Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup
A service of DavidDuke.com
From Russia Today
Merkel calls for ‘no-fly zone’ in Syria
Published time: 16 Feb, 2016 04:53
Russian Sukhoi Su-24 frontline bomber takes off from the Hemeimeem airbase in the Latakia province, Syria. © Dmitriy Vinogradov / Sputnik
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has backed the controversial idea of imposing a no-fly zone over northern Syria to alleviate the refugee crisis as the country plays along with Ankara’s demands for the creation of a “buffer area” along its border.
“In the current situation it would be helpful, if there could be such an area, where none of the parties are allowed to launch aerial attacks, that is to say, a kind of no-fly zone,” Merkel told the daily Stuttgarter Zeitung, when asked by the publication about opening up areas to host refugees.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
How Justice Scalia’s death impacts 6 cases that matter to Jews
WASHINGTON (JTA) — With the sudden passing this weekend of Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court is now split 4-4 between liberals and conservatives, throwing into doubt how the court will rule on a raft of cases — including several watched by Jewish organizations.
Scalia, who was 79, is being mourned by Orthodox Jewish groups, which embraced his robust originalist doctrine, as well as Jewish church-state separation advocates, who railed at some of his decisions but admired his sharp wit and dedication to upholding the Constitution.
Jewish groups are also monitoring with concern the emerging political battle: President Barack Obama has pledged to nominate a replacement and Republican leaders in the Senate are vowing not to consider a replacement until a new president takes office next year.
“This was a person who looms large in American society,” Rabbi Jonah Pesner, who heads the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, said Monday in an interview. “It’s initially about mourning his death, but it’s also about affirming democracy.”
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From PressTV
Ground troops only solution to Syria conflict: Turkey
Turkey is among the few countries insisting that the only way to stop the war in Syria is to deploy ground forces in the Arab country’s northern regions.
A Turkish official told reporters in Istanbul on Tuesday that the only possible solution to the conflict in Syria is ground operations, but Turkey would not carry out such an operation on its own. “We are asking coalition partners that there should be a ground operation,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
“We want a ground operation. If there is a consensus, Turkey will take part. Without a ground operation, it is impossible to stop this war… Turkey is not going to have a unilateral ground operation … We are discussing this with allies.”
Another Turkish official who commented about the ground ops in Syria is Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu who is trying to cajole Ankara’s allies into okaying the deployment of the troops.
“Some countries like us, Saudi Arabia and some other Western European countries have said that a ground operation is necessary … But to expect this only from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar is neither right nor realistic,” he said. “If such an operation is to take place, it has to be carried out jointly, like the (coalition) airstrikes.”
He went on to say that Ankara has repeatedly called for measures beyond airstrikes, although the subject has not been seriously discussed with the US-led coalition.
“Of course, there would be airstrikes but a cleansing on the ground is also needed. I stated in every meeting … that Daesh could not be destroyed or stopped by air strikes,” he said.
Earlier in the week, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced that his country was awaiting a green light from the US-led coalition to deploy special forces.
“The Kingdom’s readiness to provide special forces to any ground operations in Syria is linked to a decision to have a ground component to this coalition against Daesh in Syria — this US-led coalition — so the timing is not up to us,” he said.
Corridor for Kurds?
Earlier on Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that Syrian military operations backed by Russian airstrikes are aimed at creating a corridor for Kurdish forces.
Over the last few days, Ankara has been targeting Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) positions in an attempt to stop Kurdish forces from reaching the Syrian border with Turkey, while Syrian forces have been making daily gains against Daesh Takfiri terrorists in the northern regions.
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From PressTV
US-led airstrikes in NE Syria kill 15 civilians: Monitoring group
From Russia Today
Russia’s campaign in Syria shifted balance of power in the region – Iran’s defense chief
Published time: 17 Feb, 2016 03:30
SU-34 © Dmitriy Vinogradov / Sputnik
The Russian anti-terror campaign in Syria has shifted the balance of power in the region, the Iranian Defense Minister stressed while visiting Moscow, eager to purchase billions of dollars worth of “defensive” weapons to secure its own position in the region.
“Russia’s presence in Syria, of course, changed the security atmosphere, [and] changed the balance of power,” Hosein Dehqan said in an interview with Rossiya 24 news channel.
Dehghan also stressed that Iran, which has “a unique position in its region” and is a “big, influential regional nation,” wants to expand military, technical and industrial ties with Moscow. Iran is also seeking Russia’s consultations on the “security of the region.”
Calling the security situation in the region and the entire world “turbulent” and characterized by a “lack of stability” with different countries playing “their own role,” especially Washington which wants to “destabilize the region,” Dehqan stressed that Iran wants to purchase “defensive” weapons from Russia.
“The most important thing is to raise the level of our security [both] qualitatively and quantitatively, so that we could insure protection against possible attacks of our enemies,” Dehqan said.
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From Russia Today
Turkey launched 100+ artillery strikes on Syrian towns in Aleppo – Russian military
Published time: 16 Feb, 2016 20:55
© Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters
Both government and opposition-held towns in Syria over the border from Turkey have fallen under Ankara’s shelling that began last week, according the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Turkey’s artillery has fired more than 100 shells at bordering areas in the northwest province of Aleppo, targeting both Syrian government forces and the opposition, MoD spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Tuesday.
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From Russia Today
Ukraine’s PM dodges no confidence vote despite president’s discontent, protests
Published time: 16 Feb, 2016 15:55
Protesters outside Verkhovna Rada in Kiev demand dissolution of the Ukrainian government and resignation of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. © Stringer / Sputnik
A vote of no-confidence on the ousting of PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s government has failed to secure enough votes in the Ukrainian parliament. The result comes despite President Petro Poroshenko’s call for the PM to step down and protests against the current cabinet head.
Only 194 MPs supported to the motion, out of the required 226 on Tuesday, although the lawmakers had previously denounced the cabinet’s work saying it had been unsatisfactory.
“To restore confidence in government the president urged the General Prosecutor and PM to resign,” said Svyatoslav Tsegolko on his Twitter account.
The cabinet will continue its work. However, Yulia Timoshenko’s party announced that it will withdraw its representative, the minister of youth and sports, Igor Zhdanov.
The work of the cabinet will again be assessed in September.
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From The Times of Israel
US had detailed cyber-attack plan in case Iran talks failed
Report: Operation would have targeted communications systems, air defenses; was devised partly for fear of Israeli strike on Iran
While negotiating with Iran, the US formulated a comprehensive plan to target major Iranian military facilities with cyber-attacks. Washington was preparing for the possibility that the talks, aimed at curbing Tehran’s renegade nuclear program, would fail and Iran would lash out at America or its regional allies, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Code-named Nitro Zeus, the plan would target Iran’s air defenses, communications systems and parts of its power grid, the report said, citing the upcoming documentary film Zero Days, as well as interviews with military and intelligence officials. The plan reportedly involved thousands of military and intelligence personnel, with the US prepared to spend millions of dollars and install electronic spying devices in Iranian computer networks.
Devised by the Pentagon, the plan was put in place to assure President Barack Obama that should Iran move against the US or regional allies in the event of a breakdown in the nuclear talks, Washington would have a sophisticated alternative to full-scale war. According to the report, the plan was also given special priority because US officials believed there was a high probability that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would order a strike on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities, drawing the United States into the ensuing hostilities.
Nitro Zeus was put on ice following the landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and the permanent five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) last July. That deal, vociferously opposed by Israel, determined that longstanding sanctions against Tehran would be lifted in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.
The report said that while the Pentagon was working on Nitro Zeus, other US intelligence agencies developed another narrowly focused plan to disable the computer networks at the underground Fordo uranium enrichment site. Unlike Nitro Zeus, however, the Fordo cyber-attack plan can still be authorized even in the absence of hostilities. Such an attack, the report said, would be a follow-up to a computer virus that sabotaged 1,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges in Iran. The Stuxnet virus, first discovered in 2010, has been widely attributed to the United States and Israel, working in tandem, but neither government has acknowledged responsibility.
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From The Times of Israel
Obama: Trump won’t be president, this isn’t a reality show
US leader says he has faith that Americans know ‘being president is a serious job’
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday hammered home his belief that Republican White House hopeful Donald Trump would not be elected, knocking his reality show past and penchant for drawing media attention.
Obama did not limit his criticism to the billionaire real estate tycoon, hitting out at “troubling” statements from the entire GOP field of candidates seeking to replace him.
But he reserved his toughest remarks for Trump, offering a scathing assessment of why he thinks the American people will not elect him.
“I continue to believe that Mr Trump will not be president. And the reason is because I have a lot of faith in the American people. And I think they recognize that being president is a serious job,” he told reporters in California.
“It’s not hosting a talk show or a reality show. It’s not promotion. It’s not marketing. It’s hard,” he said on the sidelines of a summit with leaders and representatives of 10 Southeast Asian nations.
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From The Times of Israel
Bill Clinton tells Florida Jews Hillary will prioritize Israel ties
Former president stumps for his wife at community gathering in vital battleground state
WASHINGTON — After appearing at a large rally Monday in Palm Beach for his wife’s presidential bid, former US President Bill Clinton met with roughly 100 members of the South Florida Jewish community.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was originally supposed to attend Monday’s campaign event at the Port of Palm Beach in Riviera Beach, Florida, but instead her husband filled in, as she is staying in Nevada ahead of that state’s Saturday caucuses, where she is currently running neck and neck with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
At the press-closed meeting with community leaders, rabbis, elected officials and general supporters, President Clinton stressed the close bond that he and his wife have with the State of Israel and the deep connection they have to the Jewish community, The Times of Israel was told. He vowed that, if elected, Hillary Clinton would make it one of her top priorities to strengthen the US-Israel alliance.
The Florida primary, where the Jewish vote is seen as critical, does not come until March 15. South Florida has approximately 500,000 Jewish residents, according to the Sun-Sentinel newspaper.
A month before that contest, the Clinton camp is looking closely at the Sunshine State, particularly as political analysts and commentators now predict a tougher and longer-than-expected primary battle with Sanders.
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From The Independent
Syria: The winners and losers are becoming clear in this war
At an early stage of the war in Syria, an Iraqi official went to see a Nato commander. “What’s the difference between what is happening in Syria and Libya [where Muammar Gaddafi had just been overthrown]?” he asked. The reply of the Nato general was simple and crisp. “Russia is back,” he said.
The rebirth of Russia as a great power was evident early on 12 February in Munich when the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, and the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, announced a plan for the delivery of aid to besieged cities in Syria and a “cessation of hostilities”, to be followed by a more formal ceasefire. Russia and the US have the power to make things happen or stop happening in Syria that is not absolute but is greater than anybody else.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israel Police apologize for detaining Washington Post journalists
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israel Police apologized for detaining the Washington Post Jerusalem bureau chief and a colleague after accusing them of “incitement.”
The police in a statement issued Tuesday evening said the information provided to the officers that led to the journalists’ detention was “without foundation.”
“We regret if any distress was caused to those who were detained,” said the statement, which was issued following an inquiry into the incident.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
How Syria and natural gas are pushing Israel and Turkey back together
TEL AVIV (JTA) – After years of false starts, Israeli negotiators went to Geneva last week for talks aimed at ending a long-running conflict with a regional adversary.
It’s not the Palestinians. It’s Turkey.
Once a key partner of Israel, Turkey in recent years has been a thorn in its side. It supports Israel’s foes, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan often uses international forums as opportunities to slam the Jewish state – particularly its treatment of Palestinians.
But in December, Israel and Turkey began negotiating a full restoration of ties after nearly six years of downgraded relations. Here’s what happened between the former allies, why things are improving now – and why some Israeli analysts are still skeptical the Turkey-Israel impasse will be resolved.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israel’s president to UN envoy Samantha Power: Tell Abbas direct talks are urgent
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s president told Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to send a message to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas: Direct talks are the only way to end their conflict.
Power, making her first visit to Israel as U.N. envoy, arrived on Saturday. Her four days in the area will include visits with Palestinian Authority leaders; she met on her first day with Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.
“Power will discuss a range of regional and bilateral issues, including the United States and Israel’s shared security concerns and close cooperation, prospects for a two-state solution, and the importance of UN humanitarian and peacekeeping operations in the region” during meetings with Israeli officials, the State Department said in a statement.
On Monday, Power met separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin.
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From PressTV
UN aid chief warns of humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen
The United Nations relief chief has warned that Yemen is facing a “humanitarian catastrophe”, urging warring sides to stop restricting aid access in the impoverished Arab country.
“The parties to the conflict have a duty of care in the conduct of military operations to protect all civilian persons and objects – including humanitarian and health care workers and facilities – against attack,” Stephen O’Brien told the UN Security Council on Tuesday.
He said at least 7.6 million people are seriously “food insecure” in Yemen, noting that the war in the country has made over 1,170 schools and 600 health facilities unfit, as a result of which some 3.4 million children do not go to school.
From Russia Today
‘Brussels annoying’ Hungarian PM Orban heading to Moscow to meet Putin
Published time: 17 Feb, 2016 05:33
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban © Alexei Druzhinin / Reuters
Exactly a year since Vladimir Putin’s visit to Budapest, the Hungarian PM has arrived in Moscow seeking to reinforce nuclear and gas bonds with Russia. With Russian-Hungarian 2015 deals in the spotlight, both sides are hoping to give them a big boost.
Viktor Orban’s visit to Moscow on February 17 falls on the anniversary of the Russian President’s trip to Hungary, adding symbolic value to the meeting. Coming amid a cooling relationship with Europe, it is highly anticipated to push along Russian-Hungarian ties.
According to Ambassador of Hungary to Russia Janos Balla, bilateral economic and trade ties have decreased by almost 50 percent.
“In the past, Russia was the second largest trade partner for us, now it is 13-14. The problem is that the market is lost,” Balla told RIA Novosti.
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From The Times of Israel
US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power on Tuesday met with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon to discuss measures aimed at countering shared regional security threats posed by Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic State terror groups.
During the meeting Power, who arrived in Israel for a series of high-level diplomatic talks on Saturday, noted the “unprecedented level of intelligence and security cooperation” between Jerusalem and Washington, the State Department said.
Senior IDF officers briefed Power on the various security challenges facing Israel, during a helicopter tour of the country joined by Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon and US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro.
Power and Ya’alon also discussed the urgent need to find a political solution to the Syrian civil war and ways Israel could play a role in future UN peacekeeping efforts.
US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro (L), US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power (C) and Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon on February 16, 2016 (Avi Dudi)
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Danish TV star says anti-Semitism made him uncomfortable in Sweden
(JTA) — A Jewish-Danish actor known for his starring role in “The Bridge,” a Scandinavian TV crime series remade for American audiences in 2013, said he was uncomfortable while working in Sweden because of anti-Semitism there.
“It’s growing,” Kim Bodnia told the Israeli website Walla.co.il last week when the interviewer asked him about anti-Semitism in Scandinavia. “Especially in Malmo, where we shot ‘The Bridge’ in Sweden. It’s not very nice and comfortable to be there as a Jewish person.”
Bodnia quit the show, which has been shown in over 100 countries, after its first two seasons. Asked about his decision to leave, he told Walla it owed to a change in his contract, which limited his influence on the screenplay and interaction with the writers. “We had some discussions that we were not allowed to be so much involved and it didn’t fit because we had it in the contract,” he said. But he added he would consider returning to the set for the fourth season if the producers change their mind on his level of involvement in the writing.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Canadian writers’ group rapped for inviting Israel critic Max Blumenthal to speak
TORONTO (JTA) — PEN Canada, an arm of the international writers’ association, has come in for criticism from Jewish groups for inviting a vehement critic of Israel to speak at one of its events.
Max Blumenthal, a U.S. journalist and blogger, is slated to headline a Feb. 24 panel at the Toronto Public Library as part of Freedom to Read Week. The evening’s title is “Embattled Truths: Reporting on Gaza.”
Blumenthal, who has reported from Gaza, is the author of “The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza and Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel.” Critics have described both books, as well as other works, as extreme in their anti-Israel tone, if not outright hatred of the Jewish state.
“Searching for truth within the fog of war is particularly consequential in dispatches from Israel’s occupied territories,” PEN Canada said on its website. “Depending on where we get our news, Gaza is either a terrorist haven and a legitimate military target, or a zone of unjustified violence against a captive civilian population.”
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Merkel calls on Israel to take small steps toward two-state solution
(JTA) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for Israel to take small steps toward a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
Merkel was speaking to reporters in Berlin at a news conference Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following a joint session of their two governments.
“Now is certainly not the time to make really comprehensive progress,” she said, “but you can achieve improvements in certain places.”
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
France presents proposal for peace summit to Israel, Palestinians
JERUSALEM (JTA) — France has presented Israel and the Palestinians with a proposal for an international peace conference.
The French ambassador to Israel, Patrick Maisonnave, in a meeting Tuesday morning with the head of the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic office, Alon Ushpiz, disclosed details of the initiative to bring the two sides together for a conference that would include officials from the United States, Europe and the Arab countries.
The summit would be held in the summer, according to the proposal, and would launch new negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
U.S.-brokered negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, the last diplomatic process to try to solve the conflict, broke down in April 2014.
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From Russia Today
Prehistoric ‘hobbits’ were not deformed humans, but another species – study
Published time: 17 Feb, 2016 03:07
The characteristically small skull of the Homo floresiensis © Beawiharta / Reuters
French scientists say they have come closer to resolving the riddle of the origin of small people deemed unlike any others on the planet, whose fossilized bones were found on an Indonesian island in 2003.
The 15,000 year-old remains of upright walking creatures, who were about 100 cm in height, and weighing 25 kg were dug up – still moist – in a cave on the Island of Flores, and dubbed Homo floresiensis by researchers, and “hobbits” by the media.
But behind the neat designations, a fierce academic debate had begun. One side said they were the descendants of the Homo erectus, a dead-end branch on the evolutionary path that produced modern humans, which died out about 70,000 years ago. Their small size would have resulted from “insular dwarfing” – a tendency of an isolated apex species to get smaller when marooned in an environment with few competing predators, but a poor food supply.
A life-size drawing of Homo floresiensis, who may have been a relative of whoever made the newly-discovered instruments © David Gray / Reuters
Another claimed that the “hobbits” were humans, whose small group of ancestors had a genetic disorder, which spread as the population multiplied. With small heads, and softball-sized brains like those of apes, the “hobbits” were thought to have suffered from microcephaly, or perhaps dwarf cretinism, a condition that develops as a result of a lack of iodine in the diet.
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From Russia Today
Sarkozy probed over ‘illegal financing’ of 2012 presidential campaign
Published time: 17 Feb, 2016 01:23
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy © Jacky Naegelen / Reuters
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was previously probed for corruption, is now under investigation for “suspected illegal financing” of his 2012 election campaign. The matter could potentially set back his presidential ambitions for 2017.
Sarkozy, 61, who led France for one term from 2007 to 2012, was questioned for nearly 12 hours by magistrates at the High Court of Paris’ financial prosecutor’s office. He was then informed that he had been placed under formal investigation over “suspected illegal financing of an election campaign for a candidate, who went beyond the legal limit for electoral spending” as a part of the so-called the Bygmalion scandal.
According to the prosecution, Bygmalion, the PR company involved in Sarkozy’s campaign in 2012, allegedly charged 18.5m euros ($21 million) Sarkozy’s right-wing party – called the UMP at the time and then renamed The Republicans. This technically meant exceeding the spending limit of 22.5 million euros ($25 million).
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