Friday, March 25, 2011

Troops open fire as protests explode across Syria

Troops open fire as protests explode across Syria

By ZEINA KARAM and BASSEM MROUE , 03.25.11, 05:51 PM EDT

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Troops opened fire on protesters in cities across Syria and pro- and anti-government crowds clashed in the capital's historic old city as one of the Mideast's most repressive regimes sought to put down demonstrations that exploded nationwide Friday demanding reform.

The upheaval sweeping the region definitively took root in Syria as an eight-day uprising centered on a rural southern town dramatically expanded into protests by tens of thousands in multiple cities. The once-unimaginable scenario posed the biggest challenge in decades to Syria's iron-fisted rule.

Government backers, police attack Jordan protest

Government backers, police attack Jordan protest

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Protesters demanding reforms clashed with government supporters in the center of Jordan's capital on Friday, pelting each other stones until security forces charged in and beat protesters, as unrest intensified in this key U.S. ally.

The clashes, in which 120 were injured, were the most violent in more than two months of protests inspired by the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. One man reported to have been killed while protesting was later identified as a government supporter who died of a heart attack.

Protests in Jordan have generally been smaller than those in other Arab nations — and in another difference have not sought the ouster of the country's leader, King Abdullah II. But the young Jordanians organizing the demonstrations said this week they are intensifying their campaign, demanding the removal of the prime minister, creation of a more reformist government, the dissolving of what is seen as a docile parliament and the dismantling of the largely feared intelligence department.

Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links

Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links

Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
Mr al-Hasidi admitted he had earlier fought against 'the foreign invasion' in Afghanistan Photo: AFP

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Mr al-Hasidi admitted that he had recruited "around 25" men from the Derna area in eastern Libya to fight against coalition troops in Iraq. Some of them, he said, are "today are on the front lines in Adjabiya".

Mr al-Hasidi insisted his fighters "are patriots and good Muslims, not terrorists," but added that the "members of al-Qaeda are also good Muslims and are fighting against the invader".

His revelations came even as Idriss Deby Itno, Chad's president, said al-Qaeda had managed to pillage military arsenals in the Libyan rebel zone and acquired arms, "including surface-to-air missiles, which were then smuggled into their sanctuaries".

Mr al-Hasidi admitted he had earlier fought against "the foreign invasion" in Afghanistan, before being "captured in 2002 in Peshwar, in Pakistan". He was later handed over to the US, and then held in Libya before being released in 2008.

US and British government sources said Mr al-Hasidi was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, or LIFG, which killed dozens of Libyan troops in guerrilla attacks around Derna and Benghazi in 1995 and 1996

Libyans Stomp On Obama In Protest

Sri Lankan Muslims beat and stamp on an effigy ...

Travinyle1 calls talk radio "Our Military Works For The New World Order"

WAC gets Michelle Bachmanns opinion on the fed

Obama says he didn’t inform Mexico of U.S. gun smuggling operation because he didn’t know about it

Obama says he didn’t inform Mexico of U.S. gun smuggling operation because he didn’t know about it

Under fire for an operation that allowed smuggling of U.S. weapons across the nation’s border with Mexico, President Obama said in an interview that neither he nor Attorney General Eric Holder authorized the controversial “Operation Fast and Furious.”

The Mexican government has complained that it didn’t know about the U.S. operation that allowedguns to illegally cross the southwestern border so they could track the weapons.

Obama Polaroid 225.jpg

AP photo

Obama told Univision‘s Jorge Ramos that President Felipe Calderon wasn’t informed of the operation because he — the president of the United States — wasn’t informed either. When asked whether he knew of the weapon smuggling plan, Obama responded that it is “a pretty big government” with “a lot of moving parts.”

The investigation into the program comes after it was connected to two weapons that were found at the scene of a border shootout that killed U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry in December. Likewise, a gun smuggled from the U.S. were used to kill Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent Jamie Zapata, but it has not been determined if it was part of “Fast and Furious.”

When President Calderon came to visit Washington recently, the two presidents came together on a policy to stop drug and weapon smuggling across the border.

“Our policy is to ram up the interdiction of guns flowing south because that’s contributing to some of the security problems that are taking place in Mexico and what we’re doing is trying to build the kind of cooperation between Mexico and the United States that we haven’t seen before,” Obama told Univision.

There is a Kinder Bus - 1pm Trafalgar Square - 26th March 2011

Indiana Prosecutor Suggested Fake Attack on Wisconsin Governor

Indiana Prosecutor Suggested Fake Attack on Wisconsin Governor

Feb. 28: Gov. Scott Walker addresses the media during a news conference at Colgan Air Services at the La Crosse Municipal Airport in La Crosse, Wis.

INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indiana prosecutor said one of his deputies resigned Thursday after admitting he sent an email to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker suggesting the Republican fake an attack on himself to discredit the public employee unions protesting his plan to strip them of nearly all collective bargaining rights.

Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper said Carlos Lam resigned in a phone call about 5 a.m. Thursday after acknowledging that he sent the Feb. 19 email to Walker suggesting "the situation in WI presents a good opportunity for what's called a 'false flag' operation."

"If you could employ an associate who pretends to be sympathetic to the unions' cause to physically attack you (or even use a firearm against you), you could discredit the public unions," Lam wrote in the email, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

Cooper said Lam initially denied sending the email and said someone had hacked into his email account. But Lam later acknowledged he had written the message, and resigned hours before the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism reported the contents publicly Thursday.

"He wanted to come clean, I guess, and said he is the one who sent that email," Cooper told the Daily Journal newspaper in Franklin, south of Indianapolis.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/25/indiana-prosecutor-suggested-fake-
attack-wisconsin-governor/#ixzz1HcoQ6PTk

Einstein, the world's smallest horse, gets set for first birthday | Mail Online

Einstein, the world's smallest horse, gets set for first birthday

He may not be able to compete in the Kentucky Derby, but he is surely as popular as the winner.

And with appearances on Oprah and across the U.S. it has certainly been an eventful first year for Einstein, the world's smallest horse, as he approaches his birthday.

Standing just 20inches tall, the horse attracted huge media interest when he was born in April last year.

Cute: Standing only 20 inches high hasn't stopped Einstein becoming quite a celebrity with appearances on Oprah and across the U.S.

Cute: Standing only 20 inches high hasn't stopped Einstein becoming quite a celebrity with appearances on Oprah and across the U.S.

Thousands queued at a farm in Barnstead, New Hampshire for a glimpse of him, but while human interest was high, he didn't have many friends of his own breed.

Now his quest to find buddies and his life at home with owners Charlie Cantrell and Rachel Wagner in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, will be published in a new a book to celebrate his birthday.

'This has been a remarkable year for us and for Einstein,' said Mr Cantrell, 44, who bought Einstein for their small farm along with his wife Rachel.

'We are both horse enthusiasts and we decided to get ourselves a miniature horse from the renowned breeder Judy Smith at a Miniature Horse Farm in New Hampshire.

'Einstein is the smallest horse on record ever to survive and when the news got out to the media the level of interest was incredible.

'The average weight of a newborn miniature horse is eighteen pounds. The average height at birth is twenty-one inches.

Einstein is all the remarkable because he shows no dwarf characteristics and is simply a very small miniature horse.

His mother Finesse stands a relatively tall 32 inches and his dad Painted Feather measures 30 inches.

Little and large: Einstein's stallion friend Playboy towers over him as the pair meet up at home in New Hampshire

Little and large: Einstein's stallion friend Playboy towers over him as the pair meet up at home in New Hampshire



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1369859/Einstein-worlds-smallest-horse-gets-set-birthday.html#ixzz1HcnTsR3y

350 British special forces already deep inside Libya… and more are ready to be deployed

350 British special forces already deep inside Libya… and more are ready to be deployed

UK Daily Mail
March 25, 2011

  • - Squadron of SAS and SBS troops have been in country for a month
  • - British Tornado aircraft launch fresh wave of attacks on Gaddafi’s forces
  • - Bombing raids target military bases on outskirts of Tripoli
  • - MOD has already spent nearly £30m on air operations and missile strikes

Hundreds of British troops have been deployed deep inside Libya targeting Colonel Gaddafi’s forces – and more are on standby.

While Chancellor George Osborne repeated that UK ground troops would not be involved, the Daily Mail can reveal there are an estimated 350 already mounting covert operations.

In total it is understood that just under 250 UK special forces soldiers and their support have been in Libya since before the launch of air strikes to enforce the no-fly zone against Gaddafi’s forces.

The revelation came as the Ministry of Defence confirmed this morning that British Tornado aircraft undertook missile strikes last night against Gadaffi’s forces.

Prosecutor Suggests Loughner Style False Flag Attack To Discredit Wiscon...

Pepper Spray & Water Cannons For EU Protestors

Is Syria Next?

Gates calls for Syrian forces to move aside

By FT reporters

Published: March 24 2011 15:13 | Last updated: March 24 2011 21:59

Syria should follow Egypt’s lead and the Syrian army should “empower a revolution”, Robert Gates, US secretary of defence, argued as thousands marched in a southern city.

Mr Gates made his comments – some of the toughest remarks to date by a US official about the rule of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president – on a day of further upheaval in the Middle East and beyond.