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Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman says US resolution on Iran protests unacceptable, reprehensible


PressTV
Fri, 12 Jan 2018 19:48 UTC
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi
Iran has strongly rejected as "unacceptable and reprehensible" a resolution passed by the US House of Representatives in support of a recent wave of violence in the country.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi on Wednesday criticized the "unwise and irrational" approach of the US to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, saying it constituted a violation of international rules and regulations.

Nearly two weeks ago, some peaceful protests were held in certain Iranian cities against rising prices and the overall economic condition of the country. Limited numbers of violent individuals, some of them armed, later sought to turn the peaceful protests into street riots. However, the original protesters soon heeded calls by authorities to leave the streets so that their activities would not play into the hands of violent rioters.

Comment: See also: Trump extends sanctions relief to Iran but adds 14 businesses and entities to sanctions list

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Chess

Trump extends sanctions relief to Iran but adds 14 businesses and entities to sanctions list


RT
Fri, 12 Jan 2018 18:41 UTC
iran
© Global Look Press
President Donald Trump has reportedly decided to extend sanctions relief to Iran, upholding Washington's end of the P5+1 nuclear deal, but it is likely that new sanctions targeting Iranian businesses will also be implemented.

Trump's Friday announcement will "reflect frustration at European allies and at Congress" for dragging their feet over proposed legislative changes that would call for stricter enforcement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), according to Bloomberg News foreign policy reporter in Washington.

Although he will uphold the agreement by waiving sanctions targeting Iran's access to the international financial system, Trump is also expected to reinstate sanctions targeting Iranian firms and individuals that were scrapped as part of the 2015 nuclear deal, AP reported, citing six people briefed on the matter.

Comment: The Trump Admin. is giving with one hand but taking with the other. That's not a recipe for diplomatic success. Trump also said that it will be the last time he will issue the waiver, which must be reassessed every 90 days.

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Bad Guys

Israeli authorities offer $9,000 to citizens who help deport asylum seekers by force


FARS
Fri, 12 Jan 2018 19:30 UTC
Asylum seekers
© FNAIsrael said it will pay almost $9,000 dollars to citizens who help in the forced expulsion of asylum seekers
Volunteer civilians who are willing "to temporarily serve as inspectors in the expulsion of asylum seekers" will be given a bonus payment of up to 30,000 shekels ($8,705), Haaretz reported.

Israeli authorities on Sunday "published a notice that it is hiring 100 inspectors on a temporary basis for terms of two years, from March 2018, as well as 40 investigators for the unit that examines asylum requests".

The 'inspectors' will be working in the greater Tel Aviv area, with some hired for the voluntary repatriation program and others to enforce laws against asylum seekers and their employers.

According to the newspaper, the job "would entail holding hearings for the asylum seekers; interviewing and documenting the ones prepared to leave 'voluntarily'; coordinating and issuing travel papers and coordinating flights; accompanying asylum seekers; and monitoring their re-entry to their countries or origin or elsewhere."

Comment: See also: Netanyahu cites "three stage plan" to deport 40,000 African asylum seekers 'without their consent'

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Eye 1

Facebook blocking dissent? Zuckerberg announces changes to news feed making media less prominent

Chris Baraniuk
BBC
Fri, 12 Jan 2018 17:44 UTC
zuckerberg
© GETTY IMAGES
Facebook is to change how its news feed works, making posts from businesses, brands and media less prominent.

Instead, content that sparks conversations among family and friends who use the site will be emphasised, explained chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on his page.

Organisations on Facebook may see the popularity of their posts decrease as a result, the firm acknowledged.

The changes will take effect over the coming weeks.

"We've gotten feedback from our community that public content - posts from businesses, brands and media - is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other," wrote Mr Zuckerberg.
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Jet1

Head of the Russian General Staff Maj. Gen. Alexander Novikov reveals details about UAV attack on its bases in Syria


South Front
Fri, 12 Jan 2018 19:10 UTC
Drones
The analysis of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) involved in the January 6 attack on Russia's bases in Syria has shown that they cannot be made in an improvised manner, Head of the Russian General Staff's department for the development of unmanned aerial vehicles Maj. Gen. Alexander Novikov said on September 11, according to the Russian state-run media.
"The creation of drones of this class is impossible in an improvised manner. Their development and usage involved specialists, who had undergone special training in the countries manufacturing and using systems with unmanned aerial vehicles," Novikov said adding that assembly and usage of UAVs is an engineering task that demands "special training, know-how in various scientific areas and practical experience in creating these devices."
The UAVs also cannot be used without special software and such attack requires the info about exact target location of the targets and such parameters as altitude, flight and wind speed. This information cannot be obtained from open sources according to Novikov.

Flying drone information
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Info

Russian MoD says it has eliminated entire militant group who attacked its airbase in Syria


RT
Fri, 12 Jan 2018 18:54 UTC
Russian Special Operations forces
© ReutersRussian Special Operations forces
A group of militants which attacked Russia's Khmeimim airbase in western Syria on New Year's Eve has been eliminated in a high-precision strike, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The group was found and killed by Russian Special Operations forces, according to the Ministry's statement.

"During the final stage of the operation a Russian Special Operations unit located the base camp of the militant saboteur group near the western border of Idlib province. As the terrorists arrived at the location, the entire group was eliminated with a high-precision 'Krasnopol' weapon as they were about to board a minibus," the statement reads.
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Map

Sam Heller: Extent of jihadist control in Idlib means they will fail, Syrians will retake province

Justin Clark
Syria Direct
Tue, 09 Jan 2018 17:21 UTC
idlib
© Omar Haj Kadour/AFPDisplaced Syrians flee fighting in Idlib province's southeast on January 7, 2018.
Hardline rebel coalition Hay'at Tahrir a-Sham wields the most powerful military and civil force in northwestern Syria. It is also is an internationally designated terrorist group led by a former Al-Qaeda affiliate.

Hay'at Tahrir a-Sham (HTS) has outmaneuvered its political and military rivals in the northwest in recent weeks, taking control of most major population centers in Idlib province, dissolving local governance and monopolizing civil authority.

As a result, HTS is "everywhere" in Idlib province, says Syria analyst Sam Heller, a Beirut-based writer and fellow at The Century Foundation.

HTS "can just reach out and touch anything they want to," Heller tells Syria Direct's Justin Clark. "If they want to be there, then they can be."

The hardline coalition's rule over the northwest has created what Heller calls a "critical mass of jihadist control," making it an unsustainable mini-state.

The Syrian government launched a major offensive in southern Idlib province last December, retaking large swathes of the province. The latest push by the government is likely the first phase of a "regime re-conquest of the northwest," Heller tells Syria Direct.

Comment: Following on the heels of the defeat of ISIS, the Syrian Army has been liberating towns in Idlib daily for weeks. These maps show their progress over the past month:
idlib dec 12
December 12, 2017
idlib jan 12
January 12, 2018


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Dominoes

Judge orders State Dept. to process Killary emails recovered by FBI faster


Judicial Watch
Thu, 11 Jan 2018 17:34 UTC
clinton emails ttp
© Wikimedia
Judicial Watch today announced that a federal court judge ordered the State Department to speed up processing and production of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails. U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg recently ordered the State Department to complete processing the remaining documents that were recovered by the FBI in its investigation into Clinton's illicit email server by September 28, 2018. The Court's latest order accelerates State's production rate which would have continued until 2020.

Last year, the FBI uncovered 72,000 pages of documents Clinton attempted to delete or did not otherwise disclose. The State Department had been processing the documents at a rate that would have required Judicial Watch and the American people to wait until at least 2020 to see all the releasable Clinton material.
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Stock Up

Sanctions fail: Russian real estate sector steadily recovering


bne IntelliNews
Fri, 12 Jan 2018 17:11 UTC
russian real estate
Russia real estate sector is starting to recover after years in the doldrums, with the investment volume up 9% in 2017 to $4.6bn, reports JLL.

Russia's real estate investments reached $1.9bn in the last quarter of 2017, up 88% y/y versus $1bn in last quarter of 2016, according to JLL calculations. This brought the full year volume to $4.6bn, up 9% from $4.3bn in 2016.

"In 2017, the market underwent both positive and negative changes. The Russian economy has been recovering," Olesya Dzuba, Head of Research, JLL, Russia & CIS, said in a report. "The ruble traded within a narrow range. Inflation declined below the Central Bank target. Despite the raising concerns about the banking sector stability, a number of large deals closed at the year-end. These included the sale of Immofinanz shopping centre portfolio and the part of Sever-2 warehouse complex. We expect the investment volume to climb to $5bn in 2018, up 9% y/y."

Comment: See also:

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Info

UK ambassador: Iranian domestic affairs "none of our business"


PressTV
Wed, 10 Jan 2018 17:03 UTC
Nicholas Hopton
The United Kingdom’s Ambassador to Tehran Nicholas Hopton attends a gathering hosted by Iranian think tank the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, in Tehran, January 9, 2018.
The United Kingdom's ambassador to Iran says the Islamic Republic's domestic affairs, including recent riots, are none of his country's business and that the UK will stay out of Iranian internal affairs.

Ambassador Nicholas Hopton made the remarks in a gathering titled "Europe and the Geopolitical Affairs of West Asia," which was being hosted by Iranian think tank the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations on Tuesday evening.

About two weeks ago, some peaceful protests were held in Iranian cities against price hikes and the overall economic condition of the country. Limited numbers of violent individuals, some of them armed, later sought to turn the peaceful protests into street riots. However, the original protesters soon heeded calls by authorities to leave the streets so that their legitimate activities would not play into the hands of violent rioters.

While sporadic violence continued for several days - and claimed the lives of 20 people - the riots gradually subsided.

In the course of those events, some British media outlets provided controversial coverage of the developments.

Comment: Nice words. If only they were true. Since when has the UK left other countries' domestic affairs alone? Only when there's nothing in it for them. In all other cases: fair game.

See also:

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