[AlAhram] A delegation from the Paleostinian group Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", led by the head of its political bureau Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... arrived in Cairo on Friday to discuss with Egyptian officials security, reconciliation and humanitarian conditions in Gazoo.
The delegation was received by the head of Egyptian General Intelligence Abbas Kamel.
Barhoum said that the visit, which had been scheduled for some time, will tackle the tough humanitarian conditions [caused by the 10-year-old Israeli
...and on the Egyptian side only a few years shorter...
siege of the Strip].
"The visit aims at continuing the implementation of the Paleostinian reconciliation deal in accordance with the 2011 and 2017 agreements, and utilise Egyptian mediation efforts towards that goal," Barhoum added.
The negotiations between the two main Paleostinian factions Hamas and Fatah to achieve Paleostinian reconciliation, sponsored by the Egyptian General Intelligence, have led to an agreement to end the 10-year-old row between the two groups.
However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... the implementation of the agreement has since met setbacks.
Sources in Cairo said that this visit could involve setting a special timetable concerning reconciliation issues.
Egyptian General Mohammed Ibrahim, one of the architects of the 2011 reconciliation agreement, told Ahram Online that current problems in the reconciliation efforts relate to difficulties in deciding the mechanisms of the work of the regrouped Paleostinian ministries, and the absence of consensus on problems facing the employees of the Paleostinian Authority.
"The [recent] mutual negative statements between Hamas and Fatah leaders have largely contributed to the tension between the two groups; no efforts at reconciliation could succeed in such an atmosphere," Ibrahim added.
"The continuation of Egyptian mediation is important, despite all previous successful mediation efforts, because it is the only guarantee of the success of the reconciliation process, and the Paleostinian side should be aware that Egyptian efforts have their limits and expectations," Ibrahim said.
He added that it is important for Hamas and Fatah to "make all required compromises and show flexibility to achieve real reconciliation on the ground."
The Hamas delegation’s visit comes shortly after Cairo said that it foiled an attempt by 18 ISISbandidosholy warriors to infiltrate from Sinai to assassinate Haniyeh, reflecting a new level of security coordination between Cairo and Hamas, marked by joint security arrangements on the borders between Rafah and Gazoo.
Hamas has also incarcerated ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... a number of ISISbandidosholy warriors who had attempted to enter into Sinai.
While social media accounts affiliated with ISIS have broadcast statements and videos that showed activities by Paleostinian bully boys, some of them have joined the group in war-torn Syria.
Leaks of investigations into murderous Moslems by Egyptian investigation bodies have revealed that the head of the ISIS group in Sinai is the Paleostinian bully boy Rasem Abu Gazoor.
Cairo had started efforts to arrange a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas, but tensions between Gazoo and Israel, which some observers say are nearing war levels, have cut this process short.
h/t Instapundit
Oil prices slid below $60 a barrel, posting their biggest weekly slump in more than two years, as sharp swings in other financial markets spilled over and investors faced an onslaught of U.S. production.
One of a number of cases involving Arab Bank that we have been following over the years.
[Ynet] Arab Bank was found liable for knowingly supporting Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", terror attacks in Israel, but US appeals court throws out verdict, saying jury in case was instructed improperly about the 'international terrorism' element of one of the plaintiffs' claims.
A US appeals court on Friday threw out a 2014 jury verdict finding Arab Bank Plc liable for knowingly supporting terror attacks in Israel linked to Hamas, a decision that triggers a settlement agreement with some plaintiffs.
Friday's decision by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ends 13 and a half years of litigation over Arab Bank's liability, which the Jordanian lender has disputed, for 24 attacks in and around Israel in the early 2000s.
The appeals court said the Brooklyn jury were instructed incorrectly by the trial judge that under federal law, Arab Bank committed an "act of international terrorism" by knowingly providing material support to Hamas, which the Department of State designated in 1997 as a foreign terrorist organization.
In August 2015, 11 months after the verdict, Arab Bank had reached a confidential settlement with 527 victims or relatives of victims of 22 of the attacks, pending the bank's appeal of the verdict.
Both sides agreed to forgo a retrial if the verdict were thrown out.
"The plaintiffs will receive meaningful and very substantial compensation for their injuries," their lawyer, Gary Osen, said in an email. "Today's decision doesn't diminish the fact a jury found Arab Bank liable for knowingly supporting Hamas."
Sarri Singer, injured in a 2003 Hamas-linked bombing of a bus in Jerusalem, said in a statement about Arab Bank: "Families hurt by them are going to get the help they need."
In a statement, Arab Bank said "the district court's errors at trial all but dictated an adverse outcome. The bank is pleased to put this case behind it."
Arab Bank's settlement averted a trial to determine damages for 16 "bellwether" plaintiffs, concerning three of the attacks. Had the verdict been affirmed, they would have been entitled to at least $100 million, Friday's decision said.
The verdict had been the first in the United States holding a bank civilly liable for violating the Anti-Terrorism Act ("ATA"), which lets US citizens seek damages from international terrorism.
Arab Bank was accused of handling transactions for Hamas, and routing money to charities that supported the group or families of jacket wallahs.
The settlement averted a trial to determine damages that Arab Bank would have paid victims of three of the attacks.
In Friday's decision, Circuit Judge Reena Raggi said a jury properly instructed on the law might have inferred that Arab Bank had been sufficiently "aware" of Hamas' activities.
But she said "we cannot conclude that such evidence, as a matter of law," shows that the bank knew it was "playing a role in violent or life-endangering acts whose apparent intent was to intimidate or coerce civilians or to affect a government."
The litigation originally covered 24 attacks, but the trial judge, Brian Cogan, dismissed claims concerning two of them.
Congress' passage in 2016 of the Justice Against Terrorism Act extended ATA liability to those who aid and abet acts of international terrorism.
The case is Linde v Arab Bank Plc, 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals, Nos. 16-2098, 16-2119, 16-2134.
[DAWN] In a letter written to the secretary Sindh Home Department, provincial authorities have been asked to provide protection for two witnesses in the Naqeebullah murder case on court’s orders.
Both witnesses will be provided security under Section-4 of Witness Protection Act, according to which they will be given a security detail of three coppers each. In addition to this, the SSP Malir district has been asked to relocate the said witnesses to a safe location, preferably in the cantonment area.
However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... the letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn, mentions that the witness protection programme is not fully functional yet due to non-allocation of funds.
Naqeebullah Mehsud, a South Wazoo resident, was among the four killed in what was later found to be a staged encounter led by then SSP Malir Rao Anwar.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2018 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday, while hearing a case on the Faizabad sit-in that took place last year, expressed its displeasure over a lack of follow-up on directives issued to various parties and warned that it would serve officials concerned contempt of court notices if they do not comply with orders by Feb 12.
The court had earlier ordered the Deputy Attorney General Arshad Kiyani to submit a copy of the Raja Zafarul Haq committee report which sought to fix responsibility for the introduction of a controversial amendment to the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat declaration for electoral candidates in the Elections Act, 2017.
Additionally, Defence Secretary retired Lt-Gen Zamirul Hassan Shah and Director General (DG) Intelligence Bureau (IB) Aftab Sultan were also ordered to submit reports on the Faizabad sit-in.
The changes to the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat declaration ─ despite being reversed soon after they came to light last year ─ were protested by members of various religious parties, including the Tehrik-e-Labbaik (TLY), which led a sit-in at Islamabad's busy Faizabad Interchange for 22 days in Nov 2017, hindering daily life in the twin cities.
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02/10/2018 00:00 ||
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It couldn’t happen to a more deserving UN agency. Certain countries are donating directly to Hamas in Gaza, at least for the moment; as for the rest, nobody cares. It won’t be long until the 5th or so generation of Palestinian “refugees”and the 3rd or so generation of UNWRA employees have to take themselves off to seek gainful employment.
[AlAhram] One month after the Trump administration announced a drastic funding cut to the UN agency for Paleostinian refugees, only one country, Kuwait, has stepped forward to offer additional funding, senior UNRWA officials said Friday.
The United States announced in January that it would give $60 million to UNRWA -- a fraction of the more than $350 million annual contribution that it has provided to the agency's budget.
Kuwait stepped in to contribute $900,000 and about 15 donor countries including Sweden and Japan decided to speed up their donations to keep UNRWA afloat, said Peter Mulrean, UNRWA's representative in New York.
But Mulrean told news hounds at UN headquarters that the agency was facing an "existential financial crisis" as it seeks to fill the gap from the US funding cut.
The United States is the biggest single donor to UNRWA which provides schools and health clinics to 5.3 million refugees in the Paleostinian territories, Jordan, Leb and Syria.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley ...Trump administration's ambassador to the UN. First woman to serve as Governor of South Carolina, and the second Indian-American governor in the country, after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. At the age of 39, Haley was the youngest governor in the U.S., a distinction formerly held by Jindal. She is a Republican, which really grates on the Dems... last month said the United States would not provide aid to the Paleostinians until they agree "to come back to the negotiation table" and reach a peace deal with Israel.
"The US has not yet explained to us the rationale behind its decision on the $60 million," Mulrean said, adding that Washington had not presented any concerns about reforms.
In an interview to Voice of America, Haley said UNRWA needed to be reformed, because they consider "any Paleostinian as a refugee" and "what they're teaching in schools is not necessarily the right way to have things run."
UNRWA has been repeatedly accused of promoting anti-Israel sentiment in schools, a charge it has flatly rejected.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend a ministerial-level donors' conference for UNRWA to be held next month in Geneva to fill the gap in funding, but it remains unclear if the United States will attend.
UNRWA's director for the West Bank, Scott Andersen, said all of the agency's services remain up and running for the time being, but that the decision had left many Paleostinians anxious.
"People are frightened and concerned about what this means for them, their families and their future," he said.
We rebuilt it once already. But then they ran away, leaving it all for ISIS to destroy.
[PRESSTV] US and Western officials say Washington has no plan to allocate money to the reconstruction of Iraq, ravaged by the war against the Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... ISIS terror group, at an upcoming international fund-raising conference in Kuwait.
The officials told Rooters on Thursday that Washington does not plan to contribute any money at the conference in Kuwait next week to fund the rebuilding of the war-ridden country.
"Absolutely nothing," said a Western official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , when asked whether Washington would announce any financial contributions at the conference to fund long-term reconstruction projects.
A US official also said, "We are not planning to announce anything" at the conference, which will be attended by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
The official, however, said Tillerson could still decide closer to the time to announce a contribution.
Commenting on the issue, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said, "I’m not aware of any announcements that we will be making."
Former head of the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, Jeremy Konyndyk, said by not contributing to reconstruction, especially in combat-ravaged areas, the Trump administration could help set the stage for new militancy.
"We’ve seen this movie before. There is a very real risk if the US doesn’t put money into reconstruction, that having just won the battle, you lose the peace," said Konyndyk, who now works for the Center for Global Development think tank.
James Jeffrey, a former US ambassador to Iraq said, "The fact that we’re not putting any money up will weaken our case, and that’s unfortunate."
An unnamed US official in Baghdad said, "What we are trying to do in Kuwait next week is to put together companies that want to look at Iraq ... and possibly also talk about ways to finance projects."
US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... said during the 2016 US presidential campaign that if elected "the era of nation-building will be ended."
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said his country needs up to $100 billion to rebuild territories that have been torn apart by ISIS.
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02/10/2018 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday it has embarked on a fund-raising campaign that will likely include a ministerial-level donors conference next month to fill the gap left by the Trump administration's sudden cut of tens of millions of dollars in funding.
Scott Anderson, the agency's West Bank operations director, said the US hasn't yet spelled out what reforms it is seeking to implement by withholding $65 million -- or possibly millions more in the future.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees was notified on January 16 that the US was withholding $65 million of a planned $125 million installment and demanding a "fundamental re-examination" and changes to its programs, which have been heavily criticized by Israel. How about some baked goods sales? Or Palestinian handicrafts?
This article from Oct 3, 2016 is background on the clone/copy of the Lockheed RQ-170 used by Iran in today's infiltration attack on Israel. It's the drone Israel shot down that started today's huge air battle.
Posted by: 3dc ||
02/10/2018 12:51 ||
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#1
Obumble's gift to world peace.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/10/2018 13:51 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Oh no, we couldn't possibly have included explosives. Or considered the possibility of spoofing the GPS. I guess now we'll just have to develop a new one. Sigh.
#3
consider it a "donation from friends in high places"
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/10/2018 17:16 Comments ||
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#4
Ain't it funny... the demunists always say they're more intelligent than all of us non-believers, but they explain all of the stuff like this, or the OPM "hack," as "oops, we made a mistake."
[Breitbart] The UK Daily Mail reports that rival hard boyz are mocking 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.... (ISIS) for "fleeing to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and leaving women to defend their honor" after footage surfaced of female jihadis fighting on the ISIS frontlines in Syria.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/10/2018 00:29 ||
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[PRESSTV] Lebanese Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil says there would be full exploration in an offshore oil and gas field, which lies in Mediterranean waters disputed by the Tel Aviv regime.
"Today, we announce that we have started our petroleum path ... after signing the agreements and launching the exploration activities," he said at a ceremony in the capital Beirut.
Abi Khalil’s remarks came as the Lebanese government announced on Friday it had signed gas exploration and production contracts for two energy blocks, including the disputed Block 9, with consortium of La Belle France's Total, Italian Eniand Russia's Novatek oil and gas companies.
Last December, the cabinet of Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... has him bumped off, too. granted licenses to a consortium of the three international companies to carry out exploratory drilling in Leb’s Block 4 and Block 9 territorial waters and determine whether they contain oil and gas reserves.
Israeli officials, who claim illusory sovereignty over Block 9, reacted angrily to the announcement.
"When they issue a tender on a gas field, including Block 9, which by any standard is ours ... this is very, very challenging and provocative conduct here," Israel’s minister of military affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, said at the time.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
Once they get some boats, and drills...and pipe.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An official source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday said that 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... condemns and strongly denounces the attacks on Eastern Ghouta and the use of chemical weapons by Al Assad regime, which is a flagrant violation of the international laws.
The source clarified that this aggressive action is not aligned with the international efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis politically, in accordance with the principles of the Geneva 1 Declaration and the UN Security Council resolution (2254).
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2018 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] The United States said on Friday it had imposed sanctions on three people and three companies in the Philippines, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... and Somalia that supported 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.... hard boy group, including a business that procured parts for unmanned aircraft.
The US Treasury, in a statement, said it had imposed sanctions on Abdulpatta Escalon Abubakar for providing financial and material support for Islamic State and its network in the Philippines.
It sanctioned Yunus Emre Sakarya and his Turkey-based firm Profesyoneller Elektronik for procuring parts for unmanned aircraft for Islamic State. And it sanctioned Mohammed Mire Ali Yusuf and his firms Liibaan Trading and Al Mutafaq Commercial Company for activities supporting Islamic State in Somalia.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/10/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
The US Treasury, in a statement, said it had imposed sanctions on Abdulpatta Escalon Abubakar for providing financial and material support for Islamic State and its network in the Philippines.
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.
...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank...
.png)
Wazoo
...Trump administration's ambassador to the UN. First woman to serve as Governor of South Carolina, and the second Indian-American governor in the country, after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. At the age of 39, Haley was the youngest governor in the U.S., a distinction formerly held by Jindal. She is a Republican, which really grates on the Dems...
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed...
[TheDrive]
Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if 
