Fair play Bazza, but we can hardly call ourselves civilised when over a hundred thousand people are prepared to shit like Turkish savages just to watch Coldplay (they headline a lot).
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I genuinely like rush of blood to the head a really good album, and then? Maybe I still pine for Gwyneth, what a gal.
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It is of course no co-indcidence that the French have Barry’s loos as standard as well.
(And Pap - 7am mate, always 7am for a Glasto drop even if you’re just staggering home from Silver Haze. Gotta get regular before you go. The cleaning crews pass through the porta loos around that time every day.)
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Hmmm. I’ve ummed and ahhhed about whether to post this or not – but, you know me – in the end I just said “Fuck it! Carpe Dium! Oh Captain, My Captain!” and other such emotive inspirational tub-thumping phrases of self-encouragement.
Very interesting. If what I have seen at work this morning actually all goes through, and is signed off at the top of the chain of command – there could be some kind of announcement (borne from the fruits of the meetings both Phil and myself have previously commented upon) on the future of the Syrian crisis, by as early as the end of this week.
I’ve said before, I do not get to see the details of the whole picture, but you could say I see “pieces of the jigsaw puzzle” as others are putting them into place (where the resulting changes affects my own work).
Not saying this will definitely be the case, as there is still work to be done, and a lot of “crucial wording” that has yet to be thrashed out for any formal agreement to be announced – but – things are certainly in the works which could soon bear sufficient fruits that they’ll start to be spoken of publicly.
I’ll finish by saying that some of the things I’ve seen today would most accurately be described as “very encouraging”, and for now – I shall leave it there.
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Another piece of the puzzle drops into place.
Was talking with a Russian colleague of mine this evening about another development he saw posted on the Russian Defence Ministry website before we headed home. Just got mail with an English link to a Russian news site confirming the Ministry’s announcement:
“An agreement on cessation of hostilities has been signed with the field commander of an armed group operating in Aleppo province,” the report said, noting that this brought the number of armed groups saying they would abide by the truce to 45.
“Negotiations on truce have continued with representatives of a settlement in Hama province. The number of settlements joining the ceasefire process has remained invariable - 57,” the center reported.
My Russian work dude said that his information is that the “armed group” in question is an influential one in their Aleppo region who was previously opposed to Assad being involved in any transition period. If they are now on board with the cease-fire he says, more could follow, and help potentially remove some further obstacles of progression.
Further Official Peace Talks (top level that is - lower levels of discussions have remained ongoing) are due to resume this coming Sunday.
Just dropping in a few news updates, as everyone prepares for the next round of Official Peace Talks.
Syrian news reporting:
UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura is heading to Moscow on Tuesday to discuss preparations for the next round of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, de Mistura’s office said.
“Russia and the United States are the main co-sponsors of the talks, which are expected to resume with the opposition delegation on April 11, a U.N. spokesman said Tuesday, missing de Mistura’s “target date” of April 9.
The spokesman said that Moscow meeting was arranged at de Mistura’s initiative.
Looking like “by as early as the end of this week” may be a little premature an assessment, as some of the main players in Syria can’t make the latest round of talks until the 14th April.
Syria Peace Talks to Resume on April 11: Staffan de Mistura
Syria peace talks will likely resume in Geneva on April 11, but regime negotiators will only arrive several days later after the completion of parliamentary elections in the country, the UN said Tuesday.
Meanwhile. There is a Ceasefire.
So Assad forces retook Palmyra and a Mig has been shot down near Alleppo. Deafening arguments over those breaches…
In other news, with IS on the run from Syria it is worth pointing out one piece of trivia - 234 Civilians were killed in Baghdad last month in Terror Attacks.
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I guess that got missed in the press and
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Shows what will likely happen when IS no longer have a safe bolt hole and head back round the world and “spread out”
Thanks for the updates Jack, time to move forward on the Agency deals & Trade Licences up in Damascus then 
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Originally posted by @Dubai_Phil
Meanwhile. There is a Ceasefire.
So Assad forces retook Palmyra and a Mig has been shot down near Alleppo. Deafening arguments over those breaches…
To be fair, the Cease-fire doesn’t cover fighting between Syrian/Hizb’allah/Russian etc. Forces against IS and Jabhat al Nusra. Only with the “moderate” terrorists/“Rebels”/ALCIADA/PMCs etc. (i.e. the ones America pay for, train and arm). Although, some of the “moderate” terrorists/rebels do not respect or honour the agreement, and are not signatories to it in the first place, so continue to fight on regardless.
Which puts Syrian Forces in a difficult situation, when you’ve got people shooting at you, that you have broadly agreed not to shoot.
But retaking Palmyra from IS and IS defending it is considered “fair game” under the terms and conditions of the general cease-fire agreement. As in neither party ever agreed to stop killing eachother in the first place. 
My understanding (which is not 100% confirmed fact, though backed up by Syrian Human Rights Watch) is that al Nusra were responsible for shooting down the Syrian jet with a surface to air missile, so again, not a cease-fire breach, as Nusra never agreed not to kill people. And as long as America/Turkey keep supplying them with weapons – they’ll continue killing people with them.
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Just a quick update for those interested, that Staffan de Mistura has contacted all involved in negotiations today confirming that the next scheduled round of peace talks will now not be formally reconvened until Wednesday April 13th.
It was felt there was little point in meeting up on the 11th to spend three days shooting the breeze amongst themselves when their negotiating partners were unable to be in attendance until the 14th. You’d have thought of course that the UN would have been fully aware of the small matter of the upcoming Parliamentary Elections being held in Syria before hand – but, there you go.
As things stand, the other delegations will now meet on the 13th to discuss their further thoughts on the twelve point plan they all took away from the last round to study, and will be joined by representatives of the Syrian government the following day.
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The Mainstream Media: one step behind Sotonians in Breaking News… 
Associate Press: The Latest - UN envoy says Syria talks due around April 13
In other developments, the Russian MoD have released some short video footage of their Sapper teams detecting and destroying the IS mines left in and around Palmyra. So far, over 120 mines and other Improvised Explosive Devices have been destroyed:
And the Syrian government are confident enough that they’ve suficiently secured the ancient city for residents to begin returning to their homes where possible on Saturday, and salvage what they can where homes have been destroyed.
Work has already begun on buildings that can be repaired, to make them habitable again as soon as possible.
I see the Pope has taken 12 refugees to the Vatican. Think I would rather go back to Aleppo.
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The prettier ones would be safer back there being bombed to shit - and i said bombed.
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Bibi Netanyahu tells us all something we didn’t already know. [/irony]
As UN-led peace talks on the future of Syria are being held in Geneva, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to the Golan Heights Sunday and declared that Israel will never leave the strategic region.
“The time has come for the international community to recognize reality,” Netanyahu said at the opening of a special cabinet meeting held for the first time ever on the Golan Heights. “First, that whatever will be on the other side of the border, the border will not change.
“And secondly,” Netanyahu added, “the time has come after 40 years for the international community to finally recognize that the Golan Heights will remain forever under Israeli sovereignty.”
Israel took the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six Day War, and in 1981 extended Israeli law to the region, thereby de facto annexing it.
“I decided to hold this meeting on the Golan Heights to send a clear message,” he said. “The Golan Heights will always stay in Israeli hands, Israel will never leave the Golan Heights.”
Speaking about Syria, the Chief Butcher and Ethnic-Cleanser-Extraordinaire of Palestinians brazenly went on to add, without the smallest hint of irony:
“It has persecuted minorities, like the Christians, Druze, and Kurds, who are fighting justifiably for their future and their security.
Oh the raging hypocracy. 
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And in other news…
Bashar Assad’s Baath Party wins shock Landslide Victory in Syrian Parliamentary Elections.
Ooh. That’s gonna sting.
Not directly Syria related but then around here everything is actually related
David Davis was on the Andrew Marr show this morning. I watched the interview on iPlayer a short time ago. He is recently back from Syria after one-to-one chats with Assad. In his lead in, Davis mentioned that Assad used barrel bombs and also ran a regime that tortured and killed his own people. Interestingly, he did not mention the chemical weapon attack that was pinned on the regime in 2013.
The Syrians basically have the unqualified support of the Russians. Emphasis mine.
“The Russian intervention completely put the Syrian army back on its feet. I asked him why [Putin] downscaled it,” Mr Davis said. “[Assad] said: ‘Because Russia was being criticised for stalling the [peace] talks,’ taking away the incentive for him to negotiate it.
“But then there was a line that came out of it, almost as a throwaway line, he said: ‘Putin said, we will not let you lose.’ For me, that was in some ways the most important phrase of the entire visit.”
Mr Davis, a former minister and one-time Conservative leadership hopeful, said that **an assurance of Russian support, if it had been given, meant there could only be a regime victory, or a negotiated settlement in Syria. **
Didn’t a US court also order Iran to pay $10.5 billion for suffering caused on 9/11?
Also, why do they care now? Back when the 9/11 Commission was in operation, they never bothered chasing the money, claiming it was of “no practical significance”.
Always found the fact that they weren’t interesting in investigating potential financiers very dodgy.
Originally posted by @pap
Didn’t a US court also order Iran to pay $10.5 billion for suffering caused on 9/11?
Also, why do they care now? Back when the 9/11 Commission was in operation, they never bothered chasing the money, claiming it was of “no practical significance”.
Always found the fact that they weren’t interesting in investigating potential financiers very dodgy.
Why investigate the financiers when the whole planet knows the cheques came from Langley?
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Originally posted by @Dubai_Phil
Why investigate the financiers when the whole planet knows the cheques came from Langley?
For fuck’s sake, Phil. I was trying to be both circumspect and reliant on the established record!
We’ll have He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named back over here if you carry on like this. 
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I know you lot don’t like the Torygraph, plus IMHO, dear old Ambrose has been preaching Global Doom & Despair for the past 10 years or so, but this is an interesting over view on the Oil Price War, as well as a view of potential contagion.
Certainly in Iraq, Government Employees have not seen a salary cheque for over 5 months now, with their bidgets set at an expected $45 oil price they have had to cancel not only critical security infrastructure projects but also repairs to the Dams around Baghdad posing a threat to Millions. As IS flee Syria, it exposes the Oil Fields of Iraq to more disruption.
So you have the Oil Price collapse now, that is burning the economies and reserves of even the wealthiest GCC Nations, that is impacting on Investment in new fields, added to Russia & Oil Shale having issues on supply, contagion in Iraq and possibly Libya & Algeria.
Bang, back to another oil crisis in 3 - 5 years
GeoPolitics. Well worth ignoring methinks
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