Tag: discrepancies

At least 6 killed, scores injured in Pakistan suicide bombing +

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

AFP reprint: At least 6 killed, scores injured in Pakistan suicide bombing

At least six people including Pakistani paramilitary troops were killed and scores injured on Saturday, in a bombing claimed by separatists in volatile southwestern Balochistan province, officials said.

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The BLA is also behind a surge in attacks in the region targeting Chinese workers.

Much of the violence is directed against Chinese infrastructure projects in Pakistan to connect China’s Xinjiang region with the Arabian Sea to reach markets in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and beyond.

Of course, AP makes no mention of Chinese workers being targeted.

Related:

AP reprint: Blast in southwestern Pakistan kills 1 person and wounds 35 (archived)

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More Than 400,000 Student Loan Borrowers Had Wrong Monthly Payments

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The Education Department said miscalculations had caused many borrowers to see higher monthly payments than they actually owed.

More Than 400,000 Student Loan Borrowers Had Wrong Monthly Payments

Whew! Just got my new payment amount, yesterday!

Related:

See Your Federal Student Loan Repayment Options with Loan Simulator

SAVE Repayment Plan Offers Lower Monthly Loan Payments

Niger Military Coup | What They Are Not Telling You

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

On the 10th of April 2022, the former president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum posted on Twitter, that “about 30 senior state officials are guilty of embezzlement or misappropriation of public funds. One of them is Niger’s communications minister who had been detained in a high-profile embezzlement case dating from when he ran a state corporation that manages Niger’s mining sector. The 2 social activists that raised the corruption alarm, Abdoulaye Seydou and Adamou Idrissa, were later arrested and transferred to the high security prison according to their coalition.

Meanwhile, French Energy giant Orano announced that it was shutting down its second largest mine in Niger after 50 years of exploitation. Their reason was the uranium deposits at the sites have been depleted.

So in Niger, you have a country with its natural resources being depleted while senior officials in government are notorious and robbing the country. But there is more. According to a publication by Reuters, An audit by the Nigerien Budgetary Transparency Agency, reported a lack of documents to back several government spending and justify the cost of infrastructure projects. The report also noted fake public tenders, and the “granting of undue advantages to certain companies. However the former president Mohamed Bazoum maintained a clean posture that endeared him to the US and ECOWAS leaders.

The former president may not be the problem, but clearly his government was riddled with corruption.

In the morning July 26 2023, the Niger presidential palace and adjacent ministries were blocked off by military vehicles and palace staff were prevented from accessing their offices. The President Mohammed Bazoum had just been removed from office. Some civilian supporters of Bazoum tried to approach the palace, but were dispersed by the Presidential Guard with gunfire, leaving one injured. Elsewhere in Niamey, the situation was described as calm.

Later In the evening, Air Force Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane went on state television to confirm that Bazoum had been removed from power and announced the formation of a National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland.

He also announced the suspension of all activities by political parties in the country until further notice.

Alarmed by the recurrence of military coup in the region, ECOWAS leaders swiftly responded and gave Niger’s coup leaders a one-week deadline to hand power back to Bazoum or face international sanctions and the region’s military intervention. However the defence minister of Neighbouring Nigeria, maintained the need for diplomacy. Present at the meeting to echo the fears of ECOWAS leaders that are grappling with similar corruption in their governments was Ghana defence minister.

Niger Military Coup | What They Are Not Telling You via Africa Views

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By giving Ukraine cluster bombs, the US is admitting that it’s OK to kill civilians

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

By giving Ukraine cluster bombs, the US is admitting that it’s OK to kill civilians

The estimated dud rate is disputable. According to the Congressional Research Service, “There appear to be significant discrepancies among failure rate estimates. Some manufacturers claim a submunition failure rate of 2% to 5%, whereas mine clearance specialists have frequently reported failure rates of 10% to 30%. A number of factors influence submunition reliability. These include delivery technique, age of the submunition, air temperature, landing in soft or muddy ground, getting caught in trees and vegetation, and submunitions being damaged after dispersal, or landing in such a manner that their impact fuzes fail to initiate.”

The United States has a huge stockpile of cluster munitions — 4.7 million containing hundreds of millions of bomblets — that it is dusting off to deliver to Ukraine after a “difficult decision” by President Joe Biden.

The U.S. last used these munitions in its military excursion in Afghanistan. Trouble was that the little bombs resembled in color and shape the humanitarian aid packets that the U.S. dropped from planes. This confusion, which obviously left many civilians maimed or dead, led to the curtailment of cluster bombs for our next military adventure.

This did not stop Israel from using cluster bombs in its 2006 campaign against Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. According to a March 2022 Congressional Research Service report, Israel used them in the “last 3 days of the 34-day war after a U.N. cease-fire deal had been agreed to — resulting in almost 1 million unexploded cluster bomblets to which the U.N. attributed 14 deaths during the conflict.” Israel’s use of the bombs “supposedly affected 26% of southern Lebanon’s arable land and contaminated about 13 square miles with unexploded submunitions. One report states that there was a failure rate of upward of 70% of Israel’s cluster weapons,” the agency said.

Related:

The Packaging Color for Air-Dropped Humanitarian Rations was Changed from Yellow to Salmon Since Yellow was the Same Color as Air-Dropped Cluster Bombs.

Fact-finding report terms Arshad Sharif’s murder ‘targeted’

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Fact-finding report terms Arshad Sharif’s murder ‘targeted’

ISLAMABAD: A two-member fact-finding team consisting of officers from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has concluded that the murder of senior journalist Arshad Sharif was a “planned targeted assassination” which purportedly involved “transnational characters”.

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The investigators noted that Mr Sharif’s host Waqar [Ahmed], a contractor of the US embassy in Nairobi, was connected with the Kenyan National Intelligence Service (NIS) and international intelligence agencies and police.

Previously:

Arshad Sharif Was Tortured Before Being Gunned Down at Point-Blank Range

Pakistan Suggests Killing Of Journalist In Kenya Was Targeted

Democrats challenge nominating papers of Trump-backed Republican governor candidate Tim Michels

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Democrats challenge nominating papers of Trump-backed Republican governor candidate Tim Michels

Related:

Donald Trump endorses Tim Michels for Wisconsin governor, inserting himself into competitive GOP primary:

The backing of Michels from Trump comes a week after Michels adopted a more aggressive stance toward the 2020 election, reversing himself and calling for the abolition of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Tim Michels Says He ‘Always Spent 183 Days’ a Year in Wisconsin

Tim Michels Home: $17 Million Connecticut Mansion, New York Penthouse Raise Residency Questions:

[Tim] Michels’ wealth was largely accumulated through public projects and taxpayer money, including more than $1 billion from the State of Wisconsin; his company builds roads and pipelines. Some contracts have been controversial, including alleged double bidding.

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The couple purchased a New York penthouse while the subway project was happening. However, the subway project had ended before the LLC we’ve tied to them purchased two Connecticut homes worth millions. Their daughter and youngest son graduated from high schools out east after the subway project’s completion.

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The campaign has painted Michels as a blue-collar figure rooted in Wisconsin who baled hay as a kid, graduated from small-town Lomira High School, joined the Army, and then worked for the family company headquartered in Brownsville, Wisconsin. In his announcement speech, Michels stood before red utility vehicles and posed with construction workers. An east coast lifestyle full of yachting and polo clubs is clearly not the image the campaign is after.