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Showing posts from January 12, 2014

Next-generation extremism: next-generation responsibility

Last December, the  Guardian   published a leaked NSA document by whistle-blower Edward Snowden that discussed the threat of terrorists’ uses of ‘ Games and Virtual Environments ’ (GVE). The NSA and GCHQ have been systematically infiltrating popular game servers to spy on users, with the aim of countering potential terrorist activity. They are concerned about the potential for the radicalisation and recruitment of gamers into extremist organisations or terrorist groups. While the launch of the much anticipated next-generation gaming consoles  Xbox One  and  PS4 will enhance the virtual gaming experience, some believe this world could provide a sophisticated platform to exploit others, and a fresh arena to recruit into extremist movements, terrorist groups or foreign conflicts. But is there really a credible threat? Gaming content has come under increased scrutiny as more explicit, graphic and sometimes controversial content is offered to customers.  Prominent First-Person Shooter (FPS)

Blast at Banthat Thong protest, 8 hurt

A small bomb has exploded near the area where protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban was marching on Banthat Thong Road, injuring eight demonstrators. The bomb,  either an improvised explosive of a giant firecracker, went off as the People's Democratic Reform Committee protesters were passing along the street near Charoen Phol intersection, the Bangkok Post reporter following Mr Suthep said. The explosion, about 1pm, occurred about 100 metres from where Mr Suthep was standing, the reporter said. Security guards whisked Mr Suthep away to an unknown location. It was unclear whether the bomb was placed on the roadside and trigged by remote control, or thrown from a building in the area, BlueSky television said. At least eight people were injured, it added. Source  http://bangkokpost.com/latestnews/390083

Raipur stems up as key centre for arms supplies to Naxals

With a strong urban network of Maoists resurfacing in the cities of Chhattisgarh, capital Raipur has emerged as a key centre for supply of logistics like clothes, arms and ammunition. More than the attacks in forests, what has left the police baffled are a couple of recent incidents where arms and ammunition were found in Raipur and its adjoining cities. The arrest of three Maoist couriers, who were allegedly handling the urban operations of Naxals, along with ammunition two days back in the district has once again set the alarm bell ringing for the Raipur Police. "Close vigil is being kept to trace every suspected movement in and around Raipur. We have certain inputs of assistance being provided to the rebels from town areas and we are taking appropriate action on that," Raipur Superintendent of Police OP Pal told PTI. "The arrest is likely to unfold more information about the Maoist conduit operating in city area as their questioning has led to nabbing of two other Nax

Al Qaeda please release my husband

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Johannesburg - Yolande Korkie, distraught, frail and very tired, appealed directly to al-Qaeda on Thursday to show the mercy of Nelson Mandela by releasing her husband Pierre as the deadline for his execution loomed over the next 24 hours. “We are so proud to be South African. The example of President Mandela, his example of forgiveness and tolerance, have inspired us,” she said in a faint and quivering voice at a media conference in Joburg. “And we are asking you, al-Qaeda, to show mercy, show tolerance and forgiveness as we forgive you. Please release Pierre, please release the children’s father, as you released me. They miss him desperately,” she added, her voice breaking and fading. She was speaking at the premises of the Gift of the Givers charity, which negotiated her release a week ago and is trying desperately to negotiate Pierre’s release before al-Qaeda carries out its threat to “send his head home in a box”, as Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman revealed on Thursday.

Sporadic attacks worry army chief

Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha is worried that an armed group might be behind sporadic attacks launched during the anti-government protests in Bangkok. Soldiers are deployed on a skywalk which connects to Phloenchit BTS station following attacks close to nearby anti-government rally venues.  Deputy army spokesman Winthai Suwaree said Gen Prayuth is worried about the security situation near rally sites. On Tuesday, two people were injured in a bomb and gun attack near the Chalerm La 56 bridge around midnight. It is close to the Pathumwan intersection rally site. Soon after, a bomb attack occurred at the housing compound of Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva. A bus taking protesters from the South to a rally site at Nang Loeng was also set on fire early Wednesday. Gen Prayuth urged all sides in the conflict to exercise restraint, the spokesman said. Resorting to violence to end the political standoff would only fuel hatred. "This is very dangerous for the country," the deput

Muslims 'killed by Myanmar mob'

A Buddhist mob rampaged through a town in an isolated corner of Myanmar, hacking Muslim women and children with knives, a villager and a rights group reported, saying Friday that more than a dozen people may have been killed. A government official said the situation was tense, but denied any deaths. Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country of 60 million people, has been grappling with sectarian violence for nearly two years. More than 240 people have been killed and another 250,000, mostly Muslims, forced to flee their homes. Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, an advocacy group that has been documenting abuses against members of the Rohinyga Muslim minority for more than a decade, said details about the violence that occurred early Tuesday morning in northern Rakhine state were still emerging, with many conflicting reports. It is one of the most isolated regions in the country, both politically and geographically, and access to foreigners is denied or severely restricted. The death tol

NorthCot to conduct consultations on GPH-MILF peace process

MIDSAYAP, North Cotabato (MindaNews / 16 January) – The provincial government of North Cotabato will hold massive consultations regarding the peace process between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the area, Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza said. She said the consultations will be conducted in partnership with the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC), a grassroots network of Moro, Christian and Lumad leaders in Mindanao. Mendoza bared the plan on Wednesday during a consultation for the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) at the Southern Christian College here. She said the consultations will serve as venue “to spread correct information to avoid what had happened in 2008,” when war broke out in some parts of the island, including North Cotabato, due to the botched signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), which the Supreme Court later ruled unconstitutional. “It is our dream and that of our forefathers to have lasting peace in

Thailand: insurgent attacks kill more security personnel in 2013

A recent round-up report from police has revealed that security personnel casualties from the southern violence more than doubled last year in the region that has been witnessing near-daily attacks for the past 10 years.  The report from the Police Operational Centre in the Southern Provinces said the death toll among police officers and militants in the Deep South more than doubled to 129 from 60 in 2012. The deaths came despite a series of peace talks between government representatives and insurgent groups. A total of 267 officials and civilians were slain by separatist attacks, 6 of whom were teachers and a monk. 51 militants were also killed last year, following a rise in the number of raids and blockades in the troubled region. Out of 513 security warrants, 562 suspects were arrested. In 2012, 21 police, 39 military personnel and 223 civilians were killed by the unrest. The Army has recently expressed concern over the rising number of violent attacks in the far South after three b

If Erdogan falls

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to be sinking deeper into a political mire of his own making. His former ally and foreign minister and now president, Abdullah Gul, has begun to intervene in the rising tide of scandal around the Erdogan government. Gul used an otherwise innocuous gathering of Turkish ambassadors at the presidential palace to warn that Turkey’s foreign policy needed a “reset”. Without referring specifically to the corruption scandal that now taints Erdogan’s administration, and his controversial moves against police and prosecutors who are pursuing it, the Turkish president said that past experience had demonstrated that domestic crises have an impact on the effectiveness of foreign policy. The rabbit punch in Gul’s speech came with the words: “This is why it is very important to study these matters carefully, and for a country to attain the highest standards possible in democracy, freedoms and the rule of law, with a developing economy that complemen

Turkey spy agency denies role in Paris murder of Kurds

Istanbul.  Turkey's spy agency has denied it was involved in the killings of three female Kurdish rebels in Paris a year ago but has launched an internal probe into the case,  AFP  reported. A Turkish national has been charged in France over the triple murder but the motive remains unknown. Turkey has suggested the killings were the result of an internal feud in the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) over the peace process. Turkey's National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) took the unusual step of issuing a statement after voice recordings and documents published in the media claimed it had paid around 6,000 euros ($8,000) to the suspect, Omer Guney. Source http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n324230

Kurdish protesters claim anti-terror police confiscated their cash

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A grieving Kurd holds photographs of Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez, who were killed in Paris last year. Photograph: Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty Images Kurdish protesters detained overnight at Dover on their way to a demonstration in Paris have claimed that their wallets were all but emptied by Metropolitan  police  officers under controversial anti-terror laws. The mass detention and confiscation of personal cash was carried out last Saturday under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which allows officers to stop and search people for up to nine hours and confiscate material even if there were no previous grounds for suspicion. According to witnesses, some female passengers were subjected to intrusive strip searches and had their veils removed in front of male police officers. One is said to have fainted in shock. A number were allowed to keep around £30 each as spending money, others said they were left with nothing. The operation was carried out by the Metropolitan p

FARC rebels end unilateral ceasefire

The Associated Press   HAVANA (AP)—Colombia’s largest rebel group said Wednesday it will not extend a monthlong unilateral ceasefire it declared on Dec. 15, 2013, and threw its support behind the embattled mayor of the South American nation’s capital. Jorge Torres, a high-ranking guerrilla who goes by the nom de guerre Pablo Catatumbo, said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, wants the world to know it maintained its ceasefire even as Colombian government forces continued military action. “Fifty years of nonstop war prove that the end of the conflict and peace will not be attained through the repression and brute force of the state,” he said, reading a statement outside a Havana convention center where peace talks have been taking place since late 2012. Source  http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000947112

US high court rejects Dirty War lawsuit

Justices rule for Daimler in case that could make it harder for victims to seek justice in US WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Daimler AG (formerly Mercedes Benz) cannot be sued in California over alleged abuses committed during the last Argentine dictatorship, a decision likely to further erode the reputation of the United States as a global venue for human rights claims. In yesterday’s ruling, the justices said companies must do substantial business in the United States to be sued there. The fact that the German-based automaker owns a US-based subsidiary that does business in California was not enough for the lawsuit to proceed, the court said. Victims who say they were kidnapped and tortured by the Argentine government in the late 1970s and relatives of those who disappeared sued in state court, alleging Mercedes-Benz was complicit in the killing, torture or kidnapping by the military of unionized auto workers. In Argentina, Judge Alicia Vence is currently inve

Kissinger gave ‘green light’ to military killings

New oral history confirms former secretary of state granted Junta one year for operations Former US secretary of State Henry Kissinger knew perfectly well about the repression being committed during Argentina’s military dictatorship and in 1976 gave the junta led by late former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla a year to  put an end to “the terrorist problem,” according to a former US official. US president Jimmy Carter’s assistant secretary for human rights, Pat Derian, reignited the discussion over the role played by the US in the last Argentine dictatorship in a recently published interview. Derian, who had earlier reported hearing that Kissinger effectively gave the “green light” to the military’s repression, is remembered by human rights activists as a person who helped propel their demands.  The information that Derian confirmed in a recently published oral history had been previously reported by journalist Martin Edwin Andersen, who was a correspondent for The Washington Post during

Colombia’s Top Gold Miner Sees Output Rebound After FARC Attacks

Mineros SA (MINEROS) , Colombia’s top gold producer, expects output to rise this year after lower prices and rebel attacks hurt profit in 2013, its chief executive officer said. Gold production will increase at the company’s underground La Ye mine and Nicaraguan operations, while its deposits in the valley of Colombia’s Nechi River will be similar to 2013, said CEO Beatriz Uribe. “In production terms, we’re going to be better this year,” Uribe said today in a telephone interview. “But it’s possible that the price of gold could be worse.” A 2.5-month long strike at La Ye, attacks on electricity infrastructure by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and the slide in  gold prices  curbed last year’s profit, Uribe said. “The balance will be less good than 2012,” Uribe said, declining to elaborate. “We’re not talking losses. The company continues to have a very good Ebitda,” referring to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The company  posted prof

Colombia: FARC violated cease-fire agreement with harassment, bombs

BOGOTA, Jan. 16 (UPI) --  FARC violated a monthlong cease-fire agreement and is allegedly responsible for multiple acts of violence, the Colombian Ombudsman's office said Thursday. The cease-fire began Dec. 15 and ended Jan. 15, Colombia Reports said. During that period, FARC committed multiple acts of harassment in the town of El Doncello and is also responsible for two bombings that occurred in Anori and Briceno, the ombudsman's office alleged. The Center of Resources for the Analysis of Conflicts said the cease-fire reduced violence by 65 percent. FARC has been negotiating a peace agreement with the Colombian government since November 2012. A new round of talks began Monday, Colombia Reports said. Source  http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2014/01/16/Colombia-FARC-violated-cease-fire-agreement-with-harassment-bombs/UPI-98571389899532/?spt=rln&or=1

Guerrilla Girls of the FARC-EP: Making War, Peace, and History

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If regular armies are generally a man's world, guerrillas and insurgent forces are just the contrary.  There women have always had a central role.  Think of   Agustina of Aragon ,   Olga Benário ,   Tania Bunke ,   Maria Grajales , and   Celia Sánchez , or even (stretching a bit) the legendary Amazons.  It is not for nothing that   Liberté  -- the allegorical figure depicted by Delacroix in the barricades of the July Revolution -- is a woman. Colombia is no exception to this rule.  From even before the independence, women such as the  Cacica Gaitana  and  Policarpa Salavarrieta  have had a key role in armed struggle.  Today this legacy of women in resistance continues in Colombia's FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, People's Army), which is the world's longest-lasting guerrilla still in operation.  This seasoned political and military organization,  now engaged in peace dialogs in Havana , has sent a delegation there that is about a third women. Who are th