[BBC] A large dust storm has hit western parts of the Middle East, putting dozens of people in hospital and leading to public health warnings.
After hitting parts of Syria on Monday, the dust spread to larger areas of the country on Tuesday morning.
Syrian media said the weather stopped fighting in Hama and Idlib provinces.
Parts of Leb, Israel, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and Cyprus were also affected. Leb's state news agency said two people died - one an elderly man found on a roof.
Syrian media said the weather stopped fighting in Hama and Idlib provinces.
The pro-government al-Watan newspaper said (in Arabic) that government helicopters were prevented from flying because of the dust.
The poor weather was down partly to a low-pressure system over the entire region and sand blowing in from the east, Syria's state news agency, Sana, said (in Arabic).
Poor visibility may last until the end of the week, it added.
An unseasonal sandstorm swept across the Mideast on Tuesday, covering Beirut and Damascus with a blanket of yellow dust, sending hundreds of people to hospitals with breathing difficulties and causing the deaths of two women, officials said.
The storm also hit Jordan, Israel and Egypt. In Jordan, schools shut down or cut their days short.
Kabul: Rahim Khan's return to Afghanistan 28 years after fleeing to Pakistan was not the homecoming he had dreamed of. The 60-year-old is one of a growing number of Afghan refugees making the journey back with trepidation, as militant violence intensifies, yet feeling shunned by their adopted country as relations between the neighbours sour.
The rate of returnees has more than quadrupled this year, with 137,000 refugees going back to Afghanistan since January. The number could spike further if the countries fail to agree by December 31 to extend identity cards for two years and allow some 1.5 million registered refugees to stay in Pakistan.
Pakistan has been trying to get rid of its Afghan guests for about a decade. Perhaps this effort will be more effective.
The chill in relations, amid an offensive by Taleban which Kabul blames partly on Pakistan, has put the extension in doubt, along with the future of another million unregistered Afghans.
"First we had to leave here because of war. Now we are coming back to war and bombs," said Khan, speaking at a refugee centre near Kabul where his Pakistan-born grandchildren were being taught the dangers of mines and roadside bombs.
Outside, the thump of exploding ordnance from a nearby army range echoed off arid hills, another reminder that Afghanistan appears no closer to peace than when Khan left during the Soviet occupation.
The dangers mean thousands of people have fled Afghanistan this year, many of them to Europe where governments are struggling to cope with an influx of migrants from the Middle East and beyond.
Yet Khan and others like him say they had little choice but to leave Pakistan. His son Abdul Manan said their life as labourers and fruit vendors in Pakistan-administered Kashmir took a dramatic turn for the worse after Taleban gunmen massacred at least 141 students at an army school in northwest Pakistan in December.
Islamabad blamed the atrocity on militants based across the border,
...they certainly weren't going to blame their own ISI-funded pets...
and anti-Afghan sentiment in Pakistan rose.
Manan said police started showing up at their home, asking to see their papers and threatening them with jail if they failed to pay 1,000-1,500 rupees ($10-15) every few days.
"We decided to leave, there was no other option. We couldn't keep paying 1,500," said Manan. "This is our home and we have no other place to go."
Raja Shafqat Khan, senior official at the police headquarters in Muzaffarabad, administrative capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, said he was not aware of the family's complaints. "As a policy, we do not harass Afghan refugees," he said.
"But now that I know who they are and where they live..."
Pakistan's refugee minister, Abdul Qadir Baloch, promised to renew ID cards if he got cabinet approval, and said Pakistan would "not use any coercive measures" to send Afghans back. A
fghan President Ashraf Ghani spent much of his first year in office trying to improve relations and spur peace talks with the Taleban, widely believed to have close links with Pakistan's spy agency that helped create the movement in the 1990s. But efforts stalled and the fledgling peace process collapsed after it was revealed in July that Taleban leader Mullah Omar had died two years earlier.
A spate of lethal attacks in Kabul that Ghani believes were planned by militants hiding on Pakistan's side of the porous, rugged border soured relations further.
Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has said he wanted all refugees repatriated.
"The cards will not be extended," he said. "They expire at the end of this year."
There are four months left for the neighbours to patch things up, but for now the mood is hostile.
Since Ghani pointed the finger of blame across the border for the attacks, Pakistani flags and currency have been burnt by protesters. Pakistani diplomats in Kabul say they are restricting their movements.
As thousands arrive from Pakistan, others are seeking ways to leave.
Humanitarian organisations estimate that nearly one million Afghans have been internally displaced by fighting, and on the streets of Kabul, conversations quickly turn to departure. Almost everyone knows someone attempting to get to Europe.
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09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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Libya's coastguard said it rescued more than 100 migrants Monday after the engine on their rubber dinghy broke down as they tried to reach Europe across the Mediterranean.
"We rescued 121 migrants on a rubber boat which broke down" off the town of Qarabulli, 60 kilometres (35 miles) east of Tripoli, Lieutenant Mohammed Dandi, a coastguard commander, told AFP. Dandi said the 121 migrants, from Arab and African countries and including 10 women, were taken ashore on two boats and transferred to a reception centre in the capital.
It was the second such operation in a matter of days, after 104 migrants were rescued on Thursday in the same area under similar circumstances.
Libya, with a coastline of 1,770 kilometres, has for years been a stepping stone for Africans seeking a better life in Europe. Most head for Italy's Lampedusa island which is 300 kilometres from Libya.
People smugglers have taken advantage of chaos in Libya since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed veteran dictator Moamer Kadhafi to step up their lucrative business. They take would-be migrants on board rickety boats for the treacherous Mediterranean crossing.
About 2,500 people have died at sea this year alone. Last month, a boat transporting 400 migrants sank off the western Libyan port of Zuwara with only half of its passengers rescued.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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[Hurriyet Daily News] An Egyptian court postponed Sept. 6 its verdicts in two lawsuits calling on the government to designate The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and 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... as "state sponsors of terrorism" until Sept. 28, according to a judicial source.
The lawsuits were filed by Egyptian lawyer Samir Sabri, who has filed a series of lawsuits against the Moslem Brüderbund --the group which ousted and imprisoned President Mohammed Morsi hails from-- and Qatar's Al Jazeera news channel.
The lawsuits accuse Ankara and Doha of providing a safe haven for "terrorists" --a reference to Brotherhood leaders who have fled an ongoing crackdown in Egypt-- and of refusing to extradite them to Egypt.
It was the third time for the court postponing its verdict in the case, with its first postponement in May and then again in July.
Egypt's relations with both Turkey and Qatar have soured dramatically since mid-2013, when the army ousted and imprisoned Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected leader, after he served only one year in office.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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[Libya Herald] More children are reported to have died from scorpion stings in the south of the country because of a lack of antidote. According to officials in Wadi Otba, near Murzuk, seven children have died within the municipality over the past month.
There had been over 100 cases of scorpion stings in the area over the period, according to local council member Mukhtar Al-Amin. He added that most people resort to traditional treatments to deal with them.
Healthy adults, however, do not usually succumb to scorpion stings. It is the young, the elderly and those with seriously illnesses who are at risk.
There have been other reports of children dying from scorpion stings elsewhere in southern Libya over the past month because of a lack of antidote. A local official in Obari last week said children had died there. There have also been reports of children dying in Kufra.
In almost all cases, the deaths have been put down to a lack of antidote caused by Libya's political crisis.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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[Libya Herald] Closed for more than a year because of fighting in the city, Benghazi University finally restarted classes yesterday. With the main campus in Garyounis still seen to be in the firing line and massively damaged in earlier fighting, students from the various departments met in different schools across the city. The English department is operating out of a school in Salmani, while the law department is using two in Fuwayhat. Medical students are using Benghazi Medical Centre and the nearby Children's Hospital.
Exams for all departments are to start on 7 October after the Eid holiday, students have been told. However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... those who have been displaced because of the fighting or who are serving in the Libyan army will be allowed to take them early next year.
There had been earlier announcements over the past year announcing the reopening and dates for exams. In May, the university said it would reopen in July after Ramadan. In July, it was announced that exams would begin yesterday, 5 September.
The use of local schools, others of which are being used to house displaced people, has caused some disruption to the education system. However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... a number were already closed and others amalgamated because of the crisis.
Meanwhile, ...back at the precinct house, Don Calamari's lawyer was getting even redder in the face... in another indication of change in the city, its Crisis Committee yesterday said that plans were in hand to build 3,000 housing units for displaced people in Sidi Khalifa district. According to the committee, work on the first homes would start before the end of the month.
Last month, the city council said that it was looking at cooperation with the Islamic Committee of the International Crescent to build 500 units for displaced people.
In a separate development, there are also unconfirmed but persistent reports that supplies of equipment are to be sent to the army fighting Islamists in Leithi, Sabri and elsewhere in the city.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] 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... has sent 1,000 ground troops to Yemen, Doha-based Al Jazeera television said, escalating Gulf Arab intervention in Yemen's war ahead of a planned offensive against Iranian-backed Houthis holding the capital Sanaa.
Qatari pilots had already joined months of Saudi-led air strikes on 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 ... militia, which seized Sanaa a year ago and then advanced across much of the country, forcing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile in March.
Military sources told Rooters that Qatari troops were on their way to 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... and preparing to join a new push on Houthi positions in Sanaa. They told Rooters the Qatari force had not yet entered the Arabian Peninsula country.
But a regional Yemeni official in oil-producing Marib province east of Sanaa said the Qatari contingent had already "crossed the al-Wadia border post" between 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... and Yemen and was heading to Marib - where Hadi loyalists have been preparing for the thrust toward Sanaa.
Saudi-owned al Arabiya satellite network also said Qatari and Saudi reinforcements had crossed the frontier.
The first reported involvement of Qatari ground forces in Yemen coincided with an intensification of the conflict a few days after a rocket strike in Marib that killed dozens of soldiers including Saudis and Emiratis.
Saudi coalition forces on Sunday carried out repeated air raids on Houthi targets 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... in apparent retaliation.
Saudi-led warplanes on Monday renewed strikes on Houthi targets across Yemen and Houthi-run media said the raids killed at least 12 people, including women and kiddies, in the central province of Ibb.
It was not immediately possible to independently verify the report.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
More angst for IRAN vee nemesis Base-Too-Far QATAR.
Again, now that Iran is a OWG Co-Superpower sibling of the US, + as such a SSSSHHHHHH...
CCCCCCCCCC BFF + Quasi-Ally of the US, West agz the ISIS/ISIL + AQ Boyz, PROLLY SAFE TO SAY THAT A US-IRAN WAR CAN STILL OCCUR AS A DIRECT, OPEN CONFRONTATION BETWEEN IRAN + ONE OR MORE MAJOR US ME ALLY E.G. THE KSA.
Right now, both Iran + the KSA are still using proxies in Yemen or otherwise avoiding direct military clashes between their respective Armed Forces - THIS CAN EASILY CHANGE FOR THE WORSE IFF THE ISIS/ISIL ANDOR AL-NUSRA DECIDE TO KEEP
ESCALATING AGAIN AND AGAIN.
KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED.
Its only 09/2015 - we still have the rest of this year, and most or all of next year 2016, for the proverbial SHTF.
AGAIN PART II, UNTIL OWG-NWO IS PERMANENTLY + IRREVOCABLY SET-UP-N-ENTRENCHED, THINGYS WILL CONTINUE TO INTENTIONALLY GET WORSE BEFORE THEY GET BETTER.
#2
The problem Iran has in Yemen is how does it reinforce the Houthi as long as the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are patrolled by KSA and forces. Bear in mind, as Iran does, that the US presence in Qatar, Oman, the drone base in southern Saudi Arabia and Djibouti (at least in this case) is not for show.
#3
* WORLD NEWS > [Yahoo Daily News] NUMBER OF SAUDI-LED COALITION TROOPS IN YEMEN NOW AT 10,000 [plus]: AL-JAZEERA.
Iff the KSA Colaition desires to ensure that the Iran-backed Anti-Govt Houthis are defeated once-n-forever, IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN IFF THE US' OWG CO-SUPERPOWER SIBLING IRAN WILL ALLOW THE KSA COALITION TO DO SO.
And as Iran's Co-Superpower "Sibling", DITTO THE US = ANTI-US US GLOBALIST POTUS OBAMA, ETAL. TO ALLOW THE KSA COALITION TO DEFEAT THE HOUTHIS???
#2
I don't know whatinhell is the matter with Breitbart. They offer great news that can rarely be accessed without pulling teeth. They clutter their site with ads and other crapola. Their service is truly Third World.
#3
This is a perfect example of the difference between W and Obama.
Posted by: frozen al ||
09/08/2015 11:20 Comments ||
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#4
Browsing the modern web without an adblocker is like spending a week in Thailand without using a condom. Don't do it. A javascript blocker (e.g. no script) is a good idea too.
[AnNahar] Denmark has placed adverts in several Lebanese newspapers warning would-be migrants about new and tighter restrictions on those seeking asylum in the country.
The adverts appeared in at least three Arabic-language newspapers and one English-language daily in Leb on Monday.
"Denmark has decided to tighten the regulations concerning refugees in a number of areas," the advert cautions.
It notes that social benefits for newly-arrived refugees are being reduced "by up to 50 percent" and that family reunification for those with temporary residence permits is not allowed for the first year after they arrive.
It advises would-be migrants and refugees that they will be required to speak and understand Danish to obtain a permanent residency.
"All rejected asylum seekers must be returned quickly from Denmark," it adds.
Thought experiment: three quarters of the claimed refugees are rejected. Three have Syrian passports; the rest have no identification papers whatsoever, but claim vehemently to be Syrian as well, though most are cleqrly from other oarts of the world. Where do you send them?
"There is a special return center for rejected asylum seekers to ensure (they)... leave Denmark as quickly as possible."
In Denmark, Immigration and Integration Minister Inger Stojberg, an immigration hardliner from the right-wing Venstre party, announced the adverts on Facebook.
"Today I have, as promised, published advertisements in four Lebanese newspapers informing about the changed conditions for people who apply for asylum in Denmark," she wrote.
She said the text would also be placed in asylum centers in Denmark in 10 different languages and spread on social media.
"The aim is to inform objectively and soberly about (Danish rules), which the government is in the process of tightening," she added.
"In light of the huge influx to Europe these days, there is good reason for us to tighten rules and get that effectively communicated."
Her Facebook post garnered over 5,000 likes, though some left critical comments.
"You should be ashamed," wrote Dorthe Agertoug in the southeastern town of Koge.
"One of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes in recent times and our government's answer is to publish advertisements. It's a parody," added Vivi Ravnskjaer Terp in a southwestern town.
A spokeswoman for Denmark's integration ministry denied a report No, no! Certainly not! that five major newspapers in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... had refused to carry the adverts.
Denmark's minority right-wing government relies on the backing of the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party to pass legislation.
It slashed benefits for asylum seekers this month in a bid to bring down the number of refugees coming to the Scandinavian country.
The adverts were placed as several European nations opened their doors to a wave of migrants and refugees, or announced new quotas to accept those in need of asylum.
Leb, with a population of just four million, is hosting more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees.
Some 11 million Syrians have been displaced from their homes by the conflict that began in March 2011, with four million becoming refugees.
[Rudaw] Turkish military operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Kurdish cities of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... after an attack on Sunday have impeded the return of hundreds of people from the Kurdistan region of Iraq, said a witness at the scene, adding that "nobody knows when they will lift the military curfew on the vehicles and cars on their route towards the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing."
"Today, at around 3 pm, while we were on the way returning to the Kurdistan region, close to the Midiyat intersection in the Kurdish city of Cizre, Turkish soldiers halted us, and did not let us return," Khalid Gardi, a Kurdish holy man from the Kurdistan region who was among the halted people, told Rudaw.
"To represent the crowd of people, I talked to the Turkish soldiers, and they said they were ordered by an upper authority to implement a curfew until further notice to protect the safety of tourists," Gardi added.
According to other witnesses at the site of the crowd, some 500 trucks, vehicles and cars with Erbil, Sulaimani and Duhok license plates have been stopped. All these cars were on their way from the Turkish and Kurdish cities of Turkey to the Kurdistan region attempting to enter Iraqi Kurdistan.
Several Turkish soldiers were killed or maimed Sunday by roadside kabooms blamed on the PKK in Turkey's Kurdish Hakkari province.
The attack took place in the town of Daglica in the Yuksekova district on Sunday evening. The bombs reportedly went off near two Turkish military vehicles carrying soldiers.
Turkish media said the Turkish air force had launched air raids on PKK targets in the country's Kurdish southeast following the attack.
File under "Insult to injury." AKP "youth group" thugs attacked the Hurriyet offices. [Hurriyet Daily News] A Turkish prosecutor has launched a probe into daily Hurriyet for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... .
Idris Kurt, deputy chief prosecutor in Istanbul's Bakirköy district, initiated the process himself Sept. 7 over claims that daily Hurriyet "twisted Erdogan's words to conduct a perception operation."
Speaking on the pro-government A Haber TV station about the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) deadly attack on a military convoy in the southeastern province of Hakkari on Sept. 6, Erdogan was asked by the presenter: "You said in the inauguration of a metro line that you 'wanted 400 deputies' [for the AKP]. It is said that these words played a role in the coming of this conflict period."
In response, Erdogan said: "If a political party could have gotten 400 deputies or [a parliamentary majority] to write a new constitution, the situation would be different today."
As headline, Hurriyet tweeted, "Daglica comment from Erdogan: 'This would not have happened if 400 deputies had been given," while reporting the full text of the interview, leading to accusations among pro-government social media users.
Hurriyet files complaint against AKP MP
Calls were followed by a 200-person mob in an attack on daily Hurriyet's main office in Istanbul's Bagcilar district late on Sept. 6.
On Sept. 7, daily Hurriyet filed a criminal complaint against protesters and their leader Abdurrahim Boynukalin, a parliamentary deputy and the head of the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) youth organization.
In his speech in front of the newspaper's building, which was pelted with stones by club-wielding protesters, Boynukalin had vowed that Dogan Media, which owns daily Hurriyet, will "get the hell out of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... " when Erdogan will have additional executive powers "whatever the electoral outcome on Nov. 1 will be."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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[Hurriyet Daily News] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's two major opposition parties have called on the government to disclose number of casualties in an attack against Turkish soldiers launched on Sept. 6 by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
"The Turkish nation wants to hear, learn and know all truths about Daglica, which are hidden and covered up. The government should immediately announce number of our deaders and share truths with the public," Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli said in a written statement released on Sept. 7 following the attack in Daglica of the southeastern Anatolian province of Hakkari. The attack appears to be the deadliest one by the PKK since the collapse of a three-year-old de-facto ceasefire in July.
"Each passing hour will rekindle the national rage that has piled up, and the wave of social reaction and indignation will throw our country into an uncontrolled course," Bahceli added.
Earlier on Sept. 7, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) released a statement concerning the attack; however, it failed to provide a casualty toll.
Speaking at a presser shortly after Bahceli's statement was released, a spokesperson for the Republican People's Party (CHP) echoed the MHP leader's call.
"There is a lot to say but today is not the day for doing so. We know this," CHP's spokesperson Halu Koc said, implicating the responsibility of both President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in the rising conflict.
"Almost 24 hours have passed since this sad incident. However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... we haven't yet learned from the official institutions how many deaders we have," Koc said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase... Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sept. 7 met Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu over the Daglica attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Senior officers in the Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... police are facilitating the smuggling of billions of rupees worth of petrol and diesel from Iran, documents available with Dawn reveal.
According to a letter from the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) of the Balochistan government, addressed to the Establishment Division, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Ashfaq Anwar, and his subordinates were facilitating oil smuggling from Iran to different cities of Pakistain and earning millions of rupees per month in the process.
The Balochistan government has asked the Establishment Division secretary to suspend SSP Anwar and initiate departmental proceedings against him.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday directed the Pakistain Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) and Additional Attorney-General Naseer Ahmed Bhutta to implement a ban on the broadcast of images and speeches of 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) chief the increasingly enormousAltaf Hussain ..The head of MQM in Pakistain, who has lived in London and hasn't laid eyes on Pakistain since Caesar made corporal. Judging from the size of him,he may be a Hutt... across all electronic and print media till further orders. The Corpulent Mastermind of Karachi has been unpersoned. That will make him not exist.
A three-judge LHC bench headed by Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and comprising Justice Mazhar Iqbal Sidhu and Justice Erum Sajjad Gull was hearing separate cases initiated by Advocate Aftab Virk, Abdullah Malik and others against the MQM supremo.
A petition filed by Advocate Aftab Virk in the LHC earlier this year pleaded that the 'anti-army' remarks made by Altaf Hussain fell under the category of treason, and that a treason case should be registered against him.
A petition filed by advocates Abdullah Malik, Aftab, Maqsood and others, called for a lifetime ban on the live telecast of Altaf Hussain's speeches, maintaining the MQM leader was in violation of Article 5 which asks for showing loyalty to the state and obedience to the constitution, and that a case of treason should be registered against Altaf under Article 6 of the Pakistain Penal Code (PPC).
The LHC directed the Interior Ministry secretary to verify Altaf Hussain's nationality and Director-General Operations Pemra to report whether the 'blackout' had been implemented.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] A spokesperson for the Indian army's Northern Command has confirmed the life sentence awarded to six personnel, including a colonel and major rank officer, for the 2010 Machil fake encounter case in India-held Kashmire, according to a report published on the Hindustan Times website.
"General Officer Commanding in Chief (GOC-in-C), Northern Command, Lieutenant General DS Hooda has confirmed the sentence of a Summary General Court Martial in the Machil encounter case," Colonel SD Goswami, spokesperson of the Indian army's Udhampur-based Northern Command said.
"Colonel Dinesh K. Pathania , Major Upendra, Havildar Devendra Kumar, Lance Naik Lakhmi, Lance Naik Arun Kumar and Rifleman Abbas Hussain have been awarded life imprisonment," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture... on Monday said the state will now take action against those calling others kafir (non-Moslem), adding that the government had already tackled hate speech and glorification of Death Eaters in the first phase.
Briefing the media after the government's talks with representatives from Tanzeemul Madaris, which includes office bearers from different seminaries across the country, the interior minister said both sides had agreed to take the madressah reforms process further, adding there was consensus on major issues.
Nisar said the holy mans had condemned terrorism and vowed to eliminate the menace from the country in coordination with the government.
He said it was agreed in the meeting that any individual or organization involved in terror will be dealt with according to the country's laws.
He said there was no conflict on the registration of madressahs, with the holy mans agreeing it was essential. "But the process should be made easier and a committee will be formed by the interior ministry to prepare a registration form for seminaries so that all ends can be achieved."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
No problem. There are plenty of synonyms:
agnostic, unbeliever, heretic, atheist, heathen, pagan, gentile, nonworshiper, democrat.
Also, you can always fall back on the classic of stating that your opponent's mother wears army boots....
Posted by: Percy Smiter of the Faeries3772 ||
09/08/2015 16:02 Comments ||
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[DAWN] As many as 215 convicts, including 15 dreaded terrorists, have been executed in 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.... since the lifting of the moratorium on the capital punishment in December 2014, and around 40 more are likely to be hanged to death in near future.
According to sources on Sunday, every week the province was receiving intimation from the interior ministry about the rejection of mercy appeals of 30 to 40 convicts.
"Yes, the pace has been accelerated under the National Action Plan (NAP) in the aftermath of the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. Army School attack and the lifting of the moratorium on death as a result," an official told Dawn.
According to sources, black warrants for nearly 40 convicts have been issued. Dates of the execution of some of them have also been fixed. And procedure for the fixation of the hanging date of the rest of them has been duly started. All of them are likely to be executed in different Punjab jails the next week, sources say.
They said all of these condemned prisoners were convicted for murder, murder for ransom, kidnapping and other heinous crime tried by anti-terrorism courts.
Sources said out of the 24 hardcore bully boyz who were awarded death sentence, 15 had been executed after the rejection of their mercy appeals by the president since January this year. The remaining bully boyz were convicted by the military courts and they had filed petitions in the Supreme Court on different grounds against their conviction. The nine included those who had allegedly attacked a National Bank branch in Rawalpindi in 2007.
The mercy petitions of those who are awarded death sentence are sent to the interior ministry through the superintendents of jails where they are kept. The ministry forwards the petitions to the president through the office of the prime minister. The rejected mercy petitions are returned to the province concerned through express letters following which they (the provinces) adopt the legal procedure for their execution.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] A key witness in the murder case of prominent rights activist and co-founder of social forum, The Second Floor (T2F), Sabeen Mahmud, was rubbed out in a suspected targeted attack Monday evening, officials said. "My client pleads not guilty, yer honor. Da witnesses is all dead!"
Ghulam Abbas, a police constable, who used to work as a part-time driver for Ms Mahmud, was bumped off in Korangi area of the city. He was a key witness to the killing of Ms Mahmud in April 2015 -- just after she had organised a seminar on Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... 's missing persons at T2F.
Take a look: Director T2F Sabeen Mahmud rubbed out in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... .
"The victim, Ghulam Abbas, was an important witness of the case and his murder underlines the urgency of protecting the remaining witnesses," said Counter-Terrorism Department official Raja Umer Khattab.
Mr. Khattab was instrumental in arresting five accused who were also allegedly involved in killing over 40 members of the Shia Ismaili community near Safoora Goth, among other cases.
According to Mr. Khattab, Sabeen Mahmud's driver's murder was an act of assassination.
Khattab said Ghulam Abbass was sitting on the rear seat of the car when Sabeen Mahmud was attacked as she was driving herself.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Islamic terror group is hemorrhaging members to more radical groups in the Gazoo Strip, says outgoing chief of Southern Command
Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, could be toppled in a future confrontation with Israel, a senior Israeli officer said on Monday, attempting to counter the impression that Israel would maintain Hamas in power at all costs.
Speaking at an international conference organized by the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, outgoing IDF Southern Command chief Sami Turgeman indicated that Israel has changed its view of Hamas as an irreplaceable fixture of the Gazoo Strip.
"We don't see Hamas as something that has to remain forever," Turgeman said. "Hamas would like to replace the State of Israel with an Islamic state, and we would like to replace it as well."
Those comments were a dramatic change of position for Turgeman, who said earlier this year that the IDF sees no viable alternative to Hamas in Gazoo.
Turgeman indicated that was indeed Israel's working assumption during Operation Protective Edge in the Gazoo Strip last summer, but it could change in future conflicts. "If Hamas believes it is safe forever, it risks losing its rule in Gazoo," he said.
The tacit Israeli warning to Hamas came at a time when Israel's official peace partner, Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... , is reportedly preparing to nullify the Oslo Accords, declaring the Paleostinian territories "a state under occupation." Meanwhile, ...back at the pound, the little lost dog backed into the corner and showed its teeth. And what big teeth they were!... official Israel has denied conducting indirect talks with Hamas over a long-term ceasefire in the Gazoo Strip.
Despite their diametrically opposed strategies, Turgeman said that Israel and Hamas currently share "three temporary interests": to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the Gazoo Strip as a result of infrastructure collapse; to prevent the proliferation of jihadist organizations in the Gazoo Strip; and to prevent a political crisis leading to a leadership void.
He warned against the growing power of Hamas's military wing, headed by Muhammad Deif, saying that a state of crisis -- similar to the war last summer -- could lead the armed forces to insubordination against the group's politicianship, represented by former prime minister Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... domestically and Khaled Mashaal abroad. He named Gazoo-based official Yahya Sinwar as a military leader with political aspirations, currently serving as a mediator between the two bodies.
Like Israel, Hamas is worried about the increasing power of radical Islamist elements in the Gazoo Strip, commonly referred to as Salafis. Hamas's concern is threefold, he noted: it fears losing its regime in Gazoo; destabilizing the ceasefire reached with Israel after last summer's conflict; and losing Hamas members to more radical local groups. To confront that threat, Hamas is employing intelligence and preemptive arrests to the fullest extent.
Summarizing his presentation, Turgeman remained pessimistic as to the possibility of an official ceasefire with the Islamic terror group.
"The best option we have is managing the conflict, with sporadic outbursts of violence from time to time," he said.
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Russia has never concealed the fact that it has been supplying military equipment to Syria aimed at fighting terrorism, RIA Novosti news agency cited a foreign ministry spokeswoman as saying on Monday. Assad defines all opponents as "terrorists."
To be fair, nowadays almost all of them are.
The agency, citing the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, also reported that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone conversation it is "premature" to speak about Russia's participation in military operations in Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Darth Vlad = Russia repor has ordered the construction of a massive Russian Air + Staging MilBase right smack in the middle of anti-Assad Hard Boy territory.
PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANTLY, WESTERN ANALYSTS = ARE DESCRIBING PUTIN'S = RUSSIA'S DIRECT ACTIONS IN SYRIA IN SUPPORT OF ASSAD AS YET ANOTHER MAJOR OR GROSS VIOLATION OF ANOTHER OF POTUS OBAMA'S "RED LINES".
Putin wanting to make sure any possible "Syraq" style destabilization of Turkey by the ISIS/ISIL or Other never occurs???
#2
I've always upheld the principle that the statements: "not all Arabs are terrorists" and "not all Americans are baseball players"; have the same truth value.
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] The U.N. special envoy for Syria warned Monday many thousands more refugees would flee to Europe if the international community cannot find a peace accord and abandons them to ISIS. The thought's occurred to me: if everybody leaves, who won?
"Why are people leaving? Because they have lost hope after five years of endless conflict and they see only one winner, Daesh," Staffan de Mistura told journalists in Brussels, using another term for ISIS.
De Mistura said up to one million more people could be at risk in western Syria, potentially adding to the flood of refugees seeking safety in the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... The international community was constantly trying but failing to come up with a formula but "there is no more time for such lengthy political processes," he said.
In failing to sink their differences, mainly over the future governance of Syria and the role of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... , world powers were by default supporting a military solution to a conflict which has now claimed nearly 250,000 lives, he said.
Some 11 million Syrians have been displaced from their homes by the conflict that began in March 2011, with four million becoming refugees.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Gromgoru warns of more refugees if a peace deal.
[EDITION.CNN] Kremlin officials have dismissed allegations of a major Russian military deployment to Syria, after U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... raised the issue with his Russian counterpart.
Reports circulating in recent days quoted unnamed Western diplomats saying a Russian expeditionary force is already in Syria to prepare for the arrival of an "aerial contingent" of fighter jets and attack helicopters for "strikes against ISIS targets in Syria."
In a telephone call over the weekend, Kerry warned the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, that -- if the reports are true -- the Russian military presence "could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent lives, increase refugee flows and risk confrontation" with an (anti-ISIS) coalition operating in Syria, according to a statement from the U.S. State Department.
But the Kremlin is categorically denying as "premature" the allegations that it has any military ambitions in Syria, although it admits sending weapons and advisers to assist its Syrian ally, President Bashar al Assad.
The Kremlin - -which has a strategic naval base at Tartus in Syria -- has also made no secret of its deep alarm at the prospect of its key ally in the Middle East being toppled. If Assad falls, it worries, so too may Russian influence in the region.
Concerned about its own simmering Islamist insurgency in its restive North Caucasus region, the Kremlin also has genuine security concerns about ISIS.
Hundreds of Russian citizens have already joined the hard boy group, which identifies Russia as a key enemy and has vowed attacks to avenge Moscow's longstanding support for the Syrian government.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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#2
Iran is having trouble supporting both the deployment in Syria and the one in Iraq. Hezbollah is starting to worry that its losses in Syria are weakening its ability to retain domination of Lebanon. Thus Russia becomes more and more necessary to deploy assets in Syria to save the Assad regime.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/08/2015 6:33 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"...the Russian military presence "could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent lives, increase refugee flows and risk confrontation."
#4
Lord Garth: Iran is over-extended and is having trouble supporting not only the activity in Syria and Iraq but in Yemen, Bahrain and the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Thus, the Russian card is played.
The world’s largest submarine, the Dmitri Donskoy (TK-208), Nato-coded Typhoon, has set sail for the Mediterranean and is destined for the Syrian coast, debkafile reports exclusively from its military and intelligence sources. Aboard the sub are 20 Bulava (NATO-code SS-N-30) intercontinental ballistic missiles with an estimated up to 200 nuclear warheads. Each missile, with a reported range of 10,000km, carries 6-10 MIRV nuclear warheads.
The Russian sub set sail from its North Sea base on Sept. 4, escorted by two anti-sub warfare ships. Their arrival at destination in 10 days time will top up the new Russian military deployment in Syria.
President Vladimir Putin’s introduction of a nuclear force opposite Syrian shores builds up what first looked like an operation to fortify Assad’s regime in Damascus into a military expedition capable of an air and sea confrontation with US forces in the Middle East.
US Secretary of State John Kerry suggested as much Saturday, Sept. 5, when he expressed concern over reports of Russia’s “increasing military build-up in Syria” in a phone call to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The State Department reported: “The Secretary made clear that if such reports were accurate, these actions could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent life, increase refugee flows and risk confrontation with the anti-ISIL coalition operation in Syria.”
Kerry was referring to potential Russian interference with US-led coalition air strikes against the Islamic State in Syria.
Vlad isn't interested in what you say. What will you do, Jahwn?
debkafile’s sources in Washington and Moscow report that the dispatch of a nuclear sub to Syrian waters is taken as a strong message that the Kremlin will not let the US impede its military intervention in the Syrian conflict and will go to extreme lengths to keep the way open for the flow of Russian troops to the war-torn country.
I would have thought that an improved Akula class attack sub would send that message better by making it clear that the Russians would interdict anything that tried to close Syrian ports.
This situation has gone a long way beyond Obama administration intentions when US-Russian talks were initially held for US forces posted in Turkey and Iraq, together with the Russian troops arriving in Syria, to launch a combined effort against the Islamic State. Those talks came to naught.
#2
Again, despite Russia's rhetoric to the contray, VLAD covertly wants a massive NATO-EU mil buildup in Eastern Europe + Sacandinavia, + next to the Black-Caspian Seas where Russia will also have a buildup.
VLAD WANTS NEO-OTTOMAN, ISLAMIST-THREATENED TURKEY, POST-COLD WAR/9-11 GERMANY, + ESPEC THE HARD BOYZ IN SYRIA-IRAQ ISOLATED AND CONTROLLED.
HE WANTS THE ISIS + AQ BOYZ IN SYRIA-IRAQ TO TSAY IN SYRIA-IRAQ + BE DESTROYED THERE, NOT IN EASTERN EUROPE + CAUCASUS.
Vlad covertly wants a US-NATO/EU mil buildup in Eastern Europe, etc. to complement Russia's own mil buildup in the regions.
THIS WILL LEAVE RUSSIA TO SSSHHH ... CCCCCC FOCUS ON THE GROWING HARD BOYZ' = ISIS THREAT TO CAUCASUS + CENTRAL ASIA, + CHINA'S LT DESIGNS VEE RECOVERING = TAKING BACK THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST.
A rather long and detailed Brookings Institute essay on the background of Ibrahim al-Badri a.k.a. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the ruler of the Islamic State or ISIS, or Daesh, depending on whether or not you style yourself as an intellectual, a media-type, or a realist.
Pertinent excerpts follow.
Baghdadi’s family is representative in many ways of the diversity of influences and ever-shifting allegiances that were required for survival in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Not only did they have ties to the Baathist party, if only for practical purposes, but there is evidence that several of Baghdadi’s family members, perhaps even his father, were Salafis—adherents of an extreme, puritanical form of Sunni Islam widely practiced in Saudi Arabia and throughout much of the Middle East, including Iraq, where it has deep roots. Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of the Saudi strain of Salafism, supposedly studied in the Iraqi city of Mosul in the 18th century, and individual Salafi missionaries spread their beliefs throughout Iraq in the 20th.
When Baghdadi graduated from the University of Baghdad in 1996, he enrolled in the recently-established Saddam University for Islamic Studies where he studied for a master’s in Quranic recitation, his favorite subject. His family’s Baathist connections undoubtedly helped him get into the highly-selective graduate program. Baghdadi’s master’s thesis was a commentary on an obscure medieval text on Quranic recitation. His task was to reconcile various versions of the manuscript. While tedious, it involved little imagination and no questioning of the content—a perfect project for a dogmatist. He received his master’s degree in 1999 and immediately enrolled in Saddam University’s doctoral program in Quranic studies.
During Baghdadi’s time in graduate school, his paternal uncle, Ismail al-Badri, persuaded him to join the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational movement dedicated to establishing states governed by Islamic law. In most countries the Brotherhood, which has both liberal and conservative members, had adopted a cautious approach to political change, confined to working within the system. Many of the Brothers in Baghdad, including the ones Baghdadi fell in with at first, were peaceful Salafis who wanted states to impose Islamic law but didn’t advocate revolt if the states fail to do so. But Baghdadi quickly gravitated toward those few Salafis whose strict creed led them to call for the overthrow of rulers they considered betrayers of the faith. They called themselves jihadist Salafis. Baghdadi’s older brother, Jum`a, was part of this movement. So was Baghdadi’s mentor, Muhammad Hardan, a one-time member of the Brotherhood who had fought in the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Posted by: Pappy ||
09/08/2015 00:00 ||
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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.
Libya's coastguard said it rescued more than 100 migrants Monday after the engine on their rubber dinghy broke down as they tried to reach Europe across the Mediterranean.
[Libya Herald] More children are reported to have died from scorpion stings in the south of the country because of a lack of antidote. According to officials in Wadi Otba, near Murzuk, seven children have died within the municipality over the past month.
[Hurriyet Daily News] A Turkish prosecutor has launched a probe into daily Hurriyet for insulting President 
[DAWN] The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday directed the Pakistain Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) and Additional Attorney-General Naseer Ahmed Bhutta to implement a ban on the broadcast of images and speeches of 
Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[EDITION.CNN] Kremlin officials have dismissed allegations of a major Russian military deployment to Syria, after U.S. Secretary of State 
The world’s largest submarine, the Dmitri Donskoy (TK-208), Nato-coded Typhoon, has set sail for the Mediterranean and is destined for the Syrian coast, debkafile reports exclusively from its military and intelligence sources. Aboard the sub are 20 Bulava (NATO-code SS-N-30) intercontinental ballistic missiles with an estimated up to 200 nuclear warheads. Each missile, with a reported range of 10,000km, carries 6-10 MIRV nuclear warheads.
