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Showing posts from August 7, 2011

US Concern Grows Over Qaeda Poison Threat

Source: thejakartaglobe Washington. The Obama administration is concerned that a dangerous regional arm of al Qaeda is trying to produce the deadly poison ricin to use in attacks against the United States, the New York Times reported on Friday. Citing unnamed intelligence officials and classified intelligence reports, the newspaper said al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen has been trying to acquire large quantities of castor beans, used to produce ricin. It said the apparent intent was to pack the poison around small explosives that could be exploded to disperse the ricin, a white powdery substance so deadly that a speck can kill if inhaled or taken into the bloodstream.  The Times said the apparent intent was to detonate the explosives in enclosed spaces like a shopping mall or airport. President Barack Obama and top security aides were briefed about the threat last year, the report said, and have received updates since then but added that senior American officials said th

Israeli Protests Demonstrate A Surprising Arab Influence

Source: jakarta globe Tel Aviv. Israelis, living in an island of relative freedom and comfort and surrounded by countries they generally view with disdain, are not accustomed to taking their cues from Arabs. So the idea that the eruption of a mass movement protesting Israel’s corrosive social inequality could have been influenced — even inspired — by the Mideast’s Arab Spring revolts, for many Israelis, just does not compute. Traces of influence were there, though, as a quarter of a million Israelis took to the streets last weekend to protest a stratospheric cost of living, poor public services and one of the highest income gaps in the developed world. Chants echoed those that rang out in the streets of Arab capitals, and tent protest camps on the style of those in Cairo’s Tahrir Square have arisen in the streets of Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities. Much like Arabs had for decades seemed resigned to dictatorships, Israelis had taken economic divisions as a fact of li

China says order restored after thousands protest

Source: taiwannews A local official says order has been restored to a southwestern Chinese town after thousands took to the streets and clashed with police to protest rough handling of citizens by authorities. Residents in Qianxi county in Guizhou province protested after a man who had parked a car illegally clashed with "chengguan," or urban management corps. A county Communist Party official who would give only his surname, Wu, says that at the protest's peak, more than 1,000 people had gathered, but that they had all dispersed by early Friday. He said Saturday that more than a dozen police cars were smashed or set on fire, but he had no further details. Chengguan act like a police auxiliary unit, but are notorious for corruption and violence against small businesses and the poor.

Creative Ways to Counter Right-Wing Extremism: Trojan T-Shirts

Source: huffingtonpost When you go through your laundry after pulling it out of the washing machine, you occasionally have to be prepared for unexpected surprises, such as seeing that your favorite white tablecloth has acquired a turquoise hue, or discovering your iPod that had gone missing. However, when German right-wing extremist music fans went through their laundry this past week, their surprise was even bigger. As reported in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung , the far-right German political party NPD had organized a rock music concert in the city of Gera, which was attended by a significant number of German neo-Nazis. The organizers of the concert also distributed 250 free T-shirts, which they had received as an anonymous donation prior to the concert. The T-shirts appeared to be fairly typical for the kind of T-shirts that German right-wing extremists would wear. They were imprinted with a skull logo and the inscription, " HARDCORE REBELLEN, N

Have jihadis infiltrated Pakistan's party of preachers?

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The Tableeghi Jamaat is in the Pakistani media spotlight following Interior Minister Rehman Malik's [ Images ] statement on July 29, describing TJ's missionary centre in Lahore [ Images ] as the breeding ground of extremism and terrorism. Amir Mir reports from Pakistan. The Pakistan chapter of the Tableeghi Jamaat or the Party of Preachers, which declares it is an innocent group of practicing Muslims preaching Islam, and which claims to have never indulged in any militant or political activities as a matter of principle, seems to have been infiltrated by jihadi elements. The Tableeghi Jamaat is once again in the Pakistani media spotlight following Interior Minister Rehman Malik's statement on July 29, describing TJ's missionary centre in the Raiwind area of Lahore, the capital of Pakistan's Punjab [ Images ] province, as the breeding ground of extremism and terrorism. However, in the wake of widespread condemnation by the country's

Mali's two-pronged approach to combating Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

Source: csmonitor Mali is a regional outlier for trying to combat Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb with not just force, but also an initiative to address societal problems seen as fostering extremism. Mali is often seen, by analysts as well as its neighbors, as something of an outlier within the Sahel in terms of its government’s approach to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). In February 2010, Mali effectively swapped hostages with AQIM, angering Algeria and Mauritania , who withdrew their ambassadors for a time (Algeria and Mauritania favor attempts to neutralize AQIM through force). Mali does not reject the use of force: it has attended regional counterterrorism summits, and recently participated in Mauritania’s campaign to clear militants out of the Wagadou Forest in the Mauritania-Mali border zone. In addition to force, however, Mali is moving forward with an initiative to address underdevelopment and marginalization , problems the go

For Egyptians, British Riots Are a Mix of Familiar and Peculiar

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 Source: NYT Khaled Elfiqi/European Pressphoto Agency Egyptian protesters reacting on Friday after some demonstrators threw stones at military police at Tahrir Square in Cairo. By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and HEBA AFIFY CAIRO — After decades of hearing the West bemoan the lawlessness of Arab societies, Egyptians watched this week with a mix of empathy, disgust and perhaps a measure of satisfaction as the British authorities struggled for four days to rein in arson and looting in London and other major cities. Six months after Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain recommended using the peaceful Egyptian revolution as a model lesson in his country’s schools, his words took on new relevance in the minds of many Egyptians as chaos gripped London, the capital of their country’s former colonial ruler. “I hope Egyptians will stop calling themselves ‘uncivilized’ now,” Yasmine Gado, an Egyptian-American human rights lawyer, wrote in a Twitter posting abo

Riots, wild markets: Did space storms drive us mad?

Source: HT Rollercoaster financial markets and the worst riots Britain has seen in decades have made it quite a week for a time of year that is usually so dead the newspapers are filled with "silly season" tales of amusing pet antics. Everyone is pointing fingers -- at blundering politicians, hooded thugs, disaffected youths, bumbling police and greedy bankers -- but could the cause for all the madness really be the star at the centre of our solar system? There isn't a lot of evidence pointing to little green men involving themselves in Earthly affairs, but the sun has been throwing bursts of highly charged particles into space in a phenomenon known as coronal mass ejections or CMEs.  Three large CMEs prompted U.S. government scientists to warn of solar storms that can cause power blackouts and the aurora borealis, or northern lights, caused by disturbances in the Earth's atmosphere, have been spotted as far south as England and Colorado, NASA said. "Ear

What They Said: The U.K. Riots

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Source: wsj blog By Margherita Stancati Riots in London and other English cities over the past week left a trail of destruction that is estimated to have caused over $300 million in damages. Flaming buildings, looted shops and burned-out cars were just some of the common sights that sent shockwaves through a country that is unaccustomed to such episodes of lawlessness. More than 1,000 people have been arrested so far, and almost 500 of them have been charged. Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Riots in England over the past week left a trail of destruction. Above, a woman walked past a broken window of a shop, in London, England. British officials have vowed to impose new measures to prevent further violence as they worry about the long-term damage to their country’s reputation, particularly in light of the upcoming 2012 London Olympic Games. Here is a roundup of what several Indian papers had to say about the riots: “Welcome to the post-modern riot

British riots illustrate nihilism’s calling

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This isn't the Arab Spring. But the riots in London and beyond do pose a challenge to one of the world's most stable democracies. As Home Secretary Theresa May put it, Britain relies on the consent of communities, not on water cannons, to keep social order. And when thousands of people are hell-bent on destroying order, even if for no other purpose than the cruel joy of it, it does tend to raise the question of what happened to the consent. Infographic Locations of the British riots But that is a question that can be dealt with down the road, when the streets are calm again. One doesn't ask a young man with a Molotov cocktail in his hand why he wishes to burn the city down. One calls in the police. Riots involving thousands of hooded people rolling from neighbourhood to neighbourhood and city to city are not, however, easy to beat back. David Green, the director of Civitas, a British think tank, verges on panic when he writes that “being re

Here’s how the pundits explain the British riots

Source: globe and mail A month before London burst into flames, a young man was arrested at the end of my street. Two police vans had been dispatched, with at least eight officers. The man was maybe 20, white, wearing a stained sweatshirt and track pants, his hands cuffed behind his back. He was also screaming. How dare they arrest him! How could he possibly have a knife? Pigs!  The officers just stood there, looking around nervously. It made no sense. Why not put him in the van? Why let him disrespect their authority in full view? But I'd seen this kind of thing before. And many British community and youth workers have too, so they weren't wholly surprised by the behaviour of the rioters this week. A small, angry portion of poor British teenagers not only hate the police, but seem not to fear them. Canadians would marvel at the lippy contempt some British citizens direct at their boys in blue. The most common response has been to declare the mou

Thousands of People Gather in Southern China as Rioters Clash With Police

Source: bloomberg Thousands of people gathered in southern China ’s Guizhou province as crowds attacked police officers and burned vehicles following a dispute between a driver and a city management officer. People rallied in front of the Qianxi county government building at 5 p.m. local time yesterday after the city officer had a confrontation with the driver who had allegedly illegally parked a vehicle, state-run Xinhua News Agency said today, citing the command center of the provincial public security department. A woman was injured during the dispute, Hexun.com reported today, citing China National Radio, prompting crowds to block roads with trucks and forklifts. People turned over government vehicles and 10 vehicles were smashed and five set alight, the Xinhua report said. More than 10 police officers and security staff were injured during the clash and 10 suspects who allegedly attacked and burned vehicles were detained, according to Xinhua. The crowds disper

Britain Considers Social Media Shutdowns: Could U.S. Be Next?

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Social media has drawn heavy scrutiny in the U.K from the government, and if the riots continue, Prime Minister David Cameron may push for the drastic step of blocking certain internet communication platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Blackberry instant messenger. Wired is reporting that P.M. Cameron has been considering the “pre-crime” blocking of social media websites to avert more riots, and allow authorities to catch up with arrests of suspects shown rioting on surveillance camera footage or inciting violence through social media. Prime Minister Cameron addressed the British House of Commons Thursday, saying: “Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill. So we are working with the Police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality.” Iran Election Protest

Bomb blasts kill two coalition troops in Afghanistan’s south

Source: wireupdate KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- Two separate bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan on Friday left two coalition service members dead, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. ISAF said one of its service members was killed as a result of an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in southern Afghanistan while a second service member died in a second IED attack. As usual, the multinational force gave no other details about the incidents, including the exact locations. The nationalities of the service members were also not immediately disclosed by ISAF. "It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities," a brief statement said. Coalition casualties in Afghanistan have been rising sharply in recent years, with a total coalition death toll of 709 in 2010, making it the deadliest year for international troops since the war began in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the Uni

9p.m. Curfew In Philadelphia To Stop Teen Mob Violence

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Source: channel6news Teen Mob Violence in Philadelphia Photo by Gawker.com PHILADELPHIA (Channel 6 News)— In an attempt by the Philadelphia police department, to contain a recent wave of mob violence, all teens must clear the streets of Philadelphia by 9p.m. ET, beginning Friday evening. After three separate incidents of random attacks by crowds of teens in Old City, Center City, and Fairmount Park. Philadelphia Mayor, Michael Nutter, enacted the new curfew, saying parents of teens who participate in the attacks will face legal sanctions.  He adds that there will be programs offered to parents at youth centers as curfew enforcement continues. “Minors who are caught breaking curfew will be sent home, brought home or transported to a police station where their parents will be contacted,” the city said in a press release. “Minors may be issued a citation with a $100 to $300 fine for a first offense.” Though the city has taken recent precautions to contain the mob v

Bomb blast kills 2 in Beirut

Source: channel6online BEIRUT (BNO NEWS) -- Two people were killed and another was injured on Thursday after a blast ripped through a parking lot in a suburb of the Lebanese capital of Beirut, The Daily Star newspaper reported. The explosion occurred in a parking lot near a gas station in the Antelias district at around 11.30 a.m. local time, killing two people and injuring a bystander. According to security sources, the two men who died in the explosion had been in possession of the explosive device at the time of its detonation. The two men were identified as Ihsan Ali Dia and Hassan Nayef Nassar. Security sources said the attack might have been targeting a car registered to a Lebanese judge, which was parked where the blast took place, the newspaper reported. Legislator Ibrahim Kanaan, who visited the crime scene shortly after the incident, said that the act could be a message aimed at the Lebanese state. "Security and legal sides should be f

Iraq careful over Syria crackdown

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Source: gulftoday BAGHDAD: Iraq is treading carefully in its response to Syria's deadly crackdown on protesters, balancing its ties to Iran, which backs Damascus, and international condemnation of Syria, officials and analysts say. Syrian President Bashar Al Assad's crackdown on protesters, in which rights groups say more than 2,000 people have been killed since March, has drawn widespread international condemnation, including from several Arab states, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations. But while Iraqi Speaker of Parliament Osama Al Nujaifi on Tuesday demanded "that the Syrian government stop the bloodshed" and condemned violence there, the Iraqi government has not taken a strong official stance on the violence in Syria. Prime Min

2 killed in premature Mindanao bomb blast

Source: thegulftoday MANILA: A suspected bomber and his companion were killed when an improvised explosive device he was carrying detonated prematurely in North Cotabato province in Mindanao early on Friday morning, according to the police. Senior Superintendent Cornelio Salinas, the North Cotabato provincial police chief, said they are looking into the possibility the bomb aimed to disrupt the ongoing peace process and end decades-long war and violence in Mindanao. Salinas identified the suspected bomber as Manampan Demalin of the neighboring province of Maguindanao who was killed instantly and his companion as Kalim Indigay of Kidapawan City who died while undergoing emergency treatment in a hospital. He added that before he died, Indigay admitted he was hired as a guide to bring Demalin to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) office in Kidapawan. According to Salinas, Indigay also admitted he belonged to a breakaway faction of the Moro National Liberation F

News organisations defy call to hand over TV riot footage

Source: irishtimes MARK SWENEY MEDIA:  THE BBC and the UK’s commercial TV news organisation ITN have responded to prime minister David Cameron’s call for them immediately to hand over unused TV footage of rioters by arguing that the proper procedure of the police obtaining a court order must be followed. Earlier yesterday the prime minister told MPs that the media has a “responsibility” to release footage to help police track down and punish those responsible for four nights of rioting in cities across England. Liberal Democrat MP John Leach asked the prime minister during yesterday’s emergency session of the House of Commons whether he would “encourage media organisations to immediately release footage”. “I will certainly do that,” Mr Cameron responded. “Everyone has a responsibility. Media organisations have a responsibility too, and I hope they will act on it.” Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 an order must be obtained from a judge to obtai

Community in shock over 'lack of humanity'

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1 2 Police officers raid a property in Pimlico, London, during Operation Woodstock. Photographs: Reuters/Getty Image RONAN McGREEVY in Birmingham DISTURBANCES:  DUDLEY ROAD in Winson Green, Birmingham, resembles many streets in Britain where ethnic minorities have settled. It stretches for miles from just outside the city centre through traditional working-class areas, the type of place where generations of immigrants from the Indian sub-continent and the Caribbean have settled in search of cheap housing. Here you can buy goat’s meat, yams and yam flour, braids, phonecards, and wire money to your relatives through Western Union. A Jamaican food store sits alongside an Asian newsagents, an Afro-hair style salon next door to a Punjab Kebab house. Each one of these shops tells the story of an immigrant family working all hours to get ahead. There is a mosque distinguishable only by a handwritten sign about Koran lessons and next door but one is the Af

Pakistani female suicide bomber kills woman at bomb blast site

Source: irishtimes PESHAWAR – A burka-clad female suicide bomber struck in the heart of Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar yesterday, killing a woman, hours after a bomb blast killed five policemen and a child in the same area. The bombings occurred near a police checkpoint in the city where al-Qaeda and Taliban militants often stage attacks. Police said the attacks could have been co-ordinated. Women suicide bombers are rare in Pakistan, and women often pass checkpoints without being searched. The bomber, who police said was about 25 years old, was wearing an explosive vest. She threw a grenade before blowing herself up near the checkpoint, a police official said. – (Reuters)

Azerbaijan Arrests Two Islamic Activists

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Source: refrl Relatives of arrested Islamic Party activists protested in front of the president's offices in Baku in June. The crackdown on the party has since intensified. August 12, 2011 Reports say police in Azerbaijan have arrested two prominent Islamic activists. The arrests come a week after the leader of the Islamic Party and six other activists went on trial for allegedly trying to overthrow Azerbaijan's secular government. The deputy chairman of the banned Azerbaijani Islamic Party, Arif Ganiev, and the editor of the Islamic news website islam-azeri.az, Ramin Bayramov, were detained on August 11. The charges against the politician have not yet been made public, but the website editor's lawyer said that the police claimed to have found drugs, a pistol, and a hand grenade when they searched his home. Energy-rich Azerbaijan is a mainly Shi'ite Muslim country, but after decades of Soviet rule it emerged as a mostly secular state.