Reader’s links for July 15 – 2016

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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

86 Replies to “Reader’s links for July 15 – 2016”

  1. The Curse of Violent Crime in Democrat-Run Cities

    America’s ten most dangerous cities—as measured by federal crime statistics—have one highly notable feature in common: All are led politically by Democratic mayors. Most, in fact, have been controlled by Democrats for a very long time. For example, Detroit, which in 2015 ranked as the nation’s most dangerous city, has not had a Republican mayor since 1961. The second most dangerous city in 2015 was Oakland, California, a Democrat stronghold since 1977. Third was Memphis, in Democratic hands since 1991. Fourth was St. Louis, which has been led exclusively by Democratic mayors since 1949. Fifth was Cleveland, where no Republican has been mayor since 1989. Sixth was Baltimore, Democrat-led since 1967. Seventh was Milwaukee, which has elected only Democratic mayors since 1908. Eighth was Birmingham, which has been Democrat-run since 1975. Ninth was Newark, a Democrat bastion since 1933. And tenth was Kansas City, Missouri, which has not seen a Republican mayor in a quarter-century.

    New York City, which in the early 1990s transitioned away from nearly half a century of Democratic leadership, serves as a case study not only of how left-wing law-enforcement policies helped breed crime and chaos for a long period of time, but also how the cessation of those policies caused crime to plummet almost instantly.

    From 1946 through 1993, New York was led, in succession, by the following Democratic mayors: William O’Dwyer, Vincent Impellitteri, Robert Wagner, John Lindsay, Abraham Beame, Ed Koch, and David Dinkins. Under the stewardship of these men, the city’s crime rates rose sharply and consistently, as reflected most starkly in its homicide statistics. In 1960, some 482 homicides occurred within the confines of New York’s five b

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/263495/curse-violent-crime-democrat-run-cities-discover-networks

  2. I think Sec John Kerry is gonna’ be takin’
    James Taylor & his entire song book to Nice
    as soon as can be arranged ..

  3. Germany: Man Charged Over 2013 Kidnapping in Syria (abcnews, July 15, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/germany-man-charged-2013-kidnapping-syria-40600663

    “German prosecutors have filed war crimes and terrorism charges against a Syrian man accused of membership in al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate and involvement in the 2013 kidnapping of a Canadian serving with the U.N. observer force in the Golan Heights.

    Federal prosecutors said Friday that the 25-year-old, identified only as Suliman Al-S. in line with German privacy rules, faces charges of committing a war crime against humanitarian operations, kidnapping and membership in a foreign terrorist organization.

    They say that the suspect was a member of the Nusra Front and participated in the Feb. 17, 2013 kidnapping near Damascus. The Canadian man was held in a building southwest of the Syrian capital until he escaped eight months later.

    The accused allegedly helped guard the victim during his captivity.”

    • Even if he is captured, trialled, sentenced, and imprisoned, Germany has already set a precedent in freeing convicted terrorists, such as those serving time for kidnapping, torturing, and murdering Israelis on a “peace-keeping mission” in Germany, i.e., the Olympics in Munich. This Canadian-killing terrorist must be laughing at the recognition he has now earned…

  4. Suicide Car Bomber in Southern Yemen Targets 2 Top Officials (abcnews, July 15, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/suicide-car-bomber-southern-yemen-targets-top-officials-40600707

    “Yemeni officials say a suicide car bomber has targeted the convoy with the governor and police chief of the southern port city of Aden but the two survived the assassination attempt unharmed.

    The officials say the attack took place early on Friday as Gov. Aidarous al- Zubaidi and security chief, Shalal al-Shayaa, were en route to the district of al-Buriqa.

    The officials say a guard was wounded and noted unconfirmed reports of civilians killed. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to talk to reporters.

    The two Aden officials have been targeted in the past. Their predecessors were killed in suicide bombings by the Islamic State group.

    Photographs circulated on social media show the bomber’s vehicle on fire.

    No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.”

  5. Captured Saudi Jihadist Tells About Fighting for al-Nusra Front (sputniknews, July 15, 2016)
    http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160715/1043012541/saudi-jihadist-tells-about-fighting.html

    “The Syrian government troops continue to liberate settlements near the country’s key cities. During the assault on one such town near Damascus they managed to capture a Saudi citizen, Hamud Saleh Hamid, one of the al-Nusra Front’s senior members known as Abu Azzam.

    DAMASCUS (Sputnik) – A Sputnik correspondent became the first reporter who was allowed by the Syrian intelligence services to meet with Azzam, now held in one of the prisons near Damascus. He lost both his legs during the war.

    The interview was held in the office of a jail officer. Before leaving the correspondent alone with the prisoner, the officer gave him an alarm button.

    Training Camp Instead of School

    It was hard to start the conversation as the 37-year-old Azzam was demonstrating his contempt to the interview.

    “I had a Bachelor’s degree in the Mecca university and taught mathematics in the homeland. At the very beginning of the Syrian unrest people came to streets and then that turned to slaughter. Then religious leaders and authoritative people started to call at sermons and on TV on people to go to Syria; videos started to emerge in the Internet and I decided to go there [to take part] in jihad,” he said.

    Azzam said that he left a wife, four daughters and a son in Saudi Arabia.

    He arrived in the Turkish city of Antakya with his Syrian friend and from there they were transported to a training camp for newcomers in the Idlib province by people linked to the al-Nusra Front, outlawed in Russia.

    After a month of training Azzam and six other people from the Gulf states were sent to the northeastern Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor……”

  6. Nice attacker identified by Nice’s mayoral office as Mohamed Lagouaiej Bouhlel, 31-year-old Tunisian-born French man –

  7. SOUTH AFRICA – CAPE TOWN -R1 million stash of stolen goods found at mosque

    hey were only looking for a couple of stolen bicycles at a Cape Town mosque – but Claremont police found a R1-million stash of stolen goods.

    Stegman Road Mosque councillor Nazeem Jamie said he was shocked when the caretakers’ quarters were opened for the police and valuables that had been stolen over about a year were found.

    The two Malawian caretakers, who have worked at the mosque for eight years, and two South Africans, were arrested, said Claremont police station commander Colonel Enolium Joseph.

    Police were following a tip-off after weeks of investigation.

    The stash, said Joseph, comprised more than 140 items, including “21 bicycles, some of which are imported, household goods, construction implements and flat-screen televisions”.

    The caretakers said they were planning to sell the items in Malawi, said Joseph.

    “We were only looking for two bicycles but said: ‘Let’s just go and inspect the quarters.’

    “We gave the police permission to remove the locks,” said mosque councillor Jamie.

    Joseph said the Malawians were believed to have bought the goods from South Africans who had stolen them in areas such as Mowbray and Rondebosch.

    There will be public viewing of the goods at Claremont police station on Saturday next week.

    People must bring their identity documents and proof of purchase to claim their belongings.

    Two men will appear in court on Monday.

    http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2016/07/15/R1-million-stash-of-stolen-goods-found-at-mosque

  8. Putin sacks EVERY commander in his Baltic fleet in Stalin-style purge ‘after top brass refusal to follow his orders to confront Western ships’

    Vladimir Putin has sacked every single commander in Russia’s Baltic fleet in what has been described as a ‘Stalin-style’ purge.

    Up to 50 officers of the fleet were fired alongside Vice Admiral Viktor Kravchuk and his chief of staff Rear Admiral Sergei Popov after they reportedly refused to follow orders to confront Western ships.

    Reports in Russia also suggested the purges followed an alleged cover-up of a submarine accident, flaws in recruitment and military construction projects.

    It comes amid an undisclosed number of other senior officers of the fleets have been fired over serious flaws in combat training and their failure to take proper care of personnel.

    The purges’ scope and publicity make them highly unusual for the Russian military, which usually removes senior officers in a more subtle way.

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3685805/Putin-sacks-commander-Baltic-fleet-Stalin-style-purge-brass-refusal-follow-orders-confront-Western-ships.html#ixzz4EUxzcXJi
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    • If he purged them for refusing to confront western ships in a dangerous provocative manner he is “clearing the decks for action”.

      This action fits with his other actions preparing the way a major confrontation with Turkey.

  9. Obama’s plan to join Russian, U.S. forces in air ops in Syria would sell out the American people

    There are no wheels left on this bus. It bounced down into a ravine a long time ago, and hasn’t emitted even a pathetic puff of smoke for ages. Several years’ worth of cast-off sofas and power tools have landed on top of it by now. Rattlesnakes are making their home in cozy nooks under the seats.

    Up in the world at eye level, too many weird things are erupting now to write in-depth about all of them. We’ve got the new deployment of U.S. troops to Iraq to cover (later today, I hope), and Putin firing all the naval commanders in the Baltic Fleet, which has Really Bad Omen written all over it.

    But regarding the Obama plan to combine forces with Russia in Syria, here’s the important thing to understand.

    The only way to do it is to change America’s strategic objective.

    There’s no way to combine Russian and U.S. forces operationally to pursue diverging strategic objectives. Can’t happen.

    So the fact that the U.S. and Russia have had diverging strategic objectives from the beginning would be resolved in Russia’s favor — if the Obama proposal for operating our forces jointly came to fruition.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/07/14/obama-plan-join-russian-u-s-forces-air-operations-syria/

    • She has done her normally excellent job of analysis on this subject. She has also laid open the possibility that Obama is going to leave the troops we have stationed in the Middle East Swinging in the wind by turning on our allies and joining Russia. This will leave Saudi and other semi-friendly nations in the region with no choice but to move over to Russia and shift their alliance to them. The economic disaster of having them buy all of their heavy weapons from Russia would be as bad as the international political disaster for the US to once again betray our allies.

      Ever since Nam the Democrats have been betraying our allies, Obama has been doing his best to drive a stake in the heart of all of our alliances. All nations now have to consider that when there is a Democrat President the treaties we have signed to protect them are worthless.

  10. French PM on Nice terror attack: ‘France is going to have to live with terrorism’

    The morning after the terrorist attack in Nice, France, which left 84 dead and 50 wounded, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared that the country is “going to have to live with terrorism.”

    Valls delivered his speech by the Élysée Palace in Paris Friday morning, The New York Times reports.

    “We would like to tell the French people that we will never give in,” he said. “We will not give in to the terrorist threat. The times have changed, and France is going to have to live with terrorism.”

    He added that the attack took place July 14 on Bastille Day was no coincidence.

    “France, once again, has been hit in its soul, on the 14th of July, our national day. They wanted to attack the unity of the French nation.”

    Users on social media in France have absolutely exploded in response to his comments, with some calling him to resign.

    Tunisian terrorist Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who regularly ran afoul of the law, gunned people down in a crowd Thursday evening before driving his truck straight through a throng of people, killing dozens upon dozens. The death toll is likely to rise.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/07/15/french-pm-nice-terror-attack-france-going-live-terrorism/

    • Yes, the Saudi government helped the 9/11 terrorists

      Now we know why the missing 28 pages on 9/11 were kept under lock and key for 15 years: They show the hijackers got help across America from Saudi diplomats and spies in the run-up to the attacks. Because of the coverup, a Saudi terror support network may still be in place inside the United States.

      A CIA memorandum dated July 2, 2002, stated unequivocally that the connections found between the hijackers, the Saudi embassy in Washington and Saudi consulate in Los Angeles are “incontrovertible evidence that there is support for these terrorists within the Saudi government.”

      “Numerous” FBI files also fingered two Saudi government employees who assisted the 9/11 hijackers as “Saudi intelligence officers,” the newly declassified documents reveal.

      Though much is still redacted, they also show the Saudi government’s ties to the hijackers and other al Qaeda suspects were so extensive that the FBI’s Washington field office created a special squad to investigate the Saudi angle.

      But this special focus on Saudi Arabia occurred belatedly, only after the 9/11 attacks, “due to Saudi Arabia’s status as an American ‘ally.’ ” Astoundingly, investigative resources were not dedicated to Saudi involvement in financing and supporting terrorism prior to 9/11.

      The explosive information was locked up in a top-secret, highly secured room in the basement of the US Capitol for the past 15 years, ostensibly to protect the Kingdom from embarrassment. (The Post helped get the declassification ball rolling with the December 2013 piece, “Inside the Saudi 9/11 coverup.”)

      That means for 15 years, 9/11 victims and their families have been denied by their own government critical evidence they’ve sought to sue the Saudi government for responsibility in the death of their loved ones.

      It also means Washington has misled the American people about foreign sponsorship of 9/11. For 15 years, we’ve been told that al Qaeda acted alone, with no state sponsors. We were led to believe that 15 Saudi nationals who barely spoke English received no help while in America; that they operated in isolation, like visitors from outer space.

      It was all a monstrous lie.

      FBI files show Saudi agent Omar al-Bayoumi provided “substantial assistance” to Saudi hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi after they arrived in San Diego in February 2000. Hazmi was the leader of the cell that attacked the Pentagon, while Mihdhar was one of that cell’s muscle hijackers. The two even stayed at Bayoumi’s apartment, working out in his gym.

      At the same time he was aiding the hijackers, Bayoumi was getting large salary increases from a Saudi defense front company tied to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, where he worked as a ghost employee. Another alleged Saudi intelligence officer who handled the hijackers, Osama Bassnan, worked closely with Bayoumi.

      According to a CIA memo, cited by the now-uncensored 28-page section of the 9/11 report, “Bassnan reportedly received funding and possibly a fake passport from Saudi government officials.”

      More alarming, “he and his wife have received financial support from the Saudi ambassador to the United States and his wife.” That would be Prince Bandar, who was promoted to Saudi intelligence minister after 9/11.

      The same report says Bassnan, described as a “supporter of Osama bin Laden,” also got “a significant amount of cash” from another “member of the Saudi Royal Family.”

      FBI documents and a CIA memo further indicate that the hijackers had contact with Shayk Fahad al-Thumairy, then a Saudi consular official in Los Angeles. Records show the accredited Saudi diplomat had dozens of phone conversations and at least one meeting with Bayoumi in advance of the hijackers’ arrival.

      But wait, the Saudi-9/11 conspiracy gets even worse.

      A Saudi interior ministry official stayed at the same hotel in Herndon, Va., with Hazmi and other Pentagon cell hijackers on the night before they hijacked the plane that departed that fateful Sept. 11, 2001, morning from nearby Dulles airport. FBI agents felt Saleh al-Hussayen lied about not meeting with or even knowing the hijackers, but when they tried to re-interview him, it was too late — he had been spirited out of the country along with dozens of other Saudi VIP suspects at Bandar’s request, and with the White House’s permission.

      Speaking of Bandar, it turns out that an unlisted phone number connected to the good prince’s Aspen chalet was found in the phone book of senior al Qaeda operative Abu Zubaida when he was captured in Pakistan in 2002. Zubaida also just happened to have a contact number for Bandar’s bodyguard at the Saudi Embassy.

      Mind you, these stomach-turning revelations are gleaned from merely summaries of FBI case files and CIA memos. There is much rawer intel that remains classified about the Saudi government’s role in 9/11.

      The treachery may still be worse than we know. And it may be ongoing. As the 28 pages warn: “Saudi government officials in the United States may have other ties to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.”

      http://nypost.com/2016/07/15/yes-the-saudi-government-helped-the-911-terrorists/

  11. Bill Whittle’s Firewall: Is Hillary Guilty?
    Of course the fix is in. Of course we see through it. They don’t care. They’ve got us pegged.

  12. Cities Brace for Nationwide Day of Rage
    The shadowy group Anonymous says trouble is on the menu.

    Leftists, Black Power, and Black Lives Matter activists may be planning violent national “Day of Rage” protests in cities across America today.

    The original Days of Rage were the Weatherman-organized riots over three days in October 1969, a follow-up after the “success” of violent protests at the Democratic Party’s national convention in Chicago in 1968.

    Now the “hacktivist” group Anonymous is reportedly calling for nationwide Day of Rage protests today.

    “We are calling upon the citizens of the United States in conjunction with the Black Lives Matter movement as well as other civil rights activists to participate in a day of action against the injustices of corrupt officers,” the group says in a video.

    Protests are scheduled for 37 cities across America including Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Des Moines, Memphis, Little Rock, Miami, Seattle, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, and Detroit.

    Also on the list is Cleveland, the city where the Republican National Convention officially gets underway Monday. Local blogger Mike Cernovich makes the alarming claim, allegedly based on inside information, that Cleveland police have “issued a stand down order to officers.” He writes that Cleveland cops do not intend to defend Trump supporters who are attacked, citing the city’s seemingly weak plan to use police on bicycles to keep rival protest groups separated.

    Cleveland’s mayor is Frank G. Jackson (D), a gun-grabber and a member of Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition.

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/263514/cities-brace-nationwide-day-rage-matthew-vadum

  13. HEAT STREET EXCLUSIVE: France ‘Suppressed Reports of Gruesome Torture’ at Bataclan Massacre

    HEAT STREET EXCLUSIVE – A French government committee has heard testimony, suppressed by the French government at the time and not published online until this week, that the killers in the Bataclan appear to have tortured their victims on the second floor of the club.

    The chief police witness in Parliament testified that on the night of the attacks, an investigating officer, tears streaming down his face, rushed out of the Bataclan and vomited in front of him just after seeing the disfigured bodies.

    The 14-hour testimony about the November attacks took place March 21st.

    According to this testimony, Wahhabist killers reportedly gouged out eyes, castrated victims, and shoved their testicles in their mouths. They may also have disemboweled some poor souls. Women were reportedly stabbed in the genitals – and the torture was, victims told police, filmed for Daesh or Islamic State propaganda. For that reason, medics did not release the bodies of torture victims to the families, investigators said.

    But prosecutors at the hearing claimed these reports of torture were “a rumor” on the grounds that sharp knives were not found at the scene. They also claimed that maybe shrapnel had caused the injuries.

    Q. For the information of the Commission of Inquiry….can you tell us how you learned that there had been acts of barbarism within the Bataclan: beheadings, evisceration, eyes gouged out …?

    Investigator: After the assault, we were with colleagues at the passage Saint-Pierre Amelot when I saw weeping from one of our colleagues who came outside to vomit. He told us what he had seen.

    Q. Acts of torture happened on the second floor?

    Further on the investigator described how this was kept from relatives:

    A. Bodies have not been presented to families because there were beheaded people there, the murdered people, people who have been disemboweled . There are women who had their genitals stabbed.

    Q. All this would have been videotaped for Daesh !

    A. I believe so. Survivors have said so.

    Elsewhere, the investigator says, women were sexually tortured, stabbed in the genitals, and their eyes were plucked out. People were decapitated.

    The clerk of the inquiry (or “rapporteur”) pressed the chief of committee for clarity on whether victims were decapitated or mutilated. The committee chief replied that the authorities had given out conflicting information that said victims were merely shot or blown up. He then heatadded this damning statement about one victim’s father discovering the gruesome truth in the morgue:

    Mr. President Georges Fenech Indeed, the Committee is troubled by this information which has appeared nowhere [in the media]. Thus, the father of one of the victims sent me a copy of a letter he sent to the investigating judge, which I quote in summary: “On the causes of the death of my son A., at the forensic institute in Paris, I was told, and what a shock it was for me at that moment, they had cut off his testicles, had put them in his mouth, and he was disemboweled. When I saw him behind glass, lying on a table, a white shroud covering it up to the neck, a psychologist was with me. He said: This is “the only presentable part, your son’s left profile.” I found that he had no right eye. I made the remark; I was informed that they had punctured his eye and sliced down the right side of his face, where there was a very large hematoma that we could all see. ”

    This particular witness could corroborate the statements that we heard from one of the BAC officials, that one of his investigators vomited immediately on leaving the Bataclan after finding a decapitation and evisceration. Are you aware of such facts?

    A prosecutor appearing before the inquiry replied lamely that no sharp knife had been found at the scene that could have been used for torture. Perhaps shrapnel had caused the mutilation, he said. The head of the committee asked if an explosion would have placed testicles in a victim’s mouth:

    Prosecutor: I specify, for the sake of clarity: some of the bodies found at the Bataclan were extremely mutilated by the explosions and weapons, to the point that it was sometimes difficult to reconstruct the dismembered bodies. In other words, injuries described this father may also have been caused by automatic weapons, by explosions or projections of nails and bolts that have resulted.

    Q. Would those have put a man’s balls in in his own mouth?

    Prosecutor: I do not have that information.

    The news follows reports that German police sat on the huge number of sexual assaults committed by Islamist migrants in Cologne, which a secret report estimated at thousands, not hundreds. Heat Street will continue to report.

    http://heatst.com/uk/exclusive-france-suppressed-news-of-gruesome-torture-at-bataclan-massacre/

  14. TURKEY – Military Attempts Coup in Turkey, Prime Minister Says

    STANBUL — The prime minister of Turkey said on Friday night that factions of the military had attempted a coup.

    “Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in comments broadcast on NTV, a private television channel. “The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so.”

    Military forces shut two bridges over the Bosporus in Istanbul, and fighter jets were seen flying over Istanbul and Ankara, the capital.

    Mr. Yildirim said security forces had been called in to “do what is necessary,” according to Reuters.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/16/world/europe/military-attempts-coup-in-turkey-prime-minister-says.html

    ==============================================

    NTV in Turkey: Bosphorus and Fatih bridges in Instanbul closed for traffic traveling from Asia to Europe by military branch dedicated to internal security; traffic still moving in other direction – AFP

    Turkish broadcaster NTV is showing footage of tanks at the entrance to Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport – Reuters

    Turkish military, in statement, says it has taken over the country, citing ‘democratic order, human rights’ – Reuters

    Statement by military read out on Turkish television: ‘to again obtain constitutional democratic human rights, we are officially managing the country‘ – @bramvermeul

    • LIVE Turkey coup: military attempt to seize power from Erdogan as low flying jets and gunfire heard in Ankara and bridges across Bosphorus in Istanbul closed

      9h34 – Turkish military claims to have overthrown Erdogan and taken control of country

      In a statement, the Turkish military says the rule of law must remain the priority.

      “The power in the country has been seized in its entirety,” said the military statement read on NTV television, without giving further details. The military’s website was not immediately accessible.

      State TV TRT reportedly off the air.

      http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/15/turkey-low-flying-jets-and-gunfire-heard-in-ankara1/

    • ‘We have taken control’: Turkish military launch coup to depose Islamist government of Recep Erdogan as troops round up police, attack the capital, seize all airports and put tanks on the streets (dailymail, July 15, 2016)
      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3692693/Turkish-military-launch-attempted-coup-depose-government.html

      “The Turkish military has announced it has taken control and overthrown the government of Recep Erdogan as troops round up police and attack the capital Ankara.

      Eyewitnesses have reported attack helicopters firing machine guns in the capital Ankara in a bid to depose the Islamic government.

      The military said they have taken control in order to protect human rights, however, prime minister Binali Yildirim said only a ‘faction’ was involved.

      Fast attack jets and helicopters were heard above Ankara and Istanbul after the military confirmed they had seized control of the country,.

      Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge were both closed after the military deployed roadblocks.

      Tracer fire from Turkish military helicopters was spotted over Ankara.

      In a statement sent by email and reported on Turkish TV channels, the military said all of Turkey’s existing foreign relations would be maintained and that the rule of law would remain the priority.

      According to the military tonight’s action will ‘reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated’.

      The military statement went on to say that ‘all international agreements and commitments will remain. We pledge that good relations with all world countries will continue’…”

        • You have been asking for divine retribution to strike Erdogan, if the coup succeeds (as of this moment the success or failure is very much up in the air) does it count?

    • ERDOGAN CALLS FOR PEOPLE TO TAKE THE STREETS IN TURKEY. MILITARY URGES EVERYONE TO STAY HOME.

    • Obama supports Turkish gov’t against plotters, Kremlin gravely concerned

      U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey while Kremlin expressed its grave concerns over the recent developments.

      “The President spoke tonight by phone with Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the events in Turkey. The President and Secretary agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected Government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed,” read the readout issued by the White House early July 16.

      In a phone call to Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu, Kerry emphasized “absolute support for Turkey’s civilian government and democratic institutions”. The Secretary underscored that the State Department will continue to focus on the safety and security of U.S. citizens in Turkey.

      http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/obama-supports-turkish-govt-against-plotters-kremlin-gravely-concerned.aspx?pageID=238&nID=101673&NewsCatID=341

      Turkey coup: “Erdogan, if winning this coup, will only strengthen his power”

    • Turkey coup: Erdogan brought this on himself by emasculating military – ex-Pentagon official

    • Blasts heard in Istanbul’s Taksim square were accompanied by sreech of fighter jets; some soldiers in police custody

    • Belgium: Anti-coup protesters express solidarity with govt. at Brussels embassy

        • After the way Erdogan purged the military a coup was the only possible chance of restoring a secular government. The fact that it was launched when Erdogan was out of the country says that they launched early probably because the security forces were about to arrest the leaders.

          If, I repeat if there is honest reporting about the Stalinist crackdown/purge that is coming a lot of people will learn what we already know about Erdogan.

          FOX is reporting that the forces backing the coup are still fighting so there is still a chance, maybe not a good one but still a chance that Erdogan will be arrested.

          • I’m inconsolable, sorry.
            Just a lovely, sweet fantasy… Il Duce hanging dead, upside-down.

            Poor secular Turks, poor KURDS-

    • Chaos in Turkey as military attempts anti-Erdogan coup

      Elements of the Turkish military backed by tanks staged an attempted coup against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday, sparking bloody clashes in major cities.

      It was unclear who was in control of the strategic NATO country of 80 million people as the soldiers took to the streets and multiple explosions rang out overnight in the country’s two biggest cities.

      Erdogan and his government predicted that the move would fail and called for supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to come out onto the streets.

      Looking shaken, the Turkish leader appeared on television from an unknown location insisting he was still in power and vowing the putschists would pay a “very heavy price”.

      “I certainly believe that coup plotters will not succeed,” he said, speaking on a mobile phone via FaceTime.

      http://citizen.co.za/afp_feed_article/chaos-in-turkey-as-military-attempts-anti-erdogan-coup/

      =======================================================
      Turkey PM Orders Military To Shoot Down Aircraft Hijacked By Coup Plotters

      Ankara, Turkey: Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has instructed the military to shoot down an aircraft hijacked by coup plotters, an official said on Saturday.

      “Fighter jets have left the air base in Eskisehir” in western Turkey with the aim of hunting down the rogue craft, the official said.

      http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/turkey-pm-orders-military-to-shoot-down-aircraft-hijacked-by-coup-plotters-1432046

    • Official says 42 people killed in Ankara during Turkish coup attempt

      ISTANBUL, July 16 (Reuters) – Forty-two people were killed in the Turkish capital Ankara during an attempted coup that started on Friday night, a senior Turkish official said, confirming an earlier report from state-run Anadolu Agency.

      Seventeen of those killed were police officers, Anadolu said

      http://news.trust.org/item/20160716024151-60u31

      Turkish prime minister says more than 120 arrested over coup attempt; Anadolu Agency,

    • James Woolsey on fallout from ‘clumsy’ coup in Turkey

      former CIA director warns of ‘unpleasant’ months ahead

    • Authorities shut Istanbul’s Bosphorus to tankers for “security reasons” – agent

      ISTANBUL, July 16 (Reuters) – Maritime authorities shut Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait to transiting tankers on Saturday “for security and safety” reasons, shipping agent GAC said, after what the government said was an attempted coup by a faction in the military.

      Some cargo carriers like bulkers were still being allowed to travel through the key shipping channel which divides Istanbul into European and Asian sides, GAC said. A Reuters witness reported seeing no traffic at the southern mouth of the strait at daybreak.

      http://news.trust.org/item/20160716030153-7uo0n
      ================================
      Explosion reported in Istanbul

      ===================================

      Turkish prime minister says a general who led the coup attempt was killed
      ====================================

      Many commentators describe the coup attempt as “staged” after Erdogan calls it a “gift from Allah”

      https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

    • We’re seeing unconfirmed reports that a fighter jet dropped a bomb near Turkey’s presidential palace in Ankara. Thick of clouds of black smoke have been seen in the Bestepe district where the presidential palace is located, NTV television reports.

      Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tells supporters he is in charge, coup won’t succeed – AP

  15. Swedish court jails dad over forced marriage (thelocal, July 15, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.se/20160715/swedish-court-jails-dad-over-forced-marriage

    “A dad who married his 23-year-old daughter to a man in Afghanistan has become the first person in Sweden to be convicted under new forced marriage laws introduced two years ago.

    The man was locked up for four years by Lund’s district court in southern Sweden on Friday on a number of charges, including forced marriage, assault and unlawful detention. He was also told to pay 100,000 kronor ($11,709) in damages to his daughter.

    Another man, a friend of the father, was sentenced to jail for three years for unlawful detention and sexual molestation. However the court cleared the father’s son, who was also a suspect, of all charges.

    The daughter, who already had a boyfriend in Sweden, was lured to Afghanistan under false pretences last year. She had been told that she would meet several potential suitors there, and would have the chance to say no.

    But once there, it emerged that a wedding was already in place, and after threats from her father she saw no opportunity to flee.

    “She was in what you would call a vulnerable position. She simply had no other way out than to do what they expected,” Lars Lindblad, who was a judge in the trial, told news agency TT.

    The men were also accused of carrying out a series of crimes against the woman’s 21-year-old boyfriend in Lund. The prosecutor argued that they abducted, assaulted and sexually harassed him in November 2015. One of the incidents was filmed and used as evidence in the case.

    “Their relationship was not desirable. And the woman had not complied with what the family thinks, but continued the relationship after she was married off,” prosecutor Ulrika Ekvall said before the trial began.

    According to the verdict, it was clear that the father had acted to defend his family’s reputation, and that the crime was therefore honour-related.

    And the plaintiff representing the daughter and her boyfriend said the verdict could be of huge importance…”

  16. Austrian mayor slams burka ban in sports shop (thelocal, July 15, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.at/20160715/no-bikes-for-burka-wearers-in-tyrol-austria-middle-east-gulf-tourists

    “A sports shop owner has come under fire after he put up a sign banning customers wearing full face veils, a move described by the local mayor as “unacceptable”.

    Next to a window sticker banning dogs from the Sport Wöll shop near Achensee in Tyrol, shop owner Hubert Wöll put up a similar sticker indicating women wearing full niqabs are also not allowed inside.

    “It stays stuck there as long as I live,” Wöll told the Kurier newspaper. “I have to be able to look women in the face, if they borrow a bike.”

    Asked whether he thought he was discriminating against the women, the shop owner said they were being discriminated against by men “if they have to wear these veils”.

    “I also want to be able to see whether a woman is happy,” he said. “That’s not possible if she’s wearing a burka.”

    “If they want to visit my business, then they are welcome to do so – but without a burka.”

    The local mayor of Eben am Achensee Josef Hausberger has criticised the move by the shop owner, describing the sticker as “unacceptable”.

    “I am against exclusion. People are equal – regardless of religion or origin,” he said…”

  17. Migrants: MSF sounds alarm, 3 in 5 mentally ill over trauma (ansamed, July 15, 2016?
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2016/07/15/migrants-msf-sounds-alarm-3-in-5-mentally-ill-over-trauma_99814c60-8dad-4012-bf46-cc986e4f8a16.html

    “ROME – Mental illness connected to migration is a growing concern that is significantly underestimated, according to a report by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) released on Friday. The conditions of reception in Italy don’t provide much help and sometimes worsen the situation, according to the report on ‘Ignored Trauma’, which is based on data from various migrant holding centers – in Rome, Trapani, Raguda and Milano – gathered from July 2015 through February 2016.

    Some 60% of the migrants interviewed as part of activities to offer psychological support provided by MSF, presented symptoms of mental illness compatible with trauma connected to events before or during migration.

    In particular, among the 199 patients treated at the center in Ragusa, 42% presented symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while 27% had symptoms of anxiety. The probability of having a psychopathological condition was 3.7 times higher among individuals who had suffered a traumatic event.

    MSF, which provides medical support in primary and secondary migrant holding centers in Italy, asked Italian and European authorities to implement a system to welcome migrants able to tackle the specific mental health needs of ”this population that is particularly vulnerable”.

    Asylum seekers, also stressed Silvia Mancini, a public health expert with MSF who drafted the report, often stay in structures located in areas that are particularly isolated, where they remain for a long time because they are waiting for their asylum request to be processed. This condition generates stress and suffering, in addition to the stress connected to life in a foreign country and lack of perspectives, she noted. The report also showed how precarious conditions in holding centers also affected serious mental issues.”

  18. Nabil release secret docs about Pakistan’s support to Afghan militants (khaama, July 15, 201
    )http://www.khaama.com/nabil-release-secret-docs-about-pakistans-support-to-afghan-militants-01488

    “The former Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS) Chief, Rahmatullah Nabil has released classified documents about the support of Pakistan to the Afghan militant groups, specifically the notorious Haqqani terrorist network.

    The six documents released by Nabil include formal letters by Pakistani military and the military intelligence of the country, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

    Nabil says the Haqqani network not only remained intact from Zarb-e-Azb operations but the Pakistani military shifted the network’s fighters, families, weapons and other equipment to safe places.

    He said the Afghan and American intelligence agencies were undoubtedly aware of the move and National Directorate of Security has hundreds of classified documents of the Pakistani military regarding its support to Afghan militants.

    A summary of the six letters released by Nabil is as following:…..”

  19. Pakistan should target groups that attack its neighbors: US (khaama, July 15, 2016)
    http://www.khaama.com/pakistan-should-target-groups-that-attack-its-neighbors-us-01490

    “The United States has called on Pakistan to target all militant groups including those targeting the country’s neighbors.

    Deputy spokesperson for the State Department, Mark Toner, hailed Pakistan’s efforts regarding the ongoing military operations in the tribal regions of the country.

    Admitting the country has suffered greatly from the menace of terrorism, Toner, said “We believe that Pakistan is taking steps to address terrorist violence, particularly focused on groups that threaten Pakistanis’ – Pakistan’s stability.”

    Toner further added “They have made progress shutting down terrorist safe havens. They’ve restored government control in many parts of Pakistan that have been used as terrorist safe havens for many years. And these are important, and they’re meaningful steps for Pakistan to have made. And they’ve also come at a cost, and that cost is in – certainly in Pakistani lives.”

    However, he said “At the same time – and we’ve made this point before – we’ve been very clear that Pakistan must target all militant groups, including those that target Pakistan’s neighbors, and close all safe havens. And so in this regard we certainly welcome comments by General Raheel Sharif’s – Sharif, rather, on July 6, when he directed Pakistani military
    commanders, intelligence agencies, and law enforcement agencies to take concrete measures to deny any militant groups safe haven or the use of Pakistani soil to launch terrorist attacks in Afghanistan.”

    The remarks by Toner comes as the Afghan officials believe the leadership councils of the Afghan militant groups, including the Taliban group and the notorious Haqqani terrorist network has remained intact despite the ongoing military operations by Pakistan…”