Reader’s links, December 9, 2017

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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

81 Replies to “Reader’s links, December 9, 2017”

  1. Taliban kill 3 Afghan soldiers in attack on checkpoint (wapo, Dec 9, 2017)
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/taliban-kill-3-afghan-soldiers-in-attack-on-checkpoint/2017/12/09/4aeb3240-dcaa-11e7-a241-0848315642d0_story.html

    “An Afghan official says Taliban insurgents have killed three Afghan soldiers in an attack on a checkpoint.

    Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor of the eastern Ghazni province, says two other soldiers were wounded in the attack early Saturday. He says eight insurgents were killed and more than 10 others were wounded.

    Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the fighters were able to overrun the checkpoint and seize weapons and ammunition.

    The Taliban has stepped up its attacks on Afghan security forces in recent years, seizing control of several districts across the country.”

  2. Egypt Thwarts Terrorist Plot, Members of Brotherhood’s ‘Ghalaba’ Arrested (aawsat, Dec 9, 2017)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1107921/egypt-thwarts-terrorist-plot-members-brotherhood%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98ghalaba%E2%80%99-arrested

    “Egyptian authorities have remanded in custody for another four days members of the “Ghalaba” movement on charges of inciting strife, violence and street protests.

    The interior ministry said Friday that it had thwarted a terrorist plot, adding that it had arrested five “Ghalaba” members led by Yasser al-Omda, who is based in Turkey.

    The ministry statement said that the movement is one of the armed wings of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt considers a terrorist organization.

    Its members planned to stir chaos after Friday prayers by tossing concrete blocks packed with nails on worshipers.

    Security sources said that the suspects have admitted to the prosecutor general that they had been in contact with the plot’s mastermind in Turkey and that they had received instructions on how to manufacture the nail bombs.

    Amr Abdul Menhem, an expert on Islamist movements, told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that there is evidence linking the Muslim Brotherhood with the “Ghalaba” movement.

    “Ghalaba” had instructed its members through a video posted online to use the nail bombs, and had urged Egyptians to hold street protests and carry out violent acts against state institutions.

    Experts say that “Ghalaba” and other similar movements have adopted the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology.

    In its first statement, the movement had called for the immediate release of Brotherhood members including former president Mohammed Morsi.

    It has also spread rumors on state politics and false data on the Egyptian economy.

    Security sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Qatar’s Al-Jazeera TV network has contributed to the spread of “Ghalaba” by allowing it to broadcast its statements.

    The movement is led by Brotherhood members based in Turkey. They aim to paralyze the state politically and economically, and to target military and security institutions, the sources said.”

    • …they want cleavage and short-shorts

      This is no surprise. High technology, especially in Silicon Valley, remains dominated by the juvenile and maladjusted (read: geek) “Bro’ Culture”. Make no mistake, this is not any sort of innocent, “I will seduce you with my awkwardness” attitude.

      Instead it is a patronizing mindset shot through with a condescending “mansplaining” mentality towards women. Renting “cleavage and short-shorts” to satisfy such immature prurience dovetails rather precisely with Bro’ Culture.

  3. A sailor who claimed someone scrawled racial slurs on his bed aboard an aircraft carrier —sparking a viral Facebook post in the process — staged the incident himself, the Navy said Friday.

    Marquie Little, a 27-year-old African American seaman, posted photos to Facebook on Nov. 15 under an alias that showed his rack on the carrier George H.W. Bush covered in trash and racial slurs.

    “I proudly serve the Navy and this is what I’m receiving in return,” he wrote in the post.

    https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2017/12/08/sailor-staged-racist-vandalism-navy-says/

  4. Please, do read on:

    (CBS) — A woman who live-streamed herself and a trio of friends abusing a mentally disabled man and taunting him with racial insults was sentenced to probation Friday after spending nearly a year behind bars.

    Brittany Covington, 19, had been held at the Cook County Jail without bond since January, when she and co-defendants Tesfaye Cooper, Jordan Hill and her 24-year-old sister Tanishia Covington were arrested on kidnapping and hate-crime charges.

    http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2017/12/08/probation-in-facebook-torture-case/

  5. Dale Hurd from CBN on Islamaphobia vs Free Speech

    Trump’s Transatlantic Tweets and Britain’s Politically Correct Meltdownhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tXYO8RIr3g

  6. Prominent appeals court Judge Alex Kozinski accused of sexual misconduct

    A former clerk for Judge Alex Kozinski said the powerful and well-known jurist, who for many years served as chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, called her into his office several times and pulled up pornography on his computer, asking if she thought it was photoshopped or if it aroused her sexually.

    Heidi Bond, who clerked for Kozinski from 2006 to 2007, said the porn was not related to any case. One set of images she remembered was of college-age students at a party where “some people were inexplicably naked while everyone else was clothed.” Another was a sort of digital flip book that allowed users to mix and match heads, torsos and legs to create an image of a naked woman.

    Bond is one of six women — all former clerks or more junior staffers known as externs in the 9th Circuit — who alleged to The Washington Post in recent weeks that Kozinski, now 67 and still serving as a judge on the court, subjected them to a range of inappropriate sexual conduct or comments. She is one of two former clerks who said Kozinski asked them to view porn in his chambers.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/prominent-appeals-court-judge-alex-kozinski-accused-of-sexual-misconduct/2017/12/08/1763e2b8-d913-11e7-a841-2066faf731ef_story.html?utm_term=.8994b1eedc53

  7. MODEL PROTESTER Bella Hadid joins Jerusalem demonstration in London after fury at Trump embassy move

    Donald Trump sparked protests after announcing the US would recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel

    SUPERMODEL Bella Hadid joined a protest in London against Donald Trump’s controversial move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

    She marched with demonstrators for three minutes before being whisked away in her chauffeur-driven car.

    The model, who is of Palestinian and dutch descent, attended the protest after she cut the ribbon at a TAG Heuer event on Oxford Street in central London wearing a skin tight red dress.

    The protests form part of a global response to Trump’s move as furious protesters have joined rallies across the globe after terror group Hamas called for a “day of rage” in response to the US President’s announcement.

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5094570/jerusalem-riots-london-donald-trump-israel-embassy/

    • Angry worshippers lash out against Trump across Muslim world

      JERUSALEM (AP) — Large crowds of worshippers across the Muslim world staged anti-U.S. marches Friday, some stomping on posters of Donald Trump or burning American flags in the largest outpouring of anger yet at the U.S. president’s recognition of bitterly contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

      In the holy city itself, prayers at Islam’s third-holiest site dispersed largely without incident, but Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops in several dozen West Bank hotspots and on the border with the Gaza Strip.

      https://apnews.com/98963890bcd2473191bc7a779009893e/Clashes-erupt-across-West-Bank,-Gaza-over-US-Jerusalem-pivot

    • Turkey’s Erdogan seeks to lead Muslim response on Jerusalem

      Istanbul (AFP) – Turkey’s leader is seeking to spearhead Islamic reaction to the US declaration on Jerusalem, but it is uncertain if he can coordinate a meaningful response among often disunited Muslim nations.

      President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who regards himself as a champion of the Palestinian cause, had fulminated against President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital even before it was officially announced this week.

      Erdogan described the status of the city, whose eastern sector Palestinians see as the capital of their future state, as a “red line” for Muslims.

      With Trump disregarding such warnings, the Turkish president used his position as the current chairman of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to call a summit of the pan-Islamic group.

      https://www.yahoo.com/news/turkeys-erdogan-seeks-lead-muslim-response-jerusalem-012031285.html

  8. Trump, Mattis turn military loose on ISIS, leaving terror caliphate in tatters

    BAGHDAD – Hundreds of ISIS fighters had just been chased out of a northern Syrian city and were fleeing through the desert in long convoys, presenting an easy target to U.S. A-10 “warthogs.”

    But the orders to bomb the black-clad jihadists never came, and the terrorists melted into their caliphate — living to fight another day. The events came in August 2016, even as then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was vowing on the campaign trail to let generals in his administration crush the organization that, under President Obama, had grown from the “jayvee team” to the world’s most feared terrorist organization.

    http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/12/08/trump-mattis-turn-military-loose-on-isis-leaving-terror-caliphate-in-tatters.html

  9. Toronto police reassure public there is no serial killer responsible for waves of disappearances in LGBT community
    At least nine people have been reported missing in Toronto’s Village neighbourhood, known as a hub for the city’s LGBT community, since March

    At an hour-long press conference Friday morning, Toronto police reassured the public that there is no evidence of a serial killer being responsible for a wave of disappearances and two deaths in the city’s LGBT community.

    At least nine people have been reported missing in Toronto’s Village neighbourhood, known as a hub for the city’s LGBT community, since March. Of the nine, two men are still missing and two women, one of whom is transgender, have since been found dead. One other man who went missing in the area was found dead, but foul play isn’t suspected. The others have been found safe.

    http://nationalpost.com/news/toronto/toronto-police-reassure-public-there-is-no-serial-killer-responsible-for-waves-of-disappearances-in-gay-community

  10. Welcome to the Hell Hole that is Brussels

    by Drieu Godefridi
    December 9, 2017 at 5:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11468/brussels-hell

    When then-candidate Donald Trump noted in January 2016 that, thanks to mass immigration, Brussels was turning into a hell hole, Belgian and European politicians presented a united front at the (media) barricades: How dare he say such a thing? Brussels, capital of the European Union, the very quintessence of the post-modern world, the avant-garde of the coming new “global civilization,” a hell hole? Of course assimilating newcomers is not always easy, and there may be friction from time to time. But never mind, they said: Trump is a buffoon, and anyway, he has zero chance of getting elected. Such were the thoughts of those avid readers of The New York Times International Edition and regular watchers of CNN International.

    However, Donald Trump, in his unmistakable, brash style, was quite simply right: Brussels is rapidly descending into chaos and anarchy. ,Exactly two months after that dramatic Trumpism, Brussels was eviscerated by a horrific Islamic terror attack that left 32 people dead. And that was only the tip of the monstrous iceberg that has built up over three decades of mass immigration and socialist madness.

    Last month alone in Brussels, there were three separate outbreaks of rioting and looting on a major scale.

    One may wonder why these fine Belgian soldiers patrolling the streets do nothing to stop the rioters. For the simple reason that it is outside of their remit; should a soldier actually hurt a looter, he would probably be publicly chastised, pilloried by the media, put on trial and dishonorably discharged.

  11. Danish Government Proposes Putting Failed Asylum Seekers on Deserted Islands

    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/08/danish-government-proposes-putting-failed-asylum-seekers-desert-islands/

    Danish Immigration and Integration Minister Inger Støjberg has said that she does not oppose the idea of putting failed asylum seekers on one of the many deserted islands within Danish territory.

    The proposal, which was initially put forward by the populist Danish People’s Party (DF), would see failed asylum seekers being kept on one of the 300 or so deserted islands while they await deportation. Støjberg said that while she agrees with the proposal in principle there would be some challenges in regard to its implementation, Berlingske reports.

    “I am always ready to look into good ideas for how we can improve the control of rejected asylum seekers. This is of course also a proposal from the Danish People’s Party,” Støjberg said.

    “There may, however, be some practical and legal challenges by establishing a deportation centre in a very isolated place. And these are the things to be considered,” she added.Danish Immigration and Integration Minister Inger Støjberg has said that she does not oppose the idea of putting failed asylum seekers on one of the many deserted islands within Danish territory.

    The proposal, which was initially put forward by the populist Danish People’s Party (DF), would see failed asylum seekers being kept on one of the 300 or so deserted islands while they await deportation. Støjberg said that while she agrees with the proposal in principle there would be some challenges in regard to its implementation, Berlingske reports.

    “I am always ready to look into good ideas for how we can improve the control of rejected asylum seekers. This is of course also a proposal from the Danish People’s Party,” Støjberg said.

    “There may, however, be some practical and legal challenges by establishing a deportation centre in a very isolated place. And these are the things to be considered,” she added.

    • Interesting, it looks like internment camps are in the near future.

      How long will it take for this idea to spread?

      • How long will it take for this idea to spread?

        A couple more Bataclan Theaters, a half-dozen Berlins, throw in several more Nices and, Hey Presto! You’ve got internment camps sprouting up like weeds all through Europe. The mass rapes and groomings only expedite this process.

        As I mentioned elsewhere, Inger Støjberg deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for this plan (and all the lives it will save). Done soon enough, it may well save even more Muslim lives than European. As usual, any delays only up the butcher’s bill … just as Islam has always intended.

  12. Mueller’s ‘Right-Hand Man’ on Russia Probe Represented Clinton IT Aide Who Set Up Unsecure Server

    Yet another key member of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe appears to have deep ties to the Democratic Party.

    Aaron Zebley served previously as Mueller’s chief of staff at the FBI and as a senior counselor in the National Security Division at the Department of Justice. He also served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the National Security and Terrorism Unit in Alexandria, Virginia.

    He is often referred to in the media as Mueller’s “right-hand man.”

    Also, in 2015 when he was a lawyer, he represented Justin Cooper, the IT staffer who personally set up Hillary Clinton’s unsecure server in her Chappaqua home, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson revealed on his show Thursday.

    Cooper, it so happens, is also the aide who destroyed Clinton’s old BlackBerries with a hammer.

    Documents obtained by Fox News show that Senate investigators grew frustrated with Zebley after being repeatedly stonewalled when they were trying to set up a meeting with Cooper.

    https://pjmedia.com/trending/muellers-right-hand-man-russia-probe-represented-clinton-aide-set-unsecure-server/

  13. twitter

    Saudi King Salman orders dismissal of Adel al-Jubair from his position and assigning Khaled bin Salman as new Saudi Foreign Minister

    https://twitter.com/sayed_ridha/status/939179149666615296

    ======================================
    Saudi Foreign Minister al-Jubeir fired and replaced by Khaled bin Salman: Sources

    Unconfirmed reports say Saudi foreign minister was sacked on Friday

    Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir was reportedly fired on Friday and replaced by Khaled bin Salman, the crown prince’s younger brother, according to sources cited by several media outlets, including Al-Masdar News.

    However, the website later retracted the claim, saying it was “unfounded.”

    A diplomatic source, who wished not to be identified, also confirmed the royal decision to Middle East Eye.

    Late on Friday, Al-Masdar News changed the source for the story, linking to an Arabic website that features a statement purportedly by the official Saudi news agency SPA. MEE was unable to find the referenced statement on official SPA platforms.

    The Saudi government has yet to comment on the reports and MEE was unable to reach a Saudi official late Friday.

    Prince Khaled is currently Riyadh’s ambassador to the United States. He was trained at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi and has been an F-15 pilot in the Saudi air force.

    Al-Jubeir succeeded foreign policy veteran Prince Saud Al Faisal in 2015 to become the second foreign minister in the history of the kingdom who is not a member of the royal family.

    He was serving as ambassador to the US before his appointment.

    Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy has come under rare criticism from Washington in recent days.

    US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Saudi restraint in Yemen, Qatar and Lebanon.

    “With respect to Saudi Arabia’s engagement with Qatar, how they’re handling the Yemen war that they’re engaged in, the Lebanon situation, we would encourage them to be a bit more measured and a bit more thoughtful in those actions to, I think, fully consider the consequences,” Tillerson said on Friday.

    Saudi Arabia has been involved in a bombardment campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen since March 2015. The war has killed more than 10,000 people, sparked a cholera outbreak and caused a humanitarian crisis that has driven the country to the verge of famine.

    On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump called on the Saudis to lift their blockade on Yemen.

    “I have directed officials in my administration to call the leadership of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to request that they completely allow food, fuel, water, and medicine to reach the Yemeni people who desperately need it,” Trump said in a statement.

    “This must be done for humanitarian reasons immediately.”

    Saudi Arabia also escalated its disagreements with Qatar earlier this year, leading a group of its allies to boycott Doha diplomatically and financially.

    The kingdom has also been accused of compromising Lebanon’s relative stability by forcing Prime Minister Saad Hariri to resign when he was in Riyadh last month. Western diplomats have expressed concerns that Hariri was held against his will in Saudi Arabia. The prime minister rescinded his resignation after returning to Lebanon.

    http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-foreign-minister-al-jubeir-fired-and-replaced-khaled-bin-salman-sources-1356404625

        • I guess so – at least here – it started a few days ago ….
          I rarely get an up-to-date version of the site…
          sometimes the most recent posts or comments are missing –
          or things I try to post disappear in the virtual nowhere …

    • Saudi FM’s Wife Files for Divorce

      RIYADH (FNA) – Saudi foreign minister’s wife started divorce proceedings in a British court, saying that her husband has homosexual tendencies, reports by Kuwaiti media said.

      The Kuwaiti newspaper, al-Qabas said in a report that Adel al-Jubeir, the 50-year-old Saudi Foreign minister has been enmeshed in yet another public disgrace by taking part in “obnoxious male parties in Thailand”, Awd News reported.

      Farah al-Fayez, 27, described the discovery of her husband’s tendencies as her ‘worst nightmare’ and expressed her concerns about indisputable effects of collapse of the marriage on her four children, especially in the traditional society of Saudi Arabia.

      “My worst nightmare has materialized; I received the shock of my life by finding undeniable proof and Adel has finally admitted it himself a week ago. I believe any marital crisis is dreadful, but the discovery that you have a homosexual and mendacious husband can throw your whole world into a tailspin. The collapse of this marriage caused a horrible array of feelings to my four children, especially in the traditional Saudi milieu, ruining the gamut of shame, disappointment and anger. Everything was below the radar until I found incontrovertible evidence indicating that Adel has his coterie of homosexual friends in Thailand,” al-Qabas quoted al-Fayez as saying.

  14. Powerful Iraqi militant appears on Lebanon-Israel border (abcnews, Dec 9, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/powerful-iraqi-militant-appears-lebanon-israel-border-51687447

    “A powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militant commander has visited the Lebanon-Israel border expressing support for the Lebanese and Palestinians against the Jewish state and sparking harsh criticism from Lebanon’s prime minister who ordered him banned from entering the country.

    Qais al-Khazali is commander of the Iranian-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, a group that staged spectacular attacks against U.S. troops before their withdrawal from Iraq in 2011. He appeared in military uniform in a video while touring the border with Israel along with members of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group.

    “We declare our full readiness to stand with the Lebanese people and the Palestinian cause against the unjust Israeli occupation that is hostile to Islam, Arabs and humanity,” he said.

    The visit could be seen as a message to Israel that a possible war with Hezbollah in the future would bring into the country Iran-backed fighters from around the region at a time when Iranian-backed groups have a major presence in Syria and Iraq.

    The visit was blasted by Prime Minister Saad Hariri who said in a statement that it is a “flagrant violation” of Lebanese laws, adding that the appearance happened six days ago. Hariri ordered al-Khazali banned from entering Lebanon again.

    Hariri’s office said the prime minister contacted security officials to investigate the incident and prevent any person or group from carrying out any military activities on Lebanese territory…”

  15. PM announces on state TV Iraq’s war against IS has ended (abcnews, Dec 9, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iraqi-commander-countrys-war-ended-51686911

    “After more than three years of combat operations, Iraq announced Saturday that the fight against the Islamic State group is over after the country’s security forces drove the extremists from all of the territory they once held. Iraqi and American officials warned, however, that key challenges remain despite the military victory.

    Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi formally announced the victory in an address to the nation aired on Iraqi state television Saturday evening.

    “Honorable Iraqis, your land has been completely liberated,” he said. “The liberation dream has become a reality. We achieved victory in difficult circumstances and with God’s help, the steadfastness of our people and the bravery of our heroic forces we prevailed.”

    “The flag of Iraq is flying high today over all Iraqi territory and at the farthest point on the border,” he added, standing before the most senior members of Iraq’s security forces.

    Following al-Abadi’s remarks, his office declared a public holiday Sunday in celebration of the victory, according to an official statement from the prime minister’s office…”

  16. Would-be Labour councillor claims there is no such thing as ISIS in string of controversial Facebook posts (dailymail, Dec 9, 2017)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5162457/Would-Labour-councillor-claims-no-ISIS.html

    “A Labour candidate has apologised after previously claiming there was ‘no proof’ ISIS exists in one of a spate of controversial Facebook posts.

    Safia Noor, 25, was selected as the left-wing party’s new candidate for the Small Heath ward in Birmingham city council elections next year.

    But the law student has come under fire after it emerged the school governor has posted a string of highly controversial messages on social media about ISIS and UK terror attacks.

    The same day as the Westminster terror attack in March this year, which left five dead, she posted: ‘Can people relax and stop fighting on Facebook, sadly people died in Westminster today but people die everyday in Syria Palestine Africa Rohingya Kashmir.. Need I carry on?!! Grow up and stop pointing fingers!’

    She posted #AdultsPlayingDumb and #UnityNotWar below the message.

    On the same day in a message only to her followers, Noor posted: ‘Terrorist attack…and even the terrorist died?! Let me guess, he was a Muslim!’

    On March 27, five days after the Westminster attack, she commented on a Guardian article which had the headline: ‘Westminster attacker Khalid Masood had interest in Jihad – police’.

    She then posted: ‘So someone got stabbed after the attack last week as a result of media and government claiming that SO CALLED ISIS HAD CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY.
    ‘There is no ISIS and there is no proof.’

    She also ‘liked’ an article by the Independent which was headlined: ‘Egyptian state media claims 9/11 was carried out by West to justify war on terror’ on September last year.

    When The Birmingham Mail contacted Noor about the incidents, she abruptly interrupted them saying: ‘At this point in time it is not appropriate for me to speak about any of this, simply because I’m in the middle of something.’

    Noor has previously been photographed with high-profile Labour MPs, including Yvette Cooper, Jess Philips and Shabana Mahmood.

    In a statment email after, she said: ‘Following your phone call I would like to say: ‘Having read these comments back I accept I should have chosen my words more carefully. I didn’t intend to cause any offence and I apologise to anyone who found those comments offensive or upsetting.

    ‘I completely condemn all terrorist acts.’

    A spokesman for Labour’s local regional office was contacted but declined to comment.
    But it is understood the party welcomed Ms Noor’s apology.”

  17. Iraq and Iran sign Kirkuk oil swap deal (reuters, Dec 9, 2017)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-iraq-oil/iraq-and-iran-sign-kirkuk-oil-swap-deal-idUSKBN1E30JE?il=0

    “Iraq has agreed to swap up to 60,000 barrels per day of crude produced from the northern Iraqi Kirkuk oilfield for Iranian oil, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said on Saturday.

    The agreement signed by the two countries provides for Iran to deliver to Iraq’s southern ports, on the Gulf, “oil of the same characteristics and in the same quantities” as those it would receive from Kirkuk, Luaibi said in a statement.

    The deal in effect allows Iraq to resume sales of Kirkuk crude, which have been halted since Iraqi forces took back control of the fields from the Kurds in October.

    Between 30,000 and 60,000 bpd of Kirkuk crude will be delivered by tanker trucks to the border area of Kermanshah, where Iran has a refinery, Luaibi said.

    The two countries are planning to build a pipeline to carry the oil from Kirkuk, so as to avoid trucking the crude, he said…”

  18. Libya and Italy to set up operations room to tackle migrant smuggling (reuters, Dec 9, 2017)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-libya/libya-and-italy-to-set-up-operations-room-to-tackle-migrant-smuggling-idUSKBN1E30L8?il=0

    “Libya’s U.N.-backed government agreed with Italy on Saturday to establish a joint operations room for tackling migrant smugglers and traffickers as part of efforts to curb migrant flows toward Europe, according to a statement.

    Libya is the main gateway for migrants trying to cross to Europe by sea, though numbers have dropped sharply since July as Libyan factions and authorities have begun to block departures under Italian pressure. More than 600,000 have made the journey over the past four years.

    The agreement to set up the operations room was announced after a meeting in Tripoli between the head of the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez Seraj, Libyan Interior Minister Aref Khodja, and his Italian counterpart Marco Minniti.

    A statement from Seraj’s office said the center would consist of “representatives from the coastguard, the illegal migration department, the Libyan attorney general and the intelligence services, along with their Italian counterparts.”

    No details were given on the location of the center and how it would operate. In the past, migrant smugglers have worked with impunity in western Libya, where the GNA has little authority over armed groups that have real power on the ground.

    The Italian navy already has a presence in Tripoli port, providing “technical” assistance to Libya’s coastguard, according to Italian and Libyan officials.

    The coastguard, which is receiving funding and training from the European Union, has become more assertive in recent months in intercepting migrants and bringing them back to Libya.

    Activists have criticized the policy, since migrants often face extreme hardship and abuse in Libya, including forced labor. Migrants who are caught trying to cross to Italy are put in severely overcrowded detention centers authorized by the interior ministry…”

  19. Italy: Anti-fascists descend on Como to denounce far-right attacks

    Over 10,000 anti-fascist demonstrators descended on the northern town of Como on Saturday, after an increase in anti-immigration action by far-right groups in Italy.

    Demonstrators were joined by leaders from the governing centre-left Democratic Party (PD), including former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and ex-Spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Laura Boldrini.
    =======================================
    video – Laura Boldrini: Queen of the Armored Cars

    http://gatesofvienna.net/2015/09/laura-boldrini-queen-of-the-armored-cars/
    =========================================
    Daniele Piervincenzi, Rai journalist and victim of a far-right attack, used a speech first given by former Italian President Sandro Pertini to address the crowd. “Freedom is a human need. It is not a function of political ideas, origin or religion. Social justice completes and strengthens freedom. Love for your country is not a folly, it is not imperialism, colonialism or nationalism. Love for your country should inspire love for other countries,” he said.

    The anti-fascist demo was called for after Veneto Fronte Skinheads interrupted an aid meeting in the lakeside town of Como last week. Days later, another group, Forza Nuova, attacked the offices of liberal newspapers La Repubblica and L’Espresso in Rome.

    Northern Italy has experienced a growth in anti-immigrant sentiment since the beginning of the refugee crisis.

  20. U.N. says missiles fired at Saudi Arabia have ‘common origin’ (reuters, Dec 9, 2017)
    https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-yemen-security-un/u-n-says-missiles-fired-at-saudi-arabia-have-common-origin-idUKKBN1E30QS

    “United Nations officials have found that missiles fired at Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Houthi rebels appear to have a “common origin,” but they are still investigating U.S. and Saudi claims that Iran supplied them, according to a confidential report.

    The officials travelled to Saudi Arabia to examine the debris of missiles fired on July 22 and Nov. 4, wrote U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the fourth biannual report on the implementation of U.N. sanctions and restrictions on Iran.

    They found “that the missiles had similar structural and manufacturing features which suggest a common origin,” said Guterres in the Friday report to the U.N. Security Council, seen by Reuters on Saturday.

    The report comes amid calls by the United States for Iran to be held accountable for violating U.N. Security Council resolutions on Yemen and Iran by supplying weapons to the Houthis.

    Saudi-led forces, which back the Yemeni government, have fought the Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen’s more than two-year-long civil war. Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has described Iran’s supply of rockets to the Houthis as “direct military aggression” that could be an act of war.

    Iran has denied supplying the Houthis with weapons, saying the U.S. and Saudi allegations are “baseless and unfounded.”

    Guterre’s report said the U.N. officials saw three components, which Saudi authorities said came from the missile fired on Nov. 4. The components “bore the castings of a logo similar to that of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group” – a U.N.-blacklisted company.

    The officials are “still analysing the information collected and will report back to the Security Council,” wrote Guterres…”

  21. Egypt journalists: ‘Sorry Palestine, we are governed by a Zionist’ (memo, Dec 9, 2017)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171209-egypt-journalists-sorry-palestine-we-are-governed-by-a-zionist/

    “Egyptian journalists staged a protest on Thursday evening in front of the Journalists Syndicate in Cairo, objecting to US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the US embassy from Tel Aviv.

    A number of public figures took part in the protest, including former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi, human rights activist Tariq Al-Awadhi as well as representatives of the Kefaya Movement, the April 6 Youth Movement and Al-Dustour.

    The protesters demanded authorities sever ties with the Zionist entity, expel the Israeli ambassador in Cairo and close the Israeli embassy.

    Condemning Arab governments, the protesters changed: “Arab leaders are cowards…either resistance or treachery” and “down with every collaborator”.

    In a bold move, they criticised Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s response to Trump’s decision saying: “Sorry Palestine, we are governed by a Zionist.”…”

    • A dhimmi Copt, Turk-Face, the dwarf kinglet, and some MB-astroturf mobs. Not Sisi, not MbS
      So far, we’re hangin’ in there…

  22. EU faces being DESTROYED by forcing Eastern states to take in refugees, Czech leader warns (express, Dec 9, 2017)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/890319/european-union-latest-news-member-states-asylum-seeker-refugee-migrant-Andrej-Babis

    “THE European Union faces being destroyed by forcing Eastern states to take in refugees against their will, the designated Czech Prime Minister has warned.

    Andrej Babis cautioned the bloc that pushing Czechs over the refusal to shelter asylum-seekers could fuel a rise in extremist parties in the country.

    The EU’s executive will sue Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic in the bloc’s top court for their refusal to host asylum-seekers, Brussels said on Thursday.

    The European Commission accused the three countries of “non-compliance with they legal obligations on relocation”.

    The European Court of Justice (ECJ) could impose heavy fines, but may take up to many years to conclude.

    Speaking in an interview to the Pravo daily paper, Mr Babis said: “The European Commission can withdraw the charge at any moment. We have to negotiate on this and to offer different models, like guarding the borders or help to other countries. But we don’t want any refugees.”

    The Czechs have declined to shelter asylum-seekers despite an overall drop in rivals due to tighter borders and projects beyond the EU’s frontiers to discourage migration to Europe.

    Mr Babis, whose government is due to be appointed by President Milos Zeman on December 13, will represent his country a day later at the EU summit, where European leaders will discuss migration.

    He said that by using on with the court case, the EU might embolden extremist elements.

    He said: ”The EU has to understand, that if it won’t listen to our proposals, then the influence of extremist parties like (Germany’s) AfD or (Czech) SPD will grow, whose strategy actually is to destroy the EU.”

    Despite his ANO party winning the parliamentary election by a landslide in October, it is unclear whether Babis will be able to win a confidence vote for his government by mid-January as required by the constitution. He also faces the threat of prosecution in connection with his business interests.

    The far-right, anti-EU and anti-NATO SPD party and the Communists have lent ANO support in several initial votes in parliament in return for committee posts for their members, raising the prospect that they may have some kind of agreement to back ANO.

    But Babis reiterated in the Pravo interview that there was no deal in place and he would talk to all parties to either back the cabinet or abstain from the vote to help ANO win.”

  23. EU Members Push for Bloc Expansion into Unstable Balkans (breitbart, Dec 9, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/09/eu-members-push-bloc-expansion-unstable-balkans/

    “BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — The prime ministers of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania have pledged support for Serbia’s membership in the European Union, saying it would boost stability in the Balkans.

    Officials agreed at a meeting Saturday in Belgrade with Serbia’s president to improve trade, energy and transportation links between their countries.

    Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says “Serbia no longer can be outside the European family.” He adds “we must cooperate … and promote peace and stability in the Balkans.”

    Bulgarian Premier Boiko Borisov says “there is no better way for the Balkans than the EU way.”

    Serbia has sought to also maintain close ties with its traditional ally Russia as it seeks EU entry after wars in 1990s. President Aleksandar Vucic says Serbia is on the EU road, but Moscow remains “a friend.””

  24. British Hindus Object to Muslim Centre in Non-Muslim Area (breitbart, Dec 9, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/09/british-hindus-object-muslim-centre-non-muslim-area/

    “Thousands of residents of a largely Hindu area of Leicester have objected to a proposed Muslim prayer room and education centre.

    Supporters of the development insist it is not a mosque; however, opponents say it will harm the community, the Leicester Mercury reports.

    After a developer applied to convert a vacant warehouse in the Belgrave area of the city into facilities for Muslims, more than 1,435 letters of objection have been sent to planning officials, and 3,569 people signed a petition against the plan.

    The council says the supporters of the project claim it will provide local residents with “religious education, especially for those of Islamic faith within the area”.

    Many of the concerns sent to the council point out that the area is largely made up of Hindu families so the proposed centre, catering exclusively to Muslims, would be out of place.

    The local Labour MP for Leicester East, Keith Vaz, was among those to register opposition, highlighting concerns over traffic, parking, and noise that were also raised in a public meeting he arranged.

    Members of the city council’s planning committee will be asked to decide whether to allow the development at a meeting next Thursday, but planning officers have already recommended it is refused.

    A city council planning spokesman said: “As a result of the proposed uses, the nature of the property and its location, the proposal would result in increased on-street activity, noise from people and vehicles particularly in the late evening and early morning.

    “This would result in significant harm to the residential amenity conditions of nearby residents and other users of the street.”

    The report adds: “The concerns regarding community cohesion, potential tensions between the proposed users and the residents or potential riots, a Muslim centre in close proximity to a temple and church and other issues relating to religion are not material planning considerations.””

  25. Judge presiding over Michael Flynn case recuses himself — and no one knows why

    The federal judge presiding over the FBI’s case against Michael Flynn recused himself from the case this week for unknown reasons.
    What happened?

    Judge Rudolph Contreras, who sits on the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., and was appointed by former President Barack Obama, recused himself from the case on Thursday, court filings show, Politico reported.

    http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/12/09/judge-presiding-over-michael-flynn-case-recuses-himself-and-no-one-knows-why

    • In the video he points out that if the Dems are going to push to have the Logan Act enforced both Obama and Pelosi need to be arrested and that a lot of the Dems, including Bill and probably Hillary.

  26. This week’s show: Urgently Support Mueller Removal! / FBI Corruption / Land Rights & Bundy Case
    555 views
    72

  27. PRESIDENT ZEMAN ATTENDS FREEDOM AND DIRECT DEMOCRACY PARTY CONGRESS

    Ruth Fra?ková 09-12-2017 Send by email Print Subscribe to RSS
    Czech president Miloš Zeman delivered an opening speech at the congress of the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy Party on Saturday, along with party chairman Tomio Okamura. The Czech head of state said he agreed with the party on most issues, with the exception of Czech exit from the EU. He also reprimanded Mr Okamura for not supporting Czech foreign military missions.

    The president also thanked Mr Okamura for supporting Donald Trump’s decision to formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and criticized the EU for allegedly supporting pro-Palestinian movements over the pro-Israeli ones.

    http://www.radio.cz/en/section/news/president-zeman-attends-freedom-and-direct-democracy-party-congress

  28. Morocco: Chaos erupts as police and migrants collide in violent clashes

    Violent clashes erupted between police and sub-Saharan African migrants as police guards attempted to disband a camp on Saturday in Casablanca.

  29. USA: Hundreds block off main San Fran street in Jerusalem protest

    Hundreds of demonstrators took to Market Street in San Francisco on Saturday to denounce US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the official capital city of Israel.

  30. The Intercept – Glenn Greenwald- The U.S. Media Yesterday Suffered its Most Humiliating Debacle in Ages: Now Refuses All Transparency Over What Happened

    FRIDAY WAS ONE of the most embarrassing days for the U.S. media in quite a long time. The humiliation orgy was kicked off by CNN, with MSNBC and CBS close behind, with countless pundits, commentators and operatives joining the party throughout the day. By the end of the day, it was clear that several of the nation’s largest and most influential news outlets had spread an explosive but completely false news story to millions of people, while refusing to provide any explanation of how it happened.

    The spectacle began on Friday morning at 11:00 am EST, when the Most Trusted Name in News™ spent 12 straight minutes on air flamboyantly hyping an exclusive bombshell report that seemed to prove that WikiLeaks, last September, had secretly offered the Trump campaign, even Donald Trump himself, special access to the DNC emails before they were published on the internet. As CNN sees the world, this would prove collusion between the Trump family and WikiLeaks and, more importantly, between Trump and Russia, since the U.S. intelligence community regards WikiLeaks as an “arm of Russian intelligence,” and therefore, so does the U.S. media.

    This entire revelation was based on an email which CNN strongly implied it had exclusively obtained and had in its possession. The email was sent by someone named “Michael J. Erickson” – someone nobody had heard of previously and whom CNN could not identify – to Donald Trump, Jr., offering a decryption key and access to DNC emails that WikiLeaks had “uploaded.” The email was a smoking gun, in CNN’s extremely excited mind, because it was dated September 4 – ten days before WikiLeaks began promoting access to those emails online – and thus proved that the Trump family was being offered special, unique access to the DNC archive: likely by WikiLeaks and the Kremlin.

    It’s impossible to convey with words what a spectacularly devastating scoop CNN believed it had, so it’s necessary to watch it for yourself to see the tone of excitement, breathlessness and gravity the network conveyed as they clearly believed they were delivering a near-fatal blow to the Trump/Russia collusion story:

    • There was just one small problem with this story: it was fundamentally false, in the most embarrassing way possible. Hours after CNN broadcast its story – and then hyped it over and over and over – the Washington Post reported that CNN got the key fact of the story wrong.

      The email was not dated September 4, as CNN claimed, but rather September 14 – which means it was sent after WikiLeaks had already published access to the DNC emails online. Thus, rather than offering some sort of special access to Trump, “Michael J. Erickson” was simply some random person from the public encouraging the Trump family to look at the publicly available DNC emails that WikiLeaks – as everyone by then already knew – had publicly promoted. In other words, the email was the exact opposite of what CNN presented it as being.

      How did CNN end up aggressively hyping such a spectacularly false story? They refuse to say. Many hours after their story got exposed as false, the journalist who originally presented it, Congressional reporter Manu Raju, finally posted a tweet noting the correction. CNN’s PR Department then claimed that “multiple sources” had provided CNN with the false date. And Raju went on CNN, in muted tones, to note the correction, explicitly claiming that “two sources” had each given him the false date on the email, while also making clear that CNN did not ever even see the email, but only had sources describe its purported contents:

    • All of this prompts the glaring, obvious, and critical question – one which CNN refuses to address: how did “multiple sources” all misread the date on this document, in exactly the same way, and toward the same end, and then feed this false information to CNN?

      It is, of course, completely plausible that one source might innocently misread a date on a document. But how is it remotely plausible that multiple sources could all innocently and in good faith misread the date in exactly the same way, all to cause to be disseminated a blockbuster revelation about Trump/Russia/WikiLeaks collusion? This is the critical question that CNN simply refuses to answer. In other words, CNN refuses to provide the most minimal transparency to enable the public to understand what happened here.

      WHY DOES THIS MATTER SO MUCH? For so many significant reasons:

      To begin with, it’s hard to overstate how fast, far and wide this false story traveled. Democratic Party pundits, operatives and journalists with huge social media platforms predictably jumped on the story immediately, announcing that it proved collusion between Trump and Russia (through WikiLeaks). One tweet from Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu, claiming that this proved evidence of criminal collusion, was re-tweeted thousands and thousands of times in just a few hours (Lieu quietly deleted the tweet after I noted its falsity, and long after it went very viral, without ever telling his followers that the CNN story, and therefore his accusation, had been debunked).

      Brookings’ Benjamin Wittes, whose star has risen as he has promoted himself as a friend of former FBI Director Jim Comey, not only promoted the CNN story in the morning, but did so with the word “Boom” – which he uses to signal that a major blow has been delivered to Trump on the Russia story – along with a gif of a cannon being detonated:

      https://twitter.com/benjaminwittes/status/939120454450794496

      Incredibly, to this very moment – almost 24 hours after CNN’s story was debunked – Wittes has never noted to his more than 200,000 followers that the story he so excitedly promoted turned out to be utterly false, even though he returned to Twitter long after the story was debunked to tweet about other matters. He just left his false and inflammatory claims uncorrected.

      Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall believed the story was so significant that he used an image of an atomic bomb detonating at the top of his article discussing its implications, an article he tweeted to his roughly 250,000 followers. Only at night was an editor’s note finally added noting that the whole thing was false.

      It’s hard to quantify exactly how many people were deceived – filled with false news and propaganda – by the CNN story. But thanks to Democratic-loyal journalists and operatives who decree every Trump/Russia claim to be true without seeing any evidence, it’s certainly safe to say that many hundreds of thousands of people, almost certainly millions, were exposed to these false claims.

      Surely anyone who has any minimal concerns about journalistic accuracy – which would presumably include all the people who have spent the last year lamenting Fake News, propaganda, Twitter bots and the like – would demand an accounting as to how a major U.S. media outlet ended up filling so many people’s brains with totally false news. That alone should prompt demands from CNN for an explanation about what happened here. No Russian Facebook ad or Twitter bot could possibly have anywhere near the impact as this CNN story had when it comes to deceiving people with blatantly inaccurate information.

      Second, the “multiple sources” who fed CNN this false information did not confine themselves to that network. They were apparently very busy eagerly spreading the false information to as many media outlets as they could find. In the middle of the day, CBS News claimed that it had independently “confirmed” CNN’s story about the email, and published its own breathless article discussing the grave implications of this discovered collusion.

      Most embarrassing of all was what MSNBC did. You just have to watch this report from its “intelligence and national security correspondent” Ken Dilanian to believe it. Like CBS, Dilanian also claimed that he independently “confirmed” the false CNN report from “two sources with direct knowledge of this.” Dilanian, whose career in the U.S. media continues to flourish the more he is exposed as someone who faithfully parrots what the CIA tells him to say (since that is one of the most coveted and valued attributes in US journalism), spent three minutes mixing evidence-free CIA claims as fact with totally false assertions about what his multiple “sources with direct knowledge” told him about all this. Please watch this – again, not just the content but the tenor and tone of how they “report” – as it is Baghdad-Bob-level embarrassing:

    • Think about what this means. It means that at least two – and possibly more – sources, which these media outlets all assessed as credible in terms of having access to sensitive information, all fed the same false information to multiple news outlets at the same time. For multiple reasons, the probability is very high that these sources were Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee (or their high-level staff members), which is the committee that obtained access to Trump Jr.’s emails, although it’s certainly possible that it’s someone else. We won’t know until these news outlets deign to report this crucial information to the public: which “multiple sources” acted jointly to disseminate incredibly inflammatory, false information to the nation’s largest news outlets?

      Just last week, the Washington Post decided – to great applause (including mine) – to expose a source to whom they had promised anonymity and off-the-record protections because they discovered that she was purposely feeding them false information as part of a scheme by Project Veritas to discredit the Post. It’s a well established principle of journalism – one that is rarely followed when it comes to powerful people in DC – that journalists should expose, rather than protect and conceal, sources who purposely feed them false information to be disseminated to the public.

      Is that what happened here? Did these “multiple sources” who fed not just CNN but also MSNBC and CBS completely false information do so deliberately and in bad faith? Until these news outlets provide an accounting of what happened – what one might call “minimal journalistic transparency” – it’s impossible to say for certain. But right now, it’s very difficult to imagine a scenario where multiple sources all fed the wrong date to multiple media outlets innocently and in good faith.

      If this were, in fact, a deliberate attempt to cause a false and highly inflammatory story to be reported, then these media outlets have an obligation to expose who the culprits are – just as the Washington Post did last week to the woman making false claims about Roy Moore (it was much easier in that case because the source they exposed was a nobody-in-DC, rather than someone on whom they rely for a steady stream of stories, the way CNN and MSNBC rely on Democratic members of the Intelligence Committee). By contrast, if this were just an innocent mistake, then these media outlets should explain how such an implausible sequence of events could possibly have happened.

      Thus far, these media corporations are doing the opposite of what journalists ought to do: rather than informing the public about what happened and providing minimal transparency and accountability for themselves and the high-level officials who caused this to happen, they are hiding behind meaningless, obfuscating statements crafted by PR executives and lawyers.

      How can journalists and news outlets so flamboyantly act offended when they’re attacked as being “Fake News” when this is the conduct behind which they hide when they get caught disseminating incredibly consequential false stories?

      The more serious you think the Trump/Russia story is, the more dangerous you think it is when Trump attacks the U.S. media as “Fake News,” the more you should be disturbed by what happened here, the more transparency and accountability you should be demanding. If you’re someone who thinks Trump’s attacks on the media are dangerous, then you should be first in line objecting when they act recklessly and demand transparency and accountability from them. It is debacles like this – and the subsequent corporate efforts to obfuscate – that have made the U.S. media so disliked and that fuel and empower Trump’s attacks on them.

      Third, this type of recklessness and falsity is now a clear and highly disturbing trend – one could say a constant – when it comes to reporting on Trump, Russia and WikiLeaks. I have spent a good part of the last year documenting the extraordinarily numerous, consequential and reckless stories that have been published – and then corrected, rescinded and retracted – by major media outlets when it comes to this story.

      All media outlets, of course, will make mistakes. The Intercept certainly has made our share, as have all outlets. And it’s particularly natural, inevitable, for mistakes to be made on a highly complicated, opaque story like the question of the relationship between Trump and the Russians, and questions relating to how WikiLeaks obtained DNC and Podesta emails. That is all to be expected.

      But what one should expect with journalistic “mistakes” is that they sometimes go in one direction, and other times go in the other direction. That’s exactly what has not happened here. Virtually every false story published goes only in one direction: to be as inflammatory and damaging as possible on the Trump/Russia story and about Russia particularly. At some point, once “mistakes” all start going in the same direction, toward advancing the same agenda, they cease looking like mistakes.

      No matter your views on those political controversies, no matter how much you hate Trump or regard Russia as a grave villain and threat to our cherished democracy and freedoms, it has to be acknowledged that when the U.S. media is spewing constant false news about all of this, that, too, is a grave threat to our democracy and cherished freedom.

      So numerous are the false stories about Russia and Trump over the last year that I literally cannot list them all. Just consider the ones from the last week alone, as enumerated by the New York Times yesterday in its news report on CNN’s embarrassment:

      It was also yet another prominent reporting error at a time when news organizations are confronting a skeptical public, and a president who delights in attacking the media as “fake news.”

      Last Saturday, ABC News suspended a star reporter, Brian Ross, after an inaccurate report that Donald Trump had instructed Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser, to contact Russian officials during the presidential race.

      The report fueled theories about coordination between the Trump campaign and a foreign power, and stocks dropped after the news. In fact, Mr. Trump’s instruction to Mr. Flynn came after he was president-elect.

      Several news outlets, including Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, also inaccurately reported this week that Deutsche Bank had received a subpoena from the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, for President Trump’s financial records.

      The president and his circle have not been shy about pointing out the errors.

      That’s just the last week alone. Let’s just remind ourselves of how many times major media outlets have made humiliating, breathtaking errors on the Trump/Russia story, always in the same direction, toward the same political goals. Here is just a sample of incredibly inflammatory claims that traveled all over the internet before having to be corrected, walk-backed, or retracted – often long after the initial false claims spread, and where the corrections receive only a tiny fraction of the attention with which the initial false stories are lavished:

      Russia hacked into the U.S. electric grid to deprive Americans of heat during winter (Wash Post)

      An anonymous group (PropOrNot) documented how major U.S. political sites are Kremlin agents (Wash Post)

      WikiLeaks has a long, documented relationship with Putin (Guardian)

      A secret server between Trump and a Russian bank has been discovered (Slate)

      RT hacked C-SPAN and caused disruption in its broadcast (Fortune)

      Crowdstrike finds Russians hacked into a Ukrainian artillery app (Crowdstrike)

      Russians attempted to hack elections systems in 21 states (multiple news outlets, echoing Homeland Security)

      Links have been found between Trump ally Anthony Scaramucci and a Russian investment fund under investigation (CNN)

      That really is just a small sample. So continually awful and misleading has this reporting been that even Vladimir Putin’s most devoted critics – such as Russian expatriate Masha Gessen, oppositional Russian journalists, and anti-Kremlin liberal activists in Moscow – are constantly warning that the U.S. media’s unhinged, ignorant, paranoid reporting on Russia is harming their cause in all sorts of ways, in the process destroying the credibility of the U.S. media in the eyes of Putin’s opposition (who – unlike Americans who have been fed a steady news and entertainment propaganda diet for decades about Russia -actually understand the realities of that country).

    • U.S. media outlets are very good at demanding respect. They love to imply, if not outright state, that being patriotic and a good American means that one must reject efforts to discredit them and their reporting because that’s how one defends press freedom.

      But journalists also have the responsibility not just to demand respect and credibility but to earn it. That means that there shouldn’t be such a long list of abject humiliations, in which completely false stories are published to plaudits, traffic and other rewards, only to fall apart upon minimal scrutiny. It certainly means that all of these “errors” shouldn’t be pointing in the same direction, pushing the same political outcome or journalistic conclusion.

      But what it means most of all is that when media outlets are responsible for such grave and consequential errors as the spectacle we witnessed yesterday, they have to take responsibility for it by offering transparency and accountability. In this case, that can’t mean hiding behind PR and lawyer silence and waiting for this to just all blow away.

      At minimum, these networks – CNN, MSNBC and CBS – have to either identify who purposely fed them this blatantly false information, or explain how it’s possible that “multiple sources” all got the same information wrong in innocence and good faith. Until they do that, their cries and protests the next time they’re attacked as “Fake News” should fall on deaf ears, since the real author of those attacks – the reason those attacks resonate – is themselves and their own conduct.

      https://theintercept.com/2017/12/09/the-u-s-media-yesterday-suffered-its-most-humiliating-debacle-in-ages-now-refuses-all-transparency-over-what-happened/

        • They have agenda all right, the problem with lifting their licenses is that it will set the precedent that you can pull a broadcast license because you don’t like what is said. If we want free speech we have to let those we don’t like speak.

          • Ok.
            Let them correct and apologize, equal time as given the intial FAKE report. Blanket tweets, too.
            Primetime, highest-paid talking-heads.

  31. Saudi Arabia orders media ‘to limit coverage’ of Trump’s Jerusalem move (alaraby, Dec 9, 2017)
    https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/12/9/saudi-arabia-orders-limited-media-coverage-of-jerusalem-move

    “Saudi Arabia has ordered media outlets in the kingdom to not focus “too much attention” on Washington’s controversial decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, sources have said.

    The Saudi royal court sent a “severe warning” to bosses of newspapers and television and radio stations this week about the issue which has sparked protests across the Arab world, sources told The New Arab on Thursday.

    Speaking on condition of anonymity, they added that the directive ordered media to instead “take aim at Iran and other regional countries” in its coverage…”

  32. Lal Masjid cleric seeks action against online blasphemy (tribune, Dec 9, 2017)
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/1580216/1-lal-masjid-cleric-seek-action-online-blasphemy/

    “Former Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz has called for action against a “social media campaign to insult some of the holy figures of Islam”.

    Speaking at a news conference at a seminary in Islamabad, the cleric showed to media persons the screenshots of several controversial and outrageous social media posts. “Authorities aren’t doing enough to arrest the culprits.”

    Maulana Aziz said that he had also petitioned the Islamabad High Court against the issue but the authorities concerned did nothing. “The government is helpless. They would have sprung into action if such outrageous caricatures had been made of the prime minister, the army chief or the chief justice,” he said…”

  33. Turkish security forces kill 20 PKK militants in week (hurriyetdailynews, Dec 9, 2017)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-security-forces-kill-20-pkk-militants-in-week-123840

    “Turkish security forces have killed at least 20 outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in counter-terrorism operations in a week, military said on Dec. 9.

    According to a statement by Turkish General Staff, the dead included two high-ranking militants.

    The operations were conducted in southeastern provinces of Diyarbak?r, Bitlis, Siirt, ??rnak and also in Iraq’s northern region between Dec. 1 and 7, it said.

    Turkish forces defused more than 40 explosive devices planted by the group and destroyed over 70 weapon emplacements, shelters and arms depots.

    The military also seized nearly a ton of narcotics, smuggled cigarette and fuel oil, which supposedly used by the PKK as sources of income.”

  34. Bulgaria says border treaty revision not beneficial for regional stability (hurriyetdailynews, Dec 9, 2017)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/bulgaria-says-border-treaty-revision-not-beneficial-for-regional-stability-123837

    “Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry said on Dec. 8 any discussion about a revision of the treaty defining the borders of its neighbours Greece and Turkey would not help stability in the region.

    The statement comes a day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said during a visit to Greece that some details in the Treaty of Lausanne, which established the borders of modern-day Turkey, were unclear and that a lasting solution to issues in the Aegean and Cyprus was needed.

    “Bulgaria believes that a discussion of peace treaties and existing borders is not beneficial to the international community and stability in the region,” the ministry said.

    “Any revision of international treaties may only be done by mutual agreement between the countries in accordance with international law,” it said, urging its neighbours to “continue on the path of dialogue”.

    The ministry said it had discussed the issue with the Turkish ambassador to Sofia…”

  35. Nike Launches ‘Pro Hijab’ for Female Muslim Athletes (moroccoworldnews, Dec 9, 2017)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2017/12/235864/nike-launches-pro-hijab-female-muslim-athletes/

    “Following its announcement last June, the sportswear giant Nike has launched the first hijab designed for high performance women athletes.

    The Nike Pro Hijab is available in stores as of December 1 and has been tested and approved by top athletes, including the talented fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first headscarf-wearing American to represent the United States in international competitions, including the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.

    The garment has also been tested by Egyptian running coach Manal Rostom and Emirati figure skater Zahra Lari.

    The Nike Pro Hijab comes at the result of “an ongoing cultural shift that has seen more women than ever embracing sport,” said the American giant in a statement.

    The brand says that it spent a year designing the Nike Pro Hijab, which is made of a lightweight, soft, and breathable fabric.

    “The Nike Pro Hijab has been a year in the making but its impetus can be traced much further back to Nike’s founding mission, to serve athletes, with the signature addendum: If you have a body, you’re an athlete,” the company said

    The launch of this new garment follows Nike Middle East’s viral ad campaign “What Will They Say About You,” which was hailed for featuring Muslim women athletes such as Emirati Zahra Lari, Tunisian fencer Inès Boubakri, and Jordanian boxer Arifa Bseiso.

    By offering this new product, Nike hopes to “inspire more women and girls in the region who still face barriers and limited access to sport.”

    The Nike Pro Hijab, sold for EUR 30, will be soon available in the Middle Eastern region, where the company has 24 stores in the United Arab Emirates and 28 in Saudi Arabia, as well as an Arabic version of its training app.

    Nike is not the first brand to provide clothing designed for Muslim women. In early 2016, Dolce & Gabbana launched “Abaya”, their first collection of dresses and veils for Muslim women.

    However, this trend of Islamic fashion does not please everyone and has sparked controversy. In March 2016, Laurence Rossignol, then French Minister of Children, Families and Women’s Rights, had criticized the brands that launch clothing for Muslim women.

    “We can not admit that it is trivial and harmless that major brands are investing in this market […] It’s irresponsible on the part of these brands,” said Rossignol.

    French feminist writer Elisabeth Badinter, followed by many other intellectuals, also called for a boycott of similar Islamic clothing.”