An #Outsider Newsflash: #Iran Prominent Cartoonist Hadi Heidari Arrested : International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

We have just seen this which is of profound concern as the crackdown in Iran seems to be gathering pace: Prominent Cartoonist Hadi Heidari Arrested : International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

This is a developing story we'd be following over the ensuing days....

Notations On Our World: On #ParisAttacks, #NotinMyName & Other Thoughts...

Our team has been on the prowl throughout the night as we are seeing reports of Terrorists being apparently cornered in a suburb of Paris, St. Denis as we are seeing reports of police being injured.   There have been deaths and the man coordianting the Paris raids is the direct target.   This is as earlier today a number of venues in Germany were evaucated due to bomb scares and two Air France fights were diverted due to apparent bomb scares as they took off from the United States.

What was gratifying to note was the movement #NotinMyName initially launched in the aftermath of Charlie Hebdo was resurrected again:



We picked this up courtesy of our founder on his personal twitter feed as #NotinMyName gathers steam:  

On the prowl 4 the night as I saw this....as powerful as it gets...#NotInMyName ...plz take note @JohnKasich ,@GOP https://t.co/J1yiTiZv6x

— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) November 18, 2015

This is as GOP Governors have begun a campaign to bar Syrian Refugees that drew a sharp rebuke from President Obama who is at the APEC summit and noted by the +Huffington Post Politics and received by our offices in an email dispatch within the past hour as reported by the +Associated Press : 

SAUL LOEB via Getty Images

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — President Barack Obama is accusingRepublicans who oppose allowing Syrian refugees into the U.S. of being scared of widows and orphans. He says the political posturing "needs to stop."

Obama is addressing calls from GOP leaders for an immediate, temporary closure of America's borders to Syria refugees. He says those Republicans "think they're so tough."

"At first, they were too scared of the press being too tough on them in the debates. Now they are scared of three year old orphans. That doesn't seem so tough to me," Obama said, referring to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's assertion that not even refugee children should be allowed into the United States.

It is also of note, though, the hoaxes that was at hand as noted by the Sydney Morning Herald:



Internet's 10 biggest Paris hoaxes
Social media is the perfect space for lies to propagate. Here are 10 false facts about Paris you may have shared.

Notations On Our World: The latest on #ParisAttacks & The Continued Challenge of #Daesh

Our team has been on the continued assessment on the aftermath of #Daesh attacks throughout the day.   The first decision we've made is not to mention the name IS/ISIL/etc. in our daily "notations".   It has also been quite a busy 24 hours in the aftermath of the Paris Attacks.

Some in the Middle East have been profoundly concerned that the events in Beirut were not as "covered' and outrage was not as evident.      As our team here at #Outsiders assessed the Middle East impact, we hope and urge Lebanon leaders to have this as a wakeup call to unite, fix the fundemental problems and be ever so enlightened.   We will continue to assess it.   Beyond the reactions and the commentaries,  there are some very interesting developments.

There was a meeting of the Russian Security Officials chaired by President Putin.   The head of the Russian Security Service, FSB, said that they have definitely determined that it was a bomb that brought down the MetroJet that killed everyone on board.    The FSB has announced a $ 50 Million Dollar reward for information that will lead to the capture of the culprtis.    President Putin was adamant that they would be found as Russians attacked Raqqa over the past 24 hours.    US Secretary of State John Kerry was also in Paris meeting with President Hollande:

Beyond the meetings, there has been political reaction in the United States.   The Speaker of the US House, came out this morning asking for a "Pause" in the intake of Syrian Refugees:



He framed it as a US National Security Concern and noted that the National Defense Act he's signing requires the President to have a plan to defeat Daesh.  US States have also objected to White House plans to settle Syrian Refugees.--even though the passport found is a Fake as the backlash is ever so evident.  The question that leaders are not asking is what then as the Middle East continues to be grappled with problems of food insecurity, water insecurity and broader economic insecurity.     It was an interesting indictment of the present discourse that Mehdi Hassan noted in his +The Guardian column published earlier today: 

Yet we avert our gaze from the “glaringly evident” and pretend that “they” – the Russians, the Iranians, the Chinese – are attacked for their policies while “we” –Europe, the west, the liberal democracies – are attacked only for our principles. This is the simplistic fantasy, the geopolitical fairytale, that we tell ourselves. It gives us solace and strength in the wake of terrorist atrocities. But it does nothing to stop the next attack.

It appears based on reports that French Intelligence was aware of a major attack coming--but got the timing wrong with devastating consequences.   As we finished off the latest, we have also been following reports that French Police are pursuing a second fugitive based on the latest received here.    It was also quite moving to see this as we were on the "Grid" yesterday:

	The Independent (@Independent)
Watch French-Muslim students condemn the Paris attacks in a powerful and moving videoind.pn/1WVGJzF

We close this edition with this simple request to all: