Readers Links for Oct. 1 – 2015

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Thank you all for those that take the effort to assist this site in keeping the public informed. Below, typically people can find the latest enemy propaganda, news items of related materials from multiple countries and languages, op-eds from many excellent sites who write on our topics, geopolitics and immigration issues and so on.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

85 Replies to “Readers Links for Oct. 1 – 2015”

  1. listened to you on blog talk radio tues . atmospheric conditions exist when
    you & edl spokesman Tim Burton share the same space. just great to listen to. your mind goes so fast it’s hard for us humble folk to keep up. it is a great pleasure to listen to you on radio. i get a sense that it frees you from the print media & you are like a springbok
    on a green pasture.

    always your fan
    bob e

    • Thank you Bob. I admit I do like radio and am known to pester local AM radio talk shows.
      I am planning to do a series of short 1 issue Youtube videos as soon as I can find the damn camera I am planning to use which should show expression and queues needed to get meaning but not enough detail to show identity. If people find them interesting its something I will keep doing.

  2. Syria conflict: Russia ‘launches fresh strikes’ (BBC, Oct 1, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34413050

    “Russia has launched air strikes in Syria for a second day.

    The strikes reportedly targeted positions in the north-west held by the Army of Conquest rebel alliance.

    Russia said it had struck four Islamic State (IS) facilities overnight, and destroyed a “terrorist HQ” outside Idlib and a command post near Hama.

    Russia carried out about 20 missions on Wednesday. The US fears they targeted non-IS opponents of Russia’s ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

    Thursday’s strikes reportedly hit areas near the strategic town of Jisr al-Shughour, as well areas in Idlib province and Hama province further south, according to Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen TV.

    Rebel activists also reported strikes at Ghantu in Homs province, close to where some of Wednesday’s strikes hit.

    The Army of Conquest (Jaysh al-Fatah) alliance had made advances in the north-west in recent months, taking Idlib from pro-government forces.

    The alliance includes the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, and the hardline Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham, as well as several more moderate Islamist groups.

    All are opposed to IS and have fought bloody battles with the jihadist group.”

    • Russian airstrikes in Syria ‘OK’ with Trump (BBC, Oct 1, 2015)
      http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/30/politics/donald-trump-syria-don-lemon/index.html

      “New York, New York (CNN)If Vladimir Putin wants to launch airstrikes inside Syria, that’s no problem for Donald Trump, who said Wednesday that he believes Russia’s military moves in Syria are targeting ISIS and that the United States shouldn’t interfere.

      “They don’t respect our president. They really don’t respect us anymore. And that’s why they’re doing this,” Trump told CNN’s Don Lemon in a wide-ranging interview at Trump Tower Wednesday. “At the same time, if they want to hit ISIS, that’s OK with me.”

      Trump’s remarks came in response to the latest escalation of tensions in the Middle East, where Russia launched its first airstrikes in Syria. Moscow claims the target is ISIS.

      However, top U.S. officials have raised questions about the real motivations behind the strikes…”

      • Donald Trump: I would send Syrian refugees home (BBC, Oct 1, 2015)
        http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34397272

        “Donald Trump has said he would send home all Syrian refugees the US accepts, if he becomes president.

        The billionaire, who is the current frontrunner in the Republican race for the White House, told a New Hampshire rally: “If I win, they’re going back.”

        It marks a reversal in policy – earlier this month he told Fox News the US should take in more refugees.

        A migrant crisis has gripped parts of Europe and the US has pledged to take 10,000 refugees from Syria next year.

        Half a million people have crossed the Mediterranean into Europe in 2015, with the largest number from Syria, where 250,000 people have been killed in a civil war.

        On Wednesday night, Mr Trump told an audience at Keene High School: “I hear we want to take in 200,000 Syrians. And they could be – listen, they could be Isis [Islamic State].”

        Describing them as a “200,000-man army”, he later added: “I’m putting the people on notice that are coming here from Syria as part of this mass migration, that if I win, if I win, they’re going back.”..”

    • Saudi Arabia demands Russia end Syria raids, criticizes Iran (yahoo, Oct 1, 2015)
      https://news.yahoo.com/saudi-arabia-says-deeply-concerned-russia-attacks-syria-075557551.html

      “Saudi Arabia, a leading foe of President Bashar al-Assad, demanded his ally Russia end its raids on Syria, saying the strikes had caused civilian casualties while failing to target the hardline Islamic State militants Moscow says it opposes.

      In remarks at the United Nations in New York, a senior Saudi diplomat suggested both Russia and Assad’s other main ally Iran could not claim to fight Islamic State “terrorism” at the same time as supporting the “terrorism” of the Syrian authorities.

      Saudi ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi expressed “profound concern regarding the military operations which Russian forces have carried out in Homs and Hama today, places where ISIS forces are not present. These attacks led to a number of innocent victims. We demand it stop immediately and not recur.”…”

      • Russian military brings ‘big change’ to Syria war: Syrian military source (yahoo, Oct 1, 2015)
        https://news.yahoo.com/russian-military-brings-big-change-syria-war-syrian-101953482.html

        “A Syrian government military source said on Thursday that Russian military support would bring a “big change” in the course of the four-year war, particularly through advanced surveillance capabilities that could pinpoint insurgent targets.

        “There will certainly be a big change on the course of field developments, by virtue of the advanced technologies and weapons the Russian army has … particularly in surveillance and identifying targets,” the source said.

        “Perhaps the biggest change that will happen is via the capabilities the Russians have in identifying coordinates of the locations of terrorist groups, particularly the headquarters of their leaders, and their movements.””

        • Exclusive: Assad allies, including Iranians, prepare ground attack in Syria – sources (yahoo, Oct 1, 2015)
          https://news.yahoo.com/assad-allies-including-iranians-prepare-ground-attack-syria-115512216.html

          “Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria in the last 10 days and will soon join government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies in a major ground offensive backed by Russian air strikes, two Lebanese sources told Reuters.

          “The (Russian) air strikes will in the near future be accompanied by ground advances by the Syrian army and its allies,” said one of the sources familiar with political and military developments in the conflict.

          “It is possible that the coming land operations will be focused in the Idlib and Hama countryside,” the source added.

          The two sources said the operation would be aimed at recapturing territory lost by President Bashar al-Assad’s government to rebels.

          It points to an emerging military alliance between Russia and Assad’s other main allies – Iran and Hezbollah – focused on recapturing areas of northwestern Syria that were seized by insurgents in rapid advances earlier this year….”

  3. Indonesia begins evacuation of infants from haze-affected regions (CNN, Oct 1, 2015)
    http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/01/asia/indonesia-evacuates-babies-haze/index.html

    “Indonesian officials have begun evacuating infants and their mothers from Riau province in Indonesia as levels of air pollution from peat and forest fires on Sumatra remain hazardous across the region.

    The Mayor of Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau and one of the worst-affected areas of Sumatra, issued the order to evacuate all babies under six months of age on Tuesday afternoon. Thick smog has persisted for weeks and continues to cause illness and limit visibility in the area.

    The air pollution index in the region has hovered above 1,000 for over a week, while visibility in Pekanbaru has fallen below 100 meters on some days. Any air pollution reading higher than 300 is deemed hazardous…”

  4. Kyrgyzstan set to cling to Russia in face of security threats (reuters, Oct 1, 2015)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/01/us-kyrgyzstan-election-idUSKCN0RV42020151001

    “Pro-Russian parties look set to retain their dominance when Kyrgyzstan elects a new parliament on Sunday, but the apparent stability masks ethnic tensions and rising Islamist radicalism in the former Soviet republic.

    The mostly Muslim country of six million people has swung closer to Moscow and further away from the West: under a deadline set by its parliament, the United States last year shut down an airbase in Kyrgzystan that had served U.S. operations in Afghanistan since 2001.

    Russia retains a military airbase in the Central Asian state, fearing an advance of militant Islam in the region. Also closely watching is China, whose restive Xinjiang region borders Kyrgyzstan and which is present in several Kyrgyz industries, including energy and mining…”

  5. At least 50 said killed in September Xinjiang attack as China warns on security (reuters, Oct 1, 2015)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/01/us-china-xinjiang-idUSKCN0RV38020151001

    “At least 50 people died in an attack last month at a coal mine in China’s far-western Xinjiang, Radio Free Asia reported on Thursday, as a visiting senior leader warned that the security situation in the violence-prone region was “very serious”.

    The government says it faces a serious threat from Islamist militants and separatists in energy-rich Xinjiang, on the border of central Asia, where hundreds have died in violence in recent years.

    But exiles and rights groups say China has never presented convincing evidence of the existence of a cohesive militant group fighting the government, and that much of the unrest can be traced back to frustration at controls over the culture and religion of the Uighur people who live in Xinjiang, a charge Beijing denies.

    U.S.-based Radio Free Asia said the number of people killed in the Sept. 18 attack at the Sogan colliery in Aksu had reached 50, with most casualties members of the Han Chinese majority and police blaming knife-wielding separatists.

    The news came as the country marked 60 years since the establishment of what it calls the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, complete with images on state television of happy ethnic minorities dressed in colorful outfits dancing in celebration.

    Radio Free Asia, citing its own sources, said that when police officers arrived at the mine, attackers “rammed their vehicles using trucks loaded down with coal”.

    “Nearly all the workers who were not on shift at the time were killed or injured,” police officer Ekber Hashim told the station. “Some workers were sleeping while others were preparing to work when the attackers raided the building after killing the security guards.”

    Reuters was unable to reach officials for comment. Such incidents are frequently reported in overseas media but not confirmed by the Chinese government until days later, if ever….”

  6. Pope blasts ‘unwarranted fears, speculations’ on refugees (ansa, Oct 1, 2015)
    http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/10/01/pope-blasts-unwarranted-migrant-fears-speculations-2_82e27300-e25c-4fa9-857f-ef54c1b52fd8.html

    “(ANSA) – Vatican City, October 1 – Pope Francis on Thursday blasted fear mongering in his message for the 2016 World Day of Migrants and Refugees. “Public opinion also needs to be correctly formed, not least to prevent unwarranted fears and speculations detrimental to migrants,” the Argentine pontiff said. “Migrants are our brothers and sisters in search of a better life, far away from poverty, hunger, exploitation and the unjust distribution of the planet’s resources which are meant to be equitably shared by all”. “

  7. Vicenza imam expelled after banning kids from listening to music (ansa, Oct 1, 2015)
    http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/10/01/vicenza-imam-expelled-banned-kids-from-listening-to-music_146b60bf-99bf-4f6f-83b2-ae43f5fe9414.html

    “(ANSA) – Vicenza, October 1 – A radical imam based at an Islamic community centre in the northern city of Vicenza has been expelled from Italy after it emerged that he had told pupils at a local primary school to cover their ears during music lessons on pain of committing a sin, police said Thursday.

    The expulsion order against the 36-year-old Algerian national was executed on Wednesday. Investigations began in January following the episode at school.

    Witness accounts confirmed not only that the imam, a Salafi Muslim, had told children attending his Islamic centre that listening to music and playing musical instruments is a sin, but also suggested that he had induced hostility to western culture and the desire to carry out violent gestures against the West as adults.

    Police also allegedly discovered that the imam had close contact with exponents of radical Islam and none whatsoever with Italians who had not converted to Islam. He had been in Italy since 2002.

    Police said after being rebuked by their teachers the pupils now participated fully in music lessons.”

  8. Demilitarising Kashmir not the answer, de-terrorising Pakistan is: India (tribune, Oct 1, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/965605/demilitarising-kashmir-not-the-answer-de-terrorising-pakistan-is-india/

    “India responded on Thursday to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s UN speech in which he offered New Delhi a new peace roadmap centred around the demilitarisation of the disputed territory of Kashmir.

    “To de-militarise Kashmir is not the answer, to de-terrorise Pakistan is,” said Indian foreign office spokesperson Vikas Swarup in one of many tweets after the PM’s speech.

    The spokesperson said India maintains that Pakistan helps militant proxies infiltrate the territory’s de facto border to foment unrest.

    Swarup went on to accuse Pakistan of being the “prime sponsor” of terrorism. Responding to Nawaz’s speech Swarup said, “Pakistan is not primary victim of terrorism but of its own policies. It is in fact the prime sponsor of terrorism.”…”

  9. Pakistan slips in WEF competitiveness rankings (tribune, Oct 1, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/965474/global-indicators-pakistan-slips-in-wef-competitiveness-rankings/

    “Pakistan slipped in global rankings across most key indicators of economic competitiveness in an influential annual report compiled by the World Economic Forum, though it included some key victories for the Nawaz administration on education policy, fiscal governance, and removing the burden of government regulations on businesses.

    The 2016 Global Competi­tiveness Report, which compares governance in 140 countries, ranked Pakistan 126th – 14th from the bottom – for this year, compared to 125th last year. That overall weakness, however, hides several interesting patterns within the components of the rankings….”

  10. 25 militants killed in North Waziristan airstrikes (tribune, Oct 1, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/965578/25-militants-killed-in-north-waziristan-airstrikes/

    “At least 25 militants were killed in airstrikes that targeted military hideouts near Datta Khel area of North Waziristan Agency on Thursday.

    “At least 25 terrorists were killed in aerial strikes ahead of Datta Khel area near the Pak-Afghan border,” an Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

    “The fighting had intensified in the bordering areas of Shawal, while jets have been pounding militant hideouts in the area for months,” they said…”

  11. Clash breaks out among refugees in Hamburg

    Police were needed to break up a clash between two large groups of migrants at a Hamburg refugee center. It is one of several incidents suggesting tension among migrants in Germany is rising.

    http://www.dw.com/en/clash-breaks-out-among-refugees-in-hamburg/a-18752465

    For Germans, worries swiftly follow refugee welcome party

    Just weeks after politicians from Germany’s mainstream parties embraced Angela Merkel’s unusually warm welcome for refugees, the tone has turned sober, reflecting growing fears about the scale of looming problems.

    Merkel’s own popularity has taken a hit from her handling of the crisis and unrest within her conservative ranks about how to absorb an influx of about 800,000 people this year is growing.

    Even her centre-left Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners are worried about the integration of asylum seekers and police have warned about violence between groups of refugees.

    http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/09/30/uk-europe-migrants-germany-idUKKCN0RU1ZW20150930

  12. Afghan Taliban attack: Fierce clashes for control of Kunduz (BBC, Oct 1, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34411278

    “Fierce fighting is under way between Afghan forces and the Taliban in the northern city of Kunduz, despite government claims that it had regained control of key areas.

    Residents told the BBC the militants had pushed back into the heart of the city and that there were intense clashes over the governor’s office.

    Officials had said they were clearing the city of any remaining fighters.
    The Taliban has denied the city has been retaken.

    Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said: “The Taliban flag is still flying.”…”

  13. CANADA – Illegal Iraqi immigrants walking into Quebec

    Six illegal Iraqi immigrants who walked across the Quebec-New York border were arrested in Dundee, in the Montérégie yesterday.

    A local farmer says he found them huddled in his barn.

    The group consisted of three men and three women including a 70-year old woman and a pregnant woman.

    La Presse reports that the issue of immigrants from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan walking across the border has grown in recent months.

    One farmer says on Tuesday of last week, it was a couple with a child.

    Wednesday, a couple with two children crossed over and on Saturday a man walking alone was picked up by the RCMP.

    The Border Services Agency says it does not know if more people are crossing illegally because it only keeps records for immigrants who come to Canada using official channels.

    http://www.cjad.com/cjad-news/2015/10/01/illegal-immigrants-walking-into-quebec

    in French :

    http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/national/201510/01/01-4905567-des-migrants-traversent-la-frontiere-a-pied-en-monteregie.php

    • REUTERS – Assad allies, including Iranians, prepare ground attack in Syria: sources

      Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria in the last 10 days and will soon join government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies in a major ground offensive backed by Russian air strikes, two Lebanese sources told Reuters.

      “The (Russian) air strikes will in the near future be accompanied by ground advances by the Syrian army and its allies,” said one of the sources familiar with political and military developments in the conflict.

      “It is possible that the coming land operations will be focused in the Idlib and Hama countryside,” the source added.

      The two sources said the operation would be aimed at recapturing territory lost by President Bashar al-Assad’s government to rebels.

      It points to an emerging military alliance between Russia and Assad’s other main allies – Iran and Hezbollah – focused on recapturing areas of northwestern Syria that were seized by insurgents in rapid advances earlier this year.

      “The vanguard of Iranian ground forces began arriving in Syria: soldiers and officers specifically to participate in this battle. They are not advisors … we mean hundreds with equipment and weapons. They will be followed by more,” the second source said. Iraqis would also take part in the operation, the source said.

      Thus far, direct Iranian military support for Assad has come mostly in the form of military advisors. Iran has also mobilized Shi’ite militia fighters, including Iraqis and some Afghans, to fight alongside Syrian government forces.

      Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has been fighting alongside the Syrian army since early in the conflict.

      The Russian air force began air strikes in Syria on Wednesday, targeting areas near the cities of Homs and Hama in the west of the country, where Assad’s forces are fighting an array of insurgent groups, though not Islamic State, which is based mostly in the north and east.

      An alliance of insurgent groups including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and powerful Ahrar al-Sham made rapid gains in Idlib province earlier this year, completely expelling the government from the area bordering Turkey.

      http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/01/us-mideast-crisis-syria-iranians-idUSKCN0RV4DN20151001

      • MEMRI TV – Uyghur Families Colonize Syrian Village

        Mayadeen TV recently reported on Uyghurs fighting alongside ISIS and Jabhat Al-Nusra in Syria. A Syrian village was being transformed into “a settlement for hundreds of Uyghur Turkistani families who are fleeing China,” according to the TV report, which aired on September 3, 2015. The report also said that hundreds of Uyghur children were learning how to fight in ISIS schools and training camps.

    • Russia would consider Iraq strikes if Baghdad asks: senior diplomat

      MOSCOW: Russia is ready to consider expanding its new military campaign beyond Syria to launch airstrikes in Iraq if Baghdad asks it to do so, Moscow said Thursday.

      “If we get such a request from the Iraqi government or a Security Council resolution that depends decisively on the will of the Iraq government,” Moscow would consider launching the strikes, senior foreign ministry official Ilya Rogachev, told the RIA Novosti state news agency.

      http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Oct-01/317275-russia-ready-to-consider-airstrikes-in-iraq-if-baghdad-asks-senior-diplomat.ashx

      =============================================
      Iraqi prime minister says he would ‘welcome’ Russian airstrikes

      Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said he would welcome the extension of airstrikes to Iraq, a move that could potentially see the United States sidelined in the battle against Islamic State militants in the country.

      “It’s a possiblity, if we get the offer we’ll consider it,” he said in an interview with France 24 television in New York due to be broadcast on Thursday. “In actual fact, I would welcome it.”

      However, airstrikes have not been discussed “yet,” he said.

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iraqi-prime-minister-says-he-would-welcome-russian-airstrikes/2015/10/01/4177cf3c-684b-11e5-8325-a42b5a459b1e_story.html

      • The Geneva Convention says that if fighters hide or live among civilians they are responsible for the civilian deaths not the attackers. Welcome to the real world and ot the fantasy world the left wants us to live in.

        • Thanks for that Richard. It seems that most people confuse the Geneva convention with some kind of cultural Marxist manifesto

  14. Austria jails three Isis-bound Chechens

    An Austrian court handed down jail sentences on Thursday to three Chechen asylum-seekers – a man, his wife and his mother – for seeking to join Islamic State (Isis) extremists in Syria.

    http://www.thelocal.at/20151001/austria-jails-three-isis-bound-chechens

    Austria – Tensions in government as refugee crisis bites

    On October 11, elections are scheduled to take place in the city state of Vienna that could produce a political earthquake. Polls put the FPÖ only a few points shy of the SPÖ, which has governed the Austrian capital uninterrupted since 1945.

    Surveys show that a major reason for the populist FPÖ’s surge in popularity — nationally it tops opinion polls, scoring more than 30 percent — is the influx of tens of thousands of migrants in recent months.

    http://www.thelocal.at/20151001/tensions-in-austrian-government-as-migrant-crisis-bites

    Refugee crisis could cost Austria ‘billions’

    A secret document from Austria’s finance ministry, which was leaked to the Austrian broadcasting company ORF, forecasts that if Austria takes in an estimated 85,000 asylum seekers in 2015 and a further 130,000 in 2016 it will cost a total of €6.5 billion over the next four years.

    http://www.thelocal.at/20150930/refugee-crisis-could-cost-austria-billions

    Czech police deploy to Austrian border

    Five hundred police officers and 300 soldiers held drills along the Czech border with Austria on Wednesday as Prague mulled reintroducing border checks in case of a wave of migrant arrivals.

    http://www.thelocal.at/20150930/czech-police-deploy-to-austrian-border

  15. UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres :Migration wave triggered by sudden drop in food, other aid to refugees –

  16. GERMANY – Poverty-stricken refugees anxiously await I-Phone 6S

    – Huddled masses yearning to acquire the new I-Phone 6X drew the ire of Germans this week.

    Islamic insurgents — otherwise known as “refugees” took their place in ques in Germany where they hoped to be among the first to purchase the $649 smart phone. Devices with beefed-up memory as priced at $749.

    The I-Phone 6s was released Friday, Sept. 25, 2015.

    http://dailykenn.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/poverty-stricken-refugees-anxiously.html

    in German :
    https://mopo24.de/nachrichten/iphone-6s-apple-store-altmarkt-galerie-camp-dresden-15046

  17. MEMRI Iraqi and Syrian Archaeology Experts: The Jews Destroyed Palmyra, Looted Iraqi Antiquities

  18. CANADA -CBC – Motion against Islamophobia passes in Quebec’s National Assembly

    Françoise David appeals for calm in debate over niqab

    A Québec Solidaire MNA is appealing for calm in the debate around whether Muslim women should be allowed to wear niqabs during citizenship ceremonies.

    Françoise David tabled a motion against Islamophobia which passed today at Quebec’s National Assembly.

    David told Radio-Canada she has seen language that is “hateful, aggressive and intolerant” with regard to the Muslim community.

    While David said she’s personally opposed to the niqab, she said the federal election should “not be a referendum on the niqab, but rather a referendum on nine years of Conservative rule” that she said have been detrimental to the environment, workers and women’s rights.

    “The issue of the niqab will be resolved in the Supreme Court, but the question of relations between the majority in Quebec and its minorities, including the Muslim minority, must be settled in Quebec outside an election campaign,” she said.

    The wearing of the niqab during the citizenship oath has become a hot topic in the federal campaign. NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May oppose the ban, while Conservative Leader Stephen Harper and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe support it.

    Since the Conservative government implemented a policy in 2011 stating that candidates for citizenship must remove any kind of face covering when taking the public citizenship oath, only two women have decided to not go through with the ceremony.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/francoise-david-islamophobia-1.3251618

  19. Iran troops to join Syria war, Russia bombs group trained by CIA

    https://ca.news.yahoo.com/were-targeting-terrorists-syria-kremlin-093858253.html

    BEIRUT/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria to join a major ground offensive in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s government, Lebanese sources said on Thursday, a further sign of the rapid internationalization of a civil war in which every major country in the region has a stake.

    Russian warplanes, in a second day of strikes, bombed a camp run by rebels trained by the CIA, the group’s commander said, putting Moscow and Washington on opposing sides in a Middle East conflict for the first time since the Cold War.

    The U.S. and Russian militaries were due to hold talks via video link to seek ways to keep their militaries apart as they wage parallel campaigns of air strikes in Syria, a U.S. defense official said.

    Russian jets struck targets near the cities of Hama and Homs in western Syria on the second day of their air campaign.

    Moscow said it had hit Islamic State positions, but the areas it struck are mostly held by a rival insurgent alliance, which unlike Islamic State is supported by U.S. allies including Arab states and Turkey.

    Hassan Haj Ali, head of the Liwa Suqour al-Jabal rebel group which is part of the Free Syrian Army, told Reuters one of the targets was his group’s base in Idlib province, struck by around 20 missiles in two separate raids. His fighters had been trained by the CIA in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, part of a program Washington says is aimed at supporting groups that oppose both Islam

    • My computer collapsed, I had to wait u ntil the first to get a new one and now I am having to learn windows 8.

      I knew as soon as the computer went down that something bad was going to happen.

      • I’m barely functional myself. Internet connects for a second or two, then goes off. Learning a new system isn’t my idea of fun either. But I’ve been stalling so long nobody gives me sympathy anymore.

        Books I was waiting for from the library just arrived. Does that please this spoiled brat? as much as it should? as much as it used to?

        Now it’ll just have to wait until the holidays are over.

        • 8 isn’t as bad as I had heard if I take my time it will probably end up as a workable system, i did hear some bad things about 10 saying that there are a lot of bugs, back in the 80s Jerry Pournelle said never buy a new operating system until it is being replaced, waiting that long means the bugs have been worked out. Pournelle writes for Byte magazine and use to write Science Fiction, prior to that he worked for NASA until the down sizing in the 70s.

  20. Putin signs decree drafting 150,000 conscripts into the Russian military… as Iran and Hezbollah prepare major ground offensive in Syria with air support from Moscow’s bombers

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3255876/Russia-pouring-gasoline-fire-Syria-s-civil-war-says-America-Putin-defies-West-drops-bombs-non-ISIS-forces-fighting-Assad.html#ixzz3nLexnvGX
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    Vnew wave of airstrikes in Syria – while and Iran and Islamist group Hezbollah prepare for a major ground offensive.

    Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria over the last ten days, backed by the country’s Lebanese allies, Hezbollah, and rebel fighters from Iraq and Afghanistan, two Lebanese sources claimed today.

    One of the sources said the Iranian ground forces were ‘soldiers and officers’, not advisers, adding: ‘We mean hundreds with equipment and weapons. They will be followed by more.’

    They are being supported by Russia’s warplanes who bombed camps of rebel fighters trained by the CIA, one of the group’s commanders claimed.

    The White House said Russia’s airstrikes in Syria were ‘indiscriminate’ and claimed its actions risk prolonging the conflict ‘indefinitely’.

    The comments were made after the first in a series of discussions between US and Russian leaders aimed at ‘de-conflicting’ operations in the country.

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3255876/Russia-pouring-gasoline-fire-Syria-s-civil-war-says-America-Putin-defies-West-drops-bombs-non-ISIS-forces-fighting-Assad.html#ixzz3nLf6b28B
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  21. Russian strikes again expose US disarray

    Russian strikes again expose US disarray

    New York (AFP) – Russia’s dramatic entry Wednesday into the Syrian war put the United States on the back foot once again and left Washington struggling to regain the military and diplomatic initiative.

    As US Secretary of State John Kerry was in New York trying to coordinate with his Kremlin opposite number Sergei Lavrov, a Russian officer contacted the US embassy in Baghdad.

    His message was simple: Russian jets are about to launch air strikes in Syria, please stay out of their way.

    Kerry quickly protested to Lavrov that this was not in the spirit of Moscow’s promise to agree a “de-confliction” mechanism to ensure Russian flights do not interfere with US-led operations.

    But the strikes were already underway, potentially altering the balance of power in Syria back in favor of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and Washington was looking at a fait accompli.

    Lavrov’s next move was to promise to bring a motion before the UN Security Council to coordinate “all forces standing up against Islamic State and other terrorist structures.”

  22. Assad allies, including Iranians, prepare ground attack in Syria: sources

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/01/us-mideast-crisis-syria-iranians-idUSKCN0RV4DN20151001

    Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria in the last 10 days and will soon join government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies in a major ground offensive backed by Russian air strikes, two Lebanese sources told Reuters.

    “The (Russian) air strikes will in the near future be accompanied by ground advances by the Syrian army and its allies,” said one of the sources familiar with political and military developments in the conflict.

    “It is possible that the coming land operations will be focused in the Idlib and Hama countryside,” the source added.

    The two sources said the operation would be aimed at recapturing territory lost by President Bashar al-Assad’s government to rebels.

  23. Bahrain Expels Iranian Diplomat, Alleges Link to Militants (abcnews, Oct 1, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/bahrain-expels-iranian-diplomat-alleges-link-militants-34182981

    “Bahrain has ordered the acting Iranian charge d’affaires there to leave within 72 hours and will recall its own ambassador from the Islamic Republic over allegations it supports militant attacks in the tiny island kingdom.

    The state-run Bahrain News Agency reported late Thursday that it had declared the Iranian diplomat “persona non grata.” There was no immediate response from Iranian officials nor in the Islamic Republic’s state-run media.

    The Sunni kingdom, which has faced four years of unrest from Shiite activists demanding more political freedom on the island, often accuses Iran of meddling in its internal affairs.

    It’s not clear what specifically sparked Thursday’s decision. Bahraini authorities announced late Wednesday they had seized 1.5 tons of explosives at a suspected militant hideout in a warehouse south of the capital, Manama.”

  24. France Debates Extending Spy Powers AbroadFrance Debates Extending Spy Powers Abroad (abcnews, Oct 1, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/france-debates-extending-spy-powers-abroad-34182980

    “French lawmakers have opened the way to passage of a bill that would allow spying on communications overseas, hoping to legalize a practice that intelligence services already use to keep tabs on extremists who have joined jihadis in Syria and Iraq.

    The bill was adopted in a first reading on Thursday with few lawmakers present in a sign of smooth sailing for the measure that critics say risks compromising fundamental rights.

    With the prime minister’s authorization, it would notably allow the interception of any international communication “sent or received” in France by both French citizens and foreigners.

    Amnesty International said the “reach of this law is so large it gives … intelligence agencies a blank check.” The bill now goes to the Senate for debate.”

  25. Yemen Officials Say Rebels Trading Fire With Coalition Ships (abcnews, Oct 1, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/fighting-rages-yemen-strategic-red-sea-strait-34178484

    “Yemeni military officials close to the country’s Shiite Houthi rebels said Thursday that the rebels are trading fire with warships from the Saudi-led military coalition near the Bab al-Mandab straight, the strategic southern entrance to the Red Sea and the gateway to the Suez Canal.

    The development comes amid land clashes Thursday near the straight between units loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and rebel forces.

    The pro-Hadi units were backed by air support from the Saudi-led coalition that has been bombing Houthi positions and has sent reinforcements from the nearby southern port city of Aden, according to security and military officials, who have remained neutral in the conflict that has splintered the country…”

  26. Turkey’s top court declares secrecy for hearings in case of Syria-bound intel trucks

    The Supreme Court of Appeals has declared “secrecy” for all hearings in a case against the four prosecutors who ordered the stopping and searching of Syria-bound intelligence trucks in January 2014 and a staff colonel involved in the incident. The five being tried in the case are charged with attempting to topple the government.

    On Oct. 1, the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals in Ankara began hearing the case against former Adana Chief Public Prosecutor Süleyman Bagriyanik, prosecutors Aziz Takç?, Özcan SiSman and Ahmet Karaca, and former Adana Gendarmerie Command Staff Colonel Özkan Çokay. The ruling to hear the case in secrecy was thus declared in its first session.

    The four prosecutors, who were arrested back in May, are being held in prison in Ankara during the trial, while Çokay is being held separate from the others in a military prison.

    Arrest warrants for the five were issued on the grounds of “attempting to topple or stop it [the Turkish government] partially or completely from doing its duty by using force and violence.”

    In February 2014, a ban was imposed on the publication of reports about the search, and in April 2015 a Turkish court arrested 17 active soldiers who stopped the trucks.f

    The trucks belonging to National Intelligence Organization (MIT) were stopped by a prosecutor who sought to have the gendarmerie search the vehicles in the southern province of Adana in January 2014 before they crossed into Syria. Claiming that the trucks were carrying “humanitarian aid to Turkmens” in the war-torn country, the Turkish government accused followers of ally-turned-foe U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen in the judiciary and security institutions of illegally ordering the search

    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-top-court-declares-secrecy-for-hearings-in-case-of-syria-bound-intel-trucks-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=89221&NewsCatID=509

  27. A refugee riot puts a German town on edge

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/a-refugee-riot-puts-a-german-town-on-edge/2015/10/01/fa9075bc-65f5-11e5-bdb6-6861f4521205_story.html

    CALDEN, Germany — This German town renowned for its rococo palace threw open its doors to arriving waves of refugees. Donations from clothing drives filled four garages. The volunteer fire department pitched in to build a tent city at the local airport that now teems with 1,400 migrants.

    But like other Germans in a country that has rolled out the welcome mat for Europe’s largest wave of asylum-seekers since World War II, residents here are now having second thoughts.

    That is especially true after the riot. In this quaint municipality of 3,000 inhabitants, the chaos started at lunchtime Sunday when a 19-year-old Albanian cut in the food line at the town’s new tent city, prompting a reprimand from a 43-year-old Pakistani. Pushes degenerated into punches. Soon, 300 migrants wielding pepper spray and metal pipes were attacking each other in rival mobs.

  28. Syria Kurds ask Russia for arms, coordination

    YPG chief Sipan Hemo told Sputnik Türkiye that his fighting force wants Russian assistance.

    BEIRUT – The Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) has asked Russia to support it in its fight against ISIS as well as the Al-Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front.

    YPG chief Sipan Hemo told Sputnik Türkiye—which is owned by Moscow—that his fighting force requested arms from Russia as well as general military coordination, according to a translation of the interview prepared by Turkey’s Anadolu news agency.

    “He also called on Moscow to bomb Al-Nusra Front’s positions,” Anadolu added a day after Russia began its airstrikes in Syria on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

    In turn, the report added that a foreign relations official for the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party—which controls the YPG—said his party was “ready to cooperate with any actor fighting ISIS.”

    “We are currently receiving support from the US and the [Iraqi Kurdish] Peshmerga,” Idris Naasan added.

    Syrian Kurds have been rolling back ISIS across large swathes of territory in northern Syria with the assistance of US airstrikes, while also fighting Nusra in the Kurdish-populated Afrin region northwest of Aleppo.

    The YPG commander’s comments come after a pro-Hezbollah Lebanese daily reported in late September that Russia had set up a coordination process with Kurdish forces and parties in northern Syria.

    “A Russian military delegate paid a secret visit to a number of Kurdish military commanders in Hasakeh and inspected areas of confrontation between the YPG and the armed groups,” the Al-Akhbar article said.

    Moscow announced Wednesday that it had begun its air strikes in Syria, insisting it hit “eight ISIS terror group targets,” while rebel groups, the US and France all said Russia had not bombed the extremist group.

    On Wednesday morning, activists and rebels said that state-of-the-art Russian fighter jets had conducted bombing runs on Lataminah, a town northwest of Hama, as well as a region north of Homs, neither of which are ISIS strongholds.

    Syrian state TV, for its part, reported that Russian jets hit ISIS targets near Homs’ Rastan and Talbisah—where ISIS does not have a presence—as well as areas near Hama’s Salamiyah, where the group does maintain frontlines with regime troops as well the Nusra Front.

    He also called on Moscow to bomb Al-Nusra Front’s positions.

    https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/565990-syria-kurds-ask-russia-for-arms-coordination

  29. Afghan forces push into Taliban-held Kunduz city amid fierce clashes

    http://www.oann.com/afghan-forces-battle-insurgents-to-retake-key-northern-city/

    KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Afghan troops recaptured the center of the strategic northern city of Kunduz on Thursday amid fierce clashes with Taliban militants, three days after losing the provincial capital in a humbling defeat for Kabul and its U.S. allies.

    Fighting continued in other parts of the city, the seizure of which represented a major victory for the insurgents and raised questions over whether NATO-trained Afghan forces were ready to go it alone now most foreign combat troops have left.

    Residents said soldiers were conducting house-to-house searches and had removed the Taliban flag from the central square, replacing it with government colors.

    “There are military helicopters in the sky and government forces everywhere,” said Abdul Ahad, a doctor in the city. “Dead Taliban are on the streets, but there are still (militants) in some government buildings fighting Afghan forces.”

    A Taliban spokesman said fighters had withdrawn to the edges of the city in order to attempt to encircle Afghan and U.S. troops.U.S. special forces accompanied and later fought alongside Afghan soldiers, the international military coalition confirmed, saying that they returned fire in self-defense.

  30. Rising Rakhine party looming threat to Myanmar’s Muslim minority

    http://www.oann.com/rising-rakhine-party-looming-threat-to-myanmars-muslim-minority/

    SITTWE, Myanmar (Reuters) – Myanmar’s historic elections next month are likely to worsen the plight of the country’s oppressed Rohingya Muslim community, with a new, hardline Buddhist party on the brink of becoming a formidable force

    The empowerment of ethnic nationalists in Rakhine State at the western edge of the Southeast Asian nation could intensify discrimination of the stateless Rohingya, thousands of whom have fled in recent years to neighboring countries.

    The government has barred most Rohingyas from both voting and registering as candidates, drawing sharp criticism from the United Nations and undermining Myanmar’s efforts to portray the Nov. 8 poll as its first free and fair election in 25 years.

    The Arakan National Party (ANP), an organization of ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, was formed last year.

    It lobbied hard to disenfranchise Myanmar’s ‘temporary citizens,’ including most of the one million Rohingya living in apartheid-like conditions in Rakhine and maintains that they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, despite many living in Myanmar for generations.

  31. Difficult to buy a gun in China, but not explosives

    http://www.oann.com/difficult-to-buy-a-gun-in-china-but-not-explosives/

    BEIJING (Reuters) – A series of deadly bomb blasts in China this week has shown how easy it is to acquire explosives in the country, revealing a major gap in its huge security apparatus as the economy slows and anger grows over issues like graft and poor public services.

    In a country where firearms are banned for most people, the bombings in the southwestern city of Liuzhou on Wednesday, and others in recent years around the country, demonstrate lax enforcement of rules to control access to bomb-making material.

    Private gun ownership is almost unheard of in China as controls are so strict, meaning gun crime is rare. Explosives, on the other hand, are widely available from the sprawling mining and fireworks industries.

    The 17 coordinated blasts across Liuzhou, a relatively obscure part of China, destroyed one whole side of a low-rise residential building, overturned vehicles and sent bricks showering into the street, images carried by state media showed. At least seven people died and more than 50 were injure

    • Look for this situation to grow worse and for the Chinese government to crack down on all forms of violence and possibly on the ownership of knives and also possibly to shut down the martial arts training schools.

      Their economy is growing worse and as the worlds economy weakens and crashes theirs will be one of the worst, this will create massive turmoil and social unrest.

  32. Russian strikes, Day 1: No ISIS targets; ‘demarche’ to U.S.: ‘Don’t fly here’
    Read more at http://libertyunyielding.com/2015/09/30/russian-strikes-day-1-no-isis-targets-demarche-to-u-s-dont-fly-here/

    The moral of this story is: don’t send Barack Obama to negotiate your operational modus vivendi with Russia in a combat zone.

    On the first day of Russian air strikes in Syria, Russia surprised the U.S. by sending a general officer to the American embassy in Baghdad to issue a “demarche,” or a unilateral demand or statement of intent. The general – who is stationed with the new joint intelligence command center set up in Baghdad by Russia, Iran, Syria, and Iraq – said Russia would be conducting strikes, and he “requested” that U.S. forces remain clear of the Russian operating area. (See video.)

    Read more at http://libertyunyielding.com/2015/09/30/russian-strikes-day-1-no-isis-targets-demarche-to-u-s-dont-fly-here/

  33. Game change: Russia can now warn Israel against IAF operations over Syria
    Read more at http://libertyunyielding.com/2015/09/30/game-change-russia-can-now-warn-israel-against-iaf-operations-over-syria/

    A recent report in Arabic media suggests that Israel has agreed to coordinate the IAF’s operations over Syria with Russia, and claims that Russia has warned Israel against conducting strikes in Syria in which Russian soldiers may be killed. Israel Matzav has the story here.

    The reflexive inclination is to focus on whether this particular report is accurate, and what the narrow, immediate implications are. The big-picture implications, however, are actually much more important.

    Read more at http://libertyunyielding.com/2015/09/30/game-change-russia-can-now-warn-israel-against-iaf-operations-over-syria/

    • Thinking About the Unthinkable: An Israel-Iran Nuclear War

      Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/08/thinking_about_the_unthinkable_an_israeliran_nuclear_war_.html#ixzz3nMKetVbD
      Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

      The signing of a Munich-class agreement with Iran that hands it more than it ever hoped to pull off represents a shocking, craven American capitulation to an apocalyptic crazy state: a North Korea with oil. Nothing in Western history remotely approaches it, not even Neville Chamberlain’s storied appeasement of another antisemitic negotiating partner.

      But it also augurs the possibility of a nuclear war coming far sooner than one could have imagined under conventional wisdom worst-case scenarios. Following the US’s betrayal of Israel and its de facto detente with Iran, we cannot expect Israel to copy longstanding US doctrines of no-first-nuclear-use and preferences for conventional-weapons-only war plans. After all, both were premised (especially after the USSR’s 1991 collapse) on decades of US nuclear and conventional supremacy. If there ever were an unassailable case for a small, frighteningly vulnerable nation to pre-emptively use nuclear weapons to shock, economically paralyze, and decapitate am enemy sworn to its destruction, Israel has arriv

      Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/08/thinking_about_the_unthinkable_an_israeliran_nuclear_war_.html#ixzz3nMKor9y2
      Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

  34. Read these articles and if necessary go back and reread her article on how this isn’t about Assad anymore. This is a nightmare that is occurring and Putin who is riding a massive tiger may not be able to control Iran as much as the thinks the can. Make no mistake if they feel threatened enough Israel will use nukes to preserve their survival. Obama’s legacy is a Mideast that is more or less under Russian control but one that contains more threats of a nuclear war then can be easily listed. With the massive threat from Iran Saudi is working to buy nuclear weapons from Pakistan and North Korea, included in the deal will be missiles that the nuclear devices will fit on, and once one nuke goes off in that region many of the nuclear capable nations will launch at those they think are a threat.

    Welcome to the world the left has created in their quest for utopia.

  35. DEUTSCHE WELLE – Is Hungary’s refugee response xenophobic?

    Hungary Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

  36. Taliban take another area in Afghanistan, parliament member says (CNN, Oct 1, 2015)
    http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/01/asia/afghanistan-kunduz-taliban-attack/index.html

    “Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)The Taliban have taken over the Warduj district of Badakhshan, east of Kunduz province, according to Fawzia Koofi, one of the first women to be elected to the Afghan parliament after the U.S. invasion of the country.

    The Taliban takeover in Warduj province represents a new setback for the Afghan government, after the group reclaimed parts of the city of Kunduz earlier this week. That was the biggest victory the Taliban has had in 15 years. Kunduz is a strategic hub on the main highway between Kabul and Tajikistan…”