Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup
A service of DavidDuke.com
From PressTV
Saudi forces in Turkey for air campaign in Syria
More than two dozen Saudi Air Force personnel and a cargo of military equipment have arrived in Turkey to prepare for a joint air campaign in Syria.
Turkish media said on Thursday that some 30 officers had arrived onboard two C-130 military cargo planes at Incirlik military airbase south of Turkey two days ago.
The military personnel are expected to prepare for the deployment of Saudi fighter jets which are due to arrive in Turkey in the coming hours.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that he expects the warplanes, which are to allegedly take part in an air campaign against Daesh Takfiri group in Syria, to be stationed at the Incirlik later in the day or on Friday.
However, some reports said the Saudi jets had already been deployed to Incirlik.
The deployment would be the first ever for Saudi warplanes in Turkey. There are already jets belonging to the United States, Britain and France at Incirlik, all allegedly involved in ongoing US-led air strikes against Daesh in Iraq and Syria.
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From Russia Today
‘War in Syria robbed it of 40 years of social and economic development’ – UN official
Published time: 26 Feb, 2016 04:17
The Valdai International Discussion Club conference, The Middle East: From Violence to Security, February 25, Moscow. © Vitaliy Belousov / Sputnik
The war in Syria has robbed it of its modern history and four decades of social and economic progress, a UN official said at the Valdai discussion forum in Moscow, where over 100 international officials have gathered to discuss the Middle East crisis.
Over 100 political, academic and clerical figures from Russia, Iran, Egypt, Turkey, Europe, and the US are taking part in the forum held in Moscow organized by the Valdai International Discussion Club. The topic of the forum was: “Middle East: From violence to security.”
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From Russia Today
25% of Norway sex offenders in 2015 have immigrant background – report
Published time: 25 Feb, 2016 17:58
© Fyodor Porokhin / Reuters
One in four sex offenses in Norway last year were committed by people with immigrant backgrounds, according to local broadcaster TV2.
Of 399 people convicted for this type of crime in Norway, 90 had an immigrant background.
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From Russia Today
Greece refuses to become ‘warehouse for refugee souls’ – PM Tsipras
Published time: 25 Feb, 2016 12:32
© Alexandros Avramidis / Reuters
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says the EU risks turning his country into a refugee “warehouse” unless other nations in the bloc share the burden of the migrant crisis. Athens says it will block future EU agreements if the refugee problem isn’t shared.
With countries along the Balkan migrant route closing off their borders, Greece has been left to deal with the vast numbers of migrants who enter the country. On February 23, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated that almost 100,000 migrants have landed on Greece’s islands since the start of 2016, while Fabrice Leggeri, the head of the EU border agency Frontex, warns that over a million refugees will arrive in the EU this year.
“We will not accept turning the country into a permanent warehouse of souls with Europe continuing to function as if nothing is happening,” Tsipras told parliament on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
© Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters
Macedonia closed its border with Greece to unregistered refugees last week and Greek police started to remove migrants when a bottleneck began to appear at the shared border between the two countries. Guards on the Macedonian side of the boundary have been letting through just 100 refugees a day.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Obama weighs in on BDS settlement fight – but battle likely won’t end there
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The controversy over whether laws protecting Israel from boycotts should include West Bank settlements found its way into a presidential signing statement this week. But President Barack Obama’s decision to ignore a trade law’s requirement to oppose boycotts of Israeli settlements likely won’t settle the argument.
The president said Wednesday he had signed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 and embraced its provisions protecting Israel from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS. But Obama also said he would not observe the measure’s requirement to extend those protections to businesses in “Israeli-controlled territories.”
“I have directed my administration to strongly oppose boycotts, divestment campaigns and sanctions targeting the State of Israel,” he said. “As long as I am president, we will continue to do so. Certain provisions of this act, by conflating Israel and ‘Israeli-controlled territories,’ are contrary to longstanding bipartisan United States policy, including with regard to the treatment of settlements.”
Using language that has appeared previously in signing statements to indicate a president will not implement parts of bills that do not comport with U.S. foreign policy, the statement added that “consistent with longstanding constitutional practice,” Obama would continue to negotiate with other countries “in a manner that does not interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct diplomacy.”
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From Ynet News
Israel, India to sign weapons deal
New Delhi and Jerusalem set to sign a $3 billion weapons deal in the lead up to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first official visit to Israel.
A $3 billion weapons deal is to be signed between Israel and India ahead of a historic planned visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Holy Land.
India is planning to buy 164 laser systems for its air force, specifically for its Sukhoi-30MKI and Jaguar planes, and 250 precision guided bunker busting bombs, according to a report in The Times of India on Tuesday.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Argentine prosecutor: AMIA special prosecutor Alberto Nisman was murdered
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) – Alberto Nisman was murdered, the attorney general for Argentina’s Criminal Appeals Court said — the first suggestion by the country’s judicial branch that the AMIA special prosecutor’s mysterious death may have been an assassination.
Ricardo Saenz in a letter to the judges on Thursday called for a federal investigation of the case involving Nisman, who was found shot dead in his Buenos Aires apartment on Jan. 18, 2015. There has been no official cause of death.
A federal magistrate “has the broadest jurisdiction to clarify which of all the assumptions” involving Nisman’s death is accurate, Saenz wrote.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Assault charges against Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick dropped
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The indictment accusing Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick of attacking a Palestinian woman at the site has been withdrawn.
On Thursday, Israel Police dropped the charges against Glick stemming from the accusation after the State Prosecutor’s Office said the woman’s testimony may have been invented. The woman claimed Glick pushed her, with the result that she broke her arm.
Under the indictment, Glick at first was barred from visiting the Temple Mount; that was later restricted to visiting once a month. It was not clear if the dropping of charges will lift the restrictions.
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From Russia Today
Pentagon attacks on Russia linked to military budget debate in Congress – MoD
Published time: 26 Feb, 2016 01:55
© Rafael Marchante / Reuters
Statements warning of a so-called “Russian threat” to US security are linked to discussions in Congress on next year’s military budget, said a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, noting the idea of this “threat” has been a “top-seller” for the Pentagon.
“We were not surprised by the loud statements of US security officials who saw Russia as the main threat to US national security,” said Russia’s Ministry of Defense spokesman, Igor Konashenkov.
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From Russia Today
Fierce fighting continues in Damascus suburb ahead of Syrian ceasefire (VIDEO)
Published time: 25 Feb, 2016 21:08
A member of the Syrian government forces guards a look-out point in the Syrian city of Daraya, southwest of the capital, Damascus, on February 24, 2016. © Youssef Karwashan / AFP
Fierce fighting is ongoing in a Damascus suburb just one day ahead of a scheduled US-Russia brokered ceasefire. The Syrian government says it is determined to continue the battle in Darayya, stating that Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists are fighting there.
The Syrian army began an offensive in the Damascus suburb just a few days ago, stating that the town was almost completely under the control of Jabhat al-Nusra, an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group, RT’s Lizzie Phelan reported from Darayya.
Despite a Washington-Moscow brokered ceasefire set to come into effect at midnight local time on Friday (22:00 GMT), the Syrian government says it will continue to fight in Darayya because the group is excluded from the agreement.
Although the presence of Jabhat al-Nusra appears to be evidenced by graffiti in the area, opposition supporters say none of the terrorist group’s fighters are in the town.
Media reports have highlighted that Jabhat al-Nusra fights alongside an array of anti-government forces. Since being labeled a terrorist group by the UN Security Council, its fighters have reportedly gone underground, hiding among groups considered to be more moderate.
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From Ynet News
President to skip Australia, meet Putin instead
Canberra miffed after Putin’s request for a work meeting prompts Foreign Ministry to recommend that President Reuven Rivlin cancel his Australia trip.
President Reuven Rivlin decided Thursday to cancel a state visit to Australia and fly instead to Russia to meet up with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Canberra responded angrily to the president’s decision, saying that “this is not the way one behaves with a friendly country. We are very disappointed and angry.” However, it should be noted that the security establishment determined there was an urgent need for a Rivlin-Putin meeting.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
German city to honor anti-Israel group Code Pink with tolerance prize
BERLIN (JTA) — Jewish leaders are slamming a German city’s plan to honor an American organization, Code Pink, that backs the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel with a human rights award.
The American Jewish Committee’s Berlin office urged Bavarian state legislators to publicly distance themselves from the Bayreuth award, which is to be presented on April 15.
The University of Bayreuth had recommended the nongovernmental organization for the Wilhelmine-von-Bayreuth Prize for Tolerance and Humanity in Cultural Diversity, which is worth about $11,000.
“Greater sensitivity” is called for in selecting a recipient, Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said Thursday, noting this was especially important at a time when Germany “wants to transmit our values to many new immigrants.” According to the German news agency dpa, Schuster noted that Code Pink calls Israel an “apartheid state.”
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