First, from teleSUR, Latin American perpetrators of a lethal Washington-backed secret purge [previously] face legal retribution:
Latin America’s Mass Murderers to Be Trialed in Italy
Former military chiefs and politicians implicated in the deaths of thousands through Operation Condor will have to face justice.
After decades of impunity, those responsible for the wave of political violence that swept Latin America under the dictatorships of 1970’s and 1980’s will be trialed this week in Rome, Italy.
Formally 33 people have been charged for their links to the operation, which left 50,000 people dead, 30,000 disappeared and 400,000 jailed.
Amongst those killed were 23 Italian citizens, which is why Italy’s justice is now ruling on the case, opened in 1999.
Operation Condor was a coordinated political assassination and persecution plan drafted by the South American military dictatorships, with the help of foreign governments. It sought to eliminate any resistance or political rivals, mostly targeting left-wing groups.
An Iranian fish-or-cut-bait mandate, via Al Jazeera America:
Iran says its time to reach nuclear deal
Foreign minister, after meeting with Secretary of State Kerry, says it would be unproductive to extend negotiations
With a deadline approaching to resolve a 12-year standoff over Tehran’s atomic ambitions, Iranian officials on Sunday signaled a willingness to come to an agreement, with Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif telling a gathering of the world’s top diplomats that “this is the opportunity.”
The United States and its five negotiating partners, the other members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany, hope to clinch a deal setting long-term limits on Tehran’s enrichment of uranium and other activity that could produce material for use in nuclear weapons.
Negotiators have set a June 30 final deadline for a nuclear deal, and Western officials have said they aim to agree on the substance of such an accord by March.
Taking an Israeli political campaign to Congress disunites, via United Press International:
Israeli PM Netanyahu’s speech to Congress creating rift in Jewish community
Pro-Israeli leaders have urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel his controversial speech to Congress, while some condemn the possibility of a speech boycott.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said it was a “bad idea” for Netanyahu to carry out his speech to Congress so closely to the elections in Israel to be held March 17. The Union for Reform Judaism is one of the largest Jewish organizations in North America.
Other leaders have also called on Netanyahu to cancel his speech, stating the controversy surrounding the speech is becoming a distraction that may take away from the goal of stopping Iran from gaining nuclear weapons.
Our lone drone story, via Nextgov:
Few Privacy Limitations Exist on How Police Use Drones
[T]he Federal Aviation Administration only takes safety into consideration when it grants a law enforcement agency approval to use drones, leaving privacy protections to legislation—which, depending on the state in question, may or may not exist.
Agencies as large as the Michigan State Police and as small as the Grand Forks County [N.D.] Sheriff’s Department have received FAA approval to use drones. Most departments use them for missions like search-and-rescue or for photographing a crime scene or an accident site.
But unless a law enforcement agency is within one of the 14 states that have passed privacy legislation limiting how police can use drones, there’s little in theory keeping it from using a drone for a less innocuous end—such as surveillance without a warrant. “While the federal government retains responsibility for the airspace, under most circumstances a state/local government can impose restrictions on the agencies for which it’s responsible,” an FAA spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Pentagon cyberwarrior recruiting slows, via Nextgov:
Need a Job? Cyber Command Is Halfway Full
The Pentagon is at the midway point of staffing a projected 6,000-person Cyber Command, officials said, amid fears of a catastrophic threat to U.S. networks.
The military appears to be backing away from a long-held goal of establishing a full force by 2016.
Lt. Col. Valerie Henderson, a Pentagon spokeswoman, told Nextgov,”We are about halfway through the overall build, in terms of manning for the cyber mission forces and continue to make progress in training and equipping the teams.” She declined to provide a timeline for reaching that size.
Deutsche Welle brings a Turkish tapping takedown:
Turkey launches fresh raids over Erdogan wiretapping case
Turkish police have launched a fresh series of raids to round up suspects accused of wiretapping the communications of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The suspects are themselves all police officers.
Turkish media reported on Sunday that the raids had been launched in several cities as a result of 21 arrest warrants issued by the prosecutor’s office in Istanbul.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many of the suspects, all polices officers, had been arrested and prosecutors were not available for comment. However, Turkish television station NTV broadcast footage of several suspects being led away by plain clothes police.
The warrants were issued in connection with a scandal in which wiretap recordings of senior officials were leaked and posted on the Internet, which shook the government in late 2013, while Erdogan was still prime minister.
People’s Daily offer cyber-reassurance:
Cyber security rules won’t close markets
US lobbies represented by the US Chamber of Commerce have recently asked the US government for help over China’s new cyber security regulations, saying they may hurt US firms’ overseas business opportunities.
The Chinese government has not officially published the new rules.
The US information technology firms said they will be forced to hand over source codes and adopt Chinese encryption algorithms when doing business with Chinese banks.
Observers said the US business lobbies meant to press Beijing to change its decision.
The New York Times does hacking foreshadowing:
Data Breach at Anthem May Lead to Others
Medical identity theft has become a booming business, according to security experts, who warn that other health care companies are likely to be targeted as a result of the hackers’ success in penetrating Anthem’s computer systems. Hackers often try one company to test their methods before moving on to others, and criminals are becoming increasingly creative in their use of medical information, experts say.
“The industry has become, over the last three years, a much bigger target,” said Daniel Nutkis, the chief executive of the Health Information Trust Alliance, an industry group that works with health care organizations to improve their data security.
The publicity surrounding the breach, which exposed information on about 80 million people, is already generating phishing email scams, in which criminals posing as legitimate businesses try to persuade people to sign up for bogus credit protection services and provide personal information about themselves.
A feeble turnout foils Slovakian homophobes, via the Independent:
Referendum to entrench gay marriage ban in Slovakia overwhelmingly supported but fails due to low turnout
A referendum which aimed to restrict gay rights was overwhelmingly supported in Slovakia, but failed to become legally binding as the turnout was too low.
Saturday’s poll asked voters if they agreed that marriage can only be a union between a man and a woman; that same-sex partners must be barred from adopting children; and it is for parents to decide whether their children receive sex education.
In response, a clear majority, 95, 92 and 90 per cent of those who voted agreed with the respective statements.
British Muslims stage an anti-Charlie Hebdo protest, via the hugely hyperbolic London Telegraph:
Huge crowd of Muslim protesters picket Downing Street to protest at Charlie Hebdo cartoons
The protesters, many of whom were divided into groups of men and women, and included children, gathered just yards from the Cenotaph
At least 1,000 Muslim protesters gathered outside the gates of Downing Street to protest against the depictions of the Prophet Mohammed in Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine.
The protestors, many of whom were divided into groups of men and women, gathered just yards from the Cenotaph which remembers Britain’s war dead, and blocked half of Whitehall as they demonstated.
The protest was organised by the Muslim Action Forum, which said that the Charlie Hebdo cartoons had helped “sow the seeds of hatred” and had damaged community relations.
The alternative Pegida draws a feeble Dresden turnout, via Channel NewsAsia Singapore:
Rival group to Germany’s PEGIDA draws just 500 at first rally
A new German movement that broke away from the anti-Muslim PEGIDA group drew just 500 people to its first rally in the city of Dresden on Sunday, highlighting the obstacles they face in winning further support and making a national impact.
“Direct Democracy for Europe”, led by Kathrin Oertel who was a founding member of PEGIDA but quit last month, wants tighter immigration controls, more referendums to decide policies and more money for the police.
Oertel and four other founding members broke from PEGIDA last month following the resignation of figurehead Lutz Bachmann who quit after a photo was published of him posing as Hitler and prosecutors opened an investigation for inciting hatred.
Pediga in Hitler’s would-be retirement home hits a brick wall, via TheLocal.at:
Pegida in Linz meets fierce resistance
The first protest in the Austrian city of Linz by Germany’s “anti-Islamization” movement Pegida drew just 150 supporters Sunday and was dwarfed by a counter-demo by some 2,000 people, police said.
A planned Pegida march through the centre of the northern city was abandoned after several hundred counter-demonstrators blocked their way, chanting “Auf Wiedersehen” (“Goodbye”), the Austria Press Agency reported.
During a standoff lasting around an hour a few snowballs were thrown there were no incidents of violence. “There were no arrests,” a police spokesman told AFP.
After the jump, British police make daily ISIS-related arrests, European parents grief-stricken over their ISIS-recruited children, on to the battlefront, with a combatant profile, mixed senatorial messages on boots on the ground, ISIS archaeological annihilation, lethal football violence in Cairo, on to the Boko Haram battlefront, first with a video on fatally divided families in Chad, the miserable plight of Nigerian Boko Haram violence, a young Nobel laureate targeted by fundamentalist hate make a plea on behalf of Boko Haram victims, and a Nigerian poll delay sparks protests, a 15-kilometer human chain protest against Bangladeshi violence, surviving members of a Pakistani school bombing seek recompense, a rally for Pakistani Charlie Hebdo decapitation advocates, North Korea fires off as missile salvo, a China-inspired Asian submarine arms race, partnerships in submarine subterfuge, and pepper-sprayed protesters in Hong Kong, Japan’s prime minister gains for hostage beheadings, his popularity rises, and the government grabs the passport of a would-be war photographer. . .
From the London Telegraph, ISIS business boons for British Bobbies:
Terror suspects arrested every day in UK as police call for extra funding to cope with Isil threat
Metropolitan assistant commissioner Mark Rowley says fanatics are detained on a daily basis and Isil “misifts” are gravest threat to UK
Metropolitan assistant commissioner Mark Rowley revealed fanatics were being detained on a daily basis following a sharp rise in arrests because of the growing threat from Islamist jihadists.
Mr Rowley, the country’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, said he had been lobbying Government for additional funding to tackle the threat and there were “indications” that would happen.
He said the greatest danger to the UK were “misfits, criminals and vulnerable” who were being targeted by Isil to carry out atrocities on home soil.
Police are also taking down 1,000 web pages of extremist material every week.
From Reuters, European parents grief-stricken over their ISIS-recruited children:
In Europe, parents’ dismay as Syria jihad lures troubled teens
As Belgium braces for a verdict in Europe’s biggest trial of those accused of fostering Islamist violence in Syria, much attention is on poor Muslim immigrant communities’ struggle in a region blighted by youth unemployment.
But for parents in Antwerp, a city on high alert since the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris and police raids on Belgian jihadists, Wednesday’s ruling by judges there may never explain why their two sporty teenagers, with no Muslim heritage, abandoned comfortable homes to take up arms in the Middle East.
And whatever sentences may be passed on their sons, Brian De Mulder’s mother and Jejoen Bontinck’s father both say the damage done by those who recruited them – harm that includes lost jobs and disrupted homes for parents and siblings – cannot be undone.
On to the battlefront, with a combatant profile, via the New York Times:
Shiite Militia Drives Back Islamic State, but Divides Much of Iraq
At their victory rally, the Shiite militiamen used poetry, song and swagger to sweeten their celebration of an ugly battle.
More than a hundred fighters from the militia, the Badr Organization, had been killed in the farms and villages of Diyala Province in recent fighting against the Sunni extremists of the Islamic State. During the battle, thousands of residents had been forced from their homes — including Sunni families who accused Shiite paramilitary groups like Badr of forced displacement and summary executions.
But the militias had pushed the Islamic State back from key areas in a crucial battle. So on Monday, the Badr Organization convened in a mosque at Camp Ashraf, its base in Diyala, to celebrate its “liberation” of the province — and to serve notice that it was the vanguard force battling the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Mixed senatorial messages on boots on the ground, from CNN:
Senators: No ground troops against ISIS
The United States needs to provide weapons directly to the Kurdish army that is fighting ISIS in Iraq, two senators said Sunday.
Both Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, told on CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” on Sunday that even after a Jordanian pilot was burned alive by the terror organization, they don’t want to see the United States send ground troops into the region in addition to its air strikes.
But the United States should provide more military aid to the Arab armies already fighting ISIS on the ground — especially the Kurds’ Peshmerga — they said.
ISIS archaeological annihilation from Fox News Latino:
Islamic State loots and destroys ancient religious sites in Mosul
Jihadists with the radical Islamic State over the past few days have been looting and destroying ancient religious sites in this northern Iraqi city, a local government official told Efe on Sunday.
The extremists on Saturday stole relics, historic books and manuscripts that were inside one of the religious sanctuaries in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, before demolishing the buildings with large earthmoving machines.
In addition to razing several sanctuaries, they destroyed the mosque of Muhsin, from which they stole valuable objects that had been housed there.
From BBC News, lethal football violence in Cairo:
Egypt suspends football league after deadly clashes
The Egyptian authorities have suspended football league matches indefinitely after clashes at a stadium in Cairo left at least 22 people dead.
People were crushed after police fired tear gas at supporters of Zamalek who were trying to force their way in for a match against city rivals ENPPI. The fans blamed the authorities for opening only a single gate.
An arrest warrant has been issued for the leaders of the Zamalek supporters group, the White Knights.
On to the Boko Haram battlefront, first with a video on fatally divided families in Chad, via CCTV Africa:
Chad Families Torn Apart by Boko Haram
Program notes:
By some accounts, the Boko Haram insurgency has displaced 1.6 million Nigerians. Many families have been torn apart and many children have lost their parents.Over the border in Chad, though, there’s hope for some abandoned youngsters. CCTV’s Clementine Logan reports.
The miserable plight of Nigerian Boko Haram violence, via Independent Online:
Boko Haram victims live in fear, poverty
At least a million Nigerians have been displaced after violent attacks by Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. They live in makeshift refugee or squatter camps, traumatised by the horror of massacres and without hope of ever returning home.
The key northern city of Maiduguri, Borno’s state capital, is bursting at the seams with fresh arrivals fleeing attacks, according to to medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), despite the fact that Maiduguri is also frequently under attack.
MSF head of mission in Nigeria, Abubakr Bakri, says he has seen a “massive” number of people escape to Maiduguri in recent months.
And a Nobel laureate makes a plea from her own experience as a target of fundamentalist rage, via the Guardian:
Malala Yousafzai criticises ‘weak’ effort to free girls kidnapped by Boko Haram
Joint Nobel peace prize-winner urges incoming Nigerian government to prioritise release of schoolgirls seized 300 days ago
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban, has criticised Nigerian and world leaders for not doing enough to free hundreds of schoolgirls kidnapped 300 days ago by Boko Haram.
The joint Nobel peace prize-winner said much more would have been done to win the girls’ release had they come from a more privileged background.
“Nigerian leaders and the international community can and must do much more to resolve this crisis and change their weak response to date,” she wrote on her blog. “If these girls were the children of politically or financially powerful parents, much more would be done to free them. But they come from an impoverished area of north-east Nigeria and sadly little has changed since they were kidnapped.”
And a Nigerian poll delay sparks protests, via Sky News:
Protests As Nigeria Poll Delayed Over Boko Haram
Nigeria’s electoral commission says security chiefs asked for the delay because they cannot guarantee the safety of voters.
Protests have erupted in Nigeria after the country’s electoral commission delayed the presidential election due to increased fighting with the extremist group Boko Haram.
The vote will now be held on 28 March, instead of 14 February, giving the ruling party more time as it struggles against the opposition.
The delay was announced after security chiefs pleaded for more time to make voting safe in parts of the country seized by Boko Haram.
A 15-kilometer human chain protest against Bangladeshi violence, via Reuters:
Hundreds form human chain to protest worsening Bangladesh violence
Program notes:
Protesters in Dhaka form a 15-kilometer human chain to highlight worsening political violence, after a petrol bomb attack by opposition activists claims one more life. Vanessa Johnston reports.
Surviving members of a Pakistani school bombing seek recompense, via VICE News:
Families of Peshawar Massacre Victims Demand Justice During Emotional Protest
Families of the victims of the Peshawar school massacre staged a protest Saturday to voice their disapproval with the Pakistani government’s investigation into the attack last year that left 141 people dead, including 132 children.
Men and women of every age attended the demonstration and march through the streets of the northwestern city of Peshawar. The protesters carried banners and signs that read, “We want books not guns,” “Sorry kids, no banner is enough to cover the shame of the state and government,” and “Why is the government silent?” The crowd also chanted, “Justice is the only solution to terrorism.”
In the December 16 attack, armed members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan — also known as the Pakistani Taliban — entered the Army Public School in Peshawar and methodically moved from classroom to classroom, killing schoolchildren and teachers. The Taliban said it was retaliation for the army’s ongoing campaign against militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
A rally for Pakistani Charlie Hebdo decapitation advocates, via ODN:
Protestors in Pakistan burn flags and demand beheadings
Program notes:
Hundreds of people have gathered in Lahore to protest about cartoons published by Charlie Hebdo. Report by Stephanie Prentice.
North Korea fires off as missile salvo, via Channel NewsAsia Singapore:
North Korea fires short-range missiles off coast
North Korea fired five short-range missiles off its east coast on Sunday, in a demonstration of military muscle by the secretive state amid escalating rhetoric against the United States and South Korea.
The missiles hit the sea after about 200 km (120 miles), a South Korean defence ministry official said.
North Korea frequently fires short-range missiles off its coast as part of military drills. The United Nations imposed sanctions banning North Korea from launching longer-range ballistic missiles, but not short-range missiles.
From Want China Times, a China-inspired Asian submarine arms race:
China’s dominance not enough to deter S. China Sea sub race
China’s territorial disputes in the South China Sea will only grow more complex as regional countries continue to bolster their respective submarine fleets, reports the Beijing-based Sina Military Network.
Recent reports indicate that various countries in the South China Sea, including Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, have all been investing in new submarines, notwithstanding that China’s submarine fleet will still be bigger than all of those countries put together.
China, which has been developing submarines since the 1950s, currently owns more than 60 subs — third in the world in terms of number — including four classes of nuclear subs and seven classes of conventional subs.
Partnerships in submarine subterfuge, via Want China Times:
Merchant ships could be used as cover to move PLA subs into open sea
Chinese merchant vessels could be used as cover to allow PLA ballistic missile submarines to penetrate the “First Island Chain,” extending from Alaska to the Philippines, during peace time, according to Chinese Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo, cited by state-run People’s Daily.
Vincent R. Stewart, the director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said that Chinese nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines will begin routine patrol missions in open sea this year, during a hearing held by the House Committee on Armed Services held on Feb. 3.
Yin said that the PLA Navy could use two methods to penetrate through the “First Island Chain,” which China believes was established by the United States to contain China.
And pepper-sprayed protesters in Hong Kong, via Channel NewsAsia Singapore:
Hong Kong police fire pepper spray at anti-mainland protesters
More than 100 people took part in the protest in the town of Tuen Mun in the New Territories, not far from one of the border crossings to the mainland
Hong Kong police fired pepper spray and arrested protesters demonstrating against an influx of visitors from mainland China inside a shopping mall on Sunday (Feb 8), reports said.
More than 100 people took part in the protest in the town of Tuen Mun in the New Territories, not far from one of the border crossings to the mainland. Local residents are becoming increasingly angry at the growing number of mainland Chinese traders, who they say have disrupted their daily lives and clogged public transport.
The so-called parallel traders typically travel to Hong Kong by train and stock up on everything from iPads to milk powder, taking advantage of lower prices, wider choice and better quality in the city and dodging hefty tariffs on their return.
From Want China Times, Japan’s prime minister gains for hostage beheadings:
Japan to use ISIS as an execuse to revise its constitution: report
The execution of two Japanese hostages by the Islamic State has given Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, an excuse to revise Article Nine of also known as the “Peace Article,” of the Japanese constitution in preparation for a potential conflict with China, according to the Sina Military Network based in Beijing.
Under Article Nine, Japan is not allowed to have an armed force with war potential, nor is it able to deploy troops onto foreign soil or even declare war against against another nation. Abe, however, began to push for Japan’s right to engage in collective self-defense as soon as he became prime minister in December of 2012. The in July of last year, the Japanese government changed its interpretation of the Japanese constitution to recognize the right to collective self-defense.
After the beheadings of Haruna Yukawa, a security contractor and Kenji Goto, a reporter, by the the terrorist group in Syria, China now worries that Japan will use the event as an excuse to abolish its pacifist constitution which it established at the end of World War II. To add to China’s concerns, the commander of the US Seventh Fleet, Vice Admiral Robert L. Thomas, has already declared that the deployment of the Japanese patrol aircraft to the disputed South China Sea is welcomed by Washington.
From Reuters, his popularity rises:
PM Abe’s approval ratings rise in Japan after hostage crisis
The Japanese government scored higher public approval ratings for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s handling of the hostage crisis involving two Japanese captured in Syria and killed by Islamic State militants, polls published this week showed.
Japan’s biggest daily Yomiuri found that support for Abe’s government had risen to 58 percent from 53 percent in January. The paper surveyed 1,054 people by telephone on Friday and Saturday for the poll, which was the first since the hostages were killed.
A separate poll released by Kyodo on Saturday also showed an increase in support for Abe. More than 60 percent of respondents said they approved of the government’s response to the hostage crisis.
And the government grabs the passport of a would-be war photographer, via the Japan Times:
Foreign Ministry takes freelance photographer’s passport to prevent trip to Syria
The Japanese Foreign Ministry on Saturday stopped freelance photographer Yuichi Sugimoto from traveling to Syria by confiscating his passport, the first time it has taken such a step.
Sugimoto, a 58-year-old resident of the city of Niigata, says the government’s move infringes on freedom of speech.
The ministry said it took the action in accordance with a provision in the passport law that allows it to confiscate a person’s passport in order to protect their life.
The passport confiscation, coming in the wake of the release of a video purportedly showing the killing of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto by Islamic State militants, could spur discussions about the constitutional guarantee of freedom to travel to foreign countries.
