tyb
chek't and kek't
Vebitcoin: Turkey arrests four people after cryptocurrency collapses
Turkish authorities say four people linked to the cryptocurrency platform Vebitcoin have been arrested, accused of fraud.
Hours earlier, the company abruptly announced it had ceased operations, citing financial strains. Officials also launched an investigation and blocked the accounts of the platform. Earlier this week, a second Turkish platform, Thodex, shut down holding investments from about 390,000 users.
Increasing numbers of people are opting to use cryptocurrencies in Turkey in an attempt to protect their savings from a sharp decline in the value of the local currency, the lira. But the Turkish cryptocurrency market is unregulated. Last week, Turkey said it would ban the use of cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services from 30 April. Mehmet Nadir Yagci, a prosecutor in the south-western city of Mugla, said the four arrested were administrators and personnel of the platform.
On Friday, Vebitcoin announced on its website it had stopped all activities "in order to fulfil all regulations and claims". It was not immediately clear how many people had been affected. "Due to the recent developments in the crypto money industry, there was a much higher density in our operations than expected. We would like to state with regret that this situation has led us to a very difficult process," it said.
Meanwhile, Turkey has issued an international arrest warrant for the Thodex founder, Faruk Fatih Ozer, who reportedly fled to Albania with an alleged $2bn (£1.4bn) from investors. Police also arrested 62 people over alleged connections to Thodex. Mr Ozer called the allegations against him "baseless" and said he was in Albania for work meetings.
On Wednesday, Thodex posted a message saying it needed five days to handle an unspecified outside investment before it suspended trading. An investigation into the platform has been launched.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56871403
ASEAN 'consensus' urges Myanmar junta to end violence
Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders on Saturday pressed Myanmar's junta chief to end the bloodshed in his country and resolve the crisis in accordance with a five-point "consensus," in a much-anticipated summit in Jakarta.
Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing flew in from Myanmar on Saturday morning for the closed-door talks with presidents and prime ministers from six other ASEAN states. Thailand, the Philippines and Laos sent their foreign ministers instead. A chairman's statement released hours after the summit lists five agreed-upon points: there shall be an "immediate cessation of violence" and restraint by all parties; all parties shall commence "constructive dialogue" toward "a peaceful solution in the interests of the people"; a special envoy of the ASEAN chair shall mediate the dialogue; ASEAN shall provide humanitarian assistance; and the special envoy and delegation shall visit Myanmar to meet with all parties.
Earlier, in a conference room at the ASEAN Secretariat, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin delivered strongly worded remarks to the regional leaders, who were masked and sitting at a safe distance out of concern for COVID-19. "The deplorable situation in Myanmar must stop immediately," Muhyiddin said, according to a transcript revealed by his government. He called on the junta to release political detainees "promptly and unconditionally." Still, Muhyiddin was careful to include Myanmar's military, known as the Tatmadaw, in his vision of progress. "In none of the proposals made are the Tatmadaw not part of the solution," he said. The meeting was the first in-person gathering of the bloc's leaders since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic -- a fact Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said "reflects ASEAN's concerns over the situation in Myanmar and ASEAN's determination to help Myanmar out of the crisis."
The host, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, said after the meeting that "inclusive dialogue must start," while echoing the call to release political prisoners. "We need to appoint a special ASEAN envoy to push for dialogues involving all parties in Myanmar." The initial word out of the summit is that Min Aung Hlaing was receptive. Singaporean media outlet Channel News Asia quoted Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as saying that the junta chief was "not opposed" to ASEAN playing a constructive role in Myanmar and sending a delegation. Malaysian state media Bernama quoted Muhyiddin as saying the general "responded well" and agreed with the proposal to stop the violence.
Myanmar's military TV reported that Min Aung Hlaing attended the ASEAN meeting but did not detail the Myanmar-related discussions. The report simply quoted the commander-in-chief as saying Myanmar supports sustainable regional development and aims to work closely with its neighbors to achieve the goals set in the ASEAN Charter. It did say he explained "current political developments" to his counterparts. The response to the summit from Myanmar's pro-democracy camp, meanwhile, was cautious. Dr. Sasa, spokesman for the newly formed and outlawed National Unity Government led by ousted National League for Democracy lawmakers, told Nikkei Asia: "While we welcome the statements, this will be measured by the degree of their actions. Statements are easy, but if there is no action it makes it meaningless ... We have to wait and see, if there is withdrawal of forces."
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myanmar-Coup/ASEAN-consensus-urges-Myanmar-junta-to-end-violence
02-5001 USAFSOC C-32B (was SOOTY21 earlier) on descent for Tucson, AZ-Pinal Airpark nw of Tucson
Sometimes the call signs from previous flights (like SOOTY21 yesterday) get pulled over to the current trace.
168998 US Navy P-8 Poseiden setting up off SoCal from Whidbey Island NAS
Looks like they dropping some buoys
>>47740 pb Pentagon Sending B-52s, Carrier to Guard Afghanistan Withdrawal
CIA Chief Makes Unannounced Afghan Visit As Pentagon Scrambles To Move Out Equipment
Now more than a week after Biden's major Afghan troop exit by Sept. 11 announcement, US defense and intelligence officials appear to be scrambling. The Pentagon said Friday it's initiated a major equipment withdrawal from the country; however, this has seen extra military assets and personnel move in to increase security for the exit process and logistics.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday confirmed the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier would stay in Mideast regional waters "for a period of time" - and additionally multiple B-52 long-range bombers have been deployed to the region. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a press briefing that "there could be temporary additional force protection measures and enablers that we would require to make sure…that this drawdown goes smoothly and safely for our men and women." This follows fierce Taliban threats to attack any and all American troops that still remain after May 1st - which was the exit date previously agreed upon during the Trump administration's talks with the Taliban. Now a mere week away, the Pentagon is gearing up after Taliban leaders vowed to make things a "nightmare" for the US. Also at the end of this week The Associated Press revealed that CIA Director William Burns made a recent unannounced visit to Afghanistan, where he reassured the Afghan government in Kabul that the US is committed to stay "engaged in counterterrorism efforts." It's also believed Burns was checking up on how a controversial CIA training program for Afghan counter-terror special forces is going, per the AP:
The official said the CIA had been training and running Afghan special forces known as Counter Terrorism Pursuit Teams, or CTPT. The teams are located in the provinces of Kunar, Paktia, Kandahar, Kabul, Khost and Nangarhar. He said the plan is to gradually hand them over to the Afghan intelligence service, known as the National Directorate of Security. So far, the Kunar and Paktia units have been transferred to Afghan control, he said. The CTPT teams are feared by many Afghans and have been implicated in extra-judicial killings of civilians. This is all part of efforts to leave a stable enough security situation behind, at least for the short term, in order to protect the Biden administration politically as it seeks a swift exit.
"War in Afghanistan was never meant to be a multi-generational undertaking," Biden said in his Afghan pullout announcement speech on April 14. "Bin Laden is dead, and al Qaeda is degraded in Iraq — in Afghanistan. And it’s time to end the forever war."
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/cia-chief-makes-unannounced-afghan-visit-pentagon-scrambles-move-out-equipment
#121
Notablezzz, not endorsements
>>47870 President Trump Has Been Briefed on AZ Audit – Is “Very Interested” – Rudy Giuliani Joins the War Room to Discuss Historic AZ Election Audit (VIDEO) gatewaypundit Apr 23
>>47871 "It Will Be Bloody" - Philippines' President Duterte Threatens to Send Naval Ships To West Philippines Sea as China Threatens-gatewaypundit Apr 23
>>47872 French drug assessment center demands removal of all four widely used COVID vaccines-lifesitenews Apr 22
>>47873 Washington State Department of Health Allows Vaccination Sites to Deny Vaccines to White People to 'Address Inequities'-gatewaypundit Apr 23
>>47874 POTUS 45 statement on dems and Maricopa audit.
>>47877 NIH has identified over 500 ‘scientists of concern’ amid Chinese espionage concerns, says agency official-washexaminer Apr 23
>>47875 U.N. Elects Iran to Commission on Women’s Rights-unwatch and soc. media
>>47886, >>47890, >>47891, >>47893, >>47896, >>47897 pf report(s)
>>47892 moar Turkish crypto fuckery: Vebitcoin: Turkey arrests four people after cryptocurrency collapses-bbc
>>47895 ASEAN 'consensus' urges Myanmar junta to end violence-nikkei
>>47898 CIA Chief Makes Unannounced Afghan Visit As Pentagon Scrambles To Move Out Equipment-zh
#121
French AF CTM0013 dassault Falcon 2000LX west from Yerevan, Armenia Zvartnots Int'l Airport
Biden recognizes Armenian deaths as genocide, prompting relief in Armenia and fury in Turkey
With one weighty word, President Joe Biden made history on Saturday. Recognizing the historical massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War One as genocide, Biden went further than any previous occupant of the White House and departed from decades of carefully calibrated language on the subject. Biden's statement was greeted with praise in the Armenian capital, Yerevan — and among the country's diaspora, whose activists have long campaigned for such recognition — but met with anger in Ankara, where Turkey has denied that the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915-17 should be considered a genocide. "The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today," Biden said in a statement on Saturday, marking the annual Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. As a presidential candidate, Biden last year commemorated those killed in the final throes of the Ottoman Empire, modern Turkey's predecessor, and pledged to back efforts to recognize the deaths as genocide if elected.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/biden-recognizes-armenian-deaths-genocide-prompting-relief-armenia-fury-turkey-n1265040