Showing posts with label unethical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unethical. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Parliament wasted 45,000 meals last year as tens of thousands of children go hungry across London, an MP has said.




‘Parliament throws 45,000 meals in the bin while 70,000 London kids go hungry’ – Labour MP

 
parliament.uk
Parliament wasted 45,000 meals last year as tens of thousands of children go hungry across London, an MP has said.
 
New figures that reveal the staggering amount of food waste in the British parliament have prompted calls for MPs to donate their unused meals to those in need.

Shadow Commons Leader Chris Bryant called on the government to give uneaten meals to local food banks in the capital.

View image on Twitter
130k Brits can't stomach Lords £1.3 million-grub as govt could scrap free school meals http://on.rt.com/6rzu 

Last year 1.2 million sausages were sent to landfill in Rhondda Cynon Taf alone, which is why it is great that the local council is now signing everybody up to proper food recycling,” the Welsh Labour MP said.

But new figures show that this House last year wasted 45,000 meals that were just tipped in the bin.
With 33 Trussell Trust food banks within the M25 and an estimated 70,000 children in London going to bed hungry each night, would it not be time for the leader to institute a new scheme to donate unused food from this palace to local London food banks?



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Saturday, December 12, 2015

Turkey's ‘Sunnistan’ in Iraq. Sultan Erdogan's calculated move into the ultimate ‘Pipelineistan’ war.




Crippled in Syria, Turkey goes for a ‘Sunnistan’ in Iraq

 
 
© Fatih Saribas
Turkey’s “incursion” into Iraq is a cold, calculated move. And once again, the name of the game is – what else? – Divide and Rule.
 
Turkey sent to Iraqi Kurdistan – which is part of the state of Iraq - no less than a 400-strong battalion supported by 25 M-60A3 tanks. Now the Turkish boots on the ground at Bashiqa camp, northeast of Mosul, have reportedly reached a total of around 600.

The short breakdown: this is not a “training camp”- as Ankara is spinning. It’s a full-blown, perhaps permanent, military base.

The dodgy deal was struck between the ultra-corrupt Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and then-Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu in Erbil last month.

Torrents of Turkish spin swear this is only about “training” Peshmergas to fight ISIS/ISIL/Daesh.
Absolute nonsense. The crucial fact is that Ankara is terrified of the “4+1” alliance fighting Islamic State, which unites Iran, Iraqi Shiites and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), as well as Hezbollah, with Russia.

In Syria, Ankara is virtually paralyzed, after the “stab in the back”downing of the Su-24; the Russian revelations of complicity between Turkey’s first family and stolen Syrian oil (Bilal Erdogan, a.k.a. Erdogan ‘Mini Me’denies everything); and the Russian Air Force relentless pounding of Turkey’s fifth column Turkmen. Not to mention the deployment of S-400s and even a third-generation submarine complete with Kalibr cruise missiles.


© Stringer
So Ankara now switches the attention to Iraq with a “counter-alliance”, made up of Turkey; the KRG (which – illegally – sells oil to Turkey); and Sunnis in northern Iraq under the supposed leadership of the sprawling Nuceyfi tribe in Mosul.

This is textbook neo-Ottomanism in action. We should never forget that for the AKP in power in Ankara, northern Syria and northern Iraq are nothing but former Ottoman Empire provinces, an eastward extension of Turkey’s Hatay province. ‘Sultan’ Erdogan’s (unstated) wet dream is to annex the whole lot.


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Pepe Escobar
Pepe Escobar is an independent geopolitical analyst. He writes for RT, Sputnik and TomDispatch, and is a frequent contributor to websites and radio and TV shows ranging from the US to East Asia. He is the former roving correspondent for Asia Times Online. Born in Brazil, he's been a foreign correspondent since 1985, and has lived in London, Paris, Milan, Los Angeles, Washington, Bangkok and Hong Kong. Even before 9/11 he specialized in covering the arc from the Middle East to Central and East Asia, with an emphasis on Big Power geopolitics and energy wars. He is the author of "Globalistan" (2007), "Red Zone Blues" (2007), "Obama does Globalistan" (2009) and "Empire of Chaos" (2014), all published by Nimble Books. His latest book is "2030", also by Nimble Books, out in December 2015.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Interior Secretary: No one punished for EPA toxic mine spill




Logo: The Washington Times
Interior Sally Jewell testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, before the House Natural Resources Oversight Committee hearing on the Animas River Spill in Colorado. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Interior Sally Jewell testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, before the House Natural Resources Oversight Committee hearing on the Animas River Spill in Colorado. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) more >

- The Washington Times - Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Wednesday she is unaware of anyone being fired, fined or even demoted for the Gold King Mine spill, prompting Republicans to accuse her of taking the EPA off the hook for the toxic blowout.

“So you’re letting the EPA get off scot-free it sounds like. They are not being held accountable,” said Rep. Doug Lamborn, Colorado Republican, at the House Natural Resources Committee hearing.
Republicans took Ms. Jewell to task for the Interior Department’s investigation into the Aug. 5 spill, saying the October report failed to hold anyone responsible for unleashing 3 million gallons of orange, toxic wastewater into the Animas River near Silverton, Colorado.

“You’re directly responsible for this report. The EPA had promised this committee a thorough investigation,” said Rep. Tom McClintock, California Republican. “We have not gotten one. What we have gotten is a complete, deliberate whitewash.”




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Thursday, December 3, 2015

Reports - Kurdish and Turkish smugglers are transporting oil from ISIS controlled territory in Syria and Iraq and selling it to Israel.




Israel buys most oil smuggled from ISIS territory - report

Islamic State

Israel has become the main buyer for oil from ISIS controlled territory, reports "al-Araby al-Jadeed."

Kurdish and Turkish smugglers are transporting oil from ISIS controlled territory in Syria and Iraq and selling it to Israel, according to several reports in the Arab and Russian media. An estimated 20,000-40,000 barrels of oil are produced daily in ISIS controlled territory generating $1-1.5 million daily profit for the terrorist organization.
 
The oil is extracted from Dir A-Zur in Syria and two fields in Iraq and transported to the Kurdish city of Zakhu in a triangle of land near the borders of Syria, Iraq and Turkey. Israeli and Turkish mediators come to the city and when prices are agreed, the oil is smuggled to the Turkish city of Silop marked as originating from Kurdish regions of Iraq and sold for $15-18 per barrel (WTI and Brent Crude currently sell for $41 and $45 per barrel) to the Israeli mediator, a man in his 50s with dual Greek-Israeli citizenship known as Dr. Farid. He transports the oil via several Turkish ports and then onto other ports, with Israel among the main destinations.

In August, the "Financial Times" reported that Israel obtained 75% of its oil supplies from Iraqi Kurdistan. More than a third of such exports go through the port of Ceyhan, which the FT describe as a “potential gateway for ISIS-smuggled crude."


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Whistleblower comes forward with details of a coverup in the results of a 2004 study by the CDC linking MMR vaccine and autism in African American boys.

...
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CDC scientists held meeting to destroy autism-vaccine documents, reveals CDC whistleblower




CDC scientists
 
(NaturalNews) The results of a 2004 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discovered a significant link between the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) and autism in African American boys vaccinated under or around the age 36 months; however, if it weren't for one whistleblower, you would not have been privy to any of this, because the evidence was deliberately covered up.

Dr. William Thompson, currently a senior scientist at the CDC, recently made a shocking admission that he and his colleagues specifically arranged a meeting to destroy important documents related to the study in an attempt to withhold information from the public regarding a link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

As first reported by Sharyl Attkisson, a former CBS News journalist turned independent investigative reporter, Dr. Thompson and the study co-authors "scheduled a meeting to destroy documents related to the study.

"The remaining four co-authors all met and brought a big garbage can into the meeting room, and reviewed and went through all the hardcopy documents that we had thought we should discard, and put them into a huge garbage can."

"The omitted data suggested that African American males who received the MMR vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism." – CDC Senior Science Dr. William Thompson

However, aware that destroying documents in this manner was both illegal and unethical, Dr. Thompson kept hard copies of all the documents that had been disposed of, as well as maintained all associated computer files.

After securing a whistleblower attorney, Dr. Thompson came forward with his admission, providing relevant documents in August 2014 to the office of Rep. Bill Posey (R-Florida), who presented details of the cover-up on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Posey, who maintains that he is "pro-vaccine," read the following quote by Dr. Thompson on the House floor:

My primary job duties while working in the immunization safety branch from 2000 to 2006, were to later co-lead three major vaccine safety studies. The MADDSP, MMR autism cases control study was being carried out in response to the Wakefield-Lancet study that suggested an association between the MMR vaccine and an autism-like health outcome.
There were several major concerns among scientists and consumer advocates outside the CDC in the fall of 2000, regarding the execution of the Verstraeten Study. One of the important goals that was determined up front, in the spring of 2001, before any of these studies started, was to have all three protocols vetted outside the CDC prior to the start of the analyses so consumer advocates could not claim that we were presenting analyses that suited our own goals and biases.
We hypothesized that if we found statistically significant effects at either 18 or 36 month thresholds, we would conclude that vaccinating children early with MMR vaccine could lead to autism-like characteristics or features. We all met and finalized the study protocol and analysis plan. The goal was to not deviate from the analysis plan to avoid the debacle that occurred with the Verstraeten thimerosal study published in Pediatrics in 2003.
At the Sept 5th meeting we discussed in detail how to code race for both the sample and the birth certificate sample. At the bottom of table 7, it also shows that for the non-birth certificate sample, the adjusted race effect statistical significance was huge.
All the authors and I met and decided sometime between August and September 2002, not to report any race effects from the paper. Sometime soon after the meeting, we decided to exclude reporting any race effects.
The co-authors scheduled a meeting to destroy documents related to the study.
The remaining four co-authors all met and brought a big garbage can into the meeting room, and reviewed and went through all the hardcopy documents that we had thought we should discard, and put them into a huge garbage can.
However, because I assumed it was illegal and would violate both FOIA and DOJ requests, I kept hardcopies of all documents in my office, and I retain all associated computer files. I believe we intentionally withheld controversial findings from the final draft of the Pediatrics paper.

The CDC and Dr. Thompson's co-author Dr. Frank DeStefano, CDC Director of Immunization Safety, continue to defend the study as originally published.

A July 29 Tweet by Attkisson states:
So far, no hearings scheduled and no known inquiry of the alleged scientific misconduct.


Sources:


SharylAttkisson.com
SharylAttkisson.com
Twitter.com

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About NaturalNews

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The vast majority of our content is freely given away at no charge. We offer thousands of articles and dozens of downloadable reports and guides (like the Honest Food Guide) that are designed to educate and empower individuals, families and communities so that they may experience improved health, awareness and life fulfillment.
Learn More About Natural News Here

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Duplicitous, blood thirsty Saudi Arabia is leading the fight against Syrian violence caused by Saudi-funded terrorists. Typically, everyone just follows suit.-



Russia Insider logo

Russia Insider

 

Is This Real Life? Saudi Arabia Executes 'Wizards', But Condemns 'Syrian Human Rights Violations'

A Saudi-proposed UN resolution expresses “outrage” at the worsening violence in Syria (fuelled by Saudi-backed extremists) that has left at least 250,000 dead
18 hours ago  
 
 
Obama greets a brave anti-wizard crusader
Obama greets a brave anti-wizard crusader
 
 
Close your eyes and think about “defenders of human rights”. What image bubbles up from your subconscious? If you answered “Saudi Arabia”, you probably represent one of the 115 countries that just passed a Saudi-proposed UN resolution condemning “Syrian human rights violations.”
Yes, Saudi Arabia —the oasis of human dignity where Harry Potter fans (widely considered the greatest dangers to world peace) are dealt with accordingly — is leading the fight against Syrian violence caused by Saudi-funded terrorists. Here are the terrible details:
A resolution presented by Saudi Arabia was adopted by a vote of 115 to 15, with 51 abstentions.
China, Iran and Russia were among the countries that voted against the measure that now goes to the full General Assembly.
 
The resolution expresses “outrage” at the worsening violence that has left at least 250,000 dead and displaced more than 12 million people. It stressed the need for accountability and encouraged the UN Security Council to take action, noting that the International Criminal Court (ICC) could play a role. An attempt last year to refer Syria to the ICC for war crimes was blocked by Russia, Syria's ally, and China at the Security Council.

Read More Here

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the guardian

Cultural figures and human rights groups call for release of poet facing execution

Individuals and creative organisations join Amnesty International to demand Saudi Arabia overturn Ashraf Fayadh’s conviction for renouncing Islam
Palestinian poet and artist Ashraf Fayadh
Palestinian poet and artist Ashraf Fayadh is facing execution in Saudi Arabia for renouncing Islam, a charge he denies. Photograph: YouTube
Leading international cultural figures have joined human rights campaigners in calling for the release of Ashraf Fayadh, the Palestinian poet and artist facing execution in Saudi Arabia.
Chris Dercon, the director of Tate Modern, British poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, historian Simon Schama, playwright David Hare, and Egyptian novelist and commentator Ahdaf Soueif are among the those calling for the death sentence imposed on Fayadh by a Saudi court last week to be overturned.
More than a dozen organisations for artists, writers, musicians and freedom of expression from the UK, North America and Africa – including Index on Censorship, literary association PEN International and the International Association of Art Critics – have also signed a joint statement condemning Fayadh’s conviction for renouncing Islam, a charge which he denies.
The statement, which will be delivered to the Saudi embassy in London on Friday, says: “We believe that all charges against him should have been dropped entirely, and are appalled that Fayadh has instead been sentenced to death for apostasy, simply for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and freedom of belief.”
Amnesty International launched an urgent action on Tuesday to lobby for Fayadh’s release, which denounced his lack of legal representation as a violation of international and Saudi law.
Schama said: “Anyone with a conscience should abhor the sentence and shun those responsible as inhuman.”

Read More Here

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Saudi Arabia executes 100th prisoner in 6 months

AFP Photo / STR
 
Saudi Arabia has beheaded a Syrian drug trafficker, rocketing the number of this year’s executions in the Kingdom to 100. This figure is already more than the 87 sentenced and put to death in the country during the whole of last year.
 
The execution took place on Monday in the northern region of Jawf. Syrian Ismael al-Tawm smuggled "a large amount of banned amphetamine pills into the kingdom,” the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement, as cited by AFP.
READ MORE: 89 in 5 months: Saudi Arabia continues executions
The man was sentenced to death according to the nation's strict version of Sharia law, under which such crimes as murder, rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking are punishable by death. Public executions are mostly conducted by decapitating the accused with a sword.
The 100th execution has surpassed the 87 recorded by AFP in 2014, but is still some way below the highest figure of 192, recorded by the human rights group Amnesty International in 1995. The watchdog has been scathing of the Kingdom’s human rights record, saying they “fall far short” of global norms.
“Almost half of the executions carried out so far this year have been for drug-related offences, which don’t fall into a recognized international category of ‘most serious crimes,’ and the use of the death penalty for such offences violates international law,” a statement on Amnesty International’s website read.


Read More Here


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  • Saudi Arabia executes second Indonesian maid - CNN.com

    www.cnn.com/2015/04/17/asia/indonesia-saudi-arabia-executions
    Apr 17, 2015 · Video embedded · Saudi Arabia has executed a second Indonesian maid despite protests from Jakarta, which is itself facing criticism over its refusal to …
  • Saudi Arabia Executions - The Huffington Post

    www.huffingtonpost.com/news/saudi-arabia-executions
    Nov 19, 2015 · The beheading of the eight [Bangladeshis] was a shameful shock-and-awe tactic, a warning to the millions of other workers to remain submissive, however ...

  • Woman Is Publicly Beheaded in Saudi Arabia's Tenth ...

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    Gruesome footage circulating on social media shows Saudi authorities publicly beheading a woman in the holy city of Mecca earlier this week. The execution is the ...
  • Saudi Arabia advertises for eight new executioners as ...

    www.theguardian.com › World › Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia is advertising for eight new executioners, recruiting extra staff to carry out an increasing number of death sentences, usually done by public beheading.
  • Man Who Filmed Execution Is Arrested, Saudi Outlets …

    www.nytimes.com/.../world/middleeast/man-who-filmed-saudi-execution...
    Jan 18, 2015 · Amid rising scrutiny over the local justice system, news outlets in Saudi Arabia reported that the authorities had arrested a man who had filmed a woman ...
  • Saudi Arabia Execution: Latest News, Photos, Videos on ...

    www.ndtv.com/topic/saudi-arabia-execution
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  • An Execution and Crucifixion in Saudi Arabia

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    On Friday, a ghastly execution took place in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, involving the decapitation and subsequent public crucifixion of Ahmed bin ‘Adhaib ...
  • Saudi seven face crucifixion and firing squad for …

    www.theguardian.com › World › Saudi Arabia
    Saudi seven face crucifixion and firing squad for armed robbery ... Several people were reported to have been crucified in Saudi Arabia last year.
  • Saudi Arabia: Three more executions add to …

    https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/03/saudi-arabia...
    Saudi Arabia is well on track to far surpass its previous annual execution records, Amnesty International warned after three more men were put to death this morning ...
  • Number Of Saudi Arabian Executions, Beheading Soar …

    www.mintpressnews.com/number-of-saudi-arabian-executions.../206139
    Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaSaudi authorities have already carried out 90 executions since the beginning of 2015, more than the 88 for all of 2014.
  • Saudi Arabia publicly beheads woman in holy Mecca …

    www.independent.co.uk › News › World › Middle East
    Authorities in Saudi Arabia have publicly beheaded a woman in Islam’s holy city of Mecca, prompting further criticism of the country’s human rights record.

  • Executions In Saudi Arabia Have Skyrocketed In 2015

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  • Saudi beheadings: - CNN.com

    www.cnn.com/2015/01/21/middleeast/saudi-beheading-video/index.html
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  • Saudi Arabia executes five men for drug possession, …

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    www.newsweek.com/2014/10/...beheadings-isis...saudi-arabia-277385.html
    The beheadings by ISIS have revolted the world. But in Saudi Arabia, public decapitations remain commonplace
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    Aug 19, 2014 · The beheading by sword raises to 33 the number of executions announced in Saudi Arabia so far this year, according to an AFP tally.
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    Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani sentenced to death for drug smuggling on Sunday, bringing to 84 the number of executions in the ultra-conservative kingdom this year ...
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  • Executions and Crucifixion in Jizan Saudi Arabia

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    Executions and Crucifixion in Jizan Saudi Arabia. 25 - 05. 2013. No Comment by: admin in: World News. Jizan, Saudi Arabia, is not a good place to think up criminal ...
  • Crucifixion in Saudi Arabia | Middle East - Before It's News

    beforeitsnews.com › Middle East
    Mar 27, 2013 · The beheading the number of people put to death in Saudi Arabia so far this year to 28. Get FREE private and secure Email and Messaging click now!
  • Saudi Arabia Sentences Political Dissident To Death By ...

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  • **************************************************************************************************************

    And the list of Saudi Arabian Executions and beheadings go on and on and on...................

    But no one seems to notice.  Or would it be more accurate to say that no one seems to care about the savage  and bloody duplicity that is Saudi Arabia?

    **************************************************************************************************************

Thursday, November 12, 2015

DNA Data From California Newborn Blood Samples Stored, Sold To 3rd Parties


 
File:Phenylketonuria testing.jpg
The blood of a two week-old infant is collected for a Phenylketonuria, or PKU, screening.

U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt Eric T. Sheler    Wikimedia.org


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CBS San FranciscoSF Bay Area

 

(KPIX 5) — This might come as a surprise to California natives in their 20s and early 30s: The state owns your DNA.

Every year about four million newborns in the U.S. get a heel prick at birth, to screen for congenital disorders, that if found early enough, can save their life.

Danielle Gatto barely remembers the nurse even mentioning test performed on her two daughters. “I don’t think that any woman is in a state of mind to sit down and start studying up on the literature they send you home with,” she said.

But later she was shocked to find, her daughters’ leftover blood was not thrown away. “The state collects the cards and then uses them in a database,” she said. The information is buried on page 12 of the brochure about the Newborn Screening Program that hospitals give parents of newborns before they go home.

Turns out a non-descript office building in Richmond contains the DNA of every person born in California since 1983. It’s a treasure trove of information about you, from the color of your eyes and hair to your pre-disposition to diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer.



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Thursday, November 5, 2015

“The question remains as to whether our hospital in Afghanistan lost its protected status – and if so, why,” states MSF



'No armed combatants, no fighting': MSF issues Afghan hospital bombing report

 
A wounded Afghan man, who survived a U.S. air strike on a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, receives treatment at the Emergency Hospital in Kabul October 8, 2015. © Mohammad Ismail
 
 
A Médecins Sans Frontières investigation into the Afghan hospital bombing by US forces has found that there were no armed combatants or weapons within the compound, and no fighting in the direct vicinity of the hospital at the time of the airstrikes.
 
In its report released on Thursday, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF/Doctors Without Borders) addressed the “relentless and brutal aerial attack by US forces” which took place in Kunduz on October 3 and killed at least 30 people, including MSF staff.

“The MSF rules in the hospital were implemented and respected, including the 'no weapon' policy and MSF was in full control of the hospital at the time of the airstrikes,” the organization stated.

The document also said there were “no armed combatants within the hospital compound and there was no fighting from or in the direct vicinity” of the trauma center at the time of the strikes.
The hospital was “fully functioning” at the time of the airstrikes, with 105 patients admitted and surgeries taking place, according to the findings of the investigation.

In addition, MSF said the “agreement to respect the neutrality of our medical facility based on the applicable sections of International Humanitarian Law was fully in place and agreed with all parties to the conflict prior to the attack.”

READ MORE: US tank enters MSF hospital in Afghanistan’s Kunduz, ‘destroys potential evidence’ – reports
 
Despite that neutrality, the hospital was still the target of a US airstrike, leading MSF to ask how such an attack was allowed to happen.

“The question remains as to whether our hospital lost its protected status in the eyes of the military forces engaged in this attack – and if so, why,” MSF said in its statement.


Read More Here


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MSF Report: Afghan Hospital Attack Had No Military Purpose

 
FILE - Hospital hit by a U.S. airstrike killed at least 30 people, including three children, according to officials with the international medical charity Doctors Without Borders, Kunduz, Afghanistan.

FILE - Hospital hit by a U.S. airstrike killed at least 30 people, including three children, according to officials with the international medical charity Doctors Without Borders, Kunduz, Afghanistan.

The international humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders says an internal review of last month's airstrikes by U.S. forces on its hospital in northern Afghanistan shows no reason why the facility should have come under attack.

The organization, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), released a report Thursday documenting events surrounding the airstrikes. The report says there were no armed combatants fighting within or from the hospital grounds.

In response, a U.S. Defense Department spokesman said the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army General John Campbell, has "met personally with MSF representatives."

Spokesman Jeff Davis said the United States is working closely with MSF to identify the dead and wounded, conclude its own investigation and move ahead with condolence payments.
Last month, Campbell said the U.S. accepted full responsibility for the bombing, which, according to the Pentagon, came after Afghan forces called in U.S. airstrikes against Taliban fighters thought to be firing from inside the medical compound.

The MSF document, part of an ongoing review of events undertaken by the group, is based upon 60 debriefings of MSF national and international employees who worked at the 140-bed trauma center; internal and public information; before and after photographs of the hospital; email correspondence; and telephone records. 




CIA, Saudis To Give "Select" Syrian Militants Weapons Capable Of Downing Commercial Airliners


 
 
ZeroHedge
Wednesday brought a veritable smorgasbord of “new” information about the Russian passenger jet which fell out of the sky above the Sinai Peninsula last weekend.

First there was an audio recording from ISIS’ Egyptian affiliate reiterating that they did indeed “down” the plane. Next, the ISIS home office in Raqqa (or Langley or Hollywood) released a video of five guys sitting in the front yard congratulating their Egyptian “brothers” on the accomplishment.





Then the UK grounded air traffic from Sharm el-Sheikh noting that the plane “may well” have had an “explosive device” on board.

Finally, US media lit up with reports that according to American “intelligence” sources, ISIS was probably responsible for the crash.





Over the course of the investigation, one question that’s continually come up is whether militants could have shot the plane down. Generally speaking, the contention that ISIS (or at least IS Sinai) has the technology and/or the expertise to shoot down a passenger jet flying at 31,000 feet has been discredited by “experts” and infrared satellite imagery.

But that’s nothing the CIA can’t fix.

With the Pentagon now set to deploy US ground troops to Syria (and indeed they may already be there, operating near Latakia no less), Washington is reportedly bolstering the supply lines to “moderate” anti-regime forces at the urging of (guess who) the Saudis and Erdogan.
Incredibly, some of the weapons being passed out may be shoulder-fire man-portable air-defense systems, or Manpads, capable of hitting civilian aircraft. 



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Thursday, October 29, 2015

Death toll in Saudi haj disaster at least 2,070 - Reuters tally



World | Thu Oct 29, 2015 8:11pm GMT
Reuters
 
Rescue workers carry the body of a Muslim pilgrim after a stampede at Mina, outside the holy Muslim city of Mecca, in this September 24, 2015 file photo.
Reuters/Stringer/Files
 
 

The deadly crush that occurred at the haj near Mecca last month killed at least 2,070 people, nearly triple the number accounted for in a death toll maintained by Saudi authorities, a Reuters tally indicated on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia has come under heavy criticism for its handling of the disaster. Safety during the pilgrimage is a politically sensitive issue for the kingdom's ruling Al Saud dynasty, which presents itself as the guardian of Islam and custodian of its holiest sites in Mecca and Medina.

The figure, based on information provided by the state and religious authorities and local media reports in the home countries of the victims, would make it the worst such catastrophe to befall the annual pilgrimage since 1,400 people were crushed to death in a tunnel in 1990.

Saudi officials have stood by their official counts of 769 dead and 934 injured, which have not been updated since two days after the crush. The healthy ministry has said any discrepancies in death tolls may stem from countries counting pilgrims who had died of natural causes.



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Thursday, October 22, 2015

We're responsible for Holocaust, not Palestinian mufti , Germany states in response to Netanyahu's Holocaust revision



New York Times

Photo
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Credit Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters
The claim by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel that a Palestinian persuaded Adolf Hitler to exterminate the Jews of Europe is outrageous.

It is outrageous because the Holocaust is far too terrible a crime to be exploited for political ends, especially in the state linked so closely to the tragedy of the Jewish people. It is outrageous because the only apparent purpose is to demonize the Palestinians and the current leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and to give the impression that their resistance is based solely on a longstanding hatred of the Jews, and not on their occupation by Israel or any other grievance. And it comes at a time of renewed tension in Israel, with a wave of lone-wolf attacks on Jews by knife-wielding Palestinians.

The Israeli prime minister’s assertion before the World Zionist Congress on Tuesday was not the first time he has alleged that Haj Amin al-Husseini, a grand mufti of Jerusalem, Arab nationalist and zealous foe of Zionism, was one of the instigators of the Holocaust. This time, however, Mr. Netanyahu went further and absurdly portrayed Mr. Husseini as the decisive voice in persuading a purportedly wavering Hitler to exterminate the Jews. While it is a fact that Mr. Husseini met with Hitler in 1941 in search of support, only a handful of fringe historians have claimed, with no evidence, that he planted the idea of the “final solution.”




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We're responsible for Holocaust, not Palestinian mufti - Germany on Netanyahu remarks


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel hold a joint news conference at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany October 21, 2015. © Fabrizio Bensch

Germany has addressed comments made by Benjamin Netanyahu, in which the Israeli leader accused the World War II Palestinian grand mufti of inspiring the Holocaust. Berlin said it must never be forgotten that responsibility lies with Germany.
 
"All Germans know the history of the murderous race mania of the Nazis that led to the break with civilization that was the Holocaust," Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said when asked about Netanyahu's Tuesday remarks.

"This is taught in German schools for good reason: it must never be forgotten. And I see no reason to change our view of history in any way. We know that responsibility for this crime against humanity is German and very much our own,” he said on Wednesday, as quoted by Reuters.


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Friday, October 16, 2015

The new details suggest "that the hospital was intentionally targeted, This would amount to a premeditated massacre ”, writes Meinie Nicolai of MSF


US forces in Afghanistan knew Kunduz site was hospital - report


The damaged hospital in which the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) medical charity operated is seen on October 13, 2015 following an air strike in the northern city of Kunduz. © STR
New information suggests the US deliberately targeted the Kunduz hospital, killing 22 patients and staff, despite knowing it was a protected medical site.
 
US special operations analysts investigated the hospital for days prior to the deadly October 3 attack, describing the hospital as a base of operations for a Pakistani agent coordinating Taliban activities, AP has learned from a former intelligence official familiar with the documents.

The site, operated by Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, MSF), was attacked five times in the span of an hour by a C-130 gunship, despite repeated pleas by the MSF to US forces. MSF officials described repeated strafing runs against the main hospital building, which housed the emergency room and the intensive care unit. No surrounding buildings were hit, they say.

The new details suggest "that the hospital was intentionally targeted,” Meinie Nicolai of MSF told the AP by email. “This would amount to a premeditated massacre,” she added.


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MH17: From Syria to Ukraine, When Lying Catches Up

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At best, the United States, its NATO allies and the regime they have collectively created in Kiev, Ukraine, will be able to claim Russia, or militants defending eastern Ukraine from Kiev’s armed incursions, accidentally shot down Malaysia Airlines flight 17 (MH17) after air controllers in Kiev recklessly sent it on a course over a battlefield other airliners had made a point to circumvent.
At worst, the US and its junior partners across Europe and the remnants of the British
Commonwealth, will be implicated either in shooting it down accidentally themselves, or worse still, shooting it down on purpose in order to frame Russia and anti-regime militants in eastern Ukraine.
Russia certainly had nothing to gain by shooting down a civilian aircraft over a battlefield anti-regime militants have been aptly able to hold and defend. But what of NATO and its Ukrainian allies? In a war they are losing, could they have benefited from creating a pretext for NATO to intervene more directly?

The gain they have already wrought in terms of propaganda against Russia has been impressive. From the moment the airliner was shot down, the US, NATO and Ukraine have used the incident to indict Russia and more specifically, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the court of public opinion. It has used legal maneuvering and its well-oiled press to turn the investigation of the disaster into a witchhunt with an inevitable outcome already eagerly determined to implicate Russia.
The Western media has intentionally twisted the words of investigators to misrepresent evidence and preliminary and very cautious statements to portray them as definitive conclusions to establish Russia’s guilt.


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