[OUTLINE] Sudanese authorities have blocked access to popular social media platforms used to organise and broadcast nationwide anti-government protests triggered by an economic crisis.
Sudan has been rocked by near-daily demonstrations over the past two weeks with protesters calling on President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. who took power in 1989, to step down.
Northeast African country whose government tightly controls traditional media as the internet has become a key information battleground.
The head of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service, Salah Abdallah, told a news conference on Dec. 21 that: "There was a discussion in the government about blocking social media sites."
Internet users in the country say Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp have only been possible through use of a virtual private network (VPN).
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01/04/2019 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Sissi says cooperation closer than ever in CBS interview Cairo has subsequently attempted to quash
Egypt’s president has confirmed that Israel is helping Egyptian troops battle jihadists in the restive Sinai Peninsula.
Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi told CBS News that cooperation between Cairo and Jerusalem was tighter than it had ever been, in comments published late Thursday.
"That is correct...We have a wide range of cooperation with the Israelis," he told the US news outlet when asked if the military coordination between the countries was closer than it had ever been.
The comments came during an interview with the channel’s "60 Minutes" program that is slated to air Sunday evening. According to CBS, Sissi has demanded that the interview be pulped, apparently over questions about human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... abuses and the deaths of protesters, but the channel has insisted it will be shown nonetheless.
In February, The New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported that Israel was covertly carrying out a full-blown aerial campaign against 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.... targets in Sinai, with Sissi’s blessing. The Israeli aircraft are reportedly often unmarked and sometimes use indirect routes in a bid to cover up the origin of the strikes.
Israel and Egypt have never confirmed the existence of the campaign.
"Only the Egyptian army is authorized to and does conduct military operations in specific areas in northern Sinai, in cooperation with the civilian police," Egyptian military spokesperson Tamer al-Rifa told Russia’s Sputnik news shortly after the New York Times report.
Since the army toppled Egypt’s Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013, hundreds of coppers and soldiers have been killed in attacks in the Sinai by jihadists and other holy warrior groups, including the Islamic State-affiliated Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis ...Supporters of Jerusalem, the current pen name of al-Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula... Sissi has ordered a series of devastating operations meant to return calm to Sinai’s restive north, carrying out large bombing campaigns that have killed hundreds, as well as razing homes to create a buffer zone with the Gazoo Strip.
Jihadists regularly claim to have been targeted by Israeli aircraft.
According to foreign reports, Israel has conducted dronezaps in the peninsula on Islamic State targets. Cooperation has also reportedly taken the form of significant intelligence sharing.
More publicly, since 2013, Israel has also allowed additional Egyptian forces into the peninsula, beyond the level permitted under the 1979 peace accord between the two countries. Heavy weapons, like tanks, artillery and attack helicopters, have been brought into Sinai to fight the Islamists, a sign that Jerusalem is not concerned those big Egyptian guns could be turned against it.
Ties between Egypt and Israel, once mortal enemies, have thawed in recent years. Since 2017, Sissi has twice met openly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a sign of improved relations between the countries, though normalization with Israel is still taboo among many Egyptians.
Talks between Netanyahu and Sissi have been thought to revolve around Gazoo, which borders the Sinai peninsula. Egypt has played a key role in attempts to broker calm along the Gazoo frontier between Israel and the Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", terror group.
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[AFRICANEWS] Five officers of the Nigerian Airforce, NAF, died in an accident in the northeastern Borno State whiles engaged in anti-terrorism combat.
NAF reported on Wednesday evening that it had lost a helicopter in combat, whiles the officers were providing air support for troops on the ground in the town of Damasak in Borno.
"The mission was part of the ongoing counterinsurgency operations in the North East. The incident, occurred about 7:45 pm today, 2 January 2019," the statement read in part.
In an update of the incident, NAF’s Director of Public Relations said five officers who were aboard the Mi-35M helicopter were lost.
"It is with a heavy heart that I announce the death of the 5 crew members who were on board the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Mi-35M Helicopter which crashed in combat yesterday, 2 January 2019, while providing close air support to troops of 145 Battalion, Damasak in Borno State."
The statement also confirmed that the Chief of Air Staff had flown to Maiduguri today, 3 January 2019, to convey the condolences of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, President Muhammed Buhari, to personnel of the Air Task Force Operation LAFIYA DOLE (Peace by all means) over the unfortunate loss.
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Some are capable of seeing the need to adapt to change, then doing so more or less gracefully. Others are too arrogant, and will lose all that lovely tourist income at a time when the value of their oil deposits is steadily sinking.
[Jpost] Kuwait rejected the opportunity to co-host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... because the country did not want to comply with FIFA regulations, where it would have to allow all nationalities to enter the country, according to Israeli and Kuwaiti media.
"It is difficult to apply some of the major Fifa conditions in Kuwait, most notably allowing all nationalities ... to enter the country or to issue visas upon arrival. Fifa rules prohibit banning the entry of any nationality, whether they are members of the teams or fans," KFA President Sheikh Ahmad Yussef said to Al Rai, a Kuwaiti daily newspaper.
Yussef was likely referring to Israel, as Israel and Qatar have no diplomatic relations.
Kuwait also listed other reasons hosting would be problematic, including dealing with alcohol permits and allowing certain advertisements in Kuwaiti stadiums.
#1
Kind of tough to watch quality soccer matches when the temperatures are well above 100 degrees F. Qatar must've greased those FIFA suits real good to get that bid.
[DAWN] Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... 's attorney general sought the death penalty for five of 11 defendants charged with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as their high-profile trial opened in Riyadh on Thursday.
All 11 accused were present with their lawyers at the opening hearing in the capital, according to a statement by the attorney general carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The attorney general said Saudi Arabia had twice submitted formal requests for evidence from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ‐ where Khashoggi was murdered inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate ‐ but had received no response.
The names of the 11 defendants have not been officially released.
Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post, was murdered on October 2 in what Riyadh called a "rogue" operation.
The 59-year-old Saudi insider-turned-critic was strangled and his body cut into pieces by a team of 15 Saudis sent to Istanbul for the killing, according to Ottoman Turkish officials.
There have been reports that his remains, which have never been found, were dissolved in acid.
The consulate and the residence were searched by the Ottoman Turkish authorities in October along with several other locations.
Ankara has sought the extradition of the suspects in Saudi custody to stand trial in Turkey but its requests have been repeatedly rebuffed by Riyadh.
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#1
Thought the death sentence had already been carried out with the Khashoggi wet work. Oh, the cover-up death sentences to cover up the wet work.
[Dhaka Tribune] Jatiya Oikya Front, a political alliance of opposition parties, has declared that their elected members of parliament will not take their oath as lawmakers.
The decision was taken by Jatiya Oikya Front leaders during a meeting held at the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office, in Dhaka, on Thursday.
BNP Secretary General and a key leader of the alliance, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said: “We will not take the oath as members of the parliament. The time for taking oaths has passed.”
He furthered that Jatiya Oikya Front will file complaints with the election tribunal, along with reported evidence of vote-rigging collected from across the country.
Oikya Front leaders will submit a memorandum to the Election Commission on Thursday afternoon, said Fakhrul.
A 15-member delegate of Oikya Front—comprised of Mirza Fakhrul lslam Alamgir, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Mostafa Montu, and Subrata Chowdhury, and many others—will submit the memorandum to the commission.
Around 174 Oikya Front candidates were present at the meeting.
Earlier in the day, the swearing-in ceremony for 298 lawmakers, elected in the recently-held 11th parliamentary election, was held at the Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat.
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[AlAhram] The executive European Commission is calling on EU countries to admit nearly 50 migrants colonists stranded on two rescue ships allowed to anchor temporarily off Malta, a front man said Thursday.
The Netherlands and Germany have each offered to admit some of the migrants colonists but only if other EU countries do the same, highlighting anew the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... 's long-running deadlock over sharing responsibility for migrants colonists.
Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos has been speaking with officials in EU capitals to admit 32 migrants colonists aboard the Sea Watch 3 and 17 others aboard the Sea Eye, both operated by European charities.
"Avramopoulos calls for the member states to provide their support and contribute to this joint effort to disembark those on board safely," Commission deputy spokeswoman Mina Andreeva told a news conference in Brussels.
"More solidarity of all member states is needed," said the spokeswoman for the Commission, which is the EU's executive arm.
Though Malta has refused to admit the migrants colonists aboard Sea-Watch 3 and Sea-Eye, it announced Wednesday it would allow them to "take shelter" in Maltese waters due to the deteriorating conditions on board.
Italia and Spain -- both of which are frontline countries -- have also refused to accept them.
Moslem colonists Migrants have been frequently stranded aboard ships that rescued them since Italia's populist anti-immigration government began turning them away last summer.
Since coming to power more than six months ago, the Italian government has been demanding greater solidarity from reluctant fellow EU states.
Andreeva said the latest standoff demonstrates how "predictable and sustainable solutions for disembarkation and allocation are urgently needed in the Mediterranean," she said.
EU member states have failed to agree on a permanent mechanism to relocate migrants colonists who reach EU shores even though arrivals have dropped sharply since a peak more than three years ago.
More than one million people, most of them fleeing Syria's civil war, entered the bloc in 2015 in Europe's biggest migration crisis since World War II.
Some 113,482 migrants colonists crossed the Mediterranean to reach European shores last year, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which said 2,262 people bit the dust or went missing making the perilous journey.
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[AlAhram] Greece has granted citizenship to three migrant fishermen, two Egyptians and an Albanian, who helped rescue dozens of Greeks from sweeping wildfires near Athens last summer, local Greek media reported.
At least 90 people were killed in the devastating fires that struck the Greek resort town of Mati, some 30km east of Athens on 23 July. The inferno was Greece’s deadliest in over a decade.
Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos hosted a ceremony on Wednesday to honour the three men for their "’humanity and solidarity" in rescuing dozens of people from the sea, the Athens News Agency reported.
The men were identified as Egyptians Mahmoud Mousa, 46, Emad El Khaimi, 50, and Albanian Jake Gani , 35.
The trio sailed out to sea through thick black smoke to pull people who were forced into the water to flee the flames, local media reported at the time.
The president said on Wednesday that their naturalisation as Greek citizens also makes them citizens of Europe.
"You are now European citizens too, and so you can teach all our partners who don’t realise the values of Europe, to do what they ought to do," President Pavlopoulos said, as reported by local Greek newspaper Neo Kosmos.
Pavlopoulos said the fishermen's actions "send a message to Europe ...also known as Moslem Lebensraum... ... to the formations of populism and xenophobia, who are against the spirit of European humanism and solidarity exemplified by the three fishermen."
The decision to grant the three men citizenship was made by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in September and signed by the president last month, but formally announced on Wednesday.
[RUDAW.NET] A jugged Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! Kurdish politician who has been on a hunger strike for 57 days was too ill to meet with her legal team during their last trip to the prison, the head of the Diyarbakir Bar Association said on Thursday.
On December 30 Leyla Guven, co-chair of the Democratic Society Party who was tossed in the calaboose ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... on January 31, 2018, was unable to meet with her lawyers because of "worsening health," said Cihan Aydin.
Lawyers who were visiting others in prison said that she was suffering from "weight loss, sensitivity to noise and light, headaches and dizziness, fatigue, hypertension, and stomach cramps," he told news hounds, describing her situation as "critical."
Guven was arrested after she opposed The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor.... ’s military offensive against the Syrian Kurdish enclave of Afrin.
Despite being behind bars during the election, she won a seat in the parliament in the June 24 vote. The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) argued she should be released as she now benefits from parliamentary immunity, citing the release of a CHP politician who was in a similar situation.
Authorities, however, have refused to release Guven.
She began a hunger strike 57 days ago, demanding respect for the rights of all prisoners, including leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan. She has demanded an end to his isolation on the island prison of Imrali.
Other prisoners have joined Guven in her hunger strike.
The Diyarbakir Bar Association’s Aydin said that the some of the hunger strikers have not been given sufficient water, sugar, salt, and vitamin supplements.
He urged the Ministry of Justice and relevant authorities to end its "discriminatory practice in order to avoid endangering the lives of all prisoners who have gone on hunger strike, Ms. Guven in particular."
The prosecutor has demanded more than 31 years in jail for Guven on charges of "establishing and managing an armed terrorist organization" and terror propaganda, based on alleged ties with the PKK.
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[ALMASDARNEWS] Ottoman Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... vowed to deepen The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... ’s security cooperation with Iraq, while speaking at a presser with his Iraqi counterpart Barham Ahmed Salih in Ankara on Thursday.
Erdogan said that the two countries should work together in different areas, such as military, economics and culture, but stressed that the fight against terrorism will be their priority, adding "Terrorist organizations such as ISIS [ISIS], the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] and FETO [Fethullah Gülen ... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world... Movement] are a threat to both Iraq and Turkey."
The visit is Salih’s first official visit to Turkey following his election in October.
“Come,” he said, batting his eyelashes beguilingly, “become a captive market for Turkish goods.”
[Rudaw] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... wants to see massive growth in trade with neighbour Iraq, President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... said after meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Barham Salih in Ankara on Thursday.
Turkey did $16 billion in trade with Iraq in 2013, Erdogan said in a joint presser with Salih.
"Let’s increase it to $20 billion. We want to keep it at this level or even double it. We have the power to do this. The Ottoman Turkish private sector is capable of revitalizing the Iraqi economy," he said.
Baghdad is eager for foreign investment and aid to help rebuild the country after years of war, a feat that will cost an estimated $88 billion. Donors pledged $30 billion at a Kuwait summit in February, though most of the pledges are still unfulfilled.
And with oil prices weak, Baghdad is struggling to fund its hundreds of delayed projects.
Salih said he would welcome working with Turkey, stressing friendship between the neighbouring nations.
"Iraq looks forward to strategic partnership and cooperation with Turkey," he said, calling for a comprehensive agreement to address shared problems.
Related: In pictures: Iraqi president Salih's official visit to Turkey
For Salih, water is of particular concern. This matter should be solved "before it causes a problem between the leaderships of both countries," he said.
Iraq is unprepared for a dramatic drop in the volume of water in the Tigris River once Turkey begins filling its massive Ilusu dam. The river was already at historic lows this summer with people in Baghdad able to walk between banks.
A decrease in the volume of the Tigris compounds Iraq’s water shortage problem that is affected by mismanagement, outdated irrigation methods, crumbling infrastructure, and climate change.
"We welcome President Erdogan’s suggestion to appoint a delegation to find a radical resolution to this issue," said Salih.
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[DAWN] The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has confiscated properties worth Rs3.5 billion owned by the Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation (KKF) of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... , sources in the agency said on Thursday.
MQM's London-based founder the increasingly addiposeAltaf Hussain ...The head of MQM in Pakistain, who has lived in London and hasn't laid eyes on Pakistain since Caesar made corporal. Judging from the size of him, he may be a Hutt... along with other party leaders, including former federal minister Babar Ghauri, former senator Ahmed Ali, Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra, Khawaja Sohail Mansoor and Khawaja Rehan have been booked in a case pertaining to alleged money laundering.
At least 29 properties in the possession of KKF ‐ MQM's charity wing ‐ and located in various areas of Karachi have been seized, FIA sources told DawnNewsTV.
They alleged that the properties had been establishment with funds collected through extortion.
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[Rudaw] Kurdish and Iraqi leaders have agreed on the withdrawal of all Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary forces from Kirkuk and for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to return to the city more than a year after the October 16 events that changed the balance of power in the multiethnic city from Kurdish hands to the Iraqis.
Shakhawan Abdulla, a member of the Kirkuk Situation Normalization Committee told Rudaw that the deal had been forged much earlier in Baghdad and they will "soon take effect to clear Kirkuk from all the multiple forces present in the city."
Abdulla added that "the Hashd al-Shaabi groups are ready to help normalize the situation of Kirkuk and for the KDP to return."
He predicted that it could be a gradual withdrawal in which a large number of the forces would leave the city in the first phase.
Rawand Mala Mahmood, a PUK official in Kirkuk confirmed to Rudaw that "Some agreements have been reached."
"We have asked for Kirkuk to be treated with according to the constitution," he added.
The KDP has repeatedly refused to return its offices to Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... the province "occupied."
A recent thaw in relations between Erbil and Baghdad however might make changes in Kirkuk, too.
The new Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi has said that it is in his genda to see an end to hostilities in the disputed areas.
Mahmood believes there is the will and "serious efforts" in Baghdad to solve the Kirkuk problem.
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[Rudaw] The numbers of Iraqis dying from terrorism and conflict continues to drop, according to the most recent figures from the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... that recorded record low casualty figures for the third month in a row.
"During December 2018 a total of 32 Iraqi non-combatants were killed and another 32 injured in acts of terrorism and conflict-related violence," the UN mission in Iraq (UNAMI) stated on Thursday.
In November, UNAMI recorded 41 civilian deaths and 69 in October ‐ the lowest numbers in six years.
In December, Nineveh was the worst-affected province with a total of 26 casualties ‐ seven deaths and 19 injuries. Baghdad was the deadliest province with 17 people killed and three injured.
With the declining casualty numbers, UNAMI said it will no longer publish monthly reports, but only in special circumstances. While acknowledging increasing stability and security in Iraq, it noted caution saying "the conditions necessary for a sustained reduction in violence remain very fragile."
[RUDAW.NET] Head of the Nineveh Provincial Council urged the Iraqi federal government on Thursday to restore state control to the Yezidi city of Shingal and prevent the efforts of what he called "illegal parties" to form local alternative administrations.
"In a move to complicate the already tense situation in Shingal, illegal parties which have no official status and control parts of Shingal have begun preparing for the formation of a local government and a local council in Shingal," Saydo Chato, a Yezidi and head of the Nineveh Provincial Council, told Rudaw.
Chato warned that except for the federal government no other administration will be recognized by the provincial council.
"We're the highest legislative and regulatory body in the province of Nineveh and will not recognize any illegal administration of Shingal." Chato said.
Since October 16, 2017 Shingal has been under Iraqi control. It was under ISIS control for more almost two years until it was retaken by a join Kurdish-coalition forces offensive.
Mayor of Shingal Mahma Khalil has told Rudaw that despite an agreement between Baghdad, Erbil and the Nineveh Provincial Council for the return of the Shingal administration, they are still prevented from returning.
The Yezidi head of the Nineveh Provincial Council said that no "illegal administration carved out Shingal" will receive any support.
He pressed the Iraqi government to take action otherwise "others may declare their own government in other areas of Nineveh and and even other part of Iraq."
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[ALMASDARNEWS] Iraqi top diplomat Mohammed Alhakim has confirmed the country’s support for Syria’s return to the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... , in a statement quoted by the Foreign Ministry.
"Iraq supports the unity of Syria and its return to its normal position in the Arab world and the region and the restoration of its position in the vaporous Arab League," the Twitter post read.
The Iraqi foreign minister added that Baghdad wanted to see border crossings reopened between the two neighbors to stimulate trade.
The statement comes after Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , seen as Syria’s rival in the group, said last week it did not mind the Middle-Eastern state’s return to the Arab League, followed by the UAE’s decision to reopen the embassy in Damascus.
Syria’s membership of the 22-nation League was suspended in 2011 in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings.
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#1
I thought that Syria was part of the Irian league?
[IsraelTimes] Judges says police ban on legal counsel must end after week of detention, though they find police suspicions of terror plot are reasonable
The Lod District Court on Thursday ordered an end to a police order preventing three minors suspected in a major terrorism plot from meeting with their attorneys.
Details of the investigation are under a court-imposed gag order.
The court ruled the suspects, who are part of a suspected Jewish terror network that backs attacks against Paleostinians, Christians, and Israeli government agencies, must be permitted to meet with defense lawyers once the existing police order expires on Saturday night.
The suspects are part of a suspected Jewish terror network that backs attacks against Paleostinians, Christians, and Israeli government agencies.
The original order was set to expire by Friday, but security officials were permitted to extend it an additional two days. The order has been in effect since the three minors were placed in durance vile Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! Sunday morning in the probe.
The district court rejected the suspects’ attorneys’ appeal to release the teens from detention before their remand expires on Sunday.
Israeli law allows authorities to delay an attorney visit for a terrorism suspect by up to 21 days ‐ subject to court appeal.
While the court allowed the police a week’s questioning without attorneys, ruling they had sufficient grounds to suspect an active terror plot, it agreed to allow a probation officer to check in on the suspects in order to ensure they were not being mistreated.
The investigation, whose details are under gag order, is being conducted jointly by the Shin Bet security service and police’s nationalistic crime unit.
Several dozen far-right activists protested in support of the arrested minors on Monday outside the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court, a lower court that permitted the suspects’ original detention, clashing with police who tried to stop them from blocking the road.
A police front man said one 19-year-old was arrested and one officer was lightly injured.
On Sunday morning, a squad of Shin Bet agents and officers in the elite police unit Yasam raided a yeshiva, or Jewish religious seminary, in the northern West Bank and arrested one student, said a front man for the Honenu right-wing legal aid group that is representing the detained teen.
Shortly thereafter, a second student was arrested on his way to the religious institution, said his attorney, right-wing activist Itamar Ben Gvir.
Hours later, Honenu reported that a third teen was arrested in the central city of Modiin, adding that it would be representing him as well.
Ben Gvir slammed the conduct of Israeli authorities and claimed Shin Bet agents were likely torturing his client in detention in order to extract a false confession.
The attorney cited a report last week on the "Uvda" TV program that documented the security service’s alleged brutal tactics in its efforts to obtain admissions of guilt from Israeli suspects in a deadly July 2014 terror attack in the central West Bank Paleostinian village of Duma, in which three members of the Dawabshe family were burned to death.
And on Tuesday the Central District Court threw out confessions given under duress by a far-right activist, accused of a series of crimes including membership in a terror organization and vandalism of a Jerusalem church.
"The order prohibiting my client from a meeting with an attorney was intended precisely for the same purpose of increasing pressure and abuse," Ben Gvir said in a statement.
The Shin Bet has defended its tactics in the Duma case, saying extreme measures were required ‐ and green-lighted by law enforcement and judicial officials ‐ due to the fear that additional attacks were in the pipeline.
State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan stood by authorities’ handling of this week’s case, saying law enforcement was bound to treat Jewish terrorism just like it treats Paleostinian terrorism.
"There is only one posture toward terrorism: It must be fought by all legal means," Nitzan said at an economic conference on Monday. "Terrorism on both sides endangers national security."
He added: "We are taking the necessary steps to ensure that only legitimate and reasonable measures are used in the struggle against terrorism. We scrutinize the actions of the security forces and examine every complaint filed against them. That’s what we’ve done in the past and that is what we will do in the future."
[Breitbart] The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ran a troubling report on Wednesday describing how high-powered anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) are now in the hands of terrorist groups thanks to years of outside programs for arming various factions in Syria, including the Obama administration’s effort to arm "white hat" Syrian rebels.
As the Journal recalled, this is the program interventionists excoriated President Donald Trump for ending in 2017, but his concern about terrorist gangs gaining access to advanced weapons appear to have been well-founded. The threat of those weapons turning against American positions is one reason to reduce the American footprint in Syria.
It is not just American-made weapons vanishing into the Syrian quagmire. All of the regional and world powers that tossed weapons into the fighting pits of the Syrian civil war have reason to worry about those weapons coming back to haunt them:
#4
Globalist "Fast and Furious?" Thanks a hell of a lot Obean and Hilda. Are these people ever going to be prosecuted for anything? Or is it going to be same old same old?
#5
This has been the case since Obumble started supplying weapons to "our" Syrians. That is the problem with supplying "rebels". You never know where your shit will end up.
[Jpost] An Iranian cargo plane that has been flagged as flying suspicious cargo to Damascus and Beirut made dozens of flights in the fall of 2017, according to flight tracking data.
An analysis of the flights shows that this plane routinely flies to Damascus and also has flown to Beirut, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... and Istanbul.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/04/2019 00:31 ||
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#1
Which was what Iraq was supposed to also be about.
#2
Western intelligence sources said in September that Fars Air Qeshm, a civilian airline in Iran, was “suspected of smuggling weapons into Lebanon,” reports indicated.
Couple that with what Rhouhani said a couple of days ago: "Palestinians must resist Israel."
Is Iran stepping up the arming of Hezbollah and Hamas for a step-up of actions against Israel?
Thanks a hell of a lot Obumble and JFnK for providing the financing.
"U.S. forces will stay in Iraq, could reenter Syria from there, Trump says." U.S. has largest "embassy" in the world in Iraq.
Trump had a poster in the WH cabinet meeting the other day that said "Sanctions Coming." Against whom? Russia, NK, Iran, China? Probably Iran.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Head of the Joint Council of Raqqa announced on Thursday that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will continue its negotiations with the Syrian government on the SDF-controlled areas irrespective of the absence or presence of the US troops in Syria.
"The SDF does not pay heed to the US presence or absence in Syria," the Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper quoted Leila Mostafa as saying, referring to the ongoing talks between SDF and the Damascus government on SDF-controlled al-Jazira region in eastern and northeastern Syria.
She noted that the representatives of the Syrian government and the SDF have held talks in the town of Ain Issa in Northern Raqqa, and said, "the two sides will hold similar meetings in the near future."
In a relevant development on Sunday, the predominately-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces surrendered control of the strategic Tishrin Dam in Northern Syria to the Damascus troops a day after it retreated from the key town of Manbij to be replaced by the Syrian Army.
The Arabic-language website of Sputnik reported that the army took control of the Tishrin Dam in Eastern Aleppo on Saturday afternoon after the SDF forces retreated from the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2019 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] Iran rejected a US warning against carrying out space vehicle launches and missile tests, saying on Thursday they did not violate a UN resolution.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued the pre-emptive warning earlier on Thursday against pursuing three planned space rocket launches that it said would violate a UN Security Council resolution because they use ballistic missile technology.
But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rejected the warning, tweeting that "Iran's launch of space vehicles - & missile tests - are NOT in violation of (Resolution) 2231."
He added, "The US is in material breach of same, & as much it is in no position to lecture anyone on it."
Pompeo had said Iran planned to launch in the coming months three rockets, called Space Launch Vehicles (SLV), that he said incorporate technology "virtually identical" to what is used in intercontinental ballistic missiles.
"The United States will not stand by and watch the Iranian regime's destructive policies place international stability and security at risk," Pompeo said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2019 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] Sissi says cooperation closer than ever in CBS interview Cairo has subsequently attempted to quash
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
...also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world...
...The head of MQM in Pakistain, who has lived in London and hasn't laid eyes on Pakistain since Caesar made corporal. Judging from the size of him, he may be a Hutt...
[Rudaw] Kurdish and Iraqi leaders have agreed on the withdrawal of all Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary forces from Kirkuk and for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to return to the city more than a year after the October 16 events that changed the balance of power in the multiethnic city from Kurdish hands to the Iraqis.
[IsraelTimes] Judges says police ban on legal counsel must end after week of detention, though they find police suspicions of terror plot are reasonable
