Reader links for Oct. 28 – 2015

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In order to preserve the flow of conversation about various posted items, and also in order to make it easier for visitors to find the list of related links being shared by other readers, regulars and interested parties in one place, each day a post is automatically created at a minute past midnight ET.

This way, under the various posts of the day, conversation can take place without as much ‘noise’ on the various links and articles and ideas in the main posts and all the news links being submitted can be seen under these auto-posts by clicking on the comments-link right below these ones.

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

73 Replies to “Reader links for Oct. 28 – 2015”

  1. Spy vs. Spy: Inside the Fraying US-Israel Ties
    Distrust set allies to snoop on each other after split over Iran nuclear deal; each kept secrets

    The U.S. closely monitored Israel’s military bases and eavesdropped on secret communications in 2012, fearing its longtime ally might try to carry out a strike on Fordow, Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear facility.

    Nerves frayed at the White House after senior officials learned Israeli aircraft had flown in and out of Iran in what some believed was a dry run for a commando raid on the site. Worried that Israel might ignite a regional war, the White House sent a second aircraft carrier to the region and readied attack aircraft, a senior U.S. official said, “in case all hell broke loose.”

    The two countries, nursing a mutual distrust, each had something to hide. U.S. officials hoped to restrain Israel long enough to advance negotiations on a nuclear deal with Iran that the U.S. had launched in secret. U.S. officials saw Israel’s strike preparations as an attempt to usurp American foreign policy.

    http://www.wsj.com/articles/spy-vs-spy-inside-the-fraying-u-s-israel-ties-1445562074

    • The more the distrust between nations the more spying, in this case Obama wants to prevent Iran being bombed and Israel wants to know how they are being stabbed in the back.

    • What better way to show contempt for Australia than to have your children get up and walk out rather than listen to the national anthem. Those Muslim families should be rounded up, given a parachute and a tuna sandwich, and dropped somewhere over the Sinai Peninsula. The UN can deal with them from there…

  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyX8mAh-yJU&feature=em-uploademail

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/29/world/australia/tony-abbott-australia-europe-migrant-crisis.html?_r=0

    Tony Abbott, the former prime minister of Australia, used his first major speech since his ouster last month to denounce Europe’s migration policies, warning in London that the continent risked “fundamentally weakening itself” through “misguided altruism” as large numbers of asylum seekers arrive.
    Stories from Our Advertisers

    “All countries that say ‘anyone who gets here can stay here’ are now in peril, given the scale of the population movements that are starting to be seen,” Mr. Abbott, a conservative, said on Tuesday during a lecture honoring the British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

    Mr. Abbott backed an aggressive policy on migration during his two years in office. The Australian authorities turned away boats and refused to accept asylum seekers intercepted at sea, instead sending them to offshore camps. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who replaced Mr. Abbott in September in a party coup, has announced no change to those policies

  3. Two more boys charged with ‘insulting’ Erdogan

    http://news.yahoo.com/two-more-boys-charged-insulting-erdogan-103337109.html;_ylt=AwrXnCJOwDBWExgA5C_QtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByN3UwbTk1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwM5BHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg–

    Istanbul (AFP) – Turkish prosecutors have charged two schoolboys aged 12 and 13 with insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after they tore down a poster of him, local media reports said Wednesday.

    It is the latest case in which youngsters have been hauled before the courts in Turkey on similar charges, fuelling concerns about freedom of speech under Erdogan.

    The prosecutor in the main Kurdish city of Diyarbakir is seeking jail terms of between 14 months and four years and eight months for the pair, according to the Hurriyet newspaper

  4. Woman Molested During Flight From Dubai

    http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/molestation-on-flight-from-dubai-785423

    OCTOBER 28–A woman flying from Dubai to New York City was molested by a male passenger who rubbed lotion on her body as she slept, according to federal investigators who say the suspect told flight attendants that the victim “enjoyed it because she did not resist.”

    he assault occurred Monday on a 13-hour Emirates flight, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.

    As detailed by a detective assigned to an NYPD-FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, the victim said that she fell asleep about an hour into the flight with the aid of anti-anxiety medication. The woman was seated in row 45 next to Nadeem Mehmood Quraishi, a 42-year-old Staten Island resident.

  5. VATICAN – Bergoglio : “We give thanks to God for the significant advances made in relations between Christians……..& muslims.”

  6. Cambodia’s PM condemns attacks on lawmakers, rails at opposition

    http://www.oann.com/cambodia-pm-to-make-tv-address-as-political-climate-deteriorates/

    PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Cambodia’s prime minister on Wednesday condemned a violent assault on two opposition parliamentarians as “cheap” and unforgivable and took aim at political rivals for stirring tensions with street protests that hurt the country’s image.

    In a rare televised address, Hun Sen called for calm and said those who dragged the lawmakers out of their cars and kicked them on the ground following a rally on Monday would be brought to justice.

    “We can’t tolerate and forgive those who committed this,” he said.

    “Regardless of who they are – whether they are supporters of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), the royal government, the opposition party – whoever committed this cheap act must be punished.”

    The two Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) lawmakers were attacked after a demonstration by supporters of the ruling CPP outside the national assembly.

    • Cambodian opposition MPs beaten as political truce falters

      http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/26/us-cambodia-politics-idUSKCN0SK16D20151026

      Two opposition lawmakers were beaten outside Cambodia’s parliament on Monday during a demonstration in support of the ruling party, witnesses and the opposition said, in the first case of violence since a political truce broke down in July.

      The witnesses said the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) lawmakers were attacked in their vehicles as they tried to leave the national assembly, where hundreds of protesters loyal to the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) were demanding the resignation of the legislature’s deputy president.

      The chaos is the latest flare-up since a truce between the two big parties started to wane in July, when 11 CNRP members were jailed for insurrection, a ruling the opposition said was politically motivated.

      “They jumped into one of the cars and beat (the lawmaker) up until he fell to the ground and then they began to kick him,” said 34-year-old witness Em Sopheak.

  7. VATICAN – At General Audience, Pope Gives Thanks for Significant Advances in Relations With Jews, Muslims

    While Reflecting on 50th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate, Stresses Declaration Restates Church’s Esteem for Other Religion

    We are brothers,’ Pope Francis has said while reflecting on today marking the 50th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Church’s Relation to Non-Christian Religions.

    The Holy Father expressed this during his weekly General Audience this morning in St. Peter’s Square, where he welcomed the followers of the different religions who were present, especially those who traveled a great distance to be with him.

    At the start of the Interreligious Audience, Cardinals Jean-Louis Tauran and Kurt Koch, presidents of the Pontifical Councils for Interreligous Dialogue and Promoting Christian Unity, greeted the Holy Father, giving some remarks on the importance of Nostra Aetate.

    This declaration promulgated 50 years ago, Cardinal Tauran noted, demonstrated the Church promoting relations of respect, friendship, and dialogue with persons of other religions. He also noted how that participants of the international conference on Nostra Aetate being held at Rome’s Gregorian University, including representatives of various religions were present at the audience.

    In the Pope’s address, he expressed that the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration was “an expression of the Church’s esteem for the followers of other religious traditions, and her openness to dialogue in the service of understanding and friendship.”

    In this regard, he stressed, we have seen much progress over the past fifty years. In a special way, he noted, we give thanks to God for the significant advances made in relations between Christians and Jews, and between Christians and Muslims.

    ‘Prayer, for us believers, is our treasure,’ the Pope said, highlighting the message of Nostra Aetate is current today.

    “The world rightly expects believers to work together with all people of good will in confronting the many problems affecting our human family,” he observed.

    The Holy Father also expressed his hope that the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, which begins Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and ends Nov. 20, 2016, the Feast of Christ the King, will be an occasion for even greater interreligious cooperation, especially through charitable works, caring for the environment and reconciliation.

    The Pope concluded his address, calling for those gathered in the Square to pray that, in accordance with God’s will, all men and women see themselves as brothers and sisters “in the great human family, peacefully united in and through our diversities.”

    At the conclusion of the Audience, Pope Francis launched an appeal for the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan and Afghanistan, calling for aid and assistance. Pope Francis called for a moment of silence, in which each prays, “according to their own religion,” for brotherhood and for those most in need.

    http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/at-general-audience-pope-gives-thanks-for-significant-advances-in-relations-with-jews-muslims

  8. Taliban overrun district in quake-hit northern Afghanistan

    http://www.oann.com/taliban-overrun-district-in-quake-hit-northern-afghanistan/

    KABUL (Reuters) – Taliban insurgents overran a district in one of the northern Afghan provinces hit by a powerful earthquake this week, underlining the security problems that have hampered efforts to get emergency relief to remote mountainous regions.

    Officials said fighters seized control of the district capital of Darqand in Takhar province, on the border with Tajikistan in the early hours of Wednesday, continuing a campaign that has intensified across the country this year.

    The area around Darqand is not one where there have been reports of major damage or loss of life from Monday’s earthquake, which killed more than 300 people across broad swathes of northern Afghanistan and Pakistan.

    But it is well within the impact zone and at least 15 people have been reported killed and more than 40 injured in Takhar province as a whole.

  9. Saudi-led coalition drops weapons for allies in Yemen

    http://www.oann.com/saudi-led-coalition-drops-weapons-for-allies-in-yemeni-city/

    DUBAI (Reuters) – Warplanes from a Saudi-led alliance bombed the Iran-allied Houthi movement throughout Yemen on Wednesday and dropped weapons for its allies battling the group in the southwestern city of Taiz.

    The sorties show the coalition is determined to use its air power to push back the Houthis, Yemen’s dominant group, a day after medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said coalition bombing destroyed one of its hospitals late on Monday – a charge the alliance denied.

    Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries have been bombing the Houthis and supporting militias opposed to them since late March. At least 5,600 people have been killed, but the alliance has made little headway toward restoring Yemen’s exiled government to the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa.

    Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city, has become a major front in the coalition’s northward push toward the capital. Coalition planes have dropped weapons to Islamist militias fighting artillery and heavy machine gun duels with the Houthis in civilian neighborhoods there.

  10. Multiple wounds on body of Russian soldier who died in Syria: report

    http://www.oann.com/parents-of-first-russian-soldier-to-die-in-syria-want-another-autopsy-report/

    GRECHANAYA BALKA, Russia (Reuters) – The body of the first Russian soldier to die in Syria was returned to his parents with wounds inconsistent with the official version that he hanged himself, the serviceman’s uncle told a Russian newspaper on Wednesday.

    “What is this stuff about him hanging himself?,” an unnamed man who described himself as the uncle of Vadim Kostenko told the Novaya Gazeta newspaper on the day of the dead serviceman’s funeral in his home village in southern Russia.

    “He had a broken jaw and the back of his head was bashed in. And his neck was broken.” He also said his nephew’s nose was broken, the newspaper reported.

    Kostenko, 19, one of the Russian air force’s support staff in Syria, on Tuesday became the first Russian serviceman to be confirmed dead in four weeks of air strikes there. The ministry of defense said he hanged himself because of problems in his personal life.

    • I don’t know about the current Russian military but the soviet military beatings, rapes and murders were common as various gangs fought for top nasty in the unit, this allowed them to extort money from the people who weren’t gand members.

  11. Migrant crisis threatens Schengen as Austria announces border fence

    Vienna (AFP) – Austria said Wednesday it would build a fence along its border with fellow EU state Slovenia to “control” the migrant influx, in what would be the first barrier between two members of the passport-free Schengen zone.

    Both countries have become key transit points for tens of thousands of refugees and migrants seeking to reach northern Europe ahead of the winter, and before more potential EU border closures.

    Vienna’s announcement prompted sharp criticism from Berlin amid an escalating spat over Austria’s handling of the humanitarian drama.

    “We do not believe that the current migrant crisis that Europe is facing can be resolved with the building of fences or walls,” said German government spokesman Steffen Seibert, adding that the problem could only be dealt with if countries stood united.

    The small Alpine nation of Slovenia, which has been swamped by migrants recently, also reiterated its readiness to erect a fence along its Croatian frontier if new EU plans aimed at improving the situation failed to produce quick results.

    Austria’s move is bound to intensify concerns about the EU’s cherished Schengen system, a crucial part of European integration efforts, which allows for the free movement of people and goods.

    But Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner insisted the planned barrier was “not about shutting down the border”.

    “This is about ensuring an orderly, controlled entry into our country. Also, a fence has a gate,” she told Austrian media Wednesday.[…]

    http://news.yahoo.com/austria-build-slovenia-border-fence-control-migrant-flow-081818360.html

    ————————————————————————————
    Slovenia sends migrants on trains to Austria as its own refugee camps are full

  12. A must read analysis on the Europeans arming for self def3ense and why all of us must do this.

    Migrant influx has Europeans arming up

    The urge to self-preservation may not be entirely dead among native Europeans. According to European news sources, cited in this article at WND, Europeans who have the realistic option of purchasing firearms have started doing so, at a dramatically increased rate.

    Although the citizens of several key countries (e.g., Germany, the Netherlands) are basically prohibited from buying guns — by the very high obstacles their governments set for such purchases — those who can are flocking to gun vendors. Women are reportedly the customer base showing the biggest increase.

    Austria is one of the nations where guns are selling fast.

    Read more at http://libertyunyielding.com/2015/10/28/migrant-influx-has-europeans-arming-up/

      • She does what she can, and she is trained to look for the facts and implications most of us miss. I knew Putin was in Syria for the long run but never thought of causing he was colonizing the place.

  13. “Only Tyrants and Oligarchs fear the armed citizen.” Niccolo Machiavelli

    This quote isn’t make often because it goes against the narrative, western civilization was built by the nations that weren’t afraid of their citizens and allowed them to be armed. During the last half of the 20th Century the idea of gun control took over many governments and a lot of people lost their right to be armed. Now those nations are paying the price of their attempt to change civilization. How high a price in blood that they are going to pay is still to be settled.

  14. UK -Muslim preacher jailed after cops find invoice for £18 MILLION of ammunition on his mobile phone

    Abdurraouf Eshati, 29, was sentenced to six years in prison after he pleaded guilty to terrorism and immigration offences

    An imam who was found in the back of a lorry in Dover has been jailed after police discovered an invoice for £18million worth of ammunition on his mobile phone.

    Abdurraouf Eshati, 29, was sentenced to six years in prison today after he pleaded guilty to terrorism and immigration offences.

    Eshati, who lived in a mosque in Wrexham where he sometimes led prayers, was one of 20 people discovered in a lorry heading for France on November 30 last year.

    On his mobile phone, police found a $28.5million (£18.6million) invoice from an arms supplier for the sale and delivery of 1,100 tonnes of ammunition to Libya.

    His phone also held a document about chartering a cargo jet for $250,000 (£163,000) for use in the North African country.

    Police also discovered a number of false documents which Eshati had given to an immigration tribunal in 2012 and he was subsequently charged for immigration offences.

    Eshati, who had 1,000 euros in cash in his luggage, also had images on his phone of activists from the militia group Ansar Al Sharia and a beheading.

    On his arrest, Eshati told police he had been in Britain since 2009 on a visa and later as an asylum seeker.

    He said his father had been a senior figure in the Gaddafi regime and was now in prison in Tripoli while his two brothers had been murdered.

    However, this was a false claim and it later emerged that his brother was alive and well while his father was recovering from gall bladder surgery in Tunisia.

    Investigations in Italy revealed that Eshati had been caught up in a determined attempt to get arms into Libya in plain contravention of the UN embargo.

    Eshati’s role was to translate the documents for a friend and senior Libyan Army officer – referred to as ET – who brokered the deal in Italy.

    Yesterday Eshati pleaded guilty to possessing a document for terrorist purposes and seeking leave to remain in the United Kingdom by deception by falsely claiming he was at risk of persecution if he returned to Libya.

    A CPS spokesperson said: “The very fact that Eshati pleaded guilty to these offences on the first day of his trial is a testament to the strength of the case and evidence brought against him.

    “Images found on his phone included an invoice for a massive amount of ammunition worth $28.5 million and the hiring of a cargo plane to be used in Libya.

    “The information that was contained within those documents found on Eshati’s phone were considered likely to have supported and been useful to an individual preparing to commit an act of terrorism.

    “Such was the scale of his activity, the court was told his arrest and the finding of these documents has led to Italian authorities discovering large scale illegal arms supplies being imported from eastern Europe to conflict zones in Libya and other places.”

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/muslim-preacher-jailed-after-cops-6716460

  15. Obama administration earmarks $70M for Michelle Obama’s program to empower girls in Pakistan
    Read more at http://libertyunyielding.com/2015/10/27/obama-administration-earmarks-70m-for-michelle-obamas-program-to-empower-girls-in-pakistan/

    “As public schools around the United States suffer through a perpetual financial crisis, the Obama administration commits a breathtaking $70 million to help educate girls in a terrorist nation known as Al Qaeda headquarters.” So begins a post at Judicial Watch’s Corruption Chronicles that highlight’s the first lady’s latest initiative, Let Girls Learn, which the White House website notes, has as its goal the education and empowerment of 62 million girls in third world countries who are not in school.

    Working at giving young people a brighter future is a noble goal, but charity begins at home, as the saying goes. And “public schools in this country have been hurting for years.”

    Read more at http://libertyunyielding.com/2015/10/27/obama-administration-earmarks-70m-for-michelle-obamas-program-to-empower-girls-in-pakistan/

  16. Iran’s New Palestinian Terror Group: Al-Sabireen

    http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6774/palestinian-sabireen

    The nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers has paved the way for the Iranians to resume their efforts to spread their influence throughout the Middle East.

    As the Obama Administration and the rest of the international community choose to look the other way, Iran evidently feels that this is the appropriate time to meddle in the internal affairs of Arabs and Muslims

    Iran’s main goal, from all appearances, is to dominate the entire Middle East by destroying Israel and most of the Arab and Islamic regimes that are considered too “moderate” and “pro-West.” So far, thanks to the indifference of the Obama Administration and most Western countries, the Iranians seem to be marching in the right direction toward achieving their goal.

    Iran is already deeply involved in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. In recent months, the Iranians have also returned to the Palestinian arena, this time through a new group called Al-Sabireen Movement For Supporting Palestine. Translated into English, Al-Sabireen means “The Patient One.”

    The new Iranian-backed Al-Sabireen was established in wake of tensions between Iran and its two former allies in the Gaza Strip: Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis four years ago, relations between Tehran and Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been strained. The refusal of Hamas and Islamic Jihad publicly to support Iran’s ally, President Bashar Assad, in his fight against the Syrian opposition, has resulted in the expulsion of Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders from Syria. It has also prompted the Iranians to cut off financial aid to the two groups, an abandonment that has left them facing a severe and unprecedented crisis — the worst in more than two decades.

  17. U.S. is driving Mideast allies to Putin
    Read more at http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1015/rogin102815.php3#wdVm1UjbtJta0hCY.99

    America’s traditional Middle East allies, having run out of patience with President Barack Obama’s policy in Syria, are now reaching out to a resurgent Russia — even though it is bolstering the very dictator so many of them have pushed to leave power.

    Some in Washington see the new ties as a threat to U.S. interests, especially because the U.S. has worked since the 1970s to keep Russian influence out of the Middle East. But the Obama administration sees an opportunity. The State Department is now quietly encouraging U.S. allies to engage with Moscow, as part of Secretary John Kerry’s quest to win Russian support for a political process in Syria.

    Read more at http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1015/rogin102815.php3#wdVm1UjbtJta0hCY.99

    • This is an unintended consequence of Obama;s actions in the Middle East, and it may end up helping the west. He is being forced to send Berets to the Middle East to train, advise and at times lead indigenous people in the fight against ISIS. Not that Obama really opposes ISIS but to prevent Russia totally upset his plans for the Middle East. To an extent the outcome of this reluctant intervention will depend on how well the Europeans resist the next stage of the Islamic conquest.

      Remember Obama wants the brotherhood to control large segments of the Middle East in partnership with Iran, Russia entering the game upsets his plans and gives us the opportunity to change the outcome but this will occur only if western leaders start acting rationally about the invasion.

  18. TURKEY – Interior Ministry issues a list of Turkey’s most wanted terrorists

    he Interior Ministry has issued a list of Turkey’s most wanted terrorists on Wednesday within the scope of a recently issued regulation, pledging rewards for those who supply intelligence about senior terrorist figures.

    Terrorists have been categorized into different colors –red, blue, green, and gray– depending on their threat level for the country. Accordingly, the U.S. based cleric Fethullah Gülen, PKK’s senior figures Cemil Bay?k, Murat Karay?lan, Duran Kalkan, and ISIS-linked ?lhami Bal? are in the red category.

    The Interior Ministry published the list Wednesday on the newly-opened http://www.terorarananlar.pol.tr , to receive information about the terrorists.

    In total, 72 PKK, 12 ISIS, 11 Gülen terrorist organization, 2 DKHP-C (far-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party Front) and 2 MLK-P (Marxist-Leninist Communist Party) members are included in the list, along with their full names, and date and place of births.

    As part of Turkey intensifying the fight against terror, Ankara issued a regulation pledging rewards for those who supply intelligence about terrorist figures, which is a method never applied before. The U.S. is well-known for this practice, especially regarding the capture of al-Qaida members.

    http://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2015/10/28/interior-ministry-issues-a-list-of-turkeys-most-wanted-terrorists

  19. Russian warplanes hit record 118 Syria targets in 24 hours: Moscow (yahoo, Oct 28, 2015)
    http://news.yahoo.com/russian-warplanes-hit-record-118-syria-targets-24-183029295.html

    “Moscow (AFP) – Russian warplanes have struck 118 “terrorist” targets in Syria over the past 24 hours, its highest daily total yet, the defence ministry said Wednesday, attributing the rise to fresh intelligence.

    Russian jets hit 118 targets during 71 sorties over the provinces of Idlib, Homs, Hama, Aleppo, Damascus and Latakia, said the defence ministry.

    It was the highest one-day tally since the Kremlin began its bombing campaign on September 30.

    The previous record was set on Monday when Moscow said it had struck 94 “terrorist” targets in Syria.

    The defence ministry released no information on Tuesday.

    “The number of sorties has gone up,” the ministry said in a statement.

    “This is due to an increase in intelligence data,” he said, adding that targets had been “confirmed via various channels.”

    The strikes destroyed a command post near the town of Talbisseh in Homs province that belonged to Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, said the ministry.

    Among the other targets was a base in Aleppo province used to control a “terrorist” weapon supply route which was “destroyed”, along with the vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft systems that were protecting it, it said.

    In Sahl al-Ghab valley, which lies between the provinces of Hama and Idlib, the warplanes hit a “camouflaged supply base”, causing an explosion that also destroyed trucks parked some 500 metres away.

    Russian forces also hit a command and communications post of Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) group near Mesraba, a town north-east of Damascus, and “completely destroyed” a command post in Salma, Latakia, after discovering it with unmanned aerial vehicles.

    Moscow says its bombing campaign targets Islamic State jihadists and other “terrorists” but the United States and its allies accuse Russia of targeting Western-backed moderate rebels fighting Kremlin-backed President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.”

  20. Libya, France Drop Furthest in Annual Internet Freedom Ranking (nbcnews, Oct 28, 2015)
    http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/libya-france-drop-furthest-annual-internet-freedom-ranking-n452411

    “China leads the list of worst offenders in a new report documenting the decline of Internet freedom around the world in the past year — but surveillance and the role of tech companies are driving debate in all countries, the authors said.

    Libya, France and Ukraine dropped the furthest in the survey of freedom on the Internet in 65 countries. Overall, Syria and Iran were the worst offenders following China, with bloggers and activists in all three countries suffering prison time or violence for what they post online.

    The “Freedom on the Net 2015” report released on Wednesday by Freedom House, a New York-based non-profit, did note some improvements in countries like Cuba, where the first public Wi-Fi services were switched on amid improved relations with the United States.

    Restrictions on online activities imposed in France after the Charlie Hebdo attacks contributed to that country’s decline in the rankings, the report said, including an uptick in surveillance activities and rules against content that could be deemed “apology for terrorism.”

    And in what the report identified as a “new trend,” some governments are finding a way around traditional censorship, and directly pressuring people or companies — including tech giants like Facebook, Google and Twitter — to remove content that those in power deemed objectionable…”

  21. Iraq: We Didn’t Ask for U.S. Ground Operations (nbcnews, Oct 28, 2015)
    http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iraq-we-didnt-ask-u-s-ground-operations-n452756

    “The Iraqi government said Wednesday it didn’t ask for — and doesn’t need — the “direct action on the ground” promised by the Pentagon.

    The revelation came a day after Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said the U.S. may carry out more unilateral ground raids — like last week’s rescue operation to free hostages — in Iraq to target ISIS militants.

    Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s spokesman told NBC News that any military involvement in the country must be cleared through the Iraqi government just as U.S.-led airstrikes are.

    “This is an Iraqi affair and the government did not ask the U.S. Department of Defense to be involved in direct operations,” spokesman Sa’ad al-Hadithi told NBC News. “We have enough soldiers on the ground.”

    He acknowledged the importance of U.S. assistance in Iraq, saying that his country needs American help “arming and training out forces.”…”

  22. Doctors Without Borders Hospital in Yemen Destroyed by Airstrike (nbcnews, Oct 28, 2015)
    http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/doctors-without-borders-hospital-yemen-destroyed-airstrike-n452886

    “Doctors Without Borders said a hospital it runs in Yemen was destroyed by Saudi airstrikes — the second attack this month on the medical charity.

    The aid group — also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) — said “several” airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition struck its facility in Saada Province beginning at around 10:30 p.m. Monday.

    “Hospital staff and two patients managed to escape before subsequent airstrikes occurred over a two-hour period,” it said in a statement. “One staff member was slightly injured while escaping.”

    MSF is still reeling from a U.S. airstrike on its hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, which killed 30 people. The group has called for an international inquiry into the Oct. 3 attack and labeled it a possible war crime.

    It said in a statement late Tuesday that it had “regularly shared” the Yemen hospital’s GPS coordinates with the Saudi-led coalition and that the facility’s roof was “clearly” marked with an MSF logo.

    “The bombing of civilians and hospitals is a violation of international humanitarian law and MSF is demanding that coalition forces explain the circumstances around the attack,” MSF said.

    United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the airstrikes and called for “prompt, effective and impartial” investigation to ensure accountability.

    “The Secretary-General notes that hospitals and medical personnel are explicitly protected under international humanitarian law,” Ban’s spokesman said in a statement. “The Secretary-General calls on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to immediately cease all operations, including airstrikes.”…”

  23. Saudi Arabia executes Pakistani murderer of Indonesian couple (tribune, Oct 28, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/980677/saudi-arabia-executes-pakistani-murderer-of-indonesian-couple/

    “RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday executed a Pakistani convicted of murdering an Indonesian couple.

    The interior ministry said Amal Jan Hajji had been found guilty of killing Bambang Sukyato and his wife Suryati Widyastuti.

    He broke into their home and beat them with a metal object, it said, without giving a motive for the killing.

    Indonesian embassy officials could not be immediately reached.

    Authorities carried out the sentence against Hajji in Riyadh.

    According to AFP tallies, he is the 139th foreigner or Saudi executed in the kingdom this year, compared with 87 in 2014.

    Most Saudi executions are carried out by beheading with a sword, in what the ministry says is a deterrent.

    Rights experts have raised concerns about the fairness of trials in the kingdom…”

  24. Calls for blasphemy law reform not against religion: apex court (tribune, Oct 28, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/980379/guard-against-abuse-of-blasphemy-law-sc/

    “Issuing a written order on the dismissal of Mumtaz Qadri’s appeal against his death sentence, the country’s top court Tuesday urged the state to ensure that no one is forced to endure an investigation or trial on the basis of false blasphemy allegations.

    On October 6, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, had already scrapped a plea seeking revocation of Qadri’s death sentence for killing the then Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer on January 4, 2011 over blasphemy allegations. The sentence was first awarded by an anti-terrorism court and then upheld by the Islamabad High Court before it was challenged in the apex court.

    Authoring the 39-page verdict on Tuesday, Justice Khosa said Qadri had murdered Taseer on the basis of nothing but hearsay. “It is an unfortunate fact which cannot be disputed that in many cases registered in respect of the offence of blasphemy, false allegations are levelled for extraneous purposes.” He said that in the absence of adequate safeguards against abuse of the blasphemy law, people falsely accused of the offence suffer irrevocably.

    The order said any call for reform in religion-related laws should be seen as a call for introducing safeguards against abuse of such laws, adding that it should not be interpreted as a call against the religious aspects of the offences covered by the laws.

    “If the asserted religious motivation of the appellant (Qadri) … is to be accepted as a valid mitigating circumstance in this case, then a door shall open for religious vigilantism which may deal a mortal blow to the rule of law in this country,” read the order.

    “No occasion has been found by us for reducing the appellant’s sentence from death to life imprisonment for the offences of terrorism and murder committed by him. The usual wages for the crimes of the nature committed by the appellant is death, and in the circumstances of this case the appellant deserves no less.”

    On the subject of Qadri’s claim that Taseer used to indulge in ‘immoral activities’, the court said: “…it was not just the alleged commission of blasphemy by Taseer which prompted the appellant to kill him, but there was some element of personal hatred for Taseer which too had played some part in propelling the appellant into action against him. Such mixture of personal hatred with the asserted religious motivation had surely diluted, if not polluted, the acclaimed purity of the appellant’s purpose.”

    The court observed that commission of blasphemy is abhorrent and immoral besides being a manifestation of intolerance, but at the same time a false allegation regarding commission of such an offence is equally detestable besides being culpable.

    The order said Qadri wanted to send a message or teach a lesson to everyone who dared to follow Taseer’s suit. “We have entertained no manner of doubt that the action of the appellant and the intention, design or purpose behind such action fully attracted the definition of terrorism … and, therefore, he was correctly and justifiably punished by the trial court … for committing the offence of terrorism.””

  25. US retailer Wal-Mart under fire over Israeli soldier, racist Arab Halloween costumes (ahram, Oct 28, 2015)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/162094/World/International/US-retailer-WalMart-under-fire-over-Israeli-soldie.aspx

    “US retail giant Wal-Mart has withdrawn from sale of an Israeli soldier’s costume for children and a fake “Arab” nose ahead of Halloween, after an outcry from civil liberties groups that the outfits are offensive and racist.
    But the costumes were still being advertised Wednesday by other retailers, including Amazon and eBay, leading Arab and Muslim groups in America to demand their immediate withdrawal.

    Israel has killed more than 54 Palestinians and wounded hundreds during the month of October alone.

    At least seven Israelis were killed in reported attacks by Palestinians during the month.

    Campaign groups say the costumes are not only racist, but could fuel hate crimes against Arab-Americans.

    The United States celebrates Halloween on Saturday when children dress up in costumes and go trick or treating. Adult costume parties are also popular nationwide.

    The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) welcomed Wal-Mart’s decision to withdraw the costumes and joined other pressure groups in calling on other retailers to follow suit.

    “The costumes are very problematic and offensive to many people,” said ADC president Samer Khalaf, blaming the Israeli military for the death and occupation of Palestinians.

    “Such a symbol of fear, violence and a long history of dispossession should not be used for entertainment purposes.”

    The costumes were not listed on Wal-Mart’s website Wednesday….”

  26. Egypt extends North Sinai state of emergency for 3rd time this year (ahram, Oct 28, 2015)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/162072/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-extends-North-Sinai-state-of-emergency-for-r.aspx

    “Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi announced on Wednesday in the country’s official gazette that a state of emergency has been extended for a further three months in parts of North Sinai.
    The northern part of the mountainous Sinai Peninsula has been the epicentre of an Islamist insurgency that spiked following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi after mass protests against his one year rule.

    The violence has killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen in the restive region.

    The measure was first introduced in August 2013 when violent unrest gripped the country following Morsi’s removal. It has since been continually extended. This year, it was extended in January, April and July.

    The state of emergency will cover Al-Arish and other surrounding areas. It went into effect on Tuesday, 27 October.

    A nighttime curfew in place in the same areas from 7:00 pm (1700 GMT) and 6:00 am (0400 GMT) has also been extended. Only Al-Arish will see a four-hour curfew starting from 1:00 am.

    On Saturday, three police officers were killed and eight injured, when a roadside bomb targeting their armoured vehicle detonated in Al-Arish. Suspected militants on a motorcycle shot dead the parliamentary candidate of the ultraconservative Salafist Nour party on the same day.

    In October last year Egypt’s army started to create a wide buffer zone in the town of Rafah, demolishing thousands of homes along the border with the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Authorities say the move is aimed at preventing the infiltration of militants and arms smuggling through tunnels extending under the border.”

  27. Agency won’t give GOP internal docs on climate research

    http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/258375-agency-wont-give-gop-internal-docs-on-climate-research

    The federal government’s chief climate research agency is refusing to give House Republicans the detailed information they want on a controversial study on climate change.

    Citing confidentiality concerns and the integrity of the scientific process, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said it won’t give Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) the research documents he subpoenaed.

    At the center of the controversy is a study that concluded there has not been a 15-year “pause” in global warming. Some NOAA scientists contributed to the report.

    Skeptics of climate change, including Smith, have cited the pause to insist that increased greenhouse gas emissions, mostly from burning fossil fuels, are not heating up the globe.

    Smith, the chairman of the House Science Committee, vehemently disagreed with the study’s findings. He issued a subpoena for communications among the scientists and some data, leading to charges from Democrats that he was trying to intimidate the researchers.

    Late Tuesday, NOAA provided Smith with some more information about its methods and data but refused to give Smith everything he wanted.

    NOAA spokeswoman Ciaran Clayton said the internal communications are confidential and not related to what Smith is trying to find out.

    “We have provided data, all of which is publicly available online, supporting scientific research, and multiple in-person briefings,” she said.

    • In the history of the US we have never had an administration that is as criminal as this one, they have torn the US Constitution and law code to threads and no one seems to care. The Republican establishment is ignoring their crimes and refusing to help in the investigations. If these criminals aren’t arrested and tried for their crimes the US will officially be a third world nation.

  28. US CONGRESS TO INVESTIGATE NOAA’S TEMPERATURE ADJUSTMENTS

    http://www.climatedepot.com/2015/10/26/us-congress-to-investigate-noaas-temperature-adjustments/

    The head of a congressional committee on science has issued subpoenas to the Obama administration over a recent scientific study refuting claims that global warming had “paused” or slowed over the last decade.

    Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology and a prominent congressional skeptic on climate change, issued the subpoenas two weeks ago demanding e-mails and records from U.S. scientists who participated in the study, which undercut a popular argument used by critics who reject the scientific consensus that man-made pollution is behind the planet’s recent warming.

    Smith’s document request to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ordered the agency to turn over scientific data as well as internal “communications between or among employees” involved in the study, according to a letter Friday by the House committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (Tex.). Johnson accused Smith of “furthering a fishing expedition” by looking for ways to discredit NOAA’s study, which was published in June in the peer-reviewed journal Science.

    “It is a disturbing trend for the legitimacy of this committee,” Johnson said in the letter to Smith. She linked the subpoena to previous requests by the committee’s Republican staff seeking information about NOAA’s climate researchers, which Johnson called “a serious misuse of Congressional oversight powers.” Noting that NOAA routinely publishes supporting data for its studies, Johnson said Smith had “not articulated a legitimate need for anything beyond what NOAA has already provided.”

    Smith, responding to Johnson’s letter, said the subpoena was not “harassment” but “appropriate constitutional oversight.”

    Read more: http://www.climatedepot.com/2015/10/26/us-congress-to-investigate-noaas-temperature-adjustments/#ixzz3puAENOve

  29. Germany’s fast-tracked deportations hit trouble (DW, Oct 28, 2015)
    http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-fast-tracked-deportations-hit-trouble/a-18809153

    “Germany is trying to speed up deportations, creating the prospect of ugly scenes at airports as people resist. Lawyers say the wearying pace of the country’s asylum procedures are not down to deportations in any case.

    The German government cannot get its brand new “Asylum Acceleration Law” into force quick enough. Having drawn up the regulations – meant partly to speed up deportations – in two months and driven them through both chambers of parliament within 48 hours in mid-October, they were set to come into force on November 1.

    But even that wasn’t fast enough. On Friday October 23, the government suddenly announced that the new rules would come into effect the very next day, a week ahead of time, a move that was heralded by Angela Merkel’s newly-minted refugee crisis coordinator Peter Altmaier as a “good signal.”

    And yet, even as speculation about a sudden spate of mass deportations circulated in the German media, it turned out that German bureaucracy cannot be shifted out of its normal pace so easily, and in the weekend’s news shows there was distinct absence of pictures of refugee families being herded onto airplanes – possibly even military transporters.

    “It sounds like they’re going to start right away, but I don’t see that, because it’s much too complex,” said asylum specialist Barbara John, chairwoman of the Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband, an umbrella association of hundreds of charities. “People will continue to bring appeals, sick notes, and incapacity certificates.”…”

  30. EU Commission president and Austrian Chancellor unite against fences in Europe (DW, Oct 28, 2015)
    http://www.dw.com/en/eu-commission-president-and-austrian-chancellor-unite-against-fences-in-europe/a-18813618

    “European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann have warned that fences are not welcome in the EU. Shortly before, Vienna suggested building a barrier on its Slovenian border.

    A statement released late on Wednesday, following a telephone call between the two men, said both Juncker and Faymann “repeated their common position that fences have no place in Europe.”

    The statement followed more details on Wednesday about a proposed fence on the Austrian-Slovenian border.

    Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner last week raised the possibility of a “European Fortress,” before suggesting on Tuesday that Austria should erect “special construction measures” on the border with Slovenia.

    Speaking on Wednesday, however, Mikl-Leitner said the proposed fence was “not about shutting down the border.”

    “This is about ensuring an orderly, controlled entry into our country. Also, a fence has a gate,” she said. Officials say it will likely be about 15-kilometers long and cover both large and smaller green borders…”

  31. Turkey now a country ‘with no interest in rule of law,’ experts say after raid (DW, Oct 28, 2015)
    http://www.dw.com/en/turkey-now-a-country-with-no-interest-in-rule-of-law-experts-say-after-raid/a-18813627

    “Just days before elections, the agenda in Turkey has switched to the Koza Ipek media group after it was raided for allegedly supporting a terrorist group. Aram Duran reports from Istanbul.The Ipek Media Group – known for its ties to Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s Hizmet movement – was raided on Wednesday by police, accompanied by trustees that were appointed to replace the group’s management. The raid, conducted under the pretense that the Koza Ipek Holding has engaged in “money laundering and aiding a terrorist organization” has paved the way for another press freedom crisis in Turkey just days before the election.

    Koza Ipek Holding insists that the move represents a ploy by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government to silence the opposition while a number of press organizations have reacted to the seizure of 22 subsidiaries belonging to the company.

    The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Nationalist Action Party (MHP) and People’s Democratic Party (HDP) sent messages of support via their respective visits to the group’s headquarters in Istanbul. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, while speaking on a television program, commented on the raids, saying that there was an ongoing investigation and that everyone would have to wait for its outcome.

    Reactions from around the world streamed in as the Istanbul and Ankara offices of the Ipek Media Group – which operates the Kanaltürk TV channel and the Bugün and Millet daily newspapers – were searched by police. TV broadcasts were cut by government officials…”

  32. Russia Says It Opposes UN Resolution on Syrian Barrel Bombs (abcnews, Oct 28, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russia-opposes-resolution-syrian-barrel-bombs-34810758

    “Russia says it opposes a draft United Nations resolution on Syria’s use of barrel bombs which is being promoted by France, Britain and Spain because it could jeopardize international talks on restoring peace to the conflict-wracked country.

    Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said Wednesday the draft has been circulated to some Security Council members and will be circulated to all members “in the coming days.”

    Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Petr Iliichev told reporters he hasn’t seen the draft. But he said it shouldn’t be circulated to the council now because “especially at this very delicate moment we should not jeopardize the efforts that are being undertaken in Vienna.”

    The Vienna talks on Thursday and Friday are the most serious attempt yet to end the Syrian conflict, now in its fifth year.”

  33. Libya Helicopter Death Toll at 19 (abcnews, Oct 28, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/libya-helicopter-death-toll-19-34806917

    “Libya’s Islamist authorities say rescue workers have recovered five more bodies in the Mediterranean, raising the death toll from Tuesday’s downing of a helicopter carrying two senior officials from the Islamist-backed Tripoli government from 14 to 19.

    Wednesday’s statement raising the toll followed another from Tripoli’s rival, the internationally recognized government based in eastern Tobruk, denying responsibility for the attack. They had claimed responsibility a day earlier.

    Tobruk’s Wednesday statement said the spokesman behind the claim on Tuesday has been summoned for questioning.

    Libya has fallen into chaos since the 2011 toppling and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, with two warring governments vying for control.

    The helicopter was shot down near the coastal Almaya area west of Tripoli, which is rife with an assortment of rogue militias.”

  34. US warns Britain: If you leave EU you face barriers to trading with America (guardian, Oct 28, 2015)
    http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/29/us-warns-britain-it-could-face-trade-barriers-if-it-leaves-eu

    “The United States is not keen on pursuing a separate free trade deal with Britain if it leaves the European Union, the US trade representative, Michael Froman, said – the first public comments from a senior US official on the matter.

    Voters are due to decide by the end of 2017 whether the UK should remain in the EU, and opinion polls show rising support for leaving the bloc.

    Froman’s comments on Wednesday undermine a key economic argument deployed by proponents of exit, who say Britain would prosper on its own and be able to secure bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with trading partners.

    The US is Britain’s biggest export market after the EU, buying more than $54bn (£35bn) in goods from the UK in 2014.

    “I think it’s absolutely clear that Britain has a greater voice at the trade table being part of the EU, being part of a larger economic entity,” Froman told Reuters, adding that EU membership gives Britain more leverage in negotiations.

    “We’re not particularly in the market for FTAs with individual countries. We’re building platforms … that other countries can join over time.“

    If Britain left the EU, Froman said, it would face the same tariffs and trade barriers as other countries outside the US free trade network.

    “We have no FTA with the UK so they would be subject to the same tariffs – and other trade-related measures – as China, or Brazil or India,” he said….”