"May, Macron focus on Brexit, terrorism in talks" by Sylvie Corbet and Gregory Katz Associated Press June 13, 2017
PARIS — British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron held talks Tuesday. They reached common ground on fighting a shared enemy: terrorism.
Where do they plan to inflict it?
Standing side by side in the garden of the Elysee Palace after a working dinner, the two leaders announced plans to pursue an initiative to require tech companies to better police online extremism and hold them legally liable if they fail to do so.
‘‘We are united in our total condemnation of terrorism and our commitment to stamp out this evil,’’ May said.
She sounds as bad as Trump!
May arrived in Paris with her leadership hobbled by a catastrophic election last week just as Britain heads into tough talks on leaving the EU.
She didn't even lose control!
What would have been catastrophic is a complete loss of power and no opposition -- like what is happening in France right now.
You know, over-the-top hyperbole and distortion isn't helping your cause!
While May struggles to hold onto power, Macron is on the ascendancy, with his year-old party set to win a huge majority in parliamentary elections Sunday. That should fortify Macron’s standing in Europe as he tries to push the remaining EU nations to stand tough in Brexit negotiations, and to unite even more closely as Britain departs.
Oh, thank you, French people!
Related: European Roundup: May Channels Macron
Just wondering what sort of fantasy land in which they are living.
Macron added that the door remains open for the UK to remain in the European Union. From a European point of view, he said, as long as the negotiations are not over, there is still a possibility to change the course of events. Still, he acknowledged, ‘‘the decision [to exit the EU] has been taken by the sovereign British people. I do respect that.’’
By saying still, he shows he doesn't respect their decision! He wouldn't bring up remaining if he meant it.
What a little belette!
The talks Tuesday also focused heavily on deepening counterterrorism cooperation, especially reducing extremist propaganda circulated online. Britain and France face similar challenges in fighting home-grown Islamic extremism and share similar scars from deadly attacks that rocked London and Manchester, in England; and Paris and Nice, in France.
So all those fakes, false flags, staged and scripted fictions, crisis drills gone live, what have you, all meant to help shut down the growing awareness and at least questioning and analysis regarding the stream of rank lies and distortions received on a daily basis from agenda-pushing ma$$ media mouthpieces.
Well, even if you do that, my thought process isn't going backward, that genie -- like others -- is already out of the bottle, and I've spent too long doing this as it is. When I first started I still believed and wanted to change directions. I was naive. Now, after 11 long years, I understand the coded newspeak too well. It doesn't work anymore.
May said major Internet companies have failed to live up to prior commitments to do more to prevent extremists from finding a ‘‘safe space’’ online. Macron urged other European countries, especially Germany, to join the effort to fight Islamic extremist propaganda on the Web.
Pretty hard to do when it is their very own intelligence agencies that create, fund, and direct the stuff.
After the Islamic State group recruited hundreds of French fighters largely through online propaganda, France introduced legislation ordering French providers to block certain content, but acknowledges any such effort must reach well beyond its borders. Tech-savvy Macron has lobbied for tougher European rules, but details of his plans remain unclear.
Not the military recruitment ads that grace nearly every channel of my television?
Maybe you European followers will soon be cut off, 'eh?
Britain already has tough measures, including a law known informally as the Snooper’s Charter, which gives authorities the powers to look at the Internet browsing records of everyone in the country. Among other things, the law requires telecommunications companies to keep records of all users’ Web activity for a year, creating databases of personal information that the firms worry could be vulnerable to leaks and hackers.
The hackers are also western intelligence agencies, in conjunction with the untouchable Jewish Mafia -- we have a member for president over here -- and Israel.
All that and the terrorists are still slipping through like a sieve, huh? All those MI-5 and -6 assets used as foils and patsies? Really gets gross after a while.
After their talks, May and Macron headed to the Stade de France stadium north of Paris to watch a France-England exhibition soccer match honoring victims of the recent attacks in Manchester and London. In an emotional show of support, players from both teams walked onto the field to sounds of the Oasis song ‘‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’’ played by the French Republican Guard. Then Macron and May joined French and British fans in singing the British national anthem, ‘‘God Save the Queen,’’ followed by a minute of silence.
Is here speech still delayed? Because she is ill or because May is infirmed?
Two big screens at the stadium projected the red-and-white Cross of St. George and giant flags from both countries were rolled out onto the field....
OMFG! It's all, ALL STAGED and SCRIPTED THEATER, folks! That is what is your ma$$ media "news."
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Ah, f*** you and your flag$h**.
Related:
Greecey Turkey
Romanian Revolution
The Residue of Trump's Trip
Smells like $kank to me.
"The incident at the Hassan Sham U2 camp, about 13 miles east of Mosul, has become part of the ongoing dispute between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Saudi media accused a Qatari charity of supplying tainted food. Irbil Governor Nawzad Hadi said the food was prepared in an Irbil restaurant by a local organization, Ain el Muhtajeen, and funded by a Qatari charity known as RAF. In Saudi Arabia, which has been leading a recent campaign to isolate Qatar, state media quickly seized on the issue with coverage that implied Qatar was poisoning refugees deliberately. On Twitter, Saudi state television accused RAF of supplying tainted meals and posted images it said showed the camp’s children ‘‘poisoned by the terrorist Qatari RAF organization.’’ An Iraqi lawmaker who visited the camp overnight also accused the Qatari charity of providing the tainted food....."
Why would they do that now given all the bad pr and attack upon them recently? This stinks of sabotage by the Saudis, sort of a Jewish Avengers kind of move.
Who was the contractor from whom the Qatari's bought the food? From what country?
Related:
"Monitoring groups say coalition airstrikes have caused an unusually high rate of civilian casualties in recent months. The SDF also have killed civilians as they shelled Islamic State territory. The Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, have made swift progress since entering the city last week, despite a US military assessment that the battle ultimately would be ‘‘long and difficult.’’
And they called it liberation. Only into the arms of Allah, I suppose.
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"A new strategy for Afghanistan is weeks way, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday, in a statement that frustrated some lawmakers awaiting a way forward in the United States’ longest war. ‘‘We are not winning in Afghanistan,’’ he said during an appearance at Capitol Hill to discuss the Pentagon’s budget. ‘‘We will correct that.’’ Mattis’s remarks come months after the Trump administration pledged a new direction in the war-stricken country and weeks since reports of a new US troop surge there began circulating in Washington. General John Nicholson, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, and General Joseph Votel, his direct superior at US Central Command, both have endorsed a deployment of a ‘‘few thousand’’ more troops to Afghanistan in an effort to break what Pentagon officials call a ‘‘stalemate.’’
After 16 years it's a stalemate? In the past the war was ended long before.
Related: McMaster’s War
When does the Frontline $pecial(??) air?
Thanks to viewers like you? Even if you are not watching?
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"Philippine army destroying city to save it from ISIS allies" by Richard C. Paddock and Felipe Villamor New York Times June 13, 2017
MANILA — As the siege of the southern Philippine city of Marawi enters its fourth week, more than 200 people have been killed and much of the city lies in ruins. The strongest attempt yet by supporters of the Islamic State to seize and hold territory in Southeast Asia has turned into an urban street fight in what is now largely a ghost town.
The NYT giving you a subtle opinion on what it thinks about the operation, complete with implied sympathy for the terrorists. Wow.
The Philippine military appears to have adopted a strategy of destroying the city to save it, conducting bombing runs at least twice a day.
Ah, the Vietnam playbook.
No big deal regarding the daily coalition bombing runs in how many places?
The rebels are holding a piece of the city center, controlling checkpoints on several bridges and planting well-armed snipers in some of the city’s mosques. Hundreds of civilians are believed to be in their midst, making the government assault more difficult. Each side claims to have the other boxed in; both seem to be digging in for a protracted battle.
Not insurgents?
Hmm.
They tell you it's a ghost town, then say hundreds (300, 400, 500, 1100, 2800, 9600, what?) of civilians are in their midst.
Well, which is it, NYT?
Marawi, a city of 200,000, sits on the shore of Lake Lanao on the island of Mindanao. The Agus River, which flows from the lake, divides the city.
The militants still hold the part of the city southeast of the river that was once the economic and business center. The heaviest fighting is concentrated there in an area of about 500 square meters, one military commander said.
So that is from where the terrorist I$I$ sprang, huh?
So stinks of U.S. The excuse to get in there after Duterte flipped 'em off.
Rebel snipers are positioned in the taller buildings, forcing Philippine troops to maintain their distance. The military says the rebels control a fifth of the city.
“It’s urban warfare, face-to-face combat,” said Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Tampus, an infantry battalion commander at the front line. “They are still holding out. The fighting is house to house, building by building.”
The Philippine military controls the skies and has been using helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to bombard the city, inflicting heavy damage but so far failing to drive out the militants.
You know, nobody raises a big do when Israel flattens some Gazan house.
Officially known as the Islamic City of Marawi, Marawi is the largest predominantly Muslim city in a country that is more than 90 percent Roman Catholic. Some of the city’s most notable buildings are mosques. Some remain standing.
The Philippine military says that the militants are using mosques and madrassas as bases for fighting, including for the placement of sniper nests. It has complained that they can’t attack these buildings because they are protected as cultural monuments.
The militants are a combined force of two Islamist insurgencies.
Oh, there you go.
Their leader is Isnilon Hapilon, designated by the Islamic State as its emir in Southeast Asia. He leads a faction of Abu Sayyaf, a decades-old militant group best known for taking foreign hostages. He is on the FBI’s list of most-wanted terrorists, and the United States has offered a $5 million bounty for his capture.
For their own guy.
How do you think he escaped the initial raid?
Hapilon has banded with the Maute group, led by the brothers Abdullah and Omarkhayam Maute. Educated in the Middle East, they are said to have sworn allegiance to Hapilon.
The Philippine military says the militants have put up a much fiercer fight than expected. A video recovered by the army shows the militant leaders planning to seize Marawi. Hapilon is seated at a table wearing a head scarf, to the right of Abdullah Maute, who is standing.
The fight for Marawi represents the first time the Maute and Hapilon groups have joined for such a major operation. The authorities say they have also been joined by fighters from Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Chechnya.
The U.S. mercenaries long known as Al-CIA-Duh. What an al-Sham!
That's where the print report was cut off.
As the battle has raged, the Islamic State has posted videos, said to be from Marawi, promoting the rebels’ narrative that they are winning and that the Philippine army had “completely failed” to retake the city.
The most recent footage, released Monday, shows men firing weapons from buildings interspersed with scenes of Marawi. It ends with a graphic execution in which six men in orange shirts and handcuffs are made to kneel and are then machine-gunned from the back.
Oh, no, more fake beheading videos. HA-HA-HA!
And what is with the ma$$ media and NYT giving the I$I$ media more credit than the indefatigable bloggers calling them on it?
The stink of pure, rank, fetid propaganda, folks.
Zia Alonto Adiong, a military spokesman in Marawi, said the scenes of militants firing weapons “appears to be Marawi” but that the executions do not. He said he could not confirm the location and that the victims’ orange shirts were not typical attire. “Nobody wears that here as a regular outfit,” he said.
The video also claims that more than 200 Philippine soldiers have been killed, and that the militants have seized weapons left behind by retreating government forces.
“Twenty-one days since Islamic State fighters breached the city of Marawi in the Philippines, intense battles are still raging in its center, and Islamic State fighters are spread out over more than two-thirds of the area, tightening the noose on the Philippine army, which is unable to take back the initiative,” the narrator says.
The Philippine military says the government has lost 58 soldiers and police officers, and that it is boxing in the rebels.
Picked up the signal again:
Americans are providing surveillance and intelligence assistance to the Philippine military under a longstanding agreement. Since the early 2000s, the United States has stationed a rotating force of 50 to 100 Special Forces troops in the southern Philippines to provide training and technical assistance to the Philippine military in its fight against terrorists.
It's breaking up.
Now, US intelligence is probably helping the Philippine military select bombing targets, like those targeted by OV-10 Broncos, but foreign troops are barred from combat by the Philippine Constitution, and US and Philippine officials say there are no US troops in Marawi.
I hate to tell you, but they are lying to you again.
President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law for 60 days on the island of Mindanao, the country’s second-largest island, where various rebel Islamic groups have operated for decades. Duterte, facing his biggest crisis since taking office nearly a year ago, had talked of declaring martial law nationwide in his antidrug campaign, which has resulted in thousands of deaths at the hands of police and vigilantes.
Duterte stirred up two hornets nests: one, the drug transshipment route and profit center that was the Philippines, and two, he stirred up a longstanding CIA operation that provides cover for so many things.
If he keeps hanging around, he could even end up dead. A tragic accident, of course. Straight out hit would be to obvious at this stage.
Checkpoints set up around Mindanao may aid in the apprehension of militants who slip away from Marawi in the coming weeks. The Maute brothers’ father, Cayamora Maute, and other relatives were arrested at a checkpoint in Davao City. A combined military and police unit arrested their mother, Ominta Romato Maute, in the town of Masiu, an hour’s drive from Marawi.
Way of putting pressure on them to turn themselves in.
Philippine security forces searched houses for guns and ammunition last week.
For the Philippine military, which is more experienced at fighting the Islamists in the jungle, the Marawi siege has meant urban street fighting.
The militants seized an unknown number of civilians on the first day of the siege. It is unclear how many have survived. The military believes the rebels are using some of them as human shields.
Tens of thousands of refugees fled the city when the fighting began. But as many as 2,000 civilians remain, according to rescuers and the local Red Cross.
Many are trapped in their homes or in other buildings — those that still stand — waiting for the siege to end. In the last few days, some have been able to flee.
Thousands of the displaced have been housed in temporary evacuation centers on the outskirts of the city.....
Glad the web version cleared that up.
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"Panama Establishes Ties With China, Further Isolating Taiwan" New York Times June 13, 2017
TAIPEI — Panama has severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favor of recognizing China, the latest in a series of developments adding to the island’s isolation on the world stage and raising questions about waning US influence under President Trump.
Began under Obama, who lost Turkey and the Philippines. Now the U.S. is losing alliances all over the planet.
Panama’s decision handed Beijing a diplomatic victory at a time when Trump, in hopes of securing cooperation on issues like trade and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, has retreated from the confrontational stances he took toward China as a candidate.
Trump’s marked warming toward China since he became president — after a rocky start that included a phone conversation with Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen — has created a diplomatic vacuum in some regions of the world. That has, in turn, made it even harder for countries like Panama to resist political and economic enticements from China, according to analysts.
Another NYT gem, and look at them wringing their hands about AmeriKan Empire!
Only 19 countries and the Vatican now recognize Taiwan, which is officially known as the Republic of China. Several of those countries are in Central America, including Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, and the decision by Panama, announced Monday, appeared to put those relationships in doubt.
The development was a major diplomatic setback for Taiwan. Tsai visited Panama last summer, shortly after taking office, for the opening of an expanded Panama Canal. The first ship to sail through the expanded canal was a Chinese one.
China refuses to have diplomatic ties with countries that officially recognize Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory and has threatened to annex by force, if necessary.
Well, since they say the Russians annexed Crimea and gloss over the 50 years of Israeli annexations....
PFFFFFFFFFFFT!
--souce--"
You know what is interesting?
No Chinese in the Panama Papers leak.
Must be the executions for corruption that keeps 'em clean.
Related:
"For Trump, obtaining trademarks in China could allow him to license his name in the country, potentially giving him a new source of income. It also protects his brand name in a country that is known for counterfeiters. In China, many celebrities and foreign companies preemptively file for trademarks in a wide range of sectors to prevent expensive and time-consuming lawsuits against “trademark squatters” — people who register the names of widely known brands in bad faith. In Trump’s case, leather goods, toilets, and cosmetics bearing the Trump name but trademarked by others have been spotted being sold around China. The news of Trump’s new preliminary trademarks in China will give further ammunition to his critics, who allege that his business interests violate the emoluments clause in the US Constitution that bars presidents from taking gifts or payments from foreign governments....."
They get those all the time anyway! That law hasn't been enforced in centuries!
Also see:
"Tillerson confirmed that the Trump administration will step back from some of the economic initiatives to Cuba begun under former President Obama. Tillerson spoke shortly after news broke that North Korea had freed an ailing American college student....."
Ah, Cuba, home of Gitmo.
"US student medically evacuated from N. Korea is in a coma" by Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Russell Goldman New York Times June 13, 2017
WASHINGTON — Otto F. Warmbier, 23, a US college student held prisoner in North Korea for more than a year, has been medically evacuated from the reclusive country in a coma and is on his way back to the United States, according to a statement from his parents.
“We want the world to know how we and our son have been brutalized and terrorized by the pariah regime” in North Korea, Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement to the Associated Press. They said they were grateful that their son, who was detained last year while traveling as a tourist, would “finally be with people who love him.”
Palestinians, hunger strike, remember that?
Btw, as a citizen of America, I have not standing to criticize anyone. My government took that right away from be when it engages in indefinite detention and torture.
Warmbier’s release Tuesday followed an extraordinary period of clandestine negotiations between US and North Korean officials in Oslo and New York. The talks intensified last month after a representative from Sweden, which acts as an interlocutor between Washington and Pyongyang, was granted visitation rights to one of three other Americans held in North Korea.
Breaking News: Congressional Committees to Investigate Trump's Back-Channel Talks With North Korea
What do you mean there is no link?
US officials learned of Warmbier’s medical condition last week during a meeting with a North Korean official, and by Monday, a US delegation including a medical team had arrived in Pyongyang to bring him home, according to an account provided by the State Department. After two doctors visited Warmbier, a US official demanded his release on humanitarian grounds, the State Department said, and he was evacuated Tuesday.
This is really going to put a dent in the demonization campaign against the North Koreans.
They let us come get our guy?
Warmbier’s evacuation was announced while Dennis Rodman — a former professional basketball player who has relationships with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, and with Trump — was visiting North Korea. Rodman also traveled to North Korea in 2013.
He was the envoy?
But a State Department spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, said Tuesday, “Dennis Rodman did not have anything to do with the release of Otto Warmbier.”
Had a lot to do with the Pistons and Bulls winning some titles, though.
Much about the hastily arranged release remains a mystery, including the details of Warmbier’s condition. His family was told that he had contracted botulism and been given a sleeping pill, causing him to slip into a coma, according to the people briefed on the situation, who insisted on anonymity to discuss highly sensitive negotiations, but Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio said, “Otto’s detainment and sentence was unnecessary and appalling, and North Korea should be universally condemned for its abhorrent behavior.”
The “The North Koreans have a lot of explaining to do,” as does the Globe:
"At the time of his arrest, Warmbier had been on an organized New Year’s tour in North Korea, a five-day stopover on his way to Hong Kong for a study-abroad trip, but on his final night in Pyongyang — New Year’s Eve — he apparently went to a staff-only floor of his hotel and attempted to take down a large propaganda sign lauding the regime. He was charged with “hostile acts against the state.” Surrounded by North Korean guards, Warmbier delivered a highly scripted “confession” that appeared to have been written for him, and after an hour-long sham trial in March 2016, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor....."
Like the ones they signed at Gitmo?
How many waterboard rides did Warmbier take before he cracked?
--more--"
You can call off the ground offensive.
Related: Scandinavian Sweep
Ask and ye shall receive!
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"Pollsters say Putin, who has enjoyed an approval rating above 80 percent for more than three years, is unlikely to have trouble winning if, as expected, he seeks a new six-year term in March. Even though he presides unchecked over a government and legislature led by his loyalists, most Russians do not blame the Kremlin leader for their problems. But many do count on him to solve their problems. Two days before Putin’s annual televised ‘‘direct line’’ with citizens, 1.3 million Russians had submitted questions for their president, the official Tass news agency reported Tuesday....."
Easy to shrug off controlled opposition with those poll numbers.
I didn't look at This Day in History today, sorry. It was in the Sports.
