Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Is Trump's travel ban Islamophobic? (video)
US President Donald Trump's ban on some Muslims entering the US sparks worldwide outcry.
Despite protests at US airports, from lawyers in court, and political leaders abroad, President Donald Trump is refusing to drop his travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries.
He says it's about protecting US citizens and preventing what he calls terrorist attacks.
His executive order recalls the September 11 attacks in 2001, when passenger jets flew into New York's Twin Towers.
But the 19 hijackers on those planes were from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, and Lebanon - none of the countries on Trump's banned list.
Six In The Morning Tuesday January 31
US attorney general Sally Yates fired in Muslim ban row
Sally Yates quickly dismissed after ordering government lawyers to stop defending US president's immigration ban.
US President Donald Trump has sacked the country's acting attorney general after she took the rare step of defying the White House by refusing to enforce his sweeping immigration ban.
Sally Yates had early on Monday ordered Justice Department lawyers to stop defending Trump's executive order, resulting in her dismissal just hours later.
"The acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States," the White House press secretary's office said in an unusually caustic statement.
Cleric accused of masterminding 2008 Mumbai attacks under house arrest
Pakistan makes move against Hafiz Saeed after years of pressure from US and India over atrocities that killed 166 people
Reuters in Islamabad
Pakistan has ordered house arrest for the Islamist cleric Hafiz Saeed, who is accused by the US and India of masterminding the 2008 attacks on the Indian financial capital Mumbai that killed 166 people.
The move came after years of pressure and could help ease recently escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Saeed’s continued freedom has long infuriated India.
The US offered $10m (£8m) for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed, who heads the Muslim charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). Washington says JuD is a front for the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Donald Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’ will only make terrorist attacks, more, not less likely
Salafi-jihadi leaders are not stupid. They will see that if Trump, unprovoked by any terrorist outrage, will act with such self-defeating vigour, then a few bombs or shootings directed at American targets will lead to more scatter-gun persecution of Muslims – which is exactly what they want
Donald Trump’s travel ban on refugees and visitors from seven Muslim countries entering the US makes a terrorist attack on Americans at home or abroad more rather than less likely. It does so because one of the main purposes of al-Qaeda and Isis in carrying out atrocities is to provoke an overreaction directed against Muslim communities and states. Such communal punishments vastly increase sympathy for Salafi-jihadi movements among the 1.6 billion Muslims who make up a quarter of the world’s population.
The Trump administration justifies its action by claiming that it is only following lessons learned from 9/11 and the destruction of the Twin Towers. But it has learned exactly the wrong lesson: the great success of Mohammed Atta and his eighteen hijackers was not on the day that they and 3,000 others died, but when President George W Bush responded by leading the US into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that are still going on.
Outcry in Libya after police seize books they consider un-Islamic
OBSERVERS
A police brigade in Al-Marj, a city in eastern Libya, released a video on January 20 in which they bragged about seizing a large number of books, which they claimed went against Sunni values. Their haul included books about Shia Islam but also works by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and novels by popular Brazilian author Paulo Coelho. Many Libyans have been outraged about what they say amounts to censorship.
Authorities made the seizure after stopping a truck that was transporting these books to Benghazi. The video posted on the Facebook page of the Al-Marj police shows dozens of confiscated books spread out on a table.
In the video, a senior police officer explains that these books sing the praises of Shia Islam, Freemasonry and black magic. Then, the camera turns to a local religious figure, who says, “These are books that call readers to Christianity. There are also Shiite books as well as pornographic propaganda disguised as novels about Daech [The Islamic State Fundamentalist Organisation], foreign revolutionary books, versions of the Koran that we don’t recognise, books on Judaism, Sufi poetry, books by the Muslim brotherhood, books that call readers to atheism…” He concluded by saying that these books constituted a “very destructive cultural invasion”.
JANUARY 31 2017 - 5:22PM
Indonesia's highest Islamic clerical body to issue fatwa on hoax news
Indonesia's highest Islamic clerical body is poised to issue a fatwa against hoax news amid fears that fake reports on social media are fuelling ethnic and political conflict.
Fake news is a huge problem in Indonesia in the lead-up to the gubernatorial election in February, with much of it targeting the Chinese ethnicity of the current Jakarta governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known as Ahok.
The fatwa is further evidence that Indonesian authorities are beginning to repudiate the influence of Islamic hardliners. The man who spearheaded three massive anti-Ahok rallies last year - Rizieq Shihab - was named as a suspect on Monday night for allegedly insulting the state's ideology, Pancasila.Why continued US support is crucial for Colombia's peace process
Substantive progress is already being made in implementing the accords, but if the United States dials back its assistance, that trend could diminish, even reverse. It is in the interests of both countries not to let that happen.
The Trump administration’s likely secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, has declared an intention “to review the details of Colombia’s recent peace agreement, and determine the extent to which the United States should continue to support it.” There are many reasons to hope that once he reviews those details, Mr. Tillerson will conclude that the 2016 agreement, which ends 52 years of fighting between Colombia’s government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group, deserves strong support.
1) Plummeting levels of violence. The 2016 government-FARC accord, and accompanying United Nations-monitored ceasefire, have brought Colombia’s violence to the lowest levels in decades.
Monday, January 30, 2017
The Ghosts Of Richard Nixon And Robert Bork Are Haunting America
On October 20, 1973 then President Richard Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. Richardson refused, and resigned. His Deputy William Ruckelshaus also refused to dismiss Archibald Cox and resigned. President Nixon then turned U.S. Solicitor General Robert Bork who fired Cox. Robert Bork would could go on to be nominated for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. He was never confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
This incident would become known as the Saturday Night Massacre.
Which leads us to today and the firing of Acting Attorney General Sally Yates and the removal of acting ICE Director Daniel Ragsdale.
White House says Obama appointee ‘betrayed’ state department with letter instructing officials not to enforce president’s executive order
Sally Yates' duty was to uphold the U.S. Constitution and not to the President. No matter which political party they belong to.
This incident would become known as the Saturday Night Massacre.
Which leads us to today and the firing of Acting Attorney General Sally Yates and the removal of acting ICE Director Daniel Ragsdale.
White House says Obama appointee ‘betrayed’ state department with letter instructing officials not to enforce president’s executive order
Donald Trump has fired the acting US attorney general after she told justice department lawyers not to defend his executive order banning entry for people from seven Muslim-majority countries.
The White House said on Monday that Sally Yates had “betrayed” the department by refusing to enforce a legal order that was “designed to protect the citizens of the United States”.
Trump drafted in Dana Boente, US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, to replace Yates as acting attorney general. The president’s official appointee, anti-immigration hardliner Senator Jeff Sessions, is yet to be confirmed by the Senate.
Sally Yates' duty was to uphold the U.S. Constitution and not to the President. No matter which political party they belong to.
Rakuten Founder Condemns Trumps Muslim Ban
In a series of Tweets Rakuten Founder Hiroshi Mikitani condemned the actions taken by the Trump administration concerning its ban on Muslims entering the United States. He lived in America when he was a elementary school student.
Afghanistan: Taliban At The Gates
We join Afghan forces on the frontlines in Helmand, as they try to keep the Taliban from seizing a crucial capital.
Fifteen years after suffering defeat at the hands of the United States, the Taliban are retaking territory in Afghanistan at an alarming pace.
Wide swaths of the country are now under their control. But the prize for the armed group is the city of Lashkar Gah, seen as the gateway to the rest of the country. Standing in their way, is a ragtag group of Afghan soldiers and police, ill-trained, and ill-equipped.
But a newly installed governor is rallying the forces. Can the city hold the Taliban at bay?
Six In The Morning Monday January 30
Quebec City mosque attack: Six dead and eight injured
Canadian prime minister decries shooting at mosque that killed at least six as two suspects are arrested.
At least six people were killed in a shooting at a mosque in Quebec City during evening prayers, police said.
Gunmen fired on about 40 people inside the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre on Sunday at 8pm local time (01:00 GMT).
"Six people are confirmed dead - they range in age from 35 to about 70," Quebec provincial police spokeswoman Christine Coulombe told reporters, adding eight people were wounded and 39 were unharmed.
Police said two suspects had been arrested, but gave no details about them or what prompted the attack.
The biggest danger to America is not refugees but the man orchestrating their castigation from the White House
Nine days after Donald Trump mistook his inauguration speech for a Mussolini tribute act, it would take the Hubble telescope on steroids to detect a slither of optimism. The banning of residents and passport holders creates a heavier, more broodingly dark atmosphere than anyone too young to remember the Cuban Missile Crisis will recall
The only escape route from this horror, said the friend next to me on the sofa at noon today, is if this final set goes to 40,000-40,000. That way, we won’t have to return to the real world until after the next US election.
In the event, this fantastical piece of sporting nostalgia ended in Roger Federer’s favour within minutes. But for the preceding three and a half hours, you could almost persuade yourself that you’d slipped through a tear in space-time, and gone back eight years to the last time the Fed and Rafael Nadal duked it out over five sets for the Australian Open title.
Brazilian magnate to give himself up to authorities
(AFP) -
Facing an international arrest warrant Brazilian magnate Eike Batista said he would give himself up to authorities to "clean things up".
Wanted over money-laundering accusations, Batista is the latest high-profile suspect in investigations linked to a vast bribery scandal at state oil firm Petrobras.
"I'm returning to respond to justice, as it is my duty," Batista said in an interview on Sunday broadcast by Brazil's Globo TV, which was shot at New York's John F. Kennedy airport.
It's time "to help clean things up," the mogul said before boarding a flight for Rio de Janeiro.
Batista, 60, is alleged to have paid a $16.5 million bribe to former Rio de Janeiro state governor Sergio Cabral, who is already behind bars.
Philippines to disband police anti-drug units, but war goes on
President Rodrigo Duterte said he was embarrassed that anti-drugs officers had abused their power.
JANUARY 30, 2017 9:10 AM
The Philippines police will disband anti-drugs units following the killing of a South Korean businessmen by rogue officers, but the country’s president vowed on Sunday to forge ahead with his war on drugs until the last day of his term.
President Rodrigo Duterte said he was embarrassed that anti-drugs officers had abused their power to engage in kidnapping, leading to the killing of Jee Ick-joo, on the grounds of the national police headquarters.
Duterte said some suspects in the killing were still at large and gave them 48 hours to turn themselves in, or have a dead-or-alive bounty on their heads of 5 million pesos (US$100,000), for which he would prefer them dead.
Is there a credible Islamist threat in Latin America?
Some observers and policymakers suggest there is, but a cold look at the facts suggests fears may be overblown. Whatever the case, a nuanced approach to diplomacy will be required to build partnerships capable of thwarting any terrorist ambitions.
There is an Islamist threat in the hemisphere. But if it dominates the thinking of policymakers to excess, there is the risk of alienating our partners in the region and making it more difficult to secure the sort of cooperation we need to keep US citizens safe.
Individuals from Caribbean countries have left to join Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq, raising the real risk that they will return as rogue terrorists, much like those that have been behind a number of attacks on civilians in Europe. There were the 1992 and 1994 alleged Hezbollah-Iran linked bombings in Argentina against the Israeli embassy and the Israeli Mutual Aid Society (AMIA). There was the recent arrest and now sentencing of the Hezbollah member Mohammed Hamdar in Peru for quite likely scoping out the country for potential targets. And there is the troubling series of allegations that the recently promoted Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami had and may maintain ties with Hezbollah.
Fuel debris possibly found below No. 2 reactor at Fukushima nuclear plant: NHK
REUTERS
Tokyo Electric Power Co. has found possible nuclear fuel debris below the No. 2 reactor at Fukushima No. 1 power plant which was hit by meltdowns after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, public broadcaster NHK reported Monday.
Tepco detected a black lump directly below the reactor during an inspection by camera Monday morning but cannot yet confirm what it is, a spokesman said.
The spokesman said Tepco is investigating and will announce its assessment at a regularly scheduled news conference on Monday evening.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Reporting the rise of Europe's populist parties
The challenges of covering the rise of the far right in Europe, plus, how Israel polices Palestinian voices online.
On The Listening Post this week: The challenges of covering the rise of the far right in Europe.
Set for a series of national elections in 2017, leaders of Europe's far-right parties convened in the German city of Koblenz. But with these politicians thriving on their anti-establishment credentials and their dislike of the mainstream media, journalists face a conundrum on how to cover the rise of the right.
Contributors: Matthew Karnitschnig, Europe correspondent, Politico; Yardena Schwarz, journalist; Andre Haller, Institute for Communication Science, Bamberg University; Frank Uberall, president, German Federation of Journalists.
Six In The Morning Sunday January 29
Trump executive order: US judge temporarily halts deportations
A US judge has issued a temporary halt to the deportation of visa holders or refugees stranded at airports following President Trump's executive order.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a case in response to the order issued on Friday.
The group estimates that between 100 and 200 people are being detained at airports or in transit.
Thousands of people have been protesting at US airports over Mr Trump's clampdown on immigration.
His executive order halted the entire US refugee programme and also instituted a 90-day travel ban for nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
EU demands China investigate torture of lawyer and release political prisoners
Rare statement cites China’s own laws that prohibit torture in condemnation of mistreatment of detained rights lawyer Xie Yang and others
China must investigate a harrowing account of torture by a detained lawyer and release several political prisoners, the European Union has demanded in a rare statement amid a deteriorating human rights situation under president Xi Jinping.
Detained rights lawyer Xie Yang detailed his treatment in detention last week, where he was allegedly beaten, forced into stress positions, denied medical care and deprived food, drink and sleep by police. Interrogators threatened him repeatedly, allegedly saying: “We’ll torture you to death just like an ant”.
Separate reports have said two other civil rights attorneys, Li Heping and Wang Quanzhang, have also been tortured while in custody.
Islamist factions in Syria join forces with al Qaeda affiliate
Several Islamist factions in Syria have announced the formation of a new rebel group. The move comes amid infighting between hard-line and moderate rebels.
Rebel forces announced on Saturday the formation of Tahrir al-Sham ("Liberation of the Levant Committee") amid ongoing fighting in northwestern Syria.
"In view of the plots shaking the Syrian revolution...we announce the dissolution of all groups mentioned below and their total merger into a new entity named 'Tahrir al-Sham,'" they said in a statement, according to AFP news agency.
The new organization is an alliance between four rebel factions and the former al-Nusra Front, a hardline militant group affiliated with al Qaeda. The announcement of its formation comes just days after other rebel factions said they were joining the group Ahrar al-Sham.
LAHORE: An antiterrorism court on Saturday acquitted for lack of evidence 115 suspects involved in torching of more than 100 houses of Christians at Joseph Colony in the Badami Bagh area following an alleged blasphemy incident in 2013.
Know more: 125 Christian houses burnt over blasphemy
A charged mob had rampaged through Joseph Colony and set on fire the houses following alleged blasphemy committed by a suspect, Sawan Masih.
Hundreds of residents were displaced following the violence.
A court had tried Masih and sentenced him to death in a verdict delivered in 2014.
Why France now bans unlimited soda refills
Five years after passing a soft drinks tax, France now forbids unlimited refills of sugary drinks.
Five years after passing a tax on soft drinks, France now officially bans unlimited refills of sugary drinks across the country.
Aiming to fight obesity, France’s new all-you-can-drink ban is the latest move amidst a growing global trend, as cities and countries try to reduce overconsumption of sweetened drinks. In the United States, however, where several cities have tried to impose soda taxes, such attempts have faced a difficult fight.
“We're definitely seeing more interest in taxing sugary sweet beverages both in the United States and around the world, as there's a growing awareness about the health consequences of overconsumption of sugary sweet beverages,” Julie Aoki, the director of healthy eating and active living at the Public Health Law Center in St. Paul, Minn., tells The Christian Science Monitor.
Donald Trump's arbitrary, cruel ban on refugees from Muslim countries sets a chilling precedent
This self-serving move may only be the beginning from the new President. If he can stop refugees from coming in, who's to say he won't also kick them out – or worse?
So Donald Trump is going to f**k them all. No excuses for such filthy words today. I’m only quoting the man whose Pentagon offices he just used to disgrace himself – and America. For it was Secretary of Defence James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis who told Iraqis in 2003 that he came “in peace’ – he even urged his Marines to be compassionate – but said of those who might dare to resist America’s illegal invasion of their country: "If you f**k with me, I’ll kill you all.”
There’s no getting round it. Call it Nazi, Fascist, racist, vicious, illiberal, immoral, cruel. More dangerously, what Trump has done is a wicked precedent. If you can stop them coming, you can chuck them out. If you can demand "extreme vetting" of Muslims from seven countries, you can also demand a "values test" for those Muslims who have already made it to the USA. Those on visas. Those with residency only. Those – if they are American citizens – with dual citizenship. Or full US citizens of Muslim origin. Or just Americans who are Muslims. Or Hispanics. Or Jews? Refugees one day. Citizens the next. Then refugees again.
Saturday, January 28, 2017
“These people couldn’t run a two-car funeral,” said Gov. Jay Inslee (D) at a press conference at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
A emergency meeting in federal court in brooklyn according to VOX.
MSNBC IS CONFIRMING:
Lawyers Emerging with hands raised high crowd outside the Court celebrating.
Seems that Stay is NATIONAL.
The federal court for the Eastern District of New York issued an emergency stay halting President Donald Trump’s executive order banning entry to the US from seven majority-Muslim countries tonight, following widespread protests at airports around the country.
The court ruled on a habeas corpus petition filed by the ACLU on behalf of two Iraqi men who were detained at JFK airport Saturday following Trump's ban. Both men, Hameed Khalid Darweesh and Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshaw have been granted entry to the United States since.
Late Night Music From Japan: Babymetal Megitsune; BABYMETAL-KARATE (live UK Download 2016)
Babymetal was the opening act for Guns N' Roses today at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama
Six In The Morning January 28
US refugee ban: Trump decried for 'stomping on' American values
Donald Trump is facing strong criticism from world leaders and aid organisations after ending his first week as president with a ban on all Syrian refugees entering the US and a halt on arrivals from a string of predominantly Muslim countries.
The president signed an executive order to stop all refugee arrivals for four months – and Syrian arrivals indefinitely – on Friday, hours after meeting the British prime minister, Theresa May, and reportedly reaffirming his commitment to Nato.
The move, which he described as “extreme vetting” intended to “keep terrorists out”, was more severe than expected. It will amount to a de facto ban on Muslims traveling to the US from parts of the Middle East and north Africa by prioritising refugee claims “on the basis of religious-based persecution”.China military official says war with US under Donald Trump 'becoming practical reality'
Sino-US relations are becoming more tense under America's new administration
War with the US under Donald Trump is “not just a slogan” and becoming a “practical reality”, a senior Chinese military official has said.
The remarks were published on the People’s Liberation Army website, apparently in response to the aggressive rhetoric towards China from America's new administration.
They communicated a view from inside the Central Military Commission, which has overall authority of China’s armed forces.
Outcry on Egyptian social media after football star Aboutrika accused of terrorism
There’s been a huge outcry among Egyptian fans of the retired footballer Mohamed Aboutrika, after a Cairo court added the sports star’s name to a list of people considered to be terrorists. Outraged fans have been taking to social media in defence of their hero in hopes of pressuring authorities to drop his name from the list.
Mohamed Aboutrika is accused of having financed the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been classified as a terrorist group by the Egyptian government since 2013.
Aboutrika, the former star of the popular Al-Ahly club, has a long history of publicly supporting this Islamist organisation. During the 2012 presidential campaign, Aboutrika announced his support for Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate. Aboutrika also denounced the July 2013 coup by Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, which ended up unseating Morsi.
Missing Pakistani activists make contact with family
Salman Haider and Ahmed Raza Naseer say they are safe as fate of three others, missing for weeks, remains unclear.
Asad Hashim
Islamabad, Pakistan - Two out of five disappeared Pakistani activists have made contact with their families assuring them that they are safe, family members told Al Jazeera, three weeks after the men first went missing.
Salman Haider and Ahmed Raza Naseer made contact via telephone call on Saturday, the family members said, without offering comment on their relatives' current whereabouts.
The disappearances prompted a series of protests by rights groups across the country, calling for the government to locate the men, or for them to be produced in a court to face formal charges if they had been detained by the state's intelligence agencies.
Brazil's prison violence may be short-lived, but the system is flawed
Brazil's prisons are regulated as much by gangs as by guards, and the recent wave of murders will likely subside as the latest dispute between rival groups dies down.
The legitimacy of the Brazilian prison system has come in for deep scrutiny following a series of violent encounters between rival gangs in the north of the country. It started on Jan. 1 when 56 inmates affiliated to the country’s largest criminal gang, São Paulo’s First Command of the Capital (PCC), were murdered at the Anísio Jobim complex in Manaus. More than 130 inmates have lost their lives this year in conflicts across a number of prisons over who controls those spaces.
The mass killings followed a number of smaller, yet equally violent, encounters between the PCC and its northern rivals in October 2016, when another 21 prisoners died.
North Korea appears to have restarted plutonium reactor: think tank
By David Brunnstrom,Reuters
New commercial satellite imagery indicates North Korea has resumed operation of a reactor at its main nuclear site used to produce plutonium for its nuclear weapons program, a U.S. think tank said on Friday.
Washington's 38 North North Korea monitoring project said previous analysis from Jan. 18 showed signs that North Korea was preparing to restart the reactor at Yongbyon, having unloaded spent fuel rods for reprocessing to produce additional plutonium for its nuclear weapons stockpile.
"Imagery from January 22 shows a water plume (most probably warm) originating from the cooling water outlet of the reactor, an indication that the reactor is very likely operating," it said in a report.
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