[Hurriyet Daily News] A heart-warming story in Istanbul turned into a heart-breaking one for a business owner, when a local woman fed 35 Syrian refugee children before fleeing the restaurant without paying.
The unidentified woman gathered together the refugee children who were begging near Istanbul's iconic Taksim Square at around noon on Aug. 21. She then walked with them to a nearby restaurant and ordered döner kebabs for all 35 children, as well as ayran, a refreshing Turkish drink made of yoghurt and water.
As the children feasted for free, the woman told the waiters that she had to go to the nearby exchange office to convert the 200 euros she had into Turkish Liras. The owner of the restaurant, Cengiz Aydogan, waited for hours after the woman left but she never came back.
"The bill, including 10 beef döner kebabs and 25 chicken döner kebabs, was 275 Turkish Liras ($94). The woman said she would return after converting her 200 euros but she didn't," Aydogan told private news agency Cihan.
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08/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[YEMENONLINE.INFO] After the liberation of Aden and Shabwa, the disastrous adventure of the Iran-backed Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... rebels appears to have reached a dead end. Forces loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi took back full control of Aden last month and have since driven the Houthis from the provinces of restive Lahj ... a Yemeni governate located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It is the stomping grounds on the southern secessionist al-Harak movement , Dalea and Abyan
Continued on Page 49
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08/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[YEMENONLINE.INFO] Yemen's exiled President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi has approved a plan to establish three military formations, made up mainly of tribal fighters and former military personnel, to fight the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... insurgency in the Tihamah region, a military official has said.
The factions in Tihamah will follow the same leadership and be supervised by the president himself, Nasser Da'qeen, a front man for the anti-Houthi forces in the western coastal region, told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday.
The joint force will consist of about 10,000 fighters from across the Tihamah region on Yemen's west coast, according to the front man, and will rely on the Saudi-led coalition for logistic support and military equipment.
Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... has been bombarding the Houthis in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... since late March in a bid to restore exiled President Hadi to power.
The idea for the joint force was put forward by a delegation of tribal leaders and dignitaries from Tihamah who visited President Hadi at his residence in Riyadh on Thursday.
According to Da'qeen, the delegation expressed to President Hadi its willingness to fight the Houthis under a unified command rather than as separate factions.
The exiled president, the official maintained, accepted the proposal on the condition that his government be fully responsible for supporting the force both militarily and financially.
Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had escaped from his bonds and overwhelmed his guard using the bludgeon the faithful Filomena had smuggled to him in the loaf of bread... Saudi-led warplanes on Friday carried out heavy Arclight airstrikes against Houthis in Al-Bayda governorate to clear the way for pro-Hadi fighters who are trying to advance on the central governorate, local sources said.
Over the past few days, loyalist forces, known as the Popular Resistance, have been mobilizing troops in Lodar, a town in Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... Province near Bayda, in preparation for the attack.
Backed by Saudi and Emirati forces, Hadi's loyalists have in recent weeks made significant gains in Yemen, retaking the strategic city of Aden as well as driving the Houthis from the southern provinces of restive Lahj ... a Yemeni governate located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It is the stomping grounds on the southern secessionist al-Harak movement , Al-Dalea and Abyan.
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08/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[YEMENONLINE.INFO] Yemen's president is proposing a 15-day cease-fire that would coincide with the withdrawal of Shiite rebel militias from all government institutions and military installations and all cities and provinces -- even the province they call home.
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's proposal, obtained Friday by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named, was given to the U.N. envoy for Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... 's capital on Thursday, and Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed was heading to Oman on Friday to meet with Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... representatives to discuss it, according to a U.N. diplomat.
Yemen's government has expressed support for a cease-fire in the past, but this might be its first formal proposal for one.
The proposal, dated Thursday, calls for the Houthi rebels and allied troops loyal to former President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... to immediately implement a U.N. Security Council resolution which demands an end to violence and a swift return to U.N.-led peace talks.
Hadi's proposal comes after pro-government troops, backed by a Saudi-led coalition carrying out Arclight airstrikes, regained strategic ground from the rebels, including the southern port of Aden. They now push north toward the capital, Sanaa.
Yemen's government has repeatedly demanded that the Houthis withdraw. With government forces retaking territory and the Houthis on the defensive, it remains to be seen if the two sides will be more amenable to talking. An attempt at U.N.-brokered talks in Geneva in June failed.
More than 4,000 people have been killed in the Arab world's poorest country since March, when the U.S.-backed coalition began launching Arclight airstrikes against the rebels who have seized control of the capital Sanaa and other cities. Hadi, who was forced to flee, is now in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
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08/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[Breitbart] The Associated Press reports that annual military exercises with South Korea have been halted--indefinitely--due to rising tensions on the DMZ and threats of war from Pyongyang. Is this a concession to North Korea's threats, a bid to reduce tensions on the peninsula, or is it necessary to give American and South Korean units a chance to prepare for possible combat?
"North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday declared his front-line troops in a 'quasi-state of war' and ordered them to prepare for battle against South Korea in response to an exchange of artillery fire on the border Thursday," the AP reports.
The exercise was supposed to run from last Monday through next Friday, so it is being halted or canceled about halfway through. The anonymous officials who spoke to the Associated Press said they "weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly" and did not know if the exercise would resume. Very likely a regime measure designed to allow the NORKS to save face and claim victory. Exercises and mobilizations are precursors to war. Standing down from an ongoing exercise is just the opposite.
#5
Actually, if going hot is an even marginally possible situation, you want to cancel the exercises and flip the in-place people to war footing, quietly. Pull the exercise assets (especially command and logistics) because if TSHTF, they will need to flip to real mode in a hurry, instead of the pencil pushing of an exercise. And command and logistics are not exactly known as the most nimble parts of the TO&E, unlike the front line or combat arms units.
Notice one other thing: until they feature units and assets returning stateside (especially Navy and logistics), this "cancellation" means nothing.
#7
And FYI, the halt was called by the US Commander, USFK. Not Obama. Not any admin flunky. Not any political pressure. This was operational. Plus Obama is on vacation, so he probably only heard about it "in the news" like everything else he claims.
#10
Maybe John Kerry will trade the Chinese North Korea for the Chinese to halt their expansion in the ocean. We looked the other way when Putin wanted Ukraine.
#12
I also think that the situation for Kimmie is getting unstable. He is threatening war to get the factions behind him. If enough of his high level people say enough, Kimmie will become a pork roast.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/23/2015 20:59 Comments ||
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#13
Maybe Dennis Rodman will save the day.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/23/2015 21:01 Comments ||
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#14
As per FREEREPUBLIC this AM, China is repor sending PLA forces to its border wid the DPRK, + circa 50 NOKOR Submarines have supposedly left their Navbases on either side of NOKOR + cannot be reliably located???
* CNN AM = both NOKOR + SOKOR are engaging in direct diplomatic communication over this latest incident.
SEOUL -- South and North Korea will resume high-level talks later Sunday to work out differences on how to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Cheong Wa Dae said.
The talks between South Korean National Security Adviser Kim Kwan-jin and Hwang Pyong-so, the North Korean military's top political officer, were adjourned at 4:15 a.m., presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook told reporters. The marathon talks -- which lasted for nearly 10 hours at the border village of Panmunjom -- were joined by South Korean Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo and his North Korean counterpart, Kim Yang-gon.
"The two sides held in-depth consultations on how to resolve the situation that was recently created, and how to improve inter-Korean relations," Min said.
South and North Korea will review each other's positions before resuming the talks at 3 p.m., Min said, without elaborating.
The talks, which were first proposed by North Korea on Friday, came an hour after the Pyongyang-set deadline for defusing the crisis passed.
On Thursday, North Korea gave a 48-hour ultimatum for South Korea to end propaganda broadcasts along the heavily fortified border and dismantle all loudspeakers, saying it otherwise will launch "a strong military action."
North Korea also warned Friday that it is prepared to engage in "all-out war."
Propaganda broadcasts have become a bone of contention between the two Koreas after South Korea resumed them earlier this month for the first time in 11 years. South Korea took the measure in retaliation against North Korea for a recent land mine attack that maimed two South Korean soldiers. South Korea accused the North of planting the mines inside the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas, a charge denied by North Korea.
North Korea views the psychological warfare critical of North Korean leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un as an insult to its dignity. The isolated country is also concerned that an influx of outside information could pose a threat to Kim.
Which is why the South should continue, and float choco-pies into the North...
Still, South Korea has vowed to continue the psychological warfare.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[USATODAY] Amid threats of war from North Korea, an annual joint military exercise with the U.S. and South Korea was briefly halted, U.S. officials said Friday.
The latest developments came after North Korean leader Kim Pudge Jong-un ...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished... declared his front-line troops were in a "quasi-state of war" and ordered them to prepare for battle against South Korea in response to an exchange of artillery fire Thursday along the border.
David Shear, assistant secretary for Asia issues, told Pentagon news hounds the U.S. commander in South Korea decided to pause the exercise after consulting with South Korean military officials. He added that commanders needed to receive briefings about Thursday's gunfire incident to make sure that both the U.S. and South Korea had "a mutual understanding of what the situation is."
U.S. forces were at an increased security status for the exercise and "are remaining on an enhanced status as part of the exercise and, of course, to ensure adequate deterrence on the peninsula," Shear said.
He said the U.S. is continuing to monitor the situation closely and is calling on Pyongyang to "refrain from actions and rhetoric that threaten regional peace and stability."
The orders from Kim came as he chaired an emergency meeting of the North's powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), according to the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency.
The Ulchi Freed Guardian Exercises 2015, which began Monday and are scheduled to run through Aug. 28, involve 30,000 U.S. troops and 50,000 South Korean troops and also include forces from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, La Belle France, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, according to the U.S. Forces Korea website.The UFK notes the exercise is "planned months in advance and it is not connected to any current world events."
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08/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Senior member of Belgium's counter-terrorism police unit outlines challenges, says threat by bandidosgunnies has 'never been higher'
Might as well just surrender now, and get it over with. Because putting things on a war footing instead is clearly not to be thought of.
The thwarted attack by a gunman on a high-speed train between Amsterdam and Gay Paree has underlined the difficulty faced by intelligence services in tracking the unprecedented numbers of potential jihadists, experts say.
The 26-year-old Moroccan suspect in Friday's shooting, who was overpowered by two US servicemen and other passengers before he could kill anyone, was first flagged to Spanish authorities as a potential holy warrior and intelligence sources said he had travelled to Syria.
[INDEPENDENT.CO.UK] A US soldier has spoken of the moment he and a childhood friend prevented a gunman from opening fire on a passenger train from Amsterdam to northern La Belle France. It wasn't precisely the Marines that landed, more a Zoomie, a Doggy, and some guy they knew. It added up to the same thing in the end: A pack, not a herd.
Alek Skarlatos, on holiday in Europe with fellow serviceman Spencer Stone and student Anthony Sadler, said he and his companions heard a gunshot and breaking glass while on their Thalys train at around 3.45pm on Friday. Gunshot and breaking glass == tipoff unless you're a CNN commentpotater ("But were you sure those sounds were associated with an attack? They could have been caused by something else...")
"I saw a guy entering the carriage with an AK and a handgun, at that point I ducked down and my friend Spencer, next to me, ducked down and I just looked over at Spencer and said: 'Let's go'," Mr Skalatos told Sky News from his hotel room in Arras, northern La Belle France. "Let's roll." Next month is 14 years.
The 22-year-old National Guardsman from Rosenburg, Oregan, and Mr Stone charged the unidentified 26-year-old man, believed to be of Moroccan origin, down the narrow carriage. [TRAMPLE!][TRAMPLE!][TRAMPLE!] "Aaaiiieeee!" [TRAMPLE!][TRAMPLE!]
Well, maybe a thundering herd.
"Then I grabbed the AK (assault rifle), which was at his feet, and started muzzle thumping him in the head with it," Mr Skarlatos added. [WHACK!][WHACK!][WHACK!][THUMP!]
Mr Sadler, a senior at Sacramento State University, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named of his friends' exploits: "Spencer makes first contact, he tackles the guy, Alek wrestles the gun away from him, and the gunman pulls out a boxcutter and slices Spencer a few times. And the three of us beat him until he was unconscious. The gunman never said a word." Just ate his knuckle sammitch in peace.
It came as amateur video showing the aftermath of the struggle emerged. Why was the guy videoing when he could have been thumping?
Another passenger helped the men tie up the assailant while Mr Skalatos -- who recently returned from a tour in Afghanistan -- disabled the gunman's weapons. "E-e-e-ew! You ever clean this thing?"
"In the aftermath, we saw that a man's throat had been split and he was bleeding profusely," Mr Sadler said. [Collective chorus: "Oh, dear."]
Airman Mr Stone, who was injured himself in the hand during the tussle, performed first aid on the unidentified passenger. "Hold this against the wound and don't talk!"
"It hurts!"
"I said don't talk!"
"Okay! Okay!"
Mr Sadler continued: "Spencer, who has some paramedics training, just clogged up his neck so he wouldn't die. This is all in the midst of Spencer bleeding profusely himself." "Try not to slip and fall in it. You don't even want to have a broken hip set."
"It was just really heroic of him to do something like that." "Shucks, ma'am! 'Twarn't nuthin'!"
Mr Skarlatos added: "We just did what we had to do. You either run away or fight. We chose to fight and got lucky and didn't die." Three disciplined men against one dipshit krazed killer? No contest.
The attack has been condemned by French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuv, who called it "an attack of barbaric violence", and expressed his "gratitude and admiration" for the men's actions. For a moment there I thought he meant the attack on the krazed killer.
A White House spokesperson also praised the men's actions. "Yeah, yeah. Really."
"The President expressed his profound gratitude for the courage and quick thinking of several passengers, including US service members, who selflessly subdued the attacker, " a statement said. "While the investigation into the attack is in its early stages, it is clear that their heroic actions may have prevented a far worse tragedy." " 'May have,' mind you."
The three were met off the train, which was travelling through Belgium at the time of the attack, along with around 500 other passengers at the next station in Arras by French authorities. "Ummm... What's that?"
"It's a guillotine. It's not for you. It's for him!"
"Can we watch?"
"By all means!"
Three people were maimed in the attack, including a French actor who is believed to have hurt himself as he sounded the alarm. Yeah. We saw the headline on CNN. Bit his tongue, did he?
US authorities confirmed that an American citizen had been injured but that their wounds were not life-threatening.
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08/23/2015 12:45 ||
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[Hurriyet Daily News] Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has urged the Alevi community to be alert against those "who want to make brothers kill each other," while also stressing that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) must be eradicated.
"Daesh has been inflicting a major blow to Islam. It needs to be eradicated since it has been inflicting a major blow to human dignity," Davutoğlu said on Aug. 22 during his speech to Alevi leaders in the capital Ankara, using another acronym for ISIL.
Alevis constitute the second-largest religious community in Turkey after Sunni Muslims. Turkey's Supreme Court ruled on Aug. 17 that Turkish state should cover the expenses of cemevis, Alevi houses of worship.
Avoiding the thorny domestic issue in his speech, Davutoğlu stressed that Islam was a "religion of peace and love," and not what ISIL was trying to portray, which was a picture of "tyranny."
"Cemevis should be seen as the convent of peace. We should all be alert that there might be people who want to make brothers kill each other. It is a duty for us all to stand against whoever attacks us. We should be hand in hand," he added.
In his speech, Davutoğlu also said that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was another evil that needed to be eradicated jointly.
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08/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Following a dramatic midnight raid on the Madressah Haqqania that led to at least four arrests on Thursday night, the capital police on Saturday booked the seminary's administrator under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Maintenance of Public Order, but no arrests were made, officials told Dawn.
Following the raid, Qari Ahsanullah -- who is also the khateeb of the adjoining Masjid Qasmia -- had delivered a Friday sermon that severely criticised the police action against the seminary. Police had taken at least four men into custody from the seminary. The suspects are said to be linked to the Attock bombing that claimed the life of Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... home minister Col Shuja Khanzada.
After receiving information about the alleged use of hate speech by the holy man, the Special Branch were asked by the Central Police Office to investigate the issue.
They were also tasked with preparing a report on the khateeb's more incendiary speeches and recommending legal action against him, sources said. "The Special Branch probe found that the khateeb targeted security forces and the government in the speech and declared them agents of foreign intelligence agencies," an official told Dawn.
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08/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] KARACHI: Police Sherlocks have suggested political rivalry and terrorism as a means to destabilise the city as possible motives for the deadly attack on Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) politician Rashid Godil, it emerged on Friday.
During the past two days, the police conducted search operations in different areas and detained over 30 people for questioning. Three of them were being grilled to help identify the motive for the attackers, said a police brass hat who is part of the investigation team.
With reference to the statement by Mr Godil's wife, the senior officer said that CCTV footage showed the politician being chased by suspects on a cycle of violence after he left his residence in Defence. But the suspects who shot at him did not appear to be the same indicating that one group chased him while another carried out the attack, he added.
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08/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Pakistain on Saturday night said it had come to the conclusion that the proposed National Security Adviser (NSA) level talks between Pakistain and India would not serve any purpose if conducted on the basis of the two conditions laid down by Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Sawaraj. ... since they set it up that way...
The announcement comes hours before NSA Sartaj Aziz ...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in good jihadis and bad jihadis as a matter of national policy... was to leave for India on August 23.
The Indian foreign minister had earlier today said that India had made clear on August 18 that the scheduled meeting between national security advisers will only discuss issues related to terrorism.
"No other topic will come under discussion," she said, adding that all outstanding issues including Kashmire are part of the composite dialogue between the two countries which had not yet resumed.
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08/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[ARABNEWS] India issued an ultimatum to Pakistain Saturday, giving Islamabad until midnight to agree to restrict high-level bilateral talks to militancy alone, leaving a planned meeting between the two countries' national security advisers in doubt.
The talks, which were due to have taken place in New Delhi on Sunday, have been thrown into question after a row between the two arch-rivals over Pakistain's plan to meet with Kashmiri separatists leaders and desire to broaden the scope of the talks.
India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj told news hounds on Saturday that Pakistain had until "tonight" to agree to an agenda that was restricted to discussions of "terror, and terror only."
Swaraj insisted India was not setting "pre-conditions for talks but only insisting on what was agreed to as agenda by both countries' leaders for the NSAs meet," referring to a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistain's Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... in the Russian city of Ufa last month.
Asked what would happen if Pakistain did not agree to India's demands regarding the agenda of the talks, Swaraj replied: "Then talks won't happen."
Swaraj's remarks came just hours after Pakistain's National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz ...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in good jihadis and bad jihadis as a matter of national policy... insisted he was ready to meet his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, despite India's foreign ministry saying it would be inappropriate for the Pak diplomat to meet with the Hurriyat separatist movement while in the Indian capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/23/2015 00:00 ||
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Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday declared his intention to resign from his position as head of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, according to two members of the committee, in a political maneuver apparently designed to boost his legitimacy within the organization.
Mr. Abbas's proposed resignation from the leadership committee, along with another 10 of its 18 members, enables the convening, possibly next month, of a rare, extraordinary session of the Palestine National Council, the P.L.O.'s legislative body, where new elections are to be held for the executive committee, and where those who resigned may stand for re-election.
Mr. Abbas has not resigned from his other position as president of the Palestinian Authority, the interim body that was set up under the peace accords in the 1990s to exercise limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza.
so nothing's changed
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/23/2015 13:44 ||
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[Hurriyet Daily News] The exiled head of Paleostinian Islamist movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, Khaled Meshaal, said "positive contacts" have been made towards securing a long-term truce with Israel, in a video posted Aug. 21 on an Arab website.
Meshaal's comments posted by pan-Arab news website Al-Arabi Al-Jadid were the first by a leader of Hamas, which does not recognise the Jewish state, to openly confirm such contacts with Israel.
Israel itself has denied any direct or indirect contacts with the Islamist krazed killer movement which rules Gazoo and with which it fought a devastating summer war in 2014.
"So far the contacts seem positive. But so far we haven't reached any agreement. We cannot say today that we have something in our hand. There are only discussions," Meshaal said.
"The question is how to resolve the Gazoo problem? We are open to all efforts: Paleostinian, Arab, Islamic, regional and international... But this will not occur at the expense of the unity of the West Bank and the Gazoo Strip," he said.
On Tuesday, the West Bank-based Paleostinian Authority accused Hamas of holding secret talks with Israel that would endorse the separation of the Paleostinian territories.
Arab and Turkish media have carried reports, picked up by Israeli media, of talks aimed at reaching an eight- or 10-year truce in return for Israel lifting its blockade on Gazoo.
"There have been negotiations and they are on the verge of reaching an agreement about a truce of eight to 10 years," Paleostinian foreign minister Riad al-Malki said.
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08/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Tehran rejects section of nuclear deal requiring it to receive UNSC approval for any transfer of ballistic missile technology and presents Fateh 313 missile.
Iran on Saturday unveiled a new surface-to-surface missile it said could strike targets with pin-point accuracy within a range of 500 km (310 miles) and it said military might was a precondition for peace and effective diplomacy.
The defense ministry's unveiling of the solid-fuel missile, named Fateh 313, came little more than a month after Iran and world powers reached a deal that requires Tehran to abide by new limits on its nuclear program in return for Western governments easing economic sanctions.
According to that deal, any transfer to Iran of ballistic missile technology during the next eight years will be subject to the approval of the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... Security Council, and the United States has promised to veto any such requests. An arms embargo on conventional weapons also stays, preventing their import and export for five years.
But Iran has said it will not follow parts of the nuclear deal that restricts its military capabilities, a stance reaffirmed by President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday.
"We will buy, sell and develop any weapons we need and we will not ask for permission or abide by any resolution for that," he said in a speech at the unveiling ceremony broadcast live on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
"We can negotiate with other countries only when we are powerful. If a country does not have power and independence, it cannot seek real peace," he said.
The Fateh 313 is the 6th generation of the solid-propellant Fateh-series SRBM, which are considered the most accurate Iranian missiles.
According to reports in Iran, the new missile is made of composite materials, making it lighter in weight than previous versions. It also uses synthetic fuel and is fitted with new sensors.
The defense ministry said the Fateh 313, unveiled on Iran's Defense Industry Day, had already been successfully tested and that mass production would start soon.
Threats
Iran has one of the largest missile programs in the Middle East. It wants to export arms to its allies in the region and import anti-missile systems to prevent any possible attack by its arch-foe Israel.
"In our aerospace industry we have various ballistic missiles with different ranges under production," Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said on Friday.
"We will continue this path with maximum power in line with our defensive needs and proportionate to threats ahead of us."
IRGC commander said on Friday Iran would hold a large ballistic missile manoeuvre in the near future.
"Some wrongly think Iran has suspended its ballistic missile programs in the last two years and has made a deal on its missile program ... We will have a new ballistic missile test in the near future that will be a thorn in the eyes of our enemies," the commander of the aerospace division of the IRGC, Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh, said on Friday.
In the past, the Israeli Air Force was attributed with an attack on a shipment of Fateh 110 missiles on their way from Iran to Hezbollah.
At the end of last year, senior Hezbollah officials and bigwigs in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps spoke a lot about the advanced surface-to-surface missiles Iran provided Hezbollah with, that would allow the Lebanese terror organization to accurately hit targets all over Israel. It is believed the model in question was the Fateh 110.
Earlier this year, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed that his organization has had Fateh 110 missiles that can reach Tel Aviv since 2006.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/23/2015 00:00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Iran is seeking to transfer state-of the-art weaponry from storehouses in Syria to Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... , the Israeli Foreign Ministry director-general Dore Gold told The Jerusalem Post from Berlin.
The weapons include the SA-22 (Pantsir- S1) air defense system and the Y‑akhont anti-ship cruise missile, said Gold, who is on his first trip to a European capital for high-level talks.
He told the Jerusalem Post that he explained to German officials how the regional situation has become more complicated as a result of the nuclear deal signed last month between major powers and Iran.
According to Gold, Iran has made efforts to transfer arms to Hizbullah, amid attempts over the last six months to set up a Hizbullah front against Israel in the Golan Heights.
If this type of activity has been going on for the last six months, Gold asked, "then what happens when the sanctions on Iran are lifted, and they get a cash bonus of up to $150 billion?"
He answered: "Iran will then be equipped to radically increase its destabilizing activities along Israel's borders."
After the deal was signed by Iran and six global powers in Vienna, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has been furiously lobbying U.S. politicians, holding out hope Congress will vote against it by a strong enough margin to override any presidential veto.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/23/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Khamenei is saber rattling and arming. Netanyahu was given the red light on attacking Iran (presumably by team Kerry/Obama). Can we not get someone in the WH who is not cojone-challenged before cities start glowing in the West?
#2
He answered: "Iran will then be equipped to radically increase its destabilizing activities along Israel's borders."
Thus potentially neutralizing the opportunity for an Israeli 'go it alone' strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. Klingon 'winners-losers' planning at it's finest.
[AlAhram] A second group of rebel fighters trained in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... by the U.S.-led coalition could be deployed to Syria within weeks as part of a campaign to push Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... holy warriors away from the border, diplomatic sources told Rooters on Friday.
The United States and Turkey plan to provide air cover for what Washington judges to be moderate Syrian rebels, in a joint operation to flush Islamic State from a rectangle of border territory roughly 80 km (50 miles) long. U.S. jets have already begun air strikes from Turkish bases in advance of the campaign.
Diplomats familiar with the plans say cutting Islamic State's access to the Turkish border, across which the radical Lion of Islam group has been able to bring imported muscle and supplies, could be a game-changer.
But the plans have been beset by difficulties.
The al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front said late last month it had detained some of a first group of less than 60 U.S.-trained rebels in northern Syria weeks after they were deployed, and warned others to abandon the program.
Their capture highlighted the fragility of the U.S.-led efforts to train and equip thousands of screened members of the Syrian opposition over the next three years, hoping to help them defend communities against Islamic State.
"Although there has been some scepticism about it, it is far too early to write off this program. Massive resources have been invested in this to make it work and we think it will work in the end," one of the diplomatic sources said.
The second group of rebels was currently in training in Turkey with U.S. and British military instructors and would be deployed once that was completed in the next few weeks. Where exactly in Syria they were sent would depend on "the latest battlefield dynamics", the source said.
Around 1,000 fighters in total were expected to be deployed to Syria by the end of this year, the source added.
Turkish officials declined to comment on the record, but a Turkish diplomatic source confirmed that training was underway.
The White House, Pentagon and State Department restated the U.S. commitment to defend the rebels after the attack by the Nusra Front. Several coalition air strikes in northern Syria were launched around the time of the attack.
#3
2nd group of U.S-trained Syrian rebels could be deployed within weeks: Source
All three of 'em. After which, as Alan C points out, they'll be "captured" within a very short period of time.
As important as it is that we stay on top of the Unfortunate Matter of the EMail Servers, somebody needs to be looking HARD at how much it cost us to train - what, fewer than a hundred guys?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/23/2015 8:54 Comments ||
Top||
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.
[YEMENONLINE.INFO] After the liberation of Aden and Shabwa, the disastrous adventure of the Iran-backed 
[Breitbart] The Associated Press reports that annual military exercises with South Korea have been halted--indefinitely--due to rising tensions on the DMZ and threats of war from Pyongyang. Is this a concession to North Korea's threats, a bid to reduce tensions on the peninsula, or is it necessary to give American and South Korean units a chance to prepare for possible combat?
North Korea
[IsraelTimes] Senior member of Belgium's counter-terrorism police unit outlines challenges, says threat by 
[DAWN] KARACHI: Police 
