There are many links to additional information and additional stories of geopolitical interest that are not in the main posts but are in the comments under the daily links post (mostly) and under the regular multi-item posts today and yesterday. For those looking to be as fully informed as possible, its worth having a look there as well.
Eeyore
1. Video on large blast in Baghdad today by the Islamic State
(To describe this explosion as “One of the largest blasts in the past year” is a pretty strong condemnation of the state of the peace in Iraq at this time)
2. Kos Greece. Scuffles between invaders and police
3. Chemical weapons used on Peshmurga Kurds. Germany offering assistance.
4. Islamic State video of the murder of two homosexuals. Not advised to watch. But it is advised to be aware of it. Here is the link. Copy paste please as I don’t want a direct link to this page. https://isdarat.tv/19762
5. Hamas chief meets Turkish leaders in Ankara
Ankara (AFP) – Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal held closed-door talks with Turkish leaders in Ankara late on Wednesday, officials said.
Meshaal, who often shows up at events hosted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
No statement was made to the press after the talks.
The visit came just weeks after Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon accused Turkey of hosting a senior member of the Islamist movement’s exiled leadership who was actively planning attacks.
Attempts to activate cells in the West Bank originate in “Hamas headquarters in Gaza and Istanbul, from where Salah Aruri plans severe attacks against us by proxies in the West Bank and in neighbouring countries,” he said.
“Salah Aruri is acting from Turkey — a NATO member, which at the same time allows a terror base on its territory,” he charged.
Israeli media subsequently reported that Turkey had bowed to the US pressure and agreed to order Aruri to leave the country.
A Turkish official on Wednesday said that Aruri was not in Turkey.
“He is not in Turkey according to information I have,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
6. Greece. Driving gets dangerous
7. Portrait of a classic Narcissistic Personality Disorder. (It seems to run in the family in a marital way as well)
8. New York Times: ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape
He said that by raping me, he is drawing closer to God,” she said in an interview alongside her family in a refugee camp here, to which she escaped after 11 months of captivity.
(This is interesting indeed)
9. ISIS releases hitlist of British Foreign Office and council officials online
ISIS (Islamic State) claim to have hacked the personal information of hundreds of military, political and diplomatic personnel and released it online in a reported ‘hitlist’.
The list, in the form of a spreadsheet and shared by the so-called ‘Islamic State Hacking Division’, contains the private details of 1,400 individuals.
In a shocking warning to those named, an accompanying message reads: ‘Know that we are in your emails and computer systems, watching and recording your every move, we have your names and addresses, we are in your emails and social media accounts.’
‘We are extracting confidential data and passing on your personal information to the soldiers of the khilafah, who soon with the permission of Allah will strike at your necks in your own lands!’
Hillary Clinton’s top aide Huma Abedin is already a person of interest to investigators, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch to learn more about her highly irregular employment arrangements at the State Department, and her possible abuse of paid leave time.
Among the many eyebrow-raising features of the Abedin story is the State Department’s assertion that she simply never received multiple requests, sent both electronically and by surface mail, to hand over all of the government documents in her possession.
This is one of the most famous women in Washington – once a celebrated rising star, groomed to be Hillary’s Mini-Me, a duchess in the Clinton royal court, subject of a hundred fawning profiles in political and pop-culture magazines – and the Obama Administration claims it could not successfully send her a letter. Furthermore, it’s a letter they shouldn’t have to send. Why do Clinton and her persons of hench think they can sit on documents belonging to the American people for as long as they please?
7 – Let me guess they accidentally turned a new blank server over. (sarc)
Most likely
3 – The left keeps accusing the US of being inhumane but say nothing about the use of poison gas on people, gas is a very indiscriminate killer.
The U.S. has expressed concern, Richard!
US Concerns Grow About Turkish Bombardment of Kurdish Separatists
Ankara government has yet to turn its firepower on Islamic State
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-concerns-grow-over-turkish-bombardment-of-kurdish-separatists-1439422676
Erdogan is not subtle:
“Out of the 1,302 people arrested in Turkey, in what officials have described as a “full-fledged battle against terrorist groups,” 847 were accused of links to the PKK and just 137 to Islamic State. Moreover, Turkey’s agreement with the U.S. on a “safe zone” in northern Syria is meant to ensure that the territory remains out of the hands of the Kurds.
One cannot escape the conclusion that Turkey’s sudden change of policy is linked to the political situation. In the June 7 general elections, the Turkish-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party (HDP), which is seen as close to the PKK, won 13% of the seats, depriving Erdogan’s AKP party its majority in Parliament for the first time since 2002. By reviving the confrontation with the PKK (and the HDP), Erdogan hopes to undermine support for the HDP in view of possible repeat elections.
Turkey Attacks the Kurds and the Islamic State
http://jcpa.org/article/turkey-attacks-kurds-islamic-state/
No he isn’t subtle and he knows the LSM will cover for him, he is trying to destroy the people who are the main threat to his goal of becoming Caliph.
The thing they are concerned about is that a group that was helping the US may survive.
RE: IKEA murders, Update:
NYT: Eritrean Suspect Confesses to Ikea Stabbing in Sweden
Note: Despite the fact that both of these suspects resided at the same migrant processing center in Cold Stone Farm in Arboga, were reported to be at Migration Board meeting together and traveled to IKEA together, yet Vlt.Se: The second suspect released.
Albeit, Aftonbladet report states:
Aftonbladet reports: