[Zero Hedge] In one of the most euphoric praises for Donald Trump and the president-elect's fledgling administration to date, overnight Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio said economic changes under the Trump administration may be more dramatic than shifts from "the socialists to the capitalists" in the U.K., U.S. and Germany from 1979 to 1982, and predicted that "we are about to experience a profound, president-led ideological shift that will have a big impact on both the US and the world."
Comparing Trump to Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Helmut Kohl, Dalio said the incoming administration may have a much bigger impact on the U.S. economy than can be measured by tax changes and fiscal spending. The Trump era could "ignite animal spirits" and attract productive capital.
In his summary of Trump's economic policies, Dalio urges readers to read Ayn Rand "as her books pretty well capture the mindset. This new administration hates weak, unproductive, socialist people and policies, and it admires strong, can-do, profit makers. It wants to, and probably will, shift the environment from one that makes profit makers villains with limited power to one that makes them heroes with significant power."
#1
I wonder if those people sued too soon, While Obama is still in office, this lawsuit may be dismissed. If the lawsuit filers waited until Trump take office, they may be able to prevail?
[Breitbart] The American politician, a presidential aspirant, was explicit in his secret-but-audacious message to the Russian leadership in Moscow: Help me win the White House, and then, once I’m in the Oval Office, I will return the favor. "This is my last election ... After my election I have more flexibility"
The Russians carefully considered the American’s quid pro quo. And if it’s not so clear what Moscow actually did, or didn’t do, in response to the offer, well, what about Russia is clear? As Winston Churchill once said of the whole country, "It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."
So about the only thing we know for sure is that the American wanted to sell out his county for his own political advantage.
Is Virgil alleging treacherous machinations by Donald Trump, working with Vladimir Putin, to defeat Hillary Clinton?
Nyet! I am simply recalling the well-documented history of the multiple efforts by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) to conspire with Leonid Brezhnev and other leaders of the Soviet Union in the 70s and 80s, as he schemed to win the American presidency.
This disturbing bit of history was first reported in Great Britain in 1992, and has been recalled in the US many times since: notably, by historian Herbert Romerstein in 2003, by historian Paul Kengor in 2007, by writer Kevin Mooney in 2010, by Breitbart’s James Zumwalt on August 12, 2016, and by Mooney again on December 14.
Yet curiously, the Main Stream Media has never been interested in the voluminous Kennedy-Russia story.
#2
Another difference is 1980 Soviet Union's goal was an enemy whose final goal was to destroy the United States while 2016 Russia ia no friend to United Staets but it is not her enemy, at least not her mortal enemy.
[BBC] At least 48 people have died in the Siberian city of Irkutsk after drinking bath essence, Russian authorities say.
The hawthorn-scented liquid was consumed as if it were alcohol, according to Russia's Investigative Committee. Several others are in a serious condition. Two people have been detained over the deaths and police are removing bottles from shops.
Investigators said a warning that it should not be swallowed was ignored. The product, called Boyaryshnik (Hawthorn), was found to contain methanol, a toxin found in antifreeze. A state of emergency has been declared in Irkutsk, and Russia's top investigative agency opened an enquiry into the incident. Russian media reported that the victims were poor people, aged between 35 and 50, and were not drinking together.
Household products are seen by some as a cheap alternative to alcohol across the former Soviet Union.
[Wash Times] President-elect Donald Trump’s senior adviser Kellyanne Conway offers a simple reality check regarding all the media chatter implying her boss could have possible friendly ties with Russia, and Russia President Vladimir Putin. Ms. Conway recounts past history between Russia, and two certain Democrats.
"I want your viewers to be reminded of one thing," she told to CBS News anchor John Dickerson on Sunday.
"When it comes to Russia and coziness, let’s not forget Hillary Clinton and her craven family foundation requests. Then Bill Clinton got a million bucks to give a speech in Russia. And then she turned over 20 percent of U.S. uranium rights.
So let’s be honest about who for money, who for power, and who for access has cozied up to the Russians."
And while the nation ponders what’s "fake news" and what isn’t over the ongoing melodrama, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll reports that while Americans may have concern about reported Russian interference in the 2016 election, "just 37 percent believe the actions helped Donald Trump win the presidential contest, while 57 percent say it didn’t make a difference."
#2
And the whole time she was saying that Dickerson was trying to interrupt her. Those statements made him extremely nervous so he kept trying to ask her other questions and get her onto another track.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/20/2016 12:08
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#3
Dickerson was shown as a Dem Tool by the email leaks. EVERY interview with him should start out with that poignant observation
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2016 13:27
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[Jordan Times] AMMAN -- The bus driver was supposed to show up at 7:30am on Sunday to pick up a group of tourists from Amman to Karak. He was late because of a technical problem, which made the tourists a little upset.
In the afternoon, they rejoiced at the very thing that annoyed them in the morning, because it saved their lives, or at least spared them the horror other visitors of the old Crusader castle had to experience.
"Thank God he was late. We feel very lucky today that he was late. We are now safe," Liam Jouannon, an 18-year-old tourist from Australia, a member of the group, told the Jordan Times Sunday.
The driver was supposed to take the group of 13 tourists, coming from Australia, Canada, the UK, the US and New Zealand, to the Dead Sea then to Karak Castle, which in the afternoon was the scene of a shootout between security forces and terrorists.
The terrorist attack in the southern town, 150km from Amman, led to the death of at least four policemen, three gendarmerie members, two citizens and a Canadian citizen.
"When the driver was late, we started to crack jokes about lack of punctuality... Then we moved on with our journey," their tour operator, who preferred not to be named, told The Jordan Times.
Around 2:00pm, the bus was two minutes away from the castle that was built in the 1140s. Then, traffic came to a complete standstill, and a few minutes afterwards, the bus driver was supposed to take a right turn that leads to the castle.
"At the turn, a man waved for us not to enter and asked us to drive straight... I realised there was something wrong and the tourists were upset that they miss visiting the castle despite being very close to it following a long journey," the guide said.
A few minutes later, the passengers could hear an exchange of fire, said the guide.
[Daily Caller] Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth, a veteran of the Iraq War, warned that GOP President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks are sliding the country towards a military dictatorship.
Duckworth, an incoming senator, told David Axeldrod on "The Axe Files" podcast that filling key positions with retired generals is a "real danger" and said Washington should avoid traveling down that path to a military junta, that is, a military dictatorship, CNN reports.
"We’re the greatest nation on the face of the Earth, and the greatest democracy, because we’re not a military junta," Duckworth said. "So we shouldn’t be starting on that slippery slope towards it."
Trump has taken a liking to military officers, stacking his cabinet full of former military officials like retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, and just on Monday, former Army infantry officer Vincent Viola for the position of secretary of the Army.
#4
Question: for which side did this guy serve in Iraq? You have to be sure when you're discussing Democrats.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/20/2016 8:28
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Washington, Jackson, Taylor, Grant,...Eisenhower. Seems we've had more than one with their hands directly on the wheel of state without it evolving into a military dictatorship. Then again, that was all before the Donks centralized so much power and weaponized the federal government. Maybe if you hadn't done that you'd feel better about it all.
#7
Yeah, yeah, a military dictatorship over a country that has more arms in private hands than in the militaries of NATO members. Coming from a president-elect that calls for reciprocity in concealed carry between states.
Call back when Trump and the Republicans start braying like Donks for the confiscation of private arms and the abolition of the Second Amendment. Until then, buy a gun, practice with it, and shut up.
#8
She's a double amputee (both legs) and has fairly severe damage to one arm from being shot down (Army Helo pilot) in Iraq. She uses the 'disabled veteran' response a lot when faced with opposition.
Other than my respect for her serving the country, I still think she's a dangerous loon.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/20/2016 10:27
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Well Mullah Richard, how many veterans you know who like generals?
[Daily Caller] A Monday report in the German newspaper Die Welt claimed the alleged driver of a truck that killed at least 12 in a Berlin Christmas market is a Pakistani refugee.
The report said that the alleged terrorist arrived in Germany in February 16, 2016. Die Welt did not list its sources. The alleged driver has been taken into custody. A Polish citizen found dead in the cab of the truck was the registered driver of the vehicle, which was reportedly stolen from a construction site.
The Islamic State has not claimed responsibility for the attack but in recent months they have encouraged followers to use vehicles as weapons. A July truck attack killed 87 in Nice, France.
Posted by: Regular joe ||
12/20/2016 8:57
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#3
German police now is almost certain that the Pakistani is NOT the driver.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
12/20/2016 9:28
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Pakistani refugee from what? I mean, I know that country is full of violent nut jobs and rage boys but there is no full blown war there at the moment. So from what is he seeking refuge?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/20/2016 11:52
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#5
"Happy Holidays"
Posted by: Regular joe ||
12/20/2016 12:09
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#6
So from what is he seeking refuge?
The reality that is Pakistan.
[Breitbart] WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 - With about one month to go before he leaves office, President Barack Obama gave some exit interview-type advice to his successor Donald Trump: Don’t rely too heavily on executive orders.
In an interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Thursday that aired in its entirety Monday on Morning Edition, Obama said it’s preferable to work with Congress.
"Keep in mind, though, that my strong preference has always been to legislate when I can get legislation done," Obama said from the Cabinet Room in the White House. "In my first two years, I wasn’t relying on executive powers, because I had big majorities in the Congress and we were able to get bills done, get bills passed. And even after we lost the majorities in Congress, I bent over backwards consistently to try to find compromise and a legislative solution to some of the big problems that we’ve got -- a classic example being immigration reform, where I held off for years in taking some of the executive actions that I ultimately took in pursuit of a bipartisan solution -- one that, by the way, did pass through the Senate on a bipartisan basis with our help."
#12
That statement by O is one of the most Bozonic utterances I ever heard.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2016 18:47
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That depends on just how many EOs overturn BOs EOs. Ifor one have never been able to figure out just EOs affecting domestic policy are constitutional. But then my mind doesn't understand Beltwayese
The only known "faithless" presidential electors to not vote for the candidate who won their states have so far been Democrats refusing to support 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
The Electoral College has been gathering in each state capital on Monday to officially vote for the next president of the United States.
One-third of Washington’s electors did not vote for Clinton despite her winning the state last month, making them the only "faithless" electors to have their votes officially count in their state’s final tally. Out of Washington’s 12 total Electoral College votes, eight went to Clinton, three went to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and one went to Faith Spotted Eagle, a Native American elder who has been opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline project in North Dakota.
[National Review] Fort Bragg, N.C. -- Captain Ivan Castro will tell you he’s an ordinary man, basically. You may wish to disagree. He is an officer in the U.S. Special Forces, and blind. He was blinded while fighting in Iraq about two and a half years ago. He did not then leave the military. He persevered, to an astonishing degree. He has attracted interest all over the country, as well he might.
[Ynet] IDF, Border Police and Shin Bet forces raid an illegal weapons factory located under a home in south Hebron overnight Sunday; 2 suspects were detained and hundreds of materials for weapons production confiscated.
IDF forces from the Judea and Samaria Brigade seized 15 lathes and other production materials used for making illegal, homemade weapons during a raid in Hebron
...Hamas Central in the West Bank...
overnight Sunday. The materials and secret factory were discovered in a large underground space built beneath a house in southern Hebron.
An officer in the Judea and Samaria Brigade said the raid is part of an ongoing campaign against illegal weapons production and increased terrorist activity in the West Bank. Security forces estimate that most of the shooting attacks that occurred within and beyond the Green Line were conducted with weapons produced in the West Bank.
Hundreds of soldiers from various units such as the 890th Paratrooper Brigade, the 77th armored brigade, combat engineers and Border Police took part in the raid.
The IDF is calling the discovery "the biggest weapons factory ever discovered in the West Bank."
Forces discovered more than 100 Carl Gustav m/45 barrels, Russian 7.62 sniper rifles and for the first time, M16 rifle parts with assembly instructions.
Photos of the haul at the link -- click on the headline above to see.
During the raid, IDF forces also discovered a large cache of ammunition hidden in one of the walls of the house.
Security forces left Hebron with all the confiscated weapons and the two owners of the factory, a father and son, who were turned over the Shin Bet for questioning.
During an initial field interrogation, the father claimed to be producing farming equipment, until soldiers discovered the large underground plant on the floor below where the man lived with his wife and younger children.
[IsraelTimes] A Paleostinian woman was incarcerated Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! at the Qalqilya checkpoint in the West Bank after apparently planning to carry out a stabbing attack. Channel 10 says the woman approached troops with a knife. They fired shots in the air and she surrendered and was arrested. There are no injuries.
#1
if the paleos had an independent state these weapons would prob be used first in a civil war and then in extermination of losers in that war and then for terrorism against Israel
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/20/2016 9:39
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[Dhaka Tribune] Minister of Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal laid down this year’s restriction on celebrating the New Year and said major churches around the country will receive police protection during Christmas.
The minister says there will be a complete ban on all public gatherings, demonstrations, and celebrations nationwide after 6pm.
He says parties can only be held indoors after taking permission from the authorities.
The minister noted that fireworks are not permitted to be used either.
In addition, pubs have been ordered to close after 6pm as well.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2016
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At least 15 Al-Shabaab militants [were dispatched] in their clashes in south Somalia on Saturday, Jubbaland state officials said.
Ahmed Mohamud Ahmed, spokesman for Jubaland State security agency, said their forces backed locals near Kismayo town who were fighting Al-Shabaab.
“Al-Shabaab militants killed nine livestock owners. They also stole 2,000 camels from the locals. Later the locals backed by the military fought back the militants where the forces killed three Al-Shabaab fighters and injured several others,” Ahmed said.
The spokesman said Jubaland State forces captured three key locations from Al-Shabaab militants in Saturday’s operation.
“Our forces made progress in the fight against terrorists. We captured three key areas including Janay-Abdale and Ber-hano, about some 60 kilometers west of Kismayo town. We are in full control of those locations and we remain there and continue the liberation,” he added.
Al-Shabaab militants has not commented on the latest clashes in Lower Juba region in southern Somalia.
Similar confrontation happened in central Somalia on November after locals rejected to pay taxes (Zakawat) imposed by Al-Shabaab.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2016
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[WASHINGTONPOST] 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... clinched the presidency Monday as members of the electoral college cast ballots declaring him the victor, a perfunctory conclusion to the most stunning presidential contest in modern history.
Trump became the winner Monday afternoon after electors from Texas cast ballots and put him over the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Results will be officially announced Jan. 6 in a special joint session of Congress.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2016
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#1
Posted by: Pearl Snomong2830 ||
12/20/2016 1:30
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#2
Ironically, more electors "voted their conscience" and did not vote for Hillary than Trump. According to Real Clear Politics, four electors from Washington State voted for someone other than Hildabeast. Trumpster only had one.
#4
Now all we have to deal with is anarchist and destructive behaviors from the dems, their paid operatives, and a bunch of immature, whining spoiled adult children throwing tantrums.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2016 14:05
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British-supplied BL-755 cluster munitions have admittedly been used in Yemen by Arab Coalition member states, however,there has been an adamant confirmation that coalition military forces will no longer use them, Britain’s defense minister Michael Fallon said on Monday.
Fallon said Britain had not supplied Saudi Arabia with the cluster munitions since 1989 and that the country signed the convention on cluster munitions in 2008.
“However, Saudi Arabia has now confirmed that it will not further use BL-755 cluster munitions and I welcome that.”
“The coalition confirmed earlier today that a limited number of BL-755 cluster munitions exported from the United Kingdom in the 1980s were dropped in Yemen,” he told parliament, adding that the Saudi government said they were used against a “legitimate military target”.
The Arab Coalition is a military intervention in Yemen seeking to bolster and anchor the constitutionally elected government back to power, after militias either backed by Iran or loyalists supporting former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have sought an armed putsch.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Coalition said that “the BL-755 cluster munitions used sometime between December 2015-January 2016 in the vicinity of Al Khadra in Yemen, the Coalition Forces Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen, would like to make the following clarification:
“It must be recalled that international law does not ban the use of cluster munitions. Some States have undertaken a commitment to refrain from using cluster munitions by becoming party to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. Neither the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia nor its Coalition partners are State Parties to the 2008 Convention, and accordingly, the Coalition’s use of cluster munitions does not violate the obligations of these States under international law.”
European Union (EU) said Monday it will open a new office in Mogadishu which is aimed at facilitating its developmental projects in Somalia, the conflict-riddled horn of Africa county.
EU officials met high-ranking Somali officials from Benadir regional administration and the planning and international relations ministry in Mogadishu today.
Both sides have discussed on ways to boost up the launching of the EU’s new office.
EU has already opened several key offices, including diplomatic missions office which are based in the heavily fortified Mogadishu international airport under African Union forces protection.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2016
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#1
How fucked are these guys (the people who made the decision and the people who will be manning that office)?
The United Nations Security Council, with Russia’s backing, voted on Dec. 19 to quickly deploy U.N. observers to Aleppo to monitor evacuations and report on the fate of civilians who remain in the besieged Syrian city, which France says is critical to prevent “mass atrocities.”
Send in the mighty Uruguayans!
Some 20,000 people have been evacuated from the city so far, said Turkish FM Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
The resolution adopted Dec. 19 calls for the U.N. and other institutions to monitor evacuations from eastern Aleppo and demands that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urgently consult Syria and other parties on security and arrangements for the immediate deployment of the monitors.
France and Russia, who submitted rival draft resolutions, announced agreement on a text after more than three hours of closed-door consultations on Dec. 18.
The resolution also demands that all parties allow unconditional and immediate access for the U.N. and its partners to deliver humanitarian aid and medical care, and “respect and protect all civilians across Aleppo and throughout Syria.”
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2016
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#1
1080p please...
Snark of the day. Oak leaf cluster for the brevity.
[Dhaka Tribune] International Crisis Group has revealed that a well-funded armed Islamist group carried out the attacks on Myanmar security forces in October and November that saw crackdown by the military in retaliation.
Formed after the 2012 riot, the bully boy group, which refers to itself as Harakah al-Yaqin (Faith Movement, HaY), is led by a committee of Rohingyas living in 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... and is commanded on the ground by Rohingyas with international training and experience in modern guerrilla war tactics, the Brussels-based group said in a report published yesterday.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2016
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After the victory last month of President-elect Donald Trump, an employee of the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities reportedly posted a disturbing message to his private Facebook page wishing death on the former GOP nominee’s supporters.
“To all my friends that live in red voting states,” the screed began. “You have 2 months to move. After that, if you don’t do not consider us friends. I want you dead. I want your families dead. I want your wives, husbands children and grandchildren dead. Not just dead but horrible painful deaths.”
“Torturous cancers — bone, brain,” his twisted post continued. “Burning alive in a fire. Drownings. Wives and daughters or should I say your c***s as you Republicans like to call them should be brutally raped first.”
He doesn't care whether his friends voted for or against Mr. Trump, but just that they live in states where the majority of voters voted for Mr. Trump. One hopes his job does not require any higher level thinking... or contact with people.
#4
Mr. Walz is apparently now on administrative leave pending an investigation.
It's dicey for the State agency. What Walz posted on Facebook (his account there has been suspended) is protected speech. His posting is not, apparently, connected to his work and thus I don't see how the agency can discipline him.
Probably the OPDD will have to keep him as an employee but restrict his on site appearance in the office as part of anger management therapy.
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/20/2016 10:46
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#5
He'll be allowed to keep working until he goes postal, and everyone will say "nobody saw this coming!"
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/20/2016 11:18
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#6
A communicated threat - criminal assault. Executing the threat is battery.
Zawia’s Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station was attacked last night by an armed group and staff forced to disconnect power lines to Tripoli and its suburbs.
At a press conference today, a GECOL official said that as a result of the attack, output at both the station’s units had been reduced, drastically cutting the power supply.
Insisting that the company was not on any one group’s side, he warned that any further attacks could result in the complete disruption of power supplies to the capital. Power station staff were increasingly frightened and might stop working altogether.
Questions are now being asked as to whether the attack was by criminals intent on some sort of financial gain or by a politically-driven unit intent on destabilising the capital 50 kilometres to the east by reducing the power supply and thus making the exhausted and dispirited population all more willing to accept a change of regime.
Forces linked to the Libyan National Army led by Field Marshal Khalifa Hafter, mainly Zintani and Wirshefani, have been closing in on Zawia in recent days, and Hafter has called on officers and soldier to be ready for an offensive against the capital.
[UPI] When Hezbollah went to war with Israel in 2006, estimates suggest it had approximately 13,000 short-range rockets. Now it could have more than 100,000, including weapons with greater accuracy, range and payloads.
Hezbollah has acquired the Russian-made SA-17 "Buk," a medium-range air defense missile originally sold to Syria that has a range of 31 miles and can target aircraft flying at altitudes of 78,000 feet.
The SA-17, which Israel went to great lengths to prevent Hezbollah from acquiring, represents the Lebanese group's most potent air defense weapon and puts all Israeli aircraft within reach.
Israel also says Hezbollah is constructing bases in Syria to store missiles -- possibly Iranian Shabaab-1, Shabaab-2 and Fateh-110 ballistic missiles, which puts Israel fully within striking range.
These developments represent a growing strategic threat for Israel. Add to it the possibility of Hezbollah establishing a presence in the Golan and the situation becomes especially troubling.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 during the Six-Day War and has occupied it since, effectively annexing it in 1981. International law officially recognizes the territory as Syrian, as do Israel's closest allies such as the United States, Britannia and La Belle La Belle France.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A leader of the Taliban group was killed during a night conducted by the Afghan special forces 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.
The provincial police commandment said the operation was conducted late on Sunday night in Chaparhar district.
The security officials said another Taliban holy warrior accompanying the Taliban leader was also killed and another holy warrior was maimed.
The officials further added that the Afghan forces and the local residents did not suffer any casualties during the operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Night raid? I thought the Caped Crusader had banned them? Oh yeah, he's done
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2016 0:31
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[Libya Observer] The so-called 32nd Reinforced Brigade, a former armed group loyal to slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has been regrouped and joined Benghazi's ongoing clashes.
A video posted on social media on Saturday showed pro-Gaddafi militants with their heads wrapped in green taking part in Dignity Operation's fight for the control of besieged district of Ganfouda. The militants were cheering while three bodies from rival groups were being displayed on a tank.
"Ganfouda is being liberated," one of the green militants chanted.
Dignity Operation and its media outlets are denying reports of presence of former Gaddafi brigades and mercenaries from Chad and Sudan in Benghazi.
In September, Khalifa Haftar's militias seized the country's main oil ports in the oil crescent region with the help of rebels from Sudan and Chad.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2016
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[al-Manar] Five rebels, a South African peacekeeper and a policeman were killed Monday when militia fighters attacked the city of Butembo in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, UN and police sources said.
The clashes between police and militia fighters, who attacked the prison in Butembo, a city of around one million people in troubled North Kivu province, came amid rising tension across the country as President Joseph Kabila’s mandate runs out.
“At around 6 am (0400 GMT), the assailants, who were likely Mai-Mai fighters, launched an attack against the prison and other places,” said the spokesman for the UN’s MONUSCO peacekeeping force, Felix-Prosper Basse.
Mai-Mai militia have staged several attacks in Butembo in recent months and though the reasons for their return appear unclear, some residents say they have heard some fighters claim they are seeking to oust Kabila.
The country was due to hold a presidential election this year as Kabila’s mandate ends December 20, but the authorities failed to organise the polls and there is widespread fear of protests and violence.
Kabila is barred from a third mandate under the constitution and the opposition has accused the authorities of delaying the vote in the hope of reworking the constitution to extend his tenure.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Nine Islamic State fighters were killed on Monday in an airstrike carried out by Iraqi army fighter jets west of Anbar, a source has said.
Iraqi air forces pounded an IS hideout in the village of Raihana in the town of Annah, killing nine militants inside, a source told Alsumaria News.
Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry said in a statement its air forces targeted IS ammunition stacks and booby-trapping workshops in Okashat desert area, also in the west, as well as in al-Akra village in Haditha.
IS militants still maintain holdouts at western Anbar regions, most notably at the towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaem, launching from there occasional attacks on civilians and security forces who respond with airstrikes on the group’s locations relying on intelligence tips.
Iraqi security forces, assisted by tribal militias and US-led international air forces, have been struggling since October to drive IS militants out of towns they had captured in 2014.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Syrian army vehicles seized by Islamic State militants during battles with government forces in Syria are now seen in Anbar, a commander at al-Hashd al-Shaabi in the province said Monday.
“Daesh (IS) have brought some Syrian army vehicles to the town of Annah,” said Nazem al-Jugheifi, an intelligence officer at Anbar’s popular mobilization forces. “They seized it after regaining control over the Syrian city of Palmyra,” he said.
“International coalition air forces have pounded some underground tunnels where IS hide those vehicle,”he said.
IS recaptured the historic city of Palmyra after intense battles with the Syrian government army which was backed by intensive strikes from Russian fighter jets a week ago.
IS militants still maintain holdouts at western Anbar regions, most notably at the towns of Annah, Rawa and Qaem, launching from there occasional attacks on civilians and security forces who respond with airstrikes on the group’s locations relying on intelligence tips.
A senior army officer was recently quoted as saying that the group withdrew some of its members from Anbar to joint the Syria front.
Iraqi security forces, assisted by tribal militias and US-led international air forces, have been struggling since October to drive IS militants out of towns they had captured in 2014.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/20/2016
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Ten teenagers suspected of planning terrorist attacks on Christmas markets were placed in durance vile You have the right to remain silent... in Belgium. Speaking for the Belgium prosecutor’s office, front man Eric Van Der Sijpt said the group had received instructions online as to how to make bombs and kill people.
"[The teenagers] were recruited by terrorist groups to prepare or commit terrorist acts," the front man said.
The arrest follows the detention of a 12-year-old boy who tried to detonate a nail bomb at a Christmas market in Germany. He was described as being "strongly radicalized" and "incited and instructed" by an "unidentified member of ISIS," according to Sherlocks that spoke to the German Magazine Focus.
The boy reportedly planned to travel to Iraq and join ISIS last summer. He was not arrested because he is younger than the criminal age of responsibility in Germany. He was taken into foster care, however.
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[DAWN] India's top counter-terrorism agency on Monday charged Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and its leader Masood Azhar with perpetrating a deadly attack on the Pathankot air force base in January this year.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) alleged that all four gunnies who stormed the air base on Jan 2 were "Pak nationals" and that Masood Azhar, the top leader of JeM, was the criminal mastermind behind the attack.
"All the gunnies are accused of waging war against India. This was a criminal conspiracy to attack our security infrastructure," said a bigwig at the NIA in New Delhi.
The presentation of a charge-sheet to a trial court wraps up India's investigation into the 18-hour siege at the Pathankot air base in which seven Indian security personnel and the four assailants were killed.
The attack, which came a week after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a 'surprise' visit to 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... on the occasion of his granddaughter's wedding in Lahore last year, derailed a tentative thaw between the nuclear-armed rivals.
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[INDIA] The Talibs publicly executed a woman in northwestern Badghis province of Afghanistan after forcing her to divorce her husband. A local official said the incident took place in Ab Kamari district late on Sunday night after the Talibs stormed into her father’s house in Maida Qul village, reports the Khaama Press.
The official said that the woman was forced to shift to her father’s house after Talibs forced her to divorce her husband whom she had married after divorcing her first husband. The Talibs punished the woman after her first husband returned from Iran and lodged a complaint with them. The bully boy group has not commented regarding the report so far.
This comes as numerous incidents of public execution by the Taliban have been reported during the recent months across the country. Earlier this month, the Talibs hanged a Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... Polytechnic University engineering student accusing him of spying for the government.
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#1
Eh, in one month this will be "Trump's Illegal War" and all the usual suspects will be screeching that it's his fault.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/20/2016 8:15
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) One civilian was killed and eight others were injured when two IED blasts hit two separate regions in southern Baghdad on Monday.
An explosive device exploded near a popular market near Jisr Diyala district in southern Baghdad, killing one and wounding 5, sources told Alghad Press.
In another incident, three civilians were wounded when an IED went off at al-Seha district in Dora, south of the capital, according to Saad Maan, spokesperson of the interior ministry’s Baghdad Operations, who revealed that the device was placed inside a vehicle.
Since 2014, violence surged in Iraq with the Islamic State militants taking over wide areas of the country to establish their self-styled “islamic caliphate” The United Nations said in November that 58000 people died since then until September 2016. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said early December that violence during November claimed the lives of 926 civilians and wounded 930 people.
Observers believe ISIS have begun to target several areas across Iraq, like Baghdad, to divert security focus from Mosul, where the group fights to defend its last bastion in Iraq under the brunt of continuous advancements by Iraqi government and popular troops which hope the city would be recaptured soon and deal the fatal blow to the group’s existence in Iraq.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) An Army Officer of Nineveh Operations Command revealed on Monday, that Iraqi security forces continue advancing toward the eastern side of Mosul.
Captain Iyad Ziad said in a press statement, “Security forces continued advancing toward the eastern side of Mosul, and stormed into al-Mazare’ area, as well as killing and wounding members of the Islamic State in the first hours of the storming operation.”
“The [security] forces stormed into al-Mazare’ area after liberating large areas of al-Wehda area in the southeastern side of Mosul,” Ziad added.
“The forces also killed 14 members of the Islamic State, including 4 suicide bombers, and wounded others,” Ziad further added. “Furthermore, our forces are planning to reliberate al-Salam Hospital,” he explained.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) An Officer in Nineveh Operations Command declared on Monday, that four members of al-Hashd al-Shaabi were killed by an attack launched by the Islamic State, west of Mosul.
Captain Amir Wathiq said in a press statement, “Four Shia members were killed in an attack launched by the Islamic State on Abu Senam village, in the axis of Tal Afar district.”
“The extremist group attacked Tal Afar Airport with mortar shells, as well as destroying two vehicles belonging to al-Hashd al-Shaabi in the main road of the airport,” Wathiq added.
[al-Manar] Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces released on Monday a map showing the areas liberated in Nineveh since the start of operation nearly two months ago.
According to the map, the PMF, commonly known as Hashd Shaabi in Iraq, has liberated an area of 2,618 km2, while the federal police has liberated an area of 960 km2, added to the initially liberated area of 1,831 km2 in Nineveh which Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, lies in.
According to the PMF, the volunteer forces destroyed on Monday several vehicles belonging to Takfiri ISIL group in west Mosul.
The PMF statement said that their forces had thwarted an ISIL attack in Abu Snam town, west of Mosul.
The Takfiri militants started their attack with a booby-trapped vehicle, but the PMF destroyed it and repelled the attack, according to the statement.
The PMF also foiled another ISIL attack near the town of al-Shariaa west of Tal Afar, killing the terrorists who waged the attack and destroying their vehicles, the PMF said in the statement.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Haider Abadi’s office said that the PM was informed about the operations taking place in Nineveh, and that Abadi, who is also the General Commander of the Armed Forces, issued instructions to the forces in the battlefield.
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At least five Taliban insurgents were killed in an attack on a police checkpost in eastern Nangarhar province on Sunday afternoon, local officials said. In addition, six other insurgents were injured.
The attack took place in Surkhroad district of the province after a number of insurgents attacked the checkpost. However, security forces fought back, resulting in the deaths of some of the insurgents, Provincial Police Chief Sayed Gul Aqa Rohani said.
There were no casualties among security forces, said Rohani. However, the Taliban have not yet commented on the attack.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Talibs failed to capture strategic cities in northern Kunduz and southern Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province of Afghanistan despite launching major attacks repeatedly, the Minister of Defense Adullah Habibi said Monday.
Briefing the politicians in the Lower House of the Parliament, Wolesi Jirga, Minister Habibi said the Talibs used all force to capture the two strategic cities besides aiming to capture several provinces.
Habibi further added that three major attacks on Kunduz city and two large attacks on Lashkargah city in Helmand were carried out by the murderous Moslems but the Afghan forces managed to repulse their offensive.
According to Habibi, the Afghan forces conducted over one thousand operations to suppress the murderous Moslems activities and the reinforcement and equipping of the Afghan forces continue.
He said hundreds of armored personnel carriers and weapons of different types were delivered to the armed forces during the year and the recruitment of the Afghan army continues smoothly.
Habibi also added that the Afghan forces went through a major test this year but successfully continued to their operations.
The remarks by Minister Habibi came as the Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant across the country since the group announced its spring offensive in mid-April this year.
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[Dhaka Tribune] The Myanmar security forces are responsible for unlawful killings, multiple rapes and the burning down of houses and entire villages in a campaign of violence against Rohingya people that may amount to crimes against humanity, Amnesia Amnesty International says in a report published on Monday morning.
Based on extensive interviews with Rohingyas in both Myanmar and Bangladesh, as well as analysis of satellite imagery and photos and videos, the report also documents how dozens of people have been arbitrarily tossed in the slammer Please don't kill me! during the military’s vicious and disproportionate security campaign in Rakhine State over the past two months.
"While the military is directly responsible for the violations, Aung San Suu Kyi has failed to live up to both her political and moral responsibility to try to stop and condemn what is unfolding in Rakhine state," said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesia Amnesty International’s Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
"The Myanmar military has targeted Rohingya civilians in a callous and systematic campaign of violence. Men, women, children, whole families and entire villages have been attacked and abused, as a form of collective punishment," he added.
"The deplorable actions of the military could be part of a widespread and systematic attack on a civilian population and may amount to crimes against humanity. We are worried that the horrific tales of violations we have uncovered are just the tip of the iceberg."
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#1
On the other hand, Myanmar probably sees it as delousing.
[THETOWER.ORG] Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, is treating 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.... fighters in the Gazoo Strip while helping the fellow terrorist group transfer weapons to the Sinai Peninsula, where heavy fighting continues between the ISIS-affiliated Sinai Province and the Egyptian army, Avi Issacharoff reported Sunday in The Times of Israel.
Egyptian authorities have claimed that Hamas has been crucial to the rise of Sinai Province, transforming it from, in the words of one Egyptian official, "a gang of Bedouin with light weapons into a well-trained, well-gang of 800 bully boys." Ynet reported last December that Hamas has been funding Sinai Province with tens of thousands of dollars per month in weapons sales, and that the IDF was intensifying efforts to collect information on the group after it issued several threats against Israel. That month, a Sinai Province commander met with Hamas officials in order to increase cooperation between the terrorist groups, especially in the area of arms smuggling.
These growing ties -- which reportedly also include explosives manufacturing, communications and logistical assistance, and hospitalization for injured fighters -- have enraged Egyptian officials, who recently confronted Hamas over its close collaboration with the Sinai-based terrorist group.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least five turbans of Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... were killed in a premature kaboom triggered by their own Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in East of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the turbans were killed after the IED went off prematurely in Asmar district of Kunar.
The anti-government armed bad boy groups have not commented regarding the report so far.
Lashkar-e-Taiba, a military wing of Markaz ad-Dawat wal Irshad (MDI), is a Pakistain-based bad boy group which has operations in several South Asian countries, including Afghanistan.
It was found in 1990s by Hafez Saeed but it is believed the group has not been heavily involved in the Taliban-led campaign against western forces in Afghanistan, but is believed to operate in Kunar and Nuristan in the east of the country.
According to reports, Lashkar-e-Taiba has close links with Islamist turbans based in Pakistain’s tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, but retains its own distinct and independent identity and ideology.
The premature blast resulting to death of the turbans comes as the anti-government armed bad boy groups have been frequently using IEDs as the weapon of their choice to target the security forces and Afghan officials.
However, a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... in majority of such attacks, the ordinary Afghan civilians are targeted with the UN mission in Afghanistan accusing the turbans for the majority of the civilian deaths and injuries.
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[al-Manar] A suspected leader of a newly-emerged militant group, the Hassam Movement, and a policeman were killed during a police raid in the Egyptian capital, the interior ministry said Monday.
Security forces raided a group hideout, where members “held organizational meetings and made explosive devices to be used in a series of hostile operations”, in the October 6 district of western Cairo.
Hassam claimed responsibility for the December 11 bomb attack inside a Cairo church that killed 26 people and a December 9 bombing that killed six policemen in western Cairo.
The ministry said its forces responded to gunfire from inside the apartment, while a police official said on condition of anonymity that the incident took place on Saturday.
The group leader killed was named as Mohamed Abdel-Khaleq Farag Ali, but the ministry did not specify if any other suspects were involved in the exchange of gunfire.
Hassam, in a statement circulated on social media, said one of its members was killed, identifying him as Mohamed Ashour Desheisha.
Attacks on security forces have escalated since the military’s July 2013 ouster of Egypt’s former Islamist president Mohammad Mursi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood group, and a crackdown on Islamists.
Analysts had warned that Islamists affiliated with the Brotherhood, though not necessarily under their control, could step up violence in the face of the crackdown.
Most attacks in Cairo have been claimed by Hassam and another little-known group, Lawaa al-Thawra.
Militants in North Sinai province, at the heart of an insurgency against security forces, pledged allegiance to the ISIL ‘jihadist’ group in November 2014.
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BEIRUT: Several villages held by Daesh have been captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition of militias backed by the United States that includes a strong Kurdish contingent, an organization that monitors the war said on Monday.
The advance is part of a military campaign backed by an international coalition led by the United States to drive Daesh from its Syrian capital of Raqqa. It follows SDF gains against the jihadist group across the north of the country.
The strongest group in the SDF is the People’s Protection Units or YPG, a Kurdish militia, but Washington has said that any operation to retake Raqqa should be predominantly Arab, the ethnicity of most of the city’s residents.
The latest advances in the countryside about 50 km (30 miles) west and northwest of Raqqa follow an earlier phase of SDF gains on another front about 30 km north of the city.
Three SDF soldiers were killed fighting Daesh after the capture of five villages, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said on Monday.
Daesh had been on the back foot in both Syria and Iraq, where it is under attack in Mosul, its biggest and most important possession, and after a string of US air strikes that have killed many of its leaders this year.
However, earlier this month it launched a surprise attack 160 km southwest of Raqqa to retake the ancient desert city of Palmyra, which it had lost in March to Syrian army forces backed by Russian air power after a nine-month occupation.
That attack demonstrated the risks still posed by the group across Syria even after its territorial losses there since mid-2015, including holdings along the Turkish border which were once its main route for supplies and recruits.
Complicating the efforts against Daesh is a second campaign being waged against it in northwest Syria by Turkey and Syrian rebel groups allied to Ankara. This has taken a large area from the jihadist group but is also aimed at stopping Kurdish expansion.
The Turkish-backed Syrian rebels are now attempting to capture the city of Al-Bab from Daesh, a move that will end Kurdish hopes of uniting their two separated areas of self rule in northern Syria.
Early on Monday, the Turkish military said one of its soldiers had been killed in a car bomb in Al-Bab on Sunday and that 11 militants were also killed in clashes that day.
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[ISRAELNATIONALNEWS] Moments after the Russian ambassador to Turkey was assassinated,Swiss police reported that three people were hurt during a shooting at the Islamic center in Zurich. According to reports the three are seriously injured. The motives of the gunman are as yet unknown.
The Islamic centre closest to the main train station is the al-Hidaya Verein mosque which lies just north of the Zurich Hauptbahnhof. The centre was accused of ties to extremism by German journalist Shams Ul-Haq in October of this year. Mr. Ul-Haq went undercover and infiltrated the mosque where he described the Somali Imams as preaching Death Eater ideas.
The undercover journalist also accused the group who run the mosque, Forum of the Orient (Forient), of hiding migrants colonists as well as other illegal activities. Imam of the Islamic centre Mohammed Hakimi has claimed that the mosque preaches a tolerant version of Islam and has denied all the allegations made by the German-Pak journalist.
A body was found a few hundred meters (yards) from the scene, an AFP photographer said, but it was unclear if it was connected to the shooting, which took place inside the city's Islamic Center, near the central station.
At around 5:30 pm (1630 GMT), an unknown person entered the Islamic Center, where several worshipers were gathered, and began shooting, Zurich police said in a statement.
He "fired several shots at the worshipers," police said.
"Three men, aged 30, 35 and 56, were injured, some seriously. The suspect then escaped from the mosque in the direction of Central Station," the statement said.
Witnesses had described the shooter as a man aged around 30 wearing dark clothes and a dark woollen cap, witnesses said.
A gunman who opened fire on about a dozen worshippers inside the prayer hall of a mosque in the Swiss city of Zurich Monday evening has been rubbed out after fleeing the scene.
"The dead man found around 300 metres (yards) from the scene of the crime after the shooting in the mosque is the suspect," a statement on a police website said.
Police had initially refused to say if the body, found under a nearby bridge, was linked to the shooting.
The oddity of this report is, if he was found dead, who shot him?
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[DAWN] Terrorist groups based in the Pak-Afghan border region remain a security challenge to both countries and pose a threat to regional stability and peace, says Pentagon, the US defence department.
In a report -- ’Enhancing security and stability in Afghanistan’ -- released this week, the Pentagon also emphasised the need for increased military collaboration between Pakistain and Afghanistan for defeating terrorism.
"The Afghanistan-Pakistain border region remains a sanctuary for various groups," claims the report, adding that they include the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... , the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain, the murderous MoslemIslamic 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 (ISIS-Khorasan) and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
The Pentagon identifies the AQIS as an Al Qaeda affiliate which recruits fighters from the larger South and Central Asian region, noting that it poses a direct threat to US interests in the area.
"The United States continues to be clear with Pakistain about steps it should take to improve the security environment and deny safe havens to terrorist and bully boy groups," the report said.
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[THETOWER.ORG] The Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah and Shiite militias fighting on behalf of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... have been accused of committing massacres as civilians and rebel fighters were being evacuated from eastern Aleppo, Voice of American reported Friday.
According to leaders of the Syrian opposition, Shiite Lions of Islam commanded by Iran stopped a convoy carrying some 800 refugees from Aleppo and forcibly disarmed rebel fighters, in violation of the ceasefire agreement. They proceeded to seize a group of civil defense workers overseeing the evacuation, killing three of them.
"Militias forced everyone to get off the buses, confiscated all individual weapons, forced men to get undressed to their underwear, killed three men and injured 7 others, then forced the convoy to go back to the besieged area of Aleppo city, and some buses are still missing," said Ahmad Abo al-Nour, a witness to the killings.
In another incident, observed by a witness who wished to remain anonymous, members of Hezbollah stopped a convoy consisting of 20 buses. Hezbollah fighters and tanks surrounded the vehicles, firing wildly and expelling the Red Thingy and Red Islamic Thingy workers who were overseeing the evacuation. They forced all the men to get off the buses, confiscating their weapons and mobile phones.
A rebel fighter who was accompanied by his pregnant wife and tried to resist was killed along with four others. Hezbollah then reportedly commandeered a number of the civil defense vehicles and ambulances, forcing the rest of the convoy back into the besieged section of Aleppo.
While Russia, an ally of Iran and Assad, has claimed that all rebels and civilians who wanted to leave Aleppo have done so, Syrian opposition leaders and the Turkish government say that thousands more are still stranded in the city. Evacuations resumed overnight Monday after days of delays and multiple accounts that pro-Assad forces killed and abused convoy passengers on their way out of eastern Aleppo, The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported.
The reports of Iran-backed militias carrying out killings in the aftermath of the fighting echo similar reports regarding Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
In August, Rooters reported that the United States had failed to restrain the Iraqi Shiite militias or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), many of whom have been deployed to Aleppo, from committing widespread human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... abuses against Sunni civilians during the battle for Fallujah. In March 2015, similar reports about the atrocities committed by the Shiite militias emerged following the battle for Amerli.
The close ties between Iran and the PMU, which the News Agency that Dare Not be Named called "just as brutal" as ISIS in 2014, have been extensively documented. The militias are headed by Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, who U.S. officials have accused of bombing the American and French embassies in Kuwait in 1983. al-Mohandis, a deputy of IRGC chief Soleimani, was designated by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2009, along with Kata’ib Hezbollah, one of the main PMF militias, for targeting American and coalition forces in Iraq.
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Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Two Iraqi army commandos died on Monday in an IED explosion east of Salahuddin, said a local official.
Four other personnel were also wounded in the attack that targeted a commandos patrol in Tuz Khurmatu, according to the precinct’s municipal official, Shalla Abdol.
Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but security forces and civilians in the region have been occasionally targeted by Islamic State militants.
Iraqi government forces, tribal militias and US-led air forces have been in battles with IS at several cities held by the group since it declared a self-styled Islamic “caliphate” in 2014. Forces are currently waging a decisive campaign against the group’s last outstanding stronghold in Mosul, the recapture of which will be a killer blow to the group’s existence in the country.
IS still maintains other less significant hideouts in Kirkuk, Salahuddin and Anbar, which security officials say will be targeted by joint government and tribal campaigns under preparation.
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[Al Arabiya] An IRGC officer was killed and another wounded in car bomb following clashes with Baloch insurgents near the border with Pakistan, the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps announced (IRGC).
In a statement, IRGC stated that the car bomb was detonated remotely whilst the soldiers were returning from pursuing Balochi armed insurgents in the Saravan region, East Baluchistan. The militants have fled back across the border, according to YJC of IRNA.
Lieutenant Hassan Jazini was killed and another soldier was critically injured in the blast.
Last week, two IRGC elements were injured when improvised explosive device IED went off in Saravan city, in Sistan-Baluchistan province, southeast Iran, coincided with a massive war drill game staged by the Iranian army in the area.
Baloch insurgents often claim responsibilities of armed assaults attacks against Iranian security forces, in response to military operations carried out by Iranian forces to hunt the Baloch dissidents, who claim they are waging a resistance war against Tehran’s ethnic and sectarian repression against the Sunni.
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[DAWN] RAWALPINDI: In an effort to seek divine intervention to keep a flight safe and secure, staff of the Pakistain International Airlines sacrificed a black goat for ’sadqa’ near an ATR-42 aircraft after it was given clearance for take-off from the Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... International Airport on Sunday. Real news, not fake.
Later the plane left for Multan, making it the first ATR-42 aircraft to be pressed into service since the start of shakedown tests on all such aircraft in the wake of an air crash near Havelian on Dec 7.
According to a front man for the national flag carrier, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had decided to ground the ATR-42 fleet until all its aircraft had been subjected to the shakedown tests and cleared for flight operations.
The grounding of the ATR fleet had badly affected the PIA’s flights to and from cities and towns like Gwadar, Turbat, Panjgur, Moenjodaro, Zhob, Bahawalpur, D.G. Khan, Chitral and Gilgit.
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#1
until all its aircraft had been subjected to the 'black goat' shakedown tests
#2
Maybe the rest of the world has something to learn here since apparently the goat sacrifice ritual obviously worked because the flight suffered no problems.
The UN-mandated African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has been accused of killing civilians in two separate incidents over this week in Lower Shabelle region, south of the horn of Africa country.
At least 6 people, including women and children were killed after AMISOM troops struck a minibus carrying vegetables in the outskirts of Qoryoley district in Lower Shabelle region on Friday night.
In a separate incident, AMISOM soldiers shot dead a mother and her four kids at El Weregow area located near the port town of Marka, about 110Km south-west of Somali capital on Sunday afternoon.
Last week, an armored personnel carrier belonging to AMISOM hit and killed a woman in a road accident in Mogadishu’s KM-4 junction. The convoy left from the scene without paying attention to the incident.
Nur Osman Rageh, the administrator of Shalanbod district urged the federal government of Somalia to take measure to end the recurrent and indiscriminate killings against the civilians by AMISOM forces.
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Fighting continued sporadically in northern Donetsk and Lugansk Sunday and Monday as Russian backed rebels claim casualties for the Ukrainian forces rose to more than 100 dead, according to Ukrainian and Russian language news accounts.
The Ukrainian ministry of defense said in press sessions on Monday that the death toll for their side in the battles which began Sunday afternoon totaled 15 dead and 30 wounded, according to a news account in lb.ua.
In the first session Ukrainian military officials claimed a total of five dead while saying that rebels lost ten and 20 wounded in the fighting on Sunday.
Ukrainian military journalist Andrey Butusov was quoted in the lb.ua article as saying that Ukrainian top officials were deliberately low balling casualty figures.
Butusov said the actual number was six dead, a small difference.
In a second press briefing the same day, Ukrainian military officials said that another five Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the fighting around Debaltsevo.
But retired Ukrainian GRU Colonel Igor Bezler, a former Ukrainian intelligence operative was quoted in Russkaya Vesna as saying the total dead for the fighting over two days was more than 100 with 400 wounded. Bezler said in a social media posting that a military cordon had been placed around Artemovsk (recently renamed Bakhmut by the Ukrainians) to prevent locals from finding out how bad the losses were for Ukrainian forces. He also said that military hospitals were filled with casualties from the fighting.
Both sides claim the other side launched the attacks. Initial reports yesterday from both Ukrainian and rebel media seem to confirm that the Ukrainians launched the attack, which was met with stiff resistance from dug in rebel troops.
Now Ukrainians are saying that it was the rebels who struck first.
Ukrainian ministry of defense spokesman Colonel Andrei Lysenko was quoted in lb.ua saying that rebel artillery preparation began Sunday morning and was followed with a ground attack that began at around 1330 hrs.
While the seeming objective of rebel forces was not clear in the press briefing, it was clear the Ukrainians were charging the rebels with trying to attack through the Svetodarsk arc, specifically the area between two lakes on either side of the main road that runs to Artemovsk.
That battle lasted 3.5 hours until 1700 hrs, when rebel reinforcements arrived to bolster their forces and a second push was initiated. A third reinforcement arrived, according to Lysenko, that was two to five times the size of the second reinforcement.
The rebel attacks failed. Ukrainian forces, according to Lysenko did not attempt a counterattack, despite massive rebel artillery fire.
An account by an unidentified Ukrainian soldier appearing in Censor.net.ua said that Ukrainian did counterattack in the area, but waited until rebel forces were very close before their forces finally arrived for their attack.
On the evening of December 19th, Ukrainian commanders, presumably near Kalinovka on the easternmost extent of the Svetodarsk arc, asked for a truce to recover their dead and wounded, according to Lugansk military spokesman Major Andrei Marochko. Marochko noted that a similar truce was requested on December 18th and apparently granted, but the Ukrainians used the respite to regroup for further fighting.
According to separate rebel media reports, the fighting has subsided but artillery fire continues.
A separate news account which appeared on tsargrad.tv website said that fighting continued near Kalinovka on Monday. According to Russkaya Vesna, rebel forces in Lugansk launched a counterattack against Ukrainian troops, but this writer could find no reference to a counterattack in any of the official Lugansk web pages.
The International Monetary Fund threw its support behind its leader, Christine Lagarde, on Monday despite her conviction in a French court on charges of misusing public funds.
Of course they did. Circling the wagons...
With international elites and their institutions facing populist criticism amid political and social change in the United States and Europe, the 24 directors of the fund decided that this was not the time to leave the I.M.F. rudderless.
Better to be steered by a criminal than to be left 'rudderless'...
Earlier on Monday, the Cour de Justice de la République, a French court that considers cases against government officials, found Ms. Lagarde guilty of criminal charges linked to the misuse of public funds when she was France’s finance minister nearly a decade ago. But the court did not impose a fine or a sentence.
In a statement, the directors of the I.M.F. said they had considered the court’s decisions and had “full confidence in the managing director’s ability to continue to effectively carry out her duties.”
Yet the verdict — with its potential to tarnish Ms. Lagarde as a leader — came at a critical juncture for the I.M.F. Founded and largely managed by Europeans and Americans, the fund oversees a global economy in which faster-growing countries like China are seeking a greater role.
They can have a greater role if they can fund it...
Ms. Lagarde is the fourth of the last six leaders to come from France, and the difficult time the I.M.F. has had in anticipating, as well as reacting to, the European debt crisis has caused some to wonder whether the time has come to appoint a non-European leader.
I hear Hillary isn't busy. The IMF knows graft almost as well as the Clinton Foundation...
I.M.F. doctrine, which advocates free trade and austerity for countries in financial difficulties, has been criticized as elitist and not sufficiently in tune with the populist movements sweeping the globe.
Supposedly elitist? With the people running it being who they are?
For now, the fund must confront more immediate challenges. With Britain leaving the European Union, Italy’s future in the eurozone perhaps in doubt and the possibility of global trade wars being set off by President-elect Donald J. Trump, some have said the steady, experienced hand of Ms. Lagarde was needed more than ever.
“She has been a very effective leader,” said Edwin M. Truman, a specialist in international finance formerly at the Federal Reserve and the United States Treasury. “Yes, there are big questions about the fund’s future. But for her to have to step down now — well, that would be complicated.”
Always is when someone big is convicted of a crime...
Jacob J. Lew, the Treasury secretary, expressed the Obama administration’s support for Ms. Lagarde, saying that “she is a strong leader of the I.M.F., and we have every confidence in her ability to guide the fund at a critical time for the global economy.”
For the Trump administration, “I don’t think this kind of ethical question is likely to be the highest priority,” Mr. Truman said. While the I.M.F. and other global institutions did not figure in the presidential debate, Mr. Trump repeatedly criticized a “global power structure” that fixed the economy against workers.
“At bottom, it’s all about French politics,” Mr. Truman said.
Members of the I.M.F. board were well aware that Ms. Lagarde was facing trial in her native France over allegations that occurred when she was the finance minister in the administration of Nicolas Sarkozy. The consensus among the directors was that Ms. Lagarde’s transgressions occurred when she was not at the fund — in contrast to those of her predecessor, Dominique Strauss-Kahn — and since taking charge in 2011, she had proved to be a leader capable of presenting a softer side of the fund while fighting hard to bolster its legitimacy in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
More so than her predecessors, Ms. Lagarde has pushed the fund to be more aggressive in taking up the cause of women and focusing attention on growing issues of inequality around the world.
That makes it okay, you see...
Over the last year and a half, she has also led a forceful public critique of Europe’s refusal to offer Greece debt relief in return for the difficult economic changes the country has been making.
Nevertheless, while Ms. Lagarde may have retained the backing of her board for the moment, over the longer term, her French legal problems may have hurt her most valuable asset — her carefully constructed public persona.
“She was a breath of fresh air, someone representing true change from the past,” said Peter Doyle, a former economist at the fund and now an outspoken critic. “Now she is just another tainted European leader.”
Like many other tainted European leaders...
Those are tough words. But economists note that the fund’s core mission of requiring financially ailing countries to reform their economies and fight corruption demands credibility and reputation of the highest order. And that starts at the top, with its leader — especially one who is as widely known as Ms. Lagarde.
“It would be complacent if not delusional to say there will be no impact on the institution,” said Nicolas Véron, a specialist on international economics at the Bruegel Institute in Brussels. “The only question is how big is the impact — and how does it compare with the need for stability.”
Ms. Lagarde’s legal issues in France have dogged her work at the fund since she was appointed in 2011. She took over as managing director after Mr. Strauss-Kahn resigned following accusations that he sexually assaulted a maid in a New York City hotel.
The case against Ms. Lagarde centered on Bernard Tapie, a former entertainer and owner of Adidas who had previously been jailed on corruption charges. Mr. Tapie accused the lender Crédit Lyonnais, in which the French state had a stake at the time, of cheating him when it oversaw the sale of his share in the sportswear empire in 1993. Years of costly legal battles ensued.
The court did not fault Ms. Lagarde for approving the arbitration, but it ruled that she had been negligent for not appealing the decision. The court, noting that a judge had previously invalidated the payout of 400 million euros to Mr. Tapie in a 2015 ruling and that she had “national and international” stature, decided not to punish Ms. Lagarde and spared her a criminal record.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Ms. Lagarde’s lawyer, Patrick Maisonneuve, said he had a “mixed” reaction to the verdict.
“On the one hand, she is found responsible, but given the circumstances, given the responsibilities that Ms. Lagarde had at the time — in 2008, we were in a major economic crisis — the court decided that it would not sentence Ms. Lagarde to anything,” he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2016
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#1
A conviction doesn't mean shit if there's no jail time or a huge fine. She skated, pure and simple.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/20/2016 5:20
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#3
From 1993 to 2008 there was a long legal battle between Tapie and the Crédit Lyonnais bank (partly state-owned bank). Crédit Lyonnais had
From 1993 to 2008 there was a long legal battle between Tapie and the Crédit Lyonnais bank (partly state-owned bank). Crédit Lyonnais had allegedly defrauded Tapie in 1993 and 1994 when it sold Adidas on his behalf to Robert Louis-Dreyfus, apparently by arranging a larger sale with Dreyfus without Tapie's knowledge.
In 2008 a special judicial panel ruled that Tapie should receive compensation of €404 million from the French Ministry of Finance, headed by Christine Lagarde. She decided not to challenge the ruling. On December 3, 2015 court ruled that Tapie should return this compensation with interest, following investigation into alleged abuse of power by Ms. Lagarde.[3] On December 19, 2016 Lagarde was convicted of negligence; however, the conviction was not deemed a criminal record.
[WPRI] PROVIDENCE, R.I. ‐ Johnson & Johnson will establish a new technology office in Providence to develop health-related software, with initial plans to employ 75 people, state and company leaders announced Monday.
Gov. Gina Raimondo’s aides confirmed a deal with the Fortune 100 company to locate a new health technology center in the city. The new office will employ high-skill IT workers such as developers and engineers, creating software and running analytics to support Johnson & Johnson efforts to improve health outcomes, they said.
"I’m excited," Raimondo said in an interview. "It’s a big deal. It’s another sign of our momentum. It’s a big, brand-name company that quite literally could have chosen anywhere they wanted ‐ everyone would want Johnson & Johnson to put a center of excellence in their hometown, and they picked us."
Raimondo said she views the potential for Johnson & Johnson in Rhode Island along the same lines as General Electric, which earlier this year reached a similar deal with her administration to put new tech jobs in Providence.
#3
Admittedly, a small number. It becomes a bit more significant however, when it is your son or daughter landing a new position. Perhaps not Hallelujah Choir time, but significant nonetheless.
#5
The one thing the "right time, right place" IT industry robber barons never like to discuss is how few people they employ versus other industries relative to the profits they make.
We have the worst robber baron class in U.S. history.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/20/2016 5:16
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#6
Well, the old ones used to buy steel, lay rail, actually employ physical structure and materials. Today, they just buy their office equipment and computers 'Made in China'. So, yeah, not much of a blip to the economy besides the delivery trucks business. Besides, how many months before the H1Bs show up?
#7
The one thing the "right time, right place" IT industry robber barons never like to discuss is how few people they employ versus other industries relative to the profits they make.
The other problem - by and large, software engineers (a lot of them) are the biggest bunch of slackers out there. The main reason I lasted 9 - 10 years was because I have a real work ethic.
Human rights groups working for the protection of Azerbaijani Turks living in Iran have demanded the release of imprisoned human rights and environmental activist Mortaza Moradpour. The Azerbaijani activist has been on a hunger strike for the past 56 days in Iran's Tabriz Prison with worsening health conditions and the risk of death, media sources stated.
29-year-old Moradpour protested Iranian policies against Azerbaijani Turks living there and has been convicted several times. His latest detention in 2009 was due to environmental protests against the drought at Lake Urmia. Urmia, which was one of the largest saltwater lakes in the world, considerably shrunk and dried up in the recent years.
Located in a region home to a large Iranian Azerbaijani community, the drought, partly blamed on government policy of building dams to supply water to other parts of Iran, dealt a blow to the livelihoods of Iran's Azerbaijani community. Moradpour received a three-year prison sentence; one year for propaganda offenses against the system and two years for rallying against national security and fraud offenses.
A release for Moradpour was requested according to Article 134 of the Iranian Penal Code; however it was rejected by Iranian officials.
Members of the for the Human Rights of the Azerbaijani people in Iran (AHRAZ), who carry out studies on human rights violations against Turks living in Iran, requested immediate release of the unlawfully imprisoned Moradpour.
AHRAZ member and human rights activist Shahin Helali Khyavi argued that Iran has adopted an assimilation policy for people of Turkish ethnicity for the past 90 years, rejecting all requests of this community with harsh sanctions.
Another AHRAZ member Türkmen Gemiçi stated that people of Turkish origin experience regime pressure for demanding basic human rights and wanting to protect their ethnic identity.
Gemiçi also reminded that Persians and Shiites are not the only people living in Iran, demanding equal rights for all ethnic groups.
Dr. Arif Keskin, known for his academic studies on Iran, stated that the Iranian regime wants to threaten the Turkish community by oppressing, scaring and intimidating activists like Moradpour.
"Iran is turning all communities in the region to enemies. If the Iranian regime does not change, transform and meet the demands of its people in the near future, it may witness a big uprising," Keskin warned.
Turkic groups constitute a substantial minority of about 15 to 24 percent in the population of Iran. The largest group consists of Azerbaijanis, who are the second largest ethnicity in Iran as well as the largest minority group. Turkmen and Qashqai people are also among the Turkic groups.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2016
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Two people, riding a motorcycle, were killed by a landline explosion in Balochistan's Dera Bugti district on Monday.
The explosion took place in the Kathan area of the district, said Levies sources.
"Two people riding a motorcycle were killed when the drove over a landmine," said a Levies official.
Both people died on the spot, added the security officials.
"Unknown miscreants had planted the landmine on the roadside to target people travelling on the road," said the Levies official.
Security officials reached the site of the incident and started their investigations. There was no claim of responsibility.
Balochistan has been experiencing incidents of violence and targeted killings for over a decade. The largest province of the country by area, is home to a insurgency by ethnic Baloch separatists.
Al Qaeda-linked and sectarian militants also operate in the region. The province shares borders with Afghanistan and Iran.
Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery has ordered a fresh review of the list of refugees in Daadab camp to weed out fraudsters. Nkaissery said there are many cases of double registration of refugees.
The cases comprise of refugees who have irregularly registered as Kenyans on one hand, and on the other, Kenyans who have registered as refugees. He said this is an offense under the Registration of Persons Act, the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act and the Refugee Act 2006.
The verification process will start on Monday and end on December 31, 2016.
“Those living outside the camp, should report at the nearest Deputy Commissioner’s office while those at the camp should report to the office of the Deputy County Commissioner at the camp for the exercise”, the CS said.
Nkaissery’s directive comes after the government decided to delay by six months the closure of the the world’s largest refugee camp after calls by the UN and aid groups to postpone it on humanitarian grounds.
Dadaab, currently home to an estimated 350,000, was opened in 1991 as a temporary shelter for people fleeing civil war in neighbouring Somalia. In May, the government cited security concerns as it announced that the vast camp in Northeast Kenya near the Somali border would be shut down.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2016
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Update from yesterday's news...
[NYDAILYNEWS] ISIS had not taken responsibility for the Berlin crash as of Monday night.
A passenger in the vehicle, which had a smashed windshield, was among those killed in the crash.
The truck itself is owned by a Polish man, whose cousin told broadcaster TVN24 that he feared the vehicle had been hijacked.
One witness described seeing bodies beneath the truck.
German authorities were slow to call the incident terrorism, or even intentional.
"I don’t want to use the word ’attack’ yet at the moment, although a lot speaks for it," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told ARD television. "There is a psychological effect in the whole country of the choice of words here, and we want to be very, very cautious and operate close to the actual investigation results, not with speculation."
"I don’t want to use the word ’attack’ yet at the moment, although a lot speaks for it," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told ARD television. "There is a psychological effect in the whole country of the choice of words here, and we want to be very, very cautious and operate close to the actual investigation results, not with speculation."
But diplomats and leaders from other countries wasted no time condemning the attack.
Ned Price, a front man for the U.S. National Security Council, said in a strongly worded statement that the incident "appears to have been a terrorist attack."
"The United States condemns in the strongest terms what appears to have been a terrorist attack on a Christmas Market in Berlin, Germany, which has killed and maimed dozens," Price said in a statement.
"Germany is one of our closest partners and strongest allies, and we stand together with Berlin in the fight against all those who target our way of life and threaten our societies."
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... tweeted about the attack before issuing an official statement.
"Innocent civilians were murdered in the streets as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday. ISIS and other Islamic snuffies continuously slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad," Trump said in the statement.
"Innocent civilians were murdered in the streets as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday. ISIS and other Islamic snuffies continuously slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad," Trump said in the statement.
"These snuffies and their regional and worldwide networks must be eradicated from the face of the earth, a mission we will carry out with all freedom-loving partners."
German Minister of Justice Heiko Maas said that he mourned with the families of the victims and was looking into the cause.
"When will the German state of law strike back? When will this cursed hypocrisy finally stop? These are Merkel's dead," said Marcus Pretzell of anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany
Despite Germany’s cautious approach, some in the country used the violence to blame the migration policies of 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... , who championed the cause of Syrian refugees and has accepted hundreds of thousands of them since last year.
"When will the German state of law strike back? When will this cursed hypocrisy finally stop? These are Merkel's dead," said Marcus Pretzell of anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany, one of many parties that will challenge the chancellor in next year’s elections.
"We mourn the dead and hope the many injured can be helped," Merkel’s front man, Steffen Seibert, said on Twitter.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2016
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Justin Trudeau has won acclaim from liberals around the world for his boyish good looks and his "woke bae" approach to being prime minister of Canada, a country that borders America.
Trudeau has sought to portray himself as a charming eccentric by, among other things, photobombing wedding pictures and taking his shirt off in caves, but what lurks below the surface? Something more sinister, perhaps? Seems to be a typical leftist pattern
The prime minister is no stranger to controversy. Trudeau caused an uproar earlier this year when he elbowed a female colleague in the chest on the floor of Parliament.
Trudeau also has something of a "shrinkage" problem on his hands. The Canadian economy is contracting. The feminist hunk PM also caused outrage by posting what was described as a "love letter" to Fidel Castro following the Cuban dictator's death. In his now notorious letter, Trudeau described the dead tyrant as a "remarkable leader" and "legendary revolutionary." Leftists love their leftist tyrants
Now according to a recent poll, public support for Trudeau's Liberal Party has plummeted nine points over the last month, as the prime minister has become embroiled in a series of "Clinton-style" political scandals.
Earlier this week, the prestigious National Post in Canada reported that donations to the wealthy Trudeau family's charitable foundation have surged since Trudeau became prime minister in 2015. The Trudeau Foundation received $731,000 in donations in 2016, compared to just $172,000 in 2014. The majority of recent donations came from foreign sources and companies lobbying the Canadian government for policy changes. Sound familiar? He was taking notes it seems
Trudeau officially stepped down from the foundation after becoming prime minister, but that didn't stop him from taking part in lavish fundraisers with corporate lobbyists on the foundation's behalf. The revelations have raised ethical concerns, as they may constitute a violation of the Liberal Party's bylaws. And most ethical behavior... but when has that stopped the left?
The prime ministers has dismissed allegations of wrongdoing, and recently gave a Clintonesque response to the mounting concern over his foundation-related activities. "No matter where I am or who I am talking to I always talk about the same thing: The fact that our priorities are to create economic growth for the middle class," Trudeau said on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday. Translation, "I want the middle class to think they are better off so I can rob them blind, get rich and buy votes from the poor."
#3
For the current batch of public school and university graduates, g(r)om.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/20/2016 10:30
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#4
Hard to be a hunk when you have a shrinkage problem.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/20/2016 12:03
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#5
A talented Chelsea Clinton.
Unfortunately, this has been going on for a while. Back when I was in college, some buddies and I were kicking back a weekend playing some Axis & Allies when some gals we knew stopped in. "Who are you?" one asked. "Russia" I answered.
#6
It occurs to me that as financial pressures increase on the MSM increase, Leftist journo will have decreasing latitude to parasite their political views onto the news.
#7
swksvolFF, when I was working in Cambridge, Massachusetts I was showing some fall foliage pictures of the mountains in Tennessee. One young woman asked where the pictures were taken and I told her Tennessee. She said, "I thought New England was the only place the leaves changed color in the Fall". I have found people like that all over the US.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/20/2016 15:58
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[DAWN] HYDERABAD: A contradiction in the versions of police and Rangers with regard to the Friday incident, in which a would-be jacket wallah was killed by law enforcers in Hyderabad, emerged when the A-Section police registered the case.
Airport SHO Anwar Khanzada, lodged the case at the A-Section cop shoppe of Latifabad stating that he, along with a team of his subordinates, was on patrolling the road along Daman-e-Kohsar when he spotted two suspicious persons in the Amani Shah graveyard. One of them fired on his team which was returned, he further stated, adding that during the encounter one of the two suspects fell down. Later, he stated, a boom jacket was found around his body which was defused by the bomb disposal squad.
The version contradicts the Rangers’ blurb issued soon after the incident on Friday.
The blurb had stated that a would-be suicide bomber tried to enter an Imambargah ...since Pakistain is very religiously correct, Shia Moslems can't call their houses of worship 'mosques,' which are reserved for Sunnis. It's not clear if imambargahs are used for explosives storage like mosques are... [Bab-e-Ali situated a few metres away from the Amani Shah graveyard on Daman-e-Kohsar road] while Juma prayers were under way. It said that while trying to enter the Imambargah, he lobbed a grenade at a Rangers mobile team.
The Rangers personnel responded swiftly and he was killed. His accomplice fled," it added.
The case is being investigated by Latifabad DSP Ayub Durrani.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio had his hands full of angry bleached blonde... the body is still lying in the mortuary of Liaquat University Hospital’s city branch. Police wrote letter to Nadra regional office so that fingerprints of the alleged terrorist could be obtained to establish his identity. The Latifabad police have also approached National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) regional office in this regard.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2016
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least six Taliban leaders have left the Quetta city of Pakistain along with their family members and have shifted to Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province, Kandahar’s police chief General Abdul Raziq said.
Speaking in a gathering attended by elders and Ulemas of 10 provinces, Gen. Raziq said some of the Taliban leaders who were looking to leave Quetta have been placed in durance vile Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! and jugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! by the Pak military.
Gen. Raziq further added that there are no reports regarding the fate of the family members of the Taliban group leaders who have been jugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! This comes as reports emerged late last month suggesting that top Taliban leaders in the group’s leadership council may have abandoned Pakistain and have likely moved to Afghanistan.
A front man for the group Zabiullah Mujahd confirmed to News Agency that Dare Not be Named that the leadership council was relocated some months ago.
Mujahid did not provide further information regarding the exact date and location within the country where the leadership council was relocated.
However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... another Taliban official has said the council has been shifted to southern Helmand province of Afghanistan.
The Afghan officials earlier said the group is looking to shift its leadership council in Helmand province by intensifying attacks on key districts of the province.
The move if confirmed would reflect the growing international pressure as well as the Afghan government on Pakistain to take actions against the leadership councils of the Taliban and Haqqani network based in key cities of Pakistain, including 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. and Quetta.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2016
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[REUTERS] President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... said on Monday that the killing of Russia's ambassador to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... was a despicable provocation aimed at spoiling Russia-Turkey ties and derailing Moscow's attempts to find, with Iran and Turkey, a solution for the Syria crisis.
In televised comments, Putin, speaking at a special meeting in the Kremlin, ordered security at Russian embassies around the world to be stepped up and said he wanted to know who had "directed" the gunman's hand.
He heaped praise on the murdered Russian ambassador, Andrei Karlov, who was shot in the back and killed as he gave a speech at an Ankara art gallery, and made clear that Moscow's response to his liquidation would be robust.
"A crime has been committed and it was without doubt a provocation aimed at spoiling the normalization of Russo-Turkish relations and spoiling the Syrian grinding of the peace processor which is being actively pushed by Russia, Turkey, Iran and others," said a stern-faced Putin.
"There can only be one response - stepping up the fight against terrorism. The bandidos will feel this happening."
Putin, who said he personally knew the slain envoy, said he had agreed in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan that Russian Sherlocks would soon fly to Ankara to help the Turks with the investigation.
"We must know who directed the killer's hand," Putin told Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Sergei Naryshkin, the head of his SVR foreign intelligence service, and Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the domestic FSB security service.
Putin ordered security at Turkish diplomatic facilities in Russia to be stepped up and said he wanted guarantees from Turkey about the safety of Russian diplomatic facilities.
"I also ask you to implement the agreed proposals on strengthening security at Russian diplomatic facilities abroad," Putin told the meeting.
The foreign and defense ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey are due to discuss the future of Syria in Moscow on Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
ordered security at Russian embassies around the world to be stepped up
#5
Peace process: a farce by which wars are made more destructive, prolonged, and which results in no clear victory. This sets the stage for decades more violence, but keeps those running the "peace process" employed and influential.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/20/2016 8:31
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#6
Those 18 Russian agencies likely include Spetznaz.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/20/2016 8:43
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#7
Putin blames attack on video in 1000100010101, 1000100010100. 1000100010099......
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.
[BBC] At least 48 people have died in the Siberian city of Irkutsk after drinking bath essence, Russian authorities say.
[Wash Times] President-elect Donald Trump’s senior adviser Kellyanne Conway offers a simple reality check regarding all the media chatter implying her boss could have possible friendly ties with Russia, and Russia President Vladimir Putin. Ms. Conway recounts past history between Russia, and two certain Democrats.
[Daily Caller] Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth, a veteran of the Iraq War, warned that GOP President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks are sliding the country towards a military dictatorship.
[Breitbart] WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 - With about one month to go before he leaves office, President Barack Obama gave some exit interview-type advice to his successor Donald Trump: Don’t rely too heavily on executive orders.
[WASHINGTONPOST] 
According to ICRC spokesman Ahmad Ramin Ayaz, the ICRC staff had been traveling in two vehicles when the incident occurred.
European Union (EU) said Monday it will open a new office in Mogadishu which is aimed at facilitating its developmental projects in Somalia, the conflict-riddled horn of Africa county.
[Dhaka Tribune] International Crisis Group has revealed that a well-funded armed Islamist group carried out the attacks on Myanmar security forces in October and November that saw crackdown by the military in retaliation.
[al-Manar] Five rebels, a South African peacekeeper and a policeman were killed Monday when militia fighters attacked the city of Butembo in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, UN and police sources said.
[DAWN] India's top counter-terrorism agency on Monday charged Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and its leader Masood Azhar with perpetrating a deadly attack on the Pathankot air force base in January this year.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least five 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
The International Monetary Fund threw its support behind its leader, Christine Lagarde, on Monday despite her conviction in a French court on charges of misusing public funds.
Justin Trudeau has won acclaim from liberals around the world for his boyish good looks and his "woke bae" approach to being prime minister of Canada, a country that borders America.
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
