Australian teen ISIS adherent vows to fight US, UK until black flags fly over Buckingham Palace, White House

An Australian teenager has appeared in a video saying the Islamic State will keep fighting until there is an Islamic Caliphate established in Britain and the United States.

A new Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) propaganda video purportedly shows Australian teen Abdullah Elmir standing in front of dozens of IS fighters, brandishing weapons and warning the UK and US that the militants will not give up.

“To the leaders, to [US President] Obama, to [Australian PM] Tony Abbott I say this: these weapons that we have, these soldiers, we will not stop fighting, we will not put down our weapons until we reach your lands, until we take the head of every tyrant, and until the black flag is flying high in every single land,” says Elmir.

"Until we put the black flag on top of Buckingham Palace, until we put the black flag on top of the White House, we will not stop, and we will keep on fighting,” he adds.

The video is the most recent entry in the ‘Message from Mujahid’ propaganda series released by IS.

Read More: British mother rescues wounded jihadi son from Turkish-Syrian border

Elmir is just 17 years old and comes from Australia. Telling his parents that he was going on a fishing trip, he left the country in June. He was accompanied by a 16-year-old boy, who flew with him to Turkey and then crossed the border into Syria to join IS, according to ABC News. The younger boy’s father intercepted them and took him back to Sydney.

Would-be jihadist Elmir may have been “brainwashed,” a family member told the Daily Telegraph. “I don’t know what these kids get into,” the unnamed relative said. “They don’t know how to fight … they should be getting an education and building this country up.”

Elmir is by no means alone as young IS sympathizer. Three American teenage girls from a Denver suburb stole $2,000 from their parents, skipped school on Friday and flew to Germany. The parents reported the girls missing when the school called to say one of the girls had failed to turn up at her class.

Authorities think the three might have been trying to join Islamic State fighters in Syria. They were arrested at Frankfurt Airport over the weekend by the FBI and returned to Colorado to be reunited with their parents, FBI spokeswoman Suzi Payne told the Associated Press.

Read More: Pregnant Austrian teen who ran off to join ISIS says she 'made a mistake'

A US official said the girls – two sisters, ages 17 and 15, and a 16-year-old friend – were headed toward Turkey en route to Syria. Investigators were reviewing evidence, including the girls’ computers, in the hope that they would discover whether there were “like-minded” friends in their social circle, and whether they had any contacts in Syria.

The US Attorney’s Office in Denver declined to comment on the case, and it is unclear whether the girls will face charges, according to the AP.

Read More: Dutch ISIS sympathizing schoolboy suspended for wanting to 'decapitate Jews'

Another Colorado teen, Shannon Conley, pleaded guilty to charges a month ago that she conspired to help militants in Syria. Conley was arrested in April as she boarded a flight she thought would take her to the Middle East. She told agents she wanted to marry a suitor she met online who said he was a Tunisian man fighting with IS in Syria. If Conley is found guilty, she could face five years in federal prison, and a fine of $250,000.

Venezuela protest death toll reaches 39 amid govt calls for dialogue (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

The death toll of the violent protests that have shaken Venezuela for the last month and a half has reached 39. To avoid “civil war”, the country’s Foreign Minister Elias Jaua has called for dialogue with the opposition. Clashes erupted once again in the Venezuelan capital on Monday night, as hooded activists erected barricades on the streets of Caracas, causing massive disruption. Protesters smashed shop windows and set fire to cars before the riot police arrived and dispersed them using tear gas and water cannons. Elsewhere in the west of Venezuela violence was reported in the cities of Maracaibo and San Cristobal, killing two people and bringing the total death toll in Venezuela to 39. One protester was electrocuted in San Cristobal while trying to reinforce a barricade, and another died in Maracaibo when a homemade explosive device detonated in his hands before he could throw it at police. Anti-government activists clash with riot police during a protest, in Caracas on March 31, 2014. (AFP Photo / Juan Barreto) Anti-government activists clash with riot police during a protest, in Caracas on March 31, 2014. (AFP Photo / Juan Barreto) Protests have been held throughout Venezuela for the past month and a half, with the population frustrated over inflation, mass power cuts and a lack of basic goods. The Venezuelan government claims that the largely peaceful protest movement has been hijacked by extremist, right-wing, political elements backed by the US, whose aim is to ouster President Nicolas Maduro. On Monday, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua called for dialogue with the opposition to avoid the threat of civil war. He told the private channel, Globovision, that there was an element of the opposition loyal to the United States that is pushing for an armed conflict. A National Guard member shoots during anti-government protest, in Caracas on March 31, 2014. (AFP Photo / Juan Barreto) A National Guard member shoots during anti-government protest, in Caracas on March 31, 2014. (AFP Photo / Juan Barreto) “The president has said: ‘let’s negotiate without conditions, without preconceived agendas to stop this irrational violence that has killed almost 40 men and women,’” said Jaua, adding the Venezuelan government is waiting for a gesture of goodwill from the opposition. The US has denied any involvement in the mass protests in Venezuela and has accused Maduro’s government of using Washington as a scapegoat. Last week US Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson said that the US had not ruled out the possibility of imposing sanctions on the Latin American country. She said financial penalties could become an “important tool” in pressuring Maduro into negotiations with the opposition. A water cannon of the national police burns after being hit with Molotov cocktails thrown by anti-government protesters during riots in Chacao district in Caracas March 31, 2014. (Reuters / Christian Veron)A water cannon of the national police burns after being hit with Molotov cocktails thrown by anti-government protesters during riots in Chacao district in Caracas March 31, 2014. (Reuters / Christian Veron) In response, the Venezuelan government accused Washington of meddling in Venezuelan affairs and “ignoring the democratic process.” Venezuela’s Latin American neighbors have also rallied in support of Maduro’s government. Uruguayan President Jose Mujica told the press on Monday that the US should respect Venezuela and let it find its own way out of the current crisis. "The first thing that Venezuela and all of Latin America needs is to be respected,” said Mujica. “When the whole world urges the US to rescind its embargo policy on Cuba, voices in Washington threaten sanctions on Venezuela. Have they learnt nothing from history?”

Mass riots follow police ‘murder’ of teenager in Sao Paulo

People ride bikes by a car on fire in a highway in Sao Paulo, on October 28, 2013, following disturbances triggered by the accidental fatal shooting --on the eve-- by police of a 17-year-old boy (AFP Photo / Miguel Schincariol)

 

 

Enraged protesters torched vehicles and ransacked shops in, Sao Paulo, following the killing of a 17-year-old at the hands of a policeman. Police took around 90 people into custody and have promised an inquiry into the death of the teenager.
Inhabitants of the Jacana district of Sao Paulo took to the streets on Monday evening to protest the death of 17-year-old student, Douglas Rodrigues, shot dead by a policeman on Sunday night.
Activists blocked the Fernao Dias highway in the early evening and set fire to vehicles. According to reports by the Military Police at least five buses, three trucks and a car were torched by protesters in the surrounding area. One man was also injured, reportedly taking a bullet to the chest when military police intervened to quell the unrest.

Riot sence of burnt trucks at highway in Sao Paulo, on October 28, 2013, following disturbances triggered by the accidental fatal shooting --on the eve-- of a 17-year-old boy by the police (AFP Photo / Miguel Schincariol)

Police say the man was caught in the crossfire when officers tried to prevent rioters from sacking local shops. He is now receiving surgery at Sao Luiz Gonzaga hospital.
As a result of the unrest, police say they made around 90 arrests for vandalism, destruction of property and looting.
The protests intensified following the burial of Douglas Rodrigues, as citizens demanded justice for his killing at the hands of police officer, Luciano Pinheiro, 31.

View of a car on fire in a highway in Sao Paulo, on October 28, 2013, following disturbances triggered by the accidental fatal shooting --on the eve-- of a 17-year-old boy by the police (AFP Photo / Miguel Schincariol)

‘Murder’

The victim’s family has accused officer Pinheiro of murdering Rodrigues as he walked past a bar on Bacurizinho Street in the North of Sao Paulo with his 12-year-old brother. Police had been called to the bar after reports of a disturbance of the peace in the area.

Officer Pinheiro claims that the shot that was fired as he exited his vehicle by the bar was ‘accidental.’ Pinheiro is now being held in custody potentially facing a trial for manslaughter, while the Military Police investigate the incident.

“Upon exiting the vehicle, for reasons that have yet to be discerned, a shot was fired by accident that hit a 17-year-old adolescent in the chest,” said a police statement released following the incident.

View of a car on fire in a highway in Sao Paulo, on October 28, 2013, following disturbances triggered by the accidental fatal shooting --on the eve-- of a 17-year-old boy by the police (AFP Photo / Miguel Schincariol)

Reports of police brutality have been widespread in Brazil recently following a wave of mass protests across the country. The latest demonstrations saw thousands of teachers march through the streets of Rio de Janeiro, calling for a salary raise. The peaceful march descended into violence when anarchist group, the Black Bloc, joined the protest, prompting police to open fire with tear gas.

"The police came in firing tear gas, hitting us with clubs. A young Black Bloc stepped right in between me and the police. If it weren't for them, the police would have destroyed us," 47-year-old Andrea Coelho told AP.
 

Palestinians reach out to 50+ nations calling for economic boycott of Israeli settlers

A Palestinian man waves his national flag on the sidelines of a march organized by inhabitants of the West Bank village Nabi Saleh to protest against the expansion of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land. (AFP Photo/Abbas Momani)

 

 

The Palestinian Authority is ramping up its diplomatic efforts against Israeli settlements in the territories it occupied in the 1967 war. It has called on 50 countries around the world to freeze business dealings and withdraw investments.
In letters to countries in Latin America and Europe, as well as to South Africa, Australia, Japan and South Korea, the Palestinian Authority asked governments to put pressure on local companies and discourage any relations with the Israeli settlements, Muhammad Shtayyeh, a senior Palestinian official, told the Financial Times.
The messages also requested that Israeli companies with connections to the settlements are barred from doing business in those countries. Citizens of those countries should be advised to abandon the settlements, because staying there is illegal, the Palestinian Authority said.
The campaign for an economic boycott was also given a boost by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his trip to Europe.
"I call on European companies and foreign companies doing business in the settlements to put an end to their activities," he said following his meeting with European Council President Herman van Rompuy this week.
The campaign follows the EU’s decision in June to ban financial assistance to any Israeli organizations operating in the West Bank, East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights from 2014. The decision infuriated Israel and prevented the country from participating in the Horizon 2020 European scientific exchange program.
Also, in recent months, several individual members of the European Union, including the UK and the Netherlands, began to warn their companies against dealing with Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. This month Dutch infrastructure giant Royal HaskoningDHV announced the withdrawal from a wastewater treatment plant project in East Jerusalem, because the location is outside of the pre-1967 border of Israel.
There are currently more than 500,000 Israelis living in the settlements, which continue to be a point of bitter dispute with Palestinians. Many countries consider their existence unlawful and say they are a major stumbling block on the path toward a peaceful Middle East.
The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been actively encouraging development of the controversial settlements in defiance of foreign criticism, which comes even from Israel’s long-time ally the US

 

Police militarization expo Urban Shield descends on Oakland

AFP Photo / Kimihiro Hoshino

 

SWAT teams, military contractors and law enforcement from the world over are gathering this weekend in Oakland, CA for the annual event Urban Shield, a training and weapons expo made possible by the Department of Homeland Security and arms manufacturers.
Urban Shield, coordinated by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, exists under the guise of fighting terrorism and “disaster preparedness” in heavily-populated areas. The event is partly a trade show for a myriad militarized tactical gear and weapons, but there are also training exercises and war-game competitions that teams from California to Guam to Qatar will take part in this weekend. The exercises include protest suppression techniques and SWAT-team-raid simulations.
Past participants in the simulations include the counter-terrorism Israeli Border Police Unit Yamam, which allegedly conducts extra-judicial assassinations of Palestinians, journalist Max Blumenthal has reported. In addition, Bahrain police units, which have devastated its country’s ongoing peaceful protests against the monarch in recent years, have participated in Urban Shield events.
The event is ultimately overseen by a California-based private firm Cytel Inc. and is hosted by the Bay Area Urban Security Initiative (UASI), a law enforcement coalition representing Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, and ten Bay Area Counties.
According to East Bay Express, UASI receives its funding from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has given the Bay Area's police forces millions of dollars since 2009 to fund the annual event and other projects.
In 2012, DHS gave half a billion dollars to police departments in 31 metro regions across the US to "address the unique planning, organization, equipment, training, and exercise needs of high-threat, high-density urban areas," according to the DHS website.
For this year’s event, the Alameda Sheriff’s received $7.5 million in federal funding, according to the War Resisters League.
"What Urban Shield represents to us is the epitome of state repression that has been impacting communities of color and immigrant communities for decades," Lara Kiswani, of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, told Common Dreams. "Different strategies of surveillance against Arabs and Muslims and brown and black people are being used as tactics against our people back home. This is the militarization of the police."
As US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have waned, major weapons manufacturers have turned to militarizing police units for a new source of revenue. Major names that have provided the US and others with arms - Lockheed Martin, ATK and Colt, among a few - are helping sponsor this year’s Urban Shield.
ATK (Alliant Techsystems) is the Pentagon’s largest supplier of munitions, including depleted uranium munitions.
Colt makes firearms for the military and law enforcement, advertising their wares as such: “From the jungles of Vietnam to the burning sands of the Middle East, Colt weapons have been combat tested under the most extreme conditions by the U.S. armed forces.”
Lockheed, arguably the most powerful military contractor in the world, did $47 billion in business in 2012, much of which came from the US government, including funding for the massively-priced F-35 program.
With US-favored contractors present and the amount the US has offered to pay for the conference, as journalist Rania Khalek pointed out, “that means the federal government is essentially financing a major marketing opportunity for companies invested in police militarization and criminal justice privatization.”
Other participants include drone makers, crowd-control experts, DNA-gathering device makers, tear-gas exporters and armored-vehicle manufacturers.
"The United States exports repression globally," said Kiswani. "The way the occupations in the Arab world repress people, and Israel represses the people of Palestine, these are the same strategies used against communities of color and poor people at home."
The event will draw committed protests that aim to point out the connections between police militarization and the dangers to the communities they patrol.
"We see events like Urban Shield as one of the main engines of militarization of the police and everyday life," Ali Issa of the War Resisters League told Common Dreams.
A coalition of 20 anti-police brutality groups around the Bay area have united for the Facing Urban Shield Action Network to organize protests against the gathering.
"The Bay Area has a long legacy of organizing against police violence," Kiswani said. "We are making those links and trying to raise awareness in our own communities and across communities. We must be prepared to protect our communities in the face of these repression strategies."
Organizers will also offer statements from pro-democracy activists in Bahrain, Palestine, Canada and Turkey.
"My unarmed son was shot with military weapons by the police," protester Dionne Smith-Downes told Common Dreams, saying her son died from his wounds. "I feel that military weapons should not be used in a community."
 

US may be guilty of war crimes over drone use – Amnesty Intl

US officials responsible for carrying out drone strikes may have to stand trial for war crimes, according to a report by Amnesty International, which lists civilian casualties in the attacks in Pakistan.
The report is based on the investigation of the nine out of 45 drone strikes reported between January 2012 and August 2013 in North Waziristan, the area where the US drone campaign is most intensive. The research is centered on one particular case – that of 68-year-old Mamana Bibi, who was killed by a US drone last October while she was picking vegetables with her grandchildren.

The report is entitled ‘Will I be next?’ citing the woman’s eight-year-old granddaughter Nabeela, who was near when the attack occurred, but miraculously survived.

"First it whistled then I heard a "dhummm". The first hit us and the second my cousin,” Nabeela recalls.

The report also recounts an incident from July 2012, when 18 laborers, including a 14-year-old, were killed in the village of Zowi Sidgi. The men gathered after work in a tent to have a rest when the first missile hit. The second struck those who tried to help the injured.

“Amnesty International is seriously concerned that these and other strikes have resulted in unlawful killings that may constitute extrajudicial executions or war crimes,” the report reads.

Amnesty’s main point is the need for transparency and accountability, something the US has so far been reluctant to offer.

“The US must explain why these people have been killed - people who are clearly civilians. It must provide justice to these people, compensation and it must investigate those responsible for those killings,” Mustafa Qadri, the Amnesty researcher who wrote the report, says.

The report comes at a time when the US is facing growing international pressure over its drone program.

Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistani prime minister, is currently in Washington, where he is expected to talk drones with Barack Obama. And on Friday the UN General Assembly will be debating the use of remotely-piloted aircraft.

In a separate report, a UN investigation revealed some 33 drone strikes around the world - not just in Pakistan - that violated international humanitarian law and resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties. That report is also calling for more transparency and accountability from the United States.

Russia did not violate rights of Katyn victims’ relatives – ECHR

The Katyn Memorial in the Smolensk Region. (RIA Novosti/Iliya Pitalev)

 

 

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled Russia did not violate the rights of the relatives of the 1940 Katyn massacre victims. The court, however, criticized the country for refusing to hand over copies of classified documents for the proceedings.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced on Monday its final judgment in the case initiated by 15 relatives of the Katyn massacre victims, who accused Russia of conducting an inadequate investigation into the tragedy, dating back to WWII. In 1940, Soviet security services (NKVD) killed, without trial, about 22,000 Polish prisoners of war and buried them in mass graves. Most executions took place in the Katyn forest near the city of Smolensk. 
The ECHR ruled it has no competence in verifying the adequacy of the Russian investigation into events which had taken place ten years before the European Convention on human rights was adopted. 
Relatives of the Katyn victims accused Russia of “inhuman or degrading treatment” towards them, citing Article 3 of the Convention. For several decades Moscow refused to reveal the truth about the mass executions. The ECHR cleared Russia in this respect, saying that by the time Russia joined the Convention in 1998 it had already publicly acknowledged that the Soviet authorities were responsible for the massacre. 
What the Court found Russia guilty of is a breach of Article 38 of the Convention (obligation to furnish necessary facilities for examination of the case). Moscow refused to submit a copy of the 2004 decision to stop the Katyn investigation to the ECHR, explaining that it was a classified document and national legislation prohibited such papers to be shown to foreign individuals and organizations.
Poland was disappointed by the Court decision.
"The ruling does not take into account all the arguments of the Polish side that have here a great moral and historic right," the Polish Undersecretary of State, Artur Nowak-Far said in a statement.
It was not until 1990, 50 years after the Katyn massacre, that the Soviet Union recognized it was responsible for the deaths of the Polish prisoners. Before that the tragedy had been blamed on the Nazis. 
President of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, apologized to the Polish people, and Russian President Boris Yeltsin ordered some of the secret documents related to the Katyn case to be released to historians.
Nevertheless the tragedy has persisted in casting a shadow over the two countries’ relations. 
Many in Poland were dissatisfied with the fact that Russia shelved the Katyn massacre investigation in 2004. Moscow explained the move by saying all of the Soviet officials allegedly responsible for the executions were already dead. 
The decision to terminate the investigation was classified as “top secret”, together with 36 out of a total of 183 volumes of the Katyn case’s files. 
In November 2010, Russia’s State Duma, the lower chamber of parliament, adopted a statement admitting that the executions of Polish citizens near Katyn in 1940 took place on the direct orders of Josef Stalin and other Soviet leaders. The statement titled “The Katyn Tragedy and its Victims” said that it was necessary to continue “verifying the lists of victims, restoring the good names of those who perished in Katyn and other places, and uncovering the circumstances of the tragedy". 

 

Banker Lebedev starts community service in Tula region

Banker Alexander Lebedev (RIA Novosti/Sergey Kuznecov)

 

Billionaire banker Aleksander Lebedev, who was sentenced to 150 hours community service for a brawl with real estate mogul Sergey Polonsky during a TV show, has arrived to his native Tula Region to serve his punishment.
53-year old Lebedev, whose personal wealth exceeded $1.1 billion in 2012 (according to the Forbes magazine), went to the Tula Region where he is officially registered as a resident after talking to officials from Moscow city directorate of the Federal Service of Execution of Punishment. Before leaving he was fingerprinted and signed the necessary papers, Russian news agencies reported.
Lebedev told the press that most likely he would work on a construction site, building a school or a kindergarten.
However, the ITAR-TASS news agency quoted some sources in the directorate as saying the banker could be sent to clear orchards, mow grass or do janitorial work.
The banker is known for his sponsorship of the popular Russian liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta (of which Mikhail Gorbachev is also a key shareholder) and for ownership of the British daily the London Evening Standard.
Lebedev was sentenced to compulsory works in July this year after a lengthy trial. The story started in September 2011 when Lebedev took part in a TV show aired by the popular NTV channel on the issue of social responsibility of businessmen. Another participant in the program was real estate developer Sergey Polonskiy – known for his controversial media statements.
 
After a heated row Lebedev jumped from his chair and attacked Polonskiy who fell on the floor and tore his jeans.
Shortly afterwards Polonskiy posted a photo of himself on social networks holding the remains of the jeans, and sued Lebedev for beating him up. Lebedev pleaded not guilty, insisting that he acted in self defense, protecting himself from Polonskiy’s dangerously fast moves and that he hit the developer only twice. A physical attack becomes a criminal offence only when three or more punches are delivered.
The court ruled in favor of the developer and sentenced the banker to 150 hours of community service.
During the court hearings Polonskiy went on vacation to Cambodia where he was arrested for beating up and illegally detaining local citizens. Polonskiy has spent three months in a Cambodian prison and is currently awaiting trial.
 

Communists seek jail terms for those who call for Russia’s breakup

Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, attends the plenary meeting of the party's Central Committee in the town of Moskovsky. (RIA Novosti/Evgeny Biyatov)

 

 

The leader of Russian Communists has said that calls for breakup of the Russian Federation are inspired by the ‘Imperial West’ and should be punished by a jail term.
“We, our MPs, must submit a suggestion that even verbal calls for dividing the single and indivisible Russia are punished by prison sentence,” Gennady Zyuganov told the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) plenum that took place over the weekend in suburban Moscow.
Zyuganov also told his colleagues that the new stage of Russia’s colonization has already started and the attempts to cause strife between Russia’s numerous peoples and ethnic groups were a part of the major plan.
“The imperial West continues its Cold War against us. Its strategists consider the fact that Russia is a multi-ethnic state. In order to weaken the country they use both the nationalism of bourgeoisie in national regions and the Russian nationalism that is capable of undermining the strength of the nation-forming ethnos. Both threats can destroy the country’s integrity. This is what the world capital is after when they support the growth of nationalist separatism in Russia,” Zyuganov noted.
“The methodology of instigating interethnic wars had been tested long before the so-called Arab Spring. The provocateurs’ methods are working for the western expansion to this time,” he added.
Zyuganov said that the now famous anti-corruption blogger-turned-opposition politician Aleksey Navalny was a typical example of how nationalist rhetoric is used by pro-Western liberals.
“Although they pretend that cannot stand each other the liberals and Russian nationalists were standing side to side during the Bolotnaya and Sakharova rallies,” Zyuganov said referring to the most numerous opposition marches of recent years.
“Navalny is a direct offspring of their union. The Yale University graduate, the advocate of democracy and Human Rights is willingly digging into the nationalist field,” the head of the Russian Communists added. It should be noted that Navalny only spent six months at Yale in 2010 on the Yale World Fellowship program.
Speaking of Russian nationalism, Zyuganov directed the audience’s attention to the fact that many regional programs were sponsored and supported from abroad and this could only raise questions.
“The legitimization of separatism is often being held under the slogans of reviving some exceptional regional identity. In Rostov-on-Don they have already had a conference on the problems of forming the Southern Russian identity. The United States sponsored this event and reporters from Ukraine and Poland discussed different ways of splitting Russians’ national identity. There are groups in Siberia that directly state that as a colony this region has the right for self-determination,” Zyuganov reported.
He then suggested the traditional Communist remedy against nationalist moods – the development of class conscience and switching from ethnic conflicts to class struggle.
“In order to find its fatherland the proletariat must win the political poser and emerge as a national class. To achieve this, the idea of destroying the capitalist property and freeing the labor force must become a common idea of the nation,” Zyuganov concluded.  

Space after all: NASA lifts conference ban for Chinese scientists after massive uproar

Reuters/Carlos Barria

 

 

 NASA has reversed the decision to bar six Chinese scientists from a space conference after US astronomers pledged to boycott the event, fighting for academic freedom.
The meeting is due to take place in California in early November, and is set to focus on exoplanets - bodies outside the solar system.
The Chinese scientists were banned from participating, with NASA saying the decision had been made because of their nationality and security issues, AFP reported.
However, the move triggered a wave of outrage among prominent US astronomers.
"The meeting is about planets located trillions of miles away, with no national security implications," Geoff Marcy, an astronomy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, pointed out in an email to the organizers.
China's Foreign Ministry also blasted NASA's denial of the researchers' applications as discriminatory, arguing that politics should have no place at academic meetings.
After a few days, NASA wrote a letter to the Chinese scientists, saying they had looked into the law and found no obstacles to the six attending.
"We have since been able to clarify the intent of the referenced legislation and are pleased to inform you that this decision has been reversed and your paperwork is being reviewed for clearance," Xinhua quoted the letter as saying on Monday.
However, it isn’t clear yet if the move will work: the necessary security checks can take several weeks. Plus, the relevant government offices may still be closed after the US government shutdown.
NASA administrator Charles Bolden responded earlier this month by pledging to review the committee's decision, which he blamed on "mid-level managers" at the agency's Ames Research Center, which is hosting the event.
The confusion was apparently caused by a US law passed in 2011 that prevents NASA funds from being used to collaborate with China.
The organization wasn’t immediately available for comment after the latest news, though.
NASA went through some hard times earlier this month: due to the partial government shutdown and the failure to pass the budget on time, 97 percent of their employees received no salaries in October. Due to that fact, the organization didn’t manage to release an official statement.

Lavrov meets Syrian opposition leader in Moscow

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets Heisam Manaa from Syria’s National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change to discuss ways to end the Syrian conflict. DURATION: 2:40

South Koreans Return to a War Zone

South Koreans Return to a War Zone .


Rescuers found the burned bodies Wednesday of two islanders killed in a North Korean artillery attack, the first civilian deaths from a skirmish that marked a dramatic escalation of tensions between the rival Koreas. (Nov. 24)

Georgia releases spy thriller featuring Russian agents

Georgia releases spy thriller featuring Russian agents


Georgia has released a film about a recently-detained alleged Russian spy network, which the Kremlin has called a political farce.

The film is the Georgian version of the last month's arrest of 15 people accused of being Russian spies.

In reality, however, the only evidence Tblisi has given to relatives is the apparent confession of one of those arrested. But this super agent is actually a Georgian spy, says his former chief at the Georgian intelligence.

"I personally enrolled him," David Bakuridze, a former Georgian state security officer, told RT. "He was my agent from 1992-94. After the Rose Revolution, he was recruited to work for Georgian intelligence. Also, his brother runs the security service of the whole Republic of Adzharia. I assert it officially: this man is a Georgian agent!"

Ruslan Skrylnikov has no taste for spy thrillers, but this one caught his eye: one of the supposed spies appears to be his father.

"In May this year, my dad went to Georgia to visit relatives. On the border he was thoroughly interrogated about where he was going to stay. They photographed him and took away sweets he was carrying to his nephews. Two days later he was arrested. He never contacted us afterwards. We found out about his arrest by chance, and were shocked," Ruslan says.

Six months ago, the 63-year-old was detained for crossing the border with a fake ID and trying to sell counterfeit dollars, which landed him 18 years in jail.

Now Skrylnikov is being accused of spying for Russia, but his family says espionage is beyond the capability of the ailing pensioner, who could not even send a text message from his cell-phone, let alone use the Internet.

Relatives are now appealing against the charges, and hope that their high-level lobbying of NATO and European countries will get them justice.

Fighting their corner is SOS Russia human rights group, which says it is the first time they have dealt with such a gross violation of human rights.

"This is a sanctioned provocation, a political action," said Anton Samoylenkov of SOS Russia.

"It's aimed to discredit Russia before the upcoming Russia-NATO summit and the OSCE meeting. Saakashvili wants to attract attention to himself and his super Secret Services. But we want to tell him 'You can't treat old men just like this. They are innocent. You can't jail them just because they're Russians!'"

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