(Not Fred though)
President-elect Donald J. Trump has selected Scott Pruitt, the Oklahoma attorney general and a close ally of the fossil fuel industry, to run the Environmental Protection Agency, a transition official said, signaling Mr. Trump’s determination to dismantle President Obama’s efforts to counter climate change.
This is how a hard-nosed business person does it...
Boeing Co. executives told officials on President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team that the cost of a new version of Air Force One could be lowered if the government agrees to reduce its requirements for the plane, people familiar with the discussions said.
The company’s executives reached out to Trump’s staff after the Republican said on Twitter on Tuesday that plans for a new Air Force One should be canceled because of "ridiculous" costs. The missive put in Trump’s sights both a plane that is one of the most visible symbols of the American presidency and a firm that is the nation’s largest exporter.
“Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion,” Trump said in his tweet. “Cancel order!”
The president-elect, who turned jobs and trade into defining issues of his campaign, tweeted about Boeing days after Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg called on him and Congress to ensure that U.S. companies have the tools to compete in a global economy.
“We are currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of this complex military aircraft that serves the unique requirements of the President of the United States,” Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher said in an e-mail. “We look forward to working with the U.S. Air Force on subsequent phases of the program allowing us to deliver the best plane for the president at the best value for the American taxpayer.”
The Pentagon already is budgeting $3.2 billion for research and development, military construction and acquisition of two of the Air Force One planes through fiscal 2021, said Kevin Brancato, the lead government contracts analyst for Bloomberg Government. More money is anticipated in the two years after that. Boeing 747-8 planes average about $225 million each, he said, which means most of the expenses will go to outfitting the planes for presidential use.
The Air Force and Boeing are still conducting work to reduce the program’s technical risks before the company is awarded an advanced development contract, Captain Michael Hertzog, a spokesman for the service branch, said in an e-mail. Budgeted spending can be expected “to change as the program matures with the completion of the risk reduction activities,” he said.
“This is what an Air Force One costs,” Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst at Teal Group, said of Trump’s tweet. “There have been no cost overruns. The ability to fly the president during a war is fundamentally expensive.”
The Boeing executives who contacted Trump officials suggested that the price of the new planes could be reduced if the Air Force and Secret Service revise their specifications for the aircraft, the people familiar with the discussions said. The company was not told in advance that Trump would tweet about the plane, the people said.
The Air Force expects the planes to have the range to fly between continents and to have comparable interiors to the current 747 aircraft, whose features include work and sleeping quarters for the president and first family. Beyond such amenities, the planes must be outfitted for highly advanced, secure communications and classified defensive capabilities that make them flying fortresses.
“This is madness,” Aboulafia said of Trump’s tweet. “I think about the complications, for example, if the president and his staff had to run the nation on 9/11 and afterwards without an Air Force One and my mind is kind of scrambled on that.”
The Pentagon is looking to replace its aging fleet of Boeing 747-200 aircraft, which were built in the 1980s and will reach the planned 30-year service life in 2017. Officials have said the next Air Force One 747-8 jets are estimated to begin operations in fiscal 2023.
There’s no clear alternative to Chicago-based Boeing to build a new Air Force One, especially not for a president who wants to buy U.S. products. The only other option for a four-engine plane the Air Force is seeking would come from Europe’s Airbus Group SE, which said in 2013 that it wouldn’t make a proposal.
The Air Force said last year that it was giving Boeing the contract without competition because its plane is the only one manufactured in the U.S. “that when fully missionized meets the necessary critically important capabilities” that a president needs. But the service also said it would encourage other companies to bid for the special equipment needed to convert the aircraft for presidential use.
“The plane is totally out of control,” Trump said in a brief appearance in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday. “I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much money.”
Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he counted himself among those who think there are too many bells and whistles on Air Force One. “I think it ought to be reviewed,” he told reporters at the Capitol. “I think it’s a legitimate concern.”
The dispute is reminiscent of the controversy over the Pentagon’s efforts to develop a replacement for the helicopters used to ferry the president and executive branch officials, known as Marine One when the president is on board. A program managed by Lockheed Martin Corp. to build as many as 28 helicopters was canceled in 2009 after about $3.1 billion was spent and the planned $6.1 billion project soared to a projected $13 billion. In 2009, President Barack Obama cited it as “an example of the procurement process gone amok.”
Wow, you mean what Trump is doing isn't exactly new?
In 2014, the Pentagon tried again, awarding an initial $1.24 billion contract to a team led by Sikorsky Aircraft. Since then, Lockheed acquired Sikorsky. So it’s back in charge of the helicopter project.
Trump transition spokesman Jason Miller said he couldn’t answer whether the president-elect or his top advisers had been in contact with Boeing or the Pentagon. Details about Trump’s goal, whether to scrap the plane or renegotiate the cost, will emerge after he’s sworn in next month, he said.
“This really speaks to the president-elect’s focus on keeping costs down across the board,” Miller told reporters on a conference call. The plane’s price “is a very big number.”
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2016
11:59 ||
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#1
Another lawn dart crashed of the Japan coast today. The "smart" alternative to the F-35...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/07/2016 12:19
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#2
So why didn't he just follow the Obama plan and blame his predecessor?
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/07/2016 12:32
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#3
Isn't Boeing based out of Chicago?
Posted by: Titus Splat4209 ||
12/07/2016 13:12
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#4
Bobby, because Trump actually wants to get shit done.
He is a businessman and blaming others doesn't get you jack.
#5
I think this is what Trump meant when he talked about walking away from a deal that is not to his liking. Then if the other side really wants to do business there will be further negotiations.
Pretty sure the Obama way was to ask for all the bells and whistles without any concern for the cost.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/07/2016 13:29
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#6
Pretty sure the Obama way was to ask for all the bells and whistles without any concern for the cost.
What does Obama care? He's not paying for it, and the press is going to treat Trump as though he's paying for it, so expect a lot more of this.
#7
Pretty sure the Obama way was to ask for all the bells and whistles without any concern for the cost.
And many of the specs not yet invented as well, no doubt, just like Obamacare. Mr. Trump should demand the sturdiest of the current technology options -- it'll be better than what was available thirty years ago, which is currently acceptable -- and customize the thing using off-the-shelf components and whatever the NSA recommends for secure communications. The president doesn't need cutting edge, he needs something to reliably and comfortably get him and his team from here to there and back again, and something that will keep him and the team safely in the air during an emergency. Experimental is for Evon Musk and John Denver.
#15
Disclaimer, I work for Boeing. But we need a little truth on the subject. Boeing works the design, the bells and whistles, as specified in the SOW. Boeing does not dream up the equipment that must be integrated into the aircraft, nor does it outline the EMP, laser, weapons, and other survivability systems built into the design. The Pentagon defines the requirements. Boeing is under contract to design the aircraft, and to see if all that is required is possible. The cost of this is by design, and yes Boeing is not cheap, but it will be correct.
Second point, after I politely threw the pentagon under the bus. Just where do we say enough is enough with the systems in the aircraft when the president is on board? The new threats, high power lasers, EMP,EMP tracking missiles, Unmanned weapons, etc... All have been developed after the latest version of Air Force one hit the street. Which vulnerability do you want to allow? Times have changed since the doomsday bird of the 70's and the air force one requirements of today. These birds are going to be pricy. And finally the numbers are not correct. The average cost of a green 747-8 is over $300 million.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/07/2016 19:06
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Actually comparing a 747 to a B-52 is like comparing an apple to a orange.
The 747 is a "lightweight" build for commercial purposes.
The B-52 is a military grade plane, with thicker skin, designed to survive being shot at and all kind of nasty stuff. It is not designed for comfort.
Two entirely different mission objectives so it's not fair to the 747 manufacturer to expect the same life span, Customers would not pay for the extra durability.
All on this day 75 years ago.
The attack on Pearl Harbor, also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor, the Hawaii Operation or Operation AI by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, and Operation Z during planning, was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II.
Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan planned in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. Over the next seven hours there were coordinated Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines, Guam and Wake Island and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time. The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four sunk. All but the USS Arizona (BB-39) were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 64 servicemen killed. One Japanese sailor, Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured.
The attack came as a profound shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters. The following day, December 8, the United States declared war on Japan.[18] Domestic support for non-interventionism, which had been fading since the Fall of France in 1940, disappeared. Clandestine support of the United Kingdom (e.g., the Neutrality Patrol) was replaced by active alliance. Subsequent operations by the U.S. prompted Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy to declare war on the U.S. on December 11, which was reciprocated by the U.S. the same day.
There were numerous historical precedents for unannounced military action by Japan. However, the lack of any formal warning, particularly while negotiations were still apparently ongoing, led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy". Because the attack happened without a declaration of war and without explicit warning, the attack on Pearl Harbor was judged by the Tokyo Trials to be a war crime.
#1
https://youtu.be/QSn4wDHkgig
This Ink Spots hit was ironically playing on a local radio station at the time the attack started. My uncle was at Wheeler Field & heard the music playing through an open window at a barracks, then he saw the first bomb drop on his base.
New York magazine reported Monday that many women in Washington D.C. are dealing with President-elect Donald Trump’s victory by cutting or dying their hair.
Julianna Evans, who works for a performing-arts company, told NY magazine that she "cried for three days" following Trump’s win. She said, "it was catastrophic."
Despite being distraught over Trump’s victory, Evans did not lose her will. NY Magazine wrote that Evans, "put on her big-girl panties and dragged herself to the drugstore." She then bravely grabbed "Natural Black box by Garnier." Evans said, "I was like, fuck it! The election deadened my soul. I think I wanted to do something defiant to feel stronger."
How empowering!
Evans added, "For many of us, with this election, it’s like your boyfriend dumped you in a really shocking way with no explanation and then moved in next door."
She said, "Now, I feel like my hair says you can’t bring me down. This misogyny will not persevere. The bumper sticker for me is, ’I am woman, hear me roar.'"
Meow...
Marion Jacobs, a former psychology professor at University of California, Los Angeles, spoke to New York about the supposed hair change phenomenon. She said, "People will use all kinds of abnormalfoolish coping mechanisms, and cutting their hair and changing their look is one way to show or feel that they are doing something over which they have control."
Nicole Butler, who dyes hair at a D.C. salon, told NY magazine, "When you see that much blonde hair on the floor, you know something is going on."
Now there's a statement on which we both agree...
Butler said her salon has been facing a deluge of appointments for women "asking for a drastic change." "It was like a mass declaration of independence," Butler said. "Maybe this is some kind of compensation for not getting what we wanted in the election. By changing our hair, we can control the outcome."
The outcome of what, exactly?
Another hair stylist Mariangela Moore told New York that women have been trying to become unattractive to rebel against Trump. "One of my clients said, ’Think of Melania Trump and go in in the opposite direction,'" Moore said.
#8
women have been trying to become more unattractive to rebel against Trump
I remember this on campus in the late 60s when feminism was in its first rage. Everyone dressed down so you couldn't tell who as just plain ugly or just playing ugly. Good birth control practice. What's old is new again. Thank you for self identifying for this generation.
Photo site (at the link) for the Oakland 'Ghost Ship' shows the squalor and clutter in the building where 36 people lost their lives in last Friday's fire.
What were these hippies thinking? Where were the inspectors?
swksvolFF, could we get your take on this as a firefighter and the dangers to emergency personnel attempting to save folks, plus fight the fire, in such conditions (although I believe I might already know).
Tragic
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/07/2016
08:48 ||
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#1
Cool man! What could go wrong? I saw a sign that said "No smoking". Didn't that apply to refrigerators?
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/07/2016 11:51
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#2
The hippies were thinking how cool it was. Can't imagine what the inspectors were thinking. But right about now they're probably thinking how to cover their butts.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/07/2016 13:22
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#3
Grabbing lunch, will take a look at the pictures.
#8
I will do my best, urban structure fire is a bit out of my usual response, though familiar with structure fire.
First level of protection is prevention. Obviously, this is already out the door.
Second level is local response - smoke detectors, automatic contact to dispatch, fire suppression systems, fire extinguishers, time of awareness that SHTF, contact to dispatch has their head on and can articulate the situation.
I do not know any inside professional chain of events, so this is in general:
Assuming (love that word) best case scenario - safety officer who embraces the job and is sober, ready to go. At least five minutes to get the call in, knows the address, can explain the situation even as all hell is breaking loose.
Attack/Rescue team has the latest gear including thermal cameras which can broadcast to incident command, well trained, in shape, in mind because this is a thinking game. Arrive in one of those rigs which allow two teams of two to suit up in-route, plenty of hose and water for an initial attack, fairly close distance and hydrants which function, plenty of help on the way, interior fire suppression system which can be connected by a pumper/hydrant. We are stretching here already, so let's be 10 minutes response - 15 minutes in.
As with these events, it is really a series of failures, beginning with the number one danger - attendants checked their awareness at the ticket booth. At the Oh Crap moment there is likely to be a stampede, where other people are the main threat. After that it will be what is loosely called smoke, really a cess pool of different chemicals and particulates dependent upon what is burning. The combination of those two variables will eventually cause a loss of consciousness. So not only is the respiratory and cardiac system in serious threat, patients may be getting trampled as well.
Then it starts getting hot. Depending upon the rate of burn and access to egress vs. volume and mindset of the participants, people may still be exiting at 15 minutes.
Fire may be a no mercy no prisoners SOB, but it is predictable. People, not so much. Initial Attack/Rescue would at this point know there are casualties and victims whose sand is slipping ever quicker. First would be something like a 2x2 team, buddy system two in two out QRF. Obviously we are past a fire extinguisher attack so hose is pulled. Enough people 'trying to help' standing on that hose threatens water pressure. Staying coordinated is tough, even with voice amplification in the mask, adrenaline is pumping, seconds count.
Likely the power is out, either from the fire or purposely off to protect against electrocution. Even with a pre-incident inspection everything is an unknown. Fixtures are knocked over, people are in the way. Even with a thermal camera and a real nice flashlight, pulling people out in 50 pounds of gear is difficult, hot, and chews up the air supply.
It will keep getting hotter until proper ventilation is achieved, to the point standing is not a livable option. A firefighter going down is not joke. This is not some hipster with more dreadlocks than ass, as I mentioned earlier this person is in shape and in 50 pounds of gear.
So were are crawling in the dark, maybe pushing through people. Spraying water is not always the right idea as it can upset the thermal layering and bring the hot air to ground level. At some point there is concern about a flashover.
At 20 - 25 minutes only those furthest from the fire and unable to escape are potential rescues.
It all gets situational at this point. Origin of fire, fire retardant systems, what equipment has arrived and in operation, command's mentality
EMTs will be treating smoke inhalation, injuries, shock, with all the normal concerns about handling bodily fluids.
People may panic and try to go in, may drive over hoses, or try to help but just get in the way - that will have to be controlled in order to perform operations safely. Remember, we are short on personnel within that short time period when people can still be rescued.
In short, a cluster-fk two story trash dump fire.
A real armchair AAR, and am open to discussion and correction. I would say the biggest danger to first responders here was people. Trading safety for style. Was this place inspected and what measures if any were made by either party? Was there a fire suppression system and if so, did it work, why or why not? What condition was the electrical system in consideration of power consumption? Were there open flames or other pyro techniques in use?
Problem is, a series of bad decisions may not seem like bad decisions until something bad happens. Crap happens, but there are quite a few flags here to not think that this could have been prevented.
Unfortunately I have heard enough conflicting reports to be uneasy to speculate much further, and am sure the responders did everything they could possibly do, especially with lives on the line.
Now, considering the interior, place was a death trap anyways. Hoarder level. Choke points everywhere.
#9
Like #7 sez. At that point, if the City had unanswered concerns, they, Oakland, should have secured a search warrant allowing access to both the Building and Fire Departments.
There should be questions asked at the municipality, but doubt there will be any finding of fault.
Meantime, 36 souls paid the ultimate mortal price.
#10
The UK Daily Mail did a thorough job reporting the incident, unlike the US MSM. Here is a LINK.
I have worked over 30 years with the Alaska State Fire Marshal plan review bureau. If you are prepared, they are very nice to work with. If there is a conflict or issue with the codes, we will work it out. The Ghost ship guys in Oakland have some serious issues to explain, and the Oakland govt has some serious explaining to do why they did not take action when they knew what was happening in that future incinerator building.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/07/2016 17:02
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#11
Local news said the fire station was a block away, it took three minutes to arrive at the building and it was already too late.
[Guardian] Donald Trump: 'We will stop racing to topple foreign regimes.'
Donald Trump has laid out a US military policy that would avoid interventions in foreign conflicts and instead focus heavily on defeating the Islamic State militancy.
"We will stop racing to topple foreign regimes that we know nothing about, that we shouldn’t be involved with," the president-elect said on Tuesday night in Fayetteville, near Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina.
"Instead our focus must be on defeating terrorism and destroying Isis, and we will."
#2
A Google search reveals little media coverage of this announcement, which apparently repeats one made five days ago, which did make it into one US paper - Washington Examiner
So why didn't David Muir cover this story? [rhetorical] Wins 1000 gratuitous snark points.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/07/2016 7:27
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#3
I'd make an exemption in that dumping your population on us is considered an act of war warranting removing the responsible regimes (ie ruling caste).
#4
So we're gonna topple the government of Mexico? Of course, it is an act of war when their people flood our country, a very disorganized war but war none the less. Still I think I like the wall better. And shoot to kill anybody who tries to get over it. But then if the Mexican government falls of its own weight I'll be OK with that too.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/07/2016 11:20
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#5
I'm a little uneasy with this ISIS business. It looks to me like an Arab problem best resolved by Arabs. How do you even define defeating them? They'll just scatter and reconstitute themselves somewhere else. Meddling is what got us into so many of these messes in the first place. Just make sure that none of them get into the United States.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/07/2016 11:26
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#6
The absolute rejection of Jeb! should have been a solid clue...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/07/2016 11:53
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#8
I'm a little uneasy with this ISIS business. It looks to me like an Arab problem best resolved by Arabs. How do you even define defeating them?
The Arabs could not have long stood against ISIS on their own -- we saw what it looked like when they tried.
I would define defeat as killing enough of them that the rest surrender, then put them on chain gangs to rebuild the communities they despoiled. Then put them on lifetime probation with automatic death penalty for breaking it, plus additional punishments or exile for their nearest relations -- no ten year maximum hudna before returning to the jihad, or supporting jihad, for them.
#9
The problem is the vast majority of SUNNI Arabs are a bit sympathetic to ISIS. It's the leadership that fears ISIS and are trying to befriend the Tiger until someone else can take care of it.
Once I had hope Turkey could responsibly handle the region, now I think the Kurds and the Israel are the only ones worth a damned (far more than a damned) but neither one is in a position to get involved.
So defend Israel and the Kurds and let the Arabs deal with it.
#10
And Mexico, we should have put a proper government in place decades ago. A third of Mexicans want to come to the US (according to CNN) so we haven't seen anything yet.
#11
You have to bear in mind that the major reason the government of Mexico endures is because any of their citizens who are of the "not gonna take it" mentality are encouraged to move elsewhere, as in the US. The border has been their safety valve.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
12/07/2016 17:31
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#12
ed in texas, I've been saying that for years. A wall cuts that off and will force Mexico to fix themselves.
A wall thus indirectly helps 122 million people and is the human solution. Allowing the status quo of illegals and sending money back helps the oligarchs at the expense of the poorest (generally Mexicans of Indian heritage).
[GP] At this time Trump leads by 22,000 votes as of December 5th, and while errors have been found, the gain/loss ratio hasn’t done much to change the current standing. In fact, the recount has only rewarded Trump with 26 extra votes.
[BBC] One of Donald Trump's aides has lost his job after fanning a conspiracy theory that climaxed at the weekend in gunfire at a pizzeria.
Michael Flynn, 33, left the US president-elect's transition team on Tuesday following his tweets about the so-called Pizzagate fake news story.
His father, Michael Flynn Snr, Mr Trump's pick to be US national security adviser, has also shared fake news. The Pizzagate hoax led to a gunman firing shots in a restaurant on Sunday.
[PJ] In the midst of all the euphoria concerning Mr. Trump’s election to the presidency, the president-elect has suggested that a possible role for his son-in-law Jared Kushner might be to broker a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Arabs.
One hopes that Trump and Kushner do not, in fact, waste any time pursuing this will-o’-the-wisp. Four major, intractable obstacles stand in the way of any conceivable peace agreement; until they have gone away, there is no prospect.
[Daily Caller] The new CEO of Wells Fargo, Tim Sloan, urged President-elect Donald Trump to consider making regulatory changes at an industry conference Tuesday morning.
Wells Fargo got slapped with a $185 million fine from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in September for issuing 565,000 lines of credit and opening 1.5 million bank accounts for customers without their consent. Bank employees even went so far as to fake email addresses for their customers to sign them up for banking services in order to pad numbers. Some 14,000 of those credit accounts accrued over $400,000 in fees.
Yes Mr. Sloan, I can certainly see where you are coming from.
#1
Yes, less fines for the company (and stockholders) in return for long prison sentences and confiscatory fines to CEO and their minions who do these things. Till I see the latter in practice, we can hold off on the former.
[Daily Caller] A Nov. 15 Islamic State video demonstrates in high quality, the ongoing ISIS suicide car bomb campaign against the Iraqi military.
The video was released from the ISIS-controlled Ninawa province, and turned into a GIF by users of Reddit’s combat footage subreddit. The ISIS truck bomb targets three Iraqi military vehicles, and shows soldiers fleeing the scene in the moments before the explosion.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
12/07/2016
02:49 ||
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#1
Backtracking (friendly) Full Motion Video (FMV) to vehicular point of origin (POO) could provide some targeting assistance. Just say'n.
[Free Beacon] Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb said in an interview with RT that she is afraid Russia and Saudi Arabia will build oil pipelines through the United States while Donald Trump is president.
Kleeb brought up her concern while speaking with host Ed Schultz about the the ongoing controversy surrounding the Dakota Access Pipeline project and her strong opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline.
"You know what Trump is saying, that he’s going to get rid of the executive order that requires the State Department to review any pipeline that crosses our U.S. border," Kleeb said. "And that’s obviously very dangerous because if he does that, that means a pipeline from Saudi Arabia, Russia, whoever that wants to cross into the United States would literally have no federal oversight, no review, no environmental review. No federal agency right now other than the State Department reviews those pipelines when it crosses one of our borders, so he’s being reckless."
Schultz is currently a host on RT, a television network funded by the Russian government that critics argue is a propaganda tool of the Kremlin.
#2
Indirectly yes. You screw around in the world driving oil prices up. Others are going to go looking for cheaper and more secure sources to keep them operating in a oil oriented world. Who's causing the problems? Ergo, Russia and Saudi Arabia will build the pipelines through the U.S. It's a feature, not a bug.
#5
"...And in other news, the chairman of the Nebraska Democratic Party has come out at as a complete moron, bringing strong protests from the Moron-American community. But first - Jerry with sports!"
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/07/2016 12:07
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#6
Wannna' get really scared? Understand that she was absolutely serious.
[Reuters] China called on U.S. officials on Tuesday not to let Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen pass through the United States en route to Guatemala next month, days after President-elect Donald Trump irked Beijing by speaking to Tsai in a break with decades of precedent.
The U.S. State Department appeared to reject the call, saying that such transits were based on "long-standing U.S. practice, consistent with the unofficial nature of (U.S.) relations with Taiwan."
China is deeply suspicious of Tsai, whom it thinks wants to push for the formal independence of Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing regards as a renegade province.
Her call with Trump on Friday was the first between a U.S. president-elect or president and a Taiwanese leader since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 1979.
Tsai is due to visit Guatemala, one of Taiwan's small band of diplomatic allies, on Jan. 11-12, its foreign minister, Carlos Raul Morales, told Reuters.
Taiwan's Liberty Times, considered close to Tsai's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, reported on Monday that she was planning to go through New York early next month on her way to Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Taiwan has not formally confirmed Tsai's trip but visits to its allies in the region are normally combined with transit stops in the United States and meetings with Taiwan-friendly officials.
The trip would take place before Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20 to replace Democrat Barack Obama and Tsai's delegation would seek to meet Trump's team, including his White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, the Liberty Times said.
#1
I recommend Tsai's delegation postpone the trip until the 21st of January. It's a very long journey, a NYC layover would be very prudent. Let me also recommend a hotel.
#4
I've dealt w/2 x visits from Pres of Taiwan here in LA this year. Doing all the advance work w/them is a great. They run a tight ship and sincerely appreciate what we do for them.
The PRC on the other hand ...lets just say they are one of our more high demand clients.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
12/07/2016 22:37
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[Breitbart] The Chinese government appears to be adopting a two-sided diplomatic approach to incoming U.S. President Donald Trump, with President Xi Jinping and his Foreign Ministry issuing moderated, friendly comments about Trump. China’s propaganda newspapers, however, seethe at the President-elect’s defiant moves against the Asian power.
In a meeting during the weekend, Xi told former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, a key player in the restoration of China-U.S. ties, that he was hoping to maintain "sustained, stable and better growth of U.S.-China relations" under Trump, according to Chinese state news service Xinhua.
Kissinger and Xi reportedly met in China’s Great Hall of the People before reporters, with Xinhua revealing the details of the conversation the Chinese communist government wished to see make headlines. As Kissinger had recently met with Trump, the discussion with Xi largely centered around what to expect of the new Trump administration.
#5
Trump can crater the Chinese economy with tariffs, and there is not a whole lot China can do about it.
I thought at the time of the USA's recognition of China, it would secure the communist party's future for a few decades. Time to end the reprieve Kissinger at al gave the CP.
Unlike most of you I've known quite a few mainland Chinese, and they are thoroughly indoctrinated in a very distorted view of history and the world.
Get rid of the CP and I anticipate a much less dangerous China.
#6
I was actively paying attention at the time of the ping-pong diplomacy and given the situation in the world I did not think it the wrong move.
As the years went on I have come to think of this as Kissinger's one and only legacy moment and he can't stop polishing it. He seems to believe that he is playing a game of Risk or maybe Go but that nothing but the game matters. How many Quatloos a play will make is the only thing that matters.
#7
I was actively paying attention at the time of the ping-pong diplomacy and given the situation in the world I did not think it the wrong move.
I agree, it was a wise move. The perversion came as Kissinger made a nearly 45 year career of personal business and economic exploitation at the expense of American industry. The Clinton Foundation took this financial exploitation template to entirely new global levels.
Since 1972 Henry Kissinger (a former U.S. Army Intelligence Officer) he has become a virtual case officer or 'go to guy' for American business and commerce in China. Notice how quickly Kissinger jumped into action following the Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen-Trump phone call ?
#8
1976, it just wasn't the pardon that killed Gerald Ford's election bid, the retention of Kissinger didn't help either. IIRC later after the foreign disasters of the Carter years, he basically said we'd lost to the Soviets and were just killing time. A one trick pony?
#9
The motivation behind Tricky Dick's so-called 'Ping-Pong' diplomacy of 1972 was to introduce western economic and democratic concepts to the Communist regime. Another attempt at fok'n regime change.
Imagine that, attempting to introduce entrepreneurial concepts to the Chinese.
#10
Beso, the one thing that always has to be factored in when discussing that time is the Cold War and the Soviet Union.
You just can't look at individual events in a vacuum. That environment was just too damn complex and twitchy trigger fingers on nukes just made everything a whole lot more dangerous.
Israel's intelligence community believes that diplomacy has "rolled back Iran's nuclear program," US President Barack Obama argued one last time on Tuesday evening in his final major national security speech before leaving office.
Framing international talks over Iran's nuclear work as a model for approaching other challenges in the region, he suggested a similar effort may help to conclude the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 44 days
#8
Iran-style diplomacy needed for 'Israel and Palestine,' Obama says
So he wants Israel to give Palestine their dream list of demands in exchange for threats and kidnapping their sailors? I'm not an expert but that doesn't seem the recipe for peace.
...Jerusalem’s Taub Center for Social Policy Studies has just produced a study that links longevity of Israeli men and military service, which contributes to improved physical fitness.
The study did not examine such a possible link in women or look specifically at ultra-Orthodox men, few of whom serve in the IDF.
The average life expectancy for men in Israel is around 81 years, compared to the OECD average of 77.7 and a world average of 68.8 years. This figure ranks Israel in second place in the world out of 170 countries, alongside Iceland, Singapore and Switzerland, with only San Marino ranking higher.
Considering other variables that influence longevity ‐ including wealth and education levels, the health system and the country’s general demographic profile ‐ the Israeli advantage is significant and growing. Don't know about that - I've started smoking in the service. On the other hand, I did learn that bad things can happen to me - which possitively affects my driving.
Exclusive: CEO who just went toe-to-toe with Donald Trump says there was 'no quid pro quo' about Carrier
United Technologies CEO Greg Hayes said there's a cost to keeping Carrier's Indiana plant open in a deal with President-elect Donald Trump, but he expected that the move will pay off in the long-term.
"I was born at night, but it wasn't last night," Hayes told "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer on Monday. "I also know that about 10 percent of our revenue comes from the U.S. government."
Hayes said that a Trump administration could potentially bring a "better" regulatory environment and a lower tax rate, which could help United Technologies in the long run.
[RFE/RL] The mayor of Bishkek has asked residents of the Kyrgyz capital to help identify and locate two young men it says roasted potatoes on the eternal flame at the city's memorial to those slain in World War II. The mayor's office issued a statement Tuesday appealing to residents and promising not to disclose the identities of those who help track down "the vandals."
A video apparently taken on November 29 showed two men roasting potatoes on the eternal flame on Victory Square in Bishkek. The video has been circulating on the Internet since December 1.
The mayor's office said that it also asked police to find the men. Police said preliminary investigations suggest the men may work at a parking area near Victory Square.
It was not clear what charges the men might face if caught.
[MarketWatch] SoftBank Group Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said Tuesday he would invest $50 billion in the U.S. and create 50,000 new jobs, following a 45-minute private meeting with President elect Donald Trump.
The Japanese billionaire, whose conglomerate controls Sprint Corp. S, +0.73% , announced his investment plans in the lobby of Trump Tower, though he didn't provide details. Trump took credit for the investment, saying his November victory spurred SoftBank's decision.
#3
It's more fun being the Godfather than the supplicant. Donald has had to play that game most of his life, now he's in the high seat. He knows how it is played.
[Mindanao Examiner] Philippine security forces clashed with jihadis before dawn Tuesday in Lanao del Sur's Butig town that wounded a police commando. Officials said the police and military searched houses of terrorist leader Abdullah Maute and his brother Omar, and their relatives in the town.
Military spokesman Filemon Tan said, "Joint law enforcement operations launched early today by the military and police against Farhana Maute, mother of the Maute brothers, led to the recovery of a firearm and several war and explosive materials in Butig."
Other reports said the commando, was wounded in an explosion after tripping on an explosive in one of the houses they searched.
Tan also said that a soldier was also killed in a gun battle with the Maute group in Butig on Monday. Troops continue to hunt the terrorist group blamed by the military for deadly attacks in the province.
Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte said he wanted to talk peace with the Maute group and also the Abu Sayyaf in an effort to stop the violence. Both groups have pledged allegiance to Daesh.
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[al-Manar] Five Yemeni civilians were killed and two others wounded Tuesday morning as the Saudi-US war jets attacked a civilian car in Baqem directorate of Saada province.
The attack left five martyrs and two wounded.
Another civilian was wounded in Manbeh directorate when the Saudi border guards fired gunshot.
[Libya Observer] The National committee for Human Rights in Libya (NCHRL) has expressed rejection for the statement of some of the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) members, who are trying to lay the basis for the marginalization and taking away of rights of the Libyan social and cultural communities.
In a statement, the NCHRL said it was filled with sorrow to hear such statements by those who were trusted with drafting a constitution that would be inclusive of all Libya’s communities and guarantee that all of Libyan citizens enjoy their rights equally.
“We totally reject such “eliminatory statements” as they use marginalization at the pretext of ‘protecting the national security’, which in fact urges, now more than ever, for protecting the rights of all the Libyan communities on the basis of the natural rights not the legal rights.” The statement reads.
It also indicated that the communities of Tuareg, Tubu and Amazigh people in Libya must see their rights included in the Libyan constitution so that they can preserve their cultural and social ancestries and keep the Libyan society diverse as it naturally is, thus respecting the international conventions regarding the civil, political, cultural and social rights.
“They all must be having their rights protected in the Libyan constitution so that the Libyan identity can be preserved for good.” The statement elaborates.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A coordinated attack by the Talibs was repulsed by the Afghan cops in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan.
Local officials said the attack was launched by scores of Taliban Lions of Islam on Arghistan district which was repulsed after several hours of intense shootout.
Provincial governor’s front man Samim Khpolwak confirmed the attack and said the Taliban Lions of Islam suffered heavy casualties in the clash.
He said the Talibs suffered heavy casualties during the clash but did not provide further information regarding the exact number.
According to Khpolwak, an Afghan policeman also lost his life during the clash but other sources are saying that 3 coppers were killed.
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[AlAhram] Egypt's army announced on Tuesday that security forces killed eight gunnies and tossed in the clink Please don't kill me! 12 others in an operation in North Sinai.
In the statement reported by state news agency MENA, the army said security forces raided and destroyed a number of buildings used by gunnies to hide and monitor security forces in the area and a cache of bombs.
In mid-October, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi extended a state of emergency in designated areas of the North Sinai governorate for three months, starting 31 October.
[AlAhram] Grand Mufti Shawki Allam, Egypt’s most influential Moslemholy man, condemned on Tuesday the bombing of an al-Azhar institute in North Sinai, describing it as vicious and an attack of terrorism.Unidentified assailants earlier on Tuesday bombed an institute belonging to al-Azhar, the highest Sunni Islamic learning authority, leaving no casualties.
However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... a large part of the building was demolished, Ahram Arabic news website reported.
The Grand Mufti said the "vicious" attack mirrors "the terrorists' fear of learning and holy mans who spread the moderate [version] of religion that combats their extremism."
In 2014, Dar Al Ifta, the central authority for issuing religious rulings which Allam heads, launched a department that monitors Lion of Islam edicts.
Measures taken in Turkey following the 15 July coup attempt created an "environment conducive to torture", the UN has warned. Ill treatment appears to have been widespread immediately after the failed putsch, a UN expert said on Friday, following an investigation in the country.
Turkey is under a state of emergency, extended for 12 weeks in October, after a rogue military faction tried to remove President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power in the summer coup attempt.
"Some recently passed legislation and statutory decrees created an environment conducive to torture," UN special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer told reporters in Ankara.
Melzer's visit, the first by a UN torture expert to Turkey since 1998, comes a month after US-based watchdog Human Rights Watch [HRW] accused Turkish police of torturing detainees.
Since July, more than 100,000 people in the judiciary, military, media, civil service and education sector have been detained, dismissed or suspended. In total, 37,000 people have been arrested and some have claimed torture, according to human rights groups.
Just over a week after the coup bid, Amnesty International said it had "credible evidence" of the abuse and torture of people detained in the sweeping arrests.
According to Melzer, torture appears to have been widespread in the immediate after 15 July, based on information given during his week-long visit.
"Testimonies received from inmates and their lawyers suggests that in the days and weeks following the failed coup torture and other forms of ill treatment were widespread."
He added that ill treatment seemed to have ceased for those prisoners arrested for reasons related to the attempted coup.
During his six-day visit, he went to places of detention in Ankara, Diyarbakir, Sanliurfa and Istanbul where conditions were "satisfactory", he said. And the independent expert stressed that Turkey had the safeguards in place to prevent abuse and "thanks to the government's commitment, substantial progress has been made against torture since the 1990s".
The Turkish government has previously denied all forms of torture have taken place while insisting that it is dealing with an extraordinary situation within the rule of law.
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12/07/2016
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#4
"As handsome as wadis are pebbly,
Are Arabs," thought Lawrence, "and trebly
When they have been naughty,
And crawling, not haughty,
Are awed by my terrible Webley."
[Iran Press TV] German Chancellor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... has called for banning of the burqa "wherever it is legally possible," while stressing that German law "takes precedence" over Sharia.
"The full-face veil must be banned wherever it is legally possible," said Merkel to delegates at the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) congress held in Essen on Tuesday.
While launching her bid for another term as CDU leader, Mekel referred to "security and order, justice and law" as the pillars of the CDU’s politics.
She also stressed that "Germans who always lived here as well as those who just arrived" should obey the law.
"Here in Germany ... the laws of our country... are applied equally to everyone without any exception...German law takes precedence over Sharia," she added.
Mekel also vowed to try and avoid another refugee crisis. "We have repeatedly stated that that situation that occurred in late summer, 2015, cannot, should not, and will not be repeated," she said.
While stressing that each refugee case should be dealt with as an isolated instance "and not as a part of some crowd," she noted that not all of the 890,000 people who had entered the country last year would stay.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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#3
Iran gets it right with Mekel
Advertisements in Der Spiegel
Peasants raped while swimmin'
Bus stops, grabbing the wimmin'
Poll returns must be in fecal.
#8
Will Krauts on Frau Merkel go sour
Or sweeten and leave her in power?
When treason's in season
But hell begins freezin'...
Well, even a cabbage can flower!
Groups planning to protest President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next month monopolized the National Park Service permits to use public spaces around Washington during the event -- until Bikers for Trump showed up.
Bikers for Trump founder Chris Cox said he had to negotiate with National Park Service officials to find space for the motorcyclists because anti-Trump groups had scooped up nearly every location for their "disruption" events surrounding the Jan. 20 inauguration.
Securing a designated area for the thousands of bikers expected to roll into Washington to watch Mr. Trump take the oath of office is crucial to avoiding clashes between the two sides, he said.
"We’ve already won. There’s no reason for these guys to be going shoulder to shoulder against the Black Lives Matter and the rest of the [protesting] guys," Mr. Cox said. "This is a victory tour."
The bikers are accustomed to being outnumbered and face-to-face with protesters, having often set themselves up as buffers between demonstrators and supporters at Trump rallies.
Bikers for Trump became a political movement in its own right, as it held massive rallies and organized support for Mr. Trump across battleground states. It was one of just two pro-Trump groups and by far the largest pro-Trump organization to request permits, according to National Park Service records.
Syrian opposition factions yesterday resisted attacks carried out by the Syrian regime’s forces and its allies to expand the area that they control in besieged neighbourhoods in eastern Aleppo. They were able to regain the lead on more than one front by seizing areas that they had lost last week, and this coincided with an increase in the loss of Russian lives and equipment in Syria.
The military spokesman for the Fastaqim Kama Umirt group Ammar Saqqar said that “the Syrian regime, the Russians and the Iranians yesterday prepared a massing of troops to storm the western part of eastern Aleppo, specifically the neighbourhoods of Al-Iza’ah and Jubb Al-Jalabi. However, the Syrian opposition resisted them and inflicted great loss of life and equipment on them”. In a statement that he made to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said that most of the attacking forces were Iranian and not Syrian. He added “We were also able to confirm that Russian soldiers were on the field. They were not fighting but were managing back line operations”.
The German Press Agency (DPA) quoted an “Army of Aleppo” military commander as saying that it had “regained control of the Eye Hospital in the Qadi Askar neighbourhood after violent clashes with the regime’s forces”. He also pointed out that more than 20 soldiers belonging to the regime’s forces were killed in a bombing that took place in the Maysir district, 15 others were killed in battles near the Eye Hospital and the areas of Karam Al-Turab and Al-Qatarji and a group of others from the Syrian regime were detained.
In contrast, the Russian news agency Sputnik said that “the Syrian regime’s forces and its allies continue to advance at the cost of armed opposition factions in Aleppo, northern Syria”. The agency also alluded to the Syrian regime’s control of more eastern neighbourhoods after fierce battles took place between the two sides and amidst Russian – Syrian air strikes.
A military source on the ground told the Russian agency that the regime’s forces “have seized control of the neighbourhoods Karam Al-Turab and Al-Qatarji and the Eye Hospital that were considered to be Jabhat Fath Al-Sham’s most important strongholds.”
Posted by: badanov ||
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#1
this battle for control of Aleppo has been going on since the summer of 2012
Assad was near defeat in 2013 but Hezbollah forces as well as conflict between the various anti assad groups saved him
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/07/2016 6:38
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[LATimes] L.A. commuters encountered heightened security on Tuesday as city responded to terrorism threat
Investigators have found no evidence to corroborate a warning of a terrorist plot to bomb the Universal City Metro station, defusing fears of an imminent attack in the heart of Los Angeles’ sprawling public transit system, sources said late Tuesday.
Federal Sherlocks determined that the warning of a bombing called in on a tip line in Australia was not a credible threat, two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told The Times.
The law enforcement sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly comment.
The bomb threat had put Metro Red Line riders on high alert after law enforcement officials released information about the potential attack Monday night.
Federal Sherlocks determined that the warning of a bombing called in on a tip line in Australia was not a credible threat.
On Tuesday, commuters were met by heavily armed deputies, dogs and bag searches, part of increased security visible across the Los Angeles County transit system.
At the Universal City station, a sign warned riders they would not be allowed to use the Red Line subway system to downtown L.A. without their bags being searched.
Since early Tuesday, sheriff's bomb squad teams with K-9s have combed the station and other areas of the transit systems.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell said beyond the visible presence, undercover deputies would be on trains across the system.
Speaking at Universal City Metro station, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti pledged that law enforcement was prepared and asked residents to be vigilant.
"The eyes and ears of the people of Los Angeles are the most important force multiplier we have," said Garcetti, who rode for several stops on the Red Line.
Uniformed deputies were not visible on a northbound Red Line train or at stops en route to Universal City, although McDonell said plainclothes officers would likely be riding trains as well. Deputies in full tactical gear, some carrying rifles and others flanked by dogs, were seen at the Universal City and North Hollywood stations.
#2
The threat came in Monday for Tuesday, Skidmark. Here's how An Nahar reported it earlier in the day:
Security was boosted across the Los Angeles metro on Monday following a tip from overseas about a possible bomb attack against one of the stations in the network, authorities said.
The threat was relayed by an anonymous man who called a public safety line run by an unidentified foreign government, which then passed on the information to an FBI terrorism task force, said Deirdre Fike, assistant director in charge of the FBI's office in Los Angeles.
The target of the threatened attack was metro's Universal City station -- located near the Universal Studios theme park -- where the caller who spoke English said an explosive device would go off on Tuesday, Fike told reporters at a hastily organized press conference with local authorities.
My sleep infused remark targeted the manpower surge directed at control applied to the specific event triggered by a Australian tipline rather than analysis from predictive threat modeling. I can only assume some active agency was engaged by the phone call.
I don't know how effective a massive preventative effort can ever be against a such fluid threat other than for remediation efforts. I don't have access to past performance data, perhaps others do.
#4
The authorities (FBI, LAPD, LASO) responded accordingly IMHO. The info we had was specific as to date/place/method. With a very short time frame to work with, they really had no other options. There's more to the story but hopefully this one is over.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
12/07/2016 22:17
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Saudi plans to open a military base in the tiny Rea Sea state of Djibouti have raised concerns among Egyptian officials, as strained relations between Cairo and Riyadh show little sign of improving. The base, which will reportedly be built "very soon", would threaten national security, and the Egyptian government is "deeply suspicious", according to a diplomatic source.
Djibouti is strategically located in the Horn of Africa across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen, where the Saudis have been waging war against Houthi rebels. A recent UK report suggested that Iran has been smuggling weapons to the rebels via the waterways surrounding Yemen.
"Cairo is totally against the deal because it considers Djibouti to be under the Egyptian sphere of influence and because its location is important for national security," an Egyptian diplomatic source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The New Arab.
"This move goes against the generally accepted customs between Arab countries as the area has a direct influence on the passage of ships towards the Suez Canal.
"If Saudi Arabia wants to ensure that Iran does not take control of the area, that is understandable - however, this must take place with Egyptian oversight and permission."
The Egyptian government was supported by billions of dollars in aid from Saudi Arabia in the immediate aftermath of the 2013 military coup against former Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammad Morsi, but ties appear to have frayed between the two countries amid disagreements over Syria.
Saudi Arabia backs rebels trying to oust Assad, while Egypt has expressed support for the Syrian leader.
Saudi Arabia suspended oil shipments to Egypt in October, a move announced after Cairo backed a Russian-drafted resolution on Syria in the UN Security Council. This week, sources told The New Arab that Saudi Arabia would not mend ties with Egypt until Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri was sacked and two contested Red Sea islands were transferred to Saudi sovereignty.
Djibouti's Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf said the deal to build the Saudi military base would happen "very soon".
"The security, military and strategic draft of the accord is ready and the coastal areas that could host the base, be it military or naval, have been identified after Saudi military officers and officials explored some areas in the country."
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
The Egyptian-held islands of Sanafir and Tiran overlook the Tiran Strait and entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba. The closure of the Strait was the cause celebre that threatened the waterway to Israel's Eilat and resulted in the Arab-Israel Six Day War of 1967.
The Egyptian Government, apparently seeking better relations with Riyadh, planned to relinquish to Saudi Arabia the unpopulated and demilitarized islands. However, the move was unpopular in both in Cairo itself and Jerusalem. Sisi is seen as more dependable than the Saudi princes, and it is likely the islands will remain in Egyptian hands.
[ARA News] Manbij – Turkey-backed rebels of the Euphrates Shield Brigades on Tuesday bombed several villages west of Manbij city, in a renewed offensive against areas held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The Turkey-backed rebels bombed the villages of Sheikh Nassir, Sab Weran, al-Yalani, Kawikli, Qirt Weran, and Jab al-Dam. The bombardment caused civilian casualties and a massive destruction to residential buildings, local sources told ARA News.
The indiscriminate artillery shelling caused the death of at least ten civilians and the injury of over 40 others, who were immediately transferred to the Manbij Hospital for treatment.
The attack has also caused a mass displacement among the residents of the targeted villages towards the city of Manbij.
“We condemn this intervention by Turkey. We want to tell Erdogan that the people of Manbij are able to protect themselves,” Saleh Haj Muhammed, Deputy Chief of the Manbij Civilian Council, told ARA News.
“Our forces (SDF) have liberated the city from ISIS and they are able to protect the city and its people against any offensives, whether by the Turkish state or its mercenaries,” he said, in reference to the Turkish-backed rebel groups.
Adnan Abu Amjad, Commander of the SDF-led Manbij Military Council, called Tuesday’s attacks on the countryside of Manbij “irresponsible action that requires a fierce response”.
“These irresponsible actions by Turkey and its allies are strongly condemned. The indiscriminate bombardment on our forces and civilians’ houses is an explicit violation.” the commander told ARA News.
“Since the liberation of Manbij city and its countryside from ISIS last August, we have been facing this Turkish aggression,” Amjad said.
“While the Turkey-backed Euphrates Shield Brigades claim to fight ISIS in the region, they keep bombing Manbij and its countryside. The Turkish air force has also launched air raids on the security centres of the Manbij council,” he told ARA News. “We have chosen resistance to face this aggression by Turkey and its allied Euphrates Shield Brigades.”
The Turkish army forces and allied rebel groups in Syria have repeatedly targeted areas held by the Syrian Democratic Forces, including Manbij, Tel Abyad and other mostly-Kurdish areas.
The Rojava Self-Administration has condemned the Turkish attacks on northern Syria, calling on the international community to make serious efforts to stop these violations.
Posted by: badanov ||
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Indonesia's anti-terrorism squad arrested two militants who were planning to attack prominent places in Jakarta, including the Myanmar Embassy. Police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said an interrogation of suspected bomb maker Rio Priatna Wibawa led authorities to the men . All three claimed allegiance to Daesh.
Amar said Bahrain Agam was arrested in northern Aceh province and Saiful Bahri was captured in Banten province. Agam provided some cash and purchased explosives, Amar said, while Bahri was helping Wibawa make bombs.
Authorities had said that Wibawa had enough explosives at his home in West Java province to make bombs three times more powerful than those used in the deadly 2002 Bali bombings.
Amar said the arrested terrorists told authorities they wanted to retaliate against Myanmar for recent attacks on Rohingya Muslims. They also planned to attack Indonesia's parliament, police headquarters and television stations.
Indonesian militants responded to sectarian turmoil in Myanmar in 2013 with a plot to bomb the Myanmar Embassy. More than a dozen rebels were sentenced to prison for involvement in the plot.
Amar said the three men arrested this past week were part of a network believed to be involved in a January attack in Jakarta that killed eight people.
Police said that Wibawa, a dropout who was radicalized by the writings of firebrand cleric Aman Abdurahman, also received funds from radicalized Indonesians working in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Taiwan. They said he was operating under the direction of Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian fighting with Daesh in Syria.
Posted by: ryuge ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A commander of the loyalists of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group was killed along with another holy warrior in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense said the two faceless myrmidons were killed in the restive Achin district.
No further details were given by the ministry and it is yet not clear if the faceless myrmidons were killed in Afghan forces raid or US Arclight airstrike.
This comes as at least 2 loyalists of the terror group were killed in a US dronezap in Achin district last week.
Both the Afghan and US forces conducted regular strikes against the loyalists of the terror group in this province.
The increased raids, usually involving dronezaps, by the US forces followed a broader role granted by the B.O. regime earlier this year.
The broader role was granted amid concerns that the loyalists of the terror group are attempting to expand foothold in the country and turn the eastern Nangarhar province into a regional operational hub for its fighters.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Talibs suffered heavy casualties during the air and ground raids conducted by the Afghan cops.
The provincial government media office said the operations were conducted in Garamser and Nahr-e-Saraj districts.
The statement further added that 38 Taliban bandidos murderous Moslems including some commanders of the group were killed in the raids.
Several weapons and a number of the facilities being used by the group were also destroyed in the raids.
No further details were given regarding the casualties of the security forces during the operations.
The Talibs group has not commented regarding the report so far.
Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... is among the volatile provinces in southern Afghanistan where the Taliban bandidos murderous Moslems are actively operating in a number of its districts.
The group has launched numerous attacks in this province during the year with the local officials saying that the growing raids were aimed at establishing a council in this province.
However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... the officials said the Afghan forces managed to repulse the Taliban attacks and thwarted their plans to shift some of their leadership council members to Helmand.
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[Dhaka Tribune] The High Court has ordered the government to remove names of people, who had collaborated with the Pak occupation forces in 1971, from roads, educational institutions, establishments and places by two months.
The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Mohammad Ullah passed the order yesterday during the hearing on a rule issued in 2012.
The secretaries to the education and the LGRD ministries have been asked to submit a report by March 1 after complying with the order, said lawyer AK Rashedul Haque.
The rule issued on a writ petition in May 2012 year had asked the government to explain as to why they would not be directed to rename the structures after the freedom fighters.
The petition was filed by war crimes trial campaigners Prof Muntassir Mamun and Shahriar Kabir.
Petitioners’ lawyer Rashedul told the Dhaka Tribune that the High Court in another order had also directed to rename Khan A Sabur Road in Khulna as Jessore Road and Shah Azizur Rahman Auditorium of Islamic University in Kushtia after the freedom fighters.
Of the two establishments, only the auditorium’s name had so far been changed, he said.
Rashedul said that they had recently submitted to the court a list of roads and establishments named after 20 collaborators of the Pak military during the Liberation War.
"The court was dissatisfied as the names have not been removed yet and came up with the fresh order," he told the Dhaka Tribune.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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#1
Oh. High Court, not Hillary Clinton. Dang.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/07/2016 12:38
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#2
Bobby,
If it WAS Hillary the headline would read:
"HC wants collaborators’ names removed in two months"
[Dhaka Tribune] The apex court will deliver verdict Wednesday in the appeals of two death-row convict murderous Moslems of banned outfit Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. B) including its top leader Mufti Abdul Hannan in a case filed for the liquidation attempt on former British envoy Anwar Choudhury in 2004.
The four-member Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha fixed the date Tuesday after a hearing.
Three people, including an assistant sub-inspector of the police were killed while former UK high commissioner Anwar and 70 others injured in a grenade attack at the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal in Sylhet on May 21, 2004.
Born in Sunamganj and a naturalised British citizen, Anwar served as the British high commissioner to Bangladesh from 2004 to 2008. He is currently serving as the ambassador to Peru.
Three murderous Moslems of the banned group ‐ Mufti Hannan, Sharif Shahedul Alam Bipul and Md Delwar Hossain alias Ripon ‐ were sentenced to death while two others ‐ Hannan’s brother Muhibullah alias Muhibur Rahman alias Ovi and Mufti Mainuddin Khaja alias Abu Jandal ‐ were given life sentence by the Sylhet Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal on December 23, 2008.
The High Court upheld the verdict in February this year. Hannan and Bipul then appealed against the sentences in July.
Mufti Hannan and seven others were sentenced to death in 2014 for killing 10 people during the Pohela Boishakh celebrations at Ramna Batamul in 2001. He is also a prime accused in the August 21 grenade attack case.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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Top|| File under: HUJI
[DAWN] Focus was on Maryam Nawaz's finances and legal status in the Supreme Court today as hearing of the Panamagate case probing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... and his family's assets resumed.
The apex court asked three questions: How did the premier’s children create their companies? Is Maryam Nawaz dependent on someone? And did the prime minister tell the truth in his three speeches on Panamagate?
Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... 's (PTI) counsel Naeem Bokhari began his arguments by exploring Maryam Nawaz's financial situation. He observed that the premier's daughter had been gifted Rs50 million and Rs31.7m on two separate occasions by her father.
He also said that Maryam had not paid any utility bills.
The PTI's lead counsel argued in court that Nawaz Sharif's tax returns from 2011 showed that Maryam Nawaz was his dependent.
Chief Justice of Pakistain (CJP) Anwar Zaheer Jamali raised a question about the addition of Rs196m in Maryam Nawaz's wealth which she attributed to a BMW car gifted to her by her father.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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[Libya Observer] The Military Intelligence Chief, Brigadier General Ismaeil al-Shukri, has denied what he described as rumors about the escape of IS diehards out of Sirte.
In a televised statement, al-Shukri confirmed that regional countries, together with countries that have political and economic interests in Libya, are involved in sponsoring IS bully boyz in Libya.
"Preliminary investigations startlingly showed the involvement of international parties and "dubious stakeholders" in supporting IS military presence in Sirte." He added.
He remarked that the investigations led to some documents and footages that proved that the making of IS in Libya was orchestrated overseas.
Brig. Gen. al-Shukri unveiled that most of the IS diehards who came to Libya were from Tunisia in the first place followed by Egypt, Sudan and then Nigeria, in addition to some other countries, adding that regarding the cities from inside Libya, Derna came first followed by Benghazi, Sirte and then Bani Walid.
"The real war on terrorism in Libya has always been in three cities, Sirte, Derna and Sabratha." al-Shukri concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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[Iran Press TV] Militant rocket fire has killed at least seven civilians and injured dozens more in Syria’s divided city of Aleppo.
The victims of the Tuesday attack on government-held regions of the city were evacuated to the Aleppo University Hospital, where doctors said some of the injured are in a critical condition.
Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, remains split between government forces in the west and foreign-backed Death Eaters in the east, making it a frontline battleground.
The latest attack comes just one day after snuffies attacked a Russian mobile hospital in the city and killed two paramedics.
Following the attack, Russia said that the US, UK and La Belle France were responsible for the death of the two female medics, as they continue to sponsor bully boy groups in Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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[Iran Press TV] The Iranian Foreign Ministry has dismissed ...Tut tut, my good man!... Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... ’s recent "politically-motivated and unfounded" espionage allegations against Iran, warning that such moves will not benefit any country in the region.
"At a time when the Moslem world and the [Middle East] region require unity and avoiding issues that would cause tensions, forging and spreading false accusations, which are far from the truth will not be in the interests of any regional country," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Tuesday.
"The Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran has not had any activity in Saudi Arabia against the international regulations and diplomatic principles, and such baseless accusations are being made with political objectives," he added.
The Iranian official made the comments in reaction to earlier media reports that a Saudi court on Tuesday had sentenced 15 people to death for allegedly spying for Iran in a move likely to heighten regional tensions. The convicted defendants comprised one Iranian, one Afghan and 13 Saudis.
Their trial opened in February, a month after tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia intensified following the kingdom’s execution of prominent Shia holy man, Nimr al-Nimr, in January.
The most serious charge leveled against these people was high treason.
Qassemi emphasized that Saudi Arabia must refrain from leveling unfounded allegations against Iran in line with its political goals and to fuel tensions in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Iran Press TV] Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli says 25 terrorist groups were disbanded during the religious rituals of Arba’een last month.
The terrorist groups were broken up through an extensive intelligence and security operation, he said on Tuesday.
The Iranian minister said 20 terrorist groups, which sought to conduct acts of sabotage, were identified and neutralized, adding, "[Members of] five other terrorist groups were also tossed in the slammer Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! .".
Rahmani Fazli further noted that despite great efforts, which were made inside the Iraqi territory to guarantee the security of the Arba’een rituals, Lions of Islam managed to carry out two terrorist attacks, expressing hope that such events would not happen again.
The Iranian minister described as a "bitter incident" last month's terrorist attack in the Iraqi city of Hillah, saying Lions of Islam exploited the security flaws and carried out the assault, which saddened pilgrims as well as Iranian and Iraqi officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Iran Press TV] Iraqi army soldiers have wrested control of al-Salam Hospital situated on the left bank of Tigris River as part of their operation to liberate the strategic city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... from the grip of the ISISTakfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... terrorist group.
Major General Walid al-Khalifah, the deputy of the army’s 9th Division, said the Iraqi national flag was hoisted over the hospital building on Tuesday.
He further announced the recapture of another Mosul medical institution, called al-Talimi Hospital, by the Iraqi forces.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Senate, Odius Sepulcher called for war against the Visigoths... the commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, confirmed the al-Salam Hospital recapture, noting that the troops from the 9th Division "continued clearing" the al-Salam neighborhood of ISIS bad boys.
Mosul is split by the Tigris River, with the eastern half of the city known as the left bank.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Bana al-Abed, the seven-year-old girl who has given the world an insight into what is happening in Aleppo via her tweets, has returned to Twitter having suspended her account on Sunday and disappearing from social media.
She tweeted: “Hello my friends, how are you? I am fine. I am getting better without medicine with too much bombing. I miss you. –Bana #Aleppo
Follow
Bana Alabed ✔ @AlabedBana
Hello my friends, how are you? I am fine. I am getting better without medicine with too much bombing. I miss you. - Bana #Aleppo
7:11 AM - 6 Dec 2016
2,838 2,838 Retweets 8,415 8,415 likes
Earlier, the father of Bana had reportedly sent a message letting users know their family was safe after her account fell silent.
@Mr_Alhamdo, a teacher and activist reporting from inside Eastern Aleppo, tweeted on Tuesday: “Bana’s father sent this message: Our house was destroyed. We moved to another and was targeted also. We are ok now. Thanks for Asking.”
Follow
@Mr.Alhamdo @Mr_Alhamdo
Bana's Father sent this massage.
Our house was destroyed. We moved to another and was targeted also. We are ok now. Thanks for asking.
4:58 PM - 5 Dec 2016
147 147 Retweets 194 194 likes
Her online disappearance coincided with the push by army forces loyal to Bashar Al-Assad in the Qatarji neighborhood where she lives, raising concerns among her 200,000 followers.
On Sunday her last tweet before falling silent read: “We are sure the army is capturing us now. We will see each other another day dear world.”
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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SIRTE, Libya: Libyan forces backed by US air strikes have finished clearing the final district of the former Daesh stronghold of Sirte in which the militant group had been holding out, a spokesman for the forces said on Tuesday.
A Reuters witness said fighting had ended in Sirte’s Ghiza Bahriya area, where Daesh had been dug in for weeks at the end of a battle for the city that began in May.
Spokesman Rida Issa said forces led by brigades from Misrata had “secured all the buildings and the streets” in Ghiza Bahriya, though this did not mean the end of the Misrata-led operation. “We still need to secure the area around Sirte,” he said.
Libyan and Western officials say some Daesh fighters escaped from Sirte before the battle or in its early stages. They fear an insurgent campaign from outside the city and there have been attacks in outlying areas.
Daesh took over Sirte in early 2015, turning it into their most important base outside the Middle East and moving large numbers of foreign fighters into the city.
The militant group imposed its ultra-hard-line rule on Sirte’s residents, extending its control along about 250 km (155 miles) of Libya’s Mediterranean coastline.
The Misrata-led forces counter-attacked in May after militants moved along the coast toward the city.
The brigades, nominally aligned with a UN-backed government in Tripoli, advanced rapidly toward the center of Sirte before suicide bombers, snipers and mines largely halted their progress.
Since Aug. 1, the United States has carried out at least 495 air strikes against Daesh in Sirte.
In recent days dozens of women and children, some of them migrants from sub-Saharan Africa held captive by Daesh, had escaped or had been released from militant-held ground.
A further group of women and children emerged on Tuesday as forces secured the final few buildings in Ghiza Bahriya, Issa said. Six Daesh fighters were killed or captured, he said.
On the political front, the city’s capture boosts the authority of the UN-backed GNA, which was set up in Tripoli in March but whose legitimacy is contested by a rival administration in eastern Libya.
The country descended into chaos following the NATO-backed ousting of Kadhafi, with rival administrations emerging and well-armed militias vying for control of its vast oil wealth.
The infighting and lawlessness allowed extremist groups to seize several coastal regions, giving the jihadists a toehold on Europe’s doorstep.
The fall of Sirte comes as Daesh also faces a series of military defeats in Syria and Iraq.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/07/2016
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[IsraelTimes] Graphic released by army demonstrates Israeli intel capabilities, may point to potential targets in future conflict.
May?
The Israeli military on Tuesday posted a map of southern Leb to Twitter, on which it marked Hezbollah positions, infrastructure and armaments along a section of the Israeli border.
...with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one...
The map, according to Channel 2 News, features over 200 towns and villages which the organization has turned into its operations bases, and shows over 10,000 potential targets for Israeli strikes in the event of a new war with the terror group.
A caption on the photo noted that it had been declassified, in an apparent calculated move by Israel to build a case for any future military action. It could also serve as a warning to the terror group itself, demonstrating Israel’s intelligence gathering capabilities as a deterrent.
Channel 2 noted in its report that the same map has been shown to practically every foreign diplomat visiting the Jewish state, to stress the point that while Hezbollah may currently be heavily involved in the Syrian civil war, it continues to arm for conflict with Israel, while embedding itself ever deeper in the civilian population near the border.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2016 15:56
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#2
I'd send postcards.
Dear Occupant,
Due to the presence of military equipment on your property that poses an existential threat to Israel, we will forced to bomb everything into rubble approximately 3 milliseconds after the next war starts.
-- Sincerely, the Juice
[AlAhram] The militants were involved in armed attacks on security personnel and checkpoints during the last two years, a statement by the interior ministry said
The interior ministry said on Tuesday that police forces killed three Lions of Islam during a security raid in Upper Egypt's Assiut governorate.
A statement published on the ministry's Facebook page said that recent security intelligence revealed that some leaders of the Moslem Brüderbund's gang were residing in an apartment building in Manfalout village, Assiut governorate.
The three murderous Moslems, who were convicted and wanted in other cases for belonging to the "Sawaaed Masr" and "Hasm" groups,
...hasm means decisiveness in Arabic, apparently, and has been busy since first appearing in Rantburg's archives in early October...
sought haven in the village to plan the execution of further attacks against security forces in the future, according to the statement.
The Lions of Islam were involved in a range of armed attacks on security personnel and checkpoints during the last two years.
They were killed after security forces opened fire on them while they were in an apartment building, the statement added.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement on Facebook that automatic weapons were found in the house in the southern province of Assiut, which was used by a recently emerged gang called Hasm.
The Interior Ministry said two of the men killed were wanted in connection with deadly attacks on coppers and a third was a bomb maker for the group.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/07/2016
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#1
An obscure Arabic word indeed TW. If you got the old Rasta you don't need Hasm.
[DAWN] Pak authorities promised an inquiry on Tuesday after the Sindh government was found to have employed almost 50 members of the same family in various health ministry jobs, many in the same hospital.
The sheer number of appointments ─ from vaccinators to security guards to lab technicians ─ has attracted the attention of the Supreme Court which will begin a hearing from Wednesday.
The matter surfaced when a man filed a petition complaining provincial health department had recruited some 48 cousins in Sindh's Ghotki district.
"Since 2008 till recently more than four dozen members of Chadhar family have been appointed by the authorities," complainant Farman Ali Pitafi, a health department employee, told AFP, adding they were all cousins.
He said many of the family members were appointed in subordinate grades but quickly promoted.
The provincial health minister Sikandar Ali Mandhro said he was unaware of the matter but would look into it.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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Terrorists of the so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) takfiri group have planted bombs in copies of the holy book of Quran before leaving them on the streets and in front of houses in Kan’ous, a village close to the Iraqi city of Mosul, the Iran Front Page has reported.
Planting explosives in least expected places, including inside the copies of Islam’s holy scripture, is not a new technique employed by the Takfiri [extremist] terrorists. Back in June 2015, after defeating ISIL terrorists in the eastern parts of Iraq’s Diyala province, Iraqi security forces found a series of booby-trapped Qur’ans in the areas ISIL had fled.
Gruesome violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since ISIL terrorists launched an offensive in June 2014, and took control of swathes of Iraqi territory.
The militants have been committing heinous crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and others.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/07/2016
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[Manila Bulletin] Police said they have arrested another bombing suspect who was tagged as among those who tried to detonate an improvised explosive device in Manila on November 28.
Police spokesman Oscar Albayalde said the third suspect was nabbed outside Metro Manila over the weekend. He said, "The operation against the two other remaining suspects is on-going."
Albayalde said they thought the third suspect already fled to Mindanao, but they found out later that he was still hiding outside Metro Manila. The first two suspects were separately arrested in Caloocan City and Bulacan.
PNP director Ronald Dela Rosa said the two suspects already returned to Marawi City to reinforce the members of the Maute terrorist group. He said, the two suspects brought the bomb from Lanao del Sur to Manila on an SUV.
A street sweeper found the bomb — fashioned out of an 81-mm mortar, blasting caps and 9-volt batteries — in a trash can along Roxas Boulevard on November 28, with witnesses reporting it was left by two men in a car.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The First Vice President General Abdul Rashid Dostum ...ethnic Uzbek warlord who distinguished himself fighting the Soviets and the Taliban. The story that he had a bad guy run over with a tank is an exaggeration. It was an armored personnel carrier... says he remains committed to the promises made to President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. for serving the Afghan nation, more than a month after serious accusations led to rift among the two top leaders of the country.
In his speech during a meeting of Junbish Milli Party, Dostum said his recent criticisms were aimed at bring further reforms in the system and putting an end to the current shortages.
The Office of the President, ARG Palace, slammed the First Vice President General Abdul Rashid Dostum for his recent remarks accusing President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... of nepotism.
The ARG Palace issued a statement late in October to react towards Dostum’s remarks which he made following an operation led by him in northern Jawzjan province.
The statement further added that the remarks are against the First Vice President and his position considering the current situation where Gen. Dostum is involved in key decision making institutions, including the cabinet and national Security Council.
The statement further added that a comprehensive probe by judiciary institutions is required to prove the remarks by the First Vice President or true or false and steps should be taken in accordance with the enforced laws of the country.
It also added that the government is obliged to answer to the complaints of the people who have been subjected to misbehaviour and crimes during the recent war by the Taliban and other parties involved in the conflict.
Dostum had accused President Ghani of nepotism and slammed Chief Executive Abdullah for being an incapable leader.
Speaking to a gathering in northern Jawzjan province following a military operation led by him, Gen. Dostum said President Ghani prefers those speaking Pashto and individuals belonging to his province are even more important to him.
Gen. Dostum further added the Chief Executive Abdullah is an incapable leader and has lost his fame among the Tajiks of the country despite he ethnically a Tajik.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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[DAWN] FOUR months after he ’disappeared’, Wahid Baloch has been reunited with his family. The social activist, writer and small-scale publisher is believed to have been detained by unidentified security officials on July 26 on the outskirts of 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... , setting off a frightening, though wearingly familiar, process of recovery for his shocked family. Local police initially refused to register an FIR, government agencies expressed an inability or unwillingness to help trace Mr Baloch, rights groups took up his case -- and through it all, the only thing that was known with some certainty was that Mr Baloch had become a missing person because he was an advocate for the Baloch people. Yet, no charges were framed against Mr Baloch and indeed there was no official acknowledgement that he was in the custody of the security apparatus. Now, with his release on Monday, Mr Baloch is once again a free man -- and the number of missing persons in the country has been reduced by one.
It is too early to know if the release of Mr Baloch has anything to do with the change in command in the military and a possible rethink of some security policies. What is evident though is that a rethink is needed. The extrajudicial handling of those suspected of being involved in militancy or supporting krazed killer causes is not only unconstitutional, it is a system prone to abuse, and that creates further problems from a security perspective. When it comes to 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... -related missing persons, the numbers themselves are in dispute. Baloch activists claim thousands have gone missing; rights groups suggest a lower but still considerable number; and the state unofficially acknowledges a small number of detained individuals. The figures, however, belie an intractable problem: the missing persons issue has fuelled, rightly, a sense of Baloch grievance -- a narrative that has helped sustain the low-level Baloch insurgency.
Rooted in political disaffection, the Baloch insurgency cannot have a purely military solution. But because Balochistan abuts the Taliban heartland in Afghanistan and the province has geostrategic importance -- now wrapped in the language and projects of CPEC -- the military establishment views Balochistan through a security prism. The militarised approach to security and state-driven development was once again on display yesterday as army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa travelled to Quetta. In his choice of words and the thrust of his comments, Gen Bajwa was almost indistinguishable from the last three army chiefs. Yet, Mr Baloch is with his family once again, so perhaps the softest of rethinks is being effected. Political governments, both at the centre and in Balochistan, should also consider their own role in the marginalisation of civilians in Balochistan and try and work with the new military leadership to formulate a more effective, humane and people-driven policy for the province.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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[AlAhram] Deep inside Syria, a bishop worked secretly to save the lives of 226 members of his flock from the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group -- by amassing millions of dollars from his community around the world to buy their freedom.
The Assyrian Christians were seized from the Khabur River valley in northern Syria, among the last holdouts of a minority that had been chased across the Mideast for generations. On Feb. 23, 2015, IS fighters attacked 35 Christian towns simultaneously, sweeping up scores of people.
It took more than a year, and videotaped killings of three captives, before all the rest were freed.
Paying ransoms is illegal in the United States and most of the West, and the idea of giving money to the Islamic State group is morally fraught, even for those who saw no alternative.
"You look at it from the moral side and I get it. If we give them money we're just feeding into it, and they're going to kill using that money," said Aneki Nissan, who helped raise funds in Canada. But "to us, we're such a small minority that we have to help each other."
The Khabur families trace their heritage to the earliest days of Christianity. To this day, they speak a dialect of Aramaic, believed to be the native language of Jesus.
When the villages were attacked, fleeing residents phoned cousins, sons, daughters, friends -- Assyrians who had left the region in waves for the West. In the chaos, no one was sure how many were taken captive -- but everyone was certain they were going to die.
As days stretched into a week, it became clear IS group had other plans.
The group told the 17 men captured from one village, Tal Goran, they could have their freedom but with a catch. Four female captives would remain, and one of the men had to deliver a message to their bishop in the town of Hassakeh about 40 miles away, and return with an answer.
The Death Eaters demanded $50,000 per person for the whole group. Abdo Marza reluctantly agreed. His 6-year-old daughter was one of the captives.
It took the bishop, Mar Afram Athneil, three days to make a decision, as he consulted with members of the church around the world on what to do. Then he gave Marza a sealed envelope, with no explanation.
When Marza handed it over, the IS myrmidon broke into a smile. "Your bishop is a very smart man." With that, his daughter and three old women were freed.
Athneil began secret negotiations for the remaining captives.
In Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, Assyrian filmmaker Sargon Saadi packed his gear, hoping to learn what had happened to the Khabur villages. He found them almost deserted.
"We didn't know why they took them, we didn't know where they took them, what they wanted to do with them," Saadi said.
When word filtered down about the ransom, the price was daunting. IS's starting demand of $50,000 a person would mean more than $11 million for the remaining captives.
"There's no easy way to give them money. It's very dangerous, it's also illegal in many countries," Saadi said.
The calls for donations went out across social media. In Germany, Assyrian entrepreneur Charli Kanoun persuaded the government to accept the Tal Goran hostages, and then he began fundraising for the others. Outside London, Andy Darmoo also fundraised while running his chandelier business.
On May 26, two women were freed. On June 16, one man was released. On Aug. 11, 22 more people were liberated. Many in the diaspora hoped the ordeal was nearly over.
Then in September 2015 came the video showing three Khabur men, dressed in orange, being shot to death.
"When that happened, everybody went crazy and money started flying in from all over," Saadi said. "Assyrians don't have an army to go rescue them. They don't have SWAT teams, they don't have SEAL 6. The only option they have is to pay ransom."
The Islamic State group has made a fortune off the desperation of hostages. A United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... resolution from December 2015 called on governments "to prevent kidnapping and hostage-taking committed by terrorist groups and to secure the safe release of hostages without ransom payments or political concessions."
But while no government appeared to stop the fundraising, the Assyrians say no country stepped in to free the captives either.
Brokered by the bishop, Athneil, negotiations resumed in mid-fall. The money went into an account in Irbil, Iraq.
From November, releases took place every few weeks.
On Feb. 22, 2016, a final list of 43 names was sent to the bishop. The last Khabur captives were on their way out.
But when the bus arrived in Hassakeh, only 42 hostages were on board. Sixteen-year-old Maryam David Talya had been pulled off at the last checkpoint by an IS guard, Kanoun said.
After another agonizing month of negotiations, Maryam stumbled into the arms of her parents.
How much was ultimately paid remains a mystery. The bishop, the only person with a full accounting, declined to speak to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
Those involved credit him for saving the lives not just of the hostages but of hundreds of other Assyrians who fled the war zone. The Khabur valley is now all but empty of its Christians.
"Honestly, this man should go down as a saint, the things that he's done, the sacrifices he's made to help these people," Nissan said. "He's refusing to leave Syria until all his flock is secured."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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#1
To demand no one pay ransom and then offer no alternative is the same as saying "Go ahead, kill everyone, we don't care."
[Iran Press TV] Syrian military forces in the city of Aleppo have discovered a large depot where foreign-backed bandidosmurderous Moslems stored toxic chemicals for filling shells.
Syria’s official news agency SANA reported on Tuesday that the warehouse was set up inside the Sana’a Mhaidali school in the Aleppo district of Masaken Hanano, which was retaken from forces of Evil last month.
The discovery came as the army engineering units were searching for landmines and improvised bombs (IEDs) in the recently recaptured neighborhood.
The report further said that Syrian forces had found explosives and equipment used for manufacturing rocket shells and weaponizing gas cylinders.
Terrorist groups such as ISIS and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham ...formerly al-Nusra, the current false nose and mustache of al-Qaeda in the Levant... , formerly known as al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front, have on several occasions used toxic materials such as chlorine gas to target civilians in Aleppo areas.
The Syrian government accuses Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , 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... , and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... of providing the forces of Evil with the banned weapons.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said he will only cede power to a president elected during an interim phase and made nine demands, which include exiling the coup leaders, in response to UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed's roadmap.
The Yemeni government had voiced reservations over the UN envoy's roadmap and said it did not guarantee stability in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... and that it rewarded the Houthis.
The government presented its comments to the roadmap making nine demands which include having ousted President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... and Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi abandon political work, sending Saleh and Houthi to an exile of their choice for ten years, implementing international sanctions against them, cancelling decisions resulting from the coup, disarming the Houthi militia and transforming it into a political party.
Hadi also demanded holding those involved in the coup accountable, implementing the law of transitional justice, guaranteeing compensations to those harmed by the coup and releasing detainees.
The comments also explained why Hadi refuses to transfer his jurisdictions to a vice president as according to specific references, Hadi should supervise the interim political process and then hand over power to an elected president.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The former Afghan intelligence, National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... (NDS), chief Rahmatullah endorsed President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. ’s stance against Pakistain in the Heart of Asia conference.
"I support Afg gov recent position against Pak. A.Ghani rejection of Paki’s doubl-face policy is a positive step, n not tolerable," Nabil said in a Twitter post.
Nabil has long been criticizing Pakistain for supporting the Afghan insurgency and released several confidential documents by obtained by Afghan intelligence to prove the country’s role in the ongoing violence in the country.
"Despite our intense engagement with Pakistain on bilateral and multilateral basis, the undeclared war ‐ the name that I gave to the phenomenon in the winter 2014 ‐ not only has not abated but also intensified during 2016, with special intensity right after the Brussels Conference," President Ghani said during his speech at the 6th Heart of Asia conference on Sunday.
Citing a Taliban capo’s remarks about Pakistain, President Ghani said "As Mr. Kakazada, one of the key figures in the Taliban movement recently said, if they did not have sanctuary in Pakistain, they would not last a month."
President Ghani insisted on the need for intense dialogue and engagement to resolve the issue, including fight against criminal economics, and an Asian and international regime, whatever acceptable, particularly, to Pakistain to verify cross-frontier activities and terrorist operations.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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From a distance, it’s beautiful - white spears with delicate white strands holding up an arched roadway across the Willamette River. It’s only when you get closer that it hits you: no cars. There are buses, trains, cyclists and walkers, but no cars and no trucks. This is a big new bridge across a major river in a major American city, and cars were left off the invitation list. It’s probably the first of its kind in a century.
The Tilikum Crossing in Portland, Ore., is in a city and state that have been at the forefront of ambitious planning efforts for decades. Since at least 1973, when the state’s landmark growth boundary law was passed, Portland has made itself a denser, more urban city within a state that strongly prioritizes protecting both the environment and agriculture.
Tilikum - won't that offend some indigenous people, somewhere?
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/07/2016
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#1
I kinda like it. Author goes on to dis the bridge because up close it was too much cold concrete.
#4
cuz the little power-hungry social engineers want to force you out of your cars and trucks and into mass transportation. A private vehicle gives you too much freedom of choice. Bet gas tax money helped pay for it
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2016 16:14
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They're agog at this out there in the world beyond our borders, for some reason. All my sources ran a story on it.
[Iran Press TV] US President-elect 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... has ripped a deal between aircraft manufacturing company Boeing and US Air Force One.
In a tweet on Tuesday, the future president said the deal has costs that are "out of control," calling them "ridiculous" later.
"Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!"
When asked later about his tweet in the lobby of Trump Tower, he reaffirmed to news hounds that "Well the plane is totally out of control."
"I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money but not that much money," he said.
Herewith the renegotiation begins.
Air Force One, the official air traffic control call sign for a US Air Force aircraft carrying the president, was about to spend as much as $1.65 billion for a project aimed at replacing the force’s planes but Boeing said later it was under a $170 million contract.
"We are currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serves the unique requirements of the President of the United States," the Boeing statement said. "We look forward to working with the US Air Force on subsequent phases of the program allowing us to deliver the best planes for the President at the best value for the American taxpayer."
Meanwhile, ...back at the precinct house, Don Calamari's lawyer was getting even redder in the face... White House press secretary Josh Earnest said," Some of the statistics that have been cited, shall we say, don't appear to reflect the nature of the financial agreement between Boeing and the Department of Defense," Earnest said, according to pool reports."
"I think the American people would expect that future US presidents would benefit from unique and upgraded capabilities while they are traveling and representing the interests of the United States around the world."
After Trump’s Tuesday tweet, Boeing's stocks fell 1 percent in premarket.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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#1
...Some thoughts:
1. Trump's right.
2. He didn't cancel anything; he hasn't the power to do so - at least not for a few more weeks, but if the nice people at Boeing have any sense at all they'll use those weeks to come up with a new price. I don't expect them to lose money, but there's no fracking way two airliners on steroids cost north of four billion.
3. The USAF needs to take that time and make some tough decisions too. Better on their own now than have it done for them later.
Mike
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/07/2016 4:54
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#2
In military nomenclature its called a 'warning order'. You better start making preparations and planning yesterday.
#3
I suspect costs escalated dramatically since the contract was signed - 'change orders' are very expensive and very common with government contracts, so much so that I am convinced they are an intended way of awarding contracts and favors.
#4
Their inflated costs are also used to cover activities intended to remediate poor original design and planning oversight Glenmore, as part of a low-bidding strategy.
"Oh, you want a refrigerator?"
("Let's expand the wiring harness, upgrade the power conduit, add a breaker and GFCI then build a load footprint and vertical anchor framework.")
"Do you want a chilled water feed in that?"
#7
one of the horrible things about this sort of contract is that a lot of costs are in the design phase
the contractor gets an order to design something
costs incurred in the design
customer says, 'oh just add this do hickey'
costs incurred in redesign which sometimes requires almost starting over
custormer says, 'oh and make the such a such larger'
and so it goes until a $ billion has been spent and the only deliverables are sets of plans and specs that have been superceded
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/07/2016 12:29
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#8
Saw a post (can't find it now) from a military guy.
We have 4 747 doomsday planes with all the stuff needed to run the country/military after a nuclear war that can fly almost 24/7 (with refueling). We bought them for just under a billion in 1998 dollars.
Now we can't make 2 air force grade 747s for less than 3.7 billion? Something doesn't add up.
#9
Somebody remind me how they can make B-52s fly for 50-60 years. Not so many golf trips, or buzzing Manhattan?
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/07/2016 12:48
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Not to be unpatriotic, but DJT could probably get a screamin' deal from Airbus on an A380 right about now ( sales dropping like flies, production down to 1 a month due to loss of interest by airlines)
#11
Disclaimer, I work for Boeing. But we need a little truth on the subject. Boeing works the design, the bells and whistles, as specified in the SOW. Boeing does not dream up the equipment that must be integrated into the aircraft, nor does it outline the EMP, laser, weapons, and other survivability systems built into the design. The Pentagon defines the requirements. Boeing is under contract to design the aircraft, and to see if all that is required is possible. The cost of this is by design, and yes Boeing is not cheap, but it will be correct.
Second point, after I politely threw the pentagon under the bus. Just where do we say enough is enough with the systems in the aircraft when the president is on board? The new threats, high power lasers, EMP,EMP tracking missiles, Unmanned weapons, etc... All have been developed after the latest version of Air Force one hit the street. Which vulnerability do you want to allow? Times have changed since the doomsday bird of the 70's and the air force one requirements of today. These birds are going to be pricy. And finally the numbers are not correct. The average cost of a green 747-8 is over $300 million.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/07/2016 19:10
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iraqi army units advanced from southeast djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... towards a bridge across the Tigris in the city center on Tuesday, in an attack that could give fresh impetus to the hard fought, seven-week battle for ISIS’s northern Iraq stronghold.
Campaign commander Lieutenant General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah was quoted by Iraqi television as saying troops had entered Salam Hospital, less than a mile (1.5 km) from the Tigris river running through the center of Mosul.
If confirmed, that would mark a significant advance by the army’s Ninth Armored Division, which had been tied up for more than a month in deadly, close-quarter combat with ISIS fighters on the southeast edges of the city.
A colonel in the armored division said Tuesday’s assault, launched at 6 a.m., aimed to push towards the river and ultimately reach Mosul’s Fourth Bridge, the southernmost of the five bridges spanning the Tigris which splits the city in two.
The bridge, like three others, has been hit by US-led air strikes to prevent ISIS sending reinforcements and suicide boom-mobiles across the city to the eastern front, where counter-terrorism troops have spearheaded the army campaign.
The last and oldest bridge, built of iron in the 1930s, was targeted on Monday night, two residents said. The structure was not destroyed, but the air strikes made two large craters in the approach roads on both sides.
Militants immediately began to fill the craters, the residents told Rooters by telephone.
"I saw ISIS using bulldozers to fill the craters with sand and by midday vehicles managed to cross the bridge normally. I drove my car to the other side of the bridge and saw also ISIS vehicles crossing," said a taxi driver.
Mosul is by far the largest city under ISIS control and defeating its fighters there would roll back the self-styled caliphate it declared in Iraq and Syria 2014 after seizing large parts of both countries.
Some 100,000 Iraqi soldiers, security forces, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and mainly Shiite paramilitary forces are participating in the overall Mosul campaign that began on Oct. 17, with air and ground support from a US-led coalition.
Although it has made advances inside eastern Mosul, the army says it is battling the toughest urban warfare imaginable - facing hundreds of suicide car kabooms, mortar barrages, sniper fire and ambushes launched from a network of tunnels.
Its advance has also been slowed by the presence of more than 1 million residents in the city.
[ARA News] Duhok – The Iraqi Army’s 16th Infantry Division, backed by Counter-Terrorism Units, gained more ground in the city of Mosul on Tuesday, after heavy clashes with Islamic State’s (ISIS) militants.
The Iraqi forces were reportedly able to capture 24 neighbourhoods in Mosul City after hitting ISIS’ key positions there, forcing the group to retreat towards the city centre.
“Subsequent to clashes with Daesh [ISIS] terrorists, our forces have liberated 24 neighbourhoods and besieged several others,” the Iraqi Army General Command said in a statement on Tuesday.
It added that their forces started dismantling landmines and explosive devices in the captured areas in the war-torn city of Mosul.
“All roads and buildings in the liberated neighbourhoods are being cleared by our special forces,” the Iraqi command said.
The Iraqi forces drove ISIS out of the western part of Mosul with the support of the US-led coalition, which launched fierce airstrikes on ISIS fighting positions on Monday and Tuesday.
“The Iraqi Army now controls 50% of Mosul City,” Haidar al-Khalidi, a journalist accompanying the Iraqi forces inside Mosul, told ARA News over the phone. “The army has also tightened the siege on the ISIS-held districts downtown.”
According to al-Khalidi, the major obstacle facing the US-backed Iraqi troops in the battle for Mosul is the fact that ISIS is using civilians as human shields “to prevent the army from using heavy weapons during the clashes”.
“ISIS is using residential buildings as bases for its attacks on the Iraqi forces. Many civilians are based in the ISIS-held districts of Mosul, being used as human shields. However, the army seems cautious and tries to minimize civilian casualties as much as possible,” he told ARA News.
Mosul is considered a de facto capital for ISIS in Iraq. The group took over the city in June 2014, and immediately afterwards ISIS announced its self-proclaimed Caliphate.
On October 17th, 2016, the Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched a major battle for Mosul to liberate the city and its surroundings from ISIS. Since then, more than 2,200 ISIS militants have been killed, according to military sources.
Meanwhile, the United Nations reported that ISIS extremists have been using civilians as human shields in the fight for Mosul. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warned that it continues to receive reports of “serious breaches” of international human rights and humanitarian law by ISIS in and around the war-torn city.
According to the OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani, ISIS has been installing rocket launchers and placing snipers on the rooftops of civilian homes, while also threatening to kill those who refuse to cooperate. “These families are effectively used as human shields, placed squarely in harm’s way, caught between ISIS and Iraqi Security Force fire responding to rocket and sniper attacks,” she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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[Iran Press TV] A protest in Greece has turned violent after black hooded demonstrators
Greek anarchists protesting violently. How conventional of them.
launched petrol bombs and fireworks at riot squads on the eighth anniversary of a teenager's killing by police.
At least 18 people were detained after the annual rally, held on Tuesday in central Athens in honor of the death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in 2008 at the hands of riot police.
Violence erupted after the peaceful march when a group of youths wearing protective clothing started to throw Molotov cocktails, flares and firecrackers at the police, who responded by firing teargas and flash-bang grenades.
The demonstrators used paving slabs to set up roadblocks and barricades in a residential area in the city, after setting fire to a car.
Earlier, around 1,500 people marched through the center of the Greek capital towards parliament to mark the eighth anniversary of the killing.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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#1
I really don't understand why someone with a fire bomb isn't immediately shot. They should be. If someone was throwing one at me, I'd drop them.
#4
shoot the firebomb.
If only I was a good enough shot. Just think of the effect of smashing a bottle of flaming gasoline just as it passed over the thrower.
[DAWN] The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Faisalabad ...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after... on Monday jugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! two people for allegedly publishing banned literature linked to the Ahmedi community.
The banned publications, Tehrik-e-Jadeed and al-Fazal, were seized and the printing press was sealed.
"Yes, a case has been registered in cop shoppe CTD Faisalabad and two accused have been arrested from Chenab Nagar," confirmed the spokesperson for CTD Punjab.
The spokesperson added that the two publications were confiscated and the printing press was sealed.
In a notification dated December 9 2014, the government of Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... had banned the publication and referred to it as "seditious and treasonable".
"In exercise of powers conferred under Section 99-A of CrPC, the Government of Punjab is pleased to ban and declare every copy/version of said book to be forfeited, wherever found in the open market, stocks and shops with immediate effect," added the statement.
However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... in a blurb by the public affairs division of Anjum-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistain, the community claimed that that after a petition was filed in the Lahore High Court, the presiding judge had ordered no further action against the publication till the next hearing.
The order by the judge was issued on June 2, 2015.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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(Reuters) ‐ A military doctor treating former U.S. intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning while she serves a prison sentence for espionage denied her request to have her female gender reflected in her military records, according to a court filing.
The decision further stymies Manning’s attempts to be treated as a woman while imprisoned at the Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas, said the document filed on Monday in federal court in Washington in relation to on ongoing lawsuit.
Manning has been the focus of an international debate over government secrecy since she provided more than 700,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.
The filing said Manning asked her military medical provider, Dr. Ellen Galloway, to recommend the change in her military records since she has "achieved stability in her female gender." Quite the statement.
Her attorneys said Galloway denied the request, effectively precluding her from having her female gender noted in her records.
The filing did not explain why Manning’s request was refused. A representative for the U.S. Department of Justice declined by email to comment when reached on Tuesday.
Manning, who petitioned President Barack Obama last month to commute her 35-year sentence to time already served, filed the lawsuit seeking better medical care for her gender dysphoria, including the ability to follow female grooming standards. Is there an MOS for She-male pr0n? Story continues at link.
#4
Maybe Manning thinks conditions in a women's prison would be better but I'm not so sure. The women in that prison are not going to look a whole lot like your average Victoria's Secret model.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/07/2016 11:56
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#5
Several things bother me about the BRADLEY Manning case:
1)That he wasn't sentenced to death for espionage
2)That we the taxpayers have to pay for his gender reassignment treatment.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/07/2016 12:02
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[AlAhram] Among the suspects locked away Book 'im, Mahmoud! include professors from Cairo and Ain Shams universities.
Egypt's authorities arrested on Tuesday 45 suspects -- including Egyptians and foreigners ‐ who have been accused of running an illegal organ trafficking ring, the health ministry and the Administrative Control Authority announced.
According to an official statement issued by the Ministry of Health, the Administrative Control Authority and the ministry led the arrest of 45 suspects including university professors, doctors, nurses, medical centre owners and brokers involved in illegal organ trafficking.
The statement added that the ring was taking advantage of the current economic circumstances of poor Egyptians, who would sell their organs for cheap prices, allowing members of the ring to make fortunes.
The health ministry revealed that the suspects include professors working in the faculties of medicine in both Cairo and Ain Shams universities and doctors working in Ahmed Maher teaching hospital, the National Institute of Urology and Nephrology as well some privately-owned labs.
Ten medical centers and hospitals -- whose names were not released -- were raided and investigated according to a separate statement issued by the Administrative Control Authority on Tuesday.
The health ministry stated that most of the hospitals and centres were in the districts of al-Haram and Giza and that some of them were not licensed.
The centres and hospitals involved in the case were closed on the orders of Health Minister Ahmed Emad.
A source in the Administrative Control Authority told Ahram Arabic news website that the ring had been under the surveillance of the authority for months, which had been granted permission by the prosecutor-general.
The prosecutor-general has ordered an investigation into the case.
Organ trafficking is explicitly forbidden in Egypt according to article 60 of the country’s 2014 constitution.
Egyptian law criminalises the trade of organs and penalises traffickers by up to seven years in jail.
According to a study published in 2007 by the World Health Organization, Egypt is among the top exporters of kidneys, sitting alongside of China and Sri Lanka in the last ten years.
The study stated that despite there being no comparable data for Egypt, a considerable number of patients from neighbouring countries are believed to have undergone illegal organ transplants in Egypt.
[DAWN] IT was the massacre of children that resurrected the capital punishment in Pakistain. Even as the bodies of innocent children from the Army Public School, 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. , were being retrieved and buried by their distraught family members, the government decided that the death penalty, unenforced for several years, would be reinstituted again.
The massacre had left a country in mourning; there was rage, there was helplessness, and the resolution to kill those who had killed -- and not only those who had massacred the APS children -- seemed like the way forward. Under the logic of desperation, it was assumed that resolutely resuming the killing of killers would be a better path for the country.
Except that a good number of those killed or on death row may not have killed at all. Recently, the Supreme Court of Pakistain acquitted a man named Mohammad Anar, who had been sentenced to death in 2005 before his penalty was commuted to life imprisonment in 2011. The reason for the acquittal was simple: the eyewitness whose testimony had been the basis of Mohammad Anar’s conviction and subsequent sentencing was known to have been four to five acres away at the time of the crime. According to the FIR filed, the witness said he had rushed to the house of the victim when he heard shouting and screaming while he was milking his cow.
This version of events, which should have made the charge against Mohammad Anar dubious from the outset, was ignored by the trial court. As pointed out by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who headed the three-member bench of the SC examining the case, it made no sense how the witness and others who lived at a distance from the scene of the crime arrived there with such speed and saw the crime being committed but did nothing to stop it.
The SC’s decision comes in the footsteps of several other cases in which death sentences by lower courts have been commuted and in certain cases (such as Mohammad Anar’s) even led to complete exoneration and acquittal.
Last month, just before Mohammad Anar’s acquittal, a man named Mazhar Farooq was acquitted by the SC after having served a 24-year sentence for the 1992 murder of a student.
The court’s attentions have not always come in time to save innocent people in Pakistain’s prisons. In late October, the SC heard the case of two brothers, Ghulam Sarwar and Ghulam Qadir. As in Mohammad Anar’s case, the court found serious discrepancies in the eyewitness testimony that was offered in support of convicting the two brothers, and exonerated them. It was too late, however. When the authorities went to locate the men, it was found that they had already been executed in 2015.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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#1
When the authorities went to locate the men
Clearly a cry for embedded RFID and active trackers.
[DAWN] IT took 37 long years, but a historic wrong is finally on course to being set right. On Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... announced he had given his approval to rename the National Centre for Physics at Islamabad’s Quaid-e-Azam University after Dr Abdus Salam, who in 1979 became Pakistain’s first ever Nobel laureate by winning the prestigious international award in the physics category. The premier also approved a grant of five annual fellowships in Dr Salam’s name at overseas universities for Pak doctoral candidates in physics. That it has taken nearly four decades for this country to honour a globally renowned scientist who was one of its own, is a sad reflection of the priorities that hold sway here, and that have diminished our standing in the world. For Dr Salam was an Ahmadi, a persecuted minority in Pakistain, and his faith rather than his towering achievements was the yardstick by which he was judged. His desire to use his fame to drive the engine of scientific research in his native country was spurned; the self-appointed defenders of the faith in Pakistain were determined not to let this land be ’sullied’ by the priceless gift of knowledge that Dr Salam wanted to bring to it.
In countries less blinded by prejudice and bigotry, Dr Salam’s would have been an inspirational story, a staple of school textbooks, and a name displayed on many a scientific institute of learning -- but that would have been a Pakistain we have not known for decades now. Born into a family of modest financial means in Jhang, Punjab, Dr Salam’s academic brilliance took him all the way to Cambridge where he won the Adams Prize for distinguished research in mathematics. To put that in perspective, the celebrated physicist Stephen Hawking is another recipient. Despite his pioneering work during the course of a career that contributed to the theoretical framework of even recent scientific discoveries, Dr Salam remained ’tainted’ by his religious affiliation in his homeland. While the state’s move to give Dr Salam his due is very welcome, despite coming 20 years after his death, it is worth pointing out that we treat our only other Nobel laureate, Malala Yousafzai ...a Pashtun blogger and advocate for girls' education from Mingora, in Swat. She is esteemed as an ambassador of international good will, even though she can't go home lest some fellow in a turban shoots her in the head again... , in a similarly dismissive manner and for equally perverse, though different, reasons.Perhaps Paks should ask themselves, why do we manifest such unthinking hostility towards fellow citizens when their achievements are feted by the rest of the world?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2016
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BEIRUT: Syrian government troops seized five new districts of eastern Aleppo on Tuesday, including the strategic Shaar neighborhood, a monitoring group said.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the fresh advance puts the government in control of more than 70 percent of the former opposition opposition stronghold in Aleppo’s east
“Regime forces took full control of Shaar, Dahret Awad, Juret Awad, Karam Al-Beik and Karam Al-Jabal,” the Britain-based monitor said on Tuesday.
“The regime is cornering the rebels even further,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
Backed by allied militia, Syrian troops have waged a fierce three-week assault on eastern Aleppo, a opposition bastion since 2012.
Their rapid advance has left opposition reeling in their shrinking enclave in southeast Aleppo.
Abdel Rahman told AFP the government could now wage a “war of attrition” on encircled opposition groups. Syrian state news agency SANA confirmed that Syrian troops overran Shaar and several other districts on Tuesday.
The fall of eastern Aleppo would deal the biggest blow yet to opposition forces since Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011.
The regime’s campaign has been met with global outrage, but Damascus and its steadfast ally Moscow have said any cease-fire must include a guarantee that all opposition fighters leave the city.
Syria rejects cease-fire
Syria rejects any cease-fire negotiated by any party in opposition-held eastern Aleppo unless what it describes as terrorist groups there depart, its Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday in a statement carried by state media.
Moscow said on Monday that Russian and US officials would meet this week to discuss a possible opposition withdrawal from Aleppo. A US official told Reuters that Washington would embrace that as a step to save lives.
The Syrian government describes all the opposition groups fighting to bring down President Bashar Assad as terrorists. The insurgents include groups backed by the United States, Turkey and Gulf monarchies, as well as militants.
Russia and China vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Monday for a week-long cease-fire, with Moscow arguing that fighters used such pauses in the fighting to reinforce, causing more fighting and harm to civilians.
Russia, Assad’s most powerful foreign supporter, has conducted a campaign of air strikes against the opposition since September 2015, including in Aleppo.
It says it is targeting the Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham group, a former Al-Qaeda affiliate previously known as the Nusra Front, in the city. Opposition based in Aleppo say that Fateh Al-Sham is not present there in significant numbers.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Syrian government forces and allied militias captured Aleppo’s centrally located al-Shaar neighborhood from rebels on Tuesday, securing nearly three quarters of the besieged enclave less than two weeks after launching a ground offensive, according to the Syrian military.
The Syrian government and its ally Russia meanwhile rejected a cease-fire for the war-torn city, keeping up the military offensive amid rebel retreats and massive displacement.
Rebels withdrew from al-Shaar under heavy bombardment by pro-government forces to the Marjeh and Maadi neighborhoods, local media activist Mahmoud Raslan told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. Several gunnies were killed.
"Morale has hit rock bottom," he said from inside the city’s remaining rebel-held enclave.
The SANA state news agency said the government captured the entire neighborhood as well as the neighborhoods of al-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... ji and Karm al-Dada.
A map provided by the Syria army showed a quickly shrinking opposition enclave- a pointed leaf-shaped territory in the center, abutting already government-controlled Aleppo districts. The army media said the new gains bring the area controlled by the government in eastern Aleppo to about 73 percent of its original size, which is estimated to be about 45 square kilometers (17 square miles).
The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group also reported the gains.
Al-Shaar was home to at least four hospitals available to residents trapped by the government’s siege of the eastern part of the city. But those hospitals, along the rest of the neighborhood, were bombed by the government’s attacks and evacuated. Broad swaths of the city’s eastern quarters are in ruins.
Ibrahim al-Haj, a civil defense member, said he was in the neighborhood shortly before it fell to the government. "It is totally destroyed," he said, adding that if he had stayed a minute longer he would have been captured. He said the previously densely populated district had largely been deserted since the government forces first moved in on the eastern districts last weekend.
A government intense aerial offensive had preceded the ground troops’ advances.
Rebel defenses are collapsing under the weight of twin offensives by pro-government forces.
Rebels and pro-government forces fought street-to-street in the city’s southern Saif al-Dawleh and al-Zabadiyeh neighborhoods, according to footage provided by Syrian military media and audio provided by local teacher and media activist Abdelkafi Alhamdo.
The Syrian government and its ally Russia on Tuesday issued stark warnings to rebels in besieged eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo, with Moscow’s top diplomat saying the rebels will be wiped out unless they stop fighting and leave the city.
Damascus also said it rejects any cease-fire for Aleppo that does not include the departure of all rebels from the eastern part of the city and that it won’t allow the rebels to use a truce as a chance to "regroup."
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Kawthar al-Arbash was named ‐ along 29 other Saudi women ‐ as a new member of the kingdom’s reformed Shoura council.
Arbash, who is a Saudi journalist and writer, is known to be an outspoken critic against sectarianism during the past year especially after the loss of her heroic son who stopped an ISIS attack on a mosque.
Her son Mohammed al-Essa and her nephew Abdul-Jalil al-Arbash were killed instantly while stopping an ISIS jacket wallah from entering a mosque in Dammam.
Kawthar is a graduate of business administration from King Faisal University and is a board member of the Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... n Society for Culture and Arts. She has become a prominent writer and critic against sectarianism and argues instead for the importance of national identity and unity.
She heard the news of her appointment to the Shoura council via a royal decree while she was visiting in the United States as part of the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program. She was presenting a paper during a workshop examining democracy in the Middle East.
While in the US, she has been explaining Saudi Arabia’s counter-terror efforts and spoke about her own individual efforts which consists of her establishing the Prince Mohammed bin Nayef program for rehabilitating former gunnies back into society.
Saudi Arabia announced the reformation of their consultative Shoura council on Saturday through royal decrees that also named 29 women to the body.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
New York magazine reported Monday that many women in Washington D.C. are dealing with President-elect Donald Trump’s victory by cutting or dying their hair.
[BBC] One of Donald Trump's aides has lost his job after fanning a conspiracy theory that climaxed at the weekend in gunfire at a pizzeria.
[Daily Caller] The new CEO of Wells Fargo, Tim Sloan, urged President-elect Donald Trump to consider making regulatory changes at an industry conference Tuesday morning.
[Free Beacon] Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb said in an interview with RT that she is afraid Russia and Saudi Arabia will build oil pipelines through the United States while Donald Trump is president.
[Breitbart] The Chinese government appears to be adopting a two-sided diplomatic approach to incoming U.S. President Donald Trump, with President Xi Jinping and his Foreign Ministry issuing moderated, friendly comments about Trump. China’s propaganda newspapers, however, seethe at the President-elect’s defiant moves against the Asian power.
Israel's intelligence community believes that diplomacy has "rolled back Iran's nuclear program," US President Barack Obama argued one last time on Tuesday evening in his final major national security speech before leaving office.
[RFE/RL] The mayor of Bishkek has asked residents of the Kyrgyz capital to help identify and locate two young men it says roasted potatoes on the eternal flame at the city's memorial to those slain in World War II. The mayor's office issued a statement Tuesday appealing to residents and promising not to disclose the identities of those who help track down "the vandals."
[MarketWatch] SoftBank Group Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said Tuesday he would invest $50 billion in the U.S. and create 50,000 new jobs, following a 45-minute private meeting with President elect Donald Trump.
[Mindanao Examiner] Philippine security forces clashed with jihadis before dawn Tuesday in Lanao del Sur's Butig town that wounded a police commando. Officials said the police and military searched houses of terrorist leader Abdullah Maute and his brother Omar, and their relatives in the town.
[Libya Observer] The National committee for Human Rights in Libya (NCHRL) has expressed rejection for the statement of some of the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) members, who are trying to lay the basis for the marginalization and taking away of rights of the Libyan social and cultural communities.
Groups planning to protest President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next month monopolized the National Park Service permits to use public spaces around Washington during the event -- until Bikers for Trump showed up.
Indonesia's anti-terrorism squad arrested two militants who were planning to attack prominent places in Jakarta, including the Myanmar Embassy. Police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said an interrogation of suspected bomb maker Rio Priatna Wibawa led authorities to the men . All three claimed allegiance to Daesh.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A commander of the loyalists of the 
[Dhaka Tribune] The apex court will deliver verdict Wednesday in the appeals of two death-row convict 
[Manila Bulletin] Police said they have arrested another bombing suspect who was tagged as among those who tried to detonate an improvised explosive device in Manila on November 28.
...ethnic Uzbek warlord who distinguished himself fighting the Soviets and the Taliban. The story that he had a bad guy run over with a tank is an exaggeration. It was an armored personnel carrier...
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
From a distance, it’s beautiful - white spears with delicate white strands holding up an arched roadway across the Willamette River. It’s only when you get closer that it hits you: no cars. There are buses, trains, cyclists and walkers, but no cars and no trucks. This is a big new bridge across a major river in a major American city, and cars were left off the invitation list. It’s probably the first of its kind in a century.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Kawthar al-Arbash was named ‐ along 29 other Saudi women ‐ as a new member of the kingdom’s reformed Shoura council.
