North Korean Threats - What's Behind ?

فيديو دعائي.. كوريا الشمالية توجه ضربة نووية لواشنطن

Propaganda video: North Korea directing a nuclear blow at Washington.



[Source: Al-Arabiya on March 27, 2016]




朝鲜核弹小型化可完爆美国：萨德反导是个笑话

The miniaturization of North Korean nukes could finish with
blowing up America: THAAD missile defence is "mere joke".

The Chinese article is pointing out that there is no need to apply the U.S. developed THAAD system in South Korea as the North is not interested in delivering a nuclear blow on the U.S. by means of an intercontinental missile. Kim Jong Un's policy is only considered to underline that "some fearless men" might be sufficient to terrorize a country as could recently be seen in the aftermath of the Brussels attacks.

[Source: china.com on March 25, 2016]

Editor's Note:
The so-called Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system is using an enhanced version of U.S. made Patriot missiles to intercept aggressing missiles.
In February 2016, the Pentagon announced that a Patriot Advance Capability-3 (Pac-3) missile system was moved from Fort Bliss in Texas to the Osan Air Base near Seoul, alongside two existing batteries. The Pac-3 system, with an altitude of up to 40 kilometres and a maximum speed of Mach 5, can intercept short- and medium-range missiles, such as the North Korean Scud and Rodong missiles.
Some sources are looking at the installation of the THAAD system in South Korea as part of an indirect threat that is aiming at neighbouring China rather than North Korea.




A promotion tour of North Korea's Singing Army Girls, the ultimate propaganda tool of
Kim JongUn. Their concert tour should have taken place from 12-14th December 2015
at the " National Centre for the Performing Arts " in Beijing. It combined revolutionary
songs with reminders of the Korean War. That must have been the group's last program
in China after which president Xi JinPing allegedly refused to attend their performance,
such putting an end to N Korea's so-called "Spice Girls Diplomacy" towards China. The
pro-Chinese music show, however, was comprehensively covered by some TV stations
in China / Taiwan that presented the appetizing female army detachment side by side
with news on N Korea's disputed H-bomb test and its missile capabilities.




TV pictures: North Korea's singing army girls "hurriedly flying back to Pyongyang".
The spokeswoman for China's ministry of foreign affairs, when asked in a regular
press-conference why the N Korean band of army girls left China so unexpectedly,
only answered "I don't know" and "We hope for a thoroughgoing cultural exchange."

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Russian visitors to "blueprint news" in March 2016.



Russian visitors interested in North Korean proceedings and who surfaced in April 2016.

The World Fighting in Syria / Iraq

إحصاء لأعداد المقاتلين الأجانب بسوريا والعراق

Counting the number of foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq.

ذكرت صحيفة ديلي تلغراف أن عدد المقاتلين الأجانب الذين سافروا إلى العراق وسوريا منذ نشوب القتال في عام 2011 يقدر بأكثر من 27 ألفا.ـ

The journal Daily Telegraph reminded that the number of foreign fighters who have travelled to Iraq and Syria since the outbreak of fighting in 2011 is considered to surmount 27.000.

وعلى الرغم من عدم تأكيد صحة هذه الأرقام رسميا فإن الخبراء يعتقدون أن العديد منهم لا يزالون يقاتلون في مناطق الصراع، في حين تقدر نسبة الذين عادوا إلى أوطانهم بين 20 و30%.ـ

And despite the unconfirmed status of these official data, experts consider that numerous of them are leaving to fight in war zones [while] the rate of those who return to their countries is considered to lie between 20% and 30%.

.........

وذكرت المنظمة أن المقاتلين الأجانب الذين ينضمون إلى هذه الجماعات يأتون مما لا يقل عن 86 دولة، والدول العشر التي تتصدر قائمة المقاتلين الأجانب في العراق وسوريا تشمل تونس (6500) والسعودية (2500) وروسيا (2400) و الأردن (2250) وتركيا (2100) وفرنسا (1700) والمغرب (1350) ولبنان (تسعمئة) ومصر (ثمانمئة) وألمانيا (760).ـ

And the organization [i.e. Soufan Group*] reminded that foreign fighters who affiliate to such groups [i.e. ISIL, Al-Nusra etc.] arrive from not less than 86 countries. And the ten countries heading the list of foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria include Tunisia (6.500), Saudi-Arabia (2.500), Russia (2.400), Jordan (2.250), Turkey (2.100), France (1.700), Morocco (1.350), Lebanon (900), Egypt (800), and Germany (760).

Editor's Note: The above mentioned organization is the Soufan Group which provides strategic security intelligence services to governments and multinational organizations.

[Source: Al-Jazeera الجزيرة, undated article that appeared on March 25 and is quoting a Daily Telegraph article published the day before.]

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Cuba Recibe A Obama

Ayer el Presidente de los Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, llegó en horas de la tarde a La Habana recibido por el Canciller Cubano Bruno Rodriguez. El presidente Obama visitó con su familia La Habana vieja y la catedral donde se encuentran testimonios de diferentes épocas. La visita del presidente quedará marcada para la historia de Cuba.

Ciudadanos de La Habana dicen que están esperanzados en las buenas relaciones entre EE.UU. y Cuba.

En el Museo de la Ciudad tiene cuadros pictóricos de la historia de Estados Unidos. Aqui Estados Unidos y Cuba encuentran sus vínculos culturales a través del arte.

[TeleSUR, Caracas / Venezuela, 20 de marzo]

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Segundo día de Obama en La Habana: En su encuentro con el presidente cubano, Raúl Castro, Obama afirma que EE.UU. reconoce progresos del pueblo cubano. Dice que continuaré haciendo un llamado al congreso para levantar el bloqueo.

Raúl Castro destacó avances en el restablecimiento de relaciones con los Estados Unidos pero reitera en que debe levantarse el bloqueo impuesto por EE.UU. contra la isla. Raúl dice que el bloqueo continua y sus efectos contra el pueblo estan vigentes. Pese al bloqueo financiero, Cuba expondra beneficios de su mercado a empresarios de EE.UU.

Sobre el balance del diálogo entre Raúl Castro y Barack Obama, TeleSUR presenta los opiniónes de dos expertos políticos en vivo desde La Habana.

Actualmente, el Secretario de Estado, John Kerry, participa de negociaciones de paz entre el gobierno de Colombia y la milicia de FARC que también tienen lugar en La Habana estas días.

[TeleSUR, Caracas / Venezuela, 21 de marzo]




Secretario de Estado Kerry y Canciller Cubano Rodriguez
[Cubavision 21 de marzo]

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El discurso del Presidente Obama que se dirige al pueblo cubano en El Gran Teatro de Habana.



Obama finaliza su visita en La Habana [TeleSUR 22 de marzo]

Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca José Martí (1853-1895) La poesía citada por el Presidente Obama en su discurso que se dirige al pueblo cubano durante su visita histórica en Cuba en marzo 2016. (traducción por Ulysses)
Cultivo una rosa blanca en junio como en enero para el amigo sincero que me da su mano franca. I cultivate a rose of white in June as well in January preserved for some true friend who freely reaches out his hand to me.	Y para el cruel que arranca el corazón con que vivo, cardo ni ortiga cultivo; cultivo la rosa blanca. And for whatever cruelty might tear apart the very heart I have to live with, then neither thistle nor nettle I do cultivate, I still keep cultivating that white rose of mine.

China - Service Industries on the Rise

人民网北京3月19日电（李楠桦）由国务院发展研究中心主办的“中国发展高层论坛2016年会”经济峰会今日在京召开，华润（集团）有限公司董事长傅育宁在“现代服务业的开放与发展”分组会上表示，2015年，服务业的外资已经达到700多亿的吸收额，60%中国的引资都是在服务业。

People's Network, Beijing, report from March 19:
Today, an economic summit has been convoked in the capital. The "China Development Forum 2016 Annual Meeting" is hosted by the State Council Research Center on Development. The chairman of China Benefit Group Inc., Fu Yu Ning, showed for the grouping "opening and development of modern service industries" that in 2015 foreign investment into services already reached more than 70 billion [U.S.$], 60% of China's fundings being absorbed in the service sector.

Fu Yu Ning considers that a flourishing Chinese service sector could generate an output value of 1000 billion U.S.$ by 2020.

[Source: People's Network 人民网 on March 19, 2016]

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俄媒称应建大型航母卖给中国 专家:完全可以自己建造

Russian media say [Russia] agrees to construct
a large-scale mother ship and sell it to China.

Experts: It could be completely self-built.

The Chinese article is showing a photo of the Russian mother ship (i.e. aircraft carrier) "Kuznetsov".

[Source: People's Network 人民网 on March 18, 2016]


领导干部如何迎接改革大考

How leading cadres welcome the final examination of the reform.

On March 20, an editorial published in the semi-official journal People's Daily 人民日报 urges the immediate application of reform plannings targeting China's military defence.

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文莱航空庆国庆日 派全女性机师驾机飞抵沙特

Brunei aviation celebrating National Day. Sends entirely
female flying crew to pilot a plane to Saudi-Arabia.

On National Day February 23, the tiny Sultanate of Brunei, situated on the island of Borneo in the Malay Archipelago, sent a Royal Brunei Airlines Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" with an entirely female cockpit crew on a flight to Jeddah in Saudi-Arabia. In Saudi-Arabia, however, women are not even allowed to drive a car due to a unique interpretation of Islam regarding the missing virtues of women.

Before that remarkable information finally reached China, it had already spread all over the world. [People's Network on March 17, 2016]

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Mastermind of Paris Attacks Under Arrest

Yesterday evening, Al-Jazeera, Arabic TV, reported that Salah Abdus-Salam, the suspected mastermind of the 2015 Paris attacks, could be arrested in the Belgian capital of Brussels. He was the only one to escape after the bloodshed his terrorist group had triggered off in the French capital. Even though some shooting accompanied the arrest of Abdus-Salam by Belgian police, he is reported to be in good health. French president Hollande is now urging the Belgian authorities to extradite Abdus-Salam to France.


هولاند: سنطالب بلجيكا بتسليم عبد السلام

[French president] Hollande: We will demand from Belgium the extradition of Abdus-Salam.




صلاح عبد السلام المطلوب رقم واحد في هجمات باريس

Salah Abdus-Salam searched as No.1 of the Paris attacks.

ولد في بلجيكا عام 1989 لعائلة من أصول مغاربية

Born in Belgium in 1989 to a family originating from Morocco.

السلطات البلجيكية تؤكد اعتقال المشتبه به في هجمات باريس صلاح عبد السلام

Belgian authorities are sure to have arrested the
suspect of the Paris attacks, Salah Abdus-Salam.

[Source: Al-Jazeera الجزيرة, Arabic website, on March 19, 2016]

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Related News on Terrorism:



البرلمان الجزائري:عقوبات ضد الإرهابيين العائدين من سوريا والعراق وليبيا

Algerian Parliament: Sanctions against terrorists returning from Syria, Iraq and Libya.

[Source: Iraq News Summary موجز العراق on March 19, 2016]

US Court vs Iran - Joke of the Week

وثائق سرية تكشف التحالف بين بن لادن ومغنية وإيران

Secret documentation unveils alliance between Bin Laden,
[Hezbollah head of security] Mughniyeh and Iran.

حيثيات حكم محكمة نيويورك الفيدرالية بإدانة إيران و"حزب الله" في هجمات 9/11

The reasons of the rule by a federal court in New York
that condemned Iran and Hezbollah for the 9/11 attacks.

[Source: Al-Arabiya العربية on March 17, 2016]


TEHRAN. — Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman has slammed as “unjust”, “ridiculous” and “absurd” a US court ruling against the Islamic Republic over the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

Yesterday [i.e. March 14], Hossein Jaberi Ansari described the US court order as “the latest product of the US Judicial system in the race for blindly following Zionist Iranophobic scenarios”.

“The ruling is ludicrous and absurd to the point that it makes a mockery of the principle of justice while further tarnishes the US judiciary’s reputation,” he said.

Last Wednesday [i.e. March 9], Iran was ordered by a US judge to pay more than $10,5 billion in damages to families of people killed on 9/11 and to a group of insurers.

US district judge George Daniels issued the judgment in New York, claiming Iran has failed to defend itself against allegations of involvement in the attacks.

The court ruling is based on the 9/11 Commission Report which stated that some attackers moved through Iran and did not have their passports stamped.

The verdict comes as none of the 19 hijackers on September 11 were Iranian citizens. Fifteen were from Saudi Arabia, while two from the United Arab Emirates and one each from Egypt and Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia was legally cleared from paying damages to the families of 9/11 victims last year, after Judge Daniels dismissed accounts that the Persian Gulf monarchy provided material support to the terrorists and ruled that Riyadh had sovereign immunity.

[Source: The Herald , Harare / Zimbabwe, on March 15, 2016]


Black Africans - The First to Laugh !



Spreading the News in Africa

By the way, how could they forget "old bad guy" Saddam Hussein from Iraq with all of his weapons of mass destruction and who allegedly supported Bin Laden's organization ?

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Quotation of my present blogspot by French news service TEADS TV.

Syria - Russian Troop Withdrawal

بوتين يأمر قواته بالانسحاب من سوريا.. وأميركا تشكك

Putin orders the withdrawal of his troops from Syria .. while America has its doubts.

الرئيس الروسي وجّه بتقليص دور بلاده العسكري وإبداله بالدور السياسي

The Russian president [exposed] a shrinking military role of
his country and and its replacement with a political role.

قال الرئيس الروسي فلاديمير بوتين انه امر ببدء سحبِ الجزء الرئيسي من القوة العسكرية الروسية في سوريا ابتداء من اليوم الثلاثاء.ـ

Russia's president Vladimir Putin said he ordered to start the withdrawal of the main part of Russia's military forces from Syria scheduled to begin on Tuesday [i.e. March 14].

وخلال اجتماعه بوزير الدفاع الروسي قال بوتين إن قوات البحرية والقاعدة الجوية الروسية في مدينة طرطوس ستعود للعمل كما كانت قبل التدخل العسكري الاخير.ـ

And during his meeting with Russia's minister of defence, Putin said that naval forces and Russia's airbase in Tartus township will return to work like before the [excellent] military intervention.

[Source: Al-Jazeera الجزيرة نت, Arabic website, on March 14/15, 2016]




Inside Story on Russia's military withdrawal from Syria,
broadcast by Al-Jazeera International on March 15, 2016.

Russia's "deescalation" in Syria seen in the frame of a global build-up of high-end weaponry in the wake of WW III:



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Visitor to "blueprint news" coming from the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

Obama Visiting Cuba

In the wake of U.S. President Obama's visit to Habana, Cuba's journal "Granma", the official voice of Cuba's Communist Party, published an editorial that drafted the official Cuban position for further talks with the United States. A news evaluation of that editorial, originally published by a Panama daily, has now been quoted in yesterday's edition of cuba.cu. Here my translation of the complete article:

Destaca prensa panameña posición cubana ante visita de Obama.

Panama media highlighting Cuba's position before Obama's visit.



Panamá, 13 de mar (PL). Bajo el título "Granma extiende la mano ante la visita de (Barack) Obama, pero cierra filas", el matutino panameño La Prensa reseña hoy un editorial del periódico cubano sobre la próxima visita del presidente estadounidense a Cuba. "El diario oficial respalda el acercamiento a Estados Unidos, pero le exige a Obama que la política de cambio de régimen sea definitivamente sepultada", señaló sobre la postura definida por el diario del Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC).

Panamá, March 13:
Under its title "Granma reaches out its hand in advance of Obama's visit but closes its ranks" the Panama morning journal La Prensa is evaluating today an editorial of Cuba's daily ["Granma"] and which is regarding the forthcoming visit of the U.S President to Cuba. "The official [Cuban] daily supports an approach towards the United States, however, demands from Obama to definitely bury the policy of change of regime, such hinting at the definite position taken by the daily of Cuba's Communist Party (PCC).

Reflejó un párrafo del editorial en el cual el rotativo cubano señala que "debe reconocerse la posición reiterada [del presidente de Estados Unidos] de que el bloqueo tiene que ser eliminado", pero advierte que "debe abandonarse la pretensión de fabricar una oposición política interna sufragada con dinero de los contribuyentes estadounidenses".

A paragraph in its editorial is reflecting how the Cuban printing media signals that "one has to appreciate the position [of the U.S. president] repeatedly saying the blockade should be eliminated", while admonishing that "it needs to give up the pretension of creating an internal political opposition and which is financed with money from U.S. tax payers."

La reseña destaca la parte del artículo en la que se recuerda el bloqueo económico, comercial y financiero a Cuba y las prerrogativas ejecutivas del Presidente estadounidense para modificar tanto como sea posible su aplicación, sin necesidad de una acción legislativa.

The evaluation is highlighting a part of the [Cuban] article which is reminding the economical, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba and the administrative prerogatives of a U.S. president to modify his venture as far as possible without any need for legislative activity.

El tema de la próxima visita oficial de Obama a La Habana, anunciada entre el 20 y 22 del presente mes, se refleja constantemente en medios panameños, algunos de los cuales invitan a expertos para analizar el contexto del hecho, sus proyecciones en el desarrollo de la isla y la repercusión para la región.

The subject of Obama's forthcoming official visit to Habana, and which has been announced [to take place] between the 20th and 22th this month, found its constant repercussions in Panama media, some of them inviting specialists for an analysis of [the subject and its consequences] in the development of the island, as well as, the regional repercussions.

[Source: cuba.cu on March 13, 2016, quoting a news feature from La Prensa, Panamá, and which is referring to the March 8 Granma editorial on Obama's planned visit.]


The original Granma Editorial: President Barack Obama’s visit to Cuba is already available in the English version as presented by Radio Rebelde, Cuba.

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U.S. visitor interested in Cuba-Venezuela relations.

Libya - Deeply Divided

Libya’s future is threatened by ‘terrifying’ ISIL, UN chief Ban Ki-moon says. The UN Secretary General has warned that the future of Libya, and the stability of the whole Sahel region, is at stake as it faces the “terrifying threat” of the ISIL group. But he warned international powers not to “stoke the fires of conflict” in the country.

Chaos has engulfed Libya since the 2011 Nato-backed ouster of dictator Muammar Gaddafi and rival administrations are being urged to sign up to a UN-brokered national unity government to help restore stability.

The internationally recognised and rather weak government is based in the far east of the North African country while an opposing government was installed in Tripoli, the former capital of Libya.

The ISIL group and other extremist organisations have exploited the power vacuum, making gains along the oil-rich coastal regions and triggering concern among Western nations over terrorists controlling territory just 300 kilometres from Europe.

“There are alarming reports of widespread human rights violations, including serious abuses that may amount to war crimes,” Ban said in his comments Friday. “All those with influence must use it to calm the situation and stop the fighting. It is utterly irresponsible for any outside player to stoke the fires,” he added.

Ban said that his special representative Martin Kobler “is facilitating talks on a national unity government” as “we face the terrifying scourge of ISIL expanding in Libya and beyond its borders.” Delays would only worsen the dire humanitarian needs, he warned, adding that “Libya’s future is at stake” and “the reverberations echo far”. Success in stabilising Libya would also benefit the whole Sahel region and “our world” in general, he added.

[Source: Gulf News, Dubai, on March 5, 2016]


On Sunday March 6, 2016, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made clear she stood behind U.S. action in Libya, saying if the country hadn’t participated in the bombing campaign that led to the ouster of Moammar Gadhafi, Libya would now look like Syria.

The Democratic presidential contender acknowledged on CBS’s “Face the Nation” the situation in Libya is not optimal but noted the 1,500 deaths in Libya fighting last year were far fewer than the 150,000 in Syria.

[Source: International Business Times on March 6, 2016]


The United States is basing plans for military intervention in Libya on faulty intelligence, Western officials and country experts have told the Sunday Telegraph.

American intelligence agencies assess that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) has doubled in size in Libya, with between 5,000 and 6,500 fighters in the country. Privately, however, some US officials say they believe these estimates to be overblown. Independent experts have come to the same conclusion. ..... all said they believed the real figure to be only 20 to 40 per cent of the US estimate.

[Source: Sunday Telegraph, London, on March 5, 2016]





Please note: The IP address of that Tripoli visitor to "blueprint news" has been blacklisted together with a whole range of related IP numbers by different websites. This, however, doesn't necessarily mean any danger of electronic attack going out from such IP address. It might be instead a sign of politically motivated blacklisting as political power in Libya is currently divided between two opposing governments and different terrorist groups.

Germany - Syrian Migrant Moves

Syria News of the Day further down !

Migrants from Syria make up for the largest group of asylum seekers in Germany, followed by those who came from Afghanistan. Here are some general facts about migrant moves targeting Germany as their preferred country of exile.



Syrian migrants coming from different parts of Syria as
published by UN Refugee Agency NHCR in Sept. 2015.



Regions of control for main local participants in the Syrian conflict
[Syria 'truce': Who's in and who's out? BBC article Feb. 27, 2016].



Main migrant route to Germany.

Facts about migrant moves within Germany as published by BBC on February 26, 2016:

Germany does not know the whereabouts of 130,000 asylum seekers who were registered last year, officials say.

The migrants did not appear at reception centres to which they had been directed, the government said in a written reply to a question.

This may be because they have moved to a different country, gone underground or registered several times.

Those missing represent about 13% of about 1.1 million asylum seekers registered in Germany in 2015.

A spokesman for the interior ministry said a series of measures approved by parliament on Thursday [i.e. February 25] would help address the missing migrants problem, AFP news agency reports.

..........

On Thursday, the head of Germany's federal office for migration, Frank-Juergen Weise, said there were up to 400,000 people in the country whose identities were unknown to the authorities.

A special flight from Germany carrying 125 deported Afghans arrived in Kabul on Wednesday [i.e. February 24]. Those arriving in Kabul all left voluntarily, German officials said.

Afghans have become Germany's second largest group of asylum seekers, after Syrians, with 154,000 arriving in 2015.

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Syria News of the Day:

" Syria ceasefire: Truce comes into effect, ‘cautious’ optimism over deal. "
News reports by Reuters agency and RT Russian TV on February 27, 2016





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The visitor to "blueprint news" who came from Cayenne is a reminder of times when French Guiana was some kind of "French Guantánamo" for political prisoners. Prisoner camps on Devil's Island and near the mainland settlements of Kourou and Cayenne existed from 1852 until 1953. From there derives a German saying that is targeting any person one wants to get rid of: "Go to where the pepper is growing !" and which is referring to the fact that French Guiana also became known as the exporter of Cayenne pepper. It wouldn't surprise me at all, if the visitor from Syria presented below and who obviously noted my visitor from Cayenne had, as well, some second thoughts about the future of foreign Jihadists in Syria .....

Iranian Oil Flooding the Market

مسئول إيراني: نستهدف تصدير 1.5 مليون برميل نفط يوميًا

Iranian official: We strive to export 1.5 million barrel oil daily.

أكد مدير الشئون السياسية بوزارة الخارجية الإيرانية حميد بعيدي نجاد، أن بلاده تستهدف تصدير 1.5 مليون برميل نفط يوميا كمرحلة أولى في فترة ما بعد الحظر.ـ

The director for political affairs of Iran's foreign ministry, Hamid Baeidi Nejad, confirmed that his country is striving to export 1.5 million barrel oil daily [with regard to] the first period of time [following] the sanctions.

ورأى بعيدي نجاد -حسبما ذكرت وكالة أنباء "فارس" الإيرانية-أن تصدير طهران ثلاث شحنات نفطية إلى أوروبا بحجم 4 ملايين طن يوم الأربعاء الماضي خطوة مبدئية قوية بعد مرور سنوات عدة.ـ

According to the Iranian news agency FARS, Baeidi Nejad mentioned that Tehran has exported three charges of oil to Europe, comprising four million tons, last Wednesday in a first encouraging step that has the dimension of several years [of export].




Hamid Baeidi Nejad

[Source: Al-Dostor الدستور, Egyptian online news on February 20, 2016]


Further News from Iran:



أكدت هيئة الأركان العامة للقوات المسلحة الإيرانية، أمس، أن الدفعة الأولى من منظومة الصواريخ الاعتراضية «إس 300»، سترسل إلى إيران اليوم، وذلك بعد احتفال رسمي في مدينة أستراخان الروسية يحضره وزير الدفاع الإيراني حسين دهقان المتواجد في روسيا منذ يوم الإثنين الماضي.ـ

Yesterday [i.e. February 17], the general staff of the armed forces of Iran confirmed that the [first series] of interception missiles S-300 is going to be sent to Iran today, after an official ceremony in the Russian town of Astrachan [taking place] in the presence of Iran's minister of defence Hossein Dehghan and who is staying in Russia since last Monday.

[Source: Martyr Institution, Palestine مؤسسة شهيد فلسطين on February 18, 2016]

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Jerusalem - Picture of the Day

ثلاثة شهداء بنيران الاحتلال في القدس والضفة

Three died under fire of occupation forces
in Jerusalem and the West Bank.



كاميرا الجزيرة توثق لحظة إطلاق قوات الاحتلال
وابلا من الرصاص على فلسطيني في القدس

A camera of Al-Jazeera witnesses the starting moment
of a shooting spray by occupation forces [targeting] a
Palestinian in Jerusalem.

Editor's Note:
From the video sequence alone it is difficult to decide why the shooting spray really started as the Israeli soldier can be seen running away before he turns back and targets the Palestinian running after him. Such, the video remains but the proof of tense relations between Palestinians and Israeli occupation forces many decades after the conflict started.

[Source: Al-Jazeera الجزيرة, Arabic website, on Februar 19, 2016]

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North Korea - Light and Shadow

Important Update added on February 12, 2016:



朝鲜宣布成功发射卫星

North Korea Proclaims the Successful Launch of a Satellite.

朝鲜中央通讯社7日报道，朝鲜当天上午利用运载火箭成功发射最新研制的对地观测卫星“光明星4号”，并将卫星顺利送入轨道。外交部发言人称，外交部副部长刘振民昨天紧急约见朝鲜驻华大使池在龙，就朝鲜利用弹道导弹技术发射卫星提出交涉。

朝鲜宣布成功发射

根据朝鲜国家宇宙开发局发布的公报，朝鲜当地时间7日上午9时（北京时间8时30分）在平安北道铁山郡西海卫星发射场发射“光明星4号”卫星。大约10分钟后，卫星顺利进入轨道，轨道斜角为 97.4度，近地点494.6公里，远地点500公里，每94分24秒绕地球一周。韩联社援引韩国国防部消息人士的话报道，朝鲜发射了一枚“远程火箭”，一级火箭推进器于首尔时间9时32分分离，炸成270多块碎片坠入朝鲜半岛西部海域，9时36分从韩方雷达上消失。

Summary of the Chinese text:

On February 7, the North Korean Central News Agency reported the successful launch of its newly built Earth observation satellite "Bright Star No.4" in the morning of that day.

According to a spokesman of [N Korea's] foreign ministry, the vice-minister of foreign affairs should have had an urgent meeting with [N Korea's] ambassador to China the day before. Therefore [it seems that] N Korea might be using its ballistic missile technology to advance negotiations.

.....
The satellite was launched on February 7 at 09:00 in the morning (i.e. 08:30 Beijing time) from N Korea's satellite launch pad in the north-western part of the country. Ten minutes later, the satellite was put on its trajectory with an orbit inclination of 97.4 degrees. Its distance from Earth being 494.6-500 km (perigee-apogee), the satellite needs 94 minutes 24 seconds for orbiting the Earth.

According to a spokesman of the South Korean ministry of defense, the North should have launched a "long-range missile" which decomposed into more than 270 debris parts landing in the western sea area of the Korean peninsula. At 09:36 [the missile or parts of it] disappeared from South Korean radar.

[Source: SINA 新闻中心 on February 8, 2016]




Location of North Korea's satellite launch pad.

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朝媒谈卫星图朝鲜一片添黑:灯光不能反应社会本质

North Korean media discussing a satellite image
that is showing N Korea as an area of darkness:
Lighting should not reflect society's qualities.

[Source: Chinanews 中国新闻网 on February 3, 2015]

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Breaking News on February 11, 2016:

North Korean chief of general staff reportedly executed.

According to Yonhap, the South Korean news agency, North Korea’s Chief of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) General Staff Ri Yong Gil was reportedly executed sometime earlier this month. He should have been in office since 2013 until his disappearance after January 10, 2016.

However, it should not be taken for granted that General Ri has really been executed. There were other North Korean officials before him who reappeared in public after rumours of their execution.

Under the assumption that Ri was executed, the purge might have taken place due to his expression of dissatisfaction over the increasing Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) control over the KPA and prioritizing the party over the military.

Recently, Kim Jong Un held an “enlarged joint meeting” on February 2-3, just three days before North Korea’s recent rocket launch. During the meeting, Kim pointed out his intent to bring about changes to the KPA.

“The KPA must head only in the direction where the supreme leader points,” Kim said during the speech. “The whole of the party and our military must put up a struggle to exterminate the practices of seeking privileges, misuse of authority, abuse of power and bureaucratism.”

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Basketball champion and former NBA star Dennis Rodman said
he and other former National Basketball Association players are
planning a match in North Korea that will be a "birthday present"
for one of their most unlikely fans: Kim Jong Un. [6 January 2014]

罗德曼揭金正恩奢华私生活:拥私人岛屿和游艇

Rodman reveals Kim Jong Un's luxurious private life:
Possession of private islands and a pleasure boat.
[Source: XinHua 新华 on 24 December 2013]



Kim Jong Un's private yacht is worth some £4.5 million.
[Text: Daily Telegraph - Picture: N Korean news agency]

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Year of the Monkey 2016

A Happy Chinese New Year
Welcome Year of the Monkey

Overloaded tricycle spotted moving through the
downtown streets in Shanghai. [People's Daily]

North Korea - Alarming News

Rumours of North Korea planning to launch another rocket and which should be carrying a satellite have aroused suspicion by its neighbours. Here are the news of the day:



韩国：朝鲜将在8至25号之间发射火箭

South Korea: The North will undertake its 25th Rocket Launch on [February] 8.

[Source: Phenix news center 凤凰 on February 6, 2015]




严阵以待！日本神盾舰集结应对朝鲜火箭

Ready for Battle! Japanese Aegis ships [i.e. warships
equipped with an Aegis combat system] are massing
as a reaction to the North Korean rocket [launch].

近日，日本媒体报道了日本海上自卫队主力宙斯盾驱逐舰集结的画面，对于朝鲜计划发射火箭严加戒备。

In the past few days, Japanese media reported that Japan sent its naval defense unit's main force, the Aegis destroyers, to build up a some [combat] scenario, being alarmed by a tightening situation when North Korea is planning to launch another rocket.

[Original Source: Global Network 环球网, quoted by Chinanews on February 6, 2016]

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Visitors interested in North Korea's proceedings:

ISIL Threatening the West

ناطق بالفرنسية في فيديو إعدام جديد لداعش

French speaker in a video about another execution by ISIL.

نشر تنظيم داعش السبت على الإنترنت شريط فيديو جديدا لعملية إعدام 5 عراقيين قتلهم بالرصاص 5 من عناصره يتقدمهم داعشي ناطق بالفرنسية توعد الغربيين بهجمات "تنسيهم" هجمات نيويورك وباريس.ـ

On Saturday [Jan.31] and in a new video placed on the internet, ISIL organization proclaimed the execution of five Iraqis shot at near distance by five of their members [while] some francophone speaker threatened Westeners with attacks ["less forgettable"] than the attacks of New York and Paris.

The execution took place in Nineveh governorate the capital of which is Mosul, now an ISIL stronghold in northern Iraq.

[Source: Al-Arabiya العربية on January 31, 2016]

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A similar execution of 25 soldiers belonging to the army of Syrian president Assad was reported by Al-Arabiya in July 2015. The execution should have taken place on May 21, 2015, in front of an ancient Greco-Roman style ruin in the historic parts of Palmyra township which now belongs to Homs governorate, Syria.



Al-Arabiya video from July 4, 2015

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Related News on Terrorism:



الداخلية السعودية: مليون ريال لمن يدلى بمعلومات عن إرهابى

The Saudi ministry of the interior: Millions of Riyal
for those who give information about terrorism.

ورصدت وزارة الداخلية السعودية مبلغ 7 ملايين ريال مكافآة لمن يساهم فى إحباط عملية إرهابية، كما رصدت مبلغ 5 ملايين ريال أخرى لمن يكشف عن خلية إرهابية، ومليون ريال لمن ينقل معلومات عن إرهابى.ـ

The Saudi ministry of the interior provides a sum of seven million Riyal as a recompensation for those who help to foil a terrorist operation. Another sum of five million Riyal is being provided for those who reveal a terrorist cell, and one million Riyal for those who communicate information about terrorism.

3.75 Saudi Riyal SAR = 1 U.S.$ (January 2016)

[Source: Youm7 اليوم السابع, Egyptian news center, on January 31, 2016]

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