[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Sudan’s protest leaders have called for a two-day general strike starting Tuesday amid deadlock in talks with the military on installing civilian rule.
“There is no longer any alternative to using the weapon of a general strike,” the Alliance for Freedom and Change umbrella group said in a statement on Friday.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/25/2019 00:00 ||
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[AlAhram] Algerian police tossed in the calaboose Book 'im, Mahmoud! dozens of people on Friday at the Grand Post Office, a key rallying point for protesters in the capital Algiers, witnesses and journalists said.
An AFP journalist saw a woman arrested near the post office, where security fences were erected this week in an attempt to prevent demonstrators accessing the site.
Several hundred protesters gathered near the building on Friday, but they were kept at bay by a police cordon and a row of vehicles.
"Patrols criss-crossed the city and arrested anyone suspected of joining the rally," Said Salhi, vice-president of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights, said on Twitter.
"It seems they (the authorities) want to ban the rally," he added.
The protest movement forced president Abdelaziz Bouteflika ... 10th president-for-life of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third or fourth term. Maybe it's the fifth.... to step down on April 2, after two decades in power.
But rallies -- now into a fourteenth week -- have continued each Friday, to pressure army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah, interim President Abdelkader Bensalah and others to leave office.
"Tired of the generals!," "Gaid Salah resign!," protesters chanted Friday.
Mehenna Abdeslam, a protester and a university teacher, told AFP he witnessed "the police systematically arrest anyone carrying a banner".
But "we will not stop" demonstrating, he added.
Local news site TSA reported police in Algiers made "massive arrests among the protesters".
It also noted a heavy presence of female coppers, for the first time since the protests began.
A presidential election that was originally due to take place in April is scheduled for July 4, but the protest movement wants the poll scrapped, in the absence of new independent institutions to oversee voting.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Trump administration on Friday invoked a rarely used provision in federal law to bypass congressional review of arms sales to 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... , citing threats the Kingdom faces from Iran.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo notified Congress of the decision to use an emergency loophole in the Arms Export Control Act to move ahead with sales of $7 billion in precision guided munitions, other bombs and ammunition and aircraft maintenance support to Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, without politicians’ approval.
In his notification, Pompeo said he had made the determination "that an emergency exists which requires the immediate sale" of the weapons "in order to deter further the malign influence of the government of Iran throughout the Middle East region."
He said the transfers "must occur as quickly as possible in order to deter further Iranian adventurism in the Gulf and throughout the Middle East."
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05/25/2019 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] For the first time, Pentagon officials on Friday publicly blamed Iran and its proxies for recent tanker bombings near United Arab Emirates and a rocket attack in Iraq.
Vice Admiral Michael Gilday told Pentagon news hounds that the US has "very high confidence" that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was responsible for the kabooms on four tankers, and that Iranian proxies in Iraq fired rockets into Baghdad. He said Iran also tried to deploy modified small boats that were capable of launching cruise missiles.
Briefing news hounds at the Pentagon, Gilday, the Joint Staff director, said the conclusions were based on intelligence and evidence gathered in the region, and officials said they are trying to declassify some of the information so that it could be made public.
"This is truly operations driven by intelligence," Gilday said, adding that the US continues to see intelligence suggesting that Iran is actively planning attacks against the US and partners in the region by the Revolutionary Guard and Iranian proxies in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... and Iraq.
When pressed for proof of Iran’s involvement, he said the mines used in the tanker attacks were attributed directly to the Revolutionary Guard.
"I’m not reverse engineering this," he said. "The Iranians have said publicly they were going to do things. We learn more through intelligence reporting. They have acted upon those threats and they've actually attacked."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/25/2019 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] A French court approved the extradition of an Iranian engineer to the United States to face charges of attempting to illegally import U.S. technology for military purposes on behalf of an Iranian company, a judicial source said on Thursday.
The court in Aix-en-Provence, southern La Belle France, also rejected a bail request by the Iranian engineer, Jalal Rohollahnejad, 41, who has been detained since Feb. 2 after being jugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! at Nice airport as he got off a plane coming from Tehran via Moscow.
U.S. judicial Sherlocks suspect Rohollahnejad of trying to import into Iran high-power industrial microwave systems from the United States that could be used for military purposes.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/25/2019 00:08 ||
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[DAWN] Voters in Brexit-bound Britannia cast ballots on Thursday at the start of 28-nation EU elections in which Eurosceptic, anti-immigration forces have vowed a political earthquake to shake up the Brussels establishment.
With Prime Minister Theresa May’s resignation appearing imminent after she postponed a forlorn attempt to push her divorce deal through parliament, Britannia joined the Netherlands in kicking off four days of voting across the continent.
The elections were a surreal spectacle in a country that was supposed to have already left the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... after voting for Brexit in a referendum almost three years ago.
The Brexit crisis mirrored deep divisions across the continent, where rising anti-establishment forces are bidding to make significant gains in the elections.
More than 400 million European voters are eligible to elect 751 European Parliament members, with the first results expected late Sunday once voting in the 28 member states is over.
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05/25/2019 00:00 ||
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[The Hill] More than 70 retired military leaders wrote an open letter to President Trump urging him to avoid war with Iran.
The former Armed Forces leaders advised Trump in a letter published Thursday in War on the Rocks to take "crisis de-escalation measures."
"As President and Commander-in-Chief, you have considerable power at your disposal to immediately reduce the dangerous levels of regional tension," they wrote. "Crisis de-escalation measures should be established with the Iranian leadership at the senior levels of government as a prelude to exploratory diplomacy on matters of mutual concern."
They added that diplomacy, not armed conflict would be best for U.S. interests.
"The protection of U.S. national interests in the Middle East and the safety of our friends and allies requires thoughtful statesmanship and aggressive diplomacy rather than unnecessary armed conflict," they wrote.
They wrote that escalation measures taken by both sides "are highly concerning and make for a potentially deadly confrontation."
Tensions with Iran escalated in recent weeks, particularly after the administration sent a carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East amid what officials called "troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" from Iran that had not been publicly identified.
Trump said Friday that he would send about 1,500 troops to the Middle East to counter Iran's influence.
According to War on the Rocks, which covers foreign policy and national security issues, the letter was coordinated by the American College of National Security Leaders, which is a group of retired admirals, generals, ambassadors and senior government executives .
Posted by: Besoeker ||
05/25/2019 04:07 ||
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#1
....the letter was coordinated by the American College of National Security Leaders, which is a group of retired admirals, generals, ambassadors and senior government executives.
A petition from Deep State members and beneficiaries. How does this help the situation ?
#2
They needn't worry. There isn't going to be a war. They may afford to go to limited mobilization or parading of forces, and some asymmetric measures. But they cannot joust against a quantity like Trump.
#4
Decades of bungling and graft in the middle-east by these so called Leaders is what denuded America's Security Integrity in the first place to a point where rag-head Sasquatches could scale embassy walls and attack consulates without fear.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/25/2019 7:28 Comments ||
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#6
From the same people:
March 11, 2019 50+ Retired Generals and Diplomats Urge the United States to Reenter Iran Deal. Re-entry into the nuclear deal will contribute to establishing a broader U.S. national strategy for the Middle East.
by The American College of National Security Leaders
#10
Is it war if you just bomb the sh*t of their infrastructure?
Some years back, I read about a bomb designed to target power plants and sub-stations. Essentially a giant party popper full of conductive tinsel that draped over the wires and shorted everything out. No blast damage, but it would shut down the power grid.
My google-fu must be weak because I can't find anything about them.
#12
This is just crap. In every military there are generals that would rather surrender than defend. They begged the US president for concessions to Germany, Japan, and the British. Iran has escalated this to beyond and ability for it to not go to war. Saudi and the UAE have joint bases, Israel is allowed overflights, this is all lining up for a middle east war. Our President knows Iran has a formidable military, compared to the rest of the middle east. Our involvement will be to support, and insure victory, ridding the world of these viscous leaders.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/25/2019 12:08 Comments ||
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#13
Well, the may be vicious now, but I like the idea of them being viscous later...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/25/2019 12:58 Comments ||
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#14
No listing in the link of our retirement warriors
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/25/2019 17:51 Comments ||
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#15
Retired military leaders should stay that way and quit trying to depose a fairly elected sitting president. The word treason means something that's why it's so seldom used.
#16
Retired POGs and below desk drivers I bet. Iran has been a thorn in the side of the US since 1979.
We don't need a full war with an invasion, but any aggression and deprivation of the freedom of navigation should bring a very swift and heavy blow to the leadership of Iran and make it very difficult to keep the population in check.
#17
Nato's new weapon, a carbon-graphite bomb which sprays electrical power stations with a dust...
I seem to remember some sort aluminized fibers, but it was long ago and memory is fallible... And it may have been a prototype/gleam in someone's eye. This sounds much more practical. A cloud of carbon dust would be wildly conductive at high voltages and easier to disperse.
Thanks for finding this, Skid. We get by with a little help from our friends.
[DAWN] A second straight landslide election defeat for opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi raised serious questions on Friday about his leadership and cast a damaging shadow over one of the world's most prominent political dynasties.
Gandhi, who even lost the family constituency seat to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of arch-rival Narendra Modi, will have to face the music at a meeting of party leaders in coming days.
The election results made grim reading for Congress barons who have relied for generations on the talismanic Nehru-Gandhi name ‐ which rivals the Kennedy clan in the United States and the Bhuttos in Pakistain ‐ to provide electoral success.
The tarnished party was predicted to get about 50 seats, barely improving the historic low 44 it won in Modi's last landslide in 2014. Congress failed to get a single seat in 13 of the country's 29 states.
When asked about responsibility for the loss, Rahul Gandhi told a presser late Thursday: "This is between my party and me. Between me and the Congress Working Committee."
Party spokesmen have insisted the 48-year-old son, grandson and great-grandson of Indian prime ministers would not resign and that strategy was to blame for the defeat.
"We have to go back to the drawing board," Congress front man Salman Soz told AFP.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/25/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
The Indian equivalent of the liberal democrat party loses, spelling doom for marxists, open-borders, islamists, 'diversity' preachers and climate and economy experts.
What's amazing is that Pak PM Imran Khan wished for a win for the conservatives in India.
#6
The problem is in the Congress Party, headed by the Gandhi clan (or so people think). Actually the truth has more parallel in contemporary US politics.
The Congress Party is an amalgam of politicians working for bureaucrats, faux-leftists and profiteers deeply invested in robbing natural resources, drying up water tables, mining the fuck out of land and selling out to corporations. This party needs a 'saleable face', a name that India can trust - what better than Gandhi. Synonymous with the Mahatma. Also India first learnt to walk on its legs after being raped and pillaged by the British and the Muslims for 940 years, under the brave Leadership of men and women from this party. But as the govt. was based on absolute power of the few, their dynasty gave in to greed. The last okay leader was Indira Gandhi, the first woman PM of India. That was in the 80s.
Today's Congress Party is just the Indianized version of the democrat socialist pattern to which every 'progressive' asshole fascist subscribes around the world. eg: Trudeau, Merkel, Macron, Obama, Cameron... you know this list.
Many people in India who praise Modi also diss Trump, unaware that they both share an anti-islamist, truly progressive mindset. Both are committed to the furthering of their national interests and both focus on the economy and infrastructure, giving a backseat to puerile social justice and PC shit.
There's a pattern of resurgence of conservative power all over the world I think.
[BREITBART] The Paleostinian Authority on Wednesday officially shunned an invitation to a U.S.-led peace conference in Bahrain next month in what is being billed as a precursor to 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 so-called "deal of the century" for resolving the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict.
"This is an official announcement that Paleostine will not attend the Manama meeting. This is a collective Paleostinian position, from President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... and the PLO Executive Committee to all Paleostinian political movements and factions, national figures, private sector and civil society," senior Paleostinian official Saeb Erekat ...negotiated the Oslo Accords with Israel. He has been chief Paleostinian negotiator since 1995. He is currently negotiating with Israel to establish a de jure Paleostinian state... said in a statement, adding that no Paleostinian representative would be present. "We're busy! Washing our hair"
"Abu, you haven't showered in months. I can tell"
"Well, I will that week"
"Those concerned and [who] want to serve the interest of the Paleostinian people should respect this collective position," he said.
On Sunday, the U.S. announced it would unroll the first phase of the long-anticipated proposal at the forum, saying it would outline the economic rewards if a peace deal were to be struck.
Special Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt said the proposal has the "potential to unlock a prosperous future for the Paleostinians."
Erekat responded by saying, "Paleostine’s full economic potential can only be achieved by ending the Israeli occupation, respecting international law and UN resolutions."
Addressing the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Greenblatt said "it would be a mistake for the Paleostinians not to join us."
"They have nothing to lose and much to gain if they do join us. But it is, of course, their choice," said Greenblatt.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/25/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
And the Paleos keep up their string of missing opportunities to miss opportunity.
[Rudaw] Syrian security forces exercised a systematic crackdown on "nationalistic" Kurdish activities and the "treachery" of Kurdish cultural expression prior to and during the ongoing war in Syria, according to the Washington-based Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC).
The CJAC report, entitled ’Walls Have Ears: An Analysis of Classified Syrian Security Sector Documents’, is the result of a pilot analysis of documents from abandoned Syrian government offices and was published last month.
The documents were secured by the SJAC when they entered abandoned facilities in Tabqa and Raqqa in 2013 and in Idlib in 2015, all places with sizeable Kurdish minorities. They claim in the report that the facilities were open and unprotected upon entry.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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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.
Bouteflika
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
