SYRIA UPDATE

Ala calls for lifting sanctions imposed on Syrian people

Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Hussam Eddin Ala called for lifting unilateral coercive measures imposed on the Syrian people.

https://sana.sy/en/?p=155218

A new batch of displaced Syrians in Jordan return via Nassib border crossing

SANA reporter said that a new batch including 130 displaced Syrians , mostly women and children, returned on Wednesday from al- Azraq and Zaatari camps in Jordan to their towns and villages liberated by the Syrian Arab Army from terrorism.

https://sana.sy/en/?p=155211

Senior Syrian Diplomat Confirms EU States Are Preparing To Restore Relations With Damascus

Syria’s Deputy-Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad, told RT on January 9 that many European countries are preparing to reopen their embassies in Damascus and revealed that several meeting were held to discuss this matter inside and outside of Syria.

Mekdada added that the Syrian government is keeping these talks a secret so that “the conditions of normalization of relations with the European countries become more positive and easier.”

Last week, several reports said that the United Kingdom and Italy are renovating their embassies’ buildings in the Syrian capital. While the UK stressed that it’s not planning to restore its relations with Syria, Italy has not commented on these reports yet.

“The Assad regime lost its legitimacy due to its atrocities against the Syrian people. We therefore closed the British Embassy in Damascus in 2012. We have no plans to reopen it,” said Martin Longden, UK Special Representative for Syria, on Twitter.

Local observers believe that Italy will likely lead the efforts to restore the Syrian-European relations, especially that the country has maintained a secret relation with Damascus since the beginning of the war.

https://southfront.org/senior-syrian-diplomat-confirms-eu-states-are-preparing-to-restore-relations-with-damascus/

Unusual Russian Movements Around Idlib

These unusual Russian movements led to a state of panic among Syrian opposition activists and leaders. Many figures accused Moscow of taking advantage of the ongoing attack of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) [the former branch of al-Qaeda in Syria] against Turkish-backed militants and preparing to launch an attack on the governorate of Idlib.

“What’s happening in Idlib is the wish of the Russians, the Iranians and the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad,” the Syrian news outlet Enab Baladi quoted Brigadier General Ahmed Berri, a commander of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), as saying Opposition activists fear that if HTS capture that region, Russia will pullout from the demilitarized zone agreement with Turkey and attack Idlib.

https://southfront.org/unusual-russian-movements-around-idlib/

Ryabkov: Officials at US Administration insist on keeping illegitimate military presence in Syria

He added “in the current circumstance and the case of Washington’s attempt to control the world and its ambition to be present everywhere and to settle issues in accordance to its conditions I cannot imagine that the USA will suddenly withdraw completely from Syria.”

https://sana.sy/en/?p=155185

Military Situation In Syria On January 9, 2019 (Map Update)

This map provides a general look at the current military situation in Syria:

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have launched a new attempt to capture and secure the town of al-Shafah in the remaining ISIS-held pocket in the Euphrates Valley;

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has continued its expansion within the Idlib de-escaltion zone capturing new areas;

A new round of ceasefire violations has been reported in northern Hama.

https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-syria-on-january-9-2019-map-update/

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>>4685428

Agricultural Sector Revitalized in Deir ez-Zor

The agricultural sector in Deir ez-Zor province is witnessing a renaissance and the wheel of production has starting running after a hiatus of several years, due to the terrorist attacks which mainly targeted infrastructure and water projects, in parallel with the return of tens of thousands of its inhabitants to their houses and farms.

https://syrianobserver.com/EN/news/47842/agricultural-sector-revitalized-in-deir-ez-zor.html

Jan. 9, 2019: Turkey Wants US Military Bases In Northern Syria

“We are pleased with Trump’s decision for withdrawal [from Syria], but it needs to be clarified as to what kind of structure will be left behind, what will happen to the heavy weapons that have been deployed, the fate of American military bases and logistics centers. In this meeting we discussed these in detail,” Kalın stressed.

https://southfront.org/syrian-war-report-jan-9-2019-turkey-wants-us-military-bases-in-northern-syria/

Ahrar Al-Sham Groups Dissolve Themselves After Series Of Defeats From Hayat Tahrir al-Sham

After receiving a humiliating defeat from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Ahrar al-Sham Movement’s groups in northwestern Hama agreed to surrender and dissolve themselves on January 9.

HTS launched its attack on the Ahrar al-Sham Movement’s positions in the al-Ghab Plains and the Shashabo mount a day earlier. Within few hours the radical group, which was the main branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, imposed its control of the towns of al-Ankawi and Habit forcing the remaining fighters of Ahrar al-Sham to surrender.

The Ahrar al-Sham Movement is the core of a Turkish-backed coalition that operates under the name of the National Front for Liberation (NFL). However, the coalition didn’t intervene to support Ahrar al-Sham during the battle in northwestern Hama.

https://southfront.org/ahrar-al-sham-groups-dissolve-themselves-after-series-of-defeats-from-hayat-tahrir-al-sham/

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Expansion In Northwestern Syria

This map provides a general look at the current military situation in northwestern Syria. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has significantly expanded its control within the Idlib de-escalation zone and is workong to expand it further.

https://southfront.org/map-update-hayat-tahrir-al-sham-expansion-in-northwestern-syria/

With Golan at Stake, Netanyahu, Bolton Set Trump Straight on US Syria Withdrawal Plan

Israel’s main motivation in preventing a swift U.S. exit from Syria was also made explicit by Netanyahu, who openly stated on Twitter that Israel’s push to obtain sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights – which is internationally recognized as part of Syria – was the driving factor behind Israel’s recent efforts to dramatically slow down Trump’s plan for an “immediate” withdrawal of U.S. troops currently occupying Syrian territory illegally.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/with-golan-at-stake-netanyahu-bolton-set-trump-straight-on-us-syria-withdrawal-plan/5665086

https://www.mintpressnews.com/us-troop-withdrawal-plan-would-hand-off-northeastern-syria-to-turkey/253176/

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Antifa Group Claims Responsibility for Attempted Assassination of German AFD Politician

In a now deleted post on a popular far-left website, an Antifa group has claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt on AfD MP Frank Magnitz, saying that they wanted to “free him” from his “fascist” ideas.

In a post on Indymedia, a group called “Anti-Fascist Spring Bremen” asserted that they were responsible for Monday’s near-deadly attack in which a group of individuals knocked Magnitz down and began brutally kicking his head.

“The Anti-Fascist Spring Bremen announces that we wanted to free AfD politician F. Magnitz from his fascist ideas on Monday around 6 pm local time. Magnitz, who maintains good contacts to the far-right and fascist scene and often makes racist utterances, may not make a foothold in Bremen or elsewhere and must be silenced like any other Nazi. We do not tolerate Nazi scum in our area! The Anti-Fascist Spring is comung! Get ready!” the post, signed “Anti-Fascist Spring Bremen,” read.

It is unclear why the post was deleted — and due to the anonymous nature of the post and Antifa it is impossible to verify the authenticity. However, the Antifa group was posting calls for violence on their Facebook page less than a week before the attack.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/01/breaking-antifa-group-claims-responsibility-for-attempted-assassination-of-german-afd-politician/

>>4685465

Saw that yesterday, there's more:

Declassification Error Reveals Gina Haspel Ran CIA Gitmo Torture Site After 9/11

A seeming error in a heavily redacted transcript from a Guantanamo Bay Naval Base court has revealed that CIA Director Gina Haspel was the chief of base there in the early 2000s, during the heart of the CIA’s torture program. The revelation fills in a part of Haspel’s career the director was reluctant to speak about during her 2018 confirmation.

The document in question is a massive, partially redacted transcript of a secret hearing held at Guantanamo on November 16, 2018, via the Office of Military Commissions, a site concerning war courts. On page 22,088, lawyer Rita Radostitz invokes Haspel's name, arguing that she is needed to testify in a case regarding Radostitz's client, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, because the classification rules have changed so much under Haspel's purview that her testimony as chief of base at the CIA's Guantanamo black site, where Mohammed was tortured in the early 2000s, is necessary.

In the court transcript, Radostitz notes that prosecutors claim they are "not trying to cover up the torture… But the one thing that they're not willing to talk about is the names of the people involved in the torture." A large redacted section follows, and then Radostitz says, "it makes it impossible for people at Guantanamo, who may have seen her when she was here as chief of base, to identify her and talk about it."

The title "chief of base" is one used by the CIA to refer to officers in charge of secret foreign outposts, including the spy agency's network of secret overseas prisons, called "black sites." The US Senate Intelligence Committee's 2014 torture report notes two such sites in Guantanamo, code named "Maroon" and "Indigo." These were separate from the Pentagon's "Camp Delta," the better known prison inside the naval base.

Haspel's record of supervising and approving of torture is well known. Her role as chief of base of a CIA black site in Thailand in 2002 played a major role in the debate about her confirmation as CIA director in May, Sputnik reported. During her time at the Thailand site, Haspel oversaw the torture of detainees, which helped Haspel perfect the formula for future "enhanced interrogation techniques" such as waterboarding. Haspel herself oversaw the destruction of recordings of that torture, Sputnik reported.

https://sputniknews.com/us/201901101071347753-Declassification-Error-Reveals-Haspel-Ran-Gitmo-Torture-Site/

Jordanian Foreign Minister Demands Israel To Return Golan Heights To Syria During Joint Press Conference With US Secretary Of State

On January 8th, Jordan’s Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi described the Golan Heights as occupied Syrian territory and demanded that Israel withdraw its forces from the area.

Safadi’s comments came during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who landed in Amman earlier in the day.

“The Golan Heights are occupied Syrian territory. International law is clear on that. It has to be treated as such,” Safadi told reporters.

“Therefore, our position is that Israel needs to withdraw from that territory in the framework of a peace agreement,” he added.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war. It unilaterally annexed the area in 1981, in a move that wasn’t recognized internationally.

The UN Security Council has maintained the illegality of measures taken by Israel “to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan,” adding that “acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible under international law.”

During the press conference Pompeo essentially spoke about Iran and that the US would “redouble” its diplomatic and commercial efforts to counter Tehran’s “malign influence” in the region.

Two days before the press conference, White House National Security Adviser John Bolton met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

During the meeting, Bolton guaranteed the US commitment to Israel’s security in the midst of the withdrawal from Syria.

Netanyahu on his part said that the time has come for US to recognize the annexation of the Golan Heights. “The Golan Heights is tremendously important for our security,” he said.

The Israeli PM said that he hoped to helicopter to the strategic plateau on January 7th with Bolton so that “you will be able to understand perfectly why we will never leave the Golan Heights, and why it is important that all countries recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.”

Earlier, in December 2018, Bolton said that the US had no plans of recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

In September 2018, US ambassador to Israel David Friedman said that he expected the Golan Heights to remain under Israeli control “forever,” and mentioned the possibility of US official recognition of the Golan as Israeli territory.

In October 2018, Jordan announced its decision to not extend a 25-year deal that allowed Israel to use two tracts of territory along its border, as Netanyahu said Israel was planning to negotiate an extension.

“These are Jordanian lands and they will remain,” King Abdullah II said. In an “era of regional turmoil” his kingdom -sandwiched between Syria to the north, Iraq to the east and Israel to its west – Jordan wanted to protect its “national interests.”

Jordan is one of two Arab countries, the other being Egypt, that have signed a peace treaty with Israel. Despite it, MPs in Jordan have repeatedly called for an end of the agreement. Jordan officials are quite pro-Palestinian, so anti-Israeli sentiments are not surprising.

https://southfront.org/jordanian-foreign-minister-demands-israel-to-return-golan-heights-to-syria-during-joint-press-conference-with-us-secretary-of-state/

Tijuana: 18 Murdered in 18 Hours

The cartel-related drug violence in Tijuana continues to rage into 2019 with 18 killed in as many hours this past Monday and Tuesday, leaving at least 68 dead in the new year.

The figures were provided by the state attorney general’s office, according to local reports. A total of eight victims were also found wounded during the time period.

Tijuana set a new record for homicides in a single year in 2018 with 2,508 thanks to an alarming number of cartel-related murders–most tied to the street-level distribution of drugs. This violence continues despite numerous measures taken by Mexico City to intervene, including military surges and use of additional federal and state police personnel.

The 18-hour span began on Monday morning at 6:54 am in colonia Hacienda Santa María, where a male murder victim was left in the roadway under a blue tarp. The last victim during the period was recorded at 1:22 am Tuesday when municipal police discovered a male victim inside the trunk of a Honda in colonia Ejido Maclovio Rojas.

On Sunday, law enforcement and officials held a double funeral for two municipal police officers who were gunned down Thursday while eating at a Chinese restaurant in colonia Sánchez Taboada, which is known as one of the most violent sections of Tijuana. There is a high concentration of street-level dealers moving methamphetamine for the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) in the area. Officer Fidencio Figueroa Rodríguez died in hospital the night he was shot, and the wounded officer, Omar Araujo, died of his wounds Saturday. A key cartel operative wanted by authorities for his alleged role in a conspiracy to traffic huge quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana to various cities in the United States was gunned down with his wife in Tijuana Saturday. The fugitive was a member of the CJNG and supposedly involved in the murder of the two Tijuana police officers.

During funeral services, Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastélum Buenrostro addressed those in attendance and instructed his officers to not be afraid of using their firearms when faced with the “degenerates.” During the early days of the arrival of the migrant caravan in Tijuana, Mayor Gastélum Buenrostro wore a red “Make Tijuana Great Again” baseball cap– a nod to President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan and iconic headgear.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/01/09/tijuana-18-murdered-in-18-hours/

>>4685724

That is what we are hoping for more or less! We'll soon see

>>4685727

Strings cut me thinks

EXCLUSIVE: 'I thought I was going to be the next to die at Ed Buck's house.' Man tells DailyMailTV how Democratic donor paid him $250 and injected him with meth after 'fetish' sex sessions in white long johns - as police probe TWO black men's deaths

WARNING: SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONTENT

Jermaine Gagnon, 28, told DailyMailTV how he narrowly escaped death when Edward Buck injected him with crystal meth at his sex-toy filled apartment

Gagnon said Buck, 63, paid to fly him from Minnesota to Los Angeles, drugged him with a substance dissolved in Gatorade then injected him with crystal meth

The 28-year-old shared photos of Buck, wearing white long johns, crouched over him on a mattress during one of their nights together last year

Gagnon shared images of sex toys Buck had for their encounter, saying: 'He had this red and black toolbox with all types of fetish toys, like c**k rings, sex toys'

He added: 'He gave me some Tommy Hilfiger tighty whities, a muscle t-shirt and some long johns. White knee-high socks'

Gagnon said during one encounter Buck offered him a drink he suspected had been spiked, feeling woozy and weak shortly after drinking it

He said: 'He took my phone. I was so scared. I felt death walked into my soul. I called my mother. I said, 'I feel like he's going to kill me, I think I'm going to die'

Buck is now under investigation over the deaths of two black men, including one man who died of an apparent overdose at his apartment on Monday

More backdoor shenanigans details in link:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6573905/I-thought-going-person-die-Ed-Bucks-house-Man-reveals-Democratic-donor-injected-meth-GHB.html

House Republicans Introduce Bill To Pay Employees Who Work During Shutdown

House Republicans introduced a bill Wednesday that offers to pay federal employees who work during the government shutdown.

As the government is in its 19th day of a partial shutdown, five Republican lawmakers, Ohio Rep. Bob Gibbs, North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, Indiana Rep. Susan Brooks, Colorado Rep. Scott Tipton and Virginia Rep. Morgan Griffith, introduced legislation that would require federal workers be paid during the partial shutdown.

“While Democrats continue to play politics with border security, federal employees dedicated to their mission of keeping America safe and our border secure are still going to work knowing they will be missing their paychecks,” Gibbs said in a Wednesday statement.

Gibbs blasted Democrats for the shutdown in the statement, saying they are the reason federal workers are not being paid:

They should not be caught in the middle of political ploys by politicians who are not serious about securing our border. If they are working to protect America and the lives of our citizens, they should be getting their paychecks on time. We shouldn’t be forcing these men and women to shoulder the burden of Democrats’ unwillingness to work with President Trump and Congressional Republicans to solve the humanitarian and security crisis on our Southern Border.

President Donald Trump was on Capitol Hill Wednesday meeting with Republican senators to discuss the shutdown and border wall funding. After the meeting, he said Republicans were “unified.”

Trump also warned Democrats that he may declare a national emergency if they can not come to an agreement soon.

https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/09/house-republicans-shutdown-pay-bill/

KEK

Democrat Mouthpiece Ocasio-Cortez Says Trump Wants Steel Wall Because of the Ku Klux Klan — A Branch of the Democrat Party

The Ku Klux Klan was founded as the activist wing of the Democratic Party.

On September 28, 1868, a mob of Democrats massacred nearly 300 African-American Republicans in Opelousas, Louisiana. The savagery began when racist Democrats attacked a newspaper editor, a white Republican and schoolteacher for ex-slaves. Several African-Americans rushed to the assistance of their friend, and in response, Democrats went on a “Negro hunt,” killing every African-American (all of whom were Republicans) in the area they could find. (Via Grand Old Partisan)

Democrats in hoods slaughtered hundreds of Republicans and blacks across the country.

They beat and threatened and murdered Republicans for standing with the black man.

On April 20, 1871 the Republicans passed the anti-Ku Klux Klan Act outlawing Democratic terrorist groups.

On Thursday Democrat mouthpiece Alexandria Ocasio Cortez — or “Sandy from Yorktown” — accused President Trump of wanting a border wall because of the Ku Klux Klan.

She needs to tell that to Israel and the other 65 nations with walls.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/01/here-we-go-democrat-mouthpiece-says-trump-wants-a-wall-because-of-the-ku-klux-klan-a-branch-of-the-democrat-party/

>>4685873

At the border?

>>4685879

Your a shit baker

So much missed! Will post later when a real baker has the dough

‘More truth’? Second cache of 9/11 docs released by Dark Overlord hackers

The Dark Overlord hacker group has released decryption keys for a second batch of 9/11 documents, totalling over 7,500 files. Additional document leaks containing “more secrets” and “more truth” have been promised, for a price.

The first batch of the supposed 18,000 documents was made available by the hackers at the weekend, along with a decryption key for ‘layer 1’ of the dump. The documents are believed to have been stolen from insurance companies, law firms and government agencies, and the hackers originally demanded an unspecified bitcoin ransom to keep them unreleased.

After apparently failing to secure the ransom, the group then took bitcoin donations from the public, releasing ‘layer 1’ after collecting $12,000 – but then also releasing ‘layer 2’ on Wednesday despite not meeting its funding target.

So far, no ‘smoking gun’ has emerged detailing conspiracy or government involvement in the terrorist attacks.

nstead, the documents build up a picture of insurance litigators brainstorming to see who they could sue for damages in the wake of the attacks. In emails, the lawyers discuss targeting the airlines, airplane manufacturers, the Federal Aviation Authority, the terrorists themselves, and foreign entities.

Talking strategy, the lawyers mull taking action against Boeing for not fitting the 757 and 767 aircraft used in the attacks with automatic transponders, which could have alerted authorities sooner that something was amiss, a case that the lawyers admit in the documents was flimsy. The lawyers also discuss dropping a case against the FAA, for fear of rankling the government.

Along the way, the litigators discuss whether then-President George W. Bush had advance knowledge of the attacks, or whether the Saudi Royal family was responsible, but this discussion is speculative and no damning new information is revealed.

While the encryption key for the first batch of documents has been scrubbed from Reddit, Pastebin and Twitter, it remained available for several days on Steemit. Dark Overlord’s account was banned from the platform on Wednesday, however, but the documents can be accessed on Busy.org, a website that runs on the same blockchain as Steemit.

https://www.rt.com/usa/448416-hackers-leak-more-911-docs/

>>4685966