North Korea Leader Kim Jong Un is Dead? Lost in Sight for Month

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is already dead? He has not seen for month. There are several speculations why Kim Jong Un hasn't seen for months, some said that he was toppled from power, he's ill or maybe dead -- at least politically.

What's the reason why Kim Jong Un not seen for more than a month?

That's the thinking behind a rash of rumors that the portly 31-year-old scion of the Hermit Kingdom's founding communists has been toppled from power.

Kim hasn't been seen in public in more than a month, and his absence from the Sept. 25 gathering of the rubber-stamp parliament injected adrenaline into Korea watchers' speculation that he has been deposed by a palace coup.

North Korea, South Korea Exchange Fire, Clash on October 7, 2014

Viral News: North Korea, South Korea Exchange Fire, Clash on October 7, 2014.

SEOUL, South Korea (UPDATED) – North and South Korean naval patrol boats briefly exchanged fire Tuesday, October 7, near their disputed Yellow Sea border which has been the site of numerous clashes in the past, the South's defense ministry said.

The incident took place around 9:50 am local time (0050 GMT) near the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong, when the North patrol boat crossed into the South's waters

The incident came as hopes had been raised of a constructive reboot in strained inter-Korean relations following the surprise visit of a top-ranking North Korean delegation to the South just three days before.

The defense ministry said the South's patrol boat had initially fired a warning shot after the North Korean vessel penetrated half a nautical mile inside the South's territorial waters.

Instead of retreating immediately, the North patrol boat opened fire, so "our side fired back," a ministry spokesman said, adding there was "no damage" sustained by the South Korean vessel.

Although the incident went beyond warning shots, the spokesman indicated that neither side had made a concerted effort to hit the other.

The incident took place around 9:50 am local time (0050 GMT) near the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong, and the North patrol boat retreated to its side of the border 10 minutes later.

The de-facto maritime boundary between the two Koreas – the Northern Limit Line – is not recognized by Pyongyang, which argues it was unilaterally drawn by US-led United Nations forces after the 1950-53 Korean War.

The Korean conflict ended in an armistice instead of a peace treaty, and technically the two Koreas are still at war.

Both sides complain of frequent maritime incursions by the other and there were limited naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and 2009.

In November 2010, North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong island, killing 4 South Koreans and briefly triggering concerns of a full-scale conflict.

The latest scrap followed the shock visit to South Korea on Saturday by some of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's closest aides.

It was led by Hwang Pyong-So, a newly elected vice chairman of the nuclear-armed North's powerful National Defence Commission who is widely seen as Kim Jong-Un's number two.

The visit resulted in an agreement to resume a high-level dialogue that had been suspended for seven months as military tensions on the divided peninsula soared.

The delegation also delivered the message that Kim Jong-Un had no serious health problem, despite not being seen in public for more than a month.

source: rappler

Islamic State wages assault on Syrian border town of Kobani backed by tanks and artillery

Islamic State wages assault on Syrian border town of Kobani backed by tanks and artillery.

Islamic State fighters backed by tanks and artillery pushed into an embattled Syrian town on the border with Turkey on Monday, touching off heavy street battles with the town’s Kurdish defenders.

Hours after the militants raised two of their Islamic State group’s black flags on the outskirts of Kobani, the militants punctured the Kurdish front lines and advanced into the town itself, the Local Coordination Committees activist collective and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“They’re fighting inside the city. Hundreds of civilians have left,” said Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman. “The Islamic State controls three neighborhoods on the eastern side of Kobani. They are trying to enter the town from the southwest as well.”

The center of the town was still in Kurdish hands, Abdurrahman said. Kurdish officials could not be immediately reached for comment. Since it began its offensive in mid-September, the Islamic State group has barrelled through one Kurdish village after another as it closed in on its main target — the town of Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab.

The assault has forced some 160,000 Syrians to flee and put a strain on Kurdish forces, who have struggled to hold off the extremists even with the aid of limited U.S.-led airstrikes.

Australia Approves Military Ground Forces and Aircraft to Fight ISIS in Iraq

Australia Approves Military Ground Forces and Aircraft to Fight ISIS. Australian officials approved the deployment of ground forces and aircrafts to fight terrorists ISIS.

SYDNEY — Australian special forces troops will be deployed in Iraq to assist in the fight against Islamic State militants, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said yesterday, and its aircraft will also join US-led coalition strikes.

Mr Abbott said in a nationally televised news conference that the Australian troops would be engaged in an advise-and-assist capacity to support the Iraqi army in its battle against the militant Islamist group.

The United States has been bombing the Islamic State and other groups in Syria for almost two weeks with the help of Arab allies and hitting targets in neighbouring Iraq since August. European countries have joined the campaign in Iraq, but not in Syria.

While the involvement of Australian aircraft had been flagged, the use of Australian troops on the ground in Iraq was not as widely anticipated.

Last month, Mr Abbott sent aircraft and 600 personnel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in preparation for joining the coalition. He has since said it was possible that Australian aircraft would join the strikes to combat the Islamic State, which he described as a “murderous death cult”.

“Today, the Cabinet has authorised Australian air strikes in Iraq at the request of the Iraqi Government and in support of the Iraqi government,” Mr Abbott said. “Also, subject to final legal documentation, the Cabinet has authorised the deployment of Australian special forces into Iraq to advise and assist Iraqi forces.”

So far, Australian aircraft have been limited to humanitarian aid and delivering arms to Iraqi government-backed forces.

Australia is on high alert for attacks by radicalised Muslims or by homegrown militants returning from fighting in the Middle East, having raised its threat level to high and undertaken a series of high-profile raids in major cities.

Officials believe up to 160 Australians have been either involved in the fighting in the Middle East or actively supporting groups fighting there. At least 20 are believed to have returned to Australia and have been said to pose a security risk.

One man was charged on Tuesday with funding a terrorist organisation, while another was arrested last month after the police said they had thwarted a plot to behead a randomly selected member of the public.

Prominent Australian Muslims say their community is being unfairly targeted by law enforcement and threatened by right-wing groups, and there are concerns that policies aimed at combating radical Islamists could create a backlash.

Mr Abbott said the Islamic State poses a grave threat to both Australia and the wider world, and that Canberra could not afford to shirk its responsibility to contribute militarily to degrading the group’s capabilities.

“The Americans certainly have quite a substantial special forces component on the ground already,” Mr Abbott added.

“My understanding is that there are United Kingdom and Canadian special forces already inside Iraq, so we’ll be operating on a much smaller scale, but in an entirely comparable way to the US special forces.”

The Australian contingent in the UAE is made up of eight Super Hornet fighter jets, an early warning and control aircraft, and an aerial refuelling aircraft, along with 400 air force personnel and 200 special force soldiers. Reuters

Mermaid Body Found Anew - Photo Viral: Real or Hoax?

An alleged photo of mermaid which was caught, found became viral and popular online. The mermaid photo shows the face of a woman and it has a fish tail. It was not confirmed whether the photo is real or fake but it's trending after it was uploaded in facebook.

Mermaids are still a myths since there are no evidence that these creatures do exists. Mermaid caught by people photo August 2014 - Viral

US Journalist James Foley Beheaded by IS Militants - Video Leak

Breaking News: A video posted by IS militants showing US journalist James Foley beheaded. US has been shocked after watching the video which became viral online. Islamic State militants have released a video purportedly showing the beheading of a US journalist who went missing two years ago.

Watch the video here

The footage appears to show a masked man - speaking in English with traces of a British accent - killing James Foley, who was seized by armed men in Syria in November 2012.

In the five-minute video, posted on social media sites by Islamic State sources, the group declares that Mr Foley was killed after Barack Obama ordered airstrikes against IS positions in northern Iraq.

The group also claimed to be holding another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, and said his life depended on the US president's next move.

White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the administration had seen the video but had not yet confirmed its authenticity.

She said that if it is verified by the intelligence community, the US would be "appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist".

The "Find James Foley" campaign run by the 40-year-old's family to secure his release posted a public message on Facebook after the video was released asking for time to "seek answers".

Foley was an experienced correspondent who had covered the war in Libya before heading to Syria to follow the revolt against Bashar al Assad for the Global Post, AFP and other outlets.

According to witnesses, he was seized in the northern Syrian province of Idlib on November 22, 2012.
His family has not heard from him since, despite a public campaign for information.

source: guardian