Posted by: Frank G ||
01/30/2022
13:48 ||
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Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
[Epoch Times] The two sets of historic doors that lead into the Rotunda were opened by someone on the inside, and not his client, says defense attorney Jonathon Moseley.
Department of Justice video widely circulated on Twitter this week shows a man trying to open the inner doors by leaning against them, before turning around as if listening to someone, then returning to the entrance and opening the left door for protesters.
"The outer doors cast from solid bronze would require a bazooka, an artillery shell or C4 military-grade explosives to breach," Moseley wrote in a letter to federal prosecutors. "That of course did not happen. You would sooner break into a bank vault than to break the bronze outer Columbus Doors."
The 20,000-pound Columbus Doors that lead into the Rotunda on the east side of the U.S. Capitol are secured by magnetic locks that can only be opened from the inside using a security code controlled by Capitol Police, Moseley wrote in an eight-page memo.
The doors are 17 feet high and weigh 20,000 pounds, according to the Architect of the Capitol. Once opened, the giant doors retract into pockets in the walls via built-in tracks.
Moseley said he and an assistant took a tour of the Capitol on Jan. 22, along with other attorneys and investigators. The U.S. Capitol Police officers on duty were emphatic, he said, that the doors could not be opened from the outside.
"These are facts that in the supposedly largest nationwide investigation in the history of the U.S. since the kidnapping of the Charles Lindbergh baby or the search for Al Capone could easily have been investigated, check(ed), and determined before the U.S. Attorney’s Office presented false information to the grand jury," Moseley wrote.
"For these purposes, I don’t care who opened the Columbus Doors from the inside, or why, or who they worked for. History will reveal all of that," Moseley wrote. "History will care very much. But all I care about is that it wasn’t my client or any of these defendants, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office knows that or should have discovered it upon reasonable investigation."
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/30/2022
12:19 ||
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#1
"History will care very much"
Only if the truth comes out. Heads should roll @ Dems, Capitol Police, FBI, and DOJ
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/30/2022 13:44
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#2
Presumably they opened the doors because they were historic and they did not want them damaged...
[AT] Arguably the USSR crumbled because everybody was lying to everybody else, so that nothing could be believed, including (especially) economic transactions.
With the Biden Administration, the US has entered this same territory. Anyone paying attention can see that the occupant of the White House lapses into dementia on a regular and accelerating basis. In moments of crisis, he is quietly sent out to have some ice cream and go shopping while the hidden hands that make the real decisions (and make them badly) take over.
The propaganda efforts, a joint project of the media and the progressives in control of the Biden administration, no longer even attempt a veneer of plausibility, contradicting the everyday direct experiences of Americans:
... the USDA claims: "2021 retail food price inflation continued at same pace as 2020...."
Our media are now owned by half a dozen transnationals, with the practical effect that they all collude in their "narratives," leaving us surrounded by lies. This is not just a moral and ethical challenge, but it's also immensely impractical for a fairly free market, which freezes when info is centralized. The media owners and colluders have all the info, the free market has very little.
In the Brezhnev years the magic evaporated, and the children of the nomenklatura started to laugh at their parents. Credibility crumbled, and that undermined everything. The Five-Year Plans were ridiculous, but now ordinary people started to laugh and sneer.
I think that was one key to the end of the Soviet Union.
If we can take that lesson, we are headed that way MAINLY because the "Organs of Propaganda" are now largely controlled. That is the key to our current battle.
The free media are emerging, like Samizdat emerged in the USSR. The hope (not certainty) is that our new Samizdat will penetrate and then flip the Organs of Propaganda. Google may demonetize conservative websites, but alternative advertising exchanges develop. YouTube may censor content, but Rumble emerges as a rapidly-growing alternative. Trump’s new social media venture, headed by Devin Nunes, a brilliant and tenacious seeker of the truth, awaits its debut.
I believe the radical left/crony billionaire class knows this. They certainly act as if they know it.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/30/2022
11:15 ||
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#1
In the Brezhnev years the magic evaporated.... Credibility crumbled, and that undermined everything. The Five-Year Plans were ridiculous, but now ordinary people started to laugh and sneer.
Brandon = American Brezhnev
NYT-CNN-WAPO etc = American Pravda
Deep State = American KGB
USSA = American USSR
#3
Unfortunately there are still many who believe the BS that is spooned up for them by the MSM. Fortunately, there are the internet alternative news sources and a growing alternative social media that does't try to control the narrative via censorship such as is done by Big Tech oligarchs.
[Aljazeera] France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has accused Russian private military contractor Wagner Group of plundering Mali’s resources amid heightened tensions between Paris and the country’s military government in recent weeks, including over the fate of European forces deployed in the region to fight armed groups.
The US army last week estimated hundreds of Wagner personnel were in the Sahel state, but the country’s ruling army has denied this.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated sharply since Mali’s army led by Colonel Assimi Goita staged a coup in August 2020.
Former colonial power France has thousands of troops deployed in the Sahel state, which has been struggling to contain a rebellion that first emerged in 2012.
The Wagner mercenaries are "former Russian soldiers, armed by Russia and accompanied by Russian logistics", Le Drian said.
"They are already at the moment helping themselves to the country’s resources in exchange for protecting the junta. They are despoiling Mali," he told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper in remarks published on Sunday.
The United Nations, France and local groups say the Wagner Group is also present in the Central African Republic.
"Wagner uses the weakness of certain states to implant itself... to reinforce Russia’s influence in Africa," Le Drian added, though he said it did not seek to replace the Europeans in the region.
#1
"This is our country to despoil! How dare you encroach on our turf!"
Say, did you know the French franc still exists? Yup! But only in Africa. France takes the proceeds from several African countries and sells it back to them using French money. One of the "rules" of the currency is that the central banks of all of the nations involved have to keep at least 50% of their foreign assets in the French Treasury. It makes them dependent on France and unable to get away and pursue policies that are in their own interests. What a scam! No wonder France is getting snippy about outsiders, they might take this hugely profitable grift away!
#2
Given the robber baron approach of so many who overthrow African governments, keeping a portion of the treasury in French hands increases the possibility that at least some of the nation’s wealth will be used for the benefit of the citizenry.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/30/2022 19:07
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#5
It's not used for the benefit of the citizenry. It's used for the benefit of France. Why do you think they defend their possessions so fiercely? France would go broke without robbing Africa.
[MAIL] Video has emerged of the terrifying moment a large cargo jet skid off the runway and crashed into cargo bins at Chicago's O'Hare Airport as a storm began pummeling the Northeast and New England, grounding thousands of flights and creating extreme hazards for road travel.
The shocking video, captured by CCTV at the O'Hare Airport on Saturday, shows the China Airlines Cargo 747 sliding on the snow covered ground as it loses control and swerves into cargo on the runway.
One of the cargo bins can be seen getting sucked into the left engine. It's immediately shredded into pieces and damages the engine, which erupts into smoke.
The plane is shaken by the crash and finally comes to a halt.
The Chicago Fire Department responded to the scene, and no injuries were reported.
On Saturday morning, snow was falling furiously at a rate of one to two inches per hour in New York City, which was saw eight inches, with up to 18 inches expected on the eastern end of Long Island.
#1
Saw the video and while I don’t agree with the term ‘skidding,’ I would say that the heavy snowfall likely caused the crew to become disoriented and took a couple of wrong turns, as confirmed by ground track radar.
The vision of those bins getting sucked into and through the engines was pretty wild. Amazing no one was hurt by all that shrapnel.
#3
#2 Covid home test kits need to be kept above freezing. Are they transported In heated holds? Are they being stored in heated warehouses?
Posted by: trailing wife 2022-01-30 09:52
Ma'am,
My understanding is that dedicated cargo aircraft (which I understand this one to be) have heated and non heated holds. In theory, the ground crews on the starting end should have known where to put what...though I'm not hopeful.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/30/2022 11:23
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#4
CCP made test kits made in CCP LAB's in towns the CCP will not even provide real C-19 infection data?
Will the test kits be QA/QC by a trusted collection independent US LAB's? To make sure the CCP only Mmade them to test for c-19 and nothing eles.
[American Thinker] If ever there were a face of innocence to haunt us as a victim of unthinkably cruel violence, it would be the beautiful and sweet visage of Melissa Ortega.
According to a GoFundMe page, Melissa and her mother — both from Mexico — arrived in Chicago in August. In Wednesday's statement, her mother said that the family had been "filled with dreams" about their move to the United States.
"We imagined a better life here. We came in search of the American Dream we so famously hear of but instead I get to live a nightmare for the rest of my life," she said.
[Washington Examiner] New Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said in a legal opinion that public universities in the commonwealth could not mandate that students receive coronavirus vaccines or booster shots in order to attend in-person classes.
Miyares, who took office earlier this month, issued the memo Wednesday at the request of Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who campaigned on ending mask and vaccine mandates.
"Although the General Assembly specifically authorized public institutions of higher education to assist the Department of Health and local health departments in the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine, the legislation did not grant such institutions power to impose vaccine requirements," Miyares wrote.
The opinion cited a Virginia law that specifically states against what diseases students at public universities must be vaccinated. Miyares said that because of the clarity of the statute, it was unlawful to require COVID-19 vaccinations because of its absence in the statute.
"’[T]here is no question that the General Assembly could enact a statute requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for in-person school attendance,’" Miyares wrote. "As of this writing, it has not done so."
#1
If they've mandated it then give them no immunity for the negative consequences some student suffers. Suddenly if their livelihood and pensions are placed in jeopardy, it'll be a wake up call. Put consequences into their life and they're pay attention.
Monte Vista has about 900 students and fewer than 500 boys. Myocarditis is a severe illness that can cause death and that usually results in long-term damage to the heart.
It is not "mild." It is not a "rare" adverse effect of the mRNA gene therapy "vaccines."
The FDA and CDC have again and again fudged their numbers, conflated different groups in the denominators, tried to suppress the Pfizer trial data and tried to squelch or even doctor the appalling evidence of horrific adverse effects based on the 3 million person DoD evidence that showed a 3x to 11x increase in cancer, mulyocarxitis, other heart damage, pulmonary and neurological damage, increased female infertility etc etc.
#1
Oh great. Now we're going to have to start *another* war to stop this. Remember: Europe is our client state, nobody must be allowed to supply them with energy except us.
Justin Trudeau and his family have left their Ottawa home amid security concerns as demonstrators marched up and down the streets in front the Prime Minister's office to rally against the vaccine mandate
Days earlier, he had called the truckers headed for the city a 'small fringe minority' before the convoy of hundreds of vehicles grew up to 45 miles long as it made its way to the capital .
Protestors could be seen carrying copies of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, while others carried signs reading 'God keep our land glorious and free,' 'Make Canada great again,' and 'we are here for our freedom'
The convoy set out from British Columbia on Sunday and was cheered by hundreds of Canadians as it made its 2,000-mile journey to protest vaccine mandates
Posted by: Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843 ||
01/30/2022 10:12
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#6
The media's lack of coverage is quite telling, the threat of such an event in the US would be catastrophic for the rapidly fragmenting Potemkin Administration.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/30/2022
06:57 ||
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#1
Do you mean to tell me, over the course of 50 years (yes, a half-century) there were maintenance funds made available for this structure and it somehow got spent on something else ?
#2
Bike Lane Billy Peduto. They voted for him. First as a city councilman, then as mayor. Got it good and hard. But they are probably proud there that the malfeasance and misfeasance turned into a photo op for their beloved Joe.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/30/2022 7:46
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#3
That photo is a perfect emblem for the Biden Admin's effect on this country
#4
^ This problem was brewing a long time. All blue states have only one long term plan for their misspending - to have the rest of the country bail them out.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/30/2022 8:00
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#5
Still "just saying" ☺.
Isn't interesting how well-timed, that Biden just "happen" to be in the same town where he is pushing a $1.# Trillion infrastructure bill and have Bridge collapse like on cue as an example.
What happened to the recent 2017 $$$$ and other Infrastructure bills passed over the years.
Eg. Like the one that was passed soon after the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed over the Mississippi River (Minneapolis) that killed over 140+ persons.
Were the congressional rules so lax and it became a slush fund used for pet projects like bike lanes instead of bridges for votes?
BTW: The NTSB has officially stated in the past, almost 1 in 10 U.S. Bridges are Structurally Deficient. Where is the $$$$$ going?
#8
Of course the Governor is blaming Republicans.
"Shame on the Republican lawmakers who didn't support the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Pennsylvanian lives are on the line. It's long past time for the political games to come to an end."
He doesn't know or care that the infrastructure bill passed and that the funds to fix the bridge were usurped.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/30/2022 20:09
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[FoxBusinessNews] The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday voted to revoke the authorization for China Unicom's U.S. unit to operate in the United States, citing national security concerns.
The 4-0 vote to revoke the authority that had been granted in 2002 is the latest move by the American regulator to bar Chinese telecommunications carriers from the United States because of national security concerns.
The order requires China Unicom Americas to end domestic interstate and international telecommunications services in the United States within 60 days of the order's publication.
The Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
The FCC said China Unicom Americas is ultimately owned and controlled by the Chinese government and provides mobile virtual network operator services and international private leased circuit and Ethernet private line services along with IP transit, cloud and resold services in the United States.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said since the approval "the national security landscape has shifted and there has been mounting evidence - and with it, a growing concern - that Chinese state-owned carriers pose a real threat to the security of our telecommunications networks."
The FCC said China Unicom's "responses were incomplete, misleading, or incorrect."
Rosenworcel noted that last year the FCC published the first-ever list of communications equipment and services that pose an unacceptable risk to national security. This month, she wrote to the Commerce Department, the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and other agencies in order to update that list.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said China Unicom "can continue to offer data center services to American consumers" despite the revocation.
He said the FCC and Congress should examine this issue and determine whether the commission needed broader authority to address security concerns posed by the centers.
The FCC began making efforts in March to revoke the authorization for China Unicom, Pacific Networks and its wholly owned subsidiary ComNet.
In October, the FCC revoked the U.S. authorization for China Telecom (Americas), saying it "is subject to exploitation, influence and control by the Chinese government." The Chinese failed to win an appeal of the decision.
In 2019, the FCC rejected China Mobile Ltd's bid to provide U.S. telecommunications services, citing national security risks.
[Breitbart] An American woman, formerly of Kansas, is accused of leading an all-female ISIS battalion in Syria and plotting a "potential future attack" at a U.S. college campus, according to the Justice Department.
U.S. citizen Allison Fluke-Ekren, 42, was previously apprehended in Syria and turned over to FBI custody on Friday, a Saturday release from the Justice Department states. Fluke-Ekren, who goes by many different aliases, is charged with "providing and conspiring to provide material support to ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization," and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The release cites a recently unsealed criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 2019, alleging that since Fluke-Ekren left the states for Syria, she partook in numerous terrorism-related activities dating back to at least 2014.
The release states:
These activities allegedly include, but are not limited to, planning and recruiting operatives for a potential future attack on a college campus inside the United States and serving as the appointed leader and organizer of an ISIS military battalion, known as the Khatiba Nusaybah, in order to train women on the use of automatic firing AK-47 assault rifles, grenades and suicide belts. Additionally, Fluke-Ekren allegedly provided ISIS and ISIS members with services, which included providing lodging, translating speeches made by ISIS leaders, training children on the use of AK-47 assault rifles and suicide belts and teaching extremist ISIS doctrine.
The complaint includes accounts from six eye-witnesses who say they observed Fluke-Ekren’s terrorist behavior "from at least 2014 through approximately 2017."
She allegedly told one witness she longed to carry out an attack in the United States. The release states:
Posted by: Besoeker ||
01/30/2022
05:40 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
U.S. citizen Allison Fluke-Ekren, 42, was previously apprehended in Syria and turned over to FBI custody on Friday....
Been a 'person of interest' for 8 years and the Syrians simply turned her over to the bureau (no reason given) on Friday. Any costs associated with this handover, meals, Lodging, travel, etc
#3
/\ Attack on an empty, leftest, pro-Hamas campus or shuttered shopping mall? Missed the Christmas shopping surge did she? Perhaps a domestic “Pesach” attack in the planning stages? Wat about recent BLM/Antifa activities? Surely the Bureau can do better than that.
Smell still lingering.
My tinfoil hat guess (and only a guess), she was a Klingon source discovered by the Syrians, detained, then sold back to the FBI under the pretext of domestic criminal activity.
I can almost hear the ear piercing, 'memory hole' electronic door klaxon.
#5
OPEN QUESTION: When will we see the Nationwide Arrests of the openly and well-known TRUE Terrorists and their leadership? Along with their international funders, state & DC political co-conspirators?
The Nationally Organized terrorist groups that have repeatedly attacked US Cities and political opposition groups repeatedly.
Causing deaths, murders, serious physical injuries, and $100's of million in private/public property losses?
Comments from an old friend and former Intelligence Threat Analysis Center (ITAC) hand. This is a good analysis of the possible Russian courses of action against Ukraine.
The Russians are constrained by certain natural and political factors. They need the ground to be frozen to facilitate mechanized operations. This will last until early march, thereafter, as the Germans discovered the spring thaw turns everything into a sea of mud.
Putin is not likely to disrupt China’s Genocide Games which will end on 20 Feb and which Putin will be attending. For those of you who were in Germay with me, you will notice our old friends, the 8th Guards Combined Army (the heroes of Stalingrad) would carry the ball if the Russians attacked into the Donbass of eastern Ukraine.
#1
Historically, only the Germans needed frozen ground for mobile operations.
Remember, Russia is on the defense, on its own ground. They are not going to give in to hysteria, but they will defend Russian soil with everything they have, if needed.
Pudge must be running out of Hennessy and caviar again.
[IsraelTimes] With frenzy of launches, 7 in one month, Pyongyang is believed to be trying to pressure Washington to resume stalled negotiations over its nuclear program
North Korea ...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche... on Sunday fired what appeared to be the most powerful missile it has tested since US President Joe The Big Guy Biden
Continued on Page 49
Hattip Merrick Ferret in comments just before the rollover last night, who commented, “BLM finished 2020 with $60 million in the bank. They're in turmoil. They fired Cullors, the founder, for corruption & embezzlement. All the BLM leaders have run off. Where did the $60 million go?”
[WashingtonExaminer] No one appears to have been in charge at Black Lives Matter for months. The address it lists on tax forms is wrong, and the charity's two board members won't say who controls its $60 million bankroll, a Washington Examiner investigation has found.
BLM's shocking lack of transparency surrounding its finances and operations raises major legal and ethical red flags, multiple charity experts told the Washington Examiner.
"Like a giant ghost ship full of treasure drifting in the night with no captain, no discernible crew, and no clear direction," CharityWatch Executive Director Laurie Styron said of BLM.
Continued on Page 49
#4
BLM's shocking lack of transparency surrounding its finances and operations raises major legal and ethical red flags, multiple charity experts told the Washington Examiner.
Totally escaped the all knowing eye of the Federal Financial Crimes Enforcement sleuths, the IRS, and the FBI. Foking amazing, no ?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/30/2022 7:41
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#6
If the GOP does take over both branches this fall, they should rename RICO to bring the ethnic reference up to date for the BLM / CRT racketeering era. Maybe "D'WON"?
It was always a money-making racket Merrick, never really about a cause. Took their cues from the old 'Rainbow Push' and other similar organizational playbooks with attention paid to to 'contributions' for protection.
See 'Global Warming' and 'Al Gore'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/30/2022 8:48
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#8
I'm gonna have to rethink my understanding of what it means to be a Marxist.
Posted by: Matt ||
01/30/2022 8:50
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#9
Animal Farm will give you a good definition Matt
#13
why worry about it? Nothing will ever be done about it, that would be rayciss.
Posted by: Chris ||
01/30/2022 9:30
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#14
It would be very easy to safely launder the $60 million through the magic hall of mirrors structure of dark money political entities like "Arabella."
#16
This kind of thing happens routinely in my neck of the woods, but on a much smaller and more local scale, something like this: An alleged leader of the Albanian community forms a new outreach organization for the benefit underprivileged Albanians, the Southern Coalition of Albanian Men ("SCAM"). $500,000 in private and public funds are donated to SCAM. Lots of fanfare, big check presented. The next day the president of SCAM is seen tooling around in a top of the line Mercedes with tricked-out chrome wheels. A couple of years go by, and someone thinks to ask what happened to the $500,000. Regrettably, all of SCAM's books and records have been destroyed by an errant North Korean missile. Some recriminations ensue, but after a bit everyone decides that no good can come from an investigation. Life goes back to normal, until the formation of SCAM-2....
Posted by: Matt ||
01/30/2022 9:48
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#17
Good. That is $60 million that won't fund Democrats in the midterms.
Posted by: Javiter Dark Lord of the Faith7963 ||
01/30/2022 13:12
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#18
...what makes you sure some didn't get their cut?
#19
Wondering out loud... has anybody check OPENSECRETS.ORG to see how much the retiring (SD's) had in their campaign coffers and which SIG's are collecting BIG $$$$ in 2021 - 2022?
[AlAhram] Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, 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. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than there are in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really most important... threatened Ottoman Turkish media with legal action over content "incompatible with national and moral values," in a move seen by critics as an attempt to stifle dissent.
In a circular posted Saturday on the Official Gazette, Erdogan said the decision aims to eliminate the harmful effects of television programs with foreign content that have been adapted in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... and to protect Ottoman Turkish culture.
All precautions would be taken against productions that negatively affect the family, children and youth, through Ottoman Turkish laws and the constitution. Children and youth will be protected from "messages conveyed through certain symbols,'' the decision stated, without elaborating.
Turkey's media watchdog, the Supreme Council of Radio and Television, already has wide-ranging powers, and can fine media or order temporary blackouts for television channels that are mostly critical of the government for violating Ottoman Turkish values.
Ilhan Tasci, a member of the media watchdog from the main opposition party, called the move "the censorship circular'' and said it violates the constitution that promises to protect press freedom.
The majority of media companies in Turkey are already owned by businesses close to the conservative and nationalist government and closely follow government lines.
Reporters Without Borders ranks Turkey at 153 out of 180 countries in its World Press Freedom Index of 2021. At least 34 media employees are currently behind bars, according to Turkey's Journalists Union.
Critics said it was another bid to crackdown on freedom of speech in the run-up to elections next year.
Faruk Bildirici, veteran journalist and media ombudsman, on Twitter, accused Erdogan of declaring a "state of emergency against the media".
Rights groups routinely accuse Turkey of undermining media freedom by arresting journalists and shutting down critical media outlets, especially since Erdogan survived a failed coup attempt in July 2016.
INFLATION ANGER
In an earlier decree on Saturday, Erdogan sacked state statistics agency chief Sait Erdal Dincer.
It was just the latest in a series of economic dismissals by Erdogan, who has fired three central bank governors since July 2019.
Erdogan has railed against high-interest rates, which he believes cause inflation -- the exact opposition of conventional economic thinking.
The 2021 inflation figure of 36.1 percent released by Dincer angered both the pro-government and opposition camps.
The opposition said the number was underreported, claiming that the real cost of living increases was at least twice as high.
Erdogan meanwhile reportedly criticised the statistics agency in private for publishing data that he felt overstated the scale of Turkey's economic malaise.
Dincer seemed to sense his impending fate.
"I sit in this office now, tomorrow it will be someone else," he said in an interview with the business newspaper Dunya earlier this month.
"Never mind who is the chairman. Can you imagine that hundreds of my colleagues could stomach or remain quiet about publishing an inflation rate very different from what they had established?"
Erdogan did not explain his decision to appoint Erhan Cetinkaya, who had served as vice-chair of Turkey's banking regulator, as the new state statistics chief.
"This will just increase concern about the reliability of the data, in addition to major concerns about economic policy settings," Timothy Ash of BlueBay Asset Management said in a note to clients.
The agency is due to publish January's inflation data on February 3.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/30/2022
01:14 ||
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#1
As horrible as this is, is it really any different than what is going on world-wide? Even western countries "free press" is actively working to suppress information and opinions that are contrary to the official story.
#2
^ Not really. Reading this, I thought Erdogan's phrase about "violating national and moral values" could have been written by our own cultural Marxists.
Their cancel culture and Not-Who-We-Are-ism is of a piece with authoritarian governments' campaigns to stamp out dangerous foreign cultural influence.
[IsraelTimes] Lebanon Hezbollahstan ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. ... ’s foreign minister headed to Kuwait today to deliver answers to a list of policy suggestions made to the country by Persian Gulf nations in an attempt to end an impasse between both sides.
Ahead of his departure, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib made it clear that Lebanon will not disarm the Iran-funded Hezbollah terror group, one of 10 confidence-building measures requested from Beirut.
Relations between impoverished Lebanon and the wealthy Gulf states are at their lowest levels in decades, a crisis triggered late last year when a Lebanese politician spoke critically of the Saudi-led war against Iran-backed 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... Following Information Minister George Kordahi’s comments, Saudi 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. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century... recalled its ambassador from Beirut and banned all Lebanese imports, affecting hundreds of businesses and cutting off hundreds of millions in foreign currency flows to Lebanon. Several Arab countries followed Saudi Arabia’s step.
Bouhabib will attend an Arab foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuwait tomorrow, during which he will hand his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Ahmed Nasser al-Mohammed al-Sabah official responses to the Gulf nations’ suggestions. al-Sabah had delivered them personally to Beirut earlier this month.
"I am not going to hand over Hezbollah’s weapons nor end Hezbollah’s existence. This is out of the question in Lebanon," Bouhabib told satellite broadcaster al-Jazeera, calling the group a "Lebanese party par excellence" that is active in the government but does not dominate politics in Lebanon.
"We hope to have excellent relations as in the past" with Gulf nations, Bouhabib said, adding that Lebanon had suggestions for solving problems between the two sides, but without elaborating.
The list handed over by Kuwait’s foreign minister and circulated in Lebanese media included calls for implementing US Security Council resolution 1559, which calls for the disarmament of all militias in Lebanon; major anti-corruption reforms; and the cessation of all verbal or real attacks on Gulf nations.
[IsraelTimes] The Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...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 legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. 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 They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... rebels are continuing to violate a UN-imposed arms embargo 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... and to recruit children to fight in the seven-year war, according to a report provided to the Security Council and published today.
In an annual report, a panel of UN experts says it has concluded that "all military and paramilitary forces loyal to the Sanaa-based authorities fall under this definition" of having violated the arms embargo. The rebels control the capital Sanaa.
The 300-page report says the Houthis have continued "to source critical components for their weapon systems from companies in Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... and Asia, using a complex network of intermediaries to obscure the chain of custody."
It says that "most types of uncrewed aerial vehicles, waterborne improvised bombs and short-range rockets are assembled in Houthi-controlled areas."
Components such as engines and electronics, the report says, "are sourced from abroad using a complex network of intermediaries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia."
The report doesn’t confirm frequent US and Saudi allegations that Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites.... is directly involved in the violations.
Tehran admits it supports the Houthis politically but denies it has helped them obtain arms.
The experts say evidence shows that weapons components and other military equipment "continue to be supplied overland to the Houthi forces by individuals and entities based in Oman."
Oman, which shares a border with Yemen, is the only country in the region other than Iran to maintain official links with the Houthi.
The report also said waterborne improvised bombs were being launched from Houthi-controlled areas with increasing frequency over the past year.
#4
DeSantis Law Enforcement loyalists? This is likely to have a devastating impact on the D.C. beltway community. Several 'people of colour' involved. The FBI would have had to have declined involvement in this one.
All of those nice people and not one outstanding federal warrant or incident of interstate activity? Amazing to say the least.
#8
Hunter must be outraged. I for one, demand the 'Grindr and Scruff' dating App software be returned to it's rightful owners the Biden Crime family and the US Congress at once !
#9
BTW, what's Lil' Crackpipe up to now? Been awfully quiet lately.... Was he spotted in Kazakhstan during the recent festivities? Inquiring minds want to know
[AlAhram] Russia furnishes over 40 percent of the natural gas Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... imports and in the event it invades Ukraine again those supplies could be at risk, throwing into question European countries's ability to keep the heat on in the dead of winter.
Europe, which imports around two-thirds of its natural gas, has alternatives to replace some of what it currently buys from Russia.
Moreover, experts judge it highly unlikely there would be a complete halt to Russian gas deliveries.
THE ALTERNATIVES
"There are pipelines from Norway, Algeria and Azerbaijan, but these countries don't have additional production capacity," said Thierry Bros, a specialist on the European gas market at Sciences Po university in Gay Paree.
That means Europe will need to turn to liquefied natural gas (LNG), which can be delivered by huge sea tankers from suppliers anywhere in the world.
Washington is helping Europe find alternative supplies to cover a majority of Russian imports, and US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Joe's wife and daughter weren't killed by a drunk driver. He didn't graduate with three or even two degrees, wasn't in the top half of his law class, and his daddy didn't come home from a hard day's work in the mines and play football with the guys. The NAACP hasn't endorsed him every time he's run. On the other hand, he did abandon Afghanistan... will host 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 ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the White House next week.
For LNG supplies, "the three giants today are Qatar, Australia and the United States," said Vincent Demoury, head of the GIIGNL international trade association of gas import firms.
"So it's mostly these three countries which have the flexibility to produce more, or to switch to Europe volumes which traditionally go to other markets," he said.
LNG ONLY A PARTIAL SOLUTION
"We can't replace all the Russian gas with LNG," noted Thierry Bros.
That is because the ports and regasification facilities in Europe (UK included) can only handle 19 billion cubic meters (bcm) per month.
The are currently handling about 8 bcm per month, which means they could take another 11 bcm per month.
That would be able to compensate for most of the 14 bcm per month that Europe is currently receiving from Russia.
But Demoury said it is one thing to look at capacity on an annual basis, and another to look at it in the middle of winter when the utilisation rate of LNG terminals is much higher.
If Spain and Britannia LNG terminals currently have sufficient spare capacity, said Demoury, French terminals are saturated.
UNLIKELY RUSSIA TURNS OFF TAPS
Europe's gas reserves are weak for winter and imports from Russia are at historic lows for the month of January.
But would Russia completely cut off supplies?
"A full suspension of gas exports remains the least likely scenario," said analysts at Eurasia Group.
Such a move "would carry severe long-term risks to Russia's financial stability and its political leverage in Europe as the EU would likely respond by aggressively diversifying its energy supplies," they added.
Thierry Bros said "the Russians don't have any interest in halting deliveries" completely.
Other than Moscow's interest in having money continue to flow into its coffers, maintaining some deliveries "would allow it to create divisions in Europe" as it could continue to supply certain countries like Germany while cutting off others such as Poland and Lithuania.
While that would create political problems for Europe to manage, it would help it get by with additional LNG shipments.
[AlAhram] Clashes broke out Saturday between Kurdish forces and Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group fighters near a Syrian prison where dozens of jihadists are still holed up, a war monitor said.
An IS assault on the sprawling Gweiran prison complex near the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh on January 20 sparked days of heavy fighting that has left some 260 people dead, and a bulldozer on Saturday shovelled corpses onto a truck to take some for burial.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced they had recaptured the prison on Wednesday, but that mop-up operations continued.
On Saturday, there were "festivities in the vicinity of the prison between the Syrian Democratic Forces and Kurdish security forces on the one hand, and members of IS who are hiding in the area," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The war monitor, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, said that four IS fighters took a local official and three civilians, hostage, for hours, holding them in a residential building near the prison.
Kurdish forces later freed the hostages and killed three IS fighters.
An AFP correspondent earlier reported that US troops and Kurdish-led forces surrounded the building and deployed snipers on nearby rooftops, reporting there was intermittent shooting.
The SDF said Wednesday some 3,500 IS members had surrendered, but that holdout IS fighters had barricaded themselves inside the prison facility.
IS IN PRISON BASEMENT
The IS button men are in "cellars that are difficult to target with Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s or infiltrate" the Observatory said.
SDF officials estimate that between 60 and 90 IS fighters were still in the basement and the ground floor above it.
Kurdish forces have repeatedly called for IS button men to surrender.
"Our forces have not used force with them so far," Farhad Shami, who heads the SDF's media office, said Saturday.
On Saturday, an AFP correspondent saw a truck carrying piles of bodies away from the area near the prison, corpses believed likely to be those of IS fighters.
A bulldozer dumped more bodies inside the truck, which then headed to an unknown location.
Shami said that the bodies would be buried in "remote, dedicated areas" under SDF control.
The Kurdish component of the SDF, known as the People's Protection Units (YPG), published a video showing a handful of IS members who surrendered on Friday. An SDF source estimated their number at around 10.
In the video, two men carried away someone on a stretcher.
Kurdish-led forces have banned journalists from freely accessing the Gweiran neighbourhood or approaching the prison since the start of the attack.
[Breitbart] Humanitarian activists and U.N. officials are calling for sanctions against the Taliban to be eased so aid can be rendered to the sick, starving, and soon-to-be freezing Afghan people — but Radio Free Europe (RFE) on Tuesday documented how the Taliban is looting aid programs to pay its officials, and even withholding food to force Afghan civilians into slavery.
RFE interviewed a Kabul day laborer named Omaruddin who explained the Taliban set up a "food-for-work" program in October that "requires recipients to do manual labor on public-works projects to receive humanitarian aid." Even that atrocious bargain is only available to people who have good connections to the Taliban.
"Nobody hires us. The Taliban only take people that they know. You cannot find a job unless you know someone. They will not give you anything even if you work hard. There is no way that they are going to give out something for free," said Omaruddin, who lacks such connections himself, so his twenty appeals to enter the "food-for-work" program have been ignored.
Several other laborers told similar stories of being denied humanitarian aid by the Taliban, even when they offered to work for it.
"There is no business at all. The aid is only given to those who have links or relationships with the Taliban. It does not go to the poor," agreed another day laborer named Ghazni Gul.
"Now, in what the Taliban claims is an expansion of its ’food for work’ program, the cash-strapped regime has begun to use foreign wheat aid to pay the salaries of public sector workers," RFE added, explaining how the Taliban has weaponized shipments of grain donated by first India, and then Pakistan, China, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.
These arrangements are unsurprisingly harsh on Afghan women, especially widows lacking a man to provide for them, since the Taliban does not even allow women to work as indentured servants in its foreign-aid-fueled slavery program.
The Arab Coalition has conducted 27 targeted strikes in #Yemen’s #Marib to combat the Iran-backed #Houthi militia, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).https://t.co/s2cCpjr1Vj
Unidentified individuals burned the municipality building, yesterday evening, in Sayda town in the eastern countryside of Daraa, south Syria.
All the building contents had burned including documents and papers, local source to North Press.
There was major security alert in the building site by the security branches of the Syrian government in search for the perpetrators, the source added.
The municipality building located near a checkpoint of the government’s Air Intelligence branch that spread in the town after settlement deal in 2018, the source noted.
The eastern countryside of Daraa witnesses frequent targeting operations against the military checkpoints of Syrian government forces.
Few days ago, one of the Syrian government forces’ checkpoints near al-Maliha al-Gharbiya town in Daraa countryside was targeted by unknown persons. In response, the Syrian government forces located in Brigade 52 shelled the civilians’ houses in al-Harak town resulting in the injury of some people.
[Rudaw] Ottoman Turkish justice minister Abdulhamit Gul said early Saturday that he has resigned from his position without revealing why he has stepped down.
"With the approval of our honourable President, I have resigned from my duty as justice minister which I have been serving since July 19, 2017," Gul said in a tweet, thanking Erdogan "for accepting my request for relief."
Gul also wished success for his successor Bekir Bozdag who was appointed by Erdogan in the same presidential decree that approved Gul’s resignation.
Bozdag has served as justice minister and deputy prime minister in the past and currently serves as a politician for Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
In another presidential decree, Erdogan also replaced the head of the statistics institute (TUIK).
Ali Babacan, a former foreign minister and the head of the newly-established Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), slammed Erdogan for the replacements.
"A country governed by decisions made at night with the signature of a single person can only do this much," he said in a tweet, adding that no one know why such changes are made.
He also said that the AKP’s alliance with the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) continues to harm the country.
[Rudaw] Unidentified gunnies fired at the Kirkuk residence of a colonel from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's (PUK) counter-terrorism forces late Friday, his brother and a security source told Rudaw on Saturday. The attack caused material damage and injured a child.
The incident took place in the Kurdish-majority Rizgari neighbourhood which Kurds consider safer than the rest of the city. It targeted the house of colonel Dler Ghazi who works for PUK’s counter-terrorism forces in Sulaimani.
"Last night at 8:45pm, I was at home which is close to Dler’s house. Dler called me and said that his house was fired at. He was at a pharmacy at the time to buy some medicine. He asked me to go to his house," Muayad, the brother of the colonel, told Rudaw’s Hardi Mohammed.
He added that the house’s windows have been shattered and one of the colonel’s daughters received a head injury due to glass breaking.
The attack was captured on the CCTV camera and the police have launched an investigation, according to Muayad.
A local security source confirmed the information to Rudaw, saying the attackers were in a white Tucson vehicle.
The colonel’s brother denied the family had any issues with anyone, claiming his brother was attacked due to his military position.
The villages evacuated by the Syrian government forces are "unsecure", an Arab tribal figure in the southern countryside of Raqqa, north Syria, said on Saturday, warning of ISIS extension.
On January 25, the Syrian government forces evacuated their military points in seven villages in the southwest of Raqqa countryside.
Hamidi al-Amalah, the tribal leader of al-Wahab clan, told North Press that the US-led Global Coalition, as the strongest military forces in the region, is demanded to assist the locals to return to their hometown and secure their lands.
Since 2017, residents of some villages known as Resafa Desert in Raqqa countryside displaced as the Syrian government forces advanced to their areas. The people fled to Raqqa city and its countryside where the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are in control.
A local source from the region told North Press that evacuating the villages by the government forces raised public concern that ISIS sleeper cells would activate in tandem with the attack on al-Sina’a prison in Hasakah.
The tribal leader pointed that the villagers do not want to go back home while the Syrian government is in control, and while attacks that ISIS is likely responsible for continue in the region.
Over the last few years, ISIS attacks on government forces sites recurred in Resafa Desert in the south of al-Mansoura town. The attacks were frequently followed by Russian warplanes.
Farhad Shami, Director of the SDF Media Center, said Preventive measures were taken by the SDF in the vicinity of Raqqa.
"The reasons behind the eviction are doubtful, so forces have taken precautionary measures to prevent ISIS from benefiting from these evictions and posing a threat to the vicinity of Raqqa," Shami added.
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The Libyan National Army (LNA)’s official Spokesperson, Major General Ahmed al-Mismari, announced that 24 Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) holy warriors were killed during three-day long festivities against LNA forces near the town of al-Qatroun in Southwest Libya.
Speaking during a presser on Friday, al-Mismari confirmed that an IS holy warrior was arrested and four LNA soldiers were reported missing during the battles.
He said the army directed its units to "hunt down" the IS holy warriors who escaped the festivities.
The Spokesman added that the army started off a large-scale operation in the southern outskirts of Qatroun, which is located some 200 kilometers from the border with Niger and Chad. It did so after detecting movements by IS cells around Mount ’Asida’.
Several units of the LNA, including the Tariq bin Ziyad Brigade, the 73rd Infantry Brigade, and the 128th Military Battalion, took part in the operation. Libyan Air Force warplanes provided close air support for LNA troops advancing on the ground.
Notably, LNA forces conduct combing operations in the country’s southern region periodically in order keep IS at bay. Despite this, the terrorist group’s cells manage to launch attacks from time to time.
In a statement on Thursday, the Interior Ministry said that the holy warriors killed three Libyan security personnel near the Jabal Asida area, west of al-Qatrun. The attack targeted a patrol of the Umm al-Aranib Martyrs’ Brigade, killing three of its members.
It added that government forces had killed four holy warriors, and destroyed their vehicle. A search is underway for other "terrorists" who had fled. The Ministry said that the IS-affiliated groups that have appeared in the Southwest of the country are seeking to destabilise the security situation.
On Monday, IS forces claimed an attack on the same brigade, in the same area a week earlier, killing two members.
The Umm al-Aranib Martyrs’ Brigade is largely made up of members of the long-marginalized Tebu ethnic group.
A political crisis in the wake of Moammer Qadaffy’s overthrow saw the oil-rich country split between rival authorities in the East and West, and the disintegration of security apparatuses. This created fertile ground for jihadist groups like IS to take root.
A myriad of gangs and human traffickers have taken advantage of the chaos to gain a foothold in the North African country.
The LNA Spokesperson strongly criticised the Libyan Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdelhamid al-Dbaiba, and his Interior Minister, Khaled Mazen. He argued that they deliberately overlooked the efforts of the LNA forces in fighting IS holy warriors over the last three days in the Southwest of the country.
Al-Mismari warned that this would negatively affect the work of the 5 + 5 Joint Military Commission (JMC), and the bilateral talks between LNA Chief of General Staff, Abdel Razek al-Nadori, and his counterpart of Libya’s Western-based Army, Major General Mohammed al-Haddad, to unify the military institution.
A student of Kwara State Polytechnic has allegedly been killed by stray bullet as suspected cult members clashed with police in Lajolo community in Ilorin, the state capital.
A police sergeant also sustained gunshot injury on his head at the incident that started in the early hours of Saturday.
Spokesperson for the police in the state, Ajayi Okasanmi, who confirmed the incident, said, "The pandemonium experienced today within the area arose as a result of the attack unleashed on a team of police detectives from the Special Tactical Squad, FIB, Abuja, who came on the trail of some cultists in the area.
"Some suspected cult members had on Friday last week attacked and killed a student of Kwara State University, Malete, four of the cultists were arrested and dangerous weapons were recovered from the suspects.
"Information available to the STS team indicated that some of the cultists were hiding at Lajolo area of Kwara Polytechnic Ilorin, where a similar attack was unleashed on one student named Idris Aderemi by same cultists around 6:00am on Saturday in the same area.
"This prompted the visit to the area by the STS team. Surprisingly, the cultists who were already in ambush, attacked the police team damaging the police Hummer bus and inflicting a gunshot injury on the head of one police sergeant, Adebayo Abdulahi attached to the STS team.
"In the ensuing inbroglio, students in their numbers came out to block the road and prevented free flow of traffic and burning tyres on the road.
"The Commissioner of Police Kwara State, Tuesday Assayomo, immediately dispatched teams of coppers to the area to restore peace.
"However, there's more than one way to skin a cat... two cultists, one Ahmed surname unknown and one Musibau A.K.A Shaban were arrested with one fabricated English pistol with three live ammunition, two live cartridges and one pistol magazine.
"The injured policeman and the suspects have been taken to the hospital for treatment."
The polytechnic spokesperson, Yunus Abdulkadir, absolved the students from the fracas, adding that the incident did not happen at the polytechnic’s gate.
He said, "The incident that occurred at Lajolo community early this morning was between the police and Lajolo community and has nothing to do with the polytechnic students or the campus, as first semester CBT examinations are going on the campus without any disturbance.
"However, there's more than one way to skin a cat... the management of the polytechnic has magnanimously accepted the plea of the students who could not make it to the campus before the blockage at Oyun, to reschedule their examinations on another date to be communicated to them via their heads of the department."
A shootout broke out between Lions of Islam and security forces in Naira area of south Kashmir ...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there.... 's Pulwama district on Saturday evening.
"Encounter has started at Naira area of #Pulwama. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow, " a police front man said.
The encounter broke out soon after security forces cordoned the area following a tip off about the presence of Lions of Islam there.
The number of trapped Lions of Islam was not immediately known.
A policeman was rubbed out by faceless myrmidons in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Saturday, reports quoting officials said.
Quoting a police official, news agency GNS reported that Head Constable Ali Mohammad was fired upon by unknown faceless myrmidons in the Hassanpora area of the district, leaving him critically injured.
He was shifted to GMC Anantnag were doctors declared him dead. "He was brought dead," a doctor at GMC Anantnag said.
The killing comes a day after a cop escaped unhurt in a holy warrior attack in the Batmaloo area of Srinagar.
Five turbans have been shot down in two separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir. One of the five turbans who was killed is a Jaish-e-Mohammad ...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat... operative.
The encounters took place in Pulwama and Budgam.
"5 turbans of Pakistain sponsored proscribed terror outfits LeT and JeM killed in dual encounters in last 12 hours. JeM commander terrorist Zahid Wani and a Pak terrorist among the killed. Big success for us," a tweet by the J@K police read.
In the Budgam encounter one terrorist was killed and an AK-47 rifle was recovered. In the past month 22 turbans have been shot full of holes in nearly one dozen encounters.
Iraqi security forces apprehended a suspect in connection with the rocket attack on the Baghdad International Airport yesterday, Friday, two sources revealed earlier today.
A source told Shafaq News Agency that the suspect was captured at al-Sarha checkpoint in the north of Diyala.
"He is in the custody of al-Udhaim intelligence department for investigations," the source said.
The other source said that the arrestee is called Akram al-Qaysi. He was born in 1984 and currently resides in the Abu Ghreib district.
Yesterday, several rockets landed in the Baghdad International Airport compound and near an adjacent U.S. air base, damaging at least one disused civilian aeroplane, Iraqi police sources said.
The police sources did not report any other damage or any injuries. The damaged aircraft was an out-of-use Iraqi Airways plane, they said.
Iraq's state news agency reported, citing the country's aviation authority, that there was no disruption to travel.
The U.S. air base, known as Camp Victory, is located around the perimeter of Baghdad's civilian airport.
Rocket attacks have regularly struck the complex in recent years and are blamed by U.S. and some Iraqi officials on Iran-aligned Shi'ite militia groups who oppose the U.S. military presence in the region.
On Jan. 5, Katyusha rockets hit Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. forces near Baghdad's international airport and west of the Iraqi capital.
A series of attacks this month, some of which the United States blames on Iran-aligned militia groups, have targeted bases or installations hosting U.S. military and diplomatic personnel but have caused no U.S. casualties.
The Iran-aligned paramilitary groups have in previous years carried out dozens of similar attacks, mostly causing little harm. But the attacks have become more sophisticated in the past year, including with the use of fixed-wing and multi-rotor drones.
The Hajin Military Council of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Saturday the arrest of five members of ISIS sleeper cells in a town east of Deir ez-Zor, east Syria.
The operation was conducted yesterday in the town of Dhiban in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, the council said.
The Media Center of the Hajin Military Council published on its official Facebook page, a video clip during the raid and the arrest of the ISIS murderous Moslems.
According to what the council published, the ISIS sleeper cell members were preparing "to carry out terrorist attacks in the region with the aim of destabilizing security and stability."
"A number of light and medium weapons were seized with the ISIS members plus documents proving their involvement in carrying out terrorist operations," the council added.
The countryside of Deir ez-Zor has been witnessing for a while an increase in killings of members of SDF, employees of the Autonomous Administration, tribal dignitaries and civilians. Most these killing cases were claimed by ISIS.
Furthermore, the SDF intensified their security operations in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor to pursue ISIS sleeper cells.
Two ISIS members were arrested in a security operation by SDF in the town of al-Zaghir in the western countryside of Deir Ez-Zor yesterday.
[Rudaw] Iraqi security forces on Saturday arrested four civilians who were allegedly funding the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) group in Nineveh, forcing citizens to pay money to finance the organization, Iraq’s Security Media Cell said in a statement.
"After obtaining legal approvals, the National Security Agency detachments in western Nineveh managed to set up an elaborate ambush that resulted in the arrest of a cell of four bully boyz who are forcing citizens to pay money to finance ISIS gangs and their terrorist operations," read the statement from the cell.
The perpetrators "confessed to threatening and intimidating many citizens, as well as extorting money from them," it added.
In the early hours of Saturday, Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) also announced that they had thwarted an ISIS attack in Tarmiyah district, north of Baghdad.
PMF also claimed that their reach in the area has expanded, and their capabilities to repel future attacks, with the help of air support, have greatly strengthened.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Aleksandr Kots
[KP] This was told to kp.ru by Kirill Vyshinsky, a former Ukrainian journalist who served 413 days in prison for his work, and now is the executive director of the Rossiya Segodnya news agency.
"PEOPLE ARE CLOSE TO PANIC"
- How would you assess the psychological state of today's Ukraine?
- In the minds of people close to panic. If I talk to someone in Ukraine on the phone, they will definitely ask me if there will be a war and when.
- Have you read British newspapers?
- Not only. Poroshenko and all his entourage, who are drawn to the channels of Akhmetov, they pump up military hysteria. And despite Zelensky's reassurance, people are more inclined to believe not him. Plus, the Americans said. Matches and salt may not be bought up yet, but money has already begun to be withdrawn from banks. This is a demonstration that the people are psychologically very excited. They know how to do it in Ukraine.
To what extent is this excitement justified? Military-psychological exacerbations have happened before.
- The difference is that Ukrainian units in the Donbass have begun to saturate American weapons. Americans need to do something that confirms the military escalation.
I'm not sure that the Ukrainian military is seriously ready to fight. They have no positive combat experience. No win experience. There are only defeats - Ilovaisk, Debaltseve. They understand what can happen if they are covered with volley fire. Where would they have to go then? There are two directions. The closest is towards the Russian border. Or, like the famous Transcarpathia battalion, which made a "heroic" march. During the day they traveled 800 kilometers, however, in the direction of the rear - to Ivano-Frankivsk.
"I DON'T BELIEVE IN FIGHTING SPIRIT"
- Well, there are those who want to make war?
- Everyone is ready to make money on the front line when you are sitting in a dugout, and you are still dripping to your salary for the “first line”. It's no secret that mostly contractors get there.
First of all, they are recruited from Western Ukraine. They have two motivations - ideological and material. Some people are too lazy to go to Poland. And here you are sitting in a trench. The previous rotations have already dug everything for you. Volunteers bring you canned goods. You are all set. And plus money is dripping. Yes, they shoot. And you shoot.
A strange positional war, like Remarque's - "All Quiet on the Western Front." They sit, smoke, shoot, drink. People got used to it. And not many people want to worsen anything cardinally with their own hands.
Although I understand that there are people with broken heads, with twisted brains. There is also the "Right Sector", the Volunteer Corps, there is the "Azov" regiment, which is not clear to whom it is subordinate. But in the general mass, I do not really believe in the high morale of the Ukrainian army in the Donbass. It is unlikely that anyone will go to large-scale military operations there. And for some provocations, clashes - I do not rule it out.
- And what about the morale of the inhabitants of the eastern regions?
- I follow my contacts and publications. For people, any war is a change in their current life. Nobody wants tomorrow to be different. It is clear that there will be no carpet bombing, as in the Great Patriotic War. But people do not want to adapt to new circumstances either.
"PASSIONARIANS - IN THE CRIMEA AND DONBASS"
- Will they not join the partisans?
- In the southeast, the terrain is not suitable for this. You won't be particularly partisan there. There are people who simply forgot how to do something in this life, while they were immersed in this story for 7 years, saturated with adrenaline and blood. This is 6-8 percent of the population in the large cities of the southeast. Maximum.
How many of them are specific passionaries who will take up arms? If we talk about Ukrainians, all the passionaries whom life has forced to be like this are Crimea and Donbass. They are no longer in Ukraine. There are also passionaries by the type of thinking - these are Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk. Ternopil is already to a lesser extent. And the people living in Kharkov, in Odessa, in Nikolaev, well, what kind of war, what kind of partisan movement?
- Will they meet with flowers?
- Hardly, for one simple reason. These people are wary. As soon as something changes, they will first look, and then they will go with flowers. The main thing is that the usual way of life does not change. People really don't want this.
- How do you assess the informational hysteria fueled by the American and British media?
- It seems that it is caused by a large complex of internal American problems. They received a powerful and tough position of Russia. Do you want to negotiate? Okay, let's start simple. 1997, NATO within these limits. This is a serious story for Americans. They need to strengthen their negotiating position.
One way is economic pressure. They believe that this will weaken the position of Russia. For the Americans, two options would be good. The first is the disruption of negotiations by the outbreak of hostilities. Who should start them? Definitely not Russia. But since the information background has been created, if something starts there, they will say: you see, we said, Russia was preparing, and please.
The second option is to force Ukraine to carry out Minsk with all its might. But, in any case, the main goal of the Americans today is to undermine us in negotiations, to create the appearance that Russia is preparing a war and putting the world on the brink of World War III.
And any outcome for the Americans is good. Provocation? We said that Russia was preparing a war. No, everything will be resolved, there will be no war? Well, we are peacekeepers! Biden saved the world. Win-win situation.
- How real is the war between Ukraine and Russia?
- I'm more afraid of those recruited under a contract in Western Ukraine, who just want to get their hands on the same "Jevelins" and sneer towards the Muscovites. I do not really believe in a conscious readiness for some kind of military operation on the part of Ukraine. It must come from the Americans. Moreover, their instructors should stand behind and play the role of detachments.
Aleksandr Kots is prior service Russian airborne and a writer for Komsomol Pravda
#1
any outcome for the Americans is good. Provocation? We said that Russia was preparing a war. No, everything will be resolved, there will be no war? Well, we are peacekeepers! Biden saved the world. Win-win situation.
Exactly so. Brandon and American Pravda are pushing this, full throttle, because their narrative suits their political ends in 2022.
Biden's support from his own base is collapsing. The suburban soccer moms, GOP NeverTrumpers and other cross-party elements of his coalition have abandoned the Democrats as well.
They are failing at literally everything they touch. They're in free fall.
Their knee jerk response is to Wave the Bloody COVID Shirt and scream, OrangeMan! Terrorists!
It worked beautifully last fall for Gov. Newsom in CA: he was such a despised and blithering fool that Californians put up a recall petition that got nearly 2 million signatures in record time... and then Newsom screamed Trump! COVID! TrumpCOVID TrumpCOVID COVID OVID TrumpTrump.
And Newsom turned defeat into a landslide victory. He was expected to lose, and won by a 2:1 margin. Two to one! Exit polls showed that the state's Asian voters, most of whom supported the recall petition, were easily convinced to change their minds by the specter of TrumpCOVID.
Conclusion: Putin is Brandon's 2022 version of Newsom's 2021 TrumpCOVID hysteria campaign.
But this won't end well for Brandon. Americans generally are not gullible little mask-worshipping sheep (as most of California's Asians are).
Insurgents from the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... -backed faction of Boko Haram ...Nigeerian Islamist group, formerly paying homage to al-Qaeda, then, when the money ran out, to the Islamic State, and headed by nutcase Abu Bakr Shekau. Once he exploded in a gunfight with ISWAP, many in the group surrendered to the govt and others went with their new overlords. The remainder are a shell of their former selves, stmbling glassy-eyed and lonely through the Sambisa Forest and the soothing waters of Lake Chad, asking themselves What is truth?, or maybe just I wonder what's for dinner? I hope it's not rhinocerous again! ... , the Islamic State West Africa Province formerly known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, are currently attacking Ajiri.
Ajiri is a community in Mara Local Government Area of Borno State, which is about 52km from Maiduguri, the state capital.
A source told SaharaReporters that the murderous Moslems came in several trucks fitted with machine guns on Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, ...back at the abandoned silver mine, the water was up to Jack's neck and still rising. And then he smelled the smoke... troops of the Nigerian Army are currently engaging the gunnies in a shootout, the source added.
Since the death of JAS leader, Abubakar Shekau ...the lunatic leader of Boko Haram who has been reported dead at least eleven times, pledged his body and soul to ISIS, told his fighters to hang it up once or twice, and been fired by the Caliph and refused to step down. Last seen in 2017, sneaking into Cameroon while wearing a burka... , ISWAP has been consolidating its grip in locations around Lake Chad.
Recently, it appointed Wali Sani Shuwaram, a 45-year-old as the new leader (Wali) of ISWAP in Lake Chad.
The sect’s membership has swollen with the defection of hundreds of Boko Haram fighters under Shekau.
Troops of the Nigerian Army have repelled an attack by suspected fighters of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of West Africa Province in Ngirbua Village, Yobe State.
According to military sources, the troops ambushed the terrorists, killing a yet to be ascertained number of them while several others escaped with fatal gunshot wounds in the encounter.
The sources added that Anti Aircraft Guns, AK 47 riffles, among others were recovered from the Death Eaters.
Four soldiers of the Syrian government forces including a commander were killed, Saturday, in an armed attack on a military posts in the countryside of al-Mayadin town, east of Deir ez-Zor, east Syria.
The armed attackers sneaked into the government military post on the entrance of Baqras Tahtani village and killed four soldiers including a commander, a military source of the government forces told North Press under the condition of anonymity.
The source noted that the attackers, who sneaked into the military post, managed to flee after they stole all the weapons in the post.
The killed soldiers are the commander Bashar al-Fattah, hails from al-Boleel town, in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, the 26-year-old Abdurrahman al-Helal, the 30-year-old Bashar Sayer, and the 28-year-old Omar Jum’a, according to the source.
Yesterday, residents of al-Boleel, east of Deir ez-Zor, found bodies of two National Defense Forces (NDF) soldiers affiliated with the Syrian government forces who were handcuffed and shot in their heads.
Areas in Deir ez-Zor held by Iran-backed factions and the Syrian government have been recently witnessing increasing activities by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... Organization (ISIS) sleeper cells.
The F.B.I. has arrested an American woman who federal prosecutors said had risen through the ranks of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in Syria to become a battalion commander, training women and kiddies to use assault rifles and suicide belts, the Justice Department disclosed on Saturday.
The woman, Allison Fluke-Ekren,
...mother of five, wife of three — sequentially, they kept getting killed —teacher, home schooler, fluent in Arabic, Turkish, and Spanish...
42, a former teacher from Kansas, was charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization. The circumstances of her capture in Syria were not immediately known, but the F.B.I. flew her to Virginia on Friday to face prosecution.
Prosecutors described Ms. Fluke-Ekren as playing an unusually outsized role in the Islamic State as a woman and an American.
Typical pushy, over-achieving American female.
Charges against American women involved with the Islamic State have been rare.
Investigators said Ms. Fluke-Ekren was smuggled into Syria in 2012 from Libya. She traveled to the country, according to one witness, because she wanted to wage "violent mostly peaceful jihad," Raj Parekh, a federal prosecutor, wrote in a detention memo that was made public on Saturday.
According to a criminal complaint that was filed in 2019, a witness told the F.B.I. that Ms. Fluke-Ekren and her husband brought $15,000 to Syria to buy weapons. Her husband, the witness said, eventually rose to be the commander of all snipers in Syria in 2014.
That would be the hyphenated Mr. Ekren, the one she married in America before they started on their travels together.
He later died in an Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... while conducting a terrorist attack on behalf of the Islamic State, Sherlocks said. Ms. Fluke-Ekren met her husband in the United States, according to court documents.
The same witness also told the F.B.I. that Ms. Fluke-Ekren had a plan in 2014 to attack a college in the United States using backpacks filled with explosives. Prosecutors did not reveal which college she had wanted to target. The criminal complaint said her plan was presented to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State at the time, who approved it for funding. The witness said the attack was put on hold after Ms. Fluke-Ekren learned she was pregnant. Ms. Fluke-Ekren had multiple children, but it is not clear how many.
Prosecutors said Ms. Fluke-Ekren moved to Egypt in 2008, lived there for about three years and then traveled to Libya, where she stayed for about a year before sneaking into Syria. According to one witness, Ms. Fluke-Ekren departed Libya because another terrorist organization, Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libya and Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet... , was no longer conducting attacks in that country and she wanted to wage violent mostly peaceful jihad.
In his memo arguing to keep Ms. Fluke-Ekren behind bars while she awaits trial, Mr. Parekh said she had been a "fervent believer in the radical terrorist ideology of ISIS for many years." The prosecutor said the government had numerous witnesses who were prepared to testify against her.
According to the detention memo, the mayor of the Syrian city of Raqqa, the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed capital, approved the opening of a military battalion to train women to help defend the city.
They called it Khatiba Nusaybah (khatiba just means battalion). The members were all married to ISIS gunnies.
Ms. Fluke-Ekren, Sherlocks said, soon became the leader and organizer of it.
Witnesses said that Ms. Fluke-Ekren taught classes for members of the battalion, and on one occasion, a young child of hers was seen holding an assault rifle.
Presumably we’ll discover at some point whether any of them made it to adulthood...
One witness said that more than 100 women and girls had received training from Ms. Fluke-Ekren. She had hoped to create a cadre of jacket wallahs that could infiltrate enemies’ positions, but the effort never materialized, according to the complaint.
Ms. Fluke-Ekren told another witness about her desire to attack a shopping mall using a remote-detonated vehicle full of explosives. The witness said she wanted to kill large numbers of people.
Court documents said that after the death of her husband, Ms. Fluke-Ekren married another Islamic State terrorist, a Bangladeshi man who specialized in drones and was working on a plan to drop chemical bombs from the air. He also died. She then married an Islamic State military leader who was responsible for the defense of Raqqa, a witness said.
A witness also said that Ms. Fluke-Ekren claimed to have tried to send a message to her family with the goal of tricking them into believing she was dead so the U.S. government would stop trying to find her. She told the witness that she never wanted to return to the United States and wanted to die a martyr in Syria.
Federal prosecutors in Virginia have mounted an aggressive effort to prosecute Death Eaters captured overseas. The cases can be extremely difficult because witnesses and other evidence can often only be found in war zones, as well as because of geopolitical considerations.
Last year, Mohammed Khalifa, a Saudi-born Canadian who traveled to Syria in 2013 and later joined the Islamic State, was brought to the United States and charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization that resulted in death. Mr. Khalifa provided the narration and translation for approximately 15 videos created and distributed by the Islamic State. He later pleaded guilty and faces life in prison.
Mr. Kotey pleaded guilty to his role in deaths of four Americans in Syria. He faces life in prison. Mr. Elsheikh has pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." and awaits trial.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] At the front in Marib, events are developing very interestingly.
The troops of the Hadists and the STC, with the support of the Air Force of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, were able to recapture Bayhan and Kharib from the Houthis during the January offensive, but yesterday the STC suddenly announced the end of the offensive and the withdrawal of five brigades from the front at once, including the three most combat-ready brigades funded by the UAE, for the transfer of which the western coast of Yemen was surrendered to Marib.
According to the pro-Saudi coalition media, the command of the Amalek forces withdrew five brigades of its fighters from the southern fronts of Marib and transferred them to the city of Ataq.
But they have expanded their military operation to the Kharib region in the province of Marib. However, the end of the operation was announced today. This unexpected decision to end the operation and withdraw Amalek's forces could be the result of one or more of the following:
1- Casualties and losses of the Saudi coalition forces, especially Amalek's forces on the battlefield with Ansar Allah, were much higher. than their calculations and level of expectations.
2- Ansar Allah's security and economic impact on the UAE by conducting Operation Hurricane Yemen in two phases.
3- US and UN pressure on the UAE and Saudi Arabia to stop airstrikes on Yemeni cities.
4- International mediation between Ansar Allah and the UAE.
5- Termination of the agreement between the UAE and Saudi Arabia and the achievement of the objectives of this agreement.
Also, some local analysts believe that in exchange for the help of the Saudi coalition in the fight against Ansar Allah in the province of Marib, the UAE took control of some areas and oil areas in the province of Shabwa and the port of Belhaf on the southern coast of Yemen from the Saudis.
.
It is also worth noting that after the Houthis threatened the UAE, Dubai Expo canceled a number of events in the emirate, fearing the consequences of the strikes.
If you look at the dry residue of this counterattack, then in order to win two less important settlements from the Houthis, part of the strategically significant province of Hodeida was surrendered and the real threat of blocking Iranian military supplies to Yemen was removed.
However, at the cost of this sacrifice, it was possible to solve short-term tasks - the offensive in Shabwa and South Marib forced the Houthis to ease pressure in the mountainous region of Jabal al-Balak and stop trying to break through from the south to the province of Marib.
The Houthi reserves, who were supposed to support the pressure on Marib, were forced to travel to southern Marib and Shabwa to stabilize the crackling front. Over the past 2 days, the reserves that have come up have made it possible to recapture part of the previously lost territory from the Hadists.
The general scheme of what happened in Marib and Shabwa in late December-January.
In fact, the command of the Saudi coalition took a rather reasonable step, using the mobile reserves that appeared to organize a powerful counterattack on the flank of the Houthis, who had to change their plans related to the continuation of offensive operations south of Marib. A rare case when the plan of the command of the Saudi coalition was crowned with success.
In 2021, they already played this game, organizing a powerful counteroffensive south of Taiz in response to pressure on Marib, which ended in nothing, but allowed them to buy time and stabilize the front in Marib. It's basically a double 2.
According to various estimates, Ansar-Allah and the Saudi coalition lost a large number of manpower and equipment in the battles south of Marib (we are talking about thousands of dead and even more wounded).
For the Houthis, this can be written as an operational failure (the political leadership set the goal of taking Marib in the first half of January), although it can be attributed to the fact that they do not have enough forces to simultaneously attack Marib and stop the counterattack, for which up to 8- 10 brigades of emirates and hadists.
It can be expected that when the UAE forces are withdrawn from the front, after some operational pause, the Houthis will try to make up for this failure, especially since the withdrawal of a significant part of the emirates’ forces from the front leaves them face to face with the Hadists, who were already smashed here.
So far, both sides continue to exchange strong blows. The Saudis carry out dozens of airstrikes every day. The Houthis respond with ballistic missiles and drones. Both sides claim heavy casualties on the side from these strikes.
These battles continue to be the most intense local conflict of all going on Earth.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] A military tribunal in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has sentenced 51 people to death in connection with the 2017 murder of two UN employees. This was reported on January 29 by Agence France-Presse.
In March 2017, two UN experts, US citizen Michael Sharp and Swedish citizen Zaida Catalan, were abducted and killed in the Kasai province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo . According to the official version, they were killed by local rebels.
There were 54 defendants in the case of the kidnapping and murder of UN employees. Of these, two were acquitted, one was sentenced to ten years in prison. The rest of the defendants were sentenced to death. Since the DR Congo has had a moratorium on the death penalty since 2003, all those sentenced to it will serve life imprisonment.
Ongoing military operation in northeast Diyala resulted in killing nine ISIS bully boyz involved in an attack on a headquarters of the Iraqi army in al-Udhaim basin earlier this month, the Security Media Cell (SMC) said on Saturday.
SMC said that the National Security Agency (NSA) was able to determine the exact location of the krazed killer group that waged the brazen attack on the army headquarters in al-Udhaim on January 21.
In coordination with the Joint Operations Command (JOC) of the Iraqi army, the Iraqi airforces' F-16 carried out a series of three Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s, killing nine terrorists.
The operation is still underway, according to SMC.
On January 21, button men from the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... holy warrior group attacked an army barracks in al-Udhaim mountainous area in northeast Diyala, killing ten soldiers and an officer as they slept.
A security official tells The Associated Press that four among the killed were Lebanese, natives of the northern town of Tripoli. He speaks on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to reporters.
#1
Given the rapid advances in DRONE attack technology. I suspect human-operated Helicopters will eventually become cargo and human haulers and not attackers.
Even then using larger Drones as ammo haulers and medivacs from FO positions presents a 1/10th size smaller and a 100x's less costly target.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/30/2022 15:51
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#5
Wiki on 'Coaxial' rotor systems.
Many benefits for this system apparently, but it is more complex.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/30/2022 17:36
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#6
The Russian Navy has been flying co-axial rotor helos for some time now. (Helix in NATOese). With dual, counter-rotating props, you don't need a tail rotor to keep from spinning around.
[Garowe] An operation waged by the Somali National Army [SNA] within the last two days has left Al-Shabaab militants with heavy losses, in the latest significant success against the Somalia-based terror group.
The SNA Force on Friday announced that the operation majorly in Lower and Middle Shabelle was extremely "successful" in the manner in which it was executed, noting that the militants suffered heavy casualties.
The SNA contingent said the operation was carried out in the villages of Marerey, Mukay-Dhere, Shalow and Yaqle villages, all located on the outskirts of the town of Balad, in the country's Middle Shabelle region, according to a security officer in the region, who spoke to Anadolu Agency over the phone.
According to the officer, there was a fresh fight on Friday between the military and Al-Shabaab in the outskirts of Muku Dhere village after the militants engaged the residents in a firefight. At least eight civilians were killed, officials said.
Balad is a strategic agricultural town located 40 kilometers [24 miles] north of the country's capital, Mogadishu. The town has been witnessing battles between Al-Shabaab and SNA due to its strategic location.
The commander of the 27th Division of the Somali National Army, Salah Yaqub also confirmed the operation to local media, saying they carried out the offensive against Al-Shabaab and killed 28 terrorist fighters and destroyed their hideouts.
Somalia is battling against the militants who have controlled large swathes of rural central and southern Somalia, but there has been significant progress in recent years following cooperation between SNA and the AMISOM troops.
[Garowe] A heavy confrontation ensued between al-Shabaab ...... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... Lions of Islam and innocent civilians in central Somalia, reports indicate, amid ongoing operations within the region which has been a center of festivities between the Lions of Islam and the Somali National Army [SNA].
Sources say the Lions of Islam ambushed locals in Muku Dhere village about 13 kilometers north of Bal'ad town, which has been a target of the Lions of Islam for a couple of years. Friday’s confrontation was reportedly triggered by al-Shabaab fighters who targeted several women who they accused of helping government forces.
For the last three weeks, the Somali National Army has pitched a tent in the region which is found in Middle Shabelle, where they are being assisted by a number of African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... Mission Forces in Somalia to eradicate the murderous Moslems.
Reports from the vicinity of Muku Dhere village have alleged that al-Shabaab Lions of Islam killed five women accused of supporting the SNA Force during this week’s operations. The Lions of Islam reportedly outnumbered the locals and torched homes during the fighting on Friday.
After the confrontation, sources said, hundreds of villagers fled their homes only to return hours later where they found their houses burnt and farm machinery destroyed by the al-Qaeda linked group. Other sources say as many as eight locals were killed.
Security forces reported killing 28 Lions of Islam in four villages under Bal’ad over the last few days during the showdown in the region. The government troops have been conducting a series of activities across the region.
Al-Shabaab still controls large swathes of rural central and southern Somalia, but efforts by security forces have seen the Lions of Islam drastically degraded. The African Union Mission has been pushing for a joint mission with the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... in the Horn of Africa nation.
[Khaama] Could get interesting
People in the bordering Sistan-Balochistan province of Iran took to the streets on Friday, January 28, 2022, and demanded their rights to water that flows from Afghanistan, Iranian State media Irna reported.
Security forces in the port interfered after the protestors started attacking trucks that belonged to the Afghan people.
Eyewitnesses say that Iranian protestors broke the windows of trucks and inflicted financial loss to the drivers.
Meanwhile, another group of Iranian protestors rallied at the Afghan consulate in Zahedan city and demanded the flow of Helmand water to the country.
After the demonstration of Iranian nationals, the Afghan drivers rallied on Afghanistan soil and asked for their losses to be refunded.
The demonstration comes a year after former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani inaugurated hydroelectric dam-Kamal Khan Dam- on Helmand River and said that they will no longer give water to Iran for free but in exchange for oil.
The flow of the Helmand River to Iran has been a matter of conflict for years between Afghanistan and Iran which has not been fully resolved after the war erupted in Afghanistan
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/30/2022
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[11130 views]
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An encounter broke out between hard boyz and a joint team of police and army in the Chrar-e-Sharif area of central’s Budgam district on Saturday night, police said.
"Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow," a police front man said in a tweet.
Quoting official sources, news agency GNS reported that two local hard boyz are believed to be trapped.
A joint team of Police and army launched a cordon and search operation in Charar-e-Sharif following credible inputs about the presence of hard boyz in the area.
As soon as joint team approached the suspected spot, the hiding hard boyz fired upon them, triggering off an encounter.
At least two people have been killed while over 100 others were kidnapped at Tungan Bako and Kawo communities in the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State.
It was learnt that the attacks occurred at night on Thursday, forcing all the villagers to desert the community.
The sum of N70m was demanded by the button men as ransom 24 hours after the kidnap to release the victim, a source revealed.
"They phoned us to bring N70m as ransom before the people can be released. That is all I can say for now," the source said.
According to the source, the button men, riding on over 30 cycle of violences with two heavily gunnies on each cycle of violence, attacked the communities at 11:00pm.
"They started the shooting at 11:00pm and they were there till morning because many of us had to run into the bush for safety," he said.
It was gathered that Joint Security TaskForce had been deployed in the communities and are currently on the trail of the button men to rescue the kidnapped victims.
The Giants Brigades forces say some of its fighters are remaining on the front lines in key #Yemen-i conflict zones as part of defensive measures after driving out the #Iran-backed #Houthi militia.https://t.co/of0wPXKctC
#Yemen’s Giant Brigade forces have taken the Najd and al-Hajlah areas, located between the districts of #Harib and al-Juba, Al Arabiya’s correspondents' report.
On Saturday, the Iraqi defense system mistakenly tried to shoot down a reconnaissance aircraft belonging to the US-led Coalition in Saladin Governorate.
A security source told Shafaq News Agency, "the Iraqi security forces were going to use air defenses to shoot down a drone at the entrance to Samarra district, but later, it is shown that it belongs to the Global coalition that restricted its movement and canceled its reconnaissance mission ."
The source added that "the plane tried to enter the airspace of Samarra before its identity was determined."
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.
[Clarice Feldman @ AT]
Department of Justice video widely circulated on Twitter this week shows a man trying to open the inner doors by leaning against them, before turning around as if listening to someone, then returning to the entrance and opening the left door for protesters.
[AT] Arguably the USSR crumbled because everybody was lying to everybody else, so that nothing could be believed, including (especially) economic transactions. 
[Aljazeera] France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has accused Russian private military contractor Wagner Group of plundering Mali’s resources amid heightened tensions between Paris and the country’s military government in recent weeks, including over the fate of European forces deployed in the region to fight armed groups.
[MAIL] Video has emerged of the terrifying moment a large cargo jet skid off the runway and crashed into cargo bins at Chicago's O'Hare Airport as a storm began pummeling the Northeast and New England, grounding thousands of flights and creating extreme hazards for road travel. 
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] 
[AT]
[Breitbart] An American woman, formerly of Kansas, is accused of leading an all-female ISIS battalion in Syria and plotting a "potential future attack" at a U.S. college campus, according to the Justice Department.
...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. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than there are in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really most important...
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. ...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....
...46th president of the U.S. Joe's wife and daughter weren't killed by a drunk driver. He didn't graduate with three or even two degrees, wasn't in the top half of his law class, and his daddy didn't come home from a hard day's work in the mines and play football with the guys. The NAACP hasn't endorsed him every time he's run. On the other hand, he did abandon Afghanistan...
...
[Breitbart] Humanitarian activists and U.N. officials are calling for sanctions against the Taliban to be eased so aid can be rendered to the sick, starving, and soon-to-be freezing Afghan people — but Radio Free Europe (RFE) on Tuesday documented how the Taliban is looting aid programs to pay its officials, and even withholding food to force Afghan civilians into slavery.
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it 
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...Nigeerian Islamist group, formerly paying homage to al-Qaeda, then, when the money ran out, to the Islamic State, and headed by nutcase Abu Bakr Shekau. Once he exploded in a gunfight with ISWAP, many in the group surrendered to the govt and others went with their new overlords. The remainder are a shell of their former selves, stmbling glassy-eyed and lonely through the Sambisa Forest and the soothing waters of Lake Chad, asking themselves 
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
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...... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
