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44 Daesh militants killed in Nangarhar's Achin District
Today's Headlines
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
Atmar: Afghan Air Force needs more support from the U.S.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Afghanistan's National Security Adviser (NSA) says that Afghan Air Force needs further assistance from the United States.

Mohammad Hanif Atmar told US's Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Marcel Lettre on Monday that his country has played a key role in suppressing terrorism in Afghanistan and the region.

However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes...
he expressed concern
...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
over the raise of the phenomenon.

"At the time, the threat of terrorism is increasing in the region and the world, Air Force of Afghanistan needs further training and equipment from the United States." Atmar said.

He added that Afghanistan is ready to prepare a list of its needs and submit it to the United States.

The DoD official assured Atmar about his country's continued support with Afghanistan.

Lettre said the United States supports policies of the government of Afghanistan for peace and stability and in the meantime it will consider further equipping Afghan Air Force.

Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Ismail Khan urges government to implement Mujahideen's suggestions for security
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Mohammad Ismail Khan, a prominent Jihadi leader and former Minister of Energy and Power has urged government to get the assistance of Mujahideen for security.
A day or two ago Rassool Sayyaf suggested letting the real Mujaheddin contribute.
While talking to a gathering in western Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
province, Ismail Khan said that government has failed to maintain security and therefore it should adopt changes in the rankings of security institutions.

Government's strategies have failed in maintaining the security, there for it should listen to Mujahideen, Ismail Khan said in the presence of several former Mujahideen and residents of Herat.

The former Jihadi leader did not go into specifics but warned government that the situation would worsen if it does not implement a draft presented by the Mujahideen.

This comes as another prominent Jihadi leader Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayaf made a similar suggestion in 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....
Sayaf said that government should not marginalize Mujahideen when it comes to national defense and interests but give them a larger role.
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Horn
More than 8,000 Somali refugee deported from Kenya
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it has also resumed repatriation of refugees by road after a few months of suspension, noting that its convoy comprising of five buses carried 218 individuals to Baidoa and Luuq in southwest Somalia in January.
How many of them were Shaboob sympathizers and camp-followers?
“This was also the first road convoy since the movement by road was suspended in October 2015 due to rainy season,” the UN refugee agency said in its Bi-Weekly report released in Nairobi.

During the reporting period, the UNHCR said eight road convoys carried 1,902 refugees to Somalia via Dhobley way station.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it has also resumed repatriation of refugees by road after a few months of suspension, noting that its convoy comprising of five buses carried 218 individuals to Baidoa and Luuq in southwest Somalia in January.

“This was also the first road convoy since the movement by road was suspended in October 2015 due to rainy season,” the UN refugee agency said in its Bi-Weekly report released in Nairobi.

The UN agency said the Return Help Desk (RHD) which is jointly managed by UNHCR, Kenya’s department of refugee affairs (DRA) and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) were quite busy attending to over 1,700 individuals who have expressed their interest to return or make enquiries about the voluntary return process.

Returning refugees are assisted with transport to their places of origin, mostly in Kismayo, Mogadishu, Baidoa and Luuq in South and Central Somalia. They also receive a cash grant, food and basic domestic items such as sleeping mats, mosquito nets, a solar lantern, hygiene supplies and kitchen utensils to help them start a new life.
All of which is stolen or sold when they get home to dear old Somalia...
The repatriation is the result of efforts by the Tripartite Commission formed by UNHCR and the governments of Kenya and Somalia which was formed to step up support for voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees.

Despite the fragile security environment situation in Somalia, refugees have started to return, UNHCR said, noting that more still have returned spontaneously without receiving assistance from UNHCR.

Under the current agreement assistance will be provided to returnees to any area of Somaliland, Puntland and South Central Somalia.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Hamas says Egypt sealed border after rare 3-day opening
[IsraelTimes] 2,439 people leave Gazoo and 1,122 enter; Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, says 2015 was worst year for Rafah crossing in recent years

Nearly 2,500 people left Gazoo during a three-day humanitarian opening of the border with Egypt, a rare opportunity for Gazooks to leave the blockaded enclave, authorities in the Paleostinian territory said Tuesday.

The Hamas-run interior ministry in Gazoo said 2,439 people left the territory over the three days, while 1,122 entered and 334 were turned back by Egyptian authorities.

The border was closed again on Tuesday, a ministry statement said, after "Egyptian authorities informed us of the shutting down of the Rafah crossing."

Egypt originally opened the border for humanitarian cases for two days from Saturday but that was extended for an extra day on Monday. Before Saturday, the crossing had been closed for 70 days, the ministry said.

The United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
has registered 30,000 Paleostinians as "humanitarian cases" seeking to leave Gazoo.

At the crossing, long lines of Gazooks queued, many carrying heavy suitcases. Sarah Abu Karesh, a woman waiting at the crossing on Saturday, told AFP she had been trying to leave the territory for months.

"I only came here for a week's holiday and I've been stuck here for 18 months," she said.
Betcha she doesn't make that mistake again.
The crossing is Gazoo's only access point not controlled by Israel.

The Hamas interior ministry said 2015 was "the worst year for Rafah in recent years" with the border crossing open for just 21 days in total. The border was largely open during the rule of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, whose Moslem Brüderbund movement has close ties with the fellow Islamists of Hamas. But since Morsi's overthrow in 2013, President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi has closed the crossing, with only occasional humanitarian openings.

In 2012, nearly 35,000 travelers used the Rafah crossing each month, according to the UN. In 2015, the monthly average fell to less than 2,400. Historically many young Gazooks studied in Egypt, while many Paleostinians visited their families on the other side of the border.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Terror attack in Sinai in 5..4..3
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/17/2016 6:46 Comments || Top||


Libya MPs postpone vote on new unity government
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Libya's internationally recognized parliament decided Tuesday to postpone for seven days a vote on a government of national unity despite growing international concern over Lion of Islam expansion.
They can't... ummm... agree.
"One hundred and eighteen members of parliament met today and decided to give the government chief until Saturday to present his cabinet line-up" to MPs, parliamentarian Aicha al-Aqouri told AFP.

"The new smaller government will then be submitted to a vote of confidence on Tuesday," she said.

Another MP, Abou Bakr Baida, confirmed this timetable to AFP.

International attempts to end the chaos in Libya took a step forward on Monday as the new national unity government was proposed to politicians.

Approval of the 18-minister cabinet - headed by prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj - would be a vital step in resolving Libya's political disarray, capping off months of difficult diplomacy.

The so-called Presidency Council, tasked under the peace effort with forming the government, revised the line-up downwards after parliament rejected a 32-member cabinet as too large.

The Presidency Council has nine members from the various Libyan factions and is led by Sarraj.
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Arabia
Soddy report documents war crimes by Houthis
The Al Houthi militias and forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh have committed 184,551 violations against the people of Yemen in 2015, which resulted in the death of 8,182 people across the country, said the Saudi Press Agency SPA in a report released on Tuesday.

The report said that the militias destroyed what was left of Yemen's landmarks, filling the land with the blood of innocent women, children and the elderly.

According to the report, the Yemeni Popular Resistance forces uncovered a series of criminal operations carried out by the Houthis and their supporters including murder, kidnapping, detention and the misleading of public opinion about the reality of their actions - which is bombing cities and the population - in implementation of Iran's hostile schemes and efforts to control the region. The report also found that the rebels attempted to blame these acts on the efforts of men participating in Operation Decisive Storm, which was launched by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and the Arab coalition to save Yemen from their control. In another tragic scene in Yemen, the report stated - and as part of the Houthi's destructive ploys, which derides all Islamic and Arab values and international norms - the rebels have looted international relief aid convoys trying to reach beneficiaries by crossing rough terrains. Despite all this, the report added, the King Salman Relief and Humanitarian Aids Centre managed to provide 50 humanitarian programmes for the brotherly people in Yemen in its various cities and provinces.

Since the Houthi and Saleh armed militias forcibly took control of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa on 21st September, 2014, the group and their supporters have been engaging in looting of camps, appointing their loyalists in all ministries and public institutions in Yemen, which, said the report, reached a crucial low point in 2015 that brought little opportunities for human rights protection, resulting in a lack of community control, the harassment of media persons and journalists by undermining their freedoms, closing-down of channels and newspapers, and blocking websites which reveal the repeated aggressions carried out by rebels.

Statistics by the Yemeni Human Rights Commission has found that the total number of violations committed in Yemen was 184,551 across 17 cities and counties. The commission also found that 19,782, people were wounded, and 8,881 people were unlawfully detained, while the number of public facilities damaged by bombing by Houthis were 2,780 public and 22,915 private facilities.

The panel's 90-page report, which will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council within the next two weeks, also showed that the rebels tried to silence the Yemeni voice by closing-down nine satellite channels, 38 newspapers, and blocking more than 86 websites, as well as banning 98 protests and shutting-down 18 human rights organisations, and 8 radio stations in an effort to cover up their daily criminal practices against civilians.
Posted by: badanov || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


China-Japan-Koreas
North Korea Forms New Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles Unit
[SpaceDaily] North Korea has formed a new military unit to deploy intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), South Korean media cited its government sources as saying Sunday.

US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said this week Pyongyang expanded the size of its ballistic missile forces to include KN-08 road-mobile ICBM.

North Korea has now established the so-called KN-08 Brigade under its Strategic Forces, multiple unnamed sources told the Yonhap news service.

The move indicates that Pyongyang has "inched closer to fielding the road-mobile ICBM."

Experts assess KN-08 has range of at least 6,200 miles.

The KN-08 system was first unveiled at an April 2012 military parade commemorating the 100th birthday of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung.

Last Sunday, North Korea launched a three-stage rocket that placed a small satellite into orbit.

Although Pyongyang said its launch was part of a peaceful effort to explore space, the technology of the rocket was nearly identical to those used by North Korea to deliver nuclear weapons.
Posted by: 3dc || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Pentagon: THAAD deployment 'appropriate step' at this point
The United States believes that the deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system to South Korea would be an "appropriate step to take at this point" as it will enhance security in the region, the Defense Department spokesman said Tuesday.
For once the U.S. and its allies are playing a decent game of diplomacy...
"The discussions about deploying a THAAD system will begin at some point this week. I don't have the exact day for you," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said at a briefing. "This is an effort to try and put in place a defensive system that will bolster security in the region. And we think it would be an appropriate step to take at this point."

Shortly after North Korea's Feb. 7 missile launch, South Korea and the U.S. jointly announced they would begin official discussions on the possible placement of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in South Korea.

That ended more than a year of soul-searching by Seoul over how to deal with the issue amid Washington's desire to deploy the system and China's intense opposition to it. The North's twin provocations of its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and then a missile test a month later gave Seoul justification for the decision.

China has claimed THAAD can be used against it, despite repeated assurances from Washington that the system is aimed only at deterring North Korean threats. Beijing expressed regret after the South and the U.S. announced the decision to hold THAAD talks. This week, China's Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui reiterated opposition to the THAAD deployment.
You could always curb your dog...
Posted by: Steve White || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Pudgy Misses Event Marking Father's Birthday
North Korean leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un missed an event at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on Tuesday to celebrate his late father's birthday.
Indigestion? Gout? Diabetic ketoacidosis?
The official [North] Korean Central News Agency listed the names of party, government and military leaders who paid their respects at the elder Kim's decaying embalmed corpse, but his son's was not among them. The corpulent Kim has previously visited the palace at the stroke of midnight on his father's birthday every year.

"This is very unusual," a Unification Ministry official here said.
If we had a CIA that was at all competent, we'd be spreading rumors about how Nork Generals are moving in Pudgy's absence...
Also absent was Workers Party secretary Choe Ryong-hae, who only recently reappeared after months off the radar. Choe was also the only top official not to attend a banquet hosted by Kim Jong-un on Sunday for the scientists behind the recent rocket launch and a major mass rally on Monday. But Choe appears to be in poor health, so it is uncertain whether he has yet again fallen from favor or was absent for health reasons.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  I hear the generals all think His Rotundity should be executed for being so disrespectful of his elders.
Posted by: gorb || 02/17/2016 1:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Was Dennis Rodman in town?
Posted by: Raj || 02/17/2016 1:17 Comments || Top||

#3  "Well then the event was obviously mis-scheduled. General - break out my best box of 82mm. We shall have...fireworks...for Dear Father's birthday. Ha. Ha Ha. Ha hahahahahahah *cough* *cough* *beeeeeeelch* uhuhum. Yes."
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/17/2016 16:26 Comments || Top||


F-22 Fighter Jets Arriving in Korea
The U.S. Forces Korea are sending four F-22 stealth fighter jets to their air base in Osan, Gyeonggi Province Wednesday, a military source said Tuesday.

The dispatch is part of a buildup of weaponry in response to North Korea's recent nuclear test and rocket launch. It also includes a nuclear-powered submarine, the USS North Carolina, taking part in joint drills and the deployment of another Patriot missile battery.

The fighters are normally based in Okinawa and can reach the Korean Peninsula in just two hours.

The U.S. is also expected to send the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis to participate in the joint exercises next month.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Guess they don't want to run into the new Med MiGs. About as far away as they could get.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/17/2016 0:15 Comments || Top||

#2  What??!?!?!?

No F-35s???
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/17/2016 6:40 Comments || Top||

#3  The F-35s are waiting for the Block 4F software mod. That allows the engines to start...
Posted by: Steve White || 02/17/2016 7:45 Comments || Top||

#4  SPoD, Now that's just cold. ;^)
Posted by: AlanC || 02/17/2016 7:51 Comments || Top||

#5  As cold as the engines?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/17/2016 11:25 Comments || Top||

#6  A-10s as escorts are not available (weapons software is due in upgrade 4G....)
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 02/17/2016 11:30 Comments || Top||

#7  Which upgrade actually delivers fuel to the engines so they can ignite?

(Bio-fuel of course)
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/17/2016 12:11 Comments || Top||

#8  4F

I see what you did there. ;-)
Posted by: gorb || 02/17/2016 12:13 Comments || Top||

#9  The alleged or seeming Chinese counter-response, as yet unconfirmed this AM by the USDOD or other reliable sources ...

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CCTV4: CHINA MILITARY AIRCRAFT FLEW TO INTERCEPT FOREIGN JET [US F-22?] NEAR CHINESE ADIZ [East China Sea].

* RELATED CHINA MILITARY NEWS/ CHINESE-ARMS.COM > REPORT: US F-22 WAS DETECTED + INTERCEPTED BY CHINA NEAR EAST CHINA SEA ADIZ.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/17/2016 22:34 Comments || Top||


South Korea's leader warns of North Korea collapse
[FOXNEWS] South Korea's president warned Tuesday that rival North Korea faces collapse if it doesn't abandon its nuclear bomb program, an unusually strong broadside that will likely infuriate Pyongyang.

President Park Geun-hye, in a nationally televised parliamentary address defending her decision to shut down a jointly run factory park in North Korea, said South Korea will take unspecified "stronger and more effective" measures to make North Korea realize its nuclear ambitions will result only in speeding up its "regime collapse."

Park shut the facility in response to the North's recent long-range rocket test, which Seoul and Washington see as a test of banned ballistic missile technology. North Korea last month also conducted a nuclear test. Both developments put the country further along it its quest for a nuclear armed missile that could reach the U.S. mainland.

Without elaborating, Park said the North has diverted much of the Seoul payments to North Korean workers at the factory park to the Pyongyang leadership, which is in charge of nuclear and missile development. She also said the South has sent more than $3 billion in government and civilian aid to the North since mid-1990s.

Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  SOKOR will also repor be pushing or supporting various measures which will lead to an environment change in NOKOR such that pro-Democratic Regime Change take place in SOKOR.

PUDGY + NOKOR = BABY ASSAD + SYRIA???

Also,

* YAHOO NEWS > TOP SOUTH KOREAN LEADER CALLS FOR NUCLEAR ARMS, for the ROK = SOKOR in order to deter newly Nuke-armed NOKOR.

Open to either return of US-controlled Battlefield or TacNukes to SOKOR, or in alterna that SOKOR dev or acquire its own Nukes.

YUUUP.

FYI PH Senate Majority Leader Juan Ponce ENrile says the PHILIPPINES could had dev its own Nukes under the former MARCOS REGIME, in which case CHINA WOULD'VE LIKELY BEEN LONG-DETERRED FROM DOING WHAT IT IS PRESEN DOING IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA = PH WEST SEA.

THE ABOVE BEING SAID, SOKOR = NOKOR = HAS A STAKE IN MAKING SURE THAT CHINA DOES NOT FORMALLY TAKEOVER OR ANNEX NOKOR FOR ANY REASON, NO MATTER THE MERITS OR CRIMES OF THE KIM DYNASTY-REGIME.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/17/2016 1:54 Comments || Top||

#2  I'd be talking back channel with the Chinese about dividing North Land. The Chinese do have some 'historical' claim to some of it. Actually more so than Taiwan. Throw in getting the American presence down to a large MAG group and you might get some discussion going. Besides you don't want to be stuck with the full reconstruction costs of having to save the place yourself.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/17/2016 9:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Nork escapees face a tough time in ROK; the nork's heads are so backwards. How would the south integrate a people so brainwashed?

The good news is that the south could probably feed them.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/17/2016 11:48 Comments || Top||


Europe
Denmark confiscating migrant valuables brings in 'nothing'
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Denmark's controversial law allowing police to search asylum seekers and confiscate their valuables to help pay for their accommodation has raised no money in its first 11 days, police said on Tuesday.

The new rules, which allow for cash or items without "sentimental value" -- hence no wedding rings -- to be seized if they are worth more than 10,000 kroner (1,340 euros, $1,498), have brought in "nothing" since coming into force on February 5, a police front man told AFP.

Last week 230 people applied for asylum in Denmark, according to the Danish Immigration Service.

"I don't think it has ever been about raising money," said Pernille Skipper, a spokeswoman for the left-wing Red Green Alliance party.

Rather, the "symbolic" move was aimed at "scaring refugees into travelling to other European countries than Denmark," she added.

A front man for the anti-immigration Danish People's Party, Martin Henriksen, said it was "too early to evaluate the law".
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, it's the thought that counts.
Posted by: gorb || 02/17/2016 1:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Billy Preston does the math on this one!
Posted by: Raj || 02/17/2016 1:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Rather, the "symbolic" move was aimed at "scaring refugees into travelling to other European countries than Denmark," she added.

Bingo. It's a practical application of the perverse California incentive to raise taxes high enough to cause business to relocate/setup elsewhere. It works.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/17/2016 9:30 Comments || Top||


Austria to step up border controls with Italy, Slovenia, Hungary
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Austrian government announced Tuesday it would step up border controls at checkpoints along its southern frontier with Italia, Slovenia and Hungary to slow the migrant influx.

"There will be different structural measures from containers to further barriers" similar to the short mesh fence recently set up at Austria's main border crossing with Slovenia at Spielfeld, Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said.

The government also plans to create on Wednesday a daily cap on the number of migrants allowed into the country, she added.

The checkpoints Mikl-Leitner referred to are located in the states of Carinthia, Styria, Burgenland as well as Tyrol, which shares a border with Italia.

Austria has adopted an increasingly hardline stance as Europe struggles to cope with its worst migration crisis since World War II.

The country of nearly nine million people last year received 90,000 asylum claims, one of the bloc's highest rates per capita.

In response to the influx, Vienna already warned last month it would cap this year's number of asylum claims at 37,500 and deport at least 12,500 people.
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Judge orders Apple to help unlock iPhone used by Kalifornia Killers
[WashingtonPost] A federal judge has ordered Apple to help the government unlock the iPhone used by one of the shooters who carried out the Dec. 2 San Bernardino, Calif., terrorist attacks after the government said that the firm failed to provide assistance voluntarily.

Apple has steadfastly maintained that it is unable to unlock its newer iPhones for law enforcement, even when officers obtain a warrant, because they are engineered in such a way that Apple does not hold the decryption key. Only the phone's user ‐ or someone who knew the password ‐ would be able to unlock the phone.
Apple is correct, and the judge is an idiot. Apple can't unlock any phone with iOS8 or later. It's designed to be that way, and Apple doesn't have a back door.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/17/2016 01:13 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Apple doesn't have a back door

ask the Chinese manufacturers or Intel service. I bet they do
Posted by: Frank G || 02/17/2016 8:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Dear Judge - "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." - 13th Amendment.

If the process doesn't exist, then you are doing said act. However, such tyranny from the bench is becoming all too common. Long past the time of term limits for such members of the ruling caste.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/17/2016 9:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Apple has publicly stated they can't do it. Now they have to say it under oath.
Posted by: Iblis || 02/17/2016 10:54 Comments || Top||

#4  There isn't an Apple building within a mile of Ft. Meade?
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/17/2016 11:03 Comments || Top||

#5  They can advertise as the dIrkaphone.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/17/2016 11:20 Comments || Top||

#6  Because it's not secure, like they promised, then drug lords, terrorists, and other criminals will find some non-Apple communications gear. Apple sales will fall, like the Newton.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/17/2016 12:34 Comments || Top||

#7  Brute force attack should succeed, the only question is the real world cost to implement it. Now is the Judge demanding this service for free? Rhetorical question... ;-)
Posted by: magpie || 02/17/2016 13:10 Comments || Top||

#8  Spent 30+ years in the biz and I know that their are some things that are just not reversible in the normal universe.

No matter how many times you crank it in reverse the meat grinder ain't turning the sausage back into a pig.
Posted by: AlanC || 02/17/2016 17:07 Comments || Top||

#9  ^ their = there 8^(
Posted by: AlanC || 02/17/2016 17:08 Comments || Top||


#11  If Apple DID buckle and create a backdoor, I do not trust any government agency to not mishandle and abuse that capability. None.

Anything is possible, even a purportedly impossible to create backdoor. How likely is an entirely different question. So is how costly.

The judge should not be a sitting judge.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 02/17/2016 20:56 Comments || Top||


Ohio diner owned by Arab-Israeli reopens after machete attack
The next time Mr. Wife and I are in Columbus, we will eat there. Such courage should be rewarded.
[IsraelTimes] Defiant Hany Baransi declares: 'We Israelis are used to this... people attacking us and wanting to kill us'

An Ohio restaurant owned by an Arab-Israeli reopened days after four patrons were maimed in a machete attack.

The Nazareth Restaurant and Deli in Columbus reopened Monday, with its display of an Arabic greeting and Israeli flag still prominently positioned at the entrance to the restaurant.

"I am going to get a bigger flag, and I am going to get a Star of David necklace and put it on my chest, and I am going to get a tattoo."
Owner Hany Baransi, an Israeli Christian Arab who moved to the United States from Haifa in 1983, says he has always been outspoken about his Israeli identity and believes that the attack by a machete-wielding,'Allahu Akbar'-yelling man was no coincidence.

Police identified the assailant as Mohammed Bary and said he had come to the restaurant earlier and asked a worker where the owner was from originally. Bary was shot and killed by police about two miles from the restaurant after lunging at officers with the machete and a knife.

The Tower reported that when asked whether he would consider removing the Israeli flag as a precaution, Barsani swiftly rejected the idea. "Actually I have another flag, and I am going to get a bigger flag, and I am going to get a Star of David necklace and put it on my chest, and I am going to get a tattoo," he declared.

"I come from the Middle East," Baransi said. "I come from Israel, and this has been a big thing here. You know, we are Israelis, used to this in our lives, people attacking us and wanting to kill us."

The FBI is reportedly involved in the investigation to help determine a motive for the attack and whether it was terror-related.

The injured patrons are expected to recover.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wonder if police have figured out the perp's motive yet . . . .
Posted by: gorb || 02/17/2016 1:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Not yet Gorb. Officially, it still appears 'random' even though the FBI was called in.

Top men. We have top men on the case.

In happier news, there was a huge turnout at the restaurant Monday and Tuesday. So much so they ran out of food.

No worries - we will go back.
Posted by: GORT || 02/17/2016 7:21 Comments || Top||

#3  I appreciate that an Arab-Israeli identifies as an Israeli when times get tough...
Posted by: Steve White || 02/17/2016 7:48 Comments || Top||

#4  Well hell yeah Baransi!

Sounds like the customers did well. Sitting there, eating lunch, trying to figure the rest of the day, and effn' hackbar comes in...what do you do?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/17/2016 13:06 Comments || Top||

#5  .what do you do?

Draw...aim center mass...fire for effect.
Posted by: AlanC || 02/17/2016 17:10 Comments || Top||

#6  Awesome!
Posted by: newc || 02/17/2016 17:25 Comments || Top||

#7  Nice AlanC

"What do you expect us to use man, harsh language?"
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/17/2016 18:37 Comments || Top||

#8  He's an Arab Christian, Steve.

If he hadn't been living in Israel before he came here, he'd likely be dead. Looks like the attacker was trying to remedy that. :-(
Posted by: Barbara || 02/17/2016 21:24 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
British MP shows solidarity with India, says Pak's claims on so called 'Azad Kashmir' false
[Daily Excelsior] Expressing total solidarity with India which is fighting cross border terrorism for decades together, Robert John Blackman, Member of Parliament (MP) of United Kingdom from Harrow East area today said that Britannia stands shoulder to shoulder with India to face the challenge of terrorism. Robert, better known as Bob Blackman, said Jammu and Kashmire is integral part of India and liberation of Pakistain Indian Kashmiree (PoK) is the issue which has to be solved.

Addressing "Meet the Press" organized by Press Club of Jammu here this evening, Bob Blackman said that accession of Kashmire with India was final because "Instrument of Accession" was signed by none less than the then ruler of Jammu and Kashmire on behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmire. He lambasted those who are raising questions about accession of J&K with Indian Union.

Cautioning Indian Government against malicious campaign launched by some Pak groups in Britannia, Bob said that Pak diaspora has successfully launched a vicious campaign against India in Britannia as far as Kashmire is concerned. He said that Pak diaspora has been reflecting propagandist picture on Kashmire in UK and real picture was never exhibited before the people.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Geelani sent to police custody
[Daily Excelsior] Former Delhi University lecturer SAR Geelani, placed in durance vile
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
for sedition in connection with an event at the Press Club of India here, was today remanded to two-day police custody by a Delhi court.

Geelani was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Harvinder Singh, where the police sought his custodial interrogation for two days to identify those involved in raising anti-India slogans.

"Police investigation is integral part of investigation and the accused has said that he can identify those who raised anti-India slogans... Since he (Geelani) was the convener of the meeting, therefore, the case of grant of police custody is made out," the court said.

The police told the court that an event was held on February 10 in which banners were placed showing Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat as deaders and anti-national slogans along with slogans demanding independence for Kashmire were raised.

It also said the hall in the club was booked by Geelani through one person Ali Javed by using his credit card and another person Mudassar was also involved.

The police told the court that it has also accessed a CCTV footage in which some unidentified persons were seen shouting slogans and Geelani was required for the purpose of their identification.

Advocate Satish Tamta, appearing for Geelani, opposed the police custody saying he was only the convenor and the event was open for all.

"If people have come and shouted slogans, I am not responsible. I cannot get anyone arrested as I don't recognise anybody. It was an open entry and not restricted by any invitation card. Whatever I know I have told them already since I was in jug for past one day. Besides this, every other information is available in public domain. There is no need for my custody," Tamta said.

Geelani's police custody comes amid the raging row over the arrest of JNU Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar over sedition charges in connection with an event at the varsity campus against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on February 9.

Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


International-UN-NGOs
OPEC powers agree to oil output freeze
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Top oil officials from 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...
, Russia and several key OPEC members agreed on Tuesday to freeze oil output productions after a meeting in Doha to tackle a devastating supply glut.

The talks in the 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...
i capital Doha, which had been kept under wraps until recent days, involve powerful Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak, sources said, two figures who must reach an accord for any coordinated global action to hold any hope of success.

They were joined by Venezuela's Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino, who has in recent weeks been visiting major oil producers to rally support for the idea of "freezing" production at current levels in an effort to halt a downward spiral in prices, sources have said.

Qatar, which holds the rotating presidency of OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) this year, was also present as it played an important role in coordinating consultations among members and suggestions for extraordinary meetings of the group.

The meeting came after more than 18 months of declining oil prices, knocking prices below $30 a barrel for the first time in over a decade. The slump has been longer and deeper than anyone predicted, and the mood may be shifting among producers which until now have been determined to defend market share rather then prices.
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...There is a catch not mentioned in this article that's shown up in others - they're only freezing production if all the other OPEC members do too.

Not happenin'.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 02/17/2016 4:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Such honorable people. I'm sure they'll all go along. No cheating. Nope.

[Do I need to put a /sarc on that?]
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/17/2016 9:31 Comments || Top||

#3  I am reminded of an old joke. One day, the various parts of the body debated which was the most important. The brain stated that obviously it was the most important because it directed the body's actions. The heart said that it was most important because without it the body would be t*ts up in less than three minutes. The legs said that they were most important because it got the body around. Finally, the as*hole spoke up and in a small voice said that it was the most important.

All the other parts of the body laughed. The a*shole got mad and closed up. Soon the brain got confused, the heart began to palpitate and the legs to wobble. Finally all the other body parts agreed that the as*hole was the most important.

This goes to show that to lead an organization like OPEC you don't have to be the smartest, the most caring, or even the fastest. You just have to be an as*hole.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/17/2016 10:58 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Warnings about politicized ISIS intel went all the way to ODNI
[Hot Air] Until now, the focus of the probe into politically skewed intel analyses pertaining to ISIS has been on CENTCOM, the subject of a Defense Department Inspector General investigation. The probe has already revealed that analysts got rebuked for submitting pessimistic reports, e-mailed to "cut it out," in order to support the Obama administration's rosy projections about the fight against the terrorist quasi-state. Now, however, the Daily Beast's Shane Harris and Nancy Youssef report that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence heard from analysts complaining about political pressure on their work and did nothing about it:

The complaints, lodged by analysts at U.S. Central Command in 2015, are separate from allegations that analysts made to the Defense Department inspector general, who is now investigating "whether there was any falsification, distortion, delay, suppression, or improper modification of intelligence information" by the senior officials that run CENTCOM's intelligence group.

This second set of accusations, which have not been previously reported, were made to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). They show that the officials charged with overseeing all U.S. intelligence activities were aware, through their own channels, of potential problems with the integrity of information on ISIS, some of which made its way to President Obama.

The analysts have said that they believe their reports were altered for political reasons, namely to adhere to Obama administration officials' public statements that the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS is making progress and has put a dent in the group's financing and operations.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/17/2016 02:06 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  GULP
Posted by: newc || 02/17/2016 3:29 Comments || Top||

#2  In this administration, only the whistle blowers go to jail.
Posted by: jvalentour || 02/17/2016 8:19 Comments || Top||

#3  improper modification of intelligence information" by the senior officials that run CENTCOM's intelligence group.

Years ago there were SES level liaison reps (1 each) from DIA and CIA on the staff at CENTCOM. I'm pretty sure the CENTCOM G2 didn't have any input to their report cards. Probably wouldn't be too difficult to shape the tenor of the G2's collection management effort....if necessary.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/17/2016 8:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Well, Clapper wouldn't lie again, would he?
Posted by: Frank G || 02/17/2016 8:46 Comments || Top||

#5  Strange how there haven't been any email issues reported.
Posted by: gorb || 02/17/2016 12:08 Comments || Top||

#6  ODNI doesn't have any line authority.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/17/2016 13:31 Comments || Top||

#7  #1, iff you're thinking GLUP as in the Cold War-era Soviet/USSR GLUP agency, you could be right.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/17/2016 22:24 Comments || Top||


Israel seeks government change in Syria to undermine resistance: Nasrallah
"Pay attention to meeeee!"
[Iran Press TV] Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah, says Israel seeks government change in Syria in order to undermine the resistance front against the Zionist regime.

Israel prefers the Daesh [Islamic State] 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...
Death Eaters and al-Qaeda snuffies to the Syrian government, Nasrallah said in a televised address to the Lebanese nation on Tuesday, the Martyr Leaders Day.

He said the government of the Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now...
poses a danger to the interests of the Israeli regime.

Israel agrees with 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...
and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
that any solution to the crisis in Syria must not prolong the existence of the government in Damascus, Nasrallah said.

He added that Israel prefers the partition of Syria to a political settlement of the crisis in the Arab country.

Nasrallah rejected claims that the Syrian government will finally bow to pressures for the disintegration of the Arab country, saying Syrian forces are present everywhere across Syria, meaning that the government will not allow such partitioning and the "national will" is clearly against that.
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Haqqani Network


Iran claims Saudi embassy attackers 'on trial'
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani announced that "those who stormed the Saudi Embassy have been brought to justice and are awaiting trial."

The Iranian state news agency quoted Shamkhani as having told a presser "the government is following the issue of the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran", adding that the attackers had been identified.

The statement went on to say that the case had been referred to the courts and that their trial would follow.

Shamkhani did not disclose the identity of those involved in the embassy attack.

But Iranian media, state and religious sources previously revealed the identity of the criminal mastermind behind the attack as a man said to be close to the regime named as "Hassan Kurd Meehan."

Meehan was said to have previously been fighting in the ranks of the Revolutionary Guards in Syria.

Iran has previously been criticized for its failure to provide adequate security for the embassies on its territories. The recent attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and the attack on the Saudi consulate in Mashhad, were just the most recent cases.

Kurd Meehan, who is said to have been tossed in the slammer
I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece!
by the Iranian authorities on charges of plotting the attack, belongs to the "Ansar of Hezbollah" militia in the city of Karaj, southwest of Tehran. The group is said to be close to the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

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 embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad were attacked by Iranian protesters in the early hours of Sunday, Jan. 3, following the execution of a Saudi Shiite preacher along with 46 others.
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Iran sticking to nuclear deal so far, says U.S.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Washington's U.N. ambassador Samantha Power said Monday that compliance with the Iran nuclear deal was so far "strong", but warned Tehran was still helping fuel conflict and remained a threat.

"What this deal does if implemented - and so far the implementation has been strong but it's very early days - is it cuts off the pathways to a nuclear weapon and it gives us much more visibility into Iran's program than we had before," Power told students during a visit to Israel and the Paleostinian territories.

She added later that "Iran of course is still a threat. Iran is supporting terrorism. Iran is supporting parties to conflict like the Assad regime (in Syria)".
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  No mushroom cloud yet, so everything's fine.
Posted by: gorb || 02/17/2016 1:04 Comments || Top||

#2  It's been what, 3 or 4 weeks?
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/17/2016 19:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Its good that IRAN is sticking to the P5+1 Nuke Deal, given that ...

* LUCIANNE > [Washington Free Beacon] REPORT: US CANNOT PROTECT HOMELAND FROM IRANIAN, NORTH KOREAN MISSLE STRIKE.

IMO moreso iff ...

* BLOOMBERG: GASOLINE IS TRADING AS IFF THE US IS NEARING RECESSION, GOLDMAN SAYS [Goldman-Sachs Group].

US-Global Recession andor Depression = Anti-US US POTUS Obama has another PCorrect-Deniable reason to violate another "red line" = IRAN, RUSSIA, + CHINA, OTHER? WIN.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/17/2016 22:43 Comments || Top||


Defiant Iran ignores UN ban, hits up Putin for high-tech tanks, fighter jets
[FOXNEWS] Iran's defense minister met Tuesday in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
about delivery of the advanced S-300 air defense system -- and the purchase of powerful offensive weapons, including Russia's most sophisticated tank and jet fighters.

Russian media and two intelligence officials speaking to Fox News confirm the meeting between Putin and Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan, believed to be the architect of the 1983 terror bombing that killed 220 U.S. Marines and 21 other service members in Beirut, Leb.

A United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
resolution passed on July 20, days after the landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, including the United States, forbids Iran from making conventional arms sales for the next five years.

While a defensive "ground-to-air" weapons system such as the S-300 is exempt from U.N. Resolution 2231, the ban explicitly forbids "battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, [and] warships..." from being purchased by Iran without prior approval from the U.N.

Iran is looking to buy Russia's most capable tank, the T-90, as well as modern Su-30 Flanker fighter jets, Dehqan has said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  I thought they've decided to build their own tank?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/17/2016 6:57 Comments || Top||

#2  So why have a UN? Thank you, and return to Geneva.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/17/2016 9:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Get some of those tanks Hamas is making. Demand new radial tires
Posted by: Frank G || 02/17/2016 9:32 Comments || Top||

#4  As I've said times before, "US-style", "US-par", OWG Co-Superpower IRAN can't be such unless it has a Modern Econ + Military-Industrial Complex to support it.

IRAN = POST-1991/IMPLOSION USSR = IT NEEDS EVERYTHING FROM ANYONE + EVERYONE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/17/2016 19:56 Comments || Top||


Turkey calls on US, allies to launch ground operation in Syria
[FOXNEWS] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
called Tuesday on the United States and its allies to take part in a joint ground operation in Syria, saying it is "impossible to stop this war" without a greater effort against a Moscow-backed Syrian government offensive.

"We want a ground operation. If there is a consensus, Turkey will take part," a Turkish official, who declined to be named in order to speak more freely, told news hounds in Istanbul, according to Rooters. "Without a ground operation it is impossible to stop this war." There was no immediate U.S. response.

A Syrian government offensive in recent weeks, assisted by Iranian-backed Shiite militias and Russian Arclight airstrikes, has brought Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
's forces within 15 miles of Turkey.

Syrian Kurdish fighters, regarded by Turkey as hostile bully boys, also have capitalized on the chaos by capturing positions held by Syrian rebel fighters and bolstering their presence along the border.

"Turkey is not going to have a unilateral ground operation ... We are discussing this with allies," the official said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How about they start ground ops in Turkey?

Maybe start in Istanbul and work their way to Iraq & Syria.

That do it for you Yippee?
Posted by: AlanC || 02/17/2016 7:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Stuff it Turkey.

How about a navel blockade from Athens to Zonguldak.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/17/2016 12:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Because they don't want to go against the Soviets alone?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/17/2016 16:39 Comments || Top||


Assad casts doubt on Syria ceasefire prospects
[CNN] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Trampler of Homs...
has cast doubt on the prospects of a proposed ceasefire in his country's grinding civil war.

He told a group in Damascus on Monday that "no one" was capable of bringing about the necessary circumstances for a planned truce to take effect later this week.

World powers agreed Friday in Munich, Germany, to seek a nationwide "cessation of hostilities" in Syria to begin in a week's time, although it would not apply to the battle against terrorist groups ISIS and al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front.

But in his comments on the proposal, Assad seemed skeptical about whether a halt in the conflict was possible.
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


U.N. envoy wins Syria government green light for aid convoys: U.N.
[REUTERS] The Syrian government has approved access to seven besieged areas and U.N. convoys are expected to set off in days, the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
said on Tuesday after crisis talks in Damascus.

U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, who won the green light at talks with Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, said the world body would test the government commitment to allow access on Wednesday but gave no details.

Their meeting in Damascus came at a time when government forces have been advancing rapidly with the aid of Russian air strikes, and just days before an internationally agreed pause in fighting is due to take effect.

De Mistura said they had discussed the issue of humanitarian access to areas besieged by all sides in the five-year war.

"It is clear it is the duty of the government of Syria to want to reach every Syrian person wherever they are and allow the U.N. to bring humanitarian aid," de Mistura said in a statement. "Tomorrow we test this."

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that Syria had approved access to Deir al-Zor; Foua and Kafraya in Idlib; and Madaya, Zabadani, Kafr Batna and Mouadamiya al-Sham in rural Damascus.
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Saudi, Turkey boots in Syria may trigger regional war: Ex-soviet states
[Iran Press TV] A security alliance of post-soviet states says plans by The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
and 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...
to deploy ground troops into Syria could escalate tensions in the conflict-ridden Arab country and result in direct military festivities between countries in the Middle East.

Nikolay Bordyuzha, the secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), made the warning in a statement released on Tuesday.

"Mass shelling of the Syrian territory by Turkey, Ankara's and Riyadh's plans to start ground operations in Syria may upgrade the Syrian crisis to a new, dangerous level -- a direct military confrontation between countries in the region," Bordyuzha stated.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia say they are waiting for a US nod after announcing their bid for ground operations inside Syria.

Although swiftly welcomed by the United States, the initiative attracted heavy criticism from Damascus, with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem saying "coffins" await any aggressor to the country "whether they be Saudis or Turks."
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  caramel popcorn, please.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/17/2016 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Jalapeno popcorn.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/17/2016 6:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Please remove all American hostages personnel from Turkey asap.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/17/2016 9:23 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
ISIS, facing cash shortage, cuts back on perks and salaries
I thought we had this story a month or two ago? Was it bylined D.J. Wu?
[FOXNEWS] Faced with a cash shortage in its so-called caliphate, 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....
group has slashed salaries across the region, asked Raqqa residents to pay utility bills in black market American dollars, and is now releasing detainees for a price of $500 a person.

The forces of Evil who once bragged about minting their own currency are having a hard time meeting expenses, thanks to coalition Arclight airstrikes and other measures that have eroded millions from their finances since last fall. Having built up loyalty among bandidos bully boyz with good salaries and honeymoon and baby bonuses, the group has stopped providing even the smaller perks: free energy drinks and Snickers bars.

Necessities are dwindling in its urban centers, leading to shortages and widespread inflation, according to exiles and those still suffering under its rule. Interviews gathered over several weeks included three exiles with networks of family and acquaintances still in the group's stronghold in Raqqa, residents in djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, and analysts who say ISIS is turning to alternative funding streams, including in Libya.

In Raqqa, the group's stronghold in Syria, salaries have been halved since December, electricity is rationed, and prices for basics are spiraling out of reach, according people exiled from the city.

"Not just the hard boys. Any civil servant, from the courts to the schools, they cut their salary by 50 percent," said a Raqqa activist now living in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, who remains in close contact with his native city. But that apparently wasn't enough close the gap for a group that needs money to replace weapons lost in Arclight airstrikes and battles, and pays its fighters first and foremost. Those two expenses account for two-thirds of its budget, according to an estimate by Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, a researcher with the Middle East Forum who sources Islamic State documents.
Posted by: Fred || 02/17/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  The most important question for investors - are they cutting their dividend cheques?
Posted by: Raj || 02/17/2016 1:24 Comments || Top||

#2  The Horror, the unmitigated Horrible Horror, the ISIS/ISIL Boyz say, of NOT HAVING ANY MORE
"SNICKERS" CANDY BARS!

D *** NG IT, MEN, THIS IS WHY GOD INVENTED "BABY RUTH"!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/17/2016 22:27 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
34[untagged]
9Islamic State
5Commies
4Govt of Syria
3Govt of Iran
3Houthis
2Taliban
2Govt of Iraq
1Govt of Pakistain Proxies
1Govt of Pakistan
1Boko Haram
1Hamas
1Haqqani Network
1Arab Spring
1al-Shabaab
1Palestinian Authority
1al-Nusra

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Tue 2016-02-16
  British Sniper Decapitates ISIS Executioner
Mon 2016-02-15
  Taliban confirm losing 13 fighters in Paktika drone strikes
Sun 2016-02-14
  Boko Haram kills at least 30 people in northeastern Nigeria
Sat 2016-02-13
  Turkish artillery hammers airfield near Aleppo
Fri 2016-02-12
  Syrian rebels launch offensive on pro Syrian troops in Latakia
Thu 2016-02-11
  Female Suicide Bombers Kill 58 in Nigeria
Wed 2016-02-10
  New Hampshire primary: Trump, Sanders win
Tue 2016-02-09
  Russian police arrest 7 Islamic State militants
Mon 2016-02-08
  ISIS executes 300+ in Mosul
Sun 2016-02-07
  North Korea fires long-range rocket despite warnings
Sat 2016-02-06
  Yemeni Army's Tochka Strikes Saudi-US Aggression Camp in Marib, Kills 104
Fri 2016-02-05
  6 al Qaeda operatives die in Yemen drone strike
Thu 2016-02-04
  Head of AQAP killed in Yemen drone strikes: residents
Wed 2016-02-03
  Heavy Benghazi fighting as IS counterattacks

Better than the average link...



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