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Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow on Monday where the issue of Middle East peace talks will be raised, Russian authorities announced Thursday. “The two leaders will hold talks concerning key aspects of Russian-Palestinian relations and their future, with particular attention on the trade, economy and humanitarian sectors,” the Kremlin said in a statement according to AFP. There will also be “an exchange of ideas on the process of Israeli-Palestinian talks and other problematic regional situations,” the statement continued, adding that North Africa would also be on the agenda. …

At the White House Easter Prayer Breakfast this week, President Obama addressed a room full of Christian leaders. What was clearly scripted to be a general Easter address came dangerously close to political posturing. During his remarks, the President shared that, “on Easter, I do reflect on the fact that as a Christian, I am supposed to love. And I have to say that sometimes when I listen to less than loving expressions by Christians, I get concerned. But that's a topic for another day.” What followed was spirited laughter, as Obama’s quip was largely understood as a reference to...

Full Title: Revealed: Hillary Clinton's State Department refused over and over to brand Al Qaeda group that kidnapped 300 girls in Nigeria as 'terrorists' Under then-Secretary Hillary Clinton, the U.S. State Department repeatedly refused to add the Nigerian al-Qaeda affiliate group Boko Haram – the organization responsible for the recent kidnapping of more than 300 young girls – to its official list of terrorist organizations. In November 2013, current Secretary John Kerry did what Clinton wouldn't. Boko Haram is the group that has claimed responsibility for kidnapping hundreds of girls in Nigeria, promising to sell them into slavery. The Daily...

The European Union observer group to the 2015 general elections in Nigeria has described President Goodluck Jonathan's conduct as a shining example that other world leaders should emulate. Leader of the delegation, Mr Santiago Fisas, gave the commendation after holding a closed-door meeting with the out-going President in his office. The five-man delegation was at the Presidential Villa to congratulate Dr. Jonathan for allowing a peaceful electoral process and conceding defeat. The group, which came to present the preliminary report on the outcome of the elections, said that the fact that President Jonathan conceded defeat saved Nigeria from degenerating into...

Boko Haram fighters have been murdering dozens of young women and girls they had taken as 'wives' and using children as 'expendable cannon fodder', the U.N.'s human rights chief said today. As the Islamist militant group has retreated from parts of northeastern Nigeria, 'gruesome scenes of mass graves and further evident signs of slaughter,' has been brought to light, Zeid Raad al-Hussein told a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. Boko Haram's reported use of children as shields and human bombs would, if confirmed, constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. This comes in response to...

Boko Haram was a vehicle for Muslim political interests inside and outside Nigeria to destabilize the oil-rich country. By the end, even the Obama administration made it clear that Muhammadu Buhari, the Muslim ex-dictator who had seized power in a coup before being overthrown, was their choice. Simpson reports that Secretary of State John Kerry “made a mockery of the administration’s pretext by hinting in January meetings with both Jonathan and Buhari that the Obama administration might allow weapon sales after the election.” Now the election came out their way, but the weapons sales may be surplus to requirements. Boko...

A spokesman for Gen Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC) party praised Mr Jonathan, saying: "He will remain a hero for this move. The tension will go down dramatically." The APC issued a statement after the result was announced, calling for "calm, sober celebrations" and warning supporters not to attack opponents. "He or she is not with me, whoever does that," the new president said. ... It is the fourth time the former military ruler, 72, has sought the presidency. He ruled Nigeria from January 1984 until August 1985, taking charge after a military coup in December 1983. Mr Jonathan had...

In the dangerous last two years of Obama's presidency, things could go from bad to worse. His allies are now backing a pro-Sharia populist in Nigeria's presidential election, with potentially disastrous results On Saturday, Nigerians will go to the polls to choose their president. The race pits an incumbent with an imperfect record against a former military dictator who has flirted with Islamism. As with the recent election in Israel, alumni of Obama are aiding the challenger -- and not because he would make the region safer. The decision Nigerians will make this weekend matters greatly, both for themselves and...

Saudi Arabia accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of hypocrisy on Sunday, telling an Arab summit that he should not express support for the Middle East while fuelling instability by supporting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. In a rare move, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that a letter from Putin would be read out to the gathering in Egypt, where Arab leaders discussed an array of regional crises, including conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Libya. "We support the Arabs' aspirations for a prosperous future and for the resolution of all the problems the Arab world faces through peaceful means, without any...

The former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency on Sunday described President Obama's Middle East policy as one of "willful ignorance," saying the administration needs a clearer strategy for dealing with conflicts emerging across the region. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said during an interview on "Fox News Sunday" that recent developments in the Middle East are moving in a bad direction for the United States, with Iran "clearly on the march" to influence events in a "regional sectarian war." “At the end of the day, we have just this incredible policy confusion — never mind what our strategy is to...

(Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused Iran on Thursday of trying to dominate the Middle East and said its efforts have begun annoying Ankara, as well as Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab countries. Turkey earlier said it supports the Saudi-led military operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen and called on the militia group and its "foreign supporters" to abandon acts which threaten peace and security in the region. "Iran is trying to dominate the region," said Erdogan, who is due to visit Tehran in early April. "Could this be allowed? This has begun annoying us, Saudi Arabia and the...

In recent years it has become increasingly clear that the Jihadists have targeted the African continent. On September 11, 2001, the groups Al Shabaab, Boko Haram, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar al Shariah and the Islamic State were not just unheard of–they didn’t even exist. Today these groups are waging Jihad, killing thousands in their drives to establish Islamic rule under Shariah law… This development didn’t just “happen.” The rise of Jihad was promoted and financed. Africa is becoming a battleground because the global Jihadist movement has targeted it. At least one analyst reports that Al Qaeda, the...

The full-scale social engineering of President Barack Hussein Obama in the elections of countries where he has no business being seeks to install radical Islamists to power. Even though it’s s a provable deadly blueprint that’s putting the West at great risk, no one is calling him on it. Obama’s been on the trail of replacing Christian leaders with Islamic ones before he became president, starting with Kenya where he actively campaigned to elect Islamic defender Raila Odinga in 2007. Obama got away with it because following a violent post-electoral crisis, Odinga took office as Prime Minister in April...

When the notorious Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, kidnapped 278 school girls [1] from the town of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria last year, Michelle Obama began a Twitter hashtag campaign [2], #BringBackOurGirls. But behind the scenes, the Obama administration was undermining Nigeria’s efforts to take the battle to the terrorists. Obama refused to sell Nigeria arms and supplies critical to the fight, and stepped in to block other Western allies from doing so. The administration also denied Nigeria intelligence [3] on Boko Haram from drones operating in the area. While Boko Haram was kidnapping school girls, the U.S. cut petroleum...

Follow link to read article with complete links to sourced material: NiceDeb: The reason Obama hasn't been helping Nigeria fight Boko Haram will make you sickAccording to Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, more than 13,000 people have been killed in the Boko Haram insurgency since 2009. Some estimates put the carnage as high as 17,000 deaths. Between July 2013 and June 2014 alone, an estimated 7,000 people died in incidents related to the insurgency. Boko Haram – which means “Western education is forbidden” – recently pledged allegiance to ISIS. When these formidable jihadists rampaged through Nigeria, last year – kidnapping schoolgirls,...

The world’s three most infamous terrorist organizations are working together at Al-Qaeda-run training camps in the Sahara Desert in Mauritania, where dozens of recruits from the U.S., Canada and Europe are being indoctrinated into violent jihad and training for attacks that could expand the so-called caliphate across North and West Africa, according to analysts. ISIS, Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda all have links to two camps in the remote sands of the expansive North African country, according to Veryan Khan, editorial director for the Florida-based Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium, which tracks international terrorism and had a source on the ground...

Locals from Damasak reported that the militant Islamic group passed through town shortly after troops from Niger and Chad secured it. Group members killed 50 and kidnapped 400 to 500 women and children as they left. Damasak had recently been freed by troops from Chad and Niger. Souleymane Ali, a local trader, told Reuters that the militants took 506 women and children, and killed about 50 of them. “We don’t know if they killed others after leaving, but they took the rest with them,” he added.

Dozens of Nigerian women who were forced to marry Boko Haram fighters were reportedly slaughtered by their 'husbands' before a battle with troops in the northeast town of Bama. Witnesses said the Islamist militants feared they would be killed by advancing soldiers or separated from their wives when they fled the town. They killed the women to prevent them from subsequently marrying soldiers or other so-called non-believers, they said. Sharifatu Bakura, 39, said: 'The terrorists said they will not allow their wives to be married to infidels.'

DC political insiders believe that if President Barack Obama truly seeks compromise with Republicans, he should begin by ditching White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett. It goes without saying that Jarrett, the president's longtime trusted confidante, political ally, and family friend, is a divisive figure inside the beltway. Calls for her dismissal have been rampant since the president began his second term -- and even before then. It is a demand still ignored by the White House.

Nigeria has drafted “hundreds of mercenaries from South Africa” in its fight against Boko Haram. South Africans have a long-standing reputation as being among the best mercenaries in the world, and have been present in one form or another in most African conflicts for the past two decades.