[ToloNews] The U.S. intelligence community has assessed that Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in Afghanistan could have the capability to attack the United States in as little as six months, and has the intention to do so, a Pentagon brasshat told Congress on Tuesday.
The remarks by Colin Kahl, under secretary of defense for policy, are the latest reminder that Afghanistan could still pose serious national security concerns for the United States even after it ended its two-decade-old war in defeat in August.
The Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... , which won the war, are enemies of Islamic State and have seen its attempts to impose law and order after the U.S. pullout thwarted by suicide kabooms and other attacks claimed by Islamic State.
They include bombings targeting the minority Shi'ite sect and even an Islamic State beheading of a member of a Taliban militia force in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kahl said it was still unclear whether the Taliban has the ability to fight Islamic State effectively following the U.S. withdrawal in August. The United States fought the Taliban as well as striking groups like Islamic State and al Qaeda.
"It is our assessment that the Taliban and ISIS-K are mortal enemies. So the Taliban is highly motivated to go after ISIS-K. Their ability to do so, I think, is to be determined," Kahl said, using an acronym for Islamic State in Afghanistan.
Kahl estimated Islamic State had a "cadre of a few thousand" fighters.
Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi of the new Taliban government has said the threat from Islamic State forces of Evil will be addressed. He also said Afghanistan would not become a base for attacks on other countries.
Kahl suggested al Qaeda in Afghanistan posed a more complex problem, given its ties to the Taliban. It was those ties that triggered the U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan in 2001 following al Qaeda's Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Kahl said it could take al Qaeda "a year or two" to regenerate the capability to carry out attacks outside of Afghanistan against the United States.
Democratic President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. We get to suffer the consequences. So does Afghanistan, aka Biden's Bungle... , whose supervision of the chaotic end to the war last summer has damaged his approval ratings, has said the United States will continue to be vigilant against threats emanating from Afghanistan by carrying out intelligence-gathering operations in the country that would identify threats from groups like al Qaeda and Islamic State.
Kahl said the goal was to disrupt those groups so that Islamic State and al Qaeda don't become capable of striking the United States.
"We need to be vigilant in disrupting that," he said.
Still, U.S. officials privately warn that identifying and disrupting groups like al Qaeda and Islamic State is extremely difficult without any troops in the country. Drones capable of striking Islamic State and al Qaeda targets are being flown in from the Gulf.
Kahl said the United States did not yet have any agreement with countries neighboring Afghanistan to host troops for counterterrorism efforts.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/28/2021 00:00 ||
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Well we'd better get back there and re-start the war right away!
[Garowe] Authorities in Kenya are on a high alert following two separate terror incidents in Uganda which left two people dead and scores injured, with the Islamist State fighters claiming responsibility, in what could change tactics in the fight against extremism.
At Mpigi District in central Uganda, one person died following a kaboom at the bus station, injuring scores of others. Ugandan police confirmed Tuesday that the Monday attack was staged by a jihadist from the Allied Democratic Forces ...the ADF is one of several murderous Moslem groups in NE Congo. In 2019 the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on them for the usual reasons. They don't appear to be affiliated with al-Qaeda or Islamic State, though ISIS claims their work from time to time — they just like killing infidels.... [ADF] group.
Last week, another person died near the capital Kampala following an attack which was staged by ISIS holy warriors, perhaps the first attack by the group within East Africa. IS has been operating within Somalia's Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... state.
Bruno Shioso, the police spokesperson, told Capital FM that the government has taken several measures to prevent the occurrence of such an incident in Kenya.
"We are aware and we have taken cognizance that our sister country [Uganda] was attacked, it is very unfortunate. As a country and as neighbors there is so much, we could have done about it and we are alert. We have taken all the measures that I cannot discuss for security reasons, they are very confidential. As we know in Kenya, we have some levels of leadership in terms of counter-terrorism," said Shioso.
According to him, the government has boosted security along with the border areas and secured all the critical infrastructure in efforts to prevent attacks in the country.
"I assure Kenyans that they are safe and that the security is very tight and we are on top of things, hence there is no cause for alarm," he added.
Kenya has suffered a brunt of terrorist attacks from Somalia-based rag-tag militia al-Shabaab ...... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia attempting to metastasize into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and similar places, all ofwhich have enough problems without them... since it launched a military offensive against the terror group in October 2011, in what was dubbed "Operation Linda Nchi,".
During Mashujaa Day celebrations, President Uhuru Kenyatta stated that the transformation of the security sector in the country including the military has been among his administration’s key agenda.
"This visible transformation of our security organs has been done in honour of their sacred national duty of defending our illusory sovereignty, maintaining our territorial integrity, securing our borders, and preserving our cherished freedoms and our way of life. As an affirmation of this, today, Kenya’s police to population ratio is at its highest level in our history and is higher than the U.N. prescribed standard," President Kenyatta stated.
The president further added that the administration had rolled out a successful campaign over the years to modernize the military in a bid to guarantee the security of the country.
"In the last eight years, we have undertaken the most consequential and expansive modernization of our military in our nation’s history. We continue to tool and re-retool our security resources to the highest standards so as to keep our people safe and secure," he said.
[Garowe] A US diplomat says Washington will review its support for Danab, an elite unit of the Somali National Army [SNA], following the decision by the team to fight Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a [ASWJ], a moderate Sufi militia, which initially used to fight al-Shabaab ...... al-Qaeda's tentacle in East Africa... holy warriors.
Before falling out with the federal government, ASWJ was a close ally of both Americans and SNA in the fight against al-Shabaab. The emerging differences have derailed the fight against the holy warriors.
According to an official from the US embassy in Mogadishu told VOA the US is not taking reports of Danab fighting with ASWJ "lightly". Already, the Sufi militia has withdrawn from Guriel town following persuasion from the business community.
For years, Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a has been a credible partner to security forces in the fight against al-Shabaab. Last week, the militia, which took over Guriel town, came under attack from SNA and Galmadug regional forces.
During the intense battle, a Danab commander, Major Abdilatif Ahmed Ali Fayfle, was among those killed in the fighting.
The source, who spoke in confidence, said the US has intelligence that Danab Special Forces participated in the duel. The official said the support would be reviewed as a result of that involvement.
"The United States provides training and support coordination to Somali National Army Danab Brigade units to advance our shared objective of defeating al-Shabaab," said the official. "As a result of this incident, we will be reviewing the support we provide to ensure it is being used appropriately and consistent with U.S. policy and objectives."
Until now, General Odowaa Yusuf Rageh, the Chief of Defense Forces of Somalia, could not be reached for comment. However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... it's understood that the Galmadug regional administration asked for backup, forcing the federal government to deploy Danab to the region.
The US has been a major financier of the Danab forces, including but not limited to training and equipping them. The vision of supporting the Special Forces was to prepare them adequately in the fight against al-Shabaab holy warriors.
The official added that the US was sympathetic to the affected families given that already, over 120 people have been killed. "We call on all sides to cease military operations and engage in political dialogue towards a peaceful resolution," said the official.
ASWJ left Guriel on Monday evening following an intervention by local businessmen, leading to a total takeover by Somali National Army. It's not clear if the moderate Sufi militia will participate in the fight against the al-Shabaab in the future.
[AnNahar] The United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... Security Council and the United States have imposed sanctions on a Libyan official over the alleged abuse and torture of migrants colonists in a detention center.
The Security Council and the U.S. said in separate statements late Tuesday that Osama al-Kuni is the de facto head of a detention center in the North African nation's west. Moslem colonists Migrants there are said to have been subjected to torture, sexual and gender-based violence and human trafficking.
Libya emerged as a major conduit for African migrants colonists hoping to reach Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... after a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... -backed uprising toppled and killed the country's longtime dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...a reminder that a single man with an idea can change an entire nation, usually for the worse... in 2011. The country subsequently slid into chaos, with rival governments and parliaments based in its western and eastern regions, each backed by different militias and tribes.
The al-Nasr Martyrs detention center is located in the western town of Zawiya, home of two of the country's most wanted human traffickers, Abdel-Rahman Milad, and militia leader Mohammed Kachlaf.
Both Milad and Kachlaf were sanctioned by the Security Council in 2018 over allegations of human trafficking and abuse of migrants colonists.
A front man for the Libyan government did not answer calls seeking comment.
In its statement Tuesday, the U.N. sanctions committee said al-Kuni "has acted for or on behalf of or at the direction" of Milad and Kachlaf.
The Department of the Treasury blamed al-Kuni on "systematic exploitation of African migrants colonists at the detention center where these migrants colonists are subject to various human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... abuses."
It said he or others under his direction "have been involved in or facilitated the killing, exploitation, abuse, and extortion of migrants colonists at the detention center, including through sexual violence, beatings, starvation, and other mistreatment."
Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the Libyan government to hold al-Kuni and others implicated in human rights abuses accountable.
Libya holds migrants colonists in overcrowded detention centers, like al-Nasr, where torture, sexual assault and other abuses are rife. Detention center guards beat and tortured migrants colonists, then extorted money from their relatives, supposedly in exchange for their freedom, The News Agency that Dare Not be Named reported earlier this month.
U.N.-commissioned Sherlocks said earlier this month that abuse and ill treatment of migrants colonists in Libya amount to crimes against humanity.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/28/2021 00:00 ||
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They may be talking to Iran’s Mullahs, but clearly they haven’t surrendered.
[IsraelTimes] al-Qard al-Hasan Association, which gives small, interest-free loans to hundreds of thousands in poverty-stricken Leb ...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers, a practice dating back to the heady days of human sacrifice to Baal Moloch... , accused of managing funds for terror group
Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century... on Wednesday declared the Lebanese Qard al-Hasan Association a terrorist entity due to its direct connection with Hezbollah as the terror group’s financial arm.
Al-Qard al-Hasan, whose name in Arabic means "the benevolent loan," offers interest-free loans up to $5,000 and is considered Lebanon’s largest non-banking financial institution giving microloans.
The association, officially a non-profit charity, is one of the tools by which the Iran-backed Hezbollah entrenches its support among the country’s Shiite population, even as the group has come under enormous criticism over the past year among Lebanese furious at the political elite.
"The association works on managing funds for the terrorist organization (Hezbollah) and its financing, including support for military purposes," the Saudi Presidency of State Security said in a statement.
Riyadh said it was freezing all of Qard al-Hasan’s assets, prohibiting any entity from conducting direct or indirect dealings with the association, and warned of "strict measures" against those who are confirmed to be connected to the Hezbollah-linked group Wednesday.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue to work to combat the terrorist activities of the terrorist organization (Hezbollah), and will coordinate with international partners to target the sources of financial support for the organization, whether they are individuals or entities," the Saudi statement added.
With poverty rising across Lebanon, Hezbollah provides its community with low-cost schools and hospitals, and distributes heating fuel to the poor. Hezbollah continues to pay its fighters and employees in its institutions in US dollars, while everyone else gets their salaries in Lebanese pounds, which lost about 90 percent of its value in the crisis.
Amid the ongoing economic, political and social crisis in Lebanon, the al-Qard al-Hasan association has seen a significant increase in the number of clients it serves, despite it being under US Treasury sanctions since 2007.
Some 300,000 people were concurrently dealing with the association regarding loans, Hezbollah leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... said earlier this year. The association says its clients are from Lebanon’s various sects, though the vast majority are believed to be Shiite Moslems.
Saudi Arabia has previously imposed sanctions on Hezbollah, labeled a terrorist group by the United States, Israel, and the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... .
[IsraelTimes] Kosovo sanctions seven local businessmen and a company for links with Leb ...the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity™, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade... ’s terror group Hezbollah.
The decision is in line with sanctions the US imposed on Hezbollah, a powerful Shiite faction that holds seats in Lebanon’s parliament.
A statement says that seven people and the AID Properties company had their assets frozen. The seven can neither leave the country nor receive money from other individuals or companies from Kosovo.
Neither Lebanon nor the Paleostinians recognize Kosovo’s 2008 independence.
Kosovo established diplomatic ties with Israel earlier this year following a Kosovo-Serbia summit held at the White House in September 2020. A month later it opened its embassy in Jerusalem, the first European country and a Moslem-majority one to do that, following the US and Guatemala. Most international embassies are in Tel Aviv.
BLUF: He’s nuts, but superior German medicine has made him sane enough. Now the question is whether he is entitled to be kept in Germany so the dhimmis can pay for his lifelong treatment, or send him back to Somalia to run amok against his Muslim neighbours after he decides to stop taking his meds.
[JihadWatch] “Somali killed three people and shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’: Not guilty, not an Islamist,” translated from “Somalier tötete drei Menschen und rief “Allahu Akbar”: Schuldunfähig, kein Islamist,” by Rene Rabeder, Exxpress, October 22, 2021 (thanks to Medforth):
Incredulous amazement in the trial of the knife attacker of Würzburg. The Somali attacked with a stolen knife in June, killing three women and injuring several people, some of them fatally. According to a new expert opinion, the Somali was “incapable of guilt” at the time of the attack. This has consequences for his trial. Authorities are now struggling with the decision to deport him.
The African has now been healed, reports his lawyer. Four months after he killed three women in downtown Würzburg,
...sometimes spelt Würzburg and sometimes simply Wurzburg...
Abdirahman Jibril A.
...elsewhere in our archives as Abdirahman J. and Jibril A., the 24-year old has been living in Wuerzburg on the German dime since 2015, and was sent for psychiatric treatment because he pulled a knife on another resident of the homeless shelter where he was living...
is said to be “master of his senses” again. The suspect Somali is currently placed in a psychiatric hospital in Bavaria by order of the local court. There the doctors had “put together such a medication” that a reasonable conversation with A. was now possible again. In the case of the insane act, of course, it should have been different. The General Public Prosecutor’s Office in Munich commissioned two experts to prepare expert reports in mid-July. They conducted so-called exploration talks with the Somali in the clinic. As reported by “Welt,” the experts’ results essentially coincide with the first preliminary report from the summer. So “innocent of guilt.” On the day of the crime, he claims to have heard voices; according to a witness statement, he is said to have talked to birds.
The public prosecutor’s office is expected to apply for permanent placement of the accused in a closed ward of a psychiatric hospital by the end of the year, the statement said. The procedure was a much discussed borderline case from the start. Witnesses spoke of the perpetrator shouting “Allahu Akbar.”
However, the investigators do not have evidence of a political motive of the devout Muslim.
Perhaps not political, but he most assuredly wanted to kill infidels for the greater glory of Allah.
The police did not find any Islamist-related material on the suspect’s cell phone or in his apartment. If the perpetrator is convicted by Würzburg, according to the spokeswoman, the responsible Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) is examining the revocation of his subsidiary protection and the responsible immigration authority is examining the issue of an expulsion order. After a revocation, deportation would be “in principle legally possible.”
“According to § 53 Abs. 3b AufenthG, deportation is only permitted if a foreigner has committed a serious crime or if he represents a danger to the general public or the security of the Federal Republic of Germany.”
In view of the facts, it can be assumed that these requirements are met in the Jibril A. case, “regardless of the fact that he may be judged as incompetent.”
Hans-Jochen Schrepfer, the Somali’s lawyer, wanted to give “no prognosis” on the question of a possible deportation at the request of the “Welt.” In the past few weeks, his client could finally be questioned by investigators after a treatment in the clinic. Schrepfer describes A’s statements as “very reflective”: “He expressed his regret for the fate of his victims and explained his subjective point of view.”
[AnNahar] Pakistain said Wednesday that Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century... will deposit $3 billion into its central bank to help bolster the cash-strapped fellow Islamic nation's shrinking foreign reserves.
Shaukat Tarin, Pakistain's top finance ministry official, also said on Twitter that Saudi Arabia will additionally supply 1.2 billion worth of oil to Pakistain on credit.
The latest development comes two days after Prime Minister Imran Khan ...aka The Great Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer... returned from a visit to Saudi Arabia.
Pakistain's economy is currently under pressure because of an increase of oil prices in the international market. Khan has repeatedly increased oil prices at home, drawing criticism from his countrymen.
Saudi Arabia is a close Pak ally and a leading supplier of oil to Islamabad.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/28/2021 00:00 ||
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Pakistan Exports to Saudi Arabia was US$432.3 Million during 2020, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. Saudi exports to Pakistan was double that. Since no government trusts Pakistan its quid pro quo is thought to relate to its knowledge of the military use of nuclear power.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/28/2021 12:28 Comments ||
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#5
So the Saoodis are really buying a nuke?
It'd be a quick way to get your hands on one. Who wants to be the only one without in nuclear ME?
Or at least the threat of possessing one, to deter Iranian aggression?
As Alinsky said, it's not what you have necessarily, but what the enemy *thinks* you have (or maybe it was Sun Tzu talking about deception). The point being that if you live in a rough neighborhood, you have an interest in appearing to be a badder mofo than you really are. Saddam ran the same game to enhance his WMDs. Which we know he had. Don't even start!
[IsraelTimes] State Dept. front man says recently announced plans for new homes ’completely inconsistent’ with efforts to maintain calm; ’We are deeply concerned’
But seriously. Given how a number of Socialist & Democrat congressional members and it Hate Groups (Anti-Fa and BLM) have been openly Antisemitic verbally and physically.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Biden Coup has been trying to help the PLO acquire a USSR missing briefcase 100kt bomb either.
[IsraelTimes] But organizers of festival at French-protected site deny any financial involvement by Paleostinian leadership
Did they apply to the Israeli mayor of Jerusalem before putting this train on the rails?
Israel has blocked a cultural festival at a French-protected site in East Jerusalem, claiming it was sponsored by the Paleostinian Authority without Israeli permission, an assertion organizers denied Wednesday.
The scheduled three-day festival at Abraham’s House for religious pilgrims, with performances by Paleostinian arts groups, was supported by the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... Development Program (UNDP), Finland and Austria.
Abraham’s House manager Bernard Thibaud told AFP that performances had already begun for children on Tuesday when police arrived and shut it down, adding that he was "shocked and ashamed" by the cancellation.
The French consul general in Jerusalem as well as the consulate’s religious affairs adviser had also already visited the festival, diplomatic sources told AFP.
In the cancellation order, Israel’s Public Security Minister Omer Barlev wrote that the event was being held "with sponsorship and funding of the Paleostinian Authority, and this without written permission."
Police who came to the venue wore plain clothes and traveled in unmarked cars, the diplomatic sources said.
Abraham’s House is managed by a religious charity, Secours Catholique-Caritas La Belle France. It is under the protection of the French Consulate in Jerusalem, similar to the Church of Sainte-Anne in the Old City, which President Emmanuel Macron visited last year.
"The purpose is to bring a little joy and leisure to kids and adults of these surroundings who are experiencing lots of poverty and violence," Thibaud said.
"Having the police stop these cultural events is just bringing more violence to the district."
Israel prohibits official Paleostinian Authority activity in Jerusalem, viewing it as an infringement of its illusory sovereignty in the capital. The Paleostinians hope to establish the capital of their future state in East Jerusalem.
The festival was organized by the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, El-Hakawati Paleostinian National Theater and the Qafilah mobile theater in Jerusalem.
Asked if the PA supported his organization or the festival, conservatory director-general Suhail Khoury told AFP, "no, not at all."
Amer Khalil, director of el-Hakawati, also told AFP the PA was "not at all" supporting his group or the festival, adding that it was a UNDP program.
Imad Mitwalli, director of Qafilah, said his organization "never ever" received money from the PA.
Barlev did not immediately reply to AFP questions.
The arts groups publicized the event with the help of a local association in Silwan, a Paleostinian neighborhood at the edge of Jerusalem’s Old City.
[IsrqelTimes] Military hopes to have full coverage of northern airspace within two years, as part of plan to establish a nationwide air defense umbrella.
In addition to the threats that Israel’s air defenses have faced in the past — rocket and missile fire, enemy aircraft — the IDF is now increasingly forced to contend with large and small unmanned aerial vehicles. Once the domain of nation-states, drone technology has become increasingly available to terrorist groups
Most of the funding for this effort has already been allocated, with some of it — roughly a quarter of a billion shekels — coming from a deal that was brokered in late 2019 between the Defense, Energy, and Finance ministries. That agreement also secured the military’s approval for the construction of wind turbines on the Golan Heights. (As such turbines interfere with radar reception, the money was meant to go toward developing technological solutions to work around those issues.)
Israel has also made a number of improvements to the short-range Iron Dome missile defense system to allow it to shoot down drones as well, an innovation that was first put to the test during May’s conflict between the IDF and terror groups 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, when the Iron Dome intercepted its first drone. Work is also underway to provide similar capabilities to the medium-range David’s Sling air defense system.
[IsraelTimes] The highest court in Greece has ruled against allowing ritual slaughter, fulfilling fears that some Jewish leaders voiced last year after the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... ’s top court ruled in support of such bans.
Last December, the EU’s highest court upheld the bans imposed in regions of Belgium against slaughtering animals for meat without stunning them first. The ruling meant that slaughter in accordance with Jewish law, which requires animals be conscious when their necks are cut, would be prohibited in those regions, as it is in some other parts of Europe.
Greece’s top court doesn’t cite that ruling in its decision on a petition filed by the Panhellenic Animal Welfare and Environmental Federation, according to the Greek news site Protothema. But Jewish watchdogs who have been monitoring bans on ritual slaughter across the European continent say the connection is undeniable.
"We warned in December about the downstream consequences that the European Court of Justice ruling carried with it, and now we see the outcome," says Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the European Jewish Association. "Jewish freedom of religion is under direct attack. It started in Belgium, moved to Poland and Cyprus and now it is Greece’s turn."
The Greek court says there should be ways to meet the demands of animal rights advocates and the needs of Jews and Moslems who follow the laws about food in their traditions.
"The government should regulate the issue of slaughtering animals in the context of worship in such a way as to ensure both the protection of animals from any inconvenience during slaughter and the religious freedom of religious Moslems and Jews living in Greece," the court says, according to Protothema.
[An Nahar] The army’s Intelligence Directorate on Wednesday communicated with State Commissioner to Military Court Judge Fadi Akiki to inquire about the next step after Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... chief Samir Geagea ...Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005... failed to attend a testimony session, MTV reported.
Akiki asked the Directorate to "close the investigation file" without requesting any other step, the TV network added.
LBCI television for its part reported that "Geagea’s file has been closed at the Intelligence Directorate."
"It has been referred to the military prosecution without the issuance of a subpoena or a search and investigation warrant," LBCI added.
"The military prosecution will continue the legal measures according to the file’s content," the TV network said.
Geagea had warned last week he would ignore the summons if Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... leader Sayyed His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... was not called in for questioning too.
Seven people were killed in street fighting two weeks ago, following a rally organized by Hizbullah and its ally Amal Movement against the judge investigating last year's deadly blast at Beirut port.
Hizbullah and Amal accused the LF of firing the first shots in the October 14 violence. Geagea denied any involvement and claimed that his summons had no legal grounding.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2021 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Israel has said it is opening its border to agricultural workers from neighboring Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. ... , with which it is technically at war, to pick olives."In light of the economic situation in Lebanon, and as a gesture of goodwill to the Lebanese people, the IDF opened the border to agricultural workers from Mays al-Jabal, Aitaroun and Blida," an Israeli army statement read.
"The IDF allowed the workers to cross the Blue Line, to a certain extent, allowing them to harvest olive trees in Israeli territory," the statement added, referring to the 2000 U.N.-drawn demarcation line.
An Israeli army front man told AFP several groups had been allowed across since October 10.
The statement said the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) overseeing a buffer zone between the two states had "reported the gesture" to the Lebanese side.
Tensions had been escalating afresh between the two sides since August, when Israel carried out its first air strikes on Lebanese territory in seven years and Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... claimed a direct rocket attack on Israeli soil for the first time since 2019.
In 2006, the most recent large-scale confrontation between Israel and Hizbullah left some 1,200 Lebanese dead, mainly civilians, as well as 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
That month-long engagement ended in a U.N.-backed ceasefire.
Lebanon and Israel last year began historic U.N.-brokered talks on setting their maritime border, even though the discussions are currently stymied.
Lebanon has for the past two years been mired in economic, political and social crisis and its residents are subject to draconian banking restrictions preventing easy access to money.
Meanwhile the local currency has plummeted some 90 percent against the dollar on the black market. Around 80 percent of the population are struggling to escape poverty amid ballooning inflation and shortages of fuel, medicine and electricity.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2021 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... chief Jebran Bassil on Wednesday lashed out at the Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... and the Amal Movement and accused them of "collusion.""When I talked about the collusion of the ’Tayyouneh duo’, a major uproar happened," Bassil tweeted.
"We saw this collusion on the streets over the blood of the people and we saw it in parliament over the electoral law and the rights of expats," Bassil noted.
He added: "Tomorrow we will see it in parliament and in the judiciary over the victims of both the port and Tayyouneh."
"No to burying the truth of the biggest explosion that Leb ...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers, a practice dating back to the heady days of human sacrifice to Baal Moloch... and the world have witnessed in return for securing the acquittal of the criminal," Bassil went on to say, apparently suggesting that LF leader Samir Geagea ...Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005... was responsible for the Tayyouneh incidents.
Bassil’s remarks come after Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi proposed an initiative to resolve the standoff over the port investigations. According to media reports, the initiative calls for parliament to refer ex-PM Hassan Diab three ex-ministers to the Higher Council for the Trial of Presidents and Ministers and for Judge Tarek Bitar to continue his investigations without questioning politicians.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2021 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The Gulf Cooperation Council condemned Wednesday the statements made by Minister of Information George Kordahi about the 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... war, saying it reflects "a limited knowledge and a shallow understanding" that are not acceptable.
Saudi sources told MTV media station that "we are facing a severe diplomatic crisis due to Kordahi's offensive statements to Arab countries, regardless of the timing of the interview."
Kordahi had raised controversy by accusing Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century... and the UAE of "aggression against Yemen" in a recorded interview with al-Jazeera Online in August, a month before he was appointed as a minister in the government of Prime Minister Najib Miqati.
"The Yemeni war is absurd and it should stop," he said, adding that "the Huthis are defending themselves against an external aggression."
After the interview surfaced late Tuesday on social media, Kordahi tweeted that he "did not intend, in any way, to offend the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or the Emirates," and expressed his love and loyalty to the leaders and people of the two countries.
"What I said about the war in Yemen, I said it with conviction, not in defense of Yemen, but also out of love for Saudi Arabia and the UAE," he said.
The Yemeni Ambassador to Leb ...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. ... said he will present a protest to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and responded to the latter’s recent tweets by saying that "it added insult to injury, as he did not apologize, but rather confirmed what he had said."
Yemeni Minister of Information Muammar al-Eryani, for his part, tweeted about Kordahi saying "it reflects a flagrant ignorance of the Yemeni issue, blind bias towards the terrorist Huthi militia, and disregard for the role of the Iranian regime and its expansionist agenda in Yemen and the region," asking the Lebanese government for a "clear position."
Prime Minsiter Najib Miqati said that Kordahi’s statements do not reflect the government’s position and stressed the brotherly ties between Lebanon, KSA and UAE.
He reiterated Wednesday after meeting President Michel Aoun ...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... in Baabda that "we are keen on having the best relations with the Arab countries and the Gulf, and President Aoun has asked me to confirm this position."
Earlier this year, former foreign minister Charbel Wehbe made comments in a televised interview blaming Gulf states for the rise of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in Iraq and Syria. He resigned over the comments in May.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2021 00:00 ||
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#1
Lebanon Scrambles to Contain Fallout
Heh. Oh, not that kind of 'fallout'. Never mind.
No worries! It will happen later when the Iranians give the Hezbbies a dirty bomb to use against the Juice, but due to lax safety procedures that would embarrass even a Baldwin production company, a premature detonation contaminates a good part of suburban Beirut. Insha'allah, bitches!
[An Nahar] Former Prime Minister Hassan Diab filed Wednesday a lawsuit against the state, over his prosecution by lead investigator in the Beirut port blast, Judge Tarek Bitar.
Judicial sources told al-Jadeed TV that once Bitar is officially notified of the suit by Diab’s defense lawyers, the ex-PM’s prosecution will be paused until a decision is made.
The lawsuit was filed one day before Bitar’s scheduled session to interrogate Diab.
Diab, along with three ex-ministers and incumbent MPs Ali Hassan Khalil, Ghazi Zoaiter and Nohad al-Mashnouq had been charged by Bitar in the port case with negligence.
Khalil and Zoaiter on Wednesday also filed a lawsuit before the Court of Cassation to specify the competent authority for Bitar’s dismissal, media outlets said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2021 00:00 ||
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#1
DIAB = Dude in a Burka? Pashtuns Who Menstruate?
[AnNahar] Syria's electricity ministry has signed a $115 million contract with an Iranian company to rehabilitate a power station in a central province of the war-torn country, state media reported
Under the agreement involving the two allies — who are both under U.S. sanctions — the Iranian company Peymanir will rehabilitate the Mhardeh power station in Hama province.
Syria's electricity sector was hard hit by the country's 10-year conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed large parts of the country.
State news agency SANA said the rehabilitation of the station will cost 99.5 million euros ($115 million) and will take 26 months to complete. The station will then have a production capacity of 576 megawatts, according to SANA.
Syria suffers hours long electricity cuts daily and over the past months the government has been encouraging businesses and private homes to rely more on solar energy..
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/28/2021 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.
...46th president of the U.S. We get to suffer the consequences. So does Afghanistan, aka Biden's Bungle...
...the ADF is one of several murderous Moslem groups in NE Congo. In 2019 the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on them for the usual reasons. They don't appear to be affiliated with al-Qaeda or Islamic State, though ISIS claims their work from time to time — they just like killing infidels....
...... al-Qaeda's tentacle in East Africa...
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers, a practice dating back to the heady days of human sacrifice to Baal Moloch...
Hezbollah
...the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity™, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century...
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. ...
...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers, a practice dating back to the heady days of human sacrifice to Baal Moloch...
Najib Miqati
