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Taliban confirm losing 13 fighters in Paktika drone strikes
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
09:10 3 20:04 Bangkok Billy [4]
09:05 3 16:17 DarthVader [6] 
08:29 6 21:56 Beau [7]
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Africa Subsaharan
US plane impounded in Zimbabwe; body and cash found on board
[Wash Times] HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Zimbabwe aviation authorities impounded a U.S.-registered cargo jet, a senior official said Monday, with a dead body and millions of South African rand reportedly on board.

Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe general manager David Chawota confirmed a plane registered with Western Global Airlines was impounded at Harare International Airport on Sunday. A web site says Western Global Airlines is based in Estero, Florida.

"The case is now in the hands of the state. It involves nationals and property of other countries so I am no longer qualified to give much detail but yes we impounded the plane on Sunday," Chawota told The Associated Press.

"The crew requested to land for refueling but our ground-handling personnel discovered blood leaks and became suspicious. Talk to the police for more details," he said by telephone, refusing to give details about the crew or the cargo.

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said she did not have the facts of the case yet.

State-run Herald newspaper, quoting unnamed sources, reported on Monday that the MD-11 trijet was traveling from Germany to South Africa "stashed with millions of rands." At today's exchange rate, 1 million rand is worth $62,500.

The crew, according to the Herald, includes two Americans, a South African and a Pakistani. The U.S. Embassy said it does not yet have a comment on the matter. Several U.S. embassy vehicles were seen at the airport Monday morning.
Retrieving the monthly embassy Hefeweizen shipment. We didn't come here for the waters. Nothing more than a coincidence.
In 2004, Harare airport authorities impounded a plane with 64 people on board, who were arrested on accusations that they had been on their way to stage a coup in Equatorial Guinea.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 09:10 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Zim Herald article and photo of aircraft.

Interesting comments found in the Herald story.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 9:52 Comments || Top||

#2  So two Americans, a South African, and a Pakistaini fly into Zimbobway, and ground control says, "Boy, your arms must be tired!"

And the South African says, "No, they are resting in the boxes marked US Dept of State."
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/15/2016 12:27 Comments || Top||

#3  "Will the Air America rep please pick up the white courtesy phone?"
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 02/15/2016 20:04 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Tammy Bruce: When Starbucks meets Sharia
[Wash Times] Welcome to Starbucks in Saudi Arabia. With your tall nonfat latte you will also get an extra special gift: a giant, steaming pile of gender apartheid.

U.N. Watch refers to Saudi Arabia as having "arguably the worst record in the world when it comes to religious freedom and women's rights," so it came as no surprise last week when women were barred from entering a Starbucks of all places.

A person attempting to be a Starbucks customer was waylaid by the 6th century. Thinking she would get her java at the Riyadh Starbucks, instead she received some tall extra-fat Sharia and encountered a sign which she promptly tweeted. Outside the coffee shop was a notice that read in English and Arabic, "Please no entry for ladies only send your driver to order thank you."

Social media exploded when "ManarM" tweeted, "#Starbucks store in Riyadh refused 2 serve me just because I'm a WOMAN & asked me 2 send a man instead."
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 09:05 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  customer was waylaid by the 6th century

Let's not exaggerate please.

It was the 8th century
Posted by: AlanC || 02/15/2016 10:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Whoa there missy. Was your escort with you while logged into public twitter? You didn't tweet any non-family males did you?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/15/2016 12:14 Comments || Top||

#3  These are the people you are supporting, dumbass.

You don't like it? Stop supporting Islamic states.

Otherwise shut the fuck up and get back in the kitchen. (Yes that was meant to be an insult to feminazis)
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/15/2016 16:17 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Hookers for Hillary
[Guardian] The working girls at a Nevada brothel launched a campaign to elect the first female president. 'We're helping Hillary and we're helping ourselves. Women should help other women, right?'

Just days after Hillary Clinton launched her 2016 presidential campaign via online video – Everyday Americans want a champion, and I want to be that champion – some not-so-everyday Americans kicked off their own campaign in similar style.

Hookers for Hillary was the brainchild of brothel owner Dennis Hof and the working girls at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, and it marked a hard left turn after Pimpin’ for Paul, the group’s 2008 and 2012 efforts to propel libertarian Ron Paul into the White House.

It is hard to argue with the attention-getting power of sex workers in stilettos, plunging red-white-and-blue necklines, noms d’amour such as Entice Love, Air Force Amy and Caressa Kisses. But behind Hof’s publicity stunt turned political action is a sobering reality.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 08:29 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  if we are going to have single payer health care, shouldn't we have single payer care for this also
Posted by: lord garth || 02/15/2016 10:45 Comments || Top||

#2  They just want to avoid that special place in hell that Madeline Albright threatened them with.

So they will probably end up in a regular place in hell instead.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 02/15/2016 11:10 Comments || Top||

#3  I guess that The Donald(TM) isn't the only one that knows how to garner free publicity.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/15/2016 11:13 Comments || Top||

#4  "After all, Bill has been such a great client"
Posted by: Frank G || 02/15/2016 11:33 Comments || Top||

#5  Since Hillary has always been for sale to the highest bidder, this is simply the "working girls" recognizing one of their own.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 02/15/2016 11:43 Comments || Top||

#6  I would appreciate it if we no longer have 'Hillary' and 'Hooker' in the same sentence again. I need brain bleach now.
Posted by: Beau || 02/15/2016 21:56 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Médecins Sans Frontières hospitals in Syria targeted by Russians
[Guardian] Airstrikes have hit hospitals in two locations in northern Syria -- marking the latest in a series of attacks on medical facilities and workers in the five-year civil war.

Médecins Sans Frontières said eight staff members were missing after a facility it supports in Maaret al-Numan, Idlib province, was hit four times in two separate raids. MSF did not blame any side for the bombing, but there has been an unrelenting aerial bombardment by Russian warplanes and Bashar al-Assad's regime in Idlib.

"This appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure, and we condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms," said Massimiliano Rebaudengo, MSF's head of mission in Syria. "The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of about 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict."

Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 08:16 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...Where's the demand for war crimes investigations? Little bit different when you get hit by people who are willing to hit you back, isn't it?

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 02/15/2016 9:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Wonder if MsF has gone rogue? The seem to be keep islamists in the game everywhere.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/15/2016 10:12 Comments || Top||

#3  It seems like the only side who likes them is the terrorists.
Posted by: gorb || 02/15/2016 10:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Note the deafening silence from the usual suspects.

"No enemies to the Left" indeed.
Posted by: Nguard || 02/15/2016 20:11 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
15 Feb Huffington Post's Scalia headline plus 17 Scalia related articles.
Appears to be an editorial board wankfest in progress.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 05:23 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Senator McCain says could subpoena U.S. sailors held by Iran
[Reuters] U.S. Republican Senator John McCain said on Sunday he would subpoena 10 U.S. sailors to testify about their brief detention by Iran if the Obama administration does not provide the findings of an investigation into the incident by March 1.

"It's an option that I do not want to exercise," McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters as he was returning to the United States from an international security conference in Germany.

The sailors were detained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after their two patrol boats strayed into Iranian waters on Jan. 12. U.S. officials later blamed a navigational problem.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 05:08 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How about we subpoena POTUS, the Central Command Combatant Commander, and the Chief of Naval Operations instead ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 5:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Like they weren't already interrogated enough.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/15/2016 7:48 Comments || Top||

#3  It was pretty clear to me that the boats in question were seized after they had finished delivering some sensitive cargo somewhere. All the indignities that they endured were endured for the benefit of safeguarding the "package" that they had recently delivered. Not fun, but necessary. I just hope that the package was not compromised.

Best to leave remaining stones un-turned. I can just imagine the living hell that the enlisted sailors have to suffer - in silence - and if they are men (and woman) enough to endure the slurs, and keep secrets safe that need to stay safe - they have my utmost respect.

For the Naval Academy OIC of that fateful encounter - let's hope that Ernest E. Evans is up there somewhere, nodding his approval.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 02/15/2016 9:59 Comments || Top||

#4  RLTW
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 10:02 Comments || Top||

#5  For the Naval Academy OIC of that fateful encounter - let's hope that Ernest E. Evans is up there somewhere, nodding his approval.

John D. Bulkeley would be more appropriate.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/15/2016 20:57 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Select Panel Investigating Planned Parenthood To Issue Subpoenas
[Daily Caller] The special Select Investigative Panel set up by House Republicans to investigate Planned Parenthood's abortion practices will begin using subpoena power next week to force organizations to cooperate with several unmet document requests.

The panel staff has sent more than 30 letters to organizations requesting documents relevant to the investigation on a voluntary basis, Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who chairs the panel, said in a statement announcing the planned subpoenas Friday. Starting next week the panel will begin issuing subpoenas to organizations that refuse to cooperate, beginning with Stem Express, the University of New Mexico and Southwestern Women's Options.

"Without these subpoenas, the American people and the House itself would be left to speculate about what is going on in the fetal tissue industry," Blackburn said in the statement. "We cannot leave questions unanswered."

Republicans set up the panel after the Center for Medical Progress released a series of undercover videos filmed over the course of years that exposed the explicit details behind Planned Parenthood's harvesting and distribution of fetal tissue. Some of the videos featured Stem Express, one of the processing companies that obtained the fetuses from Planned Parenthood and then shipped the demanded parts to various researchers and scientists.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 04:57 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:



-Obits-
The death of Scalia: Chaos, confusion and conflicting reports
[WAPO] Guevara also rebutted a report by a Dallas TV station that quoted her as saying that Scalia had died of "myocardial infarction." In an interview with The Washington Post, she said she meant only that his heart had stopped.

"It wasn't a heart attack," Guevara said. "He died of natural causes."

In a statement Sunday, the U.S. Marshals Service, which provides security for Supreme Court justices, said Scalia had declined a security detail while at the ranch, so marshals were not present when he died. "Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Western District of Texas responded immediately upon notification of Justice Scalia's passing," the statement said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 04:40 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No witnesses, eh? No spouse, housekeeper, ranch foreman? All on holiday for Valentine's Day?
Posted by: Bobby || 02/15/2016 7:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Right after the SC shutdown Obama's energy plan.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/15/2016 7:55 Comments || Top||

#3  This, just after the Hildebeest gives a nod to a possible Obama Supreme Court position.

Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 8:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Not ruled a suicide so it doesn't fit the Clinton MO. What was the exact cause of death?
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/15/2016 8:29 Comments || Top||

#5  It was a suicide. He held the pillow over his own face.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 02/15/2016 10:48 Comments || Top||

#6  On rare occasions I have been to fancy hotels I noticed they have pillows all over the bed. I spend most of the night in a pillow fight against myself. The pillow over his head may have been an unfortunate accident upon death in bed.
Posted by: Airandee || 02/15/2016 13:58 Comments || Top||

#7  I confess, I've been known to sleep with a pillow over my head if there are noises that are keeping me awake. That's not necessarily Scalia's explanation but if somebody really held a pillow over his head to suffocate him, would they have left it there?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/15/2016 18:32 Comments || Top||

#8  For many, many people with means, motive, and opportunity, Scalia's death is a wish come true.

West Texas is sparsely populated, so local law enforcement is unsophisticated - the kind of place where it would be easy to get away with murder, as long as no one looks too close.

Scalia may have had "several chronic ailments," but that doesn't mean that's what killed him. Chronic diseases do not typically sneak up and kill you in your sleep with no warning. But a quick injection of harmless KCl can, nicely mimicking a fatal heart attack, and can't be detected without a tox screen.

I'm deeply suspicious of what happened here. Without an autopsy or investigation, I'll never be convinced that Scalia died of natural causes.
Posted by: RandomJD || 02/15/2016 19:12 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Pat Caddell on Clintons: 'Greediest white trash I have ever seen.'
[Breitbartg] Pollster Pat Caddell, also a former adviser to President Jimmy Carter, asserted that the Hillary Clinton email scandal is "worse than Watergate."

Long the pinnacle of modern American political scandal, Nixon resigned after he was connected to the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters.

"This is the greatest scandal in the history of the United States," Caddell said. "They all ought to be indicted. This is worse than Watergate."

Clinton, he explained, would soon be exposed for using her connections in the State Department to enrich her family, her foundation, and her supporters.

"They were selling out the national interests of the United States directly to adversaries and others for money," he said. "There is just nothing that satisfies them. They are the greediest white trash I have ever seen."
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 04:29 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pat just now figured it out? Wonder what was the last straw?
Posted by: jvalentour || 02/15/2016 8:37 Comments || Top||

#2  No job offers.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/15/2016 12:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Nah, he's got a job: Caddell is a regular guest on the Fox News Channel, and he is listed as an official 'Fox News Contributor'. This has earned him the label of a "Fox News Democrat" by critics such as liberal opinion magazine Salon.com.[1] He has also frequently appeared on the conservative website Ricochet.com discussing politics.

Mebbe he gotta brain when he turned 60.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/15/2016 13:09 Comments || Top||

#4  That is kind of harsh against White Trash isn't it?

Didn't Slick Willie give China missile tech in exchange for donations? So why is anyone suprised?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/15/2016 13:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Nah, he's got a job

Not on a Democractic political campaign.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/15/2016 15:58 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Leb. Army Bombards Militant Positions in Eastern Mountain Range
[AnNahar] The Lebanese army shelled positions of 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....
murderous Moslems in the Eastern Mountain Range, the state-run National News Agency said on Sunday.

The army targeted the positions of the murderous Moslems that are close to the outskirts of Ras Baalbek and the northeastern town of Arsal in the Eastern Mountain Range, added NNA.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/15/2016 00:04 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Europe
Greece Says Arrests Three Armed Britons at Turkish Border
[AnNahar] Greek police said Sunday they had nabbed
You have the right to remain silent...
three heavily armed Britons near the border with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
where they were suspected of heading to join Kurdish forces fighting 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....
jihadists.

One of the three, a 40-year-old said to be of Kurdish Iraqi origin, had four firearms and 200,000 rounds in his possession when he was picked up at the Kipi border post on the Evros River which borders the two nations.

Police arrested two other men, both in their mid-30s, in the port of Alexandropolis, the main town in the Evros region and a key commercial centre in northeastern Greece.

They were found in possession of 18 firearms and 40,000 22mm and 5.5 mm bullets stowed in a trailer.

Counter-terrorism services are now investigating the trio afer police said they suspected all three of "terrorism and belonging to a criminal organization," as well as arms trafficking.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/15/2016 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Suspect tanker seized off Zuwara
[Libya Herald] A small tanker loaded with petrol has been seized off the Libyan coast and has been brought 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...
The Captain Khayyam was intercepted by a Libyan naval vessel after it had left Zuwara. Rooters reported that the Sierra Leone-registered vessel was carrying 1.6 million litres of petrol. Aboard were nine people from countries including Azerbaijan, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
and Ukraine. One of them was a woman.

The 900-ton Captain Khayyam is a 61 metre long bunkering tanker whose last recorded position was in Malta.

If the vessel was involved in smuggling, as has been asserted by naval front man Ayoub Qassem, then it would seem likely it was part of the illegal trade in fuel to Malta which the authorities in Valetta have long pledged to stamp out.

Since the Revolution, a number of suspected vessels has been intercepted by the Libyan navy, though not all of them have stopped. One tanker, the Baku ignored orders to heave to and fled back to Malta.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


IS murders five more in Sirte
[Libya Herald] In the last 48 hours in Sirte, IS has reportedly murdered five more people, shooting them in the back of the head and then crucifying their bodies.

The latest victim is said to have been Ali Ben Nail, whose corpse was hung from a former advertising hoarding on the Zafran roundabout at the western edge of the town. He was picked up from his home because the bully boyz believed he had taken part in the August uprising against IS largely by members of the Ferjani clan.

Yesterday the bully boyz murdered four other young men, including two brothers, in the same manner and posted pictures of the killings on social media. The victims had been accused of apostasy though some sources claim that some of them at least has also taken part in August's revolt.

They have been named as Ali and Mahjub Fitouri, Ramadan Ferjani and Saleh Al-Mahdani. Sources claim relatives have been told that the bodies must be left hanging for three days.

These latest murders have taken place against rising tension in the town. There have been reports of increased aerial surveillance by unidentified aircraft, including drones. Alwasat has said that IS is constructing a three-kilometre defensive trench in farmland outside of Sirte.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Brace for a devaluation of the Egyptian pound, say economists
The Gods of the Copybook Headings in all their uncompromising glory.
[AlAhram] The Egyptian pound could be allowed to fall to as low as 8.4 against the dollar within ‘weeks’ in the first of several devaluations as Egypt steps up battle against FX shortage

Egypt will allow a sharp devaluation of its currency in the first half of this year as it has run out of options in the midst of an escalating foreign currency shortage crisis that has slowed economic activity, according to bankers and economists surveyed by Ahram Online.

Since the January 2011 mass uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has propped up the Egyptian pound, which was officially traded at 5.8 pounds to the US dollar at the time.

Today, the Egyptian pound is changing hands at 8.7 to the US dollar on the black market according to traders surveyed by Reuters on Tuesday, compared to an official rate of 7.73.

But with a collapsing tourism sector, falling Suez Canal toll revenues, lower-than-expected foreign direct investment, and stagnating export receipts, Egypt, which relies heavily on imported food and fuel, has come under increasing pressure to let its currency weaken.

Posted by: trailing wife || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Yemeni forces kill 6 Saudi soldiers in retaliatory attacks
[Iran Press TV] Yemeni army forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have killed six Saudi soldiers in retaliation for the Arab kingdom's deadly aggression against their country.

Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah news website reported that Yemeni snipers on Sunday slew five Saudi soldiers in Yemen's Midi region, located in the northwestern province of Hajjah, near the border with the kingdom's southwestern Jizan province.

Earlier in the day, another Saudi soldier was killed in monarchy's southern province of Najran, where Yemeni forces launched a missile attack on a military base and destroyed a Saudi armored vehicle.

Saudi war machine breathes fire

Saudi warplanes on Sunday ceaselessly pounded different parts of the war-ravaged country in the Arabian Peninsula. They bombarded a school in the Ba'adan district in the western province of Ibb and inflicted heavy damage to its structure.

They also conducted Arclight airstrikes on the Jind district of the southwestern Ta'izz province, where a civilian died and another one was maimed. Aerial aggression also claimed the life of a civilian and injured another one in the Hidan district of the northern Sa'ada province.

Saudi fighter jets also carried out at least 10 Arclight airstrikes on al-Taheel area in the Sirwah district of the central province of Ma'rib and demolished at least eight houses. They also destroyed al-Taheel mosque, a water project and a farm.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Saudi central bank raises loan-to-deposit ratio -sources
[REUTERS] Seeking to ease tightening liquidity in the banking system, Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
's central bank has raised the ratio of deposits which commercial banks can lend out to 90 percent from 85 percent, industry sources said on Sunday.

No comment was available from the central bank outside office hours.

Liquidity has tightened over the past year as low oil prices have reduced inflows of new state revenues and prompted the government to issue bonds to banks to cover a budget deficit that totalled nearly $100 billion last year.

That threatens to slow economic growth; the three-month Saudi interbank offered rate has jumped to 1.73 percent, the highest level in seven years, from below 0.80 percent in mid-2015.

By making more money available for lending, the rise in the loan-to-deposit ratio could at least temporarily prevent corporate loan rates from rising further, benefiting Saudi companies.

The loan-to-deposit ratio is designed to limit risk in the banking system by preventing banks from lending too generously. However,
a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all...
raising it by 5 percentage points is unlikely to prove dangerous, analysts said.

"In fact 85 percent is a conservative level compared to regional banks in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates...
, which allow the level to reach more than 100 percent," said Said al- Sheikh, chief economist at National Commercial Bank.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia


Caribbean-Latin America
Haiti lawmakers elect Senate chief as provisional president
[ROANOKE] Lawmakers chose the Senate chief on Sunday to lead a caretaker government that will fill the void left by the end of President Michel Martelly's term last week and perhaps ease lingering tensions that recently pushed deeply Haiti into political crisis.

In the early hours of Sunday, Jocelerme Privert was elected as provisional president and sworn in after a plodding session by Haiti's bicameral legislature. He was formally installed in the afternoon before a crowd of Haitian officials and foreign diplomats.

The veteran politician was one of three candidates vying to lead an interim government that is supposed to last only 120 days.

His new position will be that of a powerbroker who hopefully carries enough weight to quickly smooth political divisions that have left Haiti without a president chosen by voters or a completed Parliament due to suspended elections. Prime Minister Evans Paul remains in office for now, but Privert and politicians are expected to choose a No. 2 official in coming days.

During a speech to politicians hours before their final vote, Privert promised that if selected he would lead a caretaker administration that would "foster confidence within all sectors of society," ensure stability and see that suspended elections are held "as soon as possible."

He submitted his resignation letter from the Senate to start his new post.

An initial vote by politicians gave Privert just two votes more than Edgard Leblanc, a former Senate president who was being backed by Martelly's political faction. But after closed-door negotiations, Privert became interim president after 3 a.m. in a second round of voting that gave him a clear majority of hand-written votes from senators and lower house deputies.

Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Sanders trailing Clinton but more honest: South Carolina poll
[Iran Press TV] Voters in the US state of South Carolina, the next state to hold presidential primaries, trust Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders
...The only openly Socialist member of the U.S. Senate. Sanders was Representative-for-Life from Vermont until moving to the Senate for the rest of his life in 2006, assuming the seat vacated by Jim Jeffords...
more than his rival Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as The Liberatress of Libya and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Henry Clay ...
, a new poll has found.

The CBS News "Battleground Tracker" poll released Sunday showed that 75 percent of respondents picked Sanders over the former secretary of state, who trailed him at 60 percent.

Sanders also managed to win over more Democratic voters and get closer to Clinton in terms of overall support, following her by a 19-point margin.

This is especially important as previous polls had placed him behind the former first lady by up to 38 points. Sanders trailed Clinton in the CBS News poll by 22 points last month.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Again, AFAIC self-proclaimed DemoSocilaist Sanders is only the beginning - the Commies + other Harder-line Socialists will be coming out in the open iff the US is not suborned under OWG + Socilaist World Order by 2025.

They will use "any each + all means necessary", including Violent or Armed Militancy + Insurrection, etc. to accomplish their agenda.

ENJOY SANDERS + THE EURO-SOCIALISTS WHILE YOU STILL CAN, AMERIKA, CUZ MUCH WORSE IS COMING - PRAY TO GOD THEY CAN OR ARE WILLING TO DEFEAT THE HARD BOYZ.

YOUR HEADS ARE LITERALLY AT STAKE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/15/2016 0:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Sanders can lie with the best of them when it suits him.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 02/15/2016 10:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Iran Press TV discussing honesty.


It would be amusing if not for the terrorism promotion and the like.
Posted by: lord garth || 02/15/2016 11:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Iran Press TV discussing honesty.

Sometimes Iran Press TV seems honest than our own local media (ABC/CBS/NBC/CNN/etc...). Remember that it was none other than then National Enquirer (of Bat-Boy fame) who revealed the Edwards affair because the major media covered it up.

Yes that is how bad things have become...

The Democrats have a choice between Crazy old Socialist Grandpa and Crocked old Socialist Grandma.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/15/2016 11:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Agree with Joe M, trying to out-collectivist each other, wait until the Clickers get some power and form muscle into shut-up squads.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/15/2016 13:04 Comments || Top||

#6  George McGovern for president in 2016!

Or his clone.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/15/2016 13:22 Comments || Top||

#7  So Bernie, your not as popular as Hillary but people seem to think your more honest.

I beleive that's what they mean by Damnig with faint praise.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 02/15/2016 14:46 Comments || Top||

#8  He'll tell you up front that he's gonna rip you off and then he rips you off. Now that's honesty.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/15/2016 18:27 Comments || Top||


Arabia
2 killed, 15 wounded in Saudi-led strike on Yemen workshop
A Saudi-led coalition air strike on a sewing workshop killed at least two people and wounded 15 in the rebel-held Yemeni capital on Sunday, the owner told AFP.

"Two employees, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed and 15 others wounded in the overnight air raid," Faisal al-Musaabi said.A search was underway for another employee still buried under the rubble of the building in the east of Sanaa, he added.

The coalition has been carrying out air strikes against Iran-backed rebels across Yemen since March.

The rebels, who have controlled Sanaa since September 2014, reported a higher death toll of 11 employees killed and four others wounded in the strike on the workshop, according to their sabanews.net website.

The United Nations says more than 6,100 people have been killed in Yemen's conflict since the coalition began its raids, about half of them civilians.On Sunday, Human Rights Watch accused the Saudi-led coalition of using US-supplied cluster bombs in Yemen, causing civilian casualties.

"Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners, as well as their US supplier, are blatantly disregarding the global standard that says cluster munitions should never be used under any circumstances," said HRW's arms director Steve Goose.

One type of air-dropped cluster munition used by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, the US-manufactured CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapon, has "harmed civilians in at least two attacks," Goose said."The evidence raises serious questions about compliance with US cluster munition policy and export rules," he added.

"The Saudi-led coalition should investigate evidence that civilians are being harmed in these attacks and immediately stop using them," said Goose.The coalition last month announced that an independent inquiry would examine charges of possible abuses against civilians in the conflict.
Posted by: badanov || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Tribesmen boycott anti-polio drive
[DAWN] GHALANAI: Tribesmen of 25 disputed villages and elders of Aman Tabar, Hafeez Kor, Mazi Khel and Burkhan Khel tribes here have boycotted the upcoming anti-polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
drive in protest against what they called vaccination teams consisting of non-local people.

Jalil Khan, a local tribal leader, told Dawn that rustics of disputed villages had boycotted the last three polio drives, and it would be the fourth time that they would boycott the campaign in protest against hiring of non-local people in the polio drives instead of the local rustics.

He urged the government to include local people in the polio teams instead of hiring people form Charsadda and other districts. The elders complained that there had been no development works in the disputed villages for last 25 years, adding schools and health units were in need of repairs.

They said they would not cooperate with polio teams and police in carrying out their responsibilities. The rustics made it clear that they would only accept the writ of the 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...
political administration.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


The Grand Turk
Turkish forces cross into Syria: Damascus
[Iran Press TV] The Damascus government says Turkish forces have entered war-torn northern Syria to help foreign-backed faceless myrmidons fighting against the government of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Scourge of Qusayr...
The Syrian Foreign Ministry in a protest letter to 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...
Security Council (UNSC) said on Sunday that "around 100 gunnies some of whom are believed to be Turkish forces and Turkish mercenaries" entered Syria through A'zaz area which is located north of Aleppo near the Turkish border.

It also noted that the Turkish forces were accompanied by a dozen pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns.

"The operation of supplying ammunition and weapons is continuing via the Bab al-Salama crossing to the Syrian area of Azaz," the ministry said.

On Saturday, the Turkish army bombed the A'zaz border crossing near an airbase in Syria's northern province of Aleppo for the second consecutive day. The attack was launched days after Syrian Kurdish fighters seized the area from Daesh [Islamic State] terrorists.

The move came a few days after the Kurdish fighters, backed by Russian air raids, drove foreign-backed faceless myrmidons from the Menagh air base near the Turkish frontier.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


India-Pakistan
10 'militants' killed in Sibi operation
[DAWN] At least 10 suspected turbans were killed in a gunbattle with security forces during a search operation in Sangaan area of Sibi district on Saturday.

Official sources said that three hideouts located in the mountainous area had been destroyed and 12 'militants' locked away
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
The security forces had moved into Sangaan area after receiving intelligence about the presence of turbans there, they added.

Heavy fighting
... as opposed to the more usual name-calling or slapsy...
was reported for hours, resulting in the death of 10 hard boys.

"Ten suspected turbans have been killed and 12 others arrested in the gunbattle," security officials said, adding that a large quantity of arms and ammunition was seized from the hideouts of turbans who belonged to a banned
...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization
.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Iraq
Baghdad bomb and Bullet Bulletin: 4 dead
4 cops die in bombing attack

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Ministry of Interior announced on Saturday, that 10 people including police members had been either killed or wounded in a double bombing north of Baghdad.

The source said in a press statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “A bomb exploded, this evening, in Tarmiya Village north of Baghdad, killing one person and injuring five others.”

The source, who asked anonymity, added, “Another explosive device exploded when the security forces arrived in the area of the first blast, killing four police members, including a captain.”

1 civilian wounded in bombing attack

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A police source revealed on Sunday, that a civilian was wounded in a bomb blast in eastern Baghdad.

The source said in a press statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “This morning, an improvised explosive device emplaced on the road side in Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad exploded, wounding a civilian in the area.”

The source, on condition of anonymity, added, “The blast also caused material damage to one of the houses,” pointing out that, “A security force cordoned off the area and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital to receive treatment.”

4 Bad Guys detained

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – The Joint Operations Command announced on Sunday, that the security forces arrested four terrorists including the supplier of detonators and improvised explosive device in Baghdad, while indicated to the killing of 18 terrorists in an air strike carried out by the international coalition aviation.

The Joint Operations Command said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The Federal Police 7th brigade arrested three terrorists and seized a vehicle carrying explosives supplies, while the 1st brigade managed to arrest the responsible terrorist for supplying detonators and improvised explosive devices to ISIS in Baghdad.”

The statement added, “The Federal Police forces also seized a cache containing Hell Cannons belonging to ISIS after escaping from Husaibah area.”
Posted by: badanov || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:


Government
Troops betrayed as Army dumps hundreds of heroic war dogs
[NY Post] By now, Daniel had been in Afghanistan two months. It was July 2012, his third tour of duty and his first with Oogie, his military working dog. They were leading their platoon on yet another patrol, clearing a no-name village with maybe 15 houses and one mosque, when they began taking fire.

"The first thing that went though my mind," he says, "was, 'S- -t. My dog's gonna get shot.' "

It was a perfect L-shaped ambush, bullets coming from the front and the right, the platoon pinned down in a flat, open landscape. Along the road were shallow trenches, no more than 14 inches deep. Daniel grabbed ­Oogie, squeezed him in a hole, then threw himself over his dog.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
Taliban confirm losing 13 fighters in Paktika drone strikes
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Taliban have confirmed losing 13 fighters in two drone strikes in Barmal District of Paktika
...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo...
province.

A statement released by the group's spokesperson on Saturday states that their fighters came under drone attacks while they were in fighting with Death Eaters belonging to Daesh [Islamic State] group in Warmama area.

According to the statement, five Death Eaters were killed in one strike and eight others in another one.

The statement does not contain exact date of the strikes.

Local officials and residents of Gomal District of Pakitika province have also reported severe festivities between Taliban and fighters loyal to Daesh [Islamic State].

According to local residents, festivities between the two rival groups left dozens of Death Eaters killed in Khand and Dinarkhil areas last week.

Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  That's what happens when you do your fighting inside a drone nature preserve.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/15/2016 8:22 Comments || Top||

#2  IS fighting Talibunnies over drugs?
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/15/2016 8:32 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran exports oil to Europe for first time since nuclear deal
Driving the price of oil lower still. Are they making as much from total oil sales now as they were before the price drop?
[IsraelTimes] Country's deputy oil minister says shipment is first in five years, calls it 'new chapter' in Iran's oil industry

Iran's official news agency says the country has exported its crude shipment to Europe for the first time since it reached a landmark nuclear deal with world powers last month.

Sunday's IRNA report quotes Deputy Oil Minister Rokneddin Javadi as saying the shipment was the first after five years. He called the shipment "a new chapter" in Iran's oil industry but did not elaborate.

IRNA said several western tankers have loaded Iran's oil in recent days.

Iran plans to add one million barrels to its oil production following implementation of the nuclear deal, which lifted international sanctions in exchange for Iran restricting its nuclear activities.

Iran expects an economic bonanza after the lifting of sanctions, which will allow it to access overseas assets and sell crude oil more freely.

The lifting of sanctions from Iran following the implementation of a nuclear deal signed between Tehran and world powers in mid-July last year is seen, however, as one of the factors contributing to a drop in the price of crude oil.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Buying Iranian oil is a choice. Europe could just say no.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/15/2016 7:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Europe could just say no.

From an economic perspective diversifying suppliers is the right thing to do, especially given Russia's history of cutting off supply in the depth of winter.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/15/2016 10:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Minimal reporting. No indication of who bought the oil and where it was offloaded.
Posted by: Gerthudion White4991 || 02/15/2016 10:30 Comments || Top||

#4  TW, pretty sure that KSA could match quantity and price. I suspect a quid pro quo for Airbus et al purchases ....
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/15/2016 11:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Europe could just say no.

Not if they want to appease their new masters...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/15/2016 11:47 Comments || Top||

#6  Them Aryans sure stick together.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/15/2016 12:16 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Al shabaab retakes Burweyn after SNA and AU troops Retreat
Heavily armed militants with Al shabaab poured into the strategic area of Burweyn near Bulo-Burde town following a fierce battle with Somali troops.
Doesn't anyone stand their ground?
What - and go against centuries of tradition?
Reports from the village indicate that Al shabaab fighters launched a major counter-offensive on Burweyn, and have taken the area from SNA and AMISOM.

Abdiaziz Durow, the district commissioner of Bulo-Burde said SNA and AMISOM forces killed at least 10 Al shabaab members during the fight. The gunfight left three SNA soldiers wounded, according to the DC.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Arabia
Arabian-led Intervention Sends Special Operations Forces to Free Al Mukalla
A senior Yemeni official, in close proximity to the joint forces of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the National Army alongside the Arabian coalition forces has head towards three Yemeni cities in order to free them from Houthi militia and defectors supporting the ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The three to-be-freed cities are Al Mukalla capital city of the Hadhramaut coastal region, Al Hudaydah the fourth-largest city in Yemen, and Mokha port city on the Red Sea coast of Yemen. Mokha belongs to the Taiz governorate.

Al Mukalla Yemeni city has been subject to al-Qaeda dominance since 2nd of April 2014. The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that units in located south have their own special operations scheduled, in addition to National Army operations.

Maneuvers against al-Qaeda will be within the range of first and second zones of the National army and their centers, the first centered area will be in Seiyun city in the Hadhramaut region, while the second will be in Al Mukalla. The source didn’t provide further information.

A video recording, acquired by Asharq Al-Awsat, is believed to show parts of the operation’s activity, launch, airdrop of equipment, and paratroop regiment action.

Senior political sources in Yemen told Asharq Al-Awsat, in Sana’a, that a broad coordination between pro-legitimacy forces on the anticipated military operation to free Sana’a from Houthi militia and Saleh supporting militants is being put into effect. The collaborative work features the efforts of prominent clan members, clan sheikhs of regions neighboring Sana’a, and those present inside Sana’a.

Informed sources informed Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi militia have begun gradually deserting a majority of its commitments to citizens of areas fallen under their jurisdiction, amid the spread of corruption and persistent blunder of money by known militia leaderships. The money is being converted into foreign stocks and internal assets such as real-estate and personal properties.
Posted by: badanov || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  Question: why is Saleh still alive? Surely there are means to find his whereabouts and bomb the sh*t out of it?
Posted by: Frank G || 02/15/2016 10:22 Comments || Top||

#2  foreign stocks

By low?
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/15/2016 11:24 Comments || Top||

#3  By --> Buy
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/15/2016 11:26 Comments || Top||


Iraq
ISIS executes 2 in Mosul
ERBIL – Extremists of the Islamic State (ISIS) executed on Sunday two young men in the city of Mosul, northwestern Iraq, after accusing them of “apostasy”.

ISIS militants had arrested the two men on Friday for missing prayers at Mosul mosque, where pro-ISIS preachers usually deliver speeches promoting the group’s alleged Caliphate. The Sharia Court in Mosul ordered the execution of the two young men, aged 22-25, on charges of apostasy.

“They were both shot dead in front of the Aisha Mosque in al-Nour neighborhood eastern Mosul on Sunday,” local media activist Abdulah al-Malla told ARA News.

“The execution took place after a member of the Sharia Court read a statement vowing anyone who misses the prayers at the mosque to face the same punishment,” al-Malla said, adding that ISIS militants are trying to terrorize the people of Mosul by conducting such public executions.

This comes just two weeks after ISIS extremists beheaded a 14-year-old boy in Syria’s Jarablus on similar charges. Speaking to ARA News in Jarablus, civil rights activist Nasser Taljbini reported that the ISIS-led Sharia Court order the militants to behead the boy in public. “Dozens of people attended the brutal execution, including the victim’s parents who were forced to witness the beheading of their own son,” Taljbini said.

“ISIS is trying to prove that it is still powerful despite all the military defeats,” the source told ARA News.
Posted by: badanov || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


ISIS executes 8 by drowning in Ninevah
(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A local source in Nineveh Province revealed on Saturday, that the so-called ISIS executed eights civilians by drowning in the center of the Province on charges of collaboration with the government and security forces.

The source said in a brief statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “ISIS militants gathered eight civilians in a metal cage and drowned them into a swimming pool in al-Faisaliya area on charges of collaboration with the Iraqi government.”

The source added, “ISIS filmed the execution of the civilians after being sentenced to death by the so-called Sharia Court in Nineveh Province.”
Posted by: badanov || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  I wonder why some of the Bush Derangement Syndrome folks have not begun claiming Bush (and Cheney!) are not behind the horror of ISIS.

Or that this is all a fabrication of the vast right-wing conspiracy so we can go to war again.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/15/2016 12:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Checking to see if they were witches?
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 02/15/2016 13:39 Comments || Top||

#3  They (BDS Folks) do claim that the Bush 'illegal wars' caused the rise of ISIS. I've heard that several times.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/15/2016 13:49 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
NATO ships enter Georgia’s Batumi port
Four US ships of NATO entered the Batumi port (Adjara) Feb. 12, Archil Khabadze, Chairman of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara said, RIA Novosti reported.

“This is the first time, when ships with such large crews entered our port,” he said.

“It is planned to conduct a series of meetings, cultural events, and joint trainings during the visit. The arrival of these ships confirms once again our deep desire to cooperate closely with NATO,” Khabadze added. The ships will stay at the port until February 15.

In April 2008, at the summit of NATO member countries in Bucharest, it was confirmed that Georgia may become a NATO member in the future if it meets NATO standards.
Because we all know that an attack on Batumi is an attack on New York...
Posted by: Steve White || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Anbar Antics: 21 die
Coalition warbirds destroy ISIS rocket artillery

(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – A security source in Anbar province said on Sunday, that the international coalition aviation destructed mortar shells bases and rockets launchers belonging to ISIS during an aerial bombardment by the international coalition west of the city of Ramadi.

The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “Warplanes of the international coalition, in coordination with the army’s 7th brigade, conducted 3 aerial strikes that hit a number of targets belonging to ISIS in al-Baghdadi Island north of the district of al-Baghdadi (90 km west of Ramadi),” noting that, “The strikes resulted in destructing those targets and killing a number of ISIS elements.”

“The targets were bases of mortar shells and rockets launchers belonging to ISIS,” the source added.

ISIS Top Dawg dies in coalition airstrike

(IraqiNews.com)The president of Khalediya District Council in Anbar, Ali Dawood, announced on Sunday the killing of the ISIS military commander in the area of Kartan, along with 15 of his aides, during an aerial bombing by the international coalition east of Ramadi.

Dawood said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “This evening, warplanes of the international coalition bombarded one of the ISIS headquarters in the area of Kartan in the district of Khalediya (23 km east of Ramadi),” noting that, “A gathering of [ISIS] elements were gathering in the headquarters.”

He also added, “The bombing was carried out in coordination with Anbar Operations, while resulted in the death of the military commander of the area of Kartan, known as Diaa Adel Khalil al-Akawi, along with 15 of his aides.”

Iraqi forces drive back ISIS attack

(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – The commander of Anbar Operations Major General Isamil al-Mahalawi announced on Sunday, that the security forces repulsed the so-called ISIS attack north of Ramadi, while indicated to the killing of six ISIS members in a coalition air strike.

Mahalawi said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “A force from the army’s 10th brigade repulsed ISIS attack on its headquarters in Albu Ziab area north of Ramadi, while managed to kill two ISIS members and forced the others to retreat.”

Mahalawi added, “The international coalition aviation shelled one of ISIS headquarters in Albu Ziab area north of Ramadi, killing six terrorists and inflicting human and material losses on them.”

Posted by: badanov || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Just about every day an ISIS top dawg is killed somewhere -- they're like Number Threes.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/15/2016 10:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Or Iraqi generals.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/15/2016 12:18 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Boko Haram terrorists militants trained in Somalia
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says Nigeria’s Boko Haram terrorists militants have been trained in his country before going back to West Africa. Mohamud said at a security conference in Germany that terrorist militant groups in Africa are associated and that the African states need to be organized to be able to deal with their threats.

He noted that his country, which is plagued by attacks by al-Shabab terrorists militants as well as corruption and political infighting, has only made limited progress in setting up a working political system.

“Without a stable Somalia, the whole region of the Horn of Africa will remain unstable and by and large, the African continent. There are proofs and evidence that (for) some time Boko Haram terrorists has been trained in Somalia and they went back to Nigeria,” Mohamud said.

“The terrorists are so linked together, they are associated and so organized, (that) we the world we need to be so organized,” he added.

Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to the Daesh Takfiri group, which is wreaking havoc in Syria and Iraq. Boko Haram terrorists have killed more than 1,650 people since the inauguration of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2015, and claimed the lives of over 17,000 people since the start of their insurgency in Nigeria in 2009, AFP figures show. They have since forced over 2.6 million others to flee their homes.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Europe
Austria and Slovenia to restrict migrant flow
Slovenia said Sunday it would clamp down on the number of migrants allowed to enter the country, ahead of tougher measures set to be announced by neighbouring Austria later this week to slow down the influx. The two EU member states, which also belong to the passport-free Schengen zone, have become key transit nations for migrants and refugees trekking up through the Balkans to reach western Europe.

Austria, which has hardened its stance in recent weeks, will in the coming days announce a daily cap on the number of migrants allowed to enter the country via its main border crossing with Slovenia. The country of nearly nine million people last year received 90,000 asylum claims, one of the bloc's highest rates per capita.

In anticipation of Vienna's move, the Slovenian interior ministry said it would also begin limiting the arrivals to avoid becoming a bottleneck. State TV reported the tougher controls would start Monday morning and see the number of people allowed to cross the Sentilj checkpoint into Austria restricted to 1,000 per day.

Slovenia said in a statement released by its interior ministry it had informed neighbouring Croatia, the next country along the migrant trail, of its decision to bring in tougher border controls.

Hermann Muhr, the spokesman for Austria's Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner, confirmed to AFP Sunday that "a series of tougher measures will be announced in the course of this week including a daily quota of migrants, in line with what Germany is already doing".

Last month, Vienna already warned it would cap this year's number of asylum claims at 37,500 and deport at least 12,500 people.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


'15-year-old' who 'killed' refugee worker is an adult
Sweden's Migration Agency has told The Local that the suspect accused of killing Alexandra Mezher at a home for unaccompanied refugee children is actually over 18. When police arrested the suspect last month, it was widely reported that he was born in 2000. But Sweden's Migration Agency has now suggested that he is at least three years older.
At least...
Johanna Måhlen, a press spokesperson for the agency told The Local that "the applicant did not make it probable that he was under 18" when he applied for asylum in the Nordic nation, despite ending up at accommodation for refugee children.

Regional newspaper Göteborgs-Posten first reported on the discrepancy, suggesting that the suspect, who was previously understood to be 15, had applied for a work permit in Sweden, where pupils don't typically leave school until they are at least 18.

"The migration agency's decision that he is an adult is also relevant in the criminal case," prosecutor Linda Wiking told the paper, suggesting that he might now be tried in an adult court.

On Wednesday a district court upheld her request to extend detention of the suspect, with the next hearing in his case due to take place on February 25th.

"The detained man is still on probable suspicion of attempted murder. This suspicion is strengthened by the investigation," said Wiking.

Mezher, 22, was stabbed to death at the asylum accommodation in Mölndal near Gothenburg in January. Her killing stoked far-right sentiment, with a violent march and a demonstration organised days later in the Swedish capital.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "welfare" states encourage the rampant use of lying, and massive pressure to not improve your own situation.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/15/2016 10:11 Comments || Top||

#2  bloodeagle.
Posted by: Ulomble Peacock6326 || 02/15/2016 12:21 Comments || Top||

#3  I bet he self-identifies as a minor and innocent.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/15/2016 15:20 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Russia campaign forced West to accept Syria truce: Analyst
[Iran Press TV] The recently announced Syria truce deal was achieved in the light of Russia's "successful" air campaign in the country which brought the West to the negotiation table, says an American political analyst.

After days of negotiation, diplomats from a group of countries in Munich, including the US, Russia, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, 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, agreed on Friday to seek a temporary "cessation of hostilities" in Syria within a week.

The International Syria Support Group (ISSG) also agreed to "accelerate and expand" deliveries of humanitarian aid to various besieged Syrian towns.

"We are now sitting on pins and needles after the Munich meeting," Jim W. Dean told Press TV on Sunday. "We have not really a ceasefire but something called a cessation of hostilities which is kind of preliminary to a ceasefire."

According to the Veterans Today columnist, this is good news for civilians who have been under terrorists' siege in several Syrian towns.

However,
facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable...
Dean noted that the main reason behind the deal is Russia's military campaign in Syria, conducted upon a request by Damascus since September last year.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  RUSSIA = IRAN = CHINA, OTHER? = the US is "subordinate" = "POTUS Obama must bow" to its new OWG Co-Superpower Siblings widin their particular Region-based OWG "Union(s)" + Peripherals.

Here 'tis SYRIA, + likely safe to say or infer IRAQ [Syria-Iraq = SYRAQ] as well???

Post 9-11, OWG Amerika's focii or sphere is restricted to CONUS-NORAM + the NORTH AMERICAN UNION [NAU], the NAU-N-Only-The-NAU, + Littorals/ Peripherals ["near-abroad"], where the "American Dream" is now the "North American Dream" + the "Amerikan Dream", + ordinary Americans = Amerikans are now also ALL MEXICANS, CANADIANS, + GREENLANDERS IN ALL OUR ANTI-SOVEREIGN, ANTI-NATIONALIST, PRO-SOCIALIST MARXIST-GLOBALIST GLORY.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/15/2016 19:49 Comments || Top||


Iran will defend Syria's airspace if Damascus requests
[Iran Press TV] A senior Iranian air force commander says Iran is prepared to defend Syria's airspace if Damascus calls for it. Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili, the commander of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base, made the remarks during an interview with the Tasnim news agency on Sunday.

After praising the government and people of the Arab country for their five-year battle against foreign-backed Takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed...
terrorism, he stressed that any military presence in Syria without the approval of Damascus would end in nothing but "defeat."

The remarks were made in the wake of reports that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
and 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...
were preparing to launch joint military operations on Syrian soil.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Can the Bammer handle a CHINA + IRAN two-front war???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/15/2016 0:17 Comments || Top||

#2  cheap talk

Iran doesn't have the capacity to do much in that space. Russia on the other hand is doing quite a bit there.

Posted by: lord garth || 02/15/2016 8:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Both Riyadh + Ankara are officially denying any plans to mil intervene in Syria.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/15/2016 22:58 Comments || Top||


(Saudi) Arabian nights in Syria
[Ynet] Analysis: The past few days have seen the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia express its desire to send ground forces into Syria at the head of a coalition including Turkey and the UAE. But why now? Geopolitical interests, religion, and the turning tide of the war in favor of the Assad regime may hold some of the answers.

A convoy of over a hundred Humvees was recently captured on video near the Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
n town of Qurayat, about 19 miles away from the al-Haditha border crossing with the Kingdom of Jordan. Al-Haditha, which is the Saudi Kingdom's largest land border crossing, was previously used as the primary crossing point for goods transiting through Saudi Arabia to the rest of the Gulf countries from the north, as well as people making the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, coming from as far away as The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia

#1  The Saudi ground forces are just another bunch of arabs fighting other bunches of arabs. It's the clash of their and Turkey's airforce with Russia's which will make this interesting.
Posted by: phil_b || 02/15/2016 7:35 Comments || Top||

#2  The bear could have a nice meal!
Posted by: 3dc || 02/15/2016 16:20 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Clause in draft Hindu marriage bill creates controversy
[DAWN] A clause in the draft Hindu Marriage Bill, which states that a marriage will be annulled if any of the spouses converts to another religion, is being vehemently contested by both its opponents and supporters.

However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie...
seeking an end to the controversy, Senator Nasreen Jalil, the chairperson of the Senate standing committee on law and justice, has convened a meeting of the committee to take up the matter.

The draft bill has already been passed by the National Assembly standing committee on law and justice.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Army receives 600 infiltration inputs in 2015: Lt Gen Dua
[Daily Excelsior] The holy warriors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistain Indian Kashmiree (PoK) are desperate for infiltration as Army last year received over 600 inputs about infiltration into Kashmire.

General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, Lt General Satish Dua, told a news conference here that the terrain along the LoC is such that infiltration does take place but the Army has been able to limit the numbers.

"The terrain is such that infiltration does take place. I will not deny that. In 2015, there were more than 600 inputs of infiltration.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Afghanistan
Islamabad police say Wahidi would be recovered soon
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Police in Islamabad, capital city of Pakistain, claim that they have made progress in the kidnapping case of Afghan politician who went missing in the city on Friday.

During a high-level meeting on Saturday, Islamabad police informed Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture...
that the law enforcers had achieved a key breakthrough in the case during the past 24 hours. They assured the top security czar that Wahidi would be recovered soon, Pakistain's The Express Tribune news reports.

Wahidi who had visited Islamabad along with his family for acquiring visas to UK from the British Embassy was shopping at a market place when unknown gunnies kidnapped him.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs while expressing grave concern over the incident urged Islamabad to take immediate actions for releasing Wahidi.

"The Islamic Theocratic Republic of Afghanistan expresses its grave concern in connection with the kidnapping of Mr. Sayed Fazalullah Wahidi former governor of Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
Province, which took place yesterday afternoon in Islamabad, Pakistain," stated a statement released by the ministry on Saturday.

"Given the fact that Mr. Wahidi was kidnapped in Pakistain, the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Afghanistan wants the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Pakistain to take immediate and serious action through its security agencies using all possibilities in identifying the kidnappers and to release of Mr. Wahidi."

Wahidi has served as the governor of eastern Kunar and western Herat provinces of Afghanistan.

Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


India-Pakistan
Pakistani among scientists who detected gravitational waves predicted by Einstein
Pakistain rushes to claim her without making her possible or even likely.
[DAWN] Much before her name became synonymous with Einstein and his gravitational waves, the astrophysicist and associate department head of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Dr Nergis Mavalvala, was a little girl born to a Parsi family in Karachi and raised here in a joint-family set-up.
For a moment there I thought she might have been a Moslem, but that little goose of surprise has flown. She's Zoroastrian by birth.
Nergis moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1984 for higher studies after having completed her schooling at the Convent of Jesus and Mary (CJM) in Clifton. Prior to that, she grew up in a big house near the PIDC building on Beaumont Road.
In Pakistain she'd have likely had a nice Moslem suitor who'd have thrown acid in her face when rejected.
“Her grandfather, Maneck Mavalvala, a prosperous businessman, lived there with his three brothers. It was more than a house. It was a big sprawling mansion with these four brothers, their children and grandchildren. The compound also housed a dhobi, drivers, cooks and their families. Today, the site has been turned into a marriage hall,” reminisced Natasha Mavalvala, who is married to Nergis’s first cousin.
Or she could have been kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam after being raped a few times.
“The family moved to Canada in the mid-1980s and Nergis and her older sister, Mahrukh, went to college in the States. They only have extended family here in Pakistan now. The last time we met both the sisters was over two years ago when they came to Karachi to attend a cousin’s wedding,” the cousin-in-law shared.
I'm sure they were comfy being surrounded by Moslems.
“I am part of this family through marriage but we Parsis are a close-knit community so I remember the girls well. They were sweet, happy children but not very naughty. I would describe them as quiet studious girls, who were highly accomplished students. Both are brilliant scientists and professors today,” Mrs Mavalvala told Dawn.
Few Pak women are. Many live under burkas and never come out.
Nergis’s uncle or chacha, who lives in Parsi Colony in Mehmoodabad, also remembered his nieces as very serious about their education. “Nergis was also into sports. She would frequent Karachi Gymkhana for sports activities, especially swimming,” he said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Few Pak women are. Many live under burkas and never come out.

People with interest and talent in science are rare. Squandering that potential is business as usual in the Islamic world.

Don't get me started on the Paleostinians who represent multiple generations of wasted human capital.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/15/2016 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Somebody had to clean the lab.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/15/2016 7:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Skid, she's a Parsi, like Freddy Mercury.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/15/2016 13:23 Comments || Top||

#4  List fails widout Wave-spotting Madonna Fans from Guam.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/15/2016 22:50 Comments || Top||


IS has no role to play in Kashmir: Mirwaiz
[Daily Excelsior] Chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat conference Mirwaiz Umer Farooq has denounced 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....
for "promoting terrorism" in the name of Islam.

Farooq, during his recent stay in the national capital, met the Shahi Imam of New Delhi's Jama Masjid Syed Ahmad Bukhari, Jamaat Ulama-e-Hind President Moulana Mahmood Ahmad Madani and other Muslims leaders and exchanged views on ISIS and Al-Qaeda, besides Kashmire.

After a series of meetings, the Mirwaiz said in a statement: "Groups like ISIS, who are promoting terrorism in the name of Islam, in reality have no regard for Islamic teachings and values. These people are just maligning the great religion for their own personal benefits."

He said, "Islam and terrorism are two opposite poles as the great religion of Islam is meant for the welfare of the entire humanity."

The Mirwaiz's statement followed a recent interview of self-styled 'Wali', which in Arabic means custodian or protector, of Khurasan, Shaykh Haridh Said, in 'Dabiq' magazine, a mouthpiece of ISIS, in which he criticised Pakistain and terror outfit LeT.

In his criticism of Pakistain and LeT, he said, "The apostate factions and agents of Pakistain, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...
, do not have control over any territory in the regions of Kashmire because they proceed in accordance with the orders of the Pak intelligence as they are the ones who direct their work, pushing them forward when they wish and pulling them back when they wish.

"They also conceal their work when they wish, depending on the local and global atmosphere and based on personal material interests, without any consideration for the interests of the Muslims in Kashmire," he had said.

The self-styled Wali said there are specific arrangements and the Muslims will soon hear "pleasant news" about the expansion of Caliphate to those lands.

The Mirwaiz rejected suggestions that ISIS or Al-Qaeda had any role to play in Kashmire and said any such attempts were made only to malign the movement in the State. "Kashmiris want an amicable solution to the problem and that can be possible if India and Pakistain come together and take into confidence the people of the State," he said.

Noting that the struggle of the Kashmiri people is peaceful and political, based on principle of truth and justice, he said "Kashmire's resistance movement has no link with Daesh [Islamic State] (ISIS) or Al Qaeda".

Hardliner separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani had also rejected the claims of ISIS, saying the chances of global terror outfit expanding its operations to Kashmire were "next to zero". He had questioned the credentials of the group, saying "If it had any planning and sincerity, they would have liberated the Al Aqsa mosque in West Asia."
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Six attempted terror attacks foiled in Jerusalem, West Bank; 5 attackers dead, one hospitalized
A busy day.
[Ynet] Two Death Eaters open fire at police force near Damascus Gate; Paleostinian woman tries to stab Border Policeman in Hebron, while 17-year-old Paleostinian tries to stab troops near Jerusalem; Arab teen threatens Israeli woman with knife; two Paleostinians open fire at troops near Jenin; no Israelis hurt in any of the incidents, three of the attackers rubbed out.

Israel's security forces thwarted five attempted terror attacks on Sunday, while a sixth was prevented when a civilian escaped her would-be attacker. No Israeli forces were hurt in any of the incidents, while five of the Paleostinian attackers were rubbed out.

On Sunday night, two attackers armed with homemade M-16 rifles shot up a police force that was being briefed about 30 meters away next to a light rail station near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City.

The officers noticed a suspicious man with a bag in his hand. They approached him and instructed him to stop and put down his bag. He thn pulled out a rifle and aimed it at the officers, who responded quickly and shot him.

After having shot the first attacker, the second attacker shot up them. They pursued the shooter, returned fire, and neutralized him.

Both attackers were declared dead at the scene.

On Sunday afternoon, a Paleostinian woman tried to stab a Border Policeman stationed at the road leading to the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. The Border Policeman pushed her back and shot her, critically wounding her. The girl, identified by Paleostinian media as 14-year-old Jasmine Rashad al-Zaru, was taken to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Earlier in the afternoon, a woman reported that a young Arab teenage boy, approximately 14 years old, tried to stab her on Moshe Baram Street in Talpiot in southern Jerusalem. She told police that the Arab teenager tapped her on the shoulder, and when she turned around, she saw him holding a knife. She retreated and the would-be attacker fled. The woman was not maimed and police are searching for the runaway suspect.

On Sunday morning, two Paleostinians threw stones at passing vehicles near Jenin and tried to cross the separation fence. When forces arrived at the scene, the Paleostinians shot up them. The soldiers fired back and killed the two Paleostinians. No soldiers were maimed in the exchange.

The Paleostinian Health Ministry identified the two Paleostinians as Nihad and Fouad Waked, both 15 years old. They were from the same extended family in the West Bank village of al-Araka, near Jenin, but were not close relatives.

In another incident on Sunday morning, a Paleostinian knife-wielding attacker ran at Border Police officers at the Mazmoriya security checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem. One of the officers shot and killed him. No Israeli troops were maimed. The Paleostinian Health Ministry identified the Paleostinian as 17-year-old Naim Safi of Abadiya village near Bethlehem.

In a separate incident, IDF scouts found a small remote-controlled bomb on the road leading up to Mount Ebal near Nablus. An IDF bomb disposal unit neutralized the explosive. No Israeli forces were hurt.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  homemade M-16 rifles?
Posted by: Frank G || 02/15/2016 10:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Possibly not homemade after all. According to The Times of Israel, one of the shooters was a Palestinian police officer.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/15/2016 11:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Shin Bet should try to capture one of the stabbers alive. Who is putting them up to it? Are they self-radicalized or is there a facilitator?
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/15/2016 11:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Arafat is paying $25,000 for martyrs...

Waitaminute...
Posted by: Bobby || 02/15/2016 13:14 Comments || Top||


Europe
Merkel offers support to Turkey on refugees
Turkey’s Ahmet Davutoglu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke Sunday about the situation in Syria, the prime minister’s office said, Anadolu agency reported. The telephone conversation came in the wake of Turkish shelling of Kurdish group YPG’s positions in northern Syria, amid a fresh wave of civilians forced from their homes by a Russian-backed Syrian government and Kurdish offensive in Aleppo province.

In a statement, Davutoglu’s office said Merkel voiced her willingness to provide humanitarian and technical aid to help deal with tens of thousands of people who have fled their homes.

“The two PMs decided to continue their exchange of ideas on this issue on February 18 at like-minded EU countries’ meeting on migration in Brussels,” the statement said.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Madressah reforms
[DAWN] IT is a strange situation: an interior minister who is not exactly known for his hostility towards the conservative segments of society is still struggling to convince, and being openly contradicted by, the representatives of the country's madressah networks. Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan has once again suggested that the federal government is on the verge of reaching an agreement with the five major madressah networks in the country to document and regulate religious schools, a suggestion that the networks' leaders have already seemingly rejected. It is perhaps worth revisiting first principles here: in a country where no other educational system is outside the purview of state regulation, why should the madressah networks be a class apart? There is no obvious answer to that question, notwithstanding the claim by madressah representatives that the matter ought to fall in the provincial purview, as opposed to the federal.

The appeal to the provincial domain is an obvious attempt to avoid regulation all together -- the calculation being that what cannot be enforced at the federal level is unlikely to be pushed through at varied provincial levels. But the ploys should not allowed to be endless. A decade ago, the Musharraf regime also attempted to regulate madressahs, but was quickly thwarted by intense political opposition -- and a dictator's fear of being on the wrong side of religious lobbies that helped originally solidify his power. A decade later, after the worst atrocity in the country's history -- the APS Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
attack -- the country's political and military leadership drew up a National Action Plan that specifically required that madressahs be "regularised and reformed". Yet, the latest efforts too were resisted by madressah representatives, who latched on inter-ministerial rivalries and have tried to play the religious affairs ministry against the interior ministry, a ruse meant to delay registration and oversight.

Clearly, not all madressahs are hotbeds of extremism or sponsors of terror. But just as clearly some madressahs and their patrons are agents of extremism and sponsors of terror. It is, therefore, not only absurd to claim that madressahs ought to continue to avoid regulation, but that somehow the simple act of enumeration and basic oversight will undermine the rights and freedoms of religious lobbies in the country. What is that the madressah networks are truly afraid of? It is simply inconceivable that regularisation and reform will prevent fundamental religious education from being imparted in the country. But if regularisation and reform can lead to successes on the counter-extremism front and breakthroughs in counterterrorism, is there really any moral or legal justification for resisting change? Ultimately, it will come down to resolve by the government. Like the Musharraf regime, the last PPP government too tried to document and regulate the madressah networks, but then backed down in the name of political expediency. The present PML-N government has at least one advantage over previous administrations: the consensus NAP. Chaudhry Nisar has a penchant for thundering against sundry opponents; surely he can prevail against recalcitrant madressah networks.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa North
Egypt President Sisi to keep Gaza border open for extra day
Be grateful to the Pharoah for his magnanimity, O ye peasants!
[AlAhram] Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi extended on Sunday the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Gazoo for one more day, meaning that it will close on Monday instead of Sunday, state news agency MENA reported.

The decision aims to "aid [our] Paleostinian brothers in Gazoo," El-Sisi said.

El-Sisi previously ordered the opening of the crossing in both directions for Saturday and Sunday, making it the first time the crossing has been opened in 2016.

On Saturday, the first day that Egypt opened the Rafah border crossing with Gazoo, 1,323 people crossed between both sides- 721 people arrived in Egypt from Gazoo while 602 crossed in the opposite direction.

Twenty-four trucks transporting 2,265 tonnes of cement needed for Gazoo's reconstruction also crossed the border from Egypt on Saturday.
All to go for lining new tunnels, no doubt. Hamas is funny that way.
The Rafah border crossing, which is the main entry and exit point to Gazoo, has been mostly closed since October 2014 when a bad boy attack in North Sinai left over 30 Egyptian security personnel dead.

Egypt has been fighting Islamist militancy in the North Sinai region. Destroying the underground tunnels leading in and out of Gazoo was one of several counter-terrorism measures the Egyptian state has adopted.

Egypt sees the tunnels as a pathway for arms and gunnies that it perceives as a direct threat to the country's security.

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...
the Paleostinian Centre for Humans Rights said in 2013 that goods imported to Gazoo "through tunnels, especially foodstuffs, medicines, fuel, construction materials and cars, have spared the Gazoo strip the breakdown of all vital sectors."
Because new cars (or actually stolen Egyptian cars, which annoys the Egyptians no end) were absolutely necessary to ease the suffering of those being starved by the Israeli blockade before Egypt clamped down.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian army gains ground around Aleppo, looks to Raqqa
So much for the cease-fire...
Russia said on Saturday a Syria ceasefire plan was more likely to fail than succeed, as Syrian government forces backed by Russian air strikes took rebel ground near Aleppo and set their sights on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa province.
Russia knows the cease-fire will fail because they've been pushing the cease-fire right in front of the firing squad...
International divisions over Syria surfaced anew at a Munich conference where Russia rejected French charges that it was bombing civilians, just a day after world powers agreed on the "cessation of hostilities" due to begin in a week's time.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated accusations that Russia was hitting "legitimate opposition groups" and civilians with its bombing campaign in Syria and said Moscow must change its targets to respect the ceasefire deal.
Attaboy, Jahwn, now hit 'em with an angry letter...
The conflict, reshaped by Russia's intervention last September, has gone into an even higher gear since the United Nations sought to revive peace talks. These were suspended earlier this month in Geneva before they got off the ground.

Turkish forces shelled Kurdish YPG militia targets near the northern Syrian town of Azaz on Saturday, Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, demanding that the group withdraw from land it recently captured. The United States urged both Turkey and the Syrian Kurds to step back and focus instead on tackling the "common threat" of Islamic State militants who control large parts of Syria.

The Syrian army looked poised to advance into the Islamic State-held province of Raqqa for the first time since 2014, apparently to pre-empt any move by Saudi Arabia to send ground forces into Syria to fight the jihadist insurgents. A Syrian military source said the army captured positions at the provincial border between Hama and Raqqa in the last two days and intends to advance further.

"It is an indication of the direction of coming operations towards Raqqa. In general, the Raqqa front is open ... starting in the direction of the Tabqa area," the source said.

Tabqa is the location of an air base captured by Islamic State two years ago, and the source said the army had moved to within 35 km (20 miles) of the base.

The cessation of hostilities deal agreed by major powers falls short of a formal ceasefire, since it was not signed by the warring parties - the government and rebels seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad in a five-year war that has killed at least 250,000 people.
So maybe that's why it's failing, huh?
If its forces retake Aleppo and seal the Turkish border north of the city, Damascus would deal a crushing blow to the insurgents who were on the march until Russia intervened, shoring up Assad's rule and paving the way to the current reversal of rebel fortunes.

Russia has said it will keep bombing Islamic State and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which in many areas of western Syria fights government forces in close proximity to insurgents deemed moderates by Western states.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, asked at a security conference in Munich on Saturday to assess the chances of the cessation of hostilities deal succeeding, replied: "49 percent." Asked the same question, his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier put the odds at 51 percent.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...that Russia was hitting "legitimate opposition groups..."

Gee. Wonder why they are getting hit.

Question for Secretary Training Wheels - The YPG, are they considered a 'legitimate opposition group'? Why, why not?

The air base in Tabqa; it is in a strategic location and can service fighter jets and helicopters.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/15/2016 15:56 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Gatrani and Majberi Presidency Council walkout leaves unity government selection in disarray
[Libya Herald] Hopes of creating a national unity government by Monday were in disarray today as deputy prime minister-designate Fathi Majberi followed Ali Gatrani in again walking out of Presidency Council discussions, prime minister-designate Faiez Serraj cancelled his departure to the Munich Security Conference, and a number of members of the Libya Dialogue left Skhirat, deciding there was no point staying . . .
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Home Front: Politix
Hillary Clinton campaigns with casino workers, guests on Vegas Strip
[LASVEGASSUN]
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Clinton mingled with Strip workers."
Poles or polls?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/15/2016 0:40 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Kanye West reveals he is $53 million in debt
[DAILYMAIL.CO.UK] Kanye West stunned fans on Saturday night after declaring he was $53million in debt. The rapper made the claim on Twitter ahead of his Saturday Night Life appearance, his latest headline-making tweets in recent days. The father-of-two, who is known for his extravagant lifestyle with wife the unspeakable Armenian Kim Kardashian, tweeted: 'I write this to you my brothers while still 53 million dollars in personal debt... Please pray we overcome... This is my true heart...'
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...who is known for his extravagant lifestyle

To quote Peter Sellers, 'not anymore'.
Posted by: Raj || 02/15/2016 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  I'll do what I can to help /sarc
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/15/2016 0:34 Comments || Top||

#3  I'd love to see some of his tax returns - Al Sharpton Jr., anyone? Hope Mrs. Big Bucket Kanye West didn't file any of them as joint returns; that would be bad.
Posted by: Raj || 02/15/2016 0:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Rantburg needs a "Schadenfreude Alert!" gif.
Posted by: PBMcL || 02/15/2016 1:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Yokay, I'll bite, HE [+ Kim?] STILL HAD NO CLUE AFTER ACCRUING THE FIRST US$500,000 - 1.0MILYUHN OF DEBT???

Did his Accountant(s), Friends, + Kim even try to warn him???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/15/2016 2:10 Comments || Top||

#6  Trump/Kanye 2016.
Posted by: Elmavish Panda1401 || 02/15/2016 3:07 Comments || Top||

#7  I can send him some cardboard and a few sharpies.
Posted by: Uluse the Limber5607 || 02/15/2016 5:59 Comments || Top||

#8  Who was fool enough to lend him 53 mill?
Posted by: phil_b || 02/15/2016 7:15 Comments || Top||

#9  Millions or trillions, both birds of a feather.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 8:10 Comments || Top||

#10  Couldn't happen to a nicer asshole.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/15/2016 10:27 Comments || Top||

#11  I really really he owes at least a chunk to the mob.
Posted by: chris || 02/15/2016 10:38 Comments || Top||

#12  ...Would explain who's ACTUALLY been buying his albums.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 02/15/2016 11:48 Comments || Top||

#13  If he thinks he is in the hole now, wait until the Cardassians divorce him for a ratings bump divorce him for being a negligent husband, and sue for child support and accustomed standard of living compensation.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/15/2016 12:49 Comments || Top||

#14  He has been begging Mark Zukerberg for money on FB. He wants a billion dollars, says that Mr Zukerberg's money would be better spent on him than on opening schools for orphans in Africa. You can't make this stuff up.
Posted by: Bertie the Galactic Hero6164 || 02/15/2016 13:38 Comments || Top||

#15  How much has Kanya given to leftist politicians over the years? Not everyone gets a picture with the president or whitehouse visits without writing a few checks.
Posted by: Airandee || 02/15/2016 13:48 Comments || Top||

#16  "Pay me"
Posted by: Kanye West and All his Vibrant Friends || 02/15/2016 19:35 Comments || Top||

#17  CNN this AM had Perts on expressing strong doubts that Kanye is truly or genuinely in debt.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/15/2016 22:53 Comments || Top||

#18  Same accountant as "we was broke" Hillary?
Posted by: KBK || 02/15/2016 23:48 Comments || Top||


Britain
Falklands hero on youthful parking scams and how finding himself on the scrap-heap aged just 25 inspired him to campaign for others
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  [Question] You’re a war hero, author, public speaker, charity supporter and have been awarded the CBE. Which is more meaningful, the fame, money or plaudits?

[Answer]Respect. Becoming a public figure gave me a platform to help people. I like to live life in an understated way because that’s who I am – an ordinary guy who has experienced an extraordinary journey.


A hero.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/15/2016 13:06 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Houthis capture, destroy Soddy M1A1 Abrams tank
You'll notice the Houthis removed the M2 machine gun, but from the video inside, I didn't see if the coaxial machine gun has been removed as well.

Posted by: badanov || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  Why not just embed the video here and save us all the clicks?
Posted by: Elmavish Panda1401 || 02/15/2016 3:01 Comments || Top||

#2  because clicks are for kids
Posted by: Crutle Schwarzeneggar6720 || 02/15/2016 6:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Been seeing more and more pictures of captured or destroyed M1A1s. Not good.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 02/15/2016 7:38 Comments || Top||

#4  Well, they could've sold it to IS bay guys, or the Mad Mullahs.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/15/2016 7:42 Comments || Top||

#5  until the houthis blew it up at about 1:15, the tank looked to be in pretty good shape

maybe it just ran out of fuel and the crew abandoned it
Posted by: lord garth || 02/15/2016 10:13 Comments || Top||

#6  IN the end, they did what we would have done if it wasn't recoverable. SO thanks idiots!
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 02/15/2016 13:50 Comments || Top||

#7  because clicks are for kids

In fourth grade, there was a joke with the punch line, "Silly Rabbi, Kicks are for Trids."

For you young'uns, the commercial was for the cereal, Trix - "Silly Rabbit, Trix are for kids"
Posted by: Bobby || 02/15/2016 15:09 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Dems Fundraise Off Scalia Death
[WEEKLYSTANDARD]
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Was found dead with a pillow over his head.
Posted by: Unelet Protector of the Sith2424 || 02/15/2016 0:11 Comments || Top||

#2  As per #1 + DRUDGE, this will not end well.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/15/2016 2:05 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder what this fellow might have had to say ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 4:22 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Turkish artillery in northern Aleppo yields civilian casualties
ALEPPO – Turkey’s military continued its bombardment on areas held by the Kurdish forces in northern Syria for the second consecutive day, causing dozens of casualties among civilians, local sources reported on Sunday.
It's okay when they do it...
The Turkish artillery shelling, which concentrated on the areas of Afrin and Azaz in the northern countryside of Aleppo, has coincided with heavy mortar shelling on the same areas by militants of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front.

“The Turkey-Nusra attacks hit residential neighborhoods in several villages near Azaz and Afrin, including Menagh, Miremin, Malkiyah, Meranaz, Tannab and Kashtaar,” rights activist Ahmed Qadamani told ARA News in Aleppo.

“At least 23 civilians were killed and dozens more were wounded under the heavy bombardment by the Turkish army and Nusra Front’s militants,” the local source reported.

In the meantime, media activists in the targeted areas have documented the names of the victims who fell under the ongoing Turkish offensive.

“All civilian victims are being documented carefully by the local documentation centers in northern Aleppo, in a bid to deliver those documents to the United Nations to stop this brutal offensive against civilians,” Qadamani said.

This comes after the Kurdish YPG forces and allied factions from the western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) drove Islamist rebels from a former military airport south of Azaz town in Aleppo province, near the Turkish border. The bombardment by the Turkish military was aimed at impeding the Kurdish progress against Islamist rebels in Syria’s northern Aleppo province.

On Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said: “Today retaliation was taken under the rules of engagement against forces that represented a threat in Azaz and the surrounding area.” Davutoglu demanded the Kurdish forces to withdraw from the Menagh air base and evacuate all areas near Azaz. “We will retaliate against every step (by the YPG),” he said. “The YPG will immediately withdraw from Azaz and the surrounding areas and will not go close to it again.”
The Washington Post adds:
Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said Turkish artillery units fired at Kurdish fighters in the Syrian town of Azaz in Aleppo province, saying it was in response to incoming Kurdish fire.
Posted by: badanov || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Europe
Greece given ultimatum over refugees
EU member states on Friday gave Greece a three-month ultimatum to remedy "deficiencies" in controlling the influx of migrants or effectively face suspension from the Schengen passport-free zone. The decision -- taken by ministers over Greek objections -- is the culmination of weeks of pressure on Greece, the main gateway for the million refugees and migrants who entered Europe last year, stoking the continent's biggest such crisis since World War II.

Austria's foreign minister Sebastian Kurz then warned Macedonia that it should be ready to close its border to migrants, saying that Vienna may also begin turning refugees away in coming months as it struggles to cope with the surge from Greece through the Balkans.

A report adopted 10 days earlier by the European Commission, the EU executive, found Greece was failing to properly register and fingerprint migrants during inspections at the Turkish land border and several islands in the Aegean Sea last November.

"It is of utmost importance that Greece addresses the issues identified in the report adopted by the Commission as a matter of priority and urgency," EU ministers said in a document containing 50 recommendations published on the European Council website.

The document gave Greece, which is already struggling to emerge from a massive debt crisis, one month to "establish an action plan to remedy the deficiencies." After a further two months, Greece must report back on how the scheme is being implemented.

If Greece fails to remedy the problems by mid-May, Brussels could authorise other member states to exceptionally extend border controls within the EU's cherished Schengen area, including with Greece, for up to two years, instead of the normal six months. Such a scenario is outlined under article 26 of the Schengen border code.

Germany, which along with other member states introduced such border controls late last year, on Thursday extended the measures until May, the limit under current Schengen provisions.

An EU source told AFP that Greece voted against the ultimatum, while Cyprus and Bulgaria abstained.

In a document published on the European Council website, Greece rejected the report's contention that it was responsible for "serious deficiencies" in border control and denied it was "seriously neglecting its obligations."

Greece also said it had taken a number of measures at "substantial national financial and social cost" and reminded Brussels that the massive influx on its borders would put any member state under "severe pressure." However, it said it would continue cooperating with the EU and its institutions in dealing with the crisis.

The council website said Greece had to take action on registration procedures, sea border surveillance, border checks, risk analyses, human resources and training as well as equipment and international cooperation.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
PTCL man booked in terrorism case on subscriber's complaint
[DAWN] Police have registered a terrorism case against an official of the Pakistain Telecommunication Company Limited on the complaint of a subscriber, a police brass hat confirmed to Dawn on Saturday.

The Aziz Bhatti police late on Friday night registered the case against the PTCL's divisional engineer, Khalid Butt, and some other officials of the Gulshan-e-Iqbal main exchange on the complaint of Jafar Abbas Jafferi under relevant sections of the Telegraph Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.

SSP-Investigations Zulfiqar Mahar said: "The complainant claims that on his PTCL number/IP address officials have hosted websites of Daesh [Islamic State] [militant Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group]."

He said that the legal branch of the telecoms giant had contacted him and he told them not to get bail, as "no sufficient evidence is available at this stage".

In his application, the complainant said that his landline and the internet connection were allegedly 'misused' by some people as he overheard people talking in the Arabic and Uzbek languages.

He said he lodged complaints with the PTCL to shut his number but to no avail. Finally, he visited the PTCL office in Gulshan-e-Iqbal where Mr Butt of the PTCL allegedly told him that his phone was being "used by an Islamic organization for a pious purpose" and he [the complainant] would go to "paradise". However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken...
he did not disclose the name of the organization.

"It was a highly sensitive matter which requires a proper probe," said SSP-East Javed Jiskani. "The allegations are levelled by a private complainant and the burden of proof lies on him.

"It appears to be a complicated case and we are trying to obtain the help of security agencies in the investigation keeping in view the seriousness of the charges," said the SSP-East.

He said that no arrest would be made till the completion of the inquiry.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Dentist with links to Al Qaeda, Safoora attackers arrested in Karachi: police
What is it with dentists and jihadis?
[DAWN] A dentist allegedly linked to bully boy group Al Qaeda as well as Safoora Goth accused Saad Aziz was incarcerated
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
after an encounter early Sunday night, Preedy cop shoppe officials said today.

Preedy police booked suspect Dr Usman in two cases pertaining to attacking police and possession of illegal weapons.

Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) head Raja Umer Khattab said Dr Usman was familiar with Saad Aziz, the main accused in the Safoora Goth massacre, but played no direct role in the attack.

Khattab said Dr Usman is an Al Qaeda controller with links to Al Qaeda 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....

representatives Haris, who has been arrested, and Ali Rehman, who is still on the lam.

At least 43 people were killed and 13 others maimed in a barbaric attack on members of the Ismaili community in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
's Safoora Goth area on May 14, 2015. Six gunnies entered a bus carrying 60 people and executed 43 passengers at close-range, according to Sindh Police Inspector General Ghulam Haider Jamali.

Saad Aziz alias Tin Tin alias John, the main accused in the Safoora Goth case, is the alleged criminal mastermind of the of the attack on activist Sabeen Mahmud and is suspected of involvement in terrorist activities since 2009. People who knew the former Institute of Business Administration graduate say he may have grown religious over time.

Sindh Chief Minister Qaim earlier said Saad Aziz "is a trained bully boy with expertise in producing different types of literature. He provided funds for terror activities in the city".
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  Finally we get the name of the one out of five dentist that does not recommend fluoride toothpaste.
Posted by: Airandee || 02/15/2016 11:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Must have watched 'Little House of Horrors' once too many times.
Posted by: Sven the pelter || 02/15/2016 11:10 Comments || Top||


Europe
Man held in Sweden for new asylum murder
Police in Sweden arrested a man on Sunday on suspicion of stabbing a man to death during a brawl at an asylum centre, in the latest in a string of serious crimes linked to refugees.

According to Sweden’s Expressen newspaper, the man is suspected of attacking his victims after a conflict with another resident at the centre in Ljusne on Sweden's east coast, flew out of control on Saturday afternoon. He has also been charged with the attempted murder of three other men, all of whom were seriously injured in the fight.

A further three men arrested on Saturday night have since been released, although they are all still viewed as suspects.

“We believe that most of those involved are in their 20s,” Christer Nordström from the local Gävleborg police told Expressen. “But several of them left the area before we got to there, so now we are now working to establish the identity of everyone involved and established who did what.”

Police did not yet know what weapon had been used in the attacks, but said that the deceased and three injured had suffered stab wounds.
Maybe it was a knife?
Posted by: Steve White || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe it was a knife?

That's not a knife...
Posted by: Crocodile Dundee || 02/15/2016 0:12 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Iranian arms shipment intercepted in Yemen
The Arab Coalition has intercepted a cargo ship coming from Djibouti to Hodeidah port in Yemen carrying military equipment under the guise of carrying medical supplies.

Arab Coalition sources told Sky News Arabia on Sunday that following a search of 'Menburt Cedar' ship, which was bearing the flag of the Marshall Islands, revealed it was carrying encrypted military communication equipment and other military hardware in containers originating from the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

Sources added that, following its departure from the Iranian port, the ship had temporarily docked in Djibouti, before it continued its journey toward the Yemeni coast, where it was intercepted by the Saudi-led Coalition forces.

The sources went on to say that the ship was intercepted enroute to the port of Hodeidah, and taken to the port of Jizan in Saudi Arabia, where it was inspected in the presence of international observers who documented the whole process.

The Coalition forces fighting for the legitimate authorities in Yemen in the past have seized a number of boats and ships as they attempted to smuggle weapons to pro-Iranian Houthi militias and the ousted president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Posted by: badanov || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Home Front: Politix
Bill Clinton downplays Obama: 'We're all mixed-race people'
[NYPOST] Bill Clinton still wants to be known as America’s “first black president.”

The former president downplayed President Obama’s historic presidency, telling a Memphis crowd Friday everyone has some African ancestry.

“Unless your ancestors, every one of you, are 100 percent, 100 percent from sub-Saharan Africa, we are all mixed-race people,” he said, according to reports.
Ummm... No, we're not.
Clinton credited Obama for doing “a better job than he has gotten credit for,” but chided the current president for doing little to end Washington gridlock.

“A lot of people say you don’t understand — it’s rigged now,” he said. “Yeah, it’s rigged now because you don’t have a president that’s a change-maker.”

He praised Hillary Clinton for being “the best change-maker I’ve ever known.”

“She’s always making something good happen,” he added.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yo Mamma
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/15/2016 0:36 Comments || Top||

#2  “Unless your ancestors, every one of you, are 100 percent, 100 percent from sub-Saharan Africa, we are all mixed-race people,”

I know a few people from South Africa who'd disagree
Posted by: European Conservative || 02/15/2016 1:40 Comments || Top||

#3  ...and I owe you fifteen cents - I'll be back in a moment
Posted by: Fairbanks || 02/15/2016 2:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Bill Clinton coming to the rescue of Rachel Dolezal. Who knew ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/15/2016 8:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Still peddling snake oil, huh Bill?
Posted by: Omiting Munster1525 || 02/15/2016 10:56 Comments || Top||

#6  So the Hildebeast survived sickle cell anemia? Who gnu.
Posted by: Mugsy Glink || 02/15/2016 11:10 Comments || Top||

#7  Sub-Saharan African privilege.
Posted by: regular joe || 02/15/2016 11:26 Comments || Top||

#8  Not only that, we're all from Africa, according to Streep. Who knew?
Posted by: KBK || 02/15/2016 23:52 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Militants, 2 civilians killed in Pulwama
Excitements in Indian Kashmir.
[Daily Excelsior] Two civilians including a woman were killed and over three dozen others were maimed during an encounter and festivities that broke out in Kakpora village in Pulwama district of South Kashmire in which one myrmidon of Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...
(LeT) was also killed.

Police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Army 50 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) cordoned off Khanday Mohalla in Kakapora area of Pulwama after they received information about presence of 3 bandidos murderous Moslems of LeT in the village.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba


Afghanistan
Activists Blast Govt For Not Ensuring Justice In Farkhunda Case
[Tolo News] Women rights activists lashed out at government on Sunday for not ensuring justice in the Farkhunda case.

They claim justice has not been served. The activists accuse the Supreme Court of negligence.

An angry mob in Kabul
...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either....
, lynched Farkhunda, 27, last year, after falsely accusing her of burning the Holy Koran.

She was beaten to death, and her body was burned.

By chanting the slogan of 'justice for Farkhunda, justice for all' the activists joined the One Billion Rising Revolution, the 2016-campaign to end violence against women.

The Minister of Women's Affairs, Dilbar Nazari, also joined the protesters and called on the government not to forget Farkhunda's case. Nazari, on behalf of Afghan women, called on the president [Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
] to fulfill his promises that he has made to Afghan women. The First Lady of Afghanistan, Rula Ghani, also put her weight behind the justice seekers.

"I want to deliver to you the commitment of the first lady. When we were coming to this event, the first lady said that she was standing beside all Afghan women," said Nadia Saleh, an advisor to the First Lady. Out of the 49 persons placed in durance vile
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
for killing Farkhunda, currently only 11 people are behind bars.

Sultana Khaknezhad, the defense attorney in the Farkhunda case accused the Supreme Court of negligence.

"Justice was undermined. Pace of the case is very slow. They (Supreme Court) want people to forget about this case,"she said. The brutal murder of Farkhunda last year sparked reactions inside the country and around the globe. The Afghan government was asked to bring those involved to book.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Lynched, then beaten, then burned?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/15/2016 7:56 Comments || Top||

#2  She turned me into a newt
Posted by: Frank G || 02/15/2016 9:41 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
US, allies conduct 27 strikes in Syria, Iraq against ISIS
[Ynet] The United States and its allies conducted 27 strikes against 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....
Lions of Islam in Syria and Iraq on Saturday, the Combined Joint Task Force overseeing the operations said in a statement.

In Iraq, 25 attacks were carried out near nine cities, six of them near Ramadi, striking Islamic State tactical units and destroying Islamic State staging areas, fighting positions and assembly areas.

Near djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, 12 strikes hit two separate tactical units and other targets and destroyed 12 fighting positions and a vehicle-borne improvised bomb.

In Syria, one strike near Al Hawl and another near Al Hasakah struck tactical units and destroyed a tunnel and a building used by the group.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Afghanistan
12 Insurgents Killed in Wardak Operation
[Tolo News] At least 12 Death Eaters and a policeman were killed in the past week in a military operation in central Wardak province, local officials said on Sunday.

In addition, 18 other Death Eaters and five coppers were maimed.

The operation was launched in Nirkh district of the province to clear the Death Eaters and is ongoing, Asadullah Shirzad, commander of 303 Spinghar Police Zone said.

Shirzad said that during the operation the forces cleared Khanjan Khil village which has been under the control of Death Eaters for the past few years.

"We have made good achievements in this operation and we have re-captured a number of villages during the operation which were under the control of the Taliban Death Eaters for the past few years. Now the families have good security," he said.

He added that "the operation will continue to clear all Death Eaters and a number of military outposts will be created in those areas which we recaptured."

The police also urge the people to cooperate with the security forces in their efforts to eliminate hard boys.

"We have good support from the residents and they have committed to help the police forces," a local police chief, Aziziullah said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa North
Benghazi federalists protest constitution draft while CDA discusses consultations
[Libya Herald] Cyrenaica federalists protested in Benghazi yesterday against the new constitution proposed by the Constitutional Drafting Assembly (CDA). The latest 110-clause draft was released by the CDA earlier this month.

The protests coincided with a number of CDA members meeting in Tunis which looked at further consultation on the draft -- "to listen to additional inputs and opinions" as a blurb put it -- ahead of the final version being published. CDA president Ali Tarhouni and 22 other members took part in a roundtable session on Wednesday and Thursday which also included lawyers and 17 representatives of Libya civil society organizations.

The main aim, however, was to "explore the challenges that may still lie ahead" in getting the next constitution approved and activated.

At a presser yesterday, Tarhouni indicated that the main challenge was the division and lack of stability in the country. Until that was ended there certainly could be no referendum, whatever the constitution proposed.

He also called on those boycotting the CDA to assume their responsibilities and to return and finish the task.

Tuareg and Tebu members started a boycott in August claiming that the rights of Libya's minorities were being deliberately ignored. There are other divisions that have affected the work of the assembly.
Posted by: Fred || 02/15/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring



Who's in the News
32[untagged]
7Islamic State
4Govt of Iran
3Govt of Pakistan
3Arab Spring
3Houthis
2Govt of Saudi Arabia
2Govt of Pakistain Proxies
2Taliban
2al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1Lashkar e-Taiba
1al-Shabaab
1Boko Haram
1Govt of Syria
1TTP
1al-Nusra

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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2016-02-15
  Taliban confirm losing 13 fighters in Paktika drone strikes
Sun 2016-02-14
  Boko Haram kills at least 30 people in northeastern Nigeria
Sat 2016-02-13
  Turkish artillery hammers airfield near Aleppo
Fri 2016-02-12
  Syrian rebels launch offensive on pro Syrian troops in Latakia
Thu 2016-02-11
  Female Suicide Bombers Kill 58 in Nigeria
Wed 2016-02-10
  New Hampshire primary: Trump, Sanders win
Tue 2016-02-09
  Russian police arrest 7 Islamic State militants
Mon 2016-02-08
  ISIS executes 300+ in Mosul
Sun 2016-02-07
  North Korea fires long-range rocket despite warnings
Sat 2016-02-06
  Yemeni Army's Tochka Strikes Saudi-US Aggression Camp in Marib, Kills 104
Fri 2016-02-05
  6 al Qaeda operatives die in Yemen drone strike
Thu 2016-02-04
  Head of AQAP killed in Yemen drone strikes: residents
Wed 2016-02-03
  Heavy Benghazi fighting as IS counterattacks
Tue 2016-02-02
  86 Dead as Boko Haram Burns Children Alive in Nigeria
Mon 2016-02-01
  50 Feared Killed in Boko Haram Attack in Nigeria

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