42 Bodies Found in Mass Grave Near Popular Mexican Tourist City

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Authorities reported the discovery of a mass grave containing at least 42 bodies on the outskirts of a popular Mexican tourist port city near the Arizona border. The grisly discovery occurred just outside Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, also known as Rocky Point — located approximately 60 miles south of Arizona.

Sonoran authorities announced the discovery of a mass grave near the city of Puerto Peñasco. Authorities from the state attorney general’s office reported that investigators are working the scene of the mass grave initially discovered by a group of volunteers. The group of volunteers called Madres Buscadoras De Sonora or Searching Mothers of Sonora is a group made of mothers searching for their sons and daughters who are reported missing. Most are believed to have been kidnapped and murdered by organized crime gangs that operate in the area.

According to a local media report from KGUN in Tucson, Arizona, and Breitbart Texas sources, the group of volunteers arrived in the area acting on a tip and began searching for shallow graves. On the first day, the group found a total of four bodies. They discovered 13 more bodies on the second day of digging and 25 more on Friday. In total, the volunteers discovered the remains of 42 people. Investigators will begin the forensic process to identify the remains and eventually notify relatives. (Read more from “42 Bodies Found in Mass Grave Near Popular Mexican Tourist City” HERE)

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Kurds Thank Trump for Ending Turkey’s Attack

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By Newsweek. The commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces has thanked President Donald Trump for organizing an initial ceasefire to halt a Turkish-led attack on majority-Kurdish forces across northeastern Syria, just as the U.S. leader signaled it was time for other powers to step in on Syria.

Trump ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops from northeastern Syria earlier this month as NATO ally Turkey launched an attack on the Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a group dominated by Kurdish militias that battled the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) but were considered terrorist organizations by Turkey. As violence ravaged the region, the Trump administration arranged a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and produced a five-day ceasefire that would end the attack by Turkish forces and allied Syrian insurgents, and facilitate the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters from a so-called “safe zone.”

After this deal was succeeded by a new arrangement between Russia and Turkey, Syrian Democratic Forces commander Mazloum Kobane said Wednesday that he “just spoke with President Trump and explained to him the Turkish violations of the truce that would not have been possible without his great efforts,” according to a tweet by spokesperson Mustafa Bali.

“We THANK President Trump for his tireless efforts that stopped the brutal Turkish attack and jihadist groups on our people,” Kobane was cited as saying. “President Trump promised to maintain partnership with SDF and long-term support at various spheres.” (Read more from “Kurds Thank Trump for Ending Turkey’s Attack” HERE)

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Despite Setback, Kurds Appear Ready for Spotlight

By The Jerusalem Post. Syrian Kurdish leader Gen. Mazlum Kobani received Washington’s support on Wednesday and was on the phone with the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu – all two weeks after it seemed his Syrian Democratic Forces were on the ropes against Turkey.

Mazlum and his fighters – which number around 100,000 in different units trained by the Americans – suffered setbacks between October 9 and 14 amid hammering by Turkey and Turkish-backed jihadists, but they have come through the fire with confidence. . .

For SDF commanders, this now presents an interesting opportunity. The US wants the SDF, which it helped create, to continue to secure parts of eastern Syria, particularly 10,000 ISIS detainees and some oil fields near the Euphrates River. The US will remain in this area for an undetermined amount of time. This can help keep Iranian influence out of the strategic border area and prevent ISIS infiltrating into Iraq. It also give the SDF some room to maneuver between the US and the Russians. According to Russia’s Sputnik news agency, Moscow was in contact with Washington about the Turkish agreement.

While Moscow’s sudden appearance in eastern Syria as the arbiter appeared to humiliate Washington last week, it now appears that the US and the SDF might have an avenue to speak to the Russians about some shared interests. This is because the SDF now has signed agreements with the Syrian regime while Moscow has signed an agreement with Ankara.

Turkey is ostensibly an American NATO ally. Turkey’s main concern was to remove the SDF from the border, and it has accomplished this. It has also provided Turkey’s government a way to pretend it won, and to funnel some unsavory jihadists into Syria so Turkey doesn’t have to deal with them in Idlib province. Turkey wants to dump as many Syrian extremists back into Syria as possible to cage them in and dilute them. Ankara didn’t commit many of its own forces to fighting the SDF between October 9 and 17, seeking instead to use the Syrian rebel groups as cannon fodder. Now that the fodder has been used, Turkey and Russia signed their deal. (Read more from “Despite Setback, Kurds Appear Ready for Spotlight” HERE)

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Israeli Develops Piston Engine That Runs on Water, Alcohol – No Gas

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In the annals of business, successful companies that originated in the garages of their founders have assumed an almost mythic significance. Corporate giants such as Apple, Google and Hewlett-Packard all began in small workshops adjacent to their creators’ homes. Now, another small, garage-based family business run by three Israelis near Miami, Florida, that says that they have succeeded in reinventing the internal combustion engine is aiming to join the elite group of legendary garage-based startups.

The company is called MayMaan Research, LLC, and it has developed a system to operate a traditional piston engine with a combination of 70% water and 30% ethanol (or any other alcohol) – no gasoline or diesel required. This revolutionary system can be applied, say its founders, with simple yet sophisticated modifications of existing engine designs, and saves 50% on fuel costs, produces far fewer emissions than gasoline or diesel, and is up to 60% more efficient than gasoline. MayMaan has built four operating prototypes to date, including a car, a generator and various engines. While the company has outgrown its garage-based origins, and has grown into a research laboratory facility, it remains imbued with a start-up spirit.

MayMaan is the brainchild of Yehuda Shmueli, 81, a talented inventor, engineer and master mechanic. Assisted by sons Eitan and Doron, and backed by an impressive executive management team, including Joe Nakash, founder and chairman of Jordache Enterprises; Yedidya Ya’ari, company chairman and former president and CEO of Israel’s Rafael Armament Development Authority; Malcolm Hoenlein, CEO and executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents; and other distinguished individuals, MayMaan’s disruptive technology plans to revolutionize the world of transportation, from passenger cars, to trucks, locomotives and even ships. (Read more from “Israeli Develops Piston Engine That Runs on Water, Alcohol – No Gas” HERE)

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More Evidence of Noah’s Flood: Trees From High in the Himalayas Found Half Mile Below Sea Floor

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The remains of ancient forests have been discovered deep beneath the sea, thousands of miles from their mountainous origins, with scientists finding 19 million-year-old wood chips in sediment layers at the bottom of the Bay of Bengal.

Researchers led by Sarah Feakins, from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, drilled down over two miles from the surface of the ocean, retrieving sediments from half a mile beneath the sea floor. By analyzing the core sample, the team was able to look at how trees were swept into the ocean millions of years ago before getting trapped in the ground.

By looking at the wood chips in the core, the team was able to determine where the trees had come from. In most cases, they found the wood was from trees that grew in lowlands, near the ocean. However, one layer was found to have wood from trees that would have grown high in the Himalayan mountains, about two miles above sea level.

In their study, published in PNAS, the team argues that trees within an ancient forest were uprooted by a huge release of water—potentially by a natural dam created by a glacier or a landslide. These trees would have then been transported for thousands of miles along a huge surge of water—from cyclones, monsoons or floods, the scientists suggest—before being released in the Bengal Fan. (Read more from “More Evidence of Noah’s Flood: Trees From High in the Himalayas Found Half Mile Below Sea Floor” HERE)

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President Trump Announces ‘Permanent Ceasefire’ in Syria

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President Trump on Wednesday announced that Turkey and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria will begin a “permanent ceasefire” as he renewed his pledge that the United States military will leave the region.

“Let someone else fight over this long-bloodstained sand,” Trump said in the Diplomatic Room at the White House, accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien. “We were supposed to be there for 30 days. That was almost 10 years ago. So we’re there for 30 days, and now we’re leaving. It’s supposed to be a very quick hit, and let’s get out, and it was a quick hit except they stayed for almost 10 years,” he added.

Trump said that he heard on Wednesday morning that the ceasefire would begin. “Earlier this morning, the government of Turkey informed my administration that they would be stopping combat and their offensive in Syria and making the ceasefire permanent,” he said.

“I do believe it will be permanent,” he said. “How we define the word ‘permanent’ in that part of the world is somewhat questionable, we all know that, but I believe it will be permanent.” . . .

“I want to again thank everyone on the American team who helped achieve the cease fire in Syria, saved so many lives. Along with president [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan of Turkey, a man I’ve gotten to know very well, and a man who loves his country,” Trump said. “And in his mind, he’s doing the right thing for his country.” (Read more from “Trump Announces ‘Permanent Ceasefire’ in Syria Between Turkey and Kurds” HERE)

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Pontius Pilate-Commissioned ‘Lost’ Road to Temple Mount Uncovered

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A 2,000-year-old street believed to have been created under the orders of Pontius Pilate has been found in Jerusalem.

A research published in Tel Aviv: Journal of the Institute of Archaeology details a hidden road that has been excavated for the past six years. More than 100 coins that date back to 31 A.D. were founding underneath the paving stones, which “provides strong evidence that the street was commissioned by Pontius Pilate,” according to a statement announcing the findings.

“Dating using coins is very exact,” said one of the study’s co-authors, Donald Ariel, an archaeologist and coin expert with the Israel Antiquities Authority, in the statement. “As some coins have the year in which they were minted on them, what that means is that if a coin with the date 30 CE on it is found beneath the street, the street had to be built in the same year or after that coin had been minted, so any time after 30 CE.”

“However, our study goes further, because statistically, coins minted some 10 years later are the most common coins in Jerusalem, so not having them beneath the street means the street was built before their appearance, in other words only in the time of Pilate,” Ariel added.

The newly discovered stretch of road spans 220 meters (721 feet) and goes from the Pool of Siloam to Temple Mount. This roadway likely used by worshippers who were headed toward Temple Mount, considered a holy site by Christians and Jews. (Read more from “Pontius Pilate-Commissioned ‘Lost’ Road to Temple Mount Uncovered” HERE)

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Chinese President Vows to Crush Hong Kong Pro-Freedom Protesters’ Bones to ‘Powder’; Chinese State Media: West Paying the Price for ‘Backing’ Riots

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By American Military News. Chinese President Xi Jinping threatened to grind bodies into “powder” and “smash” the bodies of anyone who attempts to split Hong Kong from China.

“Anyone who attempts to split any region from China will perish, with their bodies smashed and bones ground to powder,” Xi reportedly said in a statement on Sunday.

“Any external forces that support the splitting of China can only be regarded as delusional by the Chinese people,” he added.

The Chinese leader made the warning while visiting Nepal and did not name any specific territories or countries in his comments, but the Hong Kong protests are now in their 29th week.

Tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators have been protesting for 29 weeks in Hong Kong after a proposed extradition bill would let the Chinese government extradite individuals charged with crimes in Hong Kong to mainland China for prosecution. (Read more from “Chinese President Vows to Crush Hong Kong Pro-Freedom Protesters’ Bones to ‘Powder’” HERE)

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West Is Paying the Price for Supporting Hong Kong Riots, Chinese State Media Says

By CNN. The Chinese government and state-run media have accused Western countries of hypocrisy in their attitude to violent protests in Spain, Chile and Hong Kong over the past week.

Some articles even allege that demonstrations in Europe and South America are the direct result of Western tolerance of Hong Kong unrest, now in its 20th week. . .

The same day, an editorial in state-run tabloid Global Times accused Hong Kong demonstrators of “exporting revolution to the world.”

“The West is paying the price for supporting riots in Hong Kong, which has quickly kindled violence in other parts of the world and foreboded the political risks that the West can’t manage,” the editorial said. (Read more from “West Is Paying the Price for Supporting Hong Kong Riots, Chinese State Media Says” HERE)

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Persecuted Journalist: ‘Turkey Has Been Hosting ISIS for Years’

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Turkish journalist Can Dundar, onetime editor of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, on Sunday accused the Turkish government of “hosting ISIS for years” and “releasing their guerrillas” from captivity.

He urged Turks truly concerned about terrorism to “come together” with the Kurds and fight the Islamic State in a way the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan never will.

Dundar was arrested by the Erdogan government in 2015 for a Cumhuriyet expose that claimed Turkish intelligence was covertly supplying weapons to ISIS in Syria. He and his colleague Erdem Gul were charged with espionage and accused of being terrorists themselves, spending three months in prison before they were released on the orders of a Turkish constitutional court.

Dundar wisely departed for Germany after his release and lives there in exile. Turkish courts eventually changed their minds and retroactively sentenced him to 15 to 20 years in prison for espionage, while Gul was acquitted of his own charges. Turkey issued an arrest warrant for him in absentia and Erdogan demanded his extradition from Germany as a “spy.”

Dundar spoke with Kurdistan 24 news while visiting Washington, DC, to collect a Carnegie Endowment democracy award. He expressed grave doubts that Erdogan’s government could be trusted to respect the Kurdish population of Syria or fight effectively against the Islamic State, pointing to his work at Cumhuriyet to illustrate that Turkey has used ISIS as an instrument of policy in Syria, and is currently allied with Syrian militia groups that are not easy to distinguish from ISIS militants themselves[.] (Read more from “Persecuted Journalist: ‘Turkey Has Been Hosting ISIS for Years’” HERE)

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U.S. Troops Leaving Syria Will Go to Western Iraq

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Defense Secretary Mark Esper says that under current plans all U.S. troops leaving Syria will go to western Iraq and the military will continue to conduct operations against the Islamic State group to prevent its resurgence.

Speaking to reporters traveling with him to the Middle East, Esper did not rule out the idea that U.S. forces would conduct counterterrorism missions from Iraq into Syria. But he said those details will be worked out over time.

His comments were the first to specifically lay out where American troops will go as they leave Syria and what the counter-IS fight could look like. Esper said he has spoken to his Iraqi counterpart about the plan to shift the more than 700 troops leaving Syria into western Iraq.

As Esper left Washington on Saturday, U.S. troops were continuing to pull out of northern Syria after Turkey’s invasion into the border region. Reports of sporadic clashes continued between Turkish-backed fighters and the U.S.-allied Syria Kurdish forces despite a five-day cease-fire agreement hammered out on Friday between U.S. and Turkish leaders.

Trump ordered the bulk of the approximately 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria to withdraw after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made it clear in a phone call that his forces were about to invade Syria to push back Kurdish forces that Turkey considers terrorists. (Read more from “U.S. Troops Leaving Syria Will Go to Western Iraq” HERE)

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Claim: Turkish Forces Immediately Violated Ceasefire Agreement

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The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reported on Friday morning that Turkish forces violated the five-day ceasefire agreement announced on Thursday afternoon almost immediately, as Turkish-allied ground forces continued to attack the town of Ras al-Ain with Turkish air and artillery support.

“Despite the agreement to halt the fighting, air and artillery attacks continue to target the positions of fighters, civilian settlements, and the hospital in Serekaniye/Ras al-Ain,” said SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali, using both the Kurdish and Arabic names of the town. . .

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights counted 7 civilians killed plus at least 21 injured by Turkish airstrikes and warned 38 injured people are trapped in an area under siege by Turkish proxies.

Organizers of a civilian relief convoy attempting to reach Ras al-Ain told Kurdistan24 News the attacking forces have cut off access to the town. They reported 30 injuries in the area from artillery fired by either the Turks or their allies from the Free Syrian Army.

Reuters journalists positioned near the Turkey-Syria border said they could hear machine-gun fire and artillery explosions from the vicinity of Ras al-Ain and saw plumes of smoke near the town, although they added the “sounds of fighting had subsided by mid-morning.” (Read more from “Claim: Turkish Forces Immediately Violated Ceasefire Agreement” HERE)

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