July 14, 2015
By Elizabeth Drew
Those having trouble making sense (click here) of the American presidential election need not worry. It doesn’t make sense. Indeed, the ongoing campaign is the weirdest contest for the country’s highest office in modern times, owing not just to the number of candidates — there are currently 14 of them, with two or three more expected soon — but also their nature.
The usual question posed to presidential aspirants is: Why are you running? This year, the answer seems to be: Why not? As long as one is not too attached to one’s dignity, there is little to lose and a lot to be gained from running. A failed presidential campaign, even a disastrous one, can lead to higher speaking fees, richer book contracts, or a television gig. Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee both failed to win the Republican nomination, but secured seats on cable talk shows....
July 14, 2015
By Reuters
By Elizabeth Drew
Those having trouble making sense (click here) of the American presidential election need not worry. It doesn’t make sense. Indeed, the ongoing campaign is the weirdest contest for the country’s highest office in modern times, owing not just to the number of candidates — there are currently 14 of them, with two or three more expected soon — but also their nature.
The usual question posed to presidential aspirants is: Why are you running? This year, the answer seems to be: Why not? As long as one is not too attached to one’s dignity, there is little to lose and a lot to be gained from running. A failed presidential campaign, even a disastrous one, can lead to higher speaking fees, richer book contracts, or a television gig. Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee both failed to win the Republican nomination, but secured seats on cable talk shows....
July 14, 2015
By Reuters
TUNIS — Tunisia’s interior minister (click here) said
security forces had almost wiped out an Islamist militant group linked
to Al Qaeda during a crackdown launched after two deadly attacks on
tourists.
Clashes last week
killed leaders, including two veteran Algerian militants, from the Okba
Ibn Nafaa brigade, blamed for an assault on the Bardo Museum in Tunis in
March, minister Najem Gharselli told reporters late on Sunday.
The
North African country has come under growing international pressure to
show it is in control of militants after a gunman also killed 38
holidaymakers at a beach hotel in Sousse last month, an attack claimed
by the Daesh group.
“After we
killed some of their leaders in [the central region of] Gafsa a few days
ago we have now destroyed 90 per cent of Okba Ibn Nafaa,” the minister
said.
Okba Ibn Nafaa, allied
with Al Qaeda’s north African wing, was among the most active of
hardline groups that emerged after Tunisia’s 2011 “Arab Spring” uprising
ousted autocrat Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali....
July 15, 2015
By Reuters
July 15, 2015
By Reuters
ISTANBUL — Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (click here) kicked off long-delayed talks on forming a coalition
government on Monday after firing a warning to opposition parties not to
question the role of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the political
process.
Opposition parties
have signalled they want Erdogan to keep out of daily politics if they
join any coalition government — a direct challenge to the president, who
wants to turn his largely ceremonial role into a powerful executive
post....
Saudi Arabia is resolved to protect all it's people, including the Shia. In that terrorism will never have a foothold in the kingdom. Iran needs to stop demanding the Houthis rise in opposition to it's Yemen government. Houthis are dying in significant numbers. Iran has to require peace in all it's international relationships. Protecting the Houthis by exposing any assault is more important than attacks that result in their deaths.
June 5, 2015
Terrorists (click here) have failed to understand the Kingdom and its people. They have underestimated the strength of the forces they are trying to confront. They have misjudged the Saudi people. In the second bombing of a Shiite mosque last Friday, they sought to sow their stock-in-trade. They sought to sow terror. But instead, they have reaped the cold anger of every decent man and woman. They have also discovered the resolution of all who live and work in the Kingdom.
They have sought to create discord and suspicion. Instead they have brought forth a mighty wave of determination, determination to preserve the unity and safety of the Kingdom and each and every one of its citizens.
The May 29 attack on the Al-Anoud Mosque in Dammam was another heinous crime, coming just one week after the suicide bombing at Al-Qadeeh, Qatif, which killed 21 worshippers attending Friday prayers. This time the authorities were prepared. There are no “soft targets” in Saudi Arabia any more. Though three innocent people died in this latest attack, the men of violence had hoped for a far bigger butcher’s bill. And they were disappointed....
July 13, 2015
By AFP
Saudi Arabia is resolved to protect all it's people, including the Shia. In that terrorism will never have a foothold in the kingdom. Iran needs to stop demanding the Houthis rise in opposition to it's Yemen government. Houthis are dying in significant numbers. Iran has to require peace in all it's international relationships. Protecting the Houthis by exposing any assault is more important than attacks that result in their deaths.
June 5, 2015
Terrorists (click here) have failed to understand the Kingdom and its people. They have underestimated the strength of the forces they are trying to confront. They have misjudged the Saudi people. In the second bombing of a Shiite mosque last Friday, they sought to sow their stock-in-trade. They sought to sow terror. But instead, they have reaped the cold anger of every decent man and woman. They have also discovered the resolution of all who live and work in the Kingdom.
They have sought to create discord and suspicion. Instead they have brought forth a mighty wave of determination, determination to preserve the unity and safety of the Kingdom and each and every one of its citizens.
The May 29 attack on the Al-Anoud Mosque in Dammam was another heinous crime, coming just one week after the suicide bombing at Al-Qadeeh, Qatif, which killed 21 worshippers attending Friday prayers. This time the authorities were prepared. There are no “soft targets” in Saudi Arabia any more. Though three innocent people died in this latest attack, the men of violence had hoped for a far bigger butcher’s bill. And they were disappointed....
July 13, 2015
By AFP
...The rival General National Congress (GNC) (click here) is based in Tripoli and was set up by a militia alliance, including
Islamists, known as Fajr Libya, after it seized the capital last August.
The
two sides have been locked in months of thorny negotiations brokered by
UN envoy Bernardino Leon who has struggled to clinch a deal on a
national unity government and hold fresh polls.
The
GNC boycotted Saturday's ceremony in the Moroccan resort of Skhirat,
saying Leon's draft deal was not "satisfactory" and calling for
"modifications".
Nevertheless, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was "encouraged" by the initialling of the accord, a UN statement said.
"He looks forward to the speedy conclusion of the full agreement and its implementation," a spokesman for the UN chief said.
"This
act is a clear demonstration of political will and courage and brings
the country one step closer to resolving the current institutional and
security crisis."
There is a problem with the truce between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in Yemen. It appears, at the very least to Saudi Arabia, the Houthis are using the truce to rearm and plan a further assault. Any truce doesn't have a chance if there is continued arms build up. The Houthis have to prove they are honoring the truce to build trust and not further aggressions. Saudi Arabia is justified in it's defense of the truce to prevent further militarization of the Houthis.
July 13, 2015
There is a problem with the truce between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in Yemen. It appears, at the very least to Saudi Arabia, the Houthis are using the truce to rearm and plan a further assault. Any truce doesn't have a chance if there is continued arms build up. The Houthis have to prove they are honoring the truce to build trust and not further aggressions. Saudi Arabia is justified in it's defense of the truce to prevent further militarization of the Houthis.
July 13, 2015
...The southern fighters (click here) managed to push
back the rebels in the coastal Ras Amran area, west of Aden, according
to General Fadhel Hasan, a spokesman of the Popular Resistance.
"We
have seized control of the area that represents the western entry into
Aden," he said, adding that the group "received sophisticated weapons
from the coalition".
But the
rebels prevented a convoy of desperately needed relief aid travelling
from the western port city of Hodeida to enter Aden, said local relief
activist Adnan Al Kaf.
Clashes
also persisted in the central city of Taez and in the southern Shabwa
province, where the Popular Resistance said 21 of its fighters were
killed in three days of clashes.
The
UN-proposed humanitarian truce technically went into effect at 2059 GMT
Friday and is supposed to run until July 17, the last day of the Muslim
fasting month of Ramadan....
