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 | February 27, 2015 |
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| ISIS LATEST |
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TIME: ‘Jihadi John’ Driven To ISIS By British Spy Harassment, Group Says
The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) executioner who is believed to have killed several Western hostages in Syria was harassed by British security forces and prevented from moving to his native Kuwait to marry and start a new life in the months before he went to Syria, according to an advocacy organization he was in contact with. Mohammed Emwazi, 26, was named by the Washington Post and the BBC on Thursday as the masked man who appeared in a series of videos that appeared to show him beheading hostages including American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and Britons David Haines and Alan Henning. U.S. and U.K security agencies declined to confirm the identification. Media reported that Emwazi, who was brought up in London, was known to British security agencies and had been questioned and detained on a number of occasions since 2009. In 2010, however, he contacted CAGE, a London-based organization that supports people victimized by security agencies, to complain that he was being made to feel “like a prisoner” in the U.K.Read more..
The Guardian: Emwazi Described As 'Cold, Sadistic And Merciless'
Emwazi is now known to many of his fellow fighters as Abu Abdullah al-Britani, and has a reputation within the group as a ruthless executioner who will kill on command. ... He also played a lead role in the negotiations to free European hostages captured by the jihadis. Two officials involved in the discussions say the person they spoke to via Skype sounded identical to the person now identified as Emwazi. He is one of a trio of Britons who held hostage Spanish, French, Danish, British and US nationals. ... By February last year, all the hostages, including Briton John Cantlie, who is one of two remaining western hostages, were moved to Raqqa. It was in Raqqa that the hostages first became aware of the status that Emwazi had developed among Isis. One former hostage described him as “cold, sadistic and merciless”. Read more..
NY Daily News: 2014 Worst Year Ever For Terrorism: U.S. Intel Chief
Testifying on Capitol Hill, the country's top intelligence chief said 2014 was the worst year on record for global terrorism. National Intelligence Director James Clapper told members of Congress that terror attacks reached their highest number since such records started being archived. "When the final accounting is done, 2014 will have been the most lethal year for global terrorism in the 45 years (since) such data has been compiled," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee. His comments appeared to be in disagreement with remarks made Wednesday by Secretary of State John Kerry, who said "We are actually living in a period of less daily threat to Americans and to people in the world than normally." Read more..
Huffington Post: All It Takes To Cross From Turkey To ISIS-Held Syria Is $25
If the three Brooklyn men arrested Wednesday on charges of aiding and plotting to join the Islamic State had boarded flights to Turkey, they likely would have made it to Syria with ease. For a wannabe foreign fighter, the last step of the journey is simple: All it takes to cross from Turkey into Syria these days is a smuggler and about $25. As the international community rallies to crack down on the Islamic State group and bumps up security at home in the wake of deadly terrorist attacks, Turkey’s "jihadi highway" is still as porous as ever. Just last week, three London schoolgirls traveled to Turkey and disappeared into Syria after allegedly messaging a female Islamic State recruiter on Twitter. Despite Turkey’s insistence that it’s doing all it can to secure the 500-mile-long border, smugglers, fighters and refugees say that Turkish criminal gangs and bribed Turkish paramilitary police have created an environment where anyone can cross into Syria, for a price. Read more..
NBC News: California Couple's Family Believed Captured By ISIS
A Northern California couple is "praying for mercy" but fearing the worst for family members in Syria believed to be among dozens ripped from their homes by ISIS this week. Sharlet David and her husband, Romel, said that 12 family members, including Sharlet's brother, have gone missing from their village, NBC affiliate KCRA reported. "What we heard is that it was a sea of black uniforms marching through all the villages, burning down the churches, desecrating the crosses and wreaking havoc," Romel David, of Modesto, told the station. More than 100 Assyrian Christians were kidnapped by ISIS on Monday, according to the United Nations, as the jihadist militants clashed with Kurdish and Christian militiamen for control of villages in the northeastern province of Hassakeh. The Davids and their family in Syria identify as Assyrian Christians. Read more..
AP: New ISIS Video Shows Militants Smashing Ancient Iraq Artifacts
The Islamic State group released a video on Thursday showing militants using sledgehammers to smash ancient artifacts in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, describing the relics as idols that must be removed. The destructions are part of a campaign by the IS extremists who have destroyed a number of shrines — including Muslim holy sites — in order to eliminate what they view as heresy. They are also believed to have sold ancient artifacts on the black market in order to finance their bloody campaign across the region. The five-minute video shows a group of bearded men inside the Mosul Museum using hammers and drills to destroy several large statues, which are then shown chipped and in pieces. The video then shows a black-clad man at a nearby archaeological site inside Mosul, drilling through and destroying a winged-bull Assyrian protective deity that dates back to the 7th century B.C.Read more..
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| POLITICAL NEWS |
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Washington Post: DHS Shutdown Threat Dimming As House GOP Proposes Stopgap Plan
House Republicans on Thursday presented a plan for a stopgap bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security for three weeks, raising hopes of averting a looming shutdown of the agency. The plan, which the leaders pitched to rank-and-file Republicans in a closed-door meeting, was the first sign they were willing to pass a new bill after passing another one weeks ago that takes aim at President Obama’s executive actions on immigration and has been blocked in the Senate. But the plan faces an uncertain outlook, as House Democratic leadership decided to marshal support against it. Facing a Friday-night-into-Saturday-morning shutdown deadline, the plan might ultimately win support from lawmakers in both parties on Friday. But its passage would only continue a standoff between the House and the Senate over longer-term DHS funding. Separately, the Senate was moving toward a final vote on a funding bill that would not go after Obama’s immigration directives. Read more..
Mediaite: ‘You Coward’: Dem’s Comment About GOP Leader Caught On Hot Mic
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer was caught on a hot mic [Thursday night] calling House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy a “coward” over a dispute about scheduling a vote on a Homeland Security funding bill. Hoyer said the GOP has been “leaving the Department of Homeland Security twisting in the wind,” to the booing of other House Republicans. McCarthy assured they would make sure the DHS is fully funded and would be the end of it. Hoyer was then caught on a hot mic saying, “You coward.” According to National Journal, Hoyer later apologized to McCarthy, and McCarthy accepted.Read more..
Reuters: Boehner Defends Netanyahu's Upcoming Speech To Congress
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Thursday challenged an assertion by the Obama administration that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming speech to Congress about Iran's nuclear program would be destructive to U.S.-Israeli relations. "The president's national security advisor says it's destructive for the prime minister of Israel to address the United States Congress. I couldn't disagree more," Boehner said at his weekly news conference. "The American people and both parties in Congress have always stood with Israel and nothing, and no one, could get in the way," the Republican leader said. Read more..
Huffington Post: Scott Walker Says He Can Take On ISIS Because He Took On Labor Unions
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) on Thursday said his experience undermining labor unions in Wisconsin has prepared him to take on the threat of the Islamic State in the Middle East. "If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world," Walker told a packed crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference, in response to a question about how he would fight the terrorist group, which has killed thousands in Iraq and Syria. Walker was referring to protesters who led an unsuccessful recall effort against him in 2012, after he proposed a budget that stripped Wisconsin's public sector unions of their collective bargaining rights. The protests lasted for months and catapulted Walker onto the national political stage. Read more..
Washington Post: Facing Skepticism, Jeb Bush Begins Outreach To Conservatives
Jeb Bush acknowledged that he may not be a flashy speaker or make the loudest arguments. But the Republican presidential hopeful offered himself to his skeptical right flank Thursday night as a fellow conservative who is passionate about fixing problems and has a record of doing so. “There are going to be a lot better speakers than me,” Bush told a gathering of the Club for Growth, a conservative advocacy group that has long antagonized the GOP establishment. “That’s great. I’m all for it. If I could get better at it, I’d be all in — trust me. Read more..
Yahoo News: Chris Christie Turns To Media-Bashing At CPAC Gathering
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie continued to bash the media today at the Conservative Political Action Conference, playing into a popular topic among the activists in the crowd, saying "elite folks from the media" cover him "every day." "Understand where I come from every day," Christie told radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham in a question-and-answer session in National Harbor, Maryland, after she asked him about the "onslaught" of negative news stories about him recently. As the governor of New Jersey, Christie told her he has reporters from The New York Times covering him every day and accused journalists of taking sides on issues he has stood up against. "When you do things like I've done in New Jersey, take on a lot of these special interests that they support they just want to kill you and that's what they tried to do to me every day and here's the bad news for them, here I am and I'm still standing," Christie, 52, said. Read more..
WSJ: Ted Cruz, At CPAC, Takes Swings At GOP Leaders
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) came out swinging against members of his own party Thursday, telling a conference of conservative activists that GOP leaders in Congress had sold out to Democrats on immigration and that presidential contenders should be judged by their willingness to stand up to the party establishment. “The biggest division we have in the country is not between Republicans and Democrats,’’ Mr. Cruz, a likely 2016 presidential contender, told the Conservative Political Action Conference. “It is between career politicians in Washington and the American people. “If you are really a conservative you will have been in the trenches, you will bear the scars,’’ he said. Read more..
Washington Post: Sarah Palin Focuses On Veterans’ Issues At CPAC
Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin mostly avoided political theatrics at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, delivering a speech focused primarily on advocating for veterans' issues. “America hands over her sons and her daughters in service with the promise that they’re going to be taken care of. Our troops are promised…that a grateful nation will spare no expense to patch them up and bring them back to health when wounded,” Palin told the crowded ballroom. “And now they come home wounded. Too many broken in body and spirit. Well we, their mothers and their fathers and their husbands and their wives, we’re here to collect on the promises made.” Palin, whose son served in the military, bemoaned government bureaucracy and the roadblocks veterans face when accessing healthcare. Read more..
TIME: FCC Votes ‘Yes’ On Strongest Net-Neutrality Rules
Net-neutrality advocates quite literally danced in the snowy streets Thursday outside the Federal Communications Commission in Washington just before the agency voted to approve the strongest ever rules on net neutrality. The vote marks the culmination of a yearlong struggle that pitted grassroots Internet advocates and Silicon Valley tech giants against the titans of the telecom industry. The FCC’s vote is considered a historic victory for so-called open-Internet advocates, and a major blow to big Internet service providers, such as Comcast and Verizon, which will now be subject to stronger regulations. Read more..
Politico: Aaron Schock Didn’t Report Gifts, Meals In London
Rep. Aaron Schock attended dinner and drinks in 2011 at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and at a swank nightclub London — and never disclosed receiving a single gift on his financial disclosure form. This past September, the Illinois Republican held a golf fundraiser — the “Aaron Schock Golf Classic” — at Anne Arundell Mannor in Maryland, but never reported a payment for use of the golf course and facilities on his campaign finance forms. Schock, a fourth-term Republican congressman with a prized seat on the Ways and Means Committee, has hired lawyers and a crisis communications firm amid a burgeoning scandal over his high-spending ways and potential misuse of official and campaign funds. His office said it is performing an internal audit of his official accounts in response to questions over whether he improperly spent money from his House office budget and failed to report gifts. Read more..
AP: Tom Schweich, Missouri Auditor And Gubernatorial Candidate, Dead At Age 54
Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich, who had recently launched a Republican campaign for governor, fatally shot himself Thursday in what police described as an "apparent suicide," minutes after inviting reporters to his suburban St. Louis home for an interview. Schweich's death stunned many of Missouri's top elected officials, who described him as a "brilliant" and "devoted" public servant with an "unblemished record" in office. Just 13 minutes before police got an emergency call from his home, Schweich had a phone conversation with The Associated Press about his plans to go public that afternoon with allegations that the head of the Missouri Republican Party had made anti-Semitic comments about him. Read more..
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| JUDGE CLEARS ARGENTINE PRESIDENT IN PROSECUTOR'S DEATH & OTHER STORIES FOR THIS FRIDAY MORNING... |
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TIME: Violence Erupts In Greece Ahead Of German Vote On Bailout
Violence broke out in Greece’s capital Athens on Thursday for the first time since the new government came to power a month ago, and one day before Germany is set to vote on whether to extend the European bailout of the debt-ridden country. Around 50 of the 450 protesters that took to the streets on Friday clashed with riot police, throwing stones and petrol bombs and burning vehicles, the BBC reports. The outrage is directed towards new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who came to power promising to end austerity measures imposed on the country because of its spiraling debt. Tsipras is now defending a four-month financial aid extension on the condition of government reforms, causing dissent even within his own Syriza party. Read more..
Reuters: Argentine Judge Defends President Over Alleged Role In Bombing
There is no evidence that President Cristina Fernandez tried to whitewash Iran's purported involvement in a deadly 1994 bombing, an Argentine judge told Reuters in an interview on Thursday after dismissing the case. On the contrary, the evidence suggested "the government exhausted all possibilities to enable the investigation into the AMIA (Jewish community center) attack to advance," said Judge Daniel Rafecas, who showed Reuters copies of the evidence. Rafecas on Thursday discontinued the case brought by prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was found dead in mysterious circumstances in January the day before he was to appear in Congress to discuss his criminal complaint. Many Argentines expressed dismay at his decision and said the government may have had a hand in it - a suspicion Rafecas firmly rejected. Read more..
BBC News: Ukraine 'Starts Heavy Weapons Withdrawal'
Ukraine's army is starting the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line in the east as part of a truce, the defence ministry says. It says the pullout of 100mm calibre artillery "is the first step" and will be monitored by foreign observers. Pro-Russian rebels earlier said they had started withdrawing their weapons. This has not been verified by monitors. The ceasefire came into effect on 15 February but the rebels seized the key town of Debaltseve just days later. Fighting began in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions last April, a month after Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula. Read more..
WSJ: Venezuela Teen’s Death Draws Outrage
Erick Roa, the father of a 14-year-old who was killed by police at a protest earlier this week, says he is still waiting for an explanation for his son’s death. “I want to ask President Nicolás Maduro why my son had to die,” the 49-year-old photographer said in an interview at his modest house in this volatile western city, where antigovernment sentiment runs high. “Who knows who will be next?” The shooting of Kluibert Roa, a shy teen who loved sports, has fueled criticism of Mr. Maduro’s administration, which approved a resolution last month allowing security forces to use lethal force against demonstrators if they believe they are in danger. Read more..
Pew: Harassment Of Jews Reaches 7 Year High
In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the number of countries where Jews were harassed. In 2013, harassment of Jews, either by government or social groups, was found in 77 countries (39%) – a seven-year high. Jews are much more likely to be harassed by individuals or groups in society than by governments. In Europe, for example, Jews were harassed by individuals or social groups in 34 of the region’s 45 countries (76%). Read more..
TIME: U.S. Military Records Longest Period Without A Combat Death Since 9/11
The U.S. military is currently enjoying its longest stretch without a combat death since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Wednesday marked the 75thday since American forces suffered its last fatality, when two soldiers were killed in Afghanistan’s Parwan province on Dec. 12 after their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device, reports the Washington Post. The newspaper tallied the figure following a panel discussion at New York University’s campus in Washington D.C., after the father of a deceased serviceman raised a question pertaining to combat deaths during a Q&A session. Read more..
Entertainment Weekly: Bill Cosby Claims His Career Is 'Far From Finished'
After recently canceling numerous performances, Bill Cosby said in a statement to fans who will be attending his show at a Louisiana venue on Friday that his career is “far from finished.” The comedian has canceled numerous shows after being accused of sexual assault by over a dozen women in recent months. Cosby had this to say to those who will be attending the show: “Dear Fans: For 53 years you have given me your love, support, respect and trust. Thank you! I can’t wait to see your smiling faces and warm your hearts with a wonderful gift – LAUGHTER. I’m ready! I thank you, the theatre staff (Heymann Performing Arts Center), the event organizers and the Lafayette community for your continued support and coming to experience family, fun entertainment. Hey, hey, hey – I’m far from finished.” Read more..
AP: Stolen Picasso Painting Worth Millions Was Smuggled Into U.S. Under False 'Art Craft' Label: Officials
Authorities say a Pablo Picasso painting worth millions of dollars was stolen in France and smuggled into the U.S. by someone who falsely labeled it as an "art craft" worth about $37 when it was shipped. U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta Lynch filed a civil forfeiture complaint Thursday over the 1911 cubist painting, called "The Hairdresser." Authorities say the 1911 painting disappeared from a storeroom at the Pompidou Centre in Paris. It was reported stolen in November 2001. The painting's location remained unknown until it arrived in the United States in December 2014. Lynch says the shipping label described the contents as an "art craft/toy." Read more..
Fortune: JetBlue Just Made The Ultimate Faux Pas On Twitter
Another day, another brand with a social media mishap. JetBlue on Thursday tweeted a joking reference to the Hindenburg disaster, before deleting the message after getting flack over it. “Oh, the Bluemanity! #TailfinThursday,” JetBlue tweeted, Consumerist reports. The tweet, perhaps inadvertently, referenced radio broadcaster Herbert Morris’ famous statement, “Oh, the humanity!” as he reported on the 1937 blimp crash that killed 36 people. JetBlue later apologized for the tweet. Read more..
The Arizona Republic: Arizona Llama Drama: Escape Captures Nation's Interest
Two llamas on the loose in a West Valley retirement community were lassoed into Internet fame after escaping their owner on Thursday afternoon. In what is arguably the most famous llama-related journey since Disney's "The Emperor's New Groove," the pair running through Sun City made national news and became social media darlings as they briefly avoided capture from a crowd of curious onlookers and several area residents on live television. The dynamic duo -- one black and one white -- dodged cars, avoided lassos, and managed to launch their own Twitter account as they ran amok in the town northwest of Phoenix just before noon. Read more..
AP: Most Popular U.S. Dog Breeds List Sees Labs Hold Top Spot, Bulldogs Hit New High
America's fondness for Labrador retrievers is still setting records, but bulldogs are breaking new ground. Labs reigned as the nation's top dog last year for the 24th year after breaking poodles' decades-old record in 2013, according to American Kennel Club rankings set to be released Thursday. But bulldogs have hit a new high — No. 4 — and their bat-eared cousins, French bulldogs, sauntered into the top 10 for the first time in nearly a century. German shepherds, golden retrievers and beagles are holding their own in the top five, with Yorkshire terriers, poodles, boxers and Rottweilers filling out the top 10. Dachshunds slipped from 10th to 11th. Read more..
USA Today: Kanye West Apologizes To Beck Via Twitter
Better late than never? Kanye West took to Twitter Thursday evening to apologize to Beck, presumably for the Grammy Awards incident 18 days ago on February 8. "I would like to publicly apologize to Beck, I'm sorry Beck," the tweet read. There was no further explanation. West, 37, walked to the Grammys stage and acted like he was going to interrupt best-album winner Beck, who took the award over Beyoncé … but then he retreated before saying a word. Read more..
Huffington Post: Harrison Ford Set To Return For 'Blade Runner' Sequel That Denis Villeneuve Will Direct
Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Rick Deckhard in a sequel to "Blade Runner." Alcon Entertainment announced the news in a press release, while also touting that Denis Villeneuve ("Prisoners") would replace Ridley Scott in the director's chair. Scott, who directed the acclaimed first film, is still on board as executive producer. Read more..
The Hollywood Reporter: DC's Catwoman Comes Out As Bisexual
In the latest issue of the DC Comics' Catwoman comic book series — No. 39, released this week — Kyle kisses another woman, ending decades of fan rumors and speculation by stating canonically that the character is, in fact, bisexual. Writer Genevieve Valentine, who took over the series in October, wrote on her blog that establishing Selina Kyle as “canon bisexual” was an “indispensable” beat she always had intended to hit in the series. “She’s flirted around it — often quite literally — for years now,” wrote Valentine. “For me, this wasn’t a revelation so much as a confirmation.” Read more..
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