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Elon Musk's satellites help Zelensky dominate the skies
Today's Headlines
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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3 15:50 Frank G [13]
Africa Subsaharan
Nigeria: Ex-Boko Haram fighters face tough path to reintegration
[DW] Nigeria is striving to reintegrate former Boko Haram Death Eaters who have voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered to the authorities. But in many communities, resentment towards the ex-fighters is still strong.

The regional government in Borno state recently announced the successful reintegration into the community of the first group of 500 former fighters from the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram
...not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
and a splinter group, the Islamic State
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/20/2022 00:41 || Comments || Link || [17 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)

#1  Why reintegrate when disintegrate is more effective for long-term peace?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 03/20/2022 14:43 Comments || Top||

#2  A tiger doesn't change its stripes. Also applies to Nigerians.
Posted by: jpal || 03/20/2022 19:10 Comments || Top||


How We Escaped From Terrorists Who Abducted Us —Katsina Girls Recount Ordeal
[SECURE.SAHARAREPORTERS] Two Katsina female teenagers, Mubaraka Naziru and Amina Rabiu, who beat feet from their abductors recently, have narrated their ordeal while in captivity.

Katsina is one of the North-West states badly hit by banditry.

The situation has led to tens of internally displaced persons camps in Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina states.

The two teenagers were kidnapped when bandidos in large numbers invaded Batsari in Katsina State on Wednesday around 12:00am, Daily Trust reports.

Naziru and Rabiu escaped when their abductors drank to a stupor.

When the two teenagers were led to the bush by their abductors, they were told not to worry as they would be married off as soon as they were brought before the bandidos’ kingpin.

Upon their arrival, the two girls were provided with bottled juice drinks and loaves of bread while the bandidos drank themselves to a stupor.

"Upon realising that they were unconscious, we decided to run away. We walked kilometers to a hill and we were lost in the bush," the teenagers said.

The teenagers said they tiptoed out of the bandidos’ den and found their way into the bush, even though they did not know where they were heading to.

According to them, they met some herders at the foot of a hill and they were directed to the nearby village, Muniya, in Safana Local Government Area, Katsina State.

It was at Muniya that they were offered help and taken back home.
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Banditti


Arabia
South Yemen Separatists Agree to Participate in National Dialogue in Riyadh
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Turkey led OIC’s invite to Hurriyat chief for Pak event draws India’s ire
[OneIndia] India has hit out at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation for inviting Masarat Alam Bhat, the chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference
...an alliance of 26 political, social and religious organizations formed as a united political front to raise the cause of Kashmiri separatism. In other words, a willing tool of Pakistan...
to attend a meeting of the foreign ministers of the member nations to be held in Islamabad next week.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi told news hounds that New Delhi does not expect the OIC to encourage actors and organizations engaged in terrorism and activities against the interests of India.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/20/2022 02:55 || Comments || Link || [18 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Kashmir: Authorities bolster 'village defense committees' to counter Islamists
[DW] India is providing better pay and more training to armed local groups in the restive Kashmir region. However,
you can observe a lot just by watching...
their members are accused of carrying out unwarranted killings.


In early March, the Indian government announced it would reestablish Village Defense Committees (VDCs) to fight "anti-India militancy" in conflict-torn India-administered Kashmir
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/20/2022 00:41 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Iraqi oil tycoon reject Iran’s claims his destroyed mansion was a Mossad base
[IsraelTimes] Baz Karim Barzinji’s home was hit in IRGC missile attack near US consulate in Erbil, in supposed response to alleged Israeli strike in Syria that killed two Iranian officers

Once a lavish mansion, the sprawling home of an Iraqi Kurdish oil tycoon was laid to waste in a barrage of missiles that struck near a US consulate complex in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil earlier this week

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said it launched the attack last Sunday, firing off 12 cruise missiles at what it described as a "strategic center" of the Israeli spy agency Mossad — in retaliation for an alleged Israeli strike in Syria that killed two of the Iranian paramilitary force’s members the previous week.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/20/2022 09:04 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hackers leak ‘new’ docs from Mossad chief after wife’s ‘old’ phone said hacked
[IsraelTimes] Open Hands’ group releases 2020 salary and tax papers allegedly belonging to David Barnea: ’Are they sending your NEW documents to your wife’s OLD phone??’

An anonymous Telegram channel released further documents that allegedly belong to Mossad chief David Barnea, days after publishing a video with other personal information and photos.

According to unsourced Hebrew-language media reports this week, an old phone belonging to Barnea’s wife was hacked by the group, which has been ostensibly tied to Iran. Reports said there was no sensitive information on the phone that could potentially harm state security.

On Saturday, the "Open Hands" channel released Barnea’s wage and tax papers from 2020, alleging that the information was "new."

"It seems that the director of the Mossad’s wage bill can be found in his wife’s ’OLD PHONE’! Mr. Bernea [sic], are they sending your NEW documents to your wife’s OLD phone?? Are you sure that the leakage is just from your wife’s ’OLD PHONE’?" the group said in a message on Telegram.

The documents showed Barnea’s Form 106, an annual statement of salary and tax information from his employer, the Prime Minister’s Office.

There was no immediate comment from the PMO on the new documents.

On Wednesday, Open Hands published a video that showed several personal photos, flight tickets under Barnea’s name, his ID card, tax documents addressed to his wife and satellite imagery of what it claimed was his private home in the central city of Hod Hasharon.

A clip of Barnea making silly faces, apparently during a private video chat, is also seen in the video.

The group claimed it began its surveillance operation against Barnea by breaking into the database of the city’s local library. It was not immediately clear this information was used to gather the data on Barnea.

The PMO stated Wednesday on the Mossad’s behalf that Barnea’s phone was not hacked and the "materials in question are old," without elaborating further.

Open Hands did not say where it was from, but some Hebrew-language media reports were quick to point the finger at Iran. Nour News, a website linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also published details of the leak.

It was not the first time alleged Iranian hackers have published stolen personal information on targets.

An Iranian-linked hacking group, Black Shadow, targeted an Israeli hosting company last year, temporarily shutting down a number of websites and stealing user data from "Atraf," an Israeli LGBT dating site. It later published some of the data.

Black Shadow also stole a vast trove of information from Israeli insurance company Shirbit in 2020 and then sold it on the dark web when the firm refused to pay a ransom.

Israel and Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....
have for years been involved in a largely quiet cyberwar, which occasionally bubbles to the surface.

On Monday evening, Israeli government websites were downed for over an hour due to a major cyberattack, which has also been ostensibly tied to Iran by media reports.

Israeli officials have previously accused Iran of attempting to hack Israel’s water system in 2020.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/20/2022 09:18 || Comments || Link || [14 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Family of British-Iranian says Tehran demanded $35,000 for his release
[IsraelTimes] Anoosheh Ashoori, tossed in the slammer
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
for 10 years on charges of spying for Israel, was freed alongside compatriot Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe after UK reached deal with Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....
over historic debt.


The family of a UK-Iranian man freed this week after spending five years in a Tehran jail were forced to pay Iran £27,000 ($35,600) in order to secure his return home, they said Saturday.

Anoosheh Ashoori, a retired engineer from southeast London, was arrested in 2017 and tossed in the slammer
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
for 10 years on charges of spying for Israel.

He flew home on Wednesday having been released along with compatriot Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe after Britannia reached a deal with Tehran over a historic military contract debt.

But his release was only secured after the family were able to meet a last-minute demand to pay a fine, they said.

"On March 14th, Dad’s conditional release was signed and communicated to us," the family wrote on fundraising site Crowdfunder.

"We had been waiting for 5 years for Dad to come home and were suddenly told that the only thing now stopping this... was an arbitrary £27,000 fine which we suddenly had to pay," they added.

"We had less than 12 hours to raise the money, taking out loans using our credit cards, and opening new accounts," Ashoori’s wife, Sherry Izadi, told The Guardian in comments published Saturday.

"My only thought was: ’How are we going to do this in time?'"

The Crowdfunder appeal had already raised more than £33,000 on Saturday, £6,000 above the target.

FATE OF THIRD PRISONER UNCLEAR
The families of both Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Ashoori believe they were being held as political prisoners until the historic debt was settled.

The final deal was reached "after highly complex and exhaustive negotiations," UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.

The fate of a third British-Iranian held in Tehran was on Saturday unclear.

Truss announced on Wednesday that Morad Tahbaz, who also holds US nationality, has been released from prison "on furlough" to his Tehran home.

But relatives said he had been taken back to Evin prison after only 48 hours at his family home in Tehran.

The UK Foreign Office said that he had gone to the prison to have an ankle tag fitted, but had yet to give an update on whether he had been returned.

The ministry said Iran would be in breach of its commitments if the 69-year-old conservationist was kept in jail.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/20/2022 09:12 || Comments || Link || [20 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  That's cheap. They didn't even recoup their expenses.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/20/2022 9:20 Comments || Top||

#2  they may get multi billions from the UK based on a cancelled arms deal late in the Shah era
Posted by: Lord Garth || 03/20/2022 9:38 Comments || Top||

#3  That’s in addition to the £400 million the British government paid, a long-owed reimbursement for tanks ordered by the Shah that were not delivered to the Mad Mullahs, Glenmore.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/20/2022 9:47 Comments || Top||


Kyiv Says Russia Picked 1,000 Volunteers from 'Army of Assad and Hizbullah'
[An Nahar] The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has alleged that the Russian army has chosen around 1,000 volunteers from what it called "the so-called army of Bashir al-Assad and Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...

"The Command of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continues to take measures to make up for the loss of personnel at the expense of foreigners. According to available information, the Russian occupiers have already picked up close to 1,000 volunteers from the so-called army of Bashir al-Assad and Hizbullah," the General Staff said in an English-language Facebook post.

"The main requirement for imported muscle is the experience of fighting in the city. At the same time, according to available information, the above-mentioned gunnies do not intend to take part in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine, but to use ’business trips’ as opportunities to get to European countries," the General Staff added.

On Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russia had drawn up lists of 40,000 fighters from Syrian army and allied militias to be put on standby for deployment in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said earlier that volunteers, including from Syria, were welcome to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine.

The Observatory and activists said Russian officers, in coordination with the Syrian military and allied militia, had set up registration offices in regime-held areas.

"More than 40,000 Syrians have registered to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine so far," said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the UK-based monitor. Russian officers deployed as part of the force Moscow sent to Syria in 2015 to support Damascus had approved 22,000 of them, Abdel Rahman said.

Those fighters are either combatants drawn from the army or pro-regime militias who have experience in street warfare and received Russian training.

In a country where soldiers earn between $15 and $35 per month, Russia has promised them a salary of $1,100 to fight in Ukraine, the Observatory reported.

They are also entitled to $7,700 in compensation for injuries and their families to $16,500 if they are killed in combat.

Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  We should soon see lots of destroyed little Toyota pickups w/machine guns mounted in the little Toyota pickup beds (aka Syrian "Tanks").
Posted by: US || 03/20/2022 0:09 Comments || Top||

#2  As a cost saving measure, Vlad may wish to consider captured Ukrainian training rifles for his disposable Bashir al-Assad and Hizbullah augmentees.

At a distance, it's nearly impossible to tell the difference. Ammo savings are also a big plus and maintenance is a no brainer.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/20/2022 2:26 Comments || Top||

#3 
They are also entitled to $7,700 in compensation for injuries and their families to $16,500 if they are killed in combat.

and a Russian promise to pay is a promise you can count on
Posted by: Lord Garth || 03/20/2022 10:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Russian promise to pay is a promise you can count on
Like a NATO promise of membership and support for Ukraine?
Posted by: Gomez Creath1767 || 03/20/2022 10:32 Comments || Top||

#5  or like the US governments promise, where is that doctor who gave up info on bin laden nowadays?.
Posted by: Chris || 03/20/2022 11:45 Comments || Top||

#6  /\ ....employed a Pakistani doctor, Shakil Afridi, to organize a hepatitis B vaccination program.

Clandestine goals achieved via a.... "vaccination program." What an amazing coincidence.

Link to 6 Sep 2021 NPR story- How The CIA's Hunt For Bin Laden Impacted Public Health Campaigns In Pakistan
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/20/2022 13:11 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
37[untagged]
5Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
3Islamic State
3Boko Haram (ISIS)
2Antifa/BLM
2Govt of Iran
2Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (al-Nusra)
2Banditti
1Govt of Syria
1Sublime Porte
1Houthis
1Commies
1Lashkar e-Taiba
1Moslem Colonists
1Narcos
1Govt of Pakistain Proxies
1Govt of Pakistan

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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2022-03-20
  Elon Musk's satellites help Zelensky dominate the skies
Sat 2022-03-19
  Commander of 8th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District: Lieutenant General Andrey Mordvichev is no more
Fri 2022-03-18
  ISIS ‘lover’ blows up aunt’s house in Baghdad for refusing his marriage proposal
Thu 2022-03-17
  Tens of thousands of Syrians enlisting to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine war
Wed 2022-03-16
  Amphibious Assault On Odesa Could Be Imminent According To Satellite Imagery
Tue 2022-03-15
  Over 500 'Repentant' Boko Haram Terrorists Graduate From Rehabilitation Camp In Gombe
Mon 2022-03-14
  War Crime of the first order. Russia burns Mariupol to the ground!
Sun 2022-03-13
  Missiles fired from Iran fall near US consulate in Erbil, Iraq
Sat 2022-03-12
  Mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent shelled by Russians in Mariupol. Turkish citizens hiding inside.
Fri 2022-03-11
  Putin Places Spies Under House Arrest - CEPA
Thu 2022-03-10
  Russia’s FM said they will no longer participate in the Council of Europe
Wed 2022-03-09
  Ukraine says no longer insisting on NATO membership
Tue 2022-03-08
  Is this a Russian ‘Barguzin’ nuke weapons train in the Ukraine?
Mon 2022-03-07
  Ukraine's Government Opens Website To Recruit Foreigners To 'International Legion'
Sun 2022-03-06
  5 Members of Family Beheaded in Herat, 2 Girls Killed in Balkh
Sat 2022-03-05
  Bombing at Shiite Mosque in Pakistan Kills at Least 56 Worshippers


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