The family crossed after midnight Thursday in 30-degree weather, according to Chief Patrol Agent Jason D. Owens of the Del Rio sector in Texas, which covers the 245-mile border along the Rio Grande River and Lake Amistad.
It's unclear if they were detained or if they applied for asylum, which they can
Illegal border crossings are trending upward as some border towns see record numbers of migrants coming in
Biden reinstated Trump's 'Remain in Mexico' policy after a judge's order
On Thursday, a judge ruled in favor of a man who crossed the border in September but was stopped and charged with criminal trespassing in Texas
The charges come with enhancements that would potentially see the gang members serve life in prison - the same enhancements Garcon has scrapped
Sheriff Alex Villanueva went over the head of Los Angeles' progressive DA George Gascón, who is against such enhanced sentencing
Villanueva told the media he had tried to consult with Gascon's office but found his response 'not satisfactory.'
Officer Fernando Arroyos, 27, was fatally shot at about 9:15 p.m. Monday in an unincorporated area of south Los Angeles County
The suspects allegedly targeted him because of two silver chains or necklaces around his neck, authorities said
Murder convictions are generally sentenced to 25 to life in California, but gang members can be sentenced to life without parole
F13 GANG IS LINKED TO DRUG SMUGGLING, ASSAULTS AND MURDERS
The Florencia 13 gang linked to Officer Fernando Arroyos' killing has been linked to numerous serious crimes, including at least 17 murders.
F13 are named after the Florence area of LA, which is controlled by the Mexican mafia. Most of its members are Mexican-American.
LA cops found the gang was attacking and killing African-Americans purely on the basis of race.
They launched Operation Joker's Wild to try and stem the killings, while also tackling the gang's drug trafficking and extortion.
Operation Joker's Wild culminated in 102 F13 gang members being named in indictments in 2007 - the largest gang bust in US history at the time.
A total of 96 members were taken into custody, 94 of whom admitted their crimes or pleaded guilty.
[DW] Sudanese anti-coup protesters stabbed a police general to death and security forces shot a demonstrator dead as pro-democracy rallies continued in Khartoum.
A senior police officer and a protester were killed on Thursday in another day of mass protests against military rule in Sudan.
The officer was on duty at protests in Khartoum when he was killed, the police said in a statement on Facebook. He is the first security official to die in weeks of often violent mostly peaceful unrest. Local media reported he was stabbed to death.
Medics aligned with the protest movement said security forces killed a protester when they fired live ammunition and tear gas. Authorities have repeatedly denied using live ammunition in confronting protesters.
DEADLY CRACKDOWN ON ANTI-COUP PROTESTERS
Sudan has been in turmoil since October 25, 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency.
It derailed Sudan's transition to democratic rule after three decades of repression and international isolation under autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir ...Former President-for-Life of Sudan He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself head cheese. He fell out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Hee was overthrown by popular consent in 2019. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it... Pro-democracy activists have organized regular demonstrations against the military takeover. At least 64 protesters have been killed and hundreds of others injured in the violence.
UN TALKS TO RESOLVE POST-COUP CRISIS
Before the military takeover, a sovereign council of military and civilian officials ruled Sudan. It was supposed to oversee the transition period until elections in 2023.
On Monday, the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... started consultations that they hoped would lead to direct negotiations to resolve the crisis.
Demonstrators insist that a fully civilian government lead the transition, a demand rejected by the generals who say power will only be handed over to an elected government.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/14/2022 00:29 ||
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] FSB officers stopped the activities of a cell of the religious extremist organization AT-Takfir Wal-Hijra in the Ivanovo region, detaining seven of its members, the regional department of the FSB reported on January 13.
Among the seven detained hard boys, four are citizens of Azerbaijan.
"The FSB of Russia in the Ivanovo region has suppressed the activities of the cell of the international religious association AT-Takfir Val-Hijra, which is banned in the Russian Federation.
As a result of the operational-search measures and investigative actions, with the support of the Rosgvardia department in the Ivanovo region, seven members of this organization were detained: three citizens of the Russian Federation and four citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan," the FSB department for the Ivanovo region says.
It is clarified that the involvement of two of the detainees in the financing of the international terrorist organization "Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... " has already been established.
Criminal cases were initiated under the articles "Assistance in terrorist activities" and "Organization of the activities of an extremist organization."
[IsraelTimes] Belgium expels imam who called for burning of Jews
Mohammed Toujgani’s remarks from 2009 recently resurfaced, leading government to withdraw his residency permit for 10 years, citing national security threat
A Moroccan a holy man who called for the "burning of Jews" in a 2009 video was banned from Belgium in October as a national security threat, the government said Thursday.
First revealed by Belgian broadcaster VRT, the expulsion was confirmed by the Belgian Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, Sammy Mahdi.
"This man was probably the most influential preacher in Belgium," Mahdi told a session of Belgian parliament.
Mohammed Toujgani preached until last year at the al-Khalil mosque in Molenbeek, one of the largest places of worship for Moslems in Belgium.
A statement said his residence permit was withdrawn on October 12.
Is that the same as ensuring that he actually leaves the country rather than remaining “illegally”?
Toujgani "has been controversial for some time. In 2009, he again called for the burning of Jews," the statement added.
The video resurfaced in 2019, said VRT, noting that Toujgani had apologized for his remarks, citing "a slip" related to what he called "a war" waged by Israel against Paleostinians in the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip.
Toujgani, who is head of the League of Moroccan Imams in Belgium,
...just the kind of man you want in that position...
was under surveillance by Belgium’s domestic intelligence agency.
Mahdi said he decided on the 10-year ban "on the basis of information from the security services" and "because of signs of a serious danger to national security."
"We will not tolerate those who divide and threaten our national security," he said.
Mahdi told MPs that Toujgani was no longer in Belgium. According to VRT, Toujgani intends to contest his expulsion.
The imam, who has been in Belgium for 40 years, has a wife and children living in the country, according to VRT.
The al-Khalil mosque, located in the Brussels district of Molenbeek, is run by the Islamic Mutual Aid League (LEI), which describes itself as "the largest Moslem institution in Belgium."
It has training centers and an Arabic language school for 500 children and teenagers.
Belgian authorities have tightened their scrutiny of religious activities in Molenbeek since the deadly terrorist attacks of Gay Paree and Brussels in 2015-16.
The attacks were planned by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group and largely carried out by residents of Belgium, including many from the Brussels district, one of the poorest in the country.
[DW] A German court has found a Syrian former army colonel guilty of crimes against humanity, handing him a life sentence. It was a landmark trial to examine state-sponsored torture during the Syrian civil war.
A German court convicted a former Syrian colonel of crime against humanity and sentenced him to life in prison on Thursday.
Anwar Raslan was found guilty of 27 counts of murder, rape and sexual assault carried out at the al-Khatib detention center near Damascus.
The former intelligence officer was tried under the legal principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows the prosecution of crimes in one country even if they happened elsewhere.
He is the highest-ranking Syrian officer so far convicted of crimes against humanity.
"This trial cast a much-needed, renewed spotlight on the kinds of sickening torture, cruel and truly inhuman treatment — including abject sexual violence — that countless Syrians were subjected to in detention facilities," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said.
She urged other states to prosecute international crimes using universal jurisdiction.
WHAT WAS RASLAN ACCUSED OF?
The 58-year-old former colonel had denied committing torture or giving instructions for others to commit torture.
Prosecutors said Raslan was responsible for the torture of at least 4,000 people in the notorious al-Khatib prison in the Syrian city of Douma, in 2011 and 2012 — during the early stages of the Syrian Civil War.
They said he supervised interrogations including "electric shocks," beatings with "fists, wires and whips," rape and sexual abuse, and sleep deprivation.
The mistreatment had served to coerce confessions and obtain information, the prosecution said.
The court sentenced him to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 15 years.
Raslan's lawyer said he would appeal the verdict.
More than 80 witnesses testified during the trial about the "catastrophic conditions" in the detention center.
They took the stand despite "great fear of the Syrian regime, whether for themselves or for their families," said judge Anne Kerber. "I owe them my full respect."
RIGHTS GROUPS WELCOME VERDICT
The trial could set a precedent for future proceedings against Syrian officials who committed crimes during the war in Syria.
Executive Director for Human Rights Watch Kenneth Roth told DW that Syria never joined the International Criminal Court, and China and Russia have "blocked" access to the court through the UN Security Council through their veto.
For this reason, "a number of governments, Germany included, helped to circumvent the veto in the UN Security Council by going to the UN General Assembly and getting it to create what's known as the International Independent Impartial Mechanism [IIIM]."
The result is that survivors of torture and chemical weapons ...have not been used since WWI except for in Iraq, by the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein and in Syria, but really, honest, not by the Syrian government. And in Germany in WWII, but that was against civilians. Lots of them, just one of many reasons Hitler's also late and unlamented except among devout Moslems... attacks have been left with limited options to seek justice until now.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, at least 60,000 people have been killed under torture or as a result of the terrible conditions in Syrian detention centers.
[AlAhram] The Iraqi Intelligence Agency destroyed three Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) hideouts deep in the Anbar desert, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced on Thursday.
The Iraqi News Agency reported that the Security Media Cell said in a statement that the Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior continues its proactive qualitative operations, and according to the confessions of one of the arrested holy warriors and his evidence, the detachments managed to destroy three hideouts for ISIS terrorist gangs.
The IS holy warriors used the hideouts as warehouses for logistical support, including food, spare wheels, and a fuel station, the statement read.
"The dens that were destroyed included a den in the Ma’il al-Qadh area, 100 kilometres into the desert. The dens were established inside the mountain to be a safehouse for the terrorists. The safehouse consisted of four rooms, a hall, and a kitchen."
The statement also indicated that there was another den in the Jalabat area, 150 kilometres into the desert, that was used as a haven for IS bad boys.
"The Jalabat den was considered a warehouse for logistical support of food materials and a fuel station consisting of drums of gasoline, gas cylinders, and spare materials," the statement read.
Furthermore, another hideout in the Jalabat area was destroyed. It reportedly contained foodstuffs, medical materials, and sleeping mats, along with two improvised bombs that were confiscated by the agency’s men.
Security forces have also destroyed a vehicle used by IS murderous Moslems that was used for kidnapping and interrogating individuals in the area of the Atbel Valley, according to the statement.
[WASHINGTONTIMES] At least four rockets targeted the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone on Thursday, two Iraqi security officials said. The area is home to diplomatic missions and the seat of Iraq’s government.
Three of the missiles struck within the perimeter of the American Embassy, the officials said. Another hit a school located in a nearby residential complex. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
An Iraqi military statement said a girl and a woman were maimed in the attack, without providing more details. The statement said the rockets had been launched from the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad.
Witnesses said they heard the embassy’s C-RAM defense system — supposed to detect and destroy incoming rockets, artillery and mortar shells — during the attack.
The attack is the latest in a series of rocket and drone attacks that have targeted the American presence in Iraq since the start of the year, following the second anniversary of the U.S. strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Last Thursday, a series of attacks targeted American troops in Iraq and Syria. Rockets struck an Iraqi military base hosting U.S. troops in western Anbar province and the capital.
[APNEWS] Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard last week launched a solid-fuel satellite carrier rocket into space, the country’s official IRNA news agency reported Thursday. "We aimed for space and we hit it, accurately"
The report quoted Gen. Amirali Hajizadeh, chief of the Guard’s aerospace unit, as saying the test was successful. He said it marked the first time Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites.... used a solid-fuel rocket rather than a liquid-fuel one. He said Iran will produce lighter rocket engines in further space projects.
According to the general, the satellite carrier was made of a composite material instead of metal — something he claimed was "cost-efficient." Hajizadeh spoke to a group of holy mans in the city of Qom, the seat of seminaries in Iran. He said Iran strongly pursues its goals in aerospace and satellite industry.
However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... composites are in general more expensive to produce than their metal equivalents. Composites also make a rocket lighter so it can boost a heavier satellite or payload into orbit. State TV did not show any footage on the launch.
Satellite carriers usually use liquid fuel but solid-fuel rockets can be adapted for mobile launchers that can be driven anywhere on a major road or rail system. Pure solid-fuel rockets are mostly associated with ballistic missiles systems.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2022 00:00 ||
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#1
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard last week launched a solid-fuel satellite carrier IRBM prototype rocket into space, the country’s official IRNA news agency reported Thursday.
...FTFY.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/14/2022 6:49 Comments ||
Top||
#2
It's a mostly peaceful rocket.
Posted by: Matt ||
01/14/2022 9:11 Comments ||
Top||
[AlAhram] Russian Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in desert areas of eastern Syria have killed 11 suspected members of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group, a war monitor reported Thursday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors casualties of the decade-old conflict, said the overnight strikes focused on an area between Palmyra and al-Sukhna.
"The jihadist organization's members hide in caves in this area," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
The strikes killed 11 IS fighters and maimed around 20 others, some of them seriously, he said.
Abdel Rahman said he had counted a total of 229 Russian airstrikes against targets in the Syrian desert already this year.
Thursday's strikes were the deadliest of their kind since November when the Observatory reported 16 killed in jihadist ranks.
The remnants of IS mostly went back to their desert hideouts from which they continue to harass the Syrian government and allied forces.
The group is thought to be attempting to secure sources of funding through trafficking and racketeering, prompting observers to warn of a jihadist resurgence in the region.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/14/2022 00:00 ||
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] At least two Syrian servicemen were maimed in 24 hours as a result of attacks from holy warriors in Syria, Rear Admiral Oleg Zhuravlev, deputy head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria, told news hounds on January 13.One of them was maimed as a result of sniper fire, which was fired from the Karamanli region at the positions of the government army in the area of the Kuljok settlement (Latakia province). The second soldier suffered in the area of the settlement of Ikko from a mortar attack, which was conducted from the Barza-Faukani area.
In just 24 hours, 12 attacks were recorded in the Idlib de-escalation zone: six in the Aleppo province, two in Idlib, three in Latakia and one in Hama.
As reported by IA REGNUM , on January 13, the forces of the Ottoman Turkish army and its allies from among the radical groups fired at several settlements in the Syrian province of Hasak.
Posted by: badanov ||
01/14/2022 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.
...Former President-for-Life of Sudan He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself head cheese. He fell out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to 
FSB officers stopped the activities of a cell of the religious extremist organization 
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
[WASHINGTONTIMES] At least four rockets targeted the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified 
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....
...
