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Showing posts from June 14, 2015

Andhra Police to rehabilitate Maoists

Visakhapatnam, June 20 (ANI): The Andhra Pradesh Police has decided to rehabilitate the Maoists, who surrendered in Visakhapatnam today. Superintendent of Police Koya Parveen said that 20 militia members of banned outfit CPI (Maoists), including seven commanders, surrendered before the DIG, Visakhapatnam Range Office. "They will be given 10,000 instant reliefs by the government and depending on their skills they will be rehabilitated in employment and youth development schemes," he added.  The surrendered ultras faced charges of murder and attack on an ashram in 2014. (ANI) Source https://in.news.yahoo.com/andhra-police-rehabilitate-maoists-144552974.html

Here's why Israel is helping Qatar aid Hamas in the Gaza Strip

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(Reuters)  A Palestinian worker salvages metal as others clear the rubble of houses that witnesses said were destroyed by Israeli shelling during a 50-day war last summer, in the east of Gaza City May 6, 2015  A year after the war that devastated the Gaza Strip, Israel is apparently helping Qatar — which does not have official diplomatic relations with Israel  — partner with the Islamist movement and longstanding enemy Hamas to rebuild the the territory. "Life is full of contradictions and strange things,” Yossi Kuperwasser, former head of research for Israel's military intelligence,  told NPR  when commenting on Israel's recent move to allow Qatar to channel its reconstruction aid through Hamas, which is  a US-designated terrorist group . Israel has always tried to isolate Hamas and has accused Qatar of financing the Islamist movement. Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist, rejects all agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, and calls for I

Oregon man sentenced for helping people linked to Pakistan suicide bombing

A former Portland city worker was sentenced on Friday to 87 months in federal prison for providing support to people linked to a suicide bomb attack on the headquarters of Pakistan's intelligence service in 2009 that killed about 30 people. Reaz Qadir Khan pleaded guilty in February to paying $2,450 to one of the suicide bombers responsible for the attack in Lahore and to providing assistance to the bomber's surviving wives after the bombing, which also wounded some 300 people. Prosecutors argued in court that by helping the bomber's wives Khan, a naturalized U.S. citizen, hindered their investigation. Defense attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Khan, a married father of three who had worked as a wastewater treatment plant operator for the Portland city government, was arrested in 2013 after a four-year investigation, officials said. According to charging documents, he began conspiring with the family of Ali Jale

Gunmen kill 10 at Mexico beer business: official

MONTERREY, Mexico: Gunmen stormed a beer business in northern Mexico on Friday, killing 10 people in broad daylight and leaving some of the victims naked over an apparent gang feud, officials said. Several armed men arrived in two vehicles before attacking people inside the beer distribution centre in the municipality of Garcia, a suburb of the industrial hub of Monterrey, prosecutors said. The “main line of investigation” is that the shooting was linked to a dispute between criminal groups, said Nuevo Leon state attorney general Javier Flores, adding that seven kilograms of marijuana was found at the scene. Seven people died on the scene and were found either naked or half-naked, Flores said. The three other victims died at a hospital. The victims were “specifically targeted” in the attack, he said, adding other distribution centre workers were spared. “We can’t be sure the victims were involved in criminal acts, but by the way that they were attacked, it would appear they

A year on, no quick fix to halt IS 'caliphate'

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Beirut (AFP) - A year after its establishment, the Islamic State group's self-declared "caliphate" in Syria and Iraq remains well-funded and heavily armed, and experts say it could be around for years to come. The would-be state headed by IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi -- called Caliph Ibrahim by his followers -- has suffered setbacks in the months since it was proclaimed. A US-led coalition is carrying out strikes against the group throughout its territory and this week it lost the key Syrian border town of Tal Abyad to Kurdish forces. But the group has continued to score shocking victories elsewhere, including the seizure of Syria's ancient city of Palmyra, and experts say IS and its "caliphate" have the means to last for years. "The group operates as an insurgency and might shrink in one region and expand in another, but it'll stay with us for the foreseeable future," said Hassan Hassan, associate fellow at the Chatham House think tank's

How this FBI strategy is actually creating US-based terrorists

There's an organization responsible for more terrorism plots in the United States than al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab and ISIS combined: The FBI. How? Why? In an eye-opening talk, investigative journalist Trevor Aaronson reveals a disturbing FBI practice that breeds terrorist plots by exploiting Muslim-Americans with mental health problems. Watch the video here  http://www.ted.com/talks/trevor_aaronson_how_this_fbi_strategy_is_actually_creating_us_based_terrorists Source  http://www.ted.com/talks/trevor_aaronson_how_this_fbi_strategy_is_actually_creating_us_based_terrorists

WikiLeaks is about to release a mammoth load of new secret files

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WikiLeaks is in the process publishing more than half a million secret documents. The transparency site has already posed around 60,000 files, mostly in Arabic, many marked ‘Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’ or ‘Ministry of Foreign Affairs’. Several are marked ‘urgent’ or ‘classified’, and at least one looks like it’s from the Saudi embassy in Washington. It is thought they could shed light on the secretive state. One document, from 2012, appears to highlight scepticism about Iranian nuclear talks. And another document from the same year, sent from the Saudi embassy in Abu Dhabi, said the United Arab Emirates was putting ‘heavy pressure’ on the Egyptian government not to try former president Hosni Mubarak. The Associated Press says it has partially verified a handful of documents’ authenticity by calling the telephone numbers on them. WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said he was confident that the material was genuine. The transparency organisation has refused to com

LTTE network intact, says US terror report

The State Department's annual Country Report on Terrorism for 2014 released on Friday noted that there have been no known attacks in Sri Lanka that could verifiably be attributed to the LTTE since the end of the war, but a total of 13 LTTE supporters, several of which had allegedly planned attacks against US and Israeli diplomatic facilities in India, were arrested in Malaysia in 2014. The LTTE's international network and financial support are still intact despite its military defeat at the hands of Sri Lankan government troops in 2009, a US government report has said. The State Department's annual Country Report on Terrorism for 2014 released on Friday noted that there have been no known attacks in  Sri Lanka  that could verifiably be attributed to the LTTE since the end of the war, but a total of 13 LTTE supporters, several of which had allegedly planned attacks against US and Israeli diplomatic facilities in India, were arrested in Malaysia in 2014. The report not

Barack Obama: Charleston church shooting exposes 'blight' of racism, need for gun laws

Obama, speaking to the US Conference of Mayors, said the murder of nine people at an historic African-American church in Charleston shows the need for vigilance against racism. "The apparent motivations of the shooter remind us that racism remains a blight that we have to combat together," Obama said. President  Barack Obama  on Friday said a mass shooting at a black church in  South Carolina  exposed the "blight" of racism still present in America, and railed against critics who have accused him of politicizing a tragedy to talk about tougher gun laws. Obama, speaking to the US Conference of Mayors, said the murder of nine people at an historic  African-American  church in  Charleston  shows the need for vigilance against racism. "The apparent motivations of the shooter remind us that racism remains a blight that we have to combat together," Obama said. But he invoked other recent mass shootings at a school in Newtown, Connecticut and movie theater

Bin Laden son asked US for death certificate: WikiLeaks

Riyadh (AFP) - A son of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden asked the United States for a death certificate after US Navy SEALS killed him, said a letter released by WikiLeaks Thursday. The letter, stating it is from the US embassy in Riyadh, is among about 70,000 documents dubbed "The Saudi Cables" the whistleblower website published. They are among more than half a million cables and other documents from the Saudi foreign ministry and other institutions in the kingdom which WikiLeaks says it will release over the coming weeks. The letter is signed by Glen Keiser, the US consul general in Riyadh and addressed to Abdullah bin Laden on September 9, 2011, about four months after a US raid killed his father in Pakistan after a decade-long manhunt. "I have received your request for a death certificate for your father, Osama bin Laden," Keiser wrote. Legal experts in the State Department advised that no such document was issued, he said. "This is consistent

Rights group condemns Colorado bike club's 'anti-Ramadan' barbecue

DENVER (Reuters) - A civil rights group said on Friday it was deeply disturbed by reports that a Colorado motorcycle club has distributed flyers for an anti-Ramadan barbecue, including a pig roast, this weekend "in defiance of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan." Scott Levin, regional director of the Mountain States Anti-Defamation League (ADL), said in a statement the "open bike party" was being advertised by the Colorado Springs chapter of the Infidels Motorcycle Club. "Holding an event mocking the Muslim observance of Ramadan, a holy time in the Muslim faith, is highly offensive and abhorrent. As a community, we must reject anti-Muslim bigotry whenever and wherever it surfaces," Levin said. It was not immediately possible to reach the Colorado Springs chapter of the Infidels Motorcycle Club for comment. Muslims worldwide observe Ramadan, during which many abstain from eating and drinking during daylight hours. The Gazette, a local newspaper in C

Islamic State seen overtaking al Qaeda in S. Asia social media war

 | Reuters ISLAMABAD  Islamist militant propaganda websites and social media accounts in South Asia are promoting Islamic State at the expense of al Qaeda, analysts said on Friday, highlighting the rivalry between the two global militant groups. Disaffected Taliban factions have started to look towards Islamic State, impressed by its rapid capture of territory in Syria and Iraq, though there is no evidence it is providing substantial material support to the Taliban. The popularity of IS comes at the expense of al Qaeda, whose deep pockets and foreign fighters once readily attracted local commanders. But al Qaeda has been decimated by drone strikes and its traditional influence severely eroded. "The Taliban and al Qaeda have almost been written out of the picture," said Omar Hamid, the head of Asia analysis at IHS Country Risk. "Most of these sites have converted their content to an Islamic State (IS) platform." So far the IS social media campaign has not been matche

Art of Living sessions in Pak cancelled in wake of threat perceptions from extremists

New Delhi, June 19 (ANI): The sessions planned by the Art of Living in Pakistan to mark International Yoga Day on June 21 was cancelled in wake of threat perceptions. The authorities in Pakistan advised the Art of Living volunteers to cancel the events in the wake of threat perceptions from the extremist groups. "Pakistan Government advised the Art of living centres to cancel programmess because extremists groups had threatened individually all of them," Art of Living spokesperson Dinesh Godke told ANI. "Guruji [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar] asked us to go with whatever Pakistan Government says," he added. Sessions had been planned from June 13 to June 21 for students of many schools in four cities of Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and Faisalabad in Pakistan. The United Nations declared June 21 as International Day of Yoga after adopting a measure proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Prime Minister Modi in his speech at the UN General Assembly in September last year called

Cigarette smuggler skirts deadly edge of IS smoking ban

ESKI MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — It was a heart-racing moment. The cigarette smuggler was stuck in line at a checkpoint as, up ahead, Islamic State militants were searching cars. He was running a big risk: The militants have banned smoking and lighting up is punishable with a fine or broken finger. Selling cigarettes can be a death sentence. ASUS Zenfone 2 - The Flagship Destroyer ASUS  Sponsored     Falah Abdullah Jamil, 30, relied on his quick wits and silver tongue. When the fighters came to his vehicle at the checkpoint leading to his home village of Eski Mosul in northern Iraq, they asked what he had in his trunk. "Nothing," he lied. They popped open the trunk and found the 125 cartons of cigarettes he'd brought from Rabia, a town near the border with Syria. "I swear, it's out of hunger," he said he pleaded with the men. The father of six told them he was the only breadwinner for his extended family and was helping his neighbors as well. The fighters took him

Pakistan army kills 20 militants in airstrikes

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Pakistan flag   File Photo At least 20 militants were killed on Friday when Pakistani fighter jets pounded their positions in the troubled northwest tribal region bordering Afghanistan, where the military has undertaken a massive operation against the Taliban. The airstrikes were launched in Khyber district, which borders  Afghanistan  on one side and Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on the other. "20 terrorists including some of their important commanders were killed" in the strikes in the remote areas, said the  Pakistan Army. It said that about 18 militants were injured in the attacks. The information could not be verified through independent sources as the area is remote and off-limits to journalists. Friday's strikes coincided with army chief General Raheel Sharif's visit to forward positions in Khyber. General Sharif said terrorism will be completely eliminated from the country, according to the army. Pakistan has launched a massive offensiv

Steeped in Racial History, Charleston Ponders Its Future

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The force of racial conflict shaped this city’s commerce, inspired a slave revolt and sparked the gunshots that started the Civil War. And this week, on a balmy Wednesday evening, it claimed the lives of nine black churchgoers who had gathered to study the Bible. Yet despite  Charleston ’s obsessive focus on how its past shapes its present, there was little clarity here, in these raw days after the massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, about how the next chapter in its history might play out. Thus far, this storied port city of 128,000 has responded to the crisis with mourning and fellowship, and an understandable sense of shock and confusion. The slayings come at a complicated and vexing historical moment for a nation that elected its first black president seven years ago but has seen tensions rise over black killings at the hands of the police. Those crosscurrents are particularly complex in a 345-year-old Southern city that has been, by many meas

Yemeni foreign minister says no ceasefire agreed, blames Houthis

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  Fri Jun 19, 2015 7:50pm IST GENEVA (Reuters) - The foreign minister of the Yemeni government in exile said on Friday that U.N.-sponsored peace talks with Houthi fighters in Geneva had not reached agreement on a ceasefire to end nearly three months of fighting. "We really came here with a big hope and still we are optimistic that we will go into a peaceful solution for Yemen under the umbrella of the United Nations. But unfortunately the Houthi delegation did not allow us to really reach all progress as we expected. This is not getting as much succces as we hoped but it doesn’t mean that we have failed," Reyad Yassin Abdulla told reporters. He later told Reuters "there is no date" for a second round of peace talks after some five days of shuttle diplomacy between the delegations by U.N. special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. Ezzaldin al-Asbahi, Yemen's human rights minister, said that the round had ended. Ould Cheikh Ahmad has called a news conference for 1500

Pakistan took no action against Lashkar-e-Taiba: US State Department

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Pakistan has not taken action against LeT as the terror group continues to "operate, train, rally, propagandise and fundraise" in the country, according to a US State Department report which acknowledged today that  India remains one of the most persistent terror target. "The Pakistani military undertook operations against groups that conducted attacks within  Pakistan such as TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan), but did not take action against other groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, which continued to operate, train, rally, propagandise and fundraise in Pakistan," the State Department said in its annual report on terrorism for the year 2014. Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network leadership continued to find safe haven in Pakistan and although the country's military operations disrupted the actions of these groups, it did not directly target them, the report said. It said India remained a target of terrorist attacks, including operations launched by Maoist insurgents and

The challenge Isis poses for Britain’s Muslims

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©Getty T he Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or Isis, is a murderous group which believes the west is decadent, democracy is wrong and women are inferior. Why anyone living in the comparative comfort of a British city would join such a medieval movement in Syria or Iraq is hard to fathom. Yet Isis has a growing appeal to young  Muslims in Britain , an issue of concern not only for the UK security services but for many Islamic leaders too.  Last Saturday, Talha Asmal, a 17-year-old student from West Yorkshire, detonated a car full of explosives at an Iraqi security facility, becoming Britain’s youngest suicide bomber. On Wednesday, three sisters from Bradford and their nine children crossed into  Syria  and joined Isis, abandoning their grieving husbands. They are the latest in the growing number of Britons, now about 700, who have joined the jihadis in the Levant. The flow of recruits is disturbing. These are British citizens, many of whom are contributing to death and mayhem abro