MARITIME & MILITARY

........Removing IEDs In Palmyra.

........in Syria released pictures of air defense systems of the Syrian military.

Pro-Syrian government paramilitary groups captured around 500 Kurdish civilians from Afrin in the town of Mayer on the Aleppo-Afrin road, local sources reported on Monday. Bus drivers in Afrin told ARA News that the ‘Syrian government security forces’ stopped 50 buses full with passengers from Afrin. “500 passengers were detained, with only one has been released, while others were transferred to the town of al-Zahra,” an eyewitness said, speaking to ARA News on condition of anonymity. Until now the fate of the citizens is unknown. A source from Afrin told ARA News that most likely Shia paramilitary groups kidnapped the Kurdish civilians. “They are pro-regime militias from Nubul and al-Zahra, they are Shias. These two villages are allied to Iran,” the source said. “This happens every once in a while.” However, the local source said “this doesn’t mean that the Syrian government is against the Kurds.” “The regime is also upset with the ac...

March 16, 2017 Following the September 19, 2014 White House fence jumping incident, the Secretary of Homeland Security established the Protective Mission Panel (PMP) to undertake a broad independent review of the Secret Service’s protection for the White House Complex (WHC). In addition to recommendations made in an unclassified report, the PMP made a number of recommendations in its December 2014 classified report. As directed by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, we reviewed the Secret Service’s actions to address the PMP’s classified recommendations. The PMP’s classified recommendations primarily relate to security gaps and vulnerabilities at the WHC. We reviewed changes made by the Secret Service to equipment, technology, and operations in response to these recommendations. The Secret Service has taken action to address the PMP’s classified recommendations by using funding appropriated for PMP i...

A still image taken from a video uploaded on social media on March 22, 2017, purports to show Tahrir al-Sham rebel fighters getting into a pick-up truck, said to be in Soran district, near Hama, Syria. Social Media Website via Reuters TV Syrian rebels advanced to within a few kilometers of the government-held city of Hama on Wednesday in a major assault in the western region of Syria critically important to President Bashar al-Assad, a war monitor reported. The offensive, spearheaded by Islamist militants, was launched on Tuesday after an attack in the capital Damascus, where heavy fighting persists, showing the lingering threat posed by rebels even as Assad enjoys the military upper hand. The Hama offensive also includes Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels who had agreed to a truce in December brokered by Russia and Turkey, underlining the bleak prospects for U.N.-backed peace talks that are due to reconvene in Geneva on Thursday. The Syrian Observatory for Human R...

Man Sees Soldiers Eating On The Floor At Airport, Spends $20k To Buy Them Dinner.  A California businessman on layover at Ireland’s international airport thought things looked “lopsided” when he saw a group of 400 U.S. troops sitting on the floor eating out of paper bags, while civilians dined at fancy bistros. Read the full of the story, http://uspoln.com/2017/03/14/man-sees-soldiers-eating-floor-airport-spends-20k-buy-dinner/

Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) has been coordinating with military forces from eastern Libya and has "no reason to believe" it will not regain control of the Es Sider and Ras Lanuf oil ports, NOC's chairman said. The loss and recapture of the ports this month by the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) had raised doubts over its willingness to let the Tripoli-based NOC manage the ports. Revenue from the sites is controlled by a central bank and U.N.-backed government in the capital which pro-LNA factions oppose. Eastern officials accuse rivals in Tripoli and the western city of Misrata of supporting a March 3 attack on the ports by a faction known as the Benghazi Defense Brigades (BDB). An oil guard commander appointed by the U.N.-backed government was deployed to secure them. After they were retaken, the head of a Benghazi NOC office appointed by Libya's eastern government, Naji al-Maghrabi, said he was pulling out of an N...

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Image Credit: REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco Η περίφημη ισλαμική διακήρυξη η οποία δημοσιεύθηκε το 1980 και επανακυκλοφόρησε με ιδιαίτερη σπουδή το 1990, παραμονές του Γιουγκοσλαβικού εμφυλίου πολέμου, θα πρέπει να αποτελεί για την ελληνική στρατιωτική και πολιτική σκέψη τον πυλώνα πάνω στον οποίον πρέπει να εδραιωθεί και αναπτυχθεί αυτή. Ανατρέχοντας στο σχετικό κείμενο, αποσπασματικά, διαβάζουμε. 1.An Islamic society without an Islamic authority is incomplete and without power 2. The position of Muslim minorities in non-Islamic communities will always in reality depend on the strength of the international Islamic community Αυτά τα σημεία της Ισλαμικής Διακήρυξης πυροδότησαν την μετάβαση εθελοντών μουσουλμάνων στον Γιουγκοσλαβικό εμφύλιο, ταυτόχρονα δε, είναι σημεία τα οποία τροφοδοτούν τον συριακό εμφύλιο με έμψυχο υλικό αφού η διαμάχη ανάμεσα στην ισλαμική διαφορετικότητα, Σουνίτες-Σιίτες-Σούφι,έχει τροφοδοτήσει και τροφοδοτεί ένοπλες αντιπαραθέσε...

  Join us at the  leading virtual conference event for the information security industry  featuring an  extensive education program ,  high caliber speakers, engaging video content, resource center and communication portal  where speakers, exhibitors and colleagues can meet and network. Source,   https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/virtual-conferences/imvc-spring-2017-na/

      Four Lynx Mk8 flew across Southern England on 17th March 2017 to bid a fond farewell as she bows out of service on 31 March 2017 Thousands of people across Southern England waved goodbye to the last Navy Lynx from 815 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton when the helicopters conducted a five-hour farewell flypast. After 41 years’ service in different models and variants – and paint schemes – and a combined 490,000 miles the helicopter which has been mainstay of Royal Navy destroyer and frigate operations around the globe retires. The fliers of 815 NAS at Yeovilton, the Lynx home for most of its Fleet Air Arm career, are performed a ‘farewell tour’ of sites in the UK most associated with their. I will be truly sad to say goodbye to a trusted aircraft that has become part of me.   Commander Phil Richardson RN   Lieutenant (Lt) George Thompson RN is a Lynx Pilot flew in the Flypast today said as he l...

  Vietnam is looking at ways to boost their offensive capabilities in order to counterbalance China's South China Sea military buildup, and Israel could have just what they need at a very attractive price. Vietnam is considering a purchase of advanced weapon systems from Israel, with the nation’s air force eyeing an advanced version of the Israel Military Industries (IMI) Delilah standoff-range air-to-surface missile. The system was included in recent discussions between Vietnamese president Tran Dai Quang and IMI chairman Yitzhak Aharonovitch in Hanoi. Israel has become a significant partner to Vietnam in defence activities.  First used in combat by Israeli Lockheed Martin F-16s over Lebanon in 2006, the Delilah has a range of 135nm (250km) and can carry a variety of warheads. IMI has been upgrading the weapon’s capabilities, based on the operational experience of its domestic customer. The missile is 2.7m (8.8ft) long and weighs 187kg...

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 KANDAHAR, Afghanistan An Afghan soldier opened fire Sunday inside a base in the southern Helmand province, wounding three U.S. soldiers before being shot dead. Navy Cpt. Bill Salvin, a U.S. military spokesman, said coalition forces had killed the soldier “to end the attack,” but Col. Mohammad Rasoul Zazai, an Afghan army spokesman, said the soldier had made a “mistake” and had not fired deliberately. Several U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan in recent years in so-called insider attacks carried out by Afghan police or soldiers. In October, an Afghan man in a military uniform shot dead a U.S. soldier and an American civilian contractor inside a military base in Kabul before being killed. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, Taliban insurgents attacked a district headquarters in the Kandahar province using a suicide car bomb, said Samim Khpolwak, a spokesman for the governor. He declined to say how many people were killed or wounded. A security official, who sp...

Nice story from  Sebastien A. Roblin. Have a nice day!

  Early in the morning on Mar. 17, the Israeli Air Force carried out an air strike near Damascus, in Syria. The Israeli jets hit Mezzeh Military Airport, an airbase located south-west of the old centre of Damascus, where a local ammunition depot and a few other military installation were reportedly hit with a surgical strike. Just a few ago, citing French intelligence sources, Le Figaro’s journalist Georges Malbrunot, said the brand new Israeli F-35 , had already had their combat debut over Syria on the night of Jan. 12-13 (only one month after being delivered!) targeting a Pantis-S1 mobile SAM system warehouse located at Mezzeh. Although the IAF has often been quick to put new assets into action, the (obviously unconfirmed nor denied) F-35’s participation in both the January and today’s raids seems to be pretty unlikely. The Syrian military said a total of four IAF jets breached the Syrian airspace: one aircraft was shot down whereas another one was damaged....

  According to Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, without securing the Seas and Oceans, the continental ‘blue economy,’ would be jeopardised.            After signing for Nigeria, Prof. Osinbajo, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the well-attended summit noted that “the blue economy is one of the major areas of focus of the charter,” adding that without security, the blue economy-reference for the huge economic activities and benefits derivable from around the waters is jeopardized especially by such maritime crimes like piracy and smuggling.          Ahead of the Coastal & Maritime Surveillance event in Ghana (March, 2017), you can read up on the latest inventories and requirements among African nations for Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA), as this market continues to see promising investment... source, http://www.defenceiq.com

Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 13 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1), Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament(2), Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(3), Having regard to the Opinion of the Committee of the Regions(4), Whereas: (1) In accordance with Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union, the European Union is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law, principles which are common to all Member States and it respects fundamental rights, as guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and as they result from the constitutional traditions comm...

“The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Registry’s office in Piraeus is the second largest of the RMI Registry’s 27 worldwide offices,” said Theo Xenakoudis, Director, Worldwide Business Operations and Managing Director of the Piraeus office. “Prior to registration, we vet the owner, operator and vessel before acceptance in the RMI Registry and during the vessel’s time in the Registry we continue to conduct risk assessments and work with our owners and operators to ensure their vessels meet the Registry’s quality standards,” continued Mr. Xenakoudis. “This process along with our service oriented philosophy has ensured the RMI Registry has maintained its excellent reputation and as such has attracted quality owners, including the Greek owners to the RMI flag,” he said. “We are delighted that our Greek owners and operators continue to hold the RMI Registry in such high regard which has been reflected in the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee’s March 20...

A Dutch journalist of Turkish origin has faced a systematic campaign of threats including death from what appears to be fans of Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan against the background of a recent row between Turkey and the Netherlands, the Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) reported. Hakan Büyük, a 29-year-old journalist, quickly became a target when he recalled mass rights violations taking place in Turkey that have resulted in the jailing of some 50,000 people in the last seven months as part of a Turkish government crackdown on the Kurdish political movement and the Gülen movement. Some of the chilling messages he received on Twitter included threats such as “You’ll be murdered,” “We’ll shoot you in the head” and “One day we’ll get you and draw blood.”  Büyük, an editor at the Zaman Vandaag newspaper, was trying to expose hypocrisy on the part of the Turkish government that decried the barring of Turkish ministers by the Netherlands governm...

The captain of a Coast Guard helicopter that crashed into the Atlantic during a rescue mission was a brave hero, an adoring mother and a champion of the underdog, her funeral Mass has heard. Mother-of-one Dara Fitzpatrick, 45, was among the four crew members of a Sikorsky S92 that disappeared without warning off Co Mayo, in the west of Ireland, on Tuesday. Fr Andrew O’ Sullivan told a packed St Patrick’s Church, Glencullen, in the Dublin mountains, that few funerals were “as profoundly sad and sorrowful” as Ms Fitzpatrick’s. “We could scarcely believe it then, we can scarcely believe it now,” he said. “We have lost a talented young woman, who along with her colleagues lived good and generous lives and did so much in helping others in their time of need.” He added: “How these extraordinary people put their own lives at risk in order to save others - what bravery. And they truly are heroes. source, www.scotsman.com

  Basque militant separatist group ETA will announce plans to disarm on Friday, France's Le Monde newspaper reported, saying a full handover of weapons was scheduled for April 8. The Basque government said regional leader Inigo Urkullu was due to comment on the news at 2 p.m. (1300 GMT). Spain's Interior Ministry declined to comment. "ETA has handed us responsibility for the disarmament of its arsenal and, as of the evening of April 8, ETA will have completely handed over its weapons," Txetx Etcheverry, an activist with environmental campaign group Bizi, was quoted as saying in Le Monde. Bizi is a pro-Basque independence association. ETA, which has killed more than 800 people over several decades through bombings and assassinations, called a unilateral ceasefire in 2011 and has pledged to turn in its weapons, though a full handover has not yet happened. The group has been severely weakened in recent years after hundreds of its member...

The humanitarian disarmament community lost a legend last week. Bob Mtonga, a medical doctor and long-time activist, died in his native Zambia shortly after returning from one of countless international trips to promote the protection of civilians in armed conflict.  He was just 51. Bob Mtonga celebrates the ratification of the Arms Trade Treaty by 50 countries in 2014. Bob was a much-loved leader in the field of humanitarian disarmament, which seeks to end civilian suffering caused by indiscriminate and inhumane weapons. He campaigned for strong international law on nuclear weapons, and landmines, and cluster munitions, and the arms trade. He served on the leadership committees of several civil society coalitions and had been co-president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). In less than two weeks, the UN General Assembly will begin negotiating a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. This coming September marks the 20th anniv...