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Duterte’s Narco List Contains Around 10,000 Government Officials and Others

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCOTvc4r4PE&feature=youtu.be

Presidential Chief Legal Counsel Sec. Salvador Panelo said today that a list of “around 10,000 names” is being readied for submission to the Philippines’ National Security Council by President Rodrigo Duterte.

“There are about 5,000 to 10,000 people involved. They are government officials — captains, mayors, governors, members of the military and prosecutors,” Panelo told the Philippines’ ABS-CBN news.

“I saw the folder, and it was more than one foot … one foot high.”

Panelo admitted that the number was high, and confirmed that the list was validated.

He said that what was most important in the move to submit the list was the “implications of the fact that there are about 10,000 people, government officials, involved, and that means that the magnitude as well as the depth of the dragnet is so much, so huge, that the public safety is now in danger.”

In his war on drugs, the president is considering suspending habaes corpus in the name of public security in order to “pick up” offenders and detain them, denying them what would otherwise be their right to question in court any unlawful detention. Duterte’s policy, however, is to refrain from sending police to arrest the people on the list “unless those people [do not] voluntarily submit themselves … .”

The president may submit his list to the NSC before the end of November, Panelo said. “According to the president … he wants those people arrested.”

Castro Dead

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Cuban state media are reporting that 90 year old Fidel Castro has died.

The leader of the Cuban revolution passed away in his beloved Havana, the city that received him and the Sierra Maestra fighters as liberators, with flowers, flags and bells in 1959.

Fidel Castro, Born in 1926 in the south-eastern Oriente Province of Cuba, ruled the country as a one-party state for almost half a century before handing over power to his brother Raul in 2008.

During his life, Castro was praised by socialist supporters and criticized for brutal suppression of opposition to his rule and the effects of his policies on the international relations of Cuba.

$170 Million Jade Stone Unexpectedly Found by Miners

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$170 million is the estimate given for a 210 tonne jade stone found my miners in Myanmar (formerly Burma).

The jade stone is 4.3 meters tall and 5.8 meters long.

The stone is set to be shipped to China, where it will be carved into statues and jewelry.

Much of Myanmar’s $31 billion per year jade industry goes to China, and the industry accounts for half of Myanmar’s GDP.

According to a Burmese politician in the northern Kachin state, U Tint Soe, “It is a present for the fate for our citizens, the government and our party as it was discovered in the time of our government. It’s a very good sign for us.”

(Image has been colorized. In fact, the rough jade stone is a grey much like the surrounding dirt.)

Indian Army Crosses Pakistan Line to Carry Out Surgical Strikes

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“The operations were focused on ensuring that these terrorists do not succeed in their design to cause destruction and endanger the lives of our citizens,” Indian Director General of Military Operations Lt. Gen Ranbir Singh said of the move.

“Significant casualties have been caused to terrorists and those trying to shield them. We don’t have a plan to further conduct such strikes. India has spoken to Pakistan.”

India regularly crosses the Pakistan LoC to take out terrorists who Pakistan allows or proxies to act against Indians within India, but usually India does not go as deep and cause as much damage (killing) as today.

Usually, crossing the line is not admitted, but this time New Delhi has officially announced that troops carried out an attack authorized by Indian authorities.

According to analysts, Pakistan has been relying on its nukes as a threat to protect terrorist activity against India. Now, however, Pakistan will have to decide how to react to Indian troops crossing into Pakistan to kill terrorists — terrorists Pakistan may have to admit it allows or supports if it acknowledges India’s move.

The crossing of the LoC has been denied by Pakistan. Pakistan says there was merely cross-border fire. Pakistan’s statement said that at least two Army men were killed as Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fire over the Line of Control in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.”

“Pakistani troops befittingly responded to Indian unprovoked firing on the LoC in Bhimber, Hotspring Kel and Lipa sectors,” Pakistan’s statement read.

Singh, however, described the military procedure in detail: “Based on receiving specific and credible inputs that some terrorist teams had positioned themselves at launch pads along Line of Control to carryout infiltration and conduct terrorist strikes inside Jammu and Kashmir and in various metros in other states, the Indian Army conducted surgical strikes at several of these launch pads to pre-empt infiltration by terrorists.

“During these counter terrorist operations significant casualties were caused to terrorists and those providing support to them. The operations aimed at neutralizing terrorists have since ceased. We do not have any plans for further continuation. However, the Indian Armed Forces are fully prepared for any contingency that may arise,” the DGMO said. No Indian casualties occurred during the surgical strikes that were carried out last night by the Indian Army.

“We have recovered items including GPS which have Pakistani markings. Captured terrorists hailing from PoK or Pakistan have confessed to their training in Pakistan or in Pakistan controlled region.”

First-of-Its-Kind Assassination in Jordan: Famous Writer on Trial

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“An insult to Islam” was the charge. Prominent writer Nahed Hattar, a Jordanian Christian, was walking to the court where he was on trial for contempt of religion when he was approached by a man and shot several times in the head.

The shooter was chased down and turned over to the authorities.

The subject of the charge was a cartoon. Hattar had shared the cartoon (the cartoon was by an anonymous hand) on social media.

In the past, Hattar had also popped up on the Jordanian legal radar when he allegedly shared a social media post critical of the king of Jordan.

Jordan

Hattar commented on the cartoon charge, saying that he intended only to mock ISIS and not Islam.

The cartoon depicts a lavish tent with a bearded Arab — called simply “jihadist” — flanked by two women in bed, surrounded by food and drink, with a large white bearded God peeking in the tent flap. God is asking if the jihadist “needs anything,” and the jihadist asks God to serve him wine and for Gabriel to serve him cashews, as well as a door so that God will knock next time.

His first lawyer in the trial had resigned claiming he could not defend the cartoon, which the lawyer considered offensive, but said the charge should be dismissed anyway.

In the country, many Jordanians consider the trial and shooting to be indicative that radical Islam and tolerance for it by the government has gone too far.

World’s Longest Desert Highway Now Being Built

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900 kilometers of desert highway — the longest desert highway in the world — is now being built in Inner Mongolia, North China.

The highway is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is a plan to connect Asia with Europe: Beijing to Rotterdam, Holland.

More immediately, the desert highway will be part of the new route between Beijing and Urumqi in China’s far western Xinjiang Uyghur region, a distance of more than 2,000 kilometers. The new road is expected to cut 12 hours off the trip between these points.

The stretch of desert connects Linhe district in Bayan Nur City and Baigeda in Alxa League.

Longest Desert Highway

 

Almost Half of Japanese Single Adults Under 35 Are Virgins Now

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Japan is dealing with a shrinking population — Japan’s fertility rate is 1.4, one of the lowest in the world.

One of problems behind the shrinking numbers was recently highlighted by a study that has found that a large number of Japanese adults are not in relationships, are not looking for relationships, and many have never been in a sexual relationship.

70 percent of unmarried men and 60 percent of unmarried women between the ages of 18 and 34 aren’t currently in relationships, and 42 percent of men and 44 percent of women are virgins.

The virgin rate is up from the last study six years ago from 36 and 39 percent.

These people overwhelming intend to be married and have families “sometime,” according to they study. 90 percent came out as saying they wanted to get hitched eventually.

So why don’t they get married, or even get into serious relationships?

The researchers point to a gap between ideas about life and realities of life. This idea-reality gap is characterized late completion of expected (and required for almost all jobs) education, prohibitive costs of dwelling, food, transportation and other life costs, the high incidence of female labor, the less family-oriented lifestyle prevalent in today’s Japan and abroad.

322 Reindeer Killed by Lightning

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“It is very unusual. I’ve heard of cattle having been killed by lightning, but not in such huge numbers,” said Knut Nylend, a warden at the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate (SNO) who came across hundreds of dead animals in a field between Møsvatn and Kalhovd Telemark, Hardangervidda.

The area covered with dead reindeer was around 50 – 80 meters in diameter, according to Nulend.

A hard thunderstorm had covered the area that afternoon, according to the warden the warden said, and the reindeer had been killed by lightening during the storm.

SNO and other authorities have gone to the site to take biological samples from the carcasses.

Hardangervidda has a population of reindeer of around 10,000, according to the Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre.

VG (Norwegian language)

11 Bomb Attacks and Arsons in Thailand

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Between Thursday Afternoon and Friday morning, bombs exploded and buildings were set on fire in several cities in Thailand, including Trang, Hua Hin and Phuket.

Rumors are swirling in Thailand about who is behind the attacks, but police have caught one perpetrator who informed them of 11 bombs planted in Hua Hin, reportedly.

So far, three people have died and dozens have been injured by the bombs.

The locations include important tourism areas for Thailand, and many of the victims are foreigners.

August 12 is a national holiday in the country, the queen’s birthday, referred to as “Mother’s Day,” and on August 7 Thais voted in a referendum for a new constitution, signifying what many to consider to be a victory for the country’s military-led government and paving the way for a general election in 2017.

List of attack locations:

August 11:

3.20 pm: Bomb blast at Centre Point in Trang killed 1 injured 7.
10.15 pm: Bomb blast at Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan in front of Johnny Bar and Rain Tree Bar killed 1 injured 20, ten of which were foreigners.

August 12:

2.30 am: Fire at Lee Mart Department Store in Trang, around Bt100 million in damage.
8.02 am: Two bomb blasts in front of Surat Thani Police Station killed 1 injured many.
8.05 am: Two bomb blasts in Phuket’s Patong Beach many people injured.
8.50 am: Fire at Lotus Department Store in Nakorn Si Thammarat.
9.14 am: The other two bomb blasts at Hua Hin Clock Tower in Prachuap Khiri Khan.
10.00am: Hua Hin Market Village evacuated.
10:05am: Suspicious device found at 19 Rai, close to Hua Hin Immigration office
10.30am: Explosion in Phang Nga, no reports of casualties.
11:10am: Suspicious device found at Hua Hin train station

Breivik Trial Judge Dropped

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The state’s appeal of the ruling in favor of Norwegian political mass killer Anders Breivik has undergone a change in judges.

Justice Ellen Mo was set to preside over the appeal — in May the Oslo District Court found that Breivik’s charges that the state was treating him unfairly according to the EU Convention on Human Rights, ie violating his human rights, and the state appealed the decision — but her service in government has caused her to be dropped.

Mo served briefly under the Labour Government in 2000-2001. She was Finance Minister under premier Jens Stoltenbert.

Breivik’s attacks targeted the Labour Party, whose policies Breivik considered detrimental to Norway. In particular, the mass immigration policies that Breivik and a minority of Norwegians at the time took issue with. Since that time, largely due to several large-scale attacks in various Western countries and a change in media coverage of violence committed by Muslims, more Norwegians have taken stances against mass immigration.

The appeal will begin November 29 and is expected to take around four days.

Thailand Telecom Regulator Approves Plan to Track Tourists With Phone Tech

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Thailand has been considering tracking tourists with phone technology, and now plans have been approved by the nation’s telecom regulator.

The purpose of the move is to catch visitors who overstay their visa, according to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), who also considers the technology not to be an invasion of privacy.

Phones for tourists would come with special SIM cards that would have tracking that could not be disabled.

The regulator also made mention of how the tracking could be used on Thai nationals as well, saying it could help police catch criminals on the run, although police would need a warrant in these cases.

The government stated they liked the plan: “It will be helpful, if any foreigner comes and commit crimes, because in the past they have been able to flee or it can be difficult to find them,” said Pongsathorn Chansri, an official in the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.

Tourists will still be able to use SIMs brought from their own countries and use those, however, said NBTC.

Alcohol Sales Before Vote Punishable Offence as Thai Referendum Draws Near

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Starting Saturday evening, no alcohol can legally be sold in Thailand, in accordance with the country’s new Referendum Act.

Polling will take place on Sunday, and the act forbids selling or giving away alcohol from 6 P.M.  the night before. The ban will continue until 12 midnight Sunday night.

Violating the 2016 Referendum Act is punishable by up to six months in prison and a 10,000 baht fine.

Sales will be permitted at duty-free stores, but the alcohol cannot be consumed within the country until Monday morning.