Category: Turkey

Israel is On Fire – Firefighters battle fires across Israel

As firefighters are battling the flames in Haifa, many other teams of firefighters were rushed to additional fires in Israel. The Israel Fire and Rescue Services has gained control over the blaze near Savyon while other forces are working to extinguish the fires near Rishon LeZion and in northern Israel.

According to Jerusalem Online, this afternoon, firefighting forces were called to a bushfire that started in a valley near Sha’ar HaGai. Fearing that the fire would reach a nearby gas station, a firefighting plane was brought in. As of now, Highway 1 is still open.

Another fire broke out near Kibbutz Ein HaShofet and another near the Rishonim Interchange. Due to a fire near Nirit, Israel Electricity Corporation was forced to cut off the electricity to the settlement. So far, three houses and two warehouses have been damaged due to this fire and a firefighting plane was called to assist the firefighters in Nirit as well.

Meanwhile, there has been a report of another fire close to a gas station near the Savyon Junction. Israel Police and firefighting forces arrived at the scene and managed to quickly contain the blaze.

In northern Israel, firefighters are battling fires in Midrakh Oz, where more than 10 units have been called to the town, and near Eshhar, 6 firefighting units are battling the flames that are threatening the settlement. Simultaneously, firefighters are trying to extinguish blazes near Lotem, Avtalion, Segev Forest, Beit Keshet, Kfar HaHoresh and HaZore’a Forest.

November 24, 2016
Add your name: Hand recount or audit in key states

From: Justin Krebs, MoveOn.org Political Action [mailto:moveon-help@list.moveon.org]
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2016 1:28 PM

Subject: Add your name: Hand recount or audit in key states

When we hold an election in this country, every vote should be counted fairly and transparently. That’s an essential principle of our democracy.

Dear MoveOn member,

When we hold an election in this country, every vote should be counted fairly and transparently. That’s an essential principle of our democracy.

Here’s what we know about the elections held two weeks ago: Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump in the popular vote by more than 2 million votes1—but the results in a few key states mean that the outcomes of the electoral vote are likely to come down to as few as 100,000 votes. That’s why Americans deserve to be fully confident that all votes in this election are counted fairly before the Electoral College meets in mid-December.

There is an opportunity right now to give us greater confidence in our elections, both this year and in the future—by asking for an audit or hand recount in close states including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Will you sign our petition asking for an audit or recount in key states?

Ask for an audit or hand recount in key states so the American public has confidence in the election results.

Sign the petition

Leading computer scientists and election security experts have urgently called on election officials to transparently verify the results that have been reported by auditing the paper ballots—the actual votes cast—in key states and precincts where only computer results have been tallied.2

To be clear: the electoral results are not likely to change. However, experts are saying we shouldn’t place all of our trust on a computer alone when the actual votes are in front of us.3

If you believe that our democracy shouldn’t rely on computer tallies alone, then sign our petition and ask for an audit or hand recount in key states.

Researchers have repeatedly exposed critical vulnerabilities in electronic voting machines, and in a year like this when the result was close and unexpected and where election hacking repeatedly made the news, we owe it to our democracy to make sure everyone can be as confident as possible in the outcome.4

This is worth repeating: Americans deserve to be confident that all votes in this election are counted fairly. Fortunately, we don’t have to trust a computer to know the true results of this election. In most counties in key states, there’s also a verifiable paper trail of votes cast. We can all be confident in the results of the election by just double checking the votes as they were cast.5

That’s why we are calling on the 2016 presidential candidates and election officials to ask for an audit or hand recount in key states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

—Justin K., Anna, Alex, Vicki, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. “Clinton’s popular vote lead surpasses 2 million,” USA Today, November 23, 2016

2. “Want to Know if the Election was Hacked? Look at the Ballots,” Medium, November 23, 2016

3. Ibid.

4. “How to Hack an Election in 7 Minutes,” Politico Magazine, August 5, 2016

5. “Want to Know if the Election was Hacked? Look at the Ballots,” Medium, November 23, 2016

You’re receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you. It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump’s agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation’s pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?

Yes, I’ll chip $5 a month.

No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.

November 24, 2016

China’s debt crisis, Iran’s nuclear deal and more. stratfor

What you need to know today!

November 23, 2016

China’s Economy: Living on Borrowed Time

A looming debt crisis could make for a difficult year ahead for Chinese leaders. Sluggish construction growth and skyrocketing debt, coupled with sharp reductions in debt maturity periods, could cause corporate defaults and bankruptcies to spike next year. Although 2016 has brought stronger-than-expected growth to China’s property sector, it has largely been concentrated in the country’s wealthiest cities and has come at the expense of creating more available credit.

POLITICS

U.S. Foreign Policy Implications of a Trump Presidency

Two of Stratfor’s lead analysts, Vice President of Global Analysis Reva Goujon and Vice President of Strategic Analysis Rodger Baker, sit down to discuss what a Trump presidency could mean for U.S. foreign policy.

Listen for free here.

MILITARY

Conversation: Trump and the Iranian Nuclear Deal

Stratfor Middle East Analyst Emily Hawthorne and Energy Analyst Matthew Bey discuss the constraints facing U.S. President-elect Trump in renegotiating the nuclear deal with Iran.

Watch this video for free here.

CRISIS WATCH

Hopes of a Cease-Fire Are Quickly Dashed

Though Yemen has always suffered from instability, its recent history has been especially violent. The Hadi’s government has rejected talks with Houthi representatives over a peace deal.

ECONOMY

Cashing in on India’s Black Economy

Modi decides the chance to reclaim tax revenues with a bold banknote swap is worth the political and economic risks.

November 23, 2016

Turkish President Erdogan: Europe is siding with terrorist organisations

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during the NATO Parliamentary Assembly 62nd Annual Session in Istanbul, Turkey, November 21, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Reuters

Erdogan says EU lawmakers’ vote on Turkish membership ‘has no value’

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that a vote by the European Parliament on whether to halt EU membership talks with Ankara “has no value in our eyes” and again accused Europe of siding with terrorist organisations.

“We have made clear time and time again that we take care of European values more than many EU countries, but we could not see concrete support from Western friends … None of the promises were kept,” he told an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) conference in Istanbul.

“There will be a meeting at the European Parliament tomorrow, and they will vote on EU talks with Turkey … whatever the result, this vote has no value in our eyes.”

Leading members of the European Parliament on Tuesday called for a halt to membership talks with Turkey because of its post-coup purges, in which more than 125,000 state employees have been dismissed or detained.

November 23, 2016
Trump says he wants Nigel Farage to become British ambassador

Donald Trump and Nigel Farage have continued their bromance, with the President-elect calling for the Ukip leader to become the British Ambassador.

‘Many people would like to see Nigel Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the United States,’ he tweeted. ‘He would do a great job!’

The new world order? (Picture: Twitter/Nigel Farage)

As British ambassador, Farage would be the most senior UK diplomat in Washington.

Number 10 were not as enthusiastic, saying: ‘There is no vacancy.’

Naturally, Farage was pleased with the suggestion and the publicity, after he made headlines last week as the first politician to meet Donald Trump after the American election.

He said he was ‘flattered’ – but didn’t think he was the ambassadorial type.

However, he said he would ‘love to help’ deal with Team Trump.

He said Theresa May’s reluctance to use him as a go-between was ‘nonsense’ and she should put ‘petty personal differences’ aside.

Farage previously helped Trump campaign in Mississippi, where he was described as ‘the man behind Brexit’.

And Trump predicted the US election would be ‘Brexit plus plus plus’.

The current ambassador, Sir Kim Dorroch sent a memo back to Downing Street that UK diplomats were ‘well placed’ to deal with the changing political landscape.

But Farage said it was ‘obvious’ that Sir Kim, who took over in January, should resign as he was part of the ‘old regime’.

‘His world view, and the world view of the Trump team are going to be diametrically opposed and I would have thought it would be sensible to put someone there who was likely to get on with Team Trump,’ he told Sky News.

‘I don’t think I will be the ambassadorial type. Whatever talents or flaws I have got I don’t think diplomacy is at the top of my list of skills.’

A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘There is no vacancy. We have an excellent ambassador to the US.’

November 23, 2016
Fed up with EU, Erdogan says Turkey could join Shanghai bloc

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, November 16, 2016. Kayhan Ozer/Presidential Palace/Handout via REUTERS

Reuters –

President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted on Sunday as saying that Turkey did not need to join the European Union “at all costs” and could instead become part of a security bloc dominated by China, Russia and Central Asian nations.

NATO member Turkey’s prospects of joining the EU look more remote than ever after 11 years of negotiations. European leaders have been critical of its record on democratic freedoms, while Ankara has grown increasingly exasperated by what it sees as Western condescension.

“Turkey must feel at ease. It mustn’t say ‘for me it’s the European Union at all costs’. That’s my view,” Erdogan was quoted by the Hurriyet newspaper as telling reporters on his plane on the way back from a visit to Pakistan and Uzbekistan.

“Why shouldn’t Turkey be in the Shanghai Five? I said this to (Russian President) Mr Putin, to (Kazakh President) Nazarbayev, to those who are in the Shanghai Five now,” he said.

“I hope that if there is a positive development there, I think if Turkey were to join the Shanghai Five, it will enable it to act with much greater ease.”

China, Russia and four Central Asian nations — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — formed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2001 as a regional security bloc to fight threats posed by radical Islam and drug trafficking from neighboring Afghanistan.

Turkish membership of the SCO, which had initially not included Uzbekistan and been known as the Shanghai Five, would be likely to alarm Western allies and fellow NATO members.

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan speak Turkic languages, and Ankara signed up in 2013 as a “dialogue partner” saying it shared “the same destiny” as members of the bloc.

Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan are SCO observers, while Belarus, like Turkey, is a dialogue partner.

Dialogue partners are entitled to take part in ministerial-level and some other meetings of the SCO, but do not have voting rights.

Erdogan last week urged Turks to be patient until the end of the year over relations with Europe and said a referendum could be held on EU membership in 2017.

The EU is treading a fine line in relations with Turkey: it needs Ankara’s continued help in curbing a huge flow of migrants, especially from Syria, but is alarmed by Turkey’s crackdown on opponents since a failed coup attempt in July.

More than 110,000 people have been sacked or suspended since the abortive putsch, and some 36,000 arrested. Media outlets have also been shut down.

The government says the crackdown is justified by the gravity of the threat to the state from the events of July 15, in which more than 240 people were killed.

November 21, 2016