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MEAN STREETS MEDIA
Friday, December 20, 2013
India ( Domino's Pizza " Ransacked " over arrest of Indian diplomat )
NEW DELHI: Indian protesters ransacked a Dominos Pizza outlet in a Mumbai suburb, demanding a ban on US goods as officials from the two countries struggled to defuse a row over the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York.
Police and the Indian franchise of the US chain said no-one was hurt in the attack, which came amid unrelenting rage in India over the arrest and subsequent strip-search of Devyani Khobragade for visa fraud and under-payment of her housekeeper.
India has demanded that the charges be dropped against the diplomat and her father threatened to start a fast if US authorities pressed ahead with the case.
US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed regret over the case in a phone call to India’s national security adviser this week, but US prosecutors have defended the investigation against Khobragade and her treatment.
Police in Mumbai said they were stepping up patrolling of major US outlets including McDonald’s after workers of the small Republican Party of India attacked the Dominos store. The group sent pictures to media organizations showing a broken glass door.
“The fact is that (the) American authorities have behaved atrociously with an Indian diplomat. And obviously, America has to make good for its actions,” said Manish Tiwari, minister for information and broadcasting.
“So therefore, I think it is a legitimate expectation, that if they have erred, and they have erred grievously in this matter, they should come forth and apologize.”
Khobragade was arrested last week and released on $250,000 bail after giving up her passport and pleading not guilty to charges of visa fraud and making false statements about how much she paid her housekeeper. She faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted on both counts.
The US Justice Department confirmed that Khobragade was strip-searched after her arrest. A senior Indian government source has said the interrogation also included a cavity search, although US officials have denied this.
Police and the Indian franchise of the US chain said no-one was hurt in the attack, which came amid unrelenting rage in India over the arrest and subsequent strip-search of Devyani Khobragade for visa fraud and under-payment of her housekeeper.
India has demanded that the charges be dropped against the diplomat and her father threatened to start a fast if US authorities pressed ahead with the case.
US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed regret over the case in a phone call to India’s national security adviser this week, but US prosecutors have defended the investigation against Khobragade and her treatment.
Police in Mumbai said they were stepping up patrolling of major US outlets including McDonald’s after workers of the small Republican Party of India attacked the Dominos store. The group sent pictures to media organizations showing a broken glass door.
“The fact is that (the) American authorities have behaved atrociously with an Indian diplomat. And obviously, America has to make good for its actions,” said Manish Tiwari, minister for information and broadcasting.
“So therefore, I think it is a legitimate expectation, that if they have erred, and they have erred grievously in this matter, they should come forth and apologize.”
Khobragade was arrested last week and released on $250,000 bail after giving up her passport and pleading not guilty to charges of visa fraud and making false statements about how much she paid her housekeeper. She faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted on both counts.
The US Justice Department confirmed that Khobragade was strip-searched after her arrest. A senior Indian government source has said the interrogation also included a cavity search, although US officials have denied this.
Brazil News ( Brazil to Buy 36 Jet Fighters from Sweden’s Saab )
BRASILIA – Sweden’s Saab AB prevailed over U.S. giant Boeing and French manufacturer Dassault Aviation in a competition to supply the Brazilian air force with 36 aircraft to replace its aging Mirage 2000s, Brazil said Wednesday.Brasilia agreed to pay $4.5 billion for 36 Gripen NG jet fighters, marking the end of a process that has unfolded in fits and starts since 2001 under three different presidents.
Dassault wanted $8 billion for 36 units of its Rafale fighter, while Boeing was asking $7.5 billion for three-dozen F/A-18 Super Hornets, the Brazilian government said in a statement.
The decision for the Gripen “took into account performance, the effective transfer of technology and costs – not just of acquisition but of maintenance,” Defense Minister Celso Amorim told a press conference.
Besides offering the lowest price, Saab promised comprehensive technology sharing with Brazil.
Securing a transfer of the relevant technology has become a Brazilian priority in major defense procurement deals.
“The technology transfer will give us intellectual ownership of everything,” Brazil’s air force chief, Brig. Gen. Juniti Saito, said at the press conference with Amorim.
Some components of the fighters will be built in Brazil, Saito said.
The choice of the Gripen caught many by surprise, as a number of Brazilian officials had signaled their preference for the Rafale even as the pilots who will eventually fly the new fighters wanted the F/A-18
Mexico ( 5 high school kids " Run over and killed " by Gunmen )
MEXICO CITY – Five high school students ages 13-15 died after being run over by two gunmen in an SUV who were fleeing a military convoy, authorities in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas said.Two other people struck by the SUV, an adult woman and a 5-year-old girl, were listed in stable condition at an area hospital, the state Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.
The incident occurred Wednesday in Reynosa, a city just across the border from McAllen, Texas.
The armed men were fleeing the soldiers at high speed when the driver of the SUV lost control of the vehicle in front of a school where students were waiting for a bus.
After running over five students, the SUV smashed into two cars parked outside the school, causing injuries to a woman and child who were inside one of those vehicles.
The gunmen managed to get away, the state AG’s office said.
The Tamaulipas state government offered condolences to the victims’ families and promised a relentless effort to apprehend the gunmen.
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