http://www.sott.net Signs of the Times, featuring news and commentary on world events. Never wavering in our unending search for the light of truth in a pathocracy driven world! en-us Original content Copyright 2009 by Signs of the Times. For other content, see our Fair Use Policy at www.sott.net Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:35:01 -0500 http://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net http://www.sott.net http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197407-Gang-Killed-Victims-to-Extract-Their-Fat- Peruvian police arrest suspects who allegedly drained their victims and sold liquid as an anti-wrinkle treatment A Peruvian gang that allegedly killed people and drained fat from their corpses for use in cosmetics may have been inspired by a grisly Andean legend. Hilarió Cudeña Simon, the alleged ringleader, linked the crimes to tales of demonic assassins, known as Pishtacos, who purportedly waylaid victims in pre-Colombian times, police said. Peru reacted with revulsion and horror to reports that scores of peasants may have been butchered by the gang, which was said to have operated in Huánuco, a rural province dotted with Inca temples between the jungle and Andean peaks. Colonel Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru's anti-kidnapping police, said Cudeña and three other suspects were in custody and that another seven gang members were being hunted. The jailed men have confessed to killing five people, but police suspect the number of victims is far higher, with 60 people reported missing in Huánuco this year alone. Two of the suspects were arrested at a bus station in the capital, Lima, carrying bottles of liquid fat which they claimed were worth up to £36,000 a gallon. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197407-Gang-Killed-Victims-to-Extract-Their-Fat- Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:32:24 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197405-Canada-Lesbian-U-S-deserter-wins-stay-of-deportation A lesbian soldier, who says she deserted the U.S. military because she was constantly harassed and threatened with death, won a reprieve from deportation Friday in a Federal Court ruling that ordered the Immigration and Refugee Board to reconsider her failed asylum claim. Pte. Bethany Smith, who adopted the name Skyler James upon fleeing to Canada two years ago, contends she was denied a discharge from the army because her superiors wanted to send her to Afghanistan. She took her case to Federal Court after being rejected as a refugee by the Immigration and Refugee Board. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197405-Canada-Lesbian-U-S-deserter-wins-stay-of-deportation Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:29:05 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197397-Pakistani-Taliban-Blackwater-and-ISI-to-blame-for-Pakistan-attacks The Pakistani arm of the Taliban has denied responsibility for a recent series of terrorist attacks in Pakistan, instead pointing the finger at Xe Services, the security contractor formerly known as Blackwater, as well as the country's own security services. "The Tehreek-e-Taliban are not responsible for the bombings, but Blackwater and Pakistan's spy agency are behind them," said Pakistani Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq, according to a translation from Al-Jazeera English. ''The dirty Pakistani intelligence agencies, for the sake of creating mistrust and hatred among people against the Taliban, are carrying out blasts at places like the Islamic university, Islamabad, and the Khyber bazaar, Peshawar,'' the Associated Press quoted Tariq as saying. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197397-Pakistani-Taliban-Blackwater-and-ISI-to-blame-for-Pakistan-attacks Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:14:36 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197376-South-Korea-At-Least-4-Killed-in-Saipan-Shooting At least four people were shot dead and six South Korean visitors wounded when a gunman fired into a crowd of tourists on the resort island of Saipan, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said on Friday. The gunman appeared to have taken his own life after the shooting spree, a ministry official said, adding that there were no further details immediately available. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197376-South-Korea-At-Least-4-Killed-in-Saipan-Shooting Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:06:50 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197358-CIA-war-against-the-people-drones-on-missile-strike-leaves-10-dead-in-Waziristan A US unmanned drone aircraft has fired several missiles into a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, killing at least ten people and injuring several others. The strike took place in the restive North Waziristan tribal district on Friday. The death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured were said to be in critical condition. The attack took place in an area where people do not have access to urgent medical assistance. The US alleges the air strikes, which are common in Pakistan, target pro-Taliban militants in the tribal belt. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197358-CIA-war-against-the-people-drones-on-missile-strike-leaves-10-dead-in-Waziristan Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:39:30 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197357-Overt-Destabilisation-European-Union-gives-Nigeria-1bn The European Commission has signed a $1bn (£602m) development pact with Nigeria, aimed at tackling corruption and promoting peace. A substantial amount of the funding will be spent on resolving conflict in the oil-rich and crime-plagued Niger Delta, the EU's development chief said. The money will also target electoral reform and improving human rights. But correspondents say many Nigerians will doubt the money will get to its intended targets. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197357-Overt-Destabilisation-European-Union-gives-Nigeria-1bn Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:33:57 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197355-Blast-at-busy-square-in-Afghanistan-marks-Karzai-s-inauguration Thirteen killed and 30 wounded including children after suicide bomber detonated explosives in crowded square in city of Farah A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle killed 13 people, including a police officer, and wounded 30 others today in a busy city square in western Afghanistan. Several children were among those wounded in the morning explosion, said a doctor at the hospital in the city of Farah, Shir Agh Asas. Afghan police shouted "Stop! Stop!" at the motorcyclist before he detonated the explosives, provincial police chief General Mohammad Faqir Askar said. The provincial governor, Rohul Amin, said the deadly blast occurred about 50 metres from his compound in a crowded square in Farah. "These days Taliban are causing high casualties because the foreign forces and Afghan forces have been conducting operations against the insurgency in the region," Askar said. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197355-Blast-at-busy-square-in-Afghanistan-marks-Karzai-s-inauguration Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:22:12 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197353-Peruvian-gang-killed-victims-to-extract-their-fat- Peruvian police arrest suspects who allegedly drained their victims and sold liquid as an anti-wrinkle treatment Peruvian police have arrested a gang which allegedly killed scores of peasants, drained their bodies of fat and sold the liquid abroad as an anti-wrinkle cosmetic. Three suspects have confessed to killing five people for their fat, said Colonel Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru's anti-kidnapping police, but the number of victims was believed to be much higher and to date back decades. Two of the suspects were arrested at a bus station in the capital, Lima, carrying bottles of liquid fat which they claimed were worth up to £36,000 a gallon. At a news conference police displayed two bottles of fat, which laboratory tests confirmed were human. "The fat was extracted from the thorax and thighs," said Eusebio Felix Murga, chief of police of Dirincri district. Police also showed a photo of the rotting head of a 27-year-old male victim discovered last month in a coca-growing valley. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197353-Peruvian-gang-killed-victims-to-extract-their-fat- Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:02:05 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197352-Venezuela-blows-up-pedestrian-border-bridges-to-keep-out-Colombian-paramilitaries Tensions raised between two countries as troops dynamite rural walkways Venezuela claims are used by smugglers and militia Venezuela has blown up two pedestrian bridges on its border with Colombia in the latest sign of deteriorating relations between the Andean neighbours. Soldiers destroyed the walkways because they were being used by illegal militia and drug traffickers, said Eusebio Aguero, an army general based in the border state of Táchira. "They are two foot bridges that paramilitary fighters used, where gasoline and drug precursors were smuggled, subversive groups entered. They are not considered in any international treaty." However Colombia denounced the action as a violation of international law that would worsen the diplomatic crisis between the two countries. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197352-Venezuela-blows-up-pedestrian-border-bridges-to-keep-out-Colombian-paramilitaries Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:57:12 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197342-Deadly-shootout-in-south-Thailand Thai security forces say they have killed six suspected separatist fighters in a gun battle in southern Thailand. The shooting broke out after police and soldiers surrounded a house in Pattani province occupied by a suspect. Two police officers were injured in the gunfight on Tuesday. Government forces numbering about 200 surrounded the house and told those inside to surrender but received no response, they said. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197342-Deadly-shootout-in-south-Thailand Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:01:56 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197341-South-Sudan-violence-kills-12-injures-minister Twelve people were killed and a government minister wounded in clashes in south Sudan, which is preparing for a referendum on whether to split off as an independent state. A surge of ethnic violence has killed more than 2,000 people this year, the United Nations estimates, raising fears for the stability of the oil-producing territory which secured the referendum and a semi-autonomous government in a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war with the north. The conflict, which also set southern tribe against southern tribe, left lingering resentments in a region already riven by traditional disputes over territory and cattle. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197341-South-Sudan-violence-kills-12-injures-minister Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:52:47 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197326-Concentration-Camps-in-Sri-Lanka-Hold-250-000-Families The government of Sri Lanka has imprisoned over a quarter million men, women and children, since the end of the 33 year civil war. A humanitarian crisis is unfolding due to the deteriorating living conditions for the families held in the Sri Lankan government internment camps. The Sri Lankan government interned approximately 280,000 innocent civilian survivors, about 10-percent of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, following the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in May of this year. To control press coverage and suppress a public outcry for the inhumane treatment of the surviving Sri Lankan Tamil civilians, the government barred media from the camps. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197326-Concentration-Camps-in-Sri-Lanka-Hold-250-000-Families Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:30:32 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197323-Hamid-Karzai-Sworn-in-Wants-Afghan-troops-to-replace-foreign-forces-in-five-years Hamid Karzai has said he is determined that the Afghan army should be built up so it can take over responsibility from foreign troops for securing the entire country within five years. Speaking after being sworn in for a second term as president, Karzai said he wanted Afghanistan's security forces to be improved in "quantitative and qualitative terms". Currently only one of the 34 provinces, the capital, is controlled by the country's own security forces. Karzai said that by "accelerating the training and equipping" of the army and police, more provinces could be handed over. "It is only through this process that Afghanistan's hope with regard to a quick return of our friends' soldiers to their countries will be realised," he told a packed hall of Afghan and foreign dignitaries. In another ambitious deadline, Karzai gave foreign and national private security companies two years notice before their activities are handed over to the Afghan security forces. Although the private security industry is highly controversial in Afghanistan, the many private companies play a major role in securing everything from military compounds to embassies. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197323-Hamid-Karzai-Sworn-in-Wants-Afghan-troops-to-replace-foreign-forces-in-five-years Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:32:47 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197318-23-Taliban-insurgents-killed-in-Afghanistan In fresh offensive against Taliban fighters in a border town in Paktika province east of Afghanistan the troops eliminated nearly two dozen insurgents, a private television channel reported Wednesday. "Afghan and the Coalition forces killed 23 Taliban fighters in Barmal district Tuesday," Tolo broadcast in its news bulletin. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197318-23-Taliban-insurgents-killed-in-Afghanistan Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:19:53 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197308-Hysteria-in-Canada-Public-health-workers-reassigned-to-H1N1-centres Peggy Verhoef's children were devastated earlier this month to learn their suicide support group had been put on hold. The social workers who lead the group near Montreal were reassigned to work as greeters at H1N1 vaccination centres. Ms. Verhoef's children, 13 and 15, who attend because their father committed suicide last year, were "extremely upset," she said Monday. "The bureaucrats didn't stop to think about how it would affect the kids." Across the country, public health programs ranging from support groups to sexual health clinics to food-safety inspections are being postponed or suspended as officials redirect nurses and other staff to vaccinating Canadians against the H1N1 influenza. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197308-Hysteria-in-Canada-Public-health-workers-reassigned-to-H1N1-centres Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:59:37 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197302-More-than-43-000-Children-Work-in-Mines-in-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo More than 43,000 children work in mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), UNICEF reported here Thursday on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the convention on the children's rights. The child laborers include 20,000 in the southeastern province of Katanga, 12,000 in the central province of Kasa-Occidental and more than 11,000 in the central-south province of Kasa-Oriental. According to UNICEF, a growing number of children are living and working in the DRC towns. Among them, more than 8,000 have been identified in Kinshasa alone since the beginning of 2009, and more than 1,400 have been integrated either in families or in communities with the help of partners. UNICEF disclosed that out of the 2 million displaced people in the country, more than 100,000 are children, whose childhood, education and other rights are threatened. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197302-More-than-43-000-Children-Work-in-Mines-in-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:06:47 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197295-Canada-Parents-Win-Legal-Battle-Against-Homework Sherri and Tom Milley's children are now exempt from completing school assignments outside the classroom Usually it is the children, not the parents, who are loath to spend their evenings practicing spelling and learning times tables. But a Canadian couple have just won a legal battle to exempt their offspring from homework after successfully arguing there is no clear evidence it improves academic performance. Sherri and Tom Milley, two lawyers from Calgary, Alberta, launched their highly unusual case after years of struggling to make their three reluctant children do school work out of the classroom. After waging a long war with their eldest son, Jay, now 18, over his homework, they decided to do things differently with their youngest two, Spencer, 11, and Brittany, 10. And being lawyers, they decided to make it official. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197295-Canada-Parents-Win-Legal-Battle-Against-Homework Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:35:56 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197272-Eighteen-killed-in-yet-another-Peshawar-blast A bomb has exploded outside a court building in the northwestern city of Peshawar in Pakistan, killing at least 18 people and wounding 34 others, police say. "It happened outside the judicial complex," police officer Abdul Wali told Reuters on Thursday. At least 18 people were killed and 34 others injured were brought to Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital, said senior hospital official Sahib Gul. Three policemen were among the dead, said senior city administrator Sahibzada Anis. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Thursday's attack. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197272-Eighteen-killed-in-yet-another-Peshawar-blast Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:56:51 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197256-Afghan-president-s-brother-is-lightning-rod He calls himself a wheeler dealer - an old-style power broker who maneuvers through a murky, dangerous world of intelligence, tribal intrigue and, some critics allege, guns and drugs. Ahmed Wali Karzai is also a half brother of Afghanistan's embattled president, whose international partners believe removing him from the country's political mix is essential if the newly elected administration is to prove its commitment to good governance. So far, President Hamid Karzai has refused to push aside his brother without convincing proof he's done anything wrong. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197256-Afghan-president-s-brother-is-lightning-rod Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:11:22 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197254-U-S-Turns-to-Local-Guns-for-Hire-to-Guard-Afghan-Outpost The U.S. military is turning to guns-for-hire to guard one of its outposts in Afghanistan. But Blackwaters of the world, take note: simply hiring former G.I.s or American cops or even Nepalese Gurkhas won't do the trick this time. At least half of the 50-man force has to come "from within a 50 kilometer radius" of the base, according to a contract solicitation issued by the U.S. Air Force. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197254-U-S-Turns-to-Local-Guns-for-Hire-to-Guard-Afghan-Outpost Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:05:09 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197253-Argentina-puts-ex-leader-Reynaldo-Bignone-on-trial Argentina's last military ruler has gone on trial accused of involvement in the kidnapping, torture and murder of 56 people at a military base. Reynaldo Bignone, who was president of the South American nation from 1982 to 1983, appeared in a makeshift courtroom in an indoor sports arena, along with seven other former military and police officers, on Monday. Hundreds of people, including numerous relatives of the victims, turned out for the start of the trial in a Buenos Aires suburb. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197253-Argentina-puts-ex-leader-Reynaldo-Bignone-on-trial Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:01:22 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197251-Weapons-purchases-in-Latin-America-are-soaring-as-nations-cast-a-wary-eye-on-their-neighbors Whether it's called an ''arms race'' or a ''coincidental modernization'' of existing stocks, a wave of weapons purchases by Latin American nations is causing neighbors to watch each other with growing mistrust and fear. Protection Brazil says it must protect its newfound oil and gas riches. Venezuela says the U.S. military might attack it. Colombia is worried by Venezuela, Ecuador is watching Colombia and Paraguay is keeping an eye on Bolivia. There's no question that weapons sales around the region are soaring. They almost doubled in just five years, from $24 billion in 2003 to $47 billion last year, according to one report by Colombian analyst Javier Loaiza. Others put the 2008 total at $60 billion. U.S. government officials are monitoring the deals with a level of concern but avoid the term ''arms race.'' One said he preferred to call it a ''coincidental modernization of existing stocks'' to reflect the absence so far of widespread tit-for-tat arms purchases. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197251-Weapons-purchases-in-Latin-America-are-soaring-as-nations-cast-a-wary-eye-on-their-neighbors Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:53:37 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197250-39-killed-in-Colombia-clashes Nine soldiers and at least 30 rebels were killed in clashes in the southwestern Colombian province of Cauca, the Colombian Army said Tuesday. The gun battle started late Monday when about 200 members of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) tried to storm the village of Corinto, 300 km southwest of Bogota. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197250-39-killed-in-Colombia-clashes Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:40:54 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197246-Musharraf-a-US-Stooge-Says-A-Q-Khan Calling Pervez Musharraf an "American stooge", disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan has accused the former president of transferring "very sensitive information" on Pakistan's atomic programme to the US. He also confirmed a recent media report which cited an account provided by him as saying that China provided Pakistan enough weapons-grade uranium for two atomic bombs and the blueprint for a simple nuclear weapon in 1982. "The nation must know that national secrets were handed over to Washington by the former president (Pervez Musharraf) who was an American stooge," Khan told The News. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197246-Musharraf-a-US-Stooge-Says-A-Q-Khan Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:23:27 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197245-Taliban-declare-guerrilla-war-against-Pakistan-army The Taliban have hit back at Pakistan claims of success in a major offensive, vowing on Wednesday that their guerrilla war would expel troops from their stronghold near the Afghan border. "We have not been defeated. We have voluntarily withdrawn into the mountains under a strategy that will trap the Pakistan army in the area," Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq told journalists taken by blindfold to a mountain top. Pakistan's main umbrella Taliban faction, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) arranged a news conference for journalists from the tribal belt a day after the military flew correspondents into South Waziristan to visit the battlefield. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197245-Taliban-declare-guerrilla-war-against-Pakistan-army Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:16:46 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197244-Pakistan-Militants-are-using-Israeli-weapons- The use of Israeli-made light arms by militants in Pakistan against security forces in Waziristan region of the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan has raised several questions amongst many, news reports revealed yesterday. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197244-Pakistan-Militants-are-using-Israeli-weapons- Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:12:02 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197208-International-Peasant-Movement-Proposal-for-Food-Sovereignty Jakarta--About 100 women peasant members of Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI) gathered at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout, Jakarta commemorating the 2009 World Food Day. They were doing a peaceful rally by walking around the big fountain. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197208-International-Peasant-Movement-Proposal-for-Food-Sovereignty Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:41:10 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197205-South-Africans-training-recruits- Dakar - South African and Israeli army instructors, hired by the ruling Guinea junta, are training pro-junta recruits in a camp in Forecariah, 100km south of Conakry, witnesses said on Monday. The new soldiers recruited by the junta, which seized power in Guinea on December 23 last year, are being trained in a camp formerly used to house Sierra Leone refugees outside Forecariah. The around 40 military instructors are training soldiers "recruited on the basis of their ethnicity" as they belong to the same group as junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, witnesses said. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197205-South-Africans-training-recruits- Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:13:33 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197202-Smoke-and-mirrors-in-AfPak-Taliban-leader-flees-Pakistan- One of the most wanted Taliban leaders in Pakistan has escaped to Afghanistan and is planning new attacks on Pakistani forces, he has told the BBC. Maulana Fazlullah founded the Swat Taliban to enforce a hardline version of Islamic law. The government at first accepted his demands, but later accused the militants of reneging on a peace deal and sent troops into the valley. Maulana Fazlullah was said by officials to have been wounded or killed in July. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197202-Smoke-and-mirrors-in-AfPak-Taliban-leader-flees-Pakistan- Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:34:41 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197179-Security-Team-Rescues-U-S-Vessel-from-Pirates A US-flagged vessel has been saved from the clutches of Somali pirates who attacked the ship for the second time. The bandits on Wednesday came dangerously close to Maersk Alabama but were scared off by US security contractors on board the vessel, The New York Times reported. Gunshots, sonic devices and clever evasions were used to head off the attack, the Daily added. The ship was on its way to the Kenyan port of Mombasa at the time of the attack. No casualties or damages were reported. "Due to Maersk Alabama following maritime industry's best practices such as embarking security teams, the ship was able to prevent being successfully attacked by pirates," said Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, the commander of Central Command. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197179-Security-Team-Rescues-U-S-Vessel-from-Pirates Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:12:57 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197176-Somali-Pirates-Release-Spanish-Ship-with-36-Crew Somali pirates on Tuesday released a Spanish trawler with 36 crew on broad after receiving more than three million U.S. dollars in ransom, a pirate commander said. "The crew and the ship were released after our demands were met. They paid more than three million U.S. dollars for the freedom of the fishermen and their fishing boat who were caught looting our resources," Omar Ali, a pirate commander with the gang holding the released Spanish trawler told Xinhua by phone from Harardheere, a pirate stronghold in north central Somalia. The Spanish fishing ship, the Alakrana, had been seized early last month off Somalia coast by Somali pirates who demanded the payment of a ransom and the release of detained pirates in Spain. During the holding of the Alakrana, Somali pirates have threatened to harm the hostages if their colleagues currently on trial in Spanish courts were not released, a move that triggered a wave of protests in Spain demanding the Spanish government to help secure the release of the hostages. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197176-Somali-Pirates-Release-Spanish-Ship-with-36-Crew Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:52:51 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197174-Somali-Pirates-Hijack-Ship-with-North-Koreans Armed Somali pirates have hijacked a chemical tanker with 28 North Koreans on board in the latest attacks along the world's most dangerous waters, a regional maritime official said on Tuesday. Andrew Mwangura, the coordinator of the East Africa Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP), said Kiribati flagged-MV Theresa VIII was seized on Monday 618 nautical miles North West of the Seychelles on its way to the Kenyan port of Mombasa. "She was taken on Monday at 1053 hrs some 618 nautical miles north west of Seychelles. All 28 crew members on board are North Korean nationals. The vessel is Bulgarian owned," Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone. He said the Singaporean-operated chemical tanker was seized in the south of the Horn of African nation which has been without an effective central government for more than two decades. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197174-Somali-Pirates-Hijack-Ship-with-North-Koreans Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:49:15 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197169-Scientology-faces-allegations-of-torture-in-Australia The Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, has said he would consider an inquiry into the Church of Scientology after a senator tabled allegations against the organisation including forced abortions, assault, torture, imprisonment, covering up sexual abuse, embezzlement of church funds and blackmail. Senator Nick Xenophon tabled letters from former officials and staff of the Church of Scientology alleging criminal activity, and demanded a review of the organisation's tax exempt status. "Scientology is not a religious organisation, it is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs," he told the senate. Among the letters tabled was one written by Aaron Saxton, from Perth, who said he engaged in torture and blackmail while working for the church in Australia and at its American headquarters between 1989 and 1996. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197169-Scientology-faces-allegations-of-torture-in-Australia Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:23:04 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197165-Afghan-village-armies-fight-Taliban- War-weary villagers in northern Afghanistan are taking up arms against insurgents, sick of having the Taliban encroach on their once-peaceful patch of the country. In villages across Kunduz province, where a misdirected Nato air strike killed 90 civilians in September, tribal elders say that they have had enough of being caught in the middle of an escalating war. Comment: There was nothing "misdirected" about an attack that incinerated 100 civilians to avenge the theft of two fuel trucks owned by the occupation forces. So they are grabbing their guns, forming their own armies and getting rid of the Taliban insurgents who took control of their region. "We were fed up with the Taliban," Abdul Jalil Tawakal, a tribal elder from Qala-i-Zal district said. He and other local leaders have formed a militia with one aim: to get rid of the Taliban and the Nato forces that have been battling them for months. "Both the Taliban and international forces were killing us, this was too much. So we picked up our guns and forced the Taliban out of our village," he said. "Now we are living a peaceful life." The area came to the Taliban's attention with the opening earlier this year of a supply route for US and Nato troops funnelling fuel and other materiel from Tajikistan over the border to military bases in Afghanistan. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197165-Afghan-village-armies-fight-Taliban- Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:03:39 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197152-Fidel-Castro-The-Annexation-of-Colombia-to-the-US Anyone with some information can immediately see that the sweetened 'Complementation Agreement for Defense and Security Cooperation and Technical Assistance between the Governments of Colombia and the United States' signed on October 30, and made public in the evening of November 2, amounts to the annexation of Colombia to the United States. The agreement puts theoreticians and politicians in a predicament. It wouldn't be honest to keep silence now and speak later on sovereignty, democracy, human rights, freedom of opinion and other delights, when a country is being devoured by the empire as easy as lizards catch flies. This is the Colombian people; a self-sacrificing, industrious and combative people. I looked up in the hefty document for a digestible justification and I found none whatsoever. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197152-Fidel-Castro-The-Annexation-of-Colombia-to-the-US Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:08:14 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197150-Hersh-claims-US-nuke-team-already-in-Islamabad Pulitzer prize winning American journalist Seymour Hersh has claimed that an elite US special forces squad which operates covertly and includes terrorism and non-proliferation experts from the US intelligence community - the Pentagon, the FBI, and the DOE - is already present in Pakistan and could well be housed in the US embassy in Islamabad. The startling disclosure was made in Hersh's candid interview with Pakistan's most popular TV channel Geo News' widely viewed current affairs programme Meray Mutabiq, hosted by Dr Shahid Masood. The programme was aired on Saturday late evening. Seymour Hersh said that the Americans had been constituting such crack teams for various purposes and the team in question here was to deal with any eventuality including any fear of takeover by Taliban or any other 'development' with regard to Pakistani nukes. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197150-Hersh-claims-US-nuke-team-already-in-Islamabad Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:28:00 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197138-British-Army-tells-its-soldiers-to-bribe-the-Taleban British forces should buy off potential Taleban recruits with "bags of gold", according to a new army field manual published yesterday. Army commanders should also talk to insurgent leaders with "blood on their hands" in order to hasten the end of the conflict in Afghanistan. The edicts, which are contained in rewritten counter-insurgency guidelines, will be taught to all new army officers. They mark a strategic rethink after three years in which British and Nato forces have failed to defeat the Taleban. The manual is also a recognition that the Army's previous doctrine for success against insurgents, which was based on the experience in Northern Ireland, is now out of date. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197138-British-Army-tells-its-soldiers-to-bribe-the-Taleban Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:26:17 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197122-Central-America-Gender-Based-Violence-the-Hidden-Face-of-Insecurity Managua- Gender-based violence and sexual abuse are serious public security problems in Central America, and Nicaragua is no exception, according to reports by United Nations agencies and women's organizations. The Central American Human Development Report 2009-2010, released on October 20 by the United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, says violence against women, adolescents and children is the "hidden" and "most invisible face" of public insecurity in the region. According to the study, entitled "Opening Spaces for Citizen Security and Human Development", two out of three women murdered in Central America are killed for gender-related reasons, a phenomenon that is known as femicide. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197122-Central-America-Gender-Based-Violence-the-Hidden-Face-of-Insecurity Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:21:44 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197121-Pakistan-Soup-Kitchens-Spring-Up-to-Stave-Off-Growing-Hunger Karachi - Until meager resources began dwindling to almost nothing, 43-year-old Firdaus Begum had not ventured into the Khana Ghar (Food House), which serves up inexpensive but filling meals. Not too long ago, she finally stepped into the 'tandoor' (clay oven where unleavened wheat bread is baked) restaurant and bought meals priced so low they are practically giveaways. She could not have been more grateful to Perween Saeed for her soup kitchen - where food is offered at a very low price. Saeed - a small, energetic woman now approaching her 50s - has been running her first 'tandoor' center in Taiser Town's Khuda Ki Basti-3, located some 30 kilometers from the center of Karachi, for the past six years. She offers meals comprising a bowl or plate of curry or vegetables - depending on what is on the menu on any given day - and two 'rotis' (unleavened wheat bread). All these for the price of three Pakistani rupees (less than one U.S. cent). http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197121-Pakistan-Soup-Kitchens-Spring-Up-to-Stave-Off-Growing-Hunger Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:03:40 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197087-Thousands-protest-Peres-visit-to-Argentina Thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators gathered in the square opposite the Argentinean parliament in Buenos Aires to protest President Shimon Peres' visit to Argentina. "It's a disgrace that the president of our country is meeting today with the child-murderer, Shimon Peres... There are thousands of people who came here today to protest against the hospitality shown to a representative of an occupying and oppressive government," one of the protestors said. The protestors carried pictures and placards glorifying Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, and the Leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. The signs read "Get out of Argentina, murderer Shimon Peres", while others said "Death to Zionist-fascist Israel, officer of American imperialism in the Middle East, murderers of the Palestinian people!" the signs also included pictures of Palestinian children killed during Israel's Operation Cast Lead at the beginning of the year. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197087-Thousands-protest-Peres-visit-to-Argentina Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:51:01 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197076-Freed-Irish-priest-clears-MILF-rebels-A-gift-to-Hillary-on-her-visit-to-Philippines- Irish missionary Fr. Michael Sinnott Thursday cleared the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of involvement in his abduction, saying a "lost command" and the "original lumad" (indigenous people) of Mindanao were responsible. "[My abductors] are not the MILF ... They want it to be known that they are the original lumad of Mindanao who lost their homeland and everything else when the merchants came in," said Sinnott, who was freed early Thursday after 31 days as a captive. Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno agreed on Wednesday to let the MILF facilitate Sinnott's release, according to Press Secretary Cerge Remonde. Puno had earlier accused the MILF of involvement in the kidnapping. Sought for comment on Sinnott's statement that his captors were not members of the MILF, Puno said through Assistant Interior Secretary Brian Yamsuan: "I stand by my previous statements. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197076-Freed-Irish-priest-clears-MILF-rebels-A-gift-to-Hillary-on-her-visit-to-Philippines- Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:52:14 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197063-State-of-India-s-Children-An-Unsettling-Reality New Dehli - Here is a sobering thought on the eve of Children's Day celebrated across India on November 14. Despite the country's impressive economic growth trajectory and growing geopolitical heft, the benefits of that prosperity are not percolating down to its children who constitute a size able 30 percent of the country's 1.2 billion population. Hence, 6,000 children die in India every day - a shocking 3,000 due to malnutrition - which Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh recently described as a "national shame". India also hosts a third of the world's child brides, according to the United Nations Children's Fund report, released in October, Progress for Children: A Report Card on Child Protection. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197063-State-of-India-s-Children-An-Unsettling-Reality Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:11:44 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197061-Farmers-Not-Invited-to-Food-Summit- Rome - World farmers are not part of the official delegations at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) food summit on food security that opened here Monday. But they came anyhow to express their views, since, they say, it is their communities that are most impacted by the food crisis. Small-scale producers from the Amazonian rain forest, from Africa, the Pacific islands and the Himalayas gathered in Rome for the Peoples' Food Sovereignty Forum (Nov. 13-17), held in parallel to the FAO meetings, to discuss the serious effects of the crisis in their communities. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197061-Farmers-Not-Invited-to-Food-Summit- Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:55:25 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197058-Bolivia-re-invents-democratic-socialism-with-Indigenous-people-in-the-lead On December 6, Bolivia will hold a general election where Evo Morales, the first Indigenous President in South America will no doubt be re-elected. His party, the MAS, has recently released an election programme that Susan Harvie has kindly summarized and translated. Bolivia is reinventing democractic socialism. They are in the process of creating a plurinational state with equal rights for all nations and people, redistributing land, providing free health and education for everyone, creating what they call a pluri-economy that includes public, private, co-operative and communitarian. In four years of power they have eliminated illiteracy, reduced extreme poverty by 6%, insituted a senior's pension for the first time, nationalized hydrocarbons and achieved a 6.5% economic growth. They are showing that a government that acts in the interests of the majority really can succeed and that an alternative is truly possible. The full list of achievements and election platform for the next four years is below: http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197058-Bolivia-re-invents-democratic-socialism-with-Indigenous-people-in-the-lead Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:44:23 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197052-West-Papua-Let-the-bird-of-paradise-go-free When General Suharto, the west's man, seized power in Indonesia in the mid-1960s, he offered "a gleam of light in Asia", rejoiced Time magazine. That he had killed up to a million "communists" was of no account in the acquisition of what Richard Nixon called "the richest hoard of natural resources, the greatest prize in South-east Asia". In November 1967, the booty was handed out at an extraordinary conference in a lakeside hotel in Geneva. The participants included the most powerful capitalists in the world, the likes of David Rockefeller, and senior executives of the major oil companies and banks, General Motors, British American Tobacco, Imperial Chemical Industries, American Express, Siemens, Goodyear, US Steel. The president of Time Incorporated, James Linen, opened the proceedings with this prophetic description of globalisation: "We are trying to create a new climate in which private enterprise and developing countries work together for the greater profit of the free world. The world of international enterprise is more than governments . . . It is a seamless web, which has been shaping the global environment at revolutionary speed." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197052-West-Papua-Let-the-bird-of-paradise-go-free Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:15:41 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197031-Japanese-Engineer-Kidnapped-by-Yemen-Tribesmen Yemeni tribesmen have kidnapped a Japanese engineer who serves the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) northeast of the capital Sanaa, a provincial official said on Monday. The official told Xinhua that Yemeni tribesmen had kidnapped a Japanese engineer in the Arhab district which is located about 60 km northeast of Sanaa. A source at the Japanese embassy told Xinhua that "the kidnapping incident occurred when the engineer was on a working visit to one of the projects financed by JICA" The official, who asked not to be named said "negotiations are underway with the kidnappers to release the Japanese architect" and predicted it could be released in the near future. "They (the kidnappers) want their relatives jailed (in Yemen) to be released," the official said. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197031-Japanese-Engineer-Kidnapped-by-Yemen-Tribesmen Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:34:18 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197014-China-invests-while-the-US-continues-to-destroy The ministerial Forum on China-Africa Cooperation met in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, last week, attended by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and representatives of more than 300 Chinese companies. Wen took the opportunity to chide the US for its large budget deficit. He made it clear that China intended to press ahead with its programme of investment in Africa despite American opposition. He pledged $10 billion (£6bn) in concessional loans - loans with lower interest rates and longer repayment periods than standard loans - to Africa over the next three years. His offer was warmly welcomed by African ministers. Within days of the conference closing, the US responded. The International Monetary Fund threatened to cut off lines of credit to the Democratic Republic of Congo if it did not scale back a Chinese investment plan. The IMF, a body dominated by the US, showed that it is quite prepared to plunge this war-torn and impoverished African country into financial isolation, a fate that has already befallen Zimbabwe, with disastrous consequences for the mass of the population. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197014-China-invests-while-the-US-continues-to-destroy Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:16:19 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197006-Apology-for-Kids-Shipped-from-Britain-to-Colonies Canberra, Australia - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued a historic apology Monday to thousands of impoverished British children shipped to Australia with the promise of a better life, only to suffer abuse and neglect thousands of miles from home. At a ceremony in the Australian capital of Canberra attended by tearful former child migrants, Rudd apologized for his country's role in the migration and extended condolences to the 7,000 survivors of the program who still live in Australia. "We are sorry," Rudd said. "Sorry that as children you were taken from your families and placed in institutions where so often you were abused. Sorry for the physical suffering, the emotional starvation and the cold absence of love, of tenderness, of care. Sorry for the tragedy - the absolute tragedy - of childhoods lost." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197006-Apology-for-Kids-Shipped-from-Britain-to-Colonies Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:11:36 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197005-Bombing-at-police-station-in-Pakistan-kills-4 A pickup truck laden with explosives blew up in front of a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing at least 4 people in an area that has become the focal point for militant retaliation against a recent army offensive. The massive explosion caused a wide swath of destruction in the town of Badh Ber, severely damaging the station and a nearby mosque and completely destroying several houses and shops. Suspected militants have killed more than 300 civilians and security personnel in the last month in an attempt to weaken the country's resolve to continue the military operation in the tribal area of South Waziristan, where al-Qaida and Taliban leaders are believed to be hiding. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197005-Bombing-at-police-station-in-Pakistan-kills-4 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:08:16 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197003-Deadly-blast-hits-Pakistan-s-Peshawar A powerful bomb blast has rocked Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar, killing at least five people and injuring 37 others. The explosion happened near a police station in Budabher area on Kohat Road on the outskirts of Peshawar on Monday morning, police officials told Press TV. The death toll of the incident is expected to rise as the injured people are in critical condition. Several buildings and shops have been destroyed in the blast. It was the fifth bomb explosion in just over a week to hit Peshawar that is a border city with Afghanistan. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197003-Deadly-blast-hits-Pakistan-s-Peshawar Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:01:14 -0500