Thus the education ministry will have lower expenses for building and maintaining public school buildings, while the buildings are less likely to be destroyed by the Taliban and other jihadis. Win-win.
[ToloNews] The acting minister of education, Rangina Hamidi, has suggested a new plan in which children from the first to third grade would study in mosques, a move which would be unprecedented in the country's education system.
The ministry in a statement defended the plan, saying it is aimed at giving a central place to Islamic studies, calling it a major and crucial step.
Implementing these changes would involve a careful and step-by-step plan, the ministry has argued, saying that it will remove the stigma about Islamic studies that is associated with madrassas. It says that with this decision, Islamic studies will be brought to schools.
The acting education minister recently removed the deputy minister’s office for Islamic studies and replaced it with a directorate of Islamic studies.
The statement says that the Islamic studies directorate will have greater authority and will be responsible for Islamic education from first to 12th grade at school.
Hamidi, who was not approved by the parliament as education minister, was summoned by the Senate on Sunday where she did not mention her new plan but attempted to defend her job by pledging that she would boost Islamic studies in schools.
"This is a shame, but I have to say that there are a number of school graduates who have no knowledge about prayers or feel obliged to pray," Hamidi said, referring to what she called "weak" Islamic studies in schools.
"One of the reasons that I received less votes was that I didn’t submit to any pressure over the last five months, and I didn’t appoint any unprofessional individual," Hamidi said.
She said that there are 220,000 teachers in the Ministry of Education and that increasing their salary under current circumstances is not possible.
Some senators criticized Hamidi for her decision to remove the Islamic studies office.
"The deputy minister’s office for Islamic studies was working under the Ministry of Education and it should coordinate among madrassas and it should work to resemble government and non-government madrassas," Senate Speaker Fazl Hadi Moslemyar said.
"Despite huge assistance by the international community, the education (ministry) could not activate its publication center and could not address the lack of textbooks," said the deputy speaker of the Senate, Mohammad Alam Ezedyar.
The acting minister of education was also criticized by MPs last week when she presented her plans to the politicians.
[ToloNews] US Chargé d’Affaires Ross Wilson in a chat with news hounds on Sunday said that the Taliban ...Arabic for students... is expecting the release of thousands of their prisoners under their agreement with the United States by mid-December.
"The specific provision relating to another 7,000 Taliban prisoners is contained in the US-Taliban agreement," Wilson said.
"If you do the math, the Taliban expect under the terms of that agreement that there would be progress on releasing those prisoners by roughly mid-December. I have forgotten the exact date. I think it's our view," he said.
Wilson said that "all of the various parts of the US-Taliban agreement are interlocked with one another, intersect with one another and that you can’t just take out one and say this one has to be adhered to without other aspects being adhered to."
Wilson said that the US’s "strong interest is in the united consensus among leaders of the Islamic Theocratic Republic that can help to make tough decisions as these negotiations go forward, give clear direction to the negotiating team in Doha and do it in a way that reflects the national interests as opposed to a narrow political interest, or a narrow ethnic interest or some other narrow set of concerns."
This comes as peace negotiators from the Afghan Republic and Taliban teams held their second meeting about the agenda of the negotiations in Doha following their first meeting on Saturday.
The meeting comes after the two sides agreed on procedural rules for the negotiations, a development that broke the deadlock and created hope for the grinding of the peace processor that is seen as the only way forward to end the decades of conflicts in Afghanistan.
So far, the details of the meetings have not been made public by the two sides, but both sides have expressed optimism about moving forward to finalize the agenda of the talks.
[ToloNews] Afghanistan's National Security Council (NSC) says that the details of military cooperation between Afghanistan and the US were detailed in a Kabul-Washington security pact--the 2014 Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA)--despite uncertainty caused by US President Trump's hasty order of a troop withdrawal.
US news agencies reported on Friday that US politicians are moving to prevent the Trump administration from reducing troop levels in Afghanistan and Germany before President-elect Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden ...Candidate for president in 2020. I'm not working for you. Don't be such a horse's ass.... is sworn in on 20 January 2021.
Continued on Page 49
[LIBYAREVIEW] The Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar ...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all. Actually, he is, but slowly... , praised the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament Ageela Saleh for his "positive role in resolving the Libyan issue."
During a meeting with senior military officers, Haftar hailed Ageela Saleh as a "patriotic person par excellence and a true supporter of the armed forces throughout his tenure as the Libyan Parliament Speaker," the LNA’s Media Office reported in a statement.
"In the conclusion of his speech, Field Marshal Haftar indicated that Saleh belongs to an important tribe that offered deaders for the sake of Libya," the statement added.
Libya has been plagued by a state of insecurity and chaos since 2011. The war-torn country is now run by two different executive bodies, but participants to the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) have voted this week on the mechanism for selecting a unified executive authority.
This vote took place on Thursday and Friday 3-4 December 2020. On Saturday, the Acting Special Representative of the United-Nations’ Secretary General in Libya, Stephanie Williams, hosted a virtual meeting to inform the LPDF participants of the vote’s results and to discuss ways forward in this political track.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2020 00:00 ||
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[Jpost] Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... n state oil giant Aramco has raised the January price for its Arab light crude to Asia to $0.30 a barrel over Oman/Dubai crude, up $0.80 from December, a company document showed.
It has also set the January OSP of its Arab light crude oil to the United States at plus $0.55 a barrel over ASCI (Argus Sour Crude Index), down $0.30 a barrel from December, according to the document.Aramco also set its OSP for Arab light crude oil to Northwestern Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... to minus $1.40 a barrel to ICE Brent.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, the gondola was dangling by a single thread of rope.
Jack! Cynthia cried. I just realized I'm afraid of heights! I don't even like high heels!... Iraq's oil minister praised the latest OPEC deal, saying it would help to boost oil prices over $50 a barrel. He stated that his country's 2021 budget will be based on a price of $42.
Iraq is to start selling three grades of crude in January, and expects oil exports to average around 2.8 million BPD in December.
He further stated that Iraq expects a deal with the Kurdistan region to hand over oil revenues, but no final agreement has yet been struck, Rooters reported.
[Jpost] The United Arab Emirates was the target of cyberattacks after establishing formal ties with Israel, the Gulf Arab state's cybersecurity head said on Sunday.
The UAE in August broke with decades of Arab policy when it agreed to forge ties with Israel in a move that angered Paleostinians and some Moslem states and communities. Bahrain and Sudan have followed suit.
"Our relationship, for example, with the normalization with Israel really opened a whole huge attacks from some other activists against the UAE," Mohammed Hamad al-Kuwaiti said during an onstage interview at a conference in Dubai.
Kuwaiti said the financial sector was targeted but did not elaborate. He did not say if any of the attacks were successful or provide details on who the perpetrators were. He also told the conference that the number of cyberattacks in the UAE increased sharply after the start of the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague) ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... pandemic. Kuwaiti said traditionally many attacks in the region originate from Iran, without specifying who is behind them.
Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has also said that it has been a victim of hacking.
[AlAhram] He described Israel as a 'Western colonizing' power that incarcerated Paleostinians in concentration camps under the flimsiest of security accusations, young & old, women & men, who are rotting there without recourse to justice
A prominent Saudi prince harshly criticized Israel on Sunday at a Bahrain security summit that was remotely attended by Israel's foreign minister.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, who led Saudi intelligence for more than two decades and served as ambassador to the U.S. and U.K., said any normalization deals needed to help the Paleostinians obtain their own independent state.
He described Israel as a "Western colonizing" power. He said Israel has "incarcerated (Paleostinians) in concentration camps under the flimsiest of security accusations- young and old, women and men, who are rotting there without recourse to justice. They are demolishing homes as they wish and they assassinate whomever they want."
Although the prince does not hold any official position, his stance is seen as closely mirroring that of King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians... Prince Turki's comments come as neighboring Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recently moved to normalize relations and establish ties with Israel.
Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... has insisted that any normalization between it and Israel can only happen alongside a lasting peace deal involving a two-state solution to the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict.
The kingdom publicly continues to state its unwavering support for the Arab Peace Initiative, a 2002 Saudi-sponsored deal that offers Israel full ties with all Arab states in return for Paleostinian statehood on territory Israel captured in 1967.
For some reason Allah disapproved of him, so he fixed the problem.
[IsraelTimes] An Iranian general reportedly instrumental in sending troops to Syria has died of COVID-19, according to Tehran.
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Brigadier-General Abdul Rasool Ostovar Mahmudabadi died Sunday after returning from Iraq, according to Tasnim news, quoting top Iranian General Hossein Salami.
Salami describes him as close with assassinated Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. Reports say he helped establish and expand Iran’s presence in Syria, a major target of Israel.
#Iran: #IRGC Brig. General Mahmud Abadi died from #COVID19. Along with Q. Soleimani, he was instrumental in sending #Iran|ian(-backed) troops in #Syria. He created the IRGC Special Forces "Saberin Brigade", involved in Syria vs Rebels & #ISIS. pic.twitter.com/kkHOfLsqLJ
[Jpost] Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has instructed its oil ministry to prepare installations for production and sale of crude oil at full capacity within three months, state media said on Sunday, ahead of a possible easing of US sanctions after President-elect Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden ...Failed seeker of the Democratic presidential nomination on multiple occasions, vice president under Barack Obama, giving it a last try in his dotage for 2020... takes office.
They quoted President Hassan Rouhani ...Iran's moderate president, which he is, relative to his predecessor, which doesn't mean he's anything but a puppet of the nearest holy man... as saying that Iran exported more than two million barrels a day before U.S. President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... exited the 2015 nuclear deal with six powers in 2018 and reimposed sanctions that have hit Iran’s economy hard by sharply cutting its vital oil exports.US President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on Jan. 20, has said that he would return to the pact and would lift sanctions if Tehran returned to "strict compliance with the nuclear deal."
Rouhani said on Sunday that his country was preparing for a speedy increase of its oil production, the official IRNA news agency reported.
"The Oil Ministry will take all the necessary steps to prepare the oil industry’s facilities to produce and sell - proportionate to the available capacity - within the next three months," IRNA quoted Rouhani as saying.
It is estimated that Iran exports less than 300,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), compared to a peak of 2.8 million bpd in 2018.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/07/2020 00:00 ||
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Fun fact: the “terror corridor” wasn’t described as such when ISIS controlled the majority of the cities within in. It became the “terror corridor” when the SDF and coalition defeated ISIS there. https://t.co/xnybn4qenH
The latest theory, replacing the previous claim of hundreds of vicious, eagle-eyed Mossad agents with their gossamer-clad dancing girls..
[AlAhram] Iranian authorities have blamed arch foe Israel and the exiled opposition group the People's Mujahedeen of Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... (MEK) for the liquidation
A satellite-controlled machine gun with "artificial intelligence" was used in last week's liquidation of a top nuclear scientist in Iran, the deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards told local media Sunday.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was driving on a highway outside Iran's capital Tehran with a security detail of 11 Guards on November 27, when the machine gun "zoomed in" on his face and fired 13 rounds, said rear-admiral Ali Fadavi.
The machine gun was mounted on a Nissan pickup and "focused only on martyr Fakhrizadeh's face in a way that his wife, despite being only 25 centimetres (10 inches) away, was not shot," Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.
It was being "controlled online" via a satellite and used an "advanced camera and artificial intelligence" to make the target, he added.
Fadavi said that Fakhrizadeh's head of security took four bullets "as he threw himself" on the scientist and that there were "no bully boyz at the scene".
Iranian authorities have blamed arch foe Israel and the exiled opposition group the People's Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK) for the liquidation.
State-run Press TV had previously said "made in Israel" weapons were found at the scene.
Various accounts of the scientist's death have emerged since the attack, with the defence ministry initially saying he was caught in a firefight with his bodyguards, while Fars news agency claimed "a remote controlled automatic machine gun" killed him, without citing any sources.
According to Iran's defence minister, Amir Hatami, Fakhrizadeh was one of his deputies and headed the ministry's Defence and Research and Innovation Organization, focusing on the field of "nuclear defence".
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...Arabic for 
...Candidate for president in 2020. 
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all. Actually, he is, but slowly...
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians...
...Failed seeker of the Democratic presidential nomination on multiple occasions, vice president under Barack Obama, giving it a last try in his dotage for 2020...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
