The reason why Berlusconi will not and cannot stand on trial is quite obvious: he knows very well that he will be condemned. Because the judges are against him, he says. Because he committed the offenses he is accused for, under the indictment hypothesis of the trials. Many of these crimes relate to classic examples of unfair competition: an entrepreneur who corrupts a judge to take a decision in his favor, falsified financial statements, moved money around, hid his debts. http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/resistance/berlusconistanchezza141109.htmlThe reason why Berlusconi will not and cannot stand on trial is quite obvious: he... more
Northwestern Pakistan suffers 16 lives lost, plus 80 wounded as two car bombs go off at a spy agency that oversees most of the country's anti-terror campaign.
The Saudi air force has attacked rebels in northern Yemen following Wednesday's killing of a Saudi security officer in a border area, reports have said.
'Successive air strikes'
In a statement on its website on Wednesday, the group said Saudi warplanes and helicopters had dropped >>>>>phosphorus bombsOK, let me get this right..if an Arab country uses phosphorus BOMBS it is OK but if... more
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The death toll from Iraq's worst attack in more than two years climbed to 155 Monday as Iraqis buried the dead from the twin suicide bombings that devastated the heart of Baghdad.
Funerals were held around the city amid heightened security that snarled traffic during the morning rush hour. The bombings targeted two government buildings, calling into question the state's ability to protect itself as it prepares for January elections and the U.S. military withdrawal.BAGHDAD, Iraq - The death toll from Iraq's worst attack in more than two years climbed... more
Two powerful car bombs exploded in Baghdad this morning, killing at least 135 people and wounding more than 520 others in an attack whose apparent targets were the Iraqi justice ministry and the governor’s office, authorities said.
Reporters were barred from the scene immediately after the blast, but state television footage showed bloody and dazed Iraqis fleeing the charred buildings. Twisted metal, pools of blood and piles of debris littered the bombing sites in central Baghdad.
Iraqi police said the bombings occurred nearly simultaneously at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday is the beginning of the work week in Iraq and the two targeted areas were packed with civilians and government employees. Authorities said the blasts were triggered by suicide bombers in cars. No further details were immediately available. The explosions could be heard throughout Baghdad.
Iraqis are scheduled to vote in parliamentary elections in January, setting the conditions for a gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces under a new Iraqi administration. But the failure of Iraqi security forces to foil such deadly attacks, coupled with a political impasse over election law, leaves the elections in jeopardy.
Today’s attack is the second major security breach in recent months for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s troubled government – similar bombings killed about 100 people and wounded hundreds more in an August attack aimed at government ministries in the capital.Two powerful car bombs exploded in Baghdad this morning, killing at least 135 people... more
Iraqi police say two car bombs have claimed the lives of more than 100 people in central Baghdad. More than 200 others have been wounded in the Sunday blasts.
The attackers struck just outside the Green Zone, the heavily fortified area that houses many government buildings.
Police say the first bombing hit the justice ministry. Minutes later, another massive car bomb exploded outside the provincial government headquarters.
Ambulances rushed to the scene. Private cars were also used to ferry the many wounded to hospitals.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.Iraqi police say two car bombs have claimed the lives of more than 100 people in... more
A car packed with explosives blew up beside the Indian Embassy on Thursday morning, leaving 17 people dead in what India’s foreign secretary said was a direct attack on the embassy compound, the second in two years.A car packed with explosives blew up beside the Indian Embassy on Thursday morning,... more
ISLAMABAD — The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Tuesday for the deadly suicide bombing at the U.N. food agency's heavily fortified compound in Islamabad and said they planned more such attacks in the future.
The attack, which killed five workers for the World Food Program on Monday, pushed the U.N. to temporarily close its offices in Pakistan and exposed the vulnerability of many international relief agencies working to provide aid to millions of civilians affected by the fight between the government and Islamic militant groups.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik accused the Taliban of carrying out the attack to avenge the Aug. 5 slaying of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a U.S. drone attack.
Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq confirmed his group was behind the strike in a phone conversation with The Associated Press.
"We proudly claim the responsibility for the suicide attack at the U.N. office in Islamabad. We will send more bombers for such attacks," he said.
Tariq did not reveal why the group attacked a U.N. relief agency. He said its future targets would include Pakistani security officials, government offices and American installations.ISLAMABAD — The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Tuesday for the deadly... more
The three men, involved in the plotting of airline bombings, get life sentences. This trial was the second one, in the first trial the jury couldn't reach a verdict on a key chargeThe three men, involved in the plotting of airline bombings, get life sentences. This... more
In a last minute decision, lawyers for the City of New York have conceded that the New York City Coalition for Accountability Now (NYC CAN), a group comprising 9/11 family members, first responders and survivors, indeed did submit over 30,000 valid signatures to put the referendum for a new 9/11 investigation before the voters of New York City this November.In a last minute decision, lawyers for the City of New York have conceded that the New... more
On the Iraq war there have always been great suspicion that the main reason of the Bush administration, rather than the nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, was Iraq's oil. In the case of Afghanistan, however, natural gas, which also exist in the country, was not the first motivation.The goal was to eliminate a sanctuary of terrorism after September 11.On the Iraq war there have always been great suspicion that the main reason of the... more
More than 100 people died in bombings across Iraq over the past three days. The attacks, which hit Baghdad and areas outside Mosul in the north on Friday and on Monday, are the biggest and the most serious since the withdrawal of US troops from Iraqi cities at the end of June.
Iraqis complain that widespread corruption prevents security services from protecting ordinary people
Along with other, smaller incidents - which often fail to make international headlines - a total of 157 people were killed in Iraq in the first 10 days of August - more than half of all those killed in July.
Since January, casualty figures in Iraq have fluctuated, and assessing the security situation according to these changing numbers can be misleading. Looking at the nature of the attacks might provide a better insight.
As the US generals prepared for the June withdrawal of their troops from Iraqi cities, US military officials argued that the attacks had become much less organised and sophisticated.
However, less than two months after the pull-out, this seems to be changing.
The latest bombings resemble the well co-ordinated, well planned strikes of the earlier years of heightened violence... [continued at link]
Fathya, in Baghdad, thinks the decision shows that the authorities are pre-occupied with creating an illusion of safety.
"The attacks are still happening, it is too soon to bring the walls down. I'd rather have the Americans here, because our government is not ready to protect us."
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What do you think?By Natalia Antelava
BBC News, Baghdad
More than 100 people died in bombings... more
US politicians and families of US victims of the Lockerbie bombing were uniformly outraged and dismayed by the Scottish government's decision to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi to Libya on compassionate grounds.
Susan Cohen, mother of Theo Cohen, a 20-year-old Syracuse University student killed in the bombing, described the release as "an absolutely disgusting disgrace". She speculated that the west's interest in Libyan oil played a role in the decision.US politicians and families of US victims of the Lockerbie bombing were uniformly... more
A double truck bombing in northern Iraq and a series of explosions in Baghdad today have killed at least 48 people and wounded almost 250, raising fears of a resurgence of sectarian violence.
The truck bombing killed 28 people and wounded 138 near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, while nine bombs in the Iraqi capital killed 20 people and wounded 108, officials said.
Insurgents are targeting Shias in an attempt to reignite the sectarian violence that devastated the country in 2006 and 2007. So far the Shias have not retaliated, according to the US military.
The deadliest of the pre-dawn violence was in Khazna village, 12 miles north of Mosul, which is inhabited by the Shia Shabak ethnic group. Two trucks parked less than 500 metres apart in an alley blew up together, flattening about 30 homes in the small village, which lacks the security measures of large cities. Many of the dead and wounded had been sleeping on their roofs because of the summer heat.
The explosions left a large crater and reduced the neighbourhood to piles of bricks, twisted metal and smoking debris. Family members pulled the wounded from the debris and carried them away as ambulances wailed through the neighbourhood. Mahmoud Hussein, 28, said his house about 140 metres away from the truck bombs was flattened and he survived only because he was asleep on the roof.
"If we had slept inside we would have been killed," said Hussein, who had a head wound from flying debris.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but al-Qaida in Iraq and other Sunni insurgents remain active in Mosul and surrounding areas.
On Friday, a suicide truck bomber destroyed a mosque used by the Shia Turkomen minority just north of Mosul, killing 44 people. The US military says Mosul is the last urban stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq.
The bombs across the capital this morning are a reminder that insurgents remain a threat in Baghdad despite an announcement by the Iraqi government last week that it would remove all blast walls in the city in response to the improved security situation.
The first bomb in Baghdad was hidden in a pile of rubbish when it exploded at about 5.50am Iraqi time near a group of construction workers drinking tea and looking for day jobs in Amil. It killed at least seven people and wounded 46, officials said.
About 10 minutes later, a car bomb targeted construction workers elsewhere in western Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 35. Three bombs exploded in the mainly Sunni neighbourhood of Azamiyah shortly before 7am, wounding a member of a government-backed paramilitary group. The army said there were no fatalities. A few hours later a roadside bomb exploded in front of a mosque in the primarily Sunni neighbourhood of Sadiyah in south-west Baghdad, killing two and wounding 14 others, a police official said. A minibus exploded in Shula, a predominately Shia neighbourhood, killing one and wounding three more. Two bombs went off elsewhere in the city, wounding 10 other people.
There has been a wave of attacks since US troops withdrew from towns and cities in June. Insurgents are expected to step up efforts to derail security gains as the Americans scale back their presence.
US forces are due to leave Iraq by the end of 2011 under a security pact between Washington and Baghdad, and the Americans are in the process of handing over responsibility to the Iraqi security forces.A double truck bombing in northern Iraq and a series of explosions in Baghdad today... more
In other countries of the world governments made and make war against their own citizens. In Iran, in Sri Lanka, Burma, and in many other places. A portion of the population suffers a severe repression for protesting against the government. In some countries the opponents are imprisoned, tortured, killed. But in Italy we had a phenomenon perhaps unique in the world. A nation that has practiced terrorism against its own citizens.In other countries of the world governments made and make war against their own... more
Suicide bombers who checked in as guests smuggled explosives into American luxury hotels in Indonesia's capital and set off a pair of heavy blasts that killed eight people and wounded more than 50, investigators said Friday.Suicide bombers who checked in as guests smuggled explosives into American luxury... more
BAGHDAD - Execution-style killings, not headline-grabbing bombings, have been the leading cause of death among civilians in the Iraq war, a study released Wednesday shows.
The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, point to the brutal sectarian nature of the conflict, where death squads once roamed the streets hunting down members of the rival Muslim sect.
Estimates of the number of civilians killed in Iraq vary widely. The study was based on the database maintained by Iraq Body Count, a private group that among other sources uses media reports including those of The Associated Press.
The authors concede the data is not comprehensive but maintain that the study provides a reliable gauge of how Iraqis have died in the six-year conflict.
The findings also provide further evidence of the brutal sectarian cleansing and retaliatory violence between Shiites and Sunnis that pushed the country to the brink of civil war before easing a year and a half ago.
"I think that a lot of the executions with torture had to do with trying to get people to move out of their houses," said Michael Spagat, one of the study's authors. "It had to strike fear into people's hearts. A lot of it is just hatred and retribution."BAGHDAD - Execution-style killings, not headline-grabbing bombings, have been the... more
Seven car bombs exploded across Baghdad yesterday in a surge of violence linked to growing dissatisfaction among the Sunni militias that helped turn the tide against al-Qaida and other insurgent groups.
The wave of attacks - the largest number of bombs in one day in almost two years - killed 34 people and wounded close to 120. The city was rocked by blasts throughout the morning, within two days of the sixth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, which had been seen by defence officials as a potential landmark date for Sunni-linked militants and loyalists to executed president Saddam Hussein, who was a Sunni.
Yesterday's attacks follow a series of arrests of ranking members of the militias - known as Awakening Councils - whom government officials branded as outlaws. The arrests led to pitched street battles and have stirred anger among the groups, with some officials claiming they will soon be discarded despite the key role they played against al-Qaida in 2007. A spokesman for Iraq's interior ministry said Iraqi officials had an open mind about the cause of yesterday's violence but feared it might be the start of a renewed push.Seven car bombs exploded across Baghdad yesterday in a surge of violence linked to... more
Recently Iraqi politicians and US military commanders have become more positive than ever that the country was getting back on the right track.... yet the most recent bombings claiming hundreds of civilian lives reiterate the fact that there is still a long way to go before the people of Iraq will ever feel safe..Recently Iraqi politicians and US military commanders have become more positive than... more
ISLAMABAD – Three separate bombings killed 15 people in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, while authorities investigated reports that a pilotless U.S. drone crashed elsewhere in the militant-plagued region bordering Afghanistan.
The bombings, coming days after gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's visiting cricket team, were a fresh reminder of the militant threat in Pakistan, where Western leaders worry that a growing political feud could distract the government from tackling the extremists head on...
Read The rest at Link...ISLAMABAD – Three separate bombings killed 15 people in northwestern Pakistan on... more
