Paleostinian demands for gestures -- that is n't going to happen unless it's around the negotiation table. The Paleostinians will continue to pressure (us) for gestures and Israel will not accede to gestures as a pre-condition to negotiation."
[Ynet] Survey conducted by Paleostinian think tank in West Bank, Gazoo reveals drop in support for 'violent resistance', support for Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,
The major support Hamas and armed opposition groups enjoyed in Gazoo and the West Bank has severely dropped in the wake of Operation Pillar of Defense a new survey conducted by Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC) - an east Jerusalem, Paleostinian think tank - revealed. It is worth noting that the institute is held in high regard and its surveys are considered reliable.
The survey, which was conducted in the West Bank and Gazoo during March, revealed the 38% of respondents believe that rocket fire from Gazoo onto Israeli territory serves the Paleostinian's best interests in comparison to 74% in the previous poll conducted directly following Operation Pillar of Defense.
In addition, the poll revealed a drop in support of violent opposition to Israel from 51% in December to 31% in March thus returning to pre-Pillar of Defense levels (29%).
However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... an increase was registered in support of a non-violent Paleostinian popular uprising, from 22% in December to 30% in March.
An additionally interesting decrease was registered in post-Pillar of Defense support of Hamas.
42% of respondents expressed support for Fatah and President Abbas, as opposed to 20% who expressed support for Hamas.
28% of those surveyed believe that Hamas is to blame for the failure in internal Paleostinian reconciliation talks between the Gazoo ruler and Fatah, in comparison to 20% who said that Fatah is at fault.
The survey also revealed that 90%, an overwhelming majority of the Paleostinians, believe that Hamas and Fatah should pursue national reconciliation even if this leads to US or Israeli sanctions.
A clear majority of 87% of the respondents embraced the idea of reforming the Fatah with the intention of including all Paleostinian political parties.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth had turned a paler shade of blue. Star-A-Star had struck again... a majority of 59% says both Fatah and Hamas are acting in their own interests instead of the national interest by not working towards achieving a reconciliation.
In regards to the Oslo accords, signed 20 years ago, the poll showed that the Paleostinian public opinion is neatly divided over the agreements: 44% of respondents said it would have been better for Paleostinian national interests if the accords were never signed while 44% said the opposite.
Moreover, the poll showed the percentage of those who said they supported the accords dropped from 68% in December 1997 to 43.4% in the current March 2013 poll.
As for the visit of US President Barack Obama Jedi mind meld... , 59% of those polled said the visit was more beneficial to Israel than to the Paleostinians and only 2% said they believed the visit was more beneficial to the Paleostinians.
In regards to renewed US interest in reviving peace negotiations, 27% of the respondents viewed direct negotiations with Israel under the auspices of the US as the most helpful approach to achieve an independent Paleostinian State, whereas 49% favored an international peace conference.
A majority of 48% of respondents blamed Israel for the Paleostinian Authority's current financial crisis as opposed to 14% who held the PA responsible.
ALEPPO When I see a light on, Ill run to have my photo taken with it, laughs Sheikh Yazen, a resident of one of many districts in Syrias Aleppo that have been plunged into darkness by extended power outages. We havent seen that in Fardoss for four months, he says.
Syrias conflict descended on the northern city, which was the industrial and commercial capital of the country, in July 2012. Months later, power cuts in rebel-held parts of town such as Fardoss have left hundreds of thousands of employees out of work.
Electricity supplies across the country have almost halved since the anti-regime uprising broke out in March 2011 because of shortages of fuel to feed power plants. The official mouthpieces media blame the shortages on the countrys insecurity and the risks involved in transporting fuel.
For once they're right...
Syrias Electricity Minister Imad Khamis said in February that widespread blackouts have caused economic losses of around $2.2 billion over the past two years of conflict. He blamed sabotage by armed militants who had killed dozens of power sector workers since the outbreak of the anti-regime revolt.
Water has been available for the most part until now, but cuts have started in recent days.
In war-battered Aleppo, the poor have had to adapt to life without electricity while those with the means have splashed out on generators that consume vast amounts of fuel at soaring prices. At night, entire neighbourhoods of Aleppo are plunged into darkness, except for rare home windows lit up and some shop fronts using low-voltage LED bulbs to conserve energy. Sheikh Yazen himself has turned his personal misfortune around, taking up a new profession as a generator salesman after his shoe shop was burnt down in the fires which swept the Old Souk last autumn.
Standing in front of 20 generators stacked in a corner on the pavement, he waved around an order book. I sell dozens of generators every day, he said, even if the price has gone up from 5,000 Syrian pounds ($50) to 15,000 pounds.
He has to make a daily trek to government-controlled areas to stock up again. Its only one kilometre as the crow flies but I have to cover 25 kilometres in detours to get there. To get back, he has to cross army checkpoints with the goods.
Theyve let us know that we have to pay for a cup of coffee, Sheikh Yazen said with a smile and a wink, referring to the bribes in return for right of passage.
But business in generators is booming and he is quite willing to cough up. In almost every shop in rebel-held parts of Aleppo, a generator is parked on the pavement in front, emitting a constant grinding noise.
In a tailors shop, Mohammed waited for his sewing machine to finish off the hems of a set of curtains, We only turn the generator on for one hour a day, he said. It uses up a litre of petrol every two hours, and a litre costs $1.50 so we cant afford to waste time.
He pointed with contempt at his small orange generator. This is a low-end model, a Chinese sub-brand. Its the cheapest one my boss could find, he sighs. It was 13,000 pounds ($130).
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AMMAN Jordan opened a second camp for Syrian refugees on Wednesday after the United Nations said the number seeking shelter in the kingdom is expected to triple by the end of the year.
The seven-million-dinar ($9.8-million) camp was paid for by the United Arab Emirates.
A first group of 106 refugees, who were among 1,306 who crossed the border during the night, were moved to the new Mrigeb Al Fuhud camp, government spokesman for Syrian refugee affairs, Anmar Hmud, told
The 5,200-hectare camp, some 80 kilometres northeast of Amman, has 750 caravans, a hospital and a school and can take up to 5,500 people. It will mainly receive widows, orphans and families who do not have single men who are off in Syria fighting, Hmud said. There are plans to expand the camp to house 30,000 people.
Jordan opened a first camp at Zaatari in the desert north of the kingdom in July last year. It now houses more than 150,000 Syrian refugees. The UN estimates that around 385,500 Syrians have sought refuge in Jordan.
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The number of Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries could double or triple amid huge funding shortfall which pushes the aid operations in the country to the breaking point, said an official with the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The UNHCR, of course, is thinking of the possibilities...
To date, there are 1.3 million Syrian refugees registered or with appointments with UNHCR having fled to neighbouring countries, with three-quarter being women and children, said Panos Moumtzis, Syria Regional Refugee Coordinator of UNHCR.
It was a significant increase compared to a year ago when the figure was 30,000, he said while underlining the funding as "one of the most critical points as of today".
UNHCR had appealed for over $1 billion ($1,000 million) to help estimated 1.1 million refugees in December 2012. But it has received about $300 million so far, he added.
Ask the Qataris. They seem flush...
"We want to ring the alarm bell. We are at a breaking point," said Moumtzis, emphasizing that the lack of funding creates huge vulnerabilities such as exploitation and abuse, with women and children particularly affected.
He also warned that many assistance programs would have to shut down if funds fail to come quickly.
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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.
DHAKA: BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Wednesday night chaired a meeting of her party's Standing Committee in Dhaka to discuss the next course of action on opposition's ongoing anti-government movement. No immediate details were available.
The U.S. and Japan are preparing to shoot down any medium-range missile North Korea is likely to launch. The Musudan missiles being readied on the east coast have a range of 3,000 to 4,000 km and could theoretically reach the U.S. territory of Guam. That means they would have to fly over Japan on their trajectory, prompting Tokyo to get ready to shoot them down. 
[Jpost] Member of party's governing body criticized for meeting with Egyptian
"Salah Sultan claimed on the television channel 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Wazoo
KARACHI: Speakers at a conference on Wednesday demanded legislation to halt forced faith conversion, which was serious issue for Pakistani religious minorities.
Pakistan on Wednesday conducted a successful test of the intermediate range ballistic missile Hatf IV (Shaheen-1).
