UNREST in other COUNTRIES

[mlurp]

I haven't forgotten about this thread and am very glad the readers might be using the links.
So I am going to place one news story at a time which I will try each day to do.

The rest is up to you the guests/membership readers to use the links. I hope that is with you all.

.Bangladesh launches operation against pirates

AFP – 4 hrs ago. 14 August 2012 .......................

Bangladesh has launched a joint air and naval operation against pirates in the Bay of Bengal in an effort to rescue 50 fishermen kidnapped at the weekend, a coast guard officer said on Tuesday.

The fishermen were captured on Sunday by Bangladeshi pirates as they were fishing in the Bay close to the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, Lieutenant Commander Shafiqul Alam told AFP.

"At least four ships from the Bangladesh Navy, two helicopters from the Bangladesh Air Force and our high-speed boats are taking part in the operations in the Sundarbans and its surrounding area in the Bay," Alam said.

The pirates have contacted the owners of the fishermen's boats and demanded a ransom, with the fishermen believed to have been taken deep inside the forest.

"The navy ships have cordoned off the potential area while navy and coast guard officers are scouring the river channels inside the forest," Alam added.

Kidnapping for ransom occurs occasionally along the country's estuaries where hundreds of thousands of fishermen catch hilsha, the most popular fish in Bangladesh and major parts of eastern India.

Local police chief Monirul Ghias told AFP that combating piracy had become increasingly difficult as pirates were now armed with sophisticated weapons and boats and they use the forest as a haven to conduct raids on fishing boats.

Alam said the joint drive by more than 300 officers was the largest ever undertaken by the authorities.

"Our aim is not only rescuing the fishermen, but also flushing out pirates from the Sundarbans," he said, adding a number of pirate gangs had recently made the dense forest their hideout.

Bangladesh launches operation against pirates - Yahoo! News

[mlurp]

These are the major links for Asia and the Middle East.. As well as other regions.


Middle East News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Asia News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Africa News Headlines - Yahoo! News

These are links to other regions worth watching...

Latin America News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Europe News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Australia / Antarctica News Headlines - Yahoo! News

My to each reader.

[Pretty Flamingo]

Al-Qaeda Affiliate: We Fired Grads on Eilat
An Al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group claims responsibility for firing Grad missiles on Eilat, the second such claim in one day.

By Elad Benari
First Publish: 8/17/2012, 5:15 AM


Impact of Grad Katyusha missile

As the anarchy in the Sinai Peninsula continues, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group with branches in Gaza and in Sinai claimed responsibility on Thursday 16 August in the evening for firing Grad missiles on the city of Eilat on Wednesday.

The group, Ansar Beit al-Makdas, said in a statement it published:

“Allah was successful through your brothers the Mujahideen from the Ansar Beit al-Makdas organization, who on Wednesday evening sent two Grad rockets towards the city of Um Rash Rash (the Arabic name for Eilat -ed.). The brothers did everything necessary so that the missiles would hit targets in populated areas, as evident in the enormous horror of the Jews.

“But as usual the Jews are hiding their losses, and in their reports and releases they claimed that the rockets fell in open, unpopulated areas,” the organization continued. “Jews, expect from us actions that will hurt you and persecute you, for you will have no confidence from today until the rights return to their owners.

“You know, Jews, that nothing can stop us with Allah’s help, from fighting you and torturing you, and even if all the armies of the world will come under your command, and even if there were a barrier between us and you, with the power and the help of Allah we will get to you.

“Everyone knows that our weapons, our readiness and our jihad have a fixed target and are fighting those who cursed Allah, stole our communities, our holy places and hurt our dignity,” concluded the statement.

It was the second time in one day that a group had taken responsibility for the missile fire on the tourist city. An unknown organization calling itself the "Salafi Sinai Front" issued a statement on Thursday morning in which it claimed responsibility for firing the missiles. The terror group also condemned the Egyptian military’s operation inside the Sinai Peninsula.

Eilat has been the target of missile attacks from Sinai in the recent past. Two months ago, the remains of a Grad missile were discovered a few dozen kilometers north of Eilat, near Uvda. They were apparently fired from Sinai or Jordan.

In April, the remains of a rocket were discovered by residents, about ten meters from residential buildings. No one was hurt.

Al-Qaeda Affiliate: We Fired Grads on Eilat - Middle East - News - Israel National News


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[mlurp]

this is not good at all. I do hope some form of justice prevails and the truth comes out.

.Mine "bloodbath" shocks post-apartheid S.Africa

By Jon Herskovitz | Reuters – 9 hrs ago. 18 August 2012 ..................

MARIKANA, South Africa (Reuters) - The police killing of 34 striking platinum miners in the bloodiest security operation since the end of white rule cut to the quick of South Africa's psyche on Friday, with searching questions asked of its post-apartheid soul.

Newspaper headlines screamed "Bloodbath", "Killing Field" and "Mine Slaughter", with graphic photographs of heavily armed white and black police officers walking casually past the bloodied corpses of black men lying crumpled in the dust.

The images, along with Reuters TV footage of officers opening up with automatic weapons on a small group of men in blankets and t-shirts at Lonmin's Marikana platinum plant, rekindled uncomfortable memories of South Africa's racist past.

Police chief Riah Phiyega confirmed 34 dead and 78 injured in Thursday's shootings after officers moved against 3,000 striking drill operators armed with machetes and sticks at the mine, 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Johannesburg.

A sombre-looking President Jacob Zuma, who cut short a trip to Mozambique for a regional summit because of the violence, travelled to Marikana and announced he had ordered an official inquiry into what he called the "shocking" events.

"This is unacceptable in our country which is a country where everyone feels comfortable, a country with a democracy that everyone envies," he said in a statement read at a news conference. He did not take questions.

Phiyega, a former banking executive appointed to lead the police force only in June, said officers acted in self-defence against charging, armed assailants at Marikana.

"The police members had to employ force to protect themselves," she said, noting that two policemen had been hacked to death by a mob at the mine on Tuesday.

However, the South African Institute of Race Relations likened the incident to the 1960 Sharpeville township massacre near Johannesburg, when apartheid police opened fire on a crowd of black protesters, killing more than 50.

"Obviously the issues that have led to this are not the same as the past, but the response and the outcome is very similar," research manager Lucy Holborn told Reuters.

In a front-page editorial, the Sowetan newspaper questioned what had changed since 1994, when Nelson Mandela overturned three centuries of white domination to become South Africa's first black president.

"It has happened in this country before where the apartheid regime treated black people like objects," the paper, named after South Africa's biggest black township, said. "It is continuing in a different guise now."

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Mine "bloodbath" shocks post-apartheid S.Africa - Yahoo! News

1,152 comments so far.

[mlurp]

I don't know if anyone has kept pace with Yemen ut this is been going on about a year now with the fighting in the open. So please ues all the links provided.

.'Qaeda' attack kills 19 soldiers in south Yemen

AFP – 5 hrs ago. 18 August 2012 .........................................

Suspected Al-Qaeda militants killed 19 soldiers in a rocket attack and suicide bombing on Saturday that targeted intelligence headquarters in the main southern city of Aden, a security official said.

"The death toll has increased to 19 soldiers while nine soldiers and three civilians were wounded," the official told AFP.

A medical source confirmed the toll.

The security official had said earlier that three soldiers were killed by a "car bomb driven by (a) suicide bomber into the courtyard of the intelligence building," while the others were killed in a rocket and gun attack.

"The attack is the work of Al-Qaeda elements," he said, requesting anonymity.

The same official had said that masked gunmen "used machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades" in the attack in the Tawahi coastal neighbourhood of Aden.

The militants attacked in two groups, with one targeting the south side of the complex and the other attacking the west side, next to the state television building.

The official said that many of the soldiers were asleep when the militants hurled hand grenades into their room.

Nine soldiers were wounded, and three television employees, among them two women, were also hurt, he said.

The militants managed to escape.

Witnesses said they saw two armoured vehicles on fire at the gate of the television offices.

Al-Qaeda militants remain active in southern Yemen, where separatist militants also attack security forces, pressing their demands for renewed independence for the south.

South Yemen was a separate state before unification with the north in 1990.

'Qaeda' attack kills 19 soldiers in south Yemen - Yahoo! News

[mlurp]

Here is another location that has been in the news a heck of a lot during the last 7 months, as it went thru some political changes made possible by many protests and deaths.

Now it is this....

.Anti-UN rally in Myanmar over Rohingya aid

AFP – 8 hrs ago. Posted 19 August 2012 ....................

A group of about 50 demonstrators from violence-hit western Myanmar gathered in Yangon on Sunday to protest against UN assistance for stateless Rohingya Muslims.

The ethnic Rakhine convened near the regional parliament building in Myanmar's main city holding banners reading "Stop Creating Conflicts" and "Don't Bring Terrorists To Our Land".

"We're calling for an end to discrimination by the UN against the Rakhine people," Zaw Aye Maung, a politician representing the mostly Buddhist ethnic group, told AFP. He said the rally had official approval.

Which shows which side the rich politians stand as so many in this population.

Fighting between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine state has left about 80 people from both sides dead since June, according to an official estimate, although rights groups fear the real toll is much higher.

Want to bet who started the killings? If you think the Buddhists were the ones well you know little about their religion.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused Myanmar forces of opening fire on Rohingya, and Muslim nations have voiced deep concerns over the treatment of the stateless group.

See, the politics don't include the Muslims. And every where politics trumps religion.

Speaking a dialect similar to one in neighbouring Bangladesh, the Rohingya are seen by the Myanmar government and many Burmese as illegal immigrants, while Bangladesh has turned away Rohingya who attempted to flee the violence.

Twenty four political parties in Myanmar have urged the United Nations to replace its human rights envoy to the formerly army-ruled country, Tomas Ojea Quintana, saying he is biased in favour of the Rohingya.

Anti-UN rally in Myanmar over Rohingya aid - Yahoo! News

With eight very good comments.

See I told you...

[mlurp]

Just a few from each link. Each reader must decide for themselfs and these or what I did't post as each site has far to many to do it.

Middle East News Headlines

Jerusalem police arrest suspects in anti-Arab attack AFP - 3 hrs ago
Jerusalem police on Sunday arrested three Jewish teens suspected of a brutal hate attack on young Palestinians, and magistrates remanded in custody another suspect detained … More »


Sudanese helicopter crash kills 32 MOHAMED OSMAN - AP - 5 hrs ago
A Sudanese helicopter carrying a government delegation crashed in a mountainous southern region on Sunday, killing all 32 people on board including a Cabinet minister, … More »Sudanese helicopter crash kills 32


Iraqi Sunni leader wounded at start of Eid AFP - 6 hrs ago
A Sunni religious leader who called on Iraqis to fight US troops but has more recently advocated national reconciliation was wounded by a car bomb as the Eid al-Fitr … More »

Official: Suicide bomber kills 1 in south Yemen AHMED AL HAJ - AP - 7 hrs ago
A Yemeni security official says a suicide bomber blew himself up in the country's south, killing a leading member of a civilian militia that has fought alongside government … More »

Qaeda suicide bomber kills Yemen militia chief AFP - 9 hrs ago
A suspected Al-Qaeda suicide bomber blew himself up early Sunday in southern Yemen killing the commander of a local pro-army militia and wounding six people, a government … More »


Car bombs explode in Libya's capital, killing 2 ESSAM MOHAMMED - AP - 9 hrs ago
Two car bombs exploded in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, killing two people and injuring several others early on Sunday, a security official said. More »Car bombs explode in Libya's capital, killing 2


Iran leader says 'tumour' of Israel is biggest problem AFP - 9 hrs ago
The "cancerous tumour" of Israel is the biggest problem confronting Muslim countries today, Iran's supreme leader said on Sunday, repeating an epithet slammed just days … More »

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Latin Amercia News Headlines.


Assange urges US to end Wikileaks 'witch hunt' DAVID STRINGER - AP - 4 mins 22 secs ago
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange portrayed himself Sunday as a victim of an American "witch hunt" over his secret-spilling website in a defiant address from the balcony … More »Assange urges US to end Wikileaks 'witch hunt'


Swimmer Nyad steady in Cuba-Fla. record attempt PETER ORSI - AP - 2 hrs 44 mins ago
Endurance athlete Diana Nyad forged ahead through the Straits of Florida with renewed vigor Sunday in pursuit of a record 103-mile (166-kilometer) unassisted open-water … More »


Brazil: Drug dealers say no to crack in Rio JULIANA BARBASSA - AP - Sat, Aug 18, 2012
Business was brisk in the Mandela shantytown on a recent night. In the glow of a weak light bulb, customers pawed through packets of powdered cocaine and marijuana priced … More »Brazil: Drug dealers say no to crack in Rio


Tropical storm heads for landfall on Mexican coast AP - Sat, Aug 18, 2012
After forming close to shore, Tropical Storm Helene headed north along Mexico's Gulf Coast early Saturday posing a threat to areas where thousands of people were still … More »Tropical storm heads for landfall on Mexican coast


In UK threat to Ecuador, experts see mistake RAPHAEL SATTER - AP - Sat, Aug 18, 2012
It was a warning meant to remind Ecuador that Britain's patience has limits. But as the stalemate over Julian Assange settled, it appeared London's veiled threat that … More »

Guantanamo plea deal prisoner said to have a cat By BEN FOX - AP - Fri, Aug 17, 2012
A former Maryland resident who is detained at Guantanamo Bay seems to have acquired a cat at the isolated prison on a U.S. base in Cuba, a fellow prisoner says in a … More »

Townsfolk sickened after Peru toxic spill By FRANKLIN BRICENO and FRANK BAJAK - AP - Thu, Aug 16, 2012
It began with a loud pop like a tire bursting. A toxic cocktail of copper concentrate laced with a periodic-table's mix of volatile compounds then shot skyward. More »

Latin America News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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..Africa News Headlines..


Lonmin to SAfrica strikers: Work Monday or fired ANDREW DRAKE - AP - 25 mins ago
Miners must return to work Monday or face being fired from the platinum mine where rivalry between unions exploded into violence that led to the deaths of 44 people … More »Lonmin to SAfrica strikers: Work Monday or fired


Malawi banks on history to cling to Lake Malawi Felix Mponda - AFP - 30 mins ago
A long-dormant border dispute between Malawi and Tanzania has reignited as oil companies push their exploration work deeper into the continent, giving enormous value … More »Malawi banks on history to cling to Lake Malawi


Ocean surge leaves one dead, 15 missing in Lagos AFP - 36 mins ago
An ocean surge crashed into waterfront shanties in Nigeria's economic capital of Lagos, leaving at least one person dead and 15 missing, officials said Sunday. More »Ocean surge leaves one dead, 15 missing in Lagos


Somali lawmakers prepare to elect new president AFP - 1 hr 6 mins ago
Somalia's newly appointed legislature will elect the country's next president Monday, in a fresh bid to end two decades of unstable central government in the war-torn … More »Somali lawmakers prepare to elect new president


Madagascar president says he tried to cut deal with rival AFP - 1 hr 19 mins ago
Madagascar's transitional leader Andry Rajoelina said Sunday that he had made a fruitless attempt to cut a deal with his rival, ex-president Marc Ravalomanana, in which … More »


South African cabinet members to help mine shooting families AFP - 1 hr 47 mins ago
A team of South African government ministers will visit the Marikana mine on Monday to help relatives of 34 striking workers shot dead by police, the presidency said … More »South African cabinet members to help mine shooting families


Nigeria launches a fresh bid to overhaul oil industry M.J. Smith - AFP - 1 hr 57 mins ago
It was the year the world became acquainted with Barack Obama, when "tweet" was labelled a buzzword by Time magazine -- and when legislation was introduced to overhaul … More »



Southern Africa tells Rwanda to stop DR Congo rebel support Jinty Jackson - AFP - 22 hrs ago
Southern African leaders on Saturday slammed Rwanda for supporting rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a threat to regional stability and urged Kigali to immediately … More »Southern Africa tells Rwanda to stop DR Congo rebel support


57 jailed in Gabon after violent protests: opposition AFP - 23 hrs ago
Fifty-seven people arrested in Gabon last week during a violent opposition protest are being held in a barracks and denied food from their families, an opposition leader … More »57 jailed in Gabon after violent protests: opposition


South Africa seeks answers after mine killings Johannes Myburgh - AFP - Sat, Aug 18, 2012
Families of workers missing from a mine where 34 people were shot dead in the worst police violence since apartheid on Saturday struggled to discover the fate of their … More »

Africa News Headlines - Yahoo! News

[mlurp]

Plenty more of the news if you use the links.

.Eight killed, several wounded in south-east Turkey blast

AFP – 1 hr 20 mins ago. 20 August 2012 ...............................

A car bomb exploded Monday, killing eight people and wounding 50 others in a city in south-east Turkey, the mayor of Gaziantap, Asim Guezelbey, told local television.

The powerful blast went off close to a police station, setting fire to several vehicles including a city bus carrying three of the victims, the mayor told NTV news channel which broadcast images of firefighters racing to put out the flames.

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion which occurred on the second day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the holy Muslim month of fasting.

But it came amid intensified clashes between the Kurdish rebels and Turkish troops in the volatile south-east region.

Gaziantap, a main city in the region, has so far been spared the violence wrought by rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) since they began their battle for autonomy in the Kurdish-majority south-east in 1984.

In a separate incident Monday in the south-east province of Hakkari bordering Iraq and Iran, two soldiers were killed when a landmine detonated through remote control by PKK rebels blew up, authorities said.

The conflict with the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey and much of the international community, has claimed some 45,000 lives over nearly three decades.

Ankara launched an all-out offensive last month against the PKK after a series of assaults against troops in the south-east. At least 115 rebels have been killed since the offensive began on July 23, Turkish authorities said.

But the rebel activity appeared to have only intensified.

Earlier this month, Kurdish rebels stormed a Turkish army post on the Iraq border, triggering fighting that killed 22 people.

Also earlier this month, the PKK abducted an ethnic Kurd lawmaker -- later freed -- in the southeastern city of Tunceli, marking the first time they kidnapped a member of the Turkish parliament since 1984.

The incident followed the abduction of three soldiers in another part of the region.

Kurdish rebels frequently kidnap workers, soldiers and local authorities to bargain for the release of captured rebels, and free most hostages without harm.

Turkey also regularly bombs suspected Kurdish rebel hideouts in northern Iraq, with both Baghdad and the government in the autonomous Kurdish region forced to accept the military strikes.

Eight killed, several wounded in south-east Turkey blast - Yahoo! News

[Pretty Flamingo]

My daughter is in Turkey. I wish she would ring or Facebook me.

[mlurp]

Originally Posted by Pretty Flamingo

My daughter is in Turkey. I wish she would ring or Facebook me.

Is she on a visit or some work? Can you call her?

What ever I would suggest she comes home and soon as Westerners are not as safe as in the past in any Muslim populated location.
And the Brits seem to not notice this..........


But that is just IMHO. And I have been wrong before. ly