[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) officials have informed of new polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... cases identified in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province of Afghanistan.
MoPH front man Wahidullah Mayar said the three new polio cases were identified in Achin and Shirzad districts.
The two districts are among the most volatile districts of Nangarhar province where anti-government armed bad boy groups including the newly emerged ISIS loyalists are actively operating.
This comes as at least three children have been diagnosed with polio in Kandahar city, Dund and Panjwai districts last year.
According to the local government officials one of the children diagnosed with polio had repatriated to Kandahar from 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... city of Pakistain, while two others have moved to Kandahar from Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... and Uruzgan provinces.
Although polio has been eradicated from many countries, the disease remains rife in Afghanistan and Pakistain.
The polio strain in Afghanistan and Pak is identical where over 1.5 million children crossing the frontier every year, with cross-border transmission remaining an inevitable eventuality.
Currently Afghan health workers are positioned at the border crossings in an attempt to monitor all children who cross, vaccinating any who are at risk of contracting the disease.
However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... many people do not cross the border at formal customs posts, choosing instead to use tracks across the mountains and deserts. This makes it increasingly difficult for health workers to identify any potential health risks
Posted by: Fred ||
09/28/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Afghanistan and Pakistan, proudly hosting the last pockets of polio in the world. Even Nigeria seems to have kicked it out
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/28/2015 10:00 Comments ||
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How long before it shows up in Europe?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/28/2015 12:03 Comments ||
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many people do not cross the border at formal customs posts, choosing instead to use tracks across the mountains and deserts. This makes it increasingly difficult for health workers to identify any potential health risks
Its a good we're safe here in the USofA from this kind of movement across borders.
[Libya Herald] Revolutionaries in Sabratha have threatened Tunisia with unnamed consequences if it does not release one of their fellow fighters.
Azhar Al-Magouri was said to have been tossed in the calaboose Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! on 11 September just after passing through the Ras Jedir border crossing and was reportedly changed with terrorist offences. Using an Eid felicitations statement, the revolutionaries movement Saha Hurriya Sabratha (Free Sabratha Arena), said there would be "dire consequences" if Tunisia did not let Magouri go.
Both Sabratha Municipal Council and its military council have also demanded Magouri's release, claiming that the charges against him are without foundation. They too warned that he if were not freed it would undermine relations between Libya and Tunisia. They claimed that Magouri was chairman of an aid agency, Basamat Al-Rahma.
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[ALMANAR.LB] Fearless Leader of the Islamic Revolution ...Iran's doddering head theocrat... Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei said Sunday the Saudi rulers must apologize for the recent deadly incident that killed hundreds of pilgrims during Hajj rituals.
Addressing a group of holy mans, Ayatollah Khamenei said: "The Moslem world has many questions in this regard and Saudi rulers, instead of shunning [their responsibility] must accept their responsibility in this grave incident by apologizing to the Moslem Ummah and bereft families."
Referring to the bitter incident in Mina, which turned Eid al-Adha into a mourning occasion for the Moslem Ummah, the Leader added, "One cannot consider himself free from this sorrow [even] for a single moment and this sorrow has been weighing on the hearts of us and all Moslems during these past few days."
The Leader described Saudi rulers' effort to dodge their responsibility in this catastrophe as incorrect and an ineffective measure, saying, "The Moslem world has many questions and the death of more than 1,000 people in this incident is no small matter. Therefore, the world of Islam should find a solution for this problem."
Emphasizing that this incident will not be forgotten and will be seriously followed by Moslem nations, Ayatollah Khamenei said, "Instead of projection and incriminating this or that, Saudis must accept their responsibility and apologize to the Moslem Ummah and bereft families."
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi on Sunday urged 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 ... militias to lay down their arms and resume dialogue to end Yemen's conflict, as he left for the U.N. General Assembly.
The embattled leader, who returned Wednesday to the southern city of Aden after a nearly six-month exile, headed to New York where he is to address the General Assembly.
"I am open to all efforts seeking a political solution,' Hadi said in a letter addressed to King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians.... of 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... , where the Yemeni leader took shelter in March after rebels advanced on Aden, his last refuge at the time after having escaped house arrest in Houthi-controlled Sanaa.
Hadi also called on rebels "to end their coup, surrender weapons ... and return to the dialogue table, to implement the U.N. Security Council Resolution 2216,' which demands the murderous Moslems withdraw from territories they have occupied.
The militias overran Sanaa unopposed in September last year and went on to expand their control zone into several regions, aided in fierce fighting against pro-Hadi forces by renegade troops loyal to deposed leader 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... .
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] British Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... said Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... can be part of a transitional government as the West scrambles to find a political solution to end the Syrian conflict on the backdrop of Russia wielding more influence in the war-torn country.
Cameron told Sky's correspondent travelling with him to the United States that he was not ruling out that Assad could be part of a transfer of power, but "what he is very clear about is that Assad cannot be part of Syria's future in the long run."
Earlier, UK paper Sunday Telegraph reported that Cameron is open to keeping Assad in power in the short-term while a unity government is formed in the country. He also said Assad should face international criminal prosecution for the crimes he committed in his home country including the use of barrel bombings on civilians.
"There is not a long-term, stable, peaceful future for Syria where Syrian people can return home with President Assad as its leader," the newspaper, citing an unnamed government source, described Cameron's stance.
Asked whether Assad could remain during a transition period, the source said Cameron would not demand he immediately steps down. "There has always been the idea that there would be a political transition," the source was quoted as saying.
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[RFE/RL] The Uzbek government has banned people under the age of 18 from attending regular Friday prayers or special prayer services at mosques across the nation, including the Eid al-Adha celebrations.
Uzbekistan's Education Ministry issued the order, which warns parents they will face a stiff fine if their children are caught by the authorities inside a mosque during prayer services. It also warns imams not to allow anyone underage worshipers into their prayer services.
Localofficial Ubaidullo Azimov said the government's position was that "children's brains should not be distracted" from school studies by religion. He said the authorities believe children should learn only what is taught at school, and that religious studies should take place only after students have finished high-school.
[Iran Press TV] At least 14 people have been injured in festivities at a refugee camp near the central German city of Kassel.
The festivities happened on Sunday and lasted several hours, DPA reported. The injured include three coppers.
The fighting broke out at a large camp housing over 1,500 asylum-seekers from 20 different countries in tents.
The incident happened after two refugees got into a fight with each other at about mid-day during lunch time. Then the fight become more serious after two large groups of Albanian and Pak refugees got involved.
None of them pretending to be Syrian? I'm impressed.
By evening time, another fight broke out pitting a group of around 70 refugees against another group of about 300.
Police broke up the fight and restored order to the refugee camp. According to local media, no arrests were made.
Just the kind of new citizens one wants if one is accustomed to being an orderly, law-abiding country.
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[IsraelTimes] Maria Hidrissi says global fashion brand was 'very respectful,' as new campaign is praised for celebrating diversity
The times, they are a-changing., thanks to that clever Angela Merkel.
Global fashion retailer H&M recently introduced its first ever Moslem model, dressed in a hijab, in an advertising campaign for its Fall 2015 line, and model Maria Hidrissi has won praise from her female coreligionists.
In the weeks after the H&M commercial aired early September, images of the 23-year-old model -- clad in an oversized pink trench coat, a checkered hijab and outsized sunglasses -- have gone viral, garnering thousands of comments praising the brand for its diversity.
The London native told fashion blog "Fusion" that since the commercial aired, she has been hailed as an inspiration to women by various Moslem women's groups. "It always feels like women who wear hijab are ignored when it comes to fashion," she said in an interview published Friday.
Hidrissi said she participated in the ad campaign with the consent of her parents, and H&M provided her with a mostly female staff to work with during the photo shoots.
"[They] asked how much in terms of neck I could show, but to be honest they were very respectful," Hidrissi said. "If the cameramen noticed something not quite right, they would call a woman over to fix me; it was sweet."
H&M's "Close the Loop" commercial features a diverse range of both models and people of various ethnicities, religions and body types.
#1
mmm so diverse. Of course if the theocratic fascists win she will get acid in the face for being in a photograph and for working with unrelated males
[PamelaGeller] The poor, put-upon migrants are complaining about slow internet service. Step and fetchit Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg pledges free internet for refugee camps. How do you say schmuck in Arabic?
Others complained that "breakfast is small, lunch small" with another adding how "bored" they all feel. "You can just eat, sleep, use the slow internet, it's so bad."
[Rudaw] The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said in a report Sunday that its guerrilla fighters have killed hundreds of Turkish soldiers and coppers in a month of festivities with the Turkish army.
In a special report released Sunday on the latest conflict, the PKK said that from Aug. 25 to Sept. 25 its guerrilla fighters had killed "586 soldiers, coppers, special teams and counter-guerrilla forces, and two Turkish soldiers taken captive,"
The group said that only 48 of its fighters had been killed in festivities with the army or by air strikes.
According to the report, the PKK conducted 385 attacks on the army and police in response to 533 Turkish military operations against the guerrilla group.
It added that five guerrilla fighters were taken captive by the Turkish security forces.
The Turkish government and media outlets however, have reported contradicting numbers of the war casualties.
Army sources said that only 129 soldiers and coppers were killed in two months of fighting while the PKK lost 337 of its guerrillas.
Since the resumption of the conflict 30 civilians are also reported to have been killed in the Kurdish areas of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... .
[Iran Press TV] The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is running a program that involves implanting chips in American forces' brains in order to create super soldiers, says a newly-published book by a well-known author. Before my implant I voted Republican, suffered from severe felinophobia, and was addicted to cheese.
According to "The Pentagon's Brain" by Annie Jacobsen, the secretive research arm of the US Department of Defense is dreaming of creating military cyborgs, Fusion reported Sunday.
"Neuroprosthetics" brain implants are already being tested, according to the book about the history of DARPA, published by Little, Brown and Company.
Despite several appeals by Jacobsen, the US Defense Department has refused allowing her interview any of the "brain-maimed warriors."
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09/28/2015 00:00:00 ||
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[DAWN] KARACHI: Police and Rangers claimed to have tossed in the calaboose You have the right to remain silent... more than 800 suspects, associated with various political and religious parties, for allegedly snatching animals' hides and skins in the metropolis during the three days of Eidul Azha.
A Rangers front man said on Sunday that those arrested were associated with the 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... , Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... , Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat ...which is the false nose and plastic mustache of the murderous banned extremist group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain, whatcha might call the political wing of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi... , Jamaat-ud-Dawa ...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba... and other parties.
He said the Rangers took all necessary steps to ensure implementation of the code of conduct for collecting hides and took action against those who violated the code or tried to collect hides forcibly.
"At least 356 people were detained across the Sindh province, including 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... , and 18,037 hides were seized," said the front man.
He said that 288 of the held suspects were handed over to the police for necessary legal action while 32 others were released. Thirty-six suspects were under investigation as they were allegedly involved in other 'heinous crimes', he added.
He said that the held suspects belonged to different political and religious parties and community organizations such as the MQM, JI, ASWJ, JuD, Dawat-e-Islami, Sunni Tehrik ...formed in Karachi in 1992 under by Muhammad Saleem Qadri. It quickly fell to trading fisticuffs and assassinations with the MQM and the Sipah-e-Sahaba, with at least a half dozen of its major leaders rubbed out. Sunni Tehreek arose to become the primary opposition to the Deobandi Binori Mosque, headed by Nizamuddin Shamzai, who was eventually bumped off by person or persons unknown. ST's current leadership has heavily criticized the Deobandi Jihadi leaders, accusing them of being sponsored by Indian Intelligence agencies as well as involvement in terrorist activities... and the Memon community.
"A detailed report to this effect would soon be sent to the federal and provincial governments," he said.
The paramilitary force appreciated the people who contacted the Rangers' helpline, 1101, and informed them about the elements involved in snatching hides.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio wondered: Where the hell was Chumbaloni? And where was his $600?... police also picked up hundreds of suspects for forcible collection of hides and skins and registered cases against them.
According to DIG-East Munir Ahmed Sheikh, police arrested 28 people in Korangi district and recovered 1,477 hides and lodged six FIRs against them.
No one was arrested in the East and Malir districts by the police, he added.
DIG-West Feroze Shah told Dawn that police detained around 500 suspects, seized over 900 hides and skins and registered 75 cases in the West and Central districts.
In one case, the DIG said, the police arrested 11 workers of a political party and seized 500 hides for allegedly violating the official code of conduct.
He added that the held suspects not only belonged to different political and religious parties, but also were associated with mosques.
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[DAWN] RAWALPINDI: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Saturday locked away Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! six people for illegally collecting hides.
A security official said one of the arrested men was an active member of a banned religious outfit and had previously been placed on a CTD 'watch-list' for his alleged involvement in murders. He was arrested by the CTD while collecting hides on Saturday.
According to security sources, the district administration on Sunday cancelled the permission granted to a banned outfit's welfare wing for animal hide collection after intelligence reports showed that it was already on the police 'watch-list'. The reports said the permission should not have been given to the group in the first place.
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[DAWN] The Inspector General of Frontier Corps ...a provincial paramilitary force. Total manpower is about 80,000. They are tasked to help local law enforcement in the maintenance of law and order, and to carry out border patrol and anti-smuggling operations.... , 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... , Maj Gen Sher Afgun, has asked Baloch youths to end their armed fight against the state.
During a visit to Turbat and Panjgur on Sunday, he said the snuffies who would surrender before security forces and hand over weapons to the government would be given financial assistance.
He urged tribes to shun their differences for the sake of peace and development of their areas. "All tribal stakeholders will have to play their role for the cause of peace and progress and prosperity of the province."
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[DAWN] UNITED NATIONS: US 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... told world leaders on Sunday that Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... was one of the Lion of Islam groups that were threatening world peace.
"It would be a complete understatement to say that we meet at a challenging time. Extremist violence is a major contributor to the suffering that we see radiating not just out of Syria but elsewhere in the world," he told a global forum being held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The United States is co-hosting the Global Counter-terrorism Forum Ministerial.
Daesh, the Arabic acronym for the self-styled 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.... , he said, was the primary source of outrage. But there were also others, Al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... , Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... , Lashkar-e-Taiba, just to name a few, he said during a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu.
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[DAWN] GILGIT: Despite a ban on collection of hides by banned ...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organizations, different groups affiliated to outlawed sectarian outfits freely collected a large number of hides in Gilgit-Baltistan during Eid holidays.
Sources said the Gilgit administration allegedly allowed some holy mans having affiliations with banned organizations to collect hides and instructed police not to take action against them.
They said that no case had been registered against any individual or organization for collecting hides during the holidays.
Police officials told Dawn that some banned religious and sectarian organizations and seminaries had registered themselves as welfare organizations and freely collected hides. They accused the GB administration of stopping police from taking action against such groups.
The officials said that because of administration's mismanagement the National Action Plan could not be implemented in Gilgit, the city which has witnessed many sectarian festivities in the past.
They said police tossed in the calaboose Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! three people for collecting hides in Gilgit city on the first day of Eid. One of the arrested men, Qari Hedayatullah, was once associated with a banned sectarian organization but now runs a seminary. But, on the same day the administration asked police to release the arrested people and issued permits to them for collecting hides, the officials added.
An official said the GB police could not register cases without the permission of a magistrate.
Deputy Commissioner of Gilgit Rana Rizwan Qadir told Dawn that there was a ban on collecting hides by banned organizations.
Defending the release of Hedayatullah, the deputy commissioner said the holy man was no longer associated with a sectarian organization. He said the security agencies had cleared the holy man.
Mr Qadir also said that Hedayatullah and the two other men were released because their arrest could have created a law and order situation in the area.
He said that when police began acting against people collecting hides on the first day of Eid the administration asked seminaries and other organizations to take permission for collecting hides to avert any clash. Permissions were issued to some groups on the same day, but none of them was a banned organization, he added.
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[DAWN] UNITED NATIONS: Pakistain has complained to the UN Security Council that India is building a wall along the Line of Control and plans to convert the LoC "into a quasi international border".
India has dismissed the charge as incorrect and pledged to respond at an "appropriate time".
Pakistain's permanent representative to the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... , Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, sent two letters to the UNSC on Sept 4 and 9, sharing Islamabad's concern over the construction of this wall.
In the Sept 9 letter to president of the Security Council, Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin, Ambassador Lodhi expressed "deep concern" at the development and said that India planned to construct a 10-metre-high and 135-feet-wide embankment (wall) along the 197km LoC.
Indian officials described the LoC as "the boundary between Pakistain and Jammu and Kashmire", increasing Islamabad's fear that New Delhi was quietly trying to change the status of the disputed line.
India also claimed that one of Pakistain's letters to the UNSC was based on a `submission' made by Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin.
Pakistain rejected the Indian claim, saying that the letters it had sent to the UNSC were based on the information it collected from its own sources.
Pakistain "considers the embankment a permanent structure that will bring about a material change in the territory in violation inter alia of ... Security Council resolution ... of 1948", Ambassador Lodhi wrote.
"The state of Jammu & Kashmire is an internationally recognised disputed territory with a number of United Nations Security Council resolutions on the official status of Jammu & Kashmire awaiting implementation," she said.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry told a Saturday evening news briefing that Pakistain would not tolerate the wall that India was building on the working boundary.
He said the construction would be a serious violation of UN resolutions that "very clearly state that no entity will build any structure or wall at the LoC or the working boundary".
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[AlAhram] Iraq has agreed to set up a cell increasing intelligence coordination with Russia, Syria and Iran in the fight against the Islamic State group, a government front man said on Sunday.
"It's a committee coordinating between the four countries, with representatives of each country, in the field of military intelligence and aimed at sharing and analysing information," Saad al-Hadithi, a front man for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office, told AFP.
He said the cell would focus on "monitoring the movements of terrorists... and degrading their capacity."
A statement from Iraq's Joint Operations Command said the deal with Moscow comes amid "growing concern over the presence of thousands of Russian forces of Evil engaged in criminal acts with Daesh (IS)."
Hadithi would not say whether the new cell had already begun its work.
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[IraqiNews] The Iraqi Minister of Health, Adila Hammoud, arrived in the city of Basra in an inspection visit to find out the last preparations for dealing with the cholera disease in hospitals and health centers in the city.
Hammoud confirmed the presence of one case of cholera in the city of Basra, as well as in the city of Missan, calling for the formation of an operations room of health departments and municipal departments to face the disease.
General Director of the Health Department of Basra, Riyadh Abdul Ameer, said that health teams have visited the patient in Basra in the place of his residence, while denied the presence of any injury among Asian workers, as recently rumored.
[IraqiNews] Health and Environment Committee in the province of Baghdad announced on Saturday the closure of 60 restaurants in the regions of Abu Ghraib and Mahmudiyah west of the capital because of the cholera outbreak, while confirmed that the situation is under control until now.
The Chairman of the committee Nahida al-Tamimi said in an interview for IraqiNews.com that "the authorities proceeded in the closure of 60 restaurants in the regions of Abu Ghraib and Mahmudiyah as a result of cholera outbreak," pointing out that "a number of ice and water shops that have been closed."
Tamimi added that "the registered cholera cases are controlled so far," stressing the need "to supply the villages and areas with clean drinking water."
The Ministry of Health and Environment announced earlier on Saturday, for the registration of 239 laboratory-confirmed cases of cholera epidemic to date in the whole of Iraq.
[Rudaw] Toufiq Ibrahim Hamaqan looks remarkably relaxed at the end of a day's work.
Sitting outside a restaurant beside the road to Jalawla--the southernmost outpost of Peshmerga controlled territory--the 49-year-old calmly talks about his contribution to the Kurdish war effort: defusing improvised bombs.
Known by their acronym, IEDs have been planted by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in thousands. Whether to slow the enemy's advance, or to inflict loss of morale and life by infiltrating enemy territory to plant their explosive traps, the jihadists rely heavily on what are in effect homemade mines. Hamaqan leads a unit of 18 men working to clear those deadly devices, which have been the biggest cause of casualties amongst the Peshmerga.
Six of the men are dedicated sappers, who perform the dangerous and nerve-wracking task of deactivating IED detonators or destroying the bombs in controlled kabooms. The rest are support staff. They are often sent into the thick of it.
The team was part of the bloody battle of Jalawla in Diyala province, where the Peshmerga and a Shia militia unit managed to push out ISIS after three months of fighting in November. "ISIS was slipping into the Peshmerga's lines to plant IEDs. We had to be quick to defuse them," Hamaqan told Rudaw. Now entirely in Peshmerga hands, Jalawla shows how thinly stretched Kurdish resources are, he said.
He added that almost a year after the fighting, the town is still packed with IEDs. A sapper team was in Jalawla for a three-month period after its liberation, but months passed before IED clearing work restarted just recently. "It will take another six months to clear it. The war is active in all sectors, that's why we are busy and it takes a long time," Hamaqan said.
Clearing IEDs in urban environments is a tricky and time-consuming task, and it can take three hours to comb through a row of houses 100 meters long in search of explosives. If an IED is found, it takes around an hour to defuse. An elaborately booby-trapped house has to be entered from the roof or a second floor window, and magnifiers are used to detect trip wires "as thin as hair." The commander leads by example, and has by his own account defused around 150 IEDs and blown up a further 85.
He is no newcomer to the deadly world of mines, having been trained as a sapper in Saddam Hussein's army in 1985 and then serving in the Iran-Iraq war. He has since joined the Peshmerga, and is one of a small group of Kurdish mine-clearing veterans that are putting their military experience to use in the current conflict.
Hamaqan said that there are a total of 12 teams clearing IEDs active in the Kurdistan region, each consisting of around 20 to 30 men. Many of these units are headed by veterans of the Iraqi army like himself. Trained to clear conventional mines, experts like Hamaqan have had to adjust quickly to the asymmetrical warfare practiced by their opponents. Much like the Taliban in Afghanistan, ISIS has to improvise to make up for a shortage of sophisticated military technology. Its krazed killer tactics rely on littering the ground in front of them with IEDs, which are produced en masse in specialized bomb-making factories. What ISIS lacks in sophistication it tries to compensate with ingenuity, and its factories pump out a wide array of constantly evolving bombs.
For Hamaqan, who is trained to defuse Cold War-era mines, this variation poses a deadly challenge, as he and his team have to grapple with new fuses and explosive charges. He has won out so far, but four of his men have been killed since Kurdish forces halted the Islamic State's northwards advance last year.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Tehran will work to free three Americans from its prisons if the United States releases incarcerated Please don't kill me! Iranians, President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday. We will only send Valjar, Brennan, and the Clinton's when the Americans are safely on U.S. soil.
"If the Americans take the appropriate steps and set them free, certainly the right environment will be open and the right circumstances will be created for us to do everything within our power and our purview to bring about the swiftest freedom for the Americans held in Iran as well," Rouhani told CNN.
First we free ours, then they'll try very, very hard? Golly.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/28/2015 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Are they gonna expect a five-to-one ratio again, or will they up the ante?
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/28/2015 7:49 Comments ||
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#2
And the MSM will bark upon command how reasonable and treaty-worthy the Iranians are.
This was agreed upon some time ago, but the set-up is as important as the activity.
[AnNahar] Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday he saw a widespread acceptance among major powers that Syrian leader Bashir al-Assad should stay in office.
"I think today everyone has accepted that President Assad must remain so that we can combat the terrorists," Rouhani told CNN.
Iran and Russia are the key allies of Assad, who has faced Western demands that he step down amid a war that has killed more than 240,000 people and caused four million to flee.
But the United States has been hitting 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.... snuffies opposed to Assad, with La Belle France on Sunday launching its first strike.
"In Syria, when our first objective is to drive out bandidosLions of Islam and combatting bandidosLions of Islam to defeat them, we have no solution other than to strengthen the central authority and the central government of that country as a central seat of power," said Rouhani, who is visiting New York for the U.N. General Assembly.
Iran's Shiite holy manal regime has voiced concern over a future without Assad, a largely secular leader from the heterodox Alawite movement.
But Rouhani said he also saw a future role for opponents of Assad.
"As soon as this movement reaches the various levels of success and starts driving out the bandidosLions of Islam on a step-by-step basis, then other plans must be put into action so as to hear the voices of the opposition as well," Rouhani said.
The reform-minded Rouhani
...very alliterative, but reform should be in scare quotes, as the gentleman has met the approval of the mad mullahs who actually rule Iran at every step of his career...
has reached a landmark denuclearization accord with major powers, a step in reconciliation with the United States, the traditional bugbear of Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
But Rouhani said that Iran was not in direct talks about Syria with the United States.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/28/2015 00:00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... on Sunday branded U.S. support for rebel forces in Syria as illegal and ineffective, saying U.S.-trained rebels were leaving to join Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) with weapons supplied by Washington.
In an interview with U.S. networks recorded ahead of a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama It’s very rare that I come to an event where I’m like the fifth- or sixth-most interesting person.... , Putin said Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... deserved international support as he was fighting terrorist organizations.
Obama and Putin are scheduled to talk on Monday after Putin addresses the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... , although White House and Kremlin officials have disagreed on what the two leaders will discuss and even who initiated the meeting.
"In my opinion, provision of military support to illegal structures runs counter to the principles of modern international law and the United Nations Charter," he said in an excerpt of an interview with U.S. television networks CBS and PBS released by the Kremlin.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/28/2015 00:00 ||
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President Rouhini has had an awful lot to say, recently.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iranian President Hassan Rowhani said in an interview Sunday that he is ready to discuss a "plan of action" for Syria's post-war future after the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group is defeated.
Iran, which along with Russia is allied with Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... in the war, has until now been kept out of U.N. diplomatic efforts to piece together a political solution for Syria.
"That is not a problem for us from right now, to start holding discussions and dialogues so as to determine and reach the conclusion of the next plan of action after the Death Eaters are driven out that territory," Rowhani said in an interview to NPR radio.
"But we must all act in unison and have a formula that is required to drive out the terrorists, immediately."
Rowhani is expected to address the crisis in Syria in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Monday, after President Barack Obama Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though.... and Russian leader Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... take the podium.
The Iranian leader said his country was ready to discuss "the upcoming options" and added that the Syrian government should be included to "reach a plan of action."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] The hard boyIslamic 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.... group has closed playgrounds in a Syrian city because they were being used as a meeting place for unrelated men and women, a monitor said Sunday.
The standard for purity rachets ever higher.
"IS has shut down playgrounds in the city of Mayadeen in the eastern Deir Ezzor province... under the pretext that there was mixing between men and women bringing their children to play," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Observatory's sources inside the city said that the Hesbah -- IS' moral police -- had patrolled through Mayadeen's playgrounds on the first of day of Eid al-Adha, the Moslem feast of sacrifice, earlier this week.
They then proceeded to arrest several men and women "for not abiding by Islamic rules on dress."
The ultra-radical organization has imposed its extreme interpretation of Islam in areas under its control across swathes of Syria and Iraq.
Individuals of the opposite sex are not allowed to interact if they are not married. And women -- who are to cover their whole bodies and faces -- must be accompanied by a male member of the family at all times.
In the jihadists' de facto capital of Raqa in northern Syria, three women were enjugged Book 'im, Mahmoud! in a playground on Sunday by IS police for "not being accompanied by men," the Observatory said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/28/2015 00:00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
How old were the 'women'?
Nine?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
09/28/2015 9:46 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Where are the anti-ISIS assassination teams when you need them?
[AlAhram] US intelligence fears nearly 30,000 imported muscle have travelled to Iraq and Syria since 2011, many of them to join the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group, The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported Saturday.
That's not nearly as many as I expected for the past four years.
The number, which reportedly includes many westerners including perhaps 250 Americans, represents a doubling of last year's US assessment and will dismay US war planners.
I seem to recall that ISIS claimed to have welcomed 25,000 foreigners last year, but perhaps I am mistaken.
The New York Times' report cites anonymous "intelligence and law enforcement officials."
In recent weeks, there have been allegations that the US military has been playing down the ISIS threat in intelligence reports, to paint a rosier picture of its efforts.
But US President Barack Obama Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though.... will on Tuesday next week chair an international summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly for leaders fighting the ISIS group and "violent extremism."
And on Tuesday, a US Congressional report into foreign fighter flows is expected to paint a bleaker picture, suggesting that a year of US-led air strikes has not slowed recruitment.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[Rudaw] WASHINGTON DC--Russian foreign minister and his US counterpart said Sunday that both countries will coordinate on fighting the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) as Moscow confirmed that it will expand its efforts into Iraq.
"Well, we coordinate the efforts against ISIL," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a joint presser with his US counterpart 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... .
The Russia-US coordination would include intelligence sharing against the Lion of Islam group in Syria and Iraq.
The Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement Sunday that Iraq has started sharing intelligence and information gathering with Russia, Iraq and Syria.
For his part, US Secretary of State Kerry said that coordination among all parties was crucial in moving forward in the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
"I think the critical thing is that all of the efforts need to be coordinated," said Kerry. "This is not yet coordinated. I think we have concerns about how we're going to go forward, but that's precisely what we're meeting on to talk about now."
Kerry hinted that Russia's participation in the war on ISIS might contribute to brining the Syrian conflict to an end.
"This is the beginning of a genuine effort to see if there is a way to de-conflict, but also to find a way forward that will be effective in keeping a united secular Syria that can be at peace and stable again without foreign troops present, and that's our hope," he added.
US president Barack Obama teachable moment... and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... are to meet on Monday on the sidelines of the UN annual meeting in New York.
Syria and Ukraine are expected to dominate the talks between the two leaders.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/28/2015 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.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) officials have informed of new 
David Cameron
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[DAWN] UNITED NATIONS: US Secretary of State 
[IraqiNews] The Iraqi Minister of Health, Adila Hammoud, arrived in the city of Basra in an inspection visit to find out the last preparations for dealing with the cholera disease in hospitals and health centers in the city.
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
