All-purpose news and politics thread

[Iangould]

According to a new report, Syria's rebels now control significant areas of the country side in a strip running from the Turkish border almost to Dasmascus.

While the government retains control of the major cities, the report concludes the government lacks sufficient forces to retain that control while mounting
offensives to retake the countryside.

Meanwhile, the rebels are becoming increasingly organized and effective.

[king mob]

The problem is, the Parliament Acts already allow Commons to force bills through without Lords approval. Does it really need to be easier? The last year so Lords do it iwth several bills but usually, that doesn't happen.

it's also strange to see that get added to the reform bill, which is supposed to be about making Lords an elected body.

Blair wanted a more presidential system, and Cameron would love that as there's no pesky upper house voting his bills down or forcing them to be totally rewritten so I think he's taking a sneaky opportunity.

[Iangould]

Al-Ahram is reporting that sources within the Muslim Brotherhood and within SCAF are both saying Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, will be declared the winner of Egypt's Presidential election later today.

This comes amidst rumors that a deal was worked out where Morsi would accept most of the limitations on his powers proposed by SCAF in their "Consitutional Annex" and appoint a prominent secularist or liberal as his Pro,e Minister.

[Captain Clarkie]

Here's that nice David Cameron telling us all how to live again - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18567855

Cutting housing benefits for the under-25s, of course, we've been fucking over the elderly too much recently, time to go back to the young. Nevermind that benefit fraud bullshit "cycles of dependency" are statistically tiny.

[Iangould]

Morsi won

Mind you, the press conference to announce it took so long he probably can't remember what it is he's won.

[jmc247]

Turkey declares jet shoot-down a 'hostile' act

Istanbul (CNN) -- Turkey officially considers the shooting down of one of its military fighter jets by Syria to be a hostile act, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Sunday.

Turkey delivered the message in a diplomatic note to the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, calling the incident "a hostile movement," ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal told CNN.

Turkish search-and-rescue teams found the wreckage of the fighter jet in the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday, about 1,300 meters (4,260 feet) underwater, he said.

Turkey took its case to NATO, a spokeswoman for the alliance confirmed. Turkey, a key member of the group, is expected to make a presentation on the incident in Brussels Tuesday.

It called for the meeting under NATO's Article 4, which deals with what happens when the "territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened."

British Foreign Minister William Hague Sunday called the incident "outrageous" and said he condemned it wholeheatedly." "The Assad regime should not make the mistake of believing that it can act with impunity. It will be held to account for its behavior," Hague said of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/24/world/...html?hpt=hp_t2

I didn't expect them to call an Article 4 NATO meaning which means they will push the idea to NATO members that the security of one NATO member has been an attacked which is an attack on all.

From Erdogan's moves yesterday and today he seems to be preparing for war. Erdogan has met with his major opposition leaders as well as generals to plan actions to take against Syria.

Erdogan Meets Generals After Syria Shoots Plane

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan summoned Turkey’s political and military leaders for a second day to discuss the country’s response after Syria shot down a Turkish warplane over the Mediterranean Sea.

Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu were meeting with army and intelligence chiefs in the capital, Ankara. After a similar summit that ended in the early hours of today, the government announced that Syria shot down the plane and that Turkey will “decisively take the necessary steps” when it has established all the details. Davutoglu will make a statement on Turkey’s response tomorrow morning, the ministry said.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said today that the pilots still haven’t been found. Syrian rescue teams have joined in the search, President Abdullah Gul said earlier today.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...rian-coastline

[Charles RB]

Taken to NATO? Bloody hellfire.

[mikekerrIII]

Taken to NATO? Bloody hellfire.

Anato member was attacked,that is where it belongs

[Captain Clarkie]

Check back Mike and you may understand my "contribution to society thing"

[jmc247]

Turkish rescue plane also attacked by Syria

Syrian security forces fired on a Turkish-flagged search and rescue plane which rushed into Syrian airspace to locate the downed Turkish F4 jet and its two missing pilots June 22, the Hürriyet Daily News has learned from Western diplomatic sources.

“[In addition to] what we have seen in the media, we have been informed that Syrian forces opened fire on another Turkish plane [which had come to the region] as part of the search and rescue operation,” sources told the Daily News on the condition of anonymity.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/tur...&NewsCatID=338

The rumor mill is predicting that Turkey plans to ask NATO at the emergency meeting tomorrow to enact a No Fly Zone over Syria officially to protect their territorial sovereignty. We will find out tomorrow.

[Iangould]

That Syrian pilot who defected to Jordan wasn't the first - there were three before him but the jordanians chose to keep that quite.

In the two days since the news broke, three more pilots have defected.

The new defectors are two colonels and a Lieutenant-Colonel. At this rate, the Syrian airforce will be running out of Colonels soon.

[Iangould]

So the Saudi Crown Prince, Prince Nayif, died recently.

His successor in the position and likely next king of Saudi Arabia is his brother Salman.

(The crown has been passed around amongst the sons of Abdul Aziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia and hs first wife. Salman is pretty much last man standing from that group. After him there's no clear line of succession with dozens of possible candidates, nostly the sons of Abdul Aziz's other wives or the sons of Salamn's brothers.)

Anyway: why this matters.

Nayif was a leading conservative and served as interior minister for 40-odd years. Stuff like the ban on women driving, the ban on building churches and discrimination agaisnt the Shia was mostly his doing.

At least by Saudi standards, Salman is a screaming liberal.

[Spike-X]

Starting next year, US taxpayers' money is going to be going to privately-run Christian schools in Louisiana to teach kids that the Loch Ness Monster is real, and that this disproves evolution.

[Nick Soapdish]

Starting next year, US taxpayers' money is going to be going to privately-run Christian schools in Louisiana to teach kids that the Loch Ness Monster is real, and that this disproves evolution.

That's not particularly well-cited and it's not being picked up by any media that I'm familiar with. One of the sources is talking about what he learned a decade ago under the curriculum. I couldn't find much on their website about it either. Their site is pretty content-lite; lots of buzzwords, but I couldn't find any samples.

[Spike-X]

That's not particularly well-cited and it's not being picked up by any media that I'm familiar with. One of the sources is talking about what he learned a decade ago under the curriculum. I couldn't find much on their website about it either. Their site is pretty content-lite; lots of buzzwords, but I couldn't find any samples.

I'd like to think it's not going to happen, but it honestly wouldn't surprise me.