[IN.REUTERS] Tunisian presidential candidate Beji Caid Essebsi claimed victory in Sunday's run-off election, which is seen as the final step to full democracy nearly four years after an uprising ousted autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.
Preliminary results were still to be released by election authorities, but soon after polls closed, Essebsi said he had beaten rival Moncef Marzouki, the incumbent president.
"I dedicate my victory to the deaders of Tunisia. I thank Marzouki, and now we should work together without excluding anyone," Essebsi, a former parliament speaker under Ben Ali, told local television.
His campaign manager said "initial indications" showed the 88-year-old Essebsi had won without giving any details, as hundreds of celebrating supporters chanted "Beji President" and waved Tunisia's red and white national flag.
However, the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... rival campaign manager for Marzouki, Adnen Monsar, dismissed the claims saying it was a very close call. "Nothing is confirmed so far," he told news hounds.
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12/22/2014 15:29 ||
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[AnNahar] Around 630 Paleostinians left Gazoo and entered the Egyptian Sinai through the Rafah crossing on Sunday after Cairo authorized a temporary reopening of the border, a Paleostinian official said.
It was only the second time in two months that Egypt had opened the Rafah terminal.
On Saturday, an Egyptian official confirmed to Agence La Belle France-Presse that the crossing would be open on Sunday and Monday.
All of those crossing were either seeking medical treatment or were holders of a permit to stay overseas, according to Maher Abu Sabha, director of border crossings in the Gazoo Strip.
The southern Rafah crossing is Gazoo's only gateway to the world not controlled by Israel.
An AFP correspondent at the scene said hundreds of people had gathered in front of the terminal.
"At around midday (1000 GMT), three buses carrying around 200 people left Gazoo through the Rafah terminal and entered Egypt," Abu Sabha said.
On Monday, Paleostinians studying abroad would be permitted to enter Egypt, he said.
Meanwhile Egyptian state media reported that Cairo deported 52 Paleostinians to Gazoo through Rafah on Sunday.
MENA news agency, quoting an unnamed official at the border, said 30 of the deportees had been rounded up for living illegally in Egypt, while the others had tried to enter without a visa.
After investigating their cases the security services decided to send them back to Gazoo, the official said.
Cairo closed the crossing on October 25, the day after a deadly suicide kaboom killed 30 soldiers in north Sinai.
The closure has prevented thousands of Gazooks from accessing medical treatment or higher education in Egypt and beyond, and also prevented some 3,500 Paleostinians from returning home, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
On Saturday, 378 Gazoo residents were finally able to return to the enclave through Rafah, a Paleostinian statement said.
During the first six months of the year, when the crossing was closed for a total of 22 days, an average of 6,400 people crossed each month, the U.N. said.
[IsraelTimes] An official from Sony Pictures Entertainment said Sunday that the movie “The Interview” would be distributed in some form, after the studio pulled the film under threat of terrorist attack by hackers.
Genius marketing plan. Just genius. Everyone is going to see it now...
“Sony only delayed this,” said company lawyer David Boies on NBC’s Meet the Press. “Sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed, it will be distributed. How it will be distributed, I don’t think anyone knows quite yet.”
Boies also said Sony had a responsibility to protect its employees and moviegoers.
Last Wednesday, Sony announced the unprecedented step of canceling the December 25 release of the movie, a startling blow to the Hollywood studio that has been shaken by hacker leaks and intimidations over the last several weeks by an anonymous group calling itself Guardians of Peace.
Sony had said it was canceling the release “in light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film.” The studio said it respected and shared in the exhibitors’ concerns.
“We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public,” read the statement. “We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome.”
The FBI is investigating the identity of the hackers, but suspicion has centered on North Korea, which previously issued warnings over “The Interview.”
Sony had offered theaters the option of bowing out, and when so many of them did it left Sony little choice for the release of “The Interview.”
SEOUL -- North Korea threatened to carry out ultra-harsh military action on U.S. soil Sunday, one day after U.S. President Barack Obama vowed a proportional response against the North's alleged hacking attack into Sony Pictures.
In a follow-up to the FBI's recent hacking accusation against Pyongyang, Obama vowed Friday (U.S time) to "respond proportionally," hinting at retaliatory action over the communist country's alleged hacking attack on the distributor of a controversial movie about North Korea, "The Interview."
North Korea had been suspected of involvement in last month's cyberattack on Sony after the country's repeated warnings against the firm's plan to release the movie, dealing with an assassination plot targeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"Surpassing the proportional response declared by Obama, (North Korea) will carry out a ultra-harsh war of reaction targeting the entire U.S. mainland, including the White House, the Pentagon, which are the base of terrorism," the strategy department of the North's powerful National Defense Commission (NDC) said in a statement, carried by the official (North) Korean Central News Agency.
"Our military and people are perfectly prepared to fight with the U.S. in all kinds of war, including a cyberwar," the NDC statement said, adding that anyone who joins with the U.S. will also be subject to North Korean attacks.
Pyongyang also dismissed the FBI hacking allegation, calling it a new fabrication against the country. It has never tried any hacking attack, even on South Korea, the North claimed.
Since the hacking attack on Sony last month, the North has consistently denied any involvement, although it said the attack was a righteous deed. On Saturday, the North proposed a joint investigation with the U.S. into the hacking allegation as it denied the U.S. charges.
Unidentified hackers have warned that "the world will be full of fear" if "The Interview" is released. They also said, "Remember the 11th of September 2001," referring to the date of deadly terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/22/2014 00:00 ||
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Bring it on assholes.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/22/2014 1:16 Comments ||
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Geez..jumped right to the triple-dog dare, didn't they...
#3
How about hacking the DNC's assets? Now that would make them tremble. If you think the emails from the Sony CEO were embarrassing in showing who she really was, just wait for the juicy details their records would show as it plays across the net (cause the Ministry of Truth certainly won't allow it to see print or air time).
#4
HG 7489: Spousal Unit and I saw the Fifth Avenue's musical this weekend of The Christmas Story and the TDD/flagpole scene were excellent!!
Actor had the audience believing he really had his tongue stuck, as the FP waved back ad forth as he moved....
Also quite of bit of dialogue concerning the etiquette required to achieve the coveted TDD level....
WASHINGTON -- The United States is considering re-listing North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism for its alleged cyber-attack on Sony Pictures, President Barack Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday. The U.S. is studying how to punish the North after the FBI officially determined that the communist nation was behind the massive hack on Sony that led ultimately to the to the cancellation of the release of a comedy film about killing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
In an interview with CNN, Obam said the government will review the possibility of putting the North back on the State Department's list of states sponsoring terrorism.
A bold and decisive move, sir! Nay -- verily decisive and bold!!
He said the hacking case is a "very costly, very expensive" example of cybervandalism.
"We're going to review those through a process that's already in place," Obama said. "And we don't make those judgments just based on the news of the day. We look systematically at what's been done and based on those facts, we'll make those determinations in the future."
North Korea was put on the U.S. terrorism sponsor list for the 1987 mid-air bombing of a Korean Airlines flight that killed all 115 people aboard. But the U.S. administration of former President George W. Bush removed Pyongyang from the list in 2008 in exchange for progress in denuclearization talks.
North Korea had been suspected of involvement in last month's cyber-attack on Sony from the beginning because the communist nation has expressed strong anger at the controversial movie about a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un.
The film, "The Interview," tells the story of two American journalists who land an interview with the North Korean leader in Pyongyang but are then recruited by the CIA to kill him. Pyongyang has condemned the movie as the "most undisguised" sponsoring of terrorism.
Last week, Sony ultimately decided to call off the film's release, which had been set for Christmas Day, after hackers threatened attacks on theaters showing the movie, and some large theater chains decided to pull the film from their screens.
In his year-end news conference on Friday, Obama vowed to "respond proportionally" to the cyber-attack "in a place and time and manner that we choose," but he did not elaborate. Obama also said believes Sony's decision to pull the film was "a mistake."
North Korea has flatly denied any involvement, though it lauded the cyber-attack as a "righteous deed."
On Saturday, Pyongyang's foreign ministry rejected allegations of its involvement as "an "unfounded romor." It also proposed a joint investigation with the U.S., claiming that it has "a way to prove that we have nothing to do with the case."
The U.S. rejected the North's suggestion.
"As the FBI made clear, we are confident the North Korean government is responsible for this destructive attack. We stand by this conclusion," Mark Stroh, a spokesman of the National Security Council at the White House said in a statement.
"The government of North Korea has a long history of denying responsibility for destructive and provocative actions. If the North Korean government wants to help, they can admit their culpability and compensate Sony for the damages this attack caused," he said.
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12/22/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] More than one third of Italians -- including many in the once-hostile south -- are ready to vote for the anti-EU, anti-immigration Northern League, a poll showed Sunday.
The times, they are a-changing.
Matteo Salvini, the youthful leader of the right-wing regional party, confirmed his status as the rising star of Italian politics with approval ratings of 35 percent in a Demos & Pi poll published by La Repubblica newspaper -- up five per cent on November.
Salvini, 41, who launched a bid to extend his party's appeal to the poorer south of the country amid much fanfare on Friday, came second in the poll to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, 39, who it said has the confidence of exactly half of Italians.
His rise is often compared with that of La Belle France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who has tried to steer the National Front closer to the mainstream in a bid for power.
But Salvini has had to overcome Italia's much wider regional divisions and his party's demands that the wealthier north, which he calls "Padania", be allowed to break away.
The party has also traditionally held the rest of the country south of Tuscany in contempt. Even so the poll seems to show the party's center of gravity shifting south on the back of Salvini's popularity.
In fact, 19 percent of voters in the center of the country said they would vote for it -- one per cent higher than in its northern heartlands -- with seven percent of southerners saying they would support it.
Italia has seen an unprecedented surge of undocumented Democrats this year, with more than 150,000 rescued from rickety boats attempting to reach its southern shores from north Africa.
Sunday's poll appears to show support for the government stabilizing, with Renzi's popularity, which stood at 69 percent in June before falling back to 43 percent in November, bouncing back to 46 percent in December.
#1
So there was this restaurant in Charleston which, unbeknownst to me, specialized in and was wholly owned by Northern Italians. I was not at the time familiar with Northern Italian fare which lead to me ordering the inevitable spaghetti. In a scene straight out of "Big Night" the chef came and explained to me that I was going to have fish. It was excellent and way the hell more expensive than I expected. Still a valuable lesson all in all.
#2
I love northern Italian food. But yes, it does tend to be served in restaurants with actual stars in their ratings, and the attitude to go with it. ;-)
[ANahar] An EU probe has found major security lapses at Germany's biggest airport in Frankfurt enabling weapons and other items to be smuggled through passenger safety checks, a newspaper said Sunday.
The failings, detected in an undercover European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... -commissioned investigation, were largely down to badly trained staff, Germany's Bild am Sonntag weekly said.
Investigators managed, on every second attempt, to smuggle weapons or dangerous substances through security, it said.
The newspaper quoted police front man Christian Altenhofen as saying that immediate measures had been introduced to ensure the safety of passengers.
Bild said the main problem was poorly trained staff from the company commissioned to provide the security service.
The EU report unearthed an apparent inability by many workers to interpret X-ray images correctly during hand luggage screening, it said.
"We take that very seriously," Bild quoted airport front man Christopher Holschier as saying.
"Altogether 2,500 staff are currently being re-trained so that suspect items no longer pass through the checks," he was quoted as also saying.
Bild said the EU Commission declined to comment on the report's findings.
But it said that if the Commission finds shortcomings again, it is threatening to classify Frankfurt as a non-Schengen airport, referring to the EU's visa-free travel zone.
This would mean that passengers transiting through the hub would face further security checks on arrival in other EU member states.
The Munich Massacre was a terrorist attack during the 1972 Olympic Games. Eight Palestinian terrorists killed two members of the Israeli Olympic team and then took nine others hostage. The situation was ended by a huge gunfight that left five of the terrorists and all of the nine hostages dead. Following the massacre, the Israeli government organized a retaliation against Black September, called Operation Wrath of God.
[IsraelTimes] Security was stepped up at police and fire stations across La Belle France on Sunday after a knife-wielding French convert to Islam was rubbed out after attacking three coppers.
Bertrand Nzohabonayo was killed Saturday after entering a cop shoppe in the central town of Joue-les-Tours armed with a knife, seriously wounding two officers — slashing one in the face — and hurting another.
“The investigation is leading towards an attack … motivated by radical Islamist motives,” said a source close to the probe, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... The assailant, a French national born in Burundi in 1994, cried “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”) during the assault, added the source close to the probe, which is being carried out by anti-terror Sherlocks from the Gay Paree prosecutor’s office.
Local prosecutor Jean-Luc Beck said Sherlocks would seek to determine whether “he acted alone or if he acted on orders.”
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who rushed to the scene of the attack on Saturday, said he had ordered “security measures to be stepped up” for police personnel and firefighters across the country.
Nzohabonayo had previously committed petty offenses but was not on a domestic intelligence watch list, although his brother is known for radical positions and once pondered going to Syria, the source said.
On Thursday, Nzohabonayo posted the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... flag as his profile picture on a Facebook page identified as his by several experts on jihadist groups.
But paradoxically, he had also liked a page called “Islamic State in Iraq: Not in my name,” for Moslems that “refuse to be associated” with the violence waged by the radical group.
Photos circulating on social networks showed a smiling man with a shaved head and black beard.
One of his former sports teachers said he was a quiet, reserved boy.
“When he arrived at the football club from the Gay Paree region, he was around 16 or 17,” said the teacher, who asked not to be named. “He wanted to be the referee, which is unusual at that age. He was devoted to justice.”
Several people near his sister’s flat in a poor part of town refused to believe the attack was spurred by radical Islamic motives.
“That’s not what our town is about. We have managed to install dialogue and understanding between communities,” said Ahmed Moussaoui, a retired man who heads a local association.
A witness of Saturday’s incident at the cop shoppe said he saw four officers grab Nzohabonayo to escort him inside while telling him to “calm down”,,as he started yelling and struggling.
“I saw a large knife, and then a policeman on the ground with his neck full of blood, squirting blood,” Sandgy Dumoulin said.
“Then a policewoman had blood on her head, and a third one — he’s the one who fired the shots. He fired four shots.”
The incident comes as governments around the world brace for so-called “lone wolf” attacks by individuals returning from waging jihad abroad, or who are simply following Islamic State calls for violence in the countries involved in a coalition fighting the IS group.
Last week in Australia, an Iranian-born Islamist with a history of extremism and violence entered a cafe and held people hostage for 16 hours before being killed. Two of the hostages also died.
Last year in La Belle France, a recent convert to Islam also stabbed a soldier in the busy Gay Paree commercial complex and transport hub of La Defense.
And the main suspect in the murders of four people at Brussels’ Jewish Museum in May, Mehdi Nemmouche, spent more than a year fighting with faceless myrmidons in Syria.
Authorities in La Belle France believe around 1,200 nationals or residents are involved in one way or another in jihadist networks in Iraq and Syria.
[Jpost] Four Afghans held for over a decade at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been sent home to Afghanistan, the Pentagon said on Saturday, the latest step in a slow-moving push by the B.O. regime to close the facility.
The men were flown to Kabul overnight aboard a US military plane and released to Afghan authorities, the first such transfer of its kind to the war-torn country since 2009, a US official said.
#3
If you use the backward planning process, he'll need 90 to 120 days to clear U.S. Military personnel and equipment out of GITMO. If you factor in a formal hand-over ceremony, presidential advance team, etc, another week or two is required.
The Democratic convention will take place on one of three dates; July 18, July 25 and August 22. I'd say he'll need to have all of the remaining prisoners repatriated and out of the way NLT June of 2016. This will provide maximum political crowing and 'Cuban normalization' fanfare, avenue of flags, etc, at the convention.
PESHAWAR: The spokesman for al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Usama Mahmood, has released a statement condemning the Pakistani Taliban’s attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar earlier this week, US media reported on Sunday.
They're really upset that they didn't do it first...
AQIS’ four-page statement was released on Mahmood’s official Twitter feed. In an accompanying tweet, Mahmood writes that the “massacre of innocent children” makes “our hearts burst!”
Mahmood stresses in the statement that al Qaeda only learned of the attack through the media, and his statement is based on the assumption that those reports are accurate. In particular, Mahmood says, it is al Qaeda’s understanding that the attackers targeted children on purpose and that most of the victims were children. Mahmood argues that al Qaeda carefully selects its targets inside Pakistan “so as to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties”.
Ah, a terrorist with a conscience...
He said that the group focuses on “American targets,” the “puppet rulers” in Pakistan, and America’s “mercenaries” in the Pakistani security and intelligence services. In harsh terms, Mahmood condemns the Pakistani Taliban’s attack as “un-Islamic” and says that al Qaeda’s scholars have already set forth the rules for engaging the enemy, which were not followed in Peshawar. The attack violates the jihadis’ version of sharia law, Mahmood claims. Mahmood also portrays al Qaeda as the defender of Muslims inside Pakistan. Addressing “our beloved Pakistani Muslims,” Mahmood says their defense is “our responsibility”.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/22/2014 00:00 ||
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Mahmood stresses in the statement that al Qaeda only learned of the attack through the media
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan on Sunday indicated at stringent measures to counter the menace of terrorism in the country and said that terrorists are planning to carry out a Peshawar massacre-like activity again.
Addressing a press conference, Nisar disclosed that intelligence reports point towards another brutal act that terrorists are planning to undertake especially after some convicted terrorists have been hanged. “We have to act before such an incident and nation should also realize that country is in state of war,” Nisar asserted and added that enemy is within the country rather from outside with the difficulty to identify them easily. The minister said that time has come to that whole nation should support armed forces with the contribution from all segments of the society to make the anti-terrorism operation successful.
“People should be vigilant and keep any eye on terror suspects in their surroundings. There can be no better intelligence than a vigilant nation,” he said and added that people should be vigilant as sympathizers and supporters of terrorists live among us. He said that a universal phone number would be released soon so that people could notify security forces about any suspicious activity in their vicinity. He said that out-of-box solutions have to be employed and noted that “if we have to avenge the Peshawar massacre that guard should not be down”. He said that it would be simplistic thinking that operation against terrorism should be short-term goal but a long-term by executing it wisely avoiding the over-reaction in this regard.
About the committee of parliamentary parties to devise national action plan against terrorism Nisar told the media that it has been mandated to do its work with a tight schedule of one week. “We are working day and night to finalize the recommendations and hopefully these would be presented in two to three days,” he stated. The interior minister said that all the religious seminaries are not involved in terrorism-related activities and claimed that 90 percent of madrassas had no connection to terrorism, based on intelligence reports.
He, however, said that those found having any connection with terrorism-related activities are needed to be isolated and a strategy would soon come out to deal with them. He appreciated the role of ulema whose majority condemned the Peshawar brutal act in possible strongest terms. He also talked about the media and said that it would not be allowed to glorify the terrorism. “Red lines have been drawn and legislation will be done that media should black out their messages and their activities.” He also called upon mediahouse owners to play their role for a code of ethics in this regard.
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12/22/2014 00:00 ||
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Genius. Pure genius.
Haider Ali Motar was convicted of terrorism charges about a month ago for helping to carry out a string of Baghdad car bombings on behalf of the Islamic State extremist group. Now, the 21-year old is a reluctant cast member in a popular reality TV show.
"In the Grip of the Law," brings convicted terrorists face-to-face with victims in surreal encounters and celebrates the country's beleaguered security forces. The show, produced by state-run Iraqiyya TV, is among dozens of programs, cartoons and musical public service announcements aimed at shoring up support for the troops after their humiliating defeat last summer at the hands of the Islamic State group, which now controls about a third of the country.
On a chilly, overcast day last week, the crew arrived at the scene of one of the attacks for which Motar was convicted, with a heavily armed escort in eight military pick-up trucks and Humvees. Passing cars clogged the road to watch the drama unfold, but were quickly shooed away by soldiers.
After being pulled from an armored vehicle, a shackled Motar found himself face-to-face with the seething relatives of the victims of the attack. "Give him to me — I'll tear him to pieces," one of the relatives roared from behind a barbed wire barrier.
A cameraman pinned a microphone on Motar's bright yellow prison jumpsuit as he stood alongside a busy Baghdad highway looking bewildered by his surroundings.
"Say something," the cameraman said to him.
"What am I supposed to say?" a visibly panicked Motar asked.
"It's a mic check! Just count: 1,2,3,4..."
Once the cameras were rolling, the show's host Ahmed Hassan quizzed the still-shackled prisoner. When Motar was confronted by one of the victims, a young man in a wheelchair who lost his father in one of the attacks, the convict began weeping, as the cameras rolled.
Iraq has seen near-daily car bombs and other attacks for more than a decade, both before and after the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops at the end of 2011. But the central message of the show, the filming of which began last year, is that the security forces will bring perpetrators to justice.
"We wanted to produce a program that offers clear and conclusive evidence, with the complete story, presented and shown to Iraqi audiences," Hassan told The Associated Press. "Through surveillance videos, we show how the accused parked the car, how he blew it up, how he carries out an assassination."
The episodes often detail the trail of evidence that led security forces to make the arrest. Police allow the camera crew to film the evidence — explosive belts, bomb-making equipment or fingerprints and other DNA samples.
"We show our audiences the pictures, along with hard evidence, to leave no doubts that this person is a criminal and paying for his crimes," Hassan said.
All of the alleged terrorists are shown confessing to their crimes in one-on-one interviews. Hassan said the episodes are only filmed after the men have confessed to a judge, insisting it is "impossible" that any of them are innocent.
"The court first takes a preliminary testimony and then they require a legal confession in front of a judge," Hassan explained. "After obtaining the security and legal permission, we are then allowed to film those terrorists."
Human rights groups have long expressed concern over the airing of confessions by prisoners, many of whom have been held incommunicado in secret facilities.
"The justice system is so flawed and the rights of detainees, especially those accused of terrorism (but not only) are so routinely violated that it is virtually impossible to be confident that they would be able to speak freely," Donatella Rovera, of Amnesty International, said in an email.
"In recent months, which I have spent in Iraq, virtually every family I have met who has a relative detained has complained that they do not have access to them, and the same is true for lawyers."
In a September statement, Amnesty cited longstanding concerns about the Iraqi justice system, "where many accused of terrorism have been convicted and sentenced to long prison terms and even to death on the basis of 'confessions" extracted under torture."
Such concerns are rarely if ever aired on Iraqi TV, where wall-to-wall programming exalts the security forces. Singers embedded with the troops sing nationalist songs during commercial breaks. In another popular program, called "The Quick Response," a traveling correspondent interviews soldiers, aiming to put a human face on the struggle against the extremists.
Iraqi forces backed by Shiite and Kurdish militias, as well as U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, have clawed back some territory following the army's route last summer, when commanders disappeared, calls for reinforcements went unanswered and many soldiers stripped off their uniforms and fled. But around a third of the country — including its second largest city, Mosul — remains under the firm control of militants, and nearly every day brings new bombings in and around the capital.
Back at the makeshift barricade set up for "In the Grip of the Law," security officials insist they are nevertheless sending a message of deterrence.
"Many of these terrorists feel a lot of remorse when they see the victims," said the senior intelligence officer overseeing the shoot, who declined to be named since he often works undercover. "When people see that, it makes them think twice about crossing the law."
[IraqiNews.com] More than one million pilgrims from Basra marched today morning towards mosque of Imam Ali Pace in west of the province to commemorate the death anniversary of Prophet Mohammed {peace be upon him}.
Basra Operations Commander, Gen. Samir Abdul-Karim told Alforat ?All the military divisions participated in the security plan set to secure the roads leading to the mosque.?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/22/2014 04:08 ||
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#1
He's dead Jim, come back in three days, if he ain't here unleash mindless violence until I send word from the well.
[IraqiNews.com] On Sunday, Provincial Council member Salah al-Din Ahmed Nazim revealed that the ISIS organization detained about 15 thousand civilians inside Yathrib district, south of Tikrit as human shields to prevent the advance of the security forces, indicating that hundreds of families of this area managed to escape toward the provinces of Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah, and Peshmerga forces prevented them from entering.
Nazim said in an interview for IraqiNews.com, ?After the beginning of military operations to liberate Yathrib (80 km south of Tikrit), about 15 thousand civilians tried to flee to safe areas across the Tigris River by boat,? noting that, ?ISIS detained them near the river and prevented them from leaving the area so as to use them as human shields.?
Nazim added, ?The Iraqi Army responded to our pleas to stop the bombing in the past two days because of the presence of thousands of families held by the organization,? pointing out that, ?Hundreds of families in Yathrib district managed to escape towards Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah, but the Peshmerga forces prevented them from entering.?
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12/22/2014 04:08 ||
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Right-wing members of the Knesset Finance Committee approved NIS 12.8 million for a visitor center in the Barkan Industrial Park located in the West Bank, in-spite of the legal objections raised by left-wing politicians.
“This is absolutely illegal,” yelled out Left-wing committee members as their peers held up their hands to vote the matter on Sunday morning, in spite of the pitched shouting match that broke out around them. The Left seems to have a problem grasping the distinction between I don't like and illegal---could it have some connection to egocentric narcissism disorder?
Consequence of the cheques no longer coming from Tehran, for which you can thank the Saudis. Pharmacists going on strike is a bonus.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In a surprising move, the Ministry of Finance this month unilaterally imposed in Gaza — which is effectively controlled by the leaders of the former Hamas government — several new taxes on more than 50 kinds of goods imported into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom border crossing. These goods include medicines, clothes, food, medical and electrical equipment and construction tools.
Pharmacist Ibrahim Shaath, who's affected by the decision, said that pharmaceutical warehouses and companies informed all pharmacists in the Gaza Strip that the ministries imposed a new tax on them of 2.5%.
“There is a problem between the rulers in Gaza and the companies that import medicines from the West Bank and Israel, as this tax has been added to the total invoice value. When we asked the manager of a pharmaceutical warehouse what this percentage meant, he said that the tax represented 20% of the profit, and this is a large percentage compared to our profit margin, which does not exceed 15%,” he told Al-Monitor.
Shaath said the pharmaceutical companies in Gaza and the Union of Palestinian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (UPPM) in the West Bank and Gaza have taken a unified decision whereby no medicine of any kind will be provided to the Gaza Strip as long as this ratio is imposed. This decision has been transmitted to all the pharmacies in Gaza.
“Since Dec. 1, no medicine has entered the Gaza Strip as the companies and the UPPM refuse to abide by this ratio, and the violators of this decision will be sanctioned by the UPPM,” Shaath added. "The measures taken in Gaza and the fact that they are different from the measures and taxes imposed on pharmacists and drug stores in the West Bank constitute a burden on us.”
Assistant Undersecretary in the Ministry of Finance and Chairman of the Board of Revenue in Gaza Auni al-Basha denied to Al-Monitor that his ministry had imposed any new tax in Gaza.
However, the action on the ground proves the opposite. The local Al-Eqtesadia weekly newspaper on Dec. 15 published a report including documents proving that the Gaza Ministry of Finance imposed new taxes on many goods that enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel. Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce in Gaza and businessman Nasser al-Helo said the ministries in Gaza have lately imposed many new measures and fees on Gaza Strip traders.
“Among those taxes, there are fees that account for 2.5% of the total value of the medicines and medical supplies’ bill, even if this measure was taken under the pretext of collecting VAT in advance. This actually contradicts the instructions and procedures upon which the VAT system is based, and it has prevented drug companies from going to the Gaza Strip, which led to a severe shortage of many drugs,” Helo told Al-Monitor. “The ministry imposed a 20 shekel [$5] fee on one ton of cement, in light of the harsh conditions in Gaza as a result of the recent war. Then, this fee was suspended [by the Ministry of Finance]. In addition, a 4 shekel fee [$1] was imposed on gas cylinder filling, which was later reduced to 2 shekels [$0.50]. This has halted gas pumping and exacerbated the crisis that we already suffer from. A flat fee was also imposed on every cargo truck that enters through the Kerem Shalom border crossing and imports goods from Israel and other countries. A list was drafted and includes 50 major categories of goods, consisting of thousands of subcategories with amounts ranging between 1,500 to 5,000 shekels [$381 to $1,271] imposed per truck.”
Helo stressed that the ministries and education and health facilities in the Gaza Strip are facing a crippling crisis because of the lack of communication between the ministries in the West Bank and in Gaza. However, this does not justify the measures or the imposition of any new taxes or fees that burden citizens and traders.
The new taxes are directly reflected on the citizens’ purchasing power as prices of consumer goods will rise, thus exacerbating the people’s suffering. Economic analyst Maher Tabbah said that Gazans are paying the cost of political division and disagreement. So far, and six months after the formation of the Palestinian consensus government, tax laws and measures have yet to be unified between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
“The [consensus] government was supposed to address the different decisions, laws, legislation, measures, taxes and customs between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which have increased during the division period and have negatively affected the private sector, most notably the companies. Yet, until this date, this division remains present, as it has not been addressed yet, and the gap still exists between the measures in the West Bank and those adopted in Gaza,” Tabbah told Al-Monitor.
He said the gap between the tax measures in some sectors in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was very large, despite the formation of a consensus government. “For instance, the license to own a diesel car in the West Bank costs 700 shekels [$177] in the West Bank, while it is up to 2,200 shekels [$559] in Gaza. The citizens are the only victims of these differences.”
In a brief statement to Al-Monitor, the consensus government Labor Minister Maamoun Abu Shahla said his government has decided to consider such taxes as illegal measures.
In its weekly meeting Dec. 9, the consensus government confirmed that any decisions or measures issued in the southern provinces by those who are not authorized by the ministers in the consensus government are considered void and in violation of the law. This is particularly the case of the decisions to impose fees on goods and commodities imported to the Gaza Strip, and to collect revenues, which is a violation of the law.
The government issued a statement on Dec. 9 that reads: “Any revenues collected in accordance with the law will be sent to the Treasury Single Account, and used in the Gaza Strip as determined by the government, i.e., through the finance minister or the authorized signatory.”
Despite the formation of a Palestinian consensus government, the dispute between the West Bank and Gaza is still present, which is reflected by the unilateral measures that are only adding to the suffering of citizens.
#1
The new taxes are directly reflected on the citizens’ purchasing power as prices of consumer goods will rise, thus exacerbating the people’s suffering.
Can't debate that! I think they're on to something.
[IsraelTimes] The Israeli corpse count during the summer war with Gazoo could have reached as high as 700 had Jerusalem sent troops into the heart of Gazoo City during the operation, a former senior Israeli intelligence officer said recently.
The Israeli army?s refusal to be drawn into the maze of tunnels beneath Gazoo City was the biggest of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,?s many disappointments in the war, Brig. Gen. (ret.) Shalom Harari said during a recent talk at the Ben-Zvi Institute in Jerusalem.
According to Harari, there were kilometers of tunnels beneath the city and its approaches ? some of them booby-trapped, others harboring jacket wallahs and teams prepared to foray out and capture soldiers to be used for prisoner exchanges.
But despite what Harari called Hamas?s ?honey traps,? which could have claimed the lives of 500-700 soldiers, the retired army official claimed that two cabinet ministers urged the army to nevertheless attack the Gazoo-based group?s stronghold.
Harari was apparently referencing Economy Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, both of whom lobbied publicly for Israel to go deeper into Gazoo to destroy the network of tunnels beneath the enclave.
Israel lost 67 soldiers during the 50-day war, most of them during fighting inside the Strip. Some 2,100 Paleostinians were killed in the fighting, according to Paleostinian and UN tallies. Israel says about half of them were fighters.
Although Hamas could boast of some successes in the conflict ? including being able to remain in the fight for seven weeks ? even its leaders recognize that they suffered a stinging defeat, Harari said.
?We won 7 to 2,? he added, using a soccer metaphor.
?This is the first time a modern army has succeeded in this kind of urban warfare,? Harari asserted, pegging the success on diligent planning and ample munitions. He noted that such a victory eluded the American army in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During the war, reports surfaced of an assessment presented to the Israeli security cabinet that estimated a corpse count in the hundreds if Israel attempted to reconquer the Strip. Other possible casualties of the widened action, which would cost tens of billions of shekels per year, included peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, according to the assessment.
According to Channel 2, some ministers doubted the report, telling Israel Defense Forces officials it was ?pessimistic? and was intended to dissuade them from action. The military responded that the report?s estimates were sound.
When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked if any of the ministers were in favor of retaking the Strip, none of the ministers raised their hand.
In his talk, sponsored by MEMRI ? the Middle East Media Research Institute, a US-based watchdog ? Harari insisted that last summer?s round of fighting with Hamas was not triggered by the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli youths in the West Bank, as is widely believed.
He said that Hamas, even before the kidnapping, had been planning a major raid through a tunnel near Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, aimed at causing numerous civilian and military casualties and taking hostages. When Hamas fighters entered the tunnel in preparation for the attack, the Israeli Air Force bombed the site, killing many of them.
IDF front man Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said earlier this year that Military Intelligence had passed along information indicating a large attack against civilians was planned using Hamas?s cross-border tunnels, which were destroyed during the war.
[Ynet] An indictment was filed at the Military Court against Maher al-Hashlamun, the terrorist who committed the car and knife attack at Alon Shvut in November. According to the indictment, al-Hashlamun planned to kill Jews with his car and purchased two knives to stab his victims in case he failed to kill them.
He is accused of murder and additional charges. The attack killed Dalia Lemkus and maimed two others.
[IraqiNews.com] On Saturday, an Indian newspaper revealed that the Malaysian elements of the so-called Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are taking bank loans to finance their trips to Iraq and Syria.
The Indian newspaper ?The Hindu? said in a report today followed by IraqiNews.com, ?The Malaysian police in Kuala Lumpur recently incarcerated Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! a 30 year old man for taking out a loan to join terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria.?
The newspaper explained, ?Police investigations revealed that five other sympathizers with ISIS were stopped and prevented from traveling too, because they withdraw loans from banks to finance their trips to Iraq and Syria.?
The newspaper report said that the anti-terrorism unit in Malaysia will inform the banks about the need to stop giving out loans to those who strong suspicions of financing ISIS hover around them.?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/22/2014 04:08 ||
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#1
The bank either believes that they have a good chance of coming back and paying the note, or they got real good collateral.
Or the banks are using guidelines from the US from oh, say, 15 years ago.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
12/22/2014 7:30 Comments ||
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#2
It's not like they're getting the money from selling untaxed cigarettes, welfare, or money transfers from "Auntie Fatima" in Dearborn...
#6
Doesn't Radical Islam typically or routinely pay the airfare for Jihadi wannabes???
Perhaps the real story here is that the ISIS/ISIL at present doesn't have the $$$ to do the above as they ordinarily would have, an indicator but one of how much pressure they are under vee the Kurds, Iraqi Army, + US-led Coalition, etc. in general???
[AnNahar] Iran has seized on Washington's historic rapprochement with Cuba after five decades of Cold War standoff as proof that big power sanctions do not work.
"The defense by the Cuban government and people of their revolutionary ideals over the past 50 years shows that policies of isolation and sanctions imposed by the major powers against the wishes of independent nations are ineffective," foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Akfham said.
Thank you, Mr. President, and all your clever little helpers
The statement, released late Saturday, was Iran's first official reaction to the rapprochement announced by the two governments on Wednesday.
Washington and Havana said they would launch measures to ease a five-decade U.S. trade embargo as well as a prisoner exchange. First official talks are scheduled for January.
Cuban President Compañero Raul Castro ...Fidel's little brother... on Saturday hailed the thaw with Washington and said he was ready to discuss any topic with the United States.
Iran and the United States severed diplomatic ties after the November 1979 takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, along with 50 American hostages, which lasted 444 days.
A year later Washington slapped a trade embargo on Iran and since 2006 the Islamic republic is also facing U.N. sanctions over its controversial nuclear program.
Further international sanctions on Iran were announced in 2012, including U.S. and European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... sanctions on oil exports and financial transactions.
Iran denies it is seeking a bomb and says its nuclear program aims to produce atomic energy to reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels.
A historic 15-minute telephone call between U.S. President Barack Obama Because I won... and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in September 2013 marked the first contact between leaders of the two nations since 1979.
The call was a tentative step towards a thaw between the two countries, who have been engaged in tenuous nuclear talks along with other world powers.
The talks between Iran and the P5 -- Britannia, China, La Belle France, Russia, the United States and Germany -- have been extended until June 30 after the two sides failed to meet a November 24 deadline.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/22/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
So if they don't work, you'll have no objection to us leaving them in place, right?
Posted by: ed in texas ||
12/22/2014 7:31 Comments ||
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#2
Not many potential national league baseball players there in Tehran are there?
#4
Not many potential national league baseball players there in Tehran are there?
Not much in the way of good cigars or rum either.
Seriously, unlike the pro-commie-Cuba political base, there is no pro-theocratic-Iran political faction for the administration to cater to (aside from ValJar...)
Iran's also too far away and thus lacks a familiar, historical for-better-or-worse relationship with the US.
#5
See also DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Reuters] PUTIN WRITES OFF US$32.0BILYUHN OF CUBA'S DEBT TO RUSSIA - RUSSIA TODAY NEWS.
* SAME > CUBA'S DEBT, OFTEN INERT, RIDES THE POLITICAL WINDS | REUTERS.
Ahh, good ole Commie-Socialist Debt "Write-off" -Dare post-2015, Globalist OWG NAU Amerika do the same, wid its own Debts, National + NAU's, as well per Cuba's???
* FYI JAPAN TIMES > OPINION: NOW, WHY NOT RETURN GUANTANAMO TO HAVANA?, as proactive complement to the desired improvement of US-Cuba ties.
Wehell, POTUS Carter gave the Panama Canal to China, so why not allow Cuba + other non-US Member-Nations of OWG NAU [Mexico, Canada, Greenland?] be responsible for US, NAU security = "Monroe Doctrine", NOT THE US OR NO LONGER JUST-THE-US???
Lest we fergit, OWG NAU = THE "AMERICAN DREAM" = "AMERIKAN DREAM" AKA "NORTH AMERICAN/NORTH AMERIKAN/NAU DREAM"???
Is the US still going to be "Whitey" selfish + Nationalist, + NOT give EAST ASIA + GUAM-WESTPAC to fellow OWG Co-Superpower China - after all, the furthest US State outside of CONUS-NORAM is Hawaii, + said Hawaii is located in EASTPAC, NOT WESTPAC???
[Ynet] UAV, said to be Skylark I drone, reportedly downed by the Syrian army near the Druze village of Hadar, a pro-Assad stronghold.
Sunday that it shot down an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle over Quneitra, media in Syria and Leb reported.
The UAV, reported a Skylark I model, was downed near the Druze village of Hadar, a stronghold of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... An IDF spokesperson announced that they had no knowledge of a UAV falling or being downed in the north.
Photos of various bits at the link.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/22/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
The Arab Mind. IMO, if George, or even Condoleezza, read it---USA wouldn't be stuck in Iraq now.
[AnNahar] Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq requested on Saturday security agencies to begin implementing the state-approved strict measures limiting the flow of Syrian refugees into Leb, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... on Sunday.
It said that the minister ordered the concerned officials to prepare to implement the measures starting January 5.
A ministerial committee tasked with following up on the Syrian refugee file devised the measures.
They call for obligating any Syrian to fill in a form explaining the reasons for entering Leb.
They will also be requested to present proper identification papers at their entry.
These conditions also include Syrians who are not seeking to travel to Leb as refugees.
Leb has been struggling to support the burden of around 1.5. million Syrian refugees that have been pouring into the country since the eruption of the Syrian conflict in March 2011.
The government recently introduced restrictions on refugees in an attempt to limit their numbers.
Leb has all but shut its frontiers to new refugees, allowing only humanitarian exceptions across, and the state is beyond its absorption capacities and urgently needs other countries to share its burden.
Earlier this week, Leb and the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... launched a plan that calls for an estimated $2.1 billion to help the country cope with the fallout from the conflict in neighboring Syria.
The Crisis Response Plan for Leb, announced Monday, outlines the priorities of the government and international community over the next two years.
It aims to deliver humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees while also expanding plans to invest in services and institutions in the most affected areas. It hopes to reach some 2.9 million people, half of them Lebanese.
According to Central Bank of Leb statistics, the country faces a financial burden of $4.5 billion because of the refugee crisis.
[Ynet] Syria's Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... told a top official from key supporter Iran Sunday his regime is working on "reconciliations" to end the brutal civil war, state news agency SANA said.
His regime refers to local truces agreed between troops and rebels in several opposition-held areas as "national reconciliations".
However, you can observe a lot just by watching... Assad also told Ali Larijani, the speaker of parliament in Tehran, that Syria will continue to fight "terror" - a term the regime has used for its opponents, both armed and peaceful, since the outbreak of a 2011 revolt. "President Assad emphasised the Syrian people's determination to eradicate terrorism," said SANA, adding that he would also continue to press for "national reconciliations... all over Syrian territory".
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/22/2014 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[IsraelTimes] An official from Sony Pictures Entertainment said Sunday that the movie “The Interview” would be distributed in some form, after the studio pulled the film under threat of terrorist attack by hackers.
SEOUL -- North Korea threatened to carry out ultra-harsh military action on U.S. soil Sunday, one day after U.S. President Barack Obama vowed a proportional response against the North's alleged hacking attack into Sony Pictures.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
