Report: C. African Republic Muslims forced to convert

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Muslims in the western part of Central African Republic are being forced to hide their religion or convert to Christianity under threat of death, Amnesty International said Friday.

Central African Republic has been rocked by violence since the mostly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition toppled the longtime president in 2013.

Widespread human rights abuses committed by Seleka led to the formation of a Christian militia known as the anti-Balaka, who have targeted Muslims and sent tens of thousands fleeing to neighboring countries.

Muslims told Amnesty International they've been forced to convert or hide practices.

"We had no choice but to join the Catholic Church. The anti-balaka swore they'd kill us if we didn't," said a 23-year-old man in the Sangha-Mbaere prefecture, whose name was not given to protect his security.

A Muslim trader said it was effectively illegal to pray.

"We have to hide, do it quickly, and do it by ourselves," he said.

Amnesty International said the bans are happening outside areas under the protection of United Nations peacekeepers and renewed efforts must be made to protect Muslims under threat and bring back those who have fled.

"Many of the tens of thousands of Muslim refugees who were expelled from the country in 2014 would one day like to return home, but are waiting until they can do so in a safe and sustainable manner," the report said.

A transitional government was put into place in January 2014. Presidential and legislative elections are slated for Oct. 18.

Obama Has 'Shocking Sympathy to Radical Islam'

This man, whatever his real name and true intentions, is an American disaster… #WakeUpAmerica #tcot #PJNET pic.twitter.com/jZmcRbPHBc

— Carmine Zozzora (@CarmineZozzora) July 31, 2015

(Newsmax) President Barack Obama has "a painful, unpleasant, shocking sympathy to radical Islam," Morton Klein, president of Zionist Organization of America and former economist for Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, tells Newsmax TV.

"This is a man who refuses to use the term Islamic terrorism, a man who refused to go to the Paris march to fight against Islamic terrorism, a man who fought to get rid of [Hosni] Mubarak in Egypt, an ally," Klein said Thursday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."

"[With] Guantanamo, he's released dozens of extremely high risk terrorists, virtually for nothing and when the Palestine Authority joined with Hamas, [he] said nothing and kept giving money to the Palestine Authority.

"This is painful to say … the evidence requires me to believe that he has a painful, unpleasant, shocking sympathy to radical Islam."

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Illegal alien Juan Emmanuel Razo accused of murder waiting for green card

Juan Emmanuel Razo

Border Patrol refused to take Razo into custody on July 7 as an illegal immigrant.

PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- The man accused of killing a woman and shooting another woman Monday is an illegal immigrant who was stopped by sheriff's deputies three weeks ago but released the same night, reports show.

Channel 3 News has obtained a three-page report from Lake County Sheriff's deputies which detail their July 7 encounter with Juan Emmanuel Razo.

According to the report, Razo, 35, admitted being in the country illegally. However, U.S. Border Patrol officials declined to take custody of Razo, the report shows.

On Monday, Razo was firing his gun along the Lake Metroparks Greenway Corridor trail, police said.

He appeared in Painesville Municipal Court Tuesday afternoon. He is accused of shooting and killing Peggy Kostelnick, 60, of Painesville. He is also accused of shooting another woman in the arm

Deputies also accused Razo of attempting to rape a 14-year-old girl in Concord.

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Obama friend Rep. Chaka Fattah (D) indicted on multiple corruption and racketeering charges

On July 14th...

@vj44 on Air Force One with @POTUS on another history shaping day in the life of the world. pic.twitter.com/Ek3kSHyDgE

— Chaka Fattah (@chakafattah) July 14, 2015

On July 29th...

(NBC) A longtime Philadelphia congressman was indicted Wednesday in a racketeering case stemming from the alleged misappropriation of hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal, charitable and campaign funds after his failed 2007 run for mayor.

Democratic Rep. Chaka Fattah, 58, and four associates were charged with bribery; conspiracy to commit wire, honest services, bank and mail fraud; money laundering and other charges. The others charged include Fattah's congressional district director, Bonnie Bowser, and Palm Beach, Florida, lobbyist Herbert Vederman.

Fattah has been the subject of a long-running federal investigation.

Prosecutors said the charges covered several schemes, including the use of federal grants and charitable contributions to Fattah's educational foundation to pay back part of a $1 million loan from a wealthy campaign supporter and arranging a federal grant in lieu of a $130,000 payment to a political consultant.

"The public does not expect their elected officials to misuse campaign funds, misappropriate government funds, accept bribes or commit bank fraud," U.S. Attorney Zane Memeger said. "These type of criminal acts betray the public trust and undermine faith in government."

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Palestinian girl whom Merkel caused to cry wants to abolish Israel

BERLIN (JPost) - Reem Sahwil, the 14-year-old Palestinian girl living in north-east Germany, who garnered world media attention because Chancellor Angela Merkel made her cry, called for Israel’s abolishment this week.

In an interview with newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag, responding to the reporter’s question of “What is Palestine?” Sahwil said, “My hope is that at some time, [Israel] is no longer there, rather only Palestine.”

She added that “the land should no longer be called Israel, but Palestine.”

The reporter said the interview was becoming difficult and asked her, “Do you know... that Israel and Germany have a special history? That we stand up for the country, that we do not allow Jew-hatred?” Sahwil answered, “Yes, there is freedom of speech. Here I am allowed to say that. I am prepared to discuss everything.”

In a meeting with Merkel earlier this month at an event in the northern city of Rostock, Sahwil – a refugee seeking asylum status – broke down in tears after the chancellor said, “If we say [to refugees], ‘You can all come,’ and, ‘You can all come from Africa’... we just can’t manage that.”

Merkel – who intervened at that point to stroke the girl’s hair – was later ridiculed on social media for her blunt talk and her posture toward Sahwil. The video exchange between the two of them went viral.

When asked in this week’s interview if Germany was her home, Sahwil – who was born in a Lebanon refugee camp – replied, “No. My home is Palestine.... I will live there at some point.”

However, The New York Times quoted her as saying she would like to “study and live permanently” in Germany. The Global Post also reported that she did not want to leave Germany.

Sahwil has lived in Germany for five years and is a fluent German speaker. She wants to become a translator to help immigrants with language problems. The Times report said Sahwil’s family had come to Germany for economic reasons.

Other family members live in the Wavel Camp in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

Syrian army says Israeli planes strike pro-Syrian Palestinian militia

BEIRUT (Reuters) - An Israeli plane attacked a military base along the Syrian-Lebanese border on Wednesday belonging to a pro-Syrian Palestinian faction, wounding six people, Syrian state television said.

In a newsflash, state television quoted a military source as saying Israeli planes had at 3:15 p.m. (1215 GMT) struck a base belonging to the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), a faction that backs President Bashar al-Assad.

Asked about the reported strike, an Israeli military spokeswoman in Jerusalem declined comment.

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ICC won't reopen Gaza flotilla case

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has rejected a panel of judges’ request to reconsider her decision not to investigate war crimes allegations in the Mavi Marmara flotilla case.

The office of Fatou Bensouda has appealed to the ICC appeals court regarding its decision on July 16 to order her by a vote of 2-1 to reconsider the decision to close the case “as soon as possible,” the Israeli media reported Monday evening.

In the appeal, Bensouda said the judges did not consider “the unique context of violent resistance aboard the Mavi Marmara,” Israel’s i24 news reported. The ship was trying to evade Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Last November, Bensouda closed a preliminary investigation into the incident in which nine Turkish passengers, including one U.S. citizen, were killed in clashes with Israeli commandos who had boarded the Mavi Marmara. She said at the time that any cases relating to Israel’s boarding of the ship “would not be of sufficient gravity to justify further action by the ICC.”

The judges said earlier this month that the prosecutor made “material errors in her determination of the gravity” of the case. The panel was responding to a request by the Comoros Islands, an ICC member, to investigate the May 2010 incident. The ship was registered to the Comoros.

Gen. Dempsey on Iran deal: "We have a range of options and I always present them", never told Obama it's either deal or war

(NRO) President Obama’s claim that Congress must either back his deal with Iran or plan for war does not square with the advice he has received from his top general, Senate lawmakers learned on Wednesday.

Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, never presented Obama with such a binary choice. “At no time did that come up in our conversation nor did I make that comment,” Dempsey told Senator Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) during a Senate hearing on the Iran deal. “I can tell you that we have a range of options and I always present them.”

Secretary of State John Kerry insisted that Obama was not misrepresenting the situation. “It’s not a choice the president wants to make, but it’s the inevitable consequence of them moving to assert what they believe is their right in the furtherance of their program,” he said.

Dempsey also acknowledged that he advised the president not to agree to the lifting of sanctions pertaining to Iran’s ballistic missile program and other arms. “Yes, and I used the phrase ‘as long as possible’ and then that was the point at which the negotiation continued — but yes, that was my military advice,” he told Senator Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.). In the event the new deal goes into effect, the arms embargoes will expire over the next several years.

Citing chapter and verse of the deal, Ayotte pointed out that the “plain language” of the bargain requires the United States “to help strengthen Iran’s ability to protect against sabotage of its nuclear program” — even to the point of warning Iran if Israel tries to launch cyberattacks against the program.

Dempsey seemed caught off guard when asked about that provision. “I hadn’t thought about that, senator, and I would like to have the opportunity to do so,” he told Ayotte.

That exchange came shortly after Dempsey and other administration officials acknowledged a concern that Iran could launch cyberattacks against the United States and even the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is tasked with key oversight of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program under terms of the deal.

“It’s not just Iran, but it’s others as well, but that’s why we’re trying to make investments in that area and pull up our socks in the cyber area, but I can’t reassure you on the cyber front,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter told Ernst.

The New York Times has always been dead wrong on nuclear deals with rogue nations, among many other things

July 14, 2015:

The final deal with Iran announced by the United States and other major world powers does what no amount of political posturing and vague threats of military action had managed to do before. It puts strong, verifiable limits on Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon for at least the next 10 to 15 years and is potentially one of the most consequential accords in recent diplomatic history, with the ability not just to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon but also to reshape Middle East politics.

[7 paragraphs of bullshit omitted]

Agreeing on the nuclear deal is just the first step. Congress gets to review and vote on it. Powerful forces, like Mr. Netanyahu, have vowed to defeat it, and Mr. Obama may have to make good on his vow to veto any resolution of disapproval. It would be irresponsible to squander this chance to rein in Iran’s nuclear program.

Flashback to November 21, 1993:

Nervous commentators fear that North Korea is about to develop nuclear weapons, leading them to urge immediate sanctions or even bombing raids to take out the regime's nuclear facilities. But President Clinton is adopting a sound diplomatic strategy for coaxing North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions.

[8 paragraphs of bullshit omitted]

That's why Mr. Clinton is rightly resisting pressure to get tough with Pyongyang. Instead, he's taking a calculated political risk that the North means what it says. But Pyongyang should not be under any illusion: if it continues to balk, tougher measures are sure to follow.

Hezbollah Child-Killer Samir Kuntar 'Killed in Syria Airstrike'

Samir Kuntar greeted by Hezbollah, Syrian officials upon his release

(INN) Reports are coming out that Israel targeted and killed the notorious child murderer Samir Kuntar today (Wednesday).

According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Israel Air Force struck a vehicle carrying five fighters loyal to dictator Bashar al-Assad. Three of the passengers were from the Syrian People's Committees, while Kuntar and the fifth person belonged to Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.

Kuntar was born in Lebanon to a Druze family. In 1978 he and three other terrorists from the now-defunct Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) snuck into Israel by boat and attempted to kidnap the Haran family from their home in Nahariya. The wife managed to hide in a crawlspace with the two-year-old daughter, but the husband and four-year-old were taken.

Kuntar and his associates took their hostages to the nearby beach, where Israeli soldiers and police officers encountered them. According to the official account, Kuntar shot the father in the back, then beat the daughter to death.

Back at the house, the wife accidentally smothered the younger daughter to death while trying to prevent her from crying out and giving away their hiding spot.

At the time of the attack, current Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was in charge of the PLF.

Kuntar served 29 years in prison before being released in exchange for the bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in 2008.

After his release, Kuntar returned to a hero's welcome in Lebanon. The President, Prime Minister, and Speaker of the Parliament greeted him as he stepped off the plane. Several months later Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad presented Kuntar with the Syrian Order of Merit.

Kuntar has given a number of interviews since his release, and frequently spoke of his desire to kill more Israeli civilians.

Iraqi Politician: Iraq Should Open Embassy in Israel

Mithal Al-Alusi

(INN) An Iraqi politician has called for his country to make peace with Israel, while branding Iran "insane" and blaming the Arab and Muslim world for creating ISIS by fomenting "a mentality of vengeance and nullification of the other."

Mithal Al-Alusi, a Sunni Muslim and leader of the Iraqi Ummah Party, made his comments in an interview with the Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai earlier this month.

In the wide-ranging interview, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Al-Alusi - who has visited Israel several times in the past - said he dreamed of Iraq opening an embassy in Israel.

"Yes. Israel is a state and I support peace with it," he said, when asked if he supported "normalization" with the Jewish state.

"I want to see an [Iraqi] embassy [in Israel] and the Iraqi flag flying atop it. This is in our interest. I do not want to tie our interests [solely] to Abu Mazen," he added, referring to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas.

In contrast, Al-Alusi had some sharp words for Iran, whose Shia Islamist leadership has wielded an increasingly strong influence over Iraqi politics over the past several years.

"It is the most insane actor, which gambles with the lives of its sons, its people, and its history in order to [realize] the Iranian leaders' false vision," he said.

"It is inconceivable that Iran will control the region someday, and it does not have the power to do so," he insisted.

[...]

He also rejected out of hand conspiracy theories harbored by many Muslims that ISIS is a creation of Israel or the western state to make Islam "look bad."

"It is our creation, not a Western or European or Crusader or Jewish or Israeli creation. It is a creation of the Arabs and Muslims, because we have failed to protect our society and have allowed these extremist views –to exist]," he said.

#ClintonGate: Reported two-month gap in Clinton emails coincides with escalating Libya violence

(Fox News) A reported two-month gap in emails from Hillary Clinton's private account during 2012 coincides with a period of escalating violence in Libya and the obtaining of a special exemption by her top aide, Huma Abedin, to work for both the State Department and the Clinton Foundation.

The Daily Beast reported late Tuesday that no emails between Clinton and her State Department staff for the months of May and June 2012 are among the estimated 2,000 messages that have been released from the Democratic presidential frontrunner's account.

A State Department spokesman told The Daily Beast that only emails related to the security of U.S. diplomats in Libya or the consulate in Benghazi were turned over to the House select committee investigating the deadly Sept. 11, 2012 attack. If true, that means neither Clinton nor her staff communicated via e-mail during a period that saw three attacks on international outposts in Benghazi, including one on the consulate itself.

That attack, on June 6, 2012, involved the detonation of an improvised explosive device outside of the consulate, prompting the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli to warn Americans about the "fluid security situation in Libya." Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was killed along with three others in the Sept. 11 attack, warned his superiors that "Islamic extremism appears to be on the rise in eastern Libya."

Two weeks earlier, on May 22, the International Red Cross office was hit by rocket-propelled grenades. Five days after the consulate bombing, a convoy carrying Britain's ambassador to Libya was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades, injuring two bodyguards.

The State Department plans to release Clinton's emails on a regular, monthly basis through January 2016 to comply with an order by a federal judge. The next release is tentatively scheduled for Friday. Clinton campaign spokesman Nick Merrill released a statement saying "More emails are slated to be released by the State Department next week, and we hope that release is as inclusive as possible

The Daily Beast reports that the Benghazi committee has only received one e-mail dating from the two-month period. The message in question was sent in June 2012 by longtime Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal and dealt mainly with his business interests in Libya. Security threats to the U.S. diplomatic presence were not mentioned.

Another issue raised by the e-mail gap is the status of Abedin, a longtime aide to Clinton and the wife of former New York congressman and mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner. The Daily Beast reports that on June 3, Abedin was granted "special government employee" status, allowing her to remain employed by the State Department, the Clinton Foundation, a consulting firm founded by a Clinton ally, and by Hillary herself. The "special government employee" designation prevented Abedin from being subject to some ethics rules.

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Obama DHS: Calling Islamic Terrorism 'Islamic' Offends Muslims

DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson

(IBD) After a Muslim terrorist gunned down unarmed Marines in Tennessee, the head of Homeland Security revealed a policy to downplay any Islamic role in such terror. The feds are now blindfolding each other on the threat.

Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson refuses to call Islamic terror "Islamic," arguing it's "critical" to refrain from the label in order to "build trust" among Muslims.

In jaw-dropping remarks Friday at Aspen Institute's annual security forum, Johnson said the government will call such attacks "violent extremism" over "Islamic terrorism" out of respect for the Muslim community.

The policy explains why the U.S. prosecutor and lead FBI investigator in the Chattanooga case still insist on calling Mohammad Abdulazeez a "homegrown violent extremist," though he blogged about his religious motivations for the attack, and he and his family attended a local mosque controlled by a terror-tied Islamic trust.

Johnson says that dismissing the religious dimension of the widening homegrown Islamic terror threat is part of a strategy to gain the "cooperation" of the Muslim community. He says that if officials called Islamic terrorism "Islamic," they'd "get nowhere."

Even the moderator was dumbfounded: "Isn't government denying the fundamental religious component of this kind of extremism by not using the word Islamic?" "I could not disagree more," Johnson retorted, arguing that Islam "is about peace."

Earth to Johnson: You already are "nowhere." The FBI director warns that he can't keep up with all the homegrown Muslim terrorism cases cropping up now in all 50 states. Chattanooga is just the latest tragic example of the FBI and DHS missing plots in the pipeline.

More...

Florida Man - Harlem Suarez, also known as Almlak Benitez - Charged with Attempting to Use Weapon of Mass Destruction

FBI: FL man bought components for bomb, which would contain galvanized nails, be concealed in a backpack and be remotely detonated.

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) July 28, 2015

WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) - A Florida resident has been charged in an alleged backpack bomb plot he planned to carry out in the United States, the Department of Justice said on Tuesday.

Harlem Suarez, also known as Almlak Benitez, 23, of Key West, Florida, was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, the department said.

Prosecutors allege that he was inspired by the Islamic State militant group.

Oh, hey... he's an ISIS supporter:

Harlem Suarez, a 23-year-old man of Key West in Florida, has been arrested and charged in connection with an alleged plot to detonate a bomb at a public beach on the island, the U.S. Justice Department says. Suarez has been charged in a criminal complaint with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against a person or property within the United States.

ISIS supporter sends greetings to the group from Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque

BREAKING NEWS: Jonathan Pollard has been granted parole and will be released in November. Via @PzFeed

— Israel News Feed (@IsraelHatzolah) July 28, 2015

Obama Knows Iran will Use its Nukes on Israel

(INN) At first, Obama said we couldn’t talk about his Iranian Nuke Deal unless it was finalized. Then, Obama said we couldn’t talk about his Iranian Nuke Deal unless we read it all - and simply didn’t disclose all of his side-deals. Now, he says Mike Huckabee’s comparison of shipping the Jews of Israel to the new ovens of the Iranian Auschwitz-Nuke is “ridiculous.”

Perhaps Obama wants to wait until Iran nukes Israel for it to be politically correct to call Iran’s wiping Israel off the map a “Holocaust.” But, make no mistake, Obama knows full well that Iran intends to wipe Israel off the map with its Obama-blessed Nukes.

Come on, does anyone (except the American left-wing cool-aid drinking Jews) really believe that Iran will abide by their “voluntary” protocols under the Vienna announcement? Of course not! Are Obama or any of the European Union leaders so rank stupid and naïve that they think Iran won’t build a bomb just like North Korea? Does anyone not know that one of Iran’s first targets will be to annihilate Israel?

Of course Obama knows Iran will seek to annihilate Israel, so that must be what Obama wants.

Obviously, Obama doesn’t care if he enables the murder of another 6 million Jews through a Palestinian State’s chemical Sarin-tipped Katyusha rockets, or an Iranian Nuke. It’s simple: Obama wants Israel and its Jews offed. What is so difficult to understand about that? Every move Obama has made from the very first moment of his presidency has been to irreparably harm Israel and Saudi Arabia, and irrevocably empower Iran. It doesn’t matter what Obama’s specific motivation is. Obama may believe in Farrakhan’s and Rev. Wright’s virulent Chicago anti-Semitism; Obama may be merely steeped in anti-British anti-Colonialism; or both. All that matters is Obama is acting in ways that will allow others to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. If Obama walks like a Jew-hater, arms Iran like a Jew-hater, and creates a PA "West Bank" State like a Jew-hater, he’s a Jew-hater.

But, now here come the American Leftist Jewish “Holocaust” speech-police like Debbie Wasserman-Schulz who say one isn’t allowed to invoke the “Holocaust” or “Auschwitz” into a political debate when it is Iran’s highest leaders who have repeatedly, openly, and notoriously injected into the political debate that they intend to wipe Israel off the map. And, in plain sight, Obama is crowning Iran, the greatest openly Holocaust-threatening, terror-state in the world, the nuclear hegemon-state of the Middle East because Iran is “stable.” I guess Obama forgot he helped quash a popular uprising there as his first foreign policy debacle.

And, let’s also not forget that Iran’s “stability” in Syria has murdered over 250,000 Syrian Sunnis. The Hiroshima “Little Boy” Uranium Gun-type Nuke killed about 150,000 Japanese, and the Nagasaki “Fat Man” Plutonium Implosion Nuke killed about 40,000 Japanese. So, Iran has already killed 2 Hiroshima’s worth of Syrian Sunnis or 6 Nagasaki’s worth of Syrian Sunnis. So, the 150 Billion Dollars Obama is giving Iran is actually a weapon of mass destruction in itself. All of the additional hundreds of thousands of dead Sunnis spilt by Iran’s malign use of the 150 Billion dollars is on the hands of Obama, Susan Rice, John Kerry and Samantha Power.

What Is so loathsome, is that every word, every sentence Obama says is a lie tainted with a patina of truth, Take for example Obama’s statement that Iran had enough enriched Uranium for 10 nukes, but it will be cut down under the supposed deal. When exactly did Iran enrich 10 nukes worth of Uranium? Iran enriched the uranium solely in the last 6 years because the CIA’s published declassified number had virtually zero enriched Uranium when Obama became President. And, Iran’s method to cut down its enrichment is a chemical process that can easily be reversed by a chemical process.

And you have to love Obama’s “If Iran’s ‘stable’ give them nukes” foreign policy. Under Obama’s “Stability” theory, Obama would have also armed Hitler with an arsenal of nukes because Hitler’s Nazi Germany was very stable.

In short, Obama knows full well that Iran is building an Auschwitz-Nuke that it wants to use to annihilate Israel; and, Obama is doing everything he can to ensure that it can do so.

Don’t let Jew-haters like Obama and Wasserman-Schultz turn “Never again,” into “Too Late.”

Kerry announces Mideast trip, skipping Israel

The trip takes place in the aftermath of the deal with Iran that puts Israel in grave danger, so, naturally, Israel is the one country that is being skipped.

(Times of Israel) US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday announced a trip to the Mideast next week and then Asia, including a stop in Vietnam. Kerry, however, will not visit Israel.

The top US diplomat starts off in Cairo, for the US-Egypt Strategic Dialogue on Sunday.

He then goes to Doha, Qatar, to meet with foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.

Kerry will also travel to the Southeast Asian city state of Singapore, where he will deliver a speech on US trade and investment.

The secretary will be traveling in the aftermath of the deal signed by the P5+1 powers with Iran two weeks ago, aimed at curbing its nuclear program. The deal is bitterly opposed by the Israeli government as paving the Iranian path to the bomb and giving the regime in Tehran tens of billions in sanctions relief.

Kerry has accused Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of going “way over the top” in his criticisms. Netanyahu is bidding to persuade Congress to reject the deal with enough votes to overcome a presidential veto.

The Zionist Union opposition said Monday that Kerry’s decision to skip Israel on a Middle East trip proved that Netanyahu’s handling of the US-Israel relationship “is not strengthening Israel’s security.” Netanyahu’s approach, it said, is “prompting the Americans to seek new allies in our region.”

Iran's Zarif: Obama is wrong, "this agreement puts the Zionist regime in an irrecoverable danger"

Zarif: "This agreement puts the Zionist regime in an irrecoverable danger." http://t.co/grBxj4bbtb

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) July 27, 2015

Both Iran and Israel say the Iran deal is a grave threat to Israel. Obama says don't worry. Who to believe? https://t.co/MBKAJEmZ4w

— Noah Pollak (@NoahPollak) July 27, 2015

Obama has lashed out at Huckabee for the latter's comments about this deal being analogous to marching Jews to the ovens... and Zarif makes Obama look like a jackass.

Report: Israel could send Iran ‘back to the stone age’ with electromagnetic bomb

(Times of Israel) Israel could destroy Iran’s electric network with a specially designed electromagnetic bomb in the event of a military conflict between the countries, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday.

An electromagnetic bomb of this sort would be detonated above the ground, creating an electromagnetic pulse that would “disrupt all the technological devices working on the ground,” an American expert was quoted as saying to the London paper.

The use of the new technology by Israel was brought up in discussions regarding a possible attack on Tehran’s nuclear facilities, the report claimed. Such a move would send Iran “back to the stone age,” the British paper said.

This kind of bomb would operate based on the nonlethal technology of gamma rays, the report explained. The outburst of energy would “fry” electric devices and currents around the source of the explosion.

Shebab gunmen kill Somali lawmaker and his guards, right after Obama said the Al-Qaeda affiliated group had been "weakened"

Every time he says something...

Mogadishu (AFP) - Somalia's Shebab insurgents assassinated a lawmaker and his guards, the president said, hours after US President Barack Obama said the Al-Qaeda affiliated militants had been "weakened".

Gunmen sprayed the car of MP Abdulahi Hussein Mohamud with gunfire as he travelled through a southern district of the capital Mogadishu earlier Saturday, killing him, his two guards and the driver.

President Hassan Sheik Mohamud said he was "devastated" at the attack, the latest in a string of murders of Somalia's lawmakers.

"The lawmaker was martyred while serving the nation, but such killings will not deter us from going forward," Mohamud told reporters.

The Shebab said in a statement that their "mujahedeen fighters targeted and killed a member of the parliament and his guards", adding that they "will continue targeting" lawmakers.

More...

Islamic State detonates suicide bombs in Syrian town near Turkish border

Islamic State detonates suicide bombs in Syrian town near Turkish border http://t.co/ZsK1YJEfWy

— Reuters World (@ReutersWorld) July 25, 2015

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State militants on Saturday detonated explosive laden trucks in two villages near the Kurdish-controlled Syrian border town of Tel Abyad, with reports of casualties, a monitor that tracks the war said.

The UK-based Observatory for Human Rights said the attacks targeted Kurdish YPG checkpoints in two mainly Arab inhabited villages on the south eastern edge of the town.

Tel Abyad, in a strategic location on the border with Turkey, was taken last month by Kurdish forces from ultra-hardline jihadists in an advance backed by US led air strikes.

Saudi-led warplanes hit Yemen's Taiz, killing 80 civilians

SANAA (Reuters) - The death toll from Saturday's Saudi-led airstrike on the central Yemeni city of Taiz rose to 80 people with at least 150 people injured, local medical sources said.

The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency earlier on Saturday reported the strike on Taiz had killed 55 people but said the casualty figure was expected to rise.

A coalition of Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia, has been bombarding Iran-allied Houthi forces in Yemen since late March in a bid to reinstate President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Riyadh.

The Saba agency had quoted a local source in Taiz as saying that the bombing early on Saturday morning had targeted the Mokha area inhabited mostly by engineers and workers of a power station and some displaced families.

More...

Two former Guantanamo detainees arrested in Belgium on terror charges

Official: Two former Guantanamo detainees arrested in Belgium in counterterrorism operation. http://t.co/qukYVjPmz8

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) July 24, 2015

Well, that's a shocker.

(CNN) - Two former detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba were arrested by Belgian police in a counterterrorism operation targeting a recruiting network for al Qaeda in Syria.

They were arrested Wednesday night along with three others as they were about to break into a house to raise funds in the town of Hoboken, near Antwerp, a senior Belgian counterterrorism official told CNN.

"We have dismantled a serious recruiting network for Syria," the official told CNN.

One of the former Guantanamo Bay detainees was Moussa Zemmouri, 37, a Moroccan national born in Antwerp, Belgian federal prosecutors announced Friday. The other was an Algerian identified as Soufiane A., who prosecutors believe spent time in Syria.

Both have been charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group and all five have been charged with attempted armed robbery.

Zemmouri was released from Guantanamo in 2005 and authored a book "Innocent at Guantanamo" after returning to Belgium. His case was featured prominently by the UK Muslim prisoner advocacy group CAGE, which has long maintained that he has no links to terrorism.

According to a 2003 detainee assessment file posted by the WikiLeaks website, Zemmouri was transferred to U.S. custody after he was detained by Pakistani police when fleeing Afghanistan after the beginning of the U.S. bombing campaign in autumn 2001.

The document alleged he had trained in the al Qaeda-sponsored Derunta training camp in Khost, Afghanistan. It said "sensitive reporting also indicates that detainee is a high-ranking member of the Theological Commission of the Moroccan Islamic Fighting Group (MIFG)."

According to the Belgian official, Zemmouri was put under observation after his return to Belgium. Belgian security services suspect he provided theological encouragement to several former members of the al Qaeda affiliated MIFG who left to fight jihad in Syria after they completed prison sentences in Belgian jails.

The official said there was no indication the group was plotting an attack in Belgium.

Efforts to immediately reach an attorney for Zemmouri were unsuccessful.

Belgian officials know of the identity of more than 300 extremists who have traveled from Belgium to join jihadi groups in Syria.

VIDEO: Iranian Negotiator Discusses Nuclear Deal

John Kerry is a headcase

From the New York Post:

[...] Secretary of State John Kerry. He might have been president but for the fact that he fell away from the American cause in Vietnam — in which he had served for four months — and, in 1971, testified before the Senate against his fellow GIs.

His presidential campaign ignited an election-year uprising by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who deemed him “unfit for command.” Now Kerry is suggesting that the Iran nuclear deal is the culmination of what he learned in Vietnam.

This occurred in an under-reported episode after the Iran pact was signed in Vienna. In the final session, according to CNSNews.com quoting state undersecretary Wendy Sherman, the ministers spoke of what the pact meant to them.

Sherman found it moving, particularly when Kerry spoke about Vietnam. “When I was 22, I went to war,” Kerry said, before choking up. “He couldn’t get the words out,” Sherman said. “And everybody was completely spellbound.”

“I went to war,” Kerry finally continued, “and it became clear to me that I never wanted to go to war again. That’s what this was all about. Trying to settle these matters through diplomacy and peaceful means.” Sherman called it “such a moving moment that everybody in that small room applauded — including the Iranian delegation.”

The headcase starts crying in front of the Iranian delegation that he "never wanted to go to war again"...

So he votes for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 based on suspected WMD, and then delivers WMD of the worst type to Iran after a decade, as a means to avoid war...

Throw him into a psych ward and throw away the key.

'Widespread death' and 'unprecedented destruction' as battle near Syria-Lebanon border intensifies

(i24news) The United Nations envoy for Syria said government air strikes had caused widespread death and destruction in the city of Zabadani, the focus of an offensive by the army and its Hezbollah allies to retake the area from insurgents.

Staffan de Mistura, citing local sources, said the Syrian military had dropped a large number of barrel bombs on Zabadani "causing unprecedented levels of destruction and many deaths among the civilian population."

Control of the city, about 45 km northwest of the capital Damascus and about 10 km from the border with Lebanon, is seen as crucial to consolidating President Bashar Assad's control over the border zone between Lebanon and Syria.

Fierce clashes continued overnight in the Zabadani area, with heavy aerial bombardments in and around the city and reports of casualties on both sides, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said on Wednesday. It gave no detailed figures.

Syrian state television said the army had destroyed a 70 meter-long (77 yards) tunnel used by the insurgents to transport equipment into Zabadani.

The Syrian air force has been bombarding areas in and around the city and Sunni insurgents have retaliated by firing rockets and mortar bombs on two villages near Idlib city in the north, the UN envoy de Mistura said.

An alliance of insurgents known as the "Army of Fatah" (Islamic Conquest) had targeted Al Foua and Kefraya, northern villages where a large number of civilians are trapped, he said.

"In both cases, civilians are tragically caught in the middle of the fighting," he said.

More...

Car bomb kills 20 in Baghdad Shi'ite district

BAGDHAD (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded in a crowded marketplace in a mainly Shi'ite Muslim district of the Iraqi capital on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people, police and medical sources said.

A further 48 people were wounded by the blast in the Shurta neighborhood of southwestern Baghdad.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Sunni Islamic State militants who control large parts of northern and western Iraq often target Shi'ites whom they denounce as "rejectionists".

A massive blast that killed more than 100 people less than a week ago in the town of Khan Bani Saad was claimed by Islamic State.

Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite paramilitary groups are currently focused on the western province of Anbar, where they have been gearing up for an offensive to retake the mainly Sunni Muslim governorate - Iraq's largest.

The United Nations said earlier this month that nearly 15,000 people had been killed in the 16-month period up to April 30.

Thousands protest Iran nuke deal in Times Square

Stop funding Terrorists Barack📢Over 10,000 at #StopIranRally LIVE Blog Times Square✔️@MaydnUSA http://t.co/vVajOSR5OJ pic.twitter.com/gkeGiUHyyt

— Feisty☀️Floridian (@peddoc63) July 23, 2015

(NYP) Thousands of protesters gathered in Times Square on Wednesday evening to rally against the controversial deal to lift sanctions against Iran in exchange for limits on its nuke program that are supposed to keep it from building a bomb.

Speakers included legendary former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who said opposing the pact “is not only a strategic issue, but a moral one.”

“In in the face of Iranian threats, does this agreement make us and our allies safer? I believe it does not,” he said.

“This accord seeks merely to kick the can down the road, and for these reasons, I urge the Senate to reject it.”

Morgenthau noted that deal doesn’t require Iran to stop “sponsoring terrorism around the world.”

He also called it “particularly galling” that Iran would get access to $150 billion in frozen funds without having to pay “large judgments” won in court by the victims of terror attacks to which it’s been tied.

Republican presidential candidate and former New York Gov. George Pataki said the deal “poses a threat to our safety and security here in New York,” and said he believed President Obama had “violated his oath of office” in connection with it.

“This administration is giving hundred of billions, knowing some of it will go to crimes against humanity. How bad is that?” Pataki said.

He also said the agreement would further destabilize the Middle East and “guarantee an arms race.”

“This is a bad deal. Republicans and Democrats, remember: You’re Americans first. Stop Iran now!”

Conservative commentator Monica Crowley compared Iran to Nazi Germany by calling the Islamic state an “unapologetic denier of the Holocaust” and repeatedly invoking the phrase “Never again.”

“We must fight this deal with every bone in our bodies,” she said to cheers from the crowd at the “Stop Iran Rally.”

“Because this is a potential death sentence for the West and for Israel.”

Crowley also called out U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), calling him “cowardly” and saying it was time for him to “stand up.”

“We all know you would wall over your grandmother to be Senate leader,” Crowley said.

“Here’s your chance to lead.”

Schumer was at the Capitol in Washington D.C. for a Senate briefing by Secretary of State John Kerry, who helped broker the pact.

“I’ve read the agreement and I’m seeking answers to the many questions I have. Before I make a decision, I’m going to speak at length with experts on both sides,” Schumer said in a statement issued ahead of the protest.

Schumer emerged from the meeting around 6 p.m., telling reporters: “It’s a serious issue and I’m studying it carefully.”

He ignored a question from The Post about the 10 questions that the paper’s front page said he “must answer” about the deal.

ISIS supporters arrested in plot to attack US service members in the UK

BREAKING: ISIS supporters arrested in plot to attack U.S. service members in the UK http://t.co/rAQaxRXKM6

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) July 21, 2015

(TIME) Two men who wanted to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) have been charged with plotting an attack on American soldiers in the U.K.

Junead Ahmed Khan, 24, and his uncle, Shazib Ahmed Khan, 22, are accused of planning to attack American military bases in Mildenhall and Lakenheath, which house a combined 10,000 American personnel, according to ABC’s Jon Williams. They were also planning to travel to Syria to join ISIS, Bloomberg reports.

The pair have been held in police custody in the U.K. since their arrest on July 14. They will appear in London court.

The latest arrests are in line with Prime Minister David Cameron’s crackdown of ISIS extremists, which he outlined in a speech on Monday, warning young Britons of the pitfalls of joining the terror group. “If you are a boy, they will brainwash you, strap bombs to your body and blow you up,” he said. “If you are a girl, they will enslave and abuse you.”

Louisville, KY: 200 people evacuated from Jewish Community Center after threat received

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) --The Jewish Community Center has been evacuated because of an apparent but unconfirmed threat.

The center sent a text message to parents whose children are enrolled in summer camp there. It reads, "There is an unconfirmed threat to JCC. LMPD is doing a walk through to take every precaution. Limited access to campus. Children are out of the building."

WDRB crews on the scene at Dutchmans Lane confirm police are checking the building.

A JCC spokesperson confirms a threat was made but refused to disclose details. The center hosts several summer camp and there were many children there at the time of the threat. About 200 people were evacuated.

Dispatchers say there are no reports of any injuries.

Al-Qaeda Executes ISIS Chief 'Game of Thrones' Style

Abu-Ali al-Anbari

Wow...

(Newsmax) In an apparent attempt to beat the Islamic State at its own game of propaganda, a group in eastern Libya linked to al-Qaida has replicated HBO's popular series "Game of Thrones" by publicly humiliating and then hanging an ISIS commander to send a message to locals that sympathizing with ISIS would result in the same fate, The Daily Beast reports. [...]

The execution of the ISIS chief, an Iraqi named Abu-Ali al-Anbari, was ripped from the "Game of Thrones" script, according to two sources who spoke to The Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity and confirmed that U.S. government intelligence analysts had also seen footage of the killing.

Like the killing of character Cersei Lannister, the queen mother in the HBO series, al-Anbari was paraded naked through the streets before being taken to the gallows, where he was hanged.

More...

At least 28 people killed as ISIS suicide bomber blows himself up at a cultural centre in southern Turkey

💥 Şanlıurfa Governor says the explosion is caused by suicide bomber &raises death toll to 28 in #Suruç w 100 injured. pic.twitter.com/du5uP2tWRN

— Hasan Sari (@HasanSari7) July 20, 2015

(Daily Mail) At least 28 people have been killed in a suicide bombing at a cultural centre in the Turkish town of Suruc, close to the border with Syria.

The blast in the town - which lies opposite the Syrian flashpoint of Kobane - was described as a 'terrorist attack' by the interior ministry, who stopped short of declaring it the work of ISIS militants.

But Turkish officials speaking anonymously said an initial investigation suggests the terror group are behind the atrocity, which comes just days after Turkey made its first serious efforts to combat ISIS with a round of arrests of militants and their supporters in the country.

Several Turkish media reported fatalities and private television station NTV said scores had been killed and about 100 wounded.

More...

Selfie taken right before the ISIS bomb went off in Suruc. All in the photo are dead. READ: http://t.co/l0ajhesjKr pic.twitter.com/l67SobvXDE

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) July 21, 2015

Angry protesters in Chattanooga: When’s the government going to do something?

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Paula Proxmire was surrounded by screaming street preachers, angry protesters and unsettled mourners who had just arrived from Sunday church.

Her son, Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, 26, had died Saturday from wounds suffered in a shooting rampage here. The attacker was an aimless, depressed 24-year-old Muslim man whose online postings suggest he may have been motivated by radical Islamist movements.

Proxmire stood across from the bullet-riddled Armed Forces Recruiting Center, one of two military sites attacked by the gunman last week. She brushed back a strand of sweat-soaked hair and sobbed. Her son had been dead for barely one day. Around her people were screaming.

“I can’t believe these people even come here to this country!” one woman yelled. “Why do they come here?”

“Because they want to kill us,” a man answered.

The television cameras edged closer to get a tight shot of Proxmire’s tears. The agitated crowd, many of them carrying holstered pistols, wanted to know why the Obama administration and the military weren’t doing more to kill Islamist extremists in Iraq, Syria or wherever they might be. They were furious at a U.S. military policy, enacted during the Clinton administration, that prevents recruiters from carrying firearms while on duty.

“How many more mothers have to go through this before we finally do something about it?” yelled Darrell Gibbs, 55, pastor at Highways and Hedges Ministries. “How many mothers have to suffer like this, having cameras shoved down their throats?”

More...

Zimbabwe May Start Letting Some White People Own Land Again

(MRCTV) Fifteen years after the Zimbabwe government began seizing the land of white farmers in a sweeping land reform effort, the government may now start letting certain white farmers stay on their land.

The Telegraph reports the Zanu-PF Lands Minister, Douglas Mombeshora, said local leaders have been asked to compile a list of white farmers the leaders “want to remain on farms”:

“We have asked provinces to give us the names of white farmers they want to remain on farms so that we can give them security of tenure documents to enable them to plan their operations properly.

In 2000, President Robert Mugabe initiated the forceful land grabs. According to the Telegraph, over 4,000 white farmers lost their land, which was then given to Mugabe’s political allies.

Last year, BBC reported Mugabe told an audience, “We say no to whites owning our land and they should go.”

Currently, there are fewer than 300 white farmers left in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe now struggles to grow its own food.

In a statement to News24, Obert Gutu, spokesman for the opposition Movement Democratic Change party, said, “The Zanu-PF regime is slowly but painfully biting the bullet and beginning to accept the logic that all Zimbabweans, regardless of race, colour or creed, should be given land as long as they are willing and able to use it properly and profitably.”

Gaza car blasts target Hamas, Islamic Jihad members

(CNN) Five explosions targeting parked cars belonging to members of various Palestinian factions rocked Gaza City on Sunday, according to a statement from Iyad al-Buzom, spokesman of Gaza's ministry of interior.

Police sources and witnesses also confirmed the explosions..

The explosions took place in the Shiekh Ridhwan neighborhood and happened in quick succession around 6 a.m. local time (11 p.m. Saturday, EDT).

Police sources and eyewitness said the bombs were planted on cars used by members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hospital sources said two people were wounded in the blasts.

It is not yet known who planted the bombs.

The Gaza strip has been riven by internal divisions.

During last year's Gaza conflict, which took place in July and August, Hamas used the chaos to settle scores and carry out "horrific abuses . . . some of which amount to war crimes" against fellow Palestinians, according to Philip Luther, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Amnesty International.

(JPost) Hamas and Islamic Jihad on Sunday threatened to hunt down and punish those responsible for a series of bombings that destroyed the vehicles of some of the groups’ military commanders.

The pre-dawn explosions, which took place in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, destroyed at least six vehicles. No one was hurt.

Denouncing the perpetrators as “suspicious and hired tools,” the two group’s armed wings, Ezaddin al-Qassam (Hamas) and Al-Quds Battalions (Islamic Jihad), said that the explosions were designed to serve Israel’s interests and goals. Nonetheless, the two groups stopped short of accusing Israel of being behind the attacks.

Saudi Arabia says arrested 431 Islamic State suspects, thwarted mosque bombings

Smoke rises after a car exploded near a Shi'ite mosque in Saudi Arabia's Dammam May 29, 2015.
Reuters/Ali Alhaji

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has arrested 431 people suspected of belonging to Islamic State cells and thwarted attacks on mosques, security forces and a diplomatic mission, the interior ministry said on Saturday.

The announcement came after a car bomb exploded at a checkpoint near the kingdom's highest security prison on Thursday, killing the driver and wounding two security officials in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

A string of deadly attacks carried out by followers of the ultra-hardline militant group based in Iraq and Syria has fueled concerns about a growing threat of militancy in the world's top oil exporter.

"The number arrested to date is 431, most of them citizens, in addition to participants from other nationalities ... six successive suicide operations which targeted mosques in the Eastern province on every Friday timed with assassinations of security men were thwarted," the ministry statement posted on the official news agency SPA said.

"Terrorist plots to target a diplomatic mission, security and government facilities in Sharurah province and the assassination of security men were thwarted," it said.

The ministry did not elaborate on when the men were detained, but previous announcements that scores of suspects have been arrested suggest it was over the course of months.

Their alleged offences cited by the ministry ranged from smuggling explosives, surveying potential attack sites, providing transport and material support to bombers, smuggling in explosives from abroad and manufacturing suicide vests.

Islamic State has called on supporters to carry out attacks in the kingdom and killed 25 people in two suicide bombings at Shi'ite Muslim mosques in the country's east in May.

A Saudi man, reportedly aided by several other men from the kingdom, blew himself up in a Shi'ite mosque and killed 27 worshippers in June.

More...

Because Islam is the Religion of Peace™.

Navy sailor dies, becoming fifth serviceman killed in Chattanooga

5th victim dies #Chattanooga in Islamic Terror Attack🔥RIP Randall Smith🙏#WakeUpAmerica http://t.co/1YqWf8NWt4 pic.twitter.com/Dlf1Y8UI3x

— Feisty☀️Floridian (@peddoc63) July 18, 2015

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Reuters) - A male U.S. Navy petty officer has died of wounds sustained in this week's shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the U.S. Navy said on Saturday, raising the number of people killed in the attack to five.

The suspected shooter, Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, a Kuwaiti-born naturalized U.S. citizen, also died on Thursday in a firefight with police after the rampage at a military recruiting office and a training center six miles away.

The Navy's brief statement did not identify the petty officer who died or provide his age or hometown.

But his step-grandmother identified him as Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith of Paulding, Ohio, who left behind a wife and three young daughters.

"He was an awesome young man," Darlene Proxmire told Reuters. "He loved his wife and children. He loved the Navy."

Four U.S. Marines were also killed in the attack and two other people, a Marine and a police officer, were wounded.

A little more than 24 hours after the shooting, the FBI said it continued to investigate it as an act of terrorism and that it was "premature" to speculate on the motive.

"We are exploring all travel that he has done and we have asked our intelligence partners throughout the world to provide us with any information they may have," Ed Reinhold, FBI special agent in charge, said during a news conference on Friday.

The suspect traveled to Jordan and possibly other Middle Eastern countries for seven months last year, according to authorities, who are looking for any signs of a connection to Islamist militants.

Investigators will try to establish if he was part of an organization or the latest "lone wolf" militant. President Barack Obama has said radicalized individuals acting on their own pose a greater risk to the country than a large-scale operation.

More...

Ramadan death toll is now at 6,437.

"This is an invasion": Italian protesters torch beds to try block Middle Eastern and African migrant arrivals

Rome (AFP) - Residents in a chic Rome suburb and a northern Italian village staged angry anti-immigrant protests on Friday, with villagers setting mattresses ablaze in a bid to stop authorities from housing migrants.

Authorities in the village of Quito plan to accommodate 101 immigrants in empty apartments, but several residents broke into one of the buildings, removed camp beds, mattresses and televisions intended for the newcomers and set them on fire outside.

The protesters then put up tents, with the Corriere della Sera newspaper quoting them as saying: "We aren't going home until they leave -- this is an invasion."

Italy is currently hosting more than 80,000 migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean fleeing war, persecution or poverty in the Middle East and Africa. The arrivals include many Africans, particularly Eritreans, as well as Syrians.

Luca Zaia, the president of Italy's northern Veneto region and a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, told Italian television he agreed with the protesters, and complained about the "Africanisation" of his own region.

"This is a declaration of war for those who don't understand what it means to put (migrants) alongside families with young children," he said.

More...

Ramadan Death Count Round Up (July 17th, 2015)

80+ killed as #ISIS detonate car bomb at busy Diyala market http://t.co/80hoYXh7Qf (Ar) #Iraq pic.twitter.com/cilHUsLWCl

— Hayder al-Khoei (@Hayder_alKhoei) July 17, 2015

(Iraq) An attack by the Islamic State group on a crowded marketplace in Iraq’s eastern Diyala province has killed 115 people, including women and children, in one of the deadliest single attacks in the country in the past decade. At least 170 people were injured.

The Islamic State group has executed an Iraqi journalist in the northern city of Mosul on charges of spying, local officials and colleagues said Saturday. Jala al-Abadi was taken from his home with his phone and laptop on June 4 and executed on Wednesday by firing squad after being sentenced by an IS court.

(Syria) 44 people have been killed in separate barrel bombardments by government forces in Syria's north, as end of Ramadan festivities begin.

(Egypt) Six supporters of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood were killed in clashes with police near the Giza pyramids in Cairo on Friday, security sources said, as Egyptians marked the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

(China) Police in the southwestern Chinese border province of Yunnan have shot dead four militants and found 553 people attempting to flee the country since 2014, state media said on Friday, giving more details of efforts to stop ethnic Uighurs leaving China.

(Nigeria) At least nine people have been killed after two suicide bombers, a 10-year-old girl and an elderly woman, blew themselves up as worshippers gathered to mark the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday in northeastern Nigeria, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) reports. The explosions happened at a security checkpoint for an open-air praying area in the town of Damaturu in Yobe State, killing nine people and the two suicide bombers, and injuring at least 18 others.

(Kashmir) The man responsible for the beheading of an Indian soldier in 2013, which became a flashpoint in India-Pakistan ties, was killed by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir this week, say sources.

(Niger) Niger's army killed at least 30 suspected Boko Haram fighters as it searched for militants in villages just over the border with Nigeria, security sources said.

(Morocco) A crowd has lynched and fatally injured a man and seriously hurt his alleged accomplice after accusing them of robbery near a weekly market in central Morocco, local officials and media reported Friday.

(Kyrgyzstan) Security police said on Friday they had prevented two major attacks by Islamic State. A day after security forces killed six gunmen in two firefights in the capital Bishkek, the police identified them as IS members and said seven others had been captured in a mopping-up operation.

Ramadan death toll is now at 6,436.

Obama and Kerry can't coordinate their lies

Obama on Wednesday (July 15, 2015): We didn't raise the issue of the 4 American hostages because the Iranians might've demanded more concessions...(blah, blah, blah...)

Kerry on Friday (July 17, 2015): "not one meeting that took place" during the recent Iranian nuclear talks at which the U.S. didn't raise the issue of four Americans still held captive by Tehran.

Incredible.

'British Palestinian' medical student actively 'recruited for IS' at university in Sudan

Mohammed Fakhri Al-Khabass

(BBC) A British medic recruited at least 16 fellow students from the UK to join the Islamic State group, a BBC investigation has found.

Mohammed Fakhri Al-Khabass, from Middlesbrough, was said by his university to have "played a major role" in persuading two groups of Britons to head to Syria this year.

The students were recruited in Sudan where Mr Fakhri had studied.

They are the single largest UK group known to have joined IS militants.

Mr Fakhri is a British Palestinian who grew up in north-east England with his two older brothers. His father worked as an NHS doctor on Teesside.

He started his medical studies at the University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST) in Khartoum in 2008.

By 2011 he was president of the University's Islamic Cultural Association (ICA) which became much more radical under his leadership.

A number of students and ex-students at UMST - speaking to the BBC on condition of anonymity - said Mr Fakhri used his role within the ICA to spread a highly-politicised version of Islam. Ultimately, he started dissuading people from pursuing careers in the West.

More...

BREAKING: Staten Island mall on lockdown, police search for Muslim family with guns; UPDATE: weapons in question believed to be paintball guns

RIGHT NOW: NYPD search for 2 vans NJ plates A83FCB & PSJ52V. MORE: http://t.co/nyFoiJbEjg pic.twitter.com/BFz0BdBylc

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) July 17, 2015

NYC Police Issue Urgent BOLO After Pictures Surface Of Family With Rifles. MORE: http://t.co/nyFoiJbEjg pic.twitter.com/s5rWAvdGf2

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) July 17, 2015

Staten Island bridges reduced to one lane for outbound traffic amid threat. READ: http://t.co/nyFoiJbEjg pic.twitter.com/sYSD8syLmx

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) July 17, 2015

BREAKING PHOTOS: NYPD search for 2 vans NJ plates A83FCB & PSJ52V. READ: http://t.co/nyFoiJbEjg pic.twitter.com/9kiWXJdJe6

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) July 17, 2015

NEW: Outerbridge has closed as BOLO is issued for possible terrorists on Staten Island MORE: http://t.co/nyFoiJbEjg pic.twitter.com/LFxEG9VszV

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) July 17, 2015

UPDATE: Police Say Weapons Spotted With Group On Staten Island May Be Paintball Guns. READ: http://t.co/nyFoiIU2UG pic.twitter.com/PfxGzps2Ur

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) July 17, 2015

NYPD find suspect vehicles after SI investigation, weapons in question believed to be paintball guns. No threat. pic.twitter.com/hoSX6OrFl3

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) July 17, 2015

Netanyahu offers condolences to US after deadly Tennessee terrorist attack

On behalf of Israeli people & gov, I extend our deepest sympathies to the victims' families & wish a speedy & full recovery to the wounded.

— בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) July 17, 2015

(JPost) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered Israel's condolences to the United States on Friday, following the terrorist attack in Tennessee that killed four Marines.

"On behalf of the people and the government of Israel, I extend sympathies to the families of the victims and wish a speedy and full recovery to the wounded," Netanyahu wrote on Twitter.

4 Marines Killed - Obama White House Releases Statement Wishing Muslims a Happy end to Ramadan

4 Marines Killed - White House Releases Statement Wishing Muslims a Happy end to Ramadan - http://t.co/yQ1j52yxdV pic.twitter.com/bLPsT1l8n5

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 16, 2015

White kid shoots up black church: ban flags & dig up remains of confederate soldiers. Mohammed shoots marines: Happy Ramadan #Chattanooga

— MrsLibertas (@Bloviate_Barbie) July 17, 2015

US: Muslim terrorist identified as Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez shoots dead 4 Marines at Tennessee military facilities

BREAKING NEWS: - 5 dead - 4 military personnel - 1 gunman - Chattanooga shooting WATCH LIVE: http://t.co/se4b6CQ1cd pic.twitter.com/NJFa7TWGMU

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) July 16, 2015

BREAKING NEWS: Chattanooga shooting suspect identified as Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, believed to be originally from Kuwait. NBC

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) July 16, 2015

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee — Four Marines were killed in Thursday’s shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a senior defense official told CNN’s Barbara Starr. The families of those killed are being notified of their deaths, the official said.

The suspected shooter is also dead, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said

Investigators “have not determined whether it was an act of terrorism or whether it was a criminal act,” FBI special agent in charge Ed Reinhold told reporters. “We are looking at every possible avenue, whether it was terrorism — whether it was domestic, international — or whether it was a simple, criminal act.”

U.S. Attorney Bill Killian earlier told reporters that authorities were treating the shooting as an “act of domestic terrorism.”

Gunshots were fired at a military recruiting center and a Navy Reserve center in different parts of Chattanooga, Tennessee, late Thursday morning, officials and witnesses said.

One officer is “down” in connection with the shootings, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke told reporters. He was not specific about the officer’s condition.

Witnesses said a man sprayed bullets at the glass doors of a military recruiting center at a strip mall on Lee Highway, and the U.S. Navy tweeted Thursday that a shooting happened at a separate location — the Navy Reserve center on Amnicola Highway. The two sites are 7½ miles apart.

By 1:15 p.m., the “active shooter situation” was over, police tweeted.

Gina Mule, a server at a restaurant, said she saw a man who’d been in a silver convertible Mustang, firing a “high-powered rifle” at the recruiting offices at about 10:50 a.m.

She said she first heard “Pow, pow, pow!” She then went to a window, through which she said she saw the man firing shots.

“I don’t know how many shots he fired, but it was a lot,” she said.

A second witness, April Grimmett, said she was working at a hair salon near the recruiting center when she looked out a window and saw a man ducking in between cars.

“Shortly after that, we heard the (shots). It was very loud and very fast,” Grimmett said, without saying what happened to the man she had seen.

A photo that she took shows glass doors damaged by the gunfire.

“I could not believe how many bullet holes were in that door. It was insane,” she said.

Fred Wright, a salesman at a nearby auto parts store, told CNN that after he heard gunshots, three people ran into the shop, hollering they thought “someone was shooting at them.”

Wright said he called 911.

“Sounded like it was 30, 40 shots to me,” Wright said, adding that he never saw a shooter.

“Horrific incident in our community,” Berke, the mayor, tweeted. “We will release details as they are confirmed. Prayers to all those affected.”

Photos posted on Twitter by media outlets showed police blocking a road and a large number of patrol cars.

Chattanooga State Community College asked people on its main campus to stay inside because of a “confirmed shooting,” the school said on Twitter.

Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga is “on precautionary lockdown” due to the shooting reports, hospital system spokeswoman Lisa McCluskey said.

“We have not received any shooting victims,” McCluskey said. “We are still accepting new patients.” The lockdown, she said, “is just a precautionary measure.”

Ramadan death toll is now at 6,216.

Ramadan Death Count Round Up (July 16th, 2015)

(Afghanistan) A hidden bomb in the village of Otrai resulted in the deaths of 4 children who were playing outside at the time.

Five policemen and six Taliban terrorists have been killed during a clash and a drone strike in eastern Laghman and Nangarhar provinces.

11 insurgents have been killed in newest military operations in four provinces. According to a news report, operations were conducted in Samkani and Janikhil districts of Paktia, Dehrawoud, Charchino and Surab districts of Urozgan, Gujran and Gizab districts of Daikundi, Naish and Maiwand districts of Kandahar and in Paroun of Nooristan in past 24 hours. The statement added that three soldiers from the Afghan National Army were also killed.

Unidentified armed men have gunned down a senior police officer in southern Kandahar. Abdul Hadi Farahi and his brother, also a policeman, died on the spot and two other policemen sustained injuries in the attack.

(Bangladesh) Three people have been killed in Bangladesh in separate "gunfights" with the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Rangpur and the country's capital Dhaka. Two of the dead have been named and they are Manik, 25, and his brother Sumon, 26. Both are accused in several murders, extortion and mugging cases.

(Iraq) Anbar province in western Iraq saw 23 ISIS idiots killed during the past 24 hours in the ongoing Iraqi army campaign to take back the land captured by Allah’s favourite terrorists.

In Mosul, ISIS idiots executed 17 fishermen for the crime of not handing over their catch to them. Also, the blood thirsty Islamic terrorist group admitted to killing 14 of its own for not doing as they were told.

Thieves who broke into a house in ISIS held Mosul must have thought all their Eids had come at once (it's tomorrow) when they found a mother and her 3 daughters at home. But instead of wishing them Eid Mubarak, for some strange reason which is beyond me, all 4 were stabbed to death.

(Kashmir) A flare-up in disputed Kashmir involving gunfire and mortar attacks has left five civilians dead and over a dozen wounded.

(Kenya) When a vehicle carrying soldiers was hit by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Lagolei, a small town near Elade in Gedo region of Somalia, “the soldiers inside got out and pursued the terrorists who were no doubt uttering ‘Allah ackba’ and having a good laugh. Imagine their surprise when the tables were turned and they became the victims. In the ensuring firefight, seven Al Shabab terrorists were killed, eight AK-47 rifles, two grenades and assorted ammunition were seized. The Kenyan Army lost 1 soldier and had another injured.

(Lebanon) Local thug Tareq Yatim chased 45-year-old George al-Rif, from the Beirut airport road to Ashrafieh and then stabbed him with a knife after a dispute over traffic priority.

(Niger) Cattle rustlers who attacked 3 villages, killed 11 people last night. Seing as the country is 99% Islamic, it's a good bet the killers were... Muslims.

(Nigeria) Death toll from yesterday's Boko Haram attacks in Borno state rose from 12 to 30.

(Saudi Arabia) A car bomb exploded Thursday night at a security checkpoint in the Saudi capital Riyadh, killing the driver and wounding two policemen.

(Syria) An ISIS convoy was caught out in the open yesterday in of al-Hasakah district. The resulting air strike, presumed to have been carried out by the Syrian government, resulted in the timely deaths of 22 ISIS idiots. 3 more idiots were killed by air strikes after the initial one on the convoy.

Barrel bombs were dropped by the Syrian government on areas not owned by them. In this case, areas of Al-Bab city to the north east of Aleppo saw 11 people killed, which included 3 children.

In yet another bloodthirsty propaganda video ISIS idiots executed 4 Syrians soldiers in front of the al- Rahba castle, justifying their act by calling their victims… apostates.

(Somalia) An Al-Shabab convoy was caught out in the open today by the US Air Force. The resulting strike killed 51 of the blood thirsty thugs, including a several commanders (which means they could write their names).

(Thailand) Two soldiers were killed in an ambush by separatist insurgents in southern Thailand on Thursday, the military said. The soldiers were hit by machine-gun fire while out on patrol in their pick-up truck. Insurgents then poured gasoline over the vehicle and set fire to it, army spokesperson Banphot Poonpien said.

Ramadan death toll is now at 6,211.