[PRESSTV] Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... says it has jugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! 17 people in a sweeping crackdown, which has mostly targeted female human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... campaigners.
Last month, the kingdom nabbed 11 people, including high-profile female activists, blaming them for anti-establishment activities. On Saturday, the authorities said the number of those arrested had reached 17.
They did not specify whether the new detainees were activists, only saying that they had promoted insecurity in the kingdom.
According to a statement by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, eight of the detainees have been temporarily released.
The rest were being kept after "confessing" to a slew of charges, including suspicious contact with "hostile" organizations and recruiting people in sensitive government positions.
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[PRESSTV] Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ...Crown Prince of Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... as of 2016.... and British Prime Minister Theresa May have discussed possible ways of confronting Iran and its growing role in the Middle East.
May's office said Sunday that the two leaders agreed over the phone on the need to tackle what they call "Iranian destabilizing activity" in the region.
"As part of this the Prime Minister noted the importance of cooperation between their two countries to protect Saudi Arabia from ballistic missile attacks," the statement added.
More than three years after waging a deadly war against the people of its impoverished southern neighbor Yemen, the Riyadh regime has been unable to stop a barrage of ballistic missile attacks by Yemeni army and popular forces that have successfully hit targets deep in their territories.
Outraged by their defeat against Yemen’s domestically developed missiles, Saudi rulers and their Western allies have repeatedly accused Iran of providing missile technology to the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... Ansarullah Movement, a militia group that took over from Yemen’s former corrupt government in 2015.
This is while Yemen’s main marital and aerial gateways have been under a tight blockade by Saudi Arabia and its allies over the course of the war.
May and Bin Salman also discussed the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which has been recently undermined by US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ’s pullout.
Saudi Arabia and Israel have been two of the main critics of the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
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[Rudaw] ANKARA ‐ The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ’s top military brass vowed to continue operations in the Kurdistan Region during an inspection of troops near the border.
Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar was joined by the commanders of Turkey’s land, air, and naval forces in a visit to Yuksekova, Hakkari province Saturday evening.
Ottoman Turkish forces have pushed 26-27 kilometres into the Kurdistan Region in an operation against the PKK ‐ an gang fighting for the rights of Kurds in Turkey and considered a terrorist organization by Ankara, the United States and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... "The forces of Evil who pose a threat to Turkey have been eliminated and we will continue to eliminate them, credit to the operations of Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch, and operations in northern Iraq," Akar said in a speech.
Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch were two operations in northern Syria. The purpose of Euphrates Shield in 2016 was to remove ISIS threats from the borders with Turkey and prevent Kurds from expanding control west of the Euphrates River. Olive Branch, earlier this year, was an operation against Kurdish forces in Afrin.
Ankara considers the Kurdish forces in Rojava, northern Syria to be branches of the PKK, a charge the Kurds deny.
Turkey’s goal in its current operation in the Kurdistan Region is the PKK headquarters in the Qandil Mountains.
"Our operations against forces of Evil in northern Iraq will continue," Akar vowed.
Ottoman Turkish jets frequently carry out Arclight airstrikes against alleged PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region. Some civilians have been killed in the strikes.
On Friday, Ottoman Turkish media broadcast images of Ottoman Turkish forces in Barmiza, a Kurdish village in the Bradost region.
Baghdad has condemned the incursion and violation of its territory.
Erbil has called on the PKK to leave the region and a group of politicians want the regional parliament to convene a special session to condemn Turkey’s offensive.
The PKK has vowed to defend the region.
"We will never accept the occupation of Southern Kurdistan by the Ottoman Turkish state. We will not allow the Ottoman Turkish state to feel safe on Kurdish soil," Bager Erdal, a commander in the HPG (PKK’s armed wing), told ANF last month.
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[Khaama Press] The supreme of the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... group Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzada and his two deputies have reportedly visited the Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... city of Pakistain during the recent days.
The 209th Shaheen Corps in the North, citing credible sources, reported that Mullah Hebatullah and his two deputies, Sirajuddin Haqqani ...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network.... and Mullah Yaqoob visited the port city of Pakistain.
Sirajuddin Haqqani is the deputy of Mullah Hebatullah as well as the leader of the notorious Haqqani terrorist network while Mullah Yaqoob, the son of the former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad, is operating as the military commission chief of the group.
The source further added that the top Taliban leaders have reportedly visited Karachi city on invitation of the Pak officials.
The sources also claim that the Taliban leaders have apparently visited the Karachi city to hatch plans for their future attacks as the group has recently launched its spring offensive.
This comes as the Afghan and US officials have long been insisting that the leadership councils of the Taliban and the notorious Haqqani terrorist network are based in Pakistain from where they plan and coordinate deadly attacks in Afghanistan.
However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... the Pak officials reject the claims and emphasize that the US is attempting to divert attention from its failures in Afghanistan by criticizing Islamabad.
[DAWN] Enraged workers of the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... stormed into their own party office, known as Insaf House, off Sharea Faisal, vandalised the facility and smashed the windowpanes in protest over "unjustified" distribution of party tickets for the upcoming general elections on Saturday.
The violent episode, however, did not invite police intervention as the PTI leadership restrained the law enforcement agency from intervening, terming the incident an "internal" matter of the party.
Party sources said that a meeting of the parliamentary board of PTI’s Sindh chapter was going on when around a dozen men ‐ some armed with sticks ‐ stormed into the office and ransacked several departments inside including the finance and information departments.
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[DAWN] Contrary to official claims about initiating a number of development schemes in Tirah valley, residents of the region are faced with a host of problems ranging from shortage of water to poor communication and lack of health and education facilities. Since it's the "remote Tirah Valley" you often hear of, it's likely not a new condition.
Residents of Bagh Maidan Markaz, the only business centre in the valley, told this correspondent by mobile phone that landline telephone service was disconnected for the last two months while mobile phone signals too were very weak. ... and cell phone serice is a govt monopoly. Wotta surprise.
Said Karim, a mobile caller from the region, told this scribe that he had to scale a hilltop near his house in Khujalkhel, about one and a half kilometres from Bagh Maidan Markaz to use his mobile and that too with broken signals.
He said that people were finding it difficult to communicate with their relatives in other cities of the country or abroad. "Mobile phone service to parts of the valley was started only a few months ago while the landline phone service was monitored by the security forces"
He said that people were finding it difficult to communicate with their relatives in other cities of the country or abroad. "Mobile phone service to parts of the valley was started only a few months ago while the landline phone service was monitored by the security forces," he said, adding that the landline phones were silent for over two months.
Mr Karim said that residents of most of the localities in the valley were facing acute shortage of water despite having natural springs in abundance. "My wife and daughter travel two kilometres from one side to fetch water in pitchers and buckets from a natural spring three to four times a day as no proper water supply schemes exists in the area," he lamented. His concern was seconded by Ali Akbar, another resident of Bagh Maidan who suggested that if proper water storages were constructed they would then have water in abundance at their homes.
The political administration had in 2016 announced to build 27 new government schools in Tirah and construction on a number of these schools was started the same year, but the process continued at a snail’s pace due to lack of interest by government contractors and difficulties in harsh winter weather.
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Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) ‐ A parliamentary fact-finding committee in Iraq stressed that it has clear evidence of vote-rigging in the May 12 parliamentary elections, the first in the country since the defeat of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... last year.
"The parliament’s fact-finding committee received strong evidence that there were manipulation and fraud in the recent parliamentary polls," the committee’s head Adel Nuri told Iraqi website Alghad Press, vowing to take legal action against perpetrators of rigging the vote.
Nuri described the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission as a "non-independent body" after it dealt with Iraq’s political blocs in a non-neutral way.
He explained that the commission, in accordance with Article 62 of the Iraqi constitution, is affiliated to the parliament, adding that the commission’s refusal to follow parliamentary directives is seen as ’revolt’.
Last week, the Iraqi cabinet said it formed a panel to investigate alleged forgery in the elections that were held on 12th of this month. Last Monday, the parliament urged bodies concerned to take necessary measures to address the violations, including recount and cancellation of results if required.
The cabinet’s decision came after the Iraqi parliament decided to cancel the results of expat votes in the parliamentary polls and ordered a recount of around 10 percent of the votes after dropping the results from the internal refugee camps in regions like Anbar, Saladin and Diyala.
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#1
If their national intelligence and law enforcement communities were involved, there is likely no reason for concern.
[IsraelTimes] Pro-Paleostinian online activists set off internet storm with claim American-born Rebecca rubbed out Razan Najjar on Friday, but she hasn't been in army for years and wasn't a sniper
A demonstrably false claim started spreading on social media sites around the world on Friday night, accusing a long-since-released IDF soldier, Rebecca, of being the sniper who rubbed out a Paleostinian medic during violent festivities along the Gazoo border earlier that day.
Amid widespread Paleostinian and international anger over the killing of Razan Najjar, a 21-year-old volunteer paramedic, during a riot along the security fence, the baseless accusation about Rebecca spread rapidly on social media, prompting threats against the former servicewoman, her friends, and family members.
Continued on Page 49
And the PA can share the pain with Hamas however they choose...
[IsraelTimes] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks to pay for the damages caused by Gazoo’s Molotov cocktail-laden kites and balloons with Paleostinian funds.
In a statement Sunday, the Prime Minister’s Office says Netanyahu has tasked National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat to begin the process of reducing the tax funds handed to the Paleostinian Authority by the amount required to compensate Israelis living near the Gazoo border for damages caused by fires started by Gazook kites.
#3
Yes! I'd say take it from food shipments, but that leaves them fungible money to do with as they please, and we all know what that means: some more Palestinians who aren't quite as fat.
[DAWN] Myanmar is willing to take back all 700,000 Rohingya Moslem refugees who have fled to Bangladesh if they volunteer to return, the country’s National Security Adviser Thaung Tun said on Saturday.
He was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a regional security conference in Singapore, where he was asked if the situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where most Rohingya live, could trigger use of the "Responsibility to Protect" framework of the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... The so-called R2P framework was adopted at the 2005 UN World Summit in which nations agreed to protect their own populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and accepted a collective responsibility to encourage and help each other uphold this commitment.
"If you can send back 700,000 on a voluntary basis, we are willing to receive them," Thaung Tun said. "Can this be called ethnic cleansing? "There is no war going on, so it’s not war crimes. Crimes against humanity, that could be a consideration, but we need clear evidence. These serious charges should be proved and they should not be bandied about lightly."
Since August 2017, about 700,000 Rohingya Moslems have fled a military crackdown in mainly Buddhist Myanmar, many reporting killings, rape and arson on a large scale, UN and other aid organizations have said. The United Nations and aid agencies have described the crackdown on the Rohingya as "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing", an accusation Myanmar rejects. There's always the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army to look out for them. They started the mess in the first place. The next time they get feisty, probably all the Rohingya -- who're neither Burman nor Buddhist nor non-aggressive -- will get canned again. If they're expelled next time they won't be allowed back in.
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[PRESSTV] The Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte has censured a United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... (UN) human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. expert for interfering in the country’s internal affairs.
The special UN rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Diego Garcia-Sayan, had on Friday said the independence of the judiciary in the Philippines was under threat.
Prior to his remark, the Philippine Supreme Court had fired Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who had been opposed to a range of government plans, such as the extension of martial rule in the volatile southern Philippines. She had been described by Duterte as an "enemy."
Duterte, who has a reputation for colorful remarks, said late on Saturday night, "Tell him [the UN rapporteur] not to interfere with the affairs of my country. He can go to hell."
The 73-year-old president of the Philippines has also gained worldwide recognition for his strongman politics. He has made headlines over numerous issues during his time in office.
He has been particularly criticized for his trademark war on drugs. Critics claim that with his strongly-worded comments against drug criminals, he has effectively given police the power to kill suspects on the spot.
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[Rudaw] ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The month of May saw an increase in military operations of the international anti-ISIS coalition and partner forces to eliminate the last remaining pockets of ISIS fighters in Syria's Euphrates River valley along the Iraqi-Syrian border in addition to strikes against militant remnants in Iraq.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with support from the US-backed coalition, upped military operations on May 1 with the launch of Operation Roundup, continuing to gain ground against ISIS targets, the US Department of Defense said in a report on Friday.
The coalition reported a 304 percent increase in strikes during the month of May with 225 airstrikes and 280 engagements compared to March's 74 strikes and a 123 percent increase recorded over April's 183 strikes.
The uptick in activity follows an operational pause during the first few months of this year when Kurdish forces of the SDF redeployed from eastern Syria to defend Afrin from a Turkish-led offensive. In late April, the coalition confirmed that the SDF had returned in full force to the frontlines against ISIS in Deir ez-Zor.
Operation Roundup will continue gaining momentum against ISIS in its final stronghold in the middle Euphrates River valley as well as the Iraq-Syria border region.
SDF commanders predict nearly 2,000 ISIS militants are in this region.
Deputy commander of the coalition's combined joint task force, Maj. Gen. Felix Gedney, said in a tweet in mid-May that ISIS fighters "continue to surrender rather than face certain death."
Gedney said the SDF is coordinating with Iraqi security forces operating across the border.
The coalition and partner forces “continue to exert pressure on ISIS senior leaders and associates to degrade, disrupt and dismantle ISIS structures and remove terrorists throughout Iraq and Syria," read a coalition statement, adding that the morale of ISIS is "sinking on the front lines."
The coalition has documented the deaths of 892 civilians in its campaign since 2014, according to the latest monthly report. Independent observers put the number of civilian casualties much higher.
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h/t Instapundit
[FreeBeacon] Women's March co-founder Tamika Mallory said during an event Friday that Israel committed a human rights crime in doing "whatever" it took to take land from Palestinians.
"This is not about stopping one side. This is about ensuring that the native people are able to enjoy the land. They shouldn’t have to ask anybody for their land. This is their land," Mallory said in remarks made via video at an event hosted by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Justice Delegation, and flagged by The Forward. Any comment from Native Americans?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[PRESSTV] 
Crown Prince of 
...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network....
[DAWN] Contrary to official claims about initiating a number of development schemes in Tirah valley, residents of the region are faced with a host of problems ranging from shortage of water to poor communication and lack of health and education facilities.
[PRESSTV] The Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte has censured a 
