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Israeli warplanes spotted flying at low altitudes along Syrian-Lebanese border - Syrian army deploys Pantsir-S1 systems near Golan Heights

Leith Aboufadel
Al Masdar News
Tue, 12 Jun 2018 19:39 UTC
Israeli F-16 fighter jet

Israeli F-16 fighter jet
The Israeli Air Force has been conducting nonstop flights along the Syrian-Lebanese border, today, a military report read this afternoon.

According to the report, the Israeli warplanes were spotted flying at low altitudes from the southern Lebanese town of Marjeyoun to the Beqa'a Valley near the Syrian border.

The Israeli Air Force has been intensifying their flights along the border since the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) announced their intentions to retake all of the occupied Golan Heights' border in Al-Quneitra.

Comment: The Syrian Armed Forces are deploying additional Russian-made Pantsir-S1 combined short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapon systems to the areas in southern and eastern Syria, according to pro-government sources.
The Hezbollah media wing in Syria claimed on June 12 that additional Pantsir-S1 systems had been deployed in the area near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights [most likely in the province of Daraa] to strengthen air-defense capabilities of the government forces in the area.
See also: Israel launches 'surprise' military exercise in Golan Heights - Israeli warplanes and drones circle Syrian-Lebanese border, Syrian army on high alert

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Info

Trump says to end war games with South Korea - Pentagon says US troops in South Korea receive no orders to halt military exercise


PressTV
Tue, 12 Jun 2018 18:36 UTC
US President Donald Trump
© AFP photo
US President Donald Trump speaks at a press conference following the historic US-North Korea summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018
US President Donald Trump says the United States was stopping "very provocative" and expensive military exercises with South Korea to facilitate denuclearization negotiations with North Korea.

The United States and South Korea hold regular military drills to the fury of North Korea, which has long seen the drills as preparations to invade it.

"The war games are very expensive, we pay for the majority of them," Trump told a news conference on Tuesday in Singapore after a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Comment: The US forces stationed in South Korea have not received any guidance on cessation of military exercises on the Korean Peninsula, following statements made by US President Donald Trump in Singapore after his talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Spokeswoman for US Forces in Korea Lt. Col. Jennifer Lovett told TASS on Tuesday.
"We have received no updated guidance on execution or cessation of training exercises - to include Ulchi Freedom Guardian. In coordination with our ROK partners, we will continue with our current military posture until we receive updated guidance from the Department of Defense (DoD) and/or lndo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM)," she said.


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Sheriff

Austria's PM Kurz receives death threats on social media after crackdown on radicalized and "political Islam"


RT
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 23:01 UTC
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
© Abir Sultan / Reuters / File
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
An anti-terrorism probe has been opened into death threats Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz received on social media after his government announced a crackdown on hate preaching and "political Islam."

The Austrian government's decision to close seven mosques and expel as many as 60 imams as part of their campaign against radicalization has provoked a wave of outrage online. Some people on social media went as far as to threaten Sebastian Kurz personally. While some posts accused the chancellor of wanting a "war," others openly said he should "prepare" for death, according to the Austrian national Oesterreich daily. Some posts also said that the head of the Austrian government "will find himself in a rubbish box," while others just read: "Allahu Akbar!"

The chancellor's office confirmed to Oesterreich that Kurz received "many" death threats, particularly on Facebook and Instagram, as well as in some "instant messaging services." The situation was considered to be so grave that the Austrian domestic intelligence and counter-terrorism agency, the BVT, launched a counter-terrorism investigation into the issue, according to the interior ministry.

Comment: Any religious leader who advocates for activities which go against the norms of the country should be dealt with accordingly. Islam has been practised peacefully within Russian society for a long time but it too would not tolerate those which breaks its laws:


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Arrow Up

A 'sleepless night' in South Korea as all eyes are on Kim-Trump summit


RT
Tue, 12 Jun 2018 02:57 UTC
Trump/Kim monitor
© Mike Blake/Reuters
South Korea watches and waits.
The South Korean government is hoping for a success of the Singapore summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, since it could lead to peace on the peninsula after almost 70 years.

President Moon Jae-in and his cabinet watched the start of the summit before their morning meeting at Cheong Wa Dae ("Blue House"), the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
"I guess the attention of all our people must currently be directed toward Singapore," Moon said. "I too spent a sleepless night. I, along with all our people, sincerely hope that it will be a successful summit that will open a new era of complete denuclearization, peace and a new relationship between South Korea, North Korea and the United States."
The summit is only the beginning of a "long process" of re-establishing peace in the Korean Peninsula, Moon cautioned.
"The deep-rooted hostile relationship and the North Korean nuclear issue cannot be resolved in one single action in a meeting between leaders," the president said after the cabinet meeting on Monday. "Even after the two leaders open the dialogue, we will need a long process that may take one year, two years or even longer to completely resolve the issues."
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Attention

Iran warns N. Korea of possibility of Trump U-turn on Singapore deal


RT
Tue, 12 Jun 2018 12:44 UTC
Trump Singapore
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Trump after a news conference at the Capella Hotelin Singapore June 12, 2018.
Tehran, which has its own sad experience in dealing with the US, has warned Pyongyang that President Donald Trump may cancel the recent Singapore agreement, hours after the meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jing-un.

"We don't know what type of person the North Korean leader is negotiating with. It is not clear that he would not cancel the agreement before returning back home," Iran's government spokesman, Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, said on Tuesday as cited by IRNA new agency.

The statement came hours after Trump and Kim signed an agreement stipulating "complete denuclearization" of North Korea. Trump praised what had been achieved at the summit calling it a "new chapter" in relations with the North.

In the run-up to the Kim-Trump summit Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassem said that the North's leader should be aware Trump's tendency to betray deals when they talk about denuclearization. "Washington has continued to sabotage international agreements and unilaterally withdraw from them," he stated on Monday.

Comment: No choice but to wait and see if President Trump can stick with his own deal. He has no qualms about nixing those made by his predecessor. See also:

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Binoculars

Carter Page: 'The US government abused its power by spying on me'


Sputnik
Fri, 08 Jun 2018 00:08 UTC
Carter Page
© AP photo/Pavel Golovkin
Carter Page
Former foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump's presidential campaign Carter Page believes the US government "abused" its power by directing its vast surveillance capabilities at him under the pretext of a "dodgy dossier" that was funded by lawyers for Trump rival Hillary Clinton, Real Clear Investigations reported Thursday.
"Until the DoJ [Department of Justice] discloses full information about the dodgy dossier, amends their court filings that led to extensive abuse of process, and discloses details on the other sources of their lies, it will be impossible for Americans to fully trust them again," Page said in an interview with the outlet published Thursday.
The court that granted authorities a warrant to spy on Page, the so-called FISA courts authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, is different from US Article 3 courts, which provide the accused with the ability to defend themselves. FISA courts are secret, government-only entities, with no prosecutor or defense attorney present during their proceedings.

Comment: Ready or not, case or not, legal or not, the FBI was swift to strike - looking for some microscopic piece of leverage to validate a faux case and hamstring the new administration.

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Jet3

UK-built jets to join bombing of Hodeidah, Yemen's 'humanitarian lifeline' port


RT
Tue, 12 Jun 2018 12:46 UTC
Yemen airstrike
© YouTube
Saudi-led airstrike in Yemen
UK-manufactured fighter jets may be "central" to UAE air strikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah which the UN has warned could result in hundreds of thousands of deaths if it is attacked.

The population of Yemen would be put in severe danger by a UAE bombing of the "lifeline" port. Situated on the Red Sea, it supplies 80 percent of aid to the country, where a three-year civil war has left the nation on the brink of famine.

The UN's Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande, stated that, if the attack takes place, humanitarian agencies "fear, in a prolonged worst case, that as many as 250,000 people may lose everything - even their lives".

The UAE is a part of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition which has been bombing Yemen since the start of the civil war in 2015, as they support President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi in his fight against Houthi rebels.

Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT ) said British Prime Minister Theresa May should use her influence to stop the gulf countries' air bombing of Yemen. The UK has come under fire over its licensing of £4.6 billion ($6.2bn) of arms sales to Saudi Arabia since 2015. Many more pounds worth of arms may have been licensed to the UAE, CAAT claims.


Comment: Unconscionable! Cut the UK support and stop the war. See also:

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Snakes in Suits

Interview Bashar al-Assad: Theresa May 'staged the chemical attack' in Syria

Matt Drake
Express
Sun, 10 Jun 2018 03:15 UTC
Assad May
© Getty Images
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad • British PM Theresa May
Theresa May is a colonialist liar who along with the UK's allies deliberately prolonged the Syrian Civil War and even helped stage the alleged chemical attack in Douma, according to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In a rare interview, the Syrian President claims the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, East Ghouta in Syria on April 7 was staged. According to reports from the controversial organisation the White Helmets and rebels Jaish al-Islam (The Sword of Islam), the Syrian military dropped bombs containing an unknown chemical weapon from helicopters.

But Assad claims the UK had a role to play in the alleged attack in which at least 40 people are said to have been killed in order to justify airstrikes. Assad said:
"The UK publicly supported the White Helmets that are a branch of Al Qaeda. "We consider the White Helmets to be a PR stunt by the UK. So yes, definitely, it was staged by these three countries together and the UK is involved."

Comment: See also:

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Laptop

US issues additional anti-Russia sanctions for alleged cyber activity


RT
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 14:26 UTC
Red tape man US sanct
© Treasury & Risk
Washington has imposed new sanctions against Russia. The restrictive measures that affect three individuals and five entities were introduced in response to allegations of "cyber-activity" by Moscow, according to the US Treasury.

The US has been conspicuously tight-lipped about the reasons behind the new restrictive measures. The US Treasury Department's statement defines the new additions to the list of "specially designated nationals" only as "cyber-related" and "Russia-related" designations. The list of entities targeted by the fresh round of US sanctions actually includes a number of cyber-security firms based in Russia, Israel, Europe, and even the US itself. It also includes a diving-equipment production company.

The Russian state research center, the Kvant Institute, which specializes in research and technological development of electronic hardware and software for the state and its public institutions, has also been added to the sanctions list. All three individuals added to the SDN list have been targeted by the US sanctions due to their links to the Divetechnoservice Company, the Russian diving-equipment producer, according to the Treasury.

Comment: Before sanctions are imposed, shouldn't allegations be proven?

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Cowboy Hat

Kim Jong-un reportedly brings portable toilet to Singapore summit to keep his health a complete secret


RT
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 03:31 UTC
toilet
© Toru Hanai / Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reportedly gone to extreme measures to prevent his enemies getting an insight into the state of his health during the Singapore summit - including bringing his very own toilet.

Kim arrived in the city with a bullet-proof limousine and a portable toilet in tow, according to South Korean newspaper Chosun. The purpose of the toilet, aside from the obvious, is to "deny determined sewer-divers insights into the supreme leader's stools," the conservative news outlet reported.

Lee Yun-keol, who was an official in the North Korean Guard Command unit before he defected to South Korea in 2005, told the Washington Post in April that Kim always travels with his own toilet as he will not use public restrooms.
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