[RT] Human rights activists including Noam Chomsky ...intellectual and political theorist of a socialist persuasion. He is noted for being so far out in left field he can't see the shortstop on every issue he pushes... , John Pilger and Pamela Anderson have published an open letter demanding that the Ecuadorian government restore Julian Assange’s freedom of speech.
The WikiLeaks editor is living in virtual isolation within London’s Ecuadorian embassy after authorities at the State Office scrambled his internet connection. The decision was taken due to Assange’s critical remarks on social media regarding Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont’s arrest.
It’s understood that Assange will not be allowed to see visitors, after the Ecuadorian government said his recent actions had threatened good relations with nations like the UK and Spain.
A host of famous names have now come out in support of the WikiLeaks co-founder, and demanded that the Ecuadorian government reverse their decision to cut his internet access.
"We call on the government of Ecuador to allow Julian Assange his right of freedom of speech," the letter reads.
"[U]nder extreme pressure from Washington and its collaborators, another government in Ecuador justifies its gagging of Assange."
It adds: "This censorious attack on free speech is not happening in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of 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... or China; it is right in the heart of London. If the Ecuadorian government does not cease its unworthy action, it, too will become an agent of persecution rather than the valiant nation.
"If there is no freedom of speech for Julian Assange, there is no freedom of speech for any of us ‐ regardless of the disparate opinions we hold."
Signatories of the letter including academic Noam Chomsky, musician Brian Eno, journalist John Pilger, and filmmaker Oliver Stone. Actress and animal rights activist Pamela Anderson has also endorsed the open letter, along with British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
#1
The WikiLeaks editor is living in virtual isolation within London’s Ecuadorian embassy after authorities at the State Office scrambled his internet connection.
Took long enough, but the Ecuadorians finally figured out that Ben Franklin was right about fish and guests. I would also not be surprised if Other Countries besides the UK and Spain were quietly letting them know that things have changed a little, and maybe it wouldn't be a good idea for Assange to be allowed to do whatever he wants.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/02/2018 6:37 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Hell, people (subjects) in the UK don't have freedom of speech guaranteed so why would some "guest" in a foreign embassy have it?
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Pakistain’s minister of interior affairs Ahsan Iqbal has expressed concerns regarding the persistent issues the country is facing on political level as he has warned that Afghanistan could overtake the country in terms of development if immediate steps are not taken to resolve the issues.
In his speech during a ceremony regarding CPEC, Iqbal said "If political stability is not ensured and people’s mandate not respected, all such initiatives could go down the drain. Even Afghanistan will move ahead of Pakistain in development if these crucial areas are ignored anymore," according to Dawn News.
He also pointed out the other issues the country was facing before including the menace but added that the PML-N had identified the major gaps in infrastructural development and energy crisis.
Iqbal also added that Afghanistan had major development on political level during the recent years as he also criticized the media agencies for remaining reckless to share a positive image regarding the efforts for the economic development.
"In the war-torn Afghanistan, Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ...One of the more egregious mistakes of the post 9-11 era... completed his term. Now 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. .. is set to complete his tenure. I fear even Afghanistan will overtake Pakistain in economic terms in the near future," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been re-elected with 97 percent of votes, the same proportion that the former military commander secured four years ago for his first term, official results showed on Monday.
However, turnout was lower at 41 percent, despite efforts to get as many Egyptians as possible to polling stations during last week's vote. Sisi had been virtually guaranteed a landslide win, confirmed by early tallies as voting ended on Wednesday.
[Dhaka Tribune] Describing arson attacks by the BNP-Jamaat clique in the recent past as terrorist acts, Prime Minister the loathesome Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums.. said on Saturday that she does not want to see their recurrence in the country anymore.
"These are absolutely terrorist acts. We don’t want such terrorist acts to occur again... We want peace in the country," she told a rally at Chandpur Stadium, organized by local units of her party.
Hasina said Awami League wants development of the country, not the nightmare of killings. "We want to make sure people of the country will live in a peaceful environment.
"Destruction is the character of BNP-Jamaat nexus."
Turning to the "embezzlement" of money from the Zia Orphanage Trust and punishment of BNP Chairperson the loathesome Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... , she alleged that it is the character of BNP to loot other people’s money.
"They’re involved in money laundering, terrorism, militancy and bombing attacks. Their characters have been unmasked through these evil activities," she said.
Hasina, also the president of Awami League, said BNP never believed in the country’s independence as they had "rewarded" the killers of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and handed over the national flag to war criminals.
"They never believed in development of the country, they were never involved in development and will never be in the future."
She said: "Stay careful with our children. They must not be involved in terrorism, militancy and drug addiction. Our children will be there on the path of development and education," she said.
The prime ministes reiterated that the special quota for freedom fighters, their children and grandchildren will continue.
"You have to remember one thing ‐ these freedom fighters brought independence to us through a war by risking their lives. Many of them made the supreme sacrifice and many embraced disability. I think it’s our duty to show respect to them and their families. That’s why we’ve made the arrangement," she said.
Expressing her desire to see the country in a dignified position by 2021, where there will be no hunger and poverty, she said the continuation of development has to be ensured to make it happen.
"Boat [Awami League’s electoral symbol] is actually your election symbol. To help maintain the development spree, I want you to vote for Boat [in the upcoming general election]," she urged people.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Kader, Chandpur district unit president and municipality mayor Nasir Uddin Ahmed, and the party’s big shots Dr Dipu Moni, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Dr Abdur Razzaq, Maj (retd) Rafiqul Islam, Dr Mahiuddin Khan Alamgir and Sujit Roy Nandi also spoke at the event.
Upon arrival at the venue, Hasina inaugurated 23 development projects and laid the foundation plaques of 24 other schemes.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
[DW] A thousand Ottoman Turkish diplomats and civil servants are among the 15,654 people who have sought asylum in Germany since the failed coup in 2016. The figures exclude runawayOttoman Turkish soldiers.
Germany's Federal Agency for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) disclosed Sunday that 288 holders of Ottoman Turkish diplomatic passports and 771 Ottoman Turkish "green" (civil service) passports had sought asylum in Germany from 2016 until early March 2018.
The count included the applicants' children, said the Nuremburg-based BAMF, adding that its tally did not include asylum-seeking Ottoman Turkish soldiers.
On the back of the July 2016 attempt, Ottoman Turkish 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... suspended or fired around 150,000 civil servants, and tossed in the slammer You have the right to remain silent... some 50,000 people, claiming that a one-time ally, US-resident preacher Fethulah Gulen, was behind the failed coup.
Ankara has also called for Europe ...also known as Moslem Lebensraum... to send back Ottoman Turkish asylum-seekers allegedly aligned with Kurdish krazed killers.
Asylum grants rise
Updating its tally to 15,654 for all Turks who had sought asylum in Germany since 2016, BAMF said some 8,500 did so last year and 5,700 in 2016. More than 1,400 people had applied up to the end of February this year, the agency added.
The number of applications approved rose during 2017 from eight to 28 percent, and so far in 2018 climbed to 42 percent of those applying to stay in Germany, BAMF said.
Discreet assistance across Germany
Two German-Ottoman Turkish journalists, Huseyin Topel and Fatih Akturk, said asylum applicants were assisted across Germany by a diverse network of individuals, of both German and Ottoman Turkish origin.
Despite The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... 's recent release of Die Welt correspondent Deniz Yucel, a political sea-change inside Turkey was not evident, Topel and Akturk remarked.
"Whoever comments critically about the [Ottoman Turkish] government or government members is branded as a national traitor," said Topel.
Reporting concerns
A runawayOttoman Turkish lawyer, who reportedly spent six months in Ottoman Turkish custody, was identified by DPA as 43-year-old Murat T. He described how he and his wife sought help only within Germany via trusted intermediaries: "We avoid the Ottoman Turkish community, which has long lived here [in Germany]. Otherwise, we cannot be sure to avoid someone betraying us to the [Ottoman Turkish] government," said Murat.
The lawyer expressed concern in relation to some of Germany's 3 million Ottoman Turkish residents who he suggested were manipulated by the Ottoman Turkish media: "They seem to believe Erdogan's every word."
Another exiled Turk, a businesswoman identified only as 40-year-old Selina, told DPA that "mistrust is a condition that we have had to live with over the past two years."
"We were spied upon, lost good old friends, and were denounced as alleged Gulen supporters," she added.
Christian helpers
A third asylum-seeker, identified as Canan A., a teacher, told DPA that practical assistance, such as for recognition of his academic qualification, was provided via Christian church circles.
"I've been helped a lot by the Diakonie," Canan said, referring to the nationwide social welfare network run by Germany's Protestant churches.
Canan said he and his wife wanted to stay and contribute their talents in Germany.
Democracy in Turkey had been "shredded," its opposition intimidated and the country also faced economic ruin, Canan told DPA.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/02/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[IsraelTimes] With direct flights between Tehran and Belgrade resuming after 27 years, up to 600 Iranians could soon be arriving in Serbia every week.
Until six months ago, the Lovimi family from Iran had never heard of Serbia. But here they are, currently in Belgrade, after arriving without visas last August, waiting to continue on to Germany, where they plan to build a new and better life in the future.
The family of four comes from the town of Ahvaz in the province of Khuzestan in Iran’s south west, where the majority of the population is Arab. They complain that, as Arabs, they have few rights in Iran, their children are forced to learn Farsi and not Arabic in school, and they are treated as second-class citizens, with little hope of finding a job.
Continued on Page 49
#1
While the numbers cannot be compared with hundreds of thousands who passed through Serbia in 2015 and 2016, EU officials are nevertheless concerned. Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said recently that the EU and Germany were already asking why the country had abolished the visa regime.
"Hey, you guys bombed us to save Muslims, so how can you object when we send 'em on through to you? Enjoy the world you made."
[JPOST] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... 's 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... on Sunday after a war of words over Israel's actions on the Gazoo border, saying the Ottoman Turkish leader is in no position to be teaching Israel about morality.
"Erdogan is not used to being talked back to. He should start getting accustomed to it. Whoever occupies North Cyprus, invades the Kurdish belt and butchers civilians in Afrin should not preach to us about values and morality," said Netanyahu.
Earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu issued a sharp response to his Ottoman Turkish counterpart's comments, saying his description of the IDF as "inhumane" must be the way they celebrate April Fool's Day in Turkey.
"The most moral army in the world," Netanyahu said of the IDF, "will not be preached to from someone who for years has indiscriminately bombed civilian populations. Apparently this is the way they mark April Fool's Day in Ankara."
Erdogan, who has turned strident anti-Israel comments into one of the trademarks of his rule, replied on Sunday by calling Israel a "terrorist state and occupier," and Netanyahu a "terrorist."
According to Turkey's Daily Sabah, Erdogan ‐ speaking at a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party in the southern Adana province -- said, "I do not need to tell the world how cruel the Israeli army is. We can see what this terror state is doing by looking at the situation in Gazoo and Jerusalem."
Israel, he said, "has carried out a massacre in Gazoo, and Netanyahu is a terrorist."
Netanyahu's "April Fool's" remark was triggered by remarks Erdogan made on Saturday, during a speech in Istanbul.
"I strongly condemn the Israeli government over its inhumane attack," Erdogan said of Friday’s incidents along the Gazoo border. "Have you heard any noteworthy objections to the massacre by Israel that happened yesterday in Gazoo from those who criticize the Afrin operation? This is the biggest proof of insincerity of those who fixate on us but say nothing about Israel using heavy weapons to attack people who are protesting on their own lands."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
A bit off topic yet on topic since both parties are referencing the Turk invasion of Syria:
Even though President Trump has said he is freezing $200 million in Syrian reconstruction, French troops and US Special Forces reinforcements are coming into Manbij and occupying the front line opposite Turk troop formations.
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) ‐ The Iraqi Health Ministry said on Sunday that it handed over bodies of 38 Indian workers, who were killed by Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) forces of Evil in djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , to the Indian Embassy in Iraq to be flown home later Sunday, according to Sputnik News.
Indian Ambassador to Iraq Pradeep Singh Rajpurohit said the bodies had been taken to Baghdad International Airport and would be flown back on a military flight, arriving in India on Monday.
Indian Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh had arrived here earlier in the day to bring back home remains of the 38 Indian workers, who were found buried in a mound of earth near Badush, a village northwest of Mosul, on March 20.
"I am going to Mosul to get mortal remains of 38 Indians," XNews TV channel quoted Singh as saying, adding that the body of another dead worker will not be reclaimed now as "his case is pending."
Singh stressed that the Indian government will hand over "coffins (of slain workers) to the family members with evidence so that they have no doubts about it." He also offered condolences to the families of the dear departed.
The Indian Express reported in June 2016, quoting Kurdish officials, that there was no sign of the 39 Indian workers in Iraq.
Last year, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj firmly said that she would not declare the 39 Indian workers, who were kidnapped by Islamic State (IS) forces of Evil in Mosul city three years ago, dead without concrete proof or evidence.
The kidnapped workers, mostly from northern India, had been found buried in a mound of earth near Badush, a village northwest of Mosul, on March 20.
They were employed by a construction company near Mosul when forces of Evil overran the Iraqi city and seized wide swaths of territory in 2014.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/02/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
[RT] The deaths during the 'Great Return' protest are the fault of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, says the Israeli Prime Minister's media front man. According to him, Israel was only defending from an "onslaught" of Paleostinians trying to cross the border.
Speaking to RT, David Keyes, Benjamin Netanyahu's foreign media spokesperson, said the 'Great Return' protests staged by Paleostinians along the security border fence separating the enclave from the Israeli-held territory are the "opposite of peaceful protests."
"The aim of this event is to swarm into Israel and overwhelm it, and it's a part of a long track record by Hamas of waging war against Israel, launching tens of thousands of missiles, conducting suicide kabooms against cafes, against civilians and in buses," Keys charged. He went on to argue that Israel essentially bears no responsibility for the deaths of 17 people and the injuries of hundreds more during the Friday festivities, as it only fought back against Hamas, which has been de facto in control of the Gazoo Strip.
Hamas is, consequently, the one with the ability to rein in the violence, by demanding that its supporters stay clear of the border fence, Keys argued.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Hamas: "Where's the fun in that?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/02/2018 11:46 Comments ||
Top||
[ALMASDARNEWS] It has become apparent that the Syrian Army intends to launch a major offensive against besieged rebel forces in the eastern Qalamoun mountains.
Moments ago, reports came through stating that the Syrian Army had, on Sunday, sent negotiation delegations to the murderous Moslem-controlled towns of Ar-Rahiybeh, An-Nassiryah, al-Atneh, Jaiyroud and al-Mansourah in eastern Qalamoun.
Three options were offered to rebel authorities:
Reconcile with the Syrian government;
Accept evacuation to areas of northern or southern Syria (choice given) under the control of allied murderous Moslem groups; or
Do neither and face a battle that they are guaranteed to not win.
According to al-Masdar News journalist Ibrahim Joudeh, the rebels are unlikely not to surrender given how they have virtually zero chance of surviving an attack by Syrian government forces.
Finally, reports state that Russian warplanes are to participate in the Syrian Army offensive; they have already conducted Arclight airstrikes against rebels forces in the eastern Qalamoun mountains before.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...intellectual and political theorist of a socialist persuasion. He is noted for being so far out in left field he can't see the shortstop on every issue he pushes...
...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. ..
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as 
... 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...
...also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) ‐ The Iraqi Health Ministry said on Sunday that it handed over bodies of 38 Indian workers, who were killed by 
