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Frances Martel

Frances Martel

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Facebook/The Lions of Rojava

Report: ISIS Offers $150,000 for Capture of Foreigners Fighting Them

Reports from Kurdish fighters on the front lines in Iraq and Syria allege that the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) is offering anyone within lands the group has conquered $150,000 for the capture or killing of a foreign national fighting against ISIS, whether with the Kurdish Peshmerga or another anti-ISIS militia.

Reuters

Turkish President Sues Opposition Leader for Claiming Palace Boasts ‘Golden Toilet’

As Turkey nears its national election on June 7, the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has managed to spark a national conversation regarding the material out of which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s toilet is made. Erdogan has sued the party’s leader to the tune of 100,000 Turkish Lira for claiming that members of his incumbent party enjoy the luxury of golden toilets.

AFP Photo

Spain’s Communist Snipers Join ‘Proletarian’ Kurds in Iraq to Fight ISIS

A communist organization in Spain has been filtering Spanish citizens into Iraq and Syria to fight with the communist Kurdish PKK against the Islamic State. The fighters, most serving as snipers protecting Kurdish and Yazidi areas, assert that they have a responsibility as communists to “further the advancement of this region’s proletariat.”

AFP

Tanzania Warns Politicians: Witchcraft Using Albino Body Parts Will Not Win You Elections

Tanzania’s federal government has been forced to issue a warning to politicians competing in the October elections not to engage in witchcraft in an attempt to improve their odds of winning, reminding candidates that witchcraft was banned nationally in January and any attacks on people with albinism–whose bodies are used in good luck potions–will be prosecuted.

Phyllis author photo with credit

The Growing Cognitive War Against Israel: A Q&A With Dr. Phyllis Chesler

In her new book, Living History: On the Front Lines for Israel and the Jews 2003-2015, best-selling author, lecturer, columnist and retired psychotherapist Dr. Phyllis Chesler explores the growth of the anti-Israel campus movement and the alliance of leftist academic intellectuals with leaders of anti-Semitic Islamist movements in the East.

Twitter

Malaysia Airlines Lays Off 6,000, Announcing ‘Technical’ Bankruptcy

After announcing that the company was “technically bankrupt,” the new CEO of Malaysia Airlines has announced a major overhaul that will see the company cut 6,000 jobs and launch a publicity campaign aimed at getting customers to trust the airline once more following two of history’s greatest aviation disasters.

AP

As China Blames Foreign ‘Provocations’ for South China Sea Row, US Pledges to Fund Vietnam

The United States has offered Vietnam $18 million for the purchase of American patrol boats, to be used in self-defense against looming threats from China to Vietnamese and Philippine vessels that dare navigate into the South China Sea. China has both increased its belligerent activity in the disputed region and trumped up calls to condemn its neighbors for “provocative” behavior near the Spratly Islands.

The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images

Japan, Philippines Forge Closer Military Ties in Wake of Chinese Land Grab

Philippine President Benigno Aquino is set to land in Japan on Tuesday following initial negotiations for new weapons trade deals and closer military ties. Observers see the move as a preventative measure in the face of China’s expanded efforts in disputed South China Sea territory to build military facilities and artificial islands, violating international law.

AFP

Turkey Enters Yemeni Fray with ‘Humanitarian Aid’ After Condemning Iranian Intervention

The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that the nation had already begun sending “humanitarian aid” relief packages to refugees fleeing the war-torn nation of Yemen, and that it was preparing to continue sending food and medicine to the region. It marks the first Turkish presence in a war in which Iran and Saudi Arabia are both backing opposite sides of a civil war.

AP

Iraqi Government: US Airstrike Kills ISIS Governor of Mosul

While the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS) has made major inroads in the city of Ramadi and territories increasingly close to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, Kurdish forces backed by American airstrikes have reported major progress in the north of the country, with the Iraqi government reporting that an American airstrike has killed the ISIS governor of Mosul.

Reuters

Nigeria Fires 200 Soldiers for ‘Cowardice’ in Face of Boko Haram Attacks

Multiple Nigerian and international news outlets are reporting that the nation has fired between 200-290 soldiers for alleged “cowardice” while conducting operations against jihadist terror group Boko Haram, a sacking numerous soldiers are protesting as unfair, as they were improperly armed and directed during said operations, they claim.

Asylum Seekers

Italy Hands Smuggler Unprecedented Life Sentence as Europe Prepares for Migrant Deluge

A court in Catania, Italy, has sentenced 23-year-old Haj Hammouda Radouan to life in prison for manning an illegal migrant ship that capsized in the Mediterranean, killing an estimated 200 people. It is the first such sentence in Italy’s history, a precedent arriving just as the nation prepares for the summer rise in African migrants attempting to reach European shores.

Facebook, AP Photo

Kenyan Lawyer Will Offers President Livestock, Sour Milk in Exchange for Malia Obama

“My love is real,” Kenyan attorney Felix Kiprono Matagei tells Kenyan news outlet The Nairobian, in an interview in which he explains his plan to request Malia Obama’s hand in marriage from her father when the President visits Kenya in July. Kiprono is offering 50 cows, 70 sheep and 30 goats as “bride price,” and vows to woo the elder Obama daughter with traditional sour milk.

s3.reutersmedia

‘War is Inevitable’: China Celebrates Groundbreaking on Two Lighthouses in South China Sea

After months of alarming neighboring Vietnam and the Philippines with illegal constructions in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea, the Chinese government announced the construction of two lighthouses in the region, complete with groundbreaking ceremonies. The move indicates China has abandoned any attempt to continue their constructions surreptitiously, particularly in light of American State Department warnings to stay within their sovereign territory.