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65 killed in twin suicide attacks in Mohmand Agency
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Petraeus Runs into Karzai's Resistance: Reports
[Quqnoos] General David Petraeus has met sharp resistance from the Afghan President over a US plan recruiting villagers, the Washington Post reports

After Karzai renewed his objections to the plan in a meeting with the new commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, it turned tense, according to US officials.

The idea of recruiting villagers into local defence programmes is a key part of the US military strategy in Afghanistan, and Karzai's stance poses an early challenge to Petraeus as he tries to build a collaborative relationship with the Afghan leader.

The US would like to expand the programme to about two dozen sites across Afghanistan and we are hoping to overcome Karzai's concerns, Senior US officials said.

But the issue is delicate to many who fear that such experiments could lead Afghanistan further into warlordism and out-of-control militias.

The Washington Post quoted from a senior Afghan official who was present at Karzai's meeting with Petraeus as saying, "We always have long meetings and many arguments, we always try to teach our foreign partners how to deal with a situation like this. We Afghans know better than you."

A plan for local defence forces was expected to be endorsed Thursday in Kabul at a coordination meeting of Afghan officials with military and civilian representatives from donor countries. The endorsed plan is to be introducted at an International Conference in Kabul on 20th July.
Posted by: Fred || 07/10/2010 10:08 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But the issue is delicate to many who fear that such experiments could lead Afghanistan further into warlordism and out-of-control militias.

Sounds like the liberals got there first.
Posted by: gorb || 07/10/2010 13:16 Comments || Top||

#2  much easier to manage the corruption and graft in a top-down than in a bottom up. Karzai is worried that he wont be able to take his full cut.
Posted by: abu do you love || 07/10/2010 19:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Amazing. Karzai: we installed him as preferrable to the Taliban but now we have a new enemy.

If we take one lesson from Afghanistan/Iraq please let us learn that you cannot be half-arsed about defeating people.

You need to defeat them utterly. They must be crushed. There needs martial law, and a soldier on every corner.

A new alien system of democracy if it is to be imposed would have had to be imposed by force, which would have had to be policed properly for 15 years giving law and order, and a chance for the new institutions to take root - and for people to work within them.

Instead, it's chaos as they simply wait us out of there.

No strong institutions have been made and the Islamist movement is as strong as it ever was.

If we didn't have the stomach for an occupation (like that of Japan/Germany after WWII) then we shouldn't have gone in at all.

Notice how every hot war since WWII has been an abject failure? Because of our failure of occupation.

Posted by: anon1 || 07/10/2010 20:29 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Gaddafi's son sends aid ship to Gaza
A CHARITY headed by the second son of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is sending an aid ship to Gaza just weeks after an attempt to break through Israel's blockade on the territory ended in disaster.
"Pay attention to meeeeeee!"
A vessel loaded with food and medicine from the Tripoli-based Gaddafi International Charity and Development Association - led by Saif al Islam Gaddafi - will set sail from Greece before this weekend.

The organisation told AFP the ship will carry "a number of supporters who are keen on expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people in the plight amidst the siege imposed on Gaza".

Nine Turkish activists were killed when Israeli commandos stormed an aid flotilla headed for the Gaza strip on May 31, in an operation that triggered international outrage.

Israel refused to apologize for its actions and vowed to intercept all other ships aimed at breaking the blockade.
Posted by: tipper || 07/10/2010 00:32 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ION TOPIX > HEZBOLLAH: IFF ISRAEL ATTACKS, IT WILL BE DEFEATED + HEZBOLLAH MILITIA SETTING UP IN SOUTH LEBANON.

* FREEREPUBLIC > ISRAELI IDF displys its anti-Hezbollah/Hizbollah "WAR/TARGET MAP" for Southern Lebanon area.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/10/2010 1:34 Comments || Top||

#2  I wish is the same fate as that of the Maiden of the Seas.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/10/2010 6:52 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Cops to quiz Mojahid, Sayedee about hartal violence
[Bangla Daily Star] Police are to interrogate Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammed Mojahid and its Nayeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee about their suspected role in violence at the night before the June 27 hartal.
A Dhaka court gave permission to the police to quiz the Jamaat leaders in a case filed with the Ramna Police Station after they were hauled in it on Saturday.

Earlier, the court had granted four days remand for the two and Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami in the case filed against them.

Faruque Hossain, who sustained severe burn injuries when criminals torched a car at that night, died after spending five agonising days at the Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Police produced Mojahid and Sayedee before the court on expiry of a three-day remand in another case filed with the Paltan Police Station.

Police said Nizami, now on remand in the Paltan case, would be quizzed in the Raman case later.

A court in the capital placed the Jamaat trio on 16 days' remand in five separate cases a day after they were arrested on June 29 on charge of hurting Muslim religious sentiments.

They later obtained bail in the case.

The main opposition BNP, an ally of the Jamaat, had called the countrywide daylong general strike on June 27 as part of its anti-government movement.
Posted by: Fred || 07/10/2010 10:19 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Caribbean-Latin America
Sonora: 29 Cops Dismissed for Failure to Report Assets
Google Translate
Failure to report assets under the law is the reason why officials in Hermosillo, Sonora have fired 29 cops, according to the Mexican daily El Imparcial.

Under current law, police are required to annually update their personal holdings to the city comptroller by June or face dismissal. 27 officers were fired outright while two others have appealed their cases. Article 94 of the Law of Responsibilities of Public Servants is the law that requires the diligence the officers failed.

"After a data processing it was found that there were a number of people who had omitted their presentation, they were summoned to explain the reason, some went without explaining why they did not and others are not even presented," said the Hermosillo city comptroller Ariel De la Puente Aguilar.

About 40% of public servants are composed of municipal officers and administrative staff of Public Safety who must declare the goods they hold by June 30th, according to the official.

About 60 cases of omissions have been recorded in the current year, higher than before out of a total of 2,515 required under the current law. The number of 60 is about 12 times higher than in previous years.
Posted by: badanov || 07/10/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wonder how many kilos of marijuana are contained in a 'case of omission?'
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/10/2010 7:05 Comments || Top||

#2  They don't need no stinkin' badges - now free to join Los zetas!
Posted by: borgboy || 07/10/2010 15:13 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
North Korea proposes talks with US over ship sinking
North Korea on Friday proposed military talks with the United States next week to discuss the sinking of a South Korean warship which Washington blames on the North.

The proposal was made as diplomats said the UN Security Council would approve a statement condemning a torpedo attack on the warship Cheonan, without directly blaming the North.

An international investigation concluded in May that North Korea torpedoed the vessel near the tense Korean sea border, killing 46 sailors. The North vehemently denies the accusations and has warned any punishment would trigger war.

Late last month, the American-led UN Command, which oversees an armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953, proposed general-level talks with North Korea to discuss the warship sinking. The North, however, rejected the offer, urging Washington not to interfere in inter-Korean affairs under the name of the UN.

On Friday, however, the North reversed its position and proposed a working-level contact between colonels with the US next Tuesday at the border village of Panmunjom to prepare for the general-grade talks.

"This proposal is a manifestation of the unshakable will of the army and people of (North Korea) to probe the truth behind the 'Cheonan' case in an objective, scientific and fair way," the North's military said in a message sent Friday to the US command in Seoul, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

North Korea made the proposal because South Korea has rebuffed its calls for direct inter-Korean military talks, KCNA said. Calls to the US command in Seoul seeking reaction were not answered late Friday.
Posted by: Fred || 07/10/2010 09:42 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Next: Japan proposes talks with US over Yamato sinking?
Posted by: borgboy || 07/10/2010 15:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Pity Ted Kennedy croaked. We could use his Mary Jo experience here.
Posted by: SteveS || 07/10/2010 23:16 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
After getting healthcare, Obama reams dems with threat to veto "insufficent" war funding bill
The president's threat to veto a war funding bill is an 'unwelcome message' to House Democrats, many of whom face a tough midterm election after yielding to the White House's agenda.

The moment has been long in coming, but it may finally have arrived.

For the last year and a half, on issues including healthcare, financial regulation and climate change, Democrats in Congress have bent for President Obama. Liberals swallowed hard to accept compromises that fell short of their long-sought goals, and moderates cast tough votes that now threaten their reelection prospects as voters revolt against government overreach.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: gorb || 07/10/2010 00:45 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ION WMF > THE TIME HAS FINALLY ARRIVED! ]looming]MILITARY + POLITICAL CONFRONTATION BETWEEN CHINA + JAPAN OVER SOVEREIGNTY OF THE DAOYU ISLANDS.

* SAME > CHINA SAYS CONTRARY TO KOREAN MEDIA REPORTS, THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE IS INCONCLUSIVE THAT CHINA'S CHANGBAI VOLCANO WILL ERUPT IN 2014 [or shortly thereafter].

* SAME > INNER MONGOLIA + OUTER MONGOLIA ARE WATCHING: CONTROL OF OUTER MONGOLIA IS KEY TO THE DEFENSE + SECURITY, OR DESTRUCTION, OF CHINA'S STRATEGIC INDUSTRIAL NORTHEAST. WHOMEVER HAS MILITARY CONTROL OF OUTER MONGOLIA CONTROLS THE DEATH OF CHINA. LINK OF OUTER MONGOLIA TO YELLOW SEA, ENTRY OF US-ALLIED FORCES INTO A "CLLAPSED" OR MIL-DEFEATED NORTH KOREA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/10/2010 2:14 Comments || Top||

#2  ION NEWS KERALA > OBAMA DMINISTRATION, MUSLIM AMERICANS GRAPPLING WID SPORADIC HOMEGROWN JIHAD [Issue. Threat]. Majority of Muslim Americans deemed peaceful + pro anti-Terror, but alsoare incraesingly walking a pscho-spiritual or religious tightrope = thin line between LOYALTY TO ISLAM INCLUD CONCEPTS OF JIHAD, versus LOYALTY TO AMERICA + AMER'S POST-9-11 MILPOL ACTIONS AGZ MUSLIMS.

* SAME > AL QAEDA PLANNING 7/7-STYLE MASS SUICIDE MISSIONS/TERROR STRIKES IN BRITAIN.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/10/2010 2:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Desperately trying to find a single shred to tag 'bipartisan' on. Going to need that in order to play the victim card starting January 2011.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/10/2010 8:18 Comments || Top||

#4  to the Dems, war funding is a wagon to load up with pork and union funding, not a national security purpose
Posted by: Frank G || 07/10/2010 11:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Classic guns and butter syndrome. Hey, Zero, ask LBJ how that worked for him.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 07/10/2010 12:46 Comments || Top||

#6  "It is the end of the road," said Matthew Bennett, a vice president at Third Way, a think tank in Washington. "But they're at the end of the list."

How does being a usefull idiot feel, Congress?
Posted by: Pholusing Clineque4118 || 07/10/2010 13:30 Comments || Top||

#7  He sure is a One-Way mother huncher, isn't he.
Posted by: bigjim-CA || 07/10/2010 14:12 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Boeing, EADS to bid on refueling tankers
Boeing and archrival European Aeronautic Defence and Space both formally entered the competition to build the next generation of aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force by Friday, with each submitting thousands of pages in highly technical proposals.

But at least part of the epic $35 billion contest between the U.S. manufacturer and its European competitor will unfold over the summer and fall as the debate turns into a multifaceted political tug of war.

Domestically, the case pits Washington state and Kansas, where Boeing has plants, against Alabama, where EADS promises to build its tanker. Internationally, the contest figures prominently in a long-running trade dispute between the United States and the European Union over government subsidies to aerospace companies, one that has drawn the attention of President Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Last month, the World Trade Organization ruled that European governments gave EADS's Airbus illegal subsidies in its efforts to overtake Boeing as the world's largest planemaker. The E.U. has meanwhile brought a complaint claiming that Boeing has improperly benefited from billions in subsidies from its military business and tax breaks.

The House voted in May to require defense officials to consider any "unfair competitive advantage" that companies might have in pursuing the refueling contract.

"At a time when our national unemployment rate is nearing 10 percent, it is outrageous to even consider outsourcing thousands of jobs to a foreign company," Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) said after the vote. "We asked the Pentagon to consider the illegal subsidies, they refused, and so today we made sure they will consider the illegal subsidies and give American workers the fair chance to compete that they rightfully deserve.

A third company, U.S. Aerospace Inc., a U.S. aerospace and defense contractor, Friday announced that it has submitted a bid as well, though some analysts consider it a long shot.

All of the companies are vying for the first phase of the Air Force's multi-decade effort to replace 415 refueling tankers, at least some of which are 50 years old. Their replacement is the Air Force's most urgent acquisition priority, a spokesman said.

Boeing is proposing to alter its 767 to become a tanker; EADS is proposing to convert its A330, which the company says will be built in Mobile, Ala. EADS says its development is farther along than Boeing's.
Posted by: || 07/10/2010 13:32 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "We asked the Pentagon to consider the illegal subsidies . . . ."

Tax breaks vs. subsidies.

The subsidies are called illegal, but the tax breaks, well, they're OK.

Maybe tax breaks should be called illegal?

Maybe if the taxes were more reasonable the subsidies could be called illegal?

Dunno.
Posted by: gorb || 07/10/2010 14:17 Comments || Top||

#2  ...Whole thing's irrelevant - the tanker contracts gonna get kicked to the curb anyways as part of Obama's next budget.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 07/10/2010 17:14 Comments || Top||

#3  It's a "Best Value" Proposal. Cost, or price, is not the sole determining factor. Boeing better have it together for this one. Explaining that it is made in every blue state will help them through the politics after the win and keep the progral alive.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 07/10/2010 19:54 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Rawalpindi ATC issues warrants for Kasab, Ansari
[Dawn] The Anti-Terrorist Court in Rawalpindi on Saturday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Ajmal Kasab and Faheem Ansari in the Mumbai attack case, FIA sources told DawnNews.

The sources said the warrants will be sent to the Indian government.

Earlier, Pakistan had requested the Indian government for the custody of Kasab and Ansari.

The court has adjourned the case's hearing till July 24.
Posted by: Fred || 07/10/2010 10:19 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba


Bhutto murder probe team responds to court order
[Dawn] The probe team investigating former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's murder appeared in court on Saturday in response to a show-cause notice.

An anti-terrorist court in Rawalpindi had issued a show-cause notice to the team after it failed to respond to the court's orders.

Members of the probe team told the court that they have written to the United Nations, seeking documented proofs held by its team.

Responding to the notice, the probe team added that the suspects involved in the former premier's murder have fled to the tribal areas, causing a delay in the investigations.

The hearing of the case has been delayed until July 17.
Posted by: Fred || 07/10/2010 10:12 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


World Bank approves $6.2bn assistance for Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: The World Bank has endorsed a proposed lending programme of up to $6.2 billion for fiscal years 2010-2013 for Pakistan. The funds will primarily be used for poverty reduction.

On Friday, the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors discussed a new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Pakistan.

“The goal of the CPS — which is in direct support of Pakistan’s own Poverty Reduction Strategy — is to help steer its economy back onto a path of high growth by addressing the country’s key long-term issues to growth,” the bank said.

The programme will help address constraints like “weak revenue mobilisation, unreliable energy supply, and a fragile security situation”.

The bank also pledged to continue support for the education and health systems, reinforce safety net systems, and enhance the earning capacity of the poor and vulnerable.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/10/2010 00:49 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Clearly the UNWB's US$6.0BILYUHN beats CHINA'S US$50.0BILYUHN to INDONESIA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/10/2010 1:27 Comments || Top||

#2  A larger version of Gaza!
Posted by: Paul D || 07/10/2010 4:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Extortion payoffs to the Poverty Reduction Strategy religion of peace. Will they never end.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/10/2010 6:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Just another multi-billion dollar financial black hole demonstration project.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/10/2010 18:24 Comments || Top||


BJP seeks explanation of Pak's role in IHK violence
Indian opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday asked the union government to explain the role of Pakistan in the latest violence in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) since Islamabad had promised to curb all anti-Indian activities on its soil during the latest bilateral talks held between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
They lied, like they always do. What is there to question?
"The condition in Kashmir is becoming critical day by day. Now it is evident that terrorists across the border are sponsoring the unrest," said BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad. "The union government of India must explain it," he said, adding that the visit of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to Pakistan was preceded by the visit of the foreign secretary and on both the occasions Pakistan had given an undertaking that it would not allow anti-Indian activities. "On the contrary these are hostile, violent activities from their soil," he said referring to the IHK situation where army was called in to control violence amid intercepts of phone calls proving that some of the unrest was instigated from across the border, especially by the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT). "What is the outcome of the talks? Militants are openly creating trouble in Kashmir," he said, criticising the government's Pakistan policy. "During the time of Atal Bihari Vajpayee there was dialogue and firm action was also taken when required," he said. "Kashmir is an integral part of India," he added and slammed IHK Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's poor management. "He must learn how to govern," said Prasad.

Earlier, the BJP had said the IHK situation was the result of a policy of "competitive communalism" being pursued by the two major political parties in the state- the opposition PDP and the ruling National Conference. "The tense situation is the result of the politics of 'competitive communalism' being pursued by both the PDP and the National Conference, and due to no timely action being taken by the union government," the BJP leader said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/10/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Allawi says govt. likely to be formed in August
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqiya bloc leader Iyad Allawi on Friday expected the Iraqi government lineup to take form in August and the three top state posts to be clear late this month.

“I believe that matters are God willing heading in the right direction. Negotiations are in the final stages and we hope to end this affair as soon as possible,” Lebanon’s national information agency quoted Allawi as saying after a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

“I have briefed Prime Minister Hariri on developments in Iraq and the negotiations to form an Iraqi government as soon as possible,” said Allawi, a former prime minister of Iraq.

This week has seen a breakthrough between Allawi’s al-Iraqiya bloc, which won 91 seats in the March 7 legislative elections, and incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Dawlat al-Qanoon (State of Law), which came second with 89 seats.

The constitutional deadline to name a president of the republic and a speaker of parliament will end on July 13. The president, according to the constitution, would designate a prime minister within 15 days.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/10/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Sabians seek cabinet ministry
I had honestly never heard of these guys ...
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Sabian Mandaeans are seeking a role within the coming government by winning a cabinet ministry, a legislator representing the religious minority in Iraq said on Friday.

“The sect’s leadership has taken a decision since 2003 to seek independence in opinion and avoid alliances with one group at the expense of another. This decision has helped improve the Sabian Mandaeans’ relations with all political powers in Iraq and we plan to continue our approach during the current parliamentary session,” Khalid Amin al-Roumi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“We are definitely interested in seeing an Iraqi government formed as soon as possible but the sect’s leadership demands a role in this government like any other groups of the Iraqi people,” Roumi added.

The Mandaean Sabians spread in different areas of southern Iraqi provinces and near rivers, which they believe as sources of purity, sanctity, growth and life.
Mandaeism or Mandaeanism is a monotheistic religion with a strongly dualistic worldview.

Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam Abel, Seth, Enosh, Noah, Shem, Aram, and espcially John the Baptist. They describe Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad as false Prophets. Mandaeans consider John the Baptist to be God’s most honorable messenger.

Worldwide, there are thought to be between 60,000 and 70,000 Mandaeans, and until the 2003 Iraq war, almost all of them lived in Iraq. The 2003 Iraq war reduced the population of Iraqi Mandaeans to approximately 5,000 by 2007.

Most Iraqi Mandaeans fled to Syria and Jordan under the threat of violence by Islamic extremists and the turmoil of the war. Mandaeism has historically been practiced primarily in the country around the lower Euphrates and Tigris and the rivers that surround the Shatt al-Arab.

In Islam, the term Sabian is used as a blanket term for adherents to a number of religions, including that of the Mandaeans.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/10/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel asks UN to stop Libyan aid boat: media
[Dawn] Israel has asked the United Nations to prevent a Libyan aid ship from trying to breach its blockade of the Gaza Strip, media reported Saturday.

Israel's ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev sent a letter to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asking that the international community intervene to prevent the ship approaching Gaza, the website of the Haaretz daily reported.

"Israel calls upon the international community to exert its influence on the government of Libya to demonstrate responsibility and prevent the ship from departing to the Gaza Strip," Haaretz quoted from the letter.

Shalev also warned in the letter that "Israel reserves the right under international law to prevent this ship from violating the existing naval blockade on the Gaza Strip."

Israeli foreign ministry officials could not be reached Saturday.

A charity headed by the son of Libyan leader Moamar Kadhafi said on Friday it was sending an aid boat from Greece to Gaza.

The Tripoli-based Kadhafi International Charity and Development Association said the cargo ship was "loaded with about 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid in the form of foodstuff and medications".

The ship will also carry "a number of supporters who are keen on expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people in the plight amidst the siege imposed on Gaza," the organisation added in a statement.

The vessel's agents said the Moldova-flagged cargo ship Amalthea was expected to set sail from Lavrio, some 60 kilometres southeast of Athens.

The 92 metre freighter has a 12 man crew and will carry up to nine passengers, a representative of Piraeus-based Alpha Shipping agents said.

On May 31, Israeli special forces stormed a flotilla of six ships carrying aid for the blockaded Gaza Strip, killing nine Turks on board the Turkish passenger ferry Mavi Marmara.

Israel says its commandos only used force to defend themselves after being ambushed.

Israel imposed the blockade in June 2006 after its soldier, Gilad Shalit, was captured by Gaza militants and tightened it a year later when Hamas seized power in the coastal strip.

In the wake of the May 31 incident, Israel has significantly eased the blockade, barring only arms and goods that could be used to create weapons or build fortifications, but it has maintained the naval blockade.
Posted by: Fred || 07/10/2010 10:19 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Wicked clever.

Let's see what the do-nothings at the UN come up with to avoid responsibility.
Posted by: gorb || 07/10/2010 22:54 Comments || Top||


Lebanon-Israel tensions grow over gas finding
[Al Arabiya Latest] Israeli plans to drill for gas in the Mediterranean sea have alarmed Lebanon, which says it also has major gas reserves but may lose out because it lags behind in exploration and the hostile neighbors have no sea border.

Lebanon has said it would "use all means" to defend its rights if Israel was found to be drilling within its borders, after a U.S.-Israeli consortium announced in June a potential find that could turn the Jewish state into a gas exporter.

The discovery of the Leviathan prospect, which may have deposits of 16 trillion cubic feet (tcf), has sent Lebanese politicians scrambling to approve an energy law.

"In all cases Lebanon will not give up its rights, whether it is land, air or water rights and will use all means to defend these rights," said Lebanese lawmaker Ali Hassan Khalil, an aide to Shi'ite parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri.

Delineation of exclusive economic zone waters is a complicated process that often requires negotiation, an unlikely scenario in the case of Lebanon and Israel who fought a war four years ago.

"I see it becoming a source of considerable tension until the location and the scale of the reservoirs are better understood," said Catherine Hunter, the Levantine energy analyst at IHS in London.

Hunter was referring to the Tamar field announced last year and the Leviathan prospect which U.S.-based Noble Energy said would be twice the size of Tamar, the largest global gas find of 2009.
Posted by: Fred || 07/10/2010 10:04 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mebbe the dreaded Lebanese Navy can raise the YAMATO for purposes of RESISTANCE?
Posted by: borgboy || 07/10/2010 15:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Lebanon can borrow my ancient male tuxedo cat...a continual emitter of natural gas when he isn't sneezing or burping.
Posted by: borgboy || 07/10/2010 15:44 Comments || Top||


Obama tells Abbas he is committed to Palestinian state
US President Barack Obama assured Mahmud Abbas by telephone of his commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Palestinian leader's spokesman said.
Of course he is ...
"Mr. Obama promised Mr. Abbas to make all efforts for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state living in security, peace and stability alongside Israel," Nabil Abou Roudeina said, adding that the US leader had called Abbas.

The call followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's White House meeting with Obama on Tuesday, in which the two leaders discussed a number of issues, including Israel's stalled peace talks with the Palestinians.

"President Abbas received a phone call from President Obama about the latest political events, in particular the meeting of Mr. Obama with Netanyahu," Roudeina said.

He said that Abbas had assured Obama of his own commitment "to a peace process that is serious and continuous, and which leads to the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories... and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state."
It was a polite conversation, so President Abbas's belief that the proper boundaries of that independent Palestinian state are the Jordan River, the Mediterranean Sea, and the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Egypt was not mentioned.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/10/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Did O tell Netanyahu that he is also committed to an Israeli state?
Of course not.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 07/10/2010 0:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Supposedly he did.

It's just that we don't believe him.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/10/2010 0:39 Comments || Top||

#3  I'd say "better get that in writing," but even that doesn't mean much with this guy.
Posted by: gorb || 07/10/2010 3:16 Comments || Top||

#4  That's our man Barry, always in the transmit mode.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/10/2010 6:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Barry NORDO
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/10/2010 18:28 Comments || Top||


End Israel aid over settlements: Presbyterians
MINNEAPOLIS -- Presbyterian leaders strongly backed a proposal that included a call to end U.S. aid to Israel unless the country stops settlement expansions in disputed Palestinian territories.
Boy howdy, the Israelis have lost the presbyterians. I think that actually happened in about 1970 or so.
But they said the 172-page report, which details their church's approach to issues in the Middle East, was a sincere effort to mend long-standing fractures between the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Jewish groups.
Sincere effort implies a certain lack of success. Likely taken in response to hemorrhaging membership over this and other progressive stances. The more conservative branches of Presbyterianism have been growing nicely.
It earned qualified praise but also criticism from pro-Israel organizations, which have long taken issue with various Presbyterian statements on Middle East peace.

Church delegates approved the report by an 82 percent vote during the church's general assembly in Minneapolis. It's meant as a comprehensive guide to the denomination's more than 2 million members on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"We feel we've brought together people who previously had trouble talking about some of these issues together," said Rev. Karen Dimon, pastor at Northminster Presbyterian Church in North Syracuse, New York, and chairwoman of the committee that produced the report.

Ethan Felson, vice president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said he still took issue with major aspects of the report, but said it contained "important signals" that could lessen long-standing tension between Presbyterians and pro-Israel Jews. He said it strengthens support for Israel's right to exist and removes comparisons of Israeli policy to apartheid.

"Concerns remain, but I have hope that authentic dialogue and better relations can come of this," Felson said.
Good luck with that. The same left-wing nuts who hijacked much of the Anglican Church have done the same here.
The Anti-Defamation League said the report managed to "avoid a rupture with Jewish people, but bias against Israel continues." The Simon Wiesenthal Center said the report "takes definite sides in a complex struggle."

But the Rev. J.C. Austin, director of the Center for Christian Leadership at New York City's Auburn Seminary, disagreed. "We are refusing to designate a winner or loser," said Austin, who helped prepare the report.

The denomination's relationship with Jewish groups took a hit in 2004, when the church's general assembly voted to authorize "phased selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel" because of Israel's policies toward Palestinians. That stance has since been softened, and this year convention delegates voted down an amendment to the Middle East report that would have put divestment back on the table.

Despite the strong convention vote, some delegates expressed concern that the Middle East report remained too slanted toward a Palestinian perspective.

"There are many longtime friends in the Jewish community who believe this report misstates Jewish theology and misquotes the Jewish voice," said the Rev. Susan Zencka, pastor at Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church in Stevens Point, Wis. "We have come to a position of Palestine good, Israel bad. Life is not that simple."

But supporters stressed that the overarching goal of the report is to encourage activism toward peace in the Middle East.

"I fully support a state of Israel, but I also believe Israel's peace will not come until they seek peace with Palestinians," said Dottie Villesvik, a church elder from Everett, Wash.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/10/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I went Methodist after they eliminate the eliminated the "Holy Trinity". I'll never go back
Posted by: Beavis || 07/10/2010 1:20 Comments || Top||

#2  But supporters stressed that the overarching goal of the report is to encourage activism toward peace in the Middle East.

Through the condemnation of the Jew of course. A somewhat international theme since the 1930's I must say. Pray for and serve the sinners in your own pews ja feckless bastids.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/10/2010 7:19 Comments || Top||

#3  JAWOHL! Miene Oberlieutnant!

How do you say Progressive Standartenfuerer, in Presbyterian?
Posted by: Oscar Phaish3933 || 07/10/2010 8:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Well it's looking like it is time for me to call for an end to our congregation's association with PC(USA). It would be over their implicit support for Palestinians due to Palestinian's policies toward Israel--mostly consisting of launching rockets willy-nilly into Israeli neighborhoods.
Posted by: eLarson || 07/10/2010 11:21 Comments || Top||

#5  (sorry for the double post)
If you really want to set such a Presbyterian's teeth on edge, confront them on their support for ethnic cleansing in Palestine. After all, why must there be no Jewish people living there?
Posted by: eLarson || 07/10/2010 11:24 Comments || Top||

#6  Moderator Broyles destroyed the Presbyterian church with his socialism and hatred of the Jews. How this man can hold such influence in a congregational organization is incredible.
Posted by: bman || 07/10/2010 11:28 Comments || Top||

#7  How do you say Progressive Standartenfuerer, in Presbyterian?

'Bishop'
Posted by: Steve White || 07/10/2010 11:28 Comments || Top||

#8  Wonder if any of these Politically Correct Presbys ever read the Bible?
Posted by: Flolunter Poodle5349 || 07/10/2010 13:00 Comments || Top||

#9  The delegates also debated whether to endorse same sex marriage but couldn’t decide. However, they voted to allow for openly gay clergy. (As long as they’re in a “committed” relationship of course.) Apparently the lutefisk dinners have now taken a back seat to social justice issues.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 07/10/2010 14:52 Comments || Top||

#10  Moderator Broyles destroyed the Presbyterian church with his socialism and hatred of the Jews. How this man can hold such influence in a congregational organization is incredible.

The charismatic psycho church leader is not a new theme. In fact, it is almost hackneyed. Don't any of you watch John Lithgow in Dexter as the serial killer Church Leader? Come on. Just becauase of this dope, the Presbyterian Church is not ruin-ded. Many excellent Presbyterian exist, and do read the Bible. It is a bit of overreactionary kudzu to start doubting the entire kit and kiboodle. Chicken Little, you have a cable. It says the sky is not falling.
Posted by: Cloud Banks || 07/10/2010 15:22 Comments || Top||

#11  Point taken Cloud Banks. I suspect there were a few "excellent" camp guards at Buchanwald who didn't agree with the "phycho" party line as well. No sense labeling or sterotyping everyone, right?
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/10/2010 16:25 Comments || Top||

#12  PC(USA) hasn't just been hemorrhaging members, but entire congregations which have gone over to one of the several more traditional branches of Presbyterianism. It's not the faith that's at fault, but the PC(USA) heresy.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/10/2010 20:59 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
German freed after telling Filipino girlfriend of abduction
Posted by: American Delight || 07/10/2010 08:28 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Ahmadinejad under fire from Larijani
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has come under fire from parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a fellow conservative who stood against him when he was first elected in 2005.

Larijani criticised the government's expansionist economic policy and Ahmadinejad personally for challenging two pieces of legislation passed by parliament, the ISNA news agency reported on Friday. "If we want to stand up to our enemies, we need to improve the economy," the news agency quoted Larijani as saying in a speech in the Tehran satellite town of Karaj.

"Iran has big oil and gas reserves -- the way to use that wealth is not by handing out money to people but by using it to develop the nation's productive capacity," he said. "Social justice... means providing universal employment not giving monthly handouts to stop people starving," he added in allusion to a government plan to phase out state subsidies on staple foods and replace them with cash benefits to the needy.
Posted by: Fred || 07/10/2010 09:45 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  "If we want to stand up to our enemies, we need to improve the economy," the news agency quoted Larijani as saying in a speech in the Tehran satellite town of Karaj.

"Iran has big oil and gas reserves -- the way to use that wealth is not by handing out money to people but by using it to develop the nation's productive capacity," he said. "Social justice... means providing universal employment not giving monthly handouts to stop people starving," he added in allusion to a government plan to phase out state subsidies on staple foods and replace them with cash benefits to the needy.


Weird...
Posted by: Gabby || 07/10/2010 18:00 Comments || Top||

#2  The mullahs and the Republican Guard can't do much in the way of seizing subsidized food when it's been delivered to poor people.

But squeeze them to kick back cash? You betcha.
Posted by: lotp || 07/10/2010 20:45 Comments || Top||

#3  If the amount of the cash payments are not adjusted for inflation, it will not be long before the people have nothing to eat except huge piles of worthless Iranian money.
Republican Guard storehouses on the other hand will be chock full of staple foods that otherwise would have been distributed to the people.
Posted by: junkiron || 07/10/2010 22:34 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2010-07-10
  65 killed in twin suicide attacks in Mohmand Agency
Fri 2010-07-09
  Fifteen killed in Baghdad on last day of Shia holiday
Thu 2010-07-08
  Afghanistan: Mullah Omar's arrest 'unlikely'
Wed 2010-07-07
  Pakistan Arrests Taliban Chief Mullah Omar: Reports
Tue 2010-07-06
  The United States of America vs. The State of Arizona; and Janice K. Brewer
Mon 2010-07-05
  Bangla Jamaat rampage
Sun 2010-07-04
  Ayatollah Fudlullah dies at 75
Sat 2010-07-03
  Obama signs toughest-ever US sanctions on Iran
Fri 2010-07-02
  37 people killed in bomb blasts at Pakistan shrine
Thu 2010-07-01
  Protests rock Bangla capital
Wed 2010-06-30
  Bangla Jamaat big turbans held on court order
Tue 2010-06-29
  Kabul dismisses report Karzai met Haqqani
Mon 2010-06-28
  Drone strike kills six Taliban in N Wazoo
Sun 2010-06-27
  15 insurgents killed by their own bombs in Afghan mosque
Sat 2010-06-26
  Mir Ali dronezap waxes two


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