[USA Today] WASHINGTON -- President Trump has signed an executive order removing his chief political strategist, Steve Bannon, from a key national security post.
The move also restores the director of national intelligence, CIA director, and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to full participation on the National Security Council's principals committee, the panel that Bannon previously had a seat on.
A senior White House official confirmed the move, saying that Bannon was given the post as a check on former national security adviser Michael Flynn. But Flynn was fired in February after misleading Vice President Pence about the substance of his discussions with the Russian ambassador after attending only one meeting, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter.
Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the new national security adviser, will be given more control over the council and its agenda. Trump's decision to reorganize the principals committee came at McMaster's urging, the official said.
Trump signed the executive order, known as a national security presidential memorandum, on Tuesday. But the White House did not announce the move, and it didn't come to light until the order was filed with the Office of the the Federal Register on Wednesday.
Trump's decision in January to include Bannon in National Security Council deliberations was controversial. Although he served as a junior officer in the Navy Reserve, he had little national security experience. He came to the White House via the Trump campaign and, before that, as the executive chairman of Breitbart News, a website that often gave voice to his conservative, nationalistic ideas on trade and immigration.
#1
Shake up? or just an acting CO till Trump got someone with better matching qualifications? I did a 60 day stint between outgoing and incoming senior officers, then went back to just being a techie.
I never would have guessed...
For decades Barry Manilow gave the world timeless hits, while keeping his own world a total secret. Now at 73 years old, the music legend is opening up about his life, struggles and, for the first time, his sexuality.
Fiercely private, the pop icon recently welcomed PEOPLE into his Palm Springs home for an exclusive interview and photo shoot with his manager husband Garry Kief -- and talked for the first time about their nearly 40-year romance. Says Manilow, "I’m so private. I always have been."
Mexico is the 4th largest exporter of oil to the US
Mexico is the largest importer of refined gasoline from the US
The Mexican government has not been doing a lot of expansion leases for oil companies the past decade
Oil exports is one of the few areas that Mexico is good at and is a fairly corrupt free enterprise (for Mexican standards) and provides much needed foreign coin that doesn't go to the drug cartels.
The fact that Mexico has not expanded its oil reserves is a huge mistake with the shale industry taking off. There isn't a huge demand for new deepwater oil exploration with the US doing so well with fracking and opening up its shores. There has also been new fields found in the North Sea and other friendly business countries.
I predict the Mexican oil exports will slowly dry up over the next decade as bringing new fields online will take time for the new oil glut to clear out a bit and for investors to start looking at Mexico.
In the mean time, their treasuries will start to empty as they will have more capital going out to pay for imports than come in. This is also a major reason they will fight so hard to keep illegals in the US. It is a major source of revenue.
Time will see if they can weather the lean years coming or if they go the way of Venezuela.
[SBS] Dutch Minister for International Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen isn’t one for holding back.
"The leaders of South Sudan are bastards who starve their own people," she told Dutch TV station RTL4 this week.
"The people of South Sudan have been abandoned by their leaders, left in the lurch, and they need help desperately," she said.
How is that different from any other third-world, authoritarian shit-hole?
The outspoken politician made the comments during a nationwide campaign which has seen the Dutch government and the public donate tens of millions of euros to UNICEF and Dutch NGOs as they struggle to address four major famines.
UNICEF says that nearly 1.4 million children are at imminent risk of death from starvation in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.
While few have stated their views on South Sudan’s leaders in terms as strong as Minister Ploumen, the Dutch politician isn’t alone in blaming South Sudan’s own government. Of course Juba has summoned the Dutch ambassador demanding an apology.
#7
I've given some weight to the argument that "relief efforts" in most circumstances allow those who are in power to remain inefficient and/or corrupt.
#8
Having read Martin Stanton's book Somalia on 5$ A Day(2001) on his tour there he noted that:
The foreign humanitarian efforts carpet-bombing the local economy randomly with foodstuffs had the long-term effect of destroying any incentive for local agriculture ... other than quat.
[Daily Caller] MSNBC host Chris Matthews and MSNBC contributor David Corn believe they know why Republicans have a problem with President Barack Obama’s former National Security Advisor Susan Rice ‐ her gender and her skin color.
In discussing how Republicans reacted to Rice, who it was revealed this week asked for names of Trump campaign officials to be unmasked in intelligence reports, telling conflicting stories in the past few weeks, Matthews observed, "Notice it’s always a female? Just a thought."
"By the way," Matthews, whose wife Kathleen is interim Chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, declared, "this is all after the election. This wasn’t politics."
Corn later chimed in to defend Rice and saying, " at the end of the day, we need some element of decency." He then continued to say, "So they are making her, you know, basically they’re defaming her without any reason to do so because she’s a woman. Maybe because she’s a black woman."
When Democrats criticized Condi Rice, was it because Condi was black?
#1
Matthews says she is being criticized because she's a black and female. No, no, no Chris, it's because she is a liar. And no Chris, I'm not criticizing you because you're white, it's because you are and idiot and pretending to be a news hound and common-tater.
#3
Is ANYONE in this country still falling for this stupid bullshit?
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/05/2017 9:42
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You know they are way in the wrong when the race/gender card gets pulled.
Sorry fucknose, you have used that too much and have lost all the currency it had. Only the left loons still buy into it. The rest of us are done with your lying, racist, sexist and crooked asses.
[NBC4] A motorcyclist who drew social media attention across Southern California and prompted an investigation by the California Highway Patrol was critically hurt in another dangerous stunt. I blame the water. There's something in the Simi Valley water.
The first stunt captured on video March 3 showed the 24-year-old San Clemente motorcyclist jumping over the 60 Freeway as cars passed underneath him.
He was identified by a friend as Kyle Katsandris. Simi Valley police have not yet confirmed his identity to NBC4. The wild stunt video was viewed hundreds of thousands of times, and prompted an investigation by the California Highway Patrol.
[Washington Examiner] U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested 31 criminal illegal immigrants on Long Island and nearby New York counties as part of in a three-day sting that ended Monday, according to a press release issued Tuesday.
The standard enforcement operation targeted criminal aliens, illegal re-entrants, and immigration fugitives. Suffolk County and the Queens borough topped surrounding regions with the highest number of arrests at six each. The Bronx followed with five arrests, while Westchester, Kings and Nassau counties each had three criminal aliens taken into custody. Manhattan, as well as Dutchess, Hudson and Rockland counties each had one or two residents seized.
Approximately 12 of the 31 total arrestees have been convicted of driving under the influence. The second-highest common denominator conviction was dangerous drugs and fraud, followed by robbery and larceny. A Guyanese national with a prior rape conviction in the third degree and a Honduran national felon whose record included acting in a manner to injure a minor were among those taken into federal immigration custody.
[Free Beacon] Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) slammed former Obama administration National Security Advisor Susan Rice on Tuesday, suggesting she brought a plague on the Obama administration's foreign policy.
Cotton appeared on conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt's radio show on Tuesday, where he said that Rice was the "Typhoid Mary of the Obama administration foreign policy," according to Mediaite.
Hewitt asked Cotton (around 3:40) to comment on Rice denying claims that she and other Obama administration officials used intelligence for political purposes against the Trump transition team. According to a Bloomberg report on Monday, Rice allegedly sought on several occasions to identify the names of Trump associates in intelligence reports.
"Susan Rice is the Typhoid Mary of the Obama administration foreign policy," Cotton said. "Every time something went wrong, she seemed to turn up in the middle of it."
Cotton cited several controversial incidents involving Rice, suggesting she was plagued by controversy.
"Whether it was these allegations of improper unmasking and potential improper surveillance, whether it was Benghazi, or many of the other fiascos of the Obama administration," Cotton added.
"Typhoid Mary" was the title used to refer to an Irish immigrant named Mary Mallon who infected others with Salmonella typhi after she denied that she was sick.
[Brietbart] Using the hashtag #PutObamaUnderOath, best-selling author and political pundit Ann Coulter tweeted that while knowing the truth about Barack Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice allegedly ordering surveillance of President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign aides, Obama should also testify before Congress on the matter.
"Susan Rice testimony now essential, but insufficient," Coulter tweeted on Tuesday. "Must hear from Obama."
#1
Barry has extended his stay in Tetiaroa to continue working on his legacy. "Hey, writing is really hard work; I had no idea--I don't have my ghost writer Bill (Ayers) here with me."
h/t Instapundit
...In "The War on Stupid People," an article for Atlantic magazine, author and journalist David H. Freedman analyses this chasm, lamenting the fetishizing of IQ, and stating that only a few decades ago, good jobs could be found based not just on IQ and education, but also more on soft factors such as "integrity, work ethic, and a knack for getting along." He alleges that "the successful and influential seem more determined than ever to freeze the less intelligent out... rather than shaping our economy, our schools, even our culture with an eye to the abilities and needs of the majority, and to the full range of human capacity." Of course, I've seen it in academia, where it's more "war of the mediocre but socially adept against their socially awkward betters (all good scientists are, a bit, Asperger).
#1
The title at the site is: Why ‘Hillbillies’ Don’t Do Networking So networking only applies to the "elites" as defined by Ivy League pedigrees? I doubt that hillbillies in our part of the country would have survived had they not had social networking as it is called.
the fetishizing of IQ. There's an interesting turn of phrase. Academics have apotheosized IQ to the exclusion of everything else? Well, there are research dollars, publications, and embracing PC also.
#4
I'm afraid IQ is all too often the ability to sit still in a classroom while some pompous professor spouts bullshit.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/05/2017 11:47
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#5
Excerpt from an online site:
In 1965, while he was earning a Bachelor’s degree in economics at Yale University, Frederick Smith penned a term paper for Professor Challis A. Hall’s Economics 43A class which contained an outline for a delivery service that would use a “hub and spokes” concept to handle the routing of parcels. (This plan entails first directing packages through a central sorting facility before dispatching them onwards to their
intended destinations.) Such plan did eventually form the backbone of Federal Express, a company Smith started in 1971 upon his return from Vietnam, where he served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1966 to 1970.
A number of sources assert the term paper earned a C from the instructor who marked it. However, while that aspect of the tale has been widely touted as fact, it does not appear to be verifiable. Smith himself fed the acceptance of this element of the story by once stating in an offhand comment about the term paper “I guess I got my usual gentlemanly C,” but in a 2002 interview Smith acknowledged “I don’t really remember what grade I got. I probably didn’t get a very good one, though, because it wasn’t a well-thought-out paper.” (Questioning Professor Hall, the man who bestowed the grade, is out of the question because he died in 1968.)
#6
"I'm afraid IQ is all too often the ability to sit still in a classroom while some pompous professor spouts bullshit."
As a person with a high (measured) IQ, I can attest to that, #4 Abu. Plus the ability to take tests (usually multiple-choice, so the answer is already there).
I'm sure my IQ is higher than my plumber's, but he contributes a whole lot more to our society than I do.
And to those who worship education (mostly Ivy League) credentials and disparage those who work with their hands, I have a simple suggestion: the next time your only toilet is stopped up, call a Ph.D.
Posted by: Barbara ||
04/05/2017 16:35
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#7
The un-broken chain of Institutional idiocy is continuous as the idiots continue to make things more complex than they really are to act smart.
Then, their Students become the masters of idiocy and spew it to another group as Professors"".
The soon to be bankrupt young people continue to magnify the pettiness of their existence contributing to a Virtue-less Society overall, and too self important to care.
"That’s what our educational institutions are now: seminaries. Whether their graduates can engineer bridges, heal the sick, or design critical angry birds apps is entirely secondary to their role in refreshing the priesthood–or rabbinate as may be more accurate. "
Now we wait to discover how the lone wolf was connected to the great web of jihadis...
[DailyMail] St Petersburg metro suicide bomber Akbarzhon Jalilov waited for two hours before detonating his bomb waiting for the perfect moment to kill the greatest number of people.
Security forces said he walked around St Petersburg carrying a backpack containing the bomb before detonating the device on a crowded metro train.
Moments before the device exploded, Jalilov was spotted clenching his fists as if steeling himself for his imminent suicide attack.
A former friend, Ali Matkarimov, today said Jalilov was once a sushi maker and was 'not even saying his prayers' when the pair worked together in the city in 2013.
As hundreds gathered to mourn the dead this morning, the city's transport bosses reopened four stations which had been shut down following an anonymous call warning of another attack.
Despite initially issuing search warrants for two suspected terrorists, authorities believe the suspected bomber was behind the attack and also have intelligence to suggest he planted a second explosive device - disguised as a fire extinguisher - which was found and defused at a nearby station.
Russia's state investigative committee said today that the blast was caused by a bomb that had possibly been detonated by a man whose body parts were found in one of the train carriages.
According to the latest casualty figures provided by healthcare officials, 14 people were killed and 49 injured, including 10 victims who are still in serious condition.
Photos of the disabled IED that were leaked online show a container disguised as a fire extinguisher, apparently filled with explosives, which has packaged ball bearings wrapped around it, presumably to make it deadlier.
According to medical reports, the bomb that detonated inside the car also contained ball bearings, indicating that it may have been of similar design. The defused bomb was estimated to hold explosives packing the power of one kilogram of TNT.
The bomb was set off by a suicide bomber whose remains were found at the scene, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee. The attacker has been identified as 22-year-old Akbarzhon Dzhalilov, a Kyrgyz-born Russian citizen of Uzbek ethnicity. The investigators believe he also left the second IED before boarding the train, but are looking into other possibilities as well.
The Investigative Committee’s statement added that traces of DNA from Djalilov were also found on a bag with a second explosive device that was discovered at another metro station shortly before the blast in the tunnel that killed 14 people and wounded dozens.
“The conclusion of genetic evaluation and footage from surveillance cameras enable the investigation to conclude that the man who carried out the act of terror on the carriage was the one who left the bag with the explosive device in the Vosstaniya Square station,” it said.
(Reuters) Air strikes killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human rights said.
Syrian government or Russian jets pounded the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idib in the morning, the Britain-based war monitoring group said.
The strikes caused many people to choke, the Observatory added, citing medical sources who described it as a gas attack. The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using any such weapons.
Russian planes have targeted a number of towns and villages in the area since entering the Syrian conflict in September 2015 to back ally President Bashar al-Assad.
But activists and residents said there had been a reduction of Russian strikes in Idlib province since a Turkish-Russian brokered cessation of hostilities late December.
Planes from the U.S.-led coalition have also launched a number of attacks in the rural province, a major stronghold of jihadists, many of them formerly affiliated to al Qaeda.
Idlib’s population has been swollen by thousands of Syrian fighters and their families who were evacuated from villages and towns around Damascus and Aleppo city retaken by the government in recent months.
(Reuters) Russian planes did not carry out air strikes in the Syrian province of Idlib, RIA news agency quoted Russia’s Defence Ministry as saying on Tuesday.
“Russian military aircraft carried out no air strikes near Khan Sheikhoun in the Idlib province,” RIA quoted the ministry as saying.
A suspected gas attack, believed to be by Syrian government jets, killed at least 58 people including 11 children under the age of eight in the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday, a war monitor and medical workers in the rebel-held area said.
A Syrian military source strongly denied the army had used any such weapons.
The attack caused many people to choke or faint, and some had foam coming out of their mouths, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, citing medical sources who described it as a sign of a gas attack.
The air strikes on the town of Khan Sheikhoun, in the south of rebel-held Idlib, also wounded more than 60 people, said the Observatory, a British-based war monitoring group.
“This morning, at 6:30 a.m., warplanes targeted Khan Sheikhoun with gases, believed to be sarin and chlorine,” said Mounzer Khalil, head of Idlib’s health authority, adding that the attack had killed more than 50 people and wounded 300.
“Most of the hospitals in Idlib province are now overflowing with wounded people,” he told a news conference in Idlib.
Warplanes later struck near a medical point where victims of the attack were being treated, the Observatory said and civil defense workers said.
The civil defense, also known as the White Helmets – a rescue service that operates in opposition areas of Syria – said jets struck one of its centers in the area and the nearby medical point.
It would mark the deadliest chemical attack in Syria since sarin gas killed hundreds of civilians in Ghouta near Damascus in August 2013. Western states said the Syrian government was responsible for that attack. Damascus blamed it on rebels.
MILITARY DENIES
The Syrian military source on Tuesday denied allegations that government forces had used chemical weapons, dismissing the accounts as rebel propaganda.
The army “has not and does not use them, not in the past and not in the future, because it does not have them in the first place”, the source said.
A joint inquiry for the United Nations and the global chemical weapons watchdog has previously accused government forces of toxic gas attacks. France called for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting about Tuesday’s suspected attack.
Reuters photographs showed people breathing through oxygen masks and wearing protection suits, while others carried the bodies of dead children, and corpses wrapped in blankets were lined up on the ground.
Activists in northern Syria circulated pictures on social media showing a purported victim with foam around his mouth, and rescue workers hosing down almost naked children squirming on the floor.
Most of the town’s streets had become empty, a witness said.
The conflict pits President Bashar al-Assad’s government, helped by Russia and Iranian-backed militias, against a wide array of rebel groups, including some that have been supported by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies.
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that Russian planes had not carried out air strikes on Idlib.
Syrian and Russian air strikes have battered parts of Idlib despite a ceasefire that Turkey and Russia brokered in December, according to the Observatory.
Turkish President Tay yip Eroding and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the suspected attack, Turkish presidential sources said. They said the two leaders had also emphasized the importance of maintaining the ceasefire. More at the link
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least eighteen jacket wallahs and eight Pak bandidos bad boys were killed along with several other bandidos bad boys during the clearance operations in southern Zabul province of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the bully boyz were killed during the separate operations conducted in Shahjoi and Shalamzai districts.
According to the MoD officials, overall 31 bandidos bad boys were killed during the operations and at least two others were maimed.
Two vehicles and two cycle of violences belonging to the bandidos bad boys were also destroyed during the operations.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[TWITCHY] ... women working for Warren were paid just 71 cents for every dollar paid to men during the 2016 fiscal year, according to a Washington Free Beacon analysis.
The median annual earnings for women staffers, $52,750, was more than $20,000 less than the median annual earnings for men, $73,750, according to the analysis of publicly available Senate data.
When calculated using average salaries rather than median, the pay gap expands to just over $26,051, or about 31 percent.
Consistent with previous Free Beacon analyses of Senate salary data, only full-time staffers who were employed for the entire period in question were included in the calculations.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
But gave them all the moccasin leather they could chew.
#9
But, of course, as a senator she gets equal pay with her male colleagues.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/05/2017 11:25
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#4 Did they take into account 'educational achievement'?
That, along with job experience are what the stats weenies call "confounding variables", things you need to control for or eliminate lest they render your analysis useless.
I'm conflicted here. On one hand, I like the Reverse Alinsky - make them live up to their own rules. On the other, I hate to see BS numbers tossed around. Admittedly, the gravy on top is a chance to mock Fauxahontas.
A little profit removed from the coffers of the Taliban and their friends.
[Ynet] An Afghan official says that in the past 12 months the country's counter-narcotics department has seized almost 650 tons of contraband drugs and alcohol.
Gen. Baz Mohammad Ahmadi, deputy interior minister for the counter-narcotics police, says the confiscated drugs include raw opium, heroin and hashish. He says that during that same time, the police tossed in the calaboose Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! 2,683 smugglers and traffickers, including 67 women.
He added that 20 coppers and 17 army soldiers have also been arrested for drug trafficking during the same time period. Ahmadi spoke on Tuesday as part of his annual reports on the fight against drug trafficking
Mexican police used to put on these big shows where they'd douse a pit full of narcotics with gasoline and light it on fire for the TV cameras. But somehow there was never any shortage of narcotics on the street.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/05/2017 12:03
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[IsraelTimes] Federal judge rejects American Studies Association claim that lawsuit infringes on First Amendment rights.
A US federal court has ruled that four college professors can sue the American Studies Association over its academic boycott of Israel.
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday ruled that the professors’ lawsuit, a case called Bronner v. Duggan, can go forward after the American Studies Association, or ASA, asked the court to dismiss it.
The court rejected ASA’s argument that going forward with the lawsuit infringes on its First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit charges the ASA with violating the District of Columbia law governing tax-exempt nonprofit organizations. That rule limits a nonprofit from acting beyond its chartered purposes, which in the case of the ASA, according to the plaintiffs lawyers, includes promoting knowledge and the "strengthening of relations among persons and institutions in this country and abroad."
The four plaintiffs, who are longtime members of the association, also charge that the boycott violates the group’s internal rules. They are American studies professors Simon Bronner, Michael Rockland, Michael Barton and Charles Kupfer.
In December 2013, the ASA membership approved the boycott with two-thirds of the 1,252 members who voted in support. At the time of the vote, there were 3,853 eligible voters, meaning one third of the membership participated. The boycott is not binding on members and targets institutions, not individuals.
The judge dismissed the lawsuit’s claim that a boycott of another country is outside the scope of ASA’s charter.
At least four US universities withdrew their membership in the association following the vote -- Brandeis University, Indiana University, Kenyon College and Penn State Harrisburg -- and at least 55 American universities and colleges rejected the boycott resolution.
Since the ASA boycott vote, the American Anthropological Association and the Modern Language Association have both failed to pass boycott measures.
[Daily Excelsior] Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today urged Pakistain to stop abetting militancy in Jammu and Kashmire as it did when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister and help in restoration of peace in the State.
Addressing an election rally in Dooru, Anantnag where her brother Tasaduq Hussain Mufti is contesting, Mehbooba appealed Pakistain to stop abetting militancy in Jammu and Kashmire so that peace is restored and dialogue is started.
"It is my appeal to Pakistain that adopt the policy, you adopted during Vajpayee’s time that militancy is not to be supported, gun is not to be supported, help us in restoring peace. When peace is restored in Jammu and Kashmire, there will be talks here (with separatists) and there (with Pakistain) as well. Help us in restoring peace", the Chief Minister said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] The militants who died during the operations at Chittagong, Sylhet, Comilla and Moulvibazar had all been trained by the same New Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) mid-level leader, say Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit investigators.
According to the investigators, 40-year-old Sohel Rana, one of the militants of the Nasirpur, Moulvibazar den, was in charge of recruiting members for New JMB’s suicide squads and training them to become suicide bombers, at a mud house located in a remote hilly area in Baishari, Bandarban.
Sohel, whose real name is Lokman Ali, was born in Dangapara village under Ghorahat, Dinajpur. In Baishari, he identified himself as Mosharraf Hossain, a rubber plantation worker and fabrics trader.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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[ARA News] The Turkey-backed Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham on Tuesday besieged the city of Qabasin in northern Aleppo with the goal to arrest the head of the Kurdish rebel group Liwa Ahfad Salahaddin–affiliated to the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
At least eight Kurdish fighters were captured by the Islamic Movement of Ahrar al-Sham.
“The Ahrar al-Sham militants arrested several members of the Kurdish Liwa Ahfad Salahaddin battalion at a checkpoint in the vicinity of Qabasin after the Kurdish fighters insulted the leadership of Ahrar,” Ömer Özkizilcik, Middle East-Analyst, told ARA News.
“Ahrar al-Sham militants also stormed the house of Abu Hamza and arrested his companions,” he said.
A few hours later, the dispute was solved and the 8 fighters were released along with their commander.
However, the Kurdish-led city of Qabasin remained under siege by Ahrar al-Sham militants.
The Liwa Ahfad Salahaddin group, established in early 2016, is supported by Turkey created and is opposed to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Assad.
The group is named after historical Muslim leader Saladin, the first sultan of Egypt and Syria, and the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. The group has minimal support among Kurds and only has a small number of fighters.
The Syrian Army targeted gatherings and positions of ISIL and Nusra Front terrorists in Deir Ezzor and Homs provinces.
Deir Ezzor
A military source told SANA that army units carried out concentrated bombardments on Tuesday morning against gatherings of ISIL terrorists al-Maqaber (cemeteries) area, al-Jubaileh neighborhood, al-Rashidieh neighborhood, in the surroundings of the Regiment 137, and to the east of the airport and the electricity plant Deir Ezzor city and its surroundings.
The source added that 28 ISIL terrorists were killed and 22 others were injured in the operations, in addition to destroying a rocket launch pad and a machinegun-equipped vehicle.
Homs
A military source told SANA that an army unit destroyed a position for Nusra terrorists, an explosives cache, and vehicles rigged with explosives in Deir Ful village in the northern countryside of Homs central province.
Source: SANA
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Rutba (IraqiNews.com) A local source in Anbar Province revealed that tribal fighters, backed by the US-led international coalition, started an extensive operation to liberate al-Rutba desert from the Islamic State group, Alsumaria News reported on Tuesday.
The source said in a press statement that tribal fighters, backed by the international coalition forces, launched a wide-scale offensive to liberate the northeastern desert of Rutba.
These security forces will liberate more than 40 kilometers of the northeastern desert of Rutba, the source added on condition of anonymity. The international coalition will aid and support the tribal fighters during the offensive.
Noteworthy, Islamic State group usually uses the northwestern desert area of Rutba City to launch attacks on security forces, which in turn repulse the attacks and inflict heavy losses on the terrorist group. Google Map at the link
Posted by: badanov ||
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[NJ] A Camden County teen admitted in federal court Monday to plotting to kill Pope Francis during his 2015 visit to Philadelphia.
Santos Colon, 17, of Lindenwold, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman in Camden to a charge of attempting to provide material support to terrorists, according to court records.
Colon, also known as Ahmad Shakoor, had tried to recruit a person he thought was a sniper to join him in his plot, which involved shooting the Pope during his Papal mass and setting off explosive devices, according to a statement from Acting U.S. Attorney William E Fitzgerald and Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Mary B. McCord.
Authorities say the "sniper" was actually an undercover operative for the FBI, which arrested Colon after he scoped out possible targets with an informant, who Colon also instructed to purchase bomb components.
ABC News, citing a bulletin circulated among federal law enforcement agencies, previously reported that Colon had been inspired by ISIS and had obtained instructions to make explosives over the internet.
Colon faces a maximum of 15 years in prison but sentencing would likely be held off until 2021 while he undergoes psychiatric treatment in a secure facility.
In a plea statement, Colon acknowledged having been a patient in a mental institution in the past.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Sort of a counterpoint to the classic "See Naples and die": "Go to Philly and get whacked."
Posted by: ed in texas ||
04/05/2017 10:40
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#2
Colon, also known as Ahmad Shakoor
Ah, okay....there's yer problem right there.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/05/2017 15:24
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DIYARBAKIR, Turkey: Kurdish militants detonated a bomb which killed three Turkish soldiers in southeast Turkey, a provincial governor’s office said on Tuesday, adding that five rebels were killed in clashes in the region.
The violence occurred as the military conducted operations against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in the Uludere area of Sirnak province, near the border with Iraq, the governor’s office said. It did not say when the deaths occurred.
Five Turkish soldiers were also wounded in the remotely-detonated bomb blast, the statement said, adding that army operations in the area were continuing.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in the PKK’s insurgency, which it launched against the Turkish state in 1984. It is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union.
Since the collapse of a two-year cease-fire in July 2015 the mainly Kurdish southeast has suffered some of the worst violence since the conflict began.
In the last five months alone, the Turkish armed forces have killed 886 PKK militants in southeast Turkey and the mountains of northern Iraq where the PKK leadership is based, the state-run Anadolu news agency said on Sunday.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/05/2017
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[Daily Caller] Update: In response to a question Tuesday from NBC News reporter Andrea Mitchell, former Obama White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice denied that she "prepared" spreadsheets of surveilled telephone calls involving Donald Trump and his aides. The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group, however, reported that Rice "ordered" the spreadsheets to be produced.
In addition, former U.S. Attorney Joe DiGenova, one of TheDCNF’s sources, said Tuesday in response to Rice that her denial "would come as quite a surprise to the government officials who have reviewed dozens of those spreadsheets."
Former President Barack Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice ordered U.S. spy agencies to produce "detailed spreadsheets" of legal phone calls involving Donald Trump and his aides when he was running for president, according to former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova.
"What was produced by the intelligence community at the request of Ms. Rice were detailed spreadsheets of intercepted phone calls with unmasked Trump associates in perfectly legal conversations with individuals," diGenova told The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group Monday.
Bottom line: Andrew McCarthy over at National Review - "The thing to bear in mind is that the White House does not do investigations. Not criminal investigations, not intelligence investigations.
Remember that."
So the spreadsheets, they went where and for what purpose ?
#2
SusanRice ordered U.S. spy agencies to produce "detailed spreadsheets" of legal phone calls
So when left-wing stormtroopers show up at a someone's house it is another "unexpected" coincidence?
#4
Presumably, these "spreadsheets" had a "TO" column and "FROM" column with names of who called whom.
diGenova said. “In short, the only apparent illegal activity was the unmasking of the people in the calls.”--and the dissemination of that info throughout the intelligence community due to Obama's order for later use in creating difficulty for a Trump administration.
#5
Aw come on, Rice probably didn't even know Trump was running for president. Pure coincidence.
And it's perfectly legal and ethical, too. The NYT wouldn't complain if the current NSA got a similar spreadsheet on Clinton's contacts with Russia.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/05/2017 9:50
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#6
So Rice did not prepare the spreadsheets herself, she merely ordered them to be prepared. Not quite the same thing I guess but close enough, isn't it? My biggest problem here is I can't trust Andrea Mitchell to ask the pertinent questions in a case like this. Mitchell will be more interested in framing the interview in a way that makes it sound like Rice is innocent while avoiding the tough questions like this: "Exactly why did you order the unmasking? What was it about these phone calls in which no illegal activities were discussed that was so interesting? Huh?"
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/05/2017 11:35
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#7
Akin to "I didn't put people in the ovens, I just ordered it?"
[SCMP] North Korea has warned it will retaliate if the global community ramps up sanctions over its latest round of weapons tests.
The warning comes 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... threatened the United States was prepared to go it alone and "solve North Korea" if China did not step in.
The isolated state has quickened its missile programme in recent months, with a volley of tests it says are putting it closer to acquiring the ability to hit the US mainland with a nuclear weapon. US-based analysts have said North Korea appears to be preparing a new atomic test. It has staged five nuclear tests so far, two last year.
North Korea’s foreign ministry on Monday assailed Washington for its tough talk and for an ongoing joint military exercise with South Korea and Japan which Pyongyang sees as a dress rehearsal for invasion.
The "reckless actions" are driving the tense situation on the Korean peninsula "to the brink of a war", a ministry front man was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency.
The idea that the US could deprive Pyongyang of its "nuclear deterrent" through sanctions is "the wildest dream".
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Standard passive aggressive response relative to "the tyranny of the weak" theory.
I'm waiting for them to hold their breath until they turn blue.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
04/05/2017 10:46
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[An Nahar] Fourteen migrants colonistswere maimed on Tuesday when a van crashed into a highway safety barrier during a police car chase in Belgium, prosecutors said.
Five of the seriously maimed, who include two minors, are in a critical condition, Belgian prosecutors said in a statement.
Police first spotted the vehicle early Tuesday driving on the wrong side of the road about 40 kilometers (24 miles) south of Brussels, and a car chase ensued.
All the victims were illegal migrants colonists to Belgium, the statement added.
Police said the driver of the van was under arrest and would be questioned later in the day.
Belgium is a major transit point for human traffickers who arrange to move illegal migrants colonists across the English Channel to Britannia.
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[An Nahar] Police in southern Spain on Tuesday staged raids targeting assets of the family of Syrian leader Bashir al-Assad, a judicial source said.
The raids, in the Puerto Banus marina area of the plush resort of Marbella, are the result of a corruption investigation launched in La Belle France against Assad's uncle, Rifaat al-Assad.
The assets of Rifaat al-Assad and his family in Spain are valued at 691 million euros ($736 million), the source said, adding that "all these properties have been seized."
"Judge Jose de la Mata is coordinating the judicial operation against Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of the current president of Syria, for money laundering in Puerto Banus and Marbella", the source said.
In 1984, Rifaat al-Assad was forced into exile for trying to overthrow his older brother, the late Syrian dictator Hafez al-Assad.
According to Spanish justice, Rifaat al-Assad, now aged 79, received 300 million dollars of state cash which he used to buy real estate in La Belle France, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Curacao.
French and Spanish authorities have been cooperating on the case and Spain opened an investigation on the back of the French one.
Madrid authorities say the Spanish probe established that Rifaat and his family had 503 properties in their portfolio, ranging from holiday villas to plush hotel apartments -- almost all in and around Marbella.
One residence, "La Maquina" at Benahavis just outside Marbella is worth an estimated 60 million euros.
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[An Nahar] Security agencies on Tuesday enjugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! three people in two separate operations in the Bekaa governorate and the southern city of Sidon, state-run National News Agency reported.
"State Security arrested the Syrians A. Kh. R. and N. R. in the Baalbek district towns of Btedei and Deir al-Ahmar and they confessed to belonging to al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front," NNA said.
The two detainees also confessed that they had fought alongside the terrorist groups in the Eastern Mountain Range.
They were later handed over to the relevant judicial authorities via the army's Intelligence Directorate.
NNA described the detainee N. R. as an official of al-Nusra Front, Syria's former al-Qaeda affiliate, noting that he goes by the nom de guerre al-Wahsh (The Beast).
Separately, General Security intelligence agents arrested the Paleostinian A. A. in Sidon's al-Sitt Nafisa neighborhood on suspicion of "communicating with terrorist groups."
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Erbil (BasNews) Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has armed and transferred more than 250 youth from the Kurdish Yezidi dominated Sinjar town to their bases in Qandil Mountains and due to PKK’s acts, Sinjar people no longer trust the party, according to Sinjar officials.
Speaking to BasNews on Tuesday, Sinjar Asayish (security) Director Qasim Simo, said that some of the 250 young boys and girls whom PKK has moved to Qandil are those children who fled the Islamic State (IS) organization and sought refuge in the PKK- held areas in Syria.
Simo added that PKK does not allow for these children to return to their families, rather it arms them and moves them to Qandil without informing their families and obtaining their consent.
He urged the PKK guerrillas to “show respect” to people of Sinjar and Yezidis’ Spiritual Council by withdrawing from the town and its surrounding areas.
The debate between Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and PKK over Sinjar has been going on for months as PKK refuses to withdraw from the areas which are already safeguarded by KRG’s Peshmerga forces.
“People of Sinjar have lost their trust in PKK” said Khidir Ilyas who represents Yezidi people in Nineveh Provincial Council, adding that the teenagers and young people who joined PKK are now abandoning PKK to join Peshmerga forces on a daily basis.
Ilyas accused PKK of “occupying the biggest Yezidi compound in Sinjar, indicating that there are 37,000 Yezidis from Khanasor [Sinjar vicinity] who fear to return to their homes due to the chaos and turmoil created by PKK”.
“PKK’s ugly deeds have concerned people of Sinjar who no longer trust the party. All people agree that only Peshmerga can protect the security of Sinjar.”
After the IS assault in 2014, PKK initially entered the Yezidi areas in Nineveh province as a backup force. Later, it refused to step out of the area, strengthening its position by establishing paramilitary units from locals as well as bases in the area.
The Kurdish party from Turkey has not only created issues for the return of the IDPs but also hampers efforts to reconstruct the devastated areas.
Qasim Darbo, Peshmerga operations chief in Sinjar, explained that more than 20 organizations have visited Sinjar to offer assistance in resettling the IDPs but “because of the PKK they all withdrew, except for Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF).”
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A policeman was killed and another one was wounded when an explosive device exploded in an area west of Baghdad, security sources were quoted saying Tuesday.
The bomb was planted on the side of a road in Rafoush area, west of the capital, and went off when the police patrol was passing by, according to the sources.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) has said that violence in the country lef 1115 casualties, excluding security members, during March. Baghdad was the second most affected province with 84 deaths and 246 injuries, according to the organization’s monthly casualty count. It excludes death toll among security members after Iraqi authorities had asked to get such information exclusively from security commands.
While several blasts are not followed by a claim of responsibility, Islamic State militants said they had been behind some bloody explosions and attacks that hit the capital in the past months, leaving casualties among civilians and security troops.
Some observers believe Islamic State has been escalating 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. They are concerned that the group could, however, shift to a guerrilla-style war and lone wolf attacks after the recapture of Mosul.
[DAWN] Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua said Tuesday Pakistain remains committed to its policy of non-interference in the conflicts of Moslem countries.
She gave the assurance during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs which discussed the issue of clearance given to former army chief retired Gen Raheel Sharif ..Pak chief of army staff, meaning he pulls the strings on the Nawaz Sharif puppet to make it dance and sing and not do much at all.... to lead the Saudi-led 41-nation Islamic military alliance and Pakistain's relations with Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and Iran.
"The Islamic [military] alliance is against terrorism, not any [specific] country," Janjua said in response to a question by committee chairman Awais Leghari.
She was addressing concerns that Islamabad’s decision to send the former army chief to lead the alliance will complicate the already fraught Pak-Iran ties.
The foreign secretary said Pakistain is making efforts to reduce the tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
"It is difficult for Pakistain to maintain equal relations with both countries but Pakistain will not go against Iran's interests," she assured the panel.
Raheel Sharif will not act against Iran as the head of the military alliance, she asserted.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least nine murderous Moslems affiliated with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed during the operations conducted by the Special Forces of the Afghan National Police (ANP).
Local officials in Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. said at least two murderous Moslems of ISIS terrorist group were also jugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! during the operation.
Provincial police front man Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal said the operation was conducted in coordination with the Afghan Local Police (ALP) forces in the vicinity of Achin district.
The provincial police commandment in a statement said the operations were conducted in the vicinity of Pekha district of Achin on Monday.
The statement further added that a foreigner bully boy was among the two murderous Moslems arrested by the Afghan forces.
A heavy Dshk heavy machine gun belonging to the murderous Moslems was also destroyed during the operation, the police commandment added.
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan intelligence operatives foiled a suicide plotted by the notorious Haqqani terrorist network for execution in southeastern Paktika ...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo... province of Afghanistan.
The National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... (NDS) said a suspected jacket wallah was placed in durance vile Please don't kill me! before he manage to carry out attack on the district police commandment of Jani Khel.
According a statement by NDS, the suspect has been identified as Mohammad Yasin who was trained on the otherside of the Durand Line for the attack by the Haqqani network.
The statement further added that Yasin was arrested in Sharana city, the thriving provincial capital of Paktika before he manage to carry out the attack.
According to NDS, Yasin was appointed for the attack by a commander of the Haqqani network identified as Kasu who is based on the other side of the Durand Line.
Haqqani network was formed in the late 1970s by Jalaluddin Haqqani ...founder and still titular head of the Haqqani Network. Jalaluddin is old and tough and very crafty, one of the few Pashtun warlords who was worth spit... . The group is allied with al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban and cooperates with other terrorist organizations in the region.
The US Department of State designated the HQN as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on September 7, 2012.
This come as local officials in Paktika said at least twenty nine Death Eaters of the Taliban group including two big shots of the group were killed in a US dronezap in the same district last month.
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[Daily Excelsior] Pak troops violated the ceasefire and shelled forward posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Bhimber Gali sector of Rajouri district today, the third such violation during the past 24 hours.
"Mighty Pak Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatic and mortar shells from 11 am today on Indian Army posts along the LoC in BG sector of Rajouri district," official sources said.
Army troops deployed on forward posts retaliated strongly and effectively, they said, adding the exchange of firing continued till late this afternoon.
Today’s ceasefire violation is the third such incident in less than 24 hours along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts.
Yesterday, Pak troops had resorted to firing and shelling of mortar bombs on forward posts in Balakote sector of Poonch district from 11 am hours and it continued for some hours.
The Mighty Pak Army had also initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatic and mortar shells from 9.30 am yesterday on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Digwar area in Poonch sector.
Heavy mortar shelling in Digwar area created fear psychosis among the residents.
In the same area, a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), Naib Subedar S Sanayaima Som, was killed in an improvised bomb (IED) blast on April 1.
There had been four ceasefire violations along the LoC in Poonch in March.
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[KCBD] LAMESA, TX (KCBD) - Three people are in jail facing charges of injury to a child after police found a 9-month-old with Meth in her system.
Police say officers were dispatched to Medical Arts Hospital in Lamesa on March 31st, 2017 for a female infant who was being treated. The child was taken to a Lubbock Hospital where she was placed into intensive care after authorities determined the baby had a heavy amount of Meth in her system.
Lamesa Police arrested the baby's father, 26-year-old Ricky Ricardo Lee Hernandez of Lamesa, and the child's grandfather, 58-year-old Recardo Perez Hernandez of Lamesa. Both were booked into the Dawson County Jail and face charges of injury to a child.
Lubbock Police arrested the infant's mother, 19-year-old Destiny Raylyn Lozano of Lamesa, and she was booked into the Lubbock County Jail. She also faces charges of injury to a child.
All three are in jail on $150,000 bond.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
Latest mule strategy.
Infuse the blood then extract after arrival at the destination.
Of course it is hazardous for the tiny containers.
First, the 26th Amendment and changed the voting age from 21 to 18. The reasoning was that if a person was old enough to die for his country, then he (or "she" as it is today) should be able to vote in elections. Registration to vote after death, now a call for voter registration at birth. What's next, registration before birth?."
In Washington state, a local Democratic leader wants people registered to vote at birth.
In Nevada and New Mexico, a liberal group is pressuring the legislatures to let people register when they get driver’s licenses.
In Ohio, progressive activists have thrown their support behind a mayoral candidate because she fights with Republicans about voting access.
Across the country, Democrats and their allies are plotting a quiet and disjointed but considerable push to make voting easier by dismantling registration barriers and promoting candidates who want to expand voting rights. It’s all an effort to reshape the electorate by creating new Democratic voters.
If successful, the effect could be profound. The more people who vote, the better Democrats usually do in everything from a marquee presidential election to little-noticed municipal race.
"Democrats have been on the defensive," said Tina Podlodowski, chairwoman of the Washington State Democratic Party. "We’ve tried to get on the offensive, and I think people are starting to listen more and more to that.
#2
Raise the minimum age to vote to 35, and require photo ID. A lot of problems would be solved, overnight.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/05/2017 9:36
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#3
The Democratic effort faces strong headwinds; year after year the country has voted in more Republicans -- and more conservative Republicans -- at every level.
#4
Registering at birth + infant mortality means someone gets a vote (or two or three) when the time comes.
Back to 21, unless serving (with at least 6 months under their belt) then 18. The original rationale was old enough to die for their country, well if you're not in, then you won't, therefore you don't qualify.
Of course the 'die for your country' argument should tie voter registration with registering for selective service, but that would be sexist since only one gender has to.
Yeah. Then an abortion but the voter remains registered just in case mommy wants to cast an extra ballot.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/05/2017 11:53
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#6
What's next, registration before birth?
Remember the Orwellian titled Employee Free Choice Act? I had this mental image of twenty years from now of a classroom of preschoolers all holding up their brand new Party Voting Cards. 'Card Check' cards that gave the Permanent People's Democratic Party their life-long proxy vote -- after all, think how efficient the new voting process would be!
(Do I have to ad /sarc ?)
[Libya Herald] The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Egypt’s petroleum projects construction company Petrojet are looking to reactivate their presence on Libya.
Which Libya? There are 30 3 of them...
Both had meetings today to that effect with Presidency Council deputy leader Ahmed Maetig as well as with Mustafa Sanalla, the head of the National Oil Corporation.
In a statement following his meeting with the visiting heads of both EGPC and Petrojet, Maetig stressed the importance of economic cooperation with Egypt.
It was also agreed to form a joint team from the National Oil Corporation and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation which would study possible projects.
Today’s visit, the first by Egyptian oil officials to Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... in more than two years, followed a request at the end of February by Cairo for an increase in its imports of Libyan crude.
In the event, although the Egyptians apparently asked for two million barrels of fuel a month plus quantities of diesel and jet fuel, in the end it was agreed to provide just 1 million b/d of crude for the moment
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
I wonder if Trump/Sisi talks touched the possibility of Egypt "restoring order" in Libya?
[An Nahar] 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... spoke Monday with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... and pledged Washington's "full support" for Moscow's response to the deadly attack on the Saint Petersburg metro, the White House said.
Trump expressed his condolences and condemned the attack, which killed 11 people and left dozens maimed. Russian authorities said they were probing an "act of terror."
"President Trump offered the full support of the United States Government in responding to the attack and bringing those responsible to justice," the White House said in a statement about the phone call.
"Both President Trump and President Putin agreed that terrorism must be decisively and quickly defeated."
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[Libya Herald] Hopes of restarting expansion work on Zuwara port took a step forward yesterday with talks in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... between the Presidency Council’s transport minister Milad Matouk, Zuwara mayor Hafez Ben Sassi and a delegation from Italian construction company Piacentini.
The company had been working on the port’s development. However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... in mid-2014, three members of its staff involved in the project were kidnapped while on their way to work. Two were released almost immediately but the last, Italian Marco Vallisa, was finally freed only in November that year after a lage ransom was reportedly paid. The incident and the security vacuum forced Piacentini to pull out.
Yesterday’s meeting looked at reactivating port construction, the safety of all involved, and the return of Piancentini to complete the project.
So far, however, no timeframe for the Italian company’s return has been announced.
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[SCMP] Southeast Asian Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) fighters returning from the Middle East following the group’s setbacks are expected to rebase in the southern Philippines, a security conference heard yesterday.
Instability and the easy flow of weapons have made Mindanao and nearby Philippine islands attractive to bad boy groups, said speakers at the Milipol conference on homeland security in Singapore.
"Currently, IS is moving towards creating a territory in southern Philippines," counterterrorism analyst Rohan Gunaratna told the conference.
"The most recent communication issued by IS has announced that they have formally declared an East Asia division of IS in the southern Philippines."
"Our forecast for 2017 is that the threat in this region will grow because of the creation of an IS nucleus in the southern Philippines," Gunaratna added.
"The instability in the southern Philippines and the availability of weapons, refugee flows ... create the ripe conditions for foreign bandidosholy warriors to come," he said after his speech.
Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam also told the conference that the southern Philippines "is becoming an area that is difficult to control despite the best efforts of the Philippine government".
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[DAWN] The military's media wing on Tuesday claimed that eight members of the banned Jamaat-ul-Ahrar had surrendered before the Army 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... the previous night.
In a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations, the Army said members of the banned outfit had laid down their weapons in Mohmand Agency.
The suspected Death Eaters who surrendered include Akbar, Gull, Siraj and five of their accomplices, the ISPR said.
The military's media wing, however, did not share further information about the suspected hard boys, such as whether they were involved in recent terrorist attacks in the country.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has claimed several terrorist attacks in the recent past, including a suicide kaboom outside the 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.... Assembly in Lahore in which at least 13 people were killed and 85 injured.
The hard boy group grabbed credit for Friday's kaboom outside an imambargah at a market in Parachinar which killed at least 22 people and maimed 50 others .
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[AU.news.yahoo] Author, speaker and anti-Islamist activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali speaks with Seven News senior journalist Bryan Seymour, covering topics including her call to ban Islamic schools in Australia, immigration and the burka.
She also speaks about: One Nation, Yassmin Abdle-Magied, Waleed Aly, the campaign to stop her speaking tour in Australia and why she left Islam in 2002.
[An Nahar] The security situation in the southern Paleostinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hellhole is worrisome after reports said that groups from the bully boy organization of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis ...Supporters of Jerusalem, the current pen name of al-Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula... is receiving military training inside the camp, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday.
The daily said there is a clear concern on the part of several regional and international parties about the situation in the camp after receiving information that there are groups of the said brigades-- that carry out terrorist operations in northern Sinai and are fought back by the Egyptian army on a daily basis-- receiving training in the camp.
In addition, sources from within the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... organizations have raised concerns about the fact that a well-known international humanitarian organization is in the process of evacuating residents from Ein el-Hellhole camp, added the daily.
Sources following up on the issue, said the takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... groups' control has expanded within the camp.
From the Lebanese security point of view, the situation continues to be under control despite the unsolvable crisis of bully boyz wanted by the Lebanese state taking refuge in the camp.
The Paleostinian factions have vowed on numerous occasions to hand over the runaway to Lebanese authorities but fail because of their inability to conclude the matter, according to the daily.
A Beirut-based diplomat reviewing the situation in the camp with Lebanese authorities said the actual number of bully boyz in the camp are 42 not 100 as circulated. The bully boyz must be extradited because they pose danger not only to Ein el-Hellhole and Leb, but also to the security of more than one regional and foreign state, said the daily.
These bully boyz are being followed by Lebanese security services and various Arab and international security organizations because they have links to "symbols" of al-Qaeda and 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.... and other Lion of Islam groups operating in several countries.
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[IsraelTimes] Offering amnesty, Gazoo terror group says campaign underway to pursue ’agents’ for Israel after killing of terror commander Mazen Faqha.
Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", said on Tuesday it would offer amnesty to Gazook "agents" for Israel if they turned themselves in to the security forces over the next week.
The offer comes amid a crackdown by Hamas on "collaborators" with the Israeli army following the recent liquidation of one of its terror chiefs, Mazen Faqha, which it blames on Israel.
"For the sake of national and social responsibility, the interior and national security ministry will open the door of repentance to those who have fallen victim to the occupation and its intelligence services," a statement by the Hamas-run Gazoo interior ministry said, alluding to the idea that some Gazooks are coerced by the Israeli army to work for it.
The "door of repentance" will be open for just one week starting Tuesday, the statement said.
The statement calls on "collaborators" to turn themselves in to the "nearest person in direct relationship with the security services."
Those who do turn themselves in, the ministry said, "will be provided legal and security protection and their cases will be handled with complete confidentiality and outside of the security headquarters."
Those who do not turn themselves in will "be in the hands of the security services and considered forewarned," the statement ends.
In the Hamas-controlled Strip, an arrest for purported collaboration with Israel means an almost-certain death sentence.
Human Rights Watch and other watchdogs have condemned the summary execution of collaborators in Gazoo.
In November 2012, Hamas men on cycle of violences were filmed dragging bodies of accused collaborators through the streets of Gazoo.
On Monday, the Paleostinian news agency al-Majd al-Amani, which is linked to Hamas’s military wing, said a large campaign was already underway to capture "collaborators," and that a group had already been nabbed Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! Since Hamas took power in the Gazoo Strip in 2007, 96 death penalties have been handed down, mostly by military courts and often for spying on behalf of Israel, said Hamdi Shaqura of the Paleostinian Center for Human Rights. Many, but not all, of the death sentences have been carried out.
At least 21 death sentences were handed down in Gazoo in 2016 alone.
Less than two weeks before sources said it was Susan Rice who requested to unmask the names of Trump associates caught up in sensitive intelligence reports, former President Barack Obama’s national security adviser said she knew “nothing about” surveillance allegations.
Rice told PBS on March 22 that she “was not aware of any orders given to disseminate that information.” She did skirt the issues of whether she herself unmasked or disseminated information outright. Rice also limited her remarks to Trump’s debunked early March tweet claiming a wiretap of Trump Tower and vague remarks made by House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes.
“I know nothing about this,” Rice said at the time. “I was surprised to see reports from Chairman Nunes on that count today … So today, I really don’t know to what Chairman Nunes was referring. But he said that whatever he was referring to was a legal, lawful surveillance and that it was potentially incidental collection on American citizens.”
Fox News reported that the names, once unmasked, were widely disseminated through the intelligence community – and to some in the Obama White House.
Rice’s remarks on March 22 focus on the strict legality of the issue -- instead of whether the unmasking was appropriate or of intelligence value. Since Monday's reporting, her defenders have downplayed the significance of her apparent requests.
“What I know is this ... If the intelligence community professionals decide that there’s some value, national security, foreign policy or otherwise in unmasking someone, they will grant those requests,” former Obama State Department spokeswoman and Fox News contributor Marie Harf said on "The First 100 Days.” “And we have seen no evidence ... that there was partisan political notice behind this and we can’t say that unless there’s actual evidence to back that up.”
Harf stressed that just because Rice requested names doesn't mean she leaked them either.
The identities of U.S. citizens collected during surveillance on foreign targets are supposed to be shielded unless they are unmasked by a top official, ostensibly for national security reasons. When I worked in the intel community they wouldn't have been able to. They were noted as [US Citizen] upon creation of the report. Ditto: Collection on US Persons (USP) by the intelligence community was verboten. Anything dealing with USP was the domain of the FBI.
#2
Trump’s debunked early March tweet claiming a wiretap of Trump Tower
Debunked? Not the way I understand it. Possibly a little imprecise because all the technical details are not stated but the fact that communications from and within the Trump campaign were monitored and then distributed seems pretty definite. That this was not exactly physical wire tapping is a semantic dodge.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Three senior Islamic State members were killed in Iraqi army airstrikes that targeted their locations in a western Mosul district, according to the Iraqi military intelligence services.
The three were killed when airstrikes pounded al-Tanak district, according to information from the intelligence service.
Those include Yunus al-Jubouri, aka Abu Hajar al-Arabi, who was commanding suicide fighters, Azab Mamoud Taha, aka Abu Mohamed, who was in charge of drafting children fighters known as “Cubs of the Caliphate” and Sabah al-Mawla, aka Abu Aws al-Iraqi, who was the chief booby-trapping officer for the so-called “Nineveh State”.
Earlier strikes on Monday by the U.S.-led coalition at the same district had left four other senior members dead, according to the intelligence service. Those killed Monday included Mujahed (Abu Mostafa) al-Anzi, a Saudi national in charge of the “Zakat bureau”, and Hazem(Abu Qays al-Jubouri), a senior IS police official.
Iraqi government forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, have been fighting IS since October to retake Mosul, the group’s largest stronghold which fell in militants’ hands in 2014. Iraqi and coalition commanders have reiterated that IS members numbers were diminishing with many senior leaders killed since operations launched to retake the western region in February. Google Map at the link
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Dozens of Islamic State militants were killed on Tuesday while two shelters of the group were destroyed in a strike in western Mosul, according to War Media Cell.
“The army jets launched airstrikes against IS in al-Zengili and the train station regions, in western Mosul,” the cell said in a statement.
“The strikes left dozens of IS fighters killed,” it added
Iraqi jets targets the IS-held regions in west of Mosul on a daily basis leaving victims and injured.
In related news, nine IS members, including a Saudi national, were killed, a missile store was destroyed in an airstrike in Mosul.
“The airstrikes were launched depending on federal investigations and intelligence information,” the statement said.
“The strikes destroyed a missile store and killed nine militants, including a Saudi national in charge of the store, while they were inside the store located in Tammuz district, western Mosul.
Airstrikes pounded al-Tanak district earlier on Tuesday killing Yunus al-Jubouri, aka Abu Hajar al-Arabi, who was commanding suicide fighters, Azab Mamoud Taha, aka Abu Mohamed, who was in charge of drafting children fighters known as “Cubs of the Caliphate” and Sabah al-Mawla, aka Abu Aws al-Iraqi, who was the chief booby-trapping officer for the so-called “Nineveh State”.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) A security source informed that 13 members of the Islamic State were killed, and their headquarters were destroyed by an airstrike in western Mosul, Shafaaq News reported on Tuesday.
The source said that the US-led international coalition bombarded, at morning today, five headquarters of the Islamic State group in the neighborhoods of 17 Tammuz, al-Refaei and al-Najjar, in western Mosul.
The aerial strike also resulted in the killing of 13 members of the Islamic State group, as well as destroying the headquarters completely, the source added on condition of anonymity.
Noteworthy, international coalition air force, Iraqi Air Force and Army Aviation are conducting several air strike on daily basis on the Islamic State headquarters, leaving dozens of casualties among the ranks of the terrorist group.
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At least 69 Taliban and Daesh militants were killed during Afghan security forces’ ground and air operations in the past 48 hours in different parts of the country, security officials said.
The 201 Selab Military Corps said in a statement on Monday that at least 34 Daesh militants were killed in an airstrike in Nangarhar.
The airstrike was carried out in Achin district and Daesh hideouts were targeted, said the statement.
According to the statement a Daesh local commander, Farooq, was also killed in the airstrike.
Meanwhile the 205 Maiwand Corps said in a statement on Monday at least 35 Taliban insurgents were killed in Uruzgan province.
According to the statement the Taliban insurgents were targeted during Afghan forces’ airstrikes and ground operations in several districts of Uruzgan province. Several other insurgents were also wounded.
During the operation, weapons were also seized by the Afghan forces.
No details were provided about military and civilian casualties.
[Ynet] With her identity being concealed, Mustafa Badreddine's self-confessed former lover claims not only that Hezbollah was behind his liquidation, but that the terrorist leader was aware of the plot.
A video of a woman has surfaced on an anonymous YouTube channel claiming not only to be the lover of former Hezbollah military leader Mustafa Badreddine, but also that the terrorist leader was murdered by his own terror organization.
The explosive claims ostensibly lend credibility to the Israeli position that it had no part in the liquidation.
However, you can observe a lot just by watching... the revelation also brings up awkward questions for Hezbollah, chief of which being whether or not Badreddine's killing was really an Israeli plot or an act of internal house cleaning.
The video purports to show a statement by a former lover of Badreddine, who was reported to be womanizer.
In the statement, the unidentified woman claimed that Badreddine "knew that Hezbollah leadership wanted to kill him."
The video was uploaded to a YouTube account with the name "Truth." The woman spoke with an electronically-distorted voice and her back to the camera to maintain anonymity.
"Mustafa and I met at a restaurant and it was love at first sight...our relationship over the years was one of love, understanding and total honesty. He would keep my secrets and I would keep his," said the woman.
She went on to say, "Truthfully, I have never met such a brave man who was afraid of nothing. I am sure the knife of treachery killed him."
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot has said that an internal organizational conflict led to the liquidation, which took place in the Damascus region on May 13, 2016.
Eisenkot cited a report on the incident by the Al Arabiya network claiming that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani gave the order.
Arab media and the killing
The investigative report by Al Arabiya went on to claim that a missile did not kill Badreddine, but rather close range shooting. It based its claims on independent evidence that cannot be verified such as satellite photos of the liquidation location, reports by anti-Hezbollah news sources and recorded telephone conversations between Damascus Airport workers.
In addition to Al Arabiya, online Saudi newspaper Elaph reported that "Hezbollah is chasing after Lebanese Shiites who have serious information on the organization."
According to the article, a well-informed Lebanese source claimed that Al Arabiya's investigation of Bedraddine's death embarrassed Hezbollah and caused "excessive irritation" among senior members of the organization.
Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai responded to the Al Arabiya report with a mocking tone, saying, "If you're looking for a laugh and you have nothing to do, check out this amusing bit of science fiction, 'How Nasrallah killed Badreddine?'"
Al Rai continued to point the finger at Israel, alleging that a surface-to-surface missile struck the building Hezbollah was using, which was also housing weapons and ammunition for the Syrian army.
The Kuwaiti paper also quoted "informed sources" who claimed that the building was struck shortly after Soleimani left, meaning that Israel waited for him to leave in order to avoid causing a serious international incident by killing him.
[An Nahar] British police on Tuesday charged another six people over a suspected hate crime attack on a teenage Kurdish-Iranian asylum seeker in London, bringing the total facing court to 13.
Reker Ahmed, 17, was left with a fractured skull and a blood clot on his brain after he was set upon by a group of up to 30 people at a bus stop outside a pub in Croydon, south London, on Friday.
Seven people were charged on Monday over the attack and another six were charged on Tuesday -- including a 15-year-old boy. All the suspects are local to Croydon, and the eldest is aged 24.
"I think this was probably confidence by numbers," Police Detective Superintendent Jane Corrigan said on Monday as she described the attack on Ahmed, who was with two friends at the time.
"It started off with this smaller group of people who were joined by between 20 to 30 and they just viciously attacked these individuals because they were asylum seekers."
All the suspects have been charged with violent disorder, and three of them have also been charged with racially-aggravated grievous bodily harm.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Dude mighta took cuts in the bus queue cause he didn't know better. Good there weren't guns.
#5
The non-mention of demographic specifics (aside from the assaulted) is indeed curious.
It is also curious that our victim's two companions, who left him behind in the third paragraph of yesterday's story, are unmentioned and were never described.
[Asharq al-Aswat] Yemen’s national army forces backed by the Popular Resistance continues its military operations to regain control over what is left from Nahm, eastern front of Sana’a, according to a Yemeni military source.
Official Military Spokesman for Nahm Front Abdullah al-Shandaqi told Asharq al-Awsat that operations against 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 and Saleh is still ongoing in the front as national army forces were able to impose their control over around 80 percent of the strategic sites in the governorate.
Moreover, military sources confirmed that the army forces took over several sites in Salb mountains, which is a series of strategic mountains in Nahm governorate eastern Sanaa.
Al-Shandaqi said that there are preparations and a strategy adopted by the army to go deeper into areas close to the capital after sending support and providing Nahm front with artillery and Katyusha rockets that are capable of reaching al-Nahdeen camp overlooking the presidential palace and Naqm Mountain.
The military decisive battle is the salvation for Yemenis to reach permanent and comprehensive peace as militias did not leave any other choices or chancer to reach peace, according to Shandaqi.
He called Yemenis living in areas under the control of militias to have a deterrent stance against the militias, especially in the residential areas.
Nahm is considered one of the largest governorates in Sana’a, and it includes five residential areas. However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... its mountainous terrain is very hard.
In a common matter, Yemen’s national army forces continued their blockade on the areas where the militias are present in Hajjah province northwest the country.
Meanwhile, ...back at the alley, Bugs Moroni was holding Slats from behind while his brother Greasy Thumb was pounding his face into paste ... Apache aircraft continued combing the coastal strip in the Directorate a day after the army regained control over several other cities.
The national army’s artilleries carried out heavy shelling on sites in al-Khadra at a time when other attacks were carried out and targeted military equipment for the militias.
Military sources told Asharq al-Awsat that the attacks resulted in many casualties and injuries among the militias.
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Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants have executed over 100 civilians for attempting to flee areas under their control in western Mosul since last Friday, according to security sources and a human rights group.
Col. Khodeir Saleh, from the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, told BasNews Tuesday that IS executed 20 Iraqi young men from Mosul for attempting to escape areas under their control towards others recaptured by security forces.
Also on Tuesday, Cap. Yunus Zanon, from the Nineveh police service, told DPA that a mass grave containing 24 decomposed corpses of women and young men was found by Federal Police forces inside al-Zahraa mosque in western Mosul. The officer said the dead bodies bore signs of torture, and that no IDs were found to identify the victims.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement that Islamic State militants massacred more than 100 people in western Mosul last Friday.
It quoted local sources from central Mosul’s Old City on Sunday saying that IS massacred 22 families from the Mekkawi area after 22 young men belonging to those families tried to escape with the help of a Syrian smuggler. The smuggler reached the smuggling deal with the young men two months earlier, but the plan was delayed when Iraqi security forces invaded the region. IS members, finding out about the scheme, executed the young men, their families and the smuggler’s family.
According to IOHR, the executions were carried out inside popular bath houses in Mekkawi, with 106 corpses left for 14 hours before civilian-owned vehicles came to carry them for burial.
The organization quoted refugees from Orouba and Tanak district saying that tens of their relatives and friends died of hunger at Zanjili, Tanak and al-Refaie districts.
“My two little nephews, aged 3 and 4, died last month in Refaie region due to hunger…we have learned that their mom, too, was in bad condition due to starvation,” IOHR quoted a citizen from Orouba saying.
The observatory urged the Iraqi government to open airlifts to drop down foodstuff for civilians stranded at IS-held areas.
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Thirty-five civilians, including women and children, were killed and injured as Islamic State militants fired bombs loaded with toxic gases, west of Mosul.
“IS fighters shelled bombs of toxic gases in Rajm al-Hadid area in western Mosul, which was completely freed by by security troops earlier this week, targeting civilians,” a security source told Dijlah TV on Tuesday.
The shelling left six civilians killed and 29 injured including eight children and four women in serious conditions.
Iraqi forces recaptured the eastern side of Mosul in January and launched another phase of operations in February to capture the west. During operations in the east, and upon storming the Mosul University campus, Iraqi field generals were quoted saying they saw evidence IS was using the university’s labs to manufacture chemical weapons.
Last month, the United Nations said 12 people, including women and children, had been treated for possible exposure to chemical weapons agents in Mosul since March 1.
In February, CIA director John Brennan said that IS fighters used chemical munitions, including mustard and chlorine agents, on a number of occasions in Iraq and Syria.
Last year, Kurdish military sources disclosed the Islamic State use of chemical weapons against Peshmerga troops in several areas, which caused injury of several personnel.
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[DAWN] A suspected chemical attack that killed at least 58 civilians in rebel-held northwestern Syria on Tuesday has prompted widespread outrage and calls for international action.
The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said an air strike in Idlib province which released "toxic gas" was likely carried out by government warplanes, a charge the regime denied.
The White House The White House accused Bashir al-Assad of carrying out a "reprehensible" and "intolerable" chemical attack in Syria Tuesday, the sharpest criticism of his regime since 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... became president.
Press secretary Sean Spicer said an "extremely alarmed" Trump was briefed extensively by security aides on the suspected attack, which killed dozens in the rebel town of Khan Sheikhun.
"Today's chemical attack in Syria against innocent people, including women and kiddies, is reprehensible," Spicer said in a prepared statement.
The administration, Spicer said, was "confident" that Assad was to blame but refused to speculate on how the US would respond.
"I'm not ready to talk about our next step, but we will get there soon," he said.
UN envoy UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said the "horrific" attack was believed to be chemical and launched from the air, telling news hounds in Brussels that there should be a "clear identification of responsibilities and accountability".
Opposition
The Syrian opposition's chief negotiator at peace talks, Mohamad Sabra, said the attack cast new doubt on the UN-led grinding of the peace processor.
"If the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... cannot deter the regime from carrying out such crimes, how can it achieve a process that leads to political transition in Syria?" he said.
On Twitter, the head of the opposition High Negotiations Committee Riad Hijab said the "massacre is evidence that it is impossible to negotiate with a regime addicted to criminal behaviour".
Regime
A senior Syrian security source rejected allegations that Syria's government was behind the attack. "This is a false accusation," the source said, adding that the opposition was attempting to "achieve in the media what they could not achieve on the ground".
A senior Syrian security source rejected allegations that Syria's government was behind the attack. "This is a false accusation," the source said, adding that the opposition was attempting to "achieve in the media what they could not achieve on the ground".
The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... that "this kind of inhuman attack was unacceptable".
Presidential sources said Erdogan had told Putin by phone that the attack threatened peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana, but did not assign blame for the attack.
Germany
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that if the Syrian regime had indeed carried out a chemical attack, "it would be an act of such cruelty as to be without equivalent", and "another reason we should not deal with the Assad regime in the fight against terrorism".
La Belle France
French President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... accused the Syrian regime of a "massacre".
"Once again the Syrian regime will deny the evidence of its responsibility for this massacre," Hollande said in a statement.
"Those who support this regime can once again reflect on the enormity of their political, strategic and moral responsibility." La Belle France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault earlier called for an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting over the attack, which he described as "monstrous".
Britannia
British Prime Minister Theresa May said she was "appalled" by reports of the attack, adding, "We condemn the use of chemical weapons in all circumstances." She added: "I'm very clear that there can be no future for Assad in a stable Syria ... and I call on all the third parties involved to ensure that we have a transition away from Assad.
"We cannot allow this suffering to continue." British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in a statement that the incident bore the "hallmarks of an attack by the regime, which has repeatedly used chemical weapons".
European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
European Union diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said the Assad regime bore "primary responsibility" for the attack.
"Obviously there is a primary responsibility there of the regime because it has responsibility of protecting its people not attacking its people," she said.
Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the world must act to rid Syria of chemical weapons. In a statement, he called on the international community "to fulfil its obligation from 2013 to fully and finally remove these horrible weapons from Syria".
Syria's government joined the Chemical Weapons Convention and agreed to give up its chemical arsenal in 2013 as part of a deal to avert US military action over previous alleged chemical attacks.
The General Command of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces categorically denied on Tuesday allegations and claims circulated by media outlets, which are partner in shedding the Syrian blood, about the use of chemical substances in the town of Khan Shaikhoun town in Idlib countryside.
“The armed terrorist groups used to accuse the Syrian Arab Army of using toxic gases against them groups or against civilians in anytime they fail to implement the targets of their sponsors and operators or when they are unable to achieve any advantages on the ground in an desperate attempt to justify their failure and to maintain the support of their supporters,” the Army’s general command said in a statement.
It categorically denied any use of chemical or poisonous materials in the town of Khan Shaikhoun in Idlib countryside, affirming that it didn’t and will never use those materials in any place or time, nor in the future.
The army’s general command held the terrorist groups and those behind them responsible for the use of chemical and toxic substances and the disregard for the lives of innocent citizens to achieve their goals and base agendas.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Also heard it said somewhere that bombs hit a rebel 'chemical weapon' storehouse.
Either way, the stuff probably had Iraqi markings.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/05/2017 8:56
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#4
Of course, the most likely explanation is that where weren't an attack and the "rebels"/"international community" are simply engaging in a bit of Pallywood.
1. Independently (good luck) verify the bombing came under orders from Assad.
2. Advise Russia that we have the goods.
3. Bomb the $hit out of only runways at airports with taxiways suitable for (Russian) aircraft takeoff and obliterate those airports in toto of those staging Syrian aircraft only.
4. Let Putin know know his and only his aircraft will be permitted to use the undamaged taxiways for getting his assets out of there (drone verified) and give him a reasonable chunk of time to do so.
5. Once the chunk of time allotted as a courtesy to the Russians has expired, take out the taxiways and the rest of the airport.
But, of course, the Left will go nuts because DJT would be having "dealings" with The Russian Government™.
#6
The new Camelot is growing. Fashion industry is the start. Look at the impact on China now "The ‘Goddess’ Yi Wan Ka: Ivanka Trump Is a Hit in China" This will be spectacular. The media here are dead. The left here are mere Zombies. The businessman with the true heart of an American teaches the politician how to represent the people.
Babel (IraqiNews.com) A security source declared that a booby-trapped vehicle exploded in al-Iskandariyah (Alexandria) area in the province of Babel, while security forces managed to arrest one of the perpetrators, SNG Iraq reported on Tuesday.
The source said that a car bomb exploded, today, in al-Iskandariyah area in Babel Province, near al-Shuhada School, leaving an unidentified number of casualties.
The source also added on condition of anonymity that security forces managed to arrest one of the explosion’s perpetrators.
Meanwhile, no one claimed responsibility for the explosion, while the exact number of casualties has not been identified yet. Google Map at the link
[Dhaka Tribune] A Moslem elementary school in Sweden, which separated boys and girls on a bus and during sports lessons, sparked controversy on Tuesday with the prime minister condemning it as "despicable".
As part of a documentary, Swedish broadcaster TV4 filmed secret footage of the privately-run al-Azhar Primary School in a Stockholm suburb where boys are seen entering a bus from the front and girls from the back.
Aged between six and 10, the students take the school bus in the mornings and evenings to go to and from school in the working-class neighbourhood of Vallingby, northwest of Stockholm.
"I think this is despicable. This doesn’t belong in Sweden," Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told news hounds in Stockholm.
"We take the bus together here, regardless if you’re a girl or a boy, woman or a man."
This isn’t the first controversy surrounding the school. In August last year, Swedish media revealed that teachers had agreed to gender-segregated sport lessons.
The school argued that gender-mixed sports courses would cause some parents to stop their children from attending.
The school’s vice principal said it had no intention of carrying out gender-segregated activities.
"I don’t know why it still turned out that way," Roger Lindquist told TT news agency. "It was a mistake."
But the school says on its website that "boys and girls have separate courses in swimming and sports".
Lofven has asked Education Minister Gustav Fridolin to contact the school and propose measures on what can be done to prevent segregation.
"The school has a duty to end outdated segregation norms," Fridolin told public broadcaster SVT. "This must concern all schools."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"I think this is despicable. This doesn’t belong in Sweden,"
Yeah it is but who invited them in and told them they had the run of the house?
You don't turn you house into a pig sty and then complain about the stench and pig shit unless you're a clueless ass.
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.
[Daily Caller] MSNBC host Chris Matthews and MSNBC contributor David Corn believe they know why Republicans have a problem with President Barack Obama’s former National Security Advisor Susan Rice ‐ her gender and her skin color.
[NBC4] A motorcyclist who drew social media attention across Southern California and prompted an investigation by the California Highway Patrol was critically hurt in another dangerous stunt.
[Washington Examiner] U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested 31 criminal illegal immigrants on Long Island and nearby New York counties as part of in a three-day sting that ended Monday, according to a press release issued Tuesday.
[Brietbart] Using the hashtag #PutObamaUnderOath, best-selling author and political pundit Ann Coulter tweeted that while knowing the truth about Barack Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice allegedly ordering surveillance of President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign aides, Obama should also testify before Congress on the matter.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least eighteen .jpg)
[Daily Excelsior] Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today urged Pakistain to stop abetting militancy in Jammu and 
[Dhaka Tribune] The militants who died during the operations at Chittagong, Sylhet, Comilla and Moulvibazar had all been trained by the same New Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) mid-level leader, say Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit investigators.
North Korea
[KCBD] LAMESA, TX (KCBD) - Three people are in jail facing charges of injury to a child after police found a 9-month-old with Meth in her system. 
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
Mohmand Agency
laid down their weapons
[An Nahar] The security situation in the southern Paleostinian refugee camp of 
[DAWN] A suspected chemical attack that killed at least 58 civilians in rebel-held northwestern Syria on Tuesday has prompted widespread outrage and calls for international action.
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
