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Today: 72 articles and 200 comments as of 13:01.
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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Terror attacks in Jakarta -- 7 die so far
Today's Headlines
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 3: Non-WoT
3 20:00 Thing From Snowy Mountain [2]
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12 22:57 Capsu 78 [1]
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
Militants fleeing Pakistan joined IS in Afghanistan, says Afghan envoy
[DAWN] A majority of faceless myrmidons fleeing operations in Pakistain's Mohmand and Orakzai agencies joined the Afghan chapter of the Death Eater 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....
(IS) group, Afghanistan's Ambassador to Pakistain Janan Mosazai said on Wednesday.

Addressing a seminar in Islamabad, the Afghan envoy said IS has become a major threat in the region.

About 60 to 70 per cent faceless myrmidons fleeing Pakistain during offensives in Mohmand and Orakzai went on to join IS in Afghanistan, Mosazai claimed.

He said terrorism was a common issue for both Pakistain and Afghanistan, and reiterated the Afghan government's commitment to not allow anyone to use its territory against Pakistain.

Mosazai said Afghanistan was committed to its policy of non-interference in neighbouring countries, including Pakistain.

Kabul
...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either....
wants good neighbouring relations with Pakistain as it is important for the economic prosperity of Afghanistan, the envoy said.

Mosazai said Kabul recognises the importance of the China Pakistain Economic Corridor, which he said will have a positive impact on the economy of Afghanistan as well.

Reports in the past suggested that faceless myrmidons fleeing military operations in different regions of Federally Administered Tribal Areas joined various terrorist groups in Afghanistan.

Security officials have warned against IS gaining a foothold in Afghanistan's eastern region, where the group reportedly murdered tribal elders, clashed with the rival Taliban, imprisoned families and enforced strict rules on women.

Afghanistan does not provide a natural constituency from which IS can recruit, meaning the group relies heavily on defections from existing myrmidon outfits.

Backed by US drone strikes, Afghan cops last year mobilised and eliminated multiple IS leaders along with dozens, if not hundreds, of Death Eaters.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Afghan forces to receive 10,000 Ak-47s from Russia this month
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The delivery of ten thousand AK-47 assault rifles by Russia to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) will be completed by this month, the officials said Wednesday.

A front man for the National Security Adviser, Tawab Ghorzang, said Deputy National Security Adviser Mohammad Sulaiman Kakar met with the Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Mr. Alexander Mantytskiy in his office today.

He said the two sides discussed bilateral relations and joint fight against terrorism by Kabul
...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either....
and Moscow.

Mr. Kakar also held talks over the Afghan peace efforts and Russia's military support to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), Ghorzang said, adding that Mr. Kakar emphasized on regional cooperation to combat terrorism.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio wondered: Where the hell was Chumbaloni? And where was his $600?...
the Russian Ambassador said Moscow remains committed to support the Afghan government in reconciliation process with the anti-government armed bad boy grouips.

He also reaffirmed Moscow's support to Afghanistan in all sectors and informed the Deputy National Security Adviser regarding the delivery of ten thousand AK-47 Assault Rifles to Afghanistan this month.

This comes as the Afghan government has stepped up efforts to attract the regional as well as global support to equip the Afghan national security forces.

The delivery of the assault rifles is part of Russia's support to bolster the capabilities of the Afghan cops to fight the menace of terrorism.

"Russia has been consistently pursuing the policy of providing comprehensive assistance to Afghanistan in the establishment of a peaceful, independent, stable and self-sufficient state, free from terrorism and drugs," Russian President's special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov said late in December last year while informing regarding the dispatch of the rifles to the Afghan forces.

Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Russians sure having a lot of fun.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2016 3:26 Comments || Top||

#2  "a peaceful, independent, stable and self-sufficient state, free from terrorism and drugs"

The jungle may run out of bugs,
And DC see no more of Plugs,
But thuggish Afghanis
Will burn rugs and monies
Before ever giving up drugs.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 01/14/2016 4:27 Comments || Top||


Arabia
10 Million Children Victims of Yemen War: UNICEF
[ALMANAR.LB] Nearly 10 million Yemeni children are victims of pain and suffering because of the war in the country, the UNICEF said.
That's a lot of kids out of a total population of 24 million.
In a statement published on Tuesday, Julien Harneis, UNICEF Representative in Yemen, said that the "continuous bombardment and street fighting are exposing children and their families to a deadly combination of violence, disease and deprivation."Yemeni children suffer from war

UN statistics showed that the "direct impact of the conflict on children is hard to measure."

"The statistics confirmed by the UN (747 children killed and another 1,108 injured since March last year; 724 children pressed into some form of military activity) tell only part of the story. But they are shocking enough in themselves," the statement said.

It went on to talk about the broader effects of violence on civilians.

"The broader effects of the violence on innocent civilians extend much further.

Children make up at least half of the 2.3 million people estimated to have been displaced from their homes, and of the more than 19 million people struggling to get water on a daily basis; 1.3 million children under five face the risk of acute malnutrition and acute respiratory tract infections. And at least 2 million children cannot go to school."

Public services like health, water and sanitation have been decimated and cannot meet the ever-increasing needs of a desperate population, Harneis said in the statement.

Few of the 7.4 million children requiring protection (including psycho-social support to help deal with the effects of their exposure to violence) will actually receive it, he added.

Harneis note that international agencies are doing their best in "extremely hazardous working environment," but stressed that "so much more is needed."

"The children of Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
need urgent help and they need it now... What is really needed -- above all else -- is an end to the conflict. Only in that way can the children of Yemen look forward to 2016 with hope rather than despair," the statement concluded.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  Common Core Math
Posted by: Frank G || 01/14/2016 10:27 Comments || Top||

#2  In a 'generational war',
needs of a desperate population
have formed two generations of an aggression avoidance psychology, i.e. post WWII Europe.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/14/2016 11:53 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Islamic scholars search for Jamaat, militant links in mosque committees
[Dhaka Tribune] District-based Islamic scholars have started identifying the members of Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
and snuffies in the mosque management committees across the country.

Primarily, they have identified several dozens of such mosques in Chittagong, Sylhet, Habiganj, Dinajpur, Bogra, Satkhira and Chandpur districts. After information on all the mosques are collected, the police will scrutinise those and take further action.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Caribbean-Latin America
Netanyahu to Brazil: Settler leader the only ambassador we'll offer
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said if Brazil won't approve former settler leader Dani Dayan as its ambassador, Israel won't offer another diplomat.
How do you say "Haven't you heard, oil is 30$ a barrel?" in Portuguese?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2016 03:22 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Still angry about Zvi Aharoni and his lads locating all of those WWII nazi goose steppers are they ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2016 4:09 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
SKorea wants North to feel pain over nuclear test claim
[AA.TR] South Korean President Park Geun-hye made it clear Wednesday that China has a "necessary role" to play in forcing North Korea to back down from its current policy of nuclear armament.

In an address to her own nation, Park spoke of the need to properly punish Pyongyang, after the North claimed last week that it had carried out its first hydrogen bomb test.

Any sanctions would be useless, according to the South's leader, unless North Korea actually "feels pain" -- Beijing has been accused in the past of failing to ensure Pyongyang feels the squeeze of international restrictions.

On the contrary, the North has refused to engage in denuclearization talks since 2008, and has conducted several nuclear tests and missile launches in that time.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  What can we do to make life worse for the norks? Impose fat-boy as a leader, no. Cause massive starvation, no.

Boy, that is a toughy.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 01/14/2016 12:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Send 'em Obama.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/14/2016 17:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Brilliant!
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 01/14/2016 19:47 Comments || Top||


Economy
Oil Collapses Close to $30 per Barrel
[ALMANAR.LB] Oil dived Tuesday close to $30 on abundant crude supplies, as OPEC member Nigeria called for an emergency meeting to address collapsing prices that have ravaged revenues.

In late afternoon deals, New York's benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery tanked to $30.10 a barrel, which was the lowest level since December 2, 2003.

Europe's Brent North Sea crude for February had earlier dived to $30.43, a point last seen on April 6, 2004.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tain't ravaged ma revenues none. Jes' the opposite.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/14/2016 0:22 Comments || Top||

#2  There's speculation by a number of Perts on the Net that oil prices could go as low as US$10.0 per barrel widout Govts. intervention.

As per BHARAT RAKSHAK, Russia is prepping for a US$25.0 pb scenario.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/14/2016 1:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Time to work on the strategic petroleum reserves. Maybe pay SA a bit more so they can continue to strangle Iran.
Posted by: gorb || 01/14/2016 1:55 Comments || Top||

#4  I want to see pix of Saudi children begging for food.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2016 3:16 Comments || Top||

#5  Yep, wouldn't hurt to double the US strategic reserve right now.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/14/2016 8:19 Comments || Top||

#6  Yep, wouldn't hurt to double the US strategic reserve right now. Posted by: Steve White

Yes, an unnavigable Persian Gulf might alter the oil production picture somewhat.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2016 8:31 Comments || Top||

#7  wouldn't hurt to double the US strategic reserve right now
If history is any guide, they'll start SELLING out of the SPR about now.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/14/2016 8:42 Comments || Top||


Europe
Israel to bar Sweden from any role in future diplomatic process with Palestinians

Sweden will not have any role to play in the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic process as a result of Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom's hostility toward Israel, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

The statement came as the ministry announced that its deputy director-general for Western Europe, Aviv Shir-On, called in Swedish ambassador Carl Magnus Nesser to protest Wallstrom's comments.

The decision to summons Nesser was made by Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who directed Shir-On to protest not only the statements, but to register the government and the country's anger at what they see as Sweden's imbalance and hostile attitude toward Israel.
But we'll be willing to sell Sweden some (post) rape medical kits.
Inline snark of the day.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2016 03:18 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Migrant Fears as Bulldozers Head for French 'Jungle' Camp
[AnNahar] Authorities in the northern French port of Calais were struggling to move hundreds of migrants into refitted shipping containers on Wednesday ahead of plans to bulldoze part of the notorious "Jungle" camp.

The government had planned to move 500-700 migrants and refugees out of the grim makeshift camp into refitted containers with heaters, electricity plugs and cribs for newborns. But many are reluctant to leave their tents, cafes and shops in the Jungle, and are suspicious about the new camp, which is surrounded by barbed wire and requires a fingerprint scan to come and go.

There is concern that the 125 containers -- each holding 12 people -- are not nearly enough for the 4,000 people currently estimated to be in the Jungle, who are trying to smuggle their way to Britannia by ferry or on cross-Channel trains.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Paging Rachel Corrie. Rachel Corrie come to the white courtesy phone please.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2016 3:11 Comments || Top||

#2  All day in the Pas-de-Calais,
They dance out a dainty ballet,
With truckers uplifting
The jongleurs a-grifting
To CRS', "Allez, allez!"
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 01/14/2016 4:13 Comments || Top||

#3  How's Caterpillar stock doin'?
Posted by: AlanC || 01/14/2016 7:32 Comments || Top||

#4  The eurines liked refugee camps a lot when they were elsewhere. In their own back yard, not so much...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/14/2016 9:29 Comments || Top||

#5  "get into these habitable shipping containers, or we'll bring out the not-so-habitable ones for your ride back"
Posted by: Frank G || 01/14/2016 10:37 Comments || Top||

#6  Rachel Corrie come to the white courtesy phone please.
In keeping with the times.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/14/2016 11:31 Comments || Top||

#7  The French could buy them one way train tickets to Germany. The NYPD sends bums to DC and Miami via AMTRAK.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 01/14/2016 11:57 Comments || Top||

#8  Give the "migrants" credit for some brains: these ARE shipping containers. They go to bed one night, and in the morning the doors are locked, the floor is swaying, and they find out they're on a ship chartered by Nigel Farage, with the whole lot are headed back to Syria...
Posted by: ptah || 01/14/2016 12:49 Comments || Top||

#9  Looks my idea of sending them back in shipping containers on big boats is slowly taking form. Just pick them up & put them on the ships, Pierre.

Bwhahahaha!
Posted by: Raj || 01/14/2016 18:05 Comments || Top||

#10  Just don't bump the containers too many times when you do that, because that would be mean & disrespectful, and we can't have that!
Posted by: Raj || 01/14/2016 18:07 Comments || Top||

#11  The Killdozer rides again!
Vroom vroom clank clank clank....

]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
Posted by: Nguard || 01/14/2016 20:08 Comments || Top||


North Africa Exports Rape Culture to Germany
Michael J. Totten, always always worth the read, describes the issue at length in the World Affairs Journal. Very long so just a few paragraphs here to whet your appetite. Egypt apparently is the worst, to which Lara Logan could attest. Hat tip Instapundit.
Germany is in an uproar. Protests are breaking out everywhere, with demonstrators yelling “deport them” and carrying signs that say “Rapefugees not welcome” in English.

The culprits are mostly Arabs, and Merkel’s refugee policy is predictably collapsing as a result, but the rapefest in Cologne was not imported from Syria. It mostly comes from North Africa.

Women have fewer rights in the Middle East and North Africa than anywhere else in the world with the single exception of Afghanistan, and they’re abused far more often over there than anywhere in the West, but they aren’t routinely assaulted by hundreds of men in unruly mobs all at once anywhere except Egypt.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  but the rapefest in Cologne was not imported from Syria. It mostly comes from North Africa

Right, they're all gentlemen in Syria.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2016 3:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Mock if you wish, but I think Totten is on to something. We need more in-depth knowledge of these cultures, and we're sure not going to get that from either the NYT or Le Monde.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/14/2016 8:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Men began to rip off my clothes. I was stripped naked. Their insatiable appetite to hurt me heightened. These men, hundreds of them, had turned from humans to animals.

Packs of Penghou was it? Not so mythological after all. Is there an international animal control number we can ring up ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2016 8:23 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm sure pajama boy will help you (afterwards).
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/14/2016 9:33 Comments || Top||

#5  WJC: "put some ice on it"
Posted by: Frank G || 01/14/2016 10:39 Comments || Top||

#6  We need more in-depth knowledge of these cultures, and we're sure not going to get that from either the NYT or Le Monde.

We, and much more intensely the Europeans, are going to get MUCH more knowledgeable about these cultures, good and hard, whether or not we want to.
Posted by: Nguard || 01/14/2016 20:12 Comments || Top||


Denmark debates seizing immigrants' valuables as condition for entry
[BRISBANETIMES.AU] Denmark's parliament started to debate a raft of proposals on changing immigration laws, including a measure that would allow the authorities to confiscate all valuables belonging to refugees worth more than10,000 Danish crowns ($2083), and then use them to pay for the refugee's stay.

The proposal has been condemned by international media as well as the United Nations refugee agency.

"It is very odiously reminiscent of the German past – leave the valuables and go to the showers," Derek Beach, an associate professor in political science at Aarhus University, said.
Except for the showers. And the fact that Denmark's not Germany. I think it was Mark Twain who pointed out that once a cat's sat on a hot stove it won't do it again, but neither will it sit on a cold one.
Immigration Minister Inger Stojberg​ has defended the proposal as being in keeping with a Danish norm that if you can pay for yourself, you must do so.

The Immigration Ministry said on Wednesday it would extend its temporary border checks at the usually open border with Germany until February 3, after an initial 10-day period expired.

Denmark has extended until February 3 passport controls and spot checks it introduced this month on its border with Germany.

"The assessment is that there is still a risk that a large number of illegal immigrants accumulate in Denmark," the ministry said in a statement.

More than 21,000 asylum seekers came to Denmark last year, up from about 14,800 in 2014. The government expects about 25,000 people to claim asylum in 2016.

Denmark, which swung to the right in the last election in June, is one of several European Union countries trying to discourage migrants from seeking asylum on its territory.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Even the suggestion might reroute the problem to other destination countries.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/14/2016 15:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Even the suggestion might reroute the problem to other destination countries.

I suspect that is part of the thinking behind the proposal
Posted by: Nguard || 01/14/2016 20:13 Comments || Top||


Iraq
US special forces arrive in Iraq: defense chief
[AA.TR] The U.S. defense chief said Wednesday that special forces troops that were announced last month to be deployed to Iraq have arrived in the country.

"The specialized expeditionary targeting force I announced in December is now in place and is preparing to work with the Iraqis to begin going after ISIL's fighters and commanders, killing or capturing them wherever we find them, along with other key targets," said Ash Carter as he briefed service members who will soon be deployed to Iraq.

He said the anti-Daesh [Islamic State] campaign has three prongs, namely "destroying the parent tumor" of Daesh [Islamic State] in djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, Iraq, and al-Raqqa, Syria; preventing the holy warrior group's "metastasizing in areas such as North Africa, Afghanistan, and Yemen" and protecting the U.S. homeland.

He also noted his meeting with his counterparts from La Belle France, Australia, Germany, Italia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in Gay Paree to discuss the fight against the holy warriors.

When Carter initially announced the special forces deployment, he said the troops would "conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, and capture ISIL leaders," as part of a revision of the anti-Daesh [Islamic State] strategy.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  No boots on the ground.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/14/2016 16:55 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel sued in US for attacks on Gaza aid flotilla
[AA.TR] Four individuals, including three Americans, have filed a civil suit against Israel, seeking compensatory damages for injuries suffered during an attack aboard a U.S. ship in international waters in 2010.

During a Washington presser Tuesday, the plaintiffs said they wanted compensation for "the harm and distress, injuries and losses caused by the attack".

Israel has refused to acknowledge responsibility and liability for the attack and is yet to pay compensation to victims aboard the Challenger I that was part of a Freedom Flotilla set to deliver humanitarian aid and medical supplies to Gazoo that was and still remains under an Israeli blockade.

According to the complaint, the U.S ship has never been returned by Israel and is still being held there.

Israeli special forces stormed the ships and killed nine civilians aboard another ship in the flotilla, the Turkish Mavi Marmara. That event has since frozen relations between Israel and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Sue away.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2016 3:17 Comments || Top||

#2  the Discovery phase of this will be interesting as plaintiffs will be asked for their records, documents, etc.
Posted by: lord garth || 01/14/2016 8:33 Comments || Top||

#3  'Freedom Flotillas'.... you just don't hear much about them anymore.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2016 8:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Israel should return it, one frame at a time.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 01/14/2016 10:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Sure, return the ship. You'll find it parked about 100 miles off the coast of Haifa, about 200 feet down. No problem...
Posted by: Steve White || 01/14/2016 12:43 Comments || Top||

#6  This bullshit again?

Israel should counter sue, and mark these as sponsors of terror.
Posted by: newc || 01/14/2016 13:00 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria Rebels to Cede Heavy Weapons in Homs Deal
[AnNahar] Syrian rebels in a former opposition stronghold in Homs will relinquish nearly half their heavy weapons as part of a landmark truce with the government, the provincial governor said Wednesday.

Talal Barazi told AFP that the second phase of the agreement over Waer, which had been the last opposition-held neighborhood in the central city, was under way.

The deal was reached in December and envisions Waer coming under government control in exchange for the lifting of a devastating three-year siege.

In the first step, carried out last month, about 700 people -- 400 women and kiddies and 300 rebel fighters -- were evacuated from the district.

According to Barazi, "the second phase of the Waer agreement began four days ago and will continue until the beginning of February."

He said that it had started with a call for rebels to prepare to give up the weapons but that the handover had not yet started.

Barazi described the implementation of the deal as a "trust-building process".

Rebels are expected to hand over "nearly 50 percent of all medium- and heavy-weaponry, like machine guns and mortars," he told AFP by telephone.

Government forces will also open a second crossing point into the neighborhood, allowing residents and displaced individuals to travel more freely, Barazi added.

State institutions, including health centers, will begin gradually reopening in Waer.

Barazi said a "reconciliation process" would begin for the rebel fighters still in the district, estimated to number about 1,000.

"Whoever wants to regularize his status should present himself to the relevant authorities with information about his activities," Barazi said.

Opposition fighters who did not want to do so would be evacuated from the neighborhood in the third phase, he added.

They are expected to take the remaining 50 percent of heavy weaponry with them.

Similar local truces have been implemented in other parts of Syria, with rebels leaving towns or handing over weapons in exchange for an end to crippling sieges.

Both Syria's government and the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
have been pushing for such localized ceasefires as a way to end Syria's nearly five-year war, which has left more than 260,000 people dead.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Realities about Madaya, Kefraya and Fouaa
[ALMANAR.LB] It is supposed that the trucks carrying flour will arrive in the Syrian towns of Madaya, Kefraya and Fouaa on Thursday, al-Manar correspondent in Syria reported.

This move, which is supervised by the United Nations and the Red Cross, comes just few days after humanitarian aids entered these towns following long delay caused by the Takfiri terrorists.

Our correspondent said that the number of the civilians who get out of Madaya, in Damascus countryside, on Monday reached 300, noting that they got out of the town under a deal with the Syrian government.

80 men joined the fourth battalion of the Syrian army, the correspondent reported.

Under the deal, UN representatives entered Madaya, however they did not get into Kefraya and Fouaa, in Idlib countryside, under the pretext that there are checkpoints for Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham terrorists in the two towns, the correspondent said.

However, he noted that Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham insurgents also control the checkpoints in Madaya.

The Correspondent meanwhile, reported that residents in Kefraya and Fouaa call upon the UN representatives to get in to the two towns in order to inspect the humanitarian situation there.

Al-Manar had earlier exposed how the Takfiri insurgents have been using the civilians in these towns as human shields and preventing access to food supplies.

When the aid got into Kefraya, Fouaa and Madaya on Monday, the residents assured that the terrorists were selling the food aids which were delivered to these towns.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Syria's besieged on verge of humanitarian crisis
[AA.TR] The residents of at least 13 Syrian towns and villages under siege by the Assad regime and its allies now face the specter of starvation, according to local sources.

Jayrud, Rabayah

Opposition-held Jayrud and Rabayah, both located in eastern Damascus, face frequent attacks by both the Assad regime and Daesh [Islamic State]. Both towns have remained under a regime-imposed blockade since April 2013.

Abu Kamal, a local opposition commander, told Anadolu Agency that 85 percent of the recent deaths in the town had been caused by attacks by regime forces or Daesh [Islamic State].

The city of Al-Dumayr, located some 40 kilometers northeast of Damascus, also remains under a regime-imposed blockade.

Eastern Ghouta, Al-Tall

The Eastern Ghouta region to the east of Damascus, meanwhile, has remained under a regime-imposed siege since December 2012, which has impeded delivery of humanitarian aid and deprived the region of electricity and water supplies.

According to a local coordination committee in Eastern Ghouta's Douma area, some 1,600 local residents have recently died, with an estimated 40 percent of the casualties having been caused by regime Arclight airstrikes and the rest blamed on malnutrition.

The Assad regime attacked the Eastern Ghouta region with sarin gas in August 2013, causing some 1,300 deaths among local residents.

The city of Al-Tall, meanwhile, located west of Eastern Ghouta, has also remained under a regime-imposed siege since June 2015.

Yarmouk Camp, Darayya, Muadamiyat al-Sham, Kanaker

The Yarmouk Paleostinian refugee camp has been blockaded by the regime since December 2012.

Many inhabitants of the camp, which is surrounded by Daesh [Islamic State] from the south, have recently moved to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
's Hatay province or to the Syrian provinces of Hama, Idlib and Aleppo.

More than 1,000 civilians have been killed in the camp since the Syrian conflict began in early 2011.

Darayya on the southern outskirts of Damascus has also remained under a regime-imposed blockade since late 2012. By July 2015, when the siege entered its 1,000th day, some 2,200 residents had died as a result of the siege or from attacks by the regime.

Local sources say around 1,000 barrel bombs -- improvised bombs -- have been dropped on the region by the Assad regime.

In the town of Muadamiyat al-Sham in southwestern Damascus, meanwhile, some 40,000 civilians have remained under total siege for the last 15 days.

With food not allowed to enter the town, residents say child mortality has skyrocketed due to widespread malnutrition.

The village of Kanaker, meanwhile, located southwest of Damascus, has remained under siege since March 2015.

Al-Waer, Houla, Talbiseh, Al-Rastan

Al-Waer, a central district of Syria's Homs province, also reportedly remains under a regime-imposed blockade.

During the siege of Homs from 2011 to 2015, which ended with the region being handed over to the Assad regime, some 150 people died of malnutrition and an acute lack of medical treatment.

According to the Homs Coordination Center, some areas of Al-Waer are still under siege.

The Houla, Talbiseh and Al-Rastan regions in northern Homs, for their part, have all remained under siege for the last three years.

Madaya

Spanish Ambassador to the UN Roman Oyarzun Marchesi recently quoted UN humanitarian affairs chief Stephen O'Brien as saying that some 400 people in the town of Madaya were in "very critical situation".

This week, a humanitarian aid convoy reached the regime-blockaded town, carrying food and medical supplies for Madaya's 42,000 residents who were starving to death.

Last month, 23 people, including six children, died of starvation in the town, according to a report issued by Madaya's local health committee.

"The humanitarian crisis in Madaya is one more sign of the Assad regime's brutality," U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power asserted in a recent statement. "Blocking aid in order to starve civilians is grotesque, and one more reason why Assad's supporters should recognize that he has lost legitimacy."

The ongoing conflict in Syria, which will enter its sixth year in early 2016, has left more than 250,000 people dead and turned the country into the world's largest source of refugees and displaced persons, according to the UN.

Since the conflict began, nearly 8 million people have been internally displaced, while more than 4 million have fled to neighboring countries.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Government
State Department Discovers 'Thousands' of Previously Undisclosed Clinton Documents
[FreeBeacon] Excerpt: The Department of State recently discovered "thousands" of previously unreviewed documents that relate to Hillary Clinton and the Benghazi attack, according to a watchdog group that has been suing the department to release public records from Clinton's tenure.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 01/14/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Surprise, surprise, surprise!

Don't these people realise that in about a year there will be a new AG empowered to investigate them?
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 01/14/2016 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  "What difference at this point does it make?"
Posted by: gorb || 01/14/2016 0:41 Comments || Top||

#3  The Department of State recently discovered "thousands" of previously unreviewed documents that relate to Hillary Clinton

Senior Executive level employees at Foggy Bottom making a calculated decision. Give up the data now, or face potential inquiry or prosecution at some future date under a Pub presidency and Attorney General.

Sorry Secretary Clinton, but my daughter is in her fifth year at William & Mary and our Loudoun County residence needs a new slate roof, the under-butler is insisting upon a salary increase, and then there's the pasture fence which needs mending. We simply cannot afford the legal fees.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2016 3:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Drip, drip, drip.
Posted by: jvalentour || 01/14/2016 8:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Ruling class decided that Hillary is a disability?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2016 8:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Popcorn, indeed.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/14/2016 8:46 Comments || Top||

#7  Oops. disability ---> liability.

Works either way.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2016 8:50 Comments || Top||

#8  While you were digging (or stumbling across stuff) did you find any Whitewater papers?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/14/2016 9:29 Comments || Top||

#9  Did they find them next to the Rose Law firm billing records?
Posted by: Raj || 01/14/2016 10:25 Comments || Top||

#10  "Don't these people realise that in about a year there will be a new AG empowered to investigate them?"

They are probably hoping that if they delay long enough they might have some control over who is the new AG. Say she ducks out for Sanders after a backroom deal or something along those lines.

Or they might be hoping to play the vast right wing conspiracy martyr angle that worked so well in the 90s hoping it pops up her numbers.

I think they are forgetting that even the left tends to dislike them on a good day.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/14/2016 10:59 Comments || Top||

#11  This is what happens when new polls come out showing Bernie ahead in New Hampshire AND Iowa. Suddenly Hillary doesn't look like Mrs. President anymore. Suddenly people ask "Why are we protecting this ***hole?" Suddenly all the "Go f**k yourselves" she gave to the peasants come back to haunt her.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 01/14/2016 11:54 Comments || Top||

#12  And Vince Foster is still dead
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 01/14/2016 11:58 Comments || Top||

#13  I blew Coffee out my Nose.
Posted by: Bertie Whegum9855 || 01/14/2016 12:25 Comments || Top||

#14  #12 And Vince Foster is still dead. Posted by Mullah Richard

I think there have been a few (dozen) others since then. If Hitlery had to truly answer for all the crimes she's committed, she'd be in jail for 7,723 years, even on good behavior.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/14/2016 17:22 Comments || Top||

#15  I think she's already working close to eternity.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/14/2016 21:59 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2016-01-14
  Terror attacks in Jakarta -- 7 die so far
Wed 2016-01-13
  Suicide bomber kills 10 people, mainly Germans, in Istanbul
Tue 2016-01-12
  Bombings at Iraq cafe kill 20: Officers
Mon 2016-01-11
  It begins: Cologne gangs attack foreigners
Sun 2016-01-10
  US drone strikes kills 25 suspected militants in Pakistan, Afghanistan
Sat 2016-01-09
  Philadelphia police officer ambushed 'in the name of Islam'
Fri 2016-01-08
  ISIS Man Executes His Mom
Thu 2016-01-07
  Iran says Saudi-led airstrike hit Iranian Embassy in Yemen, but no damage seen
Wed 2016-01-06
  1 US soldier killed, 2 wounded in Taliban attack in Helmand
Tue 2016-01-05
  44 ISIS Bad Guys die in battles near Fallujah
Mon 2016-01-04
  38 die in Kurd, ISIS battles in Raqqa
Sun 2016-01-03
  Fierce Fighting Erupts Between Afghan Forces, Taliban In Marjah
Sat 2016-01-02
  Death sentences for nine 'hardcore terrorists' in Pakistan
Fri 2016-01-01
  New Year's Eve terror attack thwarted in NY
Thu 2015-12-31
  ISIS executes 40 civilians in Ramadi


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