UK Could Face War Crime Chrages for Missiles Sold to Saudi for Yemen War

www.youtube.com/murdikar007 UK Could Face War Crime Chrages for Missiles Sold to Saudi for Yemen War.

UK could be prosecuted for war crimes over missiles sold to Saudi Arabia that were used to kill civilians in Yemen tain is at risk of being prosecuted for war crimes because of growing evidence that missiles sold to Saudi Arabia have been used against civilian targets in Yemen's brutal civil war, Foreign Office lawyers and diplomats have warned. Advisers to Philip Hammond, the Foreign Secretary, have stepped up legal warnings that the sale of specialist missiles to the Saudis, deployed throughout nine months of almost daily bombing raids in west Yemen against rebels, may breach international humanitarian law. Since March this year, bombing raids and a blockade of ports imposed by the Saudi-led coalition of Sunni Gulf states have crippled much of Yemen. Although the political aim is to dislodge Shia rebels and restore the exiled President, Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi, thousands of Yemeni civilians have been killed, with schools, hospitals and non-military infrastructure hit. Fuel and food shortages, according to the United Nations, have brought near famine to many parts of the country. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other NGOs, claim there is no doubt that weapons supplied by the UK and the United States have hit Yemeni civilian targets. One senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) legal adviser told The Independent: "The Foreign Secretary has acknowledged that some weapons supplied by the UK have been used by the Saudis in Yemen. Are our reassurances correct - that such sales are within international arms treaty rules? The answer is, sadly, not at all clear." Although the Department for International Development recently received assurances from the Saudi government that it did not want a famine to develop on its doorstep, there is concern within the FCO that the Saudi military's attitude to humanitarian law is careless. Officials fear that the combination of British arms sales and technical expertise used to assist bombing raids on Yemen could result in the UK being hauled before the International Criminal Court on charges relating to direct attacks on civilians. Another government lawyer warned: "With Britain now expected to join the United States and France in the war on in Syria, there will be renewed interest in the legality of the assault in Yemen. It may not be enough for the Foreign Secretary to simply restate that we have yet to carry out any detailed evaluation [of UK arms used in the bombing of Yemen]." The legal adviser said: "Yemen could be described as a forgotten conflict. Inside the Foreign Office a course-correction is seen as crucial. It is a proxy war, with the Saudis believing Iran is behind the rebellion." Oliver Sprague, Amnesty International's arms trade director, told The Independent: "There is a blatant rewriting of the rules inside the FCO. We are not supposed to supply weapons if there is a risk they could be used to violate humanitarian laws and the international arms trade treaty - which we championed. It is illogical for Philip Hammond to say there is no evidence of weapons supplied by the UK being misused, so we'll keep selling them to the point where we learn they are being used." Most of Saudi's weapons are supplied by the United States. With help from the UK, the US is also offering logistical support, airborne refuelling, with a specialist Pentagon-approved team providing intelligence on targeting. This month the Obama administration authorised a $1.29bn (£858m) Saudi request to replenish stocks of specialist missiles, a move seen by critics as an effort to assuage Saudi anger over the US-brokered nuclear deal with Iran, the kingdom's key regional rival. In July, Britain authorised the transfer of Paveway IV missiles from the RAF to Saudi Arabia. The MoD approved a switch in positions on an order book from the arms manufacturer, Raytheon UK. The contract, worth close to £200m, secured the supply of hundreds of the air-launched missiles to the Saudi air force over the next two years. The Raytheon precision weapons are used by both the RAF and its Saudi counterparts on Typhoon and Tornado fighter jets, supplied by BAE Systems. The order switch ensured that the Saudi arsenal, depleted through multiple daily bombing raids on Yemen over the past nine months, would not be exhausted. This week both Amnesty and Human Rights Watch issued new evidence, based on their own field research, which they said showed that a factory in the Sanaa governate that was not involved in any military production, was destroyed by a UK-made cruise missile. David Mepham, the UK director of HRW, said a GM-500 air-launched missile made by the UK firm Marconi had destroyed the factory and left a civilian worker dead. He said this was only the latest "multiple well-documented case of violations of the laws of war by the Gulf coalition in Yemen. UK ministers have consistently refused

Turkey Warns Russia not to Play With Fire- How to Read this?

Editor's Note:- There is huge tension between Russia and NATO, especially Turkey after shooting down Russian Sukhoi 2 fighter jet over Latakia province in Syria. Turkish fighters fired Air to air missiles on SU-24 fighter jet while Russian jet was on bombing mission in Syria. Turkey said Russian jets were violating Turkish airspace and it was warned in advance before shooting down.
Russians said jet was cruising well within Syrian airspace. Radar tracking data of Latakia Airbase currently operated by Russians said plane didn't violated Turkish airspace.
Extremely angry Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered deployment of air defense missile system S-400 to Turkey to deal with hostile Turkish Fighter Jets posing serious threat to Russian Jets involved in bombing on ISIS.
Seemingly disturbed Turkish President Erdogan sees Russian move of deploying Anti Aircraft Missile batteries in Syria as grave threat to Turkish Air Force. As a result Erdogan warned Russians not to "play with fire".
Will Turkish warning deter Russians from taking any adventurous step like attacking Turkish or NATO plane? Answer is NO. As far as hawkish Russian President Putin's history is concerned, he will be searching a small reason to Teach a Lesson to Turkey as he quoted saying Turkish move as Stab in The Back.
 As retaliation to Turkish move Putin ordered immediate sanctions on Turkish trade in Russia and Russian authorities are raiding Turkish firms and sending back goods meant for sell in Russia, ack to Turkey.
Putin knows where to press to feel Turkey the effect of shooting down Russian plane.
Let's see how the events takes place in Syria.

Erdogan To Putin,Russia, Dont Play With Fire

www.youtube.com/murdikar007 Erdogan To Putin,Russia, Dont Play With Fire.

Russia 'playing with fire', warns Turkey, as Moscow imposes visa regime Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan steps up the war of words after Russia’s latest retaliatory measures in the wake of the downing of its fighter jet Russia will introduce a visa regime for Turkish citizens as part of a range of measures to retaliate for the Su-24 fighter jet downed by the Turkish air force on Tuesday. The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, responded by saying the Kremlin was “playing with fire” if it mistreated people from his country who visited Russia. The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, announced the latest move on Friday, saying it would come into force from 1 January. Russia has also forbidden tour companies from selling packages to Turkey, advised all Russian citizens to leave the country, and promised an array of economic sanctions as well as the freezing of joint projects. Since the plane was shot down, officials from both countries have made it clear neither side is interested in serious escalation. But neither the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, nor Erdoğan, is known for backing down from a confrontation. Erdoğan has refused to apologise to Russia for the incident, and said his jets would act the same way again in a similar situation, while Russian officials have reacted with furious rhetoric. Erdoğan said on Friday he had warned Putin about incursions by Russian planes at the G20 summit in Antalya this month. The Turkish president claimed Putin had told him to accept the planes “as guests”, to which he responded that Turkey could not accept uninvited guests. “It is playing with fire to go as far as mistreating our citizens who have gone to Russia,” Erdogan told supporters during a speech in Bayburt, in northeast Turkey. “We really attach a lot of importance to our relations with Russia … We don’t want these relations to suffer harm in any way.” He also accused Russia of backing Bashar al-Assad’s “terrorist state” in Syria. Putin, for his part, called the Turks “accomplices of terrorists” and suggested Turkish officials were profiting from oil trade with State. Erdoğan said he hoped to speak with Putin at a forthcoming climate change summit in Paris and “bring the issue to a reasonable point”. The Kremlin said no meetings between the two leaders had been planned for Paris, confirming that Erdoğan had tried to call Putin in the aftermath of the incident but the call was not taken. A Kremlin aide said this was because Erdoğan was not ready to apologise. Erdoğan has previously claimed Turkish jets did not know the Su-24 was a Russian jet and would have acted differently had they realised; a suggestion dismissed as implausible in Moscow. Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Had we known it was a Russia plane we may have warned it differently The Russian defence ministry on Friday described the shoot-down as an “ambush” by Turkish jets. Turkey insists the Russian plane briefly veered into Turkish territory and was warned 10 times to divert its course; Russia says there were no warnings. A defence ministry spokesman also claimed that Turkey had offered no assistance or coordination with a rescue mission after the plane had been shot down. The pilot died, shot from the ground as he descended in a parachute, while the navigator survived and was returned to Russia’s airbase in Syria after a long operation by Syrian special forces. A Russian marine who was part of the rescue mission also died. All three men have been honoured with military awards by Putin. The incident has caused an outpouring of anger in Russia, prompted by hours of programming on state television about Turkey’s cynical actions and its nefarious goals in the Middle East. The Turkish embassy in Moscow has been pelted with paint, bricks and eggs, while in Simferopol, Crimea, locals burned an effigy of Erdoğan. Internet users have pledged not to travel to Turkey on holiday. Last year, 4.4 million Russians vacationed there. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the misnamed Liberal Democratic party, pointed out how easy it would be to destroy Istanbul. “You just chuck one nuclear bomb into the straits, and there’d be a huge flood. The water would rise by 10-15 metres and the whole city would disappear,” said the MP, who is known for his scandalous outbursts.



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HSBC Bank Shutting Down Private Banking Business in India

www.youtube.com/murdikar007 HSBC Bank Shutting Down Private Banking Business in India.



HSBC to wind up private banking business in India

British bank HSBC on Friday said that it will shut down its private banking business in India, an announcement that came amid an ongoing investigation by India's tax department against individuals who had unaccounted foreign currency accounts in the bank's Swiss branch.



An HSBC spokesperson said the bank's private banking business will be closed down by the first quarter of 2016 and some of its private banking clients will be moved to its premier banking division. "We will work closely with our clients to minimise the impact of this decision on them, offering them the choice to move to HSBC Premier, our global banking and wealth management proposition, wherever appropriate," the spokesperson said.



HSBC did not give any reasons for its decision, but banking executives within and outside the bank said the move is a direct fallout of the information leak by former HSBC staffer Herve Falciani in 2008 which included names of 1,195 Indians who had evaded taxes in the country to stash it in the bank's Swiss branches. The names of the 1,195 Indians were released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in February.



Meanwhile, on Friday, Falciani was found guilty of violating banking secrecy laws. He was given a five-year prison sentence by a Swiss court. Falciani, a French citizen, stayed out of Switzerland during the trial and it is unlikely he will serve time in a Swiss prison, because France doesn't extradite its own citizens.



"In view of the tax evasion inquiry, HSBC's private banking compliance was enhanced, as a result of which it became impossible for them to do business with these very demanding high net worth clients," said an executive from the bank.



HSBC did not say whether the closure of its private banking business in India would lead to job losses. However, executives at rival private banks said they expect the British lender to lose both staff and clients.



"There are about 70 people in the business here. Some of them will move out and likely take their clients with them. We are already exploring what opportunities it holds for us," said a private banking executive from a rival bank.



HSBC was among the top ten wealth managers in the country, with about 1,000 clients and assets under management of about $2-2.5 billion. Private banking business services high net worth individuals who have a minimum of $1 million to invest.



In contrast the minimum cut-off for Premier Banking is just Rs 25 lakh. Bankers said high net worth clients would prefer to shift their portfolio to other banks rather than continue with HSBC.

Russian Airstrikes Destroyed US Foreign Policy, not Rebels in Syria

www.youtube.com/murdikar007 Russian Airstrikes Destroyed US Foreign Policy, not Rebels in Syria.



Russia has right to military response after jet downing: Naryshkin Reuters By Radu-Sorin Marinas 1 hour ago  By Radu-Sorin Marinas Related Stories Russia seeks economic revenge against Turkey over jet Reuters Russia and Turkey refuse to back down in row over jet downing Reuters Turkish military says did not know downed jet was Russian AFP Turkey downs Russian warplane near Syria border, Moscow denies airspace violation Reuters Russia targets Turkish economy over downed warplane AFP 25 years of Happy Holidays at EMI Rs. 3522* Sterling Holidays Sponsored  BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Russia has the right to make a military response after the downing of a Russian warplane earlier this week by NATO member Turkey, lower house speaker Sergei Naryshkin said on Friday. Speaking in an interview with Romanian television station Digi24, Naryshkin, who spoke in Russian and was translated by the broadcaster, said: "This is intentional murder of our soldiers and this deed must be punished." The shooting down of the Russian warplane by the Turkish air force on Tuesday was one of the most serious clashes between a NATO member and Russia, and further complicated international efforts to battle State militants. "We know those who did this and they must be judged. At the same time, the response from the Russian side will surely follow, in line with international law. And aside from this, Russia has also the right to military response," added Naryshkin, who was attending a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) in Bucharest. Naryshkin, who said economic measures against Turkey might be on the cards, said Moscow had allocated additional military resources on Thursday to boost the security of Russian warplanes. "Even yesterday, military resources were allocated, (for) the S400 Triumph, which is the most advanced missile defense system, with the role to maintain flight safety of Russian planes, of our military and air forces whose task is to destroy terrorist infrastructure of the so-called State and other organizations operating in Syria." World leaders have urged both sides to avoid escalation, and China's Foreign Ministry added its voice to that on Friday. On Thursday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying, Russia should apologize for violating Turkey's airspace. (Editing by Ralph Boulton)



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