Global Slick

A new United States Middle East settlement plan was published Tuesday at the White House website.   The document, entitled “Peace for Prosperity. A Vision on How to Improve the Life of Palestinians and Israelis,” is over 180 pages long.   “This vision is the most realistic solution to the problem that has plagued the region for too long. It creates the path to prosperity, security, and dignity of all participants of the conflict,” the White House website says.   The plan, which the US administration calls the "deal of the century," consists of two parts: economic and political.   Economic aspects were announced back last summer, and the details of the political component became known only now.   The plan is based on the mutual recognition of the two states.   Particular attention is also paid to the status of Jerusalem, border issues, security guarantees, a free trade zone, prisoners and refugees, and rules for further negotiations.   Among other things, the Unit

The Sudanese politicians look suspiciously to the Qatari help, because of the background of the suspected role of Doha in supporting political Islam groups and fanning the Sudanese crisis by supervising the strengthening of the influence of parties affiliated with the Sudanese Brotherhood. Qatar is searching for an outlet that will allow it to return to the Sudanese square after a previous tension with the Transitional Military Council, which led to a period of transition that ended with a dialogue with the opposition representing the popular movement and the (dialogue) finally led to an agreement on power sharing that resulted in the formation of a government and a sovereign council to manage the country for two years followed by Presidential elections. Relations between Khartoum and Doha were strained following a Qatari move to rearrange the Sudan Brotherhood’s house by supervising intensive meetings to unify Sudanese parties with Brotherhood backgrounds to reproduce the

The state governments of southwest Nigeria have launched Operation Amotekun, a self-help intervention designed to fight back against a recent spike in insecurity in the region, pitting these regional governments against the central government. A spike in kidnappings and killings across southwest Nigeria has caused alarm and fear among citizens. The Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Operation Amotekun (meaning “leopard” in Yorùbá), was launched by the states of Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Ogun, on January 9, in Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State, Nigeria. KayodeFayemi, Ekiti State governor,  explained Amotekun as a “community security” outfit that will “complement the efforts” of police. The regional security initiative is only a “response to a problem” while the Nigerian police actualize a national “community policing strategy”. Hence, Amotekun is “a confidence-boosting strategy” for southwest residents. Nigeria's police chief, Mohammed Adamu, “ is not

Abortion will not be covered under insurance, a new salvo fired by the Trump administration to get him all the brownie points he could want to win his next election term. Addressing a gather at the ‘March For Life’ rally, Trump has warned the California State not to go against the federal law. He has asked California not to ask insurers to cover abortion and has threatened to withhold federal funding if the state doesn’t end its mandate.  Other states have also been warned to come under attack, if they don’t adhere. These will include Illinois and Oregon to start with. Indeed the whole funding budget now stands in jeopardy as Trump uses the same strategy to throttle his own people now- economic terrorism. California’s decision that private health-insurance policies include abortion coverage was at one time, challenged by a Catholic mission, the Missionary Guadalupanas of the Holy Spirit. A three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeals in August dismissed that lawsuit.

Just days ahead of Britain’s exit from the European Union, both sides claim to be well prepared for the forthcoming negotiations about their future relationship. Downing Street says Boris Johnson would happily start the talks the day after Brexit Day, if only the EU didn’t have to wait until February 24th to agree its negotiating mandate. Whitehall sources recall that the EU complained that Theresa May’s government was never clear about what it wanted, adding that Johnson’s approach would present no such problems. Britain wants a Canada-style free trade deal, they say, citing the Conservative manifesto’s promise that the future arrangement should involve no “political alignment”. The EU is unsure, however, what London means when it says it wants no alignment, and some in Brussels wonder if Downing Street itself knows. We will get an idea of the EU’s approach to the negotiations in the days after Brexit Day, when the European Commission

The recent findings exposed how Qatar's ambassador to the Republic of Nepal Sheikh Yousif Bin Mohamed Al-Hail was looting many Nepali immigrants through a recruitment agency. Victims of the recruitment scandalrevealed that Qatar ambassador employed Nepalese nationals through “Sky Overseas Services”, a recruitment company in Nepal. Al-Hail, duped Nepalese migrant workers as he offered each worker applying through the employment agency, a monthly salary of 400 USD. Hundreds of migrant workers in Qatar went on strike this week to protest what they say are poor working conditions, unpaid and delayed wages, and threats of reduced wages, Human Rights Watch said today. Despite introducing some labor reforms over the past year, Qatari authorities have failed to abolish the exploitative kafala sponsorship labor system that fuels abuses and grants employers excessive power over their employees. Migrant workers are still banned under Qatari law f

UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Russian President Vladimir Putin that UK’s stance on the Salisbury incident would not change, 10 Downing Street stated on Sunday. The two leaders met in Berlin on the sidelines of the Berlin Conference on Libya. As per the conversation released by 10 Downing Street, Johnson was clear and adhered firmly to the stand taken on the Salisbury incident. He added that such an attack must not be repeated on UK’s soil, as per the statement from 10 Downing Street. The Prime Minister stated that there would be no normalization on the bilateral relations with Russia until they destabilize action that threatens the UK and risks the safety of the citizens of the UK and our collective defense. In March 2018, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent in Salisbury. Dawn Sturgess, a local woman, subsequently died in the hospital after she accidentally came in contact with the poisonous substance. When the

European Union warned US and China, who signed a phase-one trade deal on Wednesday, of taking the matter to World Trade Organisation (WTO) in case their deal affected European businesses. On Friday, EU envoy to Beijing Nicolas Chapuis told reporters that the 28-nation bloc would closely observe the impact of the ‘phase one’ trade deal signed between US President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. Chapuis said, "In our opinion, quantitative targets are not WTO-compatible if they lead to trade distortions. If it were to be the case, we will go to the WTO to settle this matter." Chapuis added that Chinese foreign ministry gave EU member-nations "formal assurances that in absolutely no way would European businesses be affected by the US-China deal". EU fears that the deal, which eased the ongoing trade war between two of the world’s biggest economies, could be biased in nature. If so, then EU would be within its right to contest the deal as it i

As air quality in Melbourne drops to worst in world, tennis players face possible delays to tournament due to health fears. Worries over the health of players at the Australian Open have intensified after bushfire smoke forced one player to retire with breathing problems and another match to be abandoned, with air quality in Melbourne dropping to the worst in the world overnight. Winds blew smoke from the fires in east Victoria and New South Wales into the city. The air quality in the centre was since categorised as very poor by the Environmental Protection Authority. The defending men’s tennis champion, Novak Djokovic, who is also the president of the ATP Player Council, suggested that delaying the tournament might have to be considered. “You have to consider it because of some extreme weather or conditions,” he said on Saturday. “That’s probably the very, very, last option. [But] if it comes down to ... the conditions affecting the hea

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, during which he discussed with him the latest events related to the investigation of the crash of the Ukraine International Airlines plane in Iran.   This was announced on Friday by the press service of the Canadian Prime Minister.   The leaders of the two countries emphasized the need for a full and open investigation of this disaster, so that the relatives of the victims could receive answers to all questions.   Trudeau and Zelensky also discussed the details of participation in the investigation of the Canadian side.   The Boeing 737, which flew from Tehran to Kiev, crashed early in the morning of January 8 near the airport of the Iranian capital immediately after takeoff. Onboard were 167 passengers and nine crew members, all of them died. On Thursday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the plane could have been unintentionally shot down by a mi

Making a mockery of the recent attack on the US air base in Iraq, Iran seem to be playing on the outside of the fence and not serious into entering a war zone after all. Iran launched 16 ballistic missiles, including 11 that landed at al-Asad air base and one in Irbil in Iraq. But not one casualty was reported.   The attack came from inside Iran itself. Addressing the nation from the White House, Mr. Donald Trump felt he could make an assertion that Iran is ‘standing down’ after Washington eliminated one of their key military personnel, disrupting the order of things for Iran. Despite so many missiles fired, no casualty looks like a display of fire, with no smoke. Iran was responding in gr ief over their General Qassem Soleimani’s assassination that has let off a sigh a relief amongst a lot of world leaders. Soleimani was termed as a notorious monster that had worked as a binding force to align proxy groups to work in favour of Iran, at will. Trump is now threatening t

BAGHDAD, 6th January 2019 - Qasem Soleimani, Iranian Major general of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and his Deputy General, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, have been killed by an unmanned MQ-9 ‘hunter-killer’ drone sent from the US Central Command headquarters in Qatar. The Daily Mail, citing Local militia commander Abu Muntather al-Hussaini, says that two missiles hit the car carrying Soleimani, 62, and al-Muhandis, 66. The second car was struck by a single missile at the Baghdad International airport. An engineer was also among those killed. According to the Daily Mail, the 230mph drone, piloted by a two-man crew hundreds of miles away, can carry out precision strikes and relay images of the attack to commanders anywhere in the world. The $64million Reaper carries four laser-guided Hellfire missiles with 38lb warheads capable of destroying a tank, along with Paveway bombs. It seems clear that the Americans have used the Qatari land to operates the killing of Soleimani.

As Erdogan gears up to bully the Kurds out of their own land and clear off the Northeastern parts of Syria, his role of favoring the ISIS is becoming clearer. Reports have been doing rounds that if Turkey has not stopped them; it has neither done anything to control its movement across its border either. It has been reported on many instances that ISIS have moved across the Syrian Turkish border and gone unchecked.  Strangely, it was Russia which sounded the warning cry against Turkey in the first place. Today, both arch enemies have united forces in Syria and seem to be watching each others’ back against US. Meanwhile, NATO and the EU nations are troubled with the way Erdgoan is becoming an authoritarian dictate. He is flaunting every rule possible and been pushing for a safe zone in Syria to re-home 3 million Syrian refugees. Little is known that the 30 km stretch will give him direct access to Syria’s rich oil reserves. While US had thought it could have got a strong hol