Yesterday M. Murcek asked for a tutorial on how to use all the thingies available to spiff up comments. I answered his question pretty late, so thought I’d post it here so he and y’all would actually see it. I hope this helps.
Under Your Name, you can either go with whatever anonymous nym/nic Fred’s engine provides, or delete it and type in your own (keep it clean — this is a family site — and don’t use someone else’s), or click on Pic-a-Nic, which will give you something else random from Fred’s random anonymizer machine. If you don’t like that you can keep clicking until you find something you like better, but be aware that I probably won’t recognize you unless you are consistent under a single identity, like Zenobia F did for a while when in poetry mode, and a few others (Hemingway, drunk-voice-to-text guy).
Email and website are optional — people mostly don’t give those anymore for security reasons. Safer to share that in the O Club, which is an open chat room not part of the permanent record.
Icons across the bottom from left to right: Bold, Italics, Underline, Strike through, bulleted list, indent, shrink text, grow text, hyperlink. For all of these, highlight the text you want to do something to, then click on the icon.
I don’t know what the square bracket thingy does.
Foto and the square colourful thingy to the right of it are for adding images. Rantburg's collection can be perused here. If you find an image you like, somehow you combine those three thingies to make it work — no doubt there are others here who can clarify that, and then I will also know. This can also somehow be used with images from outside websites, but that really slows down loading the Burg, so we’d prefer you didn’t. Also, as I recall Rantburg dislikes image strings containing dashes — Weasel Zippers comes to mind — so be aware that not everything works.
Whatever you do, please Preview your comment to make sure it does what you intended, otherwise you’ll end up like Dale did yesterday, feeling frustrated about getting 90% of the way there without communicating the particular bit of cleverness you’d intended. ;-)
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/02/2019 11:41 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Fred gave me a micro lesson in links and that got me started experimenting. The text editing engine is easy.
I played with the statements is that what they're called ? themselves and made a little txt file of variations for quick use.
If you go to the Post New Article page, you get a neat background color button that gives you that ↑ fine highlight.
Copy out the syntax and paste it in a txt file somewhere. Make your own variations with text and highlight color, etc. Play with the block text and bullet settings too. If you guys already knew this, don't tell me because I'm feeling like a complete coderrr ! ☺
#9
Also just before you submit, do a quick check (in a different browser tab) to see if the article had already been posted by someone else.
Also be mindful of posting long URLs. They can cause the comment box to be really wide. Use the link button (looks like a globe with a couple of chain links.) instead.
Once you hit submit. That's it! No editing. A mod might show mercy on you and fix something.
#12
Crazy Fool, for some reason the 'link' thing does not work with however my computer is set up - all I end up with is an empty link. Or at least did for a long time - haven't tried lately.
"A senior administration official reiterates there should be no cause for alarm. Says there is also no medical issue with POTUS or VP," ABC News White House and Capitol Hill reporter Katherine Faulders said in a follow-up tweet.
And from the New York Post:
An administration official told reporters covering the White House that the reason was not related to Pence or President Trump’s health or because of a national security matter.
[KhaamaPress] The security forces conducted Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in four provinces in the past 24 hours killing at least 9 Death Eaters.
The informed military sources said Monday that an airstrike in Andar district of Ghazni killed 1 Taliban ...Arabic for students... fighter.
Furthermore, an airstrike killed 1 ISIS fighter in Deh Bala district of 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.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio wondered: Where the hell was Chumbaloni? And where was his $600?... the security sources said an airstrike killed 2 Taliban fighters in Shindand district of Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... The security forces also conducted an airstrike in Bala Boluk district of Farah province and killed 5 Taliban fighters. The airstrike also maimed 1 Taliban fighter.
The anti-government armed snuffies have not commented regarding the airstrikes so far.
The security situation in Ghazni, Nangarhar, Herat and Farah provinces has tanked during the recent months.
The anti-government armed snuffies are active in some districts of the four provinces and often conduct terrorist related activities.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio wondered: Where the hell was Chumbaloni? And where was his $600?... the Afghan forces routinely conduct counter-terrorism operations against the anti-government gangs in these provinces.
The U.S. forces also conduct regular airstrikes in restive parts of the country to suppress Taliban and other anti-government Death Eaters.
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan forces have killed or maimed 43 holy warriors in Paktiya including several Talibs hailing from Pakistain.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) said in a statement that the Talibs clashed with the security forces in Machlagho Dam in Ahmadabad district.
The statement further added that the security forces effectively responded to Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... attack killing at least 31 krazed killers.
Furthermore, the interior ministry said the security forces also killed several Pak Talibs and some commanders of the group during the clash.
The security forces also maimed 13 holy warriors during the same clash, the Ministry of Interior added.
Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called a hurried meeting of his closest advisors. It was to be his last. They discussed the officers's efficiency rating system... the interior ministry said the security forces also confiscated a 82mm rocket launcher, a PKM machine gun, some Ak-47 rifles and other light and heavy weapons following the clash.
The anti-government holy warriors have not commented regarding the clash so far
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan Special Forces conducted an operation against the militnts 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.... of Iraq and Syria Khurasan in 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.
The informed military sources said Sunday that the Special Forces conducted the operation in Achin district.
The sources further added that the Special Forces killed 7 ISIS turbans during the operation.
The anti-government armed elements have not commented regarding the operation so far.
The security situation in Nangarhar province has tanked during the recent months.
Both Taliban ...Arabic for students... and ISIS turbans are active in some districts of the province and often conduct terrorist related activities.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/02/2019 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10324 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[DAWN] Dozens of people were maimed with fatalities feared as a powerful boom-mobile rocked Kabul early on Monday and button men battled special forces in an area housing military and government buildings, officials said.
The rush-hour explosion sent a plume of smoke into the air above the Puli Mahmood Khan neighbourhood of the Afghan capital and shook buildings up to two kilometres (1.2 miles) away, with an AFP news hound saying he could hear gunshots after the blast.
"At first, a boom-mobile took place and then several attackers took over a building. The area is cordoned off by the police special forces and (they) are bringing down the attackers," interior ministry front man Nasrat Rahimi said.
Health ministry front man Wahidullah Mayar tweeted that 65 maimed people, including nine children, had been taken to hospital. He warned that casualties could rise.
The area was quickly blocked off by Afghan forces and ambulances, with helicopter gunships seen overhead as firing continued.
The heavily-secured neighbourhood is home to some military and government buildings, including one shared by Afghanistan's intelligence agency and defence ministry, as well as the Afghan Football Federation and Cricket Board.
"We were sitting inside the office when the world turned upside down on us," said Zaher Usman, an employee at a branch of the culture ministry, which he said stands just 150 metres (yards) from the blast.
He said the blast appeared to have occurred near Gulbahar Tower, which contains a shopping mall and residential units and is next to a government building.
Tolo News liveblogged events here. Stats: All five attackers gunned down, 1 dead and 93 injured as of 4:35 p.m. local time.
The health ministry put the wounded toll at 116 people. Among the injured were 50 children, officials said, adding that most had been hurt by flying glass and were in stable condition.
Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said all five gunmen and the driver of the car had been killed, and a clearing operation was over.
[KhaamaPress] The Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... group grabbed credit for the coordinated suicide kaboom in Kabul city.
Taliban’s front man Zabiullah Mujahid claimed in a statement that the bully boyz of the group detonated a boom-mobile close to Logistics and Engineering Center of Ministry of Defense.
He also claimed that a number of bully boyz launched gun attack after the earth-shattering kaboom inflicting heavy casualties on security forces.
However, ars longa, vita brevis... the security and defense officials said the bully boyz failed to intrude into the logistics department of the defense ministry.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shootout, Butch clutched at his other shoulder...... the Ministry of Interior said in a statement earlier this evening that the security forces killed all 5 assailants involved in the attack.
The statement further added that the attack claimed the lives of a child, a security guard of TV station and 2 Special Forces soldiers.
Furthermore, the interior ministry said the attack maimed 84 people.
The public health ministry had earlier said the rescuers have shifted 116 people to hospitals including 26 children and 5 women.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/02/2019 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10326 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[DW] At least 23 non-combatants were killed in central Mali after gunnies attacked three Fulani ... a peculiarly brutal tribe of Moslem herdsmen infesting Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and probably other places that are light on law and order and heavy on tribal identity... communities, a local mayor and security forces said Monday.
Rooters news agency also reported that some 300 people were missing following the attacks.
"During Sunday, and overnight, in the villages of Bidi, Sankoro and Saran, gunnies attacked civilians, killing 23 of them," Cheick Harouna Sankare, mayor of the neighboring town of Ouenkoro.
After raiding the village of Saran, the attackers went on to Bidi, but people had already fled, said Harouna Sankare, who blamed the attack on Dogon hunters.
"Since they didn't find anybody [in Bidi], they burned the village and the houses and attacked the cattle," he said.
The attacks come following a wave of deadly assaults between Fulani herders and Dogon farmers who have long fought over land and resources.
The rivalry has escalated in recent years due to the growing presence of armed Islamist groups.
FAILURE TO DISARM MILITANTS
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's government has promised to disarm the militias but has so far struggled to do so.
Tit-for-tat violence between the rival communities has increased this year. In March, suspected Dogon holy warriors killed more than 150 Fulani in central Mali in one of the most violent attacks in the country's recent history. Raids on Dogon villages in June killed over 40 people.
In other parts of central Mali, 12 civilians including a baby were killed on Sunday when the vehicle they were traveling in struck a landmine. Local mayor Issiaka Ganame told Rooters news agency that none of the passengers survived.
It was not clear who laid the mine, but jihadist groups have been known to deploy this kind of ordnance in the region.
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Six Ottoman Turkish sailors held by forces led by Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar ...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... have been freed, a Ottoman Turkish foreign ministry official said on Monday.
"The sailors are free. According to their wishes, they continue to work," the official, who did not wish to be named, said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/02/2019 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10324 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[PRESSTV] Nearly a dozen Saudi-sponsored Lions of Islam loyal to Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... 's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi have been killed and several others injured when Yemeni army soldiers and fighters from allied Popular Committees launched an offensive against their positions in the kingdom’s southern border region of Najran a city in southwestern 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... near the border with Yemen. It is the capital of the province of the same name, a favored target of Houthi rocket forces because they can see it, so there's no math involved.... An unnamed Yemeni military source told the Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that Yemeni troops and their allies mounted an operation in the al-Hamad area of the region, located 844 kilometers south of the capital Riyadh, on Monday afternoon, leaving ten Saudi mercenaries dead and several others injured.
Separately, seven civilians, including two women and a boy, sustained injuries when Saudi artillery units struck a residential neighborhood in Yemen’s western coastal city of Hudaydah.
Local sources said the projectiles slammed into July 7 neighborhood late on Sunday, destroying a house.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/02/2019 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10324 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... (IraqiNews.com) ‐ Iraqi military intelligence forces killed on Monday two 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.... Death Eaters during a military operation in Mosul city.
In a press statement, the Iraqi Military Intelligence Directorate said that its troops have stormed a terrorist hotbed of the Islamic State terrorist group in al Baaj district, west of Mosul.
The troops killed two IS Death Eaters and found two cycle of violences, two firearms and an boom belt inside the pair’s hotbed.
The operation was launched based on intelligence reports, the statement read.
Former Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi announced in July 2017 liberation of the second largest Iraqi city of Mosul from IS militants, who had captured it in 2014. More than 25,000 militants were killed throughout the campaign, which started in October 2016.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/02/2019 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10324 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) ‐ Two Iraqi soldiers were maimed Monday in a kaboom in the eastern province of Diyala, a security source was quoted as saying.
Speaking to Iraqi website Alghad Press, the source said that a roadside kaboom targeted an army patrol at al-Nada village in Balad Ruz district, Diyala, leaving two soldiers maimed.
"The injured soldiers were moved to hospital for treatment," the source said, adding that the blast site was sealed off and a probe was launched to identify perpetrators of the kaboom.
[THEBAGHDADPOST] Clashes broke out in the province of Dhi Qar, southern Iraq, on Sunday, between the security forces and protesters who were angry at the deterioration of services in the province, according to media reports.
The festivities occurred after protesters besieged the municipal council of Dhi Qar's al-Islah, according to the reports.
Videos posted on social media showed angry protesters outside the council's headquarters, where some of them were waving Iraqi flags while others set tires on fire.
The protesters called on the municipal council to fulfill the promises they made concerning the reform of the deteriorating services.
The security forces tried to disperse the protests by firing into the air, before festivities erupted between the two parties, which led to the injury of a policeman, Iraqi media platforms reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/02/2019 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10324 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
[IsraelTimes] Paleostinians throw rocks, firecrackers at security forces, following burial of Mohammed Obeid in Issawiya, police say.
A Paleostinian man who was killed by Israeli police during festivities in East Jerusalem last week has been laid to rest, after his body was released to his family, following days of violent protests.
Authorities had held the body of 20-year-old Mohammed Obeid since he was fatally shot on Thursday.
Israeli police say Obeid had hurled fireworks at officers and presented a lethal threat when he was shot. But residents accuse police of using excessive force and shooting Obeid from a very short distance.
Over 1,000 people took part in Obeid’s funeral, after which Paleostinian protesters clashed again with police.
Police said rioters hurled rocks, bottles, and firecrackers at security forces on Monday following the funeral.
The shooting and Israel’s refusal to release the body sparked three consecutive nights of festivities between Israeli security forces and residents in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya, and elsewhere in the capital.
At least 100 Paleostinian demonstrators were maimed in the three days of violent festivities.
Police in recent weeks have reportedly been entering Issawiya in a bid to track down members of a Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine terror cell, believed to be on the lam in the neighborhood. The police operations have led to regular festivities with local residents.
Confirming the Americans dunnit in this story from yesterday.
[AnNahar] The United States said Monday it carried out a strike in northwestern Syria a day earlier that a monitor reported had killed eight jihadists, including commanders, from an al-Qaeda-linked group.
"U.S. forces conducted a strike against al-Qaeda in Syria (AQ-S) leadership at a training facility near Aleppo Province, Syria, June 30, 2019," U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
"This operation targeted AQ-S operatives responsible for plotting external attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians," it said, using an acronym for al-Qaeda in Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britannia-based war monitor, said six commanders were among the slain jihadists from the Hurras al-Deen
...which apparently is Arabic for "Guardians of Religion"...
group in Aleppo province.
The killed commanders included two Tunisians, two Algerians, an Egyptian and a Syrian, the Observatory added.
"With our allies and partners, we will continue to target ISIS and al-Qaeda to prevent both groups from using Syria as a safe haven," U.S. Central Command said, using an Arabic acronym for 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.
Hurras al-Deen maintains ties to al-Qaeda and fights alongside the global jihadist network's former Syria branch, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... -- which dominates most of Idlib province as well as parts of neighbouring Hama, Aleppo and Latakia.
The U.S. has targeted jihadists in Syria's northwest, but the strikes appear to have petered out since 2017.
Hurras al-Deen was established in February 2018 and has some 1,800 fighters, including non-Syrians, according to the Observatory.
Yesterday we had possibilities reported here. Now we know.
[BBC] A stray Russian-made missile apparently launched by Syria hit the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus overnight, officials say.
Foreign Minister Kudret Ozersay said the air defence missile was thought to have been launched during suspected Israeli air strikes on Syria.
The projectile struck a mountainside north of Nicosia, 225km (140 miles) from the Syrian coast, sparking a fire.
But residents told Cypriot media they had seen a light in the sky and then heard three loud explosions. "The first assessment is that a Russian-made missile... which was part of the air defence system that took place last night in the face of an air strike against Syria, completed its range and fell into our country after it missed," Mr Ozersay wrote in a post on Facebook.
The explosions were likely to have happened before impact because there was no crater, he added. "The pieces that fell to several different points prove that the missile exploded in the air before it crashed."
[BBC] Four civilians were killed and 21 injured in Israeli missile strikes near the Syrian cities of Damascus and Homs, Syrian state media said.
The Syrian military responded to missiles launched by Israeli warplanes, the Sana news agency said.
Israeli jets targeted military bases from Lebanese airspace at around midnight on Sunday, it reported.
The facilities hit were linked with Iranian forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a Britain-based monitoring group, said.
In the Homs area, a research centre and a military airport where Iranian and Hezbollah personnel are based, were targeted, the Observatory said.
Near Damascus, a base hosting the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) and a research facility in Jamraya were struck.
IRGC and Hezbollah members were injured in the strikes, the Observatory said.
In Sahnaya, south of Damascus, four civilians - including a toddler - were killed as a result of Israeli "aggression", Syrian state-run broadcaster al-Ikhbariya said.
[IsraelTimes] A private Israeli intelligence firm on Monday identified one of the sites in Syria targeted in an alleged Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... earlier in the day as a hangar likely storing advanced weaponry or other military equipment.
In the predawn hours of Monday morning, Syria accused Israel of conducting a series of air- and sea-based attacks on military facilities throughout the country. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britannia-based group, at least 15 people were killed during the strike, including six civilians under unclear circumstances.
The Observatory said at least a dozen Iranian-linked targets were hit in the strikes, two near Homs and 10 of them near Damascus, including a base where Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces are headquartered and a weapons research center.
Israel did not comment on the attack ‐ one of the most extensive series of strikes in several months, coming less than a week after a trilateral summit with Russia and the United States concerning Tehran’s activities and military presence in the region.
ImageSat International, a satellite imagery analysis firm, released a photograph of one of the targets: a hangar located at the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) in Jamraya, outside Damascus.
The photo, labelled in English, can be seen at the link.
A photograph of the same site from June 4 showed a 12-meter (39-foot) by 30-meter (98-foot) hangar in Jamraya, which lies approximately 10 kilometers (seven miles) northwest of Damascus. The image from Monday showed the structure completely destroyed.
According to ImageSat, the building was "probably used for storage of advanced weapon systems or another sensitive element."
The Hezbollah terror group and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp have been said to maintain a presence at the Jamraya facility.
The US has repeatedly imposed sanctions on the SSRC for its alleged role in chemical weapons production. La Belle France has also imposed sanctions on the agency.
Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s reportedly hit the facility in May 2013 and again in February 2018.
The monitor said that at some sites, large blasts were caused by exploding ammunition depots and noted many ambulances had headed to the sites.
There was no response from the Israel Defense Forces, which rarely comments on reported strikes.
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.
Yesterday M. Murcek asked for a tutorial on how to use all the thingies available to spiff up comments. I answered his question pretty late, so thought I’d post it here so he and y’all would actually see it. I hope this helps.
...
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
...Arabic for 
[DAWN] Dozens of people were 
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
... a peculiarly brutal tribe of Moslem herdsmen infesting Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and probably other places that are light on law and order and heavy on tribal identity...
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
a city in southwestern 
...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 
[IsraelTimes] Paleostinians throw rocks, firecrackers at security forces, following burial of Mohammed Obeid in Issawiya, police say.
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
[BBC] A stray Russian-made missile apparently launched by Syria hit the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus overnight, officials say.
