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Female Suicide Bombers Kill 58 in Nigeria
Today's Headlines
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
An MRE pizza
h/t Donald Sensing
An Army laboratory has figured out how to make ready-to-eat pizza that lasts for three years, and perhaps most surprisingly, it actually tastes good.

"It's a fully assembled and baked piece of pizza in one package," said Lauren Oleksyk, a food technologist at the US Army's Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center, a lab that helps create the military's meals-ready-to-eat (MRE) rations.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2016 17:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The perfect food
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2016 18:14 Comments || Top||

#2  They've been working on this for a few years, good to see it happen.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2016 18:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Some of the MREs are really good. Others....

Pizza would be a nice one to have.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/11/2016 20:04 Comments || Top||


Today's Idiot
As excuses go, this one is pretty fishy.

A Wisconsin man convicted on Monday for his 10th Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated charge (OWI) blamed his high BAC on beer-battered fish, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

John Przybyla, 76, was arrested in October 2014, after a deputy noticed his truck cross the center line of a state highway.
He must have been intoxicated. He couldn't even spell his name correctly!
The deputy said Przbyla's breath smelled like alcohol and administered a field sobriety test that the suspect failed, according to local news station WISC.

Przybyla denied drinking alcohol, but said he had eaten beer-battered fish earlier in the evening. He made the same statements in court on Monday.

If true, there would have to be a lot of beer in that batter.

Police said Przybyla's blood-alcohol level was .062, according to the Associated Press.

That's below the state's normal legal limit of .08, but the legal limit for Wisconsin residents with three or more drunken driving convictions is only .02 percent.

As novel as the beer-battered fish defense may be, jurors did not fall for it hook, line or sinker.

Przybyla was found guilty of operating while intoxicated, 10th offense; operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration; and operating while revoked, according to WILX.com.

No sentencing date has been set, but Przybyla could face up to 12.5 years in prison.
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 17:09 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Goes in the "Nice Try" category.
Posted by: Iblis || 02/11/2016 19:06 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Senate passes bill 96-0 to hit North Korea with harsher sanctions
Hopefully we can come up with something better than we did for Iran.
Seeking to derail North Korea's drive for nuclear weapons, Republican and Democratic senators set aside their partisan differences Wednesday to unanimously pass legislation aimed at starving Pyongyang of the money it needs to build an atomic arsenal.

The Senate approved the sanctions bill 96-0 after lawmakers repeatedly denounced Pyongyang for flouting international law by pursuing nuclear weapons.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said for too long North Korea has been dismissed as a strange country run by irrational leaders. "It's time to take North Koreaseriously," Menendez said.

The Senate bill, authored by Menendez and Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., targets North Korea's ability to finance the development of miniaturized nuclear warheads and the long-range missiles required to deliver them. The legislation also authorizes $50 million over the next five years to transmit radio broadcasts into North Korea, purchase communications equipment and support humanitarian assistance programs.

The legislation comes in the wake of Pyongyang's recent satellite launch and technical advances that U.S. intelligence agencies said the reclusive Asian nation is making in its nuclear weapons program.

Gardner said the Obama administration's policy of "strategic patience" with North Korea has failed. "The situation in the Korea peninsula is at its most unstable point since the armistice," said Gardner, referring to the 1953 agreement to end the Korean War.

The House overwhelmingly approved North Korean sanctions legislation last month. While there are differences in the two bills, Sen. Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he does not expect any difficulty in producing a final measure.

The House sent the Senate a bill that was very strong and "we've been able to improve it," said Corker, a Tennessee Republican. "I think they'll be happy with those improvements."

GOP senators and presidential candidates Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida rushed back from the campaign to vote, but one presidential hopeful didn't make it. Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont missed the vote. He issued a statement expressing his support for the legislation.

Also missing the vote were Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

North Korea on Sunday launched a long-range rocket carrying an Earth observation satellite into space. The launch, which came about a month after the country's fourth nuclear test, was quickly condemned by world leaders as a potential threat to regional and global security.

Washington, Seoul and others consider the launch a banned test of missile technology. That assessment is based on Pyongyang's efforts to manufacture nuclear-tipped missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland; the technology used to launch a rocket carrying a satellite into space can be applied to fire a long-range missile.

In the annual assessment of global threats delivered to Congress on Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper said North Korea has expanded a uranium enrichment facility and restarted a plutonium reactor that could start recovering material for nuclear weapons in weeks or months.

Both findings will deepen concern that North Korea is not only making technical advances in its nuclear weapons program, but is working to expand what is thought to be a small nuclear arsenal. U.S.-based experts have estimated that North Korea may have about 10 bombs, but that could grow to between 20 and 100 by 2020.

Clapper said Pyongyang has not flight-tested a long-range, nuclear-armed missile but is committed to its development.

North Korea already faces wide-ranging sanctions from the United States and under existing U.N. resolutions is prohibited from trading in weapons and importing luxury goods.

The new legislation seeks additional sanctions -- both mandatory and at the discretion of the president -- against the government of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and those who assist it.

It would require the investigation and punishment of those who knowingly import into North Korea any goods or technology related to weapons of mass destruction; those who engage in human rights abuses, money laundering and counterfeiting that supports the Kim regime; and those who engage in "cyber-terrorism."

The bill also bans foreign assistance to any country that provides lethal military equipment to North Korea, and targets Pyongyang's trade in key industrial commodities.

The White House director for Asian affairs, Daniel Kritenbrink, told reporters Wednesday that discussions are continuing at the U.N. Security Council to impose new sanctions on North Korea, and the U.S. is considering "other unilateral measures." He did not elaborate on what those measures might be.

The principal action the Obama administration has taken to date in response to the nuclear and rocket tests has been to start discussions with close ally SouthKorea on deploying a new missile defense system.
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 16:48 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
This one graphic is all you need to see to realize North Korea is a real threat to the US
Graphic at link.
Over the weekend, North Korea earned further worldwide scorn after it tested a highly technical long-range rocket system.

Pyongyang claimed that the test was part of a peaceful and benign space program.
So peaceful they need to hide it from everyone else. Or maybe their rockets just prefer shade to sunlight, ignore the fact that the Norks have been pushed to the "brink of war" by the resulting sanction.
However, the rogue regimes' latest launch is almost assuredly a cover for testing a ballistic and nuclear weapons program.
Nothing gets past these guys.
Gordon Chang, writing for The Daily Beast, notes that the satellite system that North Korea claims to have launched over the weekend would weigh essentially as much as a nuclear warhead. This satellite launch could thus dovetail with Pyongyang's claimed successful testing and detonation of a miniaturized hydrogen bomb.
At least that's the intent, if that means anything to the political class.
Although there is still no indication that North Korea would be able to develop missile and nuclear warheads en masse, let alone successfully deploy them beyond tests, this latest rocket launch is alarming.
Don't forget to include Nork's partners, Iran and Syria.
According to The Heritage Foundation, North Korea's new Taepodong 3 missile has an estimated range of 13,000 kilometers. This would place the entire continental US within range of the missile. Assuming that Pyongyang would be able to attack a warhead to a Taepodong missile and manage to launch it at the US, the missiles could be capable of delivering major damage to the country.
Oh my. The change from 10k to 13k is huge. Oh, and by the way, it also happens to magically encompass Washington, DC.
"If its warhead is nuclear and explodes high above the American homeland, an electromagnetic pulse could disable electronics across vast swatches of the country," Chang writes.

In October, Admiral Bill Gortney, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also assessed that North Korea has "the capability to reach the [US] homeland with a nuclear weapon from a rocket," The Guardian reported.

Gortney also warned in an April 2015 news conference that he was confident that, according to a Pentagon assessment, Pyongyang would be able to place miniaturized nuclear warheads on its KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missile.

However, Gortney did qualify this assessment.

"Should one get airborne and come at us, I'm confident we would be able to knock it down," he told reporters.
As confident as you are that by the laws of probability alone that you won't be within a few miles of one of the blast zones, I'm sure.
In the face of such a challenge, the US has agreed to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system to South Korea.
I feel so much better . . . .
The missile system is able to knock enemy missiles out of the sky, hopefully limiting the utility of any long-range missiles in North Korea's arsenal.
Hopefully it will work better than the F-35.
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 15:56 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Kill them on the launch pad. These aren't silo based solid-fueled missiles. They are RS-7 on steroids?
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2016 18:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Nicaragua's probably freaked out now that they are in range.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/11/2016 18:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Not a worry for the current empty suit. Maybe an issue for the next POTUS.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/11/2016 18:49 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Netanyahu Ally Says Palestinian Statehood Doesn't Exist As Arabs Have No Letter 'P'
An Israeli politician and ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu caused a stir in the country's parliament on Wednesday when she said that there is no such thing as a Palestinian people because there is no letter "P" in the Arabic language.
That's a stufid reason.
Speaking in an Israeli parliament (Knesset) debate on the two-state solution, Anat Berko, a member of Netanyahu's Likud party, said that the word "Palestine" was not a real word and was borrowed from the Romans who named the area of the Middle East Palestina.

"I want to go back to history, what is our place here, about Jerusalem, about Palestine, when like we said, Arabic doesn't even have 'P', so this loan-word also merits scrutiny," she said.

"But there is a Palestinian Authority next to us; we don't deny it," she added.

The word "Palestine" is pronounced "Falastin" in Arabic, the same as in Hebrew. She made her point by saying: "There is no puh sound!"

Berko's comments were met with ridicule from fellow lawmakers, specifically those from the left-wing Meretz party and the Arab Joint List.

"What? Did everyone hear this? Are you an idiot?" Meretz politician Tamar Zandberg shouted out, according to Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz. Joint List politician Osama Sa'adi left the debate in protest at Berko's comments.

She responded to Zandberg: "These are the facts. I'll send it to you, everything's alright." Berko is a professor of criminology with an expertise in extremism. She was selected by Netanyahu to run as a candidate in the 2015 general election, entering the Israeli parliament after Netanyahu's Likud party secured victory to lead a minority coalition.

While the absence of the letter "P" in the Arabic alphabet is used by some in Israeli society to delegitimize Palestinian aspirations for their own state, it is not viewed as a serious point in the debate over Palestinian and Israeli territory by the Israeli media.
And if that doesn't work, maybe there should be a DNA workup on the "Palestinians."
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 15:50 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is there a letter for 'asshat' in the Arabic alphabet?
Posted by: SteveS || 02/11/2016 17:03 Comments || Top||

#2  fallacystan.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2016 17:16 Comments || Top||

#3  So after too much beer they have to "ee"?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2016 18:16 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
North Korea says Kaesong shutdown leading to 'brink of war'
But a declared test of an H-bomb is just fine. I get it!
In response to Seoul's shutdown of a jointly operated factory park, Pyongyang has frozen all South Korea assets.

North Korea said Seoul's decision to shut down the Kaesong Industrial Complex was driving the two Koreas to the "brink of war" as Pyongyang expelled the last remaining South Koreans at the jointly operated factory park.

The tough North Korea response to a difficult South Korea decision to close the last inter-Korea channel of exchange with Pyongyang was accompanied by the shutdown of two North-South communications hotlines, The Guardian reported.

A cross-border highway that has linked North and South since 2004 has also been closed, and the North's military is to retain control of the road, The New York Times reported.

North Korea accused the South of belligerence and said Seoul's action is "a declaration of an end to the last lifeline of the North-South relations" and "driving the situation in the Korean peninsula to the brink of a war."

The decision to suspend operations at the complex, where South Korean manufacturing know-how was used to employ North Korean labor, was not welcomed among South Korean Kaesong entrepreneurs, NK News reported.

North Korea had in retaliation frozen all South Korea assets at the factories, including finished products that expelled South Koreans were not allowed to take home.

"The most precious goal of my life, which I've devoted myself to for the most valuable time of my life, is ruined," said one unidentified South Korean businessman, adding, "I am very shocked and desperate. I am so enraged, it feels like my head is being stoned."
Good luck catching that wild goose, bub. Many have tried.
The frozen assets include $852 million of South Korean investments into factories and facilities such as roads. According to Seoul data, more than $515 million worth of textiles, electronic parts and other goods were produced in 2015.

Seoul's Unification Ministry said in a statement issued Thursday the government is to activate a grace period for loan repayment and protect business losses with support from a state-managed emergency management stability fund.

But Kaesong Industrial Complex Business Association Chairman Jeong Ki-seop said the government decision to "unilaterally" shut down Kaesong was "not lawful," and more needs to be done to compensate business losses, South Korean news network YTN reported.
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 15:33 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No mention of the NORK Chamber of Commitment to End Capitalism and Rake In Cash. Also no Counter-Rotarians.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2016 18:42 Comments || Top||


Europe
Christians, Gays, Women Fleeing Asylum Centres Due To Persecution By Muslim Men
Christians, homosexuals and women are fleeing asylum centres in Germany in ever growing numbers due to acts of violence, intolerance and crime perpetrated by Muslim men.
Observe what happens even before they have the upper hand?
According to German newspaper Die Welt, the violence toward ethnic minorities, religious minorities and women continues to skyrocket across German asylum centres. Muslim men tear up Bibles and assault Christians, sexually abuse women and children, and beat up homosexuals. The news has led to calls from human rights campaigners to say enough is enough.
Yeah. Enough. Now just send them home. Right? Well, maybe just the problematic ones. Yeah, that's the ticket! This way we can still maintain our illusion that liberalism works.
In Stuttgart a case of abuse toward an Assyrian Christian by a Muslim roommate led to a petition for separate housing that was signed by over 17,000 people online. The petition, organised by the Central Oriental Christians, asked the City of Stuttgart to, "please accommodate the displaced Christians in Stuttgart-Neugereut and keep them from further distress and persecution to which they are exposed in a decentralised accommodation."

The matter was brought to the city and a separate asylum centre for 30 Christians was approved by the council. Spokesman for Stuttgart Sven Matis told the paper that after speaking to the district assistant they would be able to approve accommodation for the 30 Christians in Neugereut by the end of April.

Martin Lessenthin, CEO of the International Society for Human Rights also commented on the systematic persecutions of Christians all across German asylum homes. He said it was common to see both Christians and Yazidis subject to torment and beatings and while it is not desirable to accommodate migrants separately, it may be inevitable for the safety of the minorities.

Separation of migrants has been a policy when it comes to extremely vulnerable minorities. Yazidi girls who were used as sex slaves by the Islamic State are housed in secret locations in Germany so as not to attract unwanted attention from migrants sympathetic to the Islamic State or Muslims who view them as nothing more than sexual objects. A purported 1,100 of these women live in various special shelters across Germany.

One victim of sexual abuse is said to have been only eight years old at the time of her abuse by ISIS. Another girl had to be treated by specialist burn victim doctors because the constant sexual torment drove her to try and light herself on fire in a failed attempt at suicide.
Hey, one more year and she's of age. What's the big deal?
In Freibeurg, some 200 women live in secret. The head of the Baden-Wurttemberg state chancellery Klaus-Peter Murawski warns that ISIS militants may be actively monitoring the project in hopes of getting revenge against the women. This warning was proven accurate when an ISIS commander was found at an asylum home earlier this week.

Breitbart London has reported on migrant violence within asylum homes with cases of Christians, homosexuals and others being beaten in asylum centres across Germany, reports of asylum centres as breeding grounds for extremism, and even young children being brutally raped by fellow migrants.

In today's Guardian newspaper, columnist Owen Jones blames the "far right" for instability across Europe, lumping thousands of criminal migrants sparking a crime wave across the continent with Jews who fled Nazi Germany. He writes: "And who is waiting, preparing and consolidating? Europe's far right, already feeding off the despair of economic crisis and a backlash against refugees fleeing violence from the Middle East. Where once the principal target was Jews, now it's Muslim".
Thereby laying the groundwork for future deniers.
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 15:15 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US says precise location of Iran's enriched uranium unknown
A State Department official says the U.S. does not know the precise location of tons of low-enriched uranium shipped out of Iran on a Russian vessel under the landmark nuclear agreement.

Testifying Thursday, Ambassador Stephen Mull tells the House Foreign Affairs Committee the stockpile is a Russian custody issue.

Critics of the nuclear deal seized on the shipment's status to show the agreement's flaws. New Jersey GOP congressman Chris Smith says it's "outrageous and unbelievable" that Russia is being trusted to be the repository for such sensitive material. Russia is a close ally of Iran.

The low-enriched uranium is suitable mainly for generating nuclear power and needs substantial further enrichment for use in the core of a nuclear warhead.
Pay no attention to the fact that final enrichment process is the easiest.
Mull says he's confident the material will be controlled properly.
So much so that he'll bet your life on it.
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 15:07 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
North Korea's Generals Could Turn Against Pudgy
It seems there may have been an assassination attempt recently. See below.
Kim Jong Un is making a habit of killing off his most senior military leaders. He thinks that will keep them in line, but it could be making some very powerful enemies.

Heavy are the burdens of the men wearing four stars in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Ri Yong Gil, the chief of the General Staff of the North Korean military, has been executed according to Yonhap News Agency and Reuters. CNN reports that a South Korean government source confirms the top general was put to death.

The general, according to CNN, was killed for "factionalism, misuse of authority, and corruption."

Kim's increasing willingness to execute some of the most senior figures in his military would suggest the young leader is struggling to impose control. Analysts are beginning to wonder how much more the military will put up with.

Ri was last seen in public on January 5, at about the same time as the North's claimed "hydrogen" bomb test, when he participated in an "inspection of coastal artillery" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The apparently abrupt termination of his stellar military career was hardly a surprise. General Pyon In Son was put to death, probably in January of last year, for insubordination, specifically for refusing to replace certain junior officers.

Then, General Hyon Yong Chol, the DPRK's defense minister, was executed for napping at a public event--disrespecting Kim who was present at the time--and for disobedience. The specific charge was advocating "militarism-oriented bureaucracy."

Many Korea watchers consider these killings and others to be proof that Kim Jong Un is in command, that he is powerful enough to get rid of anyone. In reality, it is proof that the situation at the top of the regime is fluid. After all, if Kim were truly in control, there would be no need for the continual bloodletting.

Hyon's execution was particularly revealing. It was reportedly carried out by anti-aircraft fire at close range, in front of an audience of hundreds at a military academy near Pyongyang. The spectacle, at the end of last April, was meant to send a message, and the fact that Kim had to do so is a clear indication he was not in firm command of the Korean People's Army.

Young Kim has by now killed about a hundred senior figures in the regime in what is described as a "reign of extreme terror." The military has borne the brunt of the punishments.

Why has Kim targeted the top brass? He has been called the "Young General," but he has had little contact with the military. Not so his two predecessors. His grandfather, Kim Il Sung, came to power on his reputation as a leader of a guerilla band fighting the Japanese during the Second World War, so he naturally had the devotion of his comrades-in-arms. His son, Kim Jong Il, bought the loyalty of the generals and admirals with his version of songun--"military first"--policy.

Kim Jong Un, the third Kim to rule the DPRK, has reversed his predecessor's work, reducing the power of the top officers by stripping them of their control of exports--in other words, taking cash flows away from them--and by deemphasizing the dominant role they exercised during his father's 18-year rule.

In short, Kim Jong Un has been struggling to find a general willing to preside over the continual erosion of the military's position. Perhaps significantly, unnamed sources think General Ri died shortly after a February 2-3 joint meeting of the army and the Korean Workers' Party, which during Kim Jong Un's rule has benefitted more than the other constituent elements of the regime. As Yonhap reports, its source "raised the possibility that Ri may have raised objections to Kim's recent appointment of party leaders to key military posts."

In any event, Ri's name was conspicuously not included in the report of the meeting in Rodong Sinmun, the official North Korean party newspaper, and that suggests the general tangled with party officials at the gathering.

So far, Kim Jong Un has been able to demote, discipline, and kill officers without the military as an institution rebelling. Senior officers know the regime derives most of its legitimacy from the Kim lineage, the so-called "Paektu bloodline." Therefore, generals realize they need Kim Jong Un to continue to breath.

But young Kim--he is thought to be about 33--can push too far, as many think he is at the point of doing. South Korea's National Intelligence Service had noted that senior leaders in Pyongyang have questioned Kim's "governing style" because of his frequent resort to the ultimate punishment. Koh Yu-hwan of Dongguk University in Seoul believes the regime could "reach its limit" if the killings continue.

The limit line may not be too far away. Radio Free Asia has reported that explosives were found in a ceiling at the Wonsan International Airport late last year, just a day before Kim was scheduled to visit. The plot, if the report is accurate, was probably the work of only a small group.
Emphasis added.
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 14:38 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran Mocks Captured US Sailors at Revolution Day Parade
Sorry, more pictures than words. Gotta click the link.
Iranian regime mocks captured US sailors at Revolution Day parade.

One float depicted the captured US sailors on their knees being arrested by the Iranian military.

John Kerry thanked the regime for their "appropriate response" in regard to the arrest and humiliation of the US sailors.

Iranian Quds Force commander took part in the parade.
quds force parade

TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Qassem Soleimani joined the nationwide rallies on Thursday to commemorate the 37th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. [FARS NEWS]
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 14:24 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
Kyle Bass: China is already out of money
I don't know much about economics, and I don't know who Kyle Bass is, but this doesn't look good.
Texan hedge fund manager J. Kyle Bass, the founder of Dallas-based Hayman Capital, sent out a big letter to investors explaining why he thinks China has a problem much larger than the 2008 subprime crisis.

China has been burning through cash of late as it manages the devaluation of its currency, and there is a big debate over exactly how much money it has to burn.

Bass notes that many folks look at the foreign-exchange (FX) reserves of $3.2 trillion and think that China will be just fine.

It's really not enough, though, based on Bass' calculations. According to Bass, the country is out of money today. In other words, China no longer has enough liquid reserves.

The letter said, with Bass' emphasis:

Responses we receive when discussing the FX reserve levels of China are filled with reverence: 'No country in the world has ever achieved $4 trillion in FX reserves by running such enormous trade surpluses with the rest of the world.' While true, this analysis fails to frame the proper context of the larger situation. When a host country has a large industrial base, enormous money supply (M2), and large import/export business, there is a certain amount of liquid reserves that are required to run the day-to-day operations of the country (think working capital). Over the years, the IMF has fine-tuned the formula used to calculate this 'reserve-adequacy' metric. It can be best calculated as follows:

Minimum FX Reserves =
10% of Exports + 30% of Short-term FX Debt + 10% of M2 + 15% of Other Liabilities

For China the equation is as follows:
10% * $2.2T + 30% * $680B + 10% * (RMB 139.3T / 6.6) + 15% * $1.0T
= $2.7 trillion of required minimum reserves

Hayman Capital estimates that China's FX reserves right now are in a range of $2.1 trillion to $2.2 trillion if you take commitments to various bodies like China's sovereign wealth fund (CIC) into account.

According to Bass, China's reserves are "already below a critical level of minimum reserve adequacy."

"In other words, China is CURRENTLY out of the required level of reserves needed to safely operate its financial system," Bass wrote. "The view that China has years of reserves to burn through is misinformed. China's back is completely up against the wall today, which is one of the primary reasons why the government is hypersensitive to any comments regarding its reserve levels or a hard landing."

Bass is among a handful of hedge fund managers betting against China's currency, the yuan. Much of Hayman Capital's fund right now is devoted to the yuan short.
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 11:46 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  China is on vacation this week. Their stock markets are closed. I think when they open Monday there's gonna be a big drop to catch up to the rest of the world's markets that have tanked this week.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 02/11/2016 12:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Despite all the external similarities to Western economic systems (which in their own right are little more than a house of cards reliant on no catastrophic swings in demand or supply of consumer funding) this is a Communist political system run by oligarch who are also plutocrats. Do we really think traditional economic rules apply, instead of just outright lies, intimidation, and Weimar style printing?
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 02/11/2016 12:59 Comments || Top||

#3  If Michael Lewis is following him around with a notebook, watch out.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2016 14:37 Comments || Top||

#4  In the last month: a Chinese company bought GE's appliance division.

In the last week: they spent a billion buying Norwegian software company "Opera."

They're not acting like they're out of money.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/11/2016 15:04 Comments || Top||

#5  this is a Communist political system run by oligarch who are also plutocrats.

Let's see... They're plutocrat oligarch communist mandarin mafioso aristocrats.

And WE'RE stuck with Fredo.

Damnit.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/11/2016 15:08 Comments || Top||

#6  Bad loans at the banks are the main problem. China will have to devalue the Yuan, but that will make paying back USD denominated loans almost impossible.

I can see a China banking crisis bringing down banks across the world. It could get very ugly.
Posted by: phil_b || 02/11/2016 15:17 Comments || Top||

#7  Euro banks are already shaky.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/11/2016 15:20 Comments || Top||

#8  Maybe Taiwan should attempt a buy-out. Re-unification only backwards.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/11/2016 18:41 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey threatens to open the gates
Turkey is at breaking point and the time could come when the country would open the gates for refugees to travel to Europe, the Turkish president has threatened.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced the West's handling of the refugee crisis in a speech which sees the Turkish leader step up the pressure on Europe to act. He also repeated his criticism of Brussels and comments he made to EU leaders in leaked minutes, which he said he was proud of.

"I am proud of what I said. We have defended the rights of Turkey and the refugees. And we told them (the Europeans): 'sorry, we will open the doors and say 'goodbye' to the migrants'," Mr Erdogan said in his speech on Thursday.

During his speech, Mr Erdogan attacked calls for Turkey to accept more refugees and accused the UN of insincerity over inaction in Syria. In recent days, the UN, EU and other organisations have called on Turkey to take in Syrian refugees fleeing Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Russian air strikes on its southern border.

Tens of thousands have fled from Aleppo after Russian war planes continued to bomb Aleppo in support of a regime offensive to capture the Syrian city.

"In the past we have stopped people at the gates to Europe, in Edirne we stopped their buses. This happens once or twice, and then we'll open the gates and wish them a safe journey, that's what I said," Mr Erdogan said in a speech to a business forum on Thursday.

"There is a chance the new wave of refugees will reach 600,000 if air strikes continue. We are making preparations for it," Mr Erdogan said in Ankara.

Turkey has already become home to more than half a million Syrian refugees, although numbers of Syrian citizens in the country is closer to three million. In November last year, Brussels and Ankara agreed on a €3 billion (£2.3 billion) deal for Turkey in exchange for stringent border controls on the west coast and allowing Turkish citizens to visit EU member states later this year.

He defended Turkey's handling of the refugee crisis, saying: "We do not have the word 'idiot' written on our foreheads. Don't think that the planes and the buses are there for nothing. We will show patience up to a point and then we'll do what's necessary."

On Monday, minutes of a stormy meeting he had with Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, were leaked in which he first made the threat to "open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria".

The minutes, which showed Mr Erdogan openly mocking EU leaders, said: "Erdogan said that Turkey didn’t need the EU’s money anyway, ‘We can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria any time and we can put the refugees on buses’”, according to the minutes published by the Greek website Euro2day.

The president also repeated Turkey's call for the creation of a safe zone in northern Syrian for internally displaced civilians without the need for Turkey accepting them as refugees.

After the president's speech, Nato confirmed it would be sending a naval group to stop people smugglers in the Aegean Sea, after Turkey, Germany and Greece made the request. Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said Nato was "now directing the standing maritime group to move into the Aegean without delay and start maritime surveillance activities" at a press conference.

"This is about helping Greece, Turkey and the European Union with stemming the flow of migrants and refugees and coping with a very demanding situation," Mr Stoltenberg said.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 08:15 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe we should make Turkey part of NATO? /sarc
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 12:01 Comments || Top||

#2  He defended Turkey's handling of the refugee crisis, saying: "We do not have the word 'idiot' written on our foreheads.

More like a Muslim Brotherhood prayer knot.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2016 12:24 Comments || Top||


Europe
Euro-feminists in meltdown over immigrant rape
h/t Instapundit
...As a pillar of the progressive movement, the feminists want to be on the side of the refugees flooding the EU from the Middle East and Northern Africa. After all, the refugees are an oppressed minority group, and therefore should be on the feminist team fighting the Old World's white patriarchy.

But the masses of refugees include lots of men. Lots.

In fact, an estimated 75 percent of refugees to the European Union last year were men, and they weren't exactly keen on fighting for women's rights.

In fact, most of these guys really like the patriarchy, and a patriarchy far more aggressively anti-woman than anything privileged Western feminists have encountered in the liberal enclaves of Berlin and Brussels.
Be careful what you ask for.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2016 05:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  AH now there's the rub, "privileged Western feminists". Their lives have definitely changed.
New clothing lines of the future, I can see it now. Women will dress like men and men will dress like women. Travel in pairs in daylight only. All public places will be a daily adventure of fear. No go zones. If they stray it will be their own fault if attacked.
Posted by: Dale || 02/11/2016 6:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Big Rise;
Posted by: Dale || 02/11/2016 6:59 Comments || Top||

#3  The useful idiots actually believing the lies of 'all cultures are equal'. It was a trope in the Left's ever waging war to destroy Western Civilization. There's a reason why all the worlds debris and detritus march to the last vestiges of Western Civ, because theirs is such a s*#! hole. Those who've managed to actually copy most of it, the east Asians are too smart to allow them in by the boatloads.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2016 9:08 Comments || Top||

#4  The useful idiots actually believing the lies of 'all cultures are equal

IMO, the malicious idiots are (i) too stupid to realize that there are different cultures; (ii) educated to parasitize the one they live in.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2016 9:33 Comments || Top||

#5  Artificial world outlook meets real world. Tasty...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/11/2016 9:48 Comments || Top||

#6  Did the karma run over their dogma?
Posted by: Iblis || 02/11/2016 10:27 Comments || Top||

#7  So will there be roving 'Feminia Police' allowed to beat men in the street when they look upon women?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2016 11:53 Comments || Top||

#8  Artificial world outlook meets real world

Ah, so that's what's got their tits in a flutter.
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 12:03 Comments || Top||

#9  Send them all to ISIS to have them show those men the error of their ways. They will instantly become beta males and do whatever you want fembots. Really. Go now.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/11/2016 12:35 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Donald Trump Finally Puts Price Tag On "Great Wall" Of Mexico
Donald Trump bailed out TV news operations struggling to flood the zone with today's New Hampshire primary voting -- only so much you can do to make parka'd lines at polling places look sexy and only so many different ways to say voter turnout is expected to be a record -- when he finally announced his estimated cost of that wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
I'll bet his estimate does not include the usual graft, corruption, and crony capitalism paybacks.
"The wall is probably $8 billion, which is a tiny fraction of the money that we lose with Mexico," he told MSNBC's Tamron Hall in the middle of Granite State voting. Trump said he came to that number by "multiplying the number of miles by a certain number."
How much have we spent on laughable excuses for a "wall", development of surveillance systems and other vaporware walls, lost opportunity, human costs, damage control, imported crime, and welfare benefits because our politicians are playing games with this?
"I'm taking price per square foot and price per square, you know, per mile, and it's a very simple calculation," Trump said, adding he would build about 1,000 miles of border wall along the 2,000-mile long border, because natural barriers would do the trick without a wall in portions of the border.

This number is a drop in the bucket compared to the figure MSNBC's cable cousin CNBC came up with back in October. Citing various sources and studies, CNBC estimated the actual cost for Trump's border wall -- which it estimated would run roughly 1,300 miles -- could be as high as $16 million per mile, with a total price tag of $15 billion-$25 billion.
Politicians love this figure, I'll bet.
Trump is expected to win New Hampshire primary voting, after finishing second in Iowa caucuses, so it seems appropriate to pick today to release his estimated price of his wall. Trump in the summer launched his presidential campaign off The Wall: "I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I'll build them very inexpensively," he said controversially, as he announced his candidacy in June, ending decades of flirtation. "I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words," he added.
Every time you find an illegal, seize their assets and put them towards the wall. Fees on money sent back to Mexico. Fees to cross the border. Visa fees. Tariffs. Taxes. Just the beginning. I could do it I'll bet.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon recently mocked Trump's pledge to make Mexico pay for the wall, CNN noted today in its coverage of Trump's $8B news.

"Mexican people, we are not going to pay any single cent for such a stupid wall, and they need to know that," Calderon has been quoted as saying. "And it's going to be completely useless."
If it's useless then why fear it?
Responded Trump on MSNBC today: "You tell them, 'You're going to pay for it.' ... Mexico makes a fortune. Mexico is going to pay. And I heard [Calderon] said that we will not pay. Guess what? The wall just got higher."
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 01:53 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If he is in charge he will do the job under cost and finish ahead of scheduled completion. Like Teddy's Calvary he will ride down to see it gets done. Bully, jolly good job, well done.
Posted by: Dale || 02/11/2016 6:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Over at Instapundit the other day, it was pointed out that remittance to Mexico has reached 24B. You could pick up a good chunk of that with a 10, or 15, or 20 percent tariff surcharge.

Then suspend Davis-Bacon Act and use a lot of 'day laborers' to drive costs down. I like irony.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2016 9:14 Comments || Top||

#3  BTW, there's a lot of graft money being made in transiting these illegals to and across the border besides helping the purer blood Spanish ruling caste of Mexico maintain its power by avoiding reform or revolution by dumping millions of their mestizos y indios upon El Norte.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2016 9:18 Comments || Top||

#4  What should be done is to levy a 40% tax on all remittances to Mexico - whether it is wetbacks sending cash back home, or US companies buying cheap manufactured goods - for as long as bit takes to complete the wall. Then - extend an offer to Mexico to allow them to directly fund any portion of the cost that they wish. That leaves Mexico with two choices:

1) Contribute nothing, and watch tens of thousands of Mexicans return to Mexico, where they can at least retain some money, and also watch manufactured goods inventories pile up in Mexico.

2) Pay for the wall, and the tax goes away.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 02/11/2016 9:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Calderon shouldn't be making a fuss about the "stupid wall." He should be in the Home Depot parking lot angling for a shot at weed-wacking around its foundation.
Posted by: regular joe || 02/11/2016 10:04 Comments || Top||

#6  Simple enough I suppose, and a solution for the European refugee problem as well. Don't sell merchandise without ID. Enforceable for tobacco and alcohol why not all?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2016 10:24 Comments || Top||

#7  And any living space sold or rented to an illegal is seized and auctioned off, the proceeds go to the wall.

And get rid of the anchor baby bull$hit.
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 10:31 Comments || Top||

#8  I do not understand why there is not a rampart building cousin of the boring machines.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2016 10:41 Comments || Top||

#9  @@8: England has a neat machine for 'slipcasting' the UK equivalent of the highway Jersey barrier, so it would seem to be a simple matter of scaling up to build a higher J.B. I have to assume we have a similar device, Would probably need to pre-position rebar.
(No, I am not a civil engineer, and I have not stayed in a Holiday Inn Express lately)
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 02/11/2016 11:35 Comments || Top||

#10 
@ #9 & #8 Yes, these slip casting machines for highway barriers do exist here in the U.S., and are in regular use.

Once you get past all the politix, the controlling factor in barrier design is $$/unit length. It is simply cheaper per mile to go with sheet steel wall & chain link with patrol vehicle path between.
Posted by: nguard || 02/11/2016 11:54 Comments || Top||

#11  with patrol vehicle path between

I prefer killer 'bots between two concrete walls with moving top edges spaced far enough apart that you can't bridge them.
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 11:59 Comments || Top||

#12  I'm not talking about a glorified cow pen, I'm talking Theodosian Wall building machine.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2016 12:36 Comments || Top||

#13  Why not enforce Immigration laws we have?
Posted by: newc || 02/11/2016 14:01 Comments || Top||

#14  Any remittance from illegal sources, ie the new slave class should be seized. And tell Mexico and the others, for every one of their people we catch here illegally, we will annex 1 square mile of their country. And it's our choice WHICH Mile^2 it is. Ie their oil fields, mines and all the other good parts. They don't like it, they can take it up with our new experimental killer robots, who can use a good combat trial.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 02/11/2016 15:06 Comments || Top||

#15  Over at Instapundit the other day, it was pointed out that remittance to Mexico has reached 24B.

As was mentioned, that is more than Mexico's petro industry brings in. Quite an incentive for the Mexican gov to keep it going.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/11/2016 16:54 Comments || Top||

#16  Have the ugly chain link fence and sensors on the real border but a hundred meters back build a proper wall, one modeled on the Great Wall of China, one that can be seen from space, and make it a tourist destination.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/11/2016 19:14 Comments || Top||

#17  UA 571-C Automated Sentry Guns would be appreciated
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 02/11/2016 22:27 Comments || Top||

#18  "Keeping the A-10 would also be good for southern Arizona."

*cough* *cough*
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2016 23:29 Comments || Top||


Europe
Breitbart: Migrant Crisis in Europe entries for Feb. 10, 2016
Breitbart does not have a separate URL for each day, but rather adds each subsequent entry at the top of the page. For the events of previous days, go to the link and scroll down.
10/02/2016 –VIENNA, Austria – Extra measures to secure southern border
Austria’s government is set to announce ten new ‘border management systems’ to secure its southern border crossings in Tyrol and Carinthia, a place where migrants faced with stricter controls at the border with Slovenia are likely to cross.

The measures will include fences, barriers and increased patrols by police and soldiers. There will also be army patrols on Austria’s border with Hungary, the main crossing point for migrants last summer.

10/02/2016 –Austria – Asylum seekers jump the hospital queue
Last week large numbers of people turned up at Austrian hospitals because of a flu epidemic, but had to wait to see doctors whilst asylum seekers were seen to get priority treatment. Now health officials have admitted they were ordered not to make asylum seekers wait but to give them fast track treatment.

The reason given is that part of the asylum process sees migrants receiving a health check for which expensive translators are needed to aid communication with doctors, and Austrian officials do not want to pay translators to sit in waiting rooms.

10/02/2016 –ERFURT, Germany – Two 14 year old girls harassed
Four Afghan men, aged 16, 17, 21, and 29 were taken into police custody after they made sexual advances toward two 14 year old girls on Sunday. The men tried to hold and kiss the girls and followed the girls when they tried to escape, reports Thuringische Landeszeitung.

10/02/2016 –HEPPENHEIM, Germany – 17 year old molested
Four Afghan men are in police custody after they sexually harassed a 17 year old girl on Sunday. Aged between 16 and 17, the attackers who enjoy refugee status in Germany are being treated as minors by police, reports Morgenweb.

10/02/2016 –GÜTERSLOH, Germany – Carnival chaos, rape, sex assault
A town’s annual carnival has been overshadowed by sex assault and theft, reports Neue Westfalische. A 24 year old presented herself to police after she was raped, leading to the arrest of a 29 year old Nigerian asylum seeker. The man told police the sex was consensual, investigations are ongoing.

Another arrest was of a 24 year old Algerian who molested two 16 and 17 year old girls. Police are seeking “three black Africans” and two other men in costume after they groped and robbed a 21 year old woman. A 25 year old Syrian was arrested after squeezing the buttocks of two women. Another woman was molested by two masked men.

Two Russian citizens are under investigation by police after they shouted “Heil Hitler” during the carnival.

10/02/2016 – BONN, Germany – 15 year old girl molested
Police have arrested a 35 year old “immigrant” for molesting a 15 year old girl during a carnival on Monday in a suburb of Bonn, reports Express.

10/02/2016 – LAUFENBURG, Germany – Drunk, molesting Afghans arrested
Police arrested three Afghan males aged 18, 19, and 26 after they molested multiple women at a carnival at the weekend. There are ‘indications’ they were drunk, reports Pforzheimer Zeitung.

10/02/2016 – MAINZ, Germany – Woman molested in Shrovetide attack
A 27 year old woman was molested by a gang of “Arab” looking men while she was dancing at a Shrovetide celebration on Sunday. After one attacked her and turned to leave, she was held back by a second while being mocked by the men. On the same day a number of other women between 18 and 21 years old were also molested, being touched on the bottom, breasts, and genitals by three Arab men.

Investigators are trying to determine whether it was the same gang in all cases, reports Allegmeine Zeitung.

10/02/2016 – DORTMUND, Germany – Migrant on migrant violence
A 38 year old Moroccan ‘refugee’ was rushed to intensive care from his asylum shelter on Monday after he was stabbed by a fellow asylum seeker. The 20 year old responsible has been has been arrested for grievous bodily harm, report police.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2016 01:23 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  only a crisis because Europe doesnt know what to do with them

All migrants age 15-50, medically fit, to be immediately conscripted to compulsory military service

Train 1 year, serve 1 year while their application is processed and their identity investigated

1 year training under Israeli defence force, living in barracks in Germany that they themselves build

they will learn on simulated weapons and train only with blanks on guns that will not work with real bullets.

You learn reconstruction of sewer, rubbish collection, rebuilding for houses and schools and bridges and roads.

After 1 year, you serve 1 year fighting IS under kurdish leadership.

barracks is compulsory for men and women. No gender segregation. No hijabs. No religion on barracks. Women and men both wear refugee corps uniform which is identical khaki jumpsuits.

you want religion? You can get a pass out after hours and then you can go to a mosque if you want. But if you are not back on barracks by curfew 10pm then deport to turkey and dump. no returns, no family reunion.

Anybody refuses - deport to turkey

Anybody breaks the rules or spreads religion on barracks - deport to Turkey

You have just given yourself a million man and woman army to fight IS.

and they are all shipped back over for Year 2 of service to fight and rebuild their own countries

and when their own countries are free and safe, they are no longer refugees so they can be repatriated.
Posted by: anon1 || 02/11/2016 4:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Asking a lot from males getting paid to hang out and rape people.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2016 12:12 Comments || Top||

#3  They think it's consensual if they can see the girl's ankles.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/11/2016 13:55 Comments || Top||

#4  (rubs monkey's mohammed's paw)

"I wish to know more about foreign cultures."
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2016 19:58 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Tunisia Makes $500 Million from Ousted President's Assets
[AnNahar] Tunisia has made nearly half a billion dollars from the sale of assets confiscated from ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his allies, a minister said Wednesday.

In the months following Ben Ali's flight to 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...
after the January 2011 revolution that ended his rule, the cash-strapped country seized hundreds of businesses, properties, luxury cars and jewelery belonging to him, his family and his allies.

"Since 2011, we made around 1.5 billion dinars (of which) around 1 billion ($500 million, 442 million euros) went into the state's coffers," Finance Minister Slim Chaker said.

"The other 500 million dirhams went to paying off debts," he said.

Revenues from the sales have boosted the national budget and allowed the state to borrow less, he added, but the process is slow.

Only some assets have been sold off so far, including at an auction at the end of 2012.

Obstacles to selling the remaining assets include organizing paperwork, expert assessments and calls for tenders, the minister said.

"There were lots of cars we didn't have the keys for, and that are still registered in the names of their previous owners," he said.

Nepotism and state corruption plagued Ben Ali's rule and triggered his fall at the start of the Arab Spring uprisings.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Kurds backed by Russian airstrikes advance on Syrian airbase
[Rudaw] Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) fighters launched an attack on Syria's Mannagh airbase on Wednesday.

The base has been held by fighters opposed to the Syrian regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
since August 2013. The Kurds are being backed in this endeavour by Russian Arclight airstrikes.

The Russians are currently helping the Syrian military and allied militias surround opposition-held districts in the northern city of Aleppo and cut them off from the nearby northwestern Syrian frontier with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
An opposition commander named Maj. Yasser Abdul-Rahim told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named that his forces may lose the base to the YPG given the intense Russian Arclight airstrikes being leveled against them.

The ongoing Russian-Syrian offensive in Aleppo is giving the YPG in the northwestern canton of Afrin a chance to expand and relieve their enclave from attack by Islamists like Jabhat 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 .. ...
. Many Syrians fleeing the current ongoing Russian bombardments in Aleppo have also sought sanctuary in that Kurdish area.

Turkey has long opposed Afrin joining up with Syria's other northeastern Kurdish majority areas since the 60 miles which lies between Afrin and Kobani is inhabited by non-Kurdish peoples, primarily Arabs and Turkmen.

Syria's Kurds have remained neutral in the war when it comes to siding with either the opposition or Assad. It has however fought Islamist elements of the opposition, like the aforementioned Nusra, which has sought to either kill or subjugate them.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  great news if true

The Syrian Kurds should have had the US as an ally but Russia would be OK too
Posted by: lord garth || 02/11/2016 8:45 Comments || Top||

#2  According to An Nahar, the base has now fallen:

An opposition activist group and a rebel say Kurdish fighters and their allies have captured a military air base in northern Syria.

Abdul-Jabbar Abu Thabet, a local rebel commander in the Aleppo province, said Thursday that Mannagh air base fell to the People's Protection Units, or YPG, and their allies after fierce battles.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the offensive came as warplanes believed to be Russian carried out 30 airstrikes in the area. It said the air base and a nearby village, also called Mannagh, fell late Wednesday.

With Syrian troops backed by Russian warplanes waging a major offensive between the northern city of Aleppo and the Turkish border, the Kurds appeared to be exploiting the chaos to expand their nearby enclave, known as Afrin.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2016 11:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Air superiority vs. Erdogon?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2016 11:49 Comments || Top||


Europe
Slim asylum chances for 40 percent of refugees in Germany: report
[DeutscheWelle] The number of Syrians coming to the EU from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
has decreased considerably in January, according to a German newspaper. More Iraqis and Afghans are fleeing to the bloc, but have slim chances of receiving asylum.

Nearly forty percent of migrants who entered the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
(EU) in January do not have a realistic chance of getting asylum, the Sunday paper "Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung" (FAS) quoted a senior European Commission official as saying.

The paper quoted statistics from the EU's border agency, Frontex, indicating that only around 39 percent of the migrants coming into the bloc last month were Syrians,
...or "Syrians", depending on how real the passports they do or do not have are...
compared to 69 percent last year. Twenty-four percent were from Afghanistan, up from 18 percent, and 25 percent from Iraq, compared to 8 percent in 2015. The rest were from North Africa and the Balkans.

Refugees coming from countries other than Syria have a lower chance of being recognized as asylum seekers, the report noted. Citizens of the Maghreb countries - including Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria - and the Balkan states are categorized as economic refugees. The German government is currently working on a law to designate some nations as safe regions and enable authorities to deport citizens from these countries more easily.

More refugee deaths
It's winter. The waves are high, the weather is cold, and some of the fellow travelers are brutal.
The largest influx of refugees was recorded in October, with an average of 6,929 refugees arriving in Europe every day. The numbers had considerably decreased in January, when 60,466 refugees reached the bloc, the FAS reported.

Meanwhile,
...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter wished he had a cup of coffee. Even instant would do...
aid workers have sounded an alarm for better shelters after refugees continued to flow into the Balkans from Greece despite the harsh winter. On Sunday, two women migrants died in Bulgaria because of freezing conditions, authorities said. They said one of the victims was a teenager and the other was between 30 and 40 years old.

It is the second time that reports have emerged from Bulgaria of migrants dying as a result of hypothermia. In January, the frozen bodies of two men were found in mountains near the border with Serbia.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
Afghan Policeman Killed in Firefight with NATO Troops
Talib, ISIS, or just woke up in a mood?
[AnNahar] An Afghan police officer was killed during a clash with NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
forces in the capital 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....
, the country's interior ministry said Wednesday.

The incident erupted on Tuesday when the police officer opened fire on a NATO delegation at the entrance of Afghanistan's Ministry of Commerce and Industries, the ministry said in statement.

The shooter was maimed when NATO soldiers returned fire, according to NATO front man Michael Lawhorn. No NATO forces were maimed during the incident.

The assailant later died after succumbing to injuries at a local hospital.

"The interior ministry has ordered Kabul police to investigate the incident," the ministry's statement added.

So-called "green-on-blue" attacks, when Afghan soldiers or police turn their guns on international troops or colleagues, have been a major problem during NATO's long years fighting alongside local forces.

The attacks have bred fierce mistrust between Afghan and foreign troops even though the number of such incidents has declined in recent years.

NATO formally ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in December 2014 and pulled out the bulk of its troops, however, a 13,000-strong residual force remains in the country to assist with training and counter-terrorism operations.

The Afghan military, which was built from scratch after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, has also struggled with "insider attack" killings, high casualty rates and mass desertions.

Last month, 10 Afghan coppers were killed after being drugged and shot by a rogue colleague at an outpost in southern Afghanistan's Uruzgan province.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "The assailant later died after succumbing to injuries at a local hospital."
Yah, jumping on 'assailant's' chest for 10 minutes tends to have that effect.
Overheard from 'cardiac stimulator'; "He STILL has a pulse? Dang. I'll give him five more minutes of stimulation then".
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 02/11/2016 7:52 Comments || Top||

#2  No NATO troups were maimed during the incident so it appears that fierce mistrust is serving them well.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/11/2016 13:49 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Over 500 killed in Aleppo in 10 days, monitor says
[IsraelTimes] As regime forces approach Syria's largest city, fears grow for hundreds of thousands who will be caught in the fighting

people, including dozens of civilians, have been killed since a major Russian-backed regime offensive in Syria's Aleppo province began this month, a monitor said Wednesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of sources in Syria for its figures, said the toll of 506 included 23 children killed in Russian Arclight airstrikes on the city of Aleppo and its surroundings since the operation was launched on February 1.

The fighting has driven a new flood of refugees from the area.

On Tuesday, Doctors Without Borders said some 23,000 new arrivals fleeing Aleppo were in urgent need of emergency shelter and support near Syria's border with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
In a blurb, the group said it had increased the number of beds in its hospital in Azaz district to 36 beds from 28 and was preparing to extend capacity if necessary. Hundreds of blankets, tents, mattresses and other supplies have been distributed to arrivals.

The group also said it had pre-positioned aid inside Aleppo in the event supply lines get cut, warning of an impending food, water and fuel crisis in the coming weeks.

The United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
says hundreds of thousands of people in Syria's largest city could soon be cut off from humanitarian aid amid blistering Syrian and Russian Arclight airstrikes and is calling on Turkish authorities to open the border to help those fleeing the violence.

The UN humanitarian office OCHA said Tuesday that 300,000 people could be cut off from aid if the Syrian government and allied forces encircle Aleppo and deprive those fleeing of their last way out. Laying out contingency plans, OCHA said local leaders believe up to 150,000 people could try to flee to nearby Afrin and the surrounding countryside.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Iraq
Iraq Says Risk to Mosul Dam Affecting Anti-IS Drive
[AnNahar] The risk of Iraq's largest dam collapsing and unleashing a huge wave onto djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
is affecting plans to retake the city from jihadists, an adviser to the premier's office said.

The army is deploying thousands of soldiers to a northern base in preparation for operations to recapture the city, the largest urban center in 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's self-proclaimed caliphate.

Concern has grown that a failure of the unstable dam, which is about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the city, could wipe out much of Mosul and flood large parts of Baghdad.

The Americans "frequently refer to Katrina" and say a collapse of the Mosul Dam would be "a thousand times worse", the adviser to the office of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told news hounds.

Hurricane Katrina ravaged the U.S. city of New Orleans in 2005, killing nearly 2,000 people and leading to a wave of violence and looting that completely overwhelmed the authorities.

"If the dam busts, the center of Mosul goes under water by about a 40-50 foot wave (12 to 15 meters)," the adviser said, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
"It just disappears, so 500,000 people (are) killed within a few hours".

He said another dam in Samarra, hundreds of miles downstream, would also burst. It is estimated the wave would still be several meters high when it reaches Baghdad.

A U.S. assessment published Monday on the Iraqi parliament's website said Mosul Dam was "at a significantly higher risk of failure than originally understood."

High-level contacts have taken place between the U.S. administration and Baghdad, with Washington pushing for repair work to be undertaken urgently.

Since the dam's completion in 1984, Iraq has sought to shore up the foundation by injecting mortar-like grout into cavities that develop under the structure. Regular minor seismic activity in the area is now seen as a potential threat.

There are also fears that IS could weaponize the dam.

"If the attack on Mosul goes well, there is a nightmare scenario that Daesh [Islamic State] (an Arabic acronym for IS) could itself strike the dam as they withdraw from Mosul," the adviser said.

He said the U.S.-led coalition, whose primary role in retaking Mosul would be to carry out air strikes, is concerned that a major bombing campaign could have an impact on the dam.

"They are worried about it, they are thinking carefully about what kind of munitions they use in the Mosul operation," he said.

Colonel Steve Warren, the front man for the international anti-IS operation, said the dam was far enough from Mosul for strikes not to be a threat to its integrity.

Another concern as Iraq begins deploying troops southeast of the city is a mounting economic crisis. The government of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region is struggling to pay its peshmerga forces, who currently control the dam and will likely play a significant part in any Mosul assault.

Speaking in Rome on Wednesday, Abadi said "we have a moral responsibility, a national responsibility to guarantee the protection of this dam."

Iraq has awarded a contract to Italia's Trevi to repair and maintain the dam.

"We need to speed up the arrival of this company in Iraq and also to guarantee the security of its technicians and workers," said Abadi.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who has said Rome would deploy some 450 troops to protect the dam, stressed Wednesday that Iraq and Italia were "working together for the security of the area."

"When the Italian force comes in, the Italian force is responsible for the security of the dam, so there's no dispute over who's responsible," and Kurdish forces who hold the dam will withdraw, the adviser said.

He said Abadi hoped the contract -- estimated at 284.5 million euros (around $320 million) -- would be signed within two weeks. The World Bank is helping to finance it.

A warm winter could lead to early snow melt and Trevi is expected to swiftly begin work with a seven-month phase to repair the dam's lower gates. Another 18 months are needed for the rest of the major work.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq

#1  Gives new meaning to a mortgage that's "underwater".
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2016 10:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Park their families at the foot of the dam and demand they come out.
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 10:32 Comments || Top||

#3  The F.L.A. never forgets.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2016 18:50 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Female Suicide Bombers Kill 58 in Nigeria
[AnNahar] Twojacket wallah'> exploding trollop female suicide bombers on Wednesday killed at least 58 at a camp for people made homeless by Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
's Islamist insurgency in northeast Nigeria
... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
, emergency services, in the latest violence to hit the remote region.

The attack happened in Dikwa, some 90 kilometers (55 miles) from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, on Tuesday morning and is believed to be a reprisal for a military strike on Boko Haram strongholds in the area last week.

The head of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, Satomi Ahmed, earlier told AFP 35 bodies were recovered from the camp, which houses some 53,600 people, with 78 injured. He later said the other dead had been buried locally, leading to the revised toll.

"From what we gathered three exploding trollop female suicide bombers disguised as IDPs arrived at IDP camp at about 6:30 am (0530 GMT)," he said. "Two of them detonated their explosives. The third one refused to set off hers when she realized her parents and siblings were in the camp. She surrendered herself to the authorities."

Ahmed said the woman told the military why she refused to detonate her explosives and warned them of further attacks to come in the remote region.

The injured were taken to the Borno State Specialist Hospital and the Umaru Shehu Hospital, both in Maiduguri for treatment, he added.

The camp in Dikwa is currently home to people from six local government areas in Borno: Dikwa itself, Gamboru Ngala, on the border with Cameroon
...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there...
, and the towns of Marte, Kalabalge, Bama and Mafa.

- Revenge -
Last week, the Nigerian military attacked three villages considered Boko Haram strongholds near Kalabalge, killing dozens of myrmidon fighters and rescuing hundreds of women.

The women were largely from the Shuwa Arab tribe, who had been kidnapped, prompting the authorities to suspect the latest attack to be Dire Revenge for the military operation.

Boko Haram, which has increasingly used suicide and kabooms as the military pushes them out of territories it once controlled, has hit IDP camps before.

On September 11 last year, seven people were killed when an improvised bomb went off at the Malkohi camp, near Yola, in neighboring Adamawa state. The camp had been used to house kidnapped women and kiddies rescued by the military.

IDPs fleeing Dikwa were also the target of a exploding trollop female suicide bomber as they tried to reach camps in Maiduguri on November 22 last year. A woman disguised as an IDP blew herself up, killing eight.

On January 31, at least 85 people were killed in Dalori, some 12 kilometers from Maiduguri, when Boko Haram fighters attacked and burned down surrounding villagers. Suicide bombers tried to get into the IDP camp, which is the largest around Maiduguri, but were prevented.

The Boko Haram insurgency has left at least 17,000 people dead and forced more than 2.6 million from their homes in nearly seven years of violence that has also spread to neighboring countries.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


At Least Six Dead in Cameroon Double Suicide Attack
[AnNahar] At least six non-combatants were killed and over 30 injured Wednesday in a double suicide kaboom in Cameroon
...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there...
's northern border region with Nigeria, which is regularly attacked by Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
fighters, security sources said.

The attackers, who were also killed, were both female, said a source.

"Six non-combatants were killed as well as two jacket wallahs who blew themselves up" during a funeral wake in the village of Nguetchewe, a source told Agence La Belle France Presse, adding that between 30-50 people were maimed.

"The villagers were gathered for the wake when two suicide attackers joined them, pretending to be family members," said the source.

The two female bombers "blew themselves up at 6:20 am, just when people who had spent the night there were preparing for a meal."

A police source in the region said several children, including a boy aged six and a 15-year-old, were among the victims. At least one member of a local committee set up in response to the upsurge in Islamic attacks was also killed.

The most seriously injured were evacuated to a regional hospital in Maroua.

It is the fifth suicide attack in Cameroon's far north region since the start of the year. On January 18 four people were killed in an attack at Nguetchewe's mosque.

Nguetchewe is a small village near the border with Nigeria where a French priest, Georges Vandenbeusch, was kidnapped in November 2013. He was held for 50 days before being released. The kidnapping were blamed on Boko Haram, which has since sworn allegiance to 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 based in Syria and Iraq.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinian teen shot dead while throwing rocks
[IsraelTimes] Soldiers fired on youth who was lobbing stones at cars near Hebron, IDF says; witnesses say troops used live fire

A Paleostinian teenager who was allegedly pelting cars and IDF troops with rocks in the southern West Bank was shot and reportedly killed by soldiers on Wednesday afternoon.

The Paleostinian Health Ministry identified the teen as Omar Jawabreh, 16, of the al-Aroub refugee camp north of Hebron. He was shot in the chest and died of his wounds in a Hebron hospital, the Paleostinian Ma'an news agency reported.

While the IDF did not confirm Jawabreh's death, it said soldiers engaged Paleostinians who were throwing rocks at civilian vehicles on Road 60, the north-south thoroughfare in the central West Bank.

"During routine IDF security activity, forces spotted assailants hurling rocks at civilian vehicles on Route 60, adjacent to al-Aroub," an IDF spokesperson said in a statement.

"Forces responded to the immediate threat and fired toward one of the attackers," the statement said.

Locals told Ma'an that IDF troops employed both live fire and rubber bullets in responding to the rioters.

The army spokesperson said the incident would be investigated.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Boy howdy them witnesses are really on the ball; not many folks get kilt with other than 'live fire.'

Wonder if they are related to Bernie supporters?
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 02/11/2016 11:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe Israel could invent an automatic rock returner.
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2016 16:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Or genetically modified Paleostinians that act like civilized people.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/11/2016 16:44 Comments || Top||

#4  I suspect a chronic Rantburger is working along those lines. The first experiments are likely to be very negative.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2016 18:13 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
US reports 20 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
[Ynet] The United States and its allies carried out 20 strikes against Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
in Iraq and Syria on Tuesday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement on Wednesday.

Eighteen strikes in Iraq hit krazed killer targets in eight regions, including five near djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, Iraq's second city which was overrun by Islamic State in 2014, it said.

One of the two strikes in Syria destroyed two Islamic State fighting positions near Raqqa, the group's de facto capital in Syria, the statement added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


The Grand Turk
Turkish Soldier Killed in Syria Border Clash with Kurdish Rebels
[AnNahar] One Turkish soldier was killed and another maimed in festivities with Kurdish rebels trying to cross the border from Syria into southeast The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, the military said Wednesday.

Turkish security forces opened fire Tuesday on seven snuffies from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the Cizre district of Sirnak province as they were entering Turkey from Syria, the army said in a statement.

Two soldiers were heavily maimed in the ensuing festivities and one of them later died in hospital, it added.

Cizre has been under a controversial curfew for six weeks as the army pursues a relentless campaign against rebels of the PKK which activists claim has cost dozens of civilian lives.

The town lies just across the border from an area in northern Syria that is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Ankara considers to be the affiliate of the outlawed PKK.

The border incident came as Turkey's foreign ministry on Tuesday summoned the U.S. ambassador to Ankara John Bass after a US State Department front man angered Ankara by saying that Washington did not consider the PYD as a terrorist organization.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
had on Sunday urged Washington to choose between Turkey and the "terrorist" Syrian Kurds.

The U.S.-led coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq has worked closely with the YPG, the military wing of the PYD, since it launched air strikes in Syria in September 2014.

Turkey fears the creation of an autonomous Kurdish region in Syria -- similar to the Kurdish region in northern Iraq -- would spur the separatist ambitions of Turkey's own Kurds.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Thai cops bust Iranian master forger ‘The Doctor’
[IsraelTimes] Hamid Reza Jafary and gang allegedly crafted sophisticated passports for Middle Easterners trying to enter Europe illegally

Thai police have broken up a major fake passport ring led by an Iranian known as "The Doctor" which sent hundreds of passports to Middle Eastern customers trying to enter Europe, authorities said Wednesday.

The kingdom has long been a hub for a forged document industry serving human traffickers and other criminals.

Five years of investigation culminated in Monday's arrest of the alleged Iranian criminal mastermind Hamid Reza Jafary who had learned his skill from his late father, police said.

The 48-year-old had for many years been crafting sophisticated forgeries from his home in Chachoengsao province east of Bangkok, they said.

"He (Jafary) produced passports for people from countries including Iran, Syria and Afghanistan who were escaping wars and wanted to enter Europe," according to immigration police commander Lieutenant General Nathathorn Prousoontorn.

"The Doctor" confessed to the crime and could face a decade in jail if convicted, he added.

Clients emailed the Iranian forger their photos and specified the country for which they wanted a passport, the commander said, adding that Jafary guaranteed his top-quality counterfeits would not be detected by border officials. The forged documents were then sent via private courier companies or delivered to clients in Thailand by middlemen, who ensured that Jafary never met customers directly.

It was not immediately clear if "The Doctor" provided passports to people fleeing to Europe during the current migrant crisis.

Jafary's fake passports were the "best quality in the market," although he was unable to copy the latest microchipped travel documents, Natthorn said.

"He himself used six different passports -- three from Brazil, and one each from Peru, Portugal and New Zealand," the officer added.

"The Doctor" was wanted by security agencies in several foreign countries, especially in the EU and Japan, according to a police blurb.

Five Pak middlemen were also placed in durance vile
You have the right to remain silent...
in raids in and around Bangkok for assisting the forgery ring, which sold the passports for up to 80,000 baht ($2,300).

Some of the nearly 200 travel documents found in a Monday raid on Jafary's home were completely forged, while others had been stolen from tourists and doctored, police said. The raid also uncovered a laser engraving machine, rolls of ribbon, thin leather for passport covers as well as metal plates and stamps from various countries.

Thousands of passports are reported missing annually in Thailand, where forged documents of every variety can be purchased on the streets. The flourishing market has helped establish Thailand as a hub for human traffickers and smugglers.

Two Uighur men awaiting trial for planting a deadly bomb in Bangkok last August have also been accused by police of running a crime group that helped illegal migrants obtain counterfeit documents. The pair are currently being held in a military prison.

In 2014, the spotlight also swung onto the Thai-based trade when two mystery passengers boarded the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 using European passports stolen in Thailand.

In 2010, Thai authorities took part in an international police sting that saw two Paks and a Thai woman arrested in Thailand for providing fake passports to groups behind global terror attacks.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Seven suspects apprehended in Quetta
QUETTA: At lest seven suspects were apprehended in search operations by security forces in different areas of the city on Wednesday.

According to Frontier Corps (FC) sources, FC and Balochistan Police carried out joint operations in Satellite Town, Surki Road and Yousaf Homes and other areas and arrested seven suspects. A TTP pistol, shotguns, cartridges and wireless sets were also recovered from their possession.
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Of course the fix is in, peasants
[DailyCaller] After Crushing Defeat, DNC Quirk Still Gives Hillary More New Hampshire Delegates Than Sanders
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They like being pheasants. They like being lied too. They want to take everything from you but your job.
Posted by: newc || 02/11/2016 1:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Super delegates are pure fixing the system. The establishment makes sure its chosen ones get nominated.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/11/2016 1:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Again....

....too many of the largest industries in the U.S. - government employees, education, IT, entertainment, and banking/finance - have spent too much money on Hillary to let anyone else near the presidency.

ROI, and all that.

They are aided by the fact that no matter how much someone likes Bernie Sanders, they'll vote for Hillary in the general.
Posted by: no mo uro || 02/11/2016 6:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Two super delegates are uncommitted = still negotiating final amount from Clinton foundation
Posted by: Airandee || 02/11/2016 6:29 Comments || Top||

#5  A nice metaphor for the democratic party. Voting is for show. Then they tell you who is in charge.
Posted by: Iblis || 02/11/2016 10:27 Comments || Top||

#6  Talk last night is why is this not being hammered by the Republicans?

Hey Democrats, why does your vote not count unless you are +65 and +$200k/year? I'm no fan, but why did Sanders win as solidly as the Broncos, yet still lose?

If sad panda would like to talk Morality of Action and Merit of Action in regard to opposing cultures, and then this is how Democrats are selected to lead and then expected to lead as selected then what is this shit?

But let's let Calvera explain the difference between socialism and communism:

"Generosity...that was my first mistake. I leave these people a little bit extra, and then they hire these men to make trouble. It shows you, sooner or later, you must answer for every good deed."
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2016 13:04 Comments || Top||

#7  The pub establishment is envious.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/11/2016 15:01 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey detains 34 people with explosives, boom vests at Syrian border
The Turkish military detained 34 people and seized up to 15 kg of explosives and four suicide-bomber vests as they tried to enter Turkey from Syria, Turkish media reported the army as saying on Wednesday.

The private Doğan news agency and other media outlets said the group, consisting of four men, 10 women and 20 children, was detained on Tuesday night in the Oğuzeli district of southeastern Gaziantep province, across the border from an area controlled by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


India-Pakistan
FC, police arrest 30 suspects
[Dawn] QUETTA: The Frontier Corps and police personnel claimed on Wednesday to have arrested 30 suspects during search operations in Shahbaz Town, Huda and Railway Colony areas.

According to sources, security forces combed Shahbaz Town and Huda areas late on Tuesday night and picked up 10 suspects. Twenty others were detained in Railway Colony for their suspected connection with the recent suicide attack and other crimes.

The spokesman for Frontier Corps said they also conducted a search operation on the outskirts of Quetta. “All the suspects have been handed over to the authorities concerned for interrogation,” he said.
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


The Grand Turk
Russian Lawmakers Suggest Annulling 1921 Treaty Of Friendship With Turkey
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How about a nice bear hug instead?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2016 8:47 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Six gunned down in Panjgur
[Dawn] GWADAR: Six people were shot dead in an attack on a house in Bonistan area of Panjgur district on Wednesday night.

“Victims were invited to a dinner and were sitting at the guest house when armed men barged into the room and sprayed them with bullets,” a police official said.

The attackers who came on motorbikes fled.

Police and personnel of other law-enforcement agencies reached the scene of the attack and shifted bodies to the district hospital Panjgur.

“The cause of killing was not known so far,” police officials said, adding that investigation was in progress.

Six persons killed in the attack were identified as Muhammad Ismail, Noor Shoaib, Muhammad Nazar, Momin Ghulam Jan and Islamil.
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Corruption, lack of transparency major challenges for post-sanction Iran
Iran’s oil-dependent economy has been recently freed from the pressure of international sanctions, thanks to the July 2015 nuclear deal, but it seems the country will suffer the negative effects of embargos for a long time.

During the sanctions period, some people and entities made big money bypassing international sanctions on Iran, leading to intensification of corruption in the country, which has already been suffering from lack of transparency.

Iran’s Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi has recently said that lack of transparency in economy and business environment, which was significantly obvious during the sanctions era, remains one of Iran’s economic problems.

“The Iranian administration now makes efforts in the areas of transparency, anti-corruption and legal protection of people and entrepreneurs, as well as the promotion of business environment,” Pourmohammadi told reporters in Tehran Feb. 10.

A day earlier, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, in a similar statement, called for taking measures to counter corruption in the country. He also criticized corruption in an organization without revealing its name.

“When we want to produce, a corrupt organization, which I don't want to name or how it can smuggle [goods into country], does not allow the country to grow,” said the Iranian president.

Rouhani noted that ending monopoly and allowing competition will boost the economy.

It is not the first time that the issue of smuggling by some governmental organizations in Iran comes into the agenda.

Earlier in 2011, Iran’s then president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a controversial statement that the “smuggler brothers” were using the navy docks in southern Iran to conduct their business.

Many experts agreed at the time that the term “smuggler brothers” was a reference to the IRGC commanders.

Earlier, Ahmad Tavakkoli, a senior Iranian MP, warned that systematic corruption is threatening the future of the Islamic Republic.

“Not military aggression, neither military coup, nor even velvet revolution can have any impact on the Islamic Republic, but corruption is a certain threat,” Tavakkoli said December 2015.

He also said Iran has reached a state of systematic corruption, which means that the institutions tasked to battle corruption in the judiciary branch, the security forces and parliament are themselves corrupt to some extent.

Following months of negotiations with six world powers, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear activities, in exchange to removal of the international sanctions. Last January, the US and the EU lifted their nuclear-related sanctions, as the deal, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, aka nuclear deal) came into force.

Although the “sanctions story” is already over, it apparently will be used in the future as a tool by Iranian officials to cover the economic shortcomings in the country, including the outstanding corruption.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Corruption, lack of transparency major challenges for post-Obama America.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2016 11:54 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
ASI killed, constable injured in Mardan raid
PESHAWAR: One police official was killed and another injured during a raid in the Sajan area of Mardan district on Wednesday morning, District Police Officer Faisal Shahzad said.

Police were conducting a raid on the house of a wanted individual, Imran, when they were ambushed, police said, but the suspect, Imran, was hiding in a nearby house belonging to Bakhtaj.

During an exchange of fire with the suspects, Assistant Sub-Inspector Sultan Mehmood was killed and Constable Shoaib injured.

Constable Shoaib was shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Mardan for treatment, and both suspects were arrested during the raid, police said.
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Baghdad bomb and Bullet Bulletin: 3 die
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced on Wednesday, that 12 people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast north of Baghdad.

The source said in a press statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “A bomb exploded, at noon today, in Sabaa al-Bour area in Taji District north of Baghdad, killing three people and wounding nine others.”

The source, who asked anonymity, added, “A security force rushed to the area and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital to receive treatment and the dead bodies to the forensic medicine department, while carried out a raid to search for the perpetrators of the bombing.”
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


20 ISIS Bad Guys have a Very Bad Day
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – An informed source announced on Wednesday, that 20 members of the so-called ISIS were killed in an aerial bombardment targeted their headquarters in central Mosul (405 km north of Baghdad).

The source said in a brief statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The international coalition aviation bombarded, before noon today, headquarters belonging to ISIS near Salam Hospital in al-Wahda neighbourhood in central Mosul, killing 20 ISIS fighters.”

The source, who asked to remain anonymous, added, “The bombardment also destroyed five vehicles belonging to the ISIS.”
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Russian S-300 missile system ready to be delivered to Iran
Russian air defense missile system, S-300 is ready to be delivered to Iran, said the country's Defense Minister Hossein Dehgan. Dehgan said that a part of S-300 systems will be delivered to Iran in first quarter of 2016 and the remaining parts until the end of 2016.

Dehgan also said Iran can purchase the S-400 defense system in the future, if necessary. He said that Iran itself is manufacturing a long-range defense missile system, Barvar 373, which would be tested by March 2017.

Russia signed the contract in 2007 to sell Iran five S-300 ground-to-air missile systems. The $800-million contract to deliver S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran was cancelled in 2010 by then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, falling in line with the UN sanctions imposed on Iran due to its disputed nuclear program.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Iraq
Iraqi forces drive back ISIS attack in al-Anbar
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – The Head of security committee in al-Wafaa area in Anbar Province Hussein Kassar announced on Wednesday, that the security forces managed to repulse the attack of the so-called ISIS on al-Awasel area, while indicated to the heavy losses that were inflicted on ISIS.

Kassar said in a brief statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “This morning, ISIS launched an attack on al-Awasel west of al-Wafaa area using booby-trapped vehicles.”

“The security forces managed to detonate three vehicles and killed dozens of ISIS members, while inflicted heavy human and material losses on them. The whole area is currently under the control of the security forces,” Kassar added.
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraqi army prepares new offensive in Mosul
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – The Provincial Council of Nineveh announced on Wednesday the arrival of two brigades of the army’s 15th division in the headquarters of Nineveh Operations south of Mosul, while expected the arrival of other forces in the coming days to prepare for the liberation operation of Mosul.

The head of the security committee in Nineveh Council Mohammed al-Bayati said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “Two brigades of the army’s 15th division arrived in Nineveh Operations headquarters in Makhmour area in preparation to begin the liberation operation of the city of Mosul.”

Bayati added, “The coming days will witness the arrival of more brigades and regiments to complete the preparations of the liberation operation to retake Mosul from ISIS.”

Baghdad arms Christian volunteers in volatile Nineveh plains

[Rudaw] ALQOSH, Iraq— The Iraqi government has offered arms and combat training to Christian recruits who have volunteered to join a new force based in the disputed Nineveh province, military officials told Rudaw. Nearly 800 Christian recruits are now part of a troop formation that is directly funded by the central government in one of the most volatile territories in Iraq with mixed ethnic and religious populations. The Nineveh plains, with Mosul as its provincial capital, is located south and west of Erbil and is part of the disputed territories according to the Iraqi constitution which underlines its fate, along with a number of other places, should be decided in a referendum.

“Many young Christians both at home and abroad have been in contact with us and willing to join our force,” said General Bahnam Aboosh who is himself Christian and manages the force. “Christians abroad want to help us financially and they do so too,” he added.

Aboosh said the military unit was formed on their own request and after nearly a year of negotiations. Since last year, some 300 of the recruits have completed military exercises with both the US and Iraq’s armies.

Iraq was home to over 1.5 million Christians before the country plunged into bloody sectarian conflict in the mid-2000. But many left the country after systematic attacks on their neighborhoods in Baghdad and elsewhere. In the last two years ISIS has destroyed many Christian churches and it displaced tens of thousands of them upon its takeover of Mosul.

General Aboosh who has served in the Iraqi army in the past said his priority now was to protect their areas in the Nineveh plains.

“We are proud to have the first fully Christian military base here where we can train our youths to defend their lands,” Aboosh said, adding that the base was partly funded by wealthy Christians abroad but the Iraqi government had been providing financial help as well.

The majority of Christians now live in the Kurdistan Region after thousands of families left central parts of Iraq following waves of sectarian attacks. The region’s Peshmerga forces have also trained up to 800 Christian fighters for a future Mosul offensive. The Kurdish authorities have tried to assure Iraq’s Christians that their rights will be safeguarded in Kurdistan.

Large parts of the Nineveh plains have been patrolled by Peshmerga forces since 2014 where a number of villages were also retaken from ISIS.

“We asked the Peshmerga ministry and the Kurdistan region for permission to establish this military base,” Aboosh said and praised their “good relations” with the Peshmerga in the area.
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


The Grand Turk
Russia says it has video proof of Turkey shelling Syria to support Islamic State
Posted by: Spoluger Phuting2600 || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Homs: 17 civilians killed, wounded in regime ambush
Syrian regime forces late on Monday killed 14 civilians in the northern countryside of Homs as they were fleeing the embattled rebel-held area to Idlib province. Three people of the group were escaped the regime ambush near Tal Omari village north of Homs on the main road of al-Salamiyeh town.

Meanwhile, activists said Russia has conducted more than 300 raids on rebel-held Hama and Homs provinces in ten days. Regime warplanes threw leaflet urging rebels to surrender before being exterminated.

Also in Homs, the fate of 7350 detainees from the besieged al-Waer neighborhood is still unknown as the Syrian regime refuses to release them in binding to a U.N.-brokered deal reached last December. The neighborhood's negotiations committee said regime is trying escape their demand and no release expected in the foreseeable future, source told Zaman al-Wasl.

Few days ago people of al-Waer went to street demanding their relative freedom. Regime said their fate will be known in 15 days in new procrastination round, according to the source.

On December 10, 300 fighters together with 400 members of their families, left al-Waer, the last rebel-held area of Homs as part of a rare local ceasefire deal negotiated between the opposition and the government. The fighters and their families were being moved to rebel-held areas of the northwest near the Turkish border.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


ISIS prepares for al-Shadadi battle in Hasakah province
ISIS is preparing for a major offensive against Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S-backed alliance of Kurds and Arabs, in al-Shadadi town south of Hasakah province, Syria's Local Coordination Committees revealed.

LCC said it was informed that a meeting took place in Raqqa, the de facto Islamic State's capital, on Feb. 6 that included Abu Dujana al-Iraqi, the top aide of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and senior ISIS leaders The secret meeting had discussed the the supply routes and reinforcement that should be delivered from Mosul to Raqqa and the planned swap deals with Kurdish militias.

The kidnapped Yazidis girls and families were also on the ISIS schedule, according to LCC.

Al-Shadadi town has endured to brutal air strikes by the international alliance and Russia that killed hundreds of civilians who live under ISIS' yoke.

On Monday, Islamic State took four villages from SDF in the western countryside of Hasakah province, sources told Zaman al-Wasl. ISIS fighters who engaged in fierce fighting with Syrian Democratic Forces in Jabal Abdul Aziz region have captured villages of Safian, Abu Fakhaith, Meshrafa and al-Badie south of Ras al-Ayn town.

The SDF was formed in mid-October as an alliance between the powerful Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and rebel groups including Arab and Assyrian militias to fight Islamic State. But few weeks later SDF had turned the fighting to moderate rebels groups amid reports of unspoken coordination with Syrian regime forces and Russia.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Home Front: Politix
The Nation: Hillary Doesn't Deserve Black Support
another leftist source doesn't like Hillary
... She not only campaigned for Bill; she also wielded power and significant influence once he was elected, lobbying for legislation and other measures.
Remember when getting those two for the price of one was considered a selling point?
That record, and her statements from that era, should be scrutinized. In her support for the 1994 crime bill, for example, she used racially coded rhetoric to cast black children as animals. "They are not just gangs of kids anymore," she said. "They are often the kinds of kids that are called 'super-predators.' No conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel."

Both Clintons now express regret over the crime bill, and Hillary says she supports criminal-justice reforms to undo some of the damage that was done by her husband's administration. But on the campaign trail, she continues to invoke the economy and country that Bill Clinton left behind as a legacy she would continue. So what exactly did the Clinton economy look like for black Americans?
Posted by: lord garth || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  An interesting screed that, essentially, does little more than blame Conservatives.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 02/11/2016 11:31 Comments || Top||

#2  The screed is nonsense as it takes Democrat talking points as givens and never examines what Democrat policies have done to their communities.

When you believe words rather than your eyes you are in deep crap.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/11/2016 18:42 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Pakistan plotting against BD in collusion with BNP
The Awami League-led 14-party alliance yesterday alleged that Pakistan was plotting against Bangladesh with the connivance of the BNP and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami.

Spokesperson for the alliance Mohammed Nasim made the remark at a press conference at Awami League President Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmondi office in the capital. He said: “Pakistan, like 1971, is conspiring against Bangladesh in the with the help of the BNP and Jamaat. BNP chief Khaleda Zia is Pakistan’s agent and what she said about the Liberation War martyrs was just part of the conspiracy.”

He also warned that all diplomatic ties with Pakistan would be cut if the country did not refrain from plotting against Bangladesh.

Nasim talked about the Simla Agreement and other international agreements that restrict Pakistan from interfering in Bangladesh’s internal affairs.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Arabia
Yemeni missile strike Soddy base at Jizan
The Saudi army suffered heavy losses on Tuesday when the Yemeni army and Popular Committees targeted the Jizan Regional Airbase by a domestically developed Qaher1 ballistic missile, sources told Al-Manar website.

The sources revealed that Saudi Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman paid a quick visit under very tight security measures to Jizan Public Hospital to check the dead and wounded among his soldiers who were killed in the strike on the Airport.

Bin Salman also visited a field hospital set up in the area following the aggression on Yemen after Jizan hospital became incapable of receiving the large number of dead and wounded among the Saudi ranks.

The Jizan regional airport was turned to be a military base for attacks after the start of the Saudi-US aggression on Yemen, and civil aviation was moved to Abha Airport.

Overland transport costs from Jizan to Abha are paid by the Saudi government.

Tuesday operation was the third time in which Yemeni forces fired Qaher1 at the airbase.

In a related development, the Yemeni army and Popular Committees killed scores of militants of the Saudi aggression in Midi, Hajjah province.

The Yemeni military media distributed images of the destruction of a number of Saudi vehicles and the shooting of number of aggression forces’ militants.

Video report at the link
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Afghanistan
Kandahar Korpse Kount
At least 21 Taliban insurgents were killed in a military operation carried out by the National Directorate of Security (NDS) special forces in southern Kandahar province on Tuesday, local officials said. In addition, 11 other insurgents were maimed injured.

The operation was launched in Khakriz district of the province to clear insurgents. Two other insurgents were arrested, a spokesman for Provincial Police Chief, Zia Durani said.

However, he did not provide more details about the operation.
"I can say no more!"
Khakriz is one of the insecure districts of the province in which the insurgents have activities and frequently attack security forces.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


-Land of the Free
FBI moves in to end Oregon stand-off
The FBI on Wednesday evening moved in on the last four occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, the Oregonian newspaper reported.

The four armed, anti-government protesters had been indicted last week with 12 others on charges of conspiring to impede federal officers during an armed standoff at the compound.

The takeover at Malheur started on Jan. 2 when their leader, Ammon Bundy, and followers, seized buildings at the refuge in a protest against federal control over millions of acres public land in the West.

Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  8 AM on 02/11/16, they plan a surrender. Seim will be covering, the REV, A state LEG, a few others.

It ended calm last night. Everyone did good.
Posted by: newc || 02/11/2016 1:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Why did the FBI move in now after all this time? And at night? Something is fishy.

I listened to the live stream a bit and the FBI was really being aggressive on the ground and only seemed to back off after they realized it was being broadcast. Stupid and arrogant ground commander or just tyrants on high?

Either way the people that stayed should have realized that there were only two ways out of this once you thumb your nose at the powers that be while armed. Death in a shootout or jail. By staying you chose your fate.

My personal opinion is, while sympathize with the ranchers and agree the government fucked them over, this was the wrong tactic at the wrong time at the wrong place.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/11/2016 1:24 Comments || Top||

#3  They should have converted to muslim. O would have protected his brothers. Immigrants also would have worked. Only seem to have little or no patience with Americans and especially males. OH, black would have helped. Cameras saved their lives.
Posted by: Dale || 02/11/2016 5:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Comment seen recently about the death of Robert Finicum...

"We now know that at the initial stop Robert Finicum was being told to get out of the vehicle and as he looked out of the window of his vehicle he was shot at. He then told the others in the vehicle that they were out to kill them. So he took off hoping to make it to the Sheriff of the county, but encountered a road block. The road block was on a sharp curve and he went into the snow embankment to avoid hitting the road block and a spike strip. He exited the vehicle with his hands in the air. He was not reaching for a gun in a pocket, he was shot and his hand went down to the wound as a pain reflex and they continued to shoot him. Each and every person involved in the assassination of Robert Finicum, both federal and local WILL BE CHARGED WITH MURDER."
Posted by: Spats Schwarzeneggar1528 || 02/11/2016 5:41 Comments || Top||

#5  #4 With this DOJ I don't see anything happening. White lives don't matter.
Posted by: Dale || 02/11/2016 6:39 Comments || Top||

#6  Today the FBI settled all family business.
Posted by: regular joe || 02/11/2016 10:05 Comments || Top||

#7  There's more media coverage of 4 guys in Oregon than 100,000 border crossers.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2016 10:28 Comments || Top||

#8  Why did the FBI move in now after all this time? And at night? Something is fishy.

They were out on ATV, came across FBI, ran back at high speed, FBI followed them in.

They are turning themselves in today. They are calm now so it should go rather well.
Posted by: newc || 02/11/2016 12:29 Comments || Top||

#9  This morning's feed.
Posted by: newc || 02/11/2016 13:10 Comments || Top||

#10  David Fry turned himself in so this is over peacefully.
Posted by: newc || 02/11/2016 14:39 Comments || Top||

#11  Not over. 2016 has only just begun.
Posted by: Unelet Protector of the Sith2424 || 02/11/2016 15:28 Comments || Top||

#12  Nope, not over.
Posted by: jvalentour || 02/11/2016 23:23 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria, Russia carrying out ethnic cleansing around Aleppo: Turk PM
Syrian government forces backed by Russia are carrying out a deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing around the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Wednesday.
This would not exactly be news...
"One of the aims of the latest attacks is to conduct ethnic cleansing. Ethnic cleansing in Syria and Aleppo aimed at only leaving regime supporters behind is being conducted by the Syrian regime and Russia in a very deliberate way," he said.

"Every refugee that we accept helps their ethnic cleansing policy but we will continue to accept [refugees]," Davutoğlu told a joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart. During the press conference, Davutoğlu also lashed out at the United Nations after it demanded the country open its borders to tens of thousands of more Syrian refugees, accusing it of failing to stop the Russian bombings that have triggered the exodus.

Davutoğlu said he considered the UN Security Council "two-faced" for telling Turkey to open its borders while not moving "a finger to solve the Syria crisis" or to stop the Russian bombardments. He also said the Syrian and Russian military operations were an attempt to drive out people who don't support the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

By taking in the refugees that have fled the city of Aleppo, he said Turkey would be indirectly contributing to what he termed as "ethnic cleansing." Davutoğlu reiterated that Turkey planned to care for the new wave of refugees at camps on the Syrian side of the border.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Ethnic cleansing in Syria and Aleppo aimed at only leaving regime supporters behind

Gee, I didn't know that regime opponents all fell into the same ethnic grouping. Does this mean everyone except Alawites?
Posted by: AlanC || 02/11/2016 7:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Given Turkey's history of genocide the PM just might be projecting.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/11/2016 7:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Yep, it's like history is back, or something.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2016 8:48 Comments || Top||

#4  Does this mean everyone except Alawites?

No. Just Turkmen.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/11/2016 10:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Certainly more effective than just shooting them for committing crimes.
"a finger to solve the Syria crisis"
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2016 11:22 Comments || Top||

#6  "Every refugee that we accept helps their ethnic cleansing policy but we will continue to accept [refugees]," Davutoğlu told a joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart.

Well, good he brought his Dutch rudder along.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2016 11:57 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
First batch of Rooshun military aid to Afghan forces in near future
The Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Alexander Mantytskiy has said the first batch of Moscow’s military aid to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) will handed over to the Afghan authorities in the near future.
The first Rooshun aid to the current governments. Certain past governments enjoyed lavish aid...
During a meeting with Hanif Atmar, Afghanistan’s National Security Adviser, Mantytskiy reaffirmed Moscow’s support to Afghan security forces in fight against the terrorist groups, specifically the emergent Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group.

This comes as there are growing concerns regarding the threats posed by the emergent loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group in Afghanistan.

No further details were given regarding the first batch of the Russian military aid to the Afghan security forces. However, officials in the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) said last month that the delivery of 10,000 AK-47 assault rifles would be completed to the Afghan forces in the near future.
Local hard boyz won't need much time at the range to be familiar with an AK...
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fundamental transformation?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2016 8:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Afghan narcotics are a big impact on Russia. The hard boys finance their terror with narcotics so ....
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/11/2016 9:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Yea but Sven, the "good guys" fight the "bad guys" mostly over the control of narcotics's trade.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2016 17:43 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Kirkuk Kombat Khronicle: 4 die
3 ISIS Bad guys die in airstrikes

(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – A security source in Kirkuk Province announced on Wednesday, that nine members of the so-called ISIS were either killed or wounded in an aerial bombing targeted their headquarters in Bashir village southwest of Kirkuk (250 km north of Baghdad).

The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Today, unidentified warplane shelled ISIS headquarters in Bashir village (30 km south west of Kirkuk), killing three ISIS fighters and injuring six others.”

The source, who asked anonymity, added, “The air strike also destroyed a number of vehicles belonging to ISIS.”

Noteworthy, Bashir village in Taza area (30 km south west of Kirkuk) is under the control of ISIS since June 2014, including more than 1150 houses and 2500 Turkman families.

ISIS Top Dawg dies in airstrike

(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – A source in Kirkuk Province police announced on Wednesday, that the commander of ISIS battalion of snipers was killed in air strike in Riyad area west of Kirkuk.

The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “An air strike carried out by a drone managed to kill the commander of ISIS battalion of snipers Sultan Sweich west of Kirkuk.”

The source added, “The drone was tracked the wanted while coming out from Hawija and shelled him few meters away from his house in Riyad area (40 km west of Kirkuk).”

7 wounded in bomb attack

(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – The Police Chief in Kirkuk Province Sarhad Kader revealed on Wednesday, that seven people including four police elements were wounded in the explosion of a car bomb in southern Kirkuk.

Kader said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “A car bomb exploded near a patrol of the emergency police while passing in Huzairan area in southern Kirkuk.”

Kader added, “The explosion resulted in the injury of four police elements, in addition to three civilians.”
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Afghanistan
Afghanistan Deemed Most Dangerous Country For Media Workers
International Media Support (IMS) said that Afghanistan, Iraq and Mexico are the world's most dangerous countries for reporters and media employees.

Meanwhile Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC) raised concerns over insurgent threats against media activities in the country.

"Afghanistan is a dangerous place for reporters and media activity. I think if attacks continue, Afghanistan will become more dangerous," said Najib Sharifi head of AJSC.

Last month, a Taliban suicide bombing claimed the lives of seven TOLO TV employees. More than 20 others were wounded.

Since then, Zubair Khaksar, an RTA journalist and writer, was killed by unknown gunmen in Nangarhar province. This incident was followed by another which saw two Baghlan journalists injured when gunmen opened fire on them.

Sayed Hassib, a TOLO TV cameraman has filmed the ongoing war for a number of years,but recently fell victim to the Taliban himself. He was injured in last month's bombing in Kabul.

"Reporters overall are not safe, not only in provinces but even in the capital Kabul," said Hassib.

However the National Unity Government (NUG) acknowledges there is a problem.

"In general there are threats and we hope with the improvement of the situation and the blows imparted on the terrorist groups the security slowly slowly will change," the CEO's spokesman Mujiburrahman Rahimi said.

These comments come after a bleak month for the media - when eight media employees were killed by insurgents in just one month.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That's newsworthy!
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2016 18:13 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey, Saudi Arabia to hold joint drills: Military sources
Turkey and Saudi Arabia will hold joint military drills as part of a decision to strategically cooperate against common threats, sources have told daily Hurriyet. However, the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted military sources as denying such a planning.
First on the agenda: comm protocols to ensure that the two keep out of each other's way in Syria...
Turkish Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar’s visit to Saudi Arabia in late January, which had coincided with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s official visit to the country, brought about a decision to hold joint military exercises with the participation of the two countries’ armies, military sources told Hurriyet.

Sources aid a decision for “the strategic cooperation against common threats” had been made during the meeting in Riyadh.

Still, military sources said the Feb. 10 media reports, which said such a joint drill would be held, did not reflect the truth, Anadolu Agency said later on Feb. 10. The agency quoted the sources as also denying that the Turkish military would attend a Saudi-led exercise, admitting that a deal was made for joint military training.

The visit was not to discuss the coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) facilities in Syria but rather conducted to strengthen mutual ties between the two states and armies, according to the sources speaking to Hürriyet.

The “Islam army,” which Saudi Arabia had announced to be formed on Dec. 15, 2015, consisting of 34 Sunni Islam states, to fight terrorism amid a continuing war on jihadists in the Middle East and elsewhere, was not on the agenda of the meetings in Riyadh.

The visit coming right before Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates declaring they were ready to send troops and special forces to Syria under the U.S.-led anti-ISIL coalition was also a coincidence, the sources said, adding Turkey was distancing itself from both of the issues.

“The togetherness that is being mentioned [by Saudi Arabia] cannot actually be called an ‘Islam army.’ Even if there is such an initiative, Turkey will not be a part of its military branch,” said a senior Turkish official.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Lawrence of Arabia is spinning in his grave?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2016 8:50 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia completes reformation of 1st Guards Tank Army
[Janes] The Russian Ground Forces has completed the reactivation of the 1st Guards Tank Army in Russia's Western Military District (WMD) and is to form two new armoured divisions, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced.

A session of the Defence Ministry Board, chaired by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, discussed the reactivation as part of the development of Russia's quick reaction force. The session also revealed that Russia will form two new armoured divisions near the cities of Voronezh (in the WMD) and Chelyabinsk (in the Central Military District: CMD) in 2016.

According to the MoD, the 1st Guards was reformed on 1 February and will be equipped with T-72B3 and T-80 main battle tanks (MBTs). A Russian tank army is typically equipped with 500 MBTs.

Meanwhile, Colonel General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, commander of the CMD, said that the mainstay of the new Chelyabinsk-based armoured division will be cutting-edge MBTs. Chelyabinsk is close to Nizhny Tagil, home of Russian tank manufacturer Uralvagonzavod, and Col Gen Zarudnitsky's comments could well indicate that this unit will be the first to receive the new T-14 Armata MBT and other new Armata-based vehicles.

As for the armoured division in the Voronezh Region, the 1st Separate Armoured Brigade has been garrisoned there in the town of Boguchar since 2015. It looks like this brigade will be transformed into a division.
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I not an ARMA-phile but as I understand from Daddy's tales of war in Germany, tanks are a mobile artillery and mortar platform for advancing infantry and are used to provide occupational defense. Is this a move to provide a capability, or fill a hole in a regional combined arms strategy?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2016 12:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes...but the big question is: Will they reactivate Zhukov?
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 02/11/2016 16:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Your father is right with regard to the Russian attitude towards tanks, which differs from the US in that Americans prefer infantry fight infantry and tanks fight tanks, while the Russian think tanks can fight everything.

The significance of this announcement is that the 1st Guards Tank Army has its lineage in the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, which deployed in Moscow just after October, 1941, under the command of then General Katukov just after the disaster at Vyaz'ma. The Russians will observe the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Moscow this coming December.

Also significant is that October, 1941 was when the Russian disbanded every last one of their armored units and reformed them all as brigades, the basic maneuver component of the tank army, the first of which went into action in November 1942, Stalingrad.

It wasn't until 2009 that the Russians went back to reorganizing their forces into brigades, and now the 1st Tank Army emerges as the first of its corps sized forces organized with brigades.

Why THAT is significant is that brigade headquarters are usually larger, are staffed with more senior officers, is commanded by a flag officer and is expected to fight independently.

And as the article said the 1st Tank Army is deployed near Volodya's capital and is expected to be a fire brigade/rapid reaction force.

It will be interesting to see whether Russian commanders decide to make their armies where they can be task organized, or if they will be of fixed size with fixed components.

Task organizing make larger formations better able to deal with circumstances as they arise.
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 17:33 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy arrested in Portland
The father of two men who were among the occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and are now in jail, was himself arrested in Portland, Ore., Wednesday night.

Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher prominent in protests to end federal control of western lands, is being held in the Multnomah County Detention Center. His sons Ammon and Ryan were arrested Jan. 27 and are there as well.

Bundy had said earlier this week that he intended to travel to Oregon to support the four men still occupying a government building on the refuge.

On Wednesday at the refuge in southern Oregon, the FBI moved to further restrict the movement of the four militants and is actively negotiating with them, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.

The FBI said on Twitter that around 4:30 p.m. PT, one of the occupiers rode an ATV past established barriers on the refuge grounds, and sped away when authorities approached. The FBI says after the incident agents placed barricades around the occupiers' location.
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No mention of what the charges are.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 02/11/2016 7:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Charges? We don't need no steenking charges! We're FEEB's!
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 02/11/2016 7:45 Comments || Top||

#3  No mention of what the charges are.

Enemy of the People.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2016 8:52 Comments || Top||

#4  ...so was John Brown.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2016 9:10 Comments || Top||

#5  I don't believe the term existed in 19th century.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2016 9:26 Comments || Top||

#6  It has always been called something.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2016 10:35 Comments || Top||

#7  Under Champ there has been an Executive Order defining two new criminal acts invoked when the lame-stream media turns its befuddled gaze to some overt act of seeming modest rebellion to expansive government overreach:
1. Felony Annoyance of the Imperial narrative
2. Felony media attention grabbing
Look for both to be charged against Bundy with appropriate coverstory.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 02/11/2016 13:03 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Manscaping and cross dressing: ISIS bad guys leave Raqqa
ERBIL – The Iraqi security said on wednesday that its forces have arrested a group of militants from the Islamic State (ISIS) after trying to flee the city of Ramadi while dressed as women.

“The terrorists had shaved their beards and dressed as women in a bid to fool our forces and escape the liberated city of Ramadi. However, they were all arrested before escaping the city,” the Iraqi security command said in a statement.

The Iraqi army announced on Tuesday the “full liberation” of Ramadi city, capital of Anbar province, from ISIS militants.

Dozens of ISIS jihadis are believed to be stranded inside Ramadi after the Iraqi troops imposed their control over the city.

Speaking to ARA News, local media activist Fouad Al-Saddi said that the Iraqi forces raided several neighborhoods across the city looking for ISIS militants.

“The militants who remained in the city are now trying to escape at any cost in order to avoid falling in the hands of the government forces,” Al-Saddi said.

“At least nine ISIS jihadis were destained on wednesday while trying to flee the security checkpoints of the Iraqi forces in Ramadi suburb. They were all dressed as women,” the source added.

Backed by the U.S.-led coalition’s airstrikes, Iraqi army forces have been engaged in fierce battles with ISIS militant fighters in Ramadi and its suburbs over the last few weeks.

“Our forces have pushed Daesh (ISIS) militants out of the city’s outskirts. Ramadi is now under the full control of the army,” Iraqi central command announced on Tuesday.

The Iraqi army had declared the liberation of Ramadi from ISIS earlier in December. However, the militant group fought back and regained several districts across the city after renewed clashes with Iraqi army troops, where dozens of fighters were reported dead on both sides.

In the meantime, governor of Anbar province Suhaib al-Rawi said that the bombs and land-mines left by ISIS prevent displaced civilians from returning to Ramadi.
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Are there no fatwas speaking to the topic of dressing like a piece of property?
Posted by: Bobby || 02/11/2016 14:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Ramadi.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2016 14:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Better caught then being shot for retreating. No 72 virgins though.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/11/2016 14:56 Comments || Top||

#4  Ramada.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2016 18:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Holiday Inn! LOL, sorry, head line is rong.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2016 18:14 Comments || Top||


Syria Air Strike Hits MSF-Supported Hospital, 3 Dead
An air strike hit a hospital in southern Syria that is supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), killing three people and wounding six, the medical charity said on Tuesday.
It's not earth-shattering news when they do it...
"The strike on Tafas field hospital, some 12 kilometres from the Jordanian border, took place on the night of February 5. It caused partial damage to the hospital building, and put its heavily-used ambulance service out of action," MSF said in a statement. A nurse was among the casualties, it added.

"The hospital is the latest medical facility to be hit in a series of air strikes in southern Syria, which have been escalating over the past two months," it said, without specifying who was behind the strikes.
But the U.S. isn't responsible so it isn't a big deal...
In addition to the Syrian government, Russia and a US-led coalition targeting Daesh are also carrying out raids in the war-torn country.

A Syrian aid group in January said 177 hospitals had been destroyed and nearly 700 health workers killed since the outbreak of the country's civil war in March 2011.

It is not the first time MSF-supported facilities in Syria have been hit.

"Since the start of this year alone, 13 health facilities in Syria have been hit, confirming that hospitals and clinics are no longer places where patients can recover in safety," the charity said.

"This latest incident further depletes Syria's already exhausted healthcare system, and prevents more people from accessing desperately needed medical care," it added.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Arabia
Medical aid arrives in Taez
The World Health Organisation said Wednesday it has managed to deliver desperately needed medical supplies to Yemen’s Taez city which has been besieged for months by Shiite Huthi rebels.

The WHO has “successfully delivered more than 20 tonnes of life-saving medicines and medical supplies,” it said in a statement.

“These medical supplies are critical to meet the most urgent needs in a city where more than 200,000 people continue to live under siege with limited access to humanitarian aid,” it added.

The Huthis and their allies have for months tightened the noose on forces backing President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in the centre of Yemen’s third-largest city.

The health supplies had been blocked from entering the city for eight weeks, WHO said, adding that they were finally delivered to Al-Thawra, Al-Jumhoori, Al-Rawdha and Al-Ta’aon hospitals as of 31 January.

“Hospital staff in Taez City are desperate for medicines and medical supplies so that they can continue to offer the most basic medical care,” said WHO Representative in Yemen Ahmed Shadoul.

“The delivery of these WHO supplies is a huge step that we are hoping will pave the way for the provision of more medical support to the city,” he added.

Doctors Without Borders said it delivered essential medical supplies to hospitals in the city in early January, in the first such “significant” shipment since August.

That came several days after a Saudi charity said that aircraft of the Saudi-led coalition that is fighting the rebels had dropped 40 tonnes of medical equipment and food to Taez.

The coalition has since March conducted air and ground operations in Yemen to support local forces against the rebels and their allies.

More than 6,100 people have been killed in Yemen since March, about half of them civilians, according to the UN.
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
ISIS destroys Christian residences in Mosul
[ARA News] ERBIL – Militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) radical group have destroyed a number of houses that belonged to Christian families in Mosul city of Iraq’s northwestern Nineveh province, local sources reported on Wednesday.

“ISIS militants bombed more than 20 houses that belonged to displaced Christian families,” said Muhammad al-Jabouri, an Iraqi security officer in Nineveh province.

“The bombed houses were located in the Bakkir neighborhood and Al-Arabi district in eastern Mosul,” he said. “Hundreds of other houses that belonged to the Christian minority have been destroyed earlier by the militants in Mosul.”

Thousands of Christians have been displaced from Mosul since the ISIS invasion into the city in June 2014.

ISIS had confiscated hundreds of houses for displaced Christian families in Mosul. Some of those houses have been handed over to ISIS jihadis, while others have been bombed by the radical group in a bid to prevent the Christian civilians from returning to their hometown.
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran making own Karrar tank, skips buying Russian T90
Iran is manufacturing its own tank - Karrar, instead of purchasing Russian T90 tanks, said the country's Defense Minister Hossein Dehgan. Dehgan said that Karrar has all the capabilites of the T90.
Is that good or bad?
"We are producing Karrar domestically," he said. "It is more advanced than T90."

Iran previously held talks with Russia regarding the purchase of the T90 tanks, however later abandoned the idea. Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, commander of the Iranian army's ground forces has previously said that buying the T90 tanks is not on the country's agenda.

“The Russian T-90 tank is one of our favorites,” he said, adding however purchasing this tank was later abandoned considering Iran’s domestic capacities for producing tanks.

“Iran currently plans to use its domestic capacities to meet its demand for tanks,” the commander said.

Sputnik news agency earlier reported that the purchase of T-90 main battle tanks would considerably rehabilitate Iran’s tank fleet.

The T-90 is considered to be among the 10 best main battle tanks in the world.
But not in the best three...
Currently it is the most commercially successful main battle tank on the global market, said the agency's report.

Under international restrictions, Iran has turned to domestic talents to improve its military power, frequently unveiling new products. Since 1992, Iran has been manufacturing its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles, radar, boats, submarines and fighter aircraft.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director General of Russaian Uralvagonzavod company Alexey Zharich said on Feb. 4 that his company proposed to license production of T90 in Iran if the UN sanctions on the country are lifted.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Top 10.

How many main, as opposed to medium or light, battle tanks are there in production around the world?
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/11/2016 9:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Currently it is the most commercially successful main battle tank on the global market, said the agency's report.
Really!?! I thought that refurbished Leopard-2 tanks were Really more popular, or is that dated info?
Posted by: magpie || 02/11/2016 18:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Good question Sven.

I was going to try and rattle some off the top of my head. Wiki list.

Trying without looking
T-72
T-80
T-90
Abrams
Leopard 2
Merkava
Challenger
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2016 19:30 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Qatar announces major government reshuffle
But I think we all saw this coming...
The Amir of Qatar, His Highness Shaikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, appointed new foreign and labour ministers on Wednesday in a reshuffle of heavyweight cabinet positions, state media announced.

Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, a member of the royal family, replaced Khalid Al Attiyah as foreign minister, according to the Amir's order published on the official Qatar News Agency. Attiyah, whose father was the founder of Qatar's armed forces, was appointed the Minister of State for Defence. The Amir himself holds the post of defence minister.

Attiyah had been the Gulf state's foreign minister since 2013 and was recently heavily involved in international negotiations on the Syrian war. He had worked within that department since 2011.

Shaikh Mohammed is a senior official who was previously in charge of international cooperation in the foreign ministry.

In total, seven changes to the cabinet were announced on QNA as several ministries, including the labour, were merged. One post which remained the same was that of the prime minister, held by Shaikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani since 2013.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
130 Taliban insurgents killed in Baghlan
Provincial governor Abdul Satar Barez said at least 130 Taliban militants have been killed and 95 others have sustained injuries during the operations so far.
48 hour rule. This would be fairly big news and a medium-sized setback to the Talibunnies. But it's an Afghan press release so who knows?
Barez further added that the operations have suspended due to heavy snow fall in the area but the Afghan security forces are committed to clear the areas under the Taliban control.

The counter-terrorism operations were launched by the Afghan security forces late in the month of January from Dand-e-Ghori area close to Pul-i-Khumri city. According to Barez, the Afghan security forces have managed to clear certain areas from the militants, including Baghlan-e-Markazi, Baghlan-e-Kohna, and Baghlan Sanati.

He said new security check posts have been established in the areas after they were cleared and Dand-e-Ghori will be completely cleared once snow fall stops to allow the reconstruction of destroyed electricity pylons.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Iraq
Turkish warplanes hammer Kurd positions in Duhok
(IraqiNews.com) Duhok – On Wednesday, eyewitnesses revealed, that Turkish warplanes shelled the border areas that belong to Duhok Province.

One of the witnesses called Jia Hussein told reporters, “This morning, Turkish warplanes shelled the border areas in al-Emadiya District in Duhok Province for nearly an hour.”

Hussein added, “The bombardment targeted the headquarters of Kurdistan Workers Party but the losses are still unidentified.”
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
US spy chief sees rise in militancy in Bangladesh
Free space on the bingo card...
The US intelligence chief has claimed that efforts by the Bangladesh government to undermine the political opposition would probably provide openings for transnational terrorist groups to expand their presence, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

Several Bangladeshi security analysts, however, refuse to accept the view, saying the statement was issued only to give political edge for someone.
"Slander! Lies! Oh, oh, we are so butt-hurt!"
US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper questioned Bangladesh’s public insistence that the killings of foreigners – Tavella Caesar and Hoshi Kunio – were the work of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, and are intended to discredit the incumbent government.

In a written testimony to a Senate hearing on worldwide threats, Clapper noted the claims of responsibility from the Dae’sh group (Islamic State) for 11 high-profile attacks on foreigners and religious minorities, and the claims from outlawed militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team and al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) for killing at least 11 progressive writers, bloggers and publishers in Bangladesh since 2013.

The claims by Dae’sh group were reported by SITE Intelligence Group, a US-based website monitoring jihadi activities, whereas Ansarullah and AQIS made the claims through Twitter and Facebook accounts.

The current Bangladesh administration repeatedly denied the presence of the Dae’sh group in the country, and has accused domestic militant organisations and political opponents for the attacks, Clapper said.

US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Bernicat on several occasions has expressed her government’s plan to assist the Bangladesh government in combating militancy. In a meeting with the home minister last week, Bernicat said that the US government was keen to share information on Dae’sh and its possible threats in Bangladesh. She added that a US envoy would visit Bangladesh to hand the home minister over the information.

In his testimony, Clapper said that Bangladesh has been in political ferment since the run-up to January 2014 elections that were boycotted by opposition parties, and over war crimes prosecutions brought against Jamaat-e-Islami leaders over their alleged involvement in atrocities during 1971 War of Independence.

Earlier, the US made a similar statement in early 2007 in its Congressional Research Service report, saying culture of political violence and deterioration of Bangladesh’s democracy centring elections might create additional space for the Islamist militants.

Maj Gen (retd) Abdur Rashid, a security analyst, refused to accept Clapper’s comments.

“The so-called Islamic parties have been found doing it since the beginning of the nineteenth century and we faced militant attacks a number of times since then,” Rashid told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
They've been doing it longer than that, but Daesh is the flavor of the moment...
“If we say it is happening for the present political phenomena, then why did the terrorist activities happen earlier? I think that their [US] observation on the issue of militancy is nothing but giving a political edge to someone.”

He said that one needs to know about the financiers and sympathisers to understand the trend of terrorism in the country. “Analysing the issues, I can say clearly that the US intelligence chief’s statement cannot be acceptable.”

Air Commodore (retd) Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, who follows security issues, thinks that the political situation in the country is now stable. “I do not think the political situation may give rise to militant activities.”

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has reiterated that the killing of foreigners was part of a conspiracy by a group of people to embarrass the incumbent government. “Their international agents are providing them with necessary supports,” he said yesterday.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
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
Tue 2016-02-02
  86 Dead as Boko Haram Burns Children Alive in Nigeria
Mon 2016-02-01
  50 Feared Killed in Boko Haram Attack in Nigeria
Sun 2016-01-31
  At least 60 killed in terror attack at Shi'ite holy site in Syria
Sat 2016-01-30
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Fri 2016-01-29
  Man Arrested in Disneyland Paris Hotel with 2 Handguns
Thu 2016-01-28
  Melbourne teen accused of plotting to pack kangaroo with bomb

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