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TerraN_EmpirE said:

One of the pictures Caught my eye.
Check and Compare the Grenade launcher in the hands of the guy in the second row

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State Dept. says Egypt cleared for U.S. military aid
Apr. 23, 2014 - 08:28PM |
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By Bradley Klapper
The Associated Press
FILED UNDER
News
World News
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Tuesday it has certified that Egypt is upholding its 35-year-old peace treaty with Israel and therefore qualifies for some military and counterterrorism assistance.

A congressional aide said the decision clears the way for the release of Apache helicopters to Egypt, which the United States has held up since July when the Egyptian military overthrew President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood-led government.

“Today, Secretary (of State John) Kerry spoke with Egyptian Foreign Minister (Nabil) Fahmy to inform him that he is certifying to Congress that Egypt is sustaining the strategic relationship with the United States, including by countering transnational threats such as terrorism and weapons proliferation, and that Egypt is upholding its obligations under the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in an emailed statement.

Beyond the Apaches, the move allows the U.S. also to release some of its annual $1.3 billion military assistance package to Egypt, specifically those parts dealing with security in the Sinai Peninsula and counterterrorism efforts.

Kerry was to meet Egypt’s intelligence chief in Washington on Wednesday.

The aide wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about the decision and demanded anonymity.

The notification deals specifically with Egypt’s adherence to the Camp David Accords and not its progression toward democratic rule.

Psaki said Kerry “noted that he is not yet able to certify that Egypt is taking steps to support a democratic transition. He urged Egypt to follow through on its commitment to transition to democracy, including by conducting free, fair and transparent elections, and easing restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and the media.”

The administration notified Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees foreign aid. Leahy has written legislative language restricting military aid to Egypt. He has argued that U.S. law is clear: When a military coup occurs, U.S. aid should be cut off.

Sending a full certification to Congress for the resumption of Egypt aid would signal U.S. approval for Egypt’s path toward a return to democracy.

Once Kerry issues that certification, the U.S. can resume other military and civilian assistance programs.

Associated Press writer Donna Cassata contributed to this report.

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Israel suspends peace talks after Palestinian unity bid
Photo
4:50pm EDT
By Jeffrey Heller
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel on Thursday suspended U.S.-sponsored peace talks with the Palestinians in response to President Mahmoud Abbas's unexpected unity pact with the rival Islamist Hamas group.
The negotiations had appeared to be heading nowhere even before Wednesday's reconciliation agreement between the Palestinian groups plunged them deeper into crisis. The United States had been struggling to extend the talks beyond an original April 29 deadline for a peace accord.
"The government of Israel will not hold negotiations with a Palestinian government that is backed by Hamas, a terror organization that calls for Israel's destruction," an official statement said after a six-hour meeting of the security cabinet.
Asked to clarify whether that meant the talks were now frozen or would be called off only after a unity government was formed, a senior Israeli official said: "They are currently suspended."
In Washington, a U.S. official said the United States would have to reconsider its assistance to Abbas's aid-dependent Palestinian Authority if the Western-backed leader and Hamas formed a government.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by telephone with Abbas on Thursday and expressed his disappointment at the reconciliation announcement.
Kerry stressed that any Palestinian government must abide by the principles of nonviolence, recognition of the state of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Kerry, who has shuttled repeatedly to the Middle East to push peace efforts, said he was not giving up hope.
"There's always a way forward, but the leaders have to make the compromises necessary to do that," he told reporters.
"We will never give up our hope or our commitment for the possibilities of peace. We believe it is the only way to go. But right now, obviously, it's at a very difficult point and the leaders themselves have to make decisions. It's up to them."
U.N. Middle East envoy Robert Serry offered support for the Palestinian agreement after meeting Abbas on Thursday, saying in a statement it was "the only way to reunite the West Bank and Gaza under one legitimate Palestinian Authority".
The deal envisions a unity government within five weeks and elections six months later. Palestinian divisions widened after Hamas, which won the last general ballot in 2006, seized the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Abbas in 2007.
'DOOR WAS NOT CLOSED'
In an interview with MSNBC after the security cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to leave open a window for future talks if Abbas reversed course or reconciliation with Hamas, seen by the West as a terrorist group, fell through.
"I hope (Abbas) changes his mind," Netanyahu said. "I will be there in the future if we have a partner that is committed to peace. Right now we have a partner that has just joined another partner committed to our destruction. No-go."
Israeli chief negotiator Tzipi Livni said she hoped a way could be found to return to talks. "The door was not closed today," she told Israel's Channel 2 television.
Wasel Abu Yousef, a top Palestine Liberation Organization official, rejected what he called "Israeli and American threats" and said a unity government would be made up of technocrats.
But Netanyahu dismissed any notion that Hamas would not be the real power behind the bureaucrats.
The Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, championed by Kerry and aimed at ending decades of conflict and creating a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, began in July amid strong public skepticism in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The two sides were also at odds over Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, activity most countries deem illegal in areas captured in the 1967 Middle East war, and over Abbas's refusal to accept Netanyahu's demand he recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
For Netanyahu, Abbas's approach to Hamas offered an opportunity to withdraw from the negotiations with a reduced risk of a rift with the United States, Israel's main ally, which also refuses to deal with the Islamist militant group.
A suspension of the talks, while casting blame on the Palestinian reconciliation venture, is also likely to calm far-right allies in Netanyahu's governing coalition who oppose the creation of a Palestinian state and territorial compromise.
For Abbas, whose official mandate as president expired five years ago, an alliance with Hamas leading to a new election potentially strengthening his political legitimacy could outweigh the prospect of any international backlash.
Palestinians have also been angered by Israel's announcement during the negotiations of thousands of new settler housing units and what they say was its failure to tackle substantive issues such as the borders of a future state.
SANCTIONS
The next immediate steps stemming from the collapse of the talks seemed likely to be Israeli sanctions against the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank.
"The sanctions will be measured. We will not cause the Palestinian Authority to collapse," Livni said on television.
Palestinian leaders have already made clear they would seek to further their bid for nationhood via unilateral moves to join various international bodies and United Nations agencies.
The biggest threat for Israel could come in the shape of the International Criminal Court, with the Palestinians confident they could prosecute Israel there for alleged war crimes tied to the occupation of lands seized in 1967.
"Israel will respond to unilateral Palestinian action with a series of measures," said the Israeli statement issued after the security cabinet meeting, without going into detail.
The talks had moved close to a breakdown this month when Israel refused to carry out the last of four waves of prisoner releases, demanding that Palestinians first commit to negotiating after the April deadline.
Abbas responded by signing 15 international treaties, including the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war and occupations. Israel condemned the move as a unilateral step towards statehood.
Asked whether the reconciliation with Hamas would incur promised U.S. sanctions, PLO Deputy Secretary Yasser Abed Rabo told Palestinian radio it was too soon to penalize a government that had yet to be formed.
"There's no need for the Americans to get ahead of themselves over this. What happened in Gaza in the last two days is just a first step which we welcome and want to reinforce," he said.
"But this step shouldn't be exaggerated, that an agreement for reconciliation has been completely reached... We need to watch the behavior of Hamas on many details during the coming days and weeks on forming a government and other things."
(Additional reporting by Allyn Fisher-Ilan and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem, Ali Sawafta and Noah Browning in Ramallah and Washington's Matt Spetalnick, Mark Felsenthal, Arshad Mohammed and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Mohammad Zargham)

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Egypt's army says has 'complete control' over Sinai Peninsula
11:49am EDT
CAIRO (Reuters) - The Egyptian military said on Thursday it had gained "complete control over the situation" in the Sinai Peninsula, where Islamist insurgents have been carrying out attacks against security forces for several months.
Violence has spiraled in the Sinai since last July when the army toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, prompting militants who had previously focused on attacks against neighboring Israel to turn their attention to Egyptian police and military targets.
"There is obvious stability in Sinai despite rumors that there are still terrorist elements and tunnels in north Sinai," said Major General Mohamed al-Shahat, who heads Egyptian forces in the peninsula, in comments carried by state news agency MENA.
A recent Reuters investigation found that a few hundred militants - a mix of Egyptian Islamists, foreign fighters and disgruntled youth - are successfully playing a cat-and-mouse game with Egypt's army and are nowhere near defeat.
Days after the report was published, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has since resigned his post to run for president, removed the top military official in the Sinai and appointed Shahat to replace him.
Sisi, who ousted Mursi in July following protests against his rule, is widely expected to win presidential elections scheduled for May 26-27.
"One or two incidents will not rattle us...but I can say that we are tackling the issue with an iron fist," Shahat told reporters on the 32nd anniversary of the final Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai, which its forces invaded in 1956 after Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal.
The Israelis withdrew a few months later but invaded again in 1967 and occupied parts of Sinai until 1982.
Shahat said the army had destroyed more than 1,500 tunnels that ran under the frontier between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, which borders North Sinai, in an attempt to stop the illegal flow of arms.
He said the military had also undertaken 1,380 raids against suspected militant strongholds since September, resulting in the seizure of weapons and explosive materials and the arrests of "a large number of 'takfiri' elements", a label for hardline Sunni Islamists.
The Sinai is a largely lawless 61,000 sq km (24,000 sq mile) area wedged between the Suez Canal to the west and Israel and Gaza to the east.
Militant attacks in Sinai, Cairo and other cities since July have killed around 500 people, mostly policemen and soldiers, according to the government.
(Reporting by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

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Iranians face midnight fuel price surge as subsidies cut
1:17pm EDT
By Michelle Moghtader
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranians have rushed to gas stations to fill their cars before a price surge expected at midnight on Thursday, as President Hassan Rouhani pushes ahead with a policy to cut fuel subsidies.
The new prices of subsidized petrol, diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) have not been announced, but the increases will test Rouhani's support among a population battered by soaring inflation that has been exacerbated by economic sanctions.
With memories of riots at the pumps when cheap fuel was rationed for the first time, in 2007, police are on the alert, but do not expect trouble, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said.
"We have been preparing for two months to implement these plans in provinces, cities and rural areas," state news agency IRNA quoted Rahmani Fazli as saying on Thursday
"Considering the planning, it is expected that the second phase of target subsidies will take place without any problems or displeasure from people."
Rouhani's predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, last cut subsidies for fuel, food and utilities in December 2010.
There were no riots, but the impact on inflation - which shot up from a record low of 8.8 percent in August 2010 to around 40 percent by the end of his term, exacerbated by tightened Western sanctions - was a major cause of public resentment.
Rouhani, who secured a surprise election win last June, has taken Iran into substantive talks with world powers on Iran's nuclear program, hoping to get Europe and the United States to lift their sanctions.
He has also made fighting inflation a priority, but the subsidy cut is likely to reverse some of his progress on that front. Inflation currently stands at 35 percent.
"(In 2007) there was chaos everywhere all across Tehran," remembers a 34 year engineer speaking by telephone from the capital. "I guess people learned that they can still live with higher prices," he added.
"It's nice to pay very little for gasoline, but I am willing to pay the right price for the sake of having a better economy in long term."
EXPECT MORE
"Of course I don't want prices to go up, but the reality is that the prices have to become real," said a 30-year-old communication specialist in Tehran.
"But I expect more services from the government in return, such as health and transportation."
Rouhani's first attempt at implementing subsidy reform was a disaster.
In February, his government partially replaced cash subsidies with food handouts. Images of people waiting hours for a few bags of groceries tarnished Rouhani's image as a competent manager and left him vulnerable to attacks from hardliners.
The criticism was so widespread Rouhani issued a public apology on state TV.
Currently, motorists with the right to subsidized gasoline receive 60 liters a month at the price of 4,000 rials ($0.16) a liter, or $0.61 a gallon, using the central bank's official exchange rate.
Above that, motorists pay 7,000 rials ($0.28) a liter for gasoline, or $1.02 a gallon.
($1 = 24797.0000 Iranian Rials)
(Additional reporting by Mehrdad Balali; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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Iran dismisses U.S. criticism of its election to U.N. NGO committee
3:37pm EDT
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran on Thursday rejected U.S. criticism of its election to the United Nations' committee on non-governmental organizations (NGOs), saying Washington's rebuke came from "baseless accusations" and violated the spirit of cooperation needed at the world body.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power on Wednesday said, "The unopposed candidacy of Iran, where authorities regularly detain human rights defenders, subjecting many to torture, abuse, and violations of due process, is a particularly troubling outcome."
Hamid Babaei, spokesman for Iran's U.N. mission in New York, vehemently rejected Power's remarks.
"Iran categorically rejects baseless accusations raised in the statement of (Power) regarding status of human rights and civil liberties in the Islamic Republic of Iran and find these assertions both unconstructive, obstructive and against the spirit of cooperation between sovereign member states," he said.
The harsh U.S. rebuke follows Washington's decision to deny entry to Tehran's proposed new U.N. ambassador Hamid Abutalebi over his suspected links to students who held U.S. embassy workers hostage for 444 days in 1979-1981, a move Iran has vowed to fight.
The committee Iran was elected to decides on which NGOs will be accredited at the United Nations. Conservative developing nations worked to block accreditation of an international gay-lesbian NGO several years ago, and the issue was taken to the General Assembly, which voted to accredit the group.
Babaei said Iran has a long track record of working effectively at the United Nations and nurtures a lively NGO community at home.
"Civil society and thousands of NGOs are actively pursuing their goals in different areas such as social, economic, environmental, political, women and human rights, etc in the Islamic Republic of Iran," his statement said.
"Against this backdrop, it is obvious that Iran's active presence in U.N. bodies will be helpful and serve the attainment of non-governmental organization objectives," the mission spokesman said.
UN Watch, a Geneva-based advocacy group that monitors the work of the United Nations, issued a statement on Thursday expressing outrage over Iran's election.
(Reporting By Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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Thales announces the delivery of the final standard for the maritime patrol aircraft to Turkey as part of the MELTEM II programme, for which Thales is the prime contractor. To this day, five of the six aircraft have been delivered to this standard, with the sixth set for delivery before the summer. This follows the three maritime surveillance aircraft which were sent to the Turkish coastguards last year.

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navyreco said:

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