Headlines

• King Salman Shores up Pro-US team

• Amnesty Exposes Syria Government

• Jewish Entity Targeted Civilians

Details

King Salman Shores up Pro-US team

King Salman made a number of changes, which secured his lineage and son within the Kingdom for the next few decades. The Saudi monarch's overhaul of the nation's aging leadership moves a younger generation of royals into positions of power. King Salman is the last of the Suderi brothers, the brothers from Ibn Saud's marriages to Hassa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi. Since Ibn Saud the monarchy has remained within this clan, but with King Salman, the last of the brothers (Ahmed bin abdul Aziz, the 7th brother, was removed from succession). King Salman replaced his younger half-brother, Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, as crown prince. He appointed his nephew, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who now becomes his new heir apparent and made his son, 29 year old Prince Mohammed bin Salman, deputy crown prince, making him second in line to the throne. This will effectively bring to an end the second generation of kings for the Suderi clan and begin the third generation, where there are thousands of princes. All of the previous Kings either served as defence minsters or its parallel institution the National Guard. The National Guard is trained by Britain and its parallel institution the defense ministry is very close to the US, it is trained by the US and most of its equipment is from the US. What King Salman has done is shore up the future of the country with pro-US line of succession with his son and him surrounding the crown prince, who has spent most of his life as the interior minister

Amnesty Exposes Syrian Government

A new report from Amnesty International says Civilians in Syria's second largest city of Aleppo are suffering unthinkable atrocities. It alleges war crimes are committed on a daily basis. At least 10 people, including four children and teacher, were killed on Sunday 3 May when a barrel bomb hit a nursery school in the Saif al-Dawla district. Amnesty's report said that from January 2014 to March 2015, government aircraft launched continual attacks using barrel bombs - oil barrels, fuel tanks or gas cylinders packed with explosives, fuel, and metal fragments - on rebel-held areas of Aleppo. Their targets included at least 14 public markets, 12 transportation hubs, 23 mosques, 17 hospitals and medical centres, and 3 schools. "I saw children without heads, body parts everywhere. It was how I imagine hell to be," a local factory worker said describing the aftermath of an attack on al-Fardous district in 2014. Amnesty said evidence suggested the air campaign in Aleppo had "deliberately targeted civilians and civilian objects," and noted that it was a war crime to intentionally make those not directly participating in hostilities the target of attacks. "Such a systematic attack on the civilian population, when carried out as part of government policy as appears to have been the case in Aleppo, would also constitute a crime against humanity," it added. Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa programme said, "Today, the international community has turned its back on Aleppo's civilians in a cold-hearted display of indifference to an escalating human tragedy."

Jewish Entity Targeted Civilians

The release of a new report by "Israeli" veterans NGO Breaking the Silence, proves that the Jewish entity repeatedly and deliberately targeted civilians during its wars in the Gaza Strip. The report featured testimony from more than 60 "Israeli" soldiers who confirmed that not only did they deliberately target civilians during the most recent invasion, but that they were explicitly ordered to do so. "Whoever you see there, you kill," is how one soldier summed up the orders. He said soldiers were told the civilians "knew they're not supposed to be there" and therefore they were to kill anyone who wasn't an "Israeli" soldier on sight. Soldiers went on to say that traditional admonishments to use "minimum force" were thrown out the window in the war, and that civilian homes were deliberately attacked "without any clear operational justification," sometimes just because the military wanted to demonstrate their military control over the neighborhoods. The report concluded that the Jewish entity's military had suffered from a "broad ethical failure" during the war, and one that extended from the top of the chain of command. During the month-long Jewish entity's invasion, 2,189 Palestinians were killed. The overwhelming majority, 1,486, were civilians, including many ordered out of their neighborhoods and into UN facilities, which were then deliberately attacked.