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Turkey reportedly has no plans of resuming offensive in NE Syria


Sputnik
Mon, 25 Nov 2019 13:22 UTC
Russian/Turk patrol
© Reuters/Kemal AslanRussian and Turkish return from joint patrol in NE Syria
Turkey last month conducted a military incursion into Syrian border areas controlled by Kurdish militias. The operation was put on pause after Russia, a major player in Syria, struck a deal with Turkey and secured a withdrawal of Kurdish forces from the border area.

Turkey won't be resuming its military offensive in northeastern Syria, Reuters reports citing an unnamed security source.

Ankara's operation against Kurdish forces along the Syrian border, which Turkey designates as terrorists, lasted for nine days in mid-October. On 17 October, Turkey agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire for five days to let Kurdish-led forces withdraw from the area.

In a bid to avoid further expansion of Turkish troops within Syria's territory, the Damascus government reached a deal with the Kurdish-led alliance of militias, the SDF, to deploy the Syrian army to the border areas. Damascus views the Turkish offensive as a violation of Syria's sovereignty.
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2 + 2 = 4

Epic burn: 'We didn't boycott US firms during NSA scandal' - German minister defends move to include Huawei in 5G network


RT
Mon, 25 Nov 2019 19:47 UTC
Huawei
© Wolfgang Rattay | ReutersThe Huawei logo in front of the company’s German headquarters in Duesseldorf, Germany
Germany's economy minister has backed inclusion of Huawei in the country's 5G networks despite US claims of spying by the Chinese tech giant. He recalled that American firms weren't sidelined during the infamous NSA scandal.

Berlin did not "boycott" US enterprises after the National Security Agency (NSA) was found to be tapping the phones of Chancellor Angela Merkel and her predecessor Gerhard Schröder in 2013, Economic Minister Peter Altmaier told German TV ARD on Sunday.

"The US also demands from its companies that they pass on certain information that is needed to fight terrorism," Altmaier continued, making the point that even if Huawei is eventually found to be passing on data to Beijing, it would not be anything Washington has not already demanded of US companies working in Germany.

Of course, Germany wasn't just throwing caution to the wind: "It must be demonstrably ensured that the Chinese state has no influence, and every single component must be certified to ensure it hasn't been manipulated in any way," Altmaier continued. But "that of course also applies to European and US suppliers."

That said, the minister's comments infuriated US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who has been one of the most strident voices pushing Berlin to exile Huawei from its networks. The diplomatic mission issued a vague but menacing statement on Monday reminding that the thousands of American troops stationed in Germany are liable to take offense at such careless talk.

"The recent claims by senior German officials that the United States is equivalent to the Chinese Communist Party are an insult to the thousands of American troops who help ensure Germany's security," Grenell said in the statement.
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Handcuffs

Afghan intelligence detains two human rights activists for exposing pedophile ring


RFE/EL
Mon, 25 Nov 2019 18:58 UTC
bacha bazi
Bacha bazi in Afghanistan
Afghanistan's main intelligence agency "arbitrarily detained" two human rights defenders last week after they exposed alleged sexual abuse against children, Amnesty International says.

In a statement on November 25, the London-based human rights watchdog said Musa Mahmudi and Ehsanullah Hamidi were detained by the National Directorate of Security (NDS) on November 21 when they were on their way to meet with the European Union ambassador in Kabul.

The NDS must release the two men immediately, the statement said, adding that they "are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment" while in custody.

Both Mahmudi and Hamidi are well-known human rights defenders from Logar Province, south of Kabul, according to Amnesty.

It said the pair started receiving threats, including from local officials in Logar, after they gave interviews to the Afghan media outlet TOLO News and the British newspaper The Guardian earlier this month about a pedophile ring in the region.

At least 546 boys from six schools have allegedly been abused and some of the victims have been murdered, The Guardian reported, adding that rights campaigners had uncovered more than 100 videos of the abuse.

Comment: Pedophiles in power. It's probably the same in every country. It's certainly true in Afghanistan, France, the U.S., the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands...

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Passport

Iraqi Defence Minister threatens to SUE Swedish media for outing dual-citizenship status and alleged welfare fraud


Sputnik
Mon, 25 Nov 2019 17:51 UTC
IraqDefense Minister Najah Hassan Ali al-Shammari
© News FrontIraq’s Defense Minister Najah Hassan Ali al-Shammari
After the Swedish Defence Ministry confirmed the scoop about Najah al-Shammari's status as a Swedish citizen, an investigation into grant fraud has been launched.

Iraqi Defence Minister Najah al-Shammari has reportedly hired a Swedish lawyer and is threatening to sue several Swedish news sites for allegedly spreading "false claims", national broadcaster SVT reported, citing a Facebook statement from the Iraqi Ministry of Defence.

Last week, the news outlet Nyheter Idag disclosed that al-Shammari was a Swedish citizen registered in Stockholm suburb, which was subsequently confirmed by the Swedish Ministry of Defence. A preliminary investigation into grant fraud was also launched, as al-Shammari was disclosed to have received a permanent disability allowance due to memory problems. According to Nyheter Idag, one of the grants amounted to SEK 5,200 ($540) per month, whereas another one, a multi-child supplement, amounted to SEK 4,480 ($465).

Comment: Swedish media outs Iraqi Defence Minister as Stockholm citizen with criminal record

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Eye 2

'Tony Blair lied, cheated and privatized': Former PM slammed online for criticisms of current British politics


RT
Mon, 25 Nov 2019 11:48 UTC
Tony Blair
© Reuters / Toby MelvilleFormer British Prime Minister Tony Blair
Former British PM Tony Blair has been slammed online and reminded of his destructive intervention in Iraq that left the country in chaos, after claiming Britain now leads the pack when it comes to 'crazy' world politics.

In a speech hosted by Reuters in London on Monday, Blair insisted that "populism" had taken a hold of both the right wing Conservatives and Jeremy Corbyn's socialist Labour party, asserting that British politics was both crazy and chaotic.

"There is often a conversation about whose politics is crazier [in the world]. I agree that right now the competition is fierce. But I still believe British politics is unfortunately ahead of the pack."

Comment: Blair continues in his role as nefarious mouthpiece for the establishment, all the while feathering his ever growing nest. Although thankfully his reputation precedes him and few in the UK give much weight to what he spews forth, even if he seems to be completely oblivious to how much he is hatred throughout the country. In fact these efforts could easily backfire, much to humanity's benefit.

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Robot

Bolivia's interim government names Evo Morales a "terrorist" and calls for his imprisonment

Zeeshan Aleem
Vox
Mon, 25 Nov 2019 13:05 UTC
Supporters of Evo Morales
© Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty ImagesSupporters of former Bolivian President Evo Morales rally behind his photo in November 2019 as police look on
The interior minister of Bolivia's interim government has called for Evo Morales, Bolivia's former leftist president who has lived in exile in Mexico for nearly two weeks, to be imprisoned for the rest of his life.

Citing unverified audio recordings of Morales allegedly directing supporters to economically "strangle" Bolivian cities with roadblocks, Interior Minister Arturo Murillo accused the former president of "terrorism and sedition," and said "any terrorist should spend the rest of their life in prison" in an interview with the Guardian published Sunday.

Experts on Bolivian politics describe Murillo's claim as a worrying publicity stunt that illustrates how the right-wing interim government is taking increasingly extreme measures to crack down on Morales and his party, MAS, in the wake of his controversy-shrouded resignation two weeks ago.

"What those charges are designed to do is keep Morales out of the country and cast his potential candidacy — in these elections or any future elections should he decide to come back — into doubt in the minds of a lot of Bolivian voters," Calla Hummel, a political scientist at the University of Miami, told me.

Comment: America's puppets are right to be afraid and go to these horrendous and ridiculous extremes. They know they are not wanted by the majority of the population since they stole whatever power they now hold from the legitimate government, and their only means to hold on to that power is by vilifying Morales and assuring that he doesn't have a chance to run in future elections. Because if he does, the Bolivians will vote for him again, just like they did last month.

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Shoe

WADA might stll ban Russia from Tokyo Olympics

Andrew Korybko
InfoBrics
Mon, 25 Nov 2019 12:20 UTC
tokyo 2020
The author wrote last month about how "WADA's Being Weaponized To Destroy Russians' Dignity" in an analysis that focused on one of the intangible elements of the ongoing Hybrid War on Russia. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) alleges that the country's national counterpart was engaged in a years-long conspiracy to cover up its athletes' illegal doping, and the former's Compliance Review Committee's (CRC) investigation just concluded that the latter hadn't adequately explained so-called "inconsistencies". WADA's Executive Committee will now meet on 9 December to decide whether to declare the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) "non-compliant", which could see Russian athletes banned from next year's Tokyo Olympics, though they might still be able to compete under the title of the "Olympic Athlete From Russia" designation like they did during the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

Although it may not seem like it to those who haven't been closely following this saga, the issue isn't apolitical at all but is actually politically driven given the double standards at play that were explained in the author's prior analysis on this topic. Even the prospective consequences themselves are political since they involve the collective punishment of all of Russia's athletes and the nation that they represent. It's no secret that the US and its allies are engaged in a heated rivalry with Russia at the moment, one that extends beyond the geopolitical realm and into every other one such as sports. Russia has a celebrated history of doing extremely well at international sporting events, so there's certainly a self-interested motive from its competitors to see its representatives banned from competitions in order to improve their own prospects for success. Furthermore, because of how important these events are, Russia's politicized removal might harm the national psyche.

Comment: WADA has gone the distance and broken a lot of its own rules just to contribute to the Western anti-Russian campaign.

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Fire

Pakistan summons Norway's ambassador amid outcry over Koran burning at rally in Kristiansand


RT
Mon, 25 Nov 2019 16:32 UTC
koran burn norway lars thorsen
© Twitter / @AndreassenLenaStop Islamization of Norway (SIAN) leader, Lars Thorsen, defied a police order against burning the holy Muslim book.
Islamabad expressed "deep concern" and launched a diplomatic action over the burning of the Koran in Norway, while the man who tried to save the book earned high praise on Pakistani social media.

Last week, a young Muslim counter-protester tackled Lars Thorsen, the head of the Stop Islamization of Norway (SIAN), after he set a copy of the Koran on fire at an anti-Muslim rally in the city of Kristiansand. The video of the incident caused a strong reaction in Pakistan, where the man reportedly named Ilyas Umer was hailed as hero on social media for trying to "save" the most-revered book in Islam.

Comment: Perhaps Norwegians are getting frustrated at the attempts to make over their country in the image of the refugees' culture?
Erna Solberg: "We are one of those countries that are resettling the most refugees: 3,100 people are being taken out by the UNHCR quotas to come to Norway. We have done this for a stable long period, so even if we have a low number this year and a large number last year we are in fact participating a lot in this humanitarian crisis."

[...]

Isabelle Kumar: "Ironically it was your integration minister who created a bit of a furore, because she stated that new arrivals should be very clear on the fact that people around them will be eating pork and drinking alcohol. It just struck me that at ministerial level that seemed a simplistic approach to what is quite a complex issue - what do you think?"

Erna Solberg: "I do no think it is a complex issue that if you are going to come to our country and you have to work to sustain a living, you cannot say no to jobs like working in a restaurant where they will serve pork or alcohol. You cannot expect that the Norwegian society will pay you benefits if you are refusing to work for religious reasons..."

Isabelle Kumar: That must be a minority, mustn't it?

Erna Solberg: "There are too low numbers of migrant women working in Norway, we know that some reasons are they have a lot of children, so that is work in itself. But sometimes it is also because they make some demands that make it more difficult for them to get a job, and sometimes it is because their husbands don't like to see them get too involved in the Norwegian society, because then they get a taste of the freedom of women in our society, so there is also some type of patriarchy in this."


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Broom

"I do not trust her": Duterte fires Philippine VP Leni Robredo from anti-drugs tsar post after just 3 weeks


South China Morning Post
Sun, 24 Nov 2019 22:27 UTC
Robredo
© APLeni Robredo.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday fired vice-president and arch-critic Leni Robredo from her post as overseer of his deadly drugs war, an aide said, just days after calling her a "scatterbrain" not to be trusted with state secrets.

Robredo, 54, lasted less than three weeks as head of Duterte's signature anti-narcotics campaign, which she vowed to reform amid allegations that police were committing crimes against humanity in killing thousands of drug suspects.

"The vice-president resorted to unduly baiting international attention on the matter," Duterte spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement announcing Robredo's immediate dismissal.

Comment: See also:

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Oil Well

US military destroys tanker ferries attempting to smuggle oil to Syrian gov't territories


Almasdar News
Sun, 24 Nov 2019 16:41 UTC
Oil field in northeastern Syria
The U.S. military reportedly attacked four tanker ferries on Saturday that were attempting to smuggle oil from the SDF-held areas in eastern Syria to the Syrian government territories.

According to local reports, the U.S. warplanes targeted these ferries while they were traveling through the southern region of Syria's Euphrates River Valley.

The reports said the U.S. military managed to destroy the four ferries before they could reach their intended destination, resulting in a number of explosions that were heard in the Euphrates River Valley.

The total number of casualties are still unknown at this time.
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