Afghan government forces have entered the Chahar dara district of the volatile province of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan and have retaken the district after fully expelling Taliban fighters from the strategic town.
On Friday, senior Afghan National Army (ANA) officials reported that pro-government forces managed to elicit a heavy death toll to the Taliban during the military campaign with several key Taliban commanders gunned down by security forces.
They said that Afghan troops also confiscated a large cache of ammunition and weapons from the militants.
Meanwhile, Kunduz police announced that several top Taliban commanders were eliminated during the battles.
Strategically located in the gateway of the north, the district used to be the group's main military stronghold. Last year Taliban launched an offensive on Kunduz city from the same district that led to the dramatic fall of the city to the resurgent movement.
But the fall of Kunduz sparked strong reaction with many people blaming poor leadership of the war for the crisis.
Military experts however believe that the latest recapture of the town is a milestone toward curbing the advance of Taliban insurgency in the area that has been witness to heavy clashes since last year.
"The operation was launched after conducting a precise and accurate planning. House to house searches and clearance operations were conducted during the military campaign in Kharoti, Zahir Kamar, Hajji Amanullah and Zadaran villages onward to areas of Omarkhail village. The operation was conducted perfectly and on the basis of planning," general Amanullah Mobin, the commander of an ANA commando unit in the northeast said.
At least 100 Taliban fighters were killed and wounded during the operation including several key Taliban commanders.
"Several Taliban military commanders including Shah Wali known as Zadran were killed in the operation," Kunduz police chief Mohammad Qaseem Jangal Bagh said.
"Taliban's Omari operation has been defeated, therefore they announced Azam operation and brought them to their knees," commander of 20th Pamir Army Unit, Muhaiuddin Ghori said.
Meanwhile, residents in Chahar Dara have asked the Afghan security institutions to take necessary measures for the protection of the district from the Taliban so that the district is no longer a place for militants.
[Fox] A British couple and their son were savagely attacked during a family vacation in Thailand in the latest blow to the country's image as a welcoming tourist paradise. Police said Thursday they have arrested the four suspected attackers.
A video of the attack, which was captured by overhead security cameras and posted this week on social media, has stirred shock and outrage over its brutality and the ages of the victims, a 65-year-old woman and 68-year-old man from Scotland and their 43-year-old son. The attack is the latest act of violence against tourists in the Southeast Asian country.
In the video the family is seen walking down a crowded street in the beach town of Hua Hin on the evening of April 13, amid festivities for the Thai New Year.
[WAPO] A top Defense Department official is criticizing the House Benghazi committee's investigation as wasteful and inefficient, while questioning whether the panel's final report will be based in fact.
In a letter to the committee Thursday, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs Stephen Hedger charged Republican investigators with employing a variety of "unproductive" tactics, including "continuous threats" to subpoena Pentagon employees, "multiple and changing requests" to DoD and interviews that prompt speculation by witnesses.
"While I understand your stated intent is to conduct the most comprehensive review of the attack and response, Congress has as much an obligation as the Executive Branch to use federal resources and taxpayer dollars effectively and efficiently," Hedger wrote.
"The Department is working diligently to accommodate your staff’s multiple and changing requests; however, we are concerned by the continuous threats from your staff to subpoena witnesses because we are not able to move quickly enough to accommodate these new requests. Subpoenaing our service members, when the Department is working diligently to accommodate your requests and when no service member has refused to appear voluntarily, is unfair to our uniformed men and women."
The letter underscores the challenges facing the two-year-old House Select Committee on Benghazi, which has been dogged by criticism from its right and left. Panel chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) has promised to release the final investigative report "before summer," but critics are skeptical it will happen.
In recent months, Gowdy has touted "immense" progress in the investigation, citing the receipt of new documents from the Obama administration and more than 90 witness interviews in total. He has not provided further detail. Man up and soldier on you sniveling puke !
Thank God. Maybe even idiots have their limits.
In a stunning reversal, the U.S. Army decided late Thursday to retain a decorated Green Beret it had planned to kick out after he physically confronted a local Afghan commander accused of raping a boy over the course of many days.
Sgt 1st Class Charles Martland, confirmed the Army's decision to retain him when reached by Fox News, who has been covering the story in depth for the past eight months and first broke the story of the Army's decision in August to kick out Martland over the incident, which occurred in northern Afghanistan in 2011.
"I am real thankful for being able to continue to serve," said Martland when reached on the telephone by Fox News. "I appreciate everything Congressman Duncan Hunter and his Chief of Staff, Joe Kasper did for me."
As first reported by Fox News, while deployed to Kunduz Province, Afghanistan, Martland and his team leader confronted a local police commander in 2011 accused of raping an Afghan boy and beating his mother. When the man laughed off the incident, they shoved him to the ground.
Martland and his team leader were later removed from the base, and eventually sent home from Afghanistan. The U.S. Army has not confirmed the specifics of Martland's separation from service citing privacy reasons, but a "memorandum of reprimand" from October 2011 obtained by Fox News makes clear that Martland was criticized by the brass for his intervention after the alleged rape. Asked for comment in September 2015, an Army spokesman reiterated, "the U.S. Army is unable to confirm the specifics of his separation due to the Privacy Act."
An Army spokesman said Thursday that Martland's status has been changed, allowing him to stay in the Army in a statement to Fox News.
"In SFC Martland's case, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records determination modified a portion of one of SFC Martland's evaluation reports and removed him from the QMP list, which will allow him to remain in the Army," said Lt. Col. Jerry Pionk.
Martland's former Special Forces team leader, now out of the Army and living in New York said the Army is a better place with Martland in its ranks.
"This is not just a great victory for SFC Martland and his family- I'm just as happy that he can continue to serve our country and inspire his peers, subordinates and officers to be better soldiers. Charles makes every soldier he comes in contact with better and the Army is undoubtedly a better organization with SFC Martland still in its ranks," said Martland's former team leader Danny Quinn when reached by Fox News Thursday.
Quinn is a 2003 graduate of West Point.
"I am thrilled beyond words that my brother is able to continue his career of service to country. The relentless defense of Charles as a soldier and a man of integrity by his friends, family and colleagues sent a clear message that abhorrent decision making made in the interest of self promotion and lacking common sense will not be tolerated. Charles is where he belongs. He is an elite warrior. He belongs on the front lines. Our enemies last vision in this life should be of Martland's face. They have earned that right," said Casey a former Special Forces teammate of Martland's who asked that only his first name be used due to the sensitive of his current work.
The American Center for Law and Justice, who was involved with a writing campaign to save keep Martland in the Army, called the decision a "significant victory."
"The decision by the Army to retain this hero is long overdue and represents a significant victory for SFC Martland," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. "Justice has been served. The U.S. military has a moral obligation to stop child sexual abuse and exonerate SFC Martland for defending a child from rape. The Army finally took the corrective action needed and this is not only a victory for SFC Martland, but for the American people as well."
"The Army did the right thing and we won -- the American people, won," said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a Marine veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, in a phone interview with Fox News. "Martland is who we want out there."
Lawmakers were not the only ones who supported Martland's case.
One famous Hollywood actor also weighed in.
Harvey Keitel of "Pulp Fiction" and "Reservoir Dogs" fame also asked the Army to reconsider their decision.
Martland grew up south of Boston, in Milton, Mass. An all-state football player in high school, he set his sights on playing college football after graduating in 2001. Martland went for the Florida State University team, which just finished a season ranked fourth in the nation.
He made the team, impressing legendary head coach Bobby Bowden and famed defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews. Still, he often remained on the sidelines.
When Pat Tillman, a former NFL football player who volunteered for the Army Rangers, was killed in Afghanistan in 2004, he saw Tillman's sacrifice as motivation to apply for another elite program.
Martland dropped out of college and graduated in 2006 from Special Forces Qualification Course, one of the U.S. military's toughest training programs. Over the years he became a jumpmaster, combat diver and sniper.
After a deployment to Iraq in 2008, he deployed to Afghanistan in January 2010 as part of a 12-man unit. He and his team found themselves fighting large numbers of Taliban militants in volatile Kunduz Province.
In 2014, three years after being sent home from Afghanistan, Martland was runner-up Special Warfare Training Group Instructor of the Year from a pool of 400 senior leaders in Special Forces.
#1
Harvey Keitel of "Pulp Fiction" and "Reservoir Dogs" fame
Far east of the great LA River,
Where lingers of gringos a sliver,
A lonely fan sputtered,
Was butthurt, and muttered,
"So what is 'The Duellists', chopped liver?"
#2
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a Marine veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan
My Congresscritter, who besides being generally awesome, has let his campaign/personal spending getting a little too intertwined. He's recently paid to reimburse/clean it up, hopefully for good, so the Lib haters can't use that to criticize the good things he does
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04/29/2016 21:02
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#3
I note that Captain Danny Quinn did not receive similar favorable treatment. He was the "real deal" in confronting the Afghan police commander cum rapist.
h/t Instapundit
The conventional thinking about police-involved shootings, and some scientific research, has been that black suspects are more likely to be shot than white suspects because of an implicit racial bias among police officers. But now a new study has found exactly the opposite: even with white officers who do have racial biases, officers are three times less likely to shoot unarmed black suspects than unarmed white suspects.
The results come from a laboratory project at Washington State University using highly realistic police simulators, in which actors in various scenarios approach and respond to officers on large, high-definition video screens in an attempt to recreate critical situations on the street. The officers are equipped with real guns, modified to fire infrared beams rather than bullets, and the scenarios can branch into conflict or cooperation, depending on the officers' words and actions. Now, the number of actual shootings = probability of shooting per encounter times the number of encounters.
A 1978 report found that 60 percent of black suspects shot by the police carried handguns, compared with 35 percent of white suspects. In 2001, a statistical study showed that black people comprised 12 percent of the population but committed 43 percent of the killings of officers.
anon1. Don't try this again. This was a campaign video for a presidential candidate, so it must go into Opinion. Next time, your post will be deleted. Also, don't let there be a second time.
[Advocate] Sascha Bollag was running errands in Harahan on Tuesday when he saw a sign that made him turn his car around to see if he had actually seen what he thought he saw.
The sign for the Shimmy Shack restaurant on Dock Street was topped with a joke in plastic lettering: "What time does a Chinaman go to the dentist? Tooth a hurty!"
"I was very surprised," said Bollag, who lives in New Orleans. "Obviously, the term ’Chinaman’ is what caught my eye and upset me. That’s a term that I feel generally -- and say what you want about political correctness -- has not been acceptable in polite company for 30 years."
Shimmy Shack owner Jimmy Collings, however, said he often puts up jokes he considers harmless, "goofy stuff" and that he doesn’t consider the term or the stereotype invoked to be malicious or racist.
"It’s a joke my father told me when we were kids," he said.
#2
"That’s a term that I feel generally -- and say what you want about political correctness -- has not been acceptable in polite company for 30 years."
What a blithering idiot - are the terms Englishman & Frenchman also unacceptable 'in polite company'?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2016 12:48
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#5
are the terms Englishman & Frenchman also unacceptable 'in polite company'?
If by 'polite company', you mean idiots, then the proper terms are Englishperson and Frenchperson. Unless you are talking about an American woman. Then the term is Vagino-American.
#6
Well I find the joke offensive for a couple of reasons. First it isn't funny. Second it doesn't get better with age.
But at least he didn't use a word that rhymes with ink. Although its a good bet his dad used ethnic identifiers begining with "n", "s", "p", "k", "f", "l" and "m". Let's be honest, most of us had parents or relatives that did.
[Daily Caller] The Clintons have paid "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to cover the legal bills for a Bill Clinton aide who sits at the center of the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server.
That’s according to Washington Times opinion editor Monica Crowley who reports in a new column that a knowledgeable source tells her that the Clintons are covering legal expenses for Justin Cooper, a longtime aide to the former president.
Such an arrangement would raise questions over whether the Clintons are paying Cooper’s bills in order to ensure that they have some oversight of his interactions with federal investigators. It would also raise questions about whether the Clintons are paying other aides’ legal costs.
Cooper registered clintonemail.com in his own name on Jan. 13, 2009. That email domain is the same one Hillary Clinton exclusively used to send work-related emails as secretary of state. Emails sent on that account were stored on a server that the Clintons kept at their personal residence in New York.
[Wash Times] RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Sen. Ted Cruz's former campaign co-chairman in Virginia has traveled to Syria and promised support for the government of President Bashar Assad, who U.S. officials have repeatedly said has lost the legitimacy to rule the war-torn country.
Virginia state Sen. Dick Black’s trip to a Middle Eastern country in the midst of a civil war and his comments in the face of official U.S. foreign policy are highly unusual for a state lawmaker.
Black, an outspoken Republican, is a part-time state senator who has no role in official U.S. foreign policy. Still, he has met with Assad government officials and said he would advocate for better relationships between Assad and the U.S., according to the official Syrian news agency.
"I will be Syria’s voice," Black said, according to the news agency.
An aide to Black said Wednesday evening that Black resigned as co-chair of the Cruz campaign in Virginia shortly before his trip. In a resignation letter dated April 21 the aide provided to The Associated Press, Black said he was resigning to "avoid any possible distraction" related to his trip.
In the letter, Black said he was traveling to Syria "in an attempt to restore peace and prevent the slaughter of Christians and other minorities at the hands of the armies of terrorists rampaging across the country." Black is a decorated USMC Viet Veteran and retired U.S. Army JAG Colonel.
[Breitbart] Leading up to next week’s Indiana primary, GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump got legendary Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight’s endorsement.
Former Gov. Howard Dean (D-VT) reacted Thursday on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" to the Knight endorsement by saying Knight’s status in Indiana means his endorsement, unlike most, makes a real difference.
"It is the the same as Bear Bryant endorsing somebody in Alabama. I mean, [Knight] did more for Indiana basketball, which I have to say, is the biggest sport in Indiana by far. I do -- I agree, endorsements usually don’t make much difference. This one does."
[Free Beacon] U.S. Steel Corp accused the Chinese government of hacking into a company computer to steal the blueprints for new lightweight steel technology so that Beijing-based auto producers could expand their reach into America.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that U.S. Steel filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission earlier this week accusing the Xi government of working on the behalf of Chinese auto companies to swipe proprietary plans for the new steel.
The Pittsburgh-based company alleges the hack infiltrated a researcher’s computer in 2011.
[Free Beacon] The Obama administration is dodging a congressional inquiry into its refusal to designate recent Iranian ballistic missile tests as a violation of an international statute barring such tests, prompting frustration on Capitol Hill from lawmakers who accuse the administration of breaking past promises to enforce the missile ban, according to recent communications sent by the State Department and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Lawmakers launched an investigation earlier this month into what they describe as Obama administration efforts to mislead Congress about the nature of last summer's comprehensive nuclear agreement.
The administration's refusal to say that Iran's missile tests violated the nuclear agreement has emerged as a key diplomatic sticking point in recent months and prompted congressional leaders to launch an investigation into claims that the administration misled lawmakers about the terms of the deal.
Administration officials initially promised Congress that United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which formally governs the nuclear deal, would prohibit Iran's ballistic missile program. However, the resolution only "calls upon" Iran to refrain from these tests, sparking accusations from lawmakers that the administration is rewriting the terms of the nuclear agreement.
[Free Beacon] Tom Coburn, the former senator currently leading a movement for a Convention of States, unloaded on Congress during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Wednesday.
"America doesn’t trust you anymore. That’s the truth," Coburn said, appearing alongside the head of the Government Accountability Office during the hearing to discuss duplicative federal programs.
The GAO recently released its annual report, finding the federal government could save hundreds of billions of dollars just by consolidating duplicative programs.
Coburn, making his first appearance before the Senate since his farewell speech when retired in late 2014, pleaded with Congress to take action to reform government, simplify the tax code, and save taxpayers billions of dollars in the process.
Coburn is leading a movement of more than 1 million activists working to hold a Convention of the States, allowed by Article V of the Constitution, to force Congress to balance the budget. He said 10 of 34 states needed have passed resolutions so far.
"I would just tell you a little of my background this last year in 2015 I spent my time in 21 different states," Coburn told the committee. "And America doesn’t trust you anymore. That’s the truth. Because they don’t see the actions coming out of Congress that should be coming out."
"And that doesn’t mean that they’re right all the time, but you’ve lost their confidence," he said. "And that’s not one party, that’s both. And so when you have hundreds of billions of dollars that could be saved and aren’t, and they know it. You know, they actually read your reports. People online, and then they use social media, pass it around."
"The important thing is to restore the confidence in the country what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it and how you’re doing it," Coburn said.
#4
The urchins of the street did hustle her
And grasp the ribbon of her bustler
Three knaves she did thwack
In their ill-planned attack
Trying to out-muscle a pro tussler.
#5
The Firth in a fog, and a vessel;
Prince Albert, Balmoral, a special!
The Queen, in fine fettle,
Adorns with a medal
The bustle that buttressed the trestle.
[AlAhram] A British court on Thursday tossed in the calaboose Book 'im, Mahmoud! a security guard for five years for sending thousands of tweets glorifying 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.... (IS) group after failing in a bid to travel to Syria.
Mohammed Moshin Ameen, 23, admitted using 42 different Twitter profiles to send 8,000 messages between March and October last year, 250 of which were found to be extreme. One post included a link to an IS propaganda video targeting young British men.
"You had a not insignificant following on your accounts, and at the time this case is concerned, you were thoroughly radicalised," said judge Richard Marks as he handed down the sentence.
Ameen, from east London, had befriended well-known radical figures, some of whom were later convicted of terror offences.
Police first became aware of Ameen in December 2013 during a raid at an address in London, where they found him with a one-way ticket from Luton to Istanbul.
Prosecutor Christopher Amis said Ameen's Twitter activities "amount to a sustained effort indirectly to encourage others to engage in terrorism". Ameen posted a picture of masked IS assassin "Jihadi John" holding a knife and called jihadists "role models".
At a hearing at London's Old Bailey in March, Ameen pleaded guilty to five counts of encouraging the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism on Twitter. He admitted another charge of inviting support for Islamic State and of disseminating a terrorist publication.
Ameen's lawyer Tim Moloney said bully boyz had taken advantage of his client's "below average intelligence."
This is the second one whose lawyer claimed he was mentally retarded in two days. One more, and it will be a solid trend.
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[IsraelTimes] Police make four arrests after intercepting communications between jihadist group and Moroccan-born man.
Italian prosecutors said Thursday they had thwarted plans by at least three people to carry out terror attacks against the Israeli Embassy in Rome and the Vatican.
Italian police tossed in the slammer Please don't kill me! four people involved in a foreign terrorist investigation, including a Moroccan-born man living in Italia who had received 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.... orders to carry out an attack on the Israeli embassy in Rome, the prosecutors said. Two others suspects are still on the lam.
Milan prosecutor Maurizio Romanelli told news hounds that Sherlocks intercepted communications from within Islamic State territory ordering attacks in Italia, "with particular attention to the city of Rome" and focusing on the Holy Year pilgrimage now underway.
Rooters said the Italian authorities tapped and recorded phone conversations between three of the suspects, and that possible attacks on the Vatican and the Israeli embassy in Rome were discussed.
"I swear I will be the first to attack them in this Italia of crusaders, I swear I’ll attack it, in the Vatican God willing," one of the men now in jug was quoted saying in a transcript. In a separate conversation, the same suspect spoke of seeking to attack the Israeli embassy and mentioned contacting an Albanian man to get a gun.
Authorities arrested the Moroccan-born man, identified as Abderrahim Moutahrrick, and his wife, Salma Bencharki. The couple had allegedly been planning on traveling from their home in Lecco, north of Milan, to Islamic State territory with their children aged 2 and 4. Romanelli said Moutahrrick had taken Italian citizenship and was an accomplished boxer.
Moutahrrick told another suspect in an intercepted call that he wanted "to hit Israel in Rome."
In an photo released by Italian police, Moutahrrick is seen wearing boxing gloves, shorts, a black shirt styled after the IS flag and a keffiyeh.
There was no indication the attacks were imminent. Romanelli said authorities acted quickly to close the investigation, arresting four people and issuing arrest warrants for two others who are currently believed to be in Islamic State territory.
"This is a new profile, because it was not a generic indication, but an indication given to a specific person who was invited to act within the territory of the Italian state," Romanelli said.
Another Moroccan man who was planning to travel with them, identified as Abderrahmane Khachia, 23, was arrested in the northern city of Varese, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also issued arrest warrants for an Italian-Moroccan couple who left to join Islamic State last year with three small children. Romanelli said that the man, identified as Mohammed Koraichi, had become an Islamic State fighter and communicated the orders to carry out attacks in Italia while making arrangements for the other family to join Islamic State.
The fourth arrest was of Koraichi’s sister, prosecutors said.
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[Ynet] A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about when he last contacted 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.
Twenty-three-year-old Abdul Raheem Habil Ali-Skelton pleaded guilty Wednesday in US District Court to one count of making a false statement to FBI agents. He faces up to eight years in prison.
Federal prosecutors say Ali-Skelton told the FBI last July that his last contact with Syrian-based members of the Islamic State group was in May or early June 2015. But prosecutors say Ali-Skelton knew he had communicated with members of the group as recently as last July 4.
Last month, Ali-Skelton was charged in state court after allegedly threatening to "shoot up" a Walgreens in a Minneapolis suburb. He pleaded guilty Monday to making terroristic threats in that incident.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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North Korea fired a couple of medium-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, but the first crashed into the sea and the second also failed, according to military officials here.
The Musudan is an upgraded version of the old Soviet SS-N-6 submarine-launched ballistic missile. It is 12 m long and thought to be able to carry a 650 kg warhead. It is theoretically capable of hitting U.S. military bases on Guam in the West Pacific but does not seem to be working very well.
Another Musudan missile launch on April 15 also failed, killing and injuring several personnel.
The North fired the first missile from Wonsan around 6:40 a.m. and the second in the evening. The first missile did not show up on South Korean military radar but was spotted by a U.S. surveillance satellite.
The North recently deployed two mobile missile launch vehicles near Wonsan, each with a Musudan missile. The North has had about 40 of them warfare-ready since 2007 but seems not to have tested them until recently.
The North is gearing up for a massive Workers Party congress on May 6, the first in 36 years, and the regime is frantically trying to project an image of power as international sanctions begin to bite.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/29/2016
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[ARA News] QAMISHLO – Senior Kurdish leaders and activists on Thursday condemned the parading of 40 to 50 rebel bodies in the Kurdish city of Efrin (Afrin) Thursday afternoon who were killed in a failed attack on positions of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Tal Rifaat town in the Aleppo province.
According to the Jaysh Thuwaar, a member of the SDF, a coalition of rebel groups including Sultan Murad Brigade, the Grandsons of Saladin brigade, and Nusra, stopped their attack on the SDF and withdrew after at least 53 of them were killed, and hundreds of injured were sent to the hospitals in the city of Azaz.
“Rebels launched an attack on Tal Rifaat yesterday. The attack failed because of the explosion of an ammunition truck. Over 40 fighters died,” Abdurahman Hark, a former spokesperson for the Islamic Army said on Twitter, who called the SDF fighters ‘pigs’.
In the meantime, Kurdish leader and the co-chair of the Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM) Aldar Xelil said: “The show of bodies of the enemies in such a way in front of the civilians in the streets, as what happened in Efrin today, is disgusting and contrary to our values of humanity.”
“We are not those who terrorize their enemies in such a shameful way. These ways are closer to the traditions of Daash [ISIS], the al-Baath-regime, or a military dictatorship. We feel very ashamed of it,” Xelil said.
Also senior officials of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) condemned the incident.
“What happened in Efrin cannot represent our principles and morals and we cannot slip into such a behavior, we have grown up with values,” Sharvan Darwish, a spokesperson of the Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement, emphasizing that the SDF is following ethics of international laws and values of humanity.
Syrian Kurdish activists and journalists were shocked and condemned the event.
Speaking to ARA News, Kurdish activist Nidal Hassan said: “At 14.00pm in the afternoon, Efrin saw the arrival of a truck with the bodies of opposition fighters that attacked SDF forces the last two days. The dead bodies were displayed in the streets of the city in a humiliating way to humanity.”
“I think this is a big mistake, and what happened is not a reflection of Efrin and the culture of Kurds,” he added.
The parade of killed Syrian rebel fighters comes after more than 85 civilians were killed by rebel attacks on the Kurdish neighbourhood of Sheikh Maqsoud in the city of Aleppo since 16 February. Meanwhile, attacks by rebel groups on the neighbourhood continue.
[WASHINGTONTIMES] President Obama’s unilateral pen-and-phone approach to governing has been aided by a decades-old secret memo that allows him to avoid economic scrutiny of some of the most intrusive rules and regulations his administration has issued, a top senator said Thursday.
Now Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican and chairman of the Finance Committee, has demanded Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew release the 1983 memorandum of understanding and defend the Reagan-era policy that has let Mr. Obama pursue changes on everything from corporate taxes to Obamacare without first giving a full heads-up to Congress.
“This non-public MOU between the Treasury and White House further cloaks the regulatory process in secrecy and decreases regulatory transparency at a time when the Executive Branch is attempting to achieve a great deal of policy through regulatory measures generally and tax regulations specifically,” Mr. Hatch wrote to Mr. Lew.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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#1
I'm surprised Champ would stoop to using something from the Gipper.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/29/2016 14:05
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[REPORTUK.ORG] The sick terror group ‐ also known as ISIS ‐ has released shocking images of its latest barbaric killing, taken straight down the muzzle of a gun.
Two men accused of being "western spies" were crucified and then rubbed out in broad daylight in front of a watching crowd in Raqqa, Syria.
The horrific images were published through one of ISIS’s twisted propaganda organs in a post titled "harvest of the spies".
The blindfolded men had been paraded in front of a baying crowd as accusations of espionage against the so-called caliphate were read out.
They were they bound to makeshift crosses as masked jihadis taunted them.
An execution then shot them using a pistol with a camera attached.
Finally, signs written in Arabic were pinned to their lifeless bodies ‐ warning others against disobeying ISIS’s rein of terror.
The series of images was released on Wednesday via the TV channel "Wilayat ar-Raqqah" ‐ meaning "Province of Raqqa".
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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[AA.TR] The economic stance of Republican presidential candidates are "fantasy", President Barack Obama Dreams of My Sainted Father... said in an interview published Thursday.
"If you look at the platforms, the economic platforms of the current Republican candidates for president, they don’t simply defy logic and any known economic theories, they are fantasy," Obama told The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... Magazine.
"Nobody would even, with the most rudimentary knowledge of economics, think that any of those things are plausible," Obama said as he pointed to some of the claims, including cutting taxes for top wage earners, 5 percent to 7 percent economic growth and balancing the budget.
The U.S. economy has overcome the 2008 financial crisis "better than any large economy on Earth in modern history," according to Obama, who added that there is still room for improvement.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Still better than your fantasy about being able to do foreign policy.
And the Republicans sure as fuck can't do any worse than you did.
#3
You must be the dumbest piece of shit that has ever userped the office of the President. You are not worth the shit off of a bums shoe.
There was no logical reason for you to run or think you could Preside over this Nation, but it, like all of life is the same to you. Just a game.
You were more worthless the day you were born than when you went to that worthless madrassa, that worthless Cambridge or worthless Harvard marxist box checking whatever the fuck it is.
No Marxist will ever know anything about economics. Because there is no way to with that horse shit so embedded into your shallow and politically correct mind.
Fantasy is where you have lived and led US, Son.
And now, as the Gates crash around my Holy Land, you will watch as it descends into a third world Country like all the rest of them because marx kicks your nads into your tiny brain.
No matter how many Millions whom have been murdered for you useless "economy"
Your only economy is government because that is your Lord.
You piece of shit from hell serving Leviathan and Saul Alinsky.
That's when people accuse religious people of being stupid and irrational for believing in Bronze-Age sky friends or flying spaghetti monsters - all the while believing themselves in something as completely unreal as a society based on a successful, sustainable collectivist/centrally planned economy.
Sorry Obama. Sorry, all of his fans. People in 1900 could be excused for thinking like that. But in 2016, if you believe in a collectivist economy, you are engaged in the most unlikely and dangerous fantasy of them all.
That stuff doesn't work.
Lesson over.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
04/29/2016 8:01
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Fantasy is where the numbers are blungeoned until they meet you pre-conceived targets. See government economic figures, climate change, etc...
#7
The left has never understood trickle-down economics. Probably because LBJ spent the gains of JFK's tax cuts on Vietnam and Great Society and Reagan spent the gains of his own tax cuts on rebuilding the military. But the gains were there, and could be again.
#10
P.S. Trump supporters were bloodied last night. Understand this, when Obama said "Trump will not be President.", it was not an opinion, it was a dictate from Americas first dictator.
Posted by: Unelet Protector of the Sith2424 ||
04/29/2016 16:14
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#11
Democrats have had historic low turnouts in their primaries while Republicans have set records.
Historically peaceful demonstrations lead to higher democrat turnout and violent demonstrations lead to lower turnout.
I'm seeing a wave election and desperation on the part of the left as they see an end to their control coming.
[AA.TR] Turkish armed forces have killed 11 ISISDeath Eaters after they fired mortar shells into The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's southeastern province of Gaziantep, which borders Syria, military sources said.
According to sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, ISISDeath Eaters fired shells into the Karkamis district, where Turkish howitzers, known as Firtina (Storm in Turkish) are located. The military then retaliated.
Turkey has been under indiscriminate rocket attacks from Syria since mid-January. In the Kilis province alone, a total of 18 people have been killed and 60 others have been maimed as a result.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A former prominent Mujahideen leader Abdul Rab Rasool Sayyaf ...Afghan Salafist warlord, owned by Saudi Arabia. He was the guy who invited al-Qaeda to come into Afghanistan and make themselves at home... has called on bully boy groups to end slavery for the outsiders, reiterating his hard stance against the bad boy groups in the country.
Sayyaf was speaking during a gathering to commemorate the 24th anniversary of Mujahideen’s victory against the former Soviet-backed regime.
The event was organized by Afghanistan Protection and Stability Council, comprising prominent ex-Jihadi leaders and senior former government officials.
Sayyaf said the bully boy and terrorist groups fighting in the country should not brand their insurgency as Jihad, insisting that killing of children, women, destroying houses and committing other horrific crimes are not a holy war.
He urged the Taliban and other bully boy groups not to further destroy their homeland and refrain from slavery for the outsiders.
In parts of his speech, Sayyaf said the freedom and comfort which the neighboring countries are enjoy from are as a result of the Jihad of the Afghan people.
Sayyaf noted the growing objections and criticisms against the Mujahideen in the media, specifically in social media, and said offence and defaming of Mujahideen is an offensive on Islam and its principles.
He also called on the government to include the former Mujahideen in fight against terror and defense of the country.
This is not the first time Sayyaf has taken a hard stance against the bully boy groups in the country, specifically the Taliban group.
Sayyaf has publicly denounced the insurgency activities of the Talibs on numerous occasions and in one stance declared Jihad against the group.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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North Korea's sources of hard currency overseas are drying up as even friendly countries implement UN sanctions against the regime and expel its arms dealers.
Vietnam on April 23 deported Choe Song-il, who has been blacklisted by the UN Security Council for overseeing North Korean arms sales in Southeast Asia, Voice of America reported on Thursday. Choe had been living in Vietnam since 2013, where he allegedly managed revenues from arms exports and personally delivered the cash to Pyongyang.
He was placed on the UNSC blacklist in March, which obliges UN member nations to freeze his assets and expel him.
North Korea fought on the North Vietnamese side in the Vietnam War and the two countries have since maintained relatively friendly ties.
Egypt has also deported three blacklisted North Korean officials, according to Radio Free Asia. Two were representatives of the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID), which is also under U.S. sanctions. The third was a state security agent. The three North Koreans apparently went to Egypt clandestinely and tried to sell arms to African and Middle Eastern countries.
RFA reported that North Korean Ambassador to Egypt, Pak Chun-il "played a key role" in establishing the local KOMID branch and is also about to be expelled.
Burma apparently expelled North Korean Ambassador Kim Sok-chol and several KOMID officials there last month. Kim was the first incumbent ambassador to be placed on a U.S. sanctions list on charges of spearheading North Korea's illicit arms exports.
Pyongyang made an estimated US$300 million in hard currency from arms sales last year.
Meanwhile, North Korea's traditional allies China and Russia have also shelved business projects with North Korea and barred North Korean ships from their ports. Russian state-run gas company Gazprom last month severed ties with the North for fear that dealing with Pyongyang could risk incurring U.S. and international sanctions. Gazprom had been involved in prospecting for gas deposits and other energy-related ventures with the North.
Last month, Russia turned back a North Korean vessel attempting to dock in the Siberian port of Vostochny.
China earlier this month banned trading of 25 items with North Korea and is barring North Korean ships from its ports.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/29/2016
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The liberation of the strategic city of Mukalla is a stern warning to all those who support terrorism in Yemen, the Arab Coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen affirmed today.
Staff Brigadier Musallam Al Rashidi, Commander of UAE Force in Hadhramout, who is commanding the liberation battle in Mukalla, said the support provided by the Arab Coalition had been very instrumental in driving Al Qaeda militants out of the city, affirming the coalition's determination to pursue them wherever they were.
''Stability of Yemen means stability for the whole region,'' the UAE commander joint told a press conference held by the coalition and the Yemeni national army, adding that Al Qaeda looted $100 million (Dh367 million) daily during its rule of Mukalla and after the liberation it lost its key funding sources.
''The liberation of Mukalla has proved how Al Qaeda was fragile,'' he said, noting that air strikes carried out by the coalition had facilitated the mission of the Yemeni army.
Brigadier Al Rashidi indicated that the UAE force was training Yemeni army personnel who had proven their merit in the battleground.
According to him, tonnes of relief assistance from the UAE were on their way to the city.
Brigadier Auni Al Qurni, Deputy Commander of Mukalla's Liberation Force, said the operation had been carried out at the request of the legitimate government.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/29/2016
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[Ynet] A terror attack by two Paleostinian females was thwarted on Thursday night. Armed with knives, a syringe, and suicide notes, the two attempted to attack soldiers on duty guarding the Bell checkpoint. No soldiers were maimed.
Two female holy warriors were neutralized on route 443 after attempting to stab soldiers.
The holy warriors arrived to the Bell checkpoint with a knife, a syringe filled with an unidentified substance, and suicide notes. The two asked the soldiers on duty for water. However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... the soldiers understood that something suspicious was going on, and at that point, the holy warriors took out a knife in an attempt to stab the soldiers.
One of the holy warriors is currently being treated at Sha'arei Tzedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, and is in moderate to serious condition. The second assailant reportedly attempted to escape, but was later apprehended. None of the soldiers were maimed. Paleostinian media reports them to be minors.
One of the women was shot by troops at the scene and the other was apprehended without incident, according to reports. The would-be attacker who was shot sustained serious injuries.
The incident occurred at a checkpoint near Beit Horon on Route 443, one of two main highways connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – Nineveh Operations Command announced on Thursday the killing of four ISIS elements in an aerial bombing that targeted a mortar detachment belonging to the ISIS south of Mosul.
The statement added, “The international coalition conducted an aerial strike on a mortar detachment belonging to the ISIS in the village of al-Haj south of Mosul, resulting in the death of four [ISIS] elements.”
Noteworthy the leadership of Nineveh Operations announced yesterday liberating the village of Muhana in Nineveh Province during a military operation that resulted in the death of more than 200 ISIS members.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/29/2016
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[WASHINGTONTIMES] A state judge threw out a portion of a Seattle ordinance requiring garbage collectors to snoop through residents’ trash in search of food waste, calling the provision unconstitutional.
King County Superior Court Judge Beth M. Andrus issued an injunction against the garbage inspections but not Seattle’s residential food-waste ban, which forbids throwing away food scraps and compostable paper.
"This ruling does not prohibit the city from banning food waste and compostable paper in SPU-provided garbage cans," the 14-page decision said, referring to the Seattle Public Utilities. "It merely renders invalid the provisions of the ordinance and rule that authorize a warrantless search of residents’ garbage cans when there is no applicable exception to the warrant requirement, such as the existence of prohibited items in plain view."
Under the 2015 ordinance, garbage collectors were required to determine by "visual inspection" whether more than 10 percent of a trash can’s contents were made up of recyclable items or food waste. Violators are subject to having their garbage cans tagged and fines of $1 per can for curbside collections or $50 per collection for multi-family units.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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#1
A few more years of socialist governance and no bin sorting ordinance will be necessary.
#4
Hmmmm. I see a dense forest of legal challenges to the expertise of garbage collectors to determine the 10% figure. Can one imagine the thought processes of that moroon who WROTE that law?????
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/29/2016 18:42
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#5
That law is right along the lines of the signs posted on the I-5 in Washington state.
"Litter and it'll hurt."
So totalitarian. I cringe whenever I drive by one when I'm visiting the state.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced on Thursday, that seven people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast southwest of Baghdad.
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “A bomb exploded, before noon today, near a popular market in Radwaniyah area southwest of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding five others.”
The source, who asked anonymity, added, “A security force rushed to the area and evacuated the wounded to a nearby hospital to receive treatment and the dead bodies to the forensic medicine department, while cordoned off the area of the incident and barred approaching it.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Thursday, a source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced, that six people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast targeted a bus northwest of Baghdad.
The source said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “A bomb exploded, at noon today, targeting a bus while passing in Hurriya District northwest of Baghdad, killing the driver and wounding five others, as well as causing material damage to the bus.”
The source, who asked anonymity, added, “A security force rushed to the area and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the dead body to the forensic medicine department.”
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced on Thursday, that five members of al-Hashed al-Shaabi were either killed or wounded in a bomb blast in southern Baghdad.
The source said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “A bomb exploded, at noon today, targeting a civilian car carrying five members of al-Hashed al-Shaabi while passing in Hor Rajab village in southern Baghdad, killing two of them and wounding three others including the driver, as well as causing material damage to the vehicle.”
The source, who requested anonymity, added, “A security force rushed to the area and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the dead bodies to the forensic medicine department, while a raid was carried out to search for the perpetrators of the bombing.”
[DW] Germany is moving closer to reforming its old sex crime laws, making it easier to prosecute rapists and sex attackers, though Green and Left party politicians as well as women's groups argue that the reforms need to put more emphasis on the perpetrator rather than the victim.
Thursday's Bundestag debate on the matter found Social Democrat Justice Minister Heiko Maas open to a further tightening of the law. He told the chamber that he was "certainly ready" to discuss further regulations, and called for the changes to be brought in quickly.
But he also defended the draft law as it stood, giving public broadcaster ARD the following example: "If a woman somewhere on an isolated car park can't reach help and prefers to get the ordeal over as quickly as possible," then from now on it will be easier to secure a conviction.
Making consent explicit
The reforms are meant to criminalize acts where the perpetrator uses surprise or intimidation to exploit the victim. Currently, section 177 of Germany's criminal code offers three definitions of rape, as sexual coercion carried out:
1. by force;
2. by threat of imminent danger to life or limb; or
3. by exploiting a situation in which the victim is unprotected and at the mercy of the offender.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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#1
...or by being any male on any Americans college campus (according to DoE/DoJ).
[AA.TR] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... has warned young Muslims against "three significant dangers: sectarianism, racism, and terrorism".
"Muslims, if they want to get the respect that they deserve, have to first eliminate these dangers," Erdogan said Thursday.
His remarks came at a youth gathering organized by the ONDER Imam Hatip Schools Alumni Association at Istanbul's Sinan Erdem Dome.
The Turkish president criticized sectarianist tendencies within Islam, which he said had sometimes become more important than one's overall Muslim identity.
"That trouble has been seriously wounding the Islamic world," he said. "We have a religion above all those [denominations]: Islam."
He also complained that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which he called "the greatest collective voice of the Islamic world", could rarely reach an agreement, even on basic issues.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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[Dhaka Tribune] For 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.... ’s residents, springtime in Afghanistan brings three things: sunshine, rain showers and blood.
Over the past two decades, the end of winter has been marked by a renewed campaign of violence from the Taliban. The deadly tradition continued this year with latest suicide kaboom in the capital . At least 64 people died and hundreds more were maimed in a assassination in close proximity to the Ministry of Defense and other military compounds.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] A geopolitical intelligence and consulting firm has claimed that two global jihadist networks ‐ 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.... and al-Qaeda ‐ are in a race in Bangladesh to establish their dominance.
The two groups are already struggling in Iraq and Syria (IS and al-Nusra
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Bangladeshi government can round up the Islamist theocrat murderers and execute them in a week if they are so disposed.
They will not be inclined unless the EU cuts off the aid money.
Merkel should threaten the Banglas with no more aid money unless the killings stop
[FOXNEWS] Law enforcement rescued a Bronx housing project with the biggest takedown in New York City history and now, officials are investigating whether the city's 400,000 public housing residents were being protected in safe conditions as required by federal law, a federal prosecutor announced Wednesday.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara told a news conference that nearly 700 New York Police Department officers and federal agents accompanied by helicopters and armored trucks executed pre-dawn raids, taking down two rival narco gangs from top to bottom.
By late afternoon, 88 individuals were in jug and more were sought in what Bharara described as the biggest gang takedown ever in New York City. The arrests stemmed from charges brought against 120 gang members.
"We bring these charges so that all New Yorkers, including those in public housing, can live their lives as they deserve: free of drugs, free of guns and free of gang violence," he said.
The prosecutor said the arrests culminated a 16-month investigation that began when prosecutors and police decided to address a surge in violence around the Eastchester Gardens housing projects, where more than 2,000 people live.
Dozens of shootings, stabbings, beatings, robberies and the murders of a 15-year-old allegedly stabbed to death and a 92-year-old woman killed in her home by a stray bullet could be traced to two gangs: "2Fly YGz" and the "Big Money Bosses," Bharara said.
"These gangs didn't distinguish between rival gang members and law-abiding residents of the community. If you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, you could be shot, stabbed, even killed," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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#1
I would bet there are more than 400,000 in New York city living in public housing.
Posted by: chris ||
04/29/2016 0:44
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#3
Meanwhile, the prime minister of Turkey and the politburo chef of Hamas (Muslim Brotherhood of Palestine) are meeting in a hotel in Doha, according to The Times of Israel. Next month Turkey will engage in a "final push" negotiation with Israel; ending the blockade of Hamas will no doubt be on Turkey's agenda.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 3 coppersbit the dust in the latest insider attack carried out by one of their comrades in eastern Laghman province of Afghanistan.
According to the local security officials, the incident took place late on Wednesday night in a security post in Mehtarlam city.
Provincial police front man Shafiqullah confirmed the incident and said the assailant policeman managed to flee the area following the attack.
He said the policeman was apparently in contact with the Talibs and has joined the Taliban ranks after the attack.
The Taliban group has also grabbed credit behind the insider attack.
Laghman is among the relatively volatile provinces in eastern Afghanistan where anti-government armed bully boy groups are actively operating in a number of its remote districts.
The latest insider attack in Laghman comes almost two weeks after seven coppers were killed in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan in a similar attack.
At least 7 coppers serving with the Afghan Local Police (ALP) forces were also rubbed out by their comrades in Kandahar province late last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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[AA.TR] Seventeen civilians bit the dust and 45 others were maimed Thursday by Russian Arclight airstrikes on Aleppo province in northwestern Syria, a civil defense official said.
Najib al-Ansar told Anadolu Agency that Russian warplanes targeted the al-Kallasa neighborhood.
On Wednesday, 30 people were killed and 62 others were maimed by a Russian warplane that targeted a field hospital in Aleppo’s al-Sokkari neighborhood.
U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... said in a written statement that the U.S. was "outraged" by the attacks, adding that Russia had "an urgent responsibility to press the regime to fulfill its commitments" to abide fully by the cessation of hostilities agreement.
According to the deal reached in February, all parties in Syria had to stop attacks. The agreement excluded ISIS and al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Russia began its military intervention in Syria in September, reportedly after a formal request for help by the embattled Bashir al-Assad regime against armed opposition groups. In March, Russia announced a partial reduction of its forces deployed in the war-ravaged country.
According to a tally compiled by Anadolu Agency, more than 361,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict erupted in 2011.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Diyala – A security source in Diyala Province announced on Thursday, that six people had been either killed or wounded by mortar shells in the city of Baqubah (55 km northeast of Baghdad).
The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “This morning three mortar shells fell near elementary schools in Katoon Razi area in western Baqubah, wounding three people.”
The source, who asked anonimity, added, “Two mortar shells fell near farms in al-Sawamra area in central Baqubah, killing one person and wounding two others.”
The source continued, “A security force rushed to the incident areas and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the dead body to the forensic medicine department. “
(IraqiNews.com) Diyala – On Thursday, Diyala Police Chief Major General Jassim al-Saadi announced finding a secret hideout containing a workshop for the manufacturing of improvised explosive devices belonging to ISIS northeast of Baqubah.
Saadi said in a press statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “A security force from the police emergency regiment managed to find a secret hideout containing a workshop for manufacturing improvised explosive devices belonging to ISIS in the vicinity of Imam Musafer area northeast of Baqubah.”
Saadi added, “The operation was carried out based on accurate intelligence information.”
Posted by: badanov ||
04/29/2016
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[ABCNews] The FBI has arrested three people in California connected to the San Bernardino shootings -- but federal charges against them stem from allegations of a marriage fraud conspiracy and do not suggest any direct link to the December 2015 attack.
Syed Raheel Farook -- brother of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook -- and two others with ties to the shooter were arrested this morning on federal conspiracy, marriage fraud and false statement charges, according to the Justice Department.
A federal grand jury in the Central District of California yesterday issued a five-count indictment against Syed Raheel Farook, 31, of Corona, California; Mariya Chernykh, 26, of Ontario, California; and her sister, Tatiana Farook, 31, of Corona, California.
In November 2014, Chernykh married Enrique Marquez, the former neighbor and friend who allegedly gave Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, weapons and other items used in the San Bernardino attack. Marquez has already been charged with terrorism-related offenses and marriage fraud, after he allegedly admitted he was paid to enter into what authorities called a “sham marriage” with Chernykh so she could stay in the United States.
If convicted of the charges against her, Chernykh could face up to 25 years in prison.
Syed Raheel Farook and Tatiana Farook are accused of taking part in the conspiracy after witnessing the wedding between Marquez and Chernykh, taking staged family pictures with the couple, and then furthering the marriage in other ways.
They each face up to five years in prison if convicted.
On Dec. 2, 2015, Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 of Farook’s coworkers and injured 22 others at a work holiday party in San Bernardino, California. Farook and Malik later died in a gun battle with authorities.
[DW] The Turkish president filed his complaint with Angela Merkel weeks ago, successfully. Now, hundreds of German residents have lodged complaints about a poem treading a thin line between satire, stereotypes and slurs.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Hey, Hermann!
Your Böhmermann Trials may determine
The 21st century's "good German,"
Whom Erdogan's orders
Compelled, across borders,
To humor that goat-f...ing vermin.
[DAWN] An officer of the Afghan intelligence agency was locked away You have the right to remain silent... inside Pak territory near Chaman border crossing in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... on Thursday, the interior ministry said.
The ministry said the Afghan officer named Rozi Khan -- reportedly a second lieutenant in the intelligence unit of the Afghan army -- was arrested by Fedral Intelligence Agency (FIA) officials in Chaman over charges of crossing the border without possessing any authentic travel documents to enter into Pakistain.
The Afghan official was handed over to intelligence agencies by FIA which then shifted him to some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location for questioning, DawnNews reported.
It further reported that the intelligence agencies are currently interrogating the arrested Afghan officer.
Earlier this month, an agent working for the Afghan National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... (NDS) ‐ Afghanistan's premier spy agency ‐ was also arrested from Chaman district by Frontier Corps ...a provincial paramilitary force. Total manpower is about 80,000. They are tasked to help local law enforcement in the maintenance of law and order, and to carry out border patrol and anti-smuggling operations.... The arrest of suspected Afghan intelligence officials comes after forces arrested an Indian agent Kulbushan Jadhav from Balochistan, who Pakistain said was involved in "terror activities" in the province.
Law enforcement agencies announced the arrest of Jadhav during an intelligence-based raid in Balochistan's Chaman last month.
The Indian Foreign Ministry earlier confirmed the arrested man was a former Indian Navy officer, but the Pak government claimed to have recovered travel documents and multiple fake identities of Jadhav, establishing him as an Indian spy who entered into Balochistan through Iran -- holding a valid Iranian visa.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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[CBSNEWS] A man wearing a panda onesie and a surgical mask who claimed he had a bomb strapped to his chest at FOX45's television station in Baltimore, Maryland, was shot by police after he exited the building.
Earlier, the television station had been evacuated after the suspect entered the lobby and claimed to have a bomb, CBS Baltimore reported.
Baltimore Police spokesperson T.J. Smith told news hounds that after the suspect exited the building, he would not comply with officer's orders, and a sniper shot him.
"At this point in time the suspect came out of the building and started advancing towards officers," Smith said.
Smith said the device appeared to resemble an explosive, but was actually some sort of red flotation device stuffed with chocolate candy bars wrapped in aluminum foil with wire connecting them.
"It doesn't not appear this device was capable of actual explosives," Smith said.
Darwin wins again.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Suicide by cop. Too bad that the taxpayers of Maryland will now have to foot the bill for medical services, incarceration and trial.
[ARA News] ERBIL – Militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) on Thursday executed two young men in the city of Manbij in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo on charges of spying to the US-led coalition, local sources reported.
Local activists confirmed that ISIS executed two young men in Manbij on charges of spying for the anti-ISIS US-led coalition forces.
Over the past few weeks, the pace of ISIS-led executions against civilians has increased dramatically in the city of Manbij for various reasons.
The victims were arrested by ISIS-led Hisba police earlier this week. They were then referred to the Sharia Court which convicted them of spying for the US-led coalition forces and ordered their execution, according to locals.
In the meantime, speaking to ARA News in Raqqa, media activist Salim Raqqawi said that ISIS arrested a young girl in Raqqa city on charges of violating the Islamic dress code.
“ISIS terrorists has put the girl in an iron cage with dozens of human skulls, roaming her in Raqqa’s neighborhoods,” the local source reported reported.
According to activists, the girl collapsed and fainted after hours of the punishment for fear of the scene.
Speaking to ARA News in Qamishli, journalist Ahmed Saad said that the hardline group carries out multiple kinds of punishments in a bid to terrorize people and impose its hegemony on civilians, especially after losing much of its power under airstrikes and ground attacks across Syria and Iraq.
“In Raqqa, ISIS has been under remarkable pressure, especially with the western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) making remarkable gains in northern Syria, coinciding with continued US and Russian airstrikes on the terror group’s positions,” Saad said.
Over the past two years, ISIS has publicly executed hundreds of civilians, activists, and journalists on various charges in areas under its control across Syria and Iraq.
Posted by: badanov ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[AA.TR] Britannia’s main opposition Labour Party has suspended a former mayor of London over a media interview in which he described Hitler as a Zionist.
Red Ken Livingstone, who served as the U.K. capital city’s first mayor and is a member of the party’s main decision-making body, was suspended amid claims Labour has become tolerant of anti-Semitism among its membership.
The former mayor made his remarks Thursday to support another Labour politician, Naz Shah, who herself was suspended the previous day over allegations of making anti-Semitic remarks on social media.
Livingstone told BBC radio Thursday that he had never heard anyone in the Labour Party say anything anti-Semitic.
He continued: "Let’s remember, when Hitler won his election in 1932 his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel.
"He was supporting Zionism before he went mad and ended up killing 6 million Jews."
A Labour front man said Livingstone had been suspended for "bringing the party into disrepute".
Shah was suspended from the party Wednesday for a 2014 Facebook post in which she shared a graphic of Israel's outline superimposed onto a map of the United States with the headline "Solution for Israel-Paleostine Conflict - Relocate Israel into United States". Shah commented underneath: "Problem solved".
The two are the most senior figures to be suspended in a growing controversy over Labour’s to the Jewish community. David Abrahams, a party donor, said the growth of anti-Semitism in the party was "a plague that has to be stamped out".
He told the U.K.-based Jewish News: "Jews and others with values and principles need to work together within the movement to stop the rot."
[DAILYPOST.NG] Nigerian Troops on Monday killed seven 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... terrorists, including a notorious leader, popularly known as the Albani of Monguno. I'm keeping that name. He'd make a great villain in a steamy novel. Nah. Albani Monguno4874 was a regular commenter here...
A statement by Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, Acting Director Army Public Relations said the troops recovered several dangerous weapons.
According to him, "In their continuous efforts of clearing the remnants of Boko Haram in various hideouts and enclaves, troops of 7 Brigade, 8 Task Force Division, have also embarked on clearance operations, since yesterday in which they cleared Boko Haram hideouts ahead of Gratte in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State.
"During the clearance operation, the troops killed 7 Boko Haram hard boyz including a notorious kingpin popularly known as the Albani of Monguno.
"The troops also recovered 2 Vehicles, 7 cycle of violences 1 AK-47 rifle, 2 Boko Haram hard boyz hoisted flags, 3 vehicle tyres, 1 vulcanizing machine, 1 solar panel and bundles of chewing stick (Aswaki), which the hard boyz believed has spiritual and medicinal values.
"It is gratifying to report that the troops’ morale remains high as they dominate the general area with a robust fighting patrol in continuation with the clearance operations".
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[LowellSun.com] Some years back, my husband and I went to a friend's house for dinner. She was married to a French man. We got into a discussion of Muslim nations and the rights of women.
The woman said that when she was in Morocco with her sister, they covered their heads for safety, but they did not like it.
The man insisted she should have done it happily, that she must respect Muslim practices.
I said I will never respect rank misogyny.
His retort? In a most haughty voice, he said, "What do you know about cuulltuuurre?"
My point, my husband's point and even my female friend's point could not get through his thick multi-cultural addled head. We will obey them if we are in their country, but only out of sheer self-preservation. We will hate every minute of subjugating our freedom to misogyny, and we will never afford a single shred of respect to any law that treats women as less than human.
Befitting the baby mentality of a dogmatic multiculturalist, he finally said while pointing his finger at each of us, "I am not talking to you, I am not talking to you, and I am not talking to you!" Then, he stormed out the door.
It's aggravating to be disrespected -- ah, irony -- by your dinner host, but at least it's not deadly.
President Barack Obama's stubborn refusal to condemn Islamic terrorism is just that: deadly.
His speech at the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque mirrored Mr. Multicultural's screed. Obama uses an I'm-oh-so-much-more-worldly-than-you-plebes tone to lecture us about who is in danger. He's "heartbroken" about Muslim anxieties? Why isn't our American president heartbroken over the dead Americans, French and Belgians?
It is galling to watch this pandering to a particular faith, Islam, as if it is our job to be its therapist. Obama, you are not the therapist-in-chief. People's feelings get hurt all the time. Besides, no one is calling for anyone to hurt Muslims.
We are simply having an appropriate reaction to cause and effect.
Cause: Terrorism.
Effect: Dead Americans.
Cause: ISIS sending recruits here through our immigration system.
Effect: Islamic terrorism.
ISIS members are not Jewish, Christian, Catholic or Buddhist. They are Islamic. A perversion of it, to be sure, but facts are facts.
Of late, I see Democratic pundits saying ISIS is not an "existential" threat. Good for you, you know the "E" word. Now try learning the "C" word: Caliphate. What part of "caliphate" do Obama and leftist Democrats not understand?
How many more people must be slaughtered before our leaders wake up and smell the carnage?
Nothing America is doing is creating terrorists. We could have an even-more-open-door policy on immigration. Hand out $100,000 a year to all Muslim immigrants. And open a 24-hour mosque in the White House and in every state's capitol building. ISIS, al Qaeda, al Shabab etc., still will kill us.
How do our leaders get it so wrong?
The fact that ISIS and al Qaeda dress their cause up in religion matters little to the end game, except in one dangerous way: It lures our leaders to do exactly what those on the left are doing -- hurling insults against those of us who want to protect America as an existing sovereign nation and an ideal.
As a sovereign nation, our laws dictate against murder and mayhem in the name of religion, not the other way around.
This is what I know about American culture, Mr. Multicultural. If you want to live in a place where all things such as terrorism, child brides, sex-trafficking, female genital mutilation, sex-selective abortions, rampant anti-Semitism and beheadings of dissenters are respected practices, you have lots of countries from which to choose.
But we will not let America morph into such a place. E pluribus unum isn't just some jargon on our coins. It actually means something: out of many, one. One unified culture that respects life, liberty, and the freedom of and from religion.
The barbarians will never be able to change what America stands for.
George Bush Sr. was, to paraphrase Patton, in the right place, at the right time, with the right instruments to defund the left and destroy them in the U.S. when the wall came down. They would have howled like scalded cats regarding the loss of their public funding, but the mood of the country was such that they would have eventually been shouted down and been forced to find work elsewhere.
Twenty five years on, this failure of Bush to de-communize, in the manner that Truman de-Nazified, can be seen as one of, if not the most, horrible failures to act decisively in domestic policy in U.S. history. It may turn out to have been an existential failure.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
04/29/2016 8:11
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#4
Bush had no control whatsoever on the internal policy of the German government. No more than Roosevelt had over the Nazi government in the 1930s.
#5
WRT Bush.....I wasn't referring to Germany. I was referring to the U.S.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
04/29/2016 10:26
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#6
Bush Sr missed many opportunities, that is why he was not re-elected. I don't vilify him but I'll never understand anyone that puts him up on a pedestal. He didn't understand or believe in Reagan's policies and allowed them to wither when he could have doubled down and made the world a much better place.
[Dhaka Tribune] The High Court has released the full text of its judgment that upheld a lower court’s verdict against five Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. B) Death Eaters for an liquidation attempt on former British high commissioner Anwar Choudhury in 2004.
This furthers the way for the death sentence of HuJi leader Mufti Abdul Hannan, who criminal masterminded several bombings between 2001 and 2004. He will still able to challenge the verdict at the Appellate Division.
The High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Amir Hossain pronounced the judgment on February 11 this year, over seven years after the trial court verdict that gave death sentence to three and life imprisonment to two bully boys.
The 167-page full text written by Justice Rahim was uploaded on the Supreme Court’s website yesterday.
Three Death Eaters of the banned outfit HuJi - Mufti Hannan, Sharif Shahedul Alam Bipul, and Md Delwar Hossain alias Ripon ‐ were sentenced to death while two others ‐ Hannan’s brother Muhibullah alias Muhibur Rahman alias Ovi and Mufti Mainuddin Khaja alias Abu Jandal ‐ were given life terms by Sylhet Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal on December 23, 2008.
A Sylhet court is currently hearing another case filed under the Explosives Act.
"After the release of the verdict there is no bar to carry out the death sentences as all the convicts are now in jail, unless they file an appeal with the Appellate Division," Deputy Attorney General Sheikh AKM Moniruzzaman Kabir told news hounds.
The High Court started the hearing on January 6 this year. Hearings were held for nine days. The convicts filed their appeals against the lower court sentence in 2009.
Three people, including a police assistant sub-inspector were killed while former high commissioner Anwar and 70 others were maimed in grenade attacks after the Jumma prayers at the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal in Sylhet on May 21, 2004.
Born in Sunamganj and a naturalised British citizen, Anwar served as the British high commissioner to Bangladesh from 2004 to 2008. He is currently serving as the Ambassador to Peru.
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[Dhaka Tribune] The assailants had made plans to kill LGBT magazine Roopbaan Editor Xulhaz Mannan and his friend Mahbub Tonoy two months before the day of the incident.
The killers recced the Kalabagan area near Xulhaz’s residence to keep vigil on him and their last watch was on Monday morning before they killed the LGBT activist in the evening. They had also rented a house in Dhaka’s Adabar area in Mohammadpur.
The information was disclosed yesterday to the Dhaka Tribune by a high official of the Detective Branch of Police, requesting not to be named. The official said the DB gathered the intelligence after analysing clues and a mobile phone left behind by the killers.
The DB official, who is involved in the investigation of the double murder, also said that they have managed to identify a few suspects and are moving forward with the information.
Meanwhile, ...back at the revival hall, the SWAT team had finally arrived... the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the US has shown keen interest in helping the DB with the murder investigation. The official said the FBI has offered to provide any form of assistance in solving the murder.
He also said that the FBI has been asking the DB if the murder took place because of Xulhaz’s work history with the US Embassy. However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... the DB has informed the FBI that Xulhaz might have been murdered because of his involvement with LGBT activism.
When asked if the FBI has sent any proposal in writing, the DB official said that they are just communicating with us.
Regarding the issue, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said he has not been informed about FBI’s interest in the murder investigation yet but "if they want to help, the government has no problem with that."
On Monday, Xulhaz was killed along with his friend Mahbub Tonoy at his Kalabagan residence. Xulhaz was also a cousin of former foreign minister Dipu Moni, an official of the USAID and a former protocol officer of the US Embassy. Tonoy was also an LGBT and theatre activist.
Another source in the DB said they have found clues that indicate Xulhaz was murdered for his involvement with LGBT activities. The source said the killers were university and college students.
Regarding the investigation, Asaduzzaman Miah, commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said they have gathered information which is a major lead in tracing the killers, but he refused to disclose the details.
Sources in the DB said they have received more CCTV footage from the escape route of the killers which shows the faces of three to four killers.
"We are now trying to refine the footage to get a clear picture of the assailants," said the official.
Monirul Islam, chief of counter-terrorism and trans-national crime unit, said no one has been placed in durance vile Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! yet regarding the murder. "We are currently investigating and analysing the clues," he added.
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04/29/2016
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[DW] Colombia's constitutional court has given the go-ahead for gay couples to marry. The decision is a milestone in the traditionally Catholic country.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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I really don't have a problem with this. Why should they be denied the chance to have the marriage from hell and a nasty divorce.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A member of the Haqqani terrorist network as killed in an Arclight airstrike conducted by the Afghan Air Force (AAF) in southern Zabul province of Afghanistan.
Dawlat Waziri, front man for the Ministry of Defense, said the Haqqani network member was identified as Nooruddin who was killed in Arclight airstrike on Wednesday.
He said the Arclight airstrike was carried in the vicinity of Shahr-e-Safa city of Zabul province.
The anti-government armed turban groups have not commented regarding the report so far which comes as both the Afghan cops and anti-government armed snuffies have stepped up attacks across the country.
Haqqani network was formed in the late 1970s by Jalaluddin Haqqani ...founder and still titular head of the Haqqani Network. Jalaluddin is old and tough and very crafty, one of the few Pashtun warlords who was worth spit... . The group is allied with al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban and cooperates with other terrorist organizations in the region.
The network is accused of staging numerous cross-border attacks from their base in North Wazoo, including the 19-hour siege at the US Embassy in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... in September 2011.
It is considered the most lethal bully boy group targeting the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... -led coalition security forces and Afghan personnel in Afghanistan.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A foreign female aid worker has reportedly been kidnapped by unknown gunnies from Jallabad city, the historic provincial capital of eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province.
According to the local officials in Nangarhar province, they are aware of an incident involving the kidnapping of a woman in the vicinity of this province.
Provincial governor’s front man Ataullah Khogyani confirmed that the women was working with DACAAR non-governmental organization and was kidnapped in the early hours of Thursday morning.
No group has so far grabbed credit behind the abduction of the aid worker so far.
Nangarhar is among the relatively volatile provinces in eastern Afghanistan where anti-government armed hard boy groups are actively operating in a number of its districts.
Insurgents loyal 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.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group have also gained foothold in a number of its remote districts during the recent months.
Incidents involving kidnapping on highways have not been rare on main highways of the country, specifically in volatile provinces.
The anti-government armed bully boyz are normally abducting the civilians amid suspicion they work for the government or foreign organizations, although kidnap for ransoms have been rife in the country.
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[Dhaka Tribune] Donald Trump’s first major foreign policy address alarmed American allies, who view the Republican front runner’s repeated invocation of an "America first" agenda as a threat to retreat from the world.
I can see how Mr. Trump's rhetoric might lend the impression that the free ride might be coming to an end...
While most governments were careful not to comment publicly on a speech by a US presidential candidate, Germany’s foreign minister veered from that protocol to express concern at Trump’s wording.
"I can only hope that the election campaign in the USA does not lack the perception of reality," Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.
"The world’s security architecture has changed and it is no longer based on two pillars alone. It cannot be conducted unilaterally," he said of foreign policy in a post-Cold War world. "No American president can get round this change in the international security architecture.... ’America first’ is actually no answer to that."
Until Germany will ante up, I'm not going to concern myself with the comments of their foreign minister.
Carl Bildt, a former Swedish prime minister and foreign minister who served as UN envoy to the Balkans in the aftermath of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, said he heard Trump’s speech as "abandoning both democratic allies and democratic values".
"Trump had not a word against Russian aggression in Ukraine, but plenty against past US support for democracy in Egypt," Bildt said on Twitter, referring to lines from Trump’s speech that criticised the Barack B.O. regime for withdrawing support for autocrat Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... during a 2011 uprising.
’First isolationist candidate’
Trump’s speech, uncharacteristically read out from a teleprompter, seemed aimed at showing a more serious side of a politician who has said he intends to act more "presidential" after months of speaking mainly off the cuff.
He promised "a disciplined, deliberate and consistent foreign policy" in contrast to the "reckless, rudderless and aimless" policies of Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as America's Blond Eminence and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another James Baker ... , Trump’s likely Democratic opponent if he secures the Republican nomination.
The speech included no dramatic new policy proposals that might generate headlines, such as his past calls to bar Muslims from entering the US soil or to build a wall on the frontier with Mexico.
Where he was specific, like rejecting the terms of last year’s nuclear deal with Iran, calling for more investment in missile defence in Europe and accusing the B.O. regime of tepid support for Israel, he was firmly within the Republican mainstream.
Unexpectedly!
A major theme - that more 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... allies should spend at least 2% of their economic output on defence - is one that has also been taken up by the B.O. regime itself, including repeatedly during the president’s visit to Europe last week.
Nevertheless, Trump’s rhetoric raised alarm in allied countries that still rely on the superpower for defence, particularly the phrase "America first", used in the 1930s by isolationists that sought to keep the United States out of World War II.
Former South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Sung-han, who now teaches at the Korea University in Seoul, said Trump would be "the first isolationist to be US presidential candidate, while in the post-war era all the US presidents have been to varying degrees internationalists."
South Korea should work on cutting a deal with China that divides North Korea between them, with an understanding that China will leave the ROK alone and the ROK will ask the US to move most of its presence away.
In the Arab world, where governments and their citizens are also alarmed at the rise of non-Arab Iran, Trump’s strong rejection of the deal with Tehran is a popular position that would have been embraced if expressed by another candidate.
But Trump’s previous call to ban Muslims from the United States has made him anathema in the region. Emirati political analyst Abdulkhaleq Abdullah said no speech would be enough to salvage his reputation there: "He’s a racist and a chauvinist who will never be widely welcomed in the Arab world."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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#2
Doesnt matte r- th e media is starting in on Trump already. He is going to be attacked harder than any Republican ever because he has so many bombshells out there that can be used against him. The truth does nat matter to Trump, he keeps repeating lies until they sink in. And now its going to be done to him the same way.
#4
Allies? Iran, Egypt, Saudi, Latin America, China? O has managed to Isolated us more with his lies than anyone. The media and Republicans have hurled everything but the kitchen sink at him already. He still stands and will remain. Much smarter than most and savvy to this world of tricksters. Corruption and greed rule here now. Press on Trumpsters and let the idiots squeal in the background. The majority now has awoken.
#6
With the exception of building a wall I see it as more of the same bull we have endured with O.
I do think the EU, Japan, and Korea should carry their weight on defense and not spend so much money on socialist welfare programs. I doubt anything will change given the turmoil caused by the Islamic invasion of Europe. The EU will have enough internal problems to keep them busy for decades.
What will happen is the same as Bush. Some antagonist will invade a friendly country and Trump or H will respond with troops. Either will not attempt overwhelming force.
But then, there is China....
#7
Criticism from Carl Bildt, a former Swedish prime minister and foreign minister! Sweden, for God's sake! You want to see a threat to the West? You want to see the result of the "Sweden last" policy? Take the Malmo ferry.
#8
Yes, they will squeal. My country will shit itself with Indonesia on the northern border. But the US voters have every right to put their country first and they should.
America is under attack as is the entire Western world, and you need to Make America Great Again.
only then can you help everyone else. Hope Trump cuts the UN budget.
#9
So we have three groups of foreigners: (1) Those that are evil and have been having a good time under Obama. They are probably not thrilled with Trumps foreign policy speech. (2) Those that love Obama but are unhappy with his policies of neglect, they want the US to do it all and pay for it all and still be able to blame the US for intervening all the time. They are not thrilled because the free ride would end. (3) Israel.
All things said I only care about the opinions of one of the three.
#10
I wouldn't be surprised if Trump had oppo research done on the press. How many reporters would repeat questions or be eager to ask when Donald holds out a hand for a folder with your name on it, containing pics of the reporter with drugs, hookers or whatever. Honestly, I wish the GOP had the spine to do that.
[AA.TR] Initial 6 month deployment to troubled state turns into decade-old mission with no end in sight On the other hand the infestation's been contained, for the most part, rather than providing safe havens for turbans operating in Kenya and Uganda and Ethiopia, so that should count for something.
And no doubt Allah is pleased they put themselves in the hands of his devils in Hell; a busy devil is a happy devil, 'tis said.
It's also meant a steady paycheck for the Anisom boys, and it's kept a number of generals busy at war instead of plotting coups...
Should read 90,000 years of killing.
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04/29/2016
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#1
“We only went in to aid the mission of the Europeans,” Kivumbi said. “The Americans were taught a bitter lesson in 1993, so they don’t want to risk their soldiers.”
'Ponder' on if you will, just don't call us. Afri oplossing (solutions) vir die Afri problemm ek se.
[DAWN] KARACHI: Police on Thursday nabbed You have the right to remain silent... a man in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... for slitting his sister's throat and letting her bleed to death, the latest case of 'honour killing' in the metropolis.
Continued on Page 49
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[DAWN] Afghan Taliban on Wednesday formally confirmed that a delegation from their political office in Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... was visiting Pakistain and promised "fruitful results", but rejected the impression that the group was there to discuss participation in peace talks with 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.... Muhammad Naeem, a Qatar-based front man for the Taliban, told journalists that Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour had instructed the group to visit Pakistain.
He said the visit "would be in the interest of both countries and would have fruitful results".
The Taliban version of saying much that means nothing? He needs a great deal more practice.
This was first official confirmation by the Taliban of the visit of a three-member delegation from their Doha office, whose arrival was earlier reported by the media. The delegation includes Shahabuddin Dilawar, Jan Muhammad and Mullah Abbas.
The arrival of the group, which coincided with the visit of US Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistain Jonathan Carpenter, led to speculations that the Taliban leaders had come to talk about the start of the peace dialogue.
The Taliban front man, however, said that the delegation was in Pakistain for talks on wide-ranging issues, including refugees’ matters, problems in Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... , Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. and Paktia provinces of Afghanistan, and seeking an end to restrictions on the movement of Taliban leader Mullah Baradar.
Talking to VoA about reconciliation being discussed during the trip, he said: "The delegation, which has gone [to Pakistain] from here [Qatar] is holding talks on the issues that I have stated already and has no other particular item on the agenda".
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Those who breed scorpions shouldn't be surprised to get stung.
[DAWN] As many as 11 suicide bombers entered Pakistan from Afghanistan for terrorism some 22 days ago, and two of them blew themselves up in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recently, intelligence agency and police sources told Dawn on Wednesday.
According to the sources, the bombers were affiliated with Sajna Group of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
The information about them and their entry in the country was gathered by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and shared with the authorities concerned, they added.
“They may strike in the Punjab, especially in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Lahore,” the sources revealed.
The agency has advised the authorities concerned to improve security in and around hospitals, shopping centres, markets, parks, food streets and malls to prevent any terrorist activity, the officials added.
A senior police officer on condition of anonymity told Dawn that after the intelligence report security of sensitive locations had been strengthened. Intelligence agencies have kept an eye on slums and rural areas for possible presence of terrorists, he added.
“An information-based operation is being conducted by agencies and Rangers in these areas,” he added.
As many as 11 suicide bombers entered Pakistan from Afghanistan for terrorism some 22 days ago, and two of them blew themselves up in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recently, intelligence agency and police sources told Dawn on Wednesday.
According to the sources, the bombers were affiliated with Sajna Group of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
The information about them and their entry in the country was gathered by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and shared with the authorities concerned, they added.
“They may strike in the Punjab, especially in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Lahore,” the sources revealed.
The agency has advised the authorities concerned to improve security in and around hospitals, shopping centres, markets, parks, food streets and malls to prevent any terrorist activity, the officials added.
A senior police officer on condition of anonymity told Dawn that after the intelligence report security of sensitive locations had been strengthened. Intelligence agencies have kept an eye on slums and rural areas for possible presence of terrorists, he added.
“An information-based operation is being conducted by agencies and Rangers in these areas,” he added.
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[AA.TR] The global oil market will face a lack of supply in three years' time due to expenditure cuts and postponements in mega projects, Patrick Pouyanne, chairman of the Board and CEO of French oil giant Total said Wednesday.
Speaking at 2016 Columbia Global Energy Summit, Pouyanne talked about the difficulties that oil companies are facing under low oil prices.
"Fifteen days after I became the CEO of Total, oil prices collapsed ... and we lost $10 billion in cash flows in two months," he said.
"Due to the huge drop in oil prices, most of the players had to squeeze their cash flows and investments," he added.
Because of oversupply and low global demand, oil prices fell from $115 a barrel in June 2014 to below $30 a barrel in January 2016, marking a 75 percent decline.
WTI crude is $38.46 today, and gas in Chicago is up a buck from the low: now $2.49. So Pouyanne may make his bonus after all...
The CEO noted that total spending in the oil industry also fell gradually during that time -- from $700 billion in 2014, to $500 billion in 2015, and an expected $400 billion for this year.
"Because of less investment in shale oil and in major fields around the world, we will see a supply level this year ... In this industry, if you don't invest, you will have a natural decline in production," he added.
"In the oil business, only two major projects were sanctioned worldwide in 2015 -- one in Norway and one in the U.S.' Gulf of Mexico. It's clearly insufficient ... We will not see immediate impact now of these expenditure cuts, but in 3 or 4 years we will see their impact," he explained.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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#3
We're in the middle of a huge layoff. My job ends in 9 weeks. We've released all our rigs but a few long-contract deep water drillships. The decline curves on our existing wells are quite steep, and continual drilling is essential to maintaining supply. To a greater or lesser degree the same pattern occurs everywhere. So far a lot of the smaller companies have continued to drill, out of desperation, because they lose leases and default on loans if their production revenue drops, but they're running out of money and borrowing power, as are many of the banks that serve them. This is the same cycle of boom and bust that has ruled the oil patch forever. We never learn.
[NBCNEWS] After experimenting with barbed wire, surveillance cameras and even cowbells and camels, India has now reportedly introduced "laser walls" at its border with archenemy Pakistan. "Knock knock!"
One of the world's most dangerous nuclear flashpoints, the India-Pakistan border is also among the most militarized. "Who's there?"
Both New Delhi and Islamabad deploy more than half of their 1 million and 600,000-strong armies, respectively, on the border. "Candygram!"
India is setting up the laser walls to "plug the porous riverine and treacherous terrain and keep an effective vigil against intruders and terrorists" in Punjab state, the state-run Press Trust of India reported. [Click! Click!] "Aaaaiiiieeee!" [SLURP!]
Earlier this year, peace talks were suspended when India accused Pakistan of allowing militants to cross over and attack an Indian air force base in Pathankot on Jan. 2. "What got him?"
According to the PTI report, around 45 laser walls will be installed in Punjab state. "Land shark! A big 'un!"
Lasers beamed over rivers and hills will set off an alarm and alert the Indian Border Security Force if someone attempts to pass by, it added. "What the hell was that on its head?"
Pakistan has not taken India's buildups on the border lightly in the past. "A friggin' laser!"
In 2014, India and Pakistan exchanged artillery and sniper fire for months, leading to dozens of casualties on both sides.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Wednesday the leadership of al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Anbar Province announced, that the security forces had foiled a suicide attack carried out by ISIS using three car bombs, as well as killing seven members of the so-called ISIS during the liberalization operation of al-Karma District in eastern Fallujah.
The commander of Karma Fallujah brigade, Colonel Mahmoud Mardi Jumaili, said in a press statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The joint forces carried out a military operation targeting ISIS gatherings in al-Boutaya area in the center of al-Kamat District, killing seven ISIS members, as well as detonating three car bombs driven by suicide bombers while trying to target the security forces.”
(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – Media officials with the Defense Ministry announced on Thursday the killing of nine ISIS elements, including a senior leader, who is a Moroccan national, during a bombing east of al-Baghdadi vicinity in Anbar Province.
The officials said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The Iraqi army’s Seventh Division had managed, today, to kill the [ISIS] terrorist called Abu Suhaib al-Maghrabi along with three of his aides, in addition to killing five others as a result of accurate strikes by the Artillery Division in the area of Zakhikha east of al-Baghdadi.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Thursday, Jazeera and Badiya Operations Command in Anbar Province announced killing 21 ISIS members and dismantling more than 200 explosive devices during the liberation operation of al-Doulab area west of Ramadi, while indicated that the international coalition aviation had an important role in eliminating ISIS in the western areas of the province.
The commander of al-Jazeera and al-Badiya Operations in Anbar Province, Maj. Gen. Ali Ibrahim Dabon said in a press statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The security forces managed to kill 21 ISIS fighters and dismantled 203 explosive devices, as well as destructing three booby-trapped vehicles.”
Dabon added, “The joint forces destroyed a weapons cache, rockets and a rocket launcher in an agricultural area located northeast of al-Doulab west of Ramadi.”
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Thursday, official journalists with the Ministry of Defense announced, that 15 members of the so-called ISIS were killed, including three prominent leaders north of al-Karma District.
The journalists said in a brief statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The international coalition aircraft conducted three air strikes on ISIS headquarters in al-Rofah area north of al-Karma District, killing 15 ISIS terrorists and destructing a vehicle carrying machine guns.”
The statement added, “The killed ISIS members included three leaders,” indicating that, “The three leaders are Abu Khattab al-Halabusi, Aush al-Shami and Mosadaq abdel Galil who was killed inside one of the hideouts.”
(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – The head of Haditha District, Mabrouk Hamid, announced on Thursday, that 11 civilians had been wounded in a shelling by ISIS militants that targeted Haditha Hospital and Bruwana vicinity in Anbar Province.
Hamid said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Today, elements of the ISIS conducted a rocket attack that targeted Haditha Hospital, resulting in the injury of six civilians that were inside it,” adding that, “Another shelling by the [ISIS] targeted the vicinity of Bruwana, resulting in the injury of five civilians.”
Hamid called the security authorities to respond to the fire and the areas from which the rocket shells were launched against Haditha District and Bruwana vicinity.
(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Thursday, official journalists with the Ministry of Defense announced liberating Zakhekha area in Anbar Province.
The journalists said in a press statement received by IraqiNews.com, “Today the army’s 7th brigade managed to liberate Zakhekha area east of al-Baghdadi, and raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings.”
The statement added, “The security forces inflicted heavy human and material losses on the enemy.”
(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – The commander of Anbar Operations Command, Maj. Gen. Ismail al-Mahalawi, announced on Thursday the killing of two ISIS top leaders by an artillery shelling east of Ramadi.
Mahalawi said in a press statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The army’s artillery of Anbar Operations was able to shell a shelter belonging to the terrorists in the area of Kartman in al-Khalediya Island (23 km east of Ramadi), resulting in the destruction of the shelter.”
Mahalawi added, “The shelling also resulted in the death of two ISIS top leaders, including Muhammed al-Maslawi, the explosives official for ISIS in the area of Kartman.”
Posted by: badanov ||
04/29/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. will receive a list of individuals sentenced to death over gunnies activities, days after President Ghani vowed to implement the judiciary institutions’ verdicts regarding the terror suspects.
Deputy Presidential Palace front man Shah Hussain Murtazvi told news hounds that President Ghani has ordered the judiciary institutions to further review the cases involving sentences awarded to the individuals for gunnies activities.
Murtazvi further added that the list will be provided to President Ghani today, insisting that the gunnies would be hanged to death once the cases have been reviewed in a bid to ensure fairness in the verdicts.
The decision to review and implement the judiciary institutions’ verdicts regarding the terror suspects was taken days after 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.... was hit by a deadly attack.
At least 64 people were killed and 347 others were maimed after a group of Lions of Islam launched coordinated attack on VIP protection unit in Pul-e-Mahmood Khan area of the city on 19th April.
The Taliban group grabbed credit behind the attack but the officials said they doubt the Pakistain-based Haqqani terrorist network plotted and carried out the attack.
The attack sparked furor among the Afghan officials and citizens of country who called on the government to ensure justice is served by implementing the judiciary institutions’ verdicts against the terrorists, specifically Anas Haqqani who is kept in the custody of the Afghan forces.
Anas Haqqani is a close family member of Haqqani network founder and was tossed in the clink Book 'im, Mahmoud! by the Afghan cops.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Appellate Court Chief of western Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... province Samiuddin Rahin was rubbed out by unknown gunnies in Herat city this afternoon.
Provincial governor’s front man Jilani Farhad confirmed that Mr. Rahin was travelling in his personal car without any security guard when he was rubbed out by gunnies riding a vehicle.
He said the son of Mr. Rahin who is around 10-year-old was also maimed in the attack but there are no reports regarding his health condition.
A team has been assigned to investigate regarding the attack on Mr. Rahin as no group has far grabbed credit behind the incident.
Provincial police chief General Abdul Majeed Rozi confirmed that the assailants have managed to flee the area following the attack.
Gen. Rozi further added that the security personnel in charge of security for the area of the incident have been detained and will be kept in the custody until the investigations are over.
According to reports, Mr. Rahin was serving as chief prosecutor of Herat province since one year and has previously served in the Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan in Herat as well as other non-governmental organizations.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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[THELOCAL.FR] "Sisters on Saturdays and Sundays only." A Muslim shopkeeper's sexist opening hours falls foul of the law in La Belle France.
A Muslim shopkeeper has been fined €500 ($560) for ordering different opening hours for men and women at his store in the French city of Bordeaux, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Jean-Baptiste Michalon, the owner of a general store and who converted to Islam in 2012, created an uproar when he pasted a notice outside the shop in June 2015 indicating different shopping hours for men and women.
"Sisters" were invited to shop on Saturdays and Sundays only, while "brothers" were told they could shop on week days.
Michalon quickly abandoned the plan faced with a swell of negative reaction, and his shop has since closed its doors.
"We put this in place at the request of the sisters who preferred when my wife was behind the counter. It is a shop where we sell clothes," Michalon told AFP at the time.
Michalon's lawyer Tristram Heliot told AFP that the shop owner "admitted it was a blunder and tactless".
Politicians slammed the move, as did Bordeaux's chief Imam Tareq Oubrou.
"We never saw this during the time of the Prophet. Markets were mixed. It seems a bit strange to me in a world where social mixing is an established culture," he said.
Bordeaux Mayor Alain Juppé called out on Twitter for "an end to such a discriminatory practice".
Naima Charai, the head of French equality group ACSE, tweeted her disdain too, saying that gendered opening hours are "unimaginable and unacceptable".
"Respect for the republic should be seven days a week," she wrote.
Marik Fetouh, the deputy mayor of Bordeaux tasked with equality, told French newspaper 20 Minutes that the shop was not in line with typical practices for Muslims in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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#1
Why should the government be concerned about such matters? The fellow wants to provide a service he thinks his customer base would like; if he's wrong, he'll lose customers and money. Other women can shop elsewhere on weekdays. I would say it makes life inconvenient for working men to not be able to shop on weekends, their usual time off, but his male customer base probably doesn't work.
[DW] Austria is annoying Germany with its restrictive asylum policies. Whether they have made an EU-wide asylum system impossible is something DW asked migration researcher Heinz Fassmann.
[AlAhram] Italia is to introduce the fingerprinting of migrants colonists crossing the Mediterranean as soon as they are picked up by rescue boats, officials say.
The move could help to reduce mounting tensions between Italia and its EU partners over the large numbers of migrants colonists who arrive in Italia but are not registered here and then travel on to northern Europe.
If they are not registered in Italia, neighbouring countries like Austria and La Belle France and popular destination states like Germany and Sweden do not have the option of sending them back to Italia.
In theory they should be able to do this under the EU's Dublin convention rules governing asylum claims.
The Italian move follows talks on Wednesday between Interior Minister Angelo Alfano and EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos in Sicily, where most migrants colonists arrive and are processed at "hotspot" reception centres.
"With this we will now have hotspots at sea," Alfano said.
It was not clear if the policy will be applied systematically -- migrants colonists picked up at sea are often in a traumatised state and asylum seekers from Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... notably generally refuse to have their prints taken because they want to make their applications elsewhere.
No prints, no asylum? That would cut numbers considerably.
More than 350,000 people from all over the world have reached Italia on boats from Libya since the start of 2014, as Europe battles its biggest migration crisis since World War II.
Alfano said that after problems in 2014, the process of identifying migrants colonists was now working "100 percent".
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 6 Lions of Islam were killed during a night raid conducted by the Afghan commandos in northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said at least 60 suspected Lions of Islam were also tossed in the slammer Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! during the operation.
A statement by MoD said the Lions of Islam were killed as the Afghan commandos were conducting the night raid and came under fire from the myrmidons.
The statement further added that the two key group leaders of the Lions of Islam identified as Qari Zabiullah and Qari Najibullah were among those killed.
The anti-government armed myrmidon groups including the Taliban group have not commented regarding the report so far.
Kunduz is among the volatile provinces in northern Afghanistan where anti-government armed myrmidon groups are actively operating and frequently carry out insurgency activities.
The Afghan National Security Forces arrested a military chief of the Taliban group, Qari Salim, arrested during a special night raid earlier this week.
Qari Salim was a key leader of the Taliban group who played a vital role in the collapse of Kunduz city last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2016
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[ARA News] ERBIL – Radical group of the Islamic State (ISIS) has closed a number of mosques in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul for military reasons, local sources reported on Thursday.
Local activists confirmed that the terror group has closed more than six mosques in the western part of the city.
Speaking to ARA News in Mosul, head of the Nineveh media center Raafat al-Zarari said the hardline group closed the mosque of az-Zahra in the Saddam neighborhood and another one in as-Sukkar neighborhood in the city of Mosul, preventing civilians from performing prayers there.
“There are orders to close them because there have been many mosques in the region compared to the number of worshipers,” al-Zarari reported, quoting ISIS militants as saying.
“ISIS has started to store weapons and explosives inside some mosques and using others for broadcasting news and messages to the west and local opponents,” media activist J.S. –based in as-Sukkar neighborhood– told ARA News, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He confirmed that the terror group has a plan to avoid the US-led coalitions airstrikes and “the best way is to hide weapons and media centers inside the mosques,” he argued.
“Daesh has been moving its military hardware to residential areas since two weeks, including mosques, in an apparent attempt to avoid the US-led coalition’s airstrikes,” the source added, using an acronym for ISIS.
An expert in Islamic streams told ARA News that this kind of extremist groups could resort to committing terrorist atrocities – including bombing mosques – and then blame that on the coalition jets to boost their position among and gain the support of the public.
Over the past few months, the US-led coalition forces were able to kill hundreds of top jihadis as well as destroying dozens of ISIS-linked media centers, vital locations and weapons’ warehouses in Syria and Iraq.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/29/2016
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#1
How Islamic
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/29/2016 8:49
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#2
Nothing the Palieos haven't been doing for decades...
A total of 15 suspects have been detained in four different Turkish provinces in relation to the suicide bomb attack that struck the Marmara province of Bursa on April 28. A female suicide bomber detonated herself at around 5:25 p.m. near Ulu Cami, a mosque at the center of the province, on April 27, leaving 13 people wounded.
“The investigation into the identity of the suicide bomber is ongoing. We are almost certain on the terror group that she has relations with, but I won’t reveal it until it’s certain,” Interior Minister Efkan Ala told journalists in Bursa on April 28, while adding that more detentions may follow in the coming days.
“We won’t share the details yet. Turkey is engaged in a serious struggle with terrorism and alliances of terrorists,” Ala said.
The five provinces where detentions were made by police include Bursa, Istanbul, the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, and the western province of Afyonkarahisar.
Meanwhile, officials were unable to identify the suicide bomber from her fingerprints and will conduct a DNA test, as the investigation into the attack was ongoing. The suicide bomber arrived in Bursa from Şanlıurfa via bus on April 24 with a ticket that she had bought under the fake name “Sultan” and stayed with the detained suspects, reported Anadolu Agency.
The suicide bomber was seen in video footage recorded by a security camera at the terminal. She traveled to the scene of the attack via taxi, while in a location close to Bursa she obtained the bomb, which was thought to have been made of ammonium nitrate, according to reports.
The woman may have panicked after seeing police officers and detonated the bomb, the officials told Anadolu Agency.
A female suicide bomber who blew herself up in the center of one of Turkey's most historic cities this week was linked to Kurdish militants and had also fought in Syria against jihadists, a report said Friday.
There was no fingerprint evidence available from the remains of the woman who blew herself up in front of a mosque in the former Ottoman capital of Bursa on Wednesday but she has now been identified after DNA testing, the Hurriyet daily said.
The woman has been identified as Suzan B., who the report said is a member of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has been fighting the Turkish security forces since a truce collapsed last summer.
It said she had also spent time in Syria fighting with the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) militia against Islamic State (IS) jihadists and had crossed back into Turkey in April.
This fits the narrative of the Turkish government that the YPG is the Syrian branch of the PKK, an assertion disputed by Washington which works with the Syrian Kurdish militia as allies in the fight against IS.
Hurriyet quoted its sources as saying the woman had fought against IS in the battle for the Syrian border town of Kobane which was won by the Kurdish militia last year.
The Turkish authorities have detained 15 people in the wake of the bombing, which created new jitters in the country after a wave of deadly attacks this year.
Thirteen people were wounded in the blast but no one else was killed, leading some commentators to conclude the bomber ignited her charge prematurely.
Those detained include two women whose identity cards the bomber had taken and one of her friends.
Hurriyet said the bomber's identity was confirmed after DNA samples were taken from her family in the Mardin region of southeast Turkey.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/29/2016
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Exploding Bursas? Ewww.
(That Turkey has a province of Pustule seems appropriate.)
Five mortar shells targeting a border military post in the Karkamış district of the southeastern province of Gaziantep were fired on April 28 from the Jarabulus province in northern Syria, controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
“One of the artillery shells that landed near the Türkyurdu border military post hit a howitzer stationed on the border. There was minor damage to the howitzer and there were no casualties. ISIL positions were shelled by howitzers following the incident,” Gaziantep Governor Ali Yerlikaya said, adding that three of the shells landed in an empty field.
A small fire also broke out on the roof of the border post but was extinguished by firefighters.
Security sources stated that a group of ISIL militants who were spotted by drones and radars had been killed by Turkish forces.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/29/2016
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Fox] A British couple and their son were savagely attacked during a family vacation in Thailand in the latest blow to the country's image as a welcoming tourist paradise. Police said Thursday they have arrested the four suspected attackers.
[Advocate] Sascha Bollag was running errands in Harahan on Tuesday when he saw a sign that made him turn his car around to see if he had actually seen what he thought he saw.
[Free Beacon] Tom Coburn, the former senator currently leading a movement for a Convention of States, unloaded on Congress during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Wednesday.
[AlAhram] A British court on Thursday 
[IsraelTimes] Police make four arrests after intercepting communications between jihadist group and Moroccan-born man.
[Ynet] A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about when he last contacted the 
North Korea fired a couple of medium-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, but the first crashed into the sea and the second also failed, according to military officials here. 
[WASHINGTONTIMES] President Obama’s unilateral pen-and-phone approach to governing has been aided by a decades-old secret memo that allows him to avoid economic scrutiny of some of the most intrusive rules and regulations his administration has issued, a top senator said Thursday.
[REPORTUK.ORG] The sick terror group ‐ also known as 
[AA.TR] The economic stance of Republican presidential candidates are "fantasy", President 
Afghan Salafist warlord, owned by Saudi Arabia. He was the guy who invited al-Qaeda to come into Afghanistan and make themselves at home...
[Dhaka Tribune] For 
[FOXNEWS] Law enforcement rescued a Bronx housing project with the biggest takedown in New York City history and now, officials are investigating whether the city's 400,000 public housing residents were being protected in safe conditions as required by federal law, a federal prosecutor announced Wednesday.
[CBSNEWS] A man wearing a panda onesie and a surgical mask who claimed he had a bomb strapped to his chest at FOX45's television station in Baltimore, Maryland, was shot by police after he exited the building.
[ARA News] ERBIL – Militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) on Thursday executed two young men in the city of Manbij in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo on charges of spying to the US-led coalition, local sources reported.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A member of the Haqqani terrorist network as killed in an .png)
Wazoo
[Dhaka Tribune] Donald Trump’s first major foreign policy address alarmed American allies, who view the Republican front runner’s repeated invocation of an "America first" agenda as a threat to retreat from the world.
Hillary Clinton
Five mortar shells targeting a border military post in the Karkamış district of the southeastern province of Gaziantep were fired on April 28 from the Jarabulus province in northern Syria, controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
