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US strips Pakistan of $300 million in anti-terrorism aid


RT
Sun, 02 Sep 2018 15:11 UTC
supporter of the religious organization Bazm-e-Irshad
© Faisal Mahmood / Reuters
A supporter of the religious organization Bazm-e-Irshad shouts anti-American slogans during a rally against a NATO cross-border attack, in Rawalpindi December 1, 2011.
The Pentagon has recalled $300 million of aid earmarked to support Pakistan's anti-terrorism efforts, accusing Islamabad of going soft on extremists and providing them with safe havens, Reuters reports.

"Due to a lack of Pakistani decisive actions in support of the South Asia Strategy, the remaining $300 [million] was reprogrammed," Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kone Faulkner said, as cited by Reuters.

The funds were earlier frozen as part of the review initiated by US President Donald Trump that should have determined whether Pakistan is showing enough resilience against the insurgents to be worthy of American assistance.

Comment: Looks like the US is losing control of Pakistan.

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Bad Guys

Saudis 'regret' murdering 50 Yemenis in heinous school bus bombing


Sputnik
Sun, 02 Sep 2018 11:53 UTC
Saudi war Yemen bombings
© AFP 2018 / MOHAMMED HUWAIS
An attack on a bus carrying children in Yemen's northern Saada province in August took lives of at least 50 people, injuring 77 more, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Saudi-led coalition confirmed that an airstrike on a school bus which killed dozens was unjustified, claiming it would punish those responsible for the mistakes that led to the tragedy. It also pledges to provide compensation to the victims in coordination with the Yemeni government.

"The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition expresses regret over the mistakes, extends its sympathies, condolences and solidarity to the families of the victims," read a statement published by Saudi state news agency the SPA.

Comment: Also see: 5 reasons the nightmarish Saudi-led, Western-backed war on Yemen should never be forgotten - In pictures

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Pirates

Good timing: Turkey designates Tahrir al-Sham (a.k.a. al Nusra) as terrorist group


Sputnik
Sun, 02 Sep 2018 09:30 UTC
Fighters from Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front
© AFP 2018 / Fadi al-Halabi / AMC
Fighters from Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front
Turkey has listed the Jabhat al-Nusra* armed Islamist group as a terrorist organization, according to a decree signed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The decree was signed in compliance with the United Nations Security Council resolution on countering terrorism financing. The Nusra Front organization, which joined with a number of other Islamists groups to form Tahrir al-Sham last year, had also been designated as terrorist by Turkey.

Tahrir al-Sham controls much of the Idlib province in Syria. Syrian forces are currently preparing an offensive in the region to clear Idlib and surrounding areas of militant groups.

Comment: Last month, the U.S. made a similar move and added "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham" as an alternate name for the al-Nusra Front on its list of terrorist groups. The radical group adopted the new name after merging with several other armed groups in 2017.
HTS is now the most influential force in the opposition-held areas in northern Syria. According to a recent report by NBC News, the radical group has up to 11,000 well-trained fighters, most of whom are stationed in the northwestern governorate of Idlib.

The Turkish decision comes ahead of an expected military operation of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies against HTS. This worries HTS' supporters in northern Syria, who fear that the Turkish government is abandoning the radical group.
See also: Tahrir Al Sham promises to kill every Turkish soldier that crosses into Syria

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Handcuffs

UK police arrest journalists who exposed Govt. collusion in 1994 Loughinisland killings

Rory Carroll
The Guardian
Sat, 01 Sep 2018 22:52 UTC
Allegations against two men relate to materials allegedly used in film on 1994 massacre
The Heights bar in Loughinisland, County Down, Northern Ireland
© PA
The Heights bar in Loughinisland, County Down, the morning after six people were killed.
Two investigative journalists who worked on Alex Gibney's documentary about the Loughinisland massacre in Northern Ireland have been arrested over the alleged theft of confidential documents.

Officers from Durham constabulary detained Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey in Belfast on Friday over the use of material allegedly stolen from the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI).

Gibney said the arrests were outrageous and that police should instead have reopened the investigation into the 1994 massacre in which a loyalists murdered six Catholics.
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Sherlock

After five years the death of investigative journalist Michael Hastings remains a mystery

Robert Bridge
Strategic Culture Foundation
Sat, 25 Aug 2018 22:21 UTC
michael hastings memorial
© Lord Jim/Flickr
Memorial at crash site of journalist Michael Hastings
Michael Hastings was one of America's most popular modern journalists, perhaps best known for his 2010 expose in Rolling Stone magazine, "The Runaway General", which led to the resignation of General Stanley McChrystal, then commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan.

In the early hours of June 18, 2013, a vehicle purported to have been driven by Michael Hastings crashed in Los Angeles, thus snuffing out the life of an already prolific young talent whose best years were still ahead of him. And that is where the worst part of this tragedy begins: the death of Michael Hastings, despite him being an influential member of the journalistic community, was never given the thorough investigative approach it rightly deserved.

This article will not go into all of the details of Hastings' life, since much of that is already known. Suffice it to say that the author probably had just as many enemies - many of them high-ranking officials - as he had friends. Ruining the career of an Army general, while declaring on one occasion that the media should "declare war" on the government, has a tendency to do those things. On top of that, Wikileaks reported that Hastings had contacted them just hours before his death, saying he was under investigation by the FBI. The federal agency, however, denied the claim. Those bits of information were enough for many people to frame his premature and very violent death as some sort of premeditated murder.

Comment:

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Pumpkin 2

Rupert Murdoch: The cancer eating the heart of Australian democracy

Kevin Rudd
Sydney Morning Herald
Mon, 27 Aug 2018 21:46 UTC
rupert lachlan murdoch
Beneath the sound and light show that passed for Australian politics last week, there is a much deeper question of what underlying forces have been at work that have brought us this low. The uncomfortable truth is, since the coup of June 2010, Australian politics has become vicious, toxic and unstable. The core question is why?

There have been many factors at work. First, the histrionic politics of climate change dividing the nation for more than a decade - we have lacked the national political maturity to just get on with it, despite Australia being the driest continent on earth.
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Pistol

Donetsk People's Republic official: US 'directly involved' in Zakharchenko assassination


Sputnik
Fri, 31 Aug 2018 21:34 UTC
Deputy Defense Minister and defense spokesman of Donetsk People's Republic Eduard Basurin
© Sputnik
According to Deputy Defense Minister and defense spokesman of Donetsk People's Republic Eduard Basurin, the US could have taken part in the assassination of the Donetsk People's Republic head Zakharchenko.

According to Eduard Basurin, Zakharchenko's murder took place "under the regulation by the United States."

"The US was directly involved in it," Basurin said.

Comment: Failed state Ukraine is probably getting desperate, especially as Zakharchenko was looking to follow Crimea's example and reunify with Russia. It looks, however, like this may backfire like the rest of their plans:

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Jet3

Money down the drain: US eyeing F-22/F-35 hybrid to counter 'Russian & Chinese threats'


RT
Sat, 01 Sep 2018 20:18 UTC
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II
© Steve Thorne / Getty Images
FILE PHOTO. Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.
The US is reportedly looking into a hybrid of two 5th generation fighter jets - the F-22 and F-35 - to help counter "Russian and Chinese threats." The two machines, both riddled with technical issues, might not mix well.

The hybrid was proposed to the US military by the arms giant Lockheed Martin, Defense One reported, citing sources "with direct knowledge of the plane." The plane is basically a modified F-22 Raptor with unspecified changes to its frame and featuring the modern avionics of the F-35 Lightning II.

Naturally, the plane is being sold as a powerful tool "to counter Russian and Chinese threats," according to the report. While the two are favorite scapegoats for the US military, especially when it pushes for more funding, it's unclear why exactly the US Air Force might need a new fifth-generation fighter jet to counter them. Moscow and Beijing have developed fifth-generation jets, yet both still lack any considerable fleets of such machines.

Comment: Considering the myopic wishful thinking that's endemic in the United States, a merger of two failed fighter jets will undoubtedly only produce something even worse than the two alone:

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Dig

Irish co-producers of documentary about British state collusion in terrorism arrested by English police

Mark Edwards
Belfast Telegraph
Fri, 31 Aug 2018 20:29 UTC
McCaffrey Birney
© Liam McBurney/PA
From left, solicitor John Finucane with his client, investigative journalist Barry McCaffrey, and Trevor Birney with his solicitor Niall Murphy leaving Musgrave police station in Belfast on Friday night.
A journalist arrested by police investigating the suspected theft of confidential documents linked to the Loughinisland massacre said it was "an attack on the press" as he and a colleague were released on bail on Friday night.

Families and supporters of those killed in the 1994 attack had staged a vigil in solidarity with award-winning reporters Barry McCaffrey (48) and Trevor Birney (51).

The two men, who produced the documentary No Stone Unturned about the UVF gun attack at the Heights Bar, were detained at 7am on Friday.

They walked out of Musgrave police station in Belfast at 8.55pm, with a tearful Mr McCaffrey saying: "There are families here [who] lost loved ones who didn't get justice today.

"This man [Mr Birney] was taken away from his wife and his children this morning. My neighbours had to see me getting taken away. It's not fair. It's not fair.

"And it's an attack on the press, everybody should realise. It's us today. Tomorrow it could be you."

Comment: These documents were obviously leaked to them, not 'stolen by them'. For the full story about this, it's best to watch this eye-opening documentary:



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Pirates

UAE government used Israel-based agency to hack phones of a prince, emir and other rivals


RT
Sat, 01 Sep 2018 17:00 UTC
apps mobile phone
© Oli Scarff / AFP
The UAE stands accused of illegally hacking the phones of their enemies.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) asked an Israel-based surveillance company to spy on a prince, a Qatari emir, and other rivals by hacking their phones, according to leaked emails obtained by the New York Times.

The emails cited in the Times report, which was published on Friday, were submitted in lawsuits against Israel-based NSO Group. The correspondence suggests that the surveillance company may have been involved in illegal spying for clients, with evidence indicating that the UAE signed a contract to license the spyware from "as early as August 2013."

The UAE sought to intercept the calls of some major rivals with the spyware - including Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Ali Thani in 2014, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and Saudi Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, who was seen as a contender for the throne at the time.

Comment: One could expect that the software could also spy on the customer. Well maybe that wasn't a concern considering the already curious relationship between the UAE and Israel:

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