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Ohio State Stabbing: Somali Refugee (stabber) Killed
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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14:44 11 23:38 gorb [7]
13:53 26 23:45 Bangkok Billy [7] 
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Good evening
Posted by: Fred || 11/28/2016 18:21 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Vera's left eye looks like it's tracking a little west of the pole star.
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 11/28/2016 18:40 Comments || Top||

#2  she looks like a lotta fun, but trouble during "static season"
Posted by: Frank G || 11/28/2016 21:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Looks like a robot.
Posted by: gorb || 11/28/2016 23:24 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
San Andreas Fault could Bankrupt California
$289 billion.
[SGVTribune] A newly released analysis reveals that a major earthquake along the San Andreas fault could damage twice as many homes as previously thought.

The global property information and analytics firm based its data on revised earthquake risk science from the U.S. Geological Survey's Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast. The forecast concludes that a large temblor could occur simultaneously in both Northern and Southern California.
Better secede from the Union now, before we hafta cut you loose.
The San Andreas fault has traditionally been viewed as two independent segments with earthquake ruptures on the northern and southern faults that were deemed mutually exclusive of one another.

Bolton acknowledged that an 8.3 magnitude quake running the entire length of the San Andreas Fault would be rare.

"It would be pretty far out there," she said. "And the only way we could determine where we sit on the cycle is to know a lot about past earthquake occurrences. We would need to have a record for a good many years of how frequently they happened."
Nah, you don't need steekin' records! Talk to the climate guys; they can develop historical records for you!
Bolton said families should have earthquake kits at the ready and also have earthquake insurance. Many don't have insurance because the deductibles tend to be high.

A spokesman for the California Earthquake Authority, which provides about 75 percent of the earthquake policies that are sold in the state through participating insurance carriers, said only 10 percent of California homeowners earthquake insurance.

"In areas with a higher risk, the percentage is higher than the statewide average for obvious reasons," he said earlier this year. "In the greater Los Angeles area it's 15 to 17 percent, and in San Diego it's 20 percent."
Looks like a lot of (D) voters will depend on Uncle Sugar to bail them out.
Posted by: Bobby || 11/28/2016 14:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of kleptomaniac fuckheads.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/28/2016 15:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Tool did a nice little song about California falling into the ocean.

"Learn to swim!"
Posted by: Raj || 11/28/2016 15:42 Comments || Top||

#3  California is bankrupt already, we just put everything on credit and pretend all is well.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 11/28/2016 15:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Not mentioned are the large number of lateral faults running off the San Andreas fault. The likelihood of one, or many of those, being triggered alone or with a San Andreas event is higher than a simultaneous fault.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/28/2016 16:07 Comments || Top||

#5  Let's remember it took generations for those 'you didn't build that' to actually build that. Any 'historical' level damage is also going to take generations to recover.

A spokesman for the California Earthquake Authority, which provides about 75 percent of the earthquake policies that are sold in the state through participating insurance carriers, said only 10 percent of California homeowners earthquake insurance.

Cause, surprise, they expect Uncle Sugar to cover their losses. Can you say 'Obamacare' calculations boys and girls. You don't really pay in, but expect everyone else to cover you for catastrophic losses.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/28/2016 17:03 Comments || Top||

#6  Always someone else's fault with these people.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/28/2016 17:47 Comments || Top||

#7  Maybe a the big one will set off the Long Valley Caldera.
Posted by: phil_b || 11/28/2016 18:47 Comments || Top||

#8  When I worked for USGS in 1970-1972, I worked along the San Andreas Fault, and other faults, such as the Hayward Fault, Garlock Fault and others. I measured deflections along the fault, and in other places I installed creep meters that gave real time fault movement through telemetry.

A memorable site was on the 1906 fault trace crossing Roberta Drive in Woodside, California. The fault trace had locked up since the 1906 earthquake. But on the north side of the drive,there was a 3 ft dia redwood stump that was split by earthquake as it was straddling the fault. The west half of the stump moved north 12 feet! One hell of a movement. Now there are expensive houses only 30 to 40 feet from the 1906 fault trace.

So using freshman logic, I did some figuring. From our measurements by geodimeter across the fault for regional movement, the two plates were moving 30 mm a year laterally at a steady rate. 12 feet = 3658 mm.

So 3658 mm of total movement/30 mm per year =
122 years to accumulate that strain. Add that time interval to the year 1906 when the earthquake occurred and you get year 2028 for an estimate of the next big one. Very rough estimate.

12 ft of strain is one huge amount of stored energy!

Next time I will tell you a story of surveying the fault in San Juan Batista, and telling a rather *ahem* loony fellow passing by that we were surveying for beach front property, just to get ahead of things when California would fall into the sea.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 11/28/2016 18:47 Comments || Top||

#9  just to get ahead of things

I adore engineers.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/28/2016 20:56 Comments || Top||

#10  Thanks to the Japanese Current, when California finally does fall into the sea, it will all wash up on the Nevada shoreline.
Posted by: SteveS || 11/28/2016 22:06 Comments || Top||

#11  Illegals only allowed to live and work west of the San Andreas fault line.
Posted by: gorb || 11/28/2016 23:38 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Ohio State Stabbing: Somali Refugee (stabber) Killed
[NBCNews] An Ohio State University student plowed into a campus crowd with a car, then jumped out and started stabbing people with a butcher knife before being shot dead by police Monday morning, officials said.

Ten people were taken to hospitals after the ambush, and one was in critical condition. The incident was initially reported as an "active shooter" situation, but the suspect did not shoot anyone.

A police officer was on the scene within a minute and killed the assailant. "He engaged the suspect and eliminated the threat," OSU Police Chief Craig Stone said.

The suspect's name was not released, but law enforcement officials told NBC News he was an 18-year-old Ohio State student, a Somali refugee who was a legal permanent resident of the United States.

The motive was unknown, but officials said the attack was clearly deliberate and may have been planned in advance.
AoS update at 1330 CT: more from CNBC here.
Posted by: Glenmore in Mt Vernon || 11/28/2016 13:53 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  Jeepers! The campus police have firearms? With bullets? OSU is not a gun free zone?
Posted by: Bobby || 11/28/2016 14:28 Comments || Top||

#2  The motive was unknown...

I'll wager a few hints.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/28/2016 14:36 Comments || Top||

#3  ...Sudden Jihadi Syndrome strikes again. I suspect we will hear from the young man's family that he was a wonderful and caring son who was raised to never even hurt a fly, and if we suspect him of this evil crime they'll kill us.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 11/28/2016 14:40 Comments || Top||

#4  ....and promising student. Mike, you forgot promising student.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/28/2016 14:47 Comments || Top||

#5  Teen, student refugee = one of President Hussein's dreamers.
Posted by: Phomolet and Company6288 || 11/28/2016 14:52 Comments || Top||

#6  "turning his life around"
Posted by: Frank G || 11/28/2016 15:15 Comments || Top||

#7  An Apostle of the religion of peace spreading his good will...
Posted by: 49 Pan || 11/28/2016 15:28 Comments || Top||

#8  Not helping the liberals sell the refugees are harmless narrative.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 11/28/2016 15:32 Comments || Top||

#9  In fear of marauding Caucasians
Of Trumpkin and Trunkin' persuasions,
Somali jihadis
Protect their Black bodies,
Engaging in brave conversations!

Just like back home.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 11/28/2016 15:43 Comments || Top||

#10  He is on record for complaining to the university saying there are not enough Muslim prayer rooms.
Posted by: Spoluling Lumumba2995 || 11/28/2016 16:07 Comments || Top||

#11  Well, half of them are labeled "Women"
Bard of the Burg award.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 11/28/2016 16:21 Comments || Top||

#12  Snark-o-the Day, USN Ret.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 11/28/2016 16:25 Comments || Top||

#13  AND USN, Ret. SCORES ON A SLAP SHOT FROM THE POINT!!!!
Posted by: AlanC || 11/28/2016 16:53 Comments || Top||

#14  Thank you and I am very humbled by the prestigious Bard award.....

I shall hang on the wall at the Stately USN Manor next to the coveted "Better Homes and Hangars" award for 'Most Creative Pattern in Speedi-Dry...'
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 11/28/2016 16:58 Comments || Top||

#15  A witness told NBC4 Columbus that people evacuated Watts Hall after a fire alarm was pulled, "then a car came along and started hitting those who evacuated."

I think "planned in advance" is likely, with 'additional suspects' plausible.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/28/2016 17:04 Comments || Top||

#16  Obviously motive has not been established. I'm sure they're waiting to see if any Maize and Blue paraphernalia turns up when they search his room.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 11/28/2016 17:12 Comments || Top||

#17  "Send us your poor, your demented, your insane seeking asylum..."
Posted by: Fred || 11/28/2016 17:50 Comments || Top||

#18  CAIR on Columbus TV station spewing the predictable BS that this has nothing whatsoever to do with Islam.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 11/28/2016 18:11 Comments || Top||

#19  Who's the first lefty asshole to pin this on Trump?
Posted by: Raj || 11/28/2016 18:32 Comments || Top||

#20  CBS Evening News quickly covered suspect's FB post which went online immediately before the incident. Suspect referred to self a "lone wolf".
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 11/28/2016 18:42 Comments || Top||

#21 
CAIR on Columbus TV station spewing the predictable BS that this has nothing whatsoever to do with Islam.


Just like the attack on the Nazareth restaurant had nothing to do with Islam.

True fact: the words and deeds of Mohammed have nothing to do with Islam. I know this because Muslims have said so.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 11/28/2016 18:45 Comments || Top||

#22  So Sheila Jackass-Lee and Tim Kaine have made statements deploring the senseless killing of a jihadi in the middle of his rampage.

Send them both to Somalia as "ambassadors". Never let them come back.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 11/28/2016 19:16 Comments || Top||

#23  NBC News:

Abdul Razak Ali Artan, 18, wrote on what appears to be his Facebook page that he had reached a "boiling point" and made a reference to "lone wolf attacks" and cites radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

"America! Stop interfering with other countries, especially Muslim Ummah (community). We are not weak. We are not weak, remember that," the post said.

Two hours before that, a cryptic post on the page said: "Forgive and forget. Love."

Officials cautioned that they have not determined a motive for the Monday morning ambush, which sent 11 people to the hospital. (No kidding; that's really in the story. Apparently they're checking the DNA to see if he's related to Harbaugh.)

Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 11/28/2016 19:42 Comments || Top||

#24  they should pull him out of autopsy and kill shoot him again tomorrow
Posted by: Frank G || 11/28/2016 22:09 Comments || Top||

#25  Gov. John Kasich tweeted that "Ohio's thoughts and prayers go out to the Ohio State community." He asked people involved to "be safe, listen to first responders."

Is that why you voted Hillary?
Posted by: gorb || 11/28/2016 23:29 Comments || Top||

#26  A young man from a violent place, Abdul Razak Ali Artan was still learning to drive & use culinary tools. He will be missed.-Justin Trudeau
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 11/28/2016 23:45 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Parts of San Francisco are Sinking
If you're an illegal immigrant, you might think about another sanctuary city, although the weather probably won't be as good.
[NBCBayArea] New satellite data released by the European Space Agency confirms that San Francisco's 58-story Millennium Tower is sinking. The swanky mirrored skyscraper at 301 Mission Street - home to multi-million dollar apartments, some of them owned by celebrities like Joe Montana and Hunter Pence - has been infamously nicknamed the "leaning tower of San Francisco," after it was revealed that the tower was tilting and sinking.
Hunter Pence? The baseball guy, born in Ft. Worth, Texas, plays right-field for the Giants. Not the NY Giants, either.
"The Sentinel-1 satellites have shown that the Millennium Tower skyscraper in the center of San Francisco is sinking by a few centimeters a year," a study by ESA says. "Studying the city is helping scientists to improve the monitoring of urban ground movements, particularly for subsidence hot spots in Europe."
Gee, ya think the satellites can pick up Angela Merkel's sinking?
Posted by: Bobby || 11/28/2016 12:40 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Seems more like Portents and Signs
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/28/2016 12:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Day after day, more people come to L... A...
Don't you tell anybody, the whole place's slipping away
Where can we go, when there's no San Francisco?
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho

Do you know the swim, you better learn quick Jim
Those who don't know the swim, better sing the hymn

Tuna at the bowl
Find fillet of much sole!
Ooooo what can you do
With a bushel of wet gold?

Day after day, more people come to L... A.
Don't you tell anybody, the whole place's shaking away
Where can we go, when there's no San Francisco?
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho

Where can we go, when there's no San Diego
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho
Do you know the swim, you better learn quick Jim
Those who don't know the swim, better sing the hymn

Tuna at the bowl
Find fillet of much sole!
Ooooo what can you do
With a bushel of wet gold?

Day after day, more people come to L.A.
Don't you tell anybody, the whole place's shaking away
Where can we go, when there's no San Francisco?
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho

Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho


- Shango
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/28/2016 13:01 Comments || Top||

#3  San Francisco... soon to be known as Rapture.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/28/2016 14:37 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm sure lots of things are going flaccid since the election.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 11/28/2016 15:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Parts of Boston are also sinking. Back Bay is only kept afloat by pumps.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 11/28/2016 17:35 Comments || Top||

#6  At first, I read the headline as "Parts of San Francisco are Stinking".
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 11/28/2016 18:59 Comments || Top||

#7  That, too.
Posted by: gorb || 11/28/2016 23:39 Comments || Top||

#8  AP, plate subduction or built on biomass landfill?
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/28/2016 23:43 Comments || Top||

#9  The biomass there isn't limited to the landfill.
Posted by: gorb || 11/28/2016 23:50 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
North Korea Commands 3-Day Mourning Period for Fidel Castro
[Breitbart] Editor’s note: Missing from this wire -- the word "communism." That political ideology, responsible for the murder of tens of millions worldwide, is what bound Cuba and North Korea together as allies.

TOKYO (AP) -- North Korea is observing a three-day period of mourning for Fidel Castro, seen by the North as a rare comrade-in-arms against the common enemy of the United States.

State media reported Monday that the North has ordered flags outside official buildings be flown at half-staff to honor Castro. The iconic Cuban leader died Friday at age 90.

Reports from Pyongyang said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a wreath to the Cuban Embassy and that a delegation of senior North Korean officials has left for Havana to attend Castro’s memorial services.

According to a Japanese agency that monitors North Korean media, Castro is the first foreign political figure to be honored in such a manner since Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/28/2016 10:06 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Known by the company they keep.
Posted by: Bobby || 11/28/2016 12:31 Comments || Top||

#2  And fasting, too. Cuz.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 11/28/2016 12:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Actually, I was kind of surprised that Obama didn't order the US flags to be flown at half staff.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 11/28/2016 17:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Too obvious.
Posted by: gorb || 11/28/2016 23:39 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Venezuela’s currency is so devalued it no longer fits in ordinary wallets
More "bad luck"...
CARACAS, Venezuela — It’s not so easy to find someone who still uses a wallet in Venezuela, where inflation is expected to reach 720 percent this year and the biggest bill — 100 bolivars — is worth about 5 U.S. cents on the black market.

The currency has dropped dramatically in value as Venezuela’s oil-based economy has cratered and the government has frantically printed more money. Prices, meanwhile, are soaring. So Venezuelans must handle huge volumes of cash — so much that the bills don’t always fit in a standard wallet — with many people packing wads of currency in handbags, money belts or backpacks.

The owner of a tiny kiosk selling newspapers, cigarettes and snacks in one of Caracas’s nicer neighborhoods said that each evening he quietly stuffs a plastic bag full of the day’s earnings, around 100,000 bolivars (about $52) in notes of 10, 20, 50 and 100 bolivars. This is a country with one of the highest crime rates in the world, and carrying that much cash is dangerous. He said he doesn’t feel safe, despite having his own scooter rather than using public transport.

“All of Caracas is unsafe,” said the 42-year-old kiosk owner, who declined to give his name.

Three years ago, the volume of cash he carried home after a long day of work was smaller, he said, “and so were the risks.” He said that his clients usually count out their notes before stepping out onto the street, since they are too scared to be seen holding money in public.

His best-selling item is cigarettes, which have climbed in price from 250 bolivars to 2,000 bolivars, now worth just over $1 on the black market. The sale of one pack of cigarettes alone will add a fresh batch of 20 100-bolivar bills to his earnings.

Down the road, in a different kiosk, a 70-year-old man who identified himself as Augustinho added up his afternoon sales on a tattered sheet of paper. He takes much of his morning earnings home before starting his afternoon shift. “I was robbed at gunpoint once,” he said. “I take all of my 100 notes home in the afternoon.”

On a busy road nearby, a couple of taxi drivers waited idly for their next customers. The eldest, a 70-year-old man who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that customers will sometimes hand over a stack of 100 20-bolivar notes to pay for a 2,000-bolivar fare.

The shrinking value of the currency has meant that withdrawing the equivalent of $5 from the ATM produces a fistful of at least 100 bills. Some ATMs now need to be filled every three hours, since the machines can hold only so much cash. Because of the difficulties in restocking the machines, there are often a limited number of functioning ATMs and endless lines of people waiting to withdraw money.

The hassles over cash have prompted many Venezuelans to pay their tabs with credit cards. The owner of a local cafe, who declined to give his name, said that 90 percent of his business’s earnings were paid electronically.

Electronic payment is increasingly common in the country, said Henkel Garcia, director of the Venezuelan economic think tank Econométrica. “The use of online payments is likely to have soared.”

But it is expensive for small businesses to buy and set up credit-card machines.
And it allows the government to track your income...
President Nicolás Maduro, who came to power in 2013 and has continued the socialist policies of his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, blames the country’s woes on an “economic war” waged by his opponents in the business community and in the United States. But, in a sign his government recognizes the problems with cash, authorities are planning to issue larger-denomination bills in January, according to local press reports.

The notes are reportedly set to start at 500 bolivars and reach 20,000 bolivars, or just over $10.
They could borrow the printing presses in Zim-bob-we, except those are getting ready to print "bond notes"...
“They’re necessary for the economy, for the banks and for the people,” said Jose Grasso Vecchio, an economic consultant and former executive technical director of the Venezuelan Bank Association. “The move is a positive one.”
If you like inflation...
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 07:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The word 'socialism' is mentioned, albeit in the third to last paragraph, thus insuring a sizable number of the WaPo reading clapping seals will miss it.
Posted by: Raj || 11/28/2016 11:36 Comments || Top||

#2  What was that old joke...
East German takes a wheelbarrow to the store, goes insides and gets his items. Goes outside to get the money, and somebody had dumped the money and stolen the wheelbarrow.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/28/2016 17:59 Comments || Top||

#3  You know your money is worthless when you can buy more things with a roll of toilet paper.
Posted by: Venezuala || 11/28/2016 19:37 Comments || Top||

#4  You're gonna need a bigger wheelbarrow.
Posted by: gorb || 11/28/2016 23:40 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Zimbabwe rolls out 'surrogate' dollars amid unease
[Nuus24] Harare - Zimbabwe on Monday starts issuing "bond notes", its own currency equivalent to the US dollar in a bid to ease critical cash shortages amid widespread fears of a return to hyperinflation.

The crisis-hit southern African country has used multiple foreign currencies, including the greenback since 2009 after a rate of inflation that peaked at 500 billion percent rendered the Zimbabwe dollar unusable.

The introduction of $2 and $5 bond notes into circulation follows the issuing of bond coins over a year ago to ease shortages of change in smaller denominations.

The country has experienced a severe shortage of US dollar banknotes in recent months which forced President Robert Mugabe's government to print what locals have dubbed "surrogate money".

"Citizens are generally opposed to the introduction of bond notes because they are still smarting from the death of the Zimbabwe dollar, which was abandoned in 2009 due to hyperinflation," said an editorial in the weekly independent newspaper The Standard.

"The government has been arrogant, dismissing those opposed to the surrogate money as unpatriotic.

"As we have warned the government before, a currency can only be sustained through confidence it inspires on the market."
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/28/2016 07:27 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Balancing Rocks have been used as a metaphorical theme to explain the importance of development coupled with preserving the fragile environment of Zimbabwe as similar to that of the Balancing Rocks found in Epworth, Matopos and in other areas.

Oh the irony.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/28/2016 7:37 Comments || Top||

#2  "Bob Notes"
Posted by: Frank G || 11/28/2016 8:43 Comments || Top||

#3  As long as they don't call it 'Microsoft Bob'...
Posted by: Raj || 11/28/2016 16:41 Comments || Top||

#4  "....follows the issuing of bond coins"

Wonder what the heck they're made of? Can't be metal as those would be worth more than face value just in 'scrap value'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 11/28/2016 16:51 Comments || Top||

#5  The British have an expression,

As bent as a nine bob note

Which we recycle to,

As bent as a zimbob note
Posted by: phil_b || 11/28/2016 18:52 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghan Vice President Seen Abducting Rival
[NYT] KABUL, Afghanistan -- As heavy snow fell on the muddy arena in northern Afghanistan where a traditional game of buzkashi -- two teams of horsemen fighting for a dead goat -- was underway on Friday, a scuffle broke out near the stands.
Buzkashi, yes, similar to Polo, but with no mallet.
It was not just another group of hotheaded fans going at it. The man who had thrown the punch is the vice president of Afghanistan, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum. And he did not stop there: To drive the humiliation home, he put his foot on the chest of his downed victim, a political rival named Ahmad Ishchi, who was then beaten by the general’s bodyguards, thrown into the back of an armored vehicle and taken away, said several of Mr. Ishchi’s relatives, many of them speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.

"Dostum came there, and he walked around the stadium, -- then he called Ahmad Ishchi over to him," said Gulab Khan, a relative of Mr. Ishchi who was among about 5,000 spectators at the game. "After talking with him for a couple of minutes, he punched him, and his bodyguards started beating him with AK-47s. They beat Ahmad very badly and in a barbaric way."

The account of General Dostum’s actions -- while not unexpected for a former warlord with a history of accusations of human rights violations and abuse, including physical acts of retaliation against allies and rivals -- underscores fears about someone a heartbeat from the presidency.

With President Ashraf Ghani traveling on an official visit to Central Asia, General Dostum is technically the acting president. For more than two days, he has held a political rival hostage in one of his properties, with members of Mr. Ishchi’s family increasingly concerned about his health.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/28/2016 06:39 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/28/2016 9:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Wow. Barbaric, huh? Who'd a thunk it. I mean, barbaric, in Afghanistan? Pull the other one.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 11/28/2016 12:44 Comments || Top||

#3  It's the NYT - 'barbaric' is waiting ten minutes for the deli to deliver your lunch.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/28/2016 12:51 Comments || Top||

#4  At least no shipping containers were involved
Posted by: John Frumy || 11/28/2016 13:08 Comments || Top||

#5  Thank you Pappy, I am now clear on the concept. Sorta.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 11/28/2016 13:54 Comments || Top||

#6  Not quite as exciting as Bum Darts but in the same league.
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 11/28/2016 18:45 Comments || Top||

#7  It's a matter of perspective, WM. Beating up somebody with a MAGA cap on doesn't rate as barbaric. Having to wait for the delivery lad or a report of a non-politically-correct Afghan warlord beating up a rival, well...
Posted by: Pappy || 11/28/2016 18:47 Comments || Top||

#8  Might have been carrying a Trump Starbucks cup.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/28/2016 23:34 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
It is never a sad day when a monster dies (Video)
[Breitbart] Fidel Castro, the mass murderer who sadistically tormented the Cuban people for nearly fifty years, died on Friday at the age of 90. Thousands of Cuban exiles understandably celebrated in the streets of Miami. Leftists around the world, meanwhile, dutifully mourned their fallen secular deity. Progressives always grieve when the vicious enforcers of class hatred die.

While leftists sob for one of the most evil tyrants of the modern era, those who cherish freedom and human rights are never sad to have one less monster walking the earth.

And so, on this significant occasion, it would do well to offer a reflection on the pain and blood that this particular monster left in his wake.

On July 13, 1994, 72 desperate Cuban citizens, including seniors and young children, floated on a wooden tugboat in a turbulent sea, trying to make their way to Florida and dreaming of the freedom that now lingered within their grasp. Their aspirations were met with a nightmarish jolt when Castro’s patrol boats suddenly rammed the back of their vessel. The frightened women held up their little children in the air to let Castro’s thugs know what the situation entailed. And the thugs returned their expected response: on the orders of the head beast in charge, they blasted the mothers with children in hand with their water cannon, mowing them -- and all the other escapees on board -- into the merciless waves.

Maria Garcia lost her son, Juanito, that tragic day. She also lost her husband, brother, sister, two uncles and three cousins. In all, 43 people drowned -- 11 of them children. This evil murderous act became known as Castro’s Tugboat Massacre. Yisel Alvarez was 4 when she drowned. Carlos Anaya was 3. Helen Martinez was 6 months old.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/28/2016 06:11 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The 'sins of colonial domination.' A political meme dating back some 60 years. Who knew ?

I believe that there is no country in the world including any and all the countries under colonial domination, where economic colonization, humiliation and exploitation were worse than in Cuba, in part owing to my country's policies during the Batista regime. I approved the proclamation which Fidel Castro made in the Sierra Maestra, when he justifiably called for justice and especially yearned to rid Cuba of corruption. I will even go further: to some extent it is as though Batista was the incarnation of a number of sins on the part of the United States. Now we shall have to pay for those sins. In the matter of the Batista regime, I am in agreement with the first Cuban revolutionaries. That is perfectly clear.
— U.S. President John F. Kennedy, to Jean Daniel, October 24, 1963
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/28/2016 6:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Additional reading, conjecture, and conspiracy.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/28/2016 7:22 Comments || Top||

#3  The headline is true if your head is on straight. That seems to be a bit less than half the world population these days and none at all in Hollyweird, academe, gummint and bizness worlds...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 11/28/2016 10:03 Comments || Top||

#4  It's always sad when a dictator dies and the citizens don't have the chance to drag the body through the streets.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 11/28/2016 11:49 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey detains BBC, Voice of America reporters in southeast
[Ynet] Turkish authorities have detained two reports working for foreign news organizations in southeast The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, the latest journalists taken into custody in the government's sweeping crackdown following July's failed coup.

BBC Turkish reports that correspondent Hatice Kamer was detained Saturday in the town of Sirvan to cover a recent mine collapse on Nov. 17 where 11 bodies have been recovered so far. Voice of America reports that its freelance news hound Khajijan Farqin was detained the same day in Diyarbakir. No reason was given for either detention.

Turkish authorities haven't immediately commented on the detentions.

BBC Turkish says reporter freed in southeast Turkey

[AlAhram] The Turkish authorities on Sunday freed a reporter for the BBC's Turkish language service in the southeast of the country after holding her for a day without explanation, the broadcaster said.

Hatice Kamer was detained on Saturday while reporting on a mine disaster in the Kurdish-dominated Siirt region of the southeast that left 11 miners dead and five missing, BBC Turkce (BBC Turkish) said in a statement on its website.

It said she had been held overnight at the Siirt police headquarters and was in a good condition. BBC Turkce added that there was still no explanation over why Kamer had been detained.

Kamer is a board member for the association of journalists in southeast Turkey. As well as BBC Turkce, she works for German broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR).

BBC Turkce said that she had been looking to talk to relatives of the miners at the copper mine, which collapsed late on November 17. Rescue efforts are still continuing at the mine.

Dozens of journalists have been detained in Turkey under the state of emergency in the wake of the July 15 failed coup.

Critics say the scope of the crackdown goes far beyond measures against the suspected coup plotters and is targeting any critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

According to the Platform for Independent Journalism website, there are now 145 journalists behind bars in Turkey, which is ranked 151st of 180 countries in the 2016 World Press Freedom index published by Reporters Without Borders.

Several of the journalists under arrest are from the Kurdish-majority southeast where the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is waging a deadly insurgency against the military.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/28/2016 02:20 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel Air Force kills 4 ISIS terrorists in Syria
[Ynet] IDF registers four kills against ISIS Lions of Islam following gunshots and mortars in Israel's direction from Syria; incident breaks with usual patterns of similar incidents in which fighting between rebel forces and the Syrian regime usually presumed to be the cause of stray mortars and bullets; IDF currently checking whether mortars landed in Israeli territory, no injuries reported.

The Israel Air Force killed four ISIS Lions of Islam on Sunday morning after launching a retaliatory strike just minutes after mortars and gunshots were fired in Israel's direction from Syria. No other injuries were reported in the incident.

The skirmish began when a unit of the IDF Golani Brigade was in the middle of conducting an ambush operation as it crossed the fence while remaining in Israeli territory near the moshav of Nov. The soldiers came under fire by the Lions of Islam from a heavy machine gun-mounted vehicle.

Shortly after the gunshots were reported, prompting the soldiers to return fire, a number of mortar shells were also fired in Israel's direction from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights which landed near the security fence. Moments later, the IAF reported it had liquidated all four terrorists.

A senior IDF official praised the swift Israeli response: "The response was sharp and swift and was intended to send a message that we are in the area and are determined to protect our border. The IDF’s response took place within minutes." the official said. "We have no intention of escalating matters in the area but we will not accept a reality in which forces open fire in our direction."

At his weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed these reflections. "We are well prepared on our northern border and will not allow 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....
elements or any other hostile elements to use the war in Syria to establish themselves close to our borders," he said.

The incident breaks with usual patterns of similar incidents which have taken place over recent weeks in which fighting between rebel forces and the Syrian regime is usually presumed to be the cause of stray mortars and bullets, rather than deliberate attacks by ISIS terrorists.

Nevertheless, the assault on Israeli territory does come against a background of renewed fighting between rebel forces and the Syrian army commanded by Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Horror of Homs...
Indeed, on Saturday rebel forces announced an operation designed to lift the regime’s siege on areas controlled by the rebels.

The new leader of the ISIS branch in the Golan is Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi who replaced his predecessor who was killed in a boom-mobile in Yarmouk Camp on October 18.
The Times of Israel adds:
According to the IDF, the four men were members of the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army, formerly known as the Yarmouk Martyrs
...a rebel group in southern Syria. They gained attention when they abducted 21 Filipino UN soldiers in early March 2013, releasing them on 10 March 2013. The group has been accused by other Syrian rebel groups of being affiliated with the Islamic State, which it denies. Their leader is Abo Ali al-Baridi, who denies they're takfiris. They just want to apply God’s rule and Sharia. They have been attacked by al-Nusra and other groups allied with it, probably because they're so pious...
’ Brigade, a terrorist group in Syria that is connected with the Islamic State.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/28/2016 02:20 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Egypt says it arrested suspected militants planning attacks
[Ynet] Egypt's Interior Ministry said Sunday authorities have nabbed
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
an bully boy cell planning anti-government attacks.

Ten suspects have been arrested in the province of Suez and have confessed to doing surveillance work in preparation for targeting a number of security locations and police personnel, the ministry said in a statement. One of those arrested, Abdel Rahman al-Hadi, has links to hard boyz in North Sinai and has received bomb-making and weapons training there, it said.

Egypt's 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 is active in Sinai, where the Egyptian army is fighting to curb a Death Eater insurgency and consolidate its grip on the
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/28/2016 01:59 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (IS)


Europe
Spanish police arrest man for trying to join Islamic State
[IsraelTimes] Spanish police tossed in the slammer
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
a man at Madrid’s Barajas airport on Sunday who was attempting to join 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....
holy warrior group in war-torn Syria.

Spain’s Interior Ministry said the suspect was detained by authorities in Jordan, where he was attempting to cross into Syria, and then handed over to Spain’s Civil Guard for arrest.

The suspect is a Spanish citizen of Paleostinian origin who lives on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands archipelago.

The suspect had been under police surveillance since 2014 when police detected that he was "in the process of jihadist radicalization" after having "consumed propaganda from the (IS) terrorist group which had led him to be willing to travel and join their ranks."

The suspect had already tried to enter Syria via The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
in July, when Turkish authorities apprehended him and sent him back to Spain, according to Spanish police. He then planned to make a second attempt to reach Syria by traveling to Jordan earlier this month.

Spanish police have arrested 164 individuals suspected of forming part of Islamic holy warrior groups since 2015.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/28/2016 01:34 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Southeast Asia
Militants were planning embassy attack: Indonesian police
The next step after this story from yesterday.
[AlAhram] Indonesian police locked away
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
a third 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....
-linked murderous Moslem Sunday accused of plotting to bomb the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta, as anger grows at a violent military crackdown on Rohingya Moslems.

The snuffies -- all from a domestic cell affiliated with the Syria-based snuffies group -- had amassed enough explosives to create bombs more powerful than those used in the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, police say.

"They were helping plan a kaboom against parliament, the national police headquarters, the embassy of Myanmar and several television stations," national police front man Rikwanto said in a text message.

Anger is growing in Indonesia and other parts of Moslem world over what has been described as the "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingya in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Refugees fleeing into Bangladesh say Myanmar's military has been leading a campaign of rape and murder against the homeless ethnic group.

Thousands of Moslems rallied in capitals across Asia on Friday demanding an end to the violence.

In Indonesia, the world's largest Moslem-majority country, protesters urged their government to cut diplomatic ties with Yangon.

Indonesia's anti-terror unit Wednesday nabbed suspected bomb maker Rio Priatna Wibowo and seized a significant quantity of high-grade explosives from a laboratory west of the capital Jakarta.

His arrest led to the capture of two other suspected snuffies in different parts of the country, Rikwanto said Sunday.

Bahrain Agam was detained Saturday for allegedly purchasing the explosives while Saiful Bahri was arrested Sunday accused of helping assemble the bombs, said Rikwanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

Indonesian police say it remains unclear when exactly the snuffies planned to carry out their assault, but that they had enough explosives to detonate a blast more than double that which levelled nightclubs in Bali in a fiery
...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob...
inferno.

All three were members of Jemaah Ansar Daulah, a local bad boy outfit that has sworn allegiance to IS, Rikwanto said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/28/2016 01:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Members of banned Islamic group indicted for stoking Temple Mount violence
[IsraelTimes] Shin Bet says Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement funded activists who protested Jewish, Christian visits to Jerusalem holy.

The Nazareth District Court on Sunday indicted four senior members of a recently outlawed Islamic activist group for provoking tensions at the Temple Mount holy site in Jerusalem, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency said Sunday.

The Shin Bet said activists from the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/28/2016 01:21 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Blast rocks northern Syrian town, wounded taken to Turkish hospital
A blast ripped through a street in the northern Syrian town of al-Rai on Sunday in what was believed to be an Islamic State suicide bombing and 12 wounded, mostly children, were brought to a hospital in nearby Turkey, security and hospital sources said.

Turkey’s army had earlier said IS militants fired a rocket into the Haliliye area of the same region that caused symptoms of “chemical gas” exposure in 22 Syrian rebels, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

The town of al-Rai, which is 2 km (1 mile) south of Turkey’s Kilis border province, is in an area under the control of Turkey-backed rebels and was seized from Islamic State militants in Ankara’s “Euphrates Shield” operation launched in August. No further details were immediately available but the Dogan news agency cited local sources as saying it was a vehicle-borne bomb which also killed several Syrians.

The Turkey-backed rebels have for days been besieging the IS-controlled town of al-Bab, around 30 km south of al-Rai, as part of the three-month-old offensive to drive the jihadists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

Some 22 rebels were transferred to a Turkish hospital on suspicion of chemical poisoning after complaining of constant sickness and severe headaches following the attack in Haliliye, the Hurriyet website reported.

“Twenty-two rebels were observed to have symptoms of being exposed to chemical gas in their eyes and bodies as a result of the rocket fired by Daesh,” media reports quoted an army statement as saying, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
1 shot down in Karachi
KARACHI: A member of Ahmadi community was shot dead in suspected sectarian attack in Gulzar-i-Hijri area on Sunday evening, according to Sachal police and the community official.
Allah created the Ahmaddis and all other semi-believers and unbelievers as targets for the masters of the master religion to play with, if Pakistan provides any example.
They added that as Shaikh Sajid Mehmood, 55, came out from his home in Kaneez Fatima Society off Superhighway, four suspects riding on two motorcycles opened fire on him and fled.

He sustained critical bullet injuries and was transported to JPMC where doctors declared him as dead on arrival, said Dr. Seemin Jamali, executive director of the hospital. He had sustained multiple bullet wounds.

Sachal police officer said that the victim belonged to Ahmadi community.

“This was third such targeting killings in the same vicinity during last several months,” said a spokesperson of Jamaat Ahmadiya.

Previously, Khaleeq and Daud were gunned down in Gulzar-e-Hijri.

The spokesperson told Dawn that the victim was an auto-parts dealer.

Police suspect sectarian motive behind murder

Police’s Counter-Terrorism Department official Raja Umer Khattab told Dawn that the killing of the DSP Shigri and Ahmadi man were motivated by sectarian considerations.

He suspected involvement of the same group behind the both incidents.

Khattab revealed that a ‘new group’ had emerged during last five-six months, which was targeting Ahmadi men near adjoining areas of Sohrab Goth and Shia community members in Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

The CTD official said previously, Al-Qaeda targeted people in Gulistan-i-Jauhar whose members later on joined Islamic State but this gang was busted in 2013.

He revealed that prior to attack on the DSP Shigri, unknown gunmen attacked a vehicle of DSP Traffic Gulberg Zafar Husain near Samama Shopping Centre in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, however, he remained unhurt.
Posted by: badanov || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Militia attack kills 34 civilians in DR Congo
At least 34 civilians were killed Nov. 27 in a flare up of ethnic violence in restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said, following a week of soaring tensions.
When was the DR Congo ever not restive?
“The provisional toll is 34 civilians killed,” said local official Joy Bokele, referring to an attack by a Nande ethnicity militia on the Hutu village of Luhanga, AFP reported.

“They started by attacking the FARDC [DR Congo military] position. While they were attacking the FARDC, another group was executing the population with bladed weapons or bullets,” Bokele said.

Bokele added that the attack was carried out by a Nande militia group and that one of the attackers was killed in the clashes.

Tensions between the Nande and Hutu peoples have been running high in the restive east, shaken by two decades of fighting over land, ethnic tensions and mineral riches. The Nande accuse Congolese Hutus of abetting the FDLR Rwandan rebel group. The Hutus, in return, say they are looking for land where they can settle for farming and accuse the Nande of trying to expel them.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Strongly worded UN condemnation coming forthwith.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/28/2016 11:30 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Man arrested for threatening polio vaccination team
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: A complaint was lodged in the capital regarding an individual who threatened a polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
vaccination team in one of the city’s residential sectors.

The individual was incarcerated
You have the right to remain silent...
by the Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
Company police and sent to jail.

The suspect, a Quetta native who owns a shop in Jinnah Super Market, told the police that a woman was not a part of the polio vaccination team, and the team members did not provide proof that they were government officials, leading him to believe they were thieves.

The complainant, Yasir Maqbool, told the police he went with the polio vaccination team to a house in G-9/1, and one of the residents threatened them and tried to run them over.

Investigating officer Daud Sabir told Dawn the police arrested the suspect immediately after receiving the complaint.

"However the suspect claimed he was from Quetta, where men don’t enter others homes, and because there was no woman in the team, which added to the confusion," he said.

"The women in the house called the accused, who rushed over and after that the episode ensued," he added.

"The family could not read the team’s cards but there were children in the house, and it was not right for them to stop the from doing their job," he said.

Mr Sabir said investigation confirmed that there was no woman with the polio team. "However,
a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all...
the team members claimed the female member was with another team in the same area," he added.
Posted by: Fred || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  He wasn't threatening them, he was just needling them a little.
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 11/28/2016 18:59 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian regulars capture two more districts in Aleppo
BEIRUT: Syria regime forces on Sunday seized two new rebel-held districts in Aleppo a day after they retook the largest opposition-controlled neighborhood in the second city, a monitor said.

“The army and its allies retook control of Jabal Badro and Baadeen”, both adjacent to Masaken Hanano which was retaken on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

In less than 24 hours, the regime has seized three districts from the rebels just 13 days into an assault to retake the entire northern city.

East Aleppo has been under rebel control since 2012.

“The army’s rapid advance is due to its strategy of attacking east Aleppo on several fronts, weakening the rebels,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Meanwhile, fighting raged between regime forces and rebels in the strategic neighboring district of Sakhur, the Observatory said.
Sakhur lies on a stretch of just 1.5 km between west Aleppo and Masaken Hanano, now both controlled by the regime.

If the regime did manage to take control of the district, east Aleppo would be split in two from north to south, dealing a further blow to the armed opposition.

Syrian rebels handed in their heavy weapons in a town southwest of Damascus, on Sunday, as part of a deal they have made with the government to get safe passage to insurgent-controlled areas, state-affiliated media said.

Through a series of so-called “settlement” agreements and army offensives, the Syrian government, backed by Russian air power and Iranian-backed militias, has been steadily suppressing armed opposition to its rule in the capital city's suburbs.

Rebels say the deals are part of a strategy to forcibly displace whole populations from opposition-held areas after years of siege and bombardment.

Khan Al-Shih is the only town not controlled by the government on a major supply route from Damascus to government-held territory in the southern province of Quneitra.

The army will start the transfer of insurgents and their families from the town to rebel-held Idlib province on Monday, according to a statement from a military news service run by the Lebanese group Hezbollah, an ally of Assad.

Syrian state-run Ikhbariya TV, broadcasting from near Khan Al-Shih on Sunday, said 1,270 people will be moved to Idlib in the coming week and the remaining 3,000-4,500 people will be taken back into government-controlled areas, citing sources within the local administration.

In another development, a blast ripped through a street in the northern Syrian town of Al-Rai on Sunday in what was believed to be a Daesh suicide bombing and 12 wounded, mostly children, were brought to a hospital in nearby Turkey, security and hospital sources said.

Turkey's army had earlier said Daesh militants fired a rocket into the Haliliye area of the same region that caused symptoms of “chemical gas” exposure in 22 Syrian rebels, according to Anadolu news agency.

The town of Al-Rai, which is 2 km south of Turkey's Kilis border province, is in an area under the control of Turkey-backed rebels and was seized from Daesh militants in Ankara's “Euphrates Shield” operation launched in August.

No further details were immediately available but the Dogan news agency cited local sources as saying it was a vehicle-borne bomb which also killed several Syrians.

The Turkey-backed rebels have for days been besieging the Daesh-controlled town of Al-Bab, around 30 km south of Al-Rai, as part of the three-month-old offensive to drive the hard-liners away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

Some 22 rebels were transferred to a Turkish hospital on suspicion of chemical poisoning after complaining of constant sickness and severe headaches following the attack in Haliliye, the Hurriyet website reported.

More from al-Manar: After Losing Masaken Hanano, Gunmen in East Aleppo Fear of Total Defeat
Syrian army and allies move on with their military operation against the strongholds of armed groups in east of Aleppo city, and managed on Sunday to seize full control over Masaken Hanano.

Masaken Hanano is the most important stronghold of the armed groups in the area and they used to take it as military barracks, making civilians a human shield and a cover to mask their most awful actions in the neighborhood.

Loosing Masaken Hanano, put the militants in a real crisis regarding the geographic location of the area, in addition to that it overlooks Haidariya neighborhood and tightens grip around the armed groups from the side of Al-Badro Mountain.

Moreover, in case the Syrian military and allied forces managed to continue advancing towards Al-Sakhoor neighborhood, this will divide the militants’ strongholds in east Aleppo into two parts (northern and southern) which will escalate the pressure over the armed groups there. That’s why the armed factions called for urgent crawl.

Militants’ call for help has been translated by “Noueddine Zinki Movement” by withdrawing its gunmen from the northern axes of eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo in an attempt to halt the advance of Syrian army and allies at Hanano-Badro axis, amid clear confusion among militants after they failed to fight off the advancing forces.

Worthy to note that the Syrian military and allies are taking into account the presence of civilians in the densely populated areas and taking the situational military measures in order to protect their lives.

More from al-Manar: Syrian Army Captures 8 Aleppo Districts
You know how al-Manar is...
Syrian government forces freed on Sunday eight districts in the east of the Aleppo city, evacuating 2,500 civilians, including 800 children, and forcing dozens of militants to surrender, as they are still advancing at three main axes.

“The Syrian army and allied forces are advancing at three fronts amid quick collapse of armed groups east of Aleppo,” AL-Manar TV reporter said.

The evacuated civilians include 500 people from the al-Qadisiyah district and about 1,500 people from the districts of Jabal Bidart and Hai es Sackur.

Evacuated civilians talked about major collapses in the ranks of the terrorists who have revengefully targeted the western region and some northern rural areas, which led to the fall of martyrs in the besieged towns of Nobbol and Zahra.

The situation in Aleppo has been seriously deteriorating over the recent months. Thousands of citizens are believed to be trapped in the terrorist-besieged eastern parts of Aleppo with no access to food or water.

More, this time from Al-Arabiya: Syrian forces retake largest Aleppo rebel area
Syrian government forces have retaken “full control” of the rebel-held district of Masaken Hanano in northern battlefield city Aleppo, state media said on Saturday.

State television said “the armed forces retook full control” of the largest rebel district in the east of the city, and official news agency SANA said operations were now under way to clear it of mines and bombs.

“The armed forces retook full control of Masaken Hanano after having put an end to the presence of terrorists there,” the state broadcaster said, referring to the rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

SANA said government forces, backed by its allies, also recaptured the area around the district and “army engineers are clearing it of bombs and explosives planted by the terrorists in the streets and squares.”

The capture of Masaken Hanano in the northeast of Aleppo could give the army line-of-fire control over several other parts of the city’s rebel-held east.

Regime forces had been advancing inside the neighborhood for several days, and on Friday state television said they were progressing “from three axes.”

The operation is part of a major offensive now in its 12th day to take back all of Aleppo, Syria’s second city and its economic capital before the war broke out in March 2011.

Since November 15, regime bombardment of eastern Aleppo has killed 212 civilians, including 27 children, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Observatory head rami Abdel Rahman told AFP on Saturday that the government forces were in control of 80 percent of Masaken Hanano and had the rest in their line of fire.

“They just hundreds of metres (yards) away from isolating the northern districts of east Aleppo from the southern ones,” he said.

More than 250,000 civilians have been trapped under siege for months in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, with dwindling food and fuel supplies.

The battleground city in northern Syria has been divided between the government-controlled western areas and the rebel-held eastern districts since 2012.
Posted by: badanov || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Electoral Voters 'Deluged' With Death Threats In Multiple States
[WND] One of Michigan’s 16 electors who will be called upon to cast a vote validating the election of Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
in the Electoral College has testified on video that he and others in the state are receiving "dozens and dozens of death threats" from Hillary Clinton
... former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, sometimes described by her supporters as the smartest woman in the world, usually described by the rest of us as a crook...
supporters urging them to switch their votes to Clinton.

On Dec. 19 the Electoral College will convene to cast their votes for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, with each state’s electors pledged to vote for the candidate elected on Nov. 8 in their state.

But more than a dozen states have no laws making it illegal for the electors to change their vote while others have only a minor penalty such as a fine for doing so. If Clinton’s supporters can get enough of the 163 electors from states where Trump both won and votes can be legally switched on Dec. 19, Hillary Clinton becomes the next president of the United States.

Michael Banerian, 22, of Oakland County, Michigan, is one of that state’s 16 official electors who will meet in the state capital of Lansing on Dec. 19 to cast their votes for Trump. He told the bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit
... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang...
News Thursday he has received threatening emails, lots of them, from people telling him to vote for Democrat Clinton instead of the GOP victor he is pledged to support. Trump won Michigan’s popular vote and should be able to count on the 16 electoral votes in that state.
Posted by: Fred || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Making terrorist threats of death" I believe is a felony.
Posted by: Jeasing Creque5352 || 11/28/2016 2:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Where's the f*cking FBI?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/28/2016 5:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Supposing Mr. Banerian - a young fellow, at that - is struggling with his conscience about voting the way he's supposed to. Maybe he's paving the way to vote for Hilly and has not received a single a lot of threats?

No? How 'bout this one - Trump's bully boys are doing it to make poor, maligned Mrs. Clinton look bad worse.
Posted by: Bobby || 11/28/2016 7:32 Comments || Top||

#4  If the electoral college results do not mirror state voting and were to give Hildabeest the White House, there will almost certainly be national uprising and bloodshed not seen since the civil war. Democrat idiots have no idea what they would be unleashing.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 11/28/2016 10:52 Comments || Top||

#5  In addition to the felony part mentioned by Jeasing Creque5352 I should think treason charges should be added.

Give 'em 20 years to life to send the message not to mess with the process.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 11/28/2016 11:48 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
30 ISIS Bad Guys die in Aleppo
Aleppo: The Verdun of the Middle East
Deir ezZor – Russian warplanes launched on Sunday several airstrikes on Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor Governorate, targeting headquarters of the Islamic State (ISIS).

The air raids hit ISIS fighting positions and tactical units in the city of al-Bukamal and the Susa town in Deir ez-Zor.

“At least 31 ISIS militants were killed in the airstrikes launched by Russian Air Force on Sunday evening,” local media activist Samer al-Khalaf told ARA News.

A source close to ISIS also confirmed the death of dozens of the group’s fighters in the raids.

“The national hospital in Deir ez-Zor City received more than 30 corpses of Islamic State members subsequent to the airstrikes,” a doctor in the national hospital told ARA News, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Also, four civilians were reported dead in the bombardment of Deir ez-Zor on Sunday.

In the meantime, clashes broke out between Syrian army forces and ISIS fighters in the districts of Joura and al-Rashidiya in Deir ez-Zor City.

“The Syrian regime’s army forces tried to exploit the Russian strikes to advance on the ground and secure the two neighbourhoods from ISIS militants,” al-Khalaf reported.

The clashes continued until Monday morning. It was not immediately clear whether the Syrian army made any new gains.
Posted by: badanov || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


India-Pakistan
Junagarh should be merged with Pakistan, says Nawab Khanji
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: The occupation of Junagarh by India violated Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties and the state should be merged with Pakistain.
They really think this will work? How quaint.
This was stated by the nawab of Junagarh, Muhammad Jahangir Khanji, on Sunday during a meeting with Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai. Sultan Muhammad Ali, founder of the Moslem Institute, was also present on the occasion.

Junagarh was a princely state of pre-partition India and at the time of partition over 550 states were given the choice to join either Pakistain or India. The nawab of Junagarh decided to join Pakistain.

But because the state was surrounded by Indian land, with the only outlet to the Arabian Sea, India occupied it and the nawab had to move to Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
"The Junagarh state possesses the law of accession with Pakistain [which] meets all the criteria of accession under the Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties," said Nawab Khanji.

"To prove that the Junagarh state is a part of Pakistain, this accession document is important [because it is] strong and lawful evidence. The instrument of accession is an international agreement, concluded between states, in written form, governed by international law, in a single instrument," he said.

The issue of Junagarh would remain alive legally as long as the instrument of accession was intact, the nawab said.
Posted by: Fred || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  "Nawab" - rhymes with "Doorknob"
Posted by: Frank G || 11/28/2016 10:38 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
More reports of ISIS using CBR weapons in Syria
ISIS militants have fired a rocket in northern Syria that caused symptoms of “chemical gas” exposure in 22 Syrian rebels, state media cited Turkey’s military as saying on Sunday.

According to the state-run Anadolu agency, the ISIS rocket attack happened in the Haliliye area, however the exact place of the attack was not specified.

The main targets were Turkey-backed rebels who have been recently besieging the ISIS-controlled town of al-Bab, a major goal in Ankara’s “Euphrates Shield” operation to push the jihadists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

“Twenty-two rebels were observed to have symptoms of being exposed to chemical gas in their eyes and bodies as a result of the rocket fired by ISIS,” media reports quoted the army statement.

The rebels were transferred to a hospital in Turkey’s border province of Kilis on suspicion of chemical poisoning, according to Hurriyet newspaper.

In the last 24 hours around al-Bab, Turkish jets have destroyed four ISIS targets in the Anifah region, and one Turkey-backed Syrian rebel has been killed and 14 wounded in clashes, the military stated.
Posted by: badanov || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
One-third of about 90 fires caused by arson, police estimate
[IsraelTimes] Some 50 people questioned, 24 tossed in the clink
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
; no signs of national coordination in spate of blazes.


Police on Sunday said that one-third of the fires raging across the country are suspected to have been set deliberately.

In a statement, the police said that they suspect between 30-40 of the 90 fires they have investigated thus far were started by arsonists.

Police also said that although much of the evidence was destroyed by the fires, they are using forensic samples to determine whether the fires were ignited intentionally.

However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate...
police have not yet found any evidence that the arson was coordinated nationally or planned in advance. Their assessment is that the arson was local and opportunistic, the statement said.

"Many of the incidents were caused by normal reasons, like weather or an electrical short circuit. But a serious number were caused by arson," a spokesperson said. Many fires starting over a small area is an indicator of possible arson, he added.

"We are setting up a nationwide team to centralize the local details and are trying to find a connection," the spokesperson said. "We are trying to understand who is behind the arson, and we are trying to reach them."

Police said that they have questioned some 50 people in connection with the fires and arrested 24. Eighteen of those arrested are Israeli Arabs, Channel 2 reported. Two of those, from the Israeli Arab towns of Umm al-Fahm and Deir Hanna in northern Israel, admitted to arson. Five people were arrested on suspicion of inciting on social media and 45 were questioned on suspicion of starting fires.

Since Tuesday, firefighters have been battling wildfires throughout the country that on Thursday hit the city of Haifa, forcing some 60,000 residents to evacuate their homes. The residents have since been cleared to return home, though over 1,000 houses have been damaged.

Attending to the rash of an estimated 110 fires across the country, firefighting planes from Israel and countries including Russia, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, Greece, La Belle France, Spain and Canada have dumped tons of water and retardants.
Teams from Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority participated as well, according to Al Ahram.
Police chief Roni Alsheich said Sunday that there had been similar arson attacks in the past and that they should be considered acts of terror, Army Radio reported.

"If setting the fire was deliberate, it is definitely terror," Alsheich said during a visit to the West Bank settlement of Halamish, where a fire destroyed 18 homes on Friday night. "By the way, that is nothing new, there have been arson incidents in the past. The concentration of a relatively large number of days, and the number of incidents and the weather conditions, brought about these results but there is nothing new and there were incidents like this in the past."

Alsheich said the security services are equipped to deal with terror and hinted that Israel was prepared to employ more stringent measures if necessary.

"We have good tools for dealing with terror -- we haven’t yet taken advantage of them; we will review things and if we think that the measures are lacking we will demand them... There are sufficient measures in the Israeli book of laws."

Six minors arrested for starting fire near Acre

[IsraelTimes] The Israel Police placed in durance vile
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
six minors Sunday who started a fire near the Arab Israeli town of Kafr Yasif in northern Israel in an apparent act of arson.

Officers in the area spotted smoke coming from the bushes near Route 70 and, upon arriving at the scene, saw a vehicle driving away, police said in a statement.

Police stopped the car and detained the six minors in the vehicle, all of them from the local Arab region of Jadeidi-Makr. A firefighting plane arrived soon after and extinguished the fire.

The minors were being questioned at the Acre district cop shoppe. On Monday, police will decide whether to release them or continue to hold them for questioning, police said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Haifa and Tel Aviv expect substantial rain by mid day Wednesday, Jerusalem sometime after that.
Posted by: lord garth || 11/28/2016 8:11 Comments || Top||

#2  no signs of national coordination in spate of blazes

Yet.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 11/28/2016 14:28 Comments || Top||


Iraq
The Beatings Will Continue: Iraqi Edition


ISIS blocks refugees fleeing Anbar
Waidaminnit! I thought Anbar was liberated!
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants are preventing civilians in Anbar from leaving the province to use them as future human shields against assaults by government and popular militias, Al-Hashed al-Shaabi force commander there said Sunday.

Nazem al-Jugheifi was quoted as saying in statements that people from the western towns of Annah, Rawa and al-Qaem are being from leaving home, knowing that security forces and supporting militias would invade those regions.

“ISIS elements have totally closed the entrances and exits of all the western region under their control, a step meant to lock up civilians to use them as human shields before the security forces and supporting troops,” Jugheifi said, adding that the militants had also dug several tunnels to hinder the advancement of troops.

ISIS is struggling to defend their diminishing strongholds in Iraq as Iraqi government troops, US-led international coalition forces and tribal militias continue to attack their locations. The group has been reportedly taking civilians hostages, most notably in the city of Mosul, a tactic that, according to Iraqi security officials, slows down the pace of operations and requires extra caution to preserve civilians’ safety.

2 Mass graves found near Mosul

[AlArabiya] Two mass graves of at least 18 members of Iraq’s Yazidi minority, thousands of whom have been killed and kidnapped by ISIS, have been discovered as security forces fight to dislodge the militants from Mosul, a local official said.

Kurdish peshmerga forces found the grave near the Shababit junction in northwestern Iraq while scouting the area. It contained bones and identity cards that appeared to have been covered over with sandy earth by a bulldozer.

ISIS systematically killed, captured and enslaved thousands of Yazidis in the summer of 2014 as they overran the Sinjar area, where many of them lived. United Nations investigators have said that constitutes genocide.

The mayor of Sinjar, Mahma Xelil, said the latest discovery brought the number of Yazidi mass graves found so far to 29, estimating the total would rise to more than 40 as the militants are driven back further.

Numbering about 400,000 people, Yazidis are a religious sect whose beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions and are considered “devil-worshippers” by the extremist militants.

The Office of Kidnapped Affairs in Duhok, a department backed by the Kurdistan regional government, says about 3,500 Yazidis are believed to still live in areas controlled by ISIS, many of them women and children.

Last Wednesday, 18 escaped from the town of Tal Afar in northern Iraq as Shi’ite paramilitaries cut it off from the south and west.
Posted by: badanov || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Caribbean-Latin America
Miguel Diaz-Canel Likely To Succeed Raul Castro
Notice how the MSM is show-casing Mr. Diaz-Canel: a "reformer" who wears jeans and loves the Beatles. Just an average joe, a technocrat, nothing to worry about. You have to step back a moment and ask, "how did this mild-mannered man become Raul's number two?" to understand that Miguel is very likely in the same mold as Raul -- a thug and nasty boy.
The one constant in Cuba in the last six decades has been a Castro holding the reins of power. But with Friday’s death of Fidel and the fact his younger brother Raul is 85, attention is turning to the next generation of Cuban leaders.

Miguel Diaz-Canel, 55, currently serves as Raul Castro’s vice president and is his apparent successor. He has been working his way up the hierarchy for 30 years, first in provincial positions and then as minister of higher education. When he was 43, he became a member of the Politburo, the youngest ever. Most of the other members fought in the 1959 revolution.

An electrical engineer by trade and a Beatles fan, Diaz-Canel is a social media devotee, often posting pictures of himself and the younger Castro brother.

America’s Quarterly said in a profile last year Diaz-Canel generally keeps a low profile. He was born after the revolution and is a member of the reform wing of the party, more an experienced manager than ideologue. Unlike the Castros, he dresses in jeans and sports jackets, eschewing military fatigues.

He is described as witty and relaxed in private, but not a rousing speaker or charismatic leader in public. In his provincial stints, Diaz-Canel often would pop into local bars to take the temperature of the community.

In appointing Diaz-Canel, Raul Castro declared, “Comrade Diaz-Canel is not an upstart nor improvised.” He stopped short, however, of declaring Diaz-Canel his successor. When he assumed power from his brother in 2013, Raul Castro said he would serve only five years but left open whether he also will resign his positions as head of the Cuban military and the Communist Party.

The question is whether Diaz-Canel will be able to maintain the same kind of control as the Castro brothers, who forged strong relationships with the military, which controls nearly all of the island’s money and economy.

Cuban dissident and human rights activist Antonio Rodiles thinks not. He told the Latin Post Diaz-Canel will be little more than a figurehead for the military, a placeholder until younger members of the Castro family, like Raul Castro’s son Alejandro are ready to seize power.

"When Raul Castro is the president, then yes, the president runs Cuba," Jaime Suchliki, director of the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, told the Miami Herald. "When Raul Castro is not president, that will be a very different matter. Díaz-Canel has no tanks and no troops."

Col. Alejandro Castro Espin, 51, is in Cuba’s Interior Ministry security forces and one of his father’s closest aides as a member of a commission on defense and national security. Also in the wings is Col. Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Callejas, his son-in-law.

The Herald said signs of generational change are emerging all over the island.

"They are showing on the Mesa Redonda TV show documentaries glorifying the lives of old military generals, humanizing the lives of members of the elite,” Cuban dissident Ailer González told the Herald. It seems a sort of goodbye, in order to promote younger people willing to continue defending the regime."
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Dang, when I looked at the picture at the link I thought the smarmy looking jackass in the middle was Diaz-Canal. Then I read further and found the smarmy looking jackass is Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sitting between Diaz-Canal and Raul with a shit eating grin on his face. So we had Baraq and now Canada has Justin.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 11/28/2016 11:00 Comments || Top||

#2  ...and loves the Beatles.

That trick won't work with me - Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe loves the Beatles and he's a Grade A asshole.
Posted by: Raj || 11/28/2016 11:32 Comments || Top||

#3  I would agree that the successor to Raul will eventually be a from the Castro family (or an in law of that family). There is a lot of stolen wealth that has to be protected.
Posted by: lord garth || 11/28/2016 12:10 Comments || Top||

#4  I suppose nearly anything is possible.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/28/2016 14:11 Comments || Top||

#5  A blast from the past, only musty,
A trope that was Russian, and rusty:
"The Beatles! And denim!"
"Oh, groovy! Let's friend him!"
"I'm nothing like Castro. Just trust me."
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 11/28/2016 16:46 Comments || Top||

#6  Hey, its an opening. We are sending off a individual just suited for El Presidente. Has the resume, rules by the pen and phone. Has no need for opposition parties. Will fit right in with the existing political philosophy. What an opportunity and auspicious timing!
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/28/2016 18:23 Comments || Top||

#7  I am afraid there is no chance the next Cuban president will be black.
Posted by: phil_b || 11/28/2016 18:40 Comments || Top||

#8  I am afraid there is no chance the next [Cuban] president will be black.

I remember saying the same thing here in 2008.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/28/2016 18:53 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
As ISIS retreats, information trove found
[Telegraph] Intelligence of attack plots across Europe is being uncovered as 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....
’s caliphate is beaten back, the top British officer in the military coalition fighting the gunnies has disclosed.

A trove of information has already been found and the capture of the Iraqi city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
is expected to deliver more on the plans, finances and members of Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (Isil).

Maj Gen Rupert Jones warned there were "no quick answers" in the fight to liberate Iraq’s second city, which has now entered its second month.

The volume of intelligence being found is so large the coalition has set up a lab in the Gulf to plunder Death Eaters’ laptops, phones and drives for their secrets and then pass them to intelligence agencies.
He also appeared to challenge Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
’s campaign trail suggestions that the coalition was not aggressive enough against the bad boy movement also known as ISIS.

Maj Gen Jones, who is second in command of the US-led coalition, spoke as the Telegraph visited more than 250 British troops recently sent to Al Asad Air Base in Western Iraq where they are training Iraqi troops to fight the Death Eaters.

The volume of intelligence being found is so large the coalition has set up a lab in the Gulf to plunder Death Eaters’ laptops, phones and drives for their secrets and then pass them to intelligence agencies.

The capture of the Syrian town of Manbij, which acted as a gateway for jihadists travelling into The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
and on to Europe, was an intelligence breakthrough, he said. But he warned the Lions of Islam would still be able to direct plots while they remained in their capital, Raqqa.

Maj Gen Jones said: "Manbij was hugely important for external operations. A huge amount of intelligence gathered in Manbij related to threats in Europe and elsewhere. What we are now in the process of doing is starting the isolation of Raqqa.

"For as long as Raqqa is sitting there, they can orchestrate external operations. So the sooner it’s liberated or the sooner ISIS are liberated from there, the better."

He went on: "The reason we are all here is because ISIS has demonstrated it poses a threat to our way of life. It’s demonstrated very effectively what it can do in Europe and elsewhere."

Heavy fighting
... as opposed to the more usual name-calling or slapsy...
continues in Mosul where Iraqi security forces began an assault to drive out Isil nearly six weeks ago.

Maj Gen Jones said: "I am absolutely certain that an extraordinary amount of intelligence will come out of Mosul. We have ramped up as a coalition our ability to gather and process all that intelligence, because it will be a labyrinth of intelligence and we need to get that into the hands of intelligence agencies."
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Crucial info down the "intelligence" rathole from whence it will never again see the light of day.
Posted by: Heriberto Greper9897 || 11/28/2016 7:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Crucial info down the "intelligence" rathole from whence it will never again see the light of day.

Yes, very strange how little is known regarding ISIS funding. Or possibly not so strange at all.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/28/2016 7:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Maj Gen Rupert Jones warned there were "no quick answers" in the fight to liberate Iraq’s second city, which has now entered its second month.

General LeMay to the courtesy phone.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/28/2016 7:39 Comments || Top||

#4  very strange how little is known regarding ISIS funding

I have no doubts that it is known......the question is why won't the knowers tell? You think someone(s) are being paid for their silence?
Posted by: AlanC || 11/28/2016 9:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Yes, very strange how little is known regarding ISIS funding. Or possibly not so strange at all.
Posted by Besoeker


It is way past time to bring Justice to the sheikhs...and for Justice for all of the victims their "financing" produced.
Posted by: Tennessee || 11/28/2016 9:56 Comments || Top||

#6  Maj Gen Rupert Jones warned there were "no quick answers" in the fight to liberate Iraq’s second city, which has now entered its second month.

He also appeared to challenge Donald Trump’s campaign trail suggestions that the coalition was not aggressive enough against the bad boy movement also known as ISIS.


That's your opinion. If the US military had been unleashed as it should have long ago, this would have all been a speck in our rearview mirror instead of a log in our eye.
Posted by: gorb || 11/28/2016 23:36 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Travesty of justice
[DAWN] IT is better that 10 guilty men go free than one man be wrongly convicted -- the words of the English jurist William Blackstone in the 18th century encapsulated a basic precept of criminal justice. That precept was found desperately wanting in the case of Mazhar Farooq, a death-row prisoner convicted for a murder that took place 24 years ago in a village in Punjab’s Kasur district. On Friday, after hearing his appeal against his sentence that had been upheld by the Lahore High Court in 2009, a Supreme Court bench found him not guilty and ordered his immediate release. By this time, the prisoner had spent two decades of his life on death row for no fault of his own, but because an appallingly flawed criminal justice system let him down every step of the way.

It may be cold comfort, but Mr Farooq can at least take solace in the fact that he can finally breathe the air of freedom. In October, the apex court acquitted two brothers in a 2002 murder case, only to find that the men had already been hanged one year back. Miscarriage of justice is not exclusive to Pakistain, but in countries like ours, where the criminal justice system is riddled with shockingly fundamental problems, the chances are that much greater -- which is one of the reasons why this paper has consistently opposed the death penalty. People without means or connections are disproportionately impacted. Convenient scapegoats for corrupt law-enforcement officials wanting to demonstrate ’results’, once they are ensnared in the slow and torturous legal process, there is no telling what the outcome will be, even if the investigation is obviously shoddy and the evidence wholly unconvincing. Indigent accused who cannot afford to hire defence lawyers have to make do with state-appointed counsel who are already overburdened and unlikely to be the cream of the crop. Trials take inordinately long because of repeated adjournments; sometimes also on account of logistical issues such as shortage of transport to bring prisoners to court. Corruption at the trial court level is endemic, with witnesses, police and sometimes even judicial officials susceptible to financial blandishments to influence the outcome of a case. It bears thinking then, that in such a defective system where miscarriage of justice is inevitable, how much of it goes undetected? Or to put it another way: how many people have we executed for crimes they did not commit?

Posted by: Fred || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel to expand fleet of next-generation F-35 fighter jets
Israel on Sunday said it will expand its fleet of next-generation F-35 fighter jets in a move that officials believe will help maintain the country's qualitative military edge over its Mideast neighbors for years to come, AP reported.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that his Security Cabinet has approved the purchase of 17 additional F-35s. In all, it said, the acquisition will bring the number of planes the air force will get to 50.
Who's paying? Uncle Sugar?
The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program, with an estimated cost of nearly $400 billion. Israel is among a small number of allies slated to receive the plane, with the first F-35 expected to arrive in about three weeks.

A senior Israeli air force official described the arrival of the F-35 as a game-changing development that will give Israel a "strong and effective tool" in dealing with challenges across the region. He said its ability to "integrate" various-cutting edge systems would preserve Israel's ability to act freely in hostile airspace. He cited its long range capability, its ability to provide pilots with critical data in real time and a stealth system that can evade or delay detection by the world's most sophisticated radar systems.

The official said Israel would begin training with the new planes immediately, but that it would take "more than a few months" for the first planes to be operational.

He did not specify what missions Israel might make with the planes, but said the F-35s are expected to meet all of Israel's needs. In recent years, Israel has reportedly carried out long-range airstrikes as far away as Sudan, and is believed to have struck Hezbollah-bound weapons shipments in neighboring Syria.

Israel has also hinted in the past at making plans to strike Iran, some 1,000 kilometers away, if the Islamic Republic presses forward with a nuclear program it considers suspect. Both Syria and Iran possess sophisticated Russian anti-aircraft systems. He said these systems will still present a challenge, but the F-35 will be "very helpful" against them.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who's paying? Uncle Sugar?

Why should Israel pay corporate warfare for Lockheed Martin? You know how much work & money IAI & Rafael are going to invest in each plane to make it useful? Basically, USA is outsourcing R&D on a plane that you have failed to make work.

the arrival of the F-35 as a game-changing development that will give Israel a "strong and effective tool" in dealing with challenges across the region

As long as we can equip them with our own electronics.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/28/2016 5:17 Comments || Top||


Europe
Merkel Says She Will Deport 100,000 Migrants
[PJMEDIA] Oh, is it election time again?
Golly -- somewhere between ten and fifteen percent of the migrants who arrived last year, not counting those who arrived before or after.
Posted by: Fred || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  Bravo Sierra
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 11/28/2016 3:23 Comments || Top||

#2  as article notes, it was election defeats in local contests that changed her mind, not the increase in crime
Posted by: lord garth || 11/28/2016 6:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Can she find them? Who will be counting the departees? Where will they go? Who will pay for their tickets? Will they be back in six months, and how would you know that?
Posted by: Bobby || 11/28/2016 7:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Huh huh. Second BrerRabbit's.

German elections are this coming August?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/28/2016 15:04 Comments || Top||

#5  Uh huh.... I'll believe it when I see it. Even if she does, if she wins she'll just bring back in another 200,000.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/28/2016 15:27 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia may join oil agreement only if OPEC countries reach consensus
Russia agrees non-OPEC countries should join the agreement on stabilizing the oil market after OPEC members reach a consensus, and Moscow continues negotiations with its partners on the matter, Russian Energy Minster Alexander Novak said on Saturday, Sputnik International reported.

"We back the position that OPEC countries should first reach a consensus before other countries could join the agreement. Russia remains positive about the agreement and continues to participate in the consultations with our partners," the minister told journalists.

In September, the OPEC club of the world's major oil producers reached a preliminary agreement in Algeria to set the oil output ceiling at 32.5-33 million barrels a day for the cartel. The OPEC countries have yet to finalize the deal at the November 30 meeting in Vienna with non-OPEC states, including Russia, open to capping the output.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And since that's not going to happen...
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/28/2016 5:28 Comments || Top||

#2  American frackers to the courtesy phone.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/28/2016 7:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Okay, you're going to believe what Russia says?


Pull the other one.
Posted by: AlanC || 11/28/2016 9:23 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Heavy casualties reported in Sirte fighting
Tripoli, 27 November 2016:

At least eight more fighters with Bunyan Marsous have been killed in the last 24 hours as house by house, IS fighters are winkled out of their last positions in Sirte. It is being said that 14 terrorists have died.

One IS fighter, who claimed he was from the Gambia was captured and displayed for the cameras, as was a Tunisian woman who surrendered during the fighting on Friday. Still wearing her full face veil, the 22 year-old explained that she had been attracted to IS on social media and had made her way to Sirte via Sabratha. But once involved with them, she could not escape the terrorists. BM is serialising her story on its social media page.

With the battle now contained within a small area of a few dozen properties, BM forces are moving a house at a time but are still taking casualties from booby traps and snipers. Yesterday there were five BM men killed, a number of them by rifle-launched grenades. The terrorist thought to be responsible was later cornered and shot.

As Misratan-led forces spearhead the final advance, they continue to discover tunnels as well as the inter-connecting knocked-though walls. The tunnels seem to have been dug mainly as shelters from aerial strikes and artillery bombardment.
Posted by: badanov || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  5000 fatalities there in the past two years

not as much as Syria but still a legacy of the Clinton/Rice/Powers/Obama policy
Posted by: lord garth || 11/28/2016 7:27 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Slavers operating openly in Afghanistan
A study by TOLOnews has found that human smugglers are operating openly in southwestern Nimroz province – which shares a border with Iran – and are smuggling dozens of migrants on a daily basis into Iran.

According to the study, no one stops these convoys of pickup trucks, loaded with migrants, who are driven to the border at night.

These migrants can spend days at the border town of Zaranj while they wait to be smuggled into Iran, TOLOnews' Abdullah Hamim who visited Nimroz reported.

According to him, there are several security check posts on the way to the bordering regions, but dozens of migrants, packed in several vehicles, are not stopped by these security officers.

The migrants are meanwhile, divided into different groups along the way, Hamim said.

"Our life has not improved. This is the third time that I am here after high insecurity in Kunduz. I have to do it and so do others who are here.

"There is no one with me," said a teenager who was hoping to travel to Iran.

"We are going to Iran. We are going while facing thousands of challenges. We have to go. We don't have jobs here. It is not clear yet how much money we should pay for smugglers. We will pay them when we are in Tehran," said another man who was also on his way to Iran.

"We are sold between smugglers. We give money to one and they pay another. And thereby we are sold to others and sometimes we are trapped and robbed by robbers. Sometimes people die on the way to Iran," said one young boy.

According to Hamim, one of the areas where smugglers take people to wait for their turn to cross the border is located in Zaranj, the provincial capital. However, the provincial governor Mohammad Sami said he is not aware of human smuggling in his province.

"I know nothing about this. I will investigate this issue. I want to tell you that we are not allowing anyone to make stations for people to wait," he added.

Meanwhile, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi, said: "We are fighting this phenomenon every year. Unfortunately, a number of groups are still deceiving our people and smuggle them out of the country. This is a crime and police continue to prevent human smuggling with the help of people and arrest those involved in this act."
Video report at the link
Posted by: badanov || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  From a 2016 State Dept report: "The 2008 Law Countering Abduction and Human Trafficking/ Smuggling, along with article 516 of the penal code, prohibits many but not all forms of human trafficking. The law defines sex trafficking of a child only when coercion is used."
Posted by: Heriberto Greper9897 || 11/28/2016 7:09 Comments || Top||


India hands over another Mi-24 gunship to Afghan Air Force
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] India completed the delivery of the final Mi-24 gunship to the Afghan Air Force (AAF) as part of New Delhi’s ongoing reconstruction effort with the delivery of the 4 gunships marking the first lethal weaponry supply to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF).

The Afghan Air Force (AAF) said the last of the 4 Mi-24 gunships was delivered to the Afghan Air Force on Saturday.

AAF further added that a number of the Indian Air Force personnel also arrived in Kabul
...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either....
to complete the delivery of the final gunship to the Afghan forces.

This comes as diplomatic sources said late in August that "The fourth helicopter is yet to be transferred. It needs spares before it can be made fully operational and the spares have to come from Russia."

The sources further added that efforts were on to fix the issue. "There was an issue with the spares. It is being sorted out. It should be delivered very soon," a senior defence official said without specifying a timeframe.

Afghanistan received three of the four Mi-25 gunship helicopters from India late in the month of December last year and days before the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kabul.

The decision for the delivery of Mi-25 gunship helicopters was concluded during the recent visit of Afghan National Security Adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar to New Delhi.

India has remained one of the key donors for the reconstruction of Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.

Posted by: Fred || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


-Land of the Free
Veterans protest flag removal at Hampshire College
Amherst, Mass. – At least one thousand veterans gathered in Amherst this afternoon to protest the removal of the American flag at Hampshire College. 22news spoke to protesters about why they strongly disagreed with the college’s decision.

Freedom is not free. That’s the lesson that hundreds of veterans, their families and friends and other local residents hoped to teach students at Hampshire College Sunday afternoon.

Jerry Maguire, Veteran said, “They took down my flag, they have a right to that, I’m here to defend their right to do that but I want them to understand how bad that hurts me.”

Hundreds gathered to show their support of the American flag and what it stands for after the College removed the flag on campus earlier this week following the presidential election results. A decision by the college that outraged many.

David Soucy, a Veteran told 22News, “I was in Iraq 18 months. I got hurt, spent time at Walter Reed. I came home and there’s no way I’ll let anyone take down the flag, no way. It means a lot to me and my brothers.”

People came from all over New England to attend this protest. The news of the flag being taken down upset Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno who stood in solidarity with veterans Sunday.

Mayor Domenic Sarno mentioned, “For the students here and the president and board of trustees have risen from what the veterans sacrificed, this flag and not to fly the flag on this campus if you were in some other countries around the world it would be handled very, very differently.”
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I can imagine a slowdown in public services will sway opinions. Missed garbage pickup days, burned out streetlights, reduced late patrols by police, periodic/random power brownouts, food service inspections. Yeah, quality control on services can slip a lot.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/28/2016 0:11 Comments || Top||

#2  It's Amherst, Mass - let it burn.
Posted by: Raj || 11/28/2016 0:32 Comments || Top||

#3  SCOTUS said you have a right to burn the flag. Your flag, not someone else's. Burning someone else's is vandalism and is not 'protected speech'.

BTW, what are the administrators going to do when the bullets start flying if they can't stand up to one vandal.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/28/2016 7:36 Comments || Top||

#4  BTW,what are the administrators going to do when the bullets start flying if they can't stand up to one vandal.

you're assuming they didn't burn it themselves
Posted by: Frank G || 11/28/2016 8:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Lest we forget, Trigglypuff is a Hampshire College student.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIpkdusnIkE
Posted by: regular joe || 11/28/2016 11:28 Comments || Top||

#6  BTW, what are the administrators going to do when the bullets start flying...?

Cry racism and beg their overlords to save them.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/28/2016 11:32 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm wondering if Ohio University people would've appreciated the veterans today.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/28/2016 14:13 Comments || Top||

#8  Calling BS on the mayor's actions; Like he wasn't in the know of the flag being taken down and only showed up in support of the vets once the wind direction changed.
useless POS
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 11/28/2016 14:34 Comments || Top||

#9  Betcha the veterans left their protest area cleaner than they found it, too.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/28/2016 20:58 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Militants kidnap six Pakistanis working for Polish oil firm in Dera Ismail Khan
[DAWN] Six Paks working for a Polish oil and gas surveying company have been kidnapped near Dera Ismail Khan
... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ...
, military sources told Rooters, years after a Polish engineer from the same company was beheaded by Lion of Islams.

The six Geofizyka Krakow workers were snatched from their vehicles on Saturday afternoon on a road near the village of Drazinda, about 80km from the city of Dera Ismail Khan, two officials with security forces in the area said.

One of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, provided Rooters with the names and national identity card numbers of the workers.

Geofizyka Krakow, a subsidiary of Poland's state-run gas firm PGNiG, could not be immediately reached for comment. On its website, the PGNiG local unit said it had gone into liquidation in August 2016.

"They were sub-contractors providing works for Geofizyka Krakow, a company which is now in liquidation. They were not Polish," a PGNiG front man said. He declined to give any more details.

A Polish foreign ministry spokeswoman tweeted that there were no Polish citizens in the group and that the Polish embassy in Islamabad is monitoring the situation.

Posted by: Fred || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Southeast Asia
Philippine military kills 11 Maute militants
[Inquirer] The Philippine military yesterday said 11 members of the Islamic extremist Maute Group had been killed and five others injured during military operations in Butig, Lanao del Sur province, that began on Saturday.

The army launched the offensive two days after 200-300 members of the group stormed the town center, occupied the old, abandoned municipal hall and even raised the Daesh flag there.

"This prompted the immediate conduct of military operations focused on dislodging the lawless group. Two soldiers were slightly wounded while 11 members of the Maute Group were killed and at least five wounded," military spokesman Edgard Arevalo said in a statement.

Arevalo advised residents remaining near the building to leave their homes as the military expected the clashes to last for a week.

The military deployed planes to strike at structures near the town hall, such as the public high school and the mosque that were also being occupied by the Maute fighters. Arevalo said, "The group has … long been professing allegiance to the foreign terror group. This is still part of [its] agenda in courting support and encouraging similar-minded individuals to support ISIS."

The old town hall used to be the group's stronghold until it was recaptured by the military in February. The group's final stronghold, Camp Darul Iman, a former Moro Islamic Liberation Front military camp in Butig, fell to the military in June.

Security forces believe that militants from the Maute group were responsible for a bomb attack in the Davao City night market that killed 15 people in September partly in revenge for the June defeat.

The Maute Group, composed of former MILF militants, is being led by brothers Omar and Abdullah Maute, who have pledged allegiance to Daesh and want to set up an similar Islamic state in Mindanao.

On Saturday night, President Duterte raised the possibility of negotiating with the Abu Sayyaf and the Maute Group. Duterte said, "ISIS is really dangerous. That is why you have to use your head. Do not drive them to despair because that is precisely what happened in Africa."
Posted by: ryuge || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Arabia
Kuwait Shaikh's brutal murder: Two Iranians arrested
Kuwait has arrested two Iranian nationals for the murder of two Kuwaiti nationals and an Indonesian woman. According to Arab Times, news about the brutal murder broke on Friday, when it became known that two Kuwaiti citizens, including royal Shaikh Sabah Mubarak Al-Nasser Al-Sabah and Saleh Al-Othman, and an Indonesian woman were murdered.

The paper reported that the victims were found inside an apartment in Salwa area, with their hands and feet tied and their mouths covered. According to Arab Times, "They were killed execution style and there were other bullet wounds on their bodies. An injured Indian expatriate with a bullet wound on his back was also found in the vicinity."

In less than 24 hours, Kuwait's General Administration of Criminal Investigation managed to arrest those responsible for the murder of the two Kuwaiti nationals and an Indonesian female in Salwa on Friday, the Ministry of Interior said on Saturday.

According to Kuwait's national agency KUNA, the Interior Ministry's media and public relations department said in statement the suspects were arrested after intense investigation and information from eyewitnesses.

The suspects, Iranian nationals Mohammad Abdullredha Nawasser and Ali Mohammad Al-Bughaibesh, committed the crime using a handgun, said the statement. Before escaping, the two suspects stole KD276,000 (Dh3.32 million, Zimbob 400,000,000,000, USD $5.49) and three guns belong to the house owner, the statement added.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  two suspects stole KD276,000 (Dh3.32 million, Zimbob 400,000,000,000, USD $5.49)

*snort*
Posted by: Frank G || 11/28/2016 8:47 Comments || Top||

#2  actually 1 kuwati dinar = about 3 US dollars

Dh is the Dirham of the UAEmirates
Posted by: lord garth || 11/28/2016 23:09 Comments || Top||


Qatar will help Syrian rebels even if Trump ends US role
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates...
will continue to arm Syrian rebels even if Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
ends US backing for the multinational effort, Doha’s foreign minister said in an interview, signaling its determination to pursue a policy the US President-elect may abandon.

But Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said the wealthy Gulf state would not "go solo" and supply shoulder-fired missiles to the rebels to defend themselves against Syrian and Russian warplanes.

While the rebels needed more military support, any move to supply "Manpad" anti-aircraft weapons to them would have to be decided collectively by the rebels’ backers, the minister, a member of Qatar’s royal family, told Rooters late on Saturday.

Qatar is a top backer of rebels fighting Assad, working alongside Western nations in a military aid program overseen by the US Central Intelligence Agency that provides moderate groups with arms and training.

Qatar was determined to carry on, Sheikh Mohammed said, sipping tea in his spacious office on the ministry’s top floor overlooking the Gulf.

"This support is going to continue, we are not going to stop it. It doesn’t mean that if Aleppo falls we will give up on the demands of the Syrian people," he said.

Posted by: Fred || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran eyes naval bases off Yemen and Syria
In signs of Iran's expansionist tendencies, the country's chief of staff of the armed forces has said that Tehran is interested in setting up naval bases in both Syria and Yemen. The Saturday report by semi-official Tasnim news agency quotes Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri as saying: "Maybe, at some point we will need bases on the shores of Yemen and Syria."

"Having naval bases in remote distances is not less than nuclear power. It is ten times more important and creates deterrence," he said.

Gen Bagheri added that setting up naval platforms off the shores of those countries requires "infrastructures there first".

Iran is currently under fire from Gulf countries for helping rebels in Yemen and the Syrian government in their fights against the Daesh extremist group.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Pretty vague timeline.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/28/2016 9:19 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
UN trains Somali officers on human trafficking
"See, you guys are doing it all wrong. Let us professionals show you how it's done!"
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  My vote for snark of the day (if fact can be considered a snark) to our MD.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/28/2016 5:30 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Kuwaiti opposition win big in election
Opposition candidates are estimated to have won around 20 seats out of 50 in Kuwaiti elections that saw most parliament members replaced, in a vote analysts said reflects anger at austerity measures to curb a budget deficit. The results of the vote on Nov. 26 are likely to make it harder for the government to work with the new assembly to pass further reforms.

State news agency KUNA said that 30 new MPs gained seats in the 50-member parliament, including several younger men and one woman, after a turnout estimated at around 65 percent for the Gulf’s most outspoken legislature.

Analyst Ibrahim al-Hadban said the election campaign had shown that some of the decisions taken by the government were not popular among citizens, including raising gasoline prices.

“MPs who were in the assembly did not object to these decisions. So, in my view, they were blamed and punished,” Hadban, who teaches political science at Kuwait University, told Reuters.

With no political parties, it was difficult to pin down precisely how many opposition MPs had been elected. But some estimates put the number at between 17 and 24. The opposition, including the Muslim Brotherhood, liberals and pan-Arabists, had boycotted the election in 2012 to protest against changes to election laws they saw as favouring pro-government candidates.

At least two cabinet members failed to win parliament seats this time, apparently an indication of popular discontent with the government’s austerity plans.

The parliament of Western-allied Kuwait had been due to run until July 2017, but the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, dissolved it in October, saying “security challenges” in the region - an apparent reference to wars in Iraq and Syria - should be met by consulting the popular will.

More than 290 candidates, including 14 women, were standing in an assembly that enjoys legislative powers but has often been at odds with the government of Kuwait, one of the world’s wealthiest countries, thwarting attempts to strengthen fiscal discipline.

Former speaker Marzouq al-Ghanem, who retained his seat, said political stability was crucial for Kuwait to focus on economic development in what he described as a “sensitive, critical and important stage.”

“As I pointed out to all political blocs, progress or development must have a base and the base is political stability,” Ghanem told Reuters after polls closed late on Nov. 26.

Campaigning had focused mainly on austerity measures adopted in the past year after officials forecast a deficit of 9.5 billion dinars ($31 billion) for the 2016/17 fiscal year. The OPEC state relies on oil for about 90 percent of its revenues.

Although the deficit is likely to be smaller than forecast as it was based on an oil price of $25 a barrel, many Kuwaitis fear the government will try to raise prices further and cut many of the perks they have enjoyed for decades. These include free health care, education, subsidised basic products, free housing or land plots and interest-free loans for many citizens.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's only 135 miles from one end of Kuwait to the other - how big a deal can gas price be?
Posted by: Glenmore in Mt Vernon || 11/28/2016 0:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Oil profits pay for all those government benefits that the citizenry is accustomed to, Glenmore.

Separately, Al Ahram better quantifies the election results:

The election on Saturday saw the Islamist-dominated opposition win nearly half of the 50-seat parliament after it ended a four-year boycott and took part in the polls.

Analysts predict the return of political disputes in parliament unless the ruling family-led government succeeds in cooperating with the opposition.

Around half of the opposition candidates who won seats are Islamists from a Muslim Brotherhood-linked group and Salafists.

The emir dissolved the previous parliament due to a dispute over hiking petrol prices.

But a majority of the elected MPs have openly said they would oppose any austerity measures by the government to boost non-oil income.

Voters dealt a heavy blow to candidates from the outgoing parliament, with more than half of them failing to win seats in the new assembly.

Only one woman was elected and Kuwait's Shiite Muslim minority was reduced to six seats from nine
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/28/2016 6:52 Comments || Top||

#3  The Free Shit Army™ knows no sovereign boundaries
Posted by: Frank G || 11/28/2016 8:45 Comments || Top||

#4  TE - referring to this: " some of the decisions taken by the government were not popular among citizens, including raising gasoline prices."
Posted by: Glenmore in Mt Vernon || 11/28/2016 11:21 Comments || Top||

#5  With their new 'post-subsidy' gas prices to be around $1.06/gal for regular (~$1.67 Premium), I don't have much sympathy.

Sucks to be you when the teat dries up.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 11/28/2016 13:23 Comments || Top||

#6  referring to this: " some of the decisions taken by the government were not popular among citizens, including raising gasoline prices."

Fair enough, Glenmore. I guess it's the principle of the thing.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/28/2016 21:04 Comments || Top||


Great White North
Canada Buys New F-18s After Canceling Order for F-35
The Canadian government has announced plans to acquire F/A-18E/F Super Hornet multi-role fighters. Ottawa wants to secure a modest number of the jets until it decides on a real replacement for its current fleet of legacy Hornet fighters—which won't be the F-35.

During the 1980s, Canada bought 138 CF-18 Hornets (its designation for the Boeing F/A-18A Hornet). Canadian CF-18s flew combat missions in the Persian Gulf War, NATO operations in the former Yugoslavia, Libya, and most recently over Iraq against the Islamic State. Despite modest upgrades, however, such as the ability to carry the beyond visual range AMRAAM missile, Joint Directed Attack Munition satellite-guided bombs and Link 16 data communications, the planes are increasingly outdated.

The previous Canadian administration had the country lined up to buy the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, but current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed as part of his election campaign to cancel the purchase on the grounds a real competition hadn't taken place and that such an expensive fighter was unnecessary. True to his word, Trudeau canceled Canada's planned purchase of the F-35 and announced a new, open competition for a permanent replacement would be forthcoming.

The new plan is for Canada to acquire 18 F/A-18 Super Hornets as a stopgap measure until the permanent replacement fighter is announced. The government press release doesn't use the words "purchase" or "buy", saying they will be used "for an interim period of time". That leaves open the possibility the jets will be leased from Boeing.

The Super Hornet is a practical replacement for the CF-18 Hornet. The "Super Bug" is bigger, with a longer range and greater weapons payload than the CF-18. Although not as stealthy as the F-35, the Super Hornet was designed with some radar cross reduction features that make it more difficult for enemy radar to detect. The improved Hornet also has a high level of commonality with older Hornets, particularly weapons and the engine, meaning Canadian air crews will get up to speed on it quicker than a brand-new plane.

Canada's new interim fighter could even be the new Advanced Super Hornet currently being marketed by Boeing to India. The improved design includes an infra-red search and track sensor for air-to-air and air-to-ground combat, conformal fuel tanks that sit above the wings, and an enclosed weapons pod designed to hide bombs and missiles in a stealthy enclosure to reduce their radar signature.

How would Canada use 18 new Super Hornets? The new jets would be more survivable over modern battlefields, especially against Russian air defenses. The new planes could also be paired with older jets, their newer APG-79 active electronically scanned array radars scanning ahead for aerial threats instead of the older radars on current CF-18. The APG-79 has a lower probability of intercept, making it harder for enemy radar warning receivers to detect. The Super Hornets could then share data with the CF-18s through the Link 16 system. One last benefit to Canada: the Super Hornet could be used as an aerial tanker for CF-18s, extending their range.

This interim acquisition just kicks the can a little bit down the road. Canada still needs at least one hundred new fighters, and it needs them very soon. The Super Hornet seems to be the frontrunner, but don't count the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter out yet. As the plane continues to mature it's looking to be the plane Lockheed Martin has promised it will be, and per-unit costs are dropping to the point where the plane is becoming a serious competitor to the Super Hornet.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wonder what the Soviet options are?
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/28/2016 0:07 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm sure there's some version of the MiG-29 available...
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 10:23 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder if they went for more Hornets because anything else wouldn't be so short ranged as to be useless.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/28/2016 15:49 Comments || Top||

#4  Canada likes two-engine birds. While patrolling the coasts of the Great White North it is a plus to have a spare engine to limp home on. The F-35 is single engine AND, well, has *cough* issues.
The DassaultRafale would be a good bet.
Posted by: magpie || 11/28/2016 16:39 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Law against conversion of minors opposed
[DAWN] SUKKUR: Leaders of religious parties, including the proscribed ones, of all schools of thought have rejected in unison the Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Bill, 2015, recently passed by the Sindh Assembly that put curbs on conversion of children below 18 years of age.

This kind of law had no precedent even in the US, Israel and India, they claimed.

In Sukkur, Owais Noorani, general secretary of Jamaat Ulema-e-Pakistain (JUP), said at a gathering at Madressah Ghousia here on Sunday that the religious scholars would start a campaign against the controversial law from Dec 6.

He said the members of the assembly, some of whom were direct heirs of saints and Sufis and custodians of shrines while some traced their origin to the great personalities of early Islam, should feel ashamed of themselves for making such a law.

Mr Noorani said that late Abdullah Shah, former chief minister of Sindh, must be turning in his grave at the feat accomplished by his illustrious son, Syed Murad Ali Shah. Not a single bill proposed by the Council of Islamic Ideology had been made into law whereas this bill which was supported by NGOs and secular forces had been passed within no time, he said.

He urged all religious organizations to hold peaceful protests throughout the country in order to preempt similar attempts by other assemblies to pass such laws.

HYDERABAD: The head of Sindh chapter of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa
...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba...
(JuD) Faisal Nadeem announced on Sunday holding an all-party conference (PAC) of Sindh today (Monday) in Hyderabad to evolve a strategy against the controversial bill.

He said at a gathering of party activists at Markaz Abdul Rehman Bin Auf on the Autobahn road that all religious and political parties would attend the APC where the religious scholars and prominent political figures of the province would unanimously raise voice against the law.

He said that Pakistain Peoples Party was passing such laws to appease somebody or someone. Such law was never passed even by any foreign country, including the US, Israel and India, or any other provincial assembly of this country, he said.

He said the APC would prove to be a starting point of a movement against the bill. The protests were aimed at preventing such attempts in future as well, he said.

Posted by: Fred || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Iraqi forces dismantle ISIS laid mines in Baqubah
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) Member of Diyala Provincial Council, Ammar Mazahem al-Jabouri, announced on Sunday dismantling four improvised explosive devices, including two were planted in an electricity tower, northeast of Baqubah.

Jabouri said in a press statement, “Bomb Squads managed to dismantle four improvised explosive devices, including two adhesive devices were emplaced in an electricity tower near Jamila area (95 km northeast of Baqubah).”

“Maintenance teams in Diyala started the first phase of reconstructing three electricity towers in Jamila area that were corrupted and resulted in power outage in Qurah Tapah, Jabbara and 80 villages,” Jabouri added.

Jabouri also emphasized the importance of preparing a plan to secure and protect key electricity towers, to avoid further attacks by militant groups.
Posted by: badanov || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Mosul Offensive News
32 ISIS Turbans die in airstrikes

(IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army jets have killed 32 Islamic State militants west of Mosul, military intelligence said Sunday as government forces and volunteer militias continue to close in on the group’s last major foothold in Iraq.

Meanwhile, he volunteer-turned-official militias, al-Hashed al-Shaabi, say they had liberated 15 villages in the latest round of operations.

“Army air forces, in collaboration with al-Hashd al-Shaabi, targeted ISIS havens with airstrikes that left 32 terrorists killed,” said the statement. It added that seven vehicles belonging to the group. Jawad al-Tleibawi, a senior leader at al-Hashd al-Shaabi, said Sunday that a fifth round of operations by the militia, which launched on Friday, resulted in the recapture of 15 more villages.

The next target is the village of Tal Abta, another stronghold for ISIS. Iraqi army forces, backed by popular militias and US-led air forces, continue a major campaign that launched in mid October to liberate Mosul, ISIS’s last bastion in Iraq.

Popular militias said recently that victories over the extremist group practically isolated the province of Nineveh from the rest of Iraq as well as from escape routes to Syria. ISIS has reportedly been losing ground, lives and equipment since the start of operations, with many of its prominent cadres reported as either dead or fugitive.

126 ISIS militants cannon fodder eliminated in Mosul fight

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Military, police and anti-terrorism forces have so far killed 126 Islamic State militants during operations on Sunday to liberate the city of Mosul from the extremist group, military media and commanders said.

Abdel Wahab al-Saedi, a top commander of the Iraqi anti-terrorism forces, said that the forces killed 40 militants at the districts of al-Kahera and al-Masaref, east of Mosul, after they tried to obstruct the troops. Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell reported 54 ISIS deaths in airstrikes on al-Masaed neighborhood south of Mosul.

The strikes destroyed two booby-trapped vehicles and five fighters carriers. Earlier on Sunday, Iraqi military intelligence reported that Iraqi army jets had killed 32 Islamic State militants west of Mosul. Iraqi government forces, popular volunteer militias and US-led air forces continue successful advancements to clear ISIS’s last stronghold in Iraq as part of a major campaigned launched by the government in October.

Recent operations have rendered the province of Nineveh isolated from the rest of Iraq, and deprived the group of its supply lines and escape routes from and to Syria.

Iraqi aircraft destroy bomb factories in Mosul

(IraqiNews.com) Media officials with the Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday, that Iraqi F16 fighter jets destructed an explosives factory and a tunnel, north of the city of Mosul.

The officials said in a press statement, “Iraqi F16 fighter jets, based on accurate intelligence information, carried out an air strike, resulting in the destruction of an explosives factory, two tanks and a tunnel in Chelikhan area in the northern axis of Mosul.”

Iraqi joint forces continue the operations to liberate the province of Nineveh completely from the Islamic State that imposed its control on the province in June 2014.

5 ISIS commanders die near airport in rocket artillery attack
Prolly waiting for that 4:15 flight to Rio
(IraqiNews.com) Federal Police Chief, Raed Shaki Jawdat, announced on Sunday, that his forces killed five elite leaders of the Islamic State extremist group (ISIS), including a Chechen leader, by a rocket shelling near Mosul Airport.

Jawdat said in a brief statement, “Federal Police forces killed five elite leaders of the Islamic State extremist group, including a Chechen leader, by a rocket shelling that targeted their headquarters in the hills of Abu Saif village near Mosul Airport.”

Joint security forces, backed by Army Aviation and international coalition troops, continue exercising efforts to liberate the city of Mosul from the ISIS grip, within the offensive that was launched in 17 October 2016 by General Commander of armed Forces Haider al-Abadi.

Iraqi forces continue attacks in Mosul

[AlManar] Iraqi counter-terror forces liberated on Sunday three neighborhoods from the so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) takfiri group in Mosul city.

“Heroes of counter-terror agency fully liberated Al-Amen, Sheqaq Al-Khadraa and Sheqaq Al-Karama neighborhoods and raised the Iraqi flag over their buildings, and seized control over the old radio of Mosul,” a statement by the Iraqi Military Media said.

Morever, the US-led anti-ISIL international coalition destroyed an ISIL vehicle killing its crew members, including the terrorist leader Chechen Abu Anas in the south eastern axis of Mosul, and destroyed three canon platforms.

In a similar development, Iraqi counter-terror troops managed to liberate Cairo neighborhood in north-east of Mosul, as well as the civic hospital north of the city.

Earlier on Saturday, Iraqi Federal Police liberated a village in south east of Mosul and managed to control the road linking between Mosul and Tal Afar, according to FP commander Gen. Raed Jawdat.

ISIL seized large Iraqi areas in June 2014. Iraqi army and Popular Mobilization Forces, along with US-led coalition, launched a wide-ranging campaign in October 17, 2016 to liberate the Iraqi territories from ISIL.
Posted by: badanov || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  So you're a civilian in Mosul and you must choose between ISIS and Iranian Shiite militias. What to do? What to do?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 11/28/2016 11:12 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Taliban’s Quetta Shura still based in Quetta city of Pakistan: Hayat
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The leader ship council of the Taliban group, Quetta Shura
...Mullah Omar's command center, located in Quetta, that the Pak govt hasn't been able to find since its establishment in November, 2001. Honest...
, is still based in Quetta city of Pakistain, the provincial governor of southern Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province said.

Hayatulllah Hayat rejected reports as baseless regarding the transfer of Quetta Shura to Helmand province.

Speaking to RFE/RL, Hayat said the movement of the leaders of the group between Helmand and Quetta cannot be rejected but their leadership council is still based in Quetta city.

Hayat further added that the top leaders of the group are still based in Quetta and Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
cities although movement of the group’s shadow governors and other leader cannot be rejected to provinces from the Pak cities.

This comes as the group’s front man Zabiullah Mujahid earlier told News Agency that Dare Not be Named that the members of the Quetta Shura had shifted to Helmand provinces some months ago.

A senior Taliban capo, Asad Afghan, also told to News Agency that Dare Not be Named the move would consolidate the turbans’ military gains and help lay the ground for a dominant position if and when peace talks resume.

"We are in the last stages of war and are moving forward," said Afghan, who is closely involved in formulating the turbans’ war strategy.

"We are the real government in Afghanistan," he said. The move across the border would give the movement "more focus" at a time it needs to be "quick, clear and more secure about our decisions."

This comes as the Afghan officials earlier said the group is looking to shift its leadership council in Helmand province by intensifying attacks on key districts of the province.

However,
a woman is only as old as she admits...
Hayat said the group’s attempts to shift the Quetta Shura to Helmand have failed despite they launched numerous attacks to seize key areas of the province.

Posted by: Fred || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Home Front: Politix
Squishes and RINOs afraid to nuke filibuster
Tell me you're surprised.

The voters have given Trump and the GOP the opportunity that they have been requesting. Have no fear, they'll punt it.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I kind of like the filibuster, but I think it should require something more than a senator just saying so and going on with other business.
Posted by: Glenmore in Mt Vernon || 11/28/2016 0:04 Comments || Top||

#2  The expectation that appeasement will satisfy Democrats never works.
Posted by: Heriberto Greper9897 || 11/28/2016 7:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Do on to others as they have done on to you.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/28/2016 7:32 Comments || Top||

#4  I recommend a simple solution: revert back to the previous filibuster rules after the same number of days Obama enjoyed the change. Seems fair to me.
Posted by: Airandee || 11/28/2016 8:17 Comments || Top||

#5 
And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that.
Lord Acton
Posted by: DepotGuy || 11/28/2016 9:35 Comments || Top||

#6  first off, the filibuster is very complicated but applies to only some legislation and confirmations

it would be politically best to have good legislation and good nominations and let the Donks make themselves look bad by filibustering
Posted by: lord garth || 11/28/2016 11:18 Comments || Top||

#7  let the Donks make themselves look bad by filibustering

With the exception of a few glorious years under Newt's leadership, this has been the Republican strategy for 25 years.

How's it worked out for the country?
Posted by: regular joe || 11/28/2016 11:33 Comments || Top||

#8  reg joe

with respect to judicial appointments its worked out reasonably well - unfortunately some thought to be conservative judges have flipped but that's a different story

with respect to legislation, that is partly a matter of a lack of 'good' legislation

the welfare reform bill (yes- with Newt's help) passed during a donk president

the medicare part D passed during W's admin is working out reasonably well also (to many people's surprise)

but the difficult problem is that Congress has a tough time (even the Republicans) keeping pork projects and feel good baloney out of legislation
Posted by: lord garth || 11/28/2016 12:20 Comments || Top||

#9 
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/28/2016 13:49 Comments || Top||

#10  During the next two years, both houses should concentrate on looking for laws to repeal, not enact any more of them
Posted by: Raj || 11/28/2016 14:57 Comments || Top||

#11  I'm wondering if the Republicans should perhaps abuse the crap out of their power and teach the Democrats the value of limited government the hard way.

Unfortunately they won't learn the lesson and would just escalate when given the chance.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 11/28/2016 15:48 Comments || Top||

#12  The Mitch McConnell wing of the party - letting Dems get away with murder, then care taking for them when the voters occasionally revolt.
Posted by: Iblis || 11/28/2016 18:24 Comments || Top||

#13  Senate staffer: Senator McConnell, the voters are revolting.
Senator McConnell: Yes, I also find them revolting.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 11/28/2016 18:52 Comments || Top||

#14  Coffee thru nose alert, aisle 13.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/28/2016 18:54 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Pakistan truck driver arrested in Torkham, 9,310kg of Ammonium Nitrate seized
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A Pak truck driver was placed in durance vile
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
by the Afghan National Border Police (ANBP) forces as he was attempting to transport 9,310kg of Ammonium Nitrate via Torkham.
Pictured here is a typical Afgan Pressure Cooker IED potentially filled with Ammonium Nitrate with a 'pressure plate' (upper right in photo) and 9 volt battery firing device. Drive over or step on the pressure place, the two conductors make electrical contact and kaboom.
"Yesterday evening, Afghan National Border Police (ANBP) confiscated 9310 kilos of Ammonium Nitrate, a key component used to make Improvised Explosive Devices," the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said in a statement.
Some perspective: 9,310 kilos of Ammonium Nitrate is just over 20,500 lbs. The average IED contains roughly 52 pounds of Ammonium Nitrate, in single or multiple containers.
The statement further added that Ammonium Nitrate was placed in a Pak truck transporting to Afghanistan.
To my knowledge, Afghanistan has no fertilizer or Ammonium Nitrate manufacturing capabilities.
"The police searched the truck and found the Ammonium Nitrate in the Torkham port," MoI said, adding that "The driver was arrested on accusation of this case."

The anti-government armed bully boy groups frequently use Ammonium Nitrate to produce homemade explosives including Improvised Explosive Device (IED) for roadside kaboomings besides using the material for complex attacks.

IEDs are considered as the major contributor to civilian casualties as the ordinary civilians are mostly targeted in such attacks.

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...
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said late in October it documented 8,397 conflict-related civilian casualties (2,562 deaths and 5,835 injured) between 1 January and 30 September.

The UN mission in its report said the latest civilian casualties report represents a one per cent decrease compared to the same period in 2015. Ground engagements remained the leading cause of civiliancasualties, followed by suicide and complex attacks, and improvised bombs (IEDs).

"Increased fighting in densely populated areas makes it imperative for parties to take immediate steps to ensure all feasible precautions are being taken to spare civilians from harm," said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.

The anti-government armed bully boy groups including the Taliban murderous Moslems have not commented regarding the report so far.
Posted by: Fred || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Trucks lined up transiting the Torkham gate.

Assessment: One truck was detained. Hat tip to the Afghan Border Police (ABP). Things however, are likely to become much worse in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/28/2016 5:43 Comments || Top||

#2  the Ryder truck, containing in excess of 4,800 pounds (2,200 kg)[63] of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, nitromethane, and diesel fuel mixture, detonated in front of the north side of the nine-story Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building - wiki

The OKC bomb for size perspective
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/28/2016 9:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Wow...great work by the ANBP. Concur with B that things are gonna get noisier in Kabul. 9310KG of AN is enough to build at least two of these
Posted by: Tennessee || 11/28/2016 9:44 Comments || Top||


#5  9,310kg of Ammonium Nitrate

For peaceful Islamic purposes, of course.
Posted by: gorb || 11/28/2016 23:31 Comments || Top||


Arabia
20 die in Soddy airstrike in Hodeidah province
[al-Manar] Twenty Yemenis, mostly women and children were killed or wounded Saturday evening during a Saudi-led aggression raid on two houses in Hodeidah province, northwest of Yemen, committing a fourth crime in the province within less than 12 hours.

Yemeni sources stated that 12 people were killed and 8 others wounded by a Saudi-US strike that targeted another two houses resided by three families in Marawea’ directorate of Hodeidah.

The sources said that most of the martyrs were women and children, attributing the large number of victims to the serious injuries and deterioration of health services due to the aggression and blockade.

Search and rescue operations in search for more killed or wounded remained for hours.

This crime came only several hours after a series of crimes committed by the aggression forces in the same province by killing 2 people in Al-Dreihami directorate and two others in Khokha.

Moreover, a third raid Saudi-US aggression war jets destroyed several communication networks and targeted a civilian house in Dreihami, leaving one citizen injured.
Posted by: badanov || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Pregnant woman gunned down in southern Thailand
[Bangkok Post] Two armed men opened fire at two Buddhist women in a drive-by gun attack, killing one, who was 8-months pregnant, and injuring the other in Pattani province on Saturday night. The incident occurred near a gas station in Panare district.

As the pregnant woman, Rattakal Jawang, and Saijai Thongdee were heading home aboard a motorcycle, two armed men followed them on another motorcycle and opened fire. Ms Rattakal died from her injuries at the hospital. Doctors then removed her 8-month-old unborn child, but found the baby would not breathe.

Police believe the attack was the work of insurgents.
Posted by: ryuge || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
400 flee hostilities in Aleppo
[al-Manar] More than 400 Syrian civilians have fled terrorist-held districts of eastern Aleppo for the government-controlled west as national military advances in the city, a monitor said Sunday.

The civilians fled overnight to the Masaken Hanano district and were taken to regime-controlled areas, the UK-based opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Syrian state media said government forces had on Saturday captured Masaken Hanano, the largest terrorist-held district of Aleppo, in what would be a major breakthrough in the regime’s offensive to retake the entire city.

Fresh fighting broke out on Saturday night between Syrian army and allies, and armed groups in the neighbouring districts of Haidariya and Sakhur, said the Observatory.

Syrian army targeted the area with heavy shelling, said the Britain-based monitoring group.
Posted by: badanov || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Iraq
Baghdad Bomb and Bullet Bulletin: 3 die


3 die in bomb attack in Mahmoudiya

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Three people were killed and five others were wounded when two separate IED blasts hit areas in east and southwest of Baghdad, websites quoted media sources as saying.

A source at the Interior Ministry told Almada Press Sunday that two people were killed and four others were wounded when an IED ripped through a popular marketplace in Mahmoudiya, east of the capital.

Almaalomah website also quoted security sources as saying that an employee at the Iraqi trade ministry died in a bomb blast that occurred as his car passed by at al-Haswa, west of Baghdad.

Since 2014, violence surged in Iraq with the Islamic State militants taking over wide areas of the country, and the United Nations said earlier this month that 58000 people died since then. UN statistics say 3150 Iraqis were either killed or wounded in violence during October alone, with Baghdad marked as the most hit.

15 shops destroyed in fire near Baghdad

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi media outlets reported on Sunday, that a fire broke out in al-Shoala area in northern Baghdad.

Alsumaria News stated, “This evening, fire broke out in al-Naser popular market in al-Shoala area, in northern Baghdad.”

“15 shops were damaged due to the fire. Civil Defense teams rushed to the area of incident,” the media outlet added.

The capital, Baghdad, is witnessing fire incidents at popular markets and buildings of ministries and governmental directorates from time to time, while Civil Defense teams attribute these incidents to electrical fault.
Posted by: badanov || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian forces evacuate 2 villages near Damascus
Beirut- The city of al-Tal and the camp of Khan al-Shih in the Damascus suburbs faced on Saturday a fate similar to the cities of Daraya and Maadamiyat Asham where the regime have emptied them from armed opposition fighters, who had accepted to withdraw after Bashar Assad regime forces threatened to invade the cities and towns by force.

Ismail Al-Darani, member of the Revolutionary Council in the Damascus suburbs said that “armed fighters had accepted the conditions of withdrawing for one reason: save besieged civilians from the horrors of explosive barrels.”

The opposition “Sham” news network reported on Saturday that “a meeting held between rebels and civilians following the Friday prayers in the city of al-Tal had concluded that rebels should face Assad forces and their allies.”

However, another meeting held with the regime followed the last agreement. The evacuation deal proposed by Damascus includes 10 points, mainly stipulating that rebels who refuse the agreement would leave with their weapons to any area they choose. The remaining arms would be completely handed to the regime.

The network said that the agreement to start evacuating rebels and their weapons from the two towns would start to be implemented from Saturday.

Al-Darani told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Assad regime forces succeeded to isolate the cities and big towns after their experiences in Daraya, followed by Maadamiyat Asham and then Al-Ham and Qadssaya.

“Things are over in Khan al-Shih. The agreement is currently under execution. Buses already entered the camp to remove armed fighters. As for the city of al-Tal, an agreement was also concluded. But, the execution will only start in a week,” al-Darani said.

An activist in Western Ghoutan Diyaa al-Husseini told Asharq Al-Awsat that what happened in the city of al-Tal and the camp of Khan al-Shih was “an obligatory agreement.”

He said: “Accepting the agreement does not mean that rebels surrendered, but only aims to stop the killing and the suffering of civilians.” According to al-Husseini, the rebels will head to Idlib, which he said, is not safe anymore.

The activists said around 600,000 civilians live in al-Tal, the majority of them are being displaced.

On Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two deals to evacuate rebels and their weapons from parts of the Damascus suburbs have been reached.

The Observatory said buses had arrived to the town’s entrances and surroundings to transport fighters along with their families to the northwestern province of Idlib.

Meanwhile, a series of explosions were heard on Saturday inside an arms and ammunition depot at a joint military camp controlled by Kurds and the International Coalition in northwestern Syria.
Posted by: badanov || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Europe
Fillon: now favourite to be France's next president
If conventional wisdom is right, François Fillon’s thumping victory in France's centre-right presidential primaries on Sunday as good as hands him the keys to the Elysée Palace.
The two favorites are Fillon and Le Pen -- a conventional conservative and a hard right activist. Strangely, the left is not doing well in the polls. I can't imagine why -- has something happened to tarnish the lustrous brand of socialism?
But conventional wisdom was turned upside down in the UK’s referendum on EU membership and the US presidential election. Mr Fillon is the favourite now, but there is nothing inevitable about his path to the presidency.

If he is to achieve his ambition, two premises must hold.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Take the points and bet heavy on Le Pen. Look at the last two major elections (Brexit and Trump), where the majority media lied to you every fucking step of the way and stacked the polls the same way, and bet accordingly. I don't believe these cocksuckers for a fucking second.
Posted by: Raj || 11/28/2016 0:46 Comments || Top||

#2  But Raj, we are talking about the French.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 11/28/2016 11:08 Comments || Top||

#3  The French media has a long history of keeping public figures sexual peccadiloes under wraps, but I doubt the new media will keep that tradition.
Posted by: phil_b || 11/28/2016 18:58 Comments || Top||

#4  "But Raj, we are talking about the French."

Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 11/28/2016 23:25 Comments || Top||

#5  Mr Fillon is the favourite now, but there is nothing inevitable about his path to the presidency.

Just can't quite bring themselves to do what needs to be done, eh?
Posted by: gorb || 11/28/2016 23:42 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
DSP, Ahmadi man shot dead in Karachi
[DAWN] KARACHI: A traffic police official and a member of the Ahmadi community were rubbed out in separate attacks here on Sunday evening.

According to officials, men on a cycle of violence attacked Deputy Superin­tendent of Police Faiz Ali Shigri’s chauffeur-driven official vehicle near the Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
Sajji House restaurant in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

Mr Shigri and the driver suffered critical injuries and were taken to a private hospital where doctors declared the official dead, Sharea Faisal DSP Ali Anwar Soomro said.

In the other incident, four men on two cycle of violences opened fire on Sheikh Sajid Mehmood, 55, a member of the Ahmadi community, when he came out of his home in Kaneez Fatima Society, off Superhighway, in the Sachal area.

He was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where he was pronounced dead.
He's dead, Jim!


Posted by: Fred || 11/28/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi



Who's in the News
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2Taliban
1Thai Insurgency
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2016-11-28
  Ohio State Stabbing: Somali Refugee (stabber) Killed
Sun 2016-11-27
  Iraq's parliament passes law legalising Shia militias
Sat 2016-11-26
  Fidel Castro dies aged 90
Fri 2016-11-25
  Suicide truck bomb kills about 100 in Iraq, mostly Iranian pilgrims
Thu 2016-11-24
  Wayne State University police officer dies after being shot in head
Wed 2016-11-23
  ISIS ‘resisting till their last breath’ in Sirte, Libya
Tue 2016-11-22
  ISIS claims responsibility behind Kabul mosque bombing that left 32 dead
Mon 2016-11-21
  Turkey’s Erdogan warns NATO on sheltering ‘terrorist’ plotters
Sun 2016-11-20
  Three Pakistani Men Apprehended in U.S. at Arizona Border
Sat 2016-11-19
  Taliban shadow governor among 11 killed in North of Afghanistan
Fri 2016-11-18
  Haftar forces claim victory in Benghazi
Thu 2016-11-17
  Final 3 Minnesota men sentenced in Islamic State case
Wed 2016-11-16
  Police make raids against suspected 'IS' supporters across 10 states in Germany
Tue 2016-11-15
  167 ISIS Turbans die in rebel combat operations in Raqqa
Mon 2016-11-14
  Turkey backed rebel units close on Al-Bab

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