March 24, 2017- Balkans to face new war if EU collapses
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Headline: ‘Palestinian cause’ prioritized at 2017 Arab League summit
The “Palestinian cause” will be a major priority in the upcoming Arab League summit, according to a report in the London-based Arabic outlet, Al Sharq al Awsat. “The Palestinian cause will be granted huge attention in the coming Arab summit,” the Arab League’s Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit told the publication. Aboul Gheit added the Palestinians plan to present their own initiative. “They promised to put forward a new plan pertaining to the Palestinian issue in general,” he continued. “There is a desire on the Palestinian side to reformulate some ideas.” Although the Arab League and the Palestinian Authority (PA) seek a PA state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump have yet to commit to such an outcome, though both leaders endorse a regional approach to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The summit agenda also includes: “Arab national security, confronting terrorism, Syrian crisis, Yemen, Libya, enhancing performance of the Arab League.”
March 23, 2017
https://worldisraelnews.com/palestinian-cause-priority-2017-arab-league-summit/
Headline: UN secretary-general reaffirms ancient Jewish ties to Jerusalem
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his recognition of ancient Jewish ties to Jerusalem during a meeting with World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder. A statement Wednesday by the WJC said Lauder and Guterres met earlier in the week in New York, and that Guterres repeated comments he had made to Israeli radio in which he noted the existence of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Palestinian leaders in recent decades have sought to deny any ancient Jewish presence in the city. The WJC statement said that Guterres would do what he could to stem anti-Israel initiatives at the United Nations and its affiliates. Guterres said he could not keep the UN Human Rights Council from passing anti-Israel resolutions.
March 24, 2017
http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-secretary-general-reaffirms-ancient-jewish-ties-to-jerusalem/
Headline: Merkel: ‘No reasonable alternative’ to two-state solution
German Chancellor Angel Merkel said on Friday that there is “no reasonable alternative” to a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, and warned that Israeli settlement activity was impeding a resolution to the conflict. She also chided the Palestinians for taking to international forums to “unilaterally denounce” Israel at every turn. In a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Berlin on Friday, Merkel was quoted by Reuters as saying: “I see no reasonable alternative to the goal of a two-state solution.” The German chancellor also warned that in the absence of a two-state solution, Israel cannot remain both “a Jewish and a democratic state,” according to the German dpa news agency. Merkel’s comments appeared to be a rebuke of both the Israeli government and US President Donald Trump, During her meeting with Abbas, which focused on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Merkel also criticized Israel’s settlement policies in the West Bank, saying they are “leading to an erosion of the basis for a two-state solution,” and were “an impediment to the resolution of the conflict.”
March 24, 2017
http://www.timesofisrael.com/merkel-two-state-solution-has-no-reasonable-alternative/
Headline: US stresses ‘concern’ with Israeli settlements after intensive talks
Headline: Texas signs first-ever trade agreement with Samaria region
The Trump administration is encouraging the Israeli government to adapt some of its policies toward the Palestinians in preparation for a new round of peace talks. Senior administration officials conducted four days of intensive talks with their Israeli counterparts focused on “concrete near-term measures to improve the overall climate in order to advance the prospects for a genuine and lasting peace,” both governments said in a joint statement. “A principal focus of the discussions was specific measures that could have a meaningful impact on the economic environment in the West Bank and Gaza, allowing the Palestinians to more fully realize their economic potential,” the White House said, noting Israel’s embrace of the initiative. “The two delegations also discussed Israeli settlement construction, following up on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Washington and Mr. Greenblatt’s recent visit to Israel,” the statement continued. “The United States delegation reiterated President Trump’s concerns regarding settlement activity in the context of moving towards a peace agreement. The Israeli delegation made clear that Israel’s intent going forward is to adopt a policy regarding settlement activity that takes those concerns into consideration.” US President Donald Trump has prioritized making peace between Israelis and Palestinians, characterizing a comprehensive agreement between the two parties as the “deal of all deals.” He has told both parties that now is the time for negotiations.
March 24, 2017
https://worldisraelnews.com/texas-signs-first-ever-trade-agreement-with-samaria-region/
Headline: Sanhedrin Calls on Israel’s Greatest Enemy to Follow Tradition and Build Third Temple
The nascent Sanhedrin has turned a dispute between the Israeli Prime Minister and the Iranian Foreign Minister into an opportunity to invite Israel’s greatest enemy to help build the Third Temple. This offer is not nearly as preposterous as some may think, and has an undeniable precedent the Iranian Minister is quite proud to admit. The international spat began on Purim, two weeks ago, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a reading of the Megillah (Book of Esther) at a synagogue near his home in Caesarea. While discussing the Biblical story with children in attendance, he assured them, “Today, too, they’re trying [to kill us] in Persia, and today they’re also not going to succeed!” The Iranian minister then went on to claim that his country had saved the Jews three times throughout history. Zarif gave a distorted version of the Book of Esther, claiming that the hero was the Persian King Ahashverosh, and not the Jews, Esther and Mordechai. Zarif also reminded Netanyahu that it was Cyrus, a Persian king, who had facilitated the Jews’ building of the Second Temple. The nascent Sanhedrin choose to see this exchange as an opening and an affirmation of Iranian national pride in helping the Jews build the Temple. The rabbinical court sent a letter to Zarif inviting him to manifest this historic Persian mission. “We were overjoyed to hear of your reference to the wonderful and unique chapter in our nation’s history, in which the Cyrus, as king of the Persian Empire, gave his permission for the building of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem,” the letter read. “It is also recognized that he aided the project by returning the holy vessels that were taken from Solomon’s Temple by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. “It is to be understood from your statements that you support the actions of King Cyrus and that your country supports the establishment of a Temple on Mount Moriah even today. We invite you to opening a dialog regarding this. We will be happy to hear your response to this invitation.”
March 23, 2017
Lebanon
Headline: Israeli bill redefining maritime border with Lebanon labelled a ‘declaration of war’
Lebanese politicians have reacted with anger over a proposed Israeli parliament bill which would redraw the current highly sensitive maritime border with Lebanon. Israel is seeking to annex a zone of 860 square kilometres (330 square miles) of disputed waters between the two neighbours which is believed to be rich in natural gas reserves, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Monday. The move comes after Lebanon’s government – formed at the end of 2016 after two years of political deadlock – recently advertised commercial tenders for oil and gas exploration in the same stretch of the Mediterranean. This week Israel asked the UN to ensure that Lebanon respects international law with regards to the maritime bloc. It is not clear when the bill will be presented to the Knesset. The maritime border has been a hot button topic for decades, as the two countries are technically still in a state of war. UN and US brokered talks over the years have failed to settle on a definite border. The renewed dispute, however, has caused outrage on both sides. Israeli media accused Lebanon of disrupting the status quo by putting out tenders for the seabed exploration work earlier this year.
March 24, 2017
Saudi Arabia
Headline: Saudi Arabia is in ‘serious discussions’ with the NYSE in what could be the biggest IPO ever
Headline: Why Saudi Arabia Must Push OPEC To Extend Production Cuts
Saudi Arabia is having “serious discussions” with the New York Stock Exchange about having the NYSE as one of the exchanges for state oil giant Saudi Aramco’s IPO, the Saudi foreign minister told Fox News on Thursday. “Our objective is to try to complete the IPO sometime in 2018. There are serious discussions with the New York Stock Exchange about having the NYSE be one of the exchanges for the Aramco IPO and I believe the decision will be made on the financial merits,” Adel al-Jubeir told Fox News.
March 24, 2017
http://www.businessinsider.com/aramco-ipo-2017-3
https://www.stratfor.com/geopolitical-diary/why-saudi-arabia-must-push-opec-extend-production-cuts
Headline: Iran steps up support for Houthis in Yemen’s war – sources
Headline: Suicide Drones Have Migrated To The Conflict In Yemen
Iran is sending advanced weapons and military advisers to Yemen’s rebel Houthi movement, stepping up support for its Shi’ite ally in a civil war whose outcome could sway the balance of power in the Middle East, regional and Western sources say. Iran’s enemy Saudi Arabia is leading a Sunni Arab coalition fighting the Houthis in the impoverished state on the tip of the Arabian peninsula – part of the same regional power struggle that is fuelling the war in Syria. Sources with knowledge of the military movements, who declined to be identified, said that in recent months Iran has taken a greater role in the two-year-old conflict by stepping up arms supplies and other support. This mirrors the strategy it has used to support its Lebanese ally Hezbollah in Syria. A senior Iranian official said Major General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Qods Force – the external arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – met top IRGC officials in Tehran last month to look at ways to “empower” the Houthis. “At this meeting, they agreed to increase the amount of help, through training, arms and financial support,” the official said. “Yemen is where the real proxy war is going on and winning the battle in Yemen will help define the balance of power in the Middle East.”
March 24, 2017
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-iran-houthis-idUSKBN16S22R
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/8586/suicide-drones-have-migrated-to-the-conflict-in-yemen
Egypt
Headline: Egyptian soldiers killed in clashes with jihadists in central Sinai
Ten members of Egyptian security forces were killed during a raid on an “extremely dangerous” jihadist hideout in central Sinai. Ten members of Egypt’s security forces were killed by two improvised roadside bombs during clashes with jihadist militants in central Sinai, the Egyptian army said on Thursday. Fifteen of the Islamist fighters were also killed, while seven others were arrested in the raid on what the Egyptian army describes as “an extremely dangerous” hideout for Islamist fighters. The security forces also discovered and destroyed half a ton of TNT explosives, and took hold of two four-wheelers with hand grenades, and hundreds of mobile phones.
March 23, 2017
https://worldisraelnews.com/10-egyptian-soldiers-killed-clashes-jihadists-central-sinai/
Headline: Syrian opposition calls for direct negotiations at the Geneva talks
After the preliminary talks that took place Thursday, the Geneva talks on Syria are expected to begin on Friday with substantive talks between the participating delegations. In this context, the spokesman of the Supreme Commission for Negotiations Salem al Mosalat expressed the desire of the delegation of Syrian opposition to engage in direct negotiations leading to a political solution to the crisis in Syria. He revealed receiving pledges by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura that the current round will directly address the political transition process, calling on him to fulfill those commitments. Ramzi Ezzidine Ramzi, assistant UN envoy to Syria, said on Thursday that the discussions were objective. “We talked about all the issues that need clarification before we officially start, and in that sense I think it was a positive meeting, so let’s see what happens,” he said. Al Arabiya’s envoy to Geneva said on Thursday that the official opening of the Geneva talks on Syria would be on Friday instead of Thursday as planned, due to the presence of UN envoy Staffan de Mistura in Ankara.
March 24, 2017
Headline: Syrian Troops Besiege IS Held Northern Stronghold in Aleppo
Headline: ISIL’s collapse continues in east Aleppo as Syrian Army units liberate another village
Syrian government forces are besieging the last Islamic State stronghold in the northern province of Aleppo, weeks after launching an offensive to free the entire province from militants. The push on Deir Hafer comes as U.S. aircraft ferried Syrian Kurdish fighters and allies behind IS lines to spearhead a major ground assault on the strategic IS-held town of Tabqa in Raqqa province, which borders Aleppo. That airlift marked a deepening U.S. involvement in Syria’s conflict ahead of a looming battle for IS’s de facto capital, the city of Raqqa. The Syrian Central Military Media says Syrian troops launched the Deir Hafer siege late Wednesday after capturing nearby areas. The opposition’s Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Syrian troops have now cut the road linking Deir Hafer with Raqqa province.
March 24, 2017
http://www.voanews.com/a/syrian-troops-besiege-is-held-northern-stronghold/3778658.html
Headline: Analysis: Insurgents launch major offensive against Assad regime in Hama province
Headline: Assad regime bolstered in Hama province by Iranian-controlled Iraqi militia
Insurgent organizations — including jihadists, Islamists and rebel groups affiliated with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) — launched a large-scale offensive against Bashar al Assad’s regime in Hama province earlier this week. The battle began on Mar. 21, when the insurgents assaulted more than a dozen towns and villages north of the city of Hama. Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS), al Qaeda’s joint venture in Syria, has produced a stream of content from the offensive. One of the first HTS images posted online showed the group’s leader, a jihadist known as Abu Jaber, rallying his fighters. Sitting to his left was Sheikh Abdullah al Muhaysini, a US-designated terrorist who is a senior HTS sharia official and likely a major figure in al Qaeda’s international network. The photo of Abu Jaber and Muhaysini can be seen at the top of this article. HTS dispatched suicide bombers in vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) during the early hours of the fighting.
March 24, 2017
Headline: Pentagon investigating report that US-led airstrike killed more than 100 civilians in Mosul Iraq
The Pentagon on Friday acknowledged that the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria carried out an airstrike in a western Mosul neighborhood and that it is “looking into” reports that the bombing left more than 100 civilians dead. “We are aware of reports on airstrikes in Mosul resulting in civilian casualties,” Eric Pahon, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement to Fox News. “The Coalition conducted several strikes near Mosul and [coalition forces are] looking in to these reports. The Department of Defense takes all reports of civilian casualties very seriously and assesses all incidents as thoroughly as possible.” The suspected civilian body count underscores the problems that Iraqi troops face in their weeks-long campaign to drive out the Sunni militant group from the densely urban part of Iraq’s second-largest city.
March 24, 2017
Headline: Thousands threaten to boycott elections at Baghdad rally- VIDEO
Thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in downtown Baghdad on Friday. The protesters were supporting demands from Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to overhaul the government committee overseeing upcoming provincial elections after claims of institutional corruption. Following al-Sadr’s calls, anti-government protesters have threatened to boycott the elections if the present committee is not replaced. Al-Sadr has taken a leading part in the ‘reform revolution’, which has consisted of a series of mass protests for those dissatisfied with the governance of the country.
March 24, 2017
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/video-thousands-threaten-boycott-elections-baghdad-rally/
Turkey
Headline: Turkey attacks Kurdish villages in Syria’s Afrin, dozens of civilian casualties reported
Turkey’s military forces on Wednesday launched an offensive on the Kurdish district of Afrin in Syria’s northwestern Aleppo Governorate, killing and wounding dozens of civilians, eyewitnesses and officials told ARA News. The Turkish Army initiated the offensive by shelling the villages of Malla Khalil and Der Ballout in the Jinderis area of Afrin. Several houses were destroyed and dozens of civilians were killed or injured during the attack. Also on Wednesday, Turkey’s military forces hit with heavy artillery the Kurdish villages of Ferferk and Qere Baba in the Rajou area in Afrin District. Furthermore, the villages of Anqala and Khalil in the Kurdish Shiya area were also exposed to artillery shelling by the Turkish troops. “The barbaric Turkish attacks on the Kurdish villages of Afrin caused dozens of casualties among civilians, many of them were women and children,” a local human rights activist told ARA News. “The death toll is in increase as many of the injured are in critical condition,” the source said.
March 23, 2017
Iran
Headline: Senate introduces new bill sanctioning Iran and testing its nuclear deal
Bipartisan leadership in the US Senate introduced a bill on Thursday that would severely sanction Iran over its ballistic missile work and its proxy activities regionwide, targeting several Iranian entities that were previously relieved of sanctions under a nuclear accord implemented last year. Passage of the bill “would risk killing the [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action],” an Iranian American lobbying group based in Washington said in a statement, referring to the formal title of the nuclear deal. The Countering Iran’s Destabilizing Activities Act of 2017 would designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization– a move bitterly opposed by Tehran. The National Iranian American Council, which has the ear of senior Iranian government officials, warned that such a move would “risk American lives” and prompt Iranian retaliation against US troops in Iraq. “The bill would also mandate the re-imposition of sanctions on Iranian entities that were de-listed pursuant to the JCPOA– measures that could constitute a clear violation of the nuclear deal,” the lobby argues. Indeed, the law would provide US President Donald Trump with the authority to sanction any individual or entity “engaged in any activity that has materially contributed, or poses a risk of materially contributing, to the activities of the Government of Iran with respect to its ballistic missile program, or any other program in Iran for developing, deploying, or maintaining systems capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction, including any efforts to manufacture, acquire, possess, develop, transport, transfer, or use such capabilities.”
March 24, 2017
Afghanistan
Headline: Afghan Taliban capture crucial town of Sangin
Headline:Russia may be aiding Taliban in Afghanistan, top US general says
The Taliban have captured the crucial south Afghan district of Sangin after a year-long battle, officials say. Government forces say they have made a tactical retreat from the centre of Sangin. A spokesman for Helmand’s governor confirmed the district police and governor’s headquarters were now in militant hands. Almost a quarter of British troops killed during the UK’s combat mission in Afghanistan died defending Sangin. Hundreds of members of the Afghan security forces died there in recent fighting. Separately, at least nine local policemen were killed in an “insider” attack in Kunduz in the north early on Thursday. A guard who officials say was linked to the Taliban reportedly gave access to insurgents at a security checkpoint located on the Kunduz-Kabul highway. The attackers took weapons and ammunition with them.
March 23, 2017
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39365330
Sudan
Headline: US warns South Sudan government against ‘deliberate starvation tactics’
The United States warned South Sudan’s government on Thursday that preventing humanitarian aid workers from reaching parts of the war-torn state that are suffering famine could “amount to deliberate starvation tactics.” A civil war erupted in 2013 when President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy, Riek Machar, a Nuer, who has fled and is now in South Africa. The United Nations says at least one-quarter of South Sudanese have been displaced. The Security Council said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned about the actions of all parties to the conflict that are perpetuating the humanitarian crisis.” However, the language was toned down from a draft that said the crisis was “the result of the actions of all parties to the conflict.” South Sudan Deputy Ambassador Joseph Mourn Majak Ngor Malok rejected accusations that the government was to blame for the famine, saying “it will spare no efforts to help address the situation and calls upon the international community to assist in addressing this urgent matter.”
March 24, 2017
Libya
Headline: Russian troops ‘on the ground in Libya,’ US general claims
Russian troops are on the ground in Libya supporting the forces of General Khalifa Haftar, the warlord who controls much of the eastern part of the country, a US general said on Friday. Marine Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the commander of U.S. Africa Command, said the link between Russia and General Haftar, the head of a group called the Libyan National Army, is “undeniable.” “There are Russians on the ground in the area,” Gen Waldhauser said in a meeting with reporters in the Pentagon. It is the first time US officials have said Russian forces are likely inside Libya. The Russian ministry of defence was not immediately available for comment on Friday evening. Gen Waldhauser’s comments follow reports earlier this month that Russian special forces had been deployed to western Egypt, possibly in order to conduct operations in Libya.
March 24, 2017
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/24/russian-troops-ground-libya-us-general-claims/
Headline: ISIS Claims Responsibility for London Attack but Analysts Remain Skeptical
Headline: Belgium driver on terrorism charge over Antwerp ‘attack’
Headline: UK Parliament terror tied to Antwerp attack
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the terror attack that left four people dead, including the assailant and a police officer, outside of London’s Parliament building on Wednesday, according to the Amaq media agency. “The perpetrator of the attacks yesterday in front of the British Parliament in London is an Islamic State soldier and he carried out the operation in response to calls to target citizens of the coalition,” the Amaq statement said. The claim of responsibility comes fewer than 24 hours after a man driving an SUV plowed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge near the Parliament building. Two people were killed and more than 30 others injured before the attacker fatally stabbed police officer Keith Palmer on the Parliament’s grounds. Police shot the attacker, who later was pronounced dead. The attacker’s identity has not been revealed, but British Prime Minister Theresa May said he was born in Britain and known to authorities who had once investigated him for links to religious extremism. “Our working assumption is that the attacker was inspired by Islamist ideology,” she told members of Parliament. “We know the threat from Islamist terrorism is very real. But while the public should remain utterly vigilant, they should not and will not be cowed by this threat.”
March 24, 2017
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39380527
http://debka.com/article/25976/UK-Parliament-terror-tied-to-Antwerp-attack
Headline: ‘Make America Great Again’ marches planned Saturday; anti-Trump groups vow to stop them
They’re mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore. So they’re marching. On Saturday, backers of President Trump are planning marches across the country in a show of unity and support for his agenda. In several places, anti-Trump groups are vowing to try to undermine the rallies. Pro-Trump groups say they are tired of all the attacks on a president who has been in office barely three months. “Why are we here is because we have a president that has been in office, by the time of the march, what … 65 days?” asked former Rep. Doreen Costa, a Rhode Island Republican, in a rhetorical question to the Providence Journal. “All this resistance: ‘He’s not my president,'” she continued. “News flash: He is. He is everybody’s president. I did not vote for Barack Obama, but he was still my president. And you can only resist so much and it’s not going to change the outcome of the election.” The marches, dubbed “Make America Great Again,” or “MAGA,” have met with opposition in some areas, with anti-Trump groups planning to counter-demonstrate.
March 24, 2017
Headline: Belarus Leader Vows Harsh Measures as Protest Showdown Looms
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko threatened a harsh crackdown on opponents of his rule amid mass arrests of protesters planning what they say may be the largest demonstration for years in the former Soviet republic. “We don’t shut anyone’s mouth, but one step to the left or to the right away from the law will be stopped in the most severe way possible,” Lukashenko said at a meeting with security officials on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s planned rally in the capital, Minsk. “We’re not scaring anyone and we won’t. But we’ll be very tough in ensuring the country’s laws and constitution are observed.” Nearly 300 people have already been detained, jailed or fined for involvement in anti-government protests that have swept across Belarus since last month over a so-called “parasite tax” on the jobless, according to Viasna, a Minsk-based rights group. Police have started rounding up prominent activists in Minsk before the so-called Freedom Day march, the independent Belsat TV, which is based in neighboring Poland, reported Wednesday.
March 23, 2017
Headline: Chechnya: Russian soldiers killed in clash with insurgents
Headline: Ex-Russian Lawmaker Shot Dead in Kiev; Ukraine Blames Russia
Six Russian soldiers have been killed and several wounded in a clash with armed militants in Russia’s region of Chechnya, security forces say. The Russian National Guard says militants took advantage of heavy fog to try to storm one of its bases overnight on Thursday. Six attackers are also said to have been killed in the gun battle. They still face a low-level insurgency in the mainly Muslim region in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus area. But clashes between the two sides have become less commonplace in recent years, correspondents say. The insurgency has been quelled largely because of Chechnya’s authoritarian leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has ruled Chechnya since his forces, helped by massive Russian firepower, defeated separatist rebels between 1999-2009. His much-feared militia, called the “Kadyrovtsy”, have been accused of kidnapping, torture and other human rights abuses.
March 24, 2017
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39377409
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-03-23/former-russian-lawmaker-shot-dead-in-ukraine
Headline: ISIS claims ‘suicide’ blast near Bangladesh airport: SITE
ISIS claimed responsibility late Friday for a suspected suicide bomb attack outside the Bangladeshi capital’s main international airport, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist communications. A bomber was killed in the blast, police said, the third in a series of suspected attacks and the second claimed by ISIS since last week. The bomb, carried by a man on foot, exploded near a police checkpoint monitoring vehicles heading to Hazrat Shahjahal International Airport in Dhaka. “The bomb carrier himself was killed,” a Dhaka police spokesman, Yusuf Ali, told AFP. In an Arabic report, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, according to U.S.-based monitoring agency SITE Intelligence Group. “A martyrdom-seeking attack targeted a Bangladeshi police checkpoint near the international airport in the city of Dhaka,” the ISIS-linked Amaq news agency said.
March 24, 2017
Headline: North Korea preparing for nuclear test at Punggye-ri, officials say
North Korea may be getting ready for its sixth nuclear test. Intelligence collected from U.S. sources indicates North Korea’s next test “could come as early as the end of the month,” one official told Fox News. There is evidence, according to the report, that North Korea has finished tunnels around the Punggye-ri nuclear test site. But more equipment needs to be moved into the area for a test. North Korea conducted two nuclear tests in 2016. South Korea’s military is generally in agreement with the U.S. assessment. “When North Korea’s top leadership makes the decision, we believe the country is ready to test nuclear weapons at any time,” one official said, according to South Korean news service News 1. The unidentified South Korean military official said the tunnels at the north and west sides of Punggye-ri have been completed, and a southern tunnel has also been drilled. The U.S. military has begun to move the Air Force WC-135 Constant Phoenix to Japan for surveillance purposes. The aircraft will be used to patrol areas surrounding the Korean peninsula. If North Korea completes the miniaturization of nuclear warheads and mounts the weapon on an intercontinental ballistic missile, it will have a weapons capable of striking the U.S. mainland
March 24, 2017
Headline: CIA’s NightSkies tool can hack, remotely control iPhones without user knowing
WikiLeaks has revealed the CIA’s alleged ability to infiltrate and control iPhones through a tool called NightSkies, which is physically installed onto factory fresh iPhones and allows the CIA to monitor and download files from targets’ phones undetected. The revelation is part of WikiLeaks’ latest Vault 7 release named ‘Dark Matter.’ NightSkies works in the background and grants “full remote command and control,” to the CIA, allowing it to upload and download files from iPhones, including details from the owner’s phonebook, text messages and call logs, and to execute actions on the phones as it wishes. In the press release regarding the latest ‘Vault 7’ leak, WikiLeaks claims that NightSkies “is expressly designed to be physically installed onto factory fresh iPhones.” A 2008 document featured in the release explains that NightSkies v1.2 must be physically installed and will only start beaconing information once the user starts to use the phone. Nightskies is made up of three components: an implant, a Listening Post (LP) and a post-processing program. The implant runs undetected on the phone once it has been physically installed. The CIA monitors the phone for activity, including its browser history file, YouTube video cache or mail metadata. Once it is used for the first time, NightSkies kicks in and sends information to a preconfigured LP.
March 23, 2017
https://www.rt.com/viral/382080-nightskies-cia-infiltrate-iphone/
Headline: FBI Grilled On Extent Of Its Facial Recognition Program
The FBI took fire from privacy advocates and members of Congress Wednesday over how it characterizes its face recognition program, which has allowed agents to access and algorithmically match the photos of tens of millions of Americans — including innocent people who have never been charged with a crime. “The only information the FBI has and have collected in our database are criminal mugshot photos,” Del Greco stated, when asked by committee chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) whether the FBI was collecting or storing photos of innocent people from other sources, like social media. “We do not have any other photos in our repository.” “That’s not true,” Chaffetz replied. According to a comprehensive report released last year by researchers at Georgetown Law, roughly half of all Americans have their photos accessible by a law enforcement face recognition system. The report found that 16 states grant the FBI free access to driver’s license photos for its Next Generation Identification and Facial Analysis, Comparison, and Evaluation (FACE) photo-searching systems. The House Oversight Committee also recently learned that two additional states — Arizona and Maryland — have been added, bringing the total to 18 states. The hearing’s panelists quickly concurred that even if the FBI doesn’t directly control some of the photo databases, it can still easily access them with no independent oversight. Agreements with the Department of Motor Vehicles in 18 states currently allow the agency’s face-matching system to freely access residents’ driver’s license photos in order to conduct virtually unlimited face recognition searches, according to Alvaro Bedoya, a surveillance researcher who sat on the panel, and a coauthor of the Georgetown Law face recognition report.
March 22, 2017
http://www.vocativ.com/413934/fbi-facial-recognition-program/
“Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.” (Daniel 2:41-43)
Headline: Balkans to face new war if EU collapses: Juncker warns US against anti-European stance
The chief of the European Commission has warned US president Donald Trump against encouraging countries to copy Britain’s exit from the EU, arguing that a break-up of the bloc could lead to a war in the Balkans. Jean-Claude Juncker, speaking in an interview with the Financial Times, called Trump’s enthusiasm for Britain’s departure from the EU “annoying” and “surprising.” Trump did indeed express his approval for Britain’s departure from the bloc, even labeling himself ‘Mr. Brexit’ during the US presidential campaign. He also became closely associated with the populist right-wing British politician Nigel Farage, then the leader of the UK Independence Party, who was one of those who led the push for the UK’s exit from the EU. Juncker said he delivered his warning via Vice President Mike Pence during his visit to Brussels last month. “I told the vice president, ‘Do not say that, do not invite others to leave, because if the European Union collapses, you will have a new war in the Western Balkans,’” Juncker said. The 62-year-old European Commission president stressed that the prospect of EU membership is extremely important for Balkan countries, so they do not become engaged in another war. “If we leave them alone — Bosnia Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, Macedonia, Albania, all those countries — we will have war again,” he said, referencing the conflict that broke out between Serbs, Croats, and Bosnian Muslims in 1991, and ended after a NATO-led intervention. Juncker went on to state that Trump’s “America First” rhetoric had frightened Europeans, noting that “for the first time in post-war history we have an American president giving the impression he is not interested in European affairs.”
March 24, 2017
https://www.rt.com/news/382231-juncker-trump-brexit-balkans/
Headline: Doctors Warn Of New Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Bacteria
Friday marks the United Nations’ World Tuberculosis Day, aimed at raising awareness of a disease that kills an estimated 1.8 million people every year. Six countries account for nearly two-thirds of the cases: India, Indonesia, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa. “In South Africa, for example, TB is the commonest cause of death and the disease is out of control in Africa,” said Dr. Keertan Dheda, head of the Division of Pulmonology at the University of Cape Town. “For the first time after about four to five decades, we have two drugs. One is called bedaquiline,” Dheda said. “That has now been registered in South Africa and is available to treat many patients with drug-resistant TB. And there’s another new drug called delamanid, that’s not yet licensed in South Africa but is available in other countries.” In a report published in the Lancet medical journal, Dheda and his co-authors warn that the effectiveness of these new drugs could be rapidly lost if they aren’t used correctly. “There are several case reports globally of patients that have already become resistant to both delamanid and bedaquiline. We need to change our strategy,”
March 24, 2017
http://www.voanews.com/a/world-tuberculosis-day-new-drug-resistant-bacteria/3779980.html
Headline: Taiwan top court hears landmark gay marriage case
A panel of judges at Taiwan’s top court are hearing a case that could make the island the first place in Asia to introduce gay marriage. The case has been brought by a gay activist as well as municipal authorities from the capital, Taipei. Taiwan’s parliament has also been debating whether to pass laws that would allow same-sex marriage. The movement has split society and prompted a conservative backlash, with vocal protests in recent months. A panel of 14 justices are hearing arguments and will debate whether a line in Taiwan’s civil code, which states that marriage is between a man and a woman, is unconstitutional. The hearing lasts only one day, but could be a decisive turning point in Taiwan’s decades-long debate on whether to legalise same-sex marriage. It’s the first time the judiciary is opening the Constitutional Court on the issue. If the judges rule that Taiwan’s current ban is unconstitutional, then parliament will be forced to amend the laws to offer gay couples protection.
March 24, 2017
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39376423
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