[BuzzFeed] Erik Prince -- founder of the private military company Blackwater, financial backer of President Donald Trump, brother to the new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and frequent Breitbart radio guest of White House power broker Stephen Bannon -- has been offering his military expertise to support Chinese government objectives and setting up Blackwater-style training camps in two Chinese provinces, according to sources and his own company statements.
The move could put him at odds with Trump, who has often taken a hard line against China, and could also risk violating US law, which prohibits the export of military services or equipment to China.
At this point, 'single source reporting.' I've found nothing else anywhere.
#11
Be realistic... why would China need Erik Prince to make an army for them? Their army's real size is already probably larger than its size-of-record.
[Hot Air] Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions today asking Sessions to consider convening a grand jury or bringing charges against Hillary Clinton’s former IT guy, Bryan Pagliano. Pagliano was subpoenaed to testify before the committee last year but refused to appear on two occasions. After the second refusal, the Oversight Committee voted to hold Pagliano in contempt.
Chaffetz’ letter to AG Sessions reads in part, "Because Pagliano’s job functions included supporting mobile computing issues across the Department, he was uniquely positioned to answer questions regarding State Department policies and practices for preserving records, as well as the technological procedures utilized to do so." The letter concludes, "In light of Pagliano’s contumacious conduct in refusing to testify, the Department should bring the matter before a grand jury for its action or file an information charging Pagliano with violating 2 U.S.C. § 192."
In a statement released by the committee, Chaffetz says, "The authority to compel witnesses is integral to Congress’s and the Committee’s investigative powers. Allowing Mr. Pagliano’s conduct to go unaddressed would gravely harm Congress’s ability to conduct oversight."
Pagliano was the person responsible for managing Hillary Clinton’s private email server. He worked for Clinton at the State Department while she was Secretary of State but also maintained her homebrew server in his off hours.
Pagliano was subpoenaed to appear before the House Oversight Committee twice last September. Mark MacDougall, Pagliano’s attorney, argued his client should not have to appear since he would only be invoking his 5th Amendment right not to testify. Chaffetz insisted he would need to do so in person.
(especially of a defendant's behavior) stubbornly or willfully disobedient to authority.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/17/2017 7:44
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NYPost: The ranking Democrat on Chaffetz’s committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D- Penishead Maryland) said charging Pagliano is a waste of time.
translation: "Oh shit"
“The Oversight Committee can’t afford to be distracted by political vendettas against Hillary Clinton while our constituents are begging us to conduct responsible oversight of President Trump.”
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/17/2017 9:01
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#3
Elijah Cummins = Obstruction of justice; in other words "contumacious conduct" also.
[Hot Air] Perhaps the subject of the terror attack on the US consulate in Benghazi will become more academic than political after the 2016 election denied Hillary Clinton the presidency. For now, though, documents continue to emerge that contradict the narrative created by Hillary and the Barack Obama White House about the nature of the attack. Yesterday, Judicial Watch received 54 more pages from its FOIA lawsuits and came across a bombshell buried in them. Notes of a State Department briefing for Congressional aides on the day after the attack show Undersecretary Patrick Kennedy acknowledging that the attack was not a protest gone bad, or even an attack under the cover of protest. It was, Kennedy told the Congressional aides, "a direct breaching attack":
Judicial Watch today released 54 pages of new State Department documents, including a transcript of a September 12 2012, telephone conference call with congressional staffers in which then-Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy admitted that the deadly terrorist assault on the Benghazi Consulate was not "under cover of protest," but was, in fact, "a direct breaching attack."
The exchange comes late in the conversation with Robert Carter, an aide to Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R-TX). Carter asks Kennedy directly whether this involved a protest, and Kennedy says no:
In August 2013, Nakoula was released from prison to serve his remaining sentence in a halfway house, and then to be on probation for the next four years.[51] On 26 September 2013, he was released from the halfway house to the custody of Pastor Wiley Drake of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, California.[52] As of November 2015, Nakoula was living at a Los Angeles homeless shelter and working part-time at a pizza parlor.[53]
The odious Bill Kristol tweeted today, "Obviously strongly prefer normal democratic and constitutional politics. But if it comes to it, prefer the deep state to the Trump state." For those who are not aware of the term "deep state," it refers to the secret services in a dictatorship who overthrow governments, manipulate the press, and otherwise eliminate opponents. I first heard the term in reference to Turkey, whose military and intelligence services overthrew governments they didn't like with depressing regulatory during the postwar period. To speak of a "deep state" in an American context is to say that the United States is turning into a banana republic.
...Last May 15, the perspicacious David Horowitz denounced Kristol in Breitbart as a "renegade Jew." Of course, the headline was employed later to show that Breitbart was anti-Semitic--even though Horowitz was arguing that Kristol had betrayed critical Jewish interests. I responded with a note in this space to the effect that Kristol wasn't a "renegade Jew," just a sore loser throwing tantrum. It was "churlish," I said, to attack a man's religion in that way.
Horowitz was right and I was wrong, and I herewith offer him my apology.
#1
Decent people should cross the street to avoid walking too close to him.
Should leave a mark, but in the case of someone like Kristol, prolly won't. Pity that...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/17/2017 6:03
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For those who are not aware of the term "deep state," it refers to the secret services in a dictatorship who overthrow governments, manipulate the press, and otherwise eliminate opponents.
They generally (but not always) concentrate their regime toppling efforts on foreign governments.
#3
To speak of a "deep state" in an American context is to say that the United States is turning into a banana republic.
Kristol prefers the rule of law being torn down, the courts and bureaucracy being politicized and weaponized, the Constitution being trashed, chaos being generated from the WH in our streets and laws being issued by the WH to suit the ruling party. Sounds a bit like National Socialist Germany in the run up to WWII.
We’ve heard a lot about the problem of inequality in America over recent years. But most of that talk has ignored one of the very worst pockets of inequality in American society. I speak, of course, of the American university system and its treatment of adjunct professors and graduate students.
Academics seem to think that the business world is a feudal environment characterized by huge status differentials and abusive treatment of underlings. They think that because, to be honest, that’s a pretty good characterization of . . . the modern university, where serfs in the form of adjunct professors toil in the vineyards.
As a recent piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education reports: "Tenured faculty represent only 17% of college instructors. Part-time adjuncts are now the majority of the professoriate and its fastest-growing segment. From 1975 to 2011, the number of part-time adjuncts quadrupled. And the so-called part-time designation is misleading because most of them are piecing together teaching jobs at multiple institutions simultaneously. A 2014 congressional report suggests that 89% of adjuncts work at more than one institution; 13% work at four or more. The need for several appointments becomes obvious when we realize how little any one of them pays. In 2013, The Chronicle began collecting data on salary and benefits from adjuncts across the country. An English- department adjunct at Berkeley, for example, received $6,500 to teach a full-semester course. It’s easy to lose sight of all the people struggling beneath the data points. $7,000 at Duke. $6,000 at Columbia. $5,950 at the University of Iowa."
...Today universities have a two-tier class system: Tenured professors and administrators on top, with generous pay and benefits and job security, while many (in some places most) required courses are being taught by the equivalent of serfs, with low pay, no job security, and little in the way of status. Of course, if you leave the academia entirely, it's even worse.
#3
I know someone who has a Masters in puppetry!. Can't understand why he can't get a 6 figure income job. "I have a Masters!"
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/17/2017 7:27
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#4
Wizard of Oz: Why, anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain. Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven't got: a diploma.
#5
If someone has a double doctorate in medieval history and complains they cannot get an adequate job, I do not feel sorry for them.
I think you missed the point. You have part-time adjuncts doing most of the teaching while tenured professors are over paid and do virtually nothing.
Add to that the lopsided administration/faculty situation and the administrators making obscene money to boot. MAKE the Left eat their own dog food. Alinsky the crap out of these hypocrites.
#6
I've seen similar arguments made about charitable giving. The Lefties say it must be done by government, because otherwise no one would do it voluntarily. The numbers belie this claim. What's happening is that liberals are confessing something about themselves.
Which makes me wonder when the Left says that without gun control, we'd all be shooting each other all the time.
#8
Supposedly, the tenured professors are doing important research. Now, how important that research really is I'm not prepared to say.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/17/2017 11:46
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#9
I had an administrative position at UCI back in the day. I knew for a fact that many of the tenured professors were not even on campus for months on end. UCI had a Nobel Laureate who didn't even do his research on campus.
They use these big name professors to pimp a class to students and then some GA teaches it and the professor doesn't even do office hours.
I knew of some chemistry classes taught in the Medical Sciences Department that were taught by UNDERGRADUATES...yep, the GAs were too busy doing research so they had juniors and seniors teaching freshman chemistry.
#10
Here's my research. Jobs have been going overseas while people have been pouring in feeding off of a US Public deficit that had double on only 8 years. Do the math.
h/t Instapundit
[IntellectualTakeout] Today, those who most frequently invoke the virtue of "tolerance" would have you believe that it is actually Christianity that requires slavish obedience to dogmatic formulas.
However, as professor Anthony Esolen argues in his popular, recently-published book--Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture--the "tolerant society" is much more dogmatic. The citizen of the modern West is forced to pay homage to a growing list of dogmas that far outnumber those of most religions: And you can go along, or give up on any idea of being in white collar profession let alone academia.
#2
Tolerance is a lie. When a Christian (or Muslim) baker doesn't want to make a gay wedding cake the gay couple could 'tolerate' that choice, or the baker could 'tolerate' the gays. In fact, the issue has nothing whatsoever to do with tolerance. It is simply one of compulsion.
[Daily Caller] American musician and conservative activist Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent would not ruled out a potential 2018 Senate bid in an exclusive interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation (TheDCNF).
"I’m always very interested in making my country and the great state of Michigan great again and there is nothing I wouldn’t do to help in any way I possibly can," Nugent told TheDCNF in an interview Wednesday.
Nugent shared a story from West Michigan Politics, a local Michigan political blog, which entertained the idea of a Ted Nugent 2018 Senate run Tuesday.
Michigan’s 2018 U.S. Senate race is likely to garner a lot of attention, as the state went red for a presidential election for the first time since 1988. Incumbent Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow, elected in 2000, successfully held off Republican challengers in 2006 and 2012.
#1
“If these GOP sonsabitches don’t get it right this time I will come charging in as the ultimate WE THE PISSED OFF PEOPLE Mr FixIt Consitutional firebreathing shitkicker candidate from hell!”
If the lefty media and Washington Beltway Party doesn't like Trump, they will hate Nugent.
[Daily Caller] Sounding like a voice from the President Donald Trump’s administration, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that he was impressed with Trump during their meeting this week in Washington.
"What I saw from the American president was a focus on getting things done for the people who supported him and who believe in him, while demonstrating that good relations with one’s neighbors is a great way of getting things done," said Trudeau.
Trudeau was speaking at a news conference in Strasbourg, France along with the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani. Tajani echoed Trudeau’s message of reassurance and suggested that Canada can play a special intermediary role between the U.S. and Europe because Monday’s Washington summit had "paved the way for better relations between European Union and the United States of America," Tajani said.
"We want to work with the Americans. Over the next years, the Canadian work is very good for relations between us and America. It’s easier for the Canadians to speak to the Americans."
#2
Will Trump ease US import restrictions on Canadian oil, Durham wheat, and lumber? US Green and protectionist business interest have been screwing with Canada for decades.
[Wash Times] VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis insisted Wednesday that indigenous groups must give prior consent to any economic activity affecting their ancestral lands, a view that conflicts with the Trump administration, which is pushing to build a $3.8 billion oil pipeline over opposition from American Indians.
Francis met with representatives of indigenous peoples attending a U.N. agricultural meeting and said the key issue facing them is how to reconcile the right to economic development with protecting their cultures and territories.
"In this regard, the right to prior and informed consent should always prevail," he said. "Only then is it possible to guarantee peaceful cooperation between governing authorities and indigenous peoples, overcoming confrontation and conflict."
The Cheyenne River and the Standing Rock Sioux tribes have sued to stop construction on the final stretch of the Dakota Access pipeline, which would bring oil from North Dakota’s rich Bakken fields across four states to a shipping point in Illinois.
The tribes say the pipeline threatens their drinking water, cultural sites and ability to practice their religion, which depends on pure water. The last piece of the pipeline is to pass under a reservoir on the Missouri River, which marks the eastern border of both tribes’ reservations.
#5
In this regard, the right to prior and informed consent should always prevail.
10-4 there Papa Bear. But they had over 60 meetings and none of the tribes could be bothered to show up. And as far as that "ancestral lands" claim goes, they're going under a resivoir that didn't exist until the 1960's.
#6
HotAir: Vatican: No, the Pope did not announce opposition to the Dakota Access pipeline
"A Vatican spokesperson said after the session, however, that it’s wrong to infer a reference to any specific situation in the pope’s words.
“Pope Francis made no explicit reference to any concrete case,” Paloma Garcia Ovejero, the Vatican’s deputy spokesperson, told Crux.
“Evidently, he’s informed of the numerous problems that affect indigenous peoples, but there’s no element in his words that would give us a clue to know if he was talking about any specific cases,” Garcia Ovejero said."
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/17/2017 9:26
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#7
The Vatican's 1454 Doctrine of Discovery should be rescinded, then. The Reservation system is a direct byproduct of the Supreme Courts consideration of this papal Bull, in conflict with US Constitutional Law.
[Wash Times] Leptospirosis, a rare infection spread by rat urine, killed one person and severely sickened two others within the past couple of months, New York City health officials said Tuesday.
"The Health Department has identified a cluster of three cases of leptospirosis on one block in the Concourse area of the Bronx. Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection that is most commonly spread by contact with rat urine and is very rarely spread from person to person," The Health Department said in a statement Tuesday, New York’s Pix 11 reported.
Two of the patients contracted leptospirosis in December and another was sickened as recently as the month. In every instance they became severely ill and hospitalized with acute kidney and liver failure, the Health Department said.
One of the patients died from their illness and the other two recovered, the Health Department said. An emergency meeting is scheduled to take place Wednesday in the epicenter of the outbreak, 750 Grand Concourse across from Franz Sigel Park.
"Human leptospirosis cases are very rare in New York City," said Demetre Daskalakis, acting deputy commissioner of the Health Department.
"This is the first time a cluster of cases has been identified," he told the New York Post.
[Wash Times] A large number of non-citizen Hispanics, as many as 2 million, were illegally registered to vote in the U.S., according to a nationwide poll.
The National Hispanic Survey provides additional evidence for use by anti-voter fraud conservatives and bolsters an analysis by professors at Old Dominion University who say non-citizens registered and voted in potentially large numbers.
President Trump has announced he will appoint a task force on voter fraud headed by Vice President Mike Pence. He says he wants the investigation to focus on inaccurate voter registration rolls, which are maintained by the states and the District of Columbia.
"It is a fact and you will not deny it, that there are massive numbers of non-citizens in this country who are registered to vote," White House adviser Stephen Miller told ABC News. "That is a scandal. We should stop the presses."
The little-noticed Hispanic survey was conducted in June 2013 by McLaughlin and Associates to gauge the opinions of U.S. resident Latinos on a wide range of issues.
[Wash Times] Vice Adm. Robert Harward turned down the post of White House national security adviser Thursday, just days after President Trump fired Michael Flynn from the job.
A senior administration official confirmed that Adm. Harward declined the job, saying his decision was due to "family considerations" and difficulties in overcoming financial entanglements with defense contractor Lockheed Martin.
He has served as CEO of Lockheed in the United Arab Emirates since 2014. Adm. Harward, who is close to Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, was in negotiations with the White House over bringing some of his own staff to the embattled National Security Council. Reuters reported that Mr. Trump had told Mr. Flynn’s deputy, K.T. McFarland, that she could stay.
The president had apparently referred to Adm. Harward at a press conference earlier in the day, saying, "I have somebody that I think will be outstanding for the position."
Adm. Harward is a Navy SEAL who served as deputy of the U.S. Central Command, which has responsibility for overseeing military operations in the Middle East. It was there that he worked closely with Mr. Mattis.
He also worked on the National Security Council during the administration of President George W. Bush. The comments are worthy of a read.
[PJ] Judge Andrew Napolitano, a Fox News judicial analyst, issued a warning for President Trump after retired General Michael Flynn "took one for the team" earlier this week and stepped down.
Napolitano pointed out that the phone calls Flynn made to the Russian ambassador are not a "big deal," but the fact that they were leaked is.
"There are obviously elements in the United States government, in the intelligence community, that want to frustrate Donald Trump," Judge Nap said. "They want to frustrate his presidency because he is a threat to their power center." The judge explained that "the way they struck back was to rid him of a very valuable weapon called General Flynn."
"This should be a warning to the president," Napolitano cautioned. "There are elements in the government -- the executive branch of the government that works for you, Mr. President -- that you need to get rid of."
#4
John Dean singlehandedly caused the ultimate destruction of the Nixon Presidency. Be very careful how you deal with finding the leakers. My bet, Obama appointees who burrowed in at Justice or the Agency, and they will play the race card if possible. Plan on investigators who can offset that option.
[Free Beacon] Chelsea Clinton took to Twitter on Wednesday night to air her opinion on the detainment of an undocumented immigrant who has already been deported six times, calling the woman's arrest "unconscionably terrible."
The undocumented woman, who is also a convicted criminal, was arrested last week while she was at a Texas courthouse receiving a protective order after filing abuse allegations against her boyfriend, the El Paso Times reported Wednesday.
The woman was detained after a criminal complaint was filed on Feb. 9 that indicated she had previously been deported from the United States.
Clinton wrote she needed a thesaurus to explain how horrified she was by the arrest.
"I need a thesaurus. What's another word for horrifying? Sick? Awful? Running out of adjectives these days that mean unconscionably terrible," she wrote on Twitter.
The poor darling. How dreadful to be so vocabulary-impoverished.
#2
She needs to be Alinskied totally out of even a remote possibility of being elected dog catcher. Only pictures of her a site like this should ever show is the full Howdy Doody Photoshop job...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/17/2017 6:18
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#3
Chelsea doing her Webb Hubbell impersonation. That really is crass and disrespectful.
#4
...There are several sources suggesting that it was the abusive ex who turned her in to los Federales,so that's going to be the Official Line on this, not the fact that for all his alleged scumminess, the guy DID turn in a felon.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/17/2017 7:23
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#6
She certainly does have that webb Hubbell likeness.
"Horrified", might apply if you find yourself doing the perp walk after heading up a criminal foundation and then serving time with a bunch of lumberjack dykes in the Graybar.
#12
Will someone please make a rubber mask of this face. I will buy one to keep by my front door. It will get the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormon's that come to my door running away to save their souls. She is at least a three bagger.
#13
To be fair to Chelsea, her audience doesn't really care about any of that stuff. she's just following in her mom's footsteps in telling folks what the want to hear.
[Free Beacon] Republicans passed legislation on Thursday reversing former President Barack Obama's lame-duck ban on states withholding taxpayer funds from Planned Parenthood.
The resolution will undermine a December order from the Obama administration that prevented states from blocking taxpayer funding of abortion clinics. Bill sponsor Rep. Diane Black (R., Tenn.) said on the House floor that state lawmakers should have the final say over how taxpayer dollars for medical care are distributed in their local communities.
"We are simply voting today to affirm the right of states to fund the healthcare providers that best suit their needs, without fear of reprisal from their own federal government," Black said in a floor speech before the vote. "As a state legislator, I worked within my authority to make sure that Tennessee honored the will of our pro-life populace and steered our state’s share of Title X dollars away from health care providers that perform abortion."
State efforts to redirect taxpayer dollars away from abortion clinics began to gain momentum after the Center for Medical Progress released undercover video of Planned Parenthood workers and executives discussing their organ harvesting operations. Lawmakers and governors in 24 states introduced or passed legislation that would have denied funding to the nation's largest abortion provider, which receives about $500 million from taxpayers each year. If the resolution passes, state lawmakers could once again deny those funds to Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood decried the resolution in a press release. President Cecile Richards said that her organization plans on using the vote to mobilize opposition to Republican lawmakers.
[Breitbart] French police have been filmed fleeing from armed mobs as riots continue in Paris for the second week and the unrest has now spread to the city centre.
Hundreds of violent thugs took to the streets on Wednesday night near the Barbes Metro station, close to the major transport hub Gare du Nord. Windows were smashed, shops looted, fires lit, main roads blocked, and police cars targeted during the disturbance.
According to Le Figaro, the destruction is getting worse. At the beginning of the week, on the nights of the 12th and 13th, 32 vehicles were burnt out. On the 14th and 15th, some 47 cars were destroyed by fire as well as 59 bins.
Police appeared to have completely lost control at times, with unverified videos surfacing on Twitter of officers being chased out of certain neighbourhoods by rioters.
#7
Give 'em a little more time. Somehow I have a feeling that when they finally get pissed off enough they'll do what they need to do. Most likely they'll over do it. Then we'll get to listen to all the sanctimonious condemnations. Won't that be fun?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/17/2017 11:15
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A Georgia firefighter and medic defied the odds after being shot 14 times and being told by doctors he would not be able to work again.
"Getting back to this point is almost unheard of and I wish I could think of the words to express how happy I am," said College Park Firefighter Eddie Baker.
Eddie Baker’s neighbor, Taylor Carthern, shot him several times outside his College Park home in December of 2014. Carthern is serving a 20-year sentence.
Baker said the bullets hit him in the chest, spine and arm and he suffered a broken femur, shoulder, jaw, seven broken fingers along with tendon damage resulting in 10 surgeries. Doctors told Baker he would not be able to return to work.
"I would always ask is there ever going to be a chance where I will be able to get back to the fire department and they always told me no and it was heartbreaking every single time," said Baker.
The 11-year veteran would not take no for an answer, crediting his faith, co-workers and family, including his now 11-year-old daughter with encouraging him to fight.
"She always thought that I was going to be able to come back and she would tell me every day, 'you know I’m sick of you sitting around here, it’s time to get up and do your exercises,'" said Baker.
Baker went through two rigorous years of rehab and had to learn how to walk again. After two years of difficult work and perseverance, he was able to come back to the firehouse.
"He is the crazy one of the crew, once he got back he just stepped right back into that role," said fellow firefighter and longtime friend, Orlando Gray.
While Baker was gone, he never missed a paycheck thanks to the support from the city.
"Everyone donated probably over two years of vacation time to him, so he did not miss a check while he was out," said College Park Fire Chief Wade Elmore. "He is a model employee, so I would say he means a whole lot to us."
[IsraelTimes] The Israeli consulate in Miami was briefly evacuated on Thursday after a hoax bomb threat, the Foreign Ministry said.
Miami police gave the all-clear an hour after the building was emptied, saying that they had found no evidence of any explosives in the building.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the threat and the evacuation.
Last month the FBI announced it was launching an official probe into a wave of bomb threats to US Jewish institutions across the country in recent weeks.
On January 18 at least 32 Jewish centers in 16 states received threats.
Those threats came a week after an initial wave of bomb threats were called into 16 institutions across the Northeast and South on January 9, and hundreds of people were evacuated. All the alerts were false.
#1
Of course the standard 'active bomb threat' evac plan is for an orderly building exit then gathering at assigned but unsecured workgroup assembly points in the car park nearby for a headcount.
Unfortunately, this practice can lead to actual headcounting...
1) when a jacketed wallaby walks into the assembly area.
2) the newly painted 'ambulance' arrives.
3) angry democrats open fire from across the street.
4) vehicles in visitor parking self-actuate.
Observers now know where the Mossad operators cluster.
At least four civilians and a soldier were killed in two separate incidents in Laghman province on Wednesday, local official said on Thursday.
In addition, nine others including seven soldiers were injured in the attacks, provincial governor spokesman Sarhadi Zwak siad.
He said two children were killed and two others were wounded after a mortar shelled by militants hit a civilian house in Mehtarlam, the capital city of the province.
Meanwhile, a military soldier and two civilians were killed in an ambush by the Taliban on a convoy of security forces in Alishing district of the province, Zwak added.
Seven soldiers were wounded in the attack, he said.
However, he did not provide more details about the incidents.
Taliban has claimed the civilian casualties were due to an attack by Afghan forces.
[DAWN] MUZAFFARABAD: A Shia holy man and his wife were shot and maimed by assailants near here on Wednesday, in what an official described as a terrorist attack, arguably the first ever of its kind in the communally peaceful region of Azad Jammu and Kashmire (AJK).
Allama Syed Tasawwar Naqvi al Jawadi, 38, secretary general of the AJK chapter of Majlis Wahdatul Moslemeen (MWM), was on his way to visit his in-laws in the town of Garhi Dupatta with his 32-year-old wife, when a black Corolla stopped their cycle of violence near Rawani bridge, some 8km from here on Jhelum Valley Road, at around 11:30am, police said.
The attackers fired several gunshots at Mr Jawadi which also hit his wife. The maimed couple was first taken to a nearby health facility, but were rushed to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahayan Hospital in Muzaffarabad because of their critical condition.
A team of surgeons operated on them for several hours. Prof Dr Adnan Mehraj, one of the surgeons, told Dawn that because Mr Jawadi had been shot twice in the neck and once in the chest, his condition was extremely critical. He had suffered massive brain damage, he said, but doctors would determine the magnitude of the damage after he regained consciousness.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2017
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[FreeKorea] The kindest way to remember Kim Jong-nam may be as a man who was never cut out to be a tyrant. This must have been obvious from the circumstances of his fall from primogeniture — he was caught entering Japan on a fake passport on his way to Tokyo Disneyland. Maybe he never wanted the job, and maybe it was his downfall that caused him to reflect on the circumstances of his countrymen. He was neither a hero nor a martyr, although he later wrote a book criticizing the rule of his half-brother (whom he claimed he never met). Although there were rumors of a previous attempt to assassinate him by staging a car accident, Kim Jong-nam never really seemed interested enough in politics to call a dissident, either. He seemed interested in being happy. And any man who abstains from the opportunity to enslave others ought to be remembered fondly for that alone.
Considerably more at the link. Recommended.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/17/2017
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#1
Times: This is why your North Korea reporting stinks FIFY
[An Nahar] President 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... said Thursday he will announce next week a new executive order on immigration, trying to moving forward now that his travel ban is caught up in court.
"We will be issuing a new and very comprehensive order to protect our people," Trump told a news conference.
Trump's administration meanwhile dropped Thursday its appeal of a court ruling that suspended his travel ban targeting refugees and seven Moslem countries and said it would replace the measure with a modified version.
The Justice Department announced the move in a brief filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Socialist paradise of San Francisco ...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964... . It said the new order would address complaints from a three-judge panel that parts of the order were unconstitutional.
"Rather than continuing this litigation, the President intends in the near future to rescind the Order and replace it with a new, substantially revised Executive Order to eliminate what the panel erroneously thought were constitutional concerns," the brief states.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2017
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[An Nahar] Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... on Thursday said Raqa is not a priority target for his forces, saying his goal is to retake "every inch" of Syrian territory.
"Raqa is a symbol," Assad said in an interview with French media, while asserting that jihadist attacks carried out in La Belle France were "not necessarily prepared" in the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group (IS) stronghold in Syria.
"You have ISIS close to Damascus, you have them everywhere," Assad said, using another acronym for IS.
"Everywhere is a priority depending on the development of the battle," he said, as a new round of peace talks was set to kick off in the Kazakh capital Astana.
"They are in Palmyra now and in the eastern part of Syria," he said in the interview in Damascus with Europe 1 radio and the TF1 and LCI television channels.
"For us it is all the same, Raqa, Palmyra, Idlib, it's all the same."
The Syrian leader said it was the "duty of any government" to regain control of "every inch" of its territory.
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[An Nahar] Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Thursday resolving the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict would require a two-state solution, a day after Washington signaled it would drop that demand.
Abul Gheit affirmed that the conflict "requires a comprehensive and just peace based on a two-state solution with an independent Paleostinian state," a statement said after he met UN chief Antonio Guterres in Cairo.
His comments came a day after US President 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... met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and suggested a two-state solution was not necessary.
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[An Nahar] Turkish bombardment of an Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group-held town in Syria has killed 24 civilians, a monitor said Thursday, but The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's army said only "terrorists" died in the operation.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the dead in air strikes and shelling on the town of al-Bab in the last 24 hours included 11 children.
Turkey's army, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency said it had killed 15 "terrorists" in air strikes, artillery fire and festivities.
Al-Bab is IS's final stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo and has come under fierce attack by Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels in recent months.
The joint force entered al-Bab over the weekend, and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Tuesday that the town had "largely been taken under control."
The Observatory however said Turkish forces had made little progress since entering the town from the west.
Turkey began military operations in Syria in August, targeting both IS and Kurdish fighters.
Initially its forces advanced quickly, but they stalled around al-Bab in December.
The town is also a key target for Syrian government forces, who had been advancing towards from the south.
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[An Nahar] Venezuela's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez's nearly 14-year prison sentence, a day after U.S. President 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... called for his release.
The founder of Popular Will, one of the most hardline of the parties opposing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Lopez was sentenced on charges of inciting unrest at anti-government protests that left 43 people dead in 2014.
"The appeal was declared inadmissible. It is a reality and an act of absolute injustice," defense lawyer Juan Carlos Gutierrez told AFP, adding that the case is closed in Venezuela and can be appealed only to international bodies.
The ruling on the appeal -- filed in July -- came a day after Trump received Lopez's wife Lilian Tintori at the White House.
"Venezuela should allow Leopoldo Lopez, a political prisoner & husband of @liliantintor i (just met w/ @marcorubio) out of prison immediately," Trump tweeted following the meeting.
The government called Tintori's meeting with Trump an "intrusion and aggression."
Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez blamed Venezuelan opposition "lobbies" within "the Miami mafia."
"While President Maduro proposed starting a new era of respectful relations, Donald Trump is in solidarity with the leader of violent actions," he said.
Lopez was the most prominent of a hundred prisoners jugged You have the right to remain silent... for the 2014 protests.
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[An Nahar] The Church of England's General Synod on Wednesday rejected a report which ruled out accepting homosexual Mawwiage marriage and had led to a gay rights protest outside the meeting of Anglican bishops.
The "Mawwiage Marriage and Same Sex Relationships after the Shared Conversations" report, released on January 27, had called for the traditional teaching that marriage is a lifelong union between a man and a woman to be upheld.
The report also reaffirmed the view that the clergy must remain celibate if in a same-sex relationship and that they should not be allowed to bless same-sex marriages.
But it did recommend "a fresh tone and culture of welcome and support" for the LGBT community.
Participants in the Synod, the Church of England's legislative body, agreed overall to "take note" of the report, by 242 votes to 184.
But it was rejected under Synod rules because it failed to win a simple majority among clergy, despite being backed by bishops and laity.
After the vote, the Bishop of Willesden, Pete Broadbent, said he hoped the Church of England would continue debating the topic.
"The Synod has declined to take note and so the report in its present form cannot come back to Synod for discussion, though we will still have to find a way forward for the wider discussion," he said.
The issue of same-sex unions has long strained ties within the estimated 85-million-member Anglican Communion, which includes more liberal members from countries such as the United States and Britannia, and conservatives from countries such as Nigeria and Kenya.
Ahead of the vote 50 protesters, carrying placards reading "LGBT equality for people and priests" and "Synod should reject bigot's report," called on bishops not to acknowledge the report, saying the concessions offered were not enough.
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[ARA] The German Attorney-General has issued an international arrest warrant against an ISIS leader for committing war crimes and genocide against religious Yezidi minority in August 2014.
The German newspaper Die Welt reports that the ISIS leader was responsible for the abduction of thousands of Yezidi women. The German authorities are increasing their fight against war criminals.
The Federal Criminal Police Office managed to identify the high-ranking ISIS commander through interrogation of Yezidi victims.
"We have a little more hope of solving war crimes that ISIS perpetrated on Yazidi territory in the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq ‐ over 1,000 Yazidis have come to Germany, some of whom we have questioned," Germany’s top federal prosecutor Peter Frank told Suddeutsche Zeitung.
"So we have direct accounts of what happened there. On this point we are doing a ’structural investigation’ to determine what crimes against international law have been committed," he said.
The German State Security Unit 24, specialized in war crimes, is currently investigating more then 20 people for war crimes, including members of ISIS, and members of the Syrian government led by president Bashir al-Assad.
The enslavement of Yezidi women and girls are part of its investigations against war criminals.
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[ARA] Major General Rupert Jones, UK deputy commander of the Coalition forces against ISIS, said that most likely the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will take Raqqa, and not the The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... -led groups that are currently fighting in al-Bab.
"The force that looks most likely capable to conduct the liberation of Raqqa remains the SDF. Are we confident in the SDF? Absolutely we are. We’ve seen their fighting spirit, we’ve seen what they’re capable of doing. They re-took Manbij, a very tough fight, and they prevailed in the face of a tough opposition," Jones said.
"We’ve also always said that we would discuss with our partners in terms of who is best placed to conduct the actual liberation of Raqqa. We’ll do that, we’ll have those conversations," he added.
The Turkish president Erdogan last week said that after al-Bab, the Turkey-led Euphrates Shield Operation will target SDF-held Manbij and Raqqa.
"We shared our thoughts with the new US administration and CIA and we will follow the developments in line with our stance," he said.
Moreover, the pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak on 10 February reported that the Turks would attack the SDF-held town of Tel Abyad not of Raqqa, and also advance from the side of al-Bab," in case if Turkey and allied rebels move forward with their Raqqa operation plan.
On Friday, the US chief of staff Gen. Joe Dunford arrives in Turkey to discuss the Raqqa operation with Turkish officials, Rooters reported.
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[ARA] The Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) radical group published a new propaganda video showing two Yezidi boys from Sinjar being used as jacket wallahs in djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... The young boys, who were captured by ISIS during the group’s campaign against the Yezidi community in summer of 2014, described in the propaganda video how they left ’ignorance’ and joined ISIS and converted to Islam.
"When I was in Sinjar reporting on the Yezidis, numerous families said their kidnapped boys were being forced to become suicide bombers," journalist Rukmini Callimachi said.
"At the time, there was no concrete proof the terror group had succeeded in turning Yezidi children into bombers against their own people," she added.
Yezidi leaders confirmed to the journalist that the two boys were from Tel Qasab village south of Sinjar district [also known as Shingal].
During the genocide against Yezidis in 2014, many women and kiddies were kidnapped from southern Sinjar, especially from Tel Qasab, Tel Banat, Qahtania, Mojamaa al Jazeera.
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Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Police services in Anbar have arrested four detainees belonging to the Islamic State after they had fled a prison facility in the city of Ramadi, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Saad Maan said police forces, assisted by tribal troops, arrested two other fugitives, arrested two fugitives, one of whom is facing a death sentence.
The province’s police chief, Hadi Kassar, said earlier on Thursday that two inmates belonging to the extremist group were arrested after a joint operation with intelligence services.
Anbar’s western regions, most notably Annah, Rawa and Qaem, still host some Islamic State strongholds that sustain occasional bombardments by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition fighter jets. There has not been an officially-declared military campaign to free those regions, but the province’s military command launched a brief assault early January that managed to recapture some western villages before stopping again. It is believed that the Iraqi government will not aim at western Anbar beforw it is forces are done with retaking Mosul, Islamic State’s biggest bastion in Iraq where security forces have been battling the group since mid October.
Very recent airstrikes pounded the location of meetings believed to have been chaired by IS supreme commander, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose survival remains a matter of question.
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Diyala (IraqiNews.com) An attack by Islamic State militants at checkpoint in Diyala on Thursday left one tribal fighter injured, news reports quoted a security source as saying.
IS attackers targeted a checkpoint at al-Tala al-Oula, a village in Hawi al-Udhaim region in Baqubah, according to the source. The attack wounded a fighter from al-Hashd al-Shaeri (tribal mobilization), a paramilitary group fighting Islamic State alongside government troops.
Islamic State has stepped attacks across Iraq coinciding with defeats in Mosul, its largest stronghold in Iraq of which Iraqi government troops have recaptured a half since October.
Observers believe that while losing Mosul could be the strongest hit to the Islamic State’s existence in Iraq, the extremist group, which had taken over large areas of Iraq in 2014, could later turn to insurgency.
The group has sustained severe losses in personnel and ground since Iraqi government forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and popular militias, waged a major offensive to retake Mosul in October. IS has also reportedly been ravaged with divisions within its ranks, with news reports increasingly suggesting that its supreme leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, might be replaced, let alone other news about his possible injury in recent security strikes in Anbar.
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New York- A confidential U.N. report is warning that the war in South Sudan has reached “catastrophic proportions for civilians” and the rise of militias risks spinning out of control, fueling fighting for years to come.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in the report obtained by Agence France Presse that civilians were fleeing villages and towns “in record numbers” and that the danger of mass atrocities “is real”.
“The security situation continues to deteriorate in parts of the country and the consequent impact of this ongoing conflict and violence, has reached catastrophic proportions for civilians,” Guterres wrote.
“The rise of militias under the loose command of the SPLA or rebel commanders is spreading the fragmentation and dislocation of its territories, which risk, if this trend continues, remaining out of any government control for years to come,” said the report.
After gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of thousands dead and more than three million people displaced.
Meanwhile, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said about 5.2 million people are facing food insecurity in South Sudan, or nearly half of the population.
The figure includes 4.9 million South Sudanese and 260,000 refugees from Sudan, Congo and Ethiopia, who have been in South Sudan for about five years, OCHA spokesman in South Sudan, Frank Nyakairu, told German news agency (dpa) by phone.
Dry spells and flooding attributed to climate change have hampered farming, but the lack of food is also largely due to a military conflict that has ravaged the country since December 2013 and displaced 3.4 million people.
“The humanitarian situation in South Sudan has deteriorated dramatically due to the devastating combination of conflict, economic decline and climatic shocks,” said Eugene Owusu, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan.
[DAWN] The government has sought a three-year extension in the term of military courts, read a document obtained by DawnNews on Thursday.
The government has formulated a draft to carry out legal amendments that aim to extend the tenure of military courts -- they had ceased to function after expiry of tenure earlier this year.
A meeting of parliamentary leaders was convened by the government in which it distributed the copy of draft among the attendees; a copy of the draft is also available with DawnNews.
According to the new definition of ’terrorist’, revealed in the new draft, now anyone can be termed a terrorist regardless of the matter that whether he is motivated by religion or not.
Commenting on the matter, Pakistain People’s Party Leader Naveed Qamar said they have not supported the extension of military courts yet.
Addressing a press briefing following the meeting, Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... leader Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi asked, "What surety is there that situation will get better if military courts are granted extension?"
He said that the meeting was briefed on the implementation of National Action Plan (NAP) by National Security Adviser Nasir Janjua.
"The security adviser also informed about the necessity of amending laws to try more terrorists," Qureshi added.
The PTI leader said that the government wants to pass the bill immediately but "doing anything in haste will not do any good".
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[ARA] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ’s military forcers and allied rebels in Syria continued their offensive against the town of Tel Rifaat in northern Aleppo, targeting positions of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), local sources reported on Wednesday.
The Turkish Army and Turkey-backed rebels of the Euphrates Shield have been bombing Tel Rifaat since Tuesday.
SDF headquarters and residential buildings in Tel Rifaat were hit with dozens of mortar shells. The Turkish troops and allied rebels also used heavy artillery and machine guns in the offensive‐aimed at driving the SDF out of the town.
The number of casualties is still unknown.
In the meantime, two Turkish cobra helicopters hit the village of Tal Alo in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah Governorate, close to the headquarters of the Arab Sanadid forces.
The Turkish army has also entered Syrian territory near the Kurdish-held Afrin District in northwestern Aleppo, occupying several hectares of land since January, local sources reported.
Also, Kurdish female fighters of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) on Monday clashed with Turkish Army forces near the town of Amude in Hasakah Governorate. "After three hours of sporadic festivities, the Turkish Army was forced to withdraw. They retreated towards the Turkish side of the border," a YPJ officer told ARA News.
The festivities followed an attempt by the Turkish military troops to enter the Kurdish territory in northeastern Syria, where Turkey continues to build a concrete wall alongside the borderline.
Kurdish officials condemned the Turkish violations against border areas in northern Syria.
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[DAWN] Jamatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed ...who would be wearing a canvas jacket with very long sleeves anyplace but Pakistain... and 37 others affiliated with the organization have asked the Ministry of Interior to remove their names from the Exit Control List (ECL).
In a letter written to the ministry’s concerned department on behalf of JuD chief and others, Advocate A.K Dogar pleads that a memorandum issued on Jan 30, 2017 placing 38 individuals on the ECL should be withdrawn.
The lawyer stated the JuD had never been involved in any terrorist activity in Pakistain and was never blamed for any incident of terrorism or destruction of property.
He argued that the JuD was an organization dedicated to welfare of the citizens as it had established 142 schools and four varsities in the country. He said Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) was a sufficient proof to this effect. Advocate Dogar contended that no material had ever been produced by the federal or provincial governments against founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa.
The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus. He referred to an observation made by a full bench of the Lahore High Court hearing a petition of Hafiz Saeed and others against their detention in 2009.
The bench had observed: "In the present case the Government is not in possession of any evidence that the petitioners are risk to the security of Pakistain and merely on the basis of the UN Resolution their liberty cannot be curtailed."
The lawyer has requested the ministry of interior to delete the names of Hafiz Saeed and others from the ECL.
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#1
"The lawyer stated the JuD had never been involved in any terrorist activity in Pakistain and was never blamed for any incident of terrorism or destruction of property."
How about elsewhere? Nothing was said about activities outside Pakistan.
[DAWN] In the aftermath of recent blast at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh, the government has decided to seal Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan for an indefinite period, DawnNews reported.
According to the officials of political administration, the Pak-Afghan border crossing at Torkham has been sealed for all kinds of communication due to security concerns.
"The border crossing will stay closed till further notice and all kinds of trade and commercial activities will remain suspended," the officials said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella opened her mouth at precisely the wrong moment... the military's spokesperson also confirmed the development through a tweet.
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[DAWN] GHALANAI/PESHAWAR: A renewed wave of terrorism in the country intensified on Wednesday when four jacket wallahs blew themselves up one after another at different spots in 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. , Mohmand Agency ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... and Charsadda in an attempt to target security forces and members of the judiciary.
Continued on Page 49
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[DAWN] LAHORE: Following Monday’s horrific suicide kaboom on The Mall which claimed 13 lives and left over 100 people injured, Punjab’s law enforcement agencies have launched a province-wide crackdown on banned holy warrior organizations.
The body parts of the suspected jacket wallah have been sent for DNA test to establish his identity.
"It's Bob. I'd recognize that left ear anywhere."
"It's a right ear, ma'am."
"Oh? That must be boB, then, his twin brother."
"It's also inside out, ma'am."
"Well, boB was an introvert...
Officials involved in the investigation into the incident said that senior police officials were the main target of the suicide bomber who went kaboom! during a protest by chemists.
They said that Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), an offshoot of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain, which grabbed credit for the attack in a statement, had attached a photograph of the bomber to the statement. Earlier, the group had done so after carrying out a terror attack on Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park 11 months ago.
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Once an indispensable sports powerhouse, cable TV network ESPN has gone from must-see-TV for millions of sports fans to financial boondoggle for owner Disney with the network losing up to 10,000 subscribers a day, a report says.
“A floundering ESPN, with rising costs and declining viewership, continued to sink Disney’s DIS, +0.24% financial results during its fiscal first quarter,” MarketWatch.com reported.
With the impact of the flailing sports network, Disney’s revenue fell 3 percent, and its profits sank 14 percent, the financial site reported.
As to ESPN itself, the network lost subscribers, found its average viewership crater, and experienced falling advertising rates even as its programming costs climbed. And this fall from grace continued even after Disney insisted that ESPN had reached its bottom after the previous quarter came to an end.
Disney CEO Bob Iger, though, is still putting a sunny face on this quarter after quarter failure saying he still “believes” in the network.
“We believe that the best approach to doing well in a world that is disruptive, in a world that has far more digital distribution, is to have great content and tell great stories. And that includes ESPN, by the way,” Iger said during a recent conference call. “But I can tell you that it is our full intent to go out there aggressively with digital offerings direct to the consumer for ESPN and other Disney-branded properties.”
Despite Iger’s happy talk, ESPN has lost about 12 million subscribers, down to 88 million from its 100 million subscriber high from back in 2011. That lost revenue amounts to about $7 per subscriber, according to The Wrap.
ESPN’s operating costs are also negatively impacting its finances, especially the $7.3 billion it has to pay out to the various sports leagues for access to game broadcasting. But, according to at least one analyst, ESPN’s political lurch to the left has also led to its massive loss.
#5
#2 SJWs are not a good target audience for alpha male oriented entrainment.
Posted by: Procopius2k 2017-02-17 00:15
THIS. Oh, so much this. And those viewers who aren't young alpha males simply don't like being told by billionaires that we have to watch millionaires tell us how downtrodden and disrespected they are.
Keep an eye on this fight and the one in NC, because it's rapidly coming down to a point where the league is going to have two choices - start looking the other way, or shut the respective teams out of competition to make their point. Popcorn, anyone?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/17/2017 5:01
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#6
I've watched ESPN for 30+ years. I'm down to only a couple of shows during football season and not always then. I do still like Mike & Mike in the morning but even they fall into the PC territory on occasion.
Remember the days of Aussie Rules? Allie Sherman? Chris Berman? It ain't like that no more.
#8
Count ESPN as just one of dozens of companies who stranglely believed they could talk down to 50% or more of their customers and that doing so would magically have no consequences. I *despise* tuning in to watch a Dodgers game only to be told its "International Night" and be forced to sit thru vinettes sermonizing about bullshit that has nothing to do with baseball (as just one example). That former softball player does a horrible job commenting on baseball as well.
#9
And the production has tanked, and can't even get the broadcast schedule correct: there was a game I actually was interested in, said it was on x channel, was really on y, missed the game. Thought maybe, my local knocked the dog but talked to someone else, they missed it too, recorded the wrong channel.
Live sports is the only tether I have, and the companies who cover them, not just this one, are floundering all aspects - mainly the commentators. Production sucks too. Watched the big college game with just sounds of the game - was great, until I realized the 'stadium announcer' was some jackass with a noise manipulator. Also, if I'm going to sit in a chair for six hours I better be skiing when done.
#11
Sports broadcasters in general seem to have forgotten why we tune in--its to ESCAPE from the bullshit of every day life. I remember when the National Anthem bullshit sprang up early this NFL season I had a long drive in the middle of nowhere and I was searching for a sports-talk show. The one from ESPN radio had some chirpy chic hosting it who said "This controversy is a national discussion we have to have." I changed the channel--if I wanted a "national discussion" on a POLITICAL issue, I would NEVER turn to ESPN radio for the source. They've forgotten what they got in business to do--cover our DIVERSIONS from the everyday bullshit.
#12
So it is purely coincidence that Disney recently raised admission to the various Walt Disney Worlds/Lands/etc, and no connection whatsoevah to the ESPN financial tanking.
I do have to say that despie ESPN's pilotical ventures, their NASCAR coverage beat the daylights out of NBC.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The pertinence of Hezbollah’s agenda can be viewed through its flexibility to continuously identify with the Iranian project countering Israeli interests. However, there's more than one way to skin a cat... this agenda was not always nor exclusively anti-Israel.
[An Nahar] Eight women and a child were killed in an overnight air raid on a funeral reception near the Yemeni capital Sanaa, medics said Thursday.
At least 10 more women were reported maimed in the raid, which hit the women's reception area at a funeral in Arhab district, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Sanaa.
Medics dispatched to the incident identified the bombing site as the residence of Mohammed Al Nakii in the village of Shiraa.
Houthis, who control the capital, accused a Saudi-backed coalition of carrying out the strike.
A coalition spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. "I can say no more!"
A post on the Huthi-run saba.ye news website late Wednesday gave an initial toll of six women killed and 10 maimed.
Casualties were transported to hospitals in Sanaa.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition said on Thursday that it was investigating media reports about an air raid near the Yemeni capital Sana’a.
“We are aware of media reports that Houthi rebels are claiming that Yemeni civilians were killed in an air raid overnight near Sana’a,” the Coalition Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen said in a statement.
“There has been fighting between Yemeni armed forces and rebels in this area in recent days,” it said.
“We are investigating the reports and will release further information when we have it,” the statement added.
The Houthis have carried out rocket strikes on Saudi Arabia and engaged in firefights along the border since the start of the coalition campaign in support of Yemen’s legitimacy.
Saudi Arabia said Thursday that it had intercepted another missile fired by the insurgents at its territory.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency reported the missile had been headed for the city of Khamis Mushait, about 100 kilometers from the Yemeni border.
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Top|| File under: Houthis
[Center For Immigration Studies] The findings of this analysis show that if a border wall stopped a small fraction of the illegal immigrants who are expected to come in the next decade, the fiscal savings from having fewer illegal immigrants in the country would be sufficient to cover the costs of the wall. This analysis takes the likely education level of illegal border-crossers and applies fiscal estimates developed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) for immigrants by education level. NAS calculates the future fiscal balance immigrants create -- taxes paid minus costs. NAS reports fiscal balances as "net present values", which places a lower value on future expenditures than on current expenditures.
Based on the NAS data, illegal border-crossers create an average fiscal burden of approximately $74,722 during their lifetimes, excluding any costs for their U.S.-born children. If a border wall stopped between 160,000 and 200,000 illegal crossers -- 9 to 12 percent of those expected to successfully cross in the next decade -- the fiscal savings would equal the $12 to $15 billion cost of the wall.
#2
p.s. An idea. Suppose Trump announces that the funds saved in this way will be applied toward defraying college debt? I know, I know, but "the Art of war is the art of deception" - and it is war.
#3
So, the meme that Obama was deporting illegal aliens at high levels was a myth. In fact, he was a busy lad with recruiting new Democrat voters during his administration. Build the wall, it will pay for itself.
#5
If we build a wall and illegal immigration plunges (without some work visa program) Mexico must reform their corrupt economy or face a revolution.
Assuming the politicians in Mexico like living they will reform. If they reform Mexico has a chance of fighting their way up to the first world in a decade or two.
If that happens I'm sure Obama will get the credit and we'll hear "despite the wall" in most reporting.
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the sub-committee of the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms held in the Parliament House on Wednesday could not reach a consensus on the issue of 10 per cent mandatory participation of women in elections after the Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) and Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI) opposed the proposal presented by other parliamentary parties.
The JUI-F and JI stuck to their stance for only 5pc participation of women in the elections, although other parliamentary parties demanded at least 10pc participation for validation of polls.
"The parliamentary parties could not reach a consensus on the issue of women’s voting," Shazia Marri, a member of the committee, told news hounds after an in-camera meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] PESHAWAR: The Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...a Pak religious party. It is usually part of the govt, never part of the solution... -Fazl has reached an understanding with the federal government on the extension in the term of military courts and mainstreaming of Fata, said party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... here on Wednesday.
"The (federal) government has accepted our conditions and we will support extension to the military courts," he told news hounds at the party’s provincial secretariat here.
Mr. Fazl said the government had agreed to the condition that the role of military courts would not be confined to the holding of trial of the people involved in religious and sectarian terrorism.
He said the government hadn’t ensured security of civil judges during the last two years to end dependence on military courts.
"The words religious and sectarian terrorism will not be included in the draft amendment to the law for the extension of (the term of) military courts," he said.
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Fourteen Islamic State militants were killed on Thursday as fighter jets bombarded their explosives factory in western Mosul, an official security source said.
The source told Shafaaq News that the militants were killed in an airstrike by aircraft from the U.S-led military coalition that targeted a textile factory in al-Somoud district, which was used by the extremist group as a workshop for manufacturing explosives and vehicle booby-trapping.
Iraqi government forcesm, backed by the coalition and paramilitary troops, drove Islamic State militants out of eastern Mosul late January after three months of fighting, and are preparing to cross the Tigris River to the western section where militants are well-entrenched. Though surviving militants escaped to the group’s western strongholds, many have waged several attacks on the eastern areas over the past weeks, killing civilians and security personnel at recaptured areas.
On Tuesday, the head of the Pentagon’s special operations, Gen. Raymond Thomas, said in a conference in Washington D.C that 60.000 Islamic State fighters had been killed in two years during operations by the U.S. coalition. Coalition generals have, however, predicted a more difficult battle in the west of the city given the density of the population and the need to ensure civilians’ safety.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi army forces killed an Islamic State suicide bomber and arrested another one before they carried out an attack in eastern Mosul, an officer said Thursday as the force struggle against attacks by the group on liberated areas.
Major Ali Mohsen, from the army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Forces, said in a press statement that the first suicide bomber, wearing an explosive belt, stormed a men’s barber shop in al-Taamim district, but was killed by the force before blowing himself.
Another bomber, aged 13, was arrested after civilians informed the forces about his location at a nearby spot, Mohsen added.
Iraqi government forces drove Islamic State militants out of eastern Mosul late January after three months of fighting, and are preparing to cross the Tigris River to the western section where militants are well-entrenched. Islamic State fighters, many of whom fled to the western region, have waged several attacks on the eastern areas over the past weeks, killing civilians and security personnel. Security observers say government forces face the challenge of potential Islamic State sleeping cells in the recaptured areas in the eastern section of Mosul.
Generals from the Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition forces are expecting a tougher encounter in western Mosul, and have predicted the final liberation of the city to be achieved in six months at least.
Posted by: badanov ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[American Thinker] Make no mistake: we have just witnessed an operation by members of the CIA to take out a high official of our own government. An agency widely believed to have brought down democratically elected governments overseas is now practicing the same dark arts in domestic American politics. Almost certainly, its new head, Mike Pompeo, was not consulted.
Senator Chuck Schumer, of all people, laid out on January 2 what was going to happen to the Trump administration if it dared take on the deep state ‐ the permanent bureaucracy that has contempt for the will of the voters and feels entitled to run the government for its own benefit:
#2
Actually, as this was starting up, I thought about Sherlock Holmes and dogs not barking.
Who liasons between sources? Who in the 'inner circle' hasn't the media been stomping on?
The name I come up with is Riebus Prince.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/17/2017 7:17
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#3
CIA breaking the law? Naw, that wouldn't happen, it would be criminal and un-American. There were controversial allegations they were flying dope into Mena, Arkansas during the Clinton governorship too.
#5
ed in texas, Riebus Prince hasn't actually done anything to be blasted about yet as far as the world knows. Also he's generally standing between Trump and Bannon so the left can't even see him when stands in plane site.
#6
It is interesting that the phone call in question was in December.
So Obama had to have gone to FAISA to get permission to monitor Flynn's phone. Of course they were monitoring the Russian but what good does that do when they know we are listening.
Sound like a final attempt to get Flynn.
They were after him when he was head of NSA and they went nuts when he starting advising Trump.
Of course Flynn can still have a desk at the WH and advise Trump, he just isn't on the Security Council...how about making him Deputy Director of the Klingons so Pompeo can have a wing man in that fever swamp.
[ARA] The Dutch intelligence service AVID has warned for an increase in the number of ISIS returnees that could carry out attacks in Europe due to increasing ISIS territorial losses in both Iraq and Syria
The Dutch intelligence says the small number of ISIS returnees from Syria and Iraq could carry out attacks in the Netherlands, or recruit new ISIS supporters.
However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... many Dutch jihadists would most likely die in the battlefield. Currently, the Iraqi security forces are carrying out an offensive on the city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , a campaign that started on 16 October, while the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are fighting to isolate Raqqa‐ISIS de facto capital. ISIS is losing more and more territory and is being pushed to the defensive.
Until now, 280 Dutch citizens have joined jihadi groups in Syria and Iraq.
In 2016, the number of Dutch citizens that joined jihadist groups has decreased significantly. The majority of these Jihadists have joined ISIS, and some have joined the al-Qa’ida affiliated Tahrir al-Sham.
One third of the Dutch jihadists are women and it also includes 80 Dutch children. Fifty per cent of them was born in the region and less than 20 per cent of them is 9 years or older.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
As you've been telling Israel for so long "Don't let terrorism stop the Peace!".
#7
Three ghoulies were pullin' the stuffin'
From out of some World Star McGuffin:
Two grown-ups (pure blameless,
except, perhaps, aimless);
One juvie (who didn't do nuffin).
#9
Bah. Sleepless and racist(-ish) is no way to go through the day.
A tale of a tortoise: Imprudence
In dealing with diligent students
Of history and hurdles
(and torturing turtles)
May anger race-mongering mutants.
Can't quite get to TMNT, dammit. Going random...
Hot sand, and a squeezebox primordian,
That over its shadow sat guardian.
A passer-by, saying,
"So shady! Not playing?"
"It's not in my nature, dear scorpion."
#12
I am honored to be named with your real life mother, my dear, especially referencing one of my many favourite Tom Lehrer songs. And with Shipman, who must never be let off the hook. ;-)
I always read the comments. Whether I say anything depends on time and energy constraints.
These yoots display typical underclass behaviour. In Britain they'd be whites or Pakistanis.
[DAWN] The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... police raided a krazed killer hideout and killed six suspected members of the proscribed Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JA), the group that has launched a new campaign of violence in the country, police said on Thursday.
CTD said its officers surrounded a hideout of the JA in Multan late on Wednesday and ordered the suspects inside to surrender.
"But the turbans started firing at the raiding party and threw explosives," a front man for the department, who the unit does not identify for security reasons, said in a statement.
Six forces of Evil were killed while three or four escaped under cover of darkness, the department added. Two hand grenades, two automatic rifles and two pistols were recovered.
Police acted after getting information that the forces of Evil were planning to launch attacks on "vital installations" and the government in the area.
The krazed killer faction grabbed credit for a suicide kaboom near the Punjab Assembly in Lahore on Monday that killed 14 people and maimed more than 80.
Since then, forces of Evil have killed two bomb-disposal officers in the Quetta and a jacket wallahwent kaboom! outside a government office in Mohmand Agency ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... on Wednesday, killing five people.
Also on Wednesday, a suicide bomber on a cycle of violence attacked a group of judges in a van in 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. , killing their driver.
The attacks have underlined the threat forces of Evil pose to the government, despite an army offensive launched in 2014 to push them out of their strongholds near the Afghan border.
Pakistain's foreign office said it had summoned Syed Abdul Nasir Yousafi, deputy head of mission at Afghanistan's embassy in Islamabad, on Wednesday to voice concern about JA "sanctuaries" in Afghanistan.
Pakistain says forces of Evil launch attacks from the Afghan side of the border.
"Afghanistan was urged to take urgent measures to eliminate the turbans and their sanctuaries, financiers and handlers," the foreign office said in a statement.
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Ahrar
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) A civilian was killed by an improvised explosive device explosion in Qasbet Bashir area, south of Kirkuk, a source told Alsumaria News on Thursday.
The source said, “An improvised explosive device, from the remnants of the Islamic State, exploded in Qasbet Bashir (15 km south of Kirkuk), killing one civilian on the spot.”
“Police forces evacuated the body to the forensic medicine department and opened an investigation into the incident,” the source added on condition of anonymity.
Noteworthy, 90% of Qasbet Bashir area is destructed by IEDs planted by the Islamic State, before being liberated by Peshmerga forces and al-Hashd al-Shaabi last year.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants rockets killed and wounded students and teachers in eastern Mosul Thursday as the extremist group continues to target areas it lost to security forces over the last months.
Colonel Khodeir Saleh, from the Joint Operations Command, told Bas News that two student girls were killed and others were wounded, including teachers, when Kateyusha missiles, fired by IS, landed on their school in al-Jazair district in eastern Mosul.
Ambulances rushed to carry the casualties to hospital, the security officer said.
Iraqi government forces drove Islamic State militants out of eastern Mosul late January after three months of fighting that left at least 3000 militants dead, and are preparing to cross the Tigris River to the western section where militants are well-entrenched. IS, however, has waged several attacks on the eastern areas over the past weeks, killing civilians and security personnel.
Also on Thursday, security forces managed to deactivate more than 200 explosive devices in al-Houd village, near the southern Mosul town of Qayyara, according to a report by Baghdad Times. They said stashes of grenades and rocket launchers were also discovered.
Iraqi and international coalition generals predict the city to be fully recaptured within six months.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A local source in Nineveh Province declared that the Islamic State group closed the so-called Sharia Courts in western Mosul, Alsumaria News reported on Thursday.
The source said, “The Islamic State closed the remaining Sharia Courts in western Mosul, and started to evacuate its alternative headquarters immediately.”
“The authority of Sharia Courts was transferred to the field’s Emirs, with the approaching offensive in western Mosul,” the source added on condition of anonymity.
Islamic State’s Sharia Court is a very important entity in the group, and has many authorities including arrest warrants.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A local source in Nineveh Province that the Islamic State group forced some residents of western Mosul to provide food to its combat detachments, Alsumaria News reported on Thursday.
The source said, “The Islamic State forced the residents of western Mosul to feed its combat detachments in the neighborhoods of the area.”
“The Islamic State considered the presenting food to its detachments as a support for the group,” the source explained. “The group threatens to punish anyone who violate its instruction,” the source added.
The source also declared that the extremist group could not provide food to its fighters, so they started to threaten residents and force them to provide food.
Posted by: badanov ||
02/17/2017
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: Exasperated by the repetitive arguments being advanced before it despite a fortnight’s break, the Supreme Court on Wednesday wondered why the questions that were doing the rounds on day one of the Panama Papers leaks case continued to linger on.
"Where is the actual document to show that Hussain Nawaz, the elder son of 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... , is the owner of the four London flats?" asked Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, a member of the five-judge Supreme Court bench who rejoined proceedings after recovering from a cardiac ailment.
Justice Saeed had developed chest pains at the last hearing on Jan 31 and had to be rushed to the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, where doctors reportedly advised him to take a break.
When the members of the bench arrived in Courtroom No. 2 on Wednesday to resume the hearing of the Panamagate case, senior counsel Salman Akram Raja -- who represents Hussain and Hassan Nawaz -- greeted Justice Saeed cordially.
At this, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa -- who heads the bench -- observed that the judges were grateful to everybody who prayed for the speedy recovery of their fellow judge.
But the ever-witty Justice Saeed, pointing towards the counsel, said he should not expect "an easy ride".
"Let’s call a spade a spade and show the court the relevant papers to reveal who paid Minerva Services [for the services rendered to Nielson and Nescoll, which own the four London properties]," he remarked.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: Members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, while debating the Compulsory Education of Arabic Bill 2015, discussed whether the lack of Arabic as a subject in the curriculum was the cause of terrorism in Pakistain.
The bill was moved by MNA Naeema Kishwar Khan, and debate on it began even though the mover of the bill was not in attendance.
PML-N MNA Parveen Masood Bhatti expressed support for the bill, saying terrorism was increasing because students were not studying Arabic.
"We have started focusing on the English language, and parents put their children in English-medium schools and do not bother teaching their children the Arabic language. It is because of this attitude that terrorism is increasing," she claimed.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) MNA Syed Ali Raza Abidi, however, argued that even people who speak Arabic can be bandidosLions of Islam and spread terrorism.
Committee member Nafeesa Khattak from the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) supported the bill, saying introducing Arabic as a compulsory language from "the start of education" would allow children to learn and understand the Koran and help a large number of people get jobs.
Committee chairman Rana Mohammad Hayat Khan responded that the inclusion of Arabic would not increase job opportunities, and paraphrased Allama Iqbal, saying those who study Arabic would only get jobs selling oil.
"Students who are serious about studying the Koran, they go to mosques early in the morning and after that they go to school," he added.
However, ars longa, vita brevis... PTI’s Asad Umer argued that the language of the Koran and its translation should be taught to students, claiming that "85pc of mosques in the federal capital are run by those who do not preach what is mentioned in the Koran".
The Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) has decided to oppose the bill, Secretary Nargis Ghalo said, because there are not enough teachers to teach Arabic as a compulsory subject.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[ArabNews] CAIRO: The main figure killed in last month’s US raid in Yemen targeting Al-Qaeda was a tribal leader who was allied to the country’s US- and Saudi-backed president and had been enlisted to fight Yemen’s Houthi insurgents, according to military officials, tribal figures and relatives.
The government connections of tribal chief Sheikh Abdel-Raouf Al-Dhahab raise further questions over the planning of a raid that turned into a heavy firefight with casualties on both sides.
One US Navy Seal was killed, six American soldiers were wounded and a military aircraft suffered a hard landing and had to be destroyed in the assault, which took place days after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: badanov ||
02/17/2017
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
#1
So it was a raid on a family compound.
But a complete flush? Wonder if it was a cleaning?
#3
This is a crook of crapola! The Al-Dhahab brothers practically invented the AQAP! Don't fall for the Fake News! The world is a better place since our heroes iced AbdulRaouf!
[DAWN] SLOWLY but stubbornly, and mostly out of view of the public, a debate on the revival of military courts for civilians appears to be edging towards a decision to reactivate the courts. A draft law by the government that appears to have been shared with parliamentary leaders proposes, according to news reports, a three-year extension for military courts. The last time this debate was held, shock and horror at the Army Public School attack in 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. overwhelmed broader constitutional and rule-of-law concerns. The country had been deeply maimed and a chaotic politicianship was unable to resist a determined military leadership’s demands for symbolic new powers in the name of fighting terrorism. And while the Supreme Court did eventually uphold the hastily passed 21st Amendment, it was apparent that a conflicted court only envisaged military courts as a temporary aberration. Yet, a door to the normalisation of military courts had been opened -- and sure enough, more than two years on, the military wants to keep its powers to try terrorism suspects in secrecy and with a minimum of due process.
What is deeply troubling about the push for the revival of military courts is that the PML-N government appears to have become a thoroughly willing accomplice in the further distortion of the Constitution. A government sworn to protect and uphold the Constitution appears blithely unaware, or perhaps deliberately ignorant, of its democratic responsibilities, opting to align itself with a militarised view of safety and security inside the country. Perhaps the federal government is calculating that reviving military courts will create goodwill with the military leadership while causing minimal political damage, especially since a terrorism-weary public is supportive of extreme steps taken against terrorism suspects. But expediency and populism do not make the government right. Indeed, it is possible to make a case that the government, having no interest or appetite for judicial reforms, sees military courts as an easy cover for its legislative and administrative failings. Instead of having to explain why justice system reforms have not featured on its agenda, the government is simply turning to military courts to plug the gaping hole in its record.
As the government works to assemble the coalition necessary to amend the Constitution once again, now is the time for conscientious and right-thinking parliamentarians to speak out and push back against the government’s plans. Once an amendment bill is tabled in parliament, the individual will of parliamentarians will not matter; they will be required to vote in line with their parliamentary party leaders’ orders. Certainly, even in the government ranks, there will be unease at what is being attempted. Military courts for civilians are a distortion of bedrock constitutional and democratic principles -- and distortions, once introduced, have a way of growing in unpredictable ways. The fight against militancy will be a long one; it must be fought and won honourably.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] The newly-appointed ambassador to the United States, Aizaz Chaudhry, on Thursday said that the Taliban had entered Pakistain as migrants colonists, who had been told to steer clear of hard boy activities if they wanted to stay in the country.
Chaudhry, whose career as a foreign service officer spans over 36 years of multilateral and bilateral experience, was speaking at a seminar at the Air University Islamabad on matters of national security.
"We will not tolerate that the Taliban operate from here to carry out terror attacks across the border. The unrest in Afghanistan will not be allowed to infiltrate into Pakistain," Chaudhry said, when asked for a comment on the supposed distinction between "the good and the bad" Taliban. What you subsidize, you get more of.
The newly-appointed ambassador to the US said that the state wants Afghanistan and Taliban to enter dialogue.
"Billions of dollars have been spent on establishing peace in Afghanistan, but to no avail," Chaudhry added, saying that terrorism from Afghanistan is now spreading into Pakistain where elements are trying to destabilise the country and sabotage major events like the Pakistain Super League.
"We will not be pressurised by this so-called 'Do more' ideology being pushed on us. We're working on full capacity to counter terrorism and we will continue with our efforts in full force," he added.
Chaudhry also said that Pakistain is under threat from the hard boyIslamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) group, which may head to the country as the Syrian conflict nears an end.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A boom-mobilewent kaboom! in Baghdad for the third day running Thursday, killing at least 55 people in a southern neighborhood, an interior ministry official said.
The blast rocked the same Bayaa neighborhood where a boom-mobile had already killed four people on Tuesday, the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... because he is not authorized to talk to the press.
He said another 25 people were maimed in the kaboom, which went off in a busy market area. Hospital officials confirmed the casualty toll.
The Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group grabbed credit for Thursday's attack, which came amid a renewed wave of violence in the Iraqi capital.
At least 11 people were also killed in a suicide car kaboom claimed by ISIS on Wednesday in a northern neighborhood of the Iraqi capital.
Baghdad was rocked by a wave of deadly suicide kabooms during the first days of 2017 but relatively few kabooms had been reported since then until this week.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Baghdad Operations Command announced on Thursday, that security forces seized a car bomb in Sadr City, in eastern the province.
Spokesman for Baghdad Operations Command, Brigadier General Saad Maan said in a press statement, “Security forces from Baghdad Military Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism Service, backed by Ministry of Interior and Baghdad Operations Command, seized a booby-trapped vehicle that was parked in one of the garages in Sadr City, in eastern the province.”
“The vehicle was discovered during a search operation in the mentioned area,” Maan added.
The capital, Baghdad, is witnessing several suicide attacks and acts of violence, in addition to separate attacks against civilians and security forces.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Baghdad police service said Thursday it foiled an attack by three suicide bombers as the capital witnessed almost daily bombings targeting civilians and security.
Jalil al-Rubaie, commander of the Interior Ministry’s Baghdad Operations, said in a statement that a joint force of police and intelligence teams trapped the trio in Radwaniya, west of Baghdad, killing one and arresting the other two. He said they were all donning explosive belts.
The announcement comes hours after a deadly attack on Habibiya, at the eastern Baghdad al-Sadr city, which killed and wounded 65.
Violence surged in Iraq with the emergence of Islamic State militants who took over large areas of the country in 2014. Baghdad has been witnessing almost daily bombings targeting civilians and security personnel.
IS militants have said they had been responsible for several bloody explosions and attacks that hit the capital in the past months, bringing the governorate municipal and security officials under critics’ fire.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said violence in the country left nearly 382 dead, including security members, and 908 injured during January. Baghdad was the most affected province with 128 deaths and 444 injuries, according to the organization.
Observers believe Islamic State have begun to escalate attacks outside the city of Mosul, where the group has been losing ground and personnel since October, so as to relieve pressure by government forces on that front and to divert attention from group losses.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2017
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[DAWN] Three Pakistain Army personnel were killed when an improvised bomb (IED), targeting an army convoy, went kaboom! in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... ’s Awaran district on Thursday, said a statement released by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
The killed were identified as Captain Taha, Sepoy Kamran Satti and Sepoy Mehtar Jan.
Two other soldiers were also injured in the attack, added the military’s media wing.
Army personnel and other security forces reached the site of the incident and started initial investigations. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Awaran is considered one of the most sensitive and troubled districts of Balochistan. The district has witnessed regular attack on security forces in the past.
Militants have conducted attacks against security forces and national installations in Balochistan, which has been plagued by an insurgency and growing sectarian killings for more than a decade.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2017
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Top|| File under: Baloch Liberation Army
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] 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... has dismantled at least four Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) cells made up of 18 individuals inside the kingdom, officials from the interior ministry confirmed.
Fifteen of those tossed in the clink You have the right to remain silent... were Saudi nationals while the remaining three were from Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... and Sudan, the ministry said in statements made on Thursday.
The ministry also said that ISIS cells in Saudi Arabia have spread to Mecca, Medina, Riyadh and Qassim regions of the country.
In addition, nearly two million riyals were confiscated from the cells upon arrest.
"Some of those arrested were involved with supplying materials to the ISIS cells in the al-Yasmeen cells in Riyadh and others were linked to the two suicide kaboomers in Harazat rest area of Jeddah, both of which were dismantled in recent months," said Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, spokesperson for Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2017
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
18 is a pyramid
____1____: Sudan
_1_____1_: Yemen
3_3_3_3_3: Saudi
Logis|Booms
[DAWN] At least 70 people were killed and more than 150 injured in a suicide kaboom on the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan on Thursday evening.
"So far 70 people have been killed and more than 150 have been maimed," Inspector General Police Sindh A.D. Khawaja said.
"Many of the maimed are at death's door and they will be shifted to Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... as soon as navy helicopters and the C-130 plane reach the nearest airport."
Medical Superintendant Dr Moinuddin Siddiqui of Sehwan Taluka Hospital confirmed that 61 bodies were received by the hospital.
"Almost all the bodies were brought here. We have handed over 26 bodies to the heirs of the dear departed, while those that remain unidentified are at the hospital," said Siddiqui
Deputy Commissioner Munawar Maheesar confirmed the dead included at least four children and 12 women.
The Assistant Superintendent of Police in Sehwan said a jacket wallah entered the shrine through its Golden gate. The attacker went kaboom! after throwing a grenade, which failed to explode, he added.
The kaboom took place in the area where the dhamaal (a Sufi ritual) was being performed after evening prayers.
A large number of devotees, from different faiths and from across the country, frequent the shrine on Thursdays -- a day of spiritual significance in Pakistain's shrine culture.
Security for shrines was tightened across the province following the attack.
Armed forces aid in rescue efforts
Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, following the attack, directed that immediate assistance be provided to civil authorities. Army contingents were dispatched along with medical personnel. Combined Military Hospital Hyderabad was also alerted to receive casualties.
Air evacuation of the injured was started from Nawabshah airport, the armed forces had tasked a C-130 aircraft and helicopters to aid in the effort. The injured were taken to Karachi and Hyderabad, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
The ISPR added that the armed forces had placed all required resources to facilitate the rescue effort. Pakistan Army and Rangers assisted with rescue efforts at the site.
The chief of naval staff placed all navy hospitals in Karachi on high alert. The air force also placed its hospitals on alert to treat the injured.
Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah had directed all rescue teams to reach the spot of the attack.
“Doctors from Jamshoro, Nawabshah and Hyderabad were sent to Sehwan,” Shah told DawnNews. He also said security has been tightened at all shrines across the province. Sehwan is Shah's constituency.
A mobile forensic van of the Sindh Police was dispatched to the shrine following the attack.
[An Nahar] Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... on Thursday called on Israel to "dismantle the Dimona nuclear reactor," warning that it poses a threat to Israel's existence if hit by Hizbullah's missiles in any confrontation.
"Israel is continuing to launch threats against Leb and speak of the third Leb war and of what it will do during this third war... This intimidation is not new and it seems that there is a permanent Israeli objective to pressure the resistance community in Leb, and after (Donald) Trump was elected U.S. president, this intimidation has returned," said Nasrallah in a televised speech commemorating Hizbullah's slain leaders.
"We've been hearing these threats since the end of the July 2006 war. Every other day we hear statements about the third Leb war and about the coming vengeance. The new threats are based on the election of Trump, but the policy of the new American administration in the region is not clear," Nasrallah added.
"Trump's election does not scare us, even if claims that he will give (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu the green light to wage a war on Leb turn out to be true, seeing as the issue of war on Leb is not hinging on the American permission," Hizbullah's chief noted.
He also noted that the alleged "Arab cover" that "allowed Israel to attack Leb in 2006 is also still present."
"The issue is not about the U.S. permission or the Arab cover but rather whether or not they will be able to achieve a victory. This is the main question," Nasrallah pointed out.
He however reassured the Lebanese public opinion that "the strength and firmness of the resistance and President Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... 's unwavering stance will deter Israel from waging any war."
Commenting on an Israeli court's order that an ammonia container in the northern city of Haifa be emptied of its toxic content, Nasrallah also advised Israel to "dismantle the Dimona nuclear reactor," warning that it poses a threat to Israel's very existence if hit by his group's missiles.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2017
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
If a Hizbullah missile hit the reactor, It's a pretty good bet that would be the end of Hizbullah period! (And probably most of Lebanon as well. Perhaps along with a large chunk of southern Syria.)
#2
If Hizbullah missile hits the reactor, the external maintenance people will be very upset - they'll have to climb on the dome, fill in the scratches, maybe even paint.
#3
I had to laugh g(r)omgoru. Yes Israel probability strengthened the reactor dome, and not much damage, if any will occur. However, Hizbullah would still be in a world of hurt!
[Ynet] Suspected Islamic turbans bumped off a Coptic Christian teacher on his way to school in northern Sinai on Thursday, the second killing of a Christian in less than a week in the turbulent region, officials said.
The 50-year-old Gamal Tawfiq was shot in the head by two turbans on a cycle of violence who were following him as he walked from home to work at El-Samran School in the morning in the city of el-Arish. A security official said the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... 's affiliate in Sinai is suspected in the killing.
A school official confirmed Tawfiq's death to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named but declined to give details.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Arab coalition on Thursday said that it will investigate claims that it targeted a gathering of civilians in Sanaa, a statement said.
That statement said: "We are aware of media reports that Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... militias are claiming that Yemeni non-combatants were killed in an air raid overnight near Sanaa. There has been fighting between Yemeni armed forces and rebels in this area in recent days. We are investigating the reports and will release further information when we have it."
Reports alleged that warplanes struck a house north of Yemen’s capital on Wednesday night where civilians had gathered.
The Arclight airstrike hit the house of a local tribal leader in the Arhab district north of Sanaa, a resident told Rooters.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2017
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Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia
[DAWN] Moments after a devastating bombing at Lal Shahbaz Qalander shrine in Sehwan, Sindh, the Pakistain military issued a strongly worded statement to "hostile powers", saying it will respond to such attacks.
In a short message posted to Twitter, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said, "Recent terrorist acts are being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond."
"Each drop of the nation's blood shall be Dire Revenged, and Dire Revenged immediately. No more restraint for anyone," the army chief was quoted as saying.
He added that Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has appealed for "calm".
"Your security forces shall not allow hostile powers to succeed. We stand for our nation," Ghafoor quoted COAS Bajwa as saying.
At least 50 people have been killed and scores injured in a suicide kaboom on the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan on Thursday evening. The attack is the fourth in a string of a shocking wave of militancy across the country, with Lahore, Quetta and Mohmand Agency ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... struck in the last four days.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2017
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[ARA] On 15 February, a pan-Kurdish conference was held in Moscow with the participation of opponents of the Turkish government and allies of the Democratic Union Party in Syria (PYD), showing that Russia is trying to balance its relations with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... asnd the Kurds.
"Very pleased to see our national Kurdish conference in Moscow, which includes comrades from PYD, PUK [Patriotic Union of Kurdistan], Gorran and PJAK [Kurdistan Free Life Party]. Unity is strength," said Adel Murad, a co-founder of the PUK.
"Politician Baydemir Osman showed our partners in the Moscow conference the reality of Erdogan’s war crimes against Kurdish civilians," he added.
Speaking at the conference, PYD Co-Chair Asya Abdullah said they would not recognize any decisions taken on Syria in the upcoming Geneva talks, as long as they’re excluded from the talks. Although Russia called for the inclusion of the PYD, Turkey has pressured the Geneva 4 conference organizers to exclude the PYD from the peace talks‐scheduled for 23 February.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2017
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Top|| File under:
Authorities in Macau said they will protect the family of Kim Jong-nam, the murdered half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to local media on Thursday.
Might have worked a little better if you had protected Jong-nam up front...
His widow Ri Hye-kyong (42), who is also goes by Jang Kil-son, and two children Han-sol (23) and Sol-hui (18) all hold Macau citizenship.
Law enforcement officials in Macau were quoted as saying, "We are closely monitoring how the events are progressing. We will do everything we can to ensure the safety and rights of Macau residents and visitors."
One South Korean friend of Kim Jong-nam’s in Macau said, "Kim Jong-nam was a fan of the Korean pop culture and told me several times that he would like to visit Seoul some day. I told him to make the visit and he would tell me, 'How could that be possible?'"
The source said he did not recall Kim making any attempt to defect to South Korea. "He was reported to have used the name Kim Chol on his passport and that's also the name he used on his credit cards."
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted another friend of Kim's as saying that he knew he was targeted and that his half-brother was after him.
The Macau Daily quoted a friend identified by his surname Chen as saying, "Kim Jong-nam was accompanied by bodyguards during his early years there, but he moved around by himself in recent years."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/17/2017
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Top|| File under: Commies
[Dhaka Tribune] The armed attacks on three border outposts by Rohingya murderous Moslem group Harakah al-Yakin (Faith Movement, HaY) on October 9 and onwards came into light after the Myanmar military retaliated by launching a crackdown in Rakhine State in the name of clearing operations when innocent people were killed and raped, and their houses burnt to ashes.
Apart from the October 9 attacks, the holy warriors carried out 11 additional strikes all over the infected areas killing seven members of the army and wounding three others, the Myanmar government claims.
In a video released on October 12, HaY spokesperson Ata Ullah or Ayatullah declared jihad against the Myanmar government. After two weeks, HaY issued a statement calling for international intervention to help Rohingya Moslems in Myanmar, and declared that its "people" will free themselves from "oppressors."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2017
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Top|| File under: Salafists
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.
[BuzzFeed] Erik Prince -- founder of the private military company Blackwater, financial backer of President Donald Trump, brother to the new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and frequent Breitbart radio guest of White House power broker Stephen Bannon -- has been offering his military expertise to support Chinese government objectives and setting up Blackwater-style training camps in two Chinese provinces, according to sources and his own company statements.
[Hot Air] Perhaps the subject of the terror attack on the US consulate in Benghazi will become more academic than political after the 2016 election denied Hillary Clinton the presidency. For now, though, documents continue to emerge that contradict the narrative created by Hillary and the Barack Obama White House about the nature of the attack. Yesterday, Judicial Watch received 54 more pages from its FOIA lawsuits and came across a bombshell buried in them. Notes of a State Department briefing for Congressional aides on the day after the attack show Undersecretary Patrick Kennedy acknowledging that the attack was not a protest gone bad, or even an attack under the cover of protest. It was, Kennedy told the Congressional aides, "a direct breaching attack":
[Daily Caller] Sounding like a voice from the President Donald Trump’s administration, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that he was impressed with Trump during their meeting this week in Washington.
[Wash Times] VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis insisted Wednesday that indigenous groups must give prior consent to any economic activity affecting their ancestral lands, a view that conflicts with the Trump administration, which is pushing to build a $3.8 billion oil pipeline over opposition from American Indians.
[Wash Times] Leptospirosis, a rare infection spread by rat urine, killed one person and severely sickened two others within the past couple of months, New York City health officials said Tuesday.
[Wash Times] A large number of non-citizen Hispanics, as many as 2 million, were illegally registered to vote in the U.S., according to a nationwide poll.
[PJ] Judge Andrew Napolitano, a Fox News judicial analyst, issued a warning for President Trump after retired General Michael Flynn "took one for the team" earlier this week and stepped down.
[Free Beacon] Chelsea Clinton took to Twitter on Wednesday night to air her opinion on the detainment of an undocumented immigrant who has already been deported six times, calling the woman's arrest "unconscionably terrible."
[Free Beacon] Republicans passed legislation on Thursday reversing former President Barack Obama's lame-duck ban on states withholding taxpayer funds from Planned Parenthood.
A Georgia firefighter and medic defied the odds after being shot 14 times and being told by doctors he would not be able to work again.
[An Nahar] President 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[An Nahar] The Church of England's General Synod on Wednesday rejected a report which ruled out accepting homosexual 
Mehmood 
[DAWN] GHALANAI/PESHAWAR: A renewed wave of terrorism in the country intensified on Wednesday when four 
Mohmand Agency
Michel Aoun
[An Nahar] Eight women and a child were killed in an overnight air raid on a funeral reception near the Yemeni capital Sanaa, medics said Thursday.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: Members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, while debating the Compulsory Education of Arabic Bill 2015, discussed whether the lack of Arabic as a subject in the curriculum was the cause of terrorism in Pakistain.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] 
[DAWN] At least 70 people were killed and more than 150 injured in a 
