My response, if I were in charge, would be to counter-warn that their patrol boats would be sunk at long range instead of letting them put on their little shows of bravado.
Iran's defense minister vowed Thursday that any U.S. or other warships that enter Iranian waters would be "severely punished," as the Pentagon confirmed that a U.S. patrol vessel had fired warning shots after being approached by an Iranian attack boat in an "unsafe" manner.
"It is a natural and routine program of the border patrol to do surveillance in the southern waters and to collect intelligence on foreign ships' operations," the Mehr news agency quoted Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan as telling reporters in Isfahan.
Whether American or otherwise, he said, "any destroyer of any sort would be severely punished if they are found to encroach our waters in Persian Gulf."
In the latest in a series of incidents in the area, an Iranian vessel approached two U.S. Navy ships Thursday, prompting crew on the USS Squall -- a Cyclone-class patrol coastal ship forward deployed to the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain -- to fire three warning shots.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said he believed the shots were fired "into the water."
"The Iranian craft, as I understand it, left at that point."
The U.S. vessels had initially taken other steps aimed at de-escalating the situation, including the firing of flares.
"They felt the need to take an additional step to try and de-escalate the situation, and that was, again, to fire the warning shots," Cook said.
"The onus here is on the Iranians to conduct themselves in a safe and professional manner, like navies all over the world do."
In an earlier incident Thursday, four Iranian vessels approached the destroyer USS Nitze in the Strait of Hormuz in what the Pentagon described as "an unsafe and unprofessional manner."
"Our ships were in international waters," said Cook. "Our sailors were conducting themselves professionally as they are trained to do. And we did not see the same from the Iranian boats on the other side."
The Strait of Hormuz lies between Iran and Oman, less than 30 miles wide at its narrowest point. It is one of the world's most crucial waterways, a transit channel for about one-fifth of the world's crude oil, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
The Iranian regime has periodically threatened to close the chokepoint, and challenges the U.S. Navy's right to patrol or hold military exercises there.
Cook said the Pentagon hopes Iranian harassment of U.S. Navy ships in the area does not continue, "because it serves no purpose other than to raise tensions in an important part of the world."
He said U.S. Navy personnel "will continue to take the steps that they need to, to protect themselves, their ships and our interests in the region."
"Our ships are operating as they have for years in that part of the world, in international waters, and will continue to do so," Cook said.
At the State Department Thursday, spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said she had no information to share on whether Kerry or other officials have raised with the Iranians the latest incidents in the Gulf.
"I just don't have any calls or engagements to read out as of right now," she said in response to questions. "I have nothing to announce."
#3
if its a Burke, open up the 5" and let it work 2km. If its a PC, they have a Bushmaster 25mm mounted thats pretty handy at chewing up small RHIBs like the Iranians use.
#4
What are they going to do? Grab another absolutely stupid native or naturalized American who ventures into their country. It's long past the time to put our own 'citizens' on notice. You go to country 'X', you do it because you damn well won't be told you can't, well, you are on your own. Don't call us. Your choice does not make our country hostage to your self centered behavior.
The Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge will be inaugurated with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and foreign guests on Friday.
The bridge, which cost $3 billion, has a total of 10 lanes - eight highway lines and two rail lines running in both directions, and has 322-meter-high bridge towers. The bridge, which is 1,408 meters over the Bosporus, will be the longest suspension bridge in the world with a rail system. Rail and highway on a suspension bridge. I hope they studied the harmonics of Galloping Gertie
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/26/2016
10:39 ||
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Hungary will build a new, 'more massive' fence on its southern borders to defend against a possible surge in the number of migrants, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.
Orban, who earlier said migrants were 'poison', said on state radio that there may soon be a 'greater need for security' and the fortified barrier would be able to stop 'several hundreds of thousands of people' at the same time, if needed. He did not say when construction could start.
Orban said the surge could take place if, for example, Turkey allows the millions of refugees living there to leave for Western Europe.
'Then, if we can't do it nicely, we have to hold them back by force,' Orban said. 'And we will do it, too.'
Hungary built fences protected with razor wire on its southern borders with Serbia and Croatia last year, when nearly 400,000 people passed through the country on their way west. The fences have greatly slowed the flow of people entering Hungary, which is also beefing up its police force with 3,000 new 'border hunters' to tighten control at the fences.
It has also introduced controversial legislation that allows officials to return migrants to Serbia if they are caught within eight kilometers (five miles) of the border. Hungary has denied repeated allegations that officers have used force to 'escort' the migrants and refugees back to Serbia.
Orban reiterated his call for the stronger protection of Europe's external borders, saying joint efforts were needed to defend the borders between Serbia and Macedonia and Macedonia and Greece.
'Immigration and migrants damage Europe's security, are a threat to people and bring terrorism upon us,' Orban said, adding that this was caused by allowing the uncontrolled entry of large numbers of people 'from areas where Europe and the western world are seen as the enemy.'
Orban's virulent anti-migrant stance also includes a government-sponsored referendum on October 2 seeking political support for the rejection of any European Union plans to resettle migrants among its member countries.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2016
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Judge for yourself. Lots of pics at the link. Please don't be distracted by the properly-attired French beach-going wimmin in the background, this is an important story...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2016
09:12 ||
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#1
Step one is getting everyone desensitized to seeing largish Muslim wymn on the strand.
#3
.....London mayor Sadiq Khan ...I don’t think anyone should tell women what they can and can’t wear.
/cue the laugh track
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
08/26/2016 11:58
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#4
‘I don’t think anyone should tell women what they can and can’t wear. Full stop. It’s as simple as that.’
So any of those French-attired ladies should be able to go to any beach in any country? Why, I believe you are right, yerhonor! Nudity on the beach in Iran!
Some countries ban nudity on the beach. I got an idea! Maybe local jurisdictions should have local control. Don't like the rules in Nice?
The beach at Agadir is nice, and a lot of Europeans go there. Too far? I suppose there is a beach in Tripoli.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/26/2016 13:35
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[USA Today] WILMINGTON, Del. -- Tina Werner died completing her bucket list. The 59-year-old Felton woman was standing on the fourth platform at Go Ape, an outdoor zip-lining adventure course in Lums Pond State Park, when she lost her footing Wednesday and fell about 35 feet to the ground below, Delaware State Police said. Go Ape said in a statement Thursday that witnesses say she "unfortunately disconnected herself from the safety system" on the final platform. The company stressed that she received proper training on how to remain attached to the safety system. Police have not said whether Werner was properly attached to the high-ropes adventure course, made up of "a series of zip lines, Tarzan swings, ...
[Free Beacon] Mylan CEO Heather Bresch defended her $19 million dollar salary on CNBC Thursday amid criticism for hiking the price of the lifesaving EpiPen over 500 percent.
"I understand better than anyone that facts are inconvenient to headlines," Bresch said. "And why I’m here today and why I want to change this conversation, like I said, first of all, so everyone has access."
The EpiPen now costs between $600 and 700 for a standard two-pack, according to the Chicago Tribune, and the major price increase coincided with the time she acquired the rights to them and her own salary spiked:
According to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Bresch’s total compensation went from $2,453,456 to $18,931,068 from 2007 to 2015. That’s a striking 671 percent increase. That period coincides with the time when Mylan acquired the rights to EpiPens and steadily hiked the average wholesale price from about $55 to $320.
Bresch is the daughter of Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.). Colleagues of Manchin have called for investigations and for Bresch to sit for a hearing on her company’s pricing strategy.
"I am aware of the questions my colleagues and many parents are asking, and frankly, I share their concerns about the skyrocketing prices of prescription drugs," Manchin said in a statement.
Bresch defended the price increase, saying that over the past eight years that every person who has needed an EpiPen has received one. Mylan announced Thursday that it will provide a rebate card worth up to $300 for those who paid the full price of the device out-of-pocket, cutting the price by 50 percent.
"As the health insurance environment has evolved, driven by the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, patients and families enrolled in high-deductible health insurance plans, who are uninsured, or who pay cash at the pharmacy, have faced higher costs for their medicine," Mylan said in a statement.
#1
Graduates from College in 1991. Dad get's her a job in 1992 with Mylan. Twentyfive years later she's making $19m per year. Is this a great country or what? I wonder how the other ladies down in the Mylan QC department are doing these days ?
At a WVU basketball game in 1992, Bresch's father mentioned his daughter's job search to Mylan CEO Milan Puskar. The company soon thereafter offered her a low-level position in the quality control department of a factory in Morgantown. According to Bresch, she had misgivings about the offer. Her father said she should "absolutely take it" and try for a year. She took his advice, and started as a clerk, typing labels. She received frequent promotions during the following years, "working hard and learning the industry inside out". Link to bio.
#2
How long have EpiPens been around. And there's no generic? Is it a time thing or is it political? Say what you want about euro style health care at least this kind of shit doesn't happen
#3
FDA stifles competition for these, Cheaderhead.
Follow the money.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/26/2016 10:13
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#4
Hey! Why should trunks be the only ones to get rich?
On the other hand, this is also a redistribution of income deal -
rebate card worth up to $300 for those who paid the full price of the device out-of-pocket, cutting the price by 50 percent
for the favored special people, (if your name is on our list, see?) full price to the rest of us dweebs.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/26/2016 13:13
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#5
There's only three types that I know of and the doctors are not fans of the non-brand Epipens. I have them and if the doctor didn't have something that makes them free, they'd cost me $700. Considering they cost less than $4 to make, this is definite price gouging.
[Reuters] When President Barack Obama entered the White House in 2009, the federal appeals court based in Virginia was known as one of the most conservative benches in the country.
Two Obama terms later, Democratic appointees hold a 10-5 majority on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a panel of which issued a groundbreaking ruling this April backing transgender rights.
The shift to the left on the court, which hears cases from Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina, highlights a widely overlooked aspect of Obama's legacy.
His appointments of dozens of judges to the country's influential federal appeals courts have tilted the judiciary in a liberal direction that will influence rulings for years to come and be further entrenched if Democrat Hillary Clinton wins this November's presidential election.
A Reuters review of rulings by the courts over the last two years shows Obama’s appointees to the appeals courts have influenced major legal battles likely to ultimately reach the Supreme Court.
Obama-appointed judges have voted in favor of broad civil rights protections, major Obama administration regulations and gun regulations and against Republican-backed voting rules.
[Free Beacon] Estée Lauder executive Nancy Mahon was appointed to a government council and received special government employee status after donating to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.
Executives at Estée Lauder were among those who got face time with Secretary Clinton after they donated to the Clinton Foundation, according to an AP report. However, Nancy Mahon not only met with Clinton, she also was appointed to a government position after a fund she helped run pledged millions to the Foundation in 2008.
Mahon is a senior vice president at Estée Lauder and the global executive director of the MAC AIDS Fund, the cosmetics company’s charitable arm. Through the fund, she pledged a commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative in 2008. The MAC AIDS Fund ultimately donated between $1 and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation.
Founding Program Director, Soros Criminal Justice Program
Open Society Institute
March 1996 – March 2000 (4 years 1 month)
Established new foundation program devoted to promoting community safety and the effective and humane adminstration of justice through four program components: grants, fellowships, research, and communications. Grew the program to an annual budget of $13 million and a staff of 17.
[Wash Times] A 76-year-old veteran committed suicide Sunday in the parking lot of New York Veterans Affairs hospital, police said.
Peter A. Kaisen, of Islip, was pronounced dead after he shot himself outside the nursing home at Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Long Island, Suffolk County police told The New York Times.
The reason for Mr. Kaisen’s suicide was not immediately known, but two people connected to the hospital told The Times he was angry after he was allegedly denied care in the emergency room for issues related to his mental health. "He went to the ER and was denied service," a hospital worker told The Times. "And then he went to his car and shot himself."
The staff member said there is always a psychologist on call, and the mental health building is open seven days a week, but no one at the ER gave Mr. Kaisen that information.
#1
Sad indeed. If anyone is offended by the graphic and black humour, I apologize in advance. Can we not however, put things in proper context. The VA provides much needed care and valuable benefits to hundreds of thousands of veterans and their families. I am grateful for the VA and my fellow Americans who foot the substantial bill for this benefit.
Eating your pistol in the parking lot is NOT a solution to the challenge of admissions or treatment.
#2
B.
His challenge wasn't admission or treatment. His challenge was being unable to stand being sick and tired of being sick and tired any longer.
The VA has 365k unionized, dues-paying employees, hardly any of them veterans. Thus, if they choose to say "eff you" to any complaints....they can.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
08/26/2016 7:32
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#3
Yes Richard, all one has to do is visit a VA Center. The staffing profile and sometimes staff attitudes are not unlike any other unionized Federal agency. My point is, even then, much good work is still being done.
I too can remember when veteran's preference for federal hiring actually meant something, and most of our USPS letter carriers were prior servicemen and women. Federal recruitment has changed, and we all know why.
Press releases for the VA just seem to all be negative. Evidently nothing good can be found. Hence my comments.
Again, my apologies if I have offended anyone. My limited VA experiences, and those of my friends (some of which are rather extensive) have generally been quite positive.
#4
My limited VA experiences, and those of my friends (some of which are rather extensive) have generally been quite positive.
The problem with large programs in general is that they can work well for the vast majority, while being disastrous for the small minority that does not fit into standard categories. When it comes to health care, taking a bit longer to get appointments, evaluations, and not-the-latest treatments isn't really an issue, as long as the patients are greeted cheerfully and are content with the price they pay for it. But for someone with something odd (Agent Orange sufferers, fast moving cancer, suicidal ideation), the delays will be deadly, as we see in this case and the unknown numbers of dead that have piled up over the last decade at least while the problems were actively hidden.
#6
If any of you are vets, use your state veteran's office as an advocate for you. Texas's has been very good for me and they love to sink their teeth into the VA at every hitch.
#7
Some Congressmen will also advocate with the VA for the veterans in their district. That was how our newest daughter's mother got a quick response from the VA when she was diagnosed with cancer -- she'd never gone to the VA before that point, so they were reluctant to accept her claim. She died anyway, because she didn't go to the doctor until it had metasticized throughout her body (stage 4?), but they did treat it aggressively until it was clear there was no point.
[Daily Caller] Sen. Chuck Grassley is not happy that the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Inspector General can’t figure out how many felony fugitives live in federally-funded public housing, so he’s told the watchdog to do whatever it takes to get the answer. The Surprise Meter has little to do with the occupants, it's that anyone would suggest something might actually be done about them.
"It is troubling that the full number of wanted fugitive felons living in public housing remains unknown, unexplained, undocumented and unjustified," the Iowa Republican wrote in a letter to HUD Inspector General (IG) David Montoya Wednesday. "Tenants deserve to know if a wanted fugitive felon is living in the same housing project."
So, Grassley wants the HUD IG to do "a thorough, nationwide investigation into the number of wanted fugitive felons living in public housing and the adequacy of controls in place to prevent that from occurring. The American people need assurance that HUD is enforcing the law and ensuring the safety and security of public housing tenants."
Grassley is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a long-time congressional advocate on behalf of the more than 70 federal watchdogs whose sole job is to expose waste, fraud and mis-management in the executive branch bureaucracy. May I suggest the 'tracking down' begin at the federally owned property found at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500
#1
Next thing you know they won't want them to vote! Those damn Republicans
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2016 10:42
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Shouldn't the Feds be tracking down all fugitive felons no matter where they are? I mean they are felons, they are likely to lie on their rental applications no matter where they decide to live.
#4
Not considering the problem crated since the 90s of making everything a felony (yes a bit of an exaggeration, but do a couple DWIs and you are a felon as an example)
#7
Ask any kid in public hell and they could tell you who the felons and fugitives are.
The trick is to:
A) Protect the informant(good luck with that in this era awesome cybersecurity.
B) Actually do something about the felons.
I'm sure the fact that Chuck "I've been in Washington for more than forty years and I am SHOCKED at stuff!" Grassley is up for re-election has nothing to do with this.
#8
Instead of the three strikes and you get life, it should be three strikes and a gas chamber. It's sad but the police know who the career criminals are. Time for them to be removed from the board legally. Think the founders would have tolerated criminals with rap sheets like this? Nope.
#9
In the founding fathers time, they couldn't afford warehousing dangerous people. Felons usually hung. At least the removal of rights (vote, bear arms, et al) is in line with dead people (less Chicago).
#10
To crackers, a new Mount St. Helens;
For Democrats, harmless "rebellions."
Obama, so smarmy:
"A pen... and an army
Of grateful, high-melanin felons."
[Guardian] Authorities in 15 towns have banned burkinis, citing public concern following recent terrorist attacks in the country.
Photographs have emerged of armed French police confronting a woman on a beach and making her remove some of her clothing as part of a controversial ban on the burkini.
Authorities in several French towns have implemented bans on the burkini, which covers the body and head, citing concerns about religious clothing in the wake of recent terrorist killings in the country.
The images of police confronting the woman in Nice on Tuesday show at least four police officers standing over a woman who was resting on the shore at the town's Promenade des Anglais, the scene of last month's Bastille Day lorry attack.
After they arrive, she appears to remove a blue long-sleeved tunic, although one of the officers appears to take notes or issue an on-the-spot fine.
The photographs emerged as a mother of two also told on Tuesday how she had been fined on the beach in nearby Cannes wearing leggings, a tunic and a headscarf.
Her ticket, seen by French news agency AFP, read that she was not wearing "an outfit respecting good morals and secularism". Prudent measures I'd say. Why wait until one of these burkini clad arseholes blows up and kills a dozen or so beach goers.
That is, sadly, the underlying problem. France for years had a problem with smash-and-grab thieves wearing Saudi-style abayas with a niqab covering the face, rendering them unidentifiable. I assume that has gone away since the facial veil ban went into effect.
#2
Apparently she was wearing a tunic and leggings, and was voluntarily showing the police she had a proper French bikini on underneath. Sometimes photos tell a lie.
[Mil.Com] The U.S. Defense Department has identified the soldier killed in action on Tuesday in Afghanistan as Army Staff Sgt. Matthew V. Thompson.
Thompson, 28, of Irvine, California, was assigned to Company A, 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, the Pentagon announced in a release Wednesday.
The Special Forces soldier was on his first deployment to Afghanistan, according to the Army. He had previously deployed to Iraq.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) continued their wide-scale counter-offensive in the Aleppo Governorate on Thursday, targeting the Technical College 1070 Al-Hamdaniyah Housing Project in the southern districts.
Led by the Republican Guard and Hezbollah, the Syrian Armed Forces stormed the Technical College, where they were able to capture several points inside the northwestern corridor of the building.
Clashes are still ongoing at the Technical College, despite Jaish Al-Fateh’s best efforts to repel this major attack by the Syrian Armed Forces.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, the spittle had reached unprecedented levels... at the 1070 Housing Project, the Syrian Arab Army’s Republican Guard forces made another attempt to capture the southern sector of this district; however, the heavy artillery fire from the Hikmah School has slowed them down.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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I'm sure my Pashto would be even funnier than that bit of English, if I could speak Pashto.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan National Deputy Chief of Staff General Murad Ali Murad says the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) are suppressing the Taliban offensive in Kunduz with high morale.
Gen. Murad further added that the recent offensive by the Talibs has been successfully repulsed by the Afghan forces across the Kunduz province.
He said the residents of Kunduz province should be confident on Afghan forces as they continue to clear Kunduz district by district as per a proper plan.
The remarks by Gen. Murad came as the Talibs launched a coordinated attack in Kunduz province last week and managed to take control of key Khanabad district as well as Qala-e-Zal district.
The back to back victories by the Taliban holy warriors forced the Gen. Murad to visit the province and personally lead the clearance operations against the Taliban myrmidons.
In the meantime, the local residents feared that the Taliban holy warriors were on the verge taking control of the strategic Kunduz city once again as they captured it briefly last year.
The Taliban holy warriors have been attempting to take control of key districts in Kunduz including the strategic Kunduz city since they announced their spring offensive earlier in April this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[Ynet] Egyptian security officials say a police driver kidnapped this week has been publicly rubbed out in Sinai by suspected Death Eaters from the local 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.... affiliate.
They say three Death Eaters and the policeman arrived Thursday at el-Arish's residential al-Masaeed district in a green pickup truck. The policeman, blindfolded with his arms and legs tied by a robe, was then brought out and shot twice in the head.
The policeman was kidnapped by Death Eaters Tuesday while driving a police car in el-Arish. The Death Eaters took away the vehicle too.
Iraqi airstrike hits ISIS convoy near Sharqat "We're gonna need more Kia trucks..."
(IraqiNews.com) Salahuddin – A security source in Salahuddin province on Thursday informed that an ISIS convoy was destroyed in Sharqat district.
Sharing details the source said, “Iraqi Air Force today destroyed an ISIS convoy, which consisted eight Kia trucks while the convoy was trying to escape from Sharqat to Hawija, south of Kirkuk”.
“Iraqi Air Force is carrying out airstrikes from time to time against ISIS members in Sharqat. The airstrikes are being carried out after receiving accurate intelligence inputs from the military intelligence department,” further added the source seeking anonymity.
(IraqiNews.com) Salahuddin – Saraya al-Salam Brigade on Thursday announced seizing five vehicles carrying stolen materials from the fertilizers factory in Baiji district in northern Tikrit.
Spokesperson of Saraya al-Salam in Samarra district Mohanad al-Ezawi said, “Forces from Saraya al-Salam yesterday seized five vehicles in an area of Salahuddin province carrying materials from fertilizers factory in Baiji, while a faction of al-Hashd al-Shaabi was trying to get it out of the province.”
Ezawi added, “Saraya al-Salam handed the seized materials to the office of Salahuddin governor.”
Posted by: badanov ||
08/26/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A security source informed on Thursday, that a bomb blast to north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad killed two people and wounded five others.
Sharing details the source added, “In a roadside bomb blast today at Hamamiyat in Taji district, north of Baghdad, killed two persons and injured five others.”
“Ambulances rushed to the area and carried the injured to a nearby hospital. The bodies of the deceased were sent to the forensic department. Security forces later cordoned off the area,” further added the source seeking anonymity.
[DUNYANEWS.TV] Renowned TV anchorperson Dr Aamir Liaquat has on Thursday said that Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) chief and the party should be held responsible if he gets assassinated, reported Dunya News.
Talking to media, Aamir Liaquat said that he had credible information that he might get murdered. "If I get assassinated, MQM and its chief must be held responsible", he said.
Aamir Liaquat also apologised for his criticism on the other parties. "I felt really pained during the last two days. I might even have suffered from brain hemorrhage", he said. He added that he must be buried wrapped in Pak flag.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A young Afghan migrant was rubbed out by unknown gunnies as he was trying to cross into Western Europe from Bulgaria, it has been reported.
The migrant was believed to be in his 20s and was looking to illegally cross from Bulgaria when he was rubbed out, apparently by hunters.
The Ministry of Defense of Serbai said Wednesday that the migrant had received wounds in his chest and the alleged man behind the attack has been detained.
This comes as a young Afghan man was jugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! as he was attempting to reach to the western European coutries by travelling almost 20 hours as he was tied under a truck.
The man whose identity has not been disclosed escaped a migrant camp in Greece with an aim to enter the country, police sources have said.
The Saudi answer is that if the foreigner had not been in the country, the incident would not have happened seems to apply here.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[CNN] Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as America's Blond Eminence and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Jeremiah S. Black ... slammed Donald Trump and issued a strong defense of the Clinton Foundation Wednesday amid the Republican nominee's claims that she used public office for personal gain.
Speaking to CNN's Anderson Cooper in her first national news interview in nearly a month, Clinton pushed back against Trump's accusations and issued perhaps her most succinct answers on her use of a private email server during her time leading the State Department.
What is the Clinton Foundation and why is it controversial?
"What Trump has said is ridiculous," Clinton said. "My work as secretary of state was not influenced by any outside forces. I made policy decisions based on what I thought was right."
She added: "I know there's a lot of smoke, and there's no fire."
Trump has recently upped his attacks on Clinton and her family's namesake foundation, saying that foreign governments and business leaders gave primarily to get something in return.
"It is impossible to figure out where the Clinton Foundation ends and the State Department begins," Trump said Tuesday night at a rally in Austin, Texas. "The specific crimes committed to carry out that enterprise are too numerous to cover in this speech."
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08/26/2016
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[DUNYANEWS.TV] Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry has said that indiscriminate action was taken against all bad boy outfits in Pakistain including Haqqani network but United States did not acknowledge Pakistain’s efforts, reported Thursday.
The Foreign Secretary held a meeting with United States Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for South Asian Affairs Peter Lavoy in the federal capital and discussed bilateral relations between the two sovereign states in context of high-level political standings.
Chaudhry stressed mutual understanding and cooperation between the two countries to solve different issues.
Pakistain Army eliminated terror hideouts in FATA and tribal areas, he said adding that all organised networks of terror were targeted indiscriminately including Haqqani.
The government would not allow, in any case, to let its soil be used against any country, Chaudhry stated.
Lavoy said that United States acknowledged sacrifices of the armed forces and the nation in war on terror adding that Pakistain’s role in peace restoration in Afghanistan was commendable.
The special US envoy said that both the countries, United States and Pakistain needed to continue efforts for peace and stability in the region.
Elimination of terror was in the interest of both the states, Lavoy said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies
[DUNYANEWS.TV] Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... ’s (MQM) chief’s portraits were removed from many places whereas MQM’s illegal offices were closed and demolished on Thursday, reported Dunya News.
MQM’s offices in Bhains Colony, Gulshan Maymar, Mosamyat, Sachal, Sukhan, Malik aur Ahsanabad were demolished, as they were set up illegally. In Azizabad, name of "Mukka Chowk" was changed to "Liaquat Ali Khan chowk".
The photos and posters of MQM chief at Nine Zero and several other places were removed whereas Khursheed Begum Memorial Hall and transport office were also set up illegally.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies
This is why Somalia can't have nice things.
[Al Jazeera] Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... fighters have attacked a beach restaurant in the capital Mogadishu with a boom-mobile before entering into a shootout with security forces, according to police and the group.
"A boom-mobilewent kaboom! at Banadir beach restaurant at Lido beach and there is exchange of gunfire. We have no other details so far," Major Ahmed Ibrahim, a police officer, told Rooters news agency on Thursday.
The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group grabbed credit for the attack.
"We attacked the Banadir beach restaurant and now our fighters are fighting inside it," Abdiasis Abu Musab, its military operation front man, told Rooters.
The News Agency that Dare Not be Named news agency reported that a boom-mobileer had prematurely detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near the new Turkish embassy compound in the capital, according to a Somali police officer.
Al-Shabaab has carried out a series of deadly attacks in Somalia to try to topple the Western-backed government.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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#1
If they can't eat near sand they've got a big problem. Or as Ed would say, a really, really big problem
[Libya Herald] The main coastal road between Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... and Zawiya has been reported to have been reopened today.
The news came following an announcement today by the Presidency Council/Government of National Accord (PC/GNA) that it has been negotiating between the coastal inhabitants and the inland inhabitants representing Wirshifana.
In return for reopening the coastal road, the PC/GNA has promised the Wirshefana tribes that it will activate the existing law which gives compensation for war damage.
The Wirshafana tribe occupying a large swathe of territory from the foot of the Nefusa/Western Mountains up to the coast and onto the Tunisian border are deemed to have made the most political losses as the result of the fall of the Qadaffy regime. The Wirshefana tribe are claiming damages for war losses incurred during the 2014 operations by pro February 17th forces in their region.
The officially recognized and uniformed state police (as opposed to militias) were dispersed along part of the coastal road for at least some time today in the hope of spreading confidence amongst motorists. It is not clear for how long the police can continue to provide the manpower to cover the 180-odd km from Tripoli to the Tunisian border.
However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... at the time of writing, the Fursan Janzour Brigade (Janzour Knights) based in Janzour and who patrol part of the coastal road around Janzour have refuted that the whole coastal road has been reopened or that it is now ’’safe’’.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[Foreign Desk News] Lawmakers in Germany are under increased pressure to tackle the country’s growing trend of child marriages, renewing the debate over whether to allow Islamic Sharia law to supersede the country’s legal system when applied to its refugee population.
With the wave of more than 1.2 million migrants colonists, mostly of the Islamic faith, coming in from Iraq and Syria, German courts are being forced to consider the legality of Moslem marriages that include girls sometimes as young as 13, Britannia’s Sunday Times reported.
According to estimates, the number of refugee child marriages is currently at 1,000, although activists believe the figure is much higher.
In one case, authorities ruled in favor of Fatima, a pregnant 15-year-old Syrian refugee, allowing her husband, a fellow Syrian refugee more than double her age, to be accommodated in the same town so they could be near each other. Fatima told news hounds that after her family escaped Syria for The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , she pleaded with them to marry her off to "the next man who is willing" so she could escape to Europe.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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#1
child brides as young as thirteen
Looks like the author of this article is still in denial about the lower age limit for girls to be considered marriageable in Muslim culture.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church announced on Thursday that it had finally reached an agreement with the government over a draft law pertaining to the construction and renovation of churches throughout the country, Egyptian newspaper Ahram Online reported.
The announcement followed a meeting on Wednesday hosted by the Church between 105 Coptic bishops to discuss the ramifications of the government’s "unacceptable amendments."
Talks were also held with President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and Prime Minister Sherif Ismael, whose cooperation prompted the religious body to release another statement on Thursday.
"The Holy Synod announces, in good faith, [that it has reached] a compromise formula [of the law] with government representatives," the church said.
Awaiting ratification
The Church added that it is looking forward to seeing the new law implemented following the cabinet’s approval and final ratification by parliament.
This is not the first issue the Church has encountered. It says that Egypt’s estimated 15 million Copts face more hurdles in seeking government-sanctioned projects than their Moslem-majority counterparts.
The Church hopes that, once passed, the revised draft will lessen the bureaucratic pitfalls faced by those hoping to launch construction and renovation projects.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 30 Taliban turbans were killed in a series of air and ground raids in 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 of Afghanistan.
The provincial police commandment in a statement said Thursday that the operations were conducted in the restive Haska Meena district jointly by the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF).
The statement further added that the dead bodies of at least 5 Taliban turbans were left in the area and the Afghan forces confiscated a PK machine gun and 4 Ak-47 assault rifles belonging to the Death Eaters.
The Talibs group has not commented regarding the report so far.
Nangarhar is among the relatively volatile provinces in eastern Afghanistan where the Taliban turbans and bully boyz belonging to 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 are actively operating in a number of its remote districts.
The joint raids agaisnt the Talibs in Haska Meena came as the group launched a coordinated attack on security posts in this district last week.
However the Afghan forces managed to repulse the Taliban offensive and clearance operations are still underway to clear the area from the bully boyz presence.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The former Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... has said the Loya Jirga could help resolve the current political issues in the country as deadlock persists between President Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullha Abdullah regarding the agreement on Government National Unity.
In interview with Radio Free Europe/Rado Liberty, Karzai said the tradiional Loya Jigar should be organized to be find out a solution regarding the current political deadlock in the country.
Karzai further added that Afghanistan is a country of ’Jigars’ or gathering of local tribbal elders to resolve issues such as the current deadlock between President Ghani and CEO Abdullah.
According to Karzai, the traditional Jirga could help resolve the issue which would in the better of the two leaders of the unity government if constituational Loya Jigar could not be organized.
The remarks by Karzai came as President Ghani and CEO Abdullah are still at odds as the unity government has completed its two years sicne its formation.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Egypt’s Minister of Supply Khaled Hanafi has resigned amid the highest-profile corruption case since President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi came to power in 2014.
Hanafi’s resignation is the most senior-level fallout from a probe into whether millions of dollars intended to subsidise farmers were used to purchase wheat that did not exist.
Egypt’s supply ministry is in charge of a massive food subsidy programme and the main state grain buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC).
Parliamentarians who formed a fact-finding commission to investigate the fraud have said upwards of 2 million tonnes, or 40 per cent of the locally procured crop, may be missing.
The general prosecutor has ordered arrests, travel bans, and asset freezes for several private silo owners and others allegedly involved in the scandal.
"Experience has proven that being in a position of authority is no longer a picnic" Hanafi said as he announced his resignation on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
Egypt, the world’s largest importer of wheat, has been mired in controversy over whether much of the roughly 5 million tonnes of grain the government said it procured in this year’s harvest exists only on paper, the result of local suppliers falsifying receipts to boost government payments.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Taliban snuffies have beheaded a young university student in northern Faryab province of Afghanistan and used his corpse a Body-borne Improvised Explosive Device (BBIED).
According to the local officials in Faryab, the corpse of the university student was left on a roadside after placing a remote controlled Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in his body.
Provincial governor’s front man Javid Bidar said the university student was taken out of the vehicle on a highway in Faizabad district and was decapitated by the Taliban bad boys.
He said the Afghan forces discovered and defused the IED planted in his stomach before the Taliban snuffies manage to detonate it and target the Afghan forces.
Bidar further added that the move by the Talibs is apparently aimed at discouraging the university students from pursuing their higher education.
According to Bidar, an operation is underway to find and arrest the perpetators of the horrific incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Arrest? I'd be a little harsher than that
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2016 10:01
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iraq’s parliament impeached Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi on Thursday over corruption allegations, removing him from office as the army gears up for an assault on ISIS’s de facto capital, djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... Two politicians said parliament voted 142-102 to withdraw confidence from Obeidi after questioning him this month about weapons contracts. He had denied the corruption allegations and in turn accused Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri and five other MPs of wrongdoing.
Obeidi, a Sunni Moslem ally of Shiite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, had spearheaded the military campaign to retake territory that the ultra-hardline Sunni ISIS group seized in 2014 and said he had cut down on graft including ghost soldiers -- members of the military who do not exist but whose salaries are collected.
"Those who brought Iraq to where it is now have triumphed," Obeidi said in a Facebook post following parliament’s vote. "I tried with everything to fight corruption but it appears that its masters are stronger, their voices louder and their actions more enduring."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[Inquirer] Abu Sayyaf militants beheaded an 18-year-old captive in Indanan, Sulu province, on Tuesday after they failed to recieve ransom from the boy's family. The Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) said the head of Patrick James Almodovar was found inside a plastic bag that was dumped by three motorcycle-riding men at Barangay Kajatian, Indanan, on Wednesday evening. Almodovar was kidnapped by the Ajang-Ajang faction of the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo, Sulu, on July 16.
Westmincom spokesman Filemon Tan said Almodovar was beheaded after the rebels failed to get the ransom they had demanded. Tan didn't say how much the Abu Sayyaf had demanded, but the family said the militants had wanted P1 million.
The military condemned the "barbaric murder perpetrated by this terror group, saying, "The beheading of an innocent man done by the [Abu Sayyaf] is an absolute affront to the peace-loving Moros in the Philippines."
The victim's mother urged President Duterte to punish her son’s killers. She said, "They deserve the same punishment. President [Duterte], we ask you to finish them all."
She said the bandits had demanded P1 million, but all the family could manage was P100,000, borrowed from friends and relatives. She said, "No one helped us, but now everyone is talking about my son."
Posted by: ryuge ||
08/26/2016
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U.S. nuclear-powered attack submarines have been clandestinely tracking North Korean U-boats since the North began to show progress in developing submarine-launched ballistic missiles last year.
The U.S. has apparently been keeping the information from South Korea.
Someone will have to explain why...
SLBM attacks would be difficult to detect unless a country's own submarines lie in wait in front of an enemy's submarine bases and ambush them in a crisis.
In other words, SOP for American attack subs the past sixty years...
The U.S. has been spying on North Korean submarine bases in Hamnam and Sinpo, according to a source, and will probably step up surveillance after North Korea succeeded in test-firing an SLBM on Wednesday.
Conventional submarines powered by diesel engines cannot conduct missions underwater for more than three to four weeks, but nuclear-powered ones can operate underwater for up to three months at a time.
The U.S. subs are gathering crucial sonar signatures that will help them identify the 2,000-ton submarines that carry SLBMs.
But the U.S. subs are operating on the high seas away from the North's territorial waters to avoid provoking clashes, and North Korea's anti-submarine equipment is too outdated to detect them.
That's what we're saying. My guess is that our guys are right up on them from the point where the water gets deep...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2016
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#1
Probably waiting for them right around the 12 fathom bottom contour line, if out sub drivers are holding true to form!
[Hurriyet] Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu escaped two separate armed attacks staged by outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) myrmidons, targeting his party’s motorcade in the Savsat district of the Black Sea province of Artvin on Aug. 25.
One gendarmerie soldier who was guarding him was killed by the holy warriors while two others were maimed. It marked the first ever attack attempt by the outlawed group directly targeting a political leader.
PKK holy warriors first opened fire on piloting gendarmerie vehicles safeguarding the party motorcade from a forested area near the village of Yanikli, when security forces in three vehicles guarding Kilicdaroglu spotted them.
An armed clash erupted between bodyguards and PKK holy warriors as special forces surrounded Kilicdaroglu’s vehicle and responded to the fire.
Kilicdaroglu and the party committee escaped unharmed in the first attack and he was kept in safety inside his car.
One myrmidon who was preparing to stage a rocket attack on the motorcade was also killed in festivities with security forces, according to reports.
The party committee, which was heading to the Ardanuc district of Artvin, were trying to return when they were targeted once again on their way back to the Savsat district.
Three soldiers, including two non-commissioned officers, were initially maimed in the attack, Interior Minister Efkan Ala said. However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... Fatih Caybasi, the soldier who was heavily maimed in his head, later departed this vale of tears at hospital.
Ala announced that the PKK was the perpetrator of the attack, noting that the group was already active in the region.
North Korea appears to have obtained more weapons-grade plutonium by reprocessing nuclear fuel from its main reactor in Yongbyon.
The U.S. Institute for Science and International Security said Sunday North Korea has managed to produce 5-8 kg of plutonium. That could be used to make two to four nuclear warheads using 2-4kg of plutonium each.
The institute said Pyongyang now has enough nuclear material to make between 13 to 21 nuclear warheads.
Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said that satellite imagery shows North Korea has resumed reprocessing activities, as the regime had announced.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2016
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[Al Jazeera] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... sent more tanks into northern Syria on Thursday and demanded Kurdish militia fighters retreat within a week as it seeks to secure the border region and drive back 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 the Levant (ISIS, also known as ISIS) in its first major incursion into the war-torn county.
Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... (FSA) fighters, along with Turkish special forces and tanks, and supported by Turkish and US air power, took over the ISIS-controlled town of Jarablus on Wednesday, pushing the group back to its last stronghold in northeastern Syria - al-Bab.
Syrian rebel and Turkish forces pressed on past Jarablus on Thursday in attempt to clear the border area of any ISIS presence.
"The Free Syrian Army now is in total control of Jarablus and the area surrounding it, and they say that they are now going to try to move forward to recapture the territory that is now under ISIS control ... particularly in al-Bab," said Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Karkamis, just across the border from Jarablus.
But Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and senior government officials have made it clear that the aim of "Operation Euphrates Shield" is as much about stopping the Kurdish YPG from seizing more territory along the border and filling the void left by ISIS as it is about eliminating the hardline group itself.
Turkey demanded that the YPG retreat to the east side of the Euphrates within a week. The Kurdish militia had moved west of the river earlier this month as part of a US-backed operation, now completed, to capture the city of Manbij from ISIS.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[Al Jazeera] Tehran has warned Washington against deploying warships in Iranian territorial waters in the Gulf, after a close encounter earlier in the week between Iranian and US naval ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan said on Thursday that every US ship that entered Iranian waters would first be warned, but if the intrusion was considered an invasion, there would be a confrontation.
"If an American ship enters Iran's maritime region, it will definitely get a warning. We will monitor them and, if they violate our waters, we will confront them," he said in a statement reported by the Iranian Students' News Agency.
The warning follows an incident on Wednesday when a US warship and Iranian ships faced off near the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Lebanese security forces incarcerated Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! an alleged ISIS Lion of Islam on Wednesday who is said to be a relative of the Lion of Islam group’s leader in Leb.
The country’s Internal Security Forces arrested Syrian national Muhieddine al-Jarban in the eastern town of Labweh and believe him to be the uncle of Abu al-Sous - leader of the ISIS group in the northeastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Leb’s The Daily Star news site reported.
Little is known about Abu al-Sous other than serving as an ISIS Lion of Islam field commander in long-disputed mountain range of Qalamoun, that occuopies majority of the border between Syria and Leb.
The ISIS Lion of Islam group do not have a clear military or organizational structure in Leb, The Daily Star sources said. However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... Sous is believed to hold either Syrian, Iraqi, or Jordanian citizenship.
It is unknown what the Lion of Islam group’s operations are in Leb, but sources have said the group is trying to form sleeper cells in Leb.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[DUNYANEWS.TV] Another youth was killed on Wednesday by security forces armed with shotguns in India-held Kashmire which is reeling from weeks of deadly violence, police said.
The youth identified as Amir Gul Mir departed this vale of tears after he was hit by pellets and teargas shells at Prichoo in the district. Around forty other people were maimed in violent actions of Indian police and troops against the protesters. The killing of Amir Gul Mir has raised the toll in the ongoing Intifada to 84 since July 8, when Indian troops killed the top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, Burhan Wani in Kukernag area of Islamabad district.
Panic gripped Batamaloo area of Srinagar after Indian troops resorted to firing at Batamaloo Bus Stand and beat up the people who went out to buy milk, vegetables and other essential commodities. A big anti-India rally was held at Bugam in Chadoora, which was addressed among others by Sikh liberation leader, Narinder Singh Khalisa.
The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik ...chairman of one of the two factions of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front. JKLF is a Kashmiri nationalist organization founded in Birmingham, UK in 1977. Branches weren't actually established in Kashmir for another ten years. It has the usual demands for separation of J&K from secular India so it can become an independent Islamic rathole. It seems to have no interest in Pak Kashmir breaking away to join it. In 1994 Malik renounced violence after he was released from jail and from that point he and his organization pursued peaceful means to impose their will on the region... while giving a joint call of Azadi March on Friday have appealed people to march massively towards Eidgah in Srinagar.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[Judicial Watch] Washington, DC ‐ The Obama State Department last week admitted it withheld a key Benghazi email of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from Judicial Watch since at least September 2014. If the State Department disclosed the email when first supposedly found, Clinton’s email server and her hidden emails would have been disclosed nearly two years ago, before Clinton authorized the alleged deletion of tens of thousands of emails.
The developments come in a July 2014 Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuit seeking records related to the drafting and use of the Benghazi talking points (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:14-cv-01242)). The lawsuit, which forced the disclosure of the Clinton email records, seeks records specifically from Clinton and her top State Department staff:
Copies of any updates and/or talking points given to Ambassador Rice by the White House or any federal agency concerning, regarding, or related to the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Any and all records or communications concerning, regarding, or relating to talking points or updates on the Benghazi attack given to Ambassador Rice by the White House or any federal agency.
Contradicting an earlier statement to the court, an April 18, 2016, State Department letter admits that it found the email at issue in 2014 but was held back in its entirety:
Also, upon further review, the Department has determined that one document previously withheld in full in our letter dated November 12, 2014 may now be released in part.
The referenced November 12, 2014, letter does not reference any withheld emails. A search declaration suggests the hidden email was found in September 2014 as a result of a search in response to Judicial Watch’s lawsuit.
The September 29, 2012, email to Clinton from then-Deputy Chief of Staff Jake Sullivan concerns talking points for Clinton calls with senators about the Benghazi attack. The email contains Clinton’s non-state.gov address.
It is in this litigation that U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth granted "limited discovery" to Judicial Watch into Clinton’s and her aides’ email practices. Judge Lamberth ruled that "where there is evidence of government wrong-doing and bad faith, as here, limited discovery is appropriate, even though it is exceedingly rare in FOIA cases." (U.S. District Court Judge Emmett Sullivan also granted Judicial Watch discovery into the Clinton email matter. The discovery plan, agreed to by the State Department, is awaiting Judge Sullivan’s approval.)
Last week’s document production also includes material from a records cache of thousands of new Clinton State Department records supposedly only discovered in December 2015. The new material shows the State Department compiled extensive Libya/Benghazi-related dossiers on Republican and Democrat senators.
"Now we know the Obama administration consciously refused to give up key information about Hillary Clinton’s email in 2014. It covered up this email both from the court and Judicial Watch," stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "Judge Lamberth was right when he suggested that Obama’s State Department acted in bad faith. This cover-up provided Hillary Clinton enough time to hide potentially thousands of government records. One aim of our court-order discovery will be to get to the bottom of this cover-up."
#1
When your beltline lawyers triage the evidence and assist the state dept in the redactive arts one could have certain doubts...I do. We seek the light and find the darkness by calculated diversion.
#3
One wonders, which is more corrupt? The Justice Department or the State Department? Come to think of it, if the Pentagon can't locate billions of dollars, perhaps it takes the cake.
#4
#2 - absolutely! Civil Service protection shouldn't stop it, either. Willful malfeasance, illegal activities, and negligence are job-kill
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2016 8:43
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#5
Most of the people that work for the government in DC need a long, long prison sentence combined with the confiscation of all their assets and ill gotten goods.
#6
An example must be made. Actually I'd prefer a thousand little guys go to prison than Hillary at this point. Send a message to other little guys that they can't be protected if they break the law.
In the process of all of that I'm sure we'll get more than one willing to take her down as well so it'll be double-good.
[NOLA] One night in August 2007, 10-year-old Mohammed Roble was riding on a school bus when it pulled onto a Minneapolis bridge during the evening commute. Officials said that Roble, 62 other children and the bus driver were traveling on the Interstate 35W bridge when it began to crumble into the Mississippi River below.
The disaster would become the deadliest bridge collapse in modern U.S. history, killing 13 people and injuring 145 others. Roble's parents filed a lawsuit after the collapse against Minnesota and others and eventually reached a settlement.
In 2014, Roble began to receive money from this settlement, initially getting more than $91,000, according to a court filing this week. Federal authorities said in the filing that not long after Roble got that money, he left the country, making his way to China, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and, ultimately, Syria, where they say he joined 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.... The FBI says that once there, he has been using the money from his settlement to pay for things like cars and weddings, showing "financial generosity" once he got there.
According to an FBI affidavit, filed with a criminal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota on Tuesday, Roble joined the myrmidon group, also known as ISIS or ISIS, and is fighting in Syria. In the affidavit, an FBI agent states that the bureau came to this conclusion based on an investigation that included comments from an unnamed "confidential human source" and financial evidence and social media postings.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – A source in Anbar Operations Command informed that three ISIS members were killed while they were trying to cross the Euphrates River in northern Ramadi.
The source informed, “Intelligence information allowed the security forces to monitor the movement of ISIS members while they were trying to sneak from Albu Ali Jassim to the northern side of Ramadi through the Euphrates River.”
“The security forces clashed with the ISIS members and killed three of them and destroyed their boat,” he said.
The source further added, “ISIS is trying to launch attacks in order to release the pressure exerted by the military operations and security forces.”
Posted by: badanov ||
08/26/2016
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Since when does an "Imperial Wizard" give an interview to a black man? The Democrat-founded KKK would have none of that - something is not right with this story. Even the KKK gags on Clinton corruption.
#4
"Of infinitely more concern to me is the root of the pathogen that appears to have created her followers."
Indeed. I have great difficult believing that our society, and our country, can survive the infection if it continues to spread unchecked.
The pathogen must be extirpated, by whatever means is necessary.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
08/26/2016 11:33
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#5
It's the usual democrat crap that they parade out to smear someone every election. Do you recall Paul Ryan being shown pushing an old person over a cliff in a wheelchair? The whole thing could have been staged as was the Khizr Khan speech. The KKK Grand Dragon could have been out of central casting in Hollywood hired by the Hildabeast camp. Do you recall all the fake doctors with white coats put on the stage behind Obama when ObamaCare was forced on us? Or it just could have been an opportunistic video made at a Democratic get-out-the-vote rally.
#7
MSM may not report that but certainly Trump or his friends can make an ad or two saying as much. Play those in the black community while making his pitch that Democrats haven't helped blacks and let Hillary try to explain.
#11
Its not like this was a surprise move. Ever since Trump began his nationalism/populism angle this was a given. When he didnt push away the white power and neoonazi groups that clamped onto him like a remora, this was certain to be an attack line the press and Clinton would use.
That is why it is getting little traction, because everyone knew it was coming and has already factored it in on their opinion of Trump.
Its not going to change any minds, just stir up more dirt cloud for her to hide behind.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iraqi officials say a series of bombings and shooting across the Iraqi capital has killed 13 people and maimed 24.
No group immediately grabbed credit for the attacks. The violence comes as Iraqi forces are pushing to retake a small town from ISIS south of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , the country’s second-largest city that is still in ISIS hands.
The police say separate roadside kaboomings on busy commercial streets in northern and southern Baghdad killed five and maimed 17 on Thursday. Two sticky bombs attached to cars just south and east of Baghdad killed two and maimed seven.
And three shootings in different Baghdad neighborhoods killed six people.
Police and hospital officials confirmed the casualty toll, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... as they were not authorized to talk to news hounds.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[DUNYANEWS.TV] In an Intelligence Based Operation (IBO) and a separate combing operation in Chaman area at Pak-Afghan border on Thursday, atleast eight gunnies have been locked away Please don't kill me! According to details, the operation was carried out on a tip-off.
Huge cache of arms and ammunition including explosives, prepared Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), rockets and detonators have also been recovered during the operations, news release by ISPR here stated.
The gunnies have been remanded in the custody of intelligence agencies where they are under interrogation.
The operations are being done to safeguard border and prevent terrorists’ movement in Pakistain from the neighbouring Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least four people were killed and fourteen others were maimed in an kaboom in northern Balkh province of Afghanistan earlier today.
Provincial police chief Abdul Razaq Qaderi said the incident took place after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded on a roadside in Khulm district.
He said the target of the attack was politician Asadullah Sharifi as he was crossing the area but there are no reports regarding his fate in the kaboom.
No group including the Talibs has so far grabbed credit behind the incidnet.
Balkh is among the relatively peaceful provinces in northern Afghanistan but the anti-government armed bad boy groups have recently increased to their insurgency activities.
Militants belonging to the Taliban group and other Death Eater groups are active in a number of the remote districts of Balkh province.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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A Somali police officer says a car bomber has prematurely detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near the new Turkish embassy compound in the capital, Mogadishu.
Police opened fire on the car Thursday evening when the bomber refused their orders to stop at a checkpoint near the beachside embassy.
Capt. Mohamed Hussein says the driver detonated the car bomb in the middle of the road. It was not immediately known if anyone was killed.
The target of the bomber remains unclear. Several beachside restaurants near the embassy have come under attack by militants before.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2016
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North Korean leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un visited the SLBM launch site on Wednesday and called the launch "the greatest success," according to North Korean state media.
Pudgy Kim claimed that the North has "joined the front rank of military powers fully equipped with nuclear attack capability" and crowed that the U.S. mainland and operating theaters in the Pacific are under the North's control.
The Rodong Sinmun daily carried dozens of front-page photos of the SLBM launch, while state TV broadcast footage of the test.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2016
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[CNN] A US Navy patrol craft fired three warning shots at an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps boat Wednesday after US officials said it had harassed that patrol craft, CNN has learned.
Another US patrol craft and a Kuwaiti Navy ship were also harassed in the incident, which took place in the northern end of the Persian Gulf.
At one point, the Iranian boat came within 200 yards of one of the US Navy boats. When it failed to leave the area after the Navy had fired flares and had a radio conversation with the Iranian crew, the US officials said, the USS Squall fired three warning shots. Following standard maritime procedures, the Navy fired the three shots into the water to ensure the Iranians understood they needed to leave the immediate area.
Iran nuclear deal one year out: The good, bad, and ugly
State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said incidents like this one "unnecessarily escalate tensions," adding that the US doesn't know Iran's intentions.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
I'd like to see the US take a more apologetic tone here. As in: "Gee, we're sooo sorry we shot up your boat. The junior officer responsible for this unfortunate accident will be severely reprimanded. Lucky no one was killed, eh?"
North Korean teenagers are no longer filled with the patriotic spirit their leaders drum into them from the earliest age, and many compare their repressive country unfavorably to its more affluent neighbors and the West.
Young North Korean defectors say the tendency is particularly conspicuous in the border towns with China, where people can easily get their hands on South Korean and Chinese TV shows and watch them clandestinely.
Youngsters there often grumble about how much more beautiful South Korean and Chinese girls are -- presumably because they are better fed and have access to beauty products that their North Korean sisters can only dream of.
Negative perceptions of their own country are even more marked among the children of party officials and other wealthy people, who have a little more information about the outside world, according to one government official here.
Elite defectors tell South Korean interviewers that they decided to leave when they realized that their children have no future in the North
Increasingly, the children of North Korean officials who are sent abroad refuse to come back, and their parents have to try and convince them that if they study hard they too may land a job in the Foreign Ministry and go abroad again. But it is a long shot, and the recent defection of the London embassy's No. 2 man shows that concerns for their children can outweigh loyalty to the regime.
"Young North Koreans who lived abroad for many years have a tough time adjusting to life back in the North and end up ostracized or getting into trouble," says one businessman who has had dealings with North Korean trade representatives abroad.
"I heard that North Korean parents have a lot of work preparing their children's return to the North."
Parents not only have to train their kids to keep their mouths shut, but also save up money to bribe teachers to ensure that their children get into the top universities.
A trigger warning in North-land differs a fair bit from one at Yale or Harvard...
A place at Kim Il-sung University costs them about US$10,000 and at the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies about $4,000.
Again and again, elite defectors tell South Korean interviewers that they decided to leave when they realized that their children have no future in the North.
The regime is alarmed and has increased crackdowns on morale-sapping foreign media and bolstered ideological training, but to little effect.
"The disillusionment and discontent felt by North Korean teens is by now too strong to suppress," one source says.
A crackdown in Chongjin, North Hamgyong Province in February of this year led to the arrests of around a dozen teens for watching foreign media. They were sent to reeducation camps, and their parents were sent into internal exile.
And no safe space...
But watching foreign media is a status symbol among youngsters, and those who have never done so are seen as dorks.
The fears of the regime are reflected in recent propaganda for teens in the border area. Published by the Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League, the four pamphlets exhort teens to be wary of CDs, USB sticks and radios from the "enemy" and warn them not to copy its fashions and hairstyles.
On Friday, a massive rally of the Socialist Youth League is planned in Pyongyang, the first one in 23 years. Attendants have been handpicked since last month, and 50,000 are to be mobilized for a torchlit march.
But the youngsters are exhausted from constant demands for extracurricular activities in support of their leaders, and the event is just making things worse, according to an intelligence official here.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2016
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#1
Defecting is a pressure-relief valve. But defectors get noticed, too. Pray Fat Boy doesn't decide he needs a war to pull it all together.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/26/2016 8:25
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#2
...."watching foreign media is a status symbol among youngsters, and those who have never done so are seen as dorks"
or maybe just norks
Posted by: Bov Flimbers ||
08/26/2016 11:46
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[Beirut Daily Star] Hezbollah Thursday warned of the risks posed by what it termed the "marginalization" of the Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... , saying that political life in the country cannot be stabilized without the FPM’s participation in the government’s decision-making process.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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#1
Probably should be listed under 'culture wars'... but I'll spare you my reasons, other than to say it's not just education that has 'reduced the standards.'
#2
I recall in the 70s how 'standards' suddenly became racist. Let's just say the Asian community for some reason were not in the vanguard of that movement.
#4
@#1: Agreed, maybe we could also include the media and the parents ->"friends" metamorphosis. These aside, indoctrination centers schools, imho, provide the drumbeat from which the others derive their dances.
My wife just retired from teaching Kindergarten in large part because of the new "standards" that require 5 year olds to have daily homework and play time is cut dramatically.
#1
The apparently innocuous Rabita Trust, noted by the author, was formed in 1988 by the very dangerous Pak General and President Zia ul-Haq. Its purpose was to "disseminate Islamic Dawah [outreach]," and defend the faith. Wael Julaidan, one of Osama Bin Laden's money men, was named its Secretary General, and in Pakistan itself the Rabita held close links to the radical Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, a powerful political organization very early tied to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Julaidan was also a leading figure in the Muslim World League founded by Saudi Arabia and pregnant with Muslim Brothers. Secretary General of the the MWL was the very dicey Saudi Prince Talal Ibn Abdul Aziz. And closely tied to both the Rabita and the MWL was the wealthy Saudi Adullah Omar Al Nasseef -- Abedin's patron.
Naseef, a Jiddah resident, was at one time or another Deputy Speaker of the Majlis Al Sura (Saudi parliament) and Vice Chancellor of Abdul Aziz University (which following their expulsion from Egypt in the nineteen sixties was overrun by Muslim Brother teachers). The MWL and the Rabita Trust used the same address in Makka. In sum, any international Islamic or Islamist organization that works internationally is guaranteed to be loaded with Ikhwan. (In the USA it began with the Muslim Student Associations, and moved on from there.)
Kessler implies that is is impossible for a Muslim to be both a Muslim Brother and pro-Saudi. However, Saudi opposition to the Muslim Brotherood is only a recent development and is directed to the Egptian chapter only and is in reality geopolitically expedient.
When Abedin was making his bones, the Saudis supported the Muslim Brotherhood outreach and funding scores of Ikhwan dominated organizations that included hundreds of Muslim mosques and Islamic centers in Europe.
Finally, there is so much wrong with this article that quite honestly one could write a book debunking it.
#2
People like Abedin and ValJar don't find their way into positions like this by accident. Their placements were well calculated and strategic.
While he certainly had debatable shortcomings, imagine if you will the outrage, had President Roosevelt's long standing Secretary of State, Cordell Hull had ties to the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP).
Unfortunately, I don't believe 85% of the folks out there would have the attention span or sit still long enough to read a book. They only rely on the 15-seconds that the drive-by media gives them.
Even what you say would....Look, a squirrel!!
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/26/2016 8:30
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#4
It's odd: I first learnt about rabats by googling the name of the city in Morocco, and getting back also the definition of an armed rest-and-refreshment fortress-hostel built for Muslim traders abroad, established as preparation for the next stage of conquest of the non-Muslim world. Now I can't find a way to access that word, even with language translators, though Wikipedia has an unexplained list of cities and villages with that name across the Ummah, the Moslem world.
[AnNahar] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... had been planning a Syria ground operation for over two years before launching an offensive this week, but it was stalled by the military and various international disputes, an official said Thursday.
Turkish tanks and hundreds of opposition fighters thrust inside Syrian territory on Wednesday to retake the town of Jarabulus from 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) jihadists and keep Kurdish militia at bay.
The operation is Ankara's most significant move since the start of Syria's bloody civil war more than five years ago.
Jarabulus has been under IS control for three years, with the timing raising questions over why Ankara had not launched the operation sooner.
But the official, who did not wish to be named, said the government had "been working on a ground incursion for more than two years" but was "delayed" by several factors.
The official said Washington had questions over the feasibility of Turkey's plan to liberate Jarabulus, which was discussed with coalition allies in June last year.
"Their basic argument was that the number of moderate rebels was simply not enough to perform the task of liberating Jarabulus and other parts of northern Syria."
Ankara had in March given the White House a list of "moderate fighters" -- 1,800, but with the promise of 600 more -- that would efficiently perform the operation, the source said.
Elements in the Turkish army who had joined the July 15 failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... had also blocked the military intervention in Syria.
Some "influential" senior personnel within the military linked to the coup held up the operation by coming up with "excuses", the official said, pointing to Brigadier General Semih Terzi, a prominent alleged plotter who was rubbed out on the night of putsch.
And the crisis in relations with Russia sparked by Ankara's shooting down one of Moscow's warplanes in November 2015, had also been a factor.
The risk of a further confrontation with Moscow put an end to all Turkish air operations over Syria that would have been essential for any ground operation.
"It became practically impossible to implement our plans due to a lack of air cover," said the official.
But in June, President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... accepted a letter from Erdogan expressing regret over the incident as an apology and after that "the ground incursion could practically go forward."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/26/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Iraqi army has dislodged ISIS from the Qayyara oil producing region located south of their de facto capital djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Thursday. This is the third day in a row they've liberated it.
"The liberation of Qayyara is an important step toward achieving the larger goal of restoring Mosul province," according to tweets from Abadi’s media office.
Iraqi forces last month captured the Qayyara airbase which it plans to use as a hub to support forces advancing on Mosul, 60 km (38 miles) further north.
Abadi hopes to defeat the group this year by capturing Mosul, the largest city under its control in both Iraq and Syria.
The Qayyara region produces heavy sour crude and has a small refinery to process some of the oil.
[ArabNews] KIRKUK: Iraqi forces on Wednesday closed in on the center of Qayyarah, officials said, on the second day of an operation to recapture the town from radicals.
Qayyarah lies on the western bank of the Tigris river, about 60 km south of Mosul, the Daesh group’s last major urban stronghold in Iraq.
Brig. Gen. Najm Al-Juburi from the operations command for Nineveh, the province in which both Qayyarah and Mosul are located, said the town was now encircled.
“There are only a few meters left before troops advancing from the west and troops coming from the east meet and complete the siege around Qayyarah,” he told AFP.
He said the vast majority of villages around Qayyarah had been retaken since special forces launched the operation on Tuesday.
Al-Juburi and other military officials in the area confirmed the progress and said that a nearby oil field and refinery had also been recaptured from Daesh.
“Liberating Qayyarah will mean cutting off Mosul from the southern areas, which will make liberating Mosul much easier,” Juburi said. “This is a blow to the organization of Daesh because it affects their economy, and this after we retook an air base that is now going to be used to attack them,” he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Turkish military shelled a group of Syrian Kurdish fighters south of the town of Jarablus on Thursday, a Turkish security source said, a day after The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... launched its first US-backed incursion into Syria.
The shelling occurred near Manbij, an area controlled by the US-allied Kurdish militia the People's Protection Units (YPG), after the fighters did not heed a warning from Turkish forces, CNN Turk said. Jarablus lies about 40 km north of Manbij.
President Tayyip Erdogan and senior government officials have made clear the aim of "Operation Euphrates Shield" is as much about stopping the Kurdish YPG militia seizing territory and filling the void left by ISIS as about eliminating the radical Islamist group itself.
At least nine more Turkish tanks entered northern Syria earlier on Thursday as part of an operation aimed at driving ISIS out of the area around Jarablus and preventing Kurdish militia fighters from seizing territory, Rooters witnesses said.
A senior Turkish official said there were now more than 20 Turkish tanks inside Syria and that additional tanks and construction machinery would be sent in as required.
"We need construction machinery to open up roads ... and we may need more in the days ahead. We also have armored personnel carriers that could be used on the Syrian side. We may put them into service as needed," the official said.
The deployments are part of "Operation Euphrates Shield", in which Syrian rebels backed by Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes on Wednesday entered Jarablus, one of ISIS’s last strongholds on the Turkish-Syrian border, in Turkey’s first major US-backed incursion into its southern neighbor.
Kurdish Syrian force withdraws
In an interview with Turkey’s NTV channel on Thursday, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said Turkish-backed rebels were "cleansing" Jarablus of ISIS, who had controlled the strategic town.
He also said that the Syrian rebels have taken control of Jarablus from ISIS fighters to prevent Kurdish forces from seizing a new swathe of territory on Turkey’s southern border.
Turkey sees the YPG, the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish party PYD, as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a three-decade insurgency in Turkey’s southeast.
On the same day, a front man for the US-led coalition against ISIS said on Thursday that the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have withdrawn across the Euphrates river to prepare for "the eventual liberation" of Raqqa, a city held by ISIS.
"The Syrian Democratic Forces have moved east across the Euphrates to prepare for the eventual liberation of Raqqa," the front man for Operation Inherent Resolve wrote on his Twitter feed.
The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia also said on Thursday its forces taking part in an operation to capture the city of Manbij from ISIS had returned to their bases after the mission was successfully completed.
Turkey had demanded on Wednesday that the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, a critical part of the SDF, return to the east bank of the river.
Turkish officials said Syrian Kurdish forces have started withdrawing east of the Euphrates River.
The Turkish officials were quoting US 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... , who relayed the news in a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart.
The YPG, considered by Ankara to be the Syrian affiliate of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said its forces had returned to their bases after “successfully completing” the mission to capture Manbij. In a statement, the YPG said military command and all YPG-held positions had been handed to the allied Manbij Military Council, while civilian control was handed to a civilian council on Aug. 15.
[Hurriyet] A total of 350 soldiers from the Turkish Armed Forces are taking part in the “Euphrates Shield” operation launched on Aug. 24 to back Syrian rebels’ bid to clear the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from territories bordering Turkey, CNN Türk reported on Aug. 25.
Some 200 soldiers from mechanized units and 150 Special Forces soldiers are involved in the operation, which is still ongoing after it secured its first aim of liberating the Syrian town of Jarablus from ISIL, some 14 hours after the operation began.
After the capture of Jarablus, Syrian rebels reportedly carried out careful explorations of the town to clear mines and explosive traps set up by ISIL militants before their retreat.
Regarding recent that additional Turkish tanks had entered Syrian territory on Aug. 25, CNN Türk reported that the tanks had only entered up to two kilometers inside Syria before returning to Turkish territory, with the aim of maintaining border security.
Along with the coalition air support, 17 Turkish planes are reportedly taking part in the operation, including 11 F-16s, two F-16s, a tanker aircraft for the jets’ fuel delivery, one AWACS, and two rescue planes.
It remains unclear when the operation is set to be completed.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[DUNYANEWS.TV] 6 Levis were killed in a rocket attack on Thursday, while the convoy was returning from an area near Iran border, reported Dunya News.
There was also firing on the convoy as 5 Levis lost their lives on the spot whereas Risaldar Major Abdullah and Tehsildar Jewani, Naeem were injured along with 4 others. Naeem also succumbed to injuries at the hospital whereas 3 injured were shifted to Karachi.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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[SUNSTAR.PH] An explosive expert of the Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder... Group (ASG) died when the bomb he was carrying accidentally went kaboom! while evading from pursuing government forces in Basilan ...Basilan is a rugged, jungle-covered island in the southern Philippines. It is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, bandidos, and maybe even orcs. Most people with any sense travel with armed escorts... province.
Colonel Cirilo Tomas Donato, Army’s 104th Infantry Brigade commander, said the incident occurred shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday in the village of Mangalut, Akbar municipality.
Donato identified the slain Abu Sayyaf bomb expert as Mussana Jamiri, whose group the military forces had been pursuing in the hinterlands of Basilan.
Jamiri is a first degree cousin of Basilan-based Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) leader Nurhassan Jamiri.
Donato said the group of Jamiri was fleeing towards the boundary of Akbar town as the troops were closing in on them when the explosive he was carrying went kaboom!.
He said the group of Jamiri was involved in the clash on Tuesday in Tuburan town that resulted to the death of three soldiers and a militiaman.
He said Jamiri’s group has ambushed the government troops on Wednesday night in the village Parangbasak, Lamitan City, Basilan.
He said one soldier died while another was maimed during the ambush. They belong to the Army’s 64th Infantry Battalion.
He said the mangled remains of Jamiri was turned over to his family.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Russia will work with the United States on a response after a UN investigation found that the Syrian regime had carried out chemical attacks, Moscow’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Thursday.
"We have a joint interest in discouraging such things from happening, preventing such things from happening even in the fog of war," Churkin told news hounds.
Meanwhile, ...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase... La Belle France’s foreign minister urged on Thursday that the Security Council had to respond firmly after a UN probe found that Syrian government troops were responsible for two toxic gas attacks.
"The use of chemical weapons, which the Syrian authorities agreed to ban in 2013 under international pressure ... is an abomination that highlights the damning role played by the Damascus regime in the worsening situation in Syria," Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement.
A joint investigation by the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... and the global chemical weapons watchdog also found that ISIS forces of Evil had used sulphur mustard gas, according to a confidential report seen by Rooters.
"La Belle France calls for a response that measures the seriousness of this. The Security Council must not shirk its responsibilities and La Belle France is already working with its partners" on the matter, Ayrault said.
The results set the stage for a Security Council showdown between the five veto-wielding powers, likely pitting Russia and China against the United States, Britannia and La Belle France over whether sanctions should be imposed in the wake of the inquiry.
French diplomatic sources said Gay Paree wanted to use the chemical weapons report to push for a resolution at the Security Council that would force Russia, the key backer to Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... , to accept that its ally had used banned weapons and as a result would use its influence to back a credible ceasefire across the country.
"We need to use this report to force Russia out of its ambiguity. If they were to veto such a resolution they would need to justify the use of chemical weapons," one senior diplomat said.
The 15-member Security Council is due to discuss the report next week. UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon said the report would be made public after that meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghanistan's Caped 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. .. has asked the Pak Army Chief General Raheel Sharif ..Pak chief of army staff, meaning he pulls the strings on the Nawaz Sharif puppet to make it dance and sing and not do much at all.... to act against the culprits of 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.... attack based in Pakistain.
The Office of the President, ARG Palace, said President Ghani called Gen. Sharif during the National Security Council meeting and asked him to take actions against the culprits who are based in Pakistain.
According to the ARG Palace, the Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... (NDS) updated the meeting regarding the attack and said reliable evidences and findings of the agency proves the attack on the American University in Kabul was coordianted from the other side of Durand Line.
President Ghani asked Gen. Sharif to take strict and practical actions against the culprits of the deadly attack, the Palace said, adding that Gen. Sharif has promised to review the issue and provide information to the Afghanistan regarding the steps to be taken.
A group of gunnies launched a coordianted attack on the American University in Kabul late on Wednesday evening by detonating a Vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) near the university compound.
The kaboom paved the way for the remaining gunnies to enter the university compound that sparked festivities which lasted for almost nine hours.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies
#4
More tasty, less filling than Fables:
Three ladies at supper. The Gables.
"Hey, once they stop kickin'
They taste just like chicken!"
- A gator, upturning the tables.
(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – A source in Kirkuk revealed that ISIS members killed and injured 65 civilians while they were trying to escape from Hawija district before they could reach Preshmerga forces.
Sharing details the source further informed, “ISIS members ambush tens of civilians for fleeing Hawija district towards the areas under control Peshmerga forces stationed near Dibs district.”
The source added, “The ISIS members fired indiscriminately toward the civilians, killing 20 persons including nine women and arrested 45 other including six women.”
Posted by: badanov ||
08/26/2016
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[NEWS24.NG] The Attorney General for Borno State, Kaka Lawan, has insisted that Islamist sect 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... was created by factional Chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Ali Modu Sheriff.
According to a Punch report, Lawan explained that insecurity created by Sheriff several years back had morphed into what is known today as Boko Haram, while calling for Sheriff's arrest due to alleged impunity that reigned during the PDP Chair's governorship tenure in Borno State between 2003 and 2011.
In addition, Lawan stated that the introduction of the Ministry of Religious Affairs by the Sheriff administration worsened the level of insecurity across the Borno area.
Sherif writes Borno AGF, demands apology for labelling him Boko Haram mastermind
A factional National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has threatened to slam a N10 billion suit against the Attorney General of Borno State and Commissioner of Justice, Kaka Shehu, over his assertion that he (Sheriff) is the criminal mastermind of Boko Haram.
According to a blurb by Inuwa Bwala, the media adviser to the factional PDP chairman, Sheriff has already directed his lawyers to write Shehu demanding a retraction of the statement as well as an apology.
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08/26/2016
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[Bangkok Post] A pair of bombs detonated near each other killed a woman and injured 30 people late Tuesday in the main town of Pattani province. The bombs were reportedly detonated 20 minutes apart. This so-called 'double tap' is being used more frequently by southern insurgents, with the goal of causing maximum casualties with the second bomb among those who respond to the first.
The first blast at 10:40 p.m. near a karaoke pub caused no casualties. Then, a second blast caused by a huge bomb in a parked pickup truck blew up at 11:00. This bomb injured 30 security officers and bystanders. The injured included two girls, 21 women and seven men.
Both bombs went off in a parking lot behind the pub. The car bomb shattered windows in a wide circle in the heavily populated area. Shops, homes and a 100-room, eight-story hotel all suffered damage. More than 10 cars and motorcycles parked in the area were also damaged by the blast.
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.
Hungary will build a new, 'more massive' fence on its southern borders to defend against a possible surge in the number of migrants, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.
[Free Beacon] Estée Lauder executive Nancy Mahon was appointed to a government council and received special government employee status after donating to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.
[Wash Times] A 76-year-old veteran committed suicide Sunday in the parking lot of New York Veterans Affairs hospital, police said.
[Daily Caller] Sen. Chuck Grassley is not happy that the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Inspector General can’t figure out how many felony fugitives live in federally-funded public housing, so he’s told the watchdog to do whatever it takes to get the answer.
[Mil.Com] The U.S. Defense Department has identified the soldier killed in action on Tuesday in Afghanistan as Army Staff Sgt. Matthew V. Thompson.
Hillary Clinton
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Egypt’s Minister of Supply Khaled Hanafi has resigned amid the highest-profile corruption case since President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi came to power in 2014.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Taliban 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iraq’s parliament impeached Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi on Thursday over corruption allegations, removing him from office as the army gears up for an assault on ISIS’s de facto capital, 
[Inquirer] Abu Sayyaf militants beheaded an 18-year-old captive in Indanan, Sulu province, on Tuesday after they failed to recieve ransom from the boy's family. The Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) said the head of Patrick James Almodovar was found inside a plastic bag that was dumped by three motorcycle-riding men at Barangay Kajatian, Indanan, on Wednesday evening. Almodovar was kidnapped by the Ajang-Ajang faction of the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo, Sulu, on July 16.
U.S. nuclear-powered attack submarines have been clandestinely tracking North Korean U-boats since the North began to show progress in developing submarine-launched ballistic missiles last year. 
North Korea appears to have obtained more weapons-grade plutonium by reprocessing nuclear fuel from its main reactor in Yongbyon. 
chairman of one of the two factions of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front. JKLF is a Kashmiri nationalist organization founded in Birmingham, UK in 1977. Branches weren't actually established in Kashmir for another ten years. It has the usual demands for separation of J&K from secular India so it can become an independent Islamic rathole. It seems to have no interest in Pak Kashmir breaking away to join it. In 1994 Malik renounced violence after he was released from jail and from that point he and his organization pursued peaceful means to impose their will on the region...
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iraqi officials say a series of bombings and shooting across the Iraqi capital has killed 13 people and 
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
[DUNYANEWS.TV] 6 Levis were killed in a rocket attack on Thursday, while the convoy was returning from an area near Iran border, reported Dunya News.
[SUNSTAR.PH] An explosive expert of the 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Russia will work with the United States on a response after a UN investigation found that the Syrian regime had carried out chemical attacks, Moscow’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Thursday.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
...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. ..
[Bangkok Post] A pair of bombs detonated near each other killed a woman and injured 30 people late Tuesday in the main town of Pattani province. The bombs were reportedly detonated 20 minutes apart. This so-called 'double tap' is being used more frequently by southern insurgents, with the goal of causing maximum casualties with the second bomb among those who respond to the first. 
