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Showing posts from November 6, 2016

Fighting Terrorism in the Age of Trump

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The president-elect has vowed to kill the families of ISIS members and bring back Bush-era torture tactics. Siddhartha Mahanta 4:50 AM ET A detainee's feet are shackled to the floor as he attends a "Life Skills" class inside the Camp 6 high-security detention facility at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in 2010. Michelle Shephard / Reuters In February, Donald Trump  vowed to make “enhanced interrogation techniques”—like sleep deprivation, waterboarding, and “a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding”—part of his then-hypothetical administration’s approach to fighting terrorism. He also promised to target the families of suspected terrorists. His pledges, sometimes  reversed , then  reinforced , all seemed like instances of his fiery, base-riling campaign rhetoric. Trump faces significant hurdles to reviving George W. Bush-era interrogation practices amounting to torture; those hurdles include the Geneva Conventions and 2005’s Detainee Treatment Act, which  pro

Paris attacks: Counter-terrorism chief wants fingerprinting & iris scans for all at UK borders

Published time: 11 Nov, 2016 12:47 Edited time: 11 Nov, 2016 12:50 Every person entering the United Kingdom should be forced to undergo “fool-proof” fingerprinting and iris scans, the country’s newly appointed counter-terrorism chief says, claiming the move will prevent terrorists from entering Britain. Speaking one year after the Paris attacks left 130 people dead and 368 injured, the UK’s new senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism policing, Neil Basu, said the atrocities were a  “sit up and think”  moment for those tasked with defending Britain. “Society needs to debate what’s required. But in law enforcement, I’d say if you want security, you need to improve your biometrics at the borders,”  he said, as quoted by the Telegraph. “Everybody’s identity should be checked as they come through a border in a way that is fool-proof. Fingerprints, iris scans, the documents need to be tamper-proof,”  Basu added. The counter-terrorism chief stressed that terrorist t

Shooting at anti-Trump protest in Portland, police looking for ‘African-American male’ (PHOTOS)

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Published time: 12 Nov, 2016 10:20 At least one person has been injured in a shooting at an anti-Trump protest in Portland, Oregon. The protests, now in their third night, again turned violent with protesters throwing projectiles at officers and police deploying tear gas. A man was injured in a shooting incident on Morrison Bridge in Portland, police confirmed. “One person down. Everyone needs to leave the area immediately!”  police wrote on Twitter. Before  #portland #police  took over medical attention was being given to him by protesters.  #notrump pic.twitter.com/7ft6Mw6UUA — Cole Howard (@RedheadNomad)  November 12, 2016 Police described the possible suspect in the shooting  “as African-American male, late teens, 5'8", thin, wearing black dark hoodie and saggy blue jeans.” “Preliminary information indicates that a suspect was in a vehicle on the bridge and there was a confrontation with someone in the protest. The suspect got out of the vehicle and

4 killed as blast rocks US Bagram airbase in Afghanistan

Published time: 12 Nov, 2016 04:51 Edited time: 12 Nov, 2016 09:43 An explosion rocked Bagram airfield, the largest US base in Afghanistan, early Saturday morning, killing at least four people and injuring 14 others, according to a NATO-led Resolute Support Mission press release. “An explosive device was detonated on Bagram Airfield resulting in multiple casualties. Four people have died in the attack and approximately 14 have been wounded,”  Resolute Support said in a statement. The mission added that response teams are investigating the incident. Update on Bagram explosion: 4 killed, approx. 14 hurt. Info to follow  pic.twitter.com/sV0AHzGbz9 — Resolute Support (@ResoluteSupport)  November 12, 2016 The blast was caused by a man wearing a suicide west, NBC News reported, citing a senior US official. The attacker chose the time and location because he  “was looking for an opportunity to do the most damage,”  the official added. The Taliban has claimed responsibilit

Naxalism: In Telangana, a farewell to arms

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While Maoist insurgency still rages in parts of the country, there are many in the State who have given up the extremist path and reposed faith in the establishment once more. Ravi Reddy and S. Harpal Singh report on their new lives He could have been dead in that encounter with the police. After 25 years in the jungles of Dandakaranya, ducking bullets, 48-year-old Kumar (name changed) sums up an explanation for the  October 24 encounter  in the heavily forested Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border in which 30 Naxalites (or Maoists, as they are now called) were killed. This was the biggest damage inflicted on the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), the group described as the “gravest internal threat” to the country, in recent memory.  Kumar’s voice drops to a whisper: “The villagers may have poisoned or added sedatives in the food the comrades ate on that fateful day,” he says. Villagers are often deployed to carry ration for Maoists, specially when large meetings are conve

Malkangiri encounter: Maoist leader RK ‘badly injured’

Police officials said RK, a central committee member of CPI(Maoist), has fled to Dandakaranya forests in Chhattisgarh. Top Maoist leader Akkiraju Haragopal alias Ramakrishna alias RK, who had gone missing after the October 24 encounter in Malkangiri’s cut-off area, suffered major injuries in the gunfight, a woman Maoist who surrendered early this week has said. Dhanmati Bhaja of Dabuguda village in the cut-off area in Malkangiri, who was at the district headquarter hospital after taking a bullet in her calf, has told police about RK’s injuries. Bhaja, in her twenties, was a militia member of the Kudumulgumma committee of the Maoists. Watch What Else Is making News PM Modi Reaches Tokyo For Annual Summit Police officials said RK, a central committee member of CPI(Maoist), has fled to Dandakaranya forests in Chhattisgarh. Last week, Maoist spokesperson Bhumika too had confirmed in an audiotape that RK had been shifted to Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee from And

Left wing extremism: The forgotten war

On October 24, the Communist Party of India (Maoist) lost around 30 of its cadres in a  covert operation  jointly organised by the Greyhounds of Andhra Pradesh and the Special Operations Group of Odisha. This occurred in the densely forested region of Malkangiri district in Odisha. Many in the establishment, including some among the security forces and the media, have since claimed that it marked the beginning of the end of the Naxalite movement in the country. Unfortunately, this may be far from true. Euphoria of this kind is usually the result of a lack of understanding of the true nature of the Maoist movement. The phenomenon is much more than a mere militant movement. It partakes of an idea, pernicious though the idea might appear, which cannot be destroyed merely through a military-style setback. In the past half a century of its existence, the Naxalite (now Maoist) movement has weathered many such ‘setbacks’. Down but definitely not out In its initial stages, the movement

Malkangiri encounter: Maoist leader RK ‘badly injured’

Police officials said RK, a central committee member of CPI(Maoist), has fled to Dandakaranya forests in Chhattisgarh. Top Maoist leader Akkiraju Haragopal alias Ramakrishna alias RK, who had gone missing after the October 24 encounter in Malkangiri’s cut-off area, suffered major injuries in the gunfight, a woman Maoist who surrendered early this week has said. Dhanmati Bhaja of Dabuguda village in the cut-off area in Malkangiri, who was at the district headquarter hospital after taking a bullet in her calf, has told police about RK’s injuries. Bhaja, in her twenties, was a militia member of the Kudumulgumma committee of the Maoists. Watch What Else Is making News PM Modi Reaches Tokyo For Annual Summit Police officials said RK, a central committee member of CPI(Maoist), has fled to Dandakaranya forests in Chhattisgarh. Last week, Maoist spokesperson Bhumika too had confirmed in an audiotape that RK had been shifted to Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee from And

De-rooting radicalism and extremism: DPM Zahid's speech at Oxford University

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Ahmad Zahid speaking at the Oxford Centre For Islamic Studies at Oxford University. - BERNAMApic OXFORD : Following is the full text of the keynote address by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi delivered at the Oxford Centre For Islamic Studies (OCIS), Oxford University, here Wednesday: DE-ROOTING RADICALISM AND EXTREMISM By Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi Part A: Introduction 1. Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. 2. Assalamu'alaykum and good afternoon. I am deeply honoured to deliver this lecture in this beautiful Malaysian lecture theatre at this very prestigious Centre. Thank you Dr Nizami for kindly inviting me here. 3. I am speaking today not only as a conscientious Muslim, but also as a Malaysian and a proud representative of Islam in the Malay world. 4.Islam, as the last of the revealed religions, and Prophet Muhammad, who best exemplified this religion, are sent not only as "a mercy to believers" (al-Tawbah: 61) but "to all creatures", (al-Anb