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Showing posts from July 15, 2018

Anti-extremist group wins £2.6m in settlement

One of Britain’s leading organisations fighting Islamist extremism has been paid $3.38 million (£2.6 million) and issued with a public apology after it reached a settlement with an American human rights group that accused its founder of being anti-Muslim. Maajid Nawaz — who founded the counter-extremism body Quilliam a year after the 7/7 bombings — had been placed on a list of “enemies of Islam” by the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC), a left-wing civil rights campaign group. When the SPLC refused to remove Nawaz from the list Quilliam threatened to take legal action. The SPLC then agreed a settlement that included an apology from its president, Richard Cohen, who accepted in a statement that Quilliam makes an “important contribution to public discourse, promoting pluralism… Source:  https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/anti-extremist-group-wins-2-6m-in-settlement-p5d3ntzrq

Anti-Maoist poster campaign launched

As part of a multi-focal strategy to check left-wing extremism in Bhadrachalam Agency, the sub-division police have embarked on a wall poster campaign in the division. The poster campaign by the police in the left-wing extremism affected areas of the district comes at a time when the rebels are gearing up to observe the Maoists’ ‘Martyrs’ Week’ from July 28. The Charla police have put up wall posters titled “Shanthi Kosam” at the bus stand and other public places in the mandal headquarters town on Friday. The posters contained pictures of those killed in Maoist violence and slogans denouncing the violent path, sources said. It contained a specific appeal to the underground cadre to eschew violence and join the mainstream. Another set of posters containing the pictures of five Maoists, including three top-rung leaders of the banned outfit, the trio each carrying a reward of ₹ 25 lakh on their heads, also surfaced in the name of Police Department in the busy areas like the bu

10 Iranian troops killed in attack near border with Iraq

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian news agency is reporting 10 border guards have been killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen near the Iraqi border. The semi-official Fars news agency reported Saturday that the attack took place the night before near the town of Marivan, in a Kurdish area of Iran some 620 kilometers (385 miles) west of the capital Tehran. Fars reported that during the shootout with the Iranian border guards, several of the attackers were killed and others were injured but gave no further details. It described the attackers as "bandits and counterrevolutionary terrorists." It was the largest number of Iranian troops killed in a single attack on the Iraqi border in recent years, though the area has seen occasional fighting between Iranian forces and Kurdish separatists as well as militants linked to the Islamic State extremist group. Source:  https://in.news.yahoo.com/10-iranian-troops-killed-attack-near-border-iraq-102755174.html

Hamas accepts cease-fire after massive Israeli Gaza strikes

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Palestinians inspect a military observation post that was hit by an Israeli tank shell east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, July 20, 2018. Israel pummeled Hamas targets in Gaza killing four Palestinians on Friday in a series of air strikes after gunmen shot at soldiers near the border, officials said. The Gaza Health Ministry said four Palestinians were killed. The militant Islamic Hamas that rules Gaza said three of the dead were members of the group. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) JERUSALEM (AP) — Gaza's militant Hamas rulers said Saturday they had accepted a cease-fire ending a massive Israeli onslaught on militant positions after a soldier was shot dead, once again pulling the sides back from the brink of a full-fledged war. Israel and Hamas have fought three such wars over the past decade and Hamas agreed to the second such cease-fire in a week under heavy Egyptian and international pressure. Even after last week's cease-fire ended the fiercest exchange of

State Actors Likely Behind Singapore Biggest Ever Cyberattack: Experts

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Singapore:  State-actors were likely behind Singapore's biggest ever cyberattack to date, security experts say, citing the scale and sophistication of the hack. The city-state announced Friday that hackers had broken into a government database and stolen the health records of 1.5 million Singaporeans, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who was specifically targeted in the "unprecedented" attack. Singapore's health minister said the strike was "a deliberate, targeted, and well-planned cyberattack and not the work of casual hackers or criminal gangs". While officials refused to comment on the identity of the hackers citing "operational security", experts told AFP that the complexity of the attack and its focus on high-profile targets like the prime minister pointed to the hand of a state-actor. "A cyber espionage threat actor could leverage disclosure of sensitive health information... to coerce an individual in (a) position o

Fatwa, reward for chopping my hair; I am getting threats: Triple talaq petitioner Nida Khan

The fresh threat to Nida Khan comes days after a Bareilly court declared the instant divorce given to her by her husband as invalid. Bareilly : A fresh fatwa has been issued against  triple talaq petitioner Nida Khan w hich announces a cash reward of Rs 11,876 for anyone who chops hair of the Bareilly-based woman, who has been in news for allegedly defying the Muslim clerics by challenging instant divorce and 'nikah halala'. Speaking to ANI, Nida Khan said, ''A fatwa has been issued against me which says whosoever brings chopped hair of Nida Khan will be rewarded with an amount of Rs 11,786.'' Khan further informed that she has been threatened to leave the country in the next three days failing which she will be attacked with stones. ''If I do not leave this country within three days, I will be attacked with stones,'' Nida Khan said.  Undeterred by the fatwas issued against her, Nida Khan said that she would meet the Prime Minister

9 Injured In Knife Attack On North Germany Bus; Suspect Arrested

Nine people were injured Friday in an attack by a man wielding a knife on a bus in northern Germany, officials said Friday, although his motive remained unclear. The packed bus was heading in the direction of Travemuende, a popular beach destination close to the city of Luebeck, when a man pulled the weapon on passengers, Luebeck chief prosecutor Ulla Hingst said. Regional interior minister for Schleswig-Holstein state, Hans-Joachim Grote, told news agency DPA that six people suffered knife wounds and three others different injuries, while the attacker also punched the bus driver. "Luckily no-one was killed," Hingst said. "The background to the act as well as exactly how it happened are completely unclear and the objects of our investigation." The bus driver had immediately stopped the vehicle, allowing passengers to escape. "The passengers jumped out of the bus and were screaming. It was terrible. Then the injured were brought out. The perpetrato

China is Waging a 'Quiet Kind of Cold War' Against US: CIA

There is concern over China's pervasive efforts to steal business secrets and details about high-tech research being conducted in the U.S. Aspen, Colorado:  China is waging a "quiet kind of cold war" against the United States, using all its resources to try to replace America as the leading power in the world, a top CIA expert on Asia said Friday. Beijing doesn't want to go to war, he said, but the current communist government, under President Xi Jingping, is subtly working on multiple fronts to undermine the U.S. in ways that are different than the more well-publicised activities being employed by Russia. "I would argue ... that what they're waging against us is fundamentally a cold war — a cold war not like we saw during THE Cold War (between the U.S. and the Soviet Union) but a cold war by definition," Michael Collins, deputy assistant director of the CIA's East Asia mission center, said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. Rising U.S.-Chin

Colombia's Price for Peace: Cocaine and the Environment

Sometimes winning the peace can be more complicated than winning the war. At least that seems to be the hard lesson that  Colombia  is learning as deforestation and cocaine production skyrocket following an end to its 52-year internal conflict. The reason is that the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (or  FARC  by their Spanish acronym) once controlled or influenced vast stretches of land in the Colombian Amazon, one of the world's largest swaths of tropical rainforest and a huge carbon sink. In those areas the rebels' presence precluded competitors from producing cocaine, a drug the FARC itself trafficked in, while also preventing the loss of forest cover that provided the perfect natural habitat for the group's brand of guerrilla warfare. RELATED CONTENT Colombia’s Next Challenge: Demining Now, with the FARC having swapped their balaclavas and AK-47 machine guns for suits and ties and  the ballot box , the vacuum in those areas is being fille

Left wing extremism : Peru closes ‘Farc’ drug labs

The Peruvian government has arrested more than 50 suspected drug traffickers on its border with Colombia amid fears that dissident members of the disbanded rebel group Farc are setting up a new base (writes Stephen Gibbs). President Vizcarra said that the raid, early on Monday, was carried out in cooperation with Colombia’s military. It involved the “deactivation” of four cocaine laboratories. Local farmers were said to have been coerced into switching to production of coca, the drug’s raw ingredient. A state of emergency had been imposed in the border region for 60 days. “We’re going to defend our sovereignty, our territory, and we’re going to use force,” José Huerta, Peru’s defence minister, said. Source:  https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/peru-closes-farc-drug-labs-kwxg73l8r

Left wing extremism - Child soldiers: FARC recruited more than 5000 minors during Colombia’s war: prosecution

Colombia’s demobilized  FARC  rebels recruited more than 5,000 minors during its 52-year war with the state, according to the prosecution. The country’s war crimes tribunal received a report from the Prosecutor General’s Office in which it said to have evidence of the recruitment of 5,252 children and minors. Less than 20% of the minors that were forcibly recruited by the FARC were under 15, according to the prosecution statistics surrendered to the press. The International Criminal Court, which is overseeing Colombia’s transitional justice system, has indicated that the recruitment of minors of 14 and younger is a war crime. Conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years or using them to participate actively in hostilities is a war crime, in both international and non-international armed conflicts. International Criminal Court This would mean that the FARC will have to respond for the recruitment of 910 children of 14 and younger. Forced recruitment of

Peru arrests more than 50 in anti-drug bust at Colombian border

LIMA (Reuters) - Peru arrested more than 50 people on Monday, the majority Colombian, as part of an operation against drug trafficking in a jungle border province where dissident former Marxist FARC rebels have reportedly taken refuge.  Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra said his country’s security forces coordinated with Colombia’s military to carry out operation “Armageddon” early on Monday.  Vizcarra and several of his ministers declared a state of emergency on Sunday for the province of Putumayo near the border with Colombia and Ecuador. It went into effect on Monday, according to a decree published in the official gazette El Peruano.  “More than 50 people have been arrested, the vast majority Colombian nationals who were involved in illegal drug trafficking,” Vizcarra said in broadcast comments from the remote region.  The operation in Peru’s Amazonian province of Putumayo followed repeated attacks by dissident FARC rebels on security forces in nearby Ecuador.  Some 1,

Will El Salvador ever see justice for the El Mozote massacre?

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Despite the estimated  32 cases of human rights abuses  that occurred during the Salvadoran Civil War (1979-1992), the incidents in the village of El Mozote and the surrounding department of Morazán will always be remembered as the most devastating. With at least 1,000 civilians  brutally murdered by the Salvadoran Army, the case is considered one of the worst massacres in modern Latin American history. Still today, the victims and survivors have not been granted any justice, with fear and impunity keeping them silent for decades. When fighting broke out between the right-wing government and leftist rebel group Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), the influence and support of the US quickly became and important part of the conflict. The administration of President Jimmy Carter provided an  estimated one million dollars  a day in military aid to sustain an anti-communist repression. The military were also put through the US army’s School of the Americas, then loca