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ISIS Transforming Into Functioning State That Uses Terror as Tool

ISTANBUL — The Islamic State uses terror to force obedience and frighten enemies. It has seized territory, destroyed antiquities, slaughtered minorities, forced women into sexual slavery and turned children into killers. But its officials are apparently resistant to bribes, and in that way, at least, it has outdone the corrupt Syrian and Iraqi governments it routed, residents and experts say. “You can travel from Raqqa to Mosul and no one will dare to stop you even if you carry $1 million,” said Bilal, who lives in Raqqa, the Islamic State’s de facto capital in Syria , and out of fear insisted on being identified only by his first name. “No one would dare to take even one dollar.” The Islamic State, also known as ISIS , ISIL and Daesh, initially functioned solely as a terrorist organization, if one more coldblooded even than Al Qaeda. Then it went on to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.N. envoy says deeply concerned by battle at Syria border

A child inspects a site hit by what activists said was an airstrike by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar el-Asaad at Arbin town in Damascus countryside, Syria July 21, 2015. The United Nations envoy for Syria has voiced deep concern about civilians in the city of Zabadani, the focus of an offensive by the Syrian military and Lebanon’s Hezbollah aimed at wresting control of the area from insurgents. Citing local sources in a statement late on Tuesday, Staffan de Mistura said the military had dropped a large number of barrel bombs on Zabadani "causing unprecedented levels of destruction and many deaths among the civilian population." Control of the city, about 45 km (30 miles) northwest of the capital Damascus, is seen as crucial to consolidating President Bashar al-Assad’s control over the border zone between Lebanon and Syria. The Syrian air force has bombarded areas in and around the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Mosul insurgents challenge Islamic State occupiers

Members of the Islamic State militant group drive through Mosul on June 12, 2014. (STRINGER/Reuters) MOSUL – Members of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group are being hunted in and around Mosul. Dozens of militants have been killed, mostly gunned down by assassins, over the past two months as the group that calls itself Kataib al-Mosul – the Mosul Brigades, in English – has launched a violent insurgency. "We finally decided to end our silence," said Fawaz al-Badrani, the pseudonym used by a leader of Kataib al-Mosul, who spoke to Iraq Oil Report by phone. "What we mainly sought for is the liberation of Mosul, even if it means cooperating with the devil himself." Badrani claims to have been a Republican Guard officer under Saddam Hussein. In addition to targeting IS fighters directly, his group has helped feed locations of IS military positions and other information to pro-government forces […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iraqis launch offensive against Islamic State near Anbar military base

Iraqi security forces and Sunni tribal fighters launched an offensive to dislodge Islamic State militants near the western outpost of Haditha in a bid to secure a key supply route to an important military base, police and tribal sources said. Haditha and its nearby dam are in one of the few parts of the Sunni Muslim province of Anbar still under the control of Iraq’s Shi’ite-led government forces, which were driven out of the provincial capital Ramadi in May.The offensive started with army and police forces backed by Sunni tribal fighters attacking the Albu Hayat area, 20 km (12 miles) southeast of Haditha. Militants have used the area to strike the supply route to the Ain al-Asad military base where U.S. Marines are training Iraqi troops. "We are attacking Daesh from three directions and we will not retreat until retaking Albu Hayat to secure not only Haditha but the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China’s Iran oil imports hit two-month high in June: customs

A worker walks down stairs of an oil tank at a refinery in Wuhan, Hubei province March 23, 2012. China’s crude oil imports from Iran rose in June to a two-month high, customs data showed on Tuesday, just as the Islamic nation begins to look ahead to ramping up its exports in the wake of last week’s nuclear deal. Iran’s largest oil client imported 2.76 million tonnes last month, or 671,800 barrels per day (bpd), up 29.6 percent from May and 26.5 percent from a year ago. [O/CHINA1] Thomson Reuters Oil Research & Forecasts had estimated China’s June imports from Iran at 507,300 bpd, and has said it expects the volumes to hit 562,800 bpd in July. The U.N. Security Council on Monday backed the deal Iran reached the previous week with six world powers to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the easing of economic sanctions. And […]

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Report: Cuba may get oil help from Angola

Cuban energy company reaching out to Middle East counterparts for help with offshore oil development. Photo by GVictoria/Shutterstock HAVANA, July 21 (UPI) — Cuba expects to kick start its deepwater oil exploration activity with assistance from Angola’s state-run energy company Sonangol, a Cuban official said. Cuba is opening its doors more for Western powers after a long Cold War policy of isolation from the United States. The country in the past worked to cut the amount of oil it imports from Venezuela through development of its own offshore reserves. An unnamed official from Cuba’s Cubapetroleo, or Cupet, told energy reporting service Argus the preliminary deal with Sonangol outlines drilling schedules. "The matters to be determined include which of the blocks contracted by Sonangol will be drilled, the sourcing of a rig and the timing of the start of the work," the official said. The U.S. Geological Survey, which reviewed […]

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AAA: U.S. retail gasoline market volatile

A stable national average price for gasoline in the United States masks some volatility for consumers, motor club AAA said. File Photo by UPI/John Angelillo WASHINGTON, July 21 (UPI) — A stable national retail average price for a gallon of gasoline is masking volatility in some U.S. sectors brought on by refinery issues, motor club AAA said. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline Tuesday was $2.75 per gallon, about seven tenths of a percent lower than last week and 1.4 percent, or four cents, lower than one month ago. AAA said the general stability masks an otherwise volatile retail market that saw prices pulled higher in part by ongoing spikes in California. The state average price in California for Tuesday was $3.87 per gallon of regular unleaded. "Drivers in California are paying the highest averages since August 2014, largely due to imbalances between gasoline supply and […]

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Chesapeake to Eliminate Dividend to Pay for Capital Spending

Chesapeake Energy Corp. CHK -9.54 % said Tuesday that it will eliminate its shareholder dividend starting in the third quarter and redirect the money to capital spending, the latest round of cutbacks for the U.S. shale driller. Shares of Chesapeake, down 48% this year, fell 1.2% to $10.15 a share in premarket trading. Chesapeake estimated that getting rid of the annual dividend of 35 cents a share will save the company $240 million a year. The company plans to use the money for its 2016 capital program. Chesapeake said it has also agreed to sell some properties to FourPoint Energy LLC. Chesapeake has struggled to recover from years of aggressive spending as the land-grab approach the company pioneered for oil and gas drilling meant it spent more than its wells generated in profit. But under Doug Lawler, who joined as chief executive in June 2013, the company has been […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple