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Foreign interference! Saudi rights official dismisses Khashoggi inquiry

Tom Miles, Stephanie Nebehay
Reuters
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 05:03 UTC
Bandar bin Mohammed Al-Aiban
© Arab News/AFP
President of the Human Rights Commission of Saudi Arabia, Bandar bin Mohammed Al-Aiban
The head of the state-backed Saudi human rights commission dismissed an international investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as interference on Thursday, and said everyone accused was already facing justice in the kingdom.

Bandar bin Mohammed al-Aiban said those on trial for what he described both as an "unfortunate accident" and a "heinous crime" had attended three hearings so far with their lawyers present - but he gave no names or other details.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, provoking an international outcry.

Three dozen Western countries, including all 28 European Union members, called on the kingdom last week to cooperate with a U.N.-led investigation.

Comment: The US State Department, as well, has questions.

More from Sputnik, 3/13/2019:
Saudi Arabia has not provided pertinent details of its investigation into last year's killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, the State Department said on Wednesday in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

"At year's end the [Public Prosecutor's Office (PPO)] had not named the suspects nor the roles allegedly played by them in the killing, nor had they provided a detailed explanation of the direction and progress of the investigation", the report stated.

Last November, the Saudi PPO announced the indictment of 11 suspects in Khashoggi's murder, and later stated that 10 more individuals were under investigation.

The State Department noted that in the past, Saudi Arabia did not punish officials accused of committing human rights abuses.


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Jet3

Russian air force coordinates attack with Turkey on 'drone-filled' terrorist warehouse in Idlib, Syria - Source of CIA attacks on Khmeimim airbase


RT
Wed, 13 Mar 2019 18:31 UTC
Russian Su-24
© Sputnik/Maksim Blinov
Russian Su-24 bomber jet lands at Khmeimim Air Base in Syria.
The Russian military says an airstrike has obliterated a terrorist munitions stockpile in Syria's Idlib province, which contained a whole fleet of drones. The UAVs were set to attack Russia's Khmeimim Air Base in western Syria.

Wednesday's air raid was called after Russia learned that the drones, repeatedly used by terrorists attempting to rain down explosives on the base, had been delivered to the site en masse, the Defense Ministry said. It added that the strike had been coordinated with Turkey.
"According to information, confirmed through several channels, a large batch of unmanned aerial vehicles was delivered to the warehouse yesterday. The terrorists have been plotting to use them to attack the Russian air base in Khmeimim."
It added that the now-destroyed facility belonged to the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) hardline militant group, which controls large parts of the Idlib province. HTS is a Syrian-based offshoot of Al-Qaeda and used to be known as Jabhat An-Nusra Front before the most recent "rebranding."
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Cross

UN highlights Ukraine's violation of religious freedoms - 'acts of intimidation'


RT
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 19:24 UTC
poroshenko epifaniy
© REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Ukrainian President (L) speaks with Metropolitan Epifaniy, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine
The UN human rights watchdog has acknowledged the violation of religious freedom in Ukraine, namely "intimidation" against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the country's authorities and far-right groups.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has released a new report on the human rights situation in Ukraine. Among various violations, primarily related to the ongoing conflict in the east of the country, the report acknowledged the worrisome situation regarding freedom of religion and belief.

The ongoing religious turmoil in Ukraine was triggered by the efforts of the Constantinople Patriarchate, Kiev authorities and President Petro Poroshenko personally, who spearheaded the creation of a new, homegrown "independent" church. The so-called Orthodox Church in Ukraine was created at the "unification council" late in 2018, which was attended predominantly by assorted schismatic priests.

Amid the emergence of new religious organizations, the UN watchdog has "documented incidents that could be perceived as acts of intimidation" against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The violations, listed by the OHCHR include a number of criminal investigations, launched by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) over "incitement to religious enmity and hatred." The investigations have targeted, exclusively, the canonical Church.

Comment: Ukraine is loving that good ol' Western freedom and democracy. In other words, it's just as corrupt as it ever was.

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Oil Well

Lavrov blasts Pompeo's Rosneft remarks


TASS
Tue, 12 Mar 2019 18:14 UTC
Lavrov
© Mikhail Japaridze/TASS
Russian FM Sergey Lavrov
The recent storm of accusations by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo against Russia's oil producer, Rosneft, are not in line with international law, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference on Tuesday.
"Recently, Pompeo accused Rosneft of violating US sanctions against the Venezuelan oil company and demanded that it stop buying oil from this company. Bad habits are contagious, so Guaido (leader of the Venezuelan opposition - TASS) already said that Venezuela should stop selling oil to Cuba. How does this harmonize with international law? In no way whatsoever," the top diplomat stressed.
Earlier, Pompeo said that Rosneft was buying crude oil from Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA "in defiance of US sanctions." In turn, the Russian company stressed that Rosneft is not engaged in politics, and carries out exclusively commercial activities in the interests of all its shareholders.

The oil company vowed to evaluate the consequences of those statements and, if damage was done to the company, it vowed to pursue defending its rights.

Washington imposed sanctions against PDVSA in late January.

Comment: See also:

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Chess

Indian FM Swaraj: If Khan is so 'generous', he should hand over Islamist terrorist leader Masood Azhar


RT
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 18:37 UTC
Sushma Swaraj Masood Azhar Imran Khan
© (L) Reuters / Pool / Madoka Ikegami; (C) AFP / Indranil Mukherjee; (R) Reuters / Pool / Thomas Peter
Sushma Swaraj, Masood Azhar, Imran Khan
New Delhi can't have effective talks with Pakistan unless it cracks down on terrorist groups operating on its soil, Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj warned.

Last week, Pakistani security forces detained more than 40 people belonging to various terrorist groups, including the brother and the son of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) leader, Masood Azhar. Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed to not allow the militants to use Pakistani territory "for any kind of outside terrorism."

Comment: China, as an ally of Pakistan, has an interest in the fate of the JeM group.
China has blocked a bid to designate as a terrorist the leader of the group behind an attack last month that dramatically escalated tensions between India and Pakistan.

China prevented the United Nations Security Council on March 13 from blacklisting Masood Azhar, the leader of Pakistan-based group Jaish-e Mohammad (JeM), which claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 40 troops in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Britain, France, and the United States had requested Azhar to be subject to an assets freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo.

But China placed a "technical hold" on the request, saying it needed more time to examine it.

China, a Pakistan ally, had previously blocked attempts to have Azhar blacklisted.

India said that it will continue to pursue "all available avenues to ensure that terrorist leaders who are involved in heinous attacks on our citizens are brought to justice."

Azhar founded JeM in 2000. The group, which is officially banned in Pakistan, was blacklisted by the Security Council in 2001.
Regarding the JeM group:

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Cult

Welcome home ISIS! Irish PM rolls out red carpet for returning Islamist terrorist

Lisa O'Carroll
The Guardian
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 17:21 UTC
varadkar

Irish PM Varadkar welcomes back military-officer-turned-traitor Lisa Smith
An Irish woman detained in Syria on suspicion of association with Islamic State can return to Ireland with her two-year-old child, the country's prime minister has said.

Leo Varadkar said he did not believe removing Lisa Smith's citizenship was the "right or compassionate thing to do", but warned she would face investigation and potentially prosecution if she had been involved in any crimes.

His approach will further highlight the controversy surrounding the decision by Sajid Javid, the UK home secretary, to strip Shamima Begum of her citizenship.


Comment: The UK is also letting most of them back in. Yes, that's the same UK that ostensibly called a Brexit referendum because it wanted to 'take back control of its borders'.


A TV crew working for ITV News visited the al-Hawl refugee camp in northern Syria two weeks ago and interviewed a woman wearing a burqa, who claimed to be British but had an Irish accent.

Comment: That's just one of the female terrorists. An estimated 30 'Irish' ISIS terrorists went to Syria for Israel, the CIA and Allah.

Ireland!

Ireland had no more than a dozen Muslims before 2001!

But now, thanks to mass immigration and Western militarism, it too is a safe harbor for radicals of all colors of the rainbow, including Islamist terrorists.

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Bad Guys

US commander of NATO forces in Europe insists Euro-Atlantic vassals maintain hostile relations with Russia


RFE/RL
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 17:10 UTC
U.S. Army General Curtis Scaparrotti

U.S. Army General Curtis Scaparrotti
The commander of NATO forces in Europe, U.S. General Curtis Scaparrotti, has said that Russia continues to be the "primary threat" to Euro-Atlantic security and voiced concern about Moscow's military modernization program.

Speaking on March 13 at a hearing in the House of Representatives, Scaparrotti also said Russia seeks to undermine any steps toward Euro-Atlantic integration in the Balkans using disinformation and backing extremist forces throughout the region.

"Russia has continued its reemergence as strategic competitor and remains the primary threat to a stable Euro-Atlantic security environment," Scaparrotti told the House Committee on Armed Services.

Comment: Looks like the US has been putting pressure on Europe lately to try and counter the thawing of any tensions with Russia. This campaign may very well be related to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline nearing completion:

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Star of David

Israeli intelligence firm releases satellite images supposedly revealing Iranian missile plant in Syria


Sputnik
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 17:15 UTC
david's sling missile system
© AP Photo / Ministry of Defense
Earlier, Israeli media claimed that Iran, the Syrian government and Hezbollah were building a secret "precision missile factory" in western Syria.

Israeli satellite intelligence firm ImageSat International has released satellite images of what it says are "probably" indications of a missile production facility outside Safita, a Syrian town in southeast Tartous about 100 km from the Lebanese border.

According to the company, an analysis of "the construction patterns, the compound location and the activity" at the site signal "the probability that this is a missiles manufacturing site."
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Eye 1

'Influencing human behavior': UK MoD-funded psychological warfare research project leaked


RT
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 17:03 UTC
group of people
© Global Look Press / West Coast Surfer
The UK Defense Ministry is actively looking for a contractor for its new psychological research, which is allegedly aimed at boosting troops' performance and well-being. Some details of the project are quite unnerving, though.

The ministry's agency known as the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) has been seeking contributions from specialists in the fields of psychiatry, neuroscience and social sciences that would help the military shape its future strategies and policies. The University of Cambridge was particularly shortlisted by the DSTL among the four organizations it said were eligible for taking part in an almost £70 million ($92.4 million) research program known as the Human and Social Sciences Research Capability (HSSRC).

At first glance, the whole study appears to be mostly aimed at supporting the troops and improving their performance in the rapidly changing environment of the "21th century in the UK and globally." Five out of six research areas listed in the Cambridge tender bid that gives a detailed insight into what appears to be the nature of the project are dealing with typical personnel issues pretty much every country's military could face nowadays.

The list includes providing "novel approaches... to support delivery of a sufficient, capable, motivated and cost-efficient workforce," helping the military to develop necessary skills, optimizing personnel performance and improving the troops' psychological and physical health.
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Bad Guys

European Parliament votes to increase funding for task force to counter nonexistent Russian disinformation

Rikard Jozwiak
RFE/RL
Thu, 14 Mar 2019 16:51 UTC
fake news
A recommendation by the European Parliament calls Russia "the main source of disinformation in Europe" and appeals for increased funding for the European Union's antipropaganda East StratCom Task Force.

European lawmakers late last year granted the East StratCom Task Force 1.1 million euros ($1.3 million) annually from the EU budget and it is likely that the group will get a marginal increase this year.

The recommendation was passed with an overwhelming majority of votes.

Comment: In short the European Parliament wants a task force to spread disinformation under the phony guise of stopping nonexistent 'hostile propaganda' from Russia.

See also:
European Parliament bows to US masters, seeks hostile relations with Russia

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