Sermons Of Pro-ISIS Sheikh Abdullah Al-Faisal, Who Is Banned From Preaching, Are spread On YouTube as 'educational'.

Sermons Of Pro-ISIS Sheikh Abdullah Al-Faisal, Who Is Banned From Preaching, Are spread On YouTube as 'educational'. (MEMRI).

Pro-ISIS Jamaican cleric Sheikh Abdullah Al-Faisal, whose sermons are frequently uploaded by the “Umm Thalaatha” YouTube channel, spent four years in a UK prison for murder and inciting hatred. A graduate of Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Saudi Arabia, he is said to have inspired several terrorists, among them shoe bomber Richard Reid, 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui, London bombers Muhammad Sidique Khan and Germaine Lindsay, and Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouq Abdulmutullab.

After he was deported from the UK back to Jamaica, the Islamic Council of Jamaica banned him from preaching.

However, the Jamaica Observer stated, “Jamaican police have maintained, however, that while the cleric will have to be constantly monitored, he has never incited murder or preached race hate messages on the island.” 

On February 26, 2016, Al-Faisal delivered a sermon which was uploaded onto “Umm Thalaatha’s” YouTube channel, titled “The Manhaj [path] For Establishing The Sharia,” in which he railed against former Egyptian president Muhammad Morsi, saying that he should be hanged by the “apostate” Egyptian government.

In his sermon, Al-Faisal condemned Morsi not for being a Muslim Brotherhood member but because the Muslim Brotherhood had participated in the democratic political process in Egypt, thereby discrediting jihad and “promoting fitna [dissent].”

He also strongly endorsed violence as the best path (manhaj) for Muslims, and said that all homosexuals should be executed in accordance with the shari’a. The sermon is listed under the education category on YouTube. Read the full story here.

Pictured: Pres Obama's unannounced visit to the Bob Marley Museum.

Pictured: Pres Obama's unannounced visit to the Bob Marley Museum.(Jamaica Observer).

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Shortly after landing in Jamaica for the first time, President of the United States Barack Obama deviated from his official itinerary by paying an unannounced visit to the Bob Marley Museum on Hope Road in St Andrew. Hmmmm..........'No woman No Cry'. I wonder do they still give you a joint when you visit the museum?  More pictures can be seen here. More news on the 'visit' here.

Chikungunya in the Caribbean: It's been here before.

Chikungunya in the Caribbean: It's been here before.HT: Crof.

Via Emerging Infectious Diseases: Reappearance of Chikungunya, Formerly Called Dengue, in the Americas. The abstract:

After an absence of ≈200 years, chikungunya returned to the American tropics in 2013. The virus is maintained in a complex African zoonotic cycle but escapes into an urban cycle at 40- to 50-year intervals, causing global pandemics. 

In 1823, classical chikungunya, a viral exanthem in humans, occurred on Zanzibar, and in 1827, it arrived in the Caribbean and spread to North and South America. In Zanzibar, the disease was known as kidenga pepo, Swahili for a sudden cramp-like seizure caused by an evil spirit; in Cuba, it was known as dengue, a Spanish homonym of denga. 

During the eighteenth century, dengue (present-day chikungunya) was distinguished from breakbone fever (present-day dengue), another febrile exanthem. In the twentieth century, experiments resulted in the recovery and naming of present-day dengue viruses. 

In 1952, chikungunya virus was recovered during an outbreak in Tanzania, but by then, the virus had lost its original name to present-day dengue viruses.

Jamaica: Guillain-Barré syndrome cases spike with chikungunya.

Jamaica: Guillain-Barré syndrome cases spike with chikungunya. HT: Crof.

Via the Jamaica Observer: GBS cases spike with CHIKV. Excerpt:

The University Hospital of the West Indies in St Andrew saw about five cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) between October and November 2014. According to consultant neurologist Dr Francene Gayle, on average, she has seen one case of GBS per year since she has been at the health facility. 

The consultant neurologist told the Jamaica Observer that the chikungunya virus that swept across the island late last year and has left several with lingering joint pains caused a spike in the number of GBS cases. 

"I must tell you that, on average, since I have been back, I have been home three years, so on average, I see maybe one case of GBS per year at the University Hospital of the West Indies," Dr Gayle disclosed. 

"But with CHIKV, between October and November, we saw about five cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, so it resulted in a spike in the number of cases that we would normally see annually." 

GBS is a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. The symptoms generally include weakness and tingling in the limbs before spreading, and eventually resulting in paralysis. 

Speaking to Your Health Your Wealth in a recent interview, Dr Gayle said there are a few causes but the commonest cause is post-viral illness. The consultant neurologist explained that influenza as well as a particular bacteria known as campylobacter jejuni can bring on GBS. 

She also spoke specifically to the Jamaican context. "In our Jamaican context, chikungunya virus is also associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome," Dr Gayle said. "Viruses, on a whole, what they do is that your body mounts an attack against the infectious agent and, unfortunately, there are various proteins on the surface of the viruses that your immune system targets. 

"These same proteins have similar proteins on the nerve linings and so the antibodies that are produced to fight these viral infections can actually be mediated against those proteins on the nerves within the body," she continued. "And so the nerves get damaged as a bystander."

Lindsay Lohan battles Chikungunya virus, while the Caribbean are under assault by chikungunya in 2014.

Lindsay Lohan battles Chikungunya virus, while the Caribbean are under assault by chikungunya in 2014.. HT: Crof.


Sounds exotic. And not something you want to catch.

After Lindsay Lohan wrapped up her two-month run in Speed-the-Plow in London at the end of November, she was ready for some rest and relaxation.

She headed for someplace tropical. But the trip to paradise has soured a bit. During her French Polynesian trip with longtime friend Patrick Aufdenkamp, she contracted the Chikungunya virus.

She has been tweeting and Instagramming photos about her trip.

Being sick is no fun. But happy new year everyone. Be safe. Love all. Make a difference and keep your… http://t.co/V7i2F8KnTz
— Lindsay Lohan (@lindsaylohan) December 29, 2014

Before I got chikungunya 😥😰😪 use Big spray please 🙏 God bless. http://t.co/8xg2gNWBz5
— Lindsay Lohan (@lindsaylohan) December 28, 2014

Via Caribbean360.com: 2014 year in review: Caribbean rocked by Chikungunya. Excerpt:

Three general elections and continued socio-economic problems may have made the headlines in the Caribbean in 2014, but it was the Chikungunya virus, the mosquito borne disease that really caught the attention of the region over the past 12 months. 

In addition, while no cases had been recorded, Caribbean countries were putting in place various measures to deal with the deadly Ebola virus that have killed more than 7,000 people in West Africa and spread also by the same mosquito responsible for the Chikungunya virus. 

A crippling mosquito-borne virus with a tongue twisting name, Chikungunya first appeared in the Caribbean towards the end of 2013. But by the end of 2014, every Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country had recorded cases of the virus caused by the aedes aegypti mosquito that causes a dengue-like sickness. 

Symptoms include a sudden high fever, severe pain in the wrists, ankles or knuckles, muscle pain, headache, nausea, and rash. Joint pain and stiffness are more common with Chikungunya than with dengue. The symptoms appear between four to seven days after the bite of an infected mosquito. 

The Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) warned the Caribbean has not yet felt the “full impact” of the disease. 

“There is an estimate in excess of 600,000 cases in total, most of those being from the bigger countries like the Dominican Republic and Haiti with 37 deaths in total. So it continues to spread,” said CARPHA’s executive director Dr. James Hospedales. 

Dr. Hospedales said that with a population of 17 million people, the region is still in the early stages of the virus, warning “the full bloom of Chikungunya virus is yet to come. 

“I am saying because everybody in this part of the world and there is no resistance to this virus and we have an abundance of the vector and we have a lot of movement. In six months it has moved to all the islands and we can expect further increases in levels of cases because of what has happened elsewhere in the world where in some countries you find a 30 per cent attack rate of the entire population within a year or so.”

More in detail info on Chikungunya can be read here. 

How far spread is chikungunya in Mexico?

How far spread is chikungunya in Mexico? HT: Crof.

A reader wrote this morning to ask about the possible presence of chikungunya in Cancún—likely a concern of many people who like to head south in winter.

A quick scan of Mexican media in the state of Quintana Roo turned up no reports of the disease, but a Spanish-language December 26 report in Quequi.com.mx says anti-mosquito spraying is being conducted from the air to fight both dengue and chikungunya.

While Quintana Roo seems free of both imported and local chikungunya cases, it's now in the nearby state of Chiapas; it seems only a matter of time before it's widespread in southern Mexico.

Chikungunya in the Americas: Might as well call it a million cases (or more)

Chikungunya in the Americas: Might as well call it a million cases (or more). HT: CROF.

PAHO has published a December 5 update on its Chikungunya page.

We are now at week 49, and as usual many of the countries are weeks or months behind: Haiti has stood its ground since week 28 (64,695 suspected cases), when the real total must be at least an order of magnitude higher.

Still we learn that as of week 49 the US had 11 local cases and 1,900 imported cases. 

The Dominican Republic, as of week 41, has 498,916 cases. El Salvador, on the American mainland, had 135,226 cases as of week 47.

 

All told, PAHO says, we have 975,678 suspected cases in the Americas, plus 18,892 that people took the trouble to confirm. 

 

ECDC reported the first autochthonous chikungunya cases in the Americas on December 20. The virus deserves our congratulations, however grudging, for having made so much of its opportunity in one short year. 

 

For its reporting on chikungunya, however, PAHO does not.

Just imagine once it starts spreading in the US!

Mexico detects first case of mosquito-borne chikungunya virus

Mexico detects first case of mosquito-borne chikungunya virus. HT: Crof.

Via Reuters: Mexico detects first case of mosquito-borne chikungunya virus. Excerpt:

Mexico has detected its first domestic case of the painful mosquito-borne viral disease chikungunya in the southwest of the country, the state government of Chiapas said on Saturday. 

Chikungunya is spread by two mosquito species, and is typically not fatal. But it can cause debilitating symptoms including fever, headache and severe joint pain lasting months. 

The government of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, said an 8 year old girl became the first person to contract the disease in Mexico, and that she was treated in hospital in the town of Arriaga. The girl has since been released. 

There is no commercial vaccine for the virus, which was detected for the first time in the Americas late last year. 

Chikungunya has already appeared in much of the Caribbean, Central America and the United States. A handful of people have had the virus in Mexico, having contracted it abroad. 

In September, El Salvador said it had detected nearly 30,000 cases of the virus. In the United States, locally transmitted infections - as opposed to infections in Americans traveling abroad - were reported for the first time this year.

Number of European tourists wishing to make VIP travel to Iran exceeds 12K.

Number of European tourists wishing to make VIP travel to Iran exceeds 12K. (Taz).

Over 12,000 residents of European countries have applied to Iranian Tour Operators Association to take part in the tourist VIP travel to this country on a luxury train, Iran’s ISNA news agency quoted the association’s president Ibrahim Purfaraj as saying on Oct.31.

He said it is necessary to organize additional 80 tours in order to ensure the travel of this number of VIP tourists to Iran on a luxury train.

Purfaraj said the majority of tourists who have applied to participate in the VIP travel on a luxury train to Iran are from the UK, Germany and France, adding that residents from the US and Austria are also among the applicants for these trips.

The majority of the applicants have already made an advance payment for these trips, according to Purfaraj.

“A luxury train will carry out two more trips to Iran by the end of the current year, while it is planned to organize nine VIP tours on the Budapest-Tehran route in 2015,” the association head added.

He said that in order to improve the quality of service, currently, the positive and negative feedbacks of tourists about the organized trips are being studied.

Purfaraj said that VIP tourists from Europe are satisfied with the visits to various cities of Iran.
These travels have increased the interest of European tourists in Iran, he added.

Iranian Tour Operators Association has organized VIP travels for European tourists to the country on a luxury train. A train with tourists left Budapest for Iran for the second time on Oct.14.

All conditions have been created for the passengers in the compartments of the train’s cars. The price for one ticket for the train reaches $15,000. The train heads from Budapest to Iran through Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. Hmmm.......I'll Take Jamaica anytime.

WHO on chikungunya in France, 4 cases of chikungunya locally-acquired infection.

WHO on chikungunya in France, 4 cases of chikungunya locally-acquired infection. HT: Crof.

WHO has published Chikungunya – France. Excerpt:

On 21 October 2014, WHO was notified by the National IHR Focal Point for France of 4 cases of chikungunya locally-acquired infection in Montpellier, France. The cases were confirmed by tests conducted by the French National Reference Laboratory for arboviruses on 20 October 2014. This is the first time that locally-acquired transmission of chikungunya has been detected in France since 2010. 

The 4 cases of chikungunya infection occurred within the same family, with symptoms onset between 20 September and 12 October. The cases live in Montpellier in the vicinity of a chikungunya case imported from Cameroon. The cases have no history of travel out of their district of residence in the 15 days prior to the onset of symptoms.

Chikungunya is a viral disease that is rarely fatal and is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. Symptoms of chikungunya include high fever and headache, with significant pains in the joints (ankles, wrists), which can persist for several weeks.

The symptoms appear between 4 and 7 days after the patient has been bitten by an infected mosquito.

The name, chikungunya derives from a word in Makonde language roughly meaning “that which bends up”, reflecting the physique of a person suffering from the disease.

First local chikungunya case reported in Costa Rica.

First local chikungunya case reported in Costa Rica. HT: Crof.

Via The Costa Rican Times: 1st Indigenous Case of Chikungunya in Costa Rica Reported. Excerpt:

This afternoon I went to do my dishes and in one of my plastic cups was a dead Aedes mosquito. It was the first time I had actually seen one not in a picture. Dengue & Chikungunya are the only things that frighten me about living in Costa Rica. 

The first reported case of the Chikungunya virus that was confirmed to originate within the borders of Costa Rica has come to pass. 

There have been other Chikungunya victims, but they all acquired the virus overseas before coming to Costa Rica. 

The first case of the Chikunguna Virus being caught on Costa Rican soil occurred  in Parrita in the Puntarenas Province which is located about 30 minutes from Jaco. 

The woman who tested positive for the first indigenous case of the virus was tended to by officials of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund. The Costa Rican Institute for Research and Education on Nutrition and Health performed the test. 

The other 15 victims found to have the virus in Costa Rica came from the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The local woman became sick after hosting a Dominican at her home. This guest was sick but the symptoms went unaddressed. 

The government plans to spray in areas where the patient was, to kill the mosquitoes that might infect others.

Hmmm....I've been posting quite a bit about Chikungunya these last months because i see a huge threat to the US, when this arrives in the US Wetlands.More on chik-V here and here.

Eurosurveillance: "Unprecedented" concurrent outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya, Zika virus in the Pacific

Eurosurveillance: "Unprecedented" concurrent outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya, Zika virus in the Pacific. HT: Crof.

Via Eurosurveillance: Concurrent outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus infections - unprecedented epidemic wave of mosquito-borne viruses in the Pacific 2012-2014. The abstract:

Since January 2012, the Pacific Region has experienced 28 new documented outbreaks and circulation of dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus. 

These mosquito-borne disease epidemics seem to become more frequent and diverse, and it is likely that this is only the early stages of a wave that will continue for several years. 

Improved surveillance and response measures are needed to mitigate the already heavy burden on island health systems and limit further spread to other parts of the world. 

Hmmm....In case you are wondering which mosquitoes carry Chikungunya....The same type that carry West Nile virus, north America be warned!

Hmmm....I've been posting quite a bit about Chikungunya these last months because i see a huge threat to the US, when this arrives in the US Wetlands. More on chik-V here and here.

PAHO: Almost 800,000 chikungunya case as of October 17 (it says here)

The Pan American Health Organization has posted its regular Friday update on chikungunya in the Caribbean and neighboring nations. 

We are now up to epidemiological week 42, but some countries are weeks if not months behind. If not for Ebola taking all the attention, this would be a big scandal.


The regional total is 759,742 suspected cases, plus 12,327 confirmed, plus 1,708 imported. But the Dominican Republic is still at week 38 (486,306 suspected cases, just 84 confirmed). Next door, Haiti hasn't bothered to report since week 28, so we know of only 64,695 cases when the true number must be closer to a million.

So it goes, week after week with no explanation. Download the PDF if you like, but don't bother to print it out. Paper is more valuable.

Jamaica: 10-year-old dies from chikungunya complications.

Jamaica: 10-year-old dies from chikungunya complications. HT: Crof.

Chikungunya continues to spread in the Caribbean. The Jamaicans are taking it especially badly, and have invented their own term for it. Via the Jamaica Observer: 10-year-old dies from ChikV complications.

A 10-year-old student of the Alpha Primary School in Kingston died Friday as a result of complications brought on by the chikungunya virus, the Education Ministry has confirmed. 

A ministry release Friday afternoon said that Akaliah Anderson, who had reported to school for only one day (September 1, 2014), had revealed symptoms of the chikungunya virus. 

It was reported that her condition had not improved and she was subsequently admitted to the hospital. She reportedly developed further complications including a swollen spleen and liver. 

Little Akaliah died Friday. 

The Education Ministry said it was saddened by Akaliah’s death and extended condolences to her family and school community.  

A team of counsellors from the ministry will be providing emotional support to Akaliah’s family, students, teachers and administrative staff at the institution, the release said. 

“This incident brings into sharp focus the need for school administrators, parents and the entire citizenry of Jamaica to begin the clean-up process in our communities – home, school, workplaces – in order to eliminate the spread of the ChikV caused by the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes,” Education Minister Ronald Thwaites said.

Hmmm....I've been posting quite a bit about Chikungunya these last months because i see a huge threat to the US, when this arrives in the US Wetlands. More on chik-V here and here.

Update:

PAHO: Almost 800,000 chikungunya case as of October 17 (it says here)

The Pan American Health Organization has posted its regular Friday update on chikungunya in the Caribbean and neighboring nations. 

We are now up to epidemiological week 42, but some countries are weeks if not months behind. If not for Ebola taking all the attention, this would be a big scandal.


The regional total is 759,742 suspected cases, plus 12,327 confirmed, plus 1,708 imported. But the Dominican Republic is still at week 38 (486,306 suspected cases, just 84 confirmed). Next door, Haiti hasn't bothered to report since week 28, so we know of only 64,695 cases when the true number must be closer to a million.

So it goes, week after week with no explanation. Download the PDF if you like, but don't bother to print it out. Paper is more valuable.

Jamaica in "national emergency" due to chikungunya outbreak

Jamaica in "national emergency" due to chikungunya outbreak. HT: Crof.

I've been aware of this problem, but Ebola keeps crowding it out. Via the Caribbean Journal: Jamaica in “National Emergency” Due to Chikungunya Virus Outbreak. Excerpt:

Jamaica Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller says the country is in a “national emergency” over the outbreak of the mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus in the country. 

The virus, which is similar in symptoms to Dengue fever, often leads to fever and severe joint pain that can last from a few days to, in some cases, for years, though it is rarely fatal. 

The disease has spread across the Caribbean region after initially appearing in St Martin in late 2013, but has hit Jamaica particularly hard. 

“I want to stress that we are in a NATIONAL emergency,” Simpson Miller said at a briefing on Tuesday. “I have therefore, assumed a lead role in mobilizing the nation and national resources.” 

She said she sympathized with those across Jamaica who had come down with the painful illness. 

“I understand that some MPs even as we speak are out with the virus,” she said. “I want to commend MPs, Mayors and Councillors who have been active in encouraging your constituents to get involved in the only sustainable way to control and reduce the epidemic – which is, to destroy and reduce mosquito breeding sites.” 

She said the government had called on about $4.5 million USD in state resources for national health emergency response, with the objective of reducing mosquito breeding sites by starting with the worst-affected areas. 

“This is our country,” she said. “We all have a stake and a vested interest in protecting it and in keeping our people safe and healthy.”

According to PAHO, Jamaica last week had just 325 suspected cases, plus 52 confirmed and 2 imported. It sounds as if far more cases are involved than those. Hmmm....I've been posting quite a bit about Chikungunya these last months because i see a huge threat to the US, when this arrives in the US Wetlands.More on chik-V here and here.

Pan American Health organization 748,403 chikungunya cases as of October 10

Pan American Health organization 748,403 chikungunya cases as of October 10. HT: Crof.

PAHO has updated its Chikungunya numbers. (Click through the link and download the PDF in the upper right corner of the page.) It's becoming an increasingly irrelevant document.

Ostensibly this brings us up to week 41, and the total is now 748,403 (suspected) cases. They're suspected because no one bothers to test for it now.

But they're also suspect numbers because so many of them are weeks or even months behind.

The US *is at week 41, all right, with 11 locally acquired cases and 1,326 imported. But Canada hasn't troubled to report since week 32, when it had 8 imported cases.

Where the disease is rapidly spreading, the Dominican Republic counts 486,306—as of week 38. Haiti next door remains The Land That Time Forgot, stubbornly stuck in week 28 and 64,695 cases.

So it goes: Cuba, week 33; Puerto Rico, week 37; Dominica, week 28; Grenada, week 26. Colombia is almost up to date at week 40 and 6,092 cases, as is Ecuador with just one imported case. Jamaica's at week 40 with 325 cases, but given the "Chik-V" political uproar there, the real number must be much higher.

The disparity in updates might be tolerable if PAHO at least bothered to explain why some countries don't report promptly. 

Three-quarters of a million cases since last December? I wouldn't be surprised if the true number were double that or even higher.

*Hmmm.....Just think when Chik-V gets hold in the U.S. Wetlands.

Haiti: 50% of the population could be affected by the chikungunya epidemic

Haiti: 50% of the population could be affected by the chikungunya epidemic. HT: Crof.

Via HaitiLibre.com: 50% of the population could be affected by the chikungunya epidemic. Excerpt and then a comment:

The chikungunya epidemic, which began in late 2013 in the Americas, was detected for the first time in Haiti in May and its rapid spread has led the Haitian government to officially declare a medical emergency. 

To date, Haiti has recorded more than 65,000 cases of chikungunya and those responsible for public health, estimate that up to 50% of the population could be affected by the epidemic. 

Unlike many other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, no vaccine is available to prevent chikungunya. Common symptoms include fever and joint pain, which can be severe and disabling. 

On Wednesday, the First Lady, Sophia Martelly, visited accompanied by Dr. Florence Guillaume, Minister of Public Health and Population (MSPP) and Dr. George Dubuche, the Director General of the Ministry, went to the Direct Relief warehouse in Port-au-Prince, where drugs to treat one million people will be distributed to 904 public health sites to the population, and others Direct Relief partner hospitals. 

The shipment contains more than 6.1 million Defined Daily Doses of pain relievers, oral rehydration packs, antibiotics, IV solution, malaria tablets, and mosquito spray. This distribution comes in the midst of a rainy season, expected to cause a wave of new cases.

In other words, over five million people could fall ill with chikungunya in Haiti.

Others affected would be the family members who depend on the income and care of relatives who fall ill. Economically, chikungunya may do more damage than cholera has after almost four years: at least 706,291 cases and 8,584 deaths. (Typically, those are MSPP's latest numbers—from August 27.)

Hmmm....I know i'm one of the few who posts about Chikungunya, but if this gets hold in the US wetlands you'll see an epidemic of biblical proportions. Read up on it and prepare.

Chikungunya in North America: "one million cases in the first ninety days!"

Chikungunya in North America: "one million cases in the first ninety days!" HT: Croft.

Via chapelboro.com, a thought-provoking post by Jeff Danner: Chikungunya is Coming: Part I. Click through to read the whole thing. Excerpt, with the author's graphics:

The first ever recorded case of locally-transmitted chikungunya in North or Central America occurred on the island of St. Martin in December of 2013. Since then, an epidemic has spread like wild fire, particularly in the Dominican Republic. The Graph below shows the number of infections reported during the first ninety days of the epidemic in the Dominican Republic, with day zero being April 1 of 2014. 

 In the first 90 days of the epidemic, this nation of 10 million people had 135,000 cases! If the behavior of this epidemic follows the pattern of the outbreak on Reunion Island in the India Ocean from 2005-2006, the Dominican Republic can expect approximately two to four million cases of chikungunya to occur within a year. 

To put it lightly, an epidemic of this proportion will be very challenging and disruptive to the citizens and economy of the Dominican Republic. Overall, there have been over a quarter of a million cases in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, in the first six months of 2014. 

Now let’s consider the probability of a chikungunya outbreak in the continental United States. For starters, essentially zero percent of the population of the United States is immune to chikungunya. Next consider the maps below showing the current ranges of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus in the U. S.   

As you can clearly see, both species of mosquito are resident in large portions of the country, including North Carolina. 

For the purposes of the calculations below I estimated that approximately 25% of the U.S. population lives within the current range of one or both of these mosquitoes. All that is needed for an epidemic to get started is for one or more infected people to arrive here on boats or planes and the mosquitoes to bite them at the right time. 

The data on this front is not encouraging. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), so far this year there have been 138 confirmed cases of people arriving in the continental US, primarily returning vacationers, with a chikungunya infection acquired while abroad. This number is unprecedented. So far we have been extremely lucky that there have been no reported cases of local transmission. 

While my position is that current conditions make a near-term chikungunya epidemic in the U.S. almost certain, the statement made by the CDC on their website is more measured. Their position is, “There is a risk that the virus will be imported to new areas by infected travelers.” Therefore, either I am being alarmist or they are too concerned about creating a panic to be more forthright about the risk. 

If I am correct and the Southeastern United States is about to have an epidemic similar to the one in the Dominican Republic, we’d have one million cases in the first ninety days! That would make for a few headlines. 

So is there anything we can do to prevent this? Should we have been more prepared that we are? For my thoughts on that, you need to come back next week. In the meantime, I’d think about stocking up on insect repellent.

Hmmm.....Could be the death of Obama care.

France health minister warns of epidemic after 33 chikungunya deaths

France health minister warns of epidemic after 33 chikungunya deaths. HT: Channel NewsAsia,

an AFP report: France warns of epidemic after chikungunya deaths.

PARIS: France's health minister warned Thursday of a serious epidemic in the Antilles and French Guiana after 33 deaths were reported in connection with the chikungunya virus. 

"This is a major epidemic, with about 5,000 new cases every month," Marisol Touraine told BFMTV. "The disease has indirectly caused 33 deaths in vulnerable elderly people, affected nearly 100,000 people and resulted in 1,000 hospitalisations in the French Americas." 

Touraine said she was going to the region next week to deal with what she called "a major public health issue". 

The Antilles, also known as the French West Indies, are a group of Caribbean islands under French sovereignty, while French Guiana is a territory on the north Atlantic coast of South America, bordered by Brazil and Suriname. 

The mosquito-born chikungunya virus has been spreading through the Caribbean and Central America. 

The virus -- rarely fatal, but nevertheless serious -- sparks high fevers and severe joint aches, as well as headaches, nausea and extreme fatigue. 

It does not kill directly but in combination with other illnesses can lead to death.

Jamaica: Committee established to monitor chikungunya...“No problem mon”.

Via the Jamaica Observer: Committee established to monitor Chikungunya. Excerpt:

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- The Ministry of Health has established a committee to monitor the threat of the Chikungunya virus to the island. 

The committee is headed by Director, Emergency, Disaster Management and Special Services, Dr Marion Bullock Duccasse, and meets weekly to discuss that and other matters, Minister of Health, Dr Ferguson said while speaking at a recent post-Sectoral debate press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in Kingston. 

Dr Fergsuon said that while the virus has not been detected in Jamaica, given international travel and trade, it is likely that it will be introduced into the island. 

He appealed to Jamaicans to take precautions against its spread of the virus by destroying mosquito breeding sites in and around homes, places of business, worship and schools, thus eliminating areas where water can settle. 

“Keep water containers tightly covered, fill old tyres with dirt, keep drums and water tanks covered, and punch holes in cans before disposing of them,” Dr Ferguson urged.

MFS - The Other News

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation China 5.1!More info here.

• Chart of the Week: Defense Spending Throughout U.S. History.(Heritage).President Obama visited the Pentagon on Thursday to outline his plan for gutting our nation’s military. Obama’s vision makes America more vulnerable to foreign threats and leaves our armed forces less able to provide for the common defense.As we’ve previously illustrated, Obama has proposed significant reductions to the Pentagon’s budget. This week’s chart shows how sharply defense spending has dropped as a percentage of the total federal budget — currently well below its historical average despite ongoing operations overseas. The chart also debunks the myth that our Founding Fathers were isolationists.During his Pentagon visit, Obama claimed the country is safer today than when he took office. Heritage’s James Carafano, writing in the New York Post, called Obama’s assertion “laughable.”Not only is the world not a safer place than when Obama came into office, the strategy his Pentagon has produced to deal with today’s challenges may well make it far worse. Let me translate the Pentagon report into English: The administration is going to gut the Army and Marine Corps, while hitting the Navy and Air Force less (for now). The “strategy” basically says, We have a four-legged stool; we’re going to cut off two legs.For more information on defense spending and how the Budget Control Act of 2011 will impact our nation’s military, Heritage produced a fact sheet that outlines what cuts to expect in the future.Hmmmm.....If he really wanted to destroy America as a superpower would he do anything different?Read and see the full story here.

• Soldiers on Lockdown After 'Sensitive' Military Equipment is Stolen from Washington Base.(Fox).FORT LEWIS, Wash – More than 100 soldiers were on lockdown Sunday after "sensitive" military equipment was stolen from a base in Fort Lewis, Wash.The soldiers were put on lockdown Wednesday after items such as scopes, night vision goggles and range finders went missing from Joint Base Lewis-McChord over the holidays, myFOXSpokane.com reported.Lewis-McChord spokesman Matt Hinkle said Saturday that the army was carrying out a criminal investigation into the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division after the "sensitive" items went missing, The News Tribune reported."They'll be on base until the items are found," Hinkle, who estimated the company contained about 100- 200 soldiers, said. "This is the unit's property that's come up missing.""We're going to continue to conduct this investigation as thoroughly as possible," I Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield added. "We will get to the bottom of this matter."Officials are offering a $10,000 reward for the return of the equipment.Hmmmm........for night vision goggles $10.000 reward?Read the full story here.

• Obama Seeks Pay Hike For Federal Workers While Gutting Hundreds of Thousands From U.S. Military.(WP).The White House will propose a 0.5 percent pay increase for civilian federal employees as part of its 2013 budget proposal, according to two senior administration officials familiar with the plans.The modest across-the-board pay jump would be the first increase for federal workers since before a two-year freeze began in late 2010. Raises for within-grade step increases and promotions have continued during the freeze.The proposal, which requires congressional approval, differs from Republican plans supported by lawmakers and presidential candidates that would freeze basic pay rates for one more year. Some of those plans also call for denying within-grade raises. In recent weeks, GOP lawmakers have called for extending the pay freeze as a way to pay for a payroll tax extension.But, “a permanent pay freeze is not an acceptable policy,” one of the senior administration officials said Friday. “While modest, a 0.5 percent increase reflects the belt-tightening we must do in these difficult times.”The officials were unauthorized to speak publicly on the matter, but said that the White House notified agency budget offices about the decision Friday morning so that agencies could complete their 2013 budget requests.The White House is expected to formally unveil its fiscal 2013 budget proposal in early February. No decision has been made yet on a potential pay raise for uniformed military personnel, the officials said, though lawmakers and federal worker unions traditionally push to ensure pay parity between civilian and military personnel. Pay parity was the standard practice for many years before 2009.Read the full story here.

• US think tank group considered close to Obama administration E-mails reveals anti-Semitism.(JPost).A senior employee of the US think tank Center for American Progress (CAP) appears to have admitted in an e-mail sent from his CAP account that a blogger for the policy organization used anti-Semitic language to attack supporters of the Jewish state.CAP advises the Democratic Party on Middle East policy and is an important source of ideas for the Obama administration.The Jerusalem Post last week obtained the first CAP acknowledgment of Jew-hatred stemming from a group of Mideast bloggers affiliated with CAP’s ThinkProgress website.In the e-mail that the Post obtained exclusively from the CAP account of Faiz Shakir, who serves as editor-in-chief of the ThinkProgress.org website and is a vice president at CAP, he wrote, “Yes, I agree ‘Israel Firster’ is terrible, anti-Semitic language. And that’s why that language no longer exists on Zaid’s personal twitter feed, because he also knows and understands the implications.”Zaid Jilani wrote on his Twitter account, where he identifies himself as a “Reporter-Blogger for ThinkProgress,” that “...Obama is still beloved by Israel-firsters and getting lots of their $$.”The e-mail recognizing the anti-Semitism of a CAP blogger was sent from FShakir@americanprogress.org in December.US-Jewish and Israeli NGOs accused a faction of ThinkProgress bloggers that month of stoking modern anti-Semitism. The anti-Israel scandal saw two CAP writers, Jilani and Ali Gharib, issue apologies for asserting that American Jews and a non-Jewish Republican senator serve the interests of the Israeli government over the security of the United States.Speaking with the Post from Washington on Thursday, Shakir declined to comment on the e-mail from his account.He did not respond to a followup Post e-mail sent on Friday.In a lengthy article on Friday on the Daily Beast news website, Ken Gude, the managing director of CAP’s National Security and International Policy Program, denied any anti-Semitism or anti-Israelism at CAP. He told the Daily Beast that the allegations were “wildly unfair” and “flatly untrue.”The Post sent an e-mail to Gude on Friday citing the quote in question from the email that had been sent from Shakir’s account. He did not respond to the Post e-mail or to a follow-up telephone query.Critics accuse CAP of failing to combat rising anti-Israel sentiment among a group of bloggers who write about the Middle East and have created an anti-Jewish state environment at the mainstream policy organization. The e-mail conceding anti-Semitism at ThinkProgress underscores an internal rift at the think tank.In an e-mail to the Post last week, Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, wrote, “The prominence of CAP in the Obama administration has been recognized by news outlets like Time and Bloomberg News, both of which describe the think tank as the president’s ‘Ideas Factory.’ The fact that CAP has staffers who disseminate this kind of virulent, poisonous anti-Israel material points to a serious problem – that there is a strain of hostility toward Israel running through elements of the mainstream Democratic Party.”Matt Duss, director for the Middle East at CAP, compared Israel’s security policies to the racist “segregated South” in the United States. Duss declined to respond to queries about this statement on the ThinkProgress website. The disclosure of the e-mail from Shakir’s account comes after a series of dire developments for CAP’s reputation, culminating in sharp criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee and the Simon Wiesenthal Center – all of which slammed CAP for promoting hatred of Jews and Israel.Brooks said that “Liberals and Democrats who value their party’s reputation regarding national security and the US-Israel alliance have a lot of work to do. Unfortunately, it appears that elements who would irreparably damage that reputation have a foothold within an important mainstream Democratic institution.”David A. Harris, president of the National Jewish Democratic Council, wrote to the Post that “The words of these individuals [the bloggers] are deeply disturbing, and they were right to apologize for their remarks. However those who have not apologized for their remarks include Rep. Allen West (R-FL), who invoked Joseph Goebbels to attack Democrats in December, and far too many others on the right who have dragged abusive Holocaust rhetoric into our political discourse in recent years.”Harris said, “In truth, neither the Left nor the Right has a monopoly on rhetoric that American Jews rightly find disturbing – although through talk radio, presidential candidates and members of Congress, the Right seems to be trying to corner the market.”Steinberg said “it is highly unfortunate when individuals and organizations play politics with anti-Semitic rhetoric.“Pointing fingers and saying that others are more anti- Semitic is a sad attempt to distract from one’s own errors. This rhetoric adds to the destructive impact, and does nothing to remove this language from the public discourse.”Read the full story here.

• Obama Administration reaches out to Egypt’s Brotherhood 'out of necessity'; Islamists see further parliament gains.(AlArabiya).The United States is reaching out to the Muslim Brotherhood as the group gains political momentum in the parliamentary elections.“It’s clear that they (the Brotherhood) are now the only game in town,” and U.S. officials must talk to them, Marina Ottaway, who heads the Middle East program in Washington for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told AFP.Banned under deposed President Hosni Mubarak, the Brotherhood has emerged as a major political winner from the uprising that toppled him in the form of the well-organized Freedom and Justice Party.During the Mubarak era, Ottoway said that the U.S. administration had essentially “bought” the former president’s “line” that the Brotherhood and its links to Islamist militants were a threat to Egypt’s and the region’s stability, even though it had renounced violence decades ago.“The U.S. essentially backed Mubarak in its repression of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Ottaway said. U.S. officials had also turned down invitations by her think-tank to attend post-2005 meetings with Arab Islamist groups, including Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.“For the U.S. now to reach out to the Muslim Brotherhood is a big step, it’s a step that’s long overdue, but it’s a step that the United States has resisted,” she added. “It’s a huge change and they’re doing it out of necessity.”The Muslim Brotherhood said on Saturday it had won at least 41 percent of the seats in Egypt’s lower house of parliament, with Islamists of various stripes occupying almost two thirds of the assembly so far.The Brotherhood has promised that Egyptians of all persuasions will have their say and, while the strong Islamist performance has alarmed some Egyptians and Western governments that backed Mubarak, it is far from clear whether rival Islamists will cooperate in the new legislature. The Brotherhood’s Democratic Alliance list has won 41 percent of the seats so far, while another list led by the hardline Islamist Nour Party came second with 20 percent of the seats.Hmmmm....“It’s a huge change and they’re doing it out of necessity.”The fact that Huma Wiener's brother sits on the same board as Prominent Muslim Brotherhood theologian Shaikh Yousef al-Qaradawi has NOTHING to do with the policy change?Read the full story here.

• Muslim Brotherhood Denies Obama Administration's Claim That Egypt Will Honor Peace Treaty.(WorldJewishDaily).In another blow to the Obama administration's attempt to reassure its allies that the rise of Islamic parties throughout the Arab world is not a threat, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the victors in recent elections, has denied the administration's claim that it had agreed to honor Egypt's 1978 peace treaty with Israel.The Brotherhood's deputy leader Essam al-Erian,stated on Saturday that the accords "are under the responsibility of the people and state institutions, and it would not be right for anyone to speak on behalf of the Egyptian people... We are not in a position to give assurances."This would appear to be a confirmation of the Brotherhood's intention to put the treaty up for a national referendum, which the treaty would almost certainly lose, meaning that it would have to be renegotiated and/or a state of war would exist between Egypt and the Jewish state. The statement is also a brutal slap in the face of the Obama administration, which had claimed on Thursday that private reassurances had been given by the Brotherhood to the effect that they would honor the treaty.Reaction on the part of the administration to the Arab Spring in general has been haphazard and inconsistent, with Washington trapped between its desire to promote democracy and the increasing sense that the wave of uprisings will not bring democracy but rather Islamic theocracy to power throughout the Middle East.At the moment, however, the most pressing concern is maintaining the Egyptian-Israeli peace, which has been the cornerstone of the peace process and regional stability for over thirty years.At the moment, the prospects are not looking good. As YNet reports,Rashad al-Bayoumi, the Brotherhood's second in command, told Al-Hayat last week that "the Muslim Brotherhood will not recognize Israel under any circumstances and might put the peace treaty with the Jewish state up to a referendum."The Brotherhood, he added, "did not sign the peace accords… We are allowed to ask the people or the elected parliament to express their opinion on the treaty, and [to find out] whether it compromised the people's freedom and sovereignty. We will take the proper legal steps in dealing with the peace deal. To me, it isn't binding at all. The people will express their opinion on the matter."Hmmmm........Which one would you believe or trust - Obama or The Muslim Brotherhood?..........Exactly!Read the full story here.

• Thugocracy - Union Workers Received Nearly 8 Times As Many Obamacare Waivers As Those In The Private Sector.(DailyCaller).Labor unions continued to receive the overwhelming majority of waivers from the president’s health care reform law since the Obama administration tightened application rules last summer.Documents released in a classic Friday afternoon news dump show that labor unions representing 543,812 workers received waivers from President Barack Obama‘s signature legislation since June 17, 2011.By contrast, private employers with a total of 69,813 employees, many of whom work for small businesses, were granted waivers. [...]. By and large, unions backed the health care overhaul, a law from which nearly a half million of their workers are now exempt.Read the full story here.

• Thousands of US troops land in Israel. Aircraft carrier coming soon.(Debka).Thousands of US troops began descending on Israel this week. Senior US military sources told debkafile Friday, Jan. 6 that many would be staying up to the end of the year as part of the US-IDF deployment in readiness for a military engagement with Iran and its possible escalation into a regional conflict. They will be joined by a US aircraft carrier. The warplanes on its decks will fly missions with Israeli Air Force jets. The 9,000 US servicemen gathering in Israel in the coming weeks are mostly airmen, missile interceptor teams, marines, seamen, technicians and intelligence officers.The incoming American soldiers are officially categorized as participants in Austere Challenge 12, the biggest joint US-Israeli war game ever held.The maneuver was originally designated Juniper Stallion 2012. However, the altered name plus the comment heard from the exercise's commander, US Third Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank Gorenc, during his visit two weeks ago, that the coming event is more a "deployment" than an "exercise," confirmed that Washington has expanded its mission. The joint force will now be in place ready for a decision to attack Iran's nuclear installations or any war emergency.Our sources disclose that it was decided at the last minute in Washington and Jerusalem to announce the forthcoming Austere Challenge 12 on Thursday night, Jan. 5, ahead of the bulletin released by Tehran about another Iranian naval exercise at the Strait of Hormuz to take place in February, although its 10-day drill in the same arena only ended Monday, Jan. 2.The early release was decided in consultations among US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the two army chiefs, US Gen. Martin Dempsey and Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz.British Defense Minister Phillip Hammond, on a visit to Washington, was brought into the discussion.The handout circulated to US correspondents from Hammond's talks in the US capital affirmed that Britain stands ready to strike Iran if the Strait of Hormuz is closed.However, that phrase was omitted from the British minister's remarks at a news conference, following a last-minute request from Panetta, signifying the Obama administration's interest of keeping a low profile on plans for attacking Iran.Tehran too is walking a taut tightrope. It is staging military's maneuvers every few days to assuring the Iranian people that its leaders are fully prepared to defend the country against an American or Israeli strike on its national nuclear program. By this stratagem, Iran's ground, sea and air forces are maintained constantly at top war readiness to thwart any surprise attack.The joint US-Israeli drill will test multiple Israeli and US air defense systems against incoming missiles and rockets, according to the official communiqué.Hmmmm....... Calling it not just an “exercise”, but a “deployment”Now, it’s reported that the US military, including the US Navy, will be stationed throughout Israel.While American troops will be stationed in Israel for an unspecified amount of time.Has the Foreign Invasion of Israel Begun? What will happen when Obama gets a second Term?Will he divide Jerusalem?Split up Israel?Read the full story here.

• Flashback - Judaism: An Invasion of Israel? In 2012?INN April 12, 2011.(INN).Negative-seeming events may be the fulfillment of a prophecy that is a harbinger of redemption. Read on for a possible scenario in keeping with current and recent events and Biblical prophecy.Read the full story here.

• Iran: Underground nuclear site near operational.(JPost).Iran's underground uranium enrichment facility will start operations soon, a senior official was quoted by Iranian media on Sunday as saying, a move likely to increase tension between the Islamic state and the West over Tehran's nuclear ambitions."The Fordow nuclear enrichment plant will be operational in the near future ... 20 percent, 3.5 percent and four percent enriched uranium can be produced at this site," said the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation Fereydoun Abbasi Davani, the Kayhan daily reported.Iran has said for months that it is preparing to conduct uranium enrichment at Fordow, a protected site deep inside a mountain near the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Qom in central Iran.The United States and its allies say Iran is trying to build bombs, but Tehran insists its nuclear program is aimed at generating power.The inauguration of the site could block fresh nuclear talks with major powers aimed at resolving Iran's nuclear row through diplomacy. Iran has called for talks on its nuclear program with the permanent members of the Security Council and Germany (P5+1), which have been stalled for a year.Diplomats told Reuters on Friday that Iran was believed to have begun feeding uranium gas into centrifuges in Fordow in late December as part of final preparations to use the machines for enrichment.Iran is already refining uranium to a fissile purity of 20 percent - far more than the 3.5 percent level usually required to power nuclear energy plants - above ground at another location.Diplomats say it is moving this higher-grade enrichment to Fordow in an apparent bid to better protect the work against any enemy attacks. It also plans to sharply boost output capacity.The United States and Israel, Iran's arch foes, have not ruled out strikes against the Islamic state if diplomacy fails to resolve the dispute.Iran has been hit by four rounds of U.N. sanctions and the United States and the E.U. have imposed increasingly tight economic sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme.Iran disclosed the existence of Fordow to the IAEA only in September 2009 after learning that Western intelligence agencies had detected it. Read The full story here.

• Egypt wants new gas deal with Israel, wants increase of 30%.(BikyaMasr).CAIRO: After renegotiating successfully with Jordan, Egypt is looking to do the same with Israel over its controversial natural gas deal.Egypt’s Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab told the state-run al-Ahram newspaper that Cairo has already achieved new and equitable gas export deals with countries in the region and is hopeful that they can renegotiate a new deal with Israel.According to the minister’s office, the price of gas to Israel would rise to between $5-$10 per million metric thermal units (MMBTU) and “under no circumstances would he agree to a price lower than $5.”The announcement comes as activists continue to lash out at the Egyptian military junta over its continuing the deal with Israel that delivers natural gas to the neighboring country at rates well below international standards.Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is currently charged with corruption over the deal.“I think it is about time to change this, especially as the government is losing money from it and we are struggling as a country monetarily,” Ahmed Taha, an activist who has protested numerous times for the deal to be revoked, told Bikyamasr.com in a written statement. “We cannot continue a deal that is not benefiting us as a country,” he added.Ghorab said that Egypt “has succeeded in reaching an agreement to raise gas prices to at least $5 per MMBTU with every country in the region except for one.”Ghorab declined to name which country has not yet signed an agreement with Egypt, but as the ministry has already announced new deals with others, he was likely referring to Israel.“If I am not successful in altering the agreement with this country, I will resign my post,” he added.If the deal goes through, then the price Israel will pay Egypt for gas will be 30 percent higher than the previous price, and the price does not include brokerage fees Israel must pay the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG). Following the regime changes in Egypt, and the public uproar over the price of gas exports, the new Egyptian government was forced to open the existing agreements with countries in the region and to begin negotiations for updated prices.Hmmm......By 2013 Israel will have it's own gas from the Tamar field , i wonder to whom Egypt will sell their gas at that time?Read the full story here.

• Hamas leader’s Tunisia visit angers Palestinian officials.(AlArabiya).A visit by Gaza’s Hamas leader has angered the official Palestinian representatives in Tunisia who say they were ignored during the talks with the new government, a Palestinian source said Saturday.Ismail Haniya, prime minister in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, visited Tunis Thursday to meet with the new moderate Islamist-led administration while he was on a tour of the region.But that did not sit well with representatives of the Palestinian Authority led by president Mahmud Abbas.“The Palestinians are furious. Neither the government nor the foreign ministry, nor the (Islamist) Ennahda party informed them of the dates and program of Haniya’s visit, as they should have,” the Palestinian source told AFP.Another source told the Arabic language newspaper Le Maghreb that the lack of communication could hamper reconciliation efforts going on between Hamas and Abbas’s Fatah party.Haniya was welcomed with much fanfare on his arrival in Tunis, where he was met by Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali and the head of Ennahda, Rached Ghannouchi.Some Tunisian media also questioned the purpose of Haniya’s visit, whether it was to talk with the government or the Islamist party.Questioned by AFP, a government source said the Hamas leader “was invited by Tunisia and by the Ennahda party.”Haniya’s six-country tour marked his first travel abroad since Hamas, seen as terrorist group by Western powers, took power in Gaza in 2007. According to his office it was aimed at raising funds to rebuild Gaza City, devastated by an Israeli offensive three years ago.But the Hamas takeover of Gaza politically divided the Palestinian territories, with Abbas’s Fatah left largely ruling the West Bank and recognized internationally as the official Palestinian authority.In April, following years of bitter rivalry, the two factions signed a reconciliation deal whose implementation has since stalled.Last month, Abbas met Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in Cairo and the two agreed on a process that could pave the way for the Islamist group to join a reformed Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and for long-delayed Palestinian elections.Tunis was the headquarters of the exiled PLO under Yasser Arafat before the 1993 Oslo accords with Israel granted Palestinian autonomy in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.Read the full story here.

• Senior US official to visit Ankara for talks.(TZ).US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns is due to visit Ankara tomorrow (Monday) for talks with Turkish officials, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday.Citing diplomatic sources, Anatolia said Burns will spend 30 hours in Turkey, having talks with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu.Burns' visit to Ankara comes following Davutoğlu's talks with top Iranian officials in Tehran last week, following which Davutoğlu said talks between Iran and major world powers on Tehran's nuclear program will resume soon. In remarks published in a Japanese newspaper on Sunday, Davutoğlu said both sides have agreed to resume talks soon in Turkey.In addition to Iran, developments in Iraq and Syria are also expected to be discussed during Burns' visit to Turkey.Hmmmm.....Discussing the 'oil waiver' deal ...don't forget to mention the 'reelect obama' fund?Read the full story here.

• Israel - Palestinian nabbed with 11 explosive devices.(YNet).A Palestinian was arrested by Military Police and Border Guard officers Sunday morning at the entrance to a checkpoint in the Jenin area in possession of an improvised gun, a commando knife and 11 explosive devices of different sizes.Three other men suspected of aiding him were also detained. According to suspicions, the four were on their way to carry out a terror attack. The checkpoint has been closed.After being arrested at the entrance to the Salem crossing in the Jenin area, the suspects were taken in for questioning by the security forces. The explosive devices they were carrying were destroyed. The devices were found in the Salem crossing, where Palestinians wait in line for the Jenin Military Court, located nearby. It's unclear whether the court was the target of the attack.A Military Police soldier spotted the four Palestinians trying to enter the checkpoint and wires sticking out of the clothes of one of them. He ordered him to lift up his hands and undress and found three pipe bombs on his body. A search of the Palestinian's bag revealed eight more pipe bombs, a knife and an improvised gun. The four Palestinians were locked in the building and police sappers were dispatched to the area. The other three Palestinians were not carrying anything on their body, but were questioned on suspicion of aiding the man caught with the explosives. A senior officer explained that this was an unusual incident. "Eleven devices is an exceptional amount in one time. We've had incidents this year of three or four devices seized at the same time.Last week, a Border Guard force arrested a Jenin resident on suspicion of planning a stabbing attack in Beersheba. The man was located in a hideout in the southern city and taken in for questioning by the Shin Bet, as was another Palestinian arrested at the Shoket Junction. Hmmmm......Obama's 'peacepartners'.Read the full story here.

• The Geo-Politics of the Strait of Hormuz: Could the U.S. Navy be defeated by Iran in the Persian Gulf?(GR).by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya.U.S. naval strength, which includes the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard, has primacy over all the other navies and maritime forces in the world. Its deep sea or oceanic capabilities are unparalleled and unmatched by any other naval power. Primacy does not mean invincibility. U.S. naval forces in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf are nonetheless vulnerable.Despite its might and shear strength, geography literally works against U.S. naval power in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. The relative narrowness of the Persian Gulf makes it like a channel, at least in a strategic and military context. Figuratively speaking, the aircraft carriers and warships of the U.S. are confined to narrow waters or are closed in within the coastal waters of the Persian Gulf. This is where the Iranian military’s advanced missile capabilities come into play. The Iranian missile and torpedo arsenal would make short work of U.S. naval assets in the waters of the Persian Gulf where U.S. vessels are constricted. This is why the U.S. has been busily erecting a missile shield system in the Persian Gulf amongst the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the last few years.Even the small Iranian patrol boats in the Persian Gulf, which appear pitiable and insignificant against a U.S. aircraft carrier or destroyer, threaten U.S. warships. Looks can be deceiving; these Iranian patrol boats can easily launch a barrage of missiles that could significantly damage and effectively sink large U.S. warships. Iranian small patrol boats are also hardly detectable and hard to target.Iranian forces could also attack U.S. naval capabilities merely by launching missile attacks from the Iranian mainland on the northern shores of the Persian Gulf. Even in 2008 the Washington Institute for Near East Policy acknowledged the threat from Iran’s mobile coastal missile batteries, anti-ship missiles, and missile-armed small ships. Other Iranian naval assets like aerial drones, hovercraft, mines, diver teams, and mini-submarines could also be used in asymmetrical naval warfare against the U.S. Fifth Fleet. Even the Pentagon’s own war simulations have shown that a war in the Persian Gulf with Iran would spell disaster for the United States and its military. One key example is the Millennium Challenge 2002 (MC02) war game in the Persian Gulf, which was conducted from July 24, 2002 to August 15, 2002 and took almost two years to prepare. This mammoth drill was amongst the largest and most expensive war games ever held by the Pentagon. Millennium Challenge 2002 was held shortly after the Pentagon had decided that it would continue the momentum of the war in Afghanistan by targeting Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, and finishing off with the big prize of Iran in a broad military campaign to ensure U.S. primacy in the new millennium.After Millennium Challenge 2002 was finished, the war game was "officially" presented as a simulation of a war against Iraq under the rule of President Saddam Hussein, but in actuality these war games pertained to Iran. The U.S. had already made assessments for the upcoming Anglo-American invasion of Iraq. Moreover, Iraq had no naval capabilities that would merit such large-scale use of the U.S. Navy.Millennium Challenge 2002 was conducted to simulate a war with Iran, which was codenamed “Red” and referred to an unknown Middle Eastern rogue enemy state in the Persian Gulf. Other than Iran, no other country could meet the perimeters and characteristics of “Red” and its military forces, from the patrol boats to the motorcycle units. The war simulation took place because Washington was planning on attacking Iran soon after invading Iraq in 2003.The scenario in the 2002 war game started with the U.S., codenamed “Blue,” giving Iran a one-day ultimatum to surrender in the year 2007. The war game’s date of 2007 would chronologically correspond to U.S. plans to attack Iran after the Israeli attack on Lebanon in 2006, which was to extend, according to military plans, into a broader war against Syria. too. The war against Lebanon, however, did not go as planned and the U.S. and Israel realized that if Hezbollah could challenge them in Lebanon then an expanded war with Syria and Iran would be a disaster.In Millennium Challenge 2002’s war scenario, Iran would react to U.S. aggression by launching a massive barrage of missiles that would overwhelm the U.S. and destroy sixteen U.S. naval vessels – an aircraft carrier, ten cruisers, and five amphibious ships. It is estimated that if this had happened in real war theater context, more than 20,000 U.S. servicemen would have been killed in the first day following the attack.  Next, Iran would send its small patrol boats – the ones that look insignificant in comparison to the U.S.S. John C. Stennis and other large U.S. warships – to overwhelm the remainder of the Pentagon’s naval forces in the Persian Gulf, which would result in the damaging and sinking of most of the U.S. Fifth Fleet and the defeat of the United States. After the U.S. defeat, the war games were started over again, but “Red” (Iran had to operate under the assumption of handicaps and shortcomings, so that U.S. forces would be allowed to emerge victorious from the drill.  This outcome of the war games obviated the fact that the U.S. would have been overwhelmed in the context of a real conventional war with Iran in the Persian Gulf.Hence, the formidable naval power of Washington is handicapped both by geography as well Iranian military capabilities when it comes to fighting in the Persian Gulf or even in much of the Gulf of Oman. Without open waters, like in the Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. will have to fight under significantly reduced response times and, more importantly, will not be able to fight from a stand-off (militarily safe) distance. Thus, entire tool boxes of U.S. naval defensive systems, which were designed for combat in open waters using stand-off ranges, are rendered unpractical in the Persian Gulf.Hmmmm.......Whoever sold Iran Bladerunner 51, the British-built speedboat hailed among the fastest in the world was a moron.Since 2002's war game Iran has been modernising and expanding it's weapons arsenal.Read the full story here.

• Russian naval flotilla docks in Syria: state media.(AlArabiya).A large Russian naval flotilla led by an aircraft carrier has docked in the Syrian port of Tartus in what Damascus state media hailed on Sunday as a show of solidarity by close ally Moscow.The six-day port call by the carrier group in the Mediterranean port where Russia has a recently expanded naval base is intended to boost ties at a time when President Bashar al-Assad’s government is under mounting Western and Arab pressure over its bloody crackdown on dissent, the Syrian press said.“The port call is aimed at bringing the two countries closer together and strengthening their ties of friendship,” the official SANA news agency quoted a Russian naval officer it named as Yakushin Vladimir Anatolievich as saying.“The commanders of the Russian naval vessels docked in Tartus took turns to express their solidarity with the Syrian people,” the news agency added.The governor of Tartus province, Atef al-Nadaf, paid tribute to the “honorable position adopted by Russia which has stood by the Syrian people.”The Al-Watan newspaper, which is privately owned but close to the government, reported last week that the carrier Admiral Kuznetsov was escorted by a large flotilla including submarines.Despite strong Western criticism, Russia has stood by its Cold War ally in the face of a mounting international outcry over the death toll from security force efforts to crush nearly 10 months of anti-government protests.In October, Moscow joined Beijing in vetoing a Western-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution that would have threatened Damascus with “targeted measures” if it failed to rein in its security forces.Read the full story here.

• Jamaica 'to cut ties with British monarchy'.(AlYazeera).Jamaica's new prime minister has said that it is time for her country to cut ties with the British monarchy and declare itself an independent republic.Speaking at her inaugural address on Friday, Portia Simpson Miller, said her government would "initiate the process of detachment from the monarchy", establishing a republic with a president as head of state, and breaking off links with the former colonial power.Jamaica is a constitutional parliamentary democracy and also a Commonwealth realm."I love the Queen. She's a beautiful lady and apart from being a beautiful lady a wise lady and a wonderful lady. But I think time come," Simpson Miller said.Currently under Jamaica's constitution, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state, and the prime minister is formally appointed by the governor-general, who represents the queen.The announcement comes ahead of celebrations to mark 50 years of the country's independence from the UK.Simpson Miller, taking over for her second term as prime minister, won a landslide victory in an election last week that largely pivoted on public discontent with Jamaica's ailing economy and massive debt.The unemployment rate currently stands at about 13 per cent, up from under 10 per cent in 2007, when the centre-right Jamaica Labour Party, the previous ruling party, won power. Its public debt stands at $18.6bn of gross domestic product."In the short and medium term, we will use all state resources to stimulate employment through the Jamaica Emergency Employment Program," Simpson Miller said after taking the oath of office. "We will do so in a transparent and non-partisan manner."Nearly half of all Jamaicans (43 per cent) live under the poverty line of $2.50 per day, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report.Reaching a new agreement with the IMF on Jamaica's debt is one of the new government's top priorities, Omar Davies, the official in charge of the transition, told reporters on Wednesday.New talks with the global lender are set to begin on Monday, with Jamaica represented by Peter Phillips, the country's new finance minister. Phillips has held several cabinet posts in previous administrations.In the December 28 election, Simpson Miller's People's National Party secured 41 seats, two-thirds of the total, in the House of Representatives.She succeeds Andrew Holness, 39, the youngest-ever prime minister of the country.Read and see (video) the full story here.