The Yorkshire Ranter

..one of Viktor Bout’s old aeroplanes turned up next door in Rwanda. In a hurry, so will simply report that the Tupolev 154 that belonged to two of his operations, Mold-Transavia and Centrafricain, and was involved in the “she-guns” affair, is now apparently registered in Rwanda by something called “Regional International Air Services”. Given the…

I recently read up some useful information on how to interpret the designations of those fuel contracts for Viktor Bout’s airlines. According to the DESC website, a DoDAAC beginning with “T” is one used to supply a charter or contractor on US Government service, or aircraft (or anything else) belonging to a foreign government when…

A lot of the time, whatever the press say about the “atmosphere” or the “political climate” might seem to be a myth restricted to a few twerps somewhere in London. Surely, this is just what politicians say about each other and what journos write about them. Yesterday, though, it was concrete. Police helicopters clattered constantly…

Capitol Hill Blue: Bush’s Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides Well, looks like the denizens of the West Wing are beginning to feel the pain from working for George W. Bush. “In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media,…

A curious offshoot of the raging scandal around Ahmed “The greatest Arab since Mohammed” Chalabi and his exposure as an Iranian spy has been pointed up by Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo. As the far more important questions build up, a small British angle has emerged with a story in the Daily Telegraph about…

Well, it would appear that some of the content of the alleged Ruprah-FBI correspondence has been borne out by events. The documents IPIS Research claim to have obtained include references to a planned deal to produce currency for the RCD-Goma rebels in eastern Congo in exchange for diamonds. Now, Air AK47 would not be getting…

The guts of the Viktor Bout story are now well and truly open. Just how did we all miss this? The Belgian Institute for Peace Information (IPIS) published the details back in October, 2003, and it would appear that we were all asleep at the wheel. Here is their shocking report. They claim to have…

Our friend Richard Chichakli, Texan accountant and business identity, would surely agree that some of his customers have been other than controversial. After all, in his capacity as president of San Air General Trading he would surely have been delighted to see some US$925,000 in two months come into the company. The source of these…

Off to buy the newspapers this morning, I passed a huge red Chrysler Cruiser (the one that tries to look like a thirties gangster wagon) with – what? – a UK Independence Party poster plastered to the window. And a UKIP sticker in the rear windscreen. And another on the opposite side, and UKIP literature…

The Royal Geographical Society is going to open its archive to the public. And if you are a map freak like me, that’s very good news. Two million of them, in fact.