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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Algeria Army Chief Says Has ‘No Political’ Ambition
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Hackers have been holding the city of Baltimore’s computers hostage for 2 weeks
[VOX] Hackers targeted the city of Baltimore on May 7 using a ransomware called RobbinHood, which, as NPR explains, makes it impossible to access a server without a digital key that only the hackers have.

The Baltimore hackers’ ransom note, obtained by the Baltimore Sun, demanded payment of three bitcoins per system to be unlocked, which amounts to 13 bitcoins to unlock all the seized systems. The note threatened to increase the ransom if it wasn’t paid in four days, and said the information would be lost forever if it wasn’t paid in 10 days. Both deadlines have now passed.

"We won’t talk more, all we know is MONEY! Hurry up! Tik Tak, Tik Tak, Tik Tak!" the note said.

The city government is refusing to pay, meaning that the government email systems and payment platforms the attack took down remain offline. The attack has also harmed Baltimore’s property market, because officials weren’t able to access systems needed to complete real estate sales. (The city said transactions resumed on Monday.)

Baltimore Mayor Jack Young, who’s officially been in his office less than a month, said in a statement on Friday that city officials are "well into the restorative process" and have "engaged leading industry cybersecurity experts who are on-site 24-7 working with us." The FBI is also involved in the investigation.

"Some of the restoration efforts also require that we rebuild certain systems to make sure that when we restore business functions, we are doing so in a secure manner," Young said. He did not offer a timeline for when all systems will come back online.

The Baltimore City Council president also plans to form a special committee to investigate this latest attack and try to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

A similar attack using RobbinHood hit government computers in Greenville, North Carolina, in April. A spokesperson for Greenville told the Wall Street Journal that the city never wound up paying, and that while its systems aren’t entirely restored, "all of our major technology needs are now being met."

More than 20 municipalities in the US have been hit by cyberattacks this year alone. And such attacks can be expensive, perhaps especially if targets say they won’t pay. In 2018, hackers demanded that Atlanta pay about $50,000 in bitcoins as part of a ransomware attack. The city refused, and according to a report obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News, the attack wound up costing the city $17 million to fix.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If this was a professional setup the maximal possible damage should be the loss of data generated between regular backups, i.e. in an interval no larger than a workday.

Is this a more or less clever attempt to destroy records by claiming they were eaten by evil hackers see IRS ?
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 05/23/2019 1:31 Comments || Top||

#2  No. It's Baltimore. I don't think the idea of nightly data backup has caught on yet.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 1:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Some strategies perform one full, then a series of incremental backups over a span of time until the next full backup after which the prior incremental set is deleted.

Full recovery requires restoring one backup plus the incremental set. Much faster to create and restore than a full nightly.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/23/2019 2:29 Comments || Top||

#4  These attacks are laughably easy to thwart. Automatic backups, separate databases, VMs that can be refreshed quickly, etc.

The fact it has taken so long to recover should speak volumes on how competent the government IT section is.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/23/2019 5:35 Comments || Top||

#5  #4 These attacks are laughably easy to thwart. Automatic backups, separate databases, VMs that can be refreshed quickly, etc. The fact it has taken so long to recover should speak volumes on how competent the government IT section is.
Posted by: DarthVader 2019-05-23 05:35


Lord Vader,

The difficulty here is that useful, competent IT security was never the point, but getting money to connected political friends was more important.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 05/23/2019 6:08 Comments || Top||

#6  ^
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/23/2019 8:38 Comments || Top||

#7  One clue is the hackers can't spell "tick tock".
Posted by: Bobby || 05/23/2019 8:43 Comments || Top||

#8  #7 - Ballymore Public Skool grads?
Posted by: Frank G || 05/23/2019 9:05 Comments || Top||

#9  Sometimes it is cheaper to pay. It may not be a spelling mistake Bobby, Tik Tak is Dutch.
Posted by: BernardZ || 05/23/2019 9:12 Comments || Top||

#10  Baltimore is just full of Bad Luck.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/23/2019 11:35 Comments || Top||

#11  Government IT? Either the lowest bidder or some politician's relative that knows how to turn on a computer.
Posted by: Bob Grorong1136 || 05/23/2019 11:49 Comments || Top||

#12  When the Internet first got going everybody thought it was incredibly cool and everybody wanted to be on it. But the fact is, some sensitive databases have no business on the Internet. Further, if they must be online, they should be protected by multiple firewalls. If regular backups were not being done somebody needs to be fired. But regular backups are not enough. The backups should be tested by restoring them to a spare server and that spare server should be at a remote location and ready to switch over to production at a moment's notice. My experience is that, all too often, failure to implement these measures is a risk that senior management is willing to take for the sake of other, jazzier budget items. All too often, senior management don't know what they don't know and they won't listen to the peons who do know. In Baltimore they are now finding out. But then, it's Baltimore, a blue city.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/23/2019 13:57 Comments || Top||

#13  Well, bike paths often have a higher budgetary priority than pumps, levees, or computer security---ya know.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/23/2019 17:17 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egypt refers six Muslim Brotherhood death sentence cases to Grand Mufti
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An Egyptian court has referred the case of six alleged Muslim Brotherhood members convicted of terrorism to the Grand Mufti, Egypt’s top religious authority, for a non-binding opinion on their execution.

The Cairo Criminal Court said Wednesday the six were found guilty of killing three people, including a policeman, among other charges. The case includes a total of 70 defendants.

The verdict can be appealed and the judge can rule independently of the Grand Mufti. The Brotherhood won a series of free elections after Egypt’s 2011 uprising.

A Brotherhood figure, Mohammed Morsi, was elected president in 2012 but was overthrown by the military a year later amid mass protests against his divisive rule. The group is now branded a terrorist organization.

Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


Algeria Army Chief Says Has ‘No Political’ Ambition
[AAWSAT] Algerian chief of staff General Ahmed Gaed Salah announced Wednesday that he had "no political ambition."

"I have personally committed myself repeatedly... to support the Algerian people" who are protesting "as well as the efforts of state institutions and the justice system," Gaid Salah said in his third speech in as many days.

"We have no political ambition aside from serving our country in accordance with our constitutional roles," Salah said, according to a transcript of the text seen by AFP.

The army has backed the July 4 presidential polls, which were announced following the resignation of ailing leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika
... 10th president-for-life of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third or fourth term. Maybe it's the fifth....
last month in the wake of mass protests.

A former Bouteflika loyalist, Salah played a key role in his downfall by calling for the president's impeachment just hours before he stepped down.

Protests have continued as Algerians call for transitional bodies to be set up ahead of any election, arguing the existing institutions are too marred by corruption for a legitimate vote to take place.

On Monday, Salah reiterated his support for the elections and said the polls could help Algeria "avoid falling into the trap of a constitutional void, with its accompanying dangers and unwelcome consequences".

Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Libya’s Haftar ruled out ceasefire in talks with France’s Macron
[ARABNEWS] Libyan eastern commander Khalifa Haftar
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
told French President Emmanuel Macron that conditions for a cease-fire were not in place, although he would be ready to talk if those conditions were met, a French presidency official said.

Macron and French officials have for several weeks called for an unconditional cease-fire in the battle for 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 distrust we see between the Libyan actors is stronger than ever today," said a French presidential official after the meeting between Macron and Haftar in Gay Paree.

"When the question of the cease-fire was put on the table, Haftar’s reaction to this was to ask "negotiate with whom for a cease-fire today?" the official said.

He said Haftar considers his rival government in Tripoli "is completely infested by militias and it is not for him to negotiate with representatives of these militias."

The official said Macron had asked Haftar to make a public step toward a cease-fire and Haftar responded by saying that an inclusive political dialogue was necessary and he would be ready for it if the conditions for a cease-fire were in place.

However,
women are made to be loved, not understood...
the official said Haftar had given no indication as to when he would be ready for any potential talks.

Haftar also said neither him nor his army were benefiting from oil sales in the east of the country, the official said.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Arabia
CNN reveals how Houthis turned food aid into a weapon of war
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
, primarily the World Food Program, has been providing aid to millions in need of proper nutrition in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
but according to a new report, a significant part of this has been stolen by the Houthis.

The CNN report says that the Houthis have stolen around 1,200 metric tons of aid in the form of food in the capital alone.

According to the report, this trend has been around for a while, with the UN releasing a report in 2018 claiming that 1 percent of its aid was not going to their allocated areas. But in reality, many families are not being helped."

The Houthis control the aid agency that was appointed by the WFP to distribute the aid. The stealing is only adding to the misery of a country struggling with poverty and conflict.

The UN suspects that the aid is stolen in order to be diverted from children to fighters or Houthis supporters.

CNN said that Issham and the people of Bani Qais did not receive any aid " they have received no grain, cooking oil or other aid supplies" for many weeks.

The Arab Coalition in Yemen has repeatedly said that Houthis have been blocking the passage of aid ships.

Also, the Coalition has said that the Houthis were not pulling out from Hodeidah and its port, and were obstructing the work of the UN mission in Yemen and also blocking the passage of vessels carrying aid to the country's ports.

It asserted in many statements that Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
militias deliberately disable ships and unload their cargo in Hodeidah and Salif ports.

The diverted aid was initially shielded from the WFP by the use of fake records and false thumbprints confirming the handout of the aid, which was being sold in the city rather than being given to those villages in need.

Amira Saleh, a woman whose name has been listed for aid and was even said to have received $440 has claimed that she did not receive any aid for half a year. Other women said that the aid that they were entitled to was denied to them due to lack of records that they had left behind in the cities they had fled. This was another excuse that the Houthis used to divert the aid, selling it to gain political support.

Also, a local NGO worker in Sanaa was questioned by security after speaking to CNN without the presence of the government minder.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  it's not like this is the first time this has been done, how did they stop talking about impeaching trump long enough to do this story?
Posted by: chris || 05/23/2019 6:55 Comments || Top||

#2  UN aid diverted? And it took CNN to find out?
Posted by: Bobby || 05/23/2019 8:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Somali Daycare Fraud & Minnesota Political Correctness

Just DNC-DFL governor Waltz-ing away, Omar's and Keith Ellison's Somalis in Minneapolis. And both Feds and the muzzy Minnesota attorney general Ellison are refusing to arrest ANYONE!
Posted by: Woodrow || 05/23/2019 17:34 Comments || Top||

#4  ^ "Mooohammed Noor, where are you?"
Posted by: Chunky Chung7339 || 05/23/2019 18:16 Comments || Top||


Arab League Condemns Houthi Attempt to Target Makkah
[AAWSAT] The Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
reiterated Tuesday its condemnation of the Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
ballistic missile attacks on Makkah on Monday.

Arab League Secretary General Ahmad Abul Gheit issued a statement saying these acts pose a serious threat to regional and international security, and not just that of 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...
, voicing at the same time the Arab bloc's full support for the Kingdom in the face of terrorist threats that trigger regional chaos.

The front man of the Sec-Gen, Ambassador Mahmoud Afifi, affirmed that Abul Gheit reiterated full support to Saudi Arabia in confronting all threats to its national security and supporting the measures taken by the Saudi authorities to confront this threat.

Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, Bossy had come up with a new idea, one that didn't involve kerosene...
Joint forces of the Alliance to Support the Legitimacy in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
revealed that Houthi militias tried to target a vital civilian facility in Najran
a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen. It is the capital of Najran Province and a favored target of Houthirocket forces....
with a drone loaded with explosives.

Spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki said Iran-backed militias continue to carry out acts of terrorism that pose a real threat to regional and international security by targeting civilian facilities, as well as citizens and residents of all nationalities.

On Monday, Saudi air defense forces intercepted two Houthi ballistic missiles targeting Makkah, and were able to destroy the missiles 60 km from Makkah.

"The Air Defense Systems spotted on Monday morning the objects and were dealt with accordingly," he said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Shura Council Hadi al-Yami described the Houthi attempt to target one of the vital facilities in Najran as a new episode in the series of frequent abuses and attacks against civilians in Saudi cities.

Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Hate preacher Al-Qaradawi gets ‘best seat in house’ at Qatar emir’s banquet
[ARABNEWS] A notorious hate preacher has been pictured at the top table at a Ramadan banquet thrown by 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. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
’s emir, pictures on state TV show.

Yusuf al-Qaradawi
...Egyptian Islamic theologian and teevee preacher, well-known for IslamOnline, a website he helped found in 1997 and for which he now serves as chief religious scholar. Al-Qaradawi has also published more than 80 books, including Islam: The Future Civilization. He is considered one of the most influential Moslem Brotherhood scholars living today. Al-Qaradawi is banned from entering the United States, Israel and Great Britain. In 2004, 2,500 Moslem academics from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Paleostine accused him of giving Islam a bad name....
‐ who is known for his extreme views, including justifying suicide kabooms and attacks on Jews ‐ was pictured at the iftar reception hosted by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the current emir of Qatar.

In lengthy footage of the reception, Qatar Television shows al-Qaradawi as apparent guest of honor, sitting next to Sheikh Tamim and chatting cordially with him. Sheikh Tamim apparently kissed al-Qaradawi, who was sitting in a wheelchair, on the forehead.




Al-Qaradawi’s appearance at the iftar came in the same 24 hours in which he published a vile anti-Semitic rant in a Qatari publication.

It quoted claims that "the straight path is a separate way (for the Moslems); it is not the path of the Jews," according to the Middle East Media Research Institute.

David A. Weinberg, Washington Director for international affairs at the Anti-Defamation League, flagged al-Qaradawi’s appearance in a tweet.

"Fact: In the same 24 hours murderous Moslem preacher Yusef al-Qaradawi published his latest dehumanizing slander against the Jewish people, he was also kissed on the forehead by #Qatar’s ruler and given the best iftar seat in the house, by Tamim’s side & ahead of all other preachers," he wrote.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


Economy
Oil prices drop on swelling US stockpiles, trade war
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Oil prices fell on Wednesday after industry data showed an increase in US crude inventories and on demand concerns linked to a protracted trade war between China and the United States.

However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
analysts said oil markets remained tight amid supply cuts led by producer group OPEC and as political tension escalates in the Middle East.

Brent crude futures were down 70 cents at $71.48 a barrel by 0906 GMT and are set for their biggest daily fall in 11 days.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for July delivery were down 68 cents at $62.45.

"Buying pressures are sandwiched between mounting geopolitical disruption risks in the Middle East and jitters over the fallout from the intensifying US-China trade dispute," PVM’s Stephen Brennock said in a note.

Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Gas prices on the west coast seem to always rise due to “unplanned refinery maintenance. and the switch to the “summer”blend in California. Funny how that seems to always coincide with the busiest driving holiday of the year. Actual crude output seems to have little meaning to a rigged market that hasn’t seen refinery capacity grow for decades it seems. Spiral investments t in increasing capacity doesn’t seem to appeal to a fixed market.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 05/23/2019 12:44 Comments || Top||

#2  As soon as they lower gas prices in California, the government will raise the gas tax.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/23/2019 14:03 Comments || Top||


Europe
Dutch investigators bust major cryptocurrency launderer
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Dutch Sherlocks said Wednesday they have busted one of the biggest online money laundering services for cryptocurrencies worth hundreds of millions of euros a year.

Tax and federal prosecution officers have confiscated six servers in the Netherlands and Luxembourg, taking the Bestmixer.io virtual currency mixing service offline, the Dutch tax office’s criminal branch (FIOD) said.

Bestmixer.io is one of the three largest online mixing services dealing in bitcoins, bitcoin cash, and Litecoins, the FIOD said. It was started a year ago and has so far generated sales of at least 200 million dollars (25,000 Bitcoin).

So-called "crypto-mixing services" are used by criminals on the Darknet to mask the origin of virtual currency," the FOID said in a statement. Services like Bestmixer.io are paid to "launder" online currency such as Bitcoins for a commission, erasing traces of the money’s origin, it said.

"People use the mixing service apparently to increase their anonymity. Our investigations show that much of the currency has a criminal origin or destination," said FIOD.

"This mixer is suspected of being used in these cases to mask criminal money streams and to launder money," it added. In total, Darknet markets generate some 800 million dollars yearly.

Bestmixer.io’s clients are from all over the world "with the emphasis on the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands," said FIOD. The probe was launched following a report by the US-based cyber security firm McAfee. So far, no arrests have been made, FIOD front man Adriaan Ros told AFP.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Church bells ring out in protest over Afghan deportations
Church bells rang out in several towns and cities in Sweden at noon, Tuesday, as a protest against the continued deportation of Afghan asylum seekers.

Officials behind the movement want an amnesty for young afghans facing deportation from Sweden when they turn 18.

Radio Sweden visited Västerled Church in Bromma which took part in the national demonstration. One of its pastors Hanna Bäckman says, "we can't be silent anymore. ... We want a change."
Sweden is finished. It's just going to take a couple of decades to fall off the cliff. But it's coming for sure, nothing can stop it now. Sad.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  "we can't be silent anymore. ... We want a change."

So move to Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia or Iran or any place else that fits your principles.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/23/2019 7:45 Comments || Top||

#2  or any place else

Except the US!
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/23/2019 15:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Sweden could always try raising Janissaries. Tell them that they need to join the new Swedish Foreign Legion or the border is over there and don't look back.
Posted by: magpie || 05/23/2019 18:55 Comments || Top||


France threatens journalists with jail time for exposing use of French arms in Yemen

France has threatened three French journalists with potential jail time for using secret documents to reveal the country's involvement in the Yemen civil war. 


In a series of reports published in April, investigative journalists from Disclose and Radio France revealed the number of French arms sold to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. 


The documents, authored by France's Directorate of Military Intelligence (DSGI), showed that senior French officials had lied about the role of French weapons in the Yemen War.
More intelligence agencies warmongering and then lying to us about it. Then getting volcanically angry when their wrongdoings are exposed.

Posted by: Herb McCoy || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


France: Europe Will Not Yield to Ultimatums from Iran
[AAWSAT] La Belle France declared on Tuesday that Europe
...also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
will not succumb to ultimatums from Iran and threats to withdraw from the nuclear deal.

"I do not think that Europe will get drawn into this idea of an ultimatum," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told news hounds.

Le Maire said Europeans were facing extremely strong pressure from the United States regarding trade with Iran, and that threats by Tehran to pull out of its nuclear deal with global powers were not helpful in that regard.

US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers. He followed it with severe sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy and oil exports.

Two weeks ago, Tehran said it would relax some of its commitments under the accord it struck with Britannia, China, La Belle France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

Iran said this month that cap no longer applied in response to the US withdrawal from the deal.

Under the deal Iran may enrich uranium to 3.67% purity ‐ far below the 90% of weapons grade, and also below the 20% level to which Iran refined uranium before the deal.

Iran has threatened that in 60 days it would resume enrichment beyond the 3.67% level unless remaining signatories of the deal find a way to safeguard its vital oil and banking sectors.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


The Grand Turk
Seven Turkish journalists jailed for ‘terrorist propaganda’
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A Ottoman Turkish court has handed multiple jail terms for editors and journalists from the now-defunct pro-Kurd daily Ozgur Gundem on charges of spreading "terrorist propaganda".

Seven people, including the newspaper’s editors-in-chief Eren Keskin and Huseyin Aykol, were given sentences ranging from 15 to 45 months in prison, the paper said on its Twitter account.

A total of 24 people from the newspaper appeared for Tuesday’s hearing, but only seven were convicted of "disseminating terrorist propaganda," according to the P24 press freedom website.

The newspaper was accused of running propaganda in favor of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency against the Ottoman Turkish state since 1984.

It was permanently shut in August 2016 following an attempted coup by opponents of President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
.

"I don’t believe I have committed a crime. I don’t believe the expression of thought is a crime. I request my acquittal," Keskin told the court.

At least 146 journalists are currently imprisoned in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, according to P24, most detained under the state of emergency imposed after the attempted coup.

Turkey is ranked 157th in the world for press freedom by Reporters Without Borders, which says the government has increasingly seized control of media outlets and is the world’s biggest jailer of professional journalists.

Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Turkey Orders Arrest of 249 Foreign Ministry Personnel over Gulen Links
[AAWSAT] Ottoman Turkish authorities ordered the arrest of 249 foreign ministry personnel over suspected links to the network of US-based Fethullah Gülen
... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world...
, who is accused of orchestrating an attempted coup on July 15, 2016.

The Ankara chief prosecutor’s office said it ordered the arrest of the 249 personnel after investigations found that they had committed irregularities in the foreign ministry’s past entrance exams.

It said 78 suspects were tossed into the calaboose so far in operations across 43 provinces and that police were seeking the rest. They are believed to have used ByLock, an encrypted cellphone app used for texting, that the authorities assume was a means of communication among Gulen Movement members before and during the attempted coup.

Authorities have carried out regular operations against the alleged followers of Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999. Gulen denies he was behind the failed coup.

More than 77,000 people have been jugged
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
pending trial, while some 175,000 civil servants, military personnel and others have been sacked or suspended from their jobs as part of the post-coup purges.

In another context, the Supreme Election Council (YSK) announced Monday its final decision on annulling the election results in Istanbul’s mayoral race.

Voters will head to ballot boxes again to elect a mayor for Istanbul on June 23 after The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor....
’s electoral board scrapped on May 6 the results of the March 31 polls in the country’s largest city.

YSK members ruled in favor of the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) objection to the results of the polls, ordering a re-run.

The Ottoman Turkish opposition, whose candidate was stripped of victory in the mayoral race, has expressed dismay at YSK’s decision, seeing it an attempt by the ruling party to keep its grip on the municipality.
Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


India-Pakistan
SU cancels Daesh-linked student’s admission
[DAWN] The Sindh University (SU) administration has cancelled provisional admission of Naureen Leghari ‐ a second year MBBS student of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) who had joined proscribed ISIS in 2017 ‐ on the ground that she could be a risk for other students.

Naureen had undergone a rehabilitation treatment after she was jugged
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
in Lahore in the wake of an encounter between some forces of Evil and personnel of the local Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).

She had disappeared on Feb 10, 2017 and her father, Dr Jabbar Leghari, an SU teacher, had called for her recovery during a a presser. However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
it later transpired that she had joined ISIS.

After being recovered, Naureen underwent rehabilitation treatment under the supervision of law-enforcement agencies. Her family did not share much details after she reunited with them. She resumed her studies at LUMHS until her admission was revoked in March 2019.

LUMHS registrar told Dawn on Tuesday that Leghari had submitted an application on Feb 22 for the cancellation of her admission which was accepted on March 1.

Naureen had also appeared in SU’s entry test for English department and was given provisional admission. She had attended classes until it emerged that it was the same woman who had been trapped by ISIS. When the fact was reported to the SU administration, it moved against her on certain administrative and admission policy grounds.

The SU vice chancellor stated that Naureen’s name did not appear in the final list of admission because she had not submitted certain documents. "Then there was concealment of facts as well; she did not disclose that she was a student of LUMHS," the VC said, adding: "I know that her admission was cancelled after LUMHS academic council disapproved it for her alleged links with a proscribed outfit."

Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


India claims new first for world’s fastest cruise missile
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] India said the world’s fastest cruise missile passed another key test Wednesday when it successfully hit a land target after being fired from a fighter jet.

India is developing the supersonic BrahMos missile ‐ which has a top speed of 3,450 kilometers per hour ‐ with Russia, and according to media reports wants to soon start selling it abroad.

The missile is one-and-a-half times faster than the old Concorde supersonic jet. The Indian defense ministry said a specially converted Su-30 MKI fighter jet successfully fired the 2.5-tonne missile, which has a range of about 300 kilometers.

"The launch from the aircraft was smooth and the missile followed the desired trajectory before directly hitting the land target," a ministry statement said.

It did not say where the test was staged or give other details apart from saying "very complex" mechanical, electrical and software modifications were made to the Russian-origin fighter jet.

The first test on a sea target was staged in November 2017. India said then it was the first country "to have successfully fired an air-launched 2.8 Mach surface attack missile of this category on a sea target".

"The BrahMos missile provides Indian Air Force a much-desired capability to strike from large stand-off ranges on any target at sea or on land with pinpoint accuracy by day or night and in all weather conditions," the ministry said.

India has already ordered sea-launched versions of the missile for its navy, and specialist defense media reports have said the BrahMos could start being introduced to the air force from 2020.

BrahMos is a joint venture between India and Russia and officials from the enterprise have said at recent international air shows that discussions on sales are being held with a number of countries.

Media reports have said Southeast Asian countries have expressed particular interest, which could worry China. India and Russia are reported to be preparing plans for a longer-range version of the missile which could fly at up to Mach 5, or 6,125 kilometers per hour.

BrahMos is named for the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers of India and Russia respectively.

Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This means they can hit places in Pakistan before Pakistan can organize a response?
Posted by: 3dc || 05/23/2019 12:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Can it carry an Indian nuke warhead?
Posted by: 3dc || 05/23/2019 12:24 Comments || Top||

#3  It's currently built to carry conventional HE warheads up to 300 kgs. India is still developing the BrahMos II which shall have a Nuclear warhead configuration apart from other innovative configs introduced by the Russians.

Pakistain ? It cannot organize a proper response to even lowly Indian Migs dropping off smart bombs. Their US donated Falcon got shot down by humble Mig27 Bison.

Brahmos are Mach 3 projectiles. The Brahmos was made to overwhelm the Chinese BDM capability. Pakistain poses a threat only if China backs their play. Without China, Pakistain is as good as a crater. Before it changed sugar daddies, India was wary of the US supporting it in conflict. Now it's the Chinese. We develop our capabilities to the specifications of whatever poses the real danger.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 05/23/2019 14:58 Comments || Top||

#4  The BrahMos is a follow on to the Soviet "Carrier Killer" (SS-N-19 Shipwreck and SS-N-22 Sunburn) missiles and had a simple purpose: "Fire the Missile and who cares if the launching ship gets sunk almost immediately afterwards?" Seems more useful to the Chinese than the Indians...
Posted by: magpie || 05/23/2019 15:32 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Pentagon mulling military request to send 5,000 troops to Middle East: officials
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Defense is considering a U.S. military request to send about 5,000 additional troops to the Middle East amid increasing tensions with Iran, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

Tehran and Washington have this month been escalating rhetoric against each other, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to try to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero and beef up the U.S. military presence in the Gulf in response to what he said were Iranian threats.

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the request had been made by U.S. Central Command, but added that it was not clear whether the Pentagon would approve the request.

The Pentagon regularly receives - and declines - requests for additional resources from U.S. combatant commands throughout the world.

One of the officials said the requested troops would be defensive in nature.

It is unclear if any specific request will ultimately be presented to the White House. The request for 5,000 additional troops was first reported by Reuters.

Posted by: Besoeker || 05/23/2019 01:51 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


US threatens to take action over HTS claim that Syrian Army troops used chemical weapons
[ALMASDARNEWS] The U.S. State Department has threatened to take action if the claims by the jihadist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham
are true about the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) allegedly using chemical weapons in the Death Eater stronghold of Kabani.

"We are still gathering information on this incident, but we repeat our warning that if the Assad regime uses chemical weapons, the United States and our allies will respond quickly and appropriately," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

She also denounced Russia, the key ally of Damascus, for what she called a "disinformation campaign" as it tries to blame other parties for chemical attacks.

"The Assad regime’s culpability in horrific chemical weapons attacks is undeniable," Ortagus said.

"The regime’s attacks against the communities of northwest Syria must end," she said.

"The United States reiterates its warning, first issued by President (Donald) Trump in September 2018, that an attack against the Idlib de-escalation zone would be a reckless escalation that threatens to destabilize the region," she said.

What Ortagus, who previously mocked the plight of Syrians suffering from the U.S. blockade of oil to Syria, left out is that these claims came from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and their allies from the foreign jihadist group, the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP).

The Syrian Foreign Ministry denied these claims, as did the Syrian Arab Army, who later stormed the town at the same time of these allegations.

It may prove difficult for OPCW inspectors to investigate these allegations as HTS and TIP are notorious for kidnapping people and activists in northwestern Syria.

Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Iranian lawmaker says his country does not want direct or proxy war with US
[DAWN] Iran will "under no circumstances" enter a war either directly or indirectly with the United States, a prominent reformist Iranian politician said Wednesday, as both Washington and Tehran try to ease heightened tensions in the region.

The reported comments by Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh
Gesundheit!
come after the White House earlier this month sent an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the region over a still-unexplained threat it perceived from Iran.

Since that development, Iran has announced it will back away from the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, an accord that President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
pulled America out of a year ago.

Read: How the confrontational US-Iran relationship poses a challenge for Pakistain and the region

The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, alleged that four oil tankers were sabotaged off its coast, and Iranian-allied rebels in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
have launched drone attacks into 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...
Falahatpisheh's comments, reported by the semi-official ILNA news agency, carry additional heft as he serves as the chairman of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy commission.

"Under no circumstance will we enter a war," Falahatpisheh said, according to ILNA. "No group can announce that it has entered a proxy war from Iran's side."

On Monday, Iran announced it had quadrupled its production capacity of low-enriched uranium. Iranian officials made a point to stress that the uranium would be enriched only to the 3.67% limit set under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, making it usable for a power plant but far below what's needed for an atomic weapon.

Posted by: Fred || 05/23/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  He doesn't talk about asymmetrical war.

Iran has been very successful at imposing its will on the West by asymmetrically applying armed force.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 05/23/2019 1:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Sorry, the words of the current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene™ of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran are the only ones that are more than a passing breeze.
Posted by: magpie || 05/23/2019 19:00 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2019-05-23
  Algeria Army Chief Says Has ‘No Political’ Ambition
Wed 2019-05-22
   'American Taliban' released
Tue 2019-05-21
  8-10 Somali Teens Armed With Hammers Attack Bystanders at East Bank Rail Station in MN
Mon 2019-05-20
  Houthi's launch IRBM at Mecca!
Sun 2019-05-19
  Islamic State in West Africa Forming ‘Jihadist Proto-State’ in Nigeria
Sat 2019-05-18
  Drone strike kills notorious ISIS leader and his fighters in East of Afghanistan
Fri 2019-05-17
  Fighting grips Hodeidah port, complicates peace moves
Thu 2019-05-16
  F-16 with live ordinance crashes in Riverside CA.
Wed 2019-05-15
  Iranian ballistic missile platforms in Basra city directed towards the Gulf, Exxon evacuating, German mil. trainers evacuating
Tue 2019-05-14
  The Latest: Norwegian Tanker's Hull Punctured off UAE Coast
Mon 2019-05-13
  Gunmen kill six during Catholic mass in Burkina Faso
Sun 2019-05-12
  Security guard killed as terrorists storm Pearl Continental Hotel in Gwadar: ISPR
Sat 2019-05-11
  B-52s in Al Udeid AB Qatar
Fri 2019-05-10
  U.S. revokes citizenship of Portland mosque's imam for ties to ObL
Thu 2019-05-09
  Rotherham abuse scandal: 40 arrests made in last two months

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