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Man claiming to be a US scholar recruited Uygur students at Guangzhou university for terrorist activities


South China Morning Post
Fri, 27 Mar 2015 19:02 UTC
Image
© SCMP Pictures
South China Normal University in Guangzhou
Man claiming to be researcher showed up at Guangzhou campus and helped members of ethnic minority go to Malaysia, sources say

Uygur students in Guangzhou have been warned to stay away from "outsiders" after several were recruited by a suspected religious extremist and had been missing since last year, various sources told the South China Morning Post.

A man claiming to be a US national conducting social science research visited the campus of the South China Normal University [SCNU] last year. Sources said the man recruited several Uygur students, gave them money and arranged for them to flee to Malaysia.

It is not clear if Malaysia was their final destination, or whether they were headed for Turkey or Syria, as some believe.

The recruiter was believed to be a member of an extremist religious group, according to a source who did not elaborate. A mainland terrorism expert said this was not an isolated case.

He said similar terrorist recruitments had been reported over the past two years at universities in Guangzhou, Beijing and Xian.

"The recruitment network of Islamic State has already spread to Beijing and Xian as well as Guangzhou," said Professor Yang Shu, an expert on Central Asia at Lanzhou University in Gansu province.

The SCNU noticed the absence of some Uygur students but first treated them as missing person cases, sources said. But the authorities later intercepted a Uygur student who tried to leave the campus and join the recruiter. "[The student] was busted on campus and confessed. Their plan was revealed," a source said.

The authorities kept the incident secret. Shortly afterwards, all Uygur students in Guangzhou were issued verbal but stern warnings that they must stay away from strangers and people not belonging to the school.

Comment: Is Guangzhou turning into a new hot spot in China's fight against smuggling and terrorism?

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Heart

Russian lawmakers suggest making citizenship easier for Ukrainians


RT
Wed, 01 Apr 2015 18:01 UTC
Image
© RIA Novosti / Vladimir Kornev
A family of refugees from southeastern Ukraine seen near the Federal Migration Service's office in Belgorod which is going to provide them with temporary residence permits and refugee statuses
A group of Russian MPs say there are often deliberate obstructions for Ukrainians who want to change their citizenship to Russian, and suggest getting round this problem by cutting the number of required documents.

The advocates of the motion are from the center-left Fair Russia party and its leader Sergey Mironov is among the sponsors of the bill.

"Thousands of Ukrainians are given various excuses and then after document problems they are refused Russian citizenship. Ukrainian authorities treat their citizens who choose to move to Russia like second-class citizens. Our bill would alleviate the situation and would simply ask Ukrainians to renounce their initial citizenship," MP Oleg Nilov said in an interview with Izvestia daily.

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have moved to Russia since the beginning of the armed conflict in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, fleeing from war, destruction and military conscription. Their numbers are difficult to estimate, because Russia and Ukraine have a visa-free regime. However, last autumn Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the figure was approaching one million.
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Attention

Right Sector nazis now officially part of Ukraine army


Fort Russ
Mon, 30 Mar 2015 18:24 UTC
yarosh
Rada Deputy and Ukrainian nationalist leader Dmitriy Yarosh announced that a procedure for incorporating the Right Sector into the UAF as a subordinate organization had been agreed upon. The two sides agreed at a closed meeting between Ukrainian MOD representatives and Yarosh in Dnepropetrovsk to adopt as a model the cooperation between the Tallinn government and the Estonia Defense Union, which began in the early 1990s.

"We agreed to introduce a bill that would establish the Right Sector as the basis for an organization similar to the Estonia Defense Union. We will have reserve units, combat units. This will be a compromise system, the golden middle which will satisfy both us and the government institutions," Yarosh told Ukrainian journalists.

The Estonia Defense Union is a volunteer paramilitary formation which is part of the national army and which is financed by the state, but which at the same time retains certain autonomy. The EDU participates in national and international military exercises, and also prepares personnel for militias that patrol assigned territory.

Moreover, EDU units have their own command. Obviously it's that aspect of the organization that persuaded the Ukrainian radicals to cooperate with the GenStaff, after all the Right Sector HQ said many times they would not accept a leader other than Yarosh. Therefore the nationalists will become an official part of the armed forces, while retaining certain autonomy.

Comment: Does Poroshenko think he knows what he's doing? Who in his right mind would give MORE power to a gang of nazi mercenaries who could threaten his own power? The mind boggles!

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Bomb

Kiss and tell: Pentagon admits Israel is a nuclear power

Vladimir Platov
New Eastern Outlook
Wed, 01 Apr 2015 17:46 UTC
israel nuke
In early February, the Pentagon declassified reports on Israel's nuclear weapons program which was carried out until 1987. According to these documents, Israeli scientists were capable of producing a hydrogen bomb by that time. Although these facts were largely ignored by the Western media, some analysts have noticed that the declassification of these secret reports suspiciously coincided with the recent, rapidly deteriorating relationship between the US and Israel. As Tel Aviv started a massive campaign of criticism aimed at the Obama administration, both in the US media and worldwide, the Pentagon's revelations were quick to follow. It is also noteworthy that only the facts on the Israeli nuclear weapons program were declassified, while information regarding similar activities of NATO allies (in particular Italy, France, and West Germany) remained locked up.

The 386 pages report "Сritical technology assessment in Israel and Nato nations," was prepared in 1987 by the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) and examined the capabilities Israel had already had at that time to produce nuclear weapons. In particular, the study underlines the fact that Israel's secret laboratories, engaged in the development of an atomic bomb, were on par with the key research nuclear arsenals of the US: Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Comment: Thinks aren't looking too pretty for the U.S.-Israeli love affair... Speaking of nukes, Crimea's leader, Sergey Aksyonov, recently said Crimea would welcome Russia placing nuclear weapons on its soil. Nope, Ukraine ain't getting Crimea back, no matter how much they bluster and boast about doing so.

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Yoda

Putin considering visit to U.S. in September to deliver speech at UN


RT
Wed, 01 Apr 2015 16:58 UTC
Image
© RIA Novosti / Aleksey Druzhinin
President Vladimir Putin may travel to New York City to deliver a speech at the opening of the UN General Assembly in September, a Russian newspaper reported, quoting several sources close to the Kremlin.

Kommersant Daily quoted sources "close to the presidential administration" as saying that Putin's trip to the United States was already in the preparatory stage. The newspaper also claimed that a source in the United Nations' secretariat confirmed this.

However, all the sources noted that Putin's plans would become clear only in early August. They also emphasized that "everything depends on the international situation."

Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov also said that no final decision has been made on the trip.

"Attending the General Assembly Session is one of the options that are being considered and in this sense it is not very important that it will be the anniversary one."

In September the United Nations will hold its 70th General Assembly session, with many world leaders expected to participate.

Comment: It would be good for Americans to hear from a real statesman for once, instead of the cardboard cutout versions that are currently running the country.

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Green Light

Long over-due: Opening the door for war crimes prosecution, Palestine gets ICC membership


RT
Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:59 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Palestinians walk near the ruins of houses in Gaza City.
Palestine is soon to have its day in court, after securing long-awaited membership at The Hague. Plagued by constant setbacks to a peace deal with Israel, the ICC newcomer wants to see Tel Aviv on the stand for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The April 1 accession to the International Criminal Court is the most substantial step to date in Palestine's international legal campaign to seek justice for Israel's operation 'Protective Edge' last summer, in which thousands of civilians were killed.

Shortly before the summer assaults, Israel insisted that Hamas was firing rockets into its territory and answered with massive bombardment, complete with a ground phase that saw destruction on a scale not seen for decades. After 50 days, a ceasefire was agreed upon.

ICC membership has been years in the making. It comes after Palestine gained UN observers status, followed by an increasing number of European countries recognizing them as an independent state or considering it. Israel's operation tipped the balance in the Palestinians' favor.
Image
© RT
It remains unclear how soon Palestine will be filing complaints against the Israelis, but an initial probe into war crimes by both sides is already in progress. The deadly July-August assault on Gaza has never been subject to a thorough, independent investigation, and the occupation of disputed territories and settlement-building by Israel is also ongoing.

"The legal and technical committees have been extensively working on finalizing the two files" on Israel's summer operation and its illegal settlement building, Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator in peace talks with Israel, told reporters.

Comment: It's going to be interesting to see what happens now that Russia publicly committed to help Palestine become independent.

Putin says Russia to help Palestine become independent state

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Eye 2

New report details sickening torture methods used by Nazi Kiev junta on E. Ukraine civilians


Oriental Review
Thu, 26 Mar 2015 15:08 UTC
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Comment: Remember, these are the actions of a government created and supported by the U.S. government. They are allowing the Nazi Ukraine government to torture innocent civilians for no purpose. Most trained military and law enforcement understand that a victim being tortured will admit to anything to end their pain and suffering. So, the purpose of their torture is clearly not to gain information, but to purposefully cause pain and suffering to innocent civilians. This is your government Americans, they are allowing this to happen under your name. How much does it take for people to stand up and say enough is enough?


On Monday March 23, the US House of Representatives adopted H. Res. 162 urging president Obama "to provide Ukraine with military assistance" in dire attempt to reignite conflict in the East of Ukraine, mainly frozen as a result of February 2015 Minsk agreements between Kiev and the outbreak Donetsk and Lugansk provinces with French, German and Russian mediation. The general presumptions of the resolution are as evident as false: it contains routine mantras about "Russian aggression", "Crimea occupation", "violent separatist proxies" and "insurrection that has resulted in over 6,000 dead, 15,000 wounded, and more than a million displaced persons", as if the insurgents are using heavy artillery against their own cities and killing their own children (to say nothing about the fact that "displaced persons" are predominantly running to Russia to seek protection and personal safety away from the conflict zone).

Meanwhile earlier this month the Foundation for the Study of Democracy (FSD) has published a new comprehensive report «War Crimes of the Armed Forces and Security Forces of Ukraine». It is based on the evidence provided since August 2014 to January 2015 by at least 200 residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk provinces who were forcefully detained and kidnapped by the Ukrainian military and security forces and later handed back to Donetsk and Lugansk authorities according to "hostages release" provisions of the September 2014 Minsk protocol. Here we provide a dozen of citations of this bone-chilling document:

The prisoners were electrocuted, beaten cruelly and for multiple days in a row with different objects (iron bars, baseball bats, sticks, rifle butts, bayonet knives, rubber batons).

Techniques widely used by the Ukrainian armed forces and security forces include waterboarding, strangling with a 'Banderist garrotte' and other types of strangling.
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Dollars

New rules for seizing financial assets announced by Justice Dept.


RT
Tue, 31 Mar 2015 14:38 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Laszlo Balogh
The Justice Department will place new limits on the government's ability to seize bank accounts and other financial assets, Attorney General Eric Holder said, adding that criminal charges must be filed or additional evidence uncovered before it can do so.

In a statement on Tuesday, Holder said the new policy would affect the way the government targets companies and individuals suspected of "structuring" bank transactions. Structuring involves purposefully keeping transactions from surpassing a certain threshold so they do not require banks to make a record of them or file a report regarding a possibly suspicious operation. The Justice Department said that in addition to being a crime on its own, structuring is usually linked with other illegal activity.

Previously, the government could seize bank accounts, as well as other property, without a warrant and without filing criminal charges, as long as it suspected wrongdoing. Since 2001, law enforcement agencies around the United States have confiscated $2.5 billion in cash despite never filing criminal charges or obtaining warrants, the Washington Post reported.

Comment: It will be interesting to see if this policy change will trickle down below the federal level and force local and state law enforcement to enact stricter rules for civil forfeiture cases. It's not just the federal government that has been stealing from its citizens:

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Network

Obama dictates national 'cyber security' emergency

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Wed, 01 Apr 2015 14:26 UTC
Image
It's business as usual in Washington. President Obama has just signed another Executive Order declaring a National Emergency to deal with cyber threats:
  • Obama order creates new authority to respond to cyber threats to be used in 'targeted manner'
  • Obama order allows sanctions for cyber threats
This new authority, yet another layer of government oversight, we are sure is for your own protection and in Obama's words will "augment work to fight cyber threats." All your internet is belong to us...
The national and economic security of the United States depends on the reliable functioning of the Nation's critical infrastructure in the face of such threats. It is the policy of the United States to enhance the security and resilience of the Nation's critical infrastructure and to maintain a cyber environment that encourages efficiency, innovation, and economic prosperity while promoting safety, security, business confidentiality, privacy, and civil liberties.

We can achieve these goals through a partnership with the owners and operators of critical infrastructure to improve cybersecurity information sharing and collaboratively develop and implement risk-based standards.

Comment: Will this go so far as to censure websites that don't go along with the 'party line'?

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Bullseye

International Criminal Court: Palestinians hope to gain leverage on Israel

Karin Laub, Mohammed Daraghmeh
AP
Wed, 01 Apr 2015 03:54 UTC
Abbas
© www.arabnews.com
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
The Palestinians formally joined the International Criminal Court on Wednesday, as part of a broader effort to put international pressure on Israel and exact a higher price for its occupation of lands sought for a Palestinian state.
Beyond seeking war crimes charges against Israel at the court, the Palestinians want the U.N. Security Council to set a deadline for an Israeli troop withdrawal and hope for new momentum of a Palestinian-led international movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions.
The atmosphere seems ripe for international intervention after recently re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu startled the world with a pledge to voters, since withdrawn, that he would not allow a Palestinian state to be established.

But a legal and diplomatic showdown isn't inevitable as aides say Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas isn't interested in an all-out confrontation with Israel. War crimes charges against Israel could be years away and Washington likely will soften any Security Council resolution on Palestinian statehood.

Here is a look at what's expected:

Comment: Did Palestine attempt to raise the stakes with this move? A preliminary examination into alleged Israeli crimes is already underway and will determine the grounds to proceed with a full investigation, should the court deem it has jurisdiction. A 40-member Palestinian committee has spent the past three months looking at two areas where they believe Israel violated international law: military operations during last year's war in Gaza and Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The ICC focuses on the worst violations of international law: genocide and war crimes against humanity, and soon to be added "crimes of aggression." While the Palestinians seem to have a "no brainer" case, what we do know is the situation won't be settled any time soon. And, here's the sucky part: Israel is a non-member of the ICC and is apparently under no obligation to comply.

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