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CNN – Video emerges from inside the bathroom during attack
Fox News – Gorka: CIA director no longer spreading Obama’s narrative
Fox News – Focus on mosques in America intensified
with Pamela Geller
Sir Trevor McDonald blasts BBC for ‘discriminative’ ethnic minority employment strategy (express, June 17, 2016)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/680742/Trevor-McDonald-BBC-discrimination-BME-employee-scrip-t-writer-job-hunt
“SIR Trevor McDonald has hit out at the BBC’s decision to advertise certain jobs exclusively to black and minority ethnic candidates.
The 76-year-old ITV news presenter called for candidates “not to be discriminated against” regardless of their ethnicity.
It comes after the BBC advertised two junior script writing roles exclusively to non-white job hunters.
He said: “What I worry about is taking someone and putting them in a job because they’re black, brown, green or yellow and allowing the perception that’s the only reason they’re here.
“I like to see people given jobs on merit and not be discriminated against.”
He told the Sun: “There is a need for diversity but I hope its roots are in meritocracy.”
The BBC came under fire earlier this year when it was revealed the corporation was advertising the £25,000 a year roles exclusively to black and minority ethnic candidates.
One white applicant accused the taxpayer-funded corporation of ignoring equal opportunity legislation when they did not give him an interview for the position
But it is not the first time the broadcaster has been called out, with Conservative MP Philip Davies criticising the BBC over its “racist” hiring policies in 2014…”
Sir Trevor McDonald is black British himself…
Goes to show meritocracy works.
“There is a need for diversity but I hope its roots are in meritocracy.”
That OxyMoron brain again.
Dissident US diplomats criticize Syria policy (france24, June 17, 2016)
http://www.france24.com/en/20160617-dissident-us-diplomats-criticize-syria-policy
“A group of US diplomats have used a State Department channel for dissident views to criticize President Barack Obama’s Syria policy, a spokesman confirmed.
The official would not discuss the contents of the cable, but the New York Times and Wall Street Journal said the dissenters call for US strikes against the Syrian regime.
News of the critical cable came as the Pentagon warned that Assad’s Russian allies have bombed US-backed rebels.
“We are aware of a dissent channel cable written by a group of State Department employees regarding the situation in Syria,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told AFP.
“We are reviewing the cable now, which came up very recently,” he added.
The department’s “Dissent Channel” allows diplomats who disagree with an official policy line to register their concerns with senior staff without fear of retribution.
Kirby said US Secretary of State John Kerry “values and respects” the dissent channel, but would not be drawn on whether he believes this specific complaint has merit.
According to the New York Times, which said it had seen a draft of the memo, the diplomats call for the US military to directly target Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
US forces are engaged in Syria but are assisting local militias to fight the Islamic State jihadist group, not confronting Assad’s Russian and Iranian-backed forces…”
Dozens of US diplomats urge military strikes against Syria’s Assad (france24, June 17, 2016)
http://www.france24.com/en/20160617-dozens-us-diplomats-urge-military-strikes-against-syria-assad-assad-obama
“More than 50 State Department diplomats have signed an internal memo sharply critical of US policy in Syria, calling for military strikes against President Bashar al-Assad’s government to stop its persistent violations of a civil war cease-fire.
The “dissent channel cable” was signed by 51 mid- to high-level State Department officers involved with advising on Syria policy. It was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The cable calls for “targeted military strikes” against the Syrian government in light of the near-collapse of the cease-fire brokered earlier this year, the Journal reported, citing copies of the cable it had seen.
Military strikes against the Assad government would represent a major change in the Obama administration’s longstanding policy of not intervening directly in the Syrian civil war, even as it has called for a political transition that would see Assad leave power.
One US official, who did not sign the cable but has read it, told Reuters the White House remained opposed to deeper American military involvement in the Syrian conflict.
The official said the cable was unlikely to alter that, or shift Obama’s focus from the battle against the persistent and spreading threat posed by the Islamic State militant group.
A second source who had read the cable said it reflected the views of US officials who have worked on Syria, some of them for years, and who believe the current policy is ineffective.
“In a nutshell, the group would like to see a military option put forward to put some pressure … on the regime,” said the second source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
While dissent cables are not unusual, the number of signatures on the document is extremely large…”
Readout of Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s Meeting with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammed bin Salman
Today Secretary of Defense Ash Carter hosted Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a series of constructive meetings and briefings at the Pentagon. The Secretary thanked Deputy Crown Prince bin Salman for Saudi Arabia’s close partnership and reaffirmed their strong relationship.
In a continuation of their April conversations in Riyadh on the margins of the U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council Defense Ministerial, the two leaders discussed a wide range of security issues of interest to our two nations, including the Kingdom’s efforts to upgrade its military capabilities, the fight against ISIL, and the situation in Yemen, especially the Saudi role in the recent successful operations aimed at Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
Secretary Carter was pleased to host the deputy crown prince and looks forward to continuing cooperation on countering extremist threats, the counter-ISIL campaign, countering Iran’s destabilizing influence in the region, and other shared security concerns.
http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/801790/readout-of-secretary-of-defense-ash-carters-meeting-with-kingdom-of-saudi-arabi
Secretary Kerry’s Meeting With Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Secretary Kerry hosted Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on June 13 for an iftar dinner in recognition of the Deputy Crown Prince’s visit to the United States. The two reviewed the strong and enduring relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia and discussed a broad range of regional issues, including Yemen, Syria, Libya, and countering terrorism. They also discussed the Kingdom’s plans to transform its economy through its National Transformation Program. Finally, the two discussed this weekend’s shooting in Orlando and expressed their shared commitment to continue their cooperation in combatting the spread of violent extremism, both regionally and internationally.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/06/258446.htm
Kerry hosts Prince Mohammed bin Salman exclusive interview at his home
You Can’t Make This Up: Kerry and Saudi Prince Pledge to Fight Extremism After Orlando Shooting
Here is further proof that US foreign policy fact is stranger than fiction: one day after the Orlando shooting where some 50 patrons of a homosexual bar were gunned down, US Secretary of State John Kerry sat down to dinner with with Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Washington, D.C. and, according to the State Department, “discussed this weekend’s shooting in Orlando and expressed their shared commitment to continue their cooperation in combatting the spread of violent extremism, both regionally and internationally.”
Yes, the same country that follows as a matter of official policy the exact treatment of homosexuals as was meted out by the Orlando shooter has expressed concern over extremism!
Saudi Arabia’s own “violent extremism” doesn’t end at its treatment of homosexuals.
As the defense minister of the Saudi kingdom, Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman is responsible for the brutal and genocidal war on Yemen and for Saudi Arabia’s strong backing of radical jihadists – including al-Qaeda – who for the past five years have killed tens of thousands in attempt to overthrow secular Syrian president Assad.
Also, if reports about the contents of the still-classified “28 Pages” of the 9/11 report are accurate, the Saudi government played a role in the al-Qaeda attacks on the United States.
Imagine sitting down to dinner with Mohammed bin Salman and listening with a straight face as he bleated on about human rights and the need to combat violent extremism. Is there enough (non-alcoholic) beverages on earth to make a meal like that go down?
http://antiwar.com/blog/2016/06/16/you-cant-make-this-up-kerry-and-saudi-prince-pledge-to-fight-extremism-after-orlando-shooting/
reuters – Russia failed to heed U.S. call to stop targeting Syrian rebels -U.S.
WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) – Russia launched a second air strike on Syrian fighters, including some backed by the United States, even after the U.S. military asked Moscow through emergency channels to stop following a first strike, a U.S. official said on Friday.
The official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said a “small number” of Syrian fighters were killed in Thursday’s air strikes in southern Syria.
http://news.trust.org/item/20160617154139-jdu6k
USA: Pentagon concerned by reports of airstrikes in southern Syria
Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook announced to the press, during a briefing in Washington on Thursday, that US intelligence had been made aware of reports that moderate
Syrian opposition[ Muslim terrorists ]were bombed earlier that day in southern Syria.Cook goes on to allege that Russia may have been responsible for the strikes, saying, “We don’t know all the details, but if indeed that action was taken by the Russians, we would have serious concerns about that, and we are working to gather more information and are going to engage with the Russians as well to try and address this matter. But we have seen those reports and are trying to find out what we can about them.”
zero hedge – The Untold Story Behind The “Mutiny At The State Department” Where Dozens Demand War With Syria
Confirming once again that the entire US Middle-East campaign over the past 4 years has been one ongoing plan to destabilize and eliminate Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad from power – certainly including the involvement of ISIS which as we reported a year ago was “created” and facilitated by the Pentagon as a tool to overthrow Assad, an analysis which yesterday gained renewed prominence – overnight the WSJ reported that dozens of State Department officials this week protested against U.S. policy in Syria, signing an internal document that calls for “targeted military strikes against the Damascus government and urging regime change as the only way to defeat Islamic State.”
In other words, over 50 top “diplomats” are urging to eliminate Assad in order to “defeat ISIS”, the same ISIS which top US “diplomats” had unleashed previously in order to… eliminate Assad.
While one can understand the US state department’s relentless eagneress to create yet another failed state led by a US puppet ruler, one wonders if at least the boilerplate justification could not have used some more fine tuning.
Amusingly, the whole thing is wrapped in a narrative that the State Department is ready and willing to “mutiny” against Obama’s pacifism, because you see it was Obama who has been so successful in extricating and removing US troops from harm’s way in both the middle east and Afghanistan. Oh wait…
Here are the full details from he WSJ:
The “dissent channel cable” was signed by 51 State Department officers involved with advising on Syria policy in various capacities, according to an official familiar with the document. The Wall Street Journal reviewed a copy of the cable, which repeatedly calls for “targeted military strikes” against the Syrian government in light of the near-collapse of the ceasefire brokered earlier this year.
The views expressed by the U.S. officials in the cable amount to a scalding internal critique of a longstanding U.S. policy against taking sides in the Syrian war, a policy that has survived even though the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has been repeatedly accused of violating ceasefire agreements and Russian-backed forces have attacked U.S.-trained rebels
More spin: why has Obama been so “against” unleash a full blown invasion on Syria? “Obama administration officials have expressed concern that attacking the Assad regime could lead to a direct conflict with Russia and Iran.”
Oh so that’s why the nuclear arms race is now officially back, just a few weeks after the US launched a ballistic missile shield over Europe, in the process shifting the entire post-cold war nuclear proliferation balance of power. Got it.
Meanwhile, the attempt to paint Obama as a liberal, peace loving dove continue:
“It’s embarrassing for the administration to have so many rank-and-file members break on Syria,” said a former State Department official who worked on Middle East policy. These officials said dissent on Syria policy has been almost a constant since civil war broke out there in 2011. But much of the debate was contained to the top levels of the Obama administration. The recent letter marked a move by the heart of the bureaucracy, which is largely apolitical, to break from the White House
Oh, if only Obama would be more willing to install even more pro-US puppet regimes… like in Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq, Ukraine and so on, and so on… Clearly all of these have turned out so well, that certainly things would be so much better in the middle east. Well, maybe not, but at least that damn Qatari pipeline would finally start flowing.
So why leak this now:
The internal cable may be an attempt to shape the foreign policy outlook of the next administration, the official familiar with the document said. President Barack Obama has balked at taking military action against Mr. Assad, while Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has promised a more hawkish stance toward the Syrian leader. Republican candidate Donald Trump has said he would hit Islamic State hard but has also said he would be prepared to work with Russia in Syria.
The cable warns that the U.S. is losing prospective allies among Syria’s majority Sunni population in its fight against the Sunni extremist group Islamic State while the regime “continues to bomb and starve” them. Mr. Assad and his inner circle are Alawite, a small Shiite-linked Muslim sect and a minority in Syria. In Syria’s multisided war, the regime, Islamic State and an array of opposition rebel groups are all battling each other.
It gets better: “Failure to stem Assad’s flagrant abuses will only bolster the ideological appeal of groups such as Daesh, even as they endure tactical setbacks on the battlefield,” the cable reads, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
But wait, as the Pentagon itself admitted, the “Daesh” was carefully bred by the US government precisely for this reason: to overthrow Assad. Don’t believe us? Read the following line from the leaked document:
“… there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist Principality in eastern Syria (Hasaka and Der Zor), and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime, which is considered the strategic depth of the Shia expansion (Iraq and Iran).”
Does not compute.
There is more: “The cable asserts Mr. Assad and Russia haven’t taken past cease-fires and “consequential negotiations” seriously and suggests adopting a more muscular military posture to secure a transitional government in Damascus.”
The Russian-led force is also pushing toward Raqqa from the south, making the march on the Islamic State stronghold a strategic and symbolic competition between the rival coalitions. Islamic State is also being rolled back in Iraq, where U.S.-allied government forces have retaken major cities and are advancing in Fallujah, the first city the extremists fully occupied back in 2014
Well, sure: with Russia’s backing of a sovereign nation, why should Assad fold to relentless US pressure. Actually that may well be the point: the US is humiliated that a small, feeble middle-eastern nation dares to defy it for years, just because it has the backing of the Kremlin. We don’t need to explain the ugly optics of this.
Perhaps the real reason why the cable has “emerged” now is because due to Russian intervention, ISIS will soon be history:
Although Islamic State is losing ground to multiple, U.S.-backed offensives in Syria, Iraq and Libya, Western diplomats say they worry the group has embedded itself so deeply in the population that it will be a major influence for years to come, eventually going underground as its quasi-army is defeated.
And finally, one last reason emerges: the US is MERELY PANDERING TO SAUDI DEMANDS , something it has clearly done very well ever since the Sep 11 attacks which covered up Saudi involvement:
The cable also echoes the growing impatience among U.S. Gulf allies with the lack of military intervention targeted at the Damascus government to force Mr. Assad to resign and make way for a transitional government. Peace talks between Syria’s government and opposition collapsed in April over Mr. Assad’s fate, with the regime insisting he should stay in power, while the negotiated cease-fire continued to disintegrate. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have pressed the U.S. to provide more sophisticated weapons to rebels. But Washington has resisted.
In other words, if the US does fold and proceeds with military strikes, i.e. full blown invasion and war, on Assad, it will once again be Saudi Arabia that is running US foreign policy, and pushing the US nation into what may be a state of open war with Russia.
We can only hope the American people wake up and stop this travesty before Saudi Arabia’s favorite presidential candidate is elected president.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-17/untold-story-behind-mutiny-state-department-where-dozens-demand-war-syria
=========================================================
Jubeir: Saudi Arabia to have strong ties with future US president
Saudi foreign minister says Assad ‘will be removed by force’ by the Syrian people if peace talks fail, says Saudi Arabia called for a military intervention from beginning to protect civilians –
Foreign minister denies claims of Saudi involvement in 9/11 attacks
More robust approach needed to influence Syria’s Assad -Syrian minister
WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia supports a more aggressive approach against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, including imposing a NO-FLY ZONE and arming rebels with SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILES , Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Friday.
“If the Bashar regime feels that it can continue in a stalemate, much less prevail, there will be no incentive for them to take the necessary steps to bring about a transition in Syria,” Jubeir told a news briefing during a Washington visit by Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL1N19915V
US observers hail Saudi deputy crown prince visit to Washington
Senior officials and analysts in Saudi Arabia and the United States have hailed the ongoing visit of Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the United States, highlighting the impact it will have on the relations between the two countries.
In a statement to Saudi Press Agency, Fran Townsend, the former Homeland Security Advisor to President George W. Bush, welcomed the visit adding that it confirms Saudi Arabia’s interest in a long-term strategic relationship that exists with the United States of America.
She noted that the meetings of Prince Mohammed bin Salman with businessmen, as well as with the Speaker of the House, confirm the status enjoyed by Saudi Arabia and strong its position in the United States.
It demonstrated the keenness of US officials to interact with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and ensuing massive development programs, such as the National transformation Program, which will expand the level of the quality of mutual relations, between the two countries.
She praised the announcement of the deputy crown prince, upon arrival to the United States, of his keen interest in supporting Saudi nationals, studying in the United States.
Historical ties
The founder and Chairman of the Saudi-American Public Relations Affairs Committee Salman al-Ansari underscored the importance of the visit and said that it will promote strong relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Al-Ansari said that the relations between the two sides are based on “solid historical constants, expressed by the results of the meetings, which brought together the leaders of the two countries over eight decades ago.”
In a statement to SPA, Ansari said that the visit of the deputy crown prince to the United States proceeded from a long-term political perspective, based on the terms of understanding between the two countries, and aims to put US administration before its responsibilities, in maintaining strategic, political, economic and logistics interests with the Kingdom and the region.
This takes into account Saudi Arabia’s position in the world, its position as an active member of the G20, its strong and a solid support for international peace, and relief efforts. Al-Ansari said that American officials are aware of the international efforts being undertaken by Saudi Arabia to achieve stability and security of the Middle East and the world. This was expressed by the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, during his meeting with President Barack Obama, during a visit to Washington, in September 2015.
Ansari said that the deputy crown prince has set a new trend in strengthening relations between the two countries, expressing the contents of the Saudi Vision 2030, details of the National Transformation Program, which is a strategy by the Council of Economic Affairs and Development, headed by him.
“This is a quantum leap in the economic transformation of the kingdom, which has tremendous wealth. This should attract investors and US corporates to engage in economic partnerships for mutual benefit,” he said.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2016/06/17/US-observers-hail-Saudi-crown-prince-visit-to-Washington.html
Saudi Deputy Crown Prince meets with Obama
Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Friday visited the White House to meet with US President Barack Obama. The president and crown prince discussed bilateral and historical ties between the two countries.
In a statement the White House said that Obama had expressed his country’s commitment to continue cooperation with Saudi Arabia and for the two nations to work together to support the security and stability of the Middle East region, and the challenges the region faced. The two also discussed Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic diversification plan.
The two met following a series of meetings with business representatives and government officials. The deputy crown prince’s visit to the US Thursday included a meeting at the Pentagon with US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, during which the pair discussed the situation in the Middle East.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2016/06/17/Saudi-Deputy-Crown-Prince-meets-with-Obama.html
Something for the guys who dress in bedsheets to chew on till the sun sets.
Saudi Arabia repeats call for US strikes on Assad
Washington (AFP) – Saudi Arabia on Friday reiterated its call for air strikes against Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, after US diplomats broke ranks with the White House to push for robust action.
Briefing journalists after talks at the White House, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the kingdom had long urged Washington to lead a military response to undermine Assad’s control.
At the Saudi Embassy, Jubeir noted that from the very start of the crisis, Riyadh had pushed for “a more robust policy, including air strikes, safe zones, a no fly zone, a no drive zone.”
He said Saudi Arabia wanted to arm Syria’s “moderate opposition” with GROUND-TO-AIR MISSILES and repeated an offer to deploy Saudi special forces in any US-led operation.
Riyadh’s position is not new: Saudi officials have long been discreetly critical of US President Barack Obama’s cautious approach to the five-year-old conflict in Syria.
But Jubeir was speaking after the US State Department was forced to confirm that many of its own diplomats had signed a cable on a “dissident channel” calling for more robust action in Syria.
Obama is reluctant to see US forces drawn into another Middle East conflict, and many in Washington are concerned that weapons sent to the rebels fighting Assad could get into the hands of extremists.
But a lengthy US and Russian led diplomatic initiative to persuade Assad and the opposition to begin talks on a political transition has yielded only the shakiest of ceasefires.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/31863751/saudi-arabia-repeats-call-for-us-strikes-on-assad/#page1
Washington DC – Saudi Foreign Minister Al-Jubeir Press Conference
43 min
Will toppling the Syrian govt benefit ISIS? 17 June 2016
John Kirby, State Department Spokesperson.
U.S. Department of State – Daily Briefing: June.17.2016
Yes it will benefit ISIS and will not benefit the US in any way, remember the idea of toppeling Assad came from Hillary and her pay for play foreign policy.
Our foreign policy should be run by what will benefit the US and our allies.
Islamic school condemned after leaflets claiming music is an ‘act of the devil’ are found (express, June 17, 2016)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/680743/Islamic-School-Darul-Uloom-Birmingham-extremist-devil-music-dancing-Ofsted
“AN ISLAMIC independent school has been slated by Ofsted after inspectors found leaflets claiming music and dancing were “acts of the devil”.
Inspectors arrived unannounced at the Darul Uloom Islamic High School in Birmingham, which they previously rated “inadequate”.
Ofsted officials expressed concerns that the school was not protecting pupils from “extreme views”…”
Muslim student president claims Islamic youngsters join ISIS because of Government cuts (express, June 17, 2016)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/680726/islamic-state-isis-national-union-students-Malia-Bouattia-government-cuts-tory
“THE first Muslim female president of the National Union of Students (NUS) has claimed Government cuts are the reason young British Muslims join the Islamic State.
Malia Bouattia said young people in Britain have “no choice but to go off to Syria” because they “feel so disempowered”.
The outspoken 28-year-old has previously refused to condemn ISIS since she was elected as president of the NUS in April.
And the controversial student leader has now claimed that the closure of youth centres, coupled with “the fact that education is being privatised and rendered inaccessible”, is the reason more than 800 British citizens have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join groups such as ISIS…”
PICTURED: Islamic State savages brutally STONE four men to death for ‘adultery’ (express, June 17, 2016)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/680737/Islamic-State-savages-brutally-STONE-four-men-to-death-for-adultery
“BRUTAL pictures have emerged showing Islamic State militants as they stone four men to death – under the charge of adultery.
The four were brutally murdered by ISIS executioners for the alleged crime, using the punishment decreed under the terror group’s warped interpretation of Sharia Law.
The execution is believed to have taken place near the Tigris river in Iraq.
The rocks, which initially surround the men as they sit blindfolded and praying, were selected so they would not kill the men outright – inflicting the highest amount of pain possible…”
Iraqis fly to Britain to claim more than £250K in compensation after UK Army detained them (express, June 17, 2016)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/680727/Iraq-war-compensation-Britain-Ministry-of-Defence-politics-military-torture-court-legal
“A SUSPECTED bomb-maker and an alleged Iraqi insurgent have flown to Britain to claim more than £250,000 in compensation after being detained by UK troops.
In the first High Court case of its kind, Abd Al-Waheed – who was allegedly found handling a bomb-making kit surrounded by mortars and plastic explosives – is demanding £233,000 for “damage to teeth” and “loss of earnings”.
Mr Al-Waheed was detained for 44 days during the Iraq war in 2007.
Kamil Najim Alseran is also claiming £46,000 after being detained for 52 days in 2003 as it emerges the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has splashed out £22million in compensation for Iraqi civilians to date.
The MoD is desperately fighting the case amid fears more than 600 similar cases could be brought before judges if the two alleged Iraqi militants are successful…”
Pakistani MQM linked to ‘dozens of UK bank accounts’ (BBC, June 17, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36486970
“UK police documents obtained by the BBC list more than 70 London bank accounts related to a Pakistani party being investigated for money-laundering.
Twenty-six are in the name of MQM leader Altaf Hussain. UK-based party officials are waiting to hear if they will face money-laundering charges.
Six British detectives were recently in Pakistan seeking co-operation in the alleged money-laundering case.
The MQM has said Scotland Yard’s claims about the bank accounts are baseless.
British police have been investigating the MQM, one of Pakistan’s main political parties, for several years but the pace of their investigations has picked up markedly since a meeting in London in April between Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, and Home Secretary Theresa May.
The Scotland Yard documents, which include details of both open and closed bank accounts, were submitted to Pakistan’s Federal Investigations Agency (FIA) as part of a British request for assistance.
Scotland Yard has declined to comment on the documents…”
Deaths, arrests as looting erupts in Venezuela
Alexander Martinez
•June 17, 2016
Deaths, arrests as looting erupts in Venezuela
Alexander Martinez
•June 17, 2016
A store is closed in Cumana, Venezuela, after looting in the city
View photos
A store is closed in Cumana, Venezuela, after looting in the city (AFP Photo/Manuel Trujillo)
Caracas (AFP) – Venezuelan police have arrested hundreds of people as the country’s food crisis erupted into deadly looting this week, heightening hardship and political uncertainty in the impoverished oil-producing nation.
Dozens of bakeries, supermarkets and hardware shops were looted on Tuesday in the eastern city of Cumana, the latest flashpoint in a crisis that has killed at least four people so far.
“It ended in total ruin because the businesses had not only their stock pillaged but also their furniture. It was total destruction,” said Ruben Saud, president of the Cumana Chamber of Commerce.
The chaos started when gangs of looters on motorcycles raided trucks transporting food, witnesses said.
The governor of Sucre state, where Cumana is located, told state television channel VTV that “more than 400 people” were arrested, including three suspected gang leaders involved in the looting.
Arrests have also been reported in other towns.
– Blaming the opposition –
The opposition blames President Nicolas Maduro for an economic crisis in which Venezuelans are suffering shortages of basic foods and goods.
Deaths, arrests as looting erupts in Venezuela
Alexander Martinez
•June 17, 2016
A store is closed in Cumana, Venezuela, after looting in the city
View photos
A store is closed in Cumana, Venezuela, after looting in the city (AFP Photo/Manuel Trujillo)
Caracas (AFP) – Venezuelan police have arrested hundreds of people as the country’s food crisis erupted into deadly looting this week, heightening hardship and political uncertainty in the impoverished oil-producing nation.
Dozens of bakeries, supermarkets and hardware shops were looted on Tuesday in the eastern city of Cumana, the latest flashpoint in a crisis that has killed at least four people so far.
“It ended in total ruin because the businesses had not only their stock pillaged but also their furniture. It was total destruction,” said Ruben Saud, president of the Cumana Chamber of Commerce.
The chaos started when gangs of looters on motorcycles raided trucks transporting food, witnesses said.
The governor of Sucre state, where Cumana is located, told state television channel VTV that “more than 400 people” were arrested, including three suspected gang leaders involved in the looting.
Arrests have also been reported in other towns.
– Blaming the opposition –
The opposition blames President Nicolas Maduro for an economic crisis in which Venezuelans are suffering shortages of basic foods and goods.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/deaths-arrests-looting-erupts-venezuela-110904468.html?ref=gs
Dozens of U.S. diplomats urge military strikes against Syria’s Assad
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More than 50 State Department diplomats have signed an internal memo critical of U.S. policy in Syria, calling for military strikes against President Bashar al-Assad’s government to stop its persistent violations of a civil war ceasefire.
The “dissent channel cable” was signed by 51 mid- to high-level State Department officers advising on Syria policy.
It calls for “targeted military strikes” against the Syrian government in light of the near-collapse of the ceasefire brokered earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing copies of the cable it had seen.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, visiting Copenhagen, told Reuters on Friday: “It’s an important statement and I respect the process, very, very much. I will … have a chance to meet with people when I get back (to Washington).”
He said he had not seen the memo.
Military strikes against the Assad government would represent a major change in the Obama administration’s policy of not intervening directly in the Syrian civil war, while calling for a political transition that would see Assad leave power.
http://www.oann.com/dozens-of-u-s-diplomats-urge-military-strikes-against-syrias-assad/
doesn’t smell right
Either somebody paid them to say that or someone higher ranking ordered them to say that.
IS conflict: Iraqi forces ‘retake Falluja city hall’ (BBC, June 17, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36557092
“Iraqi government forces have retaken the main government compound in the city of Falluja from Islamic State (IS) militants, a top commander has said…”
Europe migrant crisis: Charity rejects EU funds over migration policy (BBC, June 17, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36558694
“Medical aid charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says it will no longer take funds from the European Union in protest at its migration policy.
MSF singled out the EU’s deal with Turkey under which Turkey agreed to take back any migrants who crossed the sea to Greece in smugglers’ boats.
The number of migrants – many from war-torn Syria – to Europe is at its highest level since World War Two.
The charity received $63m (£44m) from the EU and its members last year.
“MSF announces today that we will no longer take funds from the EU and its Member States in protest at their shameful deterrence policies and their intensification of efforts to push people back from European shores,” the group said in a statement.
Jerome Oberreit, MSF’s international secretary general, told a news conference that the EU-Turkey agreement went against the fundamental principles of providing assistance to people in need.
He said the deal did nothing to address the chronic deficiencies of EU policy, but simply outsourced European obligations.
“This is really about Europe’s refugee shame,” he said.
MSF said none of its patients would be affected by its decision on funding, and that in the short term it would cover the shortfall from emergency reserves.
The organisation receives 90% of its overall funding from private sources, not governments…”
Color me shocked: Study finds ‘liberals’ are the true authoritarians
In what is being called “the mother of all corrections,” the American Journal of Political Science has admitted that the results of a study it published were unintentionally misrepresented. The study, “Correlation not Causation: The Relationship between Personality Traits and Political Ideologies,” purported to show that conservatives are marked by an authoritarian streak. After the study had garnered much scholarly attention, Steven Ludeke and Stig H. R. Rasmussen of the University of Southern Denmark noticed that the data did not support the published results. The correct conclusion is that liberals, particularly economic liberals, lean toward authoritarianism.
This study, which was found worthy enough to be cited 45 times before the correction, will probably disappear down the old memory hole. It doesn’t fit the narrative — and for that it must die.
Not that I put much stock in the study; not now and not before the erroneous conclusion was noticed and corrected. Social sciences are the softest of all scientific disciplines and this study seems downright squishy. It’s not a physics experiment conducted in a laboratory but the very subjective exploration of a political and sociological question, fraught with gray areas and malleable definitions. Take “authoritarianism,” for example. While such a thing certainly exists, it is nonetheless an intangible commodity that cannot be measured in the same way we measure newtons or watts. And what exactly do “conservative” and “liberal” mean? Those words describe attitudes found on the left/right political spectrum, a useful but imperfect mental model created by humans to better understand political philosophies.
http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/06/17/color-shocked-liberals-true-authoritarians/
Social sciences are the softest sick puppy poo.
I’ve noticed a concerted effort by US gun controllers to try to get US government funding to study “the gun problem” on American public radio. (Gun owners managed to get this spigot of free money to “social scientists” shut off years ago because we know EXACTLY what the gun controllers are trying to do: create a steady Cosmopolitan drumbeat of the “need for more gun restrictions and even gun owners support a ban/restriction!”) Why don’t the communist/social scientists just get George Soros and his friends to just hand over a pot of money? Go finance your own Red propaganda.
Jimmy Carter ordered a government study of the Second Amendment, the left is still upset that he hired honest researchers. They came out and said that it is an Individual right and all gun laws are unconstitutional. There were only a few copies of the study printed and it has never been reprinted.
LOL
‘Benefits must be earned’ Denmark to make migrants PAY into system before they get welfare (express, June 17, 2016)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/680867/Benefits-earned-Danish-government-plan-migrants-pay-before-receive-EU
“DENMARK is to introduce hardline policies to prevent new migrants from claiming benefits, it has been revealed.
Foreign minister Kristian Jensen said new migrants arriving in Denmark should not be able to claim financial support without contributing to the Scandinavian country’s economy first.
The leading politician said: “I think it would be reasonable to have a contribution requirement before receiving social benefits.
“I think it would create greater understanding for labour movement in Denmark.”
The renewed call for restrictions on European migrants comes after red-tape obsessed officials rejected Denmark’s first proposal for a benefits clamp down, claiming it would breach EU rules.
However the Government has now vowed to implement a contribution requirement.
All working Danish citizens are expected to pay into an unemployment fund.
Mr Jensen said a concrete plan had not yet been drafted but he said the restrictions would apply to child support and well as the Danish version of Jobseeker’s Allowance.
The foreign minister added: “If a Danish worker only can receive unemployment benefits after he’s earned the right through payment to a Danish unemployment insurance fund, the same should apply to people coming from other EU countries.”
The moves comes after it was revealed a Syrian migrant who arrived in Denmark with one wife and eight children had been allowed to bring another two wives and 12 more children to the country.
As the migrant claims to be too sick to work and has 20 children it would see Danish taxpayers fork out 214,128 Danish Kroners (£21,883) in support for the family each year.
Outraged officials demanded the Danish benefits system should be reviewed as it was suggested it was allowing people to exploit the establishment.
At the time, Integration spokesperson for the Conservatives, Naser Khader, said it should not be possible for someone who does not intend to work to be given such vast sums and he called for Denmark to implement an upper limit for the number of children a person can claim contributions for.”
France allows off-duty police to carry guns following murders by jihadist near Paris (RT, June 16, 2016)
https://www.rt.com/news/347030-french-police-officers-guns/
“France has relaxed gun rules for its police force, allowing officers to carry firearms while off-duty. The policy change comes just days after a police couple was murdered by a jihadist in a Paris suburb.
The decision was made at a Tuesday meeting between police unions and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on…”
Boko Haram massacre women in north-east Nigerian village (theguardian, June 17, 2016)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/17/boko-haram-massacre-women-in-north-east-nigerian-village?
“Boko Haram militants have shot 18 women dead at a funeral in north-eastern Nigeria, rampaging through a village, setting houses on fire and shooting at random, witnesses and local government officials said on Friday.
The attack took place on Thursday evening in the village of Kuda in Adamawa state. Resident Moses Kwagh said people waited until three hours after the attack and had then counted 18 women’s bodies.
Some women were still missing, he said…”
For those who don’t know much about firearms.
Libsplaining: Liberal blogger explains AR-15, automatic weapons to conservative gun owners
By J.E. Dyer June 16, 2016
So here we have a writer who obviously isn’t a knowledgeable gun owner himself, nor did he stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. At best, he may have snagged a room in one of those flea-bag motels on I-40 with the “BIG-RIG PARKING!” come-ons and the one room you can get for $23.99 a “nite,” if you show up to check in at 3:00 PM local plus one second.
Our young blogger, Tommy Christopher, clearly didn’t understand why the gun-smart Alex Griswold called BS on claims about the AR-15* made by Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alan Grayson ?
17%
(D-FL). (I almost hate to use Christopher’s name, as this critique is kind of like shooting fish in a barrel. But it’s important to understand the level of arrogant ignorance we’re dealing with out there. These poor people have no clue what they’re talking about, and yet they’ve been taught to assume as a given that they are smarter and better informed than “conservatives.”)
Griswold basically got everything right. Bernie Sanders referred after the terror attack to the need to ban “automatic weapons.” But automatic weapons are banned to the general public, and have been for decades. The AR-15 is a semi-automatic weapon, meaning that it chambers a new round automatically after one is fired, but firing the next round requires pulling the trigger again. An automatic, or “fully automatic,” weapon fires multiple rounds with one depres
http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/06/16/libsplaining-liberal-blogger-explains-ar-15-automatic-weapons-conservative-gun-owners/
Muslim faith school says Ofsted inspectors are racist after reports slams them over leaflets branding music and dancing ‘acts of the devil’ (dailymail, June 17, 2016)
http://dailym.ai/23ghS9a
“A Muslim faith school has accused Ofsted of racism after the watchdog slams posters branding music and dancing as ‘acts of the devil’.
The Darul Uloom Islamic High School said the leaflets – described by Ofsted as evidence of safeguarding weakness – were not found on its premises but at the rear door of an adjacent mosque.
And the independent school in Small Heath, Birmingham, has alleged that an Ofsted inspector angrily refused to take off their shoes during a recent inspection, describing them as ‘extremely belligerent’ throughout the visit.
Ofsted said a large pile of copies of the leaflet were found in May in areas shared by the mosque and school and used by pupils.
The latest Ofsted report, published this week, said: ‘Leaders and staff have had training in preventing extremism and radicalisation, and been given the latest Government safeguarding guidance…”
Police arrest suspect Ali Qazimaj over murder of Peter and Sylvia Stuart
http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2016-06-17/police-arrest-suspect-ali-qazimaj-over-murder-of-peter-and-sylvia-stuart/
…Ali Qazimaj, who is also known as Marco Costa, came to the UK from Kosovo after the conflict ended in the late 1990s. He was granted asylum and given a British passport.
http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/ali_qazimaj_arrested_in_luxembourg_as_police_investigate_double_murder_of_weybread_couple_peter_and_sylvia_stuart_1_4582233
How Geert Wilders views the European Union – BBC News
Rebel Media – After Orlando, Toronto posters condemn “Islamophobia” at taxpayer expense
Rebe Media – Faith Goldy: People of Orlando “are totally out of it,” Islam not “part of their equation”
CNN – Terror in Orlando
CNN talks to Rasha Mubarak, Orlando Regional Coordinator for CAIR, a Muslim group, about the shooting at the Orlando nightclub.
CNN – A congressman’s case for changing the ‘gay blood ban
ongressman Jared Polis, the first openly gay man to be elected as a freshman, wants to change a policy that effectively bans gay men from donating blood.A congressman’s case for changing the ‘gay blood ban’
Well, with modern labeling and database technology, there is NO reason why gays should be denied the right to contribute to a blood bank. Just make sure the blood is labeled: “For Gays Only.” (Years ago, gay activists opposed contact tracing of HIV sex partners, because they wanted HIV to spread to the general non-gay population.)
USA: LGBTQ ‘Sacred’ flag unfurled over Orange County Admin Building
A massive LGBTQ rainbow flag dubbed ‘The Sacred Cloth’ was unfurled over the Orange County Administration building in Orlando, Friday. The flag is reportedly the 93rd section of the world’s largest 1.25 mile (2 km) long LGBTQ flag, dubbed Sea-to-Sea, that was assembled at the Key West Pride parade in 2003. A number of city officials such as the Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs, as well as representatives of the LGBTQ community, took part in the commemoration ceremony for the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.
CNN – Officials: Orlando shooter prepared for death before attack
Officials told CNN that the Orlando shooter made preparations before the shooting for his death, as well as plans for his family that included the transfer of assets and money.
U.N. Genocide Watchdog Suggests Trump, American Hardliners Fueling Hatred of Muslims
The U.N.’s top genocide expert waded into the toxic American debate on the massacres of 49 people at a gay bar in Orlando, Florida, and issued a thinly veiled swipe at presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Christian extremists for exploiting the tragedy to fuel anti-Muslim hatred.
“At a time when there was greatest need for sympathy and solidarity, I was appalled by the immediate and shameful efforts of some political and religious leaders to manipulate and politicize the events in Orlando to fuel fear, intolerance, and hatred,” Adama Dieng, the U.N. special advisor to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the prevention of genocide, said Friday in a statement.
Dieng stopped short of calling out Trump by name. But he criticized calls by “some politicians to cite radical Islam as the cause of the attack in Orlando, to ban Muslims from the United States, and to label all Muslims as terrorists.”
While Trump hasn’t labeled all Muslims terrorists, he has called for a ban on Muslim immigrants entering the United States. More recently he blasted President Barack Obama for refusing to use the term “radical Islam” in describing shooter Omar Mateen’s motive for the Orlando killings.
Obama has long avoided characterizing attacks by individuals inspired or acting on behalf of the Islamic State or al Qaeda as “radical Islam” because he believes it would unfairly tarnish one of the world’s most important religions and undermine international support for the U.S.-led military campaign against the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIL.
“What exactly would using this label accomplish?” Obama said this week. “What exactly would it change? Would it make ISIL less committed to trying to kill Americans? Would it bring in more allies? Is there a military strategy that is served by this? The answer is, none of the above.”
But Trump and other Republican figures, including Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, have cited the Democratic president’s refusal to utter the phrase as a sign of weakness and capitulation to political correctness.
“With all due respect, Mr. President, you’re wrong,” Sasse said in a statement issued Tuesday. “It is the the commander in chief’s duty to actually identify our enemies and to help the American people understand the challenge of violent Islam.”
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presumptive presidential nominee, had initially resisted pressure from Trump and others to label the ideologies that motivate followers of the Islamic State and al Qaeda to carry out terror attacks as Islamic radicalism. It “sounds like we are declaring war against a religion,” she told CBS in December. But she said after the Orlando shootings that she would be “happy” to use the phrase “radical Islamism.”
“To me, radical jihadism, radical Islamism, I think they mean the same thing,” Clinton said Monday on NBC’s Today show. “I’m happy to say either. But that’s not the point.”
Trump quickly turned to Twitter to seize credit for compelling Clinton to reverse course.
Dieng also took aim at Arizona pastor Steven Anderson of the so-called Faithful Word Baptist Church, who recorded a YouTube sermon welcoming the killings of the 49 victims in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. “The good news is that there’s 50 less pedophiles in this world,” the Tempe-based pastor said.
Dieng said he was “sickened to hear religious leaders commend the killings of members of the LGBT community,” referring to Anderson’s remarks.
“Religious and sexual minorities are subjected to discrimination, human rights violations, and violence worldwide, including in peaceful and democratic societies,” Dieng said. “However, they are most vulnerable during difficult times.”
“It is simply unacceptable that influential leaders, including political and religious leaders, spread the kind of dangerous homophobic and Islamophobic messages that we have seen in public discourse and the media this week,” he said.
Dieng also warned that “any advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence is prohibited under international human rights law as well as by the legislations of many countries.” He urged political and religious leaders to “publicly counter lies, prejudice, and fear, to act responsibly and with respect for both international and national laws.”
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/06/17/u-n-genocide-watchdog-suggests-trump-other-american-hardliners-fueling-hatred-of-muslims/
Just ignore the “elephant in the room” trying to kill you with every available weapon at his disposal. Sure. Average IQ of American is 98, enough for the body politic to emulate Homer Simpson: “Hey, wait a minute!”
the guardian : Nigel Farage’s anti-migrant poster reported to police
Unison’s Dave Prentis said poster showing a queue of migrants and refugees incites racial hatred
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/16/nigel-farage-defends-ukip-breaking-point-poster-queue-of-migrants
Immoral and dishonest: MPs from all sides lash out over Farage poster
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/immoral-and-dishonest-mps-from-all-sides-lash-out-over-farage-poster-2td870cpk
Orlando Wasn’t the Only Islamist Incident in America This Week
If you thought Orlando was the only plot this week, think again. Wednesday saw three different Islamist incidents involving law enforcement.
A man from Kosovo pled guilty to providing material support to the Islamic State in a Virginia court on Wednesday. Ardit Ferizi, 20, hacked into a U.S. online retailer and stole the personal information of 1,351 U.S. military personnel and federal officials. He passed the information on to British Islamic State hacker Junaid Hussain with the understanding ISIS would carry out attacks against those individuals.
He faces up to 20 years in prison for providing support to ISIS and up to a further five years for accessing a protected computer without permission.
A Turkish businessman in New York pleaded guilty to selling restricted missile supplies to the Iranian regime in violation of sanctions placed on Iran. Erdal Kuyumcu, 44, the chief executive of Global Metallurgy LLC smuggled 450 kilograms of cobalt-nickel metallic powder to Iran via Turkey. The powder is used in missiles and nuclear technology.
He is expected to be sentenced to five years in prison after reaching a deal with prosecutors, despite an initial sentence of 20 years and a $1 million fine which was first demanded.
https://www.clarionproject.org/news/orlando-wasnt-only-islamist-incident-america-week
A member of the hacktivist group Anonymous has successfully hacked into multiple Twitter accounts of the terror group ISIS and filled them with tons of gay content including the symbolic rainbow-colored flag, digitally manipulated photos, and gay porn.
After the barbaric Orlando nightclub shooting, the ISIS has been openly celebrating the death of people who belong to the LGBT community. While the world was grieving the death of 49 people, they have mocked the shocking incident and called on their comrades to carry out more such vicious attacks on other locations that offer a safe haven to the LGBT community.
http://www.inquisitr.com/3210917/anonymous-hacks-isis-twitter-accounts-photos-rainbow-flags-gay-porn-orlando-nightclub-shooting/
BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Twitter that he was set Friday to declare victory over ISIS in Falluja, the Iraqi city held longest by the extremists, following rapid advances by U.S.-backed government forces into the center.
Abadi said on Twitter that he would “announce to the Iraqi people tonight victory in the liberation of Falluja.”
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2016/Jun-17/357547-iraqi-pm-says-to-declare-victory-in-falluja-after-rapid-advances.ashx
At a press conference, her family and Kalash and Muslim community leaders said the violence had erupted over a misunderstanding.
This had happened when, after converting to Islam and spending a night with a Muslim family at a religious seminary, Rina went home and put on traditional Kalash dress – consisting of a robe embroidered with cowrie shells and embroidered headgear, they said.
This had offended local Muslims who believed this meant Rina had reverted to her Kalash faith, they added.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36562014
PARIS (AP) — The killer who knifed to death two police officials in their home this week, claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group, tracked the couple days before the gruesome murders and uploaded his claim of responsibility on the family computer, a judicial official said on Friday.
As the investigation into the gruesome deaths on Monday advanced, France honored the couple, Commander Jean-Baptiste Salvaing, No. 2 officer in Mureaux, a hardscrabble town west of Paris, and Jessica Schneider, a police administrator in nearby Mantes-la-Jolie, another challenging town for police.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/1eaeb2cbf4b1499abf8052b8c4ac1878/france-honors-police-couple-killed-radical-their-home
KHURMATU—At least 24 members of Iraqi security forces were killed in the early hours of Friday as Islamic State (ISIS) militants rammed their base south of the town of Khurmatu, a commander told Rudaw, and three Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers died as they helped repel the attack.
http://rudaw.net/mobile/english/middleeast/iraq/17062016
Finally some reason!!!
U.S. lawmakers want to cut off funds to United Nations-run schools where a new documentary shows kids as young as 13 declaring they want to kill Jews and join ISIS.
The documentary, “The UNRWA Road to Terror: Palestinian Classroom Incitement,” shows children as young as 7 in schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) expressing support for terrorism. One clip shows a 13-year-old Palestinian student chanting “With Allah’s help I will fight for ISIS, the Islamic State.”
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/06/16/lawmakers-call-for-defunding-un-after-film-shows-palestinian-kids-praising-isis.html
The next step is to declare UNRWA a terrorist organization!
The US, once again, confuses the word ‘fighting’ with ‘aiding’…
Russia launched a second air strike on U.S.-backed Syrian fighters battling Islamic State, even after the U.S. military used emergency channels to ask Moscow to stop following a first strike, a U.S. official told Reuters on Friday.
The official, who spoke to on condition of anonymity, said a small number of Syrian fighters were killed in Thursday’s air strikes in southern Syria.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-strike-idUSKCN0Z306L
The US pays jizya to Pakistan:
WASHINGTON: The US Senate has passed its draft of the National Defence Authorisation Bill, including a provision to set up a new fund to reimburse Pakistan for its efforts in the war against terrorism.
The Senate version authorises $800 million under a provision called the `Pakistan Security Enhancement Authorisation’.
It also fences $300m behind a similar Haqqani network provision that has existed in the annual defence authorisation acts since the fiscal year 2015.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1265197
Fifteen men who “systematically” groomed and sexually abused teenage girls in Halifax have been jailed.
They were convicted of child sex offences including rape, grooming and trafficking during three separate trials at Leeds Crown Court.
Prosecutors praised the “immense courage and bravery” of the two victims who gave evidence against the men.
The longest sentence passed was 25 years in what was described as a “complex and lengthy operation”.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-36559092
Istanbul authorities ban transgender and gay pride marches
Parades banned after ultra-nationalist youth group Alperen Hearths calls them immoral and threatens violence
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/17/istanbul-transgender-gay-pride-marches-ban-alperen-hearths
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Palestinians said Friday they have started negotiations with Egypt to determine the boundaries of their undersea territory as a first step to determining the sea borders of a Palestinian state.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told a group of reporters that this is part of “building the structures of a serious, respectable state in all fields.” He said the resources in an undersea “exclusive economic zone” are “the wealth of the Palestinian people.”
After the U.N. General Assembly recognized Palestine as a non-member state in October 2012, the Palestinians gained the right to seek membership in U.N. institutions and treaty bodies — and among more than a dozen that it joined was the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/cb42c47218b440bcb12d5c9c5afe7368/palestinians-say-they-are-negotiating-sea-border-egypt
Colour me shocked! Shocked, I tell you, shocked!!!
Study: Large number of Turks in Germany put Islam above the law
Germany may be home, but many don’t feel accepted: A new study reveals what ethnic Turks think about religion and integration, with many putting Islam above the law and some even justifying violence to expand Islam.
http://www.dw.com/en/study-large-number-of-turks-in-germany-put-islam-above-the-law/a-19336757
These poor dears don’t know the US very well, do they…
The militia, known as the Nineveh Plain Protection Units, or NPU, is one of three Christian armed groups hoping for American support after the U.S. House of Representatives called for direct assistance to be delivered to local security forces in the north of Iraq.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/christian-militias-fighting-iraq-hope-us-support-39907113
BBC – bought and paid for by the EU. As in, bribes, not ownership…
Corporation bosses applied for the cash under the EU’s Horizon 2020 scheme, which provides money for research.
A European Commission spokesman confirmed to Heat Street that the BBC has scooped 3.4 million Euros so far under the programme – £2.7 million – and is allowed to apply for more cash.
https://heatst.com/uk/bbc-has-secured-2-7-million-in-secret-eu-funds-since-2014/
The Taliban is using child sex slaves to mount crippling insider attacks on police in southern Afghanistan, exploiting the pervasive practice of “bacha bazi” – paedophilic boy play – to infiltrate security ranks, according to multiple officials and survivors of such assaults.
The ancient custom is prevalent across Afghanistan, but nowhere does it seem as entrenched as in the province of Uruzgan, where “bacha bereesh” – or boys without beards – widely become objects of lustful attraction for powerful police commanders.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11658461
France police killing: policeman refuses to shake president’s hand (BBC, video, June 17, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36563152
“French President Francois Hollande has vowed to improve the protection of police officers, after a police couple was killed by a militant this week.
But during a ceremony to honour the victims, one policeman refused the shake hands with the president and his prime minister.
Interviewed on TF1 television afterwards, he said “There are too many problems in the police. We’ve had enough.””
Stadt schenkt Grundstück an Islamverbände
MONHEIM AM RHEIN. Die nordrhein-westfälische Stadt Monheim hat zwei islamischen Vereinen kostenlose Grundstücke für den Bau von Moscheen und Gemeindezentren angeboten. Bürgermeister Daniel Zimmermann (Peto) möchte die beiden Gemeinden „aus den Hinterhöfen holen“. Der Grundstückswert beläuft sich auf rund 900.000 Euro, berichtete die Rheinische Post.
Demnach biete Zimmermann der türkisch-islamischen Ditib-Gemeinde eine rund 4.150 Quadratmeter große Fläche mitten im Berliner Viertel an, in dem viele Einwanderer leben. „Dort sind bisher nur die evangelische und die katholische Kirche vertreten, bald auch in direkter Nachbarschaft die Muslime“, sagte Zimmermann dem Blatt. Am Freitagsgebet der Gemeinde nähmen regelmäßig rund 500 Gläubige teil.
Verpflichtung zu Verfassungstreue und Toleranz
Die arabisch-islamische Gemeinde soll auf Wunsch des Bürgermeisters eine 3.500 Quadratmeter große Fläche im Wert von rund 420.000 Euro erhalten. Marokkaner gründeten 1984 die Gemeinde mit 30 Mitgliedern, heute zählt sie über 200. Beide Gemeinden verkauften ihre bisherigen Grundstücke und kündigten an, rund zwei Millionen Euro in ihre neuen Zentren zu investieren.
„Sie dürfen das Gelände nur zweckgebunden nutzen und bebauen“, betonte das 34 Jahre alte Stadtoberhaupt. Die Höhe der Minarette, die laut Zimmermann „dazugehören“, sei auf 20 Meter begrenzt. Muezzin-Rufe werde es aber keine geben. Die Vereine dürften die Grundstücke weder weiterverkaufen noch anderweitig nutzen. Zudem müßten sie sich zu Verfassungstreue und Toleranz verpflichten.
Zimmermann führte Stadt aus den Schulen
Die Kritik von CDU und SPD wies Zimmermann zurück. Es handele sich bei der Maßnahme nicht um eine Schenkung, sondern um eine „zweckgebundene Überlassung“. Die Monheimer SPD kritisierte sie als „völlig unangemessen“. Die CDU lehnte die Übertragung ebenfalls ab.
Zimmermann, dessen Regional-Partei Peto sich großer Beliebtheit erfreut und der als guter Haushalter gilt, wurde 2014 mit über 94 Prozent für das Amt des Bürgermeisters wiedergewählt. Seine Partei besetzt 27 von 40 Stadtratssitzen. Kurz nachdem Zimmermann seine zweite Amtsperiode antrat, hatte Monheim noch rund 120 Millionen Euro Schulden, nun liegt sie mit 120 Millionen Euro im Plus. (ls)
https://jungefreiheit.de/politik/deutschland/2016/stadt-schenkt-grundstueck-an-islamverbaende/
So according to the article, the mayor of Monheim buys land worth 900,000 euros and then gives that land to Muslims so on that land they can build mosques.
One of the two organisations he gives free land to use (450,000 sq. m. worth 480,000 euro) is DITIB, DITIB is the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs. In reality DITIB is a branch of the Presidency of Religious Affairs in Ankara called Diyanet. Diyanet is an organisation who “execute the works concerning the beliefs, worship, and ethics of Islam, enlighten the public about their religion, and administer the sacred worshiping places” The Diyanet had an allocated budget of 6.48 billion liras, (2.22 billion USD ).
So they are giving free land to the organization who is closely connected with Erdogan government who presently is closing some of the churches in Turkey and is starting to persecute non-Muslim minorities.
Good work//s.
‘We shall not take anyone in’ Angry Hungarian ministers hit back at EU migration quotas (express, June 17, 2016)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/680949/We-shall-not-take-anyone-in-Hungarian-ministers-hit-back-EU-migration-quotas
“HUNGARIAN politicians have said the country will not accept any migrants because the country “does not need immigration”…”
Morocco Sentences 25 People to Up to Six Years in Prison For Terrorism (moroccoworldnews, June 17, 2016)
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/06/189331/morocco-sentences-25-people-to-up-to-six-years-in-prison-for-terrorism/
“Salé – The first degree criminal chamber at the annexe of Salé Appeal court, in charge of terrorism, gave on Thursday verdicts ranging from acquittal to six years imprisonment with no remission against 25 people sued in separate terror-related cases.
The court sentenced one culprit to six years imprisonment with no remission, two to four years, five to three years and five to two years, while the minors were given a verdict of 6 months in jail with no remission.
They were sued for forming a gang to prepare and commit terrorist acts, defending terrorist acts and failure to report terrorist crimes.
The court acquitted 10 individuals sued in detention for defending terrorist acts.”
Morocco Foils Attempt of 360 Sub-Saharan Immigrant to Enter Ceuta (moroccoworldnews, June 17, 2016)
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/06/189293/morocco-foils-attempt-of-360-sub-saharan-immigrant-to-enter-ceuta/
“Rabat – A group of 360 sub-Saharan immigrants have been detained by the Moroccan police after a failed attempt to enter Ceuta Wednesday morning, according to local authorities, as reported by MAP agency and the Spanish 20minutos news site.
The attempt to cross the Ceuta border took place by the Beliunech zone in the north of the city, a route less common for emigrants, said the source, according to 20minutos. Four hundred immigrants of various Sub-Saharan countries, of which the majority was arrested, directed the attempt.
20minutos also reports this is the biggest attempt at the Ceuta border in a long time, after migration tensions have considerably reduced over Ceuta as well as Melilla and moved to the Libyan coasts….”
U.S. Postal Service Honors Muslims With Eid El Fitr Stamp (moroccoworldnews, June 17, 2016)
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/06/189284/u-s-postal-service-honors-muslims-with-eid-el-fitr-stamp/
“Rabat – The United States Postal Service unveiled a new Forever stamp to commemorate Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the Muhammad Ali center in Louisville, Kentucky, as reported by the local news site WLKY.com.
The new 2016 Eid stamp is blue with gold calligraphy in Arabic that features a traditional Eid greeting: May your Eid be blessed.
The postal service says it decided to introduce this year’s stamp in Louisville because it was the birthplace of Muhammad Ali, who was Muslim, according to WDRB…”
Afghanistan has never accepted Durand Line as border since 1893: Karzai (khaama, June 17, 2016)
http://www.khaama.com/afghanistan-has-never-accepted-durand-line-as-border-since-1893-karzai-01279
“The former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said Afghanistan has never accepted Durand Line as border between Afghanistan and Pakistan and will never accept it in the future.
In an interview with BBC Urdu, Karzai termed the formation of Durand Line a ‘result of British imperialism’ in the region.
He said Afghanistan has never accepted this border since 1893, nor will they ever accept it in future.
“When Pakistan came into being in 1947, they received it this way, so we are not blaming them but Durand Line is a blow which no Afghan can ever forget. We do not accept this border but will not fight over this issue,” Karzai added.
In other parts of the interview, Karzai said Pakistan does not want good relations between India and Afghanistan and wants “no bilateral trade and no access to Central Asia for India” which is unacceptable for Afghanistan.
Karzai further added that India is helping Afghanistan build its infrastructure and health facilities and has “filled Afghanistan with money despite being a poor country”.
“India wants to truly befriend Afghanistan and we want Pakistan to do the same,” he said, adding that Pakistan should also become a part of the regional coalition between Afghanistan, India and Iran, but “Pakistan’s condition is that Afghanistan should not have contacts with India.”
According to Karzai, the relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan will improve rapidly if the issue is resolved.”
Turkish nation will call EU to account for support for terror, says Erdo?an (hurryietdailynews, June 17, 2016)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-nation-will-call-eu-to-account-for-support-for-terror-says-erdogan.aspx?pageID=238&nID=100612&NewsCatID=510
“The Turkish nation will make Europe pay for “supporting terrorism,” President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said, as he castigated the European Parliament for supporting Syria’s Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the PYD’s militia forces, the People’s Defense Units (YPG).
“I am calling on the EP from this meaningful gathering: Whom are you trying to give message to with flags of terrorist organizations that you hung on the walls of the European Parliament?” Erdo?an asked during an iftar dinner…”
Turkey ruled by de facto presidential system: Turkey’s PM (huriyetdailynews, June 17, 2016)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-ruled-by-de-facto-presidential-system-turkeys-pm-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=100604&NewsCatID=338
“Turkey is already being ruled under a de facto presidential system, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Y?ld?r?m has said, adding that the path to the presidency was opened when the people voted for the presidency of Recep Tayyip Erdo?an…”