NATO will go ahead with its plans to deploy a fully-fledged missile defense network in Europe despite the recent agreement with Tehran aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told Sputnik on Friday.
'MOSCOW (Sputnik), Alexander Mosesov — The spokeswoman reiterated that the so-called European missile shield is not directed against Russia.
"The threat to NATO countries posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles continues to increase… The framework [Iran nuclear program] agreement does not change that fact," Lungescu said.
On Thursday, Tehran and the P5+1 countries, comprising Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, France and Germany agreed a political framework for a comprehensive agreement aimed at ensuring the peaceful nature of Iranian nuclear activities.
In December 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Washington had created threats for Russia by expanding its missile defense shield, placing elements in Eastern Europe, close to the Russian border.
However, NATO earlier claimed that the system was primarily aimed at protecting its allies, countering threats from Iran and North Korea.
Forget all the nonsense and hoopla about the Apple Watch or the GM stock buy-back. Far and away the most important economic story of the week is one you won’t find on the front page of Bloomberg or MarketWatch. New reports indicate that China is ready to launch its SWIFT alternative, and for those who have their ear to the ground this is the most significant move yet in the unfolding process of de-dollarization that is seeing the BRICS-led “resistance bloc” breaking away from the financial stranglehold of the US-led “Washington Consensus.”
For those who don’t know, SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication and is shorthand for the SWIFTNet Network that is used by over 10,500 financial institutions in 215 countries and territories to transmit financial transaction data around the world. SWIFT does not do any of the clearing or processing for these transactions itself, but instead sends the payment orders that are then settled by correspondent banks of the member institutions. Still, given the system’s near universality in the financial system, it means that virtually every international transaction between banking institutions goes through the SWIFT network.
This is why de-listing from the SWIFT network remains one of the primary financial weapons wielded by the US and its allies in their increasingly important financial warfare campaigns. In 2012, SWIFT agreed to de-list 30 Iranian financial institutions (including the central bank) from their network as part of the US/EU-led sanctions on Tehran, a move that was meant to stop billions of dollars’ worth of oil and export sales from being repatriated into the country and bring Iranian business to a standstill. Throughout the recent tensions between the US bloc and Russia over the civil war in Ukraine, the idea that SWIFT could similarly de-list Russian banks has been repeatedlyfloated as a potential next step for the US and its allies.
Of course, SWIFT is nominally “independent” from any government entity and thus does not have to follow the dictates of Washington or anyone else pursuing their own personal vendettas in the financial arena. In practice, however, SWIFT put up no resistance whatsoever and obligingly complied with the Iranian sanctions request despite the fact that the blockade was repeatedly ruled illegal by the EU’s own courts. Does anyone doubt that, despite their protestations to the contrary, they would do any different if push came to shove with Russia? This is precisely why Moscow, Beijing and other countries in the cross hairs have been floating ideas of their own, namely the creation of an alternative payment network that bypasses SWIFT.
Now it seems that talk is materializing into something very real. Called the China International Payment System, the CIPS network is meant to facilitate cross-border transactions specifically in yuan and the latest reports suggest that the system is already in place and could be launched as early as this September.
If and when CIPS is launched, the results could be world historical in nature. Firstly it provides the Kremlin and other US/EU/NATO/Israeli enemies a potential alternative safe haven from the crippling sanctions that hang over their head in the current environment. Secondly, it brings the yuan one step closer to being a fully-convertible currency, something that Beijing has been scrambling to achieve since the currency was rejected from the IMF’s SDR basket following the last reconsideration of that basket in 2010. And finally, it further solidifies China as the center of the worldwide “resistance bloc” to the current status quo.
It’s hard to underestimate just how important CIPS will be to making the yuan a major player on the global stage. Rather than having to clear yuan payments through correspondent banks in China or through specially designated clearing houses in Hong Kong or Europe or elsewhere, payments will now be nearly instantaneous through any CIPS-listed financial institution anywhere in the world.
Sadly, most alternative news outlets will end their analysis here, as if the creation of this alternate payment system in opposition to the US/EU/NATO/Israeli superpower’s hegemon is an unmitigated good. But such an analysis relies on the assumption that the BRICS resistance bloc has motivations and intentions that are truly different than the existing power structure, and not merely rivalrous to it. As viewers of The Corbett Report’s podcast on “China and the New World Order” will note, China has been carefully positioned over the course of the past half century to be the “engine of the New World Order” and many of the (nominally) “American” oligarchs and political power-players who helped construct the current status quo have been puppeteering and overseeing the rise of the Chinese dragon since the days of Mao. And as we have discussed before, the players who have been dominating world finance for decades (if not centuries) are not stupid; they are deliberately engineering the West’s downfall in order to bring about their dreamed-of world governmental and world financial system.
Now those who are concerned about the US-bloc’s superpower status and its seemingly monolithic control over the highly-centralized financial system represented by institutions like SWIFT are being asked to put their faith in an “alternative” system of centralized control that happens to be in the hands of Beijing. But let’s imagine that, somehow, in some way, the Chinese Communists were actually artfully deluding the Kissingers and the Brzezinskis and the other paymasters and chessmasters of China’s economic “miracle” and actually did intend to use their new-found power for themselves. To what end would they possibly use it? As a series of billboards popping up around Bangkok and other locations in recent months suggest, it is nothing less than to create a “New World Currency” to further consolidate their power on the international stage. Meet the New New World Order, same as the Old New World Order. Either way, all you get is centralized power-hungry tyrants lording over centralized bureaucracies like the IMF, the World Bank, the SDR, SWIFT, CIPS, the BRICS bank or the “people’s currency” of the yuan.
But what if there was a truly alternative way around the SWIFT hegemon?
As it turns out, many Iranian banks have circumvented the SWIFT sanction in an almost embarrassingly simple way. Instead of using the SWIFT system to send and receive their payment orders, they simply pick up the phone or send an email. Yes, it is less efficient and takes a bit longer to do, but it works just as well and there’s nothing that SWIFT or anyone else can do to prevent banks from communicating directly with one another. Chalk this extremely simple workaround up as another victory for the concept of the “peer-to-peer economy” that we talked about in these pages in recent weeks. When people (or organizations or institutions) can communicate directly, instantaneously and globally, the need for centralized bureaucracies like “SWIFT” or “CIPS” disappears just as assuredly as the horse-and-buggy or the zeppelin disappeared with the advent of the modern car or airplane.
Keep your eye on these pages for more on the CIPS system as it develops, and keep your eye on The Corbett Report podcast for an upcoming episode where I delve into the not-so-happy reality of “The BRICS and the New World Order.”
Most of us have seen the images as America descends into a new level of tyranny under the cloud of Jade Helm 15 (JH 15) as the loyal American states of Texas and Utah are declared to be “hostile” states.
We have seen the dissident extraction drills in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Did you ever think you would see this in America?
We have seen the nighttime black helicopter extraction transport drills.
We are seeing the relative emergence of what is referred to as FEMA camp “Death Domes” designed to house thousands of detainees.
We know from leaked documents that FEMA Camps are present all over the nation.
FEMA Camps will soon outnumber the banks that will be left standing.
From Army Manual 3-39.40, Internment/Resettlement document, we even have the floor plans for FEMA camps.
FM 3-39.4 ARMY MAP OF FEMA CAMP DESIGN AND LAYOUT
We are even aware that extensive plans have been made for our final resting place.
NOW THAT YOU UNDERSTAND, THE CHRONOLOGY, THE INTENT AND THE NATURE OF THE GLOBALIST PLANS FOR US, THERE IS ONE REMAINING QUESTION:
WHAT ARE YOUR ODDS OF SURVIVING IN A FEMA CAMP?
Are You Ready?
Are you ready for the coming tyrannical crackdown and the complete evisceration of our constitutional liberties? Have you taken the proper precautions that will ensure the safety of you and your family? It is not likely that very many of us have taken any meaningful steps to maximize our chances for survival in what will prove to be humanity’s darkest days. Do you have what it takes to survive in a re-education camp?
When the Wackenhut bus rolls into your neighborhood at 3AM, are you prepared to deal with what lies ahead? Let’s assume for a second that martial law is fully enacted and you were not able to find a safe sanctuary and that you are arrested by the powers that be. Have you considered what will happen?
Your family members will be separated by the authorities as a prelude to sending you to their detention facilities, and that means that men will go to one facility, and women will go to another. Children will have their own facility awaiting them. Remember, the state owns your children and they have declared so in their Agenda 21 documents. In all likelihood, this will mark the last time you will ever see your family. How do I know this? Read theRex 84 documents. The government tells you in plain language what they plan to do with you and your family.
The Two Biggest Threats to Your Survival Are Psychological
Imagine how a man who is deprived of everyone he has ever cared about, and at the same time this man has lost his house and all of his possessions, how will he survive? There are two primary dangers facing detainees and the biggest danger consists of bad luck and your showers will actually emit cyanide instead of water. And the second danger detainees will face is the loss of hope as we succumb and let go of life. For how will you find meaning in your life,when you’re separated from everything you’ve ever known and loved?
If you are sent to the camps in the upcoming clamp down, there are things you can do to exercise control over the things of which you have influence. The Jews, placed in the NAZI death camps, were a very resilient people and were able to manufacture their own subculture while in the death camp.
There Were Resisters to the Forced Incarcerations
There were those, however, that did resist as they ran from the relocation trains, and/or attacked their captors. In almost every instance, resisting authorities at the time of arrest was almost 100% fatal most often ending with a bullet in the back of their head.
Within the death camps, a legitimate subculture appeared as the people played cards and actors, musicians, comics, singers, and dancers all entertained small groups who came together for a few hours to forget their dehumanization. Inmates formed close relationships with one another and this was their grass roots form of resistance.
The voices of history are clear, if you’re ever forced into a re-education camp, pray for good luck and develop meaningful relationships among your fellow detainees and find pleasure in the small things over which you will have some measure of control.
Some Inmates Resisted
If you allowed yourself to be taken to a camp, could you organize a resistance and somehow win your freedom? There were some that tried just that. However, the results were not promising.
In Treblinka, seven hundred Jews were successful in blowing up the camp on August 2, 1943. All but 150 of the inmates perished in retaliation for their efforts. Only 12 Treblinka inmates survived the war. InSobibor, Jewish and Russian inmates mounted an escape on October 14, 1943. One in ten successfully escaped, about 60 out of 600. The prisoners involved in the escape survived to join the Soviet underground. In Auschwitz, on October 7, 1944, one of the four crematoria was blown up by Jewish workers, whose job it was to clear away the bodies of gas chamber victims. The workers were all caught and 100% of them were killed.
The lesson seems clear, if you allow yourself to be taken, you’re probably not coming out of the experience alive.
What is the lesson that one should draw? First, do not get caught and I know that is easier said than done. Secondly, some will survive, not many, by choosing to go along to get along. Third, you can try to escape. To survive by going along to get along, requires a fair amount of luck to survive. From my perspective, I believe history teaches that mounting an organized escape effort may be the best chance for survival that an inmate has coming out of the death camp experience, alive.
Community Resistance?
Can a community mount a successful resistance? Despite the stereotype which betrays all Jews as meekly going to their death, there were plenty of communities which mounted a resistance. For example, on September 3, 1942, seven hundred Jewish families escaped from the Tuchin Ghetto, located in Ukraine. However, the Nazis hunted them down, and only 15 survived.
By 1943, the residents in the famous Warsaw Ghetto, had organized an army of about 1,000 men, mostly unarmed and without military equipment. In January 1943, German soldiers entered the ghetto to round up more Jews for shipment to the death camps. They were met by a volley of bombs, Molotov cocktails, and a few bullets from the sparse number of firearms which had been smuggled into the ghettos. Twenty German soldiers were killed. The action encouraged a few members of the Polish resistance to support the uprising, and a few machine guns, some hand grenades, and about a hundred rifles and revolvers were smuggled in.
The Germans returned with almost 3,000 veteran German troops and overcame the resistance. It is true that nearly 300 Germans were killed. However, Jewish losses were estimated at 15,000. Some Jews survived and some actually did escape, but not many.
More Thoughts
What is the takeaway from these experiences? Unfortunately, it is an almost certain death sentence if one allows themselves to be incarcerated by a ruthless totalitarian regime. We have seen that resistance at the point of arrest is futile. Armed and organized resistance which includes community involvement, produces long odds for survival, but some do survive. Resisting captors inside of the concentration camp, by any means necessary, is nearly fatal in every case. Acquiescing to authority, while one carves out a life under very dire circumstances, provides the best chance for survival. And for those of us who are naturally resistant to tyranny. this is a bitter pill to swallow! However, and even under these conditions, one’s survival is highly dependent on being lucky.
The best chance for survival if you are ever transported to a detention center, is to avoid being caught in the first place. Two out of every three Jews hidden survived the war. the lesson here is that as society begins to fragment, parents can enhance the survival of their children by bequeathing them to close friends who are not “enemies of the state”.
The Independent reported, that at least 764 people escaped the Holocaust by leaping from trains, a surprising figure, but it is based on data drawn from new research. It appears that escaping during transport, although not commonplace, does provide one with one of the best chances for survival.
Was this the escape proof loophole closed by FEMA, in 2012, when they ordered 102,000 box cars with shackles?
Conclusion
I predict that there will come a time in America when we will regret the day that we did not resist the bankster controlled government while we still had the means and that would have been prior to DHS acquiring 2.2 billion rounds of ammunition. Perhaps your survival instinct should kick in and stand up the tyranny that is staring us square in the face. Perhaps we should all learn a valuable lesson in history and never give up our guns. Perhaps we can pray for the Second Coming!
I think that there is no doubt that September and October will herald a global event that will have a lasting effect for years to come. Prophecy, numerology, history, astrological alignments and occult events all have proven themselves to predict future crises and point to a series of events in the autumn of 2015. If what Pastor Williams’ and many researchers and analysts have been saying is true we are about to witness something potentially catastrophic.
Around the world events are happening including:
Alternative SWIFT payments system in China and in Russia bypassing the US dollar. This shows the world that the US dollar is replaceable as a reserve currency.
Britain, France, Germany, Italy and over thirty other nations have joined the Chinese-led AIIB development bank as founders (against the wishes of the US).
Austria’s Hypo bank went bust (in 1929 an Austrian bank Creditanstalt went bust leading to the great depression).
0% interest rates always cause deflation (except to things people actually buy, like food).
With 0% interest rates the wealth/income gap increases, dollar increases in value (bubble), social unrest flares up.
The surging dollar is a signal that a colossal financial event is just around the corner. The biggest quarterly gains since 1992. The dollar gains against other currencies pretty much only happen during periods of extreme geopolitical distress.
G20 declared money deposited in banks assets of the bank.
Banks can no longer be declared bankrupt. The banks can be refinanced by bail-ins using depositors’ money or be bought out.
Congress passed a spending bill that makes the American taxpayer responsible for any derivative losses that a bank may suffer.
The US Treasury has ordered survival kits for employees of the federal banking system.
GDP figures in the UK slowed in the last quarter of 2014 to a rate not seen since the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis in 2009.
The Bank of England have announced out another “stress test” on the UK’s biggest banks.
The average rate of interest on easy-access Individual Savings Account’s in the UK have plunged to a record low of 1.02 per cent.
The Euro is at a 12 year low.
The ECB has initiated a 1.2 Trillion Euro quantitative easing program that will see banks offload bad debts to the central bank.
50% of Greeks want out of the Eurozone. Syriza has gone against the wishes of the electorate. Germany knows if Greece leave there will be serious repercussions for the Eurozone. Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and Ireland are also not in good shape. If the Troika (European Commission, ECB and IMF) fails to stop Greek exit from the Eurozone, Greece could dishonour 320 Billion Euros of debt forced upon them.
Capital controls in France. French citizens may not withdraw more than 1,000 euros in cash in one transaction and 10,000 euros in cash per month without being questioned like a crimintal.
Japanese economy at 250% debt to GDP.
China also has problems with its debt rising from $2 Trillion in 2000 to $28 Trillion today. During the crisis of 2008 its debt was $7 Trillion. In seven years rising $21 Trillion.
The stock market is being manipulated by corporations buying back their own stock to distort P/E ratios. Being able to borrow at 0% interest allows them to buy back the stock and since there’s less stock available on the market the earnings look better divided by less stock.
The Baltic Dry Index is at an all-time low. The BDI is an assessment of the price of moving the major raw materials by sea. Basically telling people the state of the global economy. Falling from 3929.00 in May 2010 to 596.00 in March 2014.
On the spring equinox on 20th March 2015 we witnessed a full moon eclipse. On this day in London the historical ‘London Gold Fix’ changed to the ‘LBMA Gold Price’. This is significant because the ‘London Gold Fix’ has been constant since 1919. Additionally the FTSE 100 broke 7,000 points for the first time since the dotcom bubble 15 years ago.
Gold is within 10% of an all-time high against the Euro, Japanese yen and double against the Russian rouble.
Rise of interest rates are being threatened by the Fed for June 2015.
2015 marks the 7 year anniversary of the financial crisis of 2008. Seven years previously was 2001 was a year of recession for the US economy and of big trouble for stocks as well as 9/11 and the burst of the dotcom bubble. Seven years previously was the 1994 was the bond market massacre. Seven years prior to that was the Wall Street crash of 1987. Seven years previous to that was the S&L crisis and “stagflation”. Seven years prior to this was the Arab oil embargo.
On September 23rd 2015 Pope Francis will first visit the White House. On September 24th 2015 Pope Francis will address Congress (the first time a pontiff has ever addressed congress). On September 25th 2015 Pope Francis will also address the U.N. General Assembly in New York, which is also the first day of the United Nations Summit to adopt the post-2015 development agenda.
The governments around the world are preparing for the New World Order. There is no recovery. The derivatives bubble will collapse and it may not be because of interest rate increases. It maybe because bond investors realise the bond issuers cannot repay the bonds with real money. As bondholders liquidate their assets the markets will panic and the derivatives bubble will implode.
If you have not taken the advice of Pastor Williams I recommend that you do so immediately. The only lifeboat in a sinking ship is gold. In the Cyprus crisis those that hedged their investments with gold survived. In Greece there are many who fear Grexit, they are turning to gold. During periods of monetary uncertainty people will always think gold is a useful addition to their portfolios.
I have heard many people are selling their gold holdings because the price has fallen. Personally I think this is a big mistake. As the price hovers just above its approximate cost price it is a great opportunity to hedge your paper investments. As you should be aware the gold price is manipulated to be low by central banks and the large investment banks because there are over 50 paper gold contracts to one physical gold contract. Some have said it is closer to 100 paper contracts to one physical contract. This manipulation may end this year when the market sees that there is no physical gold for the paper long contracts. When this happens investment banks will have to settle in cash at a considerable loss. The paper is worthless. The physical is valuable and will always be desired as a store of wealth.
Speaking of price manipulation, in 2014 Barclays Bank was fined £26 million for systems and controls failures, and a conflict of interest in relation to the gold fixing over the nine years to 2013, and for manipulation of the gold price on 28thJune 2012 to prevent a derivative product previously sold to a client from leading to a payout.
I have always stated that gold costs approximately $1,100 to extract and refine and gold has not fallen beyond those levels. If they do, we will see mines close or start to store precious metals until the price rises. We’ve seen it recently with several silver mines start to withhold metal until the price rises. If there is a lack of new physical gold coming to market it is likely the price will rise because of the high demand from buyers around the world, especially in the east. Chinese buyers always take delivery. It is unlikely the price will fall so low as production slows. The Elite have always said Gold and Silver are their currency. Hypothetically, if markets drop considerably and there is little supply of gold available, what are you going to do? Pay $5,000, $10,000, $20,000 an ounce? Doesn’t it make sense to buy when the price is suppressed and demand isn’t based on panic buying?
Pastor Williams has been telling you for many years to get out of paper and to buy gold. Every fiat currency has always ended in disaster. It has been said by many financial researchers that 2015 may see a breakdown of the paper currencies and a revaluation that will see gold return to the top currency. Everyone always goes back to physical gold. I think it is the only thing that will save your retirement funds. You cannot rely on third parties to look out for your interests especially when the whole role of stock brokers is to churn investors-money to generate commissions.
If what Pastor Williams has said is correct and prophecy, numerology, history, astrological alignments and occult events are all pointing to the latter half of this year, then you have six months to prepare
Moscow would use a 'spectrum of responses' if Nato moved more forces into Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
Russia has threatened to use “nuclear force” to defend its annexation of Crimea and warned that the “same conditions” that prompted it to take military action in Ukraine exist in the three Baltic states, all members of Nato.
According to notes made by an American at a meeting between Russian generals and US officials – and seen by The Timesnewspaper - Moscow threatened a “spectrum of responses from nuclear to non-military” if Nato moved more forces into Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
The Russians told the meeting, which took place in Germany last month, that an attempt to return Crimea to Ukraine would be met “forcefully including through the use of nuclear force”.
And they said if Nato sent arms to Ukraine this would be seen as “further encroachment by Nato to the Russian border” and “the Russian people would demand a forceful response”.
They added that “the same conditions that existed in Ukraine and caused Russia to take action there” existed in the three Baltic states, which like Ukraine have significant numbers of people who regard themselves as ethnically Russian.
Russia was considering taking steps in the Baltics, according to the notes, but this would most likely be “destabilising actions that would be even harder to trace back to Russia than those of eastern Ukraine”.
Tensions between Russia and the Western world1 of 8
The notes suggest Moscow would avoid “injections of troops and heavy weapons in favour of other tools”.
“Russia would hope slowly to entice those Russian populations towards Russia without giving Nato a pretext to deploy troops,” the document adds.
If Nato then responded, that would make it “a potential co-aggressor against Russian-speaking minorities in Baltic states”, a situation described as “potentially more dangerous than that in Ukraine to the United States”.
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels are now in control of the central Crater district in the key Yemeni port city of Aden despite a seventh consecutive day of bombing raids by the Saudi-led coalition which is keen on preventing the city from falling.Aden is the second largest city in the country with a population of some 800,000 and as noted by The Guardian, is “the last major holdout of fighters loyal to the Saudi-backed President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.” Residents have reported the presence of tanks, sniper fire, and patrolling Houthi fighters as the militia moves closer to exerting complete control over the city.
Residents of Aden’s central Crater district said Houthi fighters and their allies were in control of the neighbourhood by midday on Thursday, deploying tanks and foot patrols through its otherwise empty streets after heavy fighting in the morning.
It was the first time fighting on the ground had reached so deeply into central Aden. Crater is home to the local branch of Yemen’s central bank and many commercial businesses.
“People are afraid and terrified by the bombardment,” one resident, Farouq Abdu, told Reuters by telephone from Crater. “No one is on the streets - it’s like a curfew“.
Another resident said Houthi snipers had deployed on the mountain overlooking Crater and were firing on the streets below. Several houses were on fire after being struck by rockets, and messages relayed on loudspeakers urged residents to move out to safer parts of the city, he said.
As you can see from the map above, the local branch of Yemen's central bank is located in the area, which suggests the Houthis (and, as you'll see below, Al Qaeda) may be playing for a repeat of what occurred just 9 months ago when jihadis seized $400 million from the Mosul central bank in Iraq making ISIS the best funded islamic fundamentalist force in the world. Of course the tragically ridiculous part of the whole story is that the Houthi advance is very likely being aided by some of the $500 million worth of weapons the US "misplaced" in the country so in short, US-armed, Iranian-backed rebels have now overthrown a US puppet government, fought their way into the last important city still loosely under coalition control, and are now operating a few blocks from a branch of the Yemeni central bank.
The Crater district is also home to more than 75,000 Yemenis meaning the risk of civilian casualties from aerial bombardment is cause for concern and could make it more difficult for the Saudi raids to be effective especially given some ambiguity about who was ultimately responsible for the death of some 40 civilians at a refugee camp earlier this week. Here’s the Washington Post with more:
The rebels, who control Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, hope to find new defensive positions and open fresh supply channels by taking full control of Aden. The Saudi-led alliance, meanwhile, is trying to hang on to the city but is wary about carrying out airstrikes in populated areas for fear of civilian casualties…
It follows accounts by aid groups of increasing civilian deaths in the air campaign against the Houthis. Saudi Arabia and its partners want to reinstate President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled Yemen last week in the face of a rebel advance on his compound in Aden.
The city appeared closer to falling into rebel hands after Wednesday’s gains. Houthi fighters — joined by soldiers loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh — faced barrages from a warship while on a coastal road but managed to reach areas near the center of Aden with tanks and vehicles mounted with heavy machine guns. At least some of the rebel forces entered the vacated Russian Consulate, said Anis Mansour, editor of the Huna Aden news Web site…
In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Asseri said forces are “doing everything they can” to avoid civilian casualties. But he said the rebels have increasingly shifted into residential areas to hide from airstrikes.
“They are inside the villages and towns as part of their strategy,” the spokesman said.
The fighting in Aden is creating unbearable psychological and physical conditions for the local population...
...and the Houthis have taken control of the Presidential palace:
SHIITE REBELS SEIZE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE IN ADEN, YEMEN: AP
Meanwhile, there were reports on Thursday morning that foreign troops had arrived in the city creating speculation that a Saudi ground incursion had begun. Interestingly the unidentified foreign troops turned out to be Chinese soldiers. Here's more from RT:
Dozens of unidentified foreign troops reported disembarking in the port of Aden turned out to be Chinese soldiers maintaining security as an unknown party opened fire on a vessel evacuating foreign citizens, a Yemeni official told Sputnik.
He added that Chinese soldiers have already left the port, though reportedly they did not manage to take with them all the people intended to evacuate, not all of the Chinese nationals.
The deeper the Houthis entrench themselves in densely populated areas, the greater the likelihood that ground troops will be necessary to expel them. The fighting in Aden comes as the conflict claimed its first Saudi soldier when border troops came under attack overnight:
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said one of its guards along the border with Yemen was killed Wednesday night. It was the first known Saudi casualty since the airstrikes started.
A border post in the Asir region came under heavy fire from a mountainous area inside Yemen, followed by cross-border skirmishes, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. Along with the Saudi guard who was killed, 10 other border guards were wounded, SPA said.
Finally, Al Qaeda militants led an assault on Mukalla where, after a firefight, the group freed some 300 militants being held in a local prison. Here’s more from WSJ:
Al Qaeda militants in Yemen stormed the coastal city of al Mukalla early Thursday, seized government buildings and freed at least 270 inmates from a prison, including many of its own operatives, Yemeni officials said.
The 2 a.m. attack on the eastern city, an important seaport, was a new setback for Saudi-backed government forces already fighting an uprising by Iranian-linked Houthi rebels. Al Qaeda’s incursion into al Mukalla was the latest sign that the extremist group is exploiting Yemen’s sectarian strife.
Until Thursday, al Makalla had been one of the few large Yemeni cities still controlled by government and tribal forces supportive of exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Abdullah al Sharafi, a Yemeni defense ministry official, said about one-third of those freed in Thursday’s prison break were AQAP militants. Among them, he said, was Khaled Batarfi, who was AQAP’s leader in the southern province of Abyan until his arrest in 2011 and served in the organization’s Shariah council, which provides religious direction.
Extremist groups such as AQAP and Afghanistan’s Taliban have typically used prison breaks to free their own foot soldiers and force more secular inmates, detained for petty crimes, to join their ranks.
“Al Qaeda needs to recruit and [there’s] no better way to recruit from prison,” Mr. Sharafi said. “A few of the escapees were senior al Qaeda leaders, but among those who escaped were dozens of al Qaeda fighters and loyalists.”
In addition to the prison, AQAP overran key government offices, including the central bank, likely plundering its cash reserves, officials said.
Between the first Saudi casualty, the unfolding humanitarian crisis, the logistical difficulties inherent in carrying out bombing raids on heavily populated areas, the rebel advance on military installations near the Bab el-Mandeb, and finally, with militants set to raid the country's cash, it may become increasingly difficult for the Saudi-led coalition to support an assertion that air raids alone will be enough to debilitate the Houthis and bring the situation under control.
Netanyahu speaks to President Obama, expresses Israel's "strong opposition" to the framework agreement with Iran.
By Elad Benari
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke to President Barack Obama on Thursday evening and expressed Israel's strong opposition to the framework agreement with Iran which poses a grave danger to Israel, the region and the world, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.
"A deal based on this framework would threaten the survival of Israel,” Netanyahu told Obama, according to the statement.
“Just two days ago, Iran said that ‘the destruction of Israel is non-negotiable,’ and in these fateful days Iran is accelerating the arming of its terror proxies to attack Israel.”
“This deal would legitimize Iran's nuclear program, bolster Iran's economy, and increase Iran's aggression and terror throughout the Middle East and beyond. Such a deal would not block Iran's path to the bomb. It would pave it,” warned Netanyahu.
“It would increase the risks of nuclear proliferation in the region and the risks of a horrific war. The alternative is standing firm and increasing the pressure on Iran until a better deal is achieved," Netanyahu told Obama.
The conversation between the two leaders came hours after Obama touted the framework agreement, reached after days of talks in Switzerland, as “1an historic understanding with Iran which, if fully implemented, will prevent it from a nuclear weapon.”
"I am convinced that if this framework leads to a final comprehensive dealit will make our country, our allies and our world safer," he asserted.
Israeli officials were not convinced, telling reporters later on Thursday that the framework deal will be remembered as a "historic mistake".
"If an agreement is reached on the basis of this framework, it is an historic mistake which will make the world far more dangerous," said the officials, briefing journalists on condition of anonymity.
"It is a bad framework which will lead to a bad and dangerous agreement. The framework gives international legitimacy to Iran's nuclear program, the only aim of which is to produce a nuclear bomb," they added.
Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud) made clear in a radio interview on Thursday that all options were on the table in the face of the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.
This, he added, includes military action.
Steinitz said Israel would seek to counter any threat through diplomacy and intelligence but "if we have no choice we have no choice... the militaryoption is on the table."
