Bullfight gone wrong: Bull escapes makeshift arena in Peru, attacks people

PM: Around 400 Britons fighting with Isis in Iraq

Χαος και στην Κενυα,48 οι νεκροι.

"Αμερικανοί πεζοναύτες Τώρα που σταθμεύουν στην οροφή της Πρεσβείας των ΗΠΑ στο Ναϊρόμπι": Δεκάδες νεκροί Σε τζιχάντ επίθεση εναντίον της Κένυας Town Από: Pamela Geller Τη Δευτέρα 16 Ιούνη 14 Περισσότερα από την καταστροφική πτώση-out προ-τζιχάντ πραξικόπημα της εξωτερικής πολιτικής του Ομπάμα. Το θολό χάος σε ολόκληρη τη Μέση Ανατολή και την Αφρική κλιμακώνεται με τρομακτική ταχύτητα. Πατριαρχική πατρίδα του Ομπάμα, αφού το φάρο της δημοκρατίας στη σκοτεινή ήπειρο, είναι υπό πολιορκία από μαχητές της Τζιχάντ. Προτεραιότητα του Ομπάμα; Έρχεται στην Νέα Υόρκη, ως μέρος μιας προσπάθειας Δημοκρατική συγκέντρωση χρημάτων. Μην ανησυχείτε, ο Ομπάμα λέει ότι η Αλ Κάιντα είναι στο τρέξιμο! Παραμονή στην κορυφή του τι πραγματικά συμβαίνει. Συνέχεια μου για Twitter εδώ. σαν κι εμένα στο Facebook εδώ. Στελέχη του κόμματος λένε Ομπάμα σχεδιάζει να παραστεί σε γκέι, λεσβιών, αμφιφυλόφιλων και τρανσεξουαλικών γκαλά με Δημοκρατική Εθνική Επιτροπή πρόεδρος Debbie Wasserman Schultz . (εδώ) Εκεί το έχετε. Κένυα: Οι κάτοικοι δούμε σκοτώθηκε σώματα των ανθρώπων σκοτώθηκαν όταν άγνωστοι ένοπλοι επιτέθηκαν την παραλιακή πόλη της Κένυας Mpeketoni Αστυνομία: Δεκάδες νεκροί Σε Τρομοκρατική επίθεση Στις Κένυας Town από το Associated Press 16 Ιουν, 2014 05:04 π.μ. ET Σομαλοί εξτρεμιστές κρατώντας αυτόματα όπλα επιτέθηκαν σε μια μικρή παραθαλάσσια πόλη της Κένυας για ώρες, επίθεση στο αστυνομικό τμήμα, θέτοντας δύο ξενοδοχεία στην πυρκαγιά, και τον ψεκασμό σφαίρες στο δρόμο. Τουλάχιστον 48 άνθρωποι σκοτώθηκαν, σύμφωνα με αξιωματούχους τη Δευτέρα. Η επίθεση άρχισε γύρω στις 8 μ.μ. τοπική ώρα την Κυριακή το βράδυ οι κάτοικοι της πόλης παρακολουθούσαν αγώνες του Παγκοσμίου Κυπέλλου στην τηλεόραση. Η επίθεση συνάντησε μικρή αντίσταση από τον μηχανισμό ασφαλείας της χώρας, και διήρκεσε μέχρι τις πρώτες πρωινές ώρες της Δευτέρας. Αρχές κατηγόρησαν al-Shabab, αλ-Κάιντα που συνδέονται με τρομοκρατική οργάνωση της Σομαλίας. Ανώτατος διοικητής της αστυνομίας της Κένυας, David Kimaiyo, δήλωσε ο αριθμός των νεκρών ήταν 48. Ένας άλλος αστυνομικός διοικητής είπε ότι οι κάτοικοι παρακολουθούσαν το Παγκόσμιο Κύπελλο στο Breeze View Hotel, οι ένοπλοι τράβηξε τους άνδρες στην άκρη και διέταξε τις γυναίκες να παρακολουθήσουν ως τους σκότωσε. Οι επιτιθέμενοι είπαν οι γυναίκες ότι είναι ό, τι Κένυας στρατεύματα κάνουν στη Σομαλία άνδρες στο εσωτερικό της Σομαλίας. Ο διοικητής της αστυνομίας επέμεινε στην ανωνυμία, επειδή δεν ήταν εξουσιοδοτημένος να μοιραστεί αυτή τη λεπτομέρεια της επίθεσης. Ένας εκπρόσωπος της αστυνομίας είπε αρχές πιστεύουν ότι αρκετές δεκάδες επιτιθέμενοι πήραν μέρος. Η επίθεση σημειώθηκε στην πόλη της Mpeketoni, η οποία είναι περίπου 30 μίλια νοτιοδυτικά από το τουριστικό κέντρο της Λάμου. Κάθε τουρισμού στην Mpeketoni είναι κυρίως τοπικές, με λίγους ξένους που επισκέπτονται την περιοχή. Η πόλη είναι περίπου 60 μίλια από τα σύνορα της Σομαλίας. Mpeketoni είναι περίπου 360 μίλια από την πρωτεύουσα, Ναϊρόμπι. Κένυα γνώρισε ένα κύμα πυροβολισμούς και εκρηκτικές επιθέσεις τους τελευταίους μήνες. Οι ΗΠΑ, η Βρετανία, η Γαλλία, η Αυστραλία και ο Καναδάς έχουν αναβαθμιστεί πρόσφατα προειδοποιήσεις τρομοκρατική απειλή τους για τη χώρα. Αμερικανοί πεζοναύτες πίσω από τις αποθήκες sandbag τώρα σταθμεύουν στην οροφή της πρεσβείας των ΗΠΑ στο Ναϊρόμπι. Το υπουργείο Εσωτερικών ανέφερε ότι σε περίπου 8 μ.μ. Κυριακή δύο minivans μπήκαν στην πόλη. Ένοπλοι αποβιβάστηκε και άρχισε να πυροβολεί. Εθνικό Κέντρο Επιχειρήσεων Καταστροφών της Κένυας δήλωσε στρατιωτικά αεροσκάφη επιτήρησης ξεκίνησαν λίγο αργότερα. Η κοντινή πόλη της Lamu είναι μια παγκόσμια κληρονομιά της UNESCO και είναι η παλαιότερη συνεχώς κατοικημένη πόλη της χώρας. Η περιοχή είδε μια έξαρση των απαγωγών ξένων τουριστών το 2011 που αναφέρουν ότι η Κένυα ήταν μέρος των κινήτρων της για να επιτεθεί στη Σομαλία. Δεδομένου ότι οι επιθέσεις και τις επακόλουθες προειδοποιήσεις της τρομοκρατίας τουρισμός έχει πέσει απότομα γύρω από Λάμου. Αλ Σαμπάμπ έχει ορκιστεί να πραγματοποιήσει τρομοκρατικές επιθέσεις για να εκδικηθεί το Κένυας στρατιωτική παρουσία της Σομαλίας. Τουλάχιστον 67 άνθρωποι σκοτώθηκαν το Σεπτέμβριο, όταν τέσσερις al-Shabab ένοπλοι επιτέθηκαν σε ένα πολυτελές εμπορικό κέντρο στην πρωτεύουσα της Κένυας, Ναϊρόμπι. Κένυα έστειλε στρατεύματα στη Σομαλία τον Οκτώβριο του 2011.

Syria - The Second Front (HD)

As ISIS continues to capture territory in the north of Syria, FSA rebels find themselves fighting a war on two fronts: against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, and now against the jihadists 'stealing' the revolution.

"I pay homage to ISIS. To listen and obey. God is a witness to what we are saying. Praise God!" The ISIS leader shouts and the crowded town square answers. It gives a startling indication of ISIS's control of Syria's Northern Front. It's too dangerous for the cameraman to film, so a local man films it secretly. Muhammad Ali - a Syrian and one of only a few reporters to make it safely into this region in recent months - gives us a gripping insight into the battle raging between the FSA and ISIS from inside the country. "If a group wants to use weapons against us, fight us, and their goal is to steal the Syrian revolution, we will not hesitate to fight back", Jamal Marouf, an FSA leader says as he explains why they are now fighting ISIS as keenly as the government forces. We see the FSA engage ISIS in direct combat, forcing them to abandon one of their bases and reclaim the town of al-Atareb. The local response gives an indication of how ISIS are feared here:"Since we were freed we live in safety. ISIS hobbies include sabotage, kidnap and murder in cold blood", one townsman tells us. A fascinating insight into Syria's fractured "war within a war".

Things You Probably Didn't Know About Cute Bonobos

Μπονομπο ετσι λεγετε ειναι ο μονος πιθηκος που δεν σκοτωνη,και ο μονος που μοιαζη πολυ πιο κοντα στον ανθρωπο.


Ο Μπονόμπο, είναι ένα είδος πιθήκου, που το μόνο που τον ενδιαφέρει είναι να φλερτάρει και να κάνει σεξ. Είτε αρσενικό, είτε θηλυκό, το είδος Μπονόμπο, απολαμβάνει την χαρά της ζωής, χωρίς να μαλώνει ή να κυνηγάει με άλλα είδη. Κάνει συνέχεια σεξ και μόνο σεξ. Ακόμη και όταν χρειαστεί τα μέλη μιας κοινότητας Μπονόμπο να λύσουν τις διαφορές τους, το κάνουν με το ...σεξ. Ερευνητές ανακάλυψαν ότι ο Μπονόμπο, έχει κοινό με τον άνθρωπο το ίδιο ποσοστό γενετικού κώδικα που έχει και ο χιμπατζής, δηλαδή σχεδόν 99%.

Navy's stealth destroyer designed for the video gamer generation

Navy's stealth destroyer designed for the video gamer generation



By Thom Patterson and Brad Lendon, CNN
June 15, 2014 -- Updated 0323 GMT (1123 HKT) |


Source: CNN



(CNN) -- The Navy's new super stealthy destroyer, the USS Zumwalt, has a lot in common with Hollywood's starship Enterprise, according to folks who've seen it in person.

Much has been written about the Zumwalt's appropriately named commander, Capt. James Kirk. But aside from that coincidence, the ship's operations center utilizes advanced technology that takes multitasking to a deadly new level on the high seas.

First launched last year, this is a massive $3 billion warship -- the largest type of destroyer in the modern Navy by about 65%. One thing that sets it apart is a very small crew.

Compared with about 300 sailors needed for similar warships, the Zumwalt's minimum compliment is only 130.


operate," says former Navy Capt. Wade Knudson, who now serves as Zumwalt program director for Pentagon contractor, Raytheon.

In the operations center -- which in many ways is the heart of the ship -- sailors are surrounded by an array of video displays that have been designed to be used by a generation raised on video games, Knudson says.

Raytheon tested the technology configuration in the operation center with young, gamer sailors, Knudson says. "We've brought them down to our labs and we got direct feedback from them using human-factor engineers in order to make sure that we've integrated all the displays and information in a way that they can use the systems most effectively."

The result, he says, is less chance of making errors on the ship. "The system and the computer provide information to the sailor in a way that they're used to."

Work stations inside the center are outfitted with three common displays, Knudson says. "You can sit down at any of the systems and operate them."




At 610 feet long and 80 feet wide, the Zumwalt is about 100 feet longer and 20 feet wider than ships in the Navy's current fleet of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers featured in the action-packed 2012 film "Battleship."

Although it's huge, the Navy says this thing is surprisingly stealthy.

Much of the ship is built on angles that help make it 50 times harder to spot on radar than an ordinary destroyer. "It has the radar cross-section of a fishing boat," Chris Johnson, a spokesman for Naval Sea Systems Command, told CNN last year.

Meet Capt. James Kirk, commander of the USS Zumwalt

Sean Gallagher, of the self-described "alpha geek" website Ars Technica, got a chance last year to explore a mockup of the Zumwalt's operation center. The workstations are part of the ship's Common Display System -- nicknamed "keds" for short, Gallagher reported.

Sailors operate keds with "trackballs and specialized button panels," Gallagher reported. Operators have an option to interface by using touchscreens, if they prefer, according to Gallagher.

The whole operations center technology array saves manpower by allowing sailors to monitor multiple weapons systems or sensors, Gallagher reported. The Zumwalt, Gallagher wrote, also includes limited wireless networking capability.

"Theoretically, the ship could even be steered from the ops center—the ship is piloted by computer, not a helmsman," Gallagher wrote. CDS displays are built into the "commanding officer's and executive officer's chairs on the bridge," he reported.

The way all the ship's weapons, radar and other systems are displayed to users and the captain, Knudson told CNN, "it really give them unprecedented situational awareness."




"That ability is truly going to be a game-changer."

In its current configuration, the Zumwalt will carry a considerable arsenal of weapons, including two Advanced Gun Systems (AGS), which can fire rocket-powered, computer-guided shells that can destroy targets 63 miles away. That's three times farther than ordinary destroyer guns can fire.

But one day it could be fitted with advanced weapons systems that are currently experimental, including a laser weapon and an electromagnetic railgun.

Electromagnetic railguns don't need to fool around with needless explosive warheads or propellants. These fearsome weapons inflict damage by sheer speed. The gun uses electromagnetic force to blast a missile 125 miles at 7.5 times the speed of sound, according to the Navy.

The laser weapon -- which could be fired by one sailor on a video game-like console -- is designed to take on aircraft or small surface vessels.

Read more about the Navy's plans for new weapons

Currently undergoing sea testing, Knudson says the Zumwalt is expected to join the rest of the Navy fleet sometime in 2016.

Inside Iran's Fighting Bull Culture - Coming Soon!

Iraq, ISIL and the region's choices

Even if ISIL is halted before it reaches Baghdad, it has left virtually every regional actor scrambling for a response. Last updated: 12 Jun 2014 18:13

Shashank Joshi Shashank Joshi is a Research Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London and a PhD candidate at Harvard University. He holds Masters degrees from Cambridge and Harvard Universities. He specialises in the international politics of South Asia and the Middle East. RSS Aaron Stein Aaron Stein is an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a doctoral candidate at King’s College, London and a researcher specializing in proliferation in the Middle East at the Istanbul-based Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies. RSS

Iraqi city of Mosul fell to ISIL forces within hours of their attack [AFP]

In a matter of days, Iraq's political calendar and map have been rolled back by a decade. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has brought the Iraqi state to the point of collapse, defeating 30,000 Iraqi soldiers with fewer than 800 fighters in mere hours.  It has bolstered its own power and status, further challenging its erstwhile parent organisation, al-Qaeda, and tightened the connection between the Syrian and Iraqi battlefields, hedging its losses in one territory with advances in the other. It has successfully carved out a jihadist proto-state that now covers Tikrit, less than 100 miles from Baghdad, and appears to be contesting areas on the capital's edge - covering, in total, a third of Iraq. These remarkable events present a series of challenges to four of Iraq’s neighbours - Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Syria - and, additionally, to the assumptions and sustainability of US policy in the region. ISIL's choices Can ISIL defend its gains? Most likely, yes. In Mosul it seized large quantities of US-supplied military equipment, reportedly stolen over $400m in Iraqi currency from the city's banks, and freed thousands of prisoners, many of whom are likely to join the insurgency. Its ability to hold out for over four months in the western city of Fallujah, forcing the government to resort to indiscriminate shelling in the absence of sufficient airpower, is an indication of ISIL's defence capabilities. However, it remains unclear how much assistance ISIL has also received from outside. Web Exclusive: ISIL threatens Samarra shrine ISIL's military offensives were almost certainly facilitated by smaller militant groups such as the Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order, an organisation of former Baathist Iraqi army officers. As ISIL gains strength, it may command the loyalty of more such combat-proficient groups, thereby increasing its reach; it may also find conflicts of interests with these allies of convenience, particularly if it persists in its brutal behaviour. What is ISIL's next step? Although it is already seeking to expand its territorial reach beyond Tikrit, its ability to capture the capital itself should not be exaggerated. Whereas the government had neglected the defence of Mosul, Baghdad is better prepared. The capital also has a much larger portion of Shia Muslims than Mosul, Kirkuk, or Tikrit, so that ISIL will lack the same degree of tacit or informal support in many areas. The greater short-term danger is that ISIL will enter Samarra, a city housing holy Shia sites whose bombing in 2006 by ISIL's earlier incarnation, al-Qaeda in Iraq, catalysed a nationwide civil war. For ISIL, catalysing sectarian violence by provoking Shia reprisals would not only serve its ideological objectives but also push vulnerable Iraq Sunnis into its arms. Baghdad's response Baghdad's ability to respond effectively is in serious doubt. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has threatened to arm Shia militias to generate a counterweight to ISIL. This risks a widening of the very same sectarian divisions - and increasing the long-standing disaffection with the government among a large number of Iraqi Sunnis - that eased ISIL's successes in Sunni-majority areas over the past four months. Even the US government, whose arms Maliki urgently requires, responded to ISIL's gains by castigating the PM for his failure to reform in this regard. Maliki, who watched his forces dissolve in the face of ISIL's advances, resembles a semi-tragic figure. He has issued desperate pleas for help to Kurdish militias called Peshmerga who fight for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a semi-autonomous province that has been at odds with Baghdad over oil exports and the allocation of federal revenue (the Kurds claim they are owed $6bn). Yet Kurdish involvement would present its own longer-term challenges to Maliki, not least weakening his bargaining position with the province. Kurdish forces already claim to be in full control of Kirkuk. Although US arms deliveries will be expedited, the Iraqi security forces will struggle to incorporate more advanced weapons systems on a timeline that would change the course of the fighting. This is why, as early as March, Maliki has been secretly requesting US airstrikes against ISIL targets; Washington has so far rebuffed these requests, although further territorial gains by ISIL would place unbearable pressure on this policy. It is too soon to judge the effectiveness of the early Iraqi government airstrikes on Mosul on June 12, but it will depend on the accuracy and reliability of Iraqi intelligence, as well as the nature of any anti-air weaponry in ISIL's possession. Turkey spillover For Turkey, the conflict has already spilled over the border. On the first day of ISIL's seizure of Mosul, 31 Turkish truck drivers were taken hostage. And on the second day, ISIL stormed Ankara's consulate in Mosul and detained 49 Turkish citizens - including the Consulate General, Ozturk Yilmaz, a former advisor to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. There is little immediate prospect of Turkish intervention, unless ISIL begins executing hostages; however the group has far more to gain by seeking ransoms, a strategy it has pursued to great effect across the border in Syria. Some reports suggest that the hostages have been moved to the residence of the ISIL-sponsored Mosul governor, in possible preparation for their release. Ankara, which has reportedly sought to invoke NATO's involvement when ISIL threatened the Suleyman Shah Tomb in Aleppo in March, has now called an emergency NATO meeting. Turkey will be eager to persuade its NATO allies to take the threat from Iraq as seriously as it does, not least because its ability to act entirely independently over the border would be limited. Iran already stretched For Iran, the possible entrenchment of an exceptionally radical and heavily-armed Sunni jihadist group on its western flank, threatening the collapse of a key Iranian ally, is a matter of grave concern. One Iranian MP observed  that the large number of Shia holy sites in Iraq - notably at Karbala, Najaf, and Samarra - would be "red lines" for Iran, should they be targeted by ISIL. Others - including Iranian officials - have repeatedly alluded to the prospect of direct Iranian intervention ("whatever it takes") in Iraq.  In the short-term, Iran is highly unlikely to deploy troops. It would first intensify support for the Iraqi security forces and then send small numbers of advisers from the Revolutionary Guards. However, Iran is now stretched across multiple fronts, and a more serious commitment in Iraq, might come at the expense of its assistance to Damascus. Hezbollah is likely to be even further thinned out, given its prominent role in a number of Syrian battlefronts; it almost certainly lacks the manpower to conduct a meaningful intervention in Iraq. In addition, Iraq's most senior Shia figure, Ayatollah Sistani, reportedly chastised Iran's involvement in the region's conflict, arguing that "Iran acts and Arab Shia pay the price". This hardly precludes Iranian involvement, but it will influence the form it takes. Impact on Syria In the short-term, ISIL's gains will reinforce their efforts in Syria, a front where they have been squeezed eastward by rival rebel groups over the past four months. However, the broader impact may be on the calculus of external allies. Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US all view ISIL's growing power with alarm. Inside Story - Iraq on the brink? The Assad regime has hitherto avoided targeting ISIL, allowing it to remain in control of key areas, on the assumption that the group has weakened more moderate rebel factions and reinforced the regime's message that the opposition is dominated by jihadist actors. It is possible, though by no means certain, that Tehran will apply pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to engage ISIL more directly and effectively. Yet at a broader level, the growth of ISIL strengthens Assad's spurious claim that his own state and regime is the only bulwark against jihadist groups. Much depends, however, on how the United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and other rebel backers respond. The most important question is the net effect on US calculations, and whether the Obama administration will reverse course and decide that the only way to contain ISIL is to shore up moderate rebels along the lines proposed by former US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford: "Far greater material support and training so that [the Free Syrian Army] can mount an effective guerrilla war", including the provision of surface-to-air missiles. On the other hand, the shared US, Iranian and Saudi interest in ISIL might persuade the White House of the imperative for a new peace process - a Geneva III - in which counter-terrorism objectives supersede the democratic transition, rendering the US more inclined to push for a transition on terms favourable to Assad, Iran, and Russia. (See, for instance, one proposed Iranian plan for Syria). The US and Iran held high-level bilateral nuclear talks recently, and the prospect and anticipation of a nuclear deal might increase the immediate appeal of cooperating with Iran on Syria. Despite Saudi Arabia's own purportedly softening stance towards Iran and its serious concern over its own vulnerability to the jihadist resurgence, such a conciliatory approach would naturally be anathema to the US' regional allies, who argue that ISIL is best defeated through strengthening its rival rebel faction within Syria. A third option would be for the US to stick to its present course - a small trickle of arms and training to small, trusted rebel groups - while dealing with the immediate threat in Iraq through accelerated assistance to Baghdad. The danger of such an incremental and passive approach is that, as the situation deteriorates further, it becomes harder and harder to contain ISIL and salvage what is left of Iraq's crumbling security forces. The administration may split the difference by conducting limited military strikes in Iraq against ISIL, while leaving its Syria strategy untouched.  It would be tempting to believe that, just as al-Qaeda in Iraq wore itself out during the Iraqi civil war, ISIL will run into diminishing returns; but today there are no US troops to protect those Sunni tribes who wish to confront ISIL, and no "surge" should be expected. Even if ISIL is halted before it reaches the capital, it has left virtually every regional actor scrambling for a response. Shashank Joshi is a Research Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London and a PhD candidate at Harvard University. He holds Masters degrees from Cambridge and Harvard Universities. He specialises in the international politics of South Asia and the Middle East. Aaron Stein is an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a doctoral candidate at King's College, London and a researcher specialising in proliferation in the Middle East at the Istanbul-based Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

Source: Al Jazeera