|
December
30, 2015
|
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
Russian
airstrikes kill over 2,300 in Syria, says human rights
group:
Casualties of Moscow’s air war in support of President
Assad include 792 civilians, among them 180 children
Russia
denies 'absurd' claims that air strikes in Syria are
killing hundreds of civilians:
The US State Department earlier said the Russian strikes
had killed "hundreds of civilians" and hit "medical
facilities, schools and markets".
Syrian
forces backed by Russian jets clash with rebels:
Syrian offensive for key southern area is the first
since Russia entered the nearly five-year war in
September.
Russia
kills several ISIS commanders in Syria air op, data
provided by opposition - MoD:
The Russian Air Force has eliminated several Islamic
State commanders striking a building in Raqqa, where
they were holding a meeting, the Defense Ministry said.
The intelligence data was provided by opposition forces.
Terrorist
attacks on Paris can’t be separated from those of Beirut
and events in Syria : President al-Assad:
“Wrong polices adopted by western states, particularly
France, towards events in the region, and its ignorance
of the support of a number of its allies to terrorists
are reasons behind the expansion of terrorism,”
President al-Assad said,
‘American
exceptionalism’ hampers its war on terror – Lavrov:
America’s consciousness of being an “exceptional” nation
interferes with its ability to fight terrorism in every
direction and by all means, Russia’s foreign minister
has said, noting that Turkey is copying the behavior of
its NATO mentor in Iraq.
Moscow
demands arrest of rebel for killing of Russian warplane
pilot:
"We demand that the Turkish authorities take immediate
steps to apprehend Alparslan Celik and his accomplices
and bring them to justice for the murder of the Russian
pilot," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
said in a statement.
Iraq: 47
ISIS militants killed in air strike in western Anbar:
On Wednesday, an Iraqi security source stated, that 47
elements of ISIS organization were killed in an aerial
bombardment on their headquarters in western Anbar.
US-Iraqi
Special Forces Kill 27 IS Militants in Iraq:
Iraqi and U.S. special forces killed 27 militants of the
Islamic State and captured eight others in an operation
in the Iraqi town of al-Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk, 250
kilometers (156 miles) north Baghdad.
Bombings,
shooting attacks leave seven Iraqis dead in, near
Baghdad:
At least seven people have lost their lives and nearly
three dozen others sustained injuries in a series of
bomb attacks in and around the Iraqi capital, Baghdad,
over the past two days.
Iraq PM's
helicopter takes ISIL ground fire in Ramadi:
Haider al-Abadi triumphant after army takes centre of
key city, but questions raised whether Ramadi can now be
held.
Turkey
funds Sunni militia in Iraq, lawmaker says:
Iraq’s Sunni militia group known as Hashd-al-Watani has
been receiving monthly wages directly from Turkey after
Baghdad froze payments to the group in August, according
to an Iraqi member of parliament.
Bahrain Says 3 Troops in Yemen
Coalition Killed in Saudi;
Bahrain says three soldiers attached to a coalition
fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen have been killed in
Saudi Arabia.
Lebanon
charges Israel over killing of Spanish peacekeeper:
Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr Wednesday filed
charges against unknown Israeli soldiers over the
killing of a Spanish peacekeeper during a border clash
with Hezbollah in January.
Israel
plays down US spying scandal:
"But we are not naive. We know that countries -- even
friendly ones -- try to collect intelligence on us, and
we conduct ourselves accordingly," he said.
British
MP: Israel Fabricated Knife Attack Stories, Conservative
Party Influenced By ‘Jewish Money’:
“They’re not interested in the fact that Palestianians
are living a repressed life, and are liable to be shot
at any time. In the last few days alone the Israelis
have murdered 52 Palestianians and nobody pays attention
and this government doesn’t care.”
U.S.
Carrier Harry S. Truman Has Close Call With Iranian
Rockets:
The USS Harry S. Truman was crossing international
waters in the Strait of Hormuz when Iranian
Revolutionary Guards (IRCGN) conducted a live-fire
exercise right nearby, according to a statement.
Afghan
Interior Ministry Says 22 Militants Killed in 24 Hours:
The Afghan National Police and National Army have killed
22 militants across seven provinces over the past 24
hours, the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs said
Wednesday.
The
occupation will continue: Pentagon pushing for long-term
US presence at Bagram, as Taliban gain ground:
The status of the Bagram base, a vital center of
operations located 30 miles north of Kabul, could well
be the next front in the Pentagon’s efforts to keep
options open for the long-term U.S. presence in
Afghanistan.
US
general: More troops may be needed in Afghanistan to
fight Taliban:
The top US and NATO military commander in Afghanistan
may seek additional American troops to help local forces
as they struggle to contain the Taliban insurgency, USA
Today reported.
Philippine
troops battle militants in south, at least 9 dead:
Philippine troops clashed Wednesday with about 100 Abu
Sayyaf gunmen suspected of plotting attacks on New
Year's Eve, leaving eight militants and one soldier
dead, officials said.
1 killed,
10 injured in attack on tourists at ancient fortress in
Russia's Dagestan:
A group of tourists on a visit to the Naryn-Kala
fortress in Derbent, a city in Russia's North Caucasus
republic of Dagestan, were shot Tuesday night by unknown
gunmen. The attack left one person dead and 10 injured.
Ukraine to
Ban Imports of Some Russian Goods
: Yatsenyuk, in
televised comments at a cabinet meeting, said the
government would also adjust duties on Russian imports,
but gave no details.
More than
one million refugees registered in Germany in 2015 -
newspaper:
Germany will have registered just over a million
migrants by the end of the year, a regional newspaper
said on Wednesday, roughly in line with the latest
predictions but still about five times more than last
year.
Bolivia
Plans to Halve Extreme Poverty by 2020:
The drop would represent a 54 percent decrease from the
current extreme poverty rate of 21 percent, which itself
is a significant decline from the 38?percent poverty
rate in 2005, before Morales ws elected. The projects
announced by the Bolivian leader would also reduce
income inequality from 39 times in 2014 to 25 in 2020
Venezuela's has created one million homes since the
housing mission was launched by former President Hugo
Chavez:
The “Great Housing Mission” aims to tackle housing
shortages in the South American country by providing
safe and dignified homes to low-income people at a low
cost or free of charge, depending on the new owners’
means.
Judge's
Order to Force-Feed Ten Hunger-Strikers at Krome Sparks
Immigration Protest:
For the past month, ten men from Bangladesh have been on
hunger strike over what they say is inhumane treatment
of detainees inside the massive Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) facility. Last week, a federal judge
ordered the strike stopped by force-feeding the
detainees.
Father
bursts into tears telling CNN how Chicago police killed
son who needed help:
On Saturday, Chicago police shot and killed LeGrier’s
son, Quintonio, after the father called 911 to get help
dealing with a mental issue the teen was having.
Fresno
police offer $5,000 reward in hate crime attack on Sikh
man:
Fresno police are offering a $5,000 reward for
information leading to the arrest of two men who hit a
Sikh man with their truck, then beat him up on a public
street in what is being considered a hate crime, the
department announced.
Clinton
Foundation Donors Got Weapons Deals From Hillary
Clinton's State Department:
Under Clinton's leadership, the State Department
approved $165 billion worth of commercial arms sales to
20 nations whose governments have given money to the
Clinton Foundation, according to an IBTimes analysis of
State Department and foundation data.
Donald
Trump: Bill Clinton ‘Fair Game’ For Criticism On
Campaign Trail:
Donald Trump does say that Clinton was responsible for
“a lot of abuse of women,” citing the Monica Lewinsky
scandal. He says Bill Clinton is “certainly fair game”
if his wife, presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton,
“plays the woman card.”
Trump may
be barred from Britain for 'public good' as petition
gains 656,000 signatures:
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump could be
barred from entering Britain after Home Secretary
Theresa May indicated she “may” exclude visitors deemed
“non-conducive to the public good.”
Pataki
announces he’s ending White House bid:
Former New York Gov. George Pataki has ended his bid for
the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, with just
over a month to go before the first nominating contests
begin.
|
December
29, 2015
|
News from Afghanistan is Bad
By Robert
Fisk |
 |
Isis men are now fighting in their thousands
in the country we arrived to “liberate” 14
years ago, quite apart from tens of
thousands of Taliban “pushing” in to their
“heartland” around Sangin .
Continue |
=======
=======
=======
=======
Turkey: A Criminal
State, a NATO State
By Eric
Draitser |
 |
Turkey is now a mafia state ruled by a
criminal regime. - urkey has permanently
exposed the US-NATO-GCC-Israel for the
warmongers they are in Syria and around the
world.
Continue |
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
At least 80 killed in Boko Haram
attacks in Nigeria:
Boko Haram Islamic extremists struck a city and a town
in northeastern Nigeria with rocket-propelled grenades
and multiple suicide bombers Monday, killing at least 80
people, witnesses said.
Apocalyptic scenes after Syrian
bomb blast kills 32 people, leaving hundreds stranded:
Video : The blasts,
one from a car bomb and another from a suicide attack,
struck the Zahra district in the middle of Homs on
Monday, said the Britain-based Observatory, which
monitors the conflict through a network of contacts on
the ground.
Syrian army kills 17 Islamic
militants in country's south:
Syrian government forces booby trapped a cluster of farm
buildings in the southern Daraa province and detonated
the explosives as several Islamic rebel factions
gathered at the venue, killing 17 militants, opposition
activists said Sunday.
Syrian army advances against
rebels in south:
Syrian government forces on Tuesday seized a military
base controlled by rebels and battled fighters in a key
opposition-held town in the south of the country, a
monitor and state media said.
Hundreds of fighters and
civilians escape besieged Syrian areas under U.N. deal:
Around 450 Syrian fighters and their families were
evacuated from two besieged areas on Monday under the
kind of operation that the United Nations hopes can be a
stepping stone toward a wider peace accord in the
country's civil war.
Syrian rebels shell Shiite
villages, killing one, after local truce, residents say:
Syrian rebels shelled two Shiite villages in the
northwest of the country on Tuesday, killing at least
one person, residents said, a day after pro-government
fighters and civilians left the area for Turkey under a
local ceasefire agreement.
ISIL leader with links to alleged
Paris attacks ringleader killed in Syria air strike:
The 26-year-old French national was the son of
Morocco-born parents and the youngest of eight children.
He grew up in the suburbs of Paris, and had been
arrested in October 2012 while preparing to leave for
either Yemen or Afghanistan, via Somalia, a source close
to the investigation said.
US admits key goals met for
Russia in Syria so far:
Three months into his military intervention in Syria,
Russian President Vladimir Putin has achieved his
central goal of stabilizing the Assad government and,
with the costs relatively low, could sustain military
operations at this level for years, U.S. officials and
military analysts say.
Iraq PM in Ramadi to hail city's
liberation from ISIS:
- A triumphant Iraqi prime minister on Tuesday toured
the western city of Ramadi, just a day after government
troops routed Islamic State militants from the area and
recaptured a key government complex.
ISIS Releases Audio Message
Purportedly From Leader Al-Baghdadi:
The Caliphate is "doing well" despite Russian and
U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, he says.
Seized documents reveal Islamic
State's Department of 'War Spoils;
Islamic State has set up departments to handle "war
spoils," including slaves, and the exploitation of
natural resources such as oil, creating the trappings of
government that enable it to manage large swaths of
Syria and Iraq and other areas.
US military drafting 'new
narrative' for ISIS war:
The U.S. military is seeking to craft a “new narrative”
for the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
(ISIS), in part to push back on the growing perception
that President Obama does not have a strategy.
Syria: It’s Not a Civil War and
it Never Was: News
Analysis - : The weapons are foreign, the fighters are
foreign, the agenda is foreign. As Syrian forces fight
to wrest control of their country back and restore order
within their borders, the myth of the “Syrian civil war”
continues on.
Killed ISIS Commander’s Cell
Phone Shows Direct Ties to Turkish Intelligence:
A cell phone retrieved from the corpse revealed messages
from Turkish intelligence services proving the NATO
country was providing security for ISIS militants when
they traveled between Turkey and Iraq. This is the
second NATO country implicated in assisting the Islamic
State’s troops. The first was Canada.
Moscow extends sanctions against
Turkey; The sanctions
included a ban on the employment of Turkish citizens by
Russian employers, restricted imports of certain Turkish
goods such as vegetables and fruits, ban on charter
flights between the two countries and also suspension of
travel package sale to Turkey.
Davutoglu: Turkish forces will
remain in Iraq until Mosul is liberated:
Turkish government insists that Turkish troops must
remain in Northern Iraq until Mosul, the Iraqi major
city, is liberated. The second largest city in Iraq, is
under Daesh control since June 2014.
Anti-govt pro-Kurdish protesters
back in Turkish cities:
The protesters demanded that the government stopped its
crackdown in predominantly-Kurdish southern regions,
where tight security measures including curfews were
imposed.
Turkey continues massive trade in
IS oil: What emerges
from these briefings is the impression that the US led
coalition is doing nothing serious about this trade
which is largely destined for re-shipment from Turkish
ports in the international "spot market.
New Scandal? The Erdogans Spotted
Laundering Money in EU:
The evidence continues to mount against Turkish
President Erdogan and his family regarding their
involvement in illicit collaboration with Daesh (Islamic
State); surprisingly, neither Washington, nor Brussels
has raised its voice against Recep Erdogan who remains
at the helm of Turkey, Martin Berger notes.
Turkey’s Erdogan meets with Saudi
King to discuss Syrian conflict:
Erdogan arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday afternoon for a
two-day visit to meet with Saudi Arabian officials.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, Minister Mansour
bin Mutaib bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Minister of State
Musaad bin Mohammed Al-Aiban and Turkey's Ambassador to
Riyadh Yunus Demirer were present to welcome the Turkish
president.
Dozens killed in new Saudi
airstrikes against Yemen:
Saudi warplanes attacked the al-Safra district of
Yemen’s Sa’ada province on Tuesday morning, killing five
people and injuring scores of others, the
Arabic-language al-Masirah satellite television
reported.
Bahrain says 2 troops in Yemen
coalition killed in Saudi:
Bahrain's military made the announcement on Tuesday in a
statement carried by the state-run Bahrain News Agency.
It says Captain Ahmed Mohammed Amin and Captain Mubarak
Saad al-Rumaihi were killed on Saudi Arabia's southern
border.
Kuwait to send ground troops to
protect Saudi Arabia from Houthi incursions – report:
Kuwait, which is formally part of the Saudi-led
coalition conducting a military crackdown in Yemen, is
to send an artillery battalion to protect southern
regions of its Gulf neighbor from cross-border attacks,
according to a report.
America is complicit in a new
Middle Eastern tragedy: Saudi Arabia is obliterating
Yemen — with our help:
Riyadh has ramped up its aerial assaults in recent
months, and the U.S. government is supplying its
weaponry
Yemen war cost Saudi $5.3bn:
Minister: Saudi
Arabia says the increase in the kingdom’s military
spending in 2015 was almost entirely due to its
aggression against Yemen as Riyadh struggles with a
rising annual budget deficit.
Gaza's Christians: 'Israel can't
beat us down': For
the religious minority, celebrating Christmas is an act
of defiance in the face of the ongoing Israeli blockade.
Israel arrests Jews suspected of
praising Palestinian family murder:
Israeli police said Tuesday they have arrested four
Jewish men suspected of being among gun-waving
extremists filmed celebrating the killing of a
Palestinian toddler in a firebomb attack.
Pakistan suicide bombing kills
'at least 22' in Mardan:
The bomb went off outside the National Database and
Registration Authority (Nadra) office in the town of
Mardan. A faction of the Pakistani Taliban said it
carried out the attack, which left more than 30 others
wounded.
Afghan official: IS, militia
brutally kill other’s fighters:
Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate and a rival
militia controlled by a prominent lawmaker have killed
eight captured fighters from both sides in a brutal
killing spree in the eastern border province of
Nangarhar, an Afghan official said on Sunday.
Afghan leader promises
parliamentary election next year;
Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani pledged on Tuesday
to hold promised parliamentary and district council
elections next year, as he sought to calm growing
political turmoil that has hindered his government's
fight against the Taliban insurgency.
Think Islamic State has dealt a
knock-out blow to al-Qaeda? Think again:
The Islamic State has stolen the spotlight from its
forefather, al-Qaeda. But al-Qaeda-linked groups have
escalated the fight to take it back.
Germany's Steinmeier warns
Ukraine ceasefire is fragile:
Steinmeier, in a statement, condemned violations of the
ceasefire over the Christmas holiday. "I urgently call
on all sides to strictly adhere to the ceasefire in the
interests of people in the conflict areas," he said.
Inflation hits 44pc in Ukraine
amid economic collapse:
Consumer prices have hit eye-watering levels in 2015,
according to the country's central bank governor.
Inflation averaged 24.9pc in 2014.
Austria turns away hundreds of
migrants for lying about nationality:
Austria has sent hundreds of migrants back to
neighboring Slovenia in the past three days for lying
about their nationality in an apparent attempt to
improve their chances of being granted asylum, a police
spokesman said on Tuesday.
UK: The rich will get richer
while two million more children slide into poverty, 2030
economic forecast suggests:
The total number of people in poverty is expected to
rise by 3.6 million with 1.9 of that increase being
children.
Cuban migrants stuck in Costa
Rica allowed US passage:
Central American countries reach breakthrough to allow
thousands of migrants to continue their journey to the
US.
More Americans say terrorists are
winning than ever before:
The public is broadly unhappy with the nation's
progress, with nearly three-quarters of Americans saying
they are not satisfied with how the war on terror is
proceeding. That figure, following terrorist attacks in
Paris and San Bernardino, California, this fall, is well
above the previous high of 61% who said they were
dissatisfied in August 2007.
The British Muslim family's
refused entry reveals America's hypocrisy:
How can the US ask that Muslims speak out against
extremism when they are arbitrarily denied travel to our
country on the apparent basis of their religion?
U.S. may soon reject some
driver’s licenses as air travel ID;
As soon as next year, a driver’s license may no longer
be enough for airline passengers to clear security in
some states, if the Department of Homeland Security has
its way
WaPo Tallies Police Killings–but
Holds Back Some of the Numbers That Count:
The Washington Post attempted to compile a list of every
fatal police shooting in 2015. The paper found nearly a
thousand such cases—more than twice as many as the FBI
reports in a typical year.
Shock Video: Cops Torture and
Sodomize Man in Public for Rolling Through a Stop Sign:
Screams of agony can be heard echoing from the trees as
the man’s arm is twisted almost to the breaking point
and his rectum is invaded by the gloved hand of a drug
war enforcer.
The pain killer: A drug company
putting profits above patients:
The United States' opiate drug problem isn't limited to
illegal narcotics. The sale of dangerously addictive
painkillers prescribed by our physicians has quadrupled
in the past decade, and one company in particular is
pushing pain to the legal edge of aggressive medical
marketing.
U.S. Is Still No.1 at Selling
Arms to the World:
Sales leapt by almost $10 billion in 2014: The United
States remains the world’s preeminent exporter of arms,
with more than 50 percent of the global weaponry market
controlled by the United States as of 2014.
Bernie Sanders: Audit The
Department Of Defense:
"We have massive cost overruns with defense contractors,
we've got deployment after deployment for our soldiers,
and we've got military families on food stamps."
|
December
25, 2015
|
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
Syria: 26 pro-government fighters
killed in IS assault:
The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group has
expanded its control inside an eastern Syrian city after
clashes and suicide attacks killed at least 26
government fighters, a monitor said. Three IS suicide
bombers drove explosive-laden cars into the
neighbourhood, killing at least 11 members of
pro-government forces, the Britain-based monitor said.
Syria government raids kill 20
people including 7 children: pro-rebel monitor:
Air raids by Syrian government warplanes killed 20
civilians, including seven children, in an area
southeast of Damascus on Thursday, the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
Nine Hezbollah fighters killed in
Syria in last 48 hours:
Nine Hezbollah fighters were killed in the last 48 hours
during battles in two rebel-held towns near Syria's
capital Damascus, a security source told The Daily Star
on condition of anonymity Friday
Top Syrian rebel leader killed in
air strike in Damascus suburb: rebel sources:
Zahran Alloush, the head of Jaysh al Islam, one of the
most powerful insurgent groups in the rebel-held suburbs
of Damascus, was killed in an aerial raid that targeted
his group's headquarters, two rebel sources said on
Friday.
IS fighters' families to leave
southern Damascus in U.N. deal: group:
Hundreds of families of Islamic State militants and some
injured fighters are expected to leave rebel-held areas
of southern Damascus under a U.N.-brokered deal, a
monitoring group said on Thursday.
Russia slams Amnesty, says Syria
war crimes report 'fabricated':
Foreign Ministry says report documenting deaths of
hundreds of civilians in Russian air strikes is based on
'false data'
US encouraged coup againt Assad
in 2011: WSJ:
American intelligence officials identified army officers
belonging to Assad's minority Alawite sect who could
lead a coup, but they found few weak spots to exploit,
the Journal said, citing interviews with more than two
dozen people, including current and former U.S.
officials.
Wiretapped calls reveal
communication between Turkish officers and ISIS – report:
Turkish officers on the Syrian border have communicated
with Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, Turkey's
Cumhuriyet daily reported, citing an investigation by
the Ankara Chief Prosecutor's office which allegedly
eavesdropped on their phone calls.
Russian intel spots 12,000 oil
tankers & trucks on Turkey-Iraq border - General Staff:
“The [aerial] imagery was made in the vicinity of Zakho
(a city in Iraqi Kurdistan), there were 11,775 tankers
and trucks on both sides of the Turkish-Iraqi border,”
Lieutenant-General Sergey Rudskoy told journalists on
Friday.
Russian jets bomb ISIS oil
tankers in Syria (MoD VIDEO):
The Russian Defense Ministry has released a video
showing its air attacks on Islamic State (IS) oil
tankers and trucks in Syria. The vehicles explode after
being hit by precision airstrikes, and are engulfed in
flames.
Qatar and Russia agree on Syria
peace plans: With
crucial backing from the US and Russia, the plan aims to
install a ceasefire in Syria, possibly in January, when
talks in Geneva, Switzerland, could also begin.
Arab League demands immediate
Turkish withdrawal from Iraq:
- The Arab League demanded in a ministerial meeting in
Cairo on Thursday an immediate Turkish unconditional
withdrawal from the Iraqi territories, the Egyptian
state TV reported.
Egypt demands immediate Turkish
withdrawal from Iraqi territories:
Egypt’s foreign affairs minister called on Thursday for
“the immediate and unconditioned withdrawal of Turkish
forces from Iraq,” describing it as a violation of the
country's sovereignty.
Turkish coast guard says 19
migrants, including 6 children, drown as boat capsizes:
The number of people drowned in the Aegean off the coast
of the Turkish city of Izmir after their boat capsized
has risen to 19, with six children among the dead.
Israeli troops kill 4
Palestinians in West Bank:
At least four Palestinians have been shot dead by the
Israeli army in separate incidents across the occupied
West Bank on Thursday.
Video shows Jewish zealots
celebrating Palestinian baby's death:
Wedding party video of Jewish zealots celebrating a
Palestinian baby's death by arson sparks outrage in
Israel and inflames the debate on Jewish violence.
Jewish extremist leader says
Christmas has 'no place' in the Holy Land:
Faith and anti-racism groups call for police
investigation into incitement to violence after Lehava
head calls for Christian 'vampires' to be expelled from
Israel and Christmas banned
Moscow Condemns Arrest of Russian
National in Israel on US Warrantt:
Moscow condemns the detention of a Russian national in
Israel on a US warrant as an illegal extraterritorial
application of US laws and demands a thorough
explanation of the reasons for his arrest, the Russian
Foreign Ministry said Friday.
200 extremist al-Shabab fighters
pledge allegiance to Islamic State group:
Kenya's police chief says about 200 Islamic extremist
fighters have split from Somalia's al-Shabab rebels, who
are allied to al-Qaida, and have instead pledged
allegiance to the Islamic State group.
‘Thanks for destroying our
country’: Angry Libyans lash out at Obama’s independence
congratulations: The
real situation in Libya is one of chaos and lawlessness,
and the people living in the formerly prosperous Libyan
state know that better than anyone else.
Libya split between 5 factions
– military map update
Heavily redacted Benghazi emails
released on Christmas Eve:
The Christmas Eve document dump includes 16 pages of
heavily blacked-out emails about the events surrounding
the 2012 terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound
in Benghazi that killed four Americans.
Afghanistan: 140 Killed in Sangin
: "The security forces backed by air power have killed
50 militants and injured scores of others since
Wednesday evening", Helmand provincial governor Mirza
Khan Rahimi told Xinhua. According to local officials,
Taliban militants killed at least 90 Afghan security
forces over the past few days and took control of the
district, besieging some 400 security forces in the
area.
IS Video Shows Group's Extreme
Violent Acts in Afghanistan:
Loyalists of Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan released
a new video Friday showing a massive suicide car bombing
of an Afghan security outpost and several other violent
acts elsewhere, including some carried out in
neighboring Pakistan.
Russia is sharing information
with the Taliban to fight the Islamic State:
A Kremlin official said Wednesday that Russia was
exchanging information with the Taliban, the Islamist
insurgency that the United States has been fighting in
Afghanistan since 2001, as a bulwark against the spread
of the Islamic State militant group in that country.
How the West is losing
Afghanistan to the Taliban:
As of December 23, the Sangin district has fallen almost
entirely to the Taliban, leaving the rest of Helmand
province open for a complete take over.
India PM Modi in surprise
Pakistan visit: Mr
Modi is the first Indian PM to visit Pakistan since
2004.
Russia says rebel killed in
Caucasus was trained in Syria:
The trio were killed by special forces on Tuesday in the
Kabardino-Balkaria region, near Georgia, close to a
mountain village called Lechinkai, said a spokesman for
the national anti-terror committee, quoted by the
Interfax news agency.
Climate warming in Russia
outpaces the global rate of change
: The speed of climate warming in Russia is outpacing
the rate of change being recorded across the planet, the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental
Protection said on Friday in its annual report.
Italian president offers pardons
in CIA rendition convictions;
Italy has partially pardoned the former CIA Milan
station chief Robert Seldon Lady who was convicted for
his role in the kidnapping of an Egyptian Muslim cleric
under the U.S. "extraordinary rendition" program.
NSA Helped British Spies Find
Security Holes In Juniper Firewalls:
A TOP-SECRET document dated February 2011 reveals that
British spy agency GCHQ, with the knowledge and apparent
cooperation of the NSA, acquired the capability to
covertly exploit security vulnerabilities in 13
different models of firewalls made by Juniper Networks,
a leading provider of networking and Internet security
gear.
The Shocking, Unacceptable Levels
of Hunger and Homelessness in American Cities:
Twenty-three percent of requests for emergency food
assistance in the cities surveyed went unmet. Food
pantries and emergency kitchens had to cut back on the
amount of food given out as groceries or meals in 47
percent of cities involved in the survey
Americans Now Being Imprisoned If
They Are Too Poor to Pay Tickets:
Austin, Texas is the latest city to face a federal class
action accusing it of reinstituting debtors’ prisons by
jailing people who are too poor to pay fines for traffic
tickets and petty misdemeanors.
|
December
24, 2015
|
=======
=======
=======
=======
Maidan Two Years
Later
By Stephen F.
Cohen |
 |
President Petro Poroshenko is now less
popular than his predecessor Viktor
Yanukovych was before he was ousted.
Continue |
=======
The Coming Saudi
Crack-up?
By Daniel
Lazare |
 |
“Erdogan is even more dangerous if he thinks
that he now has NATO license to bait Russia
— as he did with the shoot-down."
Continue |
=======
=======
Donald Trump: An
Evaluation
By Paul Craig
Roberts |
 |
How did a William Kristol neocon nazi get on
Trump’s staff? What more proof do we need
that even if Trump is elected, the
establishment will prevail despite Trump.
Continue |
=======
=======
Clinton Lies (Again)
By John Halle |
 |
Given her long history of lying, obscuring
and/or avoiding the truth, everything which
comes out of Clinton’s mouth should be
greeted with extreme skepticism.
Continue |
=======
Love South of Heaven
By Robert C.
Koehler |
 |
Let us listen, let us reach out, let us look
one another in the eyes no matter how
difficult this proves to be.
Continue |
=======
54 ISIS militants including
senior leader 'al-Shishani' killed in Iraq:
The source reported “The army’s 8th brigade participated
alongside the Anti-Terrorism Forces in operations to
retake the neighborhoods of Ramadi from ISIS,” pointing
out that, “The artillery force of the brigade supported
the Anti-Terrorism Forces in the neighborhoods located
in central Ramadi,
Wave of attacks kills at least 15
civilians across Iraq:
In the Shiite-majority town of Khalis, about 80
kilometers (50 miles) north of the Iraqi capital, two
explosives-laden cars were detonated. The first car was
parked inside a bus station and that explosion killed
three and wounded 10, a police officer said.
Iraq: Eight ISIS commanders
killed in airstrikes:
"F-16 planes killed dozens of terrorists including eight
senior commanders of Daesh in strikes on Hawija and
Anbar," said the statement, using a derogatory name for
ISIS and not giving further details.
Iraqi ambassador to US: Ramadi
liberation 'a few days away':
Iraq's ambassador to the United States says that his
country's troops and its allies will retake the city of
Ramadi from Islamic State forces in the coming days.
Syria: 35 killed in suspected
Russian airstrikes in Eastern Ghouta:
At least 35 people were killed and scores were injured
in Syria on Tuesday when Russian jets attacked a
marketplace in Eastern Ghouta, local sources told
Anadolu Agency. According to the Syrian Civil Defense,
the airstrikes targeted an opposition-controlled
village, also killing a number of women and children.
Triple ISIS Suicide Attack Kills
11 Syrian Government Fighters:
"Eleven soldiers and pro-regime militiamen were killed
and 20 others wounded in the industrial neighbourhood in
eastern Deir Ezzor city," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head
of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
5 killed in suspected, Damascus
'chemical attack': Pro-rebel activists
: At least five people have been killed in a suspected
chemical weapons attack outside the Syrian capital,
Damascus, opposition activists say.
Russia rejects accusations of
killing Syrian civilians:
Moscow denies claims after Amnesty accuses it of killing
civilians in air strikes that may be treated as war
crimes.
Syrian government ready to join
UN talks to end conflict: Assad aide:
A close adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad said
Wednesday Damascus was ready to join U.N.-sponsored
peace talks with its position bolstered by both Russian
backing and the West's retreat from a hardline
anti-Assad approach.
Syria’s Kurds Have Nearly Tripled
Their Territory Fighting the Islamic State in 2015:
Amid the chaos in Syria, the country's Kurds have
managed to resist the advances of the Islamic State and
carve out a zone of unprecedented autonomy in their own
lands.
This map shows how much territory
ISIS has lost this year:
ISIS has lost 14% of its territory since January. Some
of the areas that have been retaken from the group were
crucial to the its operations — including the Syrian
border-crossing town of Tal Abyad, which connected
ISIS's de-facto capital of Raqqa with Turkey.
What really happened to the U.S.
train-and-equip program in Syria?:
They had no expense money, little food and no clear idea
of how they, just 54 men, were to do battle against the
extremists.
DOD downplays ISIS capability
after report on anti-aircraft missiles:
The Defense Department on Wednesday downplayed the
Islamic State’s technological capability, following a
report that the terror group is trying to develop
anti-aircraft missiles.
70% of Syria refugees in Lebanon
live in 'extreme poverty':
Based on an assessment of more than 4,000 refugee
households, the report found that an estimated 70
percent of them are living below the Lebanese extreme
poverty line of $3.84 per day. "This is a striking
increase from 49 per cent in 2014," Mireille Girard,
head of the UN refugee agency's Lebanon office, told AFP.
Turkey denies targeting civilians
in fight against PKK:
Human Rights Watch report claims army killed 100 Kurdish
civilians.
Turkey ‘officially acknowledges’
attack on Su-24 was a planned step - Russian MoD:
A recent statement by a Turkish official revealing
detailed awareness of Russian Air Force sorties in Syria
can be regarded as “official acknowledgment” that the
operation to down the Su-24 was a planned step, Russia's
Ministry of Defense said.
Anonymous 'declares war' on
Turkey, claims responsibility for recent massive
cyberattacks:
Anonymous threatened to attack the digital
infrastructure of Turkey's banks, airports and
government
2 Palestinians, 2 Israelis killed
in Jerusalem Old City attack:
The attack left one Israeli killed and another injured,
while Israeli media reported that a third Israeli was
accidentally shot at the scene and later succumbed to
their wounds.
The real story behind the killing
of Samir Kantar:
Hezbollah's high-profile figure was setting up a
resistance movement in the Golan Heights against Israeli
occupation.
UN Envoy Warns Yemen Peace Plan
Fragile : On the
ground ceasefire violations are continuing even as UN
humanitarian agencies warn that civilians are under fire
and living in desperate conditions.
Sri Lankan maid spared stoning
sentence in Saudi Arabia:
“We have succeeded in getting the death sentence
overturned. Our concern was to make sure that the
original sentence was not carried out,” Harsha de Silva,
the deputy foreign minister, told reporters in Sri
Lanka’s capital.
Saudi to diversify economy away
from oil: King Salman:
Saudi King Salman on Wednesday said he has ordered
economic reforms to diversify sources of income and
reduce high dependence on oil following a sharp drop in
crude prices.
Iran calls the new U.S. visa law
breach of the nuclear deal:
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on
Wednesday a new U.S. law putting visa restrictions on
Iranians and those who had visited Iran would, if
implemented, breach a nuclear deal Tehran had struck
with world powers earlier this year.
Nigerians: Cameroon troops chase
insurgents, kill 70:
"We didn't know what was going on but the Cameroonian
troops suddenly appeared and began to ask us for Boko
Haram terrorists," said Muhammed Abba, a resident of the
village and deputy commander of a local group of
civilians set up to fight the extremists in Gwoza.
"Before we could say a word, they started firing. That
scared most of us and we began to run."
Suspected Boko Haram fighters
launch four strikes on Lake Chad area:
Suspected Boko Haram militants launched four attacks
over 24 hours on villages in Niger, Chad and Cameroon,
killing at least seven people, security and
administrative sources said on Wednesday.
Nigeria soldiers killed hundreds
of Shiites in raid: report:
Nigerian soldiers fired on unarmed Islamic Shiite
children with no provocation in raids that killed
hundreds of the minority group in the West African
nation, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.
French forces kill at least 10
extremists, seize weapons in northern Mali, say
officials: A
statement from the French military sent early Wednesday
said the forces also seized pick-up trucks and a dozen
motorcycles after four hours of fighting with
al-Mourabitoun extremists in Mali's northeastern Menaka
region on Dec. 19 and Dec. 20.
Ethiopian opposition say 80
killed in protests against new land plan for capital
city?:A report last
week by Human Rights Watch that said government forces
killed at least 75 people protesting the government plan
to incorporate some rural areas into the capital city,
Addis Ababa.
Somalia and Brunei ban Christmas
celebrations:
Governments of both countries prohibit public
festivities saying they could damage the Muslim faith.
Three killed in a roadside
explosion in NW Pakistan:
It was the third attack in as many days in the Mohmand
tribal region, one of seven such semi-autonomous
districts where the military has been battling Al-Qaeda
and Taliban-linked militants for over a decade.
Afghanistan: Sangin almost
entirely in Taliban hands:
The police headquarters and the main government building
fell to the Taliban on Wednesday, a local senator said.
The Taliban say their fighters have seized the entire
district.
Russia's interests coincide with
Taliban's in fight against ISIS:
Russia has established communication channels to
exchange information with the Taliban, Zamir Kabulov, a
department chief at Russia's Foreign Ministry and
President Vladimir Putin's special envoy on Afghanistan,
told Interfax. Russia is also ready to supply weapons to
Afghanistan, he said, but would do this "with caution
and on a commercial basis", Kabulov said.
PM Modi, President Putin Renew
Ties Over Private Dinner, Tete-e-Tete:
A number of pacts in defence and nuclear energy sectors
are also likely to be finalised. Russia has been India's
biggest supplier of arms, though New Delhi has started
buying more military hardware from the US over the last
few years.
Ukraine, rebels accuse each other
of violating latest truce:
The sides had agreed Tuesday to halt all fire and
manoeuvres starting from midnight to last through the
Christmas and New Year's holidays, but Lysenko said
rebels were using heavy weapons, including multiple
rocket launchers.
France to pursue plans to strip
dual citizens' nationality in terrorism cases:
The French government will go ahead with controversial
plans to strip dual citizens of their French nationality
in terrorism cases, Prime Minister Manuel Valls says,
brushing aside his own justice minister's concerns.
Greece gets one billion euros in
third bailout:
Greece’s international creditors this week handed over a
payment of one billion euros under the terms of its
third bailout programme after Athens met their demands
for further tough economic reforms.
Greek government hands data on
suspected tax cheats to prosecutor:
Greece's Prime Alexis Tsipras said on Wednesday his
leftist-led coalition government had handed a USB stick
with data on thousands of suspect banking transactions
to a prosecutor, and said tax evaders would have one
last chance to own up
Cameron ‘urged to act’ after US
bans British Muslim family from Disneyland trip:
Mohammed Tariq Mahmood, from Walthamstow, London, was
preparing to board a flight with his brother and nine of
their children on December 15, but officials from US
Homeland Security stopped them as they queued in the
departure lounge at Gatwick Airport. Mahmood said no
reason was given as to why they could not board the
flight, despite their clearance to travel under the Visa
Waiver program, which authorizes travel to the US for up
to 90 days without a visa.
Now the TSA can force you to go
through the body-scanner:
Your next flight might include a mandatory trip through
the body scanner, with the US government quietly
changing the opt-out rules for searches
1950s U.S. Nuclear Target List
Offers Chilling Insight
: It lists many targets for “systematic
destruction” in major cities, including 179 in Moscow,
145 in Leningrad and 91 in East Berlin. The targets are
referred to as DGZs or “designated ground zeros.” While
many are industrial facilities, government buildings and
the like, one for each city is simply designated
“Population.”
Most Americans have less than
$1,000 in savings:
Approximately 62% of Americans have less than $1,000 in
their savings accounts and 21% don’t even have a savings
account, according to a new survey of more than 5,000
adults conducted this month by Google Consumer Survey
In blockbuster poll, Sanders
destroys Trump by 13 points:
In this new poll, Sanders has 51 percent to Trump's 38
percent. If this margin held in a general election,
Democrats would almost certainly regain control of the
United States Senate and very possibly the House of
Representatives.
Bernie Sanders vows to curb Wall
Street by purging Federal Reserve of bankers:
Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders warned
on Wednesday that if he wins the White House he will
“fix” the Federal Reserve by throwing bankers off its
boards and increasing transparency and regulation as a
way of reining in Wall Street. |
December
22/23, 2015
|
=======
=======
=======
=======
On the 19th Day of Christmas...
By Dmitry
Orlov |
 |
The Ukraine is in full-blown collapse—all
five glorious stages of it—setting the stage
for a Ukrainian Nightmare Before Christmas,
or shortly after.
Continue |
=======
=======
=======
Propaganda alert:
Amnesty
report: Russia 'directly targets civilians' in Syria,
killing at least 200 in possible war crimes:
Campaigners say Moscow's actions in Syria have gone
'from callous to catastrophic', as its air strikes kill
16 civilians for every one fighter
At least
23 killed in IS, government shelling of Syria city:
Pro-rebel monitor:
"The toll is likely to worsen as some of the injured are
in serious condition," the Observatory's Rami Abdel
Rahman told AFP early on. The Syrian government
condemned the attack.
9 children
killed in ISIS rocket attack on girls’ school in eastern
Syria:
Nine children have been killed following a rocket attack
by Islamic State on a school in Deir Ezzor, an oil-rich
region in the east of Syria. A further 15 school kids
were injured, three of whom are in a critical condition.
US
Military Shared Intelligence With Assad In Defiance Of
Obama, CIA:
Some elements within the US military began tacitly
cooperating with Assad two years ago after becoming
concerned with Turkey and Saudi Arabia's support for
Sunni extremists.
Turkey
police kill two 'female terrorists' in Istanbul: Reports:
Turkish police killed two female "terrorists" in a
pre-dawn raid on Tuesday on a cell of suspected
terrorists in Istanbul, media reports said.
Turkey's
Davutoglu condemns Russia for strikes on Syria's Idlib:
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Tuesday
condemned an attack on the rebel-held Syrian city of
Idlib, believed to have been carried out by Russian
jets, and said Syria will not be part of "Russian
imperialist goals".
Norway
knew ISIS oil ends up in Turkey back in July - newly
leaked report
: A newly-leaked report on illegal oil sales by Islamic
State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL), which was ordered to
be compiled by Norway, has revealed that most of the
IS-smuggled oil has been destined for Turkey, where it
is sold off at bargain low prices.
Eleven
migrants, including three children, 'drown off Turkey':
Eleven migrants bound for EU member Greece, including
three children, drowned off the Turkish coast on Tuesday
when their boat sank in the latest tragedy in the Aegean
Sea, the state-run Anatolia news agency said.
About 20
killed, including civilians, in air strikes on Iraq's
Mosul:
witnesses: About 20 people, including at least 12
civilians, were killed on Monday in the northern Iraqi
city of Mosul, in two air strikes that destroyed houses
believed to be used by Islamic State militants, six
eyewitnesses and a medical source said.
United
States says airstrikes killed 350 in Ramadi, Iraq, in
past week
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter raised the prospect
Wednesday that US military advisers could accompany
Iraqi forces on the ground to try to take back the Iraqi
town of Ramadi from ISIS.
Iraq's
army storms centre of ISIL-held Ramadi:
Two-front attack met with sniper fire and suicide
bombers as troops seek to retake key city from fighters.
Saudi-Led
Air Raids Kill at Least 20 in Yemen:
They say the raids Tuesday killed more than 15 fighters
from the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis. They say the
Houthis were also fighting pro-government forces
southwest of Taiz.
U.S. kills
4 alledged al-Qaida members in Yemen:
At least four alledged, al-Qaida members were killed in
a U.S. drone strike launched in Yemen's southeastern
province of al-Baydha on Tuesday, a military official
told Xinhua.
Dozens
killed in Djibouti clashes:
A Djibouti opposition group said at least 19 people were
killed in clashes with police that began when people
were marking a religious celebration, while the
government said just nine people were wounded when
police fought armed individuals.
Extremists
attack cars killing 2 in Kenya’s north:
Muslims in a bus in northern Kenyan helped dress
non-Muslims passengers in Islamic garb, to prevent
Islamic extremists from identifying them for slaughter,
witnesses said Monday.
Zimbabwe
to adopt China's currency the yuan:
In the last five years, Zimbabwe has received more than
$1bn in low-interest loans from China, which is Harare's
second largest trading partner after South Africa.
NW
Pakistan bomb attacks kill three, injure two: Officials:
Two separate bomb attacks killed three people and
wounded two others, including a senior Pakistani army
officer, in a restive tribal region near the Afghan
border
Taliban
resurgence: British troops re-deployed to Helmand,
Afghanistan:
British troops have been redeployed to Helmand province
after Afghan government forces suffered a defeat to the
Taliban. Insurgents re-took much of Sangin, a town in
the province where the British army previously lost over
100 soldiers.
US Navy
Seals Involved in Afghan Detainee's Torture Death:
Four US soldiers working with Seals reported what
happened, foiling a Navy Department attempt at coverup.
A criminal investigation followed.
Armenia
accuses Azerbaijan of all-out 'war':
Armenia says a ceasefire with neighbouring Azerbaijan
over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh no longer
exists, describing frequent skirmishes at the front line
as "war".
Moscow to
consider countermeasures after US extends anti-Russia
sanctions:
The sanctions imposed on Tuesday are “a continuation of
this unfriendly stance towards Russia, a continuation of
the stance which has a devastating impact on bilateral
relations,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Ukrainian
forces move 26 units of military equipment to contact
line in Donbas — media:
DPR intelligence spotted 20 self-propelled artillery
systems, armored personnel carriers and vehicles near
the Nikolaevka settlement and 6 Grad rocket launcher
systems on the Gorlovka direction
Local Jews
in shock after Ukrainian city of Konotop elects neo-Nazi
mayor:
Svoboda, known as the Social-National Party of Ukraine
until 2004, has been accused of being a neo-Nazi party
by Ukrainian Jews and while party leaders have a history
of making anti-Semitic remarks, their rhetoric has toned
down considerably over the past years as they attempted
to go mainstream.
UK
Government Has Secretly Created A Huge Database Storing
Details About Its Citizens' Private Lives -- Since 2000:
Long before the vast planetary surveillance programs
being carried out by the Five Eyes team were revealed by
Edward Snowden, there was Echelon, a similarly
globe-spanning system for slurping up communications.
Exxon's
Oil Industry Peers Knew About Climate Dangers in the
1970s, Too:
The American Petroleum Institute together with the
nation's largest oil companies ran a task force to
monitor and share climate research between 1979 and
1983, indicating that the oil industry, not just Exxon
alone, was aware of its possible impact on the world's
climate far earlier than previously known.
Miami
judge rules that immigration detainees can be force-fed:
A federal judge on Monday authorized the force-feeding
of a group of immigration detainees in Florida who have
been on a hunger strike for nearly three weeks.
China
surpasses Mexico in sending immigrants to California:
About 33,000 immigrants came to California from China
last year. Just over 30,000 came from Mexico. High-tech
industry, California colleges driving growth in Asian
influx
These 15
Cities Are Destroying Homeless Camps Just Days Before
Christmas:
Cities across the country are waging an unprecedented
war against the homeless.
Food Stamp
Beneficiaries Exceed 45 Million for 53 Straight Months:
The USDA has been tracking data on participation in the
program since fiscal year 1969, at which time average
participation stood at about 2,800,000. This means that
since then, participation in the program has increased
by roughly 16-fold.
|
December 21, 2015
|
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
=======
90 killed
in fierce fight for Helmand as Afghan Taliban gains
ground:
Sangin district has fallen to the Taliban just a day
after Helmand province's deputy governor used Facebook
to plead with the Afghan president for help in holding
off the armed group.
Six US soldiers killed in
Afghanistan suicide attack:
Motorbike-riding suicide bomber kills six American
troops in attack near Bagram airbase in Afghanistan's
east.
Suspected
Russian airstrike kill scores in Syrian city: Workers
: Airstrikes believed to have been carried out by
Russian warplanes killed scores of people in the centre
of the rebel-held city of Idlib in northwest Syria on
Sunday, rescue workers and residents said.
6
civilians killed in bombing of Syria government-held
areas: agency:
Rocket and mortar fire into several regime-controlled
areas of Syria killed six civilians and wounded several
more today, the SANA state news agency reported.
Hezbollah Commander Killed By
Israeli Airstrike In Syria:
Thousands bid farewell to Kuntar in Beirut: Hezbollah
commander Samir Kuntar was laid to rest after thousands
bid their farewells in a mass funeral in Beirut's
southern suburbs Monday, one day after he was reported
killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria.
Free Syrian Army: Hezbollah is
lying, we killed Kuntar, not Israel:
While Israel continues to keep quiet on the
assassination of Samir Kuntar, not officially addressing
reports that it was behind the hit, members of the Free
Syrian Army released a video clip on Monday morning
claiming that they were responsible for the killing
French defense chief to ask
Russia to step up anti-ISIS ops:
Ahead of his visit to Moscow on Monday, the French
defense minister told journalists Paris would ask Russia
to increase its action against Islamic State, and would
offer intelligence sharing and plans for a joint vision
on combating terrorist groups in Syria.
Russian jets could escort Assad
on Iran trip: reports:
Paper says Moscow proposed sending jets to protect
Syrian president and warned coalition against "getting
close"
Turkish offensive kills over 100
Kurdish fighters:
Armed clashes persisted on Sunday across Turkey's
southeast, where an operation by Turkish forces
intensified on the sixth day of a campaign that security
sources said had resulted in the death of 110 Kurdish
fighters.
Russian FM plans to meet
co-leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP party:
Erdogan has accused the HDP of being a front for the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been fighting
the Turkish state since 1984 for Kurdish
self-determination. The organization is considered a
terrorist group by Turkey, the US and NATO.
About 20
killed, including civilians, in air strikes on Iraq's
Mosul - witnesses:
About 20 people, including at least 12 civilians, were
killed on Monday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, in
two air strikes that destroyed houses believed to be
used by Islamic State militants, six eyewitnesses and a
medical source said.
ISIS
Stopping Civilians Leaving Ramadi Before Attack:
Iraq Defence Ministry: ISIS militants are preventing
civilians from leaving Ramadi ahead of an attack planned
by the Iraqi army to retake the western city that the
militants captured in May, an Iraqi Defence Ministry
spokesman said today.
Iraq
welcomes Turkish decision to withdraw troops from the
north:
Iraq on Monday welcomed an announcement by Turkey that
it would pull its troops back from a base in northern
Iraq, and said it hoped the withdrawal would be
completed.
Seven
killed, 12 injured by Saudi airstrike in Yemen: media:
At least seven people have been killed and 12 others
wounded in an airstrike carried out by Saudi Arabia in
Yemen’s western region despite a fragile truce.
Yemen: 68
people killed during cease-fire and inconclusive peace
talks:
Officials said at least 68 Houthis and Yemeni troops
were killed during a six-day cease-fire that came amid
inconclusive peace talks between the rebels and the
government of Yemen.
Missile
fired from Yemen kills 3 Saudi civilians:
A missile fired from war-torn Yemen has struck a Saudi
border city, killing three civilians, the kingdom said,
in yet another violation of a ceasefire aimed at helping
peace talks.
Yemeni
government forces push into province around capital -
tribal sources:
Forces loyal to Yemen's government fought their way into
the province surrounding the capital on Monday, tribal
sources said, the closest they have advanced toward
Sanaa since the Houthi movement seized it in September
last year.
Yemen:
Coalition Bombs Homes in Capital: HRW:
“How many civilians will die in unlawful airstrikes in
Yemen before the coalition and its US ally investigate
what went wrong and who is responsible,” said Joe Stork,
deputy Middle East director. “Their disregard for the
safety of civilians is appalling.”
UAE
sending Colombian mercenaries to Yemen: sources:
The United Arab Emirates has secretly sent some 300
Colombian mercenaries to fight for it in Yemen, paying
handsomely to recruit a private army of well-trained,
battle-hardened South American soldiers, sources told
AFP.
Ten facts
about Canada’s arms deal with Saudi Arabia:
On the largest Canadian arms deal ever, with a human
rights violator no less, the facts speak for themselves.
Disgrace
in Saudi Arabia:
U.S. ally set to behead third teenager for attending a
protest a
Iran ready
to ship enriched uranium stockpile to Russia:
Iran will export most of its enriched uranium stockpile
to Russia in the coming days as it rushes to implement a
nuclear deal and secure relief from international
sanctions, Tehran's nuclear chief was quoted as saying
on Saturday.
Palestinian police order Israeli
forces out of Ramallah:
- Video - Palestinian police on Monday ordered Israeli
Border Police forces out of the Beituniya area of
western Ramallah and threatened to use their weapons if
they refused, local security sources told Ma'an.
Benjamin
Netanyahu 'threatens to strip Jerusalem residency from
230,000 Palestinians':
Experts fear attempts are being made to change the
demographic balance of occupied Jerusalem
Israeli
man arrested in Turkey for organ trafficking.:
Selling desperate Syrian refugees’ body parts for
profit: Struggling Syrians have resorted to selling
organs
Greece
moves to recognise the state of Palestine:
Official says parliament is set to vote in a session
that will be attended by the Palestinian president.
Nigeria:
12 Boko Haram fighters killed:
Nigerian troops have killed 12 Boko Haram fighters and
recovered a cache of arms and ammunition from the
hardline Islamist group whose six-year insurgency has
claimed thousands of lives, a military spokesman said.
3 young
suicide bombers kill at least 6 in Nigeria's northeast,
as army raids Boko Haram camps:
Three suspected suicide bombers between the ages of 10
and 15 years old were spotted by a civilian group set up
to fight Boko Haram as the young bombers approached a
security checkpoint late Sunday, said Usman.
11 killed
in Libya fighting between Ajdabiya residents, Qaeda:
Eleven people have been killed in fighting in the
eastern Libyan city of Ajdabiya between armed residents
and fighters of al-Qaeda affiliate Ansar al-Sharia, the
Red Crescent.
Isis
launches 'Islamic police force' in Libya:
Isis has released a video purporting to show its own
police force keeping law and order in Libya.
Somali
militants kill two in bus attack in northern Kenya:
Somali militants killed two people in Kenya's
northeastern Mandera county on Monday when they sprayed
their bus with bullets, Kenyan police and a spokesman
for the al Shabaab rebel group said.
Video
captures moment China landslide hit Shenzhen - BBC News:
Around 22 buildings have collapsed in a landslide at an
industrial park in the southern Chinese city of
Shenzhen. About 900 people have been evacuated, with
four people pulled alive from rubble with minor or no
injuries, the local government said. The local fire
brigade said at least 27 people remain missing.
Putin
Blasts Interventionist US Foreign Policy:
While geopolitical disagreements are “inevitable and
"all right", foreign policy needs to be conducted "by
civilized rules”, Putin said. We assume that "civilized
rules" do not include arming and funding Sunni
extremists especially ones who The Pentagon knows are
likely to establish Salafist principalities within the
borders of sovereign states.
Russia
says black box from warplane downed by Turkey unreadable:
"Retrieving the information and a read out of flight
data ... has proven to be impossible because of internal
damage," said Sergei Bainetov, the Russian Air Force's
deputy head of flight safety.
Russia
slams EU for extending sanctions instead of cooperating
on terrorism:
"It is necessary to point out that instead of building
constructive cooperation to counter the key challenges
of our times such as international terrorism the EU in
Brussels prefers to continue its short-sighted game of
sanctions," Russia's foreign ministry said in a
statement.
Russian
Oil Production Hits Record As Saudi Gambit Fails:
Russia has once again bested the Saudis for the top spot
on China’s crude suppliers list. “Russia overtook Saudi
Arabia for the third time this year in November as
China's largest crude oil supplier,” Reuters writes,
adding that “China brought in about 949,925 barrels per
day (bpd) of Russian crude in November
Oil prices
hit eleven-year low as global supply balloons:
Global oil production is running close to record highs
and, with more barrels poised to enter the market from
nations such as Iran and Libya, the price of crude is
set for its largest monthly percentage decline in seven
years.
Azerbaijan's Shift to Free Float Sends Manat to 20-Year
Low:
Azerbaijan’s manat plunged to the weakest on record
after the central bank relinquished control of its
exchange rate, the latest crude producer to abandon a
currency peg as oil prices slumped to the lowest in 11
years.
German
steps up deportation of failed asylum seekers:
By the end of November, authorities had deported 18,363
people whose asylum request had been rejected, compared
to 10,884 in all of 2014. Most of them were from western
Balkan nations.
Refugee
arrivals in Germany down sharply in December: police:
The number of refugees arriving in Germany in December
has more than halved from the previous month, according
to statistics from the German federal police obtained by
Reuters on Monday.
Spain
election: Tough talks ahead after historic result:
Spain's political parties are facing a struggle to form
a stable government after a historic election that broke
the traditional two-party dominance.
Congress
Just Put Iranian-Americans and Others At Risk for
Becoming Second-Class Citizens:
People coming from countries covered under the Visa
Waiver Program, including people who are citizens of
those countries, will now need to get a visa if they are
determined to be nationals of Iran, Iraq, Sudan, and
Syria, or if they have visited those countries since
2011.
Lindsey
Graham Drops Out of 2016 Republican Presidential Race:
The South Carolina senator is the fourth GOP contender
to drop out of the race, following Texas Gov. Rick
Perry, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Louisiana Gov.
Bobby Jindal. The move leaves 13 candidates remaining in
the race for the Republican nod.
Trump
demands apology from Clinton for debate quip:
Donald Trump says he wants an apology from Hillary
Clinton for saying that the Islamic State group used
videos of his comments about Muslims to recruit
militants.
Trump:
Hillary Is a Liar — ‘She Lies Like Crazy About
Everything’:
It’s nonsense. Just another Hillary lie. She lies like
crazy about everything. Whether it’s trips where she was
being gunned down in a helicopter or an airplane, she’s
a liar and everybody knows that. But she just made this
up in thin air.”
David
Cameron’s ‘counter extremism’ experts work with
far-right Donald Trump sympathisers:
Trump has unlikely allies in Britain?—?some with close
links to the Tory government.
Bernie
Sanders Scores Big Win; Breaks Major Fundraising Record:
His campaign has now received more contributions than
any other candidate at this point in any White House bid
— more than 2.3 million contributions.
Man
Punches, Robs Victim Just Involved In Car Accident:
While sitting inside of his vehicle, police say the
victim was approached by an unknown male who began
punching him in the face. Authorities say the suspect
then took the victim’s iPhone 6 and tablet, and fled the
scene. |
|
