Here's an example of Stockholm Syndrome. And Jews hve carried it even further. Seen what's happening 2the Palestinians?#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli Major Israeli Daily: Our Government Is "Arming Neo-Nazis In Ukraine" Zero Hedge https://t.co/TG0NdVeKsY
Good read to help understand why "elite media" n world at large ignores Yemeni n Palestinian kids killed every single day. By same author as in previous tweet.#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli "The Delusion 'I Am Not Responsible' https://t.co/H9sV6FBV3e
While the world watched and waited with bated breath for the outcome of the substantial global effort – involving over 100 cave divers from various countries, 1,000 members of the Thai Army and 10,000 others in various roles – to rescue a team of 12 young football players and their coach, who were trapped inside a flooded cave in Thailand for 17 days, 850,000 children were killed by human adults in other parts of the world, many of them simply starved to death in Yemen or other parts of Africa, Asia and Central/South America.
But other children were killed in ritual sacrifice. Many children were killed after being sexually trafficked, raped and tortured, many were killed in wars (including in Yemen), many were killed while living under military occupation, many died as child soldiers or while working as slave laborers, and vast numbers of other children suffered violence in a myriad other forms ranging from violence (including sexual violation) inflicted in the family home to lives of poverty, homelessness and misery in wealthy industrialized countries or as refugees fleeing conflict zones.
Why did the world’s corporate media highlight the flooded Thai cave story so graphically and why do so many ordinary people respond with such interest – meaning genuine emotional engagement – in this story? But not the others just mentioned?
And what does this tell us about human psychology and geopolitics?
Needless to say, a great deal.
During the Thai cave drama, major corporate media outlets, such as the Washington Post and the BBC, were routinely releasing ‘breaking news’ updates on the status of the rescue effort. At high points in the drama, reports on this issue were overshadowing major political and other stories of the day. At the same time, there were no ‘breaking news’ stories on any of the many myriad forms of violence against children, which were (and are still) killing 50,000 children each day.
So why the corporate media interest in this essentially local (Thai) story about a group of 12 children trapped in a cave? And why did it attract so much support, including foreign cave divers, engineers and medics as well as technology billionaire Elon Musk, who flew in to investigate rescue options and assist with the rescue effort. They and their equivalents are certainly not flying in to rescue children in a vast number of other contexts, including where the provision of simple, nourishing meals and clean water would do wonders....
They missed seeing a bunch of exciting #FIFA games, but their stories underground in the caves now give them big chances of getting an invitation to Russia..I hope.#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli "Thailand cave rescue: Boys found alive after nine days.. https://t.co/1b2PJEhqE7
1) Will the govt buy this couple's house too for a Million Pounds like it did the Russian spy's and the detective's involved in the other poisoning case?#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli "Amesbury: Two collapse near Russian spy poisoning site. https://t.co/DLDNRV3jGB
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Sad to see RT going the way of the rest of the MSM that is in the habit of not doing proper research on any of the items it reports on.
From LandDestroyer blog Fact Check: Did Thailand Really Arrest a "Top Human Rights Lawyer?" A recent article published by RT titled, "Top Thai human rights lawyer faces 150 years in prison for ‘royal insult’," repeats almost verbatim talking points drawn from US and European media, as well as US-funded organizations posing as "nongovernmental organizations" (NGOs).
The "top Thai human rights lawyer" mentioned in the headline is actually a representative of an armed militant group, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) which killed over 100 and maimed hundreds more in multiple failed attempts aimed at overthrowing the Thai political order spanning form 2006-2014.
The militant group, organized and directed by ousted former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, represents yet another US-backed effort at undermining and overthrowing a political order obstructing its corporate-financier interests both within Thailand itself, and within the Asian region.
Unmasking the "Top Thai Human Rights Lawyer" Information cited by RT regarding "lawyer" Prawet Prapanukul, comes from faux-NGO Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, created by the US State Department and funded annually by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), working exclusively to defend US-backed agitators as the current Thai government slowly tightens control over foreign-funded subversion.....
The countries in it, either in major or minor roles: USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Jordan, UAE, Qatar,Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Yemen, Nigeria,France with (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad ) Germany, Italy, Czech Republic,Albania, Estonia, Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Japan,Republic of Korea, Ireland, Spain, Slovakia, Norway, The Netherlands, Luxembourg,Bulgaria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Novorussia, Ukraine, Russia, Chechnya, Somalia, Iran, India, South Korea, North Korea, Central African Republic, Kenya, Tunisia, ThePhilippines, Egypt, Albania, Serbia, China, Sudan, South Sudan, Bukina Faso, Palestine,Georgia, Chad, Spain, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Nepal, Congo, Uganda, Romania,Mexico, Gambia, Haiti, Cameroon, Chad, Algeria, Venezuela, Thailand, Argentina, Vietnam,Myanmar, Georgia, Burundi, Senegal, Macedonia, Armenia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala
From FirstLook Yemen’s Hidden War: How the Saudi-Led Coalition Is Killing Civilians IN THE ISLAMIC CONCEPT of qadar, your divine destiny is inescapable. If you try to cheat death it will find you. For two women on a dusty road in mid-June on the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula, their repeated attempts to dodge fate ended in tragic failure. Leaving the war zone of Yemen’s southern port city of Aden on June 10, the women headed north in a Toyota Cressida driven by a male relative. The pair were escaping the violence that had already turned entire streets in Aden to rubble, left hundreds dead and thousands of civilians under siege, struggling to find food, water and medical care. Driving ahead of them was a family of four in a Hilux pick-up truck, slowing at the numerous checkpoints along the road and weaving around potholes in the asphalt. Between 4:30 and 5 p.m., seemingly from nowhere, the first missile struck. The Hilux flipped into a cartwheeling fireball, killing the two children and their parents inside. Before the women in the Toyota had a chance to compose themselves an ominous whistle........
A third explosion in China! Again at the chemical factory in Dongying City.
And, all after devaluation and dumping.
https://t.co/Cjgkz1KFKr
From Bangkokpost 19 killed, 123 hurt as bomb blast rocks Bangkok tourist attraction A bomb explosion inside one of Bangkok’s most popular tourist attractions killed at least 19 people and injured 123 others – mostly foreign tourists – on Monday. Of the 19 dead victims, 12 died at the scene. The figures were based on information released by the Royal Thai Police Office as of 11.20pm on Monday.....
From NPR Thai Prime Minister Says 'Main Suspect' In Bangkok Bombing Arrested Police in Thailand have arrested a second foreign man — who Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said is the main suspect — in connection with the deadly Bangkok bombing on Aug. 17, Michael Sullivan reports for NPR. Prayuth told reporters the man arrested Tuesday was taken into custody in eastern Thailand, near the border with Cambodia, and that the suspect may have been attempting to flee the country, Sullivan reports. "Prayuth said the man is not Thai and is believed to be the main suspect in the bombing" Sullivan says. But officials don't know whether he is the yellow-shirted man seen on surveillance video leaving a backpack at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine on the day of the bombing.
From VICE VICE News Condemns Turkish Government Over Detention of Its Journalists on Terrorism Charges A Turkish court leveled formal charges of terrorism at two VICE News journalists and their colleague on Monday, as global rights groups have called for the reporters to be released. The two British journalists, Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury, have been detained since late Thursday evening local time in Turkey. The two were taken into custody in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir along with their fixer — a local journalist who serves as a translator and guide — and a driver. The driver has now been released. Kevin Sutcliffe, VICE's Head of News Programming in Europe, condemned the detention of the journalists in a statement Monday. "Today the Turkish government has leveled baseless and alarmingly false charges of 'working on behalf of a terrorist organization' against three VICE News reporters, in an attempt to intimidate and censor their coverage," he said. "Prior to being unjustly detained, these journalists were reporting and documenting the situation in the southeastern Turkish province of Diyarbakir......
Germany and EU's migrant problem
From CNN ISIS claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack that wounded at least 29 people in Cairo early Thursday, saying it was retribution for the execution of six men in May. The car detonated near the National Security Building in the northern suburb of Shubra al-Kheemag, Egypt's Health Ministry said. The driver had parked it then was picked up by a motorcycle and fled before the explosives went off. Among the 29 wounded were six police officers, the Interior Ministry said. The blast echoed through the capital for miles, waking residents in predawn hours, London Times reporter Bel Trew told CNN. Video revealed at least one building facade nearly defaced, cars mangled, and heavy concrete street barriers knocked over near the bomb site. ........
From NYTimes Saudis Said to Kill More Than 65 Civilians in Yemen Bombing Doctors Without Borders said that Saudi-led airstrikes killed more than 65 civilians early Friday in Yemen’s southwest province of Taiz, including 17 people from one family. If confirmed, it would be one of the largest tolls from airstrikes by Saudi Arabia and its military coalition partners since they began bombing Yemen five months ago in a campaign to crush the Houthi insurgency in the country, the Arab world’s poorest. A statement posted on the website of Doctors Without Borders, the international medical charity that works in many conflict zones, said the bombings left extensive damage in the area, with a population of 600,000. “Those who survived the bombings are searching through the rubble with their bare hands in the hope of finding survivors, as well as the bodies of victims of the attack,” Salah Dongu’du, the Doctors Without Borders coordinator in Taiz, said in the statement. He said many survivors, as well as the charity’s staff, had been unable to reach the seven hospitals still functioning in the area, which originally had 20. “These seven hospitals are totally overwhelmed with wounded patients and have run out of essential medication,” he said..........
From Guardian Libya urges Arab allies to launch air strikes against Isis Foreign minister asks for arms but does not expect Britain or other western countries to intervene militarily in north Africa Libya’s internationally recognised government is calling on fellow Arab states to carry out air strikes against Isis targets but it does not expect Britain or other western countries to intervene militarily, its foreign minister has said. Mohamed al-Dayri requested arms supplies to help the Tobruk-based administration fight “barbaric terrorists” who have crucified and beheaded Libyans and Egyptians as the north African country continues to suffer “catastrophic violence” four years after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. Dayri told the Guardian in an exclusive interview that he had asked Philip Hammond, the British foreign secretary, to expedite the delivery of ammunition and night-vision equipment, which are banned under the current UN arms embargo.........
From Reuters Saudi-led warplanes hit Yemeni port, aid group sounds alarm Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition hit Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeida on Tuesday, and officials there said the raids destroyed cranes and warehouses in the main entry point for aid supplies to the north of the country. Hodeida, controlled by Iranian-allied Houthi forces, has become a focal point of efforts to resupply the impoverished Arab state, battered by five months of war that has killed over 4,300 people.
From AntiWar Saudi Airstrike Hits Yemen Neighborhood, Killing 17 Civilians Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners are facing yet another round of condemnation today after an airstrike against northern Yemen’s Amran Province killed 17 civilians, including 13 teachers and four children. 20 other civilians were wounded in the strike. The attack hit a building which houses the teachers union offices for the region, and staff were preparing make-up exams for students who had missed final exams because of the ongoing Saudi war. The children at the site were the children of teachers, who were playing outside when the strike hit.....
From SCMP Ten days a fter Tianjin blasts, nine injured in explosion at chemical plant in eastern China A chemical factory in a village in eastern Shandong province exploded on Saturday night, injuring nine people, local media and police reported. The blast shattered windows of houses less than a kilometre away. ........... The explosion occurred at about 8.50pm at a chemical plant owned by Ruixing Chemical in Dongfu village near Zibo city, the Qilu Evening News reported on Weibo. Zibo city police said nine people were injured. The incident occurred just 10 days after a series of blasts at a chemicals factory in Tianjin, 120km east of Beijing, resulted in 121 casualties, including 67 dead firefighters and 54 people still unaccounted for.
From CBSNews Blast at U.S. Army depot in Japan lights up night sky An explosion at a U.S. Army depot outside of Tokyo set off a large blaze that lit up the night sky early Monday morning, but there were no reports of injuries. The blast happened after midnight at the Sagami Depot in Sagamihara, a city about 25 miles southwest of Tokyo, Pentagon duty officer Navy Commander Bill Urban said.......
From CounterPunch Ukrainians are Voting With Their Feet Against War and Economic Disaster The people of Ukraine are finding new and innovative ways to avoid compulsory military service and the vigilante military recruiters who enforce it. Deepening resistance to the draconian measure is now a significant impediment to the very prosecution of the war. Battle over public spaces Recruiters are routinely raiding public spaces to hunt down and grab men of conscription age (20-26) who fail to answer the call to war. They block exits to shopping centers, transit vehicles, parks and other public spaces and then conduct identification checks. Those found to have dodged service or whose call-up dates are approaching are hauled away or given strict instructions of when and where to report for duty. Vesti.com reports on the new phenomenon by Ukrainians of creating online maps to mark the public places where recruiters commonly hunt. Men and their families use the maps as a guide to public spaces to avoid. The first map appeared in the city of Dniepropetrovsk, reports Vesti. The phenomenon has quickly spread across the country.......
Boko Haram kills 79 people in three recent attacks in northeast Nigeria, local militia and residents say. http://t.co/OF6lwUp2ur
From VICE What We Learned While Embedded With Kurdish Forces Clearing the Islamic State From Hasakah Everyone was silent as we watched the flare spiral slowly to the ground, burning brightly, high above the smoke, noise, and flame of the burning oil refinery on the flat horizon. The Kurdish fighters then seemed to waken suddenly, shouldering their weapons and firing bursts of hot red tracer into the Islamic State (IS) positions just ahead. Six weeks earlier the jihadist group had launched a shock offensive on the city of Hasakah, northeast Syria, capturing almost half of it and initiating a bloody three-way struggle between IS, the Syrian regime and the Kurdish YPG forces, as well their allied militias. On this August night, however, the next few hours would see IS finally expelled from the city, and the YPG in almost total control of their first provincial capital in Syria.
Hasakah is the commercial and political center of the northeastern governorate of the same name, one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse in Syria. Thinly populated before French colonial rule in the early 20th century, the flat and dusty region is home to the majority of Syria's Kurdish population, as well as Assyrian and Syriac Christians, and Sunni Arab tribes, many of whom were planted in the region in the 1960s and 70s by the Syrian regime in an act of colonial settlement to dilute the region's Kurdish majority.........
From VICE Tens of thousands of Malaysian protesters turned out in the streets of Kuala Lumpur on Saturday to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Razak following the discovery of millions of dollars worth of clandestine deposits made to his personal bank accounts. An internal probe uncovered more than $700 million that had been deposited into Razak's accounts from entities linked with the state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). .........
From RT 'Make it a revolution!’ : Lebanon protesters give 72-hour ultimatum to government Thousands of street protesters in Beirut are demanding the resignation of two government ministers, after hundreds were injured in a similar demonstration last week. RT's Paula Slier reports that violence has again broken out. The organizing movement behind the street protests, ‘You Stink!,’ said it would “escalate” its public protests unless the interior minister responsible for alleged police brutality was replaced along with the minister of the environment who is in charge of the ineffectual rubbish collection service that has left the streets of Beirut lined with trash. Its spokesman Rasha Halabi went further, however, telling a crowd that the movement will be pushing for new national elections.......
Trouble brewing in Guatemala which might erupt into a civil war. Note that the present criminal of a president has been there from the Reagan era and supported by the US govt.
From AP One-day record for migrant rescues in sea near Libya: 4,400 Italy's coast guard says it coordinated the rescue of some 4,400 migrants in a single day, a record-setting number, as smugglers took advantage of ideal sea conditions off Libya to launch a fleet of overcrowded, unseaworthy boats. The coast guard on Sunday said 22 rescue operations were carried out a day earlier for motorized rubber dinghies and fishing boats, all crammed with migrants desperate to reach Europe's southern shores. Italian coast guard, navy and border police boats pitched in, as did Norwegian and Irish naval vessels deployed in a European patrol-and-rescue force. Boats in distress use satellite phones to call coast guard rescuers or are spotted by patrolling Italian military aircraft. So far this year, some 110,000 migrants have been rescued off Libya and brought to southern Italian ports........
From PressTV At least 30 killed in huge explosion near hospital in Syria’s Rif Dimashq Dozens of people have reportedly been killed in a huge bomb explosion targeting pro-government forces in southwestern Syria. The bomb attack on Wednesday hit a hospital in Harasta, a town located around 10 kilometers from the capital Damascus in Rif Dimashq, killing at least 30 people and injuring tens of others, Sky News Arabia reported.........
From JapanTimes EU-bound refugee wave rolls through Macedonia, Serbia, threatening bloc’s ‘soul’ PRESEVO, SERBIA – Thousands of migrants, mostly Syrian refugees, traveled through Macedonia and Serbia on Sunday toward Western Europe, as Italy’s foreign minister said the escalating crisis threatened the bloc’s “soul. More than 7,000 men, woman and children crossed into southern Serbia from Macedonia overnight Saturday to Sunday alone, the U.N.’s refugee agency (UNHCR) said, with many more still expected to arrive. The mass movement came after Macedonian police on Saturday finally reopened the border with Greece after three days of trying to hold back streams of migrants.
Macedonia had on Thursday declared a state of emergency and sealed off its border to halt the influx, leaving thousands stranded in no-man’s land. After a tense standoff on the border, hundreds of stranded refugees, many carrying small children, forced their way through barbed wire fences in dramatic scenes on Saturday as police hurled stun grenades. By Saturday evening, border guards stood aside to allow 1,500 migrants through unhindered, with many heading straight for Serbia, the next stop on their journey to reach the European Union.........
From Reuters Rockets fired by Houthi militiamen killed 14 civilians, most of them children, as fighting intensified for control of Yemen's third largest city, Taiz, residents said on Monday. The Saudi-led coalition opposing the Houthis also launched air raids on military bases and Houthi positions in the southwestern city during the fighting, residents said, but no casualties were reported. Fighters loyal to Yemen's exiled government have been contesting control of Taiz - Yemen's cultural capital - with the Houthis since April. Hundreds of combatants and civilians have been killed..........
From ICRC Yemen: ICRC office in Aden attacked The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) strongly condemns an attack which has taken place on its offices in the city of Aden in Yemen. Unidentified gunmen stormed the building on Monday (24 August, 2015) and held staff at gunpoint. Cars, cash and equipment were subsequently stolen. As a result, fourteen international staff members have been relocated. "This is not the first time that we have had a security incident in Aden," said the ICRC's head of sub-delegation in the city, Samer Jarjouhi. "There have been at least ten such incidents recently. This is not acceptable and we have relocated staff until the situation improves." It is not clear who the gunmen were but the security situation in Aden has deteriorated in recent months. The ICRC will remain in contact with the authorities in the city to discuss safety considerations.........
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Russia has begun its military intervention in #Syria, deploying an aerial contingent to a permanent Syrian base pic.twitter.com/us1Z1SS5Tt
From Anadolu Germany, Turkey 'coordinated' Patriot's withdrawal Germany has denied reports that its withdrawal of Patriot anti-missile system from eastern Turkey is due to Turkish military strikes against PKK Germany has denied reports that its decision to end its deployment of Patriot anti-missile systems in southern Turkey is a reaction to recent Turkish military operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Defense Ministry spokesman Ingo Gerhartz said Monday that Germany’s decision to end its contribution to NATO's Patriot system in Turkey was taken after a review within the alliance in June, which concluded that the threat against Turkish territories by Syrian ballistic missiles was very low........
From AlMonitor Oman’s diplomatic bridge to Syria Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem’s recent visit to Oman signals Damascus’ heightened interest in negotiating an end to its 4½-year-old civil war, an interest rendered more urgent by a series of on-the-ground setbacks for the Syrian army. Moallem met Aug. 6 with his Omani counterpart, Yusuf bin Alawi in Muscat, Oman, to discuss “constructive efforts” aimed at ending the Syrian crisis. Syria’s state-run news agency reported the two diplomats “agreed to continue cooperation and coordination to achieve the shared goals of their peoples and governments.” Moallem’s visit, which came at Muscat’s invitation, marked his first trip to a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) state since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011. As early as 2011, Omani leader Sultan Qaboos bin Said hosted American and Iranian officials for talks, which laid the groundwork for last month’s historic nuclear agreement. Since the six world powers and Tehran signed the deal, numerous actors have signaled greater interest in pursuing diplomatic steps to resolve the Syrian crisis and in working together to counter the Islamic State (IS).........
FromTelegraph Nato launches largest airborne drills in Europe since end of Cold War 5,000 troops from 11 Nato allies are taking part in exercises across Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Romania The US said Tuesday it has launched the biggest allied airborne drills in Europe since the Cold War ended, as fighting involving pro-Russian separatists escalated in eastern Ukraine. Nearly 5,000 soldiers from 11 Nato allies are taking part in four weeks of "simultaneous multinational airborne operations" across Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Romania that began on Saturday, the US army said in a statement. "Swift Response 15 is the largest Allied airborne training event on the continent since the end of the Cold War," according to the statement from the US army in Grafenwohr in southern Germany. ..........
Some of the countries in it, either in major or minor roles: USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Jordan, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Yemen, Nigeria, France with (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad ) Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Albania, Estonia, Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Republic of Korea, Ireland, Spain, Slovakia, Norway, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Novorussia, Ukraine, Russia, Chechnya, Somalia, Iran, India, South Korea, North Korea, Central African Republic, Kenya, Tunisia, The Philippines, Egypt, Albania, Serbia, China, Sudan, South Sudan, Bukina Faso, Palestine, Georgia, Chad, Spain, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Nepal, Congo, Uganda, Romania, Mexico, Gambia, Haiti, Cameroon, Chad, Algeria, Venezuela, Thailand, Argentina, Vietnam, Myanmar, Georgia, Burundi, Senegal, Macedonia
From Salon The New York Times does its government’s bidding: Here’s what you’re not being told about U.S. troops in Ukraine U.S. troops are now operating openly in Ukraine. The "paper of record's" "coverage" is an embarrassment, per usual As of mid-April, when a Pentagon flack announced it in Kiev, and as barely reported in American media, U.S. troops are now operating openly in Ukraine. Now there is a lead I have long dreaded writing but suspected from the first that one day I would. Do not take a moment to think about this. Take many moments. We all need to. We find ourselves in grave circumstances this spring.
At first I thought I had written what newspaper people call a double-barreled lead: American soldiers in Ukraine, American media not saying much about it. Two facts. Wrong. There is one fact now, and it is this: Americans are being led blindfolded very near the brink of war with Russia.
One cannot predict there will be one. And, of course, right-thinking people hope things will never come to one. In March, President Obama dismissed any such idea as if to suggest it was silly. “They’re not interested in a military confrontation with us,” Obama said of the Russians—wisely. Then he added, unwisely: “We don’t need a war.”...........
It's so very clear that the West's vendetta with Russia = the shortsighted scumbags of the West doing their best to destabilize countries that are aligned with Russia without giving two hoots about these countries falling into the hands of shariah lovers. Is the West so blind or is this done deliberately? In Macedonia, the Albanian minority are panting for a revolution and the West is helping them in a big, big way From Sputnik Macedonia Unrest: West Giving Balkan Country a Lesson of 'Democracy' After Russia's Stroitransgaz announced it will build a gas pipeline across Macedonia, Skopje has come under heavy criticism from Washington, Brussels and numerous US-funded NGOs, which blasted the government for violating "European values." It looks like the West is going to give Macedonia a lesson of "democracy," noted American writer and researcher Michael Collins, drawing a parallel between the current situation in the country and dramatic events which took place in Libya, Syria, and Ukraine. "The announcement of Russian pipeline deal on March 12 put the small nation in the cross hairs of the Obama administration and Congress. Allowing Russia a backdoor to sell Europe natural gas challenged the economic and political war against Russia. The US and its puppet governments in London, Paris, and Berlin give lip service to free markets. But, when it comes to Russia, political goals trump commerce," the researcher underscored. Macedonia's Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski was accused of taking bribes, shortly after the Russo-Macedonian deal had been announced......
From CNN ISIS seizes key Iraqi city of Ramadi: What happens next? ISIS forces pushed east Monday from their fresh victory in Ramadi as the Iraqi government rushed reinforcements to shore up defensive lines meant to stop the terror group's advance. Iraqi and U.S. officials promised eventual defeat for the self-proclaimed Islamic State, but the loss of the strategically and symbolically important city of Ramadi -- just 110 kilometers (70 miles) west of Iraq's heavily fortified capital of Baghdad -- had taken its toll. "This is a huge setback to Iraqi forces and to the U.S. strategy to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIS," said retired U.S. Army Col. Peter Mansoor, a CNN military analyst. That effort Monday was focused east of the city, where tribal and local forces had set up defensive lines west of the cities of Khalidiya and Husaybah, said Ibrahim Hassan Khalaf al-Fahdawi, head of the Security Council in Khalidiya, and Mahmaoud al-Fahdawi, a leader in the Albu Fahad Sunni tribe......
From ABC Macedonia's political crisis compounded by police deaths in armed border clashes Five police officers have been killed in clashes with unidentified gunmen in Macedonia, which is already struggling under the weight of a deep political crisis. The country's interior minister, Gordana Junkuloska, told reporters the officers were killed in a shootout with "terrorists" and 30 were injured in the northern town of Kumanovo.......... "There are victims among the terrorists but for the time being we cannot give the exact number," Ms Junkuloska said. Meanwhile, local papers in the Albanian language reported that five members of an armed group were killed in Kumanovo. Police said earlier that the armed group illegally entered Macedonia from a neighbouring country, without elaborating. Local media suggested they came from neighbouring Kosovo, populated mostly by ethnic Albanians....
........The former Yugoslav republic is also battling an economic crisis, with unemployment running at 28 per cent. Many in Macedonia, regardless of ethnicity, are frustrated at the slow pace of development and integration with the West, with the country's bid to join the European Union and NATO blocked by a long-running dispute with Greece over the country's name...........
Jurgen Todenhofer is the German journalist who ventured into the poisonous nest of jihadis in Syria and Iraq. Very, very interesting .... what he has to relate. A must watch.
From PressTV ISIL sends prettier virgins to Raqqa to sell them at higher prices: UN envoy The ISIL Takfiri terrorists send “prettiest virgins” to the northern Syrian city of Raqqa to sell them at higher prices there, a UN envoy says. Following her investigative mission to Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan to gather data on the ISIL sex crimes, Zainab Bangura, the special representative of the UN secretary general on sexual violence in conflict, told online news portal Middle East Eye on Monday that the Takfiri group is committing horrendous crimes against women, particularly against the Izadi community. After the Takfiris attack a village, they strip the girls naked, conduct virginity tests, evaluate their physical attributes, and send them to slave auctions, with those considered the prettiest and youngest being sent to ISIL stronghold Raqqa, she said......
I am betting that in the next few months, Canada, the USA, the UK and the EU will see 1000s of well-heeled Yemenis fleeing the war and making the West their new home and if they are "good" Muslims they will work diligently to eventually make the West shariah-compliant. What's not to love about that, eh? The more Muslims, the merrier our nations. Think samosas, biryani, bombs, etc. Let's not forget to thank Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the USA and USA's Western allies for the cultural enrichment we are gonna get whether we like it or not. Ceasefire Expires, Saudis Resume Airstrikes on Yemen UN officials were desperately pushing the Saudi government to agree to an extension of the five-day humanitarian ceasefire, hoping to allow a bit more aid to flow into Yemen before the resumption of hostilities The push was unsuccessful, however, and with the 11 pm deadline Sunday evening, the Saudis immediately resumed strikes in force across Yemen. While a fair amount of humanitarian aid was transported to a UN hub in Djibouti over the course of the five days, it’s not clear how much actually made it into Yemen. Iran’s own cargo ship of aid never even made it close to Yemen, and as of Sunday night they were still said to be at least four days away from the Yemeni port of Hodeida, their intended destination.......
From RT Washington is losing its weight in the international arena and this makes it target Russia and Venezuela, as well as attempt to curtail China’s growth, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told RT's Spanish-language channel in an exclusive interview. In March, the US declared Venezuela a threat to its national security which is usually the first step in starting a US sanctions program. Maduro said the country found great support in Latin America after this attack, which forced Washington to backpedal on its pressure. “All those countries stood against it even before the Summit of Americas started exactly a month ago and demanded that [US President] Barack Obama repeal the executive order that declared Venezuela a threat. It was very convincing,” he said. “President Obama realized that Venezuela was not alone, that it would have help and support. We were united in our multiplicity.” The Venezuelan president, who continued a policy of opposing the influence of the US in Latin America that his predecessor Hugo Chavez started, believes that Washington is unnerved by the growth of political and economic power in countries it does not control. .........
From TheAustralian Libya the beachhead for ISIS push into Africa Islamic State has sent money, trainers and fighters to Libya in increasing numbers, raising new concerns for the US that the militant group is gaining traction in its attempts to broaden its reach and expand influence.
In recent months, US military officials said, Islamic State has solidified its foothold in Libya as it searches for ways to capitalise on rising popularity among extremist groups around the world. “ISIL now has an operational presence in Libya, and they have aspirations to make Libya their African hub,” said one US military official, using an acronym for the group. “Libya is part of their terror map now.” Islamic State’s growth as a powerful anti-Western force has militant groups throughout the world trying to latch on to its notoriety. But until recently, affiliates have operated with a great degree of independence and there was little evidence they were taking orders from the group’s core leadership in Syria and Iraq, US officials said...........
From DailyO An insider's view on surviving Taliban attacks in Afghanistan Indians are now in the terrorists' crosshairs and one must be careful to not question local traditions. The May 13, 2015 attack on the Park Guest House in Kabul where Taliban terrorists shot dead four Indian nationals among 14 other people, marks the continuation of a dangerous trend that began in 2010. Indians are now in the Taliban crosshairs. In 2010, gunmen attacked two guest houses including the Park, killing 18 people including nine Indians. Last week’s attack saw Taliban gunmen going from room-to-room, specifically looking for Indian nationals to kill. One of the key targets was Indian ambassador Amar Sinha who was to attend a music reception at the guest house that evening..........
From Sputnik NATO Uses Clashes in Macedonia to Undermine Russia's Gas Pipeline Project Ethnic Albanians involved in recent violent clashes in the northern Macedonian city of Kumanovo were used by Washington to threaten construction plans for Russia's Turkish Stream gas pipeline, a Serbian political scientist claimed. Macedonia witnessed violent clashes between police and an armed group in Kumanovo, a city bordering Serbia and Kosovo, which claimed the lives of eight Macedonian security officers and 14 gunmen. According to the Macedonian Interior Ministry, the group was led by five former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). "Albanians are used to hinder [the implementation of] the Turkish Stream [project] and as a US method of putting pressure on Europe by fomenting a new conflict in the Balkans," Dusan Prorokovic told Sputnik Tuesday.............
Macedonia: Death toll rises after clashes – another Muslim uprising? http://t.co/tPUqEVUISY
Buddhists and Hindus in Thailand better beware. Your politicians and army generals are selling out the country to shariah lovers. I predict huge trouble brewing in Thailand. .........Evidence showing this unnamed military official's possible involvement in Rohingya trafficking was found during a raid at a suspect's home in Ranong's Muang district last Wednesday, a security source revealed...
From Tass According to the intelligence available to the Donetsk republic, Ukrainian forces have been using hospitals and other social facilities in Volnovakha and Kurakhovo for military purposes The reconnaissance of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has spotted multiple rocket launchers at the positions of Kiev-controlled forces, the Donetsk Republic’s Defense Ministry spokesman, Eduard Basurin, has said. "The Donetsk Republic’s reconnaissance has identified the deployment of Grad and Uragan rocket launchers in the village of Peredovoye," the Donetsk News Agency quotes Basurin as saying. "It is noteworthy that the launchers are targeted at the city of Volnovakha."......
This is the nun who was denied an entry visa by US Home Dept before pressure was mounted by the internet community asking WHY. Listen to her testimony about the plight of Christians in the lands that the US and allies have torn asunder.
From EnglishAhram Despite US strikes, IS advances in Syria, Iraq The Islamic State jihadist group has made several high-profile advances in recent days, despite a US-led air campaign against the movement in Syria and Iraq.
Here are answers to some key questions about the group's progress and the international effort to stop them: A: On Sunday, Islamic State group fighters seized Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's largest province of Anbar, in their biggest victory since a major offensive in Iraq last summer. The group has also moved to within a kilometre (less than a mile) of Syria's Palmyra world heritage site, and has seized the town of Al-Sukhnah and two gas fields northeast of the ancient city. The advances expand the existing territory the group holds across Syria and Iraq -- land it has labelled an Islamic "caliphate".
A: The fall of Ramadi is a particular blow to Iraq's government, which only last month was touting its recapture of the city of Tikrit from the jihadist group. In Syria, Palmyra has key symbolism as both the home of world-famous Greco-Roman ruins, but also the site of one of the regime's most infamous prisons. Homs province, in which Palmyra lies, also holds several large gas fields, including two -- Arak and Al-Hail -- that were captured by IS on Monday. IS has proven adept at filling its coffers by exploiting captured oil and gas resources in Syria and Iraq. Jessica Lewis of the Institute for the Study of War think-tank said the two offensives could be linked, and be a bid by IS to consolidate its territory in eastern Syria and western Iraq.
A: A coalition led by the United States has been carrying out air strikes against IS since last year in both Iraq and Syria. The strikes have targeted IS's military equipment, oil fields and refineries and fighters on the ground. The raids have had some notable successes, including preventing the group from advancing on the capital of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, Arbil. They have also managed to push back IS from the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane on the Turkish border, and were key to the recapture of Tikrit by Iraqi government forces.
A: Analysts note that the coalition's victories against IS have come in areas where its strikes have been backed by allied ground forces. "It's a basic truism of counterinsurgency that success requires boots on the ground," said Max Abrahms, a political science professor at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. In Kobane the coalition worked with Kurdish ...........
Russia stops transit of NATO military cargo to Afghanistan Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev has revoked a decree that allowed delivery of NATO military equipment to Afghanistan through Russian territory. The Russian Foreign Ministry has been ordered to inform all the countries involved. ....... From HuffingtonPost Saudi-Led Airstrikes On Yemen Resume After Ceasefire Ends Saudi-led air raids hit the Yemen capital Sanaa overnight, targeting forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the east and south of the city, residents said on Tuesday. The strikes are the first to hit the capital after a five-day ceasefire ended late on Sunday, although military operations resumed earlier on Monday in northern Saada province and in the southern city of Aden. Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Muslim allies have been conducting an offensive against Iranian-allied Houthis and units loyal to Saleh for more than seven weeks, part of a campaign to restore exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power..........
From NBC A U.S. warship has begun shadowing an Iranian cargo ship approaching the coast of Yemen with Iranian military escorts, raising concerns it could be delivering weapons for Houthi rebels in violation of a United Nations arms embargo, Defense Department officials said. Iran says the cargo ship, "Iran Shahed," is carrying humanitarian relief to war-torn Yemen. It is being accompanied by a pair of Iranian warships, the "Vosper" and "Bandar Abbas." .....
From AtlanticCouncil Recent developments in Sinai have once again raised the specter of a “tribal awakening” to rid the region of jihadists. Talk in recent years of armed tribal action against jihadists is not new and has generally gone nowhere, but a number of dynamics may make this moment different. Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, (ABM), an Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) affiliate seems to have overreached and some families belonging to a major tribe, the Tarabin, are urging mobilization. These families seem motivated by a fear that their economic interests may be threatened by ABM, and thus believe they have a bone in the fight. This presents a unique opportunity for the Egyptian military. If it fails to on it, the army risks further alienating tribes who have stuck their necks out and even the possibility that ABM takes over these “collaborators” lands. ..........
From RT Turkish intelligence ‘aided shipment of arms’ to Syrian rebel areas Turkey helped deliver weapons to rebel-controlled Syrian territories, according to testimony from prosecutors and gendarmerie officers, Reuters says. It contradicts Ankara's denials that it sent arms to rebels and thereby contributed to the rise of ISIS. Testimony from gendarmerie officers, seen by the agency, allege that rocket parts, ammunition, and semi-finished mortar shells were carried in trucks accompanied by the country's state intelligence agency (MIT) to parts of Syria under Islamist control. This occurred more than a year ago, according to the testimony. Meanwhile, testimony from prosecutors backed up the story of Ankara sending weapons across the border. The prosecutors said that four trucks were searched in the southern province of Adana in raids by police and gendarmerie – one in November 2013 and three others in January 2014 – on the orders of prosecutors acting on tip-offs that they were carrying weapons. While the first truck was seized, the three others were allowed to continue their journey after MIT officials accompanying the cargo threatened police and resisted the search, according to the testimonies and the prosecutor's report. ........
From RFI Nigeria’s Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) is urging banks to do more to understand who is behind Boko Haram. The DIA chief, Rear Admiral Gabriel Okoi, told journalists on Wednesday that he expects more cooperation from Nigerian banks. Speaking in Abuja, he said: “We told them how they should go about intelligence gathering so we expect positive results from them.”
Okoi's comments came as a new book on Boko Haram highlights the group's many sources of funding. In Boko Haram: Nigeria’s Islamist Insurgency, Virginia Comolli explains that the sect had benefited from many sources – from northern officials to Internet scams.
"During the early stages of Boko Haram [around 2002] there had been a number of officials and northern businessmen who were involved in providing support," she said in an interview. "It is also possible that in the early days a number of local politicians would have hired the early Boko Haram members as their political enforcers, basically local thugs used to intimidate political opponents."
Oh yeah ... now that the USA has been assured a foothold in Nigeria, what was probably started by the USA and her allies, will quieten down a bit. From Guardian How Nigeria turned a corner against Boko Haram The Nigerian army has recaptured all of the major towns occupied by Boko Haram in recent months, and rescued nearly 1,000 kidnapped women and children. It claims to have destroyed several of the militants’ camps, pursued the group into the Sambisa forest and arrested those suspected of supplying thme with food and fuel.
Isolated attacks have continued, but after more than five years of torment, the insurgents seem to have been transformed from the hunters to the hunted. It is now Boko Haram fighters who are fleeing, with the army in pursuit. Recently released footage shows militants running away in disarray from aerial bombardments by the Nigerian air force.
Only five months ago Boko Haram was wreaking havoc in the north east, seemingly able to launch attacks at will after having captured an area about the same size as Belgium.........
Meanwhile in Canada...... From GlobalNews RCMP in Quebec arrest 10 youths on suspicion of planning to join jihadist groups RCMP in Montreal arrested 10 young people over the weekend who were suspected of wanting to leave Canada to join jihadist groups. In a statement released late Tuesday, RCMP said the arrests took place at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport and the persons arrested were released without charge. In a statement released late Tuesday, RCMP said the arrests took place at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport and the persons arrested were released without charge......... From GlobalNews Does Quebec have a young extremist problem? Ten young people accused of trying to leave Canada to join extremist groups have had their passports seized after authorities arrested them before they could depart Montreal. RCMP didn’t reveal the ages or genders of any of the individuals arrested last week, none of whom are facing charges at this time, nor what information led to the arrests. But, the arrests come only months after police revealed they suspected seven other young people, who attended Montreal-area colleges, had travelled abroad to join up with jihadists and add to a growing list of suspected extremist travellers coming out of Quebec.....
