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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Sisi supporters try to amend Egypt's constitution to let him remain in power
Today's Headlines
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Page 2: WoT Background
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2 09:30 JohnQC [6] 
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2 01:11 3dc [6] 
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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2 20:03 lord garth [18]
3 12:29 Woodrow [10]
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3 23:19 gorb [9]
7 10:50 DarthVader [7]
6 15:58 Angaiper Slinerong2336 [4]
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9 14:46 Speamble Elmeack5265 [8]
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Page 4: Opinion
6 23:02 JohnQC [18]
2 23:10 USN, Ret. [14]
7 20:45 lord garth [14]
2 11:22 rjschwarz [10]
7 15:52 USN, Ret. [9]
14 23:09 ruprecht [10]
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Page 6: Politix
7 22:47 JohnQC [15]
17 23:05 jvalentour [6]
3 11:12 Bright Pebbles [4]
3 10:14 JohnQC [2]
7 17:15 rjschwarz [13]
4 23:05 USN, Ret. [6]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
"Pay The F*ck Up": Hackers Threaten To Dump Secret 9/11 Attack Files If Bitcoin Ransom Not Met"
[ZeroHedge] A hacking collective known as The Dark Overlord announced on New Year's Eve that it had broken into the computer systems of a law firm and obtained files related to the September 11 attacks - threatening to publicly release a large cache of internal files unless a hefty ransom is paid, according to Motherboard.

Dark Overlord's demands targeted several insurers and legal firms, including Lloyds of London, Silverstein Properties and Hiscox Syndicates. It is unclear what exact files were stolen by the group, however the hacking collective tweeted "We'll be providing many answers about 9.11 conspiracies through our 18.000 secret documents leak from @HiscoxComms and others."

According to a spokesperson for the Hiscox Group, the hackers had breached a law firm which advised the company and had likely stolen files linked to litigation tied to the 9/11 attacks.

"The law firm’s systems are not connected to Hiscox’s IT infrastructure and Hiscox’s own systems were unaffected by this incident. One of the cases the law firm handled for Hiscox and other insurers related to litigation arising from the events of 9/11, and we believe that information relating to this was stolen during that breach," the spokesperson told Motherboard in an email.

"Once Hiscox was informed of the law firm’s data breach, it took action and informed policyholders as required. We will continue to work with law enforcement in both the UK and US on this matter," they added.

The hacking group published a small set of letters, emails and other documents that mention various law firms, as well as the Transport Security Administration (TSA) and Federal Aviation Administration (The TSA could not provide a statement in time for publication, and the FAA told Motherboard in an email it was investigating.) Those documents themselves appear to be fairly innocuous, but the group says it may release more.

In its extortion note, The Dark Overlord included a link for a 10GB archive of files it allegedly stole. The group also provided a link to this archive to Motherboard before publishing its announcement. The cache is encrypted, but the hackers are threatening to release the relevant decryption keys, unlocking different sets of files at a time, unless the victims pay the hackers an undisclosed.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/02/2019 10:52 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They probably have proof that the Saudi's knew about it before hand and perhaps provided assistance which the W Admin covered up in order to keep everything together on Sept 12. Yawn.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/02/2019 11:16 Comments || Top||

#2  maybe they have the original billing hour records

the horror
Posted by: lord garth || 01/02/2019 11:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Days before 9-11 a shit load of stocks were short sold. We've never heard a thing about those jihadists getting their asses hunted down and smoked.

A thought. This is the only way any of the Deep State are going to be exposed. With any luck, patriot hackers will follow suit.
Posted by: Woodrow || 01/02/2019 12:11 Comments || Top||

#4  So, to summarize, these hackers will gladly join The Coverup in exchange for enough Bitcoin?

Somehow, I'm having trouble imagining this is what Satoshi had in mind.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 01/02/2019 13:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Loose Change bitcoin...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/02/2019 13:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Meh... Go ahead guys.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/02/2019 14:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Please go ahead guys.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 01/02/2019 16:31 Comments || Top||

#8  Less a threat but more an offer to clear the air, so to speak, in a nasty way.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/02/2019 17:27 Comments || Top||

#9  Why have your archives online at all? it makes more sense to have them offline and have someone transfer any files you actually need if you are out of the office and can't go log into the archive computer. It certainly would make hacking it quite hard.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 01/02/2019 18:34 Comments || Top||

#10  ...The only thing likely to be of interest is how much money the lawyers made.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 01/02/2019 20:13 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
China against abrupt withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan
[KhaamaPress] A top Chinese diplomat has expressed opposition with an abrupt withdrawal of the U.S. forces from Afghanistan and has called on Washington for a responsible withdrawal from the country.

Lijian Zhao, deputy Chinese ambassador in Islamabad made the remarks during an interview with GTV News on Sunday, VOA reported.

"They [U.S.] have been in Afghanistan for 17 years. If they are leaving the country, they should try to leave in a gradual and a responsible way," Lijan Zhao said.

He also emphasized the need for the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
and Afghan government to sit together and negotiate a political resolution to a war he said has been going on for nearly 40 years.

Only an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process supported by international partners of Afghanistan could help end the hostilities, Lijian noted.

"If a civil war broke out after the U.S. withdrawal, the first countries affected will be Pakistain, will be China, and it will be the immediate neighbors. So, we have to sit together with the parties concerned so that we start a grinding of the peace processor," he said.
It appears China prefers that Americans fight and die to police Afghan violence for China’s benefit.
This comes as reports emerged earlier suggesting that the U.S. President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
has mulling withdrawal of half of the 14,000 U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/02/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Also, they want us to bleed more, both in terms of blood and money.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 01/02/2019 0:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, you helped so much thus far.

I should consider..
F You.
Step in anytime you like you MAO idiots. I have sent the bill to you anyway.

If you continue your aggressiveness in Taiwan and the String or Pearls and the Hindu Land- You may take into account on what I hold over your head in your region.

I want to keep Taiwan, South China Sea in FONA Patrol and adherence. I want your movement into Asia Proper monitored. I saw how you did this before in history and see how you do it now in Africa.

You are speaking of sinking American Naval Carriers as you tell your Military to prep for war. And you as much as laid claim to Taiwan yesterday.


So, XI;
If you really were the most powerful Man in the Universe, What would you do about China Aggression?

Asking for a "Friend with The Mandate".
Posted by: newc || 01/02/2019 0:46 Comments || Top||

#3  We could introduce their new PLA masters to all the village and local leaders - then leave.
ISI would have massive numbers of heart attack victims in Pakiwakiland.
Posted by: 3dc || 01/02/2019 1:14 Comments || Top||

#4  "We could introduce their new PLA masters to all the village and local leaders - then leave.
ISI would have massive numbers of heart attack victims in Pakiwakiland."


All options are on the table.

HEH!
Posted by: newc || 01/02/2019 1:24 Comments || Top||

#5  For Starters - From RCW -
‘Now We Don’t Talk Anymore’
"Inside the ‘Cleansing’ of Xinjiang"

Via Chinafile


And you want to run the world?

Posted by: newc || 01/02/2019 1:54 Comments || Top||


#7  "RED CHINA MOVES TO SEIZE KENYAN AND ZAMBIAN ASSETS"

"Other assets related to the inland shipment of goods from the port, including the Inland Container Depot in Nairobi, and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), may also be compromised in the event of a Chinese port takeover."

Do you hear me Israel?
Posted by: newc || 01/02/2019 2:52 Comments || Top||

#8  Protestant 'House Churches' Raided in China on Christmas Eve
Posted by: newc || 01/02/2019 2:54 Comments || Top||

#9  "any Latin American countries experienced political change in 2018, with presidential elections in three of the largest countries—Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia—and transitions in Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, and Paraguay. Meanwhile, several long-term China partners, such as Peru, Argentina, and especially Venezuela, have been entangled in political scandals. How are relations evolving between China and Latin America, and between China and individual countries in the region? And how do China’s interests and relations in the region differ from those of the United States? —Natalia Cote-Muñoz"

the BRICS’ outreach program. - SCO

Sink it.
Posted by: newc || 01/02/2019 2:59 Comments || Top||

#10  Last comment was from here - China’s Growing Footprint in Latin America
Posted by: newc || 01/02/2019 3:01 Comments || Top||

#11  I Pray that is ripping enough band aids or duct tape I need to do in this endeavor. I DO know where the bodies are.
Posted by: newc || 01/02/2019 3:03 Comments || Top||

#12  My guess is that with the recent oppression of Muslims in western China, they simply don't want all the jihadi's looking towards them. Which may or may not be a real threat.
Posted by: Charles || 01/02/2019 5:27 Comments || Top||

#13  Screw the Southwest Pacific, how about long memories?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/02/2019 6:41 Comments || Top||

#14  "Ifa civil war broke out after the U.S. withdrawal, the first countries affected will be Pakistain, will be China, and it will be the immediate neighbors.

The downside please ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/02/2019 6:43 Comments || Top||

#15  China borders Afghanistan for 122 miles. If the SHTF after we "responsibly leave", they can step up to the plate. Their supply lines and logistics are better-suited for brokering a peace in Afghanistan. IOW, their flea circus or sphere of influence.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/02/2019 9:55 Comments || Top||

#16  Re China in Latin America. Push a Monroe Doctrine 2.0 (or 3.0).
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/02/2019 10:01 Comments || Top||

#17  Could be a prelude beacon for future invasion.

Pointing out, ChiComs would love to get their hands on the vast Afghan rare minerals.
Posted by: Woodrow || 01/02/2019 12:23 Comments || Top||

#18  Let us suppose the ChiComs want to take over Afghanistan. How do we stop them without our first taking over Pakistan? Sorry, this looks like a Bridge Too Far to me, let the Taliban "enjoy" the tender mercies of The Middle Kingdom -- they deserve each other
Posted by: magpie || 01/02/2019 12:40 Comments || Top||


ISIS-K militant hands over himself, 11 members of his family to Afghan forces
[KhaamaPress] A bad boy affiliated with the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and Syria Khurasan (ISIS-K) has handed over himself and eleven members of his family to the Afghan forces in eastern Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province of Afghanistan.

The 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan Military in the East said the ISIS-K bad boy identified as Bakhtan surrendered to the border forces in Achin district.

Bakhtan handed over himself and eleven family members to the border forces, the 201st Silab Corps said in a statement, adding that three women and kiddies were among the family member of Bakhtan.

The loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria Khurasan have not commented regarding the surrender of the group’s bad boy so far.

Nangarhar has been among the relatively calm provinces in the East but the ISIS-K and Talibs have been attempting to expand their foothold in this province during the recent years.

In the meantime, heavy Arclight airstrikes and coordinated ground operations are underway against the bad boy groups in this province.

Both the Afghan and coalition forces conduct regular airstrikes and ground operations to suppress ISIS, Taliban
...Arabic for students...
, and other anti-government armed elements.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/02/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Hope they have enough rope.
Posted by: Woodrow || 01/02/2019 12:23 Comments || Top||


Taliban confirms meeting with the Iranian officials in Tehran
[KhaamaPress] The Talibs group in Afghanistan has confirmed that a delegation of the group has visited Tehran and met with the Iranian officials.

Taliban
...Arabic for students...
group front man Zabiullah Mujahid in a statement said the delegation has been sent to Tehran to hold talks regarding the situation of Afghanistan post the coalition forces withdrawal, maintainning peace and security in Afghanistan and the region.

The statement further added that the delegation of the group occassionally visits the regional countries to attract the political and moral support of the regional countries to end the occupation and bring peace in Afghanistan.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/02/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Sudan: Calls grow for Omar al-Bashir to step down
[Al Jazeera] Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir
Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it.
is facing growing calls to step down following deadly protests over a dire economic crisis in the country.

Twenty-two Sudanese opposition political parties and groups on Tuesday demanded that Bashir transfer power to a "sovereign council" and a transitional government that would set a "suitable" date for democratic elections.

The groupings, calling themselves the National Front for Change, include some Islamist factions that were once allied with Bashir, who seized power in a 1989 military coup, as well as breakaway groups from large traditional parties.

"This government does not have the ability to overcome the economic crisis because the economic crisis is basically a political crisis," Mubarak Elfadel, chairman of the Umma Party, told news hounds at a presser in Sudan's capital, Khartoum.

"The government needs to end its rule and step down. We need to form a provisional council and a transitional government that will run this new stage and prepare us for new elections."

The groups said they will submit a memorandum with their demands to the president on Wednesday. They warned that failure to transition to a new political system would have "dire consequences" for Sudan.

The move came as a second party, Sudan Reform Now, announced it was withdrawing from the coalition government.
Posted by: Fred || 01/02/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


Africa North
Sisi supporters try to amend Egypt's constitution to let him remain in power
[PRESSTV] Supporters of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi are calling for constitutional changes so that the head of state can stay in power once his second term ends in 2022.

Sisi came to power in June 2014 as the president, one year after he led the military to oust the first democratically-elected president Mohamed Morsi in a coup. He served as the defense minister in Morsi’s government before orchestrating the coup.

On April 2, 2018, the election commission said Sisi had won a total of 21.8 million votes in the March presidential election. His sole opponent, Moussa Mostafa Moussa, a relatively unknown and a fervent Sisi supporter himself, gained 656,534, less than the 1.8 million spoiled ballots.

The turnout in the much-criticized election was 41 percent, lower than the 47 percent recorded in 2014 elections. That could be a potential setback for Sisi, who sought to portray the vote as a plebiscite on his efforts to overhaul Egypt’s economy over the past years and eliminate terrorism in Egypt.

The vote was also marred by allegations that real contenders for the election withdrew from the race because of an intimidation campaign by the government. Serious opposition contenders halted their campaigns in January while authorities arrested the main challenger whose campaign manager was also beaten up.

Posted by: Fred || 01/02/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [17 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  I can see him remaining. Far more stable and modern than the alternatives as we have all seen.

I have him down as very responsive and a good King overall - being Egypt as is Egypt for now.
Posted by: newc || 01/02/2019 0:33 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Dozens killed in Mali region hit by ethnic violence
[Al Jazeera] Armed men have killed dozens of Fulani herders in central Mali, where ethnic violence cost hundreds of lives last year.

The Malian government said in a statement that attackers dressed as traditional Donzo hunters killed 37 civilians in the village of Koulogon on Tuesday.

"The casualty toll includes several maimed and many burned homes," the statement added.

Violence has increased in central Mali between nomadic Fulani herders and Bambara and Dogon farmers, sparked by accusations of Fulani grazing cattle on Dogon land and disputes over access to land and water.

The United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
recorded more than 500 civilian deaths in the area in 2018.

In June, 24 members of the Fulani community were killed in an attack a UN probe blamed on the Dogon

Several houses were set on fire in Tuesday's attack some 117km from the regional capital, Bankass.

"The attackers were button men wearing traditional donzo clothing," and they struck at around 5am local time, the same as GMT, a security source in Mopti told AFP news agency.

Allaye Yattara, a Fulani herder who said he had witnessed the killings, told AFP: "Our village chief Moussa Diallo was killed in the attack along with old women, (and) a girl, all members of his family."

Karim Keita, a politician and son of Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, condemned what he termed a "criminal act", and added: "Only the investigation will reveal the reasons" for the killings.

Posted by: Fred || 01/02/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Fulani Herdsmen (Boko Haram)


Arabia
Yemen's Houthis deny WFP accusations of stealing aid
[Al Jazeera] 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 ...
rebels have denied accusations by the World Food Programme (WFP) of stealing humanitarian aid in war-torn Yemen.

The News Agency that Dare Not be Named news agency reported on Monday that armed factions on both sides of the conflict are stealing much-needed food aid, diverting it to their fighters or reselling it for profit.

In a statement published on Tuesday, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the so-called "Supreme Revolutionary Committee", said his group was "surprised" by the WFP allegations.

"We were surprised by the statement of the WFP Executive Director, which included threats to stop supplying food for large numbers of needy people in Yemen," read the statement cited by the Houthi-linked al-Masirah website.

He said the WFP "didn't communicate" with the group regarding the alleged theft of aid, adding that "exporting this to the media is considered as a major deviation in the work of the programme".

On Monday, the WFP said it had collected evidence showing Houthi fighters diverted food shipments sent to ease the humanitarian crisis 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...
to areas under their control.

"This conduct amounts to the stealing of food from the mouths of hungry people," WFP Executive Director David Beasley said in a statement.

"At a time when children are dying in Yemen because they haven't enough food to eat, that is an outrage. This criminal behaviour must stop immediately."

Beasley also said that a survey done by the agency showed that aid is only reaching 40 percent of eligible beneficiaries in the rebel-held capital, Sanaa. Only a third are receiving aid in the rebels' northern stronghold of Saada.

"If you don't act within 10 days, WFP will have no choice but to suspend the assistance ... that goes to nearly three million people," the letter said.

'Systematic misuse of food relief'
WFP is currently working to expand food aid operations to nearly 12 million hungry people in Yemen, the statement said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, WFP front man David Orr said the organization was "extremely concerned" by what they had discovered, and that there was an increase in selling food relief in Sanaa's markets.

"What we had been noticing looked like a systematic misuse of food relief," he said, speaking from Rome.

"To date, most of our investigations have been on the Houthi side in the capital Sanaa," he continued. "We've been effectively prevented from carrying out all the monitoring we would like."

"Where abuse and diversion of food aid is taking place, it means that it is not reaching those who desperately need it for survival," he added.
Posted by: Fred || 01/02/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [16 views] Top|| File under: Houthis

#1  "It's not stealing. It's uhh....something else.

An alternative delivery and distribution system"
Posted by: Frank G || 01/02/2019 8:38 Comments || Top||

#2  an alternative delivery and distribution system

Can anyone actually enunciate all those polysyllabic words with a mouthful of qat?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/02/2019 10:44 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
India said to hand Iran $637m tax break for oil import deal
[IsraelTimes] Opting to pay in rupees in light of US sanctions, New Delhi approves agreement worth $1.5 billion that will be used to increase Tehran’s investment in India.

India has reportedly handed Iran a tax break worth hundreds of millions of dollars, effectively green-lighting a crude oil import deal that had thus far been hindered by sweeping US sanctions.

India, one of among eight countries exempted from those sanctions for six months, has moved to pay for the oil in its currency, rupee, since the main banking channels dealing with global currencies are blocked by Washington’s measures.

The $1.5 billion crude oil deal was signed on November 2 between India’s finance ministry and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Rooters reported Monday, citing a government order.

Such a payment to a foreign company operating in India would have normally been subject to a tax of 42.5 percent, or $637.5 million ‐ a deal-breaker for the Iranians ‐ according to the report.

The exemption from that tax was signed by the Indian finance ministry on Friday and is backdated to November 5, the report said.

The payment to NIOC will be in rupees ‐ a currency that can’t be freely traded internationally ‐ and will be used by Tehran to pay for imports from India, invest in Indian businesses and pay expenses of Iranian missions and students in India.

"In the previous round of sanctions Iran was allowed to use funds for imports from India but this time we have expanded the scope for use of funds to benefit both nations," an unnamed Indian government official was quoted by Rooters as saying.

In November, 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...
’s administration reinstated all of Washington’s sanctions on Iran that had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal.

The sanctions were the second batch that the Trump administration has reimposed on the Islamic Theocratic Republic since it withdrew from the nuclear agreement last year.

The rollback ended US participation in the Obama-era accord, which now hangs in the balance as Iran no longer enjoys the billions of dollars in sanctions relief it was granted under the deal in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

Iran is already in the grip of an economic crisis. Its rial currency has plummeted and oil exports have steeply fallen, though India and China have continued to purchase it. Most Europeans, as well as Japan and South Korea, have stopped.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/02/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Pompeo says cooperation with Israel over Syria and Iran to continue
BRASILIA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that the United States would continue to cooperate with Israel over Syria and in countering Iran in the Middle East, even as President Donald Trump plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as he met with Pompeo in the Brazilian capital that he planned to discuss how to intensify intelligence and operations cooperation in Syria and elsewhere to block Iranian "aggression."

In his first public comments on Trump’s decision, Pompeo said it "in no way changes anything that this administration is working on alongside Israel."

"The counter-ISIS campaign continues, our efforts to counter Iranian aggression continue and our commitment to Middle East stability and the protection of Israel continues in the same way it did before that decision was made," he said.

Trump announced last month that he planned to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, declaring that they had succeeded in their mission to defeat Islamic State and were no longer needed in the country.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/02/2019 07:01 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Honduras agrees to advance Jerusalem embassy move, sides say
[IsraelTimes] Joint statement from US, Israel and Honduras indicates Jerusalem and Washington will upgrade ties with Tegucigalpa in exchange for move.

The agreement came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and US Secretary Mike Pompeo on the sidelines of the inauguration of Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia.

The countries "agreed to pursue a plan of action, which includes meetings in their three respective capitals, to advance the process of the decision to open embassies in both Tegucigalpa and Jerusalem," a joint statement from the three countries released by the US State Department read.

Tegucigalpa has reportedly expressed interest in moving the country’s embassy to Jerusalem in exchange for Israel upgrading its consulate in Honduras to an embassy and getting Israeli know-how on cyber security, water and agriculture tech and law enforcement.

According to an Israeli TV report last month, Honduras had also sought upgraded ties with the Trump administration as part of the deal.

The Israeli statement also noted that Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales and Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara Netanyahu had spoken with Hernandez by phone about the embassy issue while she visited Guatemala last month.

Guatemala is the only country aside from the United States with its embassy in Jerusalem, though Brazil’s Bolsonaro has also vowed to move his country’s mission to the Israeli capital, according to Netanyahu. Paraguay briefly moved its embassy, but reversed the decision months later.

Last year, Honduras was one of only eight countries that opposed a UN General Assembly resolution condemning 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...
’s December 2017 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, along with Guatemala, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo.

Netanyahu has made a major push for other countries to follow the US in moving their embassies to Jerusalem, with moderate success. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who said he would consider the issue, said last month that his government would only recognize the western half of the city as Israel’s capital and leave its embassy in Tel Aviv.

Moldova’s president recently said his country would "very seriously consider" moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, according to Jewish interlocutors who met with him.

Countries who have expressed interest in moving embassies have been met with denunciations by Arab and Moslem leaders and threats to downgrade
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/02/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Check cleared?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/02/2019 6:38 Comments || Top||

#2  The Art of the Deal.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/02/2019 9:30 Comments || Top||


Palestine won’t let US sell occupied al-Quds to Israel: Abbas
[PRESSTV] President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
says Paleostine will never allow the United States to sell Jerusalem al-Quds to Israel, reiterating that the occupied city will remain the eternal capital of the state of Paleostine.
Once it’s been conquered, it no longer needs to be purchased...
Jerusalem al-Quds "is not for sale," Abbas said in a speech marking the 54th anniversary of the Fatah party’s founding in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday.

"We will not allow anyone to advance a plot against Jerusalem (al-Quds)," he noted, stressing that the city "will remain the eternal capital of the Paleostinian state, as the late President Yasser Arafat said that a Paleostinian child will raise the flag of Paleostine on the walls, minarets and churches of Jerusalem (al-Quds)."
But as the Reader will have noticed, being late, former PLO president Yasser Arafat is no longer able to enforce his predictions.
Posted by: Fred || 01/02/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  I don't recall the US ever desiring to own it or sell it.
Seriously. It's a poorly maintained old building in a bad neighborhood. It's a urban renewal site if anything. We have enough of those in our own cities.
You know.... a money pit.
The best thing to do with old money pits is tear them down.
Posted by: 3dc || 01/02/2019 1:07 Comments || Top||

#2  The US way of dealing with money pits in a bad neighborhood
Posted by: 3dc || 01/02/2019 1:11 Comments || Top||


New IDF battalion to act as first line of defense against Hezbollah invasion
[IsraelTimes] Military forms new reservist unit to counter Iran-backed group’s plans to conquer Galilee region in future war.

The Israeli military has formed a new reserves battalion to act as the first line of defense against the Hezbollah terror group by protecting the communities along the northern border with Leb, the army announced Monday.

Dubbed "Gates of Fire," or Shaare Ha’esh, the battalion was created as part of the Israel Defense Forces’ efforts to confront the powerful Iran-backed terrorist militia. Last month, the army also launched an engineering operation, Northern Shield, to find and destroy Hezbollah cross-border attack tunnels.

The new battalion is aimed at countering the Shiite terror group’s plans to conquer parts of Israel’s Galilee panhandle and the communities inside it in a future conflict. It will serve under the brigade that guards the region, the Baram Brigade.

The unit is made up of reservists freshly released from the Golani Infantry Brigade’s Reconnaissance Battalion. The most veteran members of the battalion left the army in 2015.

"The creation of the battalion represents an important turning point in the defensive array along the northern border of the State of Israel," Col. Roi Levi, commander of the Baram Brigade, told soldiers during the formation ceremony for the unit.

According to Levi, the Gates of Fire Battalion serves a dual purpose: It is first tasked with defending the communities and military posts closest to the border. Once those sites are secured, the unit is then meant to go on the offensive and attack Hezbollah inside Leb.

"Not without reason is the battalion called ’Gates of Fire.’ After we block the enemy’s attack plan, the stage will come for us to attack and to decisively defeat the [Hezbollah] organization in its own territory," Levi said.

The IDF believes the Lebanese terror group will seek to conquer swaths of northern Israel as the opening maneuver of a future war, citing Hezbollah’s own propaganda and threats as evidence. Under the plan, hundreds of Hezbollah fighters would infiltrate into northern Israel through subterranean tunnels, while many more would swarm across the border above ground, and the surrounding area would be bombarded to prevent the Israeli military from sending in reinforcements to liberate it.

Military officials have indicated that the tunnels discovered by the IDF along the Lebanese border last month were a central aspect of Hezbollah’s plans for a surprise attack and that their destruction represented a significant setback for the terror group, potentially putting off a confrontation with Israel by several years.

On Monday, Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Tamir Hyman said the operation to locate and destroy the tunnels was only one part of the IDF’s overall effort to foil Hezbollah’s attack plans.

He said the military was also working to counter the Iranian-back group’s arsenal of over 100,000 rockets and missiles, which it is reportedly looking to upgrade to precision-guided munitions.

The foundation of the Gates of Fire Battalion was mocked in Leb.

"We thank God that we live in a time when our enemy is forming defensive battalions because of the force of our resistance, after we were in a time when the enemy was able to conquer our capital with just a marching band," Ali Shoeib, a journalist for a Hezbollah-affiliated news outlet, wrote on Twitter in Hebrew and Arabic.

The newly formed battalion has already held its first exercise. Lasting about five days, the drill focused on conquering Hezbollah positions, night-time fighting and urban combat, the army said.

"It is clear that whatever we don’t plan and don’t train for won’t happen in reality. I believe that through hard work and faith in the justness of our moral path we will become a wrought iron fist, prepared for war," said the battalion’s commander, Lt. Col. (res.) Noam Aharon.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/02/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  The foundation of the Gates of Fire Battalion was mocked in Lebanon.

Those in Lebanon who mock should read Sun Tzu, The Art of War. They'd also best read recent Israeli history of war as well. But then forget the reading and continue to mock.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/02/2019 9:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Interesting new unit shows the fundamental difference between a regional power, like Israel, and a global power, like the US, in their military forces. The Israelis have one area they going to fight in and have decided to specialize in wringing every advantage in fine-tuning for conflict there. The USA plans on fighting everywhere so are units are more ... generic.
Posted by: magpie || 01/02/2019 12:46 Comments || Top||


Only way for Palestinians to gain own rights is resistance: Rouhani
[PRESSTV] Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has described resistance against the Israeli regime as the only way for the Paleostinian nation to obtain its own rights, stressing that all Moslems must support the Paleostinians’ right of return and establishment of an independent Paleostinian state with Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

In a meeting with Secretary General of the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
resistance movement Ziad al-Nakhala
.... born in Gaza in 1953, the longtime Paleostinian Islamic Jhad Number Two was called back from the organization’s base in Damascus in 2018 to take over the top spot until bossman Ramadan Shalah recovers from a coma...
in Tehran on Tuesday evening, Rouhani said Iran has been a staunch supporter of the Paleostinian nation ever since the Iranian revolution of 1979, led by late Imam Khomeini.

He then praised the Paleostinian nation’s 70-year-long steadfastness in the face of Zionists’ expropriation, injustice and occupation, stating that their struggle should continue until the Tel Aviv regime acknowledges their rights.

"The Zionist regime (of Israel), thanks to support from the new rulers of the White House, is seeking to assert control over the entire (Middle East) region; and Paleostine is a part of such a complex plot," the Iranian president noted.

Nakhala, for his part, briefed the Iranian president on the latest developments in the occupied Paleostinian lands, and the capabilities of Paleostinian resistance groups.

"Undoubtedly, the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran’s support and principled policies have played a major role in thwarting attempts aimed at stripping the Paleostinian nation of their rights," he pointed out.

Nakhala also highlighted that the Paleostinian nation, irrespective of ongoing pressures and threats, will continue its resistance against the Israeli regime until all its rights are recognized.

Posted by: Fred || 01/02/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US will continue to work with Israel over Syria and Iran: Pompeo
[PRESSTV] US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that Washington will continue to work closely with Israel over Syria and Iran, despite 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...
’s announcement of withdrawing American troops from Syria.

Pompeo made the remarks as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Brazilian capital Brasilia on Tuesday.

The top US diplomat said President Trump’s announcement of pulling out troops from Syria "in no way changes anything that this administration is working on alongside Israel."

"The counter-ISIS (ISIS) campaign continues, our efforts to counter Iranian aggression continue and our commitment to Middle East stability and the protection of Israel continues in the same way it did before that decision was made," he said.

Trump announced his decision to withdraw the US troops from Syria on December 19, saying that ISIS had been defeated. The next day Trump proclaimed that US troops cannot stay in Syria "forever."

Several senators on both sides of the aisle have accused Trump of making a hasty decision, with one administration official saying "the President's decision-by-tweet will recklessly put American and allied lives in danger around the world."

But several others, like Republican Senator Rand Paul and former congressman Dr. Ron Paul, have defended Trump's decision to withdraw the American troops in Syria, with Dr. Paul saying that the United States needs to "have a clean cut" with military involvement in the Middle East.

Posted by: Fred || 01/02/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies



Who's in the News
26[untagged]
6Commies
6Islamic State
2Hezbollah
2Govt of Iran
2Taliban
1Thai Insurgency
1Govt of Iran Proxies
1Govt of Sudan
1Arab Spring
1Houthis
1al-Shabaab (AQ)
1Moslem Colonists
1Narcos
1Palestinian Authority
1Sublime Porte
1Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life,
1Baloch Liberation Army
1Fulani Herdsmen (Boko Haram)

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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2019-01-02
  Sisi supporters try to amend Egypt's constitution to let him remain in power
Tue 2019-01-01
  Iraqi warplanes hit strategic Daesh position in eastern Syria, kills 30 commanders
Mon 2018-12-31
  2 killed, dozens wounded in bombing near Philippines mall
Sun 2018-12-30
  Morocco arrests Swiss-Spaniard over beheaded tourists
Sat 2018-12-29
  Death toll in IED attack on Vietnamese tourists bus in Giza, Egypt rises to four; 10 injured
Fri 2018-12-28
  Arab Israeli who glided into Syria to join Islamic State jailed for 3.5 years
Thu 2018-12-27
  Israel announces it has found and destroyed another Hezbollah tunnel
Wed 2018-12-26
  Nigerian army says 14 personnel killed in Boko Haram ambush
Tue 2018-12-25
  Daesh’s second-in-command killed in eastern Syria: report
Mon 2018-12-24
  Libya complains about weapons cargo from Turkey, new investigation launched
Sun 2018-12-23
  Somalia blast kills at least 16 near presidential palace
Sat 2018-12-22
  Nine new arrests in Morocco over murder of Scandinavian hikers
Fri 2018-12-21
  ISIS Blamed for Murder of Scandinavian Women on Camera in Morocco
Thu 2018-12-20
  Yemen's warring sides accuse each other of violating ceasefire
Wed 2018-12-19
  Jihadist Migrant Plotted to Bomb Vatican, Italian Churches at Christmas


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