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Today: 73 articles and 165 comments as of 11:22.
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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Gendarmes attacked in northern Burkina Faso, 32 dead
Today's Headlines
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
Farmers in South Say Opium Production Increasing
[ToloNews] Farmers in the southern provinces of the country said they are happy about their opium products in the fall season of this year.

Farmers in Kandahar and Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
say that this year the yield is good considering the drought in the country.

Mohammad Wali, a farmer in Kandahar, said that although he is concerned about the drought this year the cultivation of the opium is favorable as there is no other work.

"There is no work, all the families are in debt and everyone’s hope is opium," said Mohammad Wali, a farmer.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shattered spaceship, Fffflirgoll the Arcturan slithered stealthily toward the control room, where the humans had barricaded themselves...
officials of the Islamic Emirate said they are trying to find alternatives for the poppy farmers.
Saffron and pine nuts are traditional... cucumbers and tomatoes would probably be overwhelming to those simple souls.
"The Islamic Emirate through using government facilities, and in coordination with various international organizations and in cooperation with the international community, is trying to find alternative jobs for those who are cultivating opium," said Enamullah Samangani, deputy front man of the Islamic Emirate.
“Sure, you can plant something else. Just as long as we get the same tax as if you’d planted opium, plus an extra 10% for the extra trouble you’re giving us.”
"The issue of narcotics is one of the world’s biggest problems, and our neighboring countries, especially Russia, will be greatly affected by Afghanistan’s narcotics and this will affect the relations of the Islamic Emirate with the world," said Noorullah Hazrati, a university lecturer.

One of the major challenges that the previous government was facing was the massive cultivation of poppies and the production of opium in the country.
Thanks to the independent actions of the CIA, Pakistan's ISI, and various Afghan politicians unwilling to give up a good thing.
Based on reports of international organizations, 90% of the world's narcotics is produced in Afghanistan. Although millions of dollars were spent on the eradication of opium it is still being cultivated in the country.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [15 views] Top|| File under: Taliban/IEA

#1  Gotta pay the bills.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 11/17/2021 12:21 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan, Iran to Expand Economic, Political Ties
Needs must when the Devil rides, even if they’re icky Shiite heretics. Time enough to go jihad on them after they shore up the Afghan economy, the blind, greedy fools. (Or not, as the case may be.)
[ToloNews] Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and the Iranian Special Representative for Afghanistan Hassan Kazemi Qomi said on Tuesday that Afghanistan and Iran
...Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979...
are working to expand their economic and political relations.

Qomi, leading a delegation, arrived in Kabul on Monday and held talks with several officials of the Islamic Emirate including Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Amir Khan Muttaqi.

Muttaqi said the Iranian delegation was comprised of technical teams from different ministries which held talks with relevant Afghan teams.

Muttaqi said the Islamic Emirate has also appointed technical teams from the related ministries who will hold talks with the Iranian teams in the future to expand cooperation.

According to Muttaqi, the teams will discuss issues related to economic cooperation, border issues, and Afghan refugees in Iran.

"The people of Afghanistan and the new government of Afghanistan want good relations with the neighboring countries and the world, especially with the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran. Our relations with Iran have been good and we are trying to improve them further," Muttaqi said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch clutched at his other shoulder......
Qomi also said they had good discussions with Islamic Emirate officials, especially over economic cooperation.

Qomi said Afghanistan is under sanctions and Iran is trying to expand its economic cooperation with Afghanistan at this crucial juncture.

"We had positive and constructive talks on different issues, including expanding cooperation between the two countries, mainly in the economic sector and issues related to borders," he said.

Qomi added that some countries are trying to destabilize Afghanistan through their proxies and thus Iran is working to cooperate with Afghanistan in the security area as well. "Today the people of Afghanistan are under pressure from terrorist groups being supported by the outsiders," he said.

In the meantime, Muttaqi in an interview with Pakistain’s Geo News said the enmity between the Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
and the United States has ended and now Kabul wants to have diplomatic relations with Washington.

Muttaqi also said the United States should release Afghanistan assets and the international community should recognize the new government.

The international community, however, has repeatedly said respect for human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
, especially women's rights, and the formation of an inclusive government are conditions for recognition.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Move to stabilize Afghani, Taliban intends to auction $10 million today
”I’ll take that $10 million for a dollar!”
“I see two over there, anyone bidding three?”
[KhaamaPress] As Afghanistan has been dealing with western sanctions and no foreign aid, the local currency-Afghani- hit the lowest level against US dollar in the past twenty years, with 1$ trading for 95 Afghani.

To prevent the plummeting move of the local currency, ten central banks of Afghanistan-De Afghanistan Bank- announced to be auctioning $10 million on Tuesday, November 16.

In a statement released by the bank, private banks and forex traders were asked to participate in the bidding.

The bidders will be paying Afghani for the amount of dollars they buy in the auction.

In the meantime, economic analysts suspect that the auction will not be beneficial as the dollars will be trafficked abroad and will have less impact on the value of the local currency.

It is worth mentioning that the previous Afghan government would auction this amount of dollars every week but did not impact the local currency due to vast corruption.

It comes as the Human Rights Watch has asked the United Nation to ease financial restrictions on Afghanistan as people are suffering from critical malnutrition, unemployment, and high prices of food and fuel.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Taliban/IEA


Taliban arrest man for selling 130 women in Afghanistan
[GEO.TV] The Taliban
...Arabic for students...
have arrested a man for allegedly selling dozens of women in northern Afghanistan after duping them into believing they would be marrying into money, officials said Tuesday.The man was arrested in northern Jowzjan province late on Monday, Damullah Seraj, the Taliban provincial police chief, told news hounds.

"We are still in our initial stages of the investigation. We hope to find out more about this case later," he said.

Mohammad Sardar Mubariz, a district police chief in Jowzjan, told AFP the man would target poor women desperate to improve their circumstances.

After saying he would find them a wealthy husband, he would move them to a different province where they were instead sold into servitude.

He allegedly trafficked around 130 women this way.

Crime, nepotism, and corruption are not new in Afghanistan but rising poverty is undermining the Taliban government's claim to legitimacy.

Since their return to power about three months ago, the Taliban are trying to contain a spate of crimes such as robberies and kidnappings in the big cities.

On Tuesday, the Taliban interior ministry said 60 people — including members of the passport department — were arrested for forging documents to obtain passports.

The ministry said it was temporarily closing the passport office in Kabul for maintenance.
Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [15 views] Top|| File under: Taliban/IEA


Africa North
38 Days before the presidential elections in Libya. Who is running?
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

I’d vote for Khalifa Haftar if I could, but Saif al-Islam Gadaffi is probably less polarizing. Even if he does look silly wrapped in all that brown fabric, and with a greying beard to boot.
Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  The Islamists apparently chose not to put forward
Dbeibah or another candidate. The Muslim Brotherhood supported President of the Tripoli High Council of State Khalid Al-Mishri, but they appear to have backed off. Thus,, one can assume that the Islamists haven't much confidence in their ability to win an open election.
Posted by: Bertie Crains2651 || 11/17/2021 8:14 Comments || Top||


Militias in Western Libya Reject Saif Al-Islam's Candidacy
[LIBYAREVIEW] A group of armed militias in the western town of Zawiya announced their rejection of the candidacy of late Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy
...Proof that a madman with money will be politely received for at least 42 years until his people get tired of him and kill him...
’s son Saif al-Islam, threatening a return to civil war.Earlier today, the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) announced that Saif al-Islam submitted his candidacy for the Presidential elections in the southern town of Sebha, 650km south of Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
On Sunday evening, the militias issued a statement threatening to shut polling stations down if the elections proceeded with the current laws.

Additionally, they warned the international community that these elections "will bring Libya back to square one and will drag the country into another civil war."

This comes in conjunction with militias from Zintan, who held a military parade with heavy weapons, to express their rejection of Qadaffy’s application.

In a video shared by an election official, Saif al-Islam addressed the camera, saying that "God will decide the right path for the country’s future."

The 49-year old, who earned a PhD from the London School of Economics, wore a traditional Libyan robe, turban, and spectacles. It was his first public appearance in almost five years. He was seen as the reformist face of the Qadaffy regime before the 2011 uprising. He was arrested in November 2011, and released in June 2017 after more than five years of detention.

This July, he told The New York Times

... which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...

in an exclusive interview that he was considering a run for the country’s top office. His candidacy is likely to stir controversy across the already divided country.

Last month, Chairman of HNEC, Emad al-Din al-Sayeh, said Saif al-Islam was eligible to run for the upcoming Presidential elections. In a discussion session via Clubhouse, al-Sayeh noted that the law issued by the Libyan Parliament does not prevent his candidacy.



Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


Khalifa Haftar Announces Presidential Bid in Libya
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
EU to set up humanitarian aid center in Uzbekistan
[KhaamaPress] The Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan announced that the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
will establish a center of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan in Termez of Uzbekistan.

A statement released by the ministry reads that special representatives of EU and Uzbekistan for Afghanistan discussed the issue on Monday, November, 15 in Brussels.

European Union’s envoy to Afghanistan Tomas Niklasson appreciated the efforts of Uzbekistan in the evacuation of EU nationals from Afghanistan and expressed interest in continued cooperation with Uzbekistan in bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan.

The special representatives also agreed to continue consultations.

Earlier, the United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
had said that the main hub of the World Food Program for assistance to Afghanistan will be based in Termez.

It comes as the international aid organizations have called on the international community to move forward and help prevent the deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Top EU court tells Hungary its ‘Stop Soros’ anti-migrant law is illegal
[IsraelTimes] European Court of Justice says Orban’s government broke EU law by criminalizing helping refugees to apply for asylum.

The European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
’s top court ruled Tuesday that Hungary broke EU law by making it a criminal offense for people or organizations to help migrants colonists and refugees apply for asylum, in a new legal blow to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s right-wing government.
EU clowning itself. I don't think Orban cares what they say
Hungary erected a razor-wire barrier on its border with Serbia and Croatia in 2015 as well over 1 million people, most fleeing conflict in Syria, entered the EU, often from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
via Greece. Tens of thousands moved north, deeper into the EU, in search of sanctuary and better lives.

As more people arrived, Orban began to accuse Hungarian-born US billionaire George Soros
...either Ernst Stavro Blofeld or Auric Goldfinger come true...
and groups linked to him of encouraging the migrants colonists. In 2018, Hungary’s government introduced legislation known as the "Stop Soros" laws that would make it an offense to help people apply for asylum.

The Hungarian government also started a billboard campaign against the Jewish billionaire and philanthropist, which was deemed antisemitic.

The posters showed a large picture of the émigré laughing, alongside the text: "Let’s not let Soros have the last laugh," a reference to government claims that Soros wants to force Hungary to allow in migrants colonists.

The European Court of Justice said Tuesday that Hungary had failed to fulfill its EU obligations "by criminalizing, in its national law, the actions of any person who, in connection with an organizing activity, provides assistance in respect of the making or lodging of an application for asylum in its territory..."

The Luxembourg-based court said the legislation restricts "the right of access to applicants for international protection and the right to communicate with those persons," as well as the right of the migrants colonists themselves to consult a legal advisor or counselor.

The court said the law cannot be justified by the aim of preventing "the assistance of misuse of the asylum procedure and of illegal immigration based on deception."

Orban’s government is a staunch opponent of immigration. Its treatment of migrants colonists and refugees has brought it into frequent conflict with many of its EU partners and the executive branch, the European Commission, which supervises the respect of the bloc’s laws.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/17/2021 01:38 || Comments || Link || [15 views] Top|| File under: Migrants/Illegal Immigrants

#1  Just rewrite the law as "Stop Lukashenka," and the EU will do a 180 on it.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 11/17/2021 2:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Next Week:
"Thousands of migrants travel across Slovania headed towards Hungarian border."
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/17/2021 18:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Soros is as Jewish as Hitler.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 11/17/2021 18:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Good luck enforcing that, EU.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/17/2021 20:12 Comments || Top||

#5  #3 Soros is as Jewish as Hitler.

Or, um... Rumkowski.
Posted by: Sloluque Tholutch1643 || 11/17/2021 20:42 Comments || Top||

#6  Schindler's Pissed, or, "Oskar, you'll follow Rickles, as usual."

I give you the Gitler of crime
Who could sell you your soul... for a time,
That rascal of Lodz,
To his ghetto a doge,
Of heritage purer
Than even der [Rechtsarmengrabben]!
Good Nutsies still toast him: "L'Chaim!"
Posted by: Sloluque Tholutch1643 || 11/17/2021 21:05 Comments || Top||

#7  *happy sigh*
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/17/2021 22:00 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkish minister: Detained Israeli couple ‘marked’ Erdogan’s residence
These people are completely off their rockers.
[IsraelTimes] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
’s interior minister claims an Israeli couple arrested for photographing a presidential palace in Istanbul was not doing so innocently, in the first official Ottoman Turkish comment on the matter.

Minister Suleyman Soylu tells news hounds that the Israelis "focused" on Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than there are in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really most important...
’s residence while photographing it and "marked it."

He also says prosecutors believe Mordy and Natali Oknin committed "what can be called diplomatic and military espionage," but that the court will decide.

Israel has firmly and formally rejected the allegation that the Oknins are Israeli spies.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/17/2021 01:53 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  'Marked' Erdogan's residence.

Very likly a live environment training exercise. Difficult for me to believe his location isn't monitored and tracked on an daily basis.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/17/2021 6:36 Comments || Top||

#2  "Marked" like a dog marking territory? Ayuh, I could see that.
Posted by: Mercutio || 11/17/2021 8:12 Comments || Top||

#3  I guessing that they don't have Google street view in Erby's neighborhood.
Posted by: ed in texas || 11/17/2021 10:09 Comments || Top||

#4  to bad they didn't mark it with a laser designator.
Posted by: Chris || 11/17/2021 17:23 Comments || Top||


Cavusoglu Says Turkey Ready to Help in Lebanon-Gulf Row
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Government Corruption
US Gov't 'Replacement People' concierge travel services Welcome Packet, courtesy of nonprofits
[Just The News] Like travel agents preparing customers for a cruise, nonprofits working with the Biden administration have created detailed itineraries and information packets to help illegal aliens travel to wherever they want to go in the U.S., according to documents obtained by a Texas congressman.

Often courtesy of American taxpayers struggling to pay their bills during surging inflation, illegals are given free quality hotel rooms, plane tickets and transportation to the airport, travel maps, and instructions to TSA to bypass photo ID requirements, according to the documents shared with Just the News.

The prototype packet, which was provided by a whistleblower to Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas), undermines Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' claim that the southern border is closed. Instead, it highlights an extensive network of nonprofits, corporations and family foundations working together to circumvent immigration laws passed by Congress.

The packet provided by Gooden to Just the News details a travel itinerary of a 46-year-old Honduran who entered the U.S. illegally in California, one of thousands assisted by the San Diego Rapid Response Network, which identifies itself as a "coalition of human rights and service organizations, attorneys and community leaders dedicated to aiding immigrants and their families in the San Diego border region of the U.S."

One of its partners, Jewish Family Services, which did not immediately return request for comment, appears to have arranged the Honduran's travel, according to the documents.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/17/2021 01:37 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Migrants/Illegal Immigrants


India-Pakistan
Talks with TLP and TTP: Getting our priorities all wrong
[GEO.TV] As the government continues to work out its secretive deals with the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban
...Arabic for students...
Pakistain (TTP), which was proscribed because of its acts of terrible violence in the country, and the murderous Moslem Tehrik-e-Labbaik Pakistain (TLP), it appears to have forgotten that its priorities should be different.

While there is a need to get militancy under control, giving way to the demands of such parties and groups has not worked in the past and is unlikely to work now. The TLP has, on each occasion that it has protested, got away with its actions.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under: Tehrik-e-Labaik


Iraq
Bodies of two Kurdish migrants return home from Belarus
[Rudaw] On Sunday, the bodies of two Kurdish migrants colonists were returned home for burial. Gaylan Dler, 25, and Kurdo Khalid, 34, died in Belarus where thousands of Kurds from Iraq are caught in a standoff between Minsk and the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
Gaylan Dler had diabetes. He left Erbil with his two brothers, sister, and her family on October 12, traveling through Dubai to reach Minsk. On the border, they were pushed back and forth across the frontier by Belarusian and Polish forces, his sister Iman Dler told Rudaw from a center in Poland where she was staying after breaking her leg.

Gaylan lost his supply of insulin when he got separated from his brother-in-law in confusion at the border and died in the cold on October 29. He was buried in Erbil on Monday.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/17/2021 00:40 || Comments || Link || [15 views] Top|| File under: Migrants/Illegal Immigrants

#1  So, one had diabetes and the other had a stroke.
Posted by: ed in texas || 11/17/2021 10:13 Comments || Top||

#2  ^ Clearly Covid-related
Posted by: Frank G || 11/17/2021 11:19 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel's next-gen robots could replace ground troops on front lines
[JPost] Take a hostage (robot), assholes. It will send the artillery coordinates, or just explode - you're familiar with that atrocity, right?
Elbit Systems and Roboteam have released the ROOK UGV, which will support infantry in a number of frontline roles.

"If you want to send robots where you don’t want to send soldiers, you need a solution for that," said Elad Levy, CEO and founder of Roboteam.

His company, together with Elbit Systems, on Tuesday, announced the debut of what they are calling "the mothership of unmanned vehicles": ROOK, a multi-payload military 6x6 Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV).

The UGV’s innovative design and built-in autonomy suite offers improved capacity, maneuverability and agility from its previous models, creating "a human machine" that is "really part of the team," said Yoav Poizner, the senior director of Elbit C4I and Cyber.

He said the ROOK is the next step toward enabling "everything that happens in the sky" through use of drones and aerial robots to occur on the ground and in the field where soldiers need it, too.

The ROOK was developed based on the operational experience accumulated through fielding of the 4x4 PROBOT UGV systems, which became operational a few years ago through a first collaboration between the two companies.

What makes ROOK most unique is that it started as a connected system, the teams said.

"Because we built it from the first screw, we know how the robot works with the software," Levy said.

"It has built-in autonomy and built-in artificial intelligence that provides a full solution. Without that level of sophistication, you would not want to rely on it in the field."

The ROOK was designed from scratch as a robotic UGV platform in compliance with applicable military standards, a release explained. It has a modular box structure that allows for components to be replaced by users in the field without the support of the manufacturer.

Other features include a low center of gravity, essential for carrying heavy payloads on rough terrain. The ROOK weighs 1,200 kg. (2,646 lbs.) and can carry a payload equivalent to its own body weight. It stands 24 cm. above the ground and travels at a speed up to 30 kilometers an hour (19 mph).
Posted by: Frank G || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


UNRWA chief: We face collapse from political attacks and lack of funds
and the fact we support terrorist infrastructure....
[Jpost] To date, UNRWA services 5.7 million Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Is it fund raising time again already? How time does fly.
The UN Relief and Works Agency that services Palestinian refugees is close to collapse due to vicious political attacks and lack of funding, its commissioner, General Philippe Lazzarini, told a donor conference in Brussels.

"Today I have to raise the alarm, because if we do not have a real solution now and for the future, the institution is on the edge of a collapse," Lazzarini told reporters after the meeting.

UNRWA has already struggled to pay its bills, including salaries, he said.

The international pledging conference raised $38 million of what had been a $100 million budgetary shortfall for November and December.

Lazzarini told reporters that UNRWA’s budget has been largely stagnant since 2013, even though the refugee population, as well as its needs, has grown.

Member states have not been willing to back up their statements in support of the organization with actual funds, Lazzarini said.

"Today I called on member states to deliver on their political commitment to UNRWA through commensurate resources," said Lazzarini to reporters.

When he addressed the conference, Lazzarini spoke of the financial crisis and the severity of attacks by UNRWA’s opponents.

"These financial threats are closely connected to the vicious and increasingly frequent political attacks that UNRWA is facing," Lazzarini said.

He did not name the attackers, but they have included Israel, the former Trump administration, prominent US Republicans, and right-wing NGOs.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, urged countries ahead of the conference not to donate to UNRWA.

"UNRWA has long been part of the problem and not part of the solution," Erdan said in a statement from Jerusalem. "Instead of functioning as an agency for humanitarian and educational assistance, the agency functions as a political body that promotes the Hamas narrative [and] allows incitement against, and delegitimization of, Israel to be written into Palestinian [school] textbooks."

Hillel Neuer, who is executive director of the NGO UN Watch, stood outside the UNRWA conference venue in Brussels and handed out information against the agency.

Neuer is among those who has charged that textbooks used in UNRWA schools have promoted antisemitism and incitement against Israel. He also released a study this year that provided examples of antisemitic media posts by some UNRWA staff.

"I’m here urging delegations from the US, EU, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Italy, Australia, Switzerland and many other countries to demand that their money to UNRWA — our taxpayer funds — not go to teachers who glorify Hitler," Neuer said.

Still, Lazzarini added, "No Agency invests more than UNRWA into mitigating these risks."

Those who argue against UNRWA, he charged, are exploiting these issues for political gain at the expense of services to refugees.

"We need to do more to counter these attacks, to expose their political agendas and shield Palestine refugees from the crippling impact of these attacks," said Lazzarini. "We need to address these attacks for what they are."

Lazzarini said that their objective was "to erase the rights of over 5.7 million registered Palestine refugees as enshrined in international law and UN resolutions."

The attackers, he said, want to "weaken the Agency through baseless accusations of politicization and incitement. This is both naïve and dangerous. If these threats are not addressed decisively, they will create a vacuum and a human disaster that this region simply cannot afford."
Posted by: Frank G || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran said to resume work at centrifuge plant allegedly targeted by Israel
[IsraelTimes] Wall Street Journal cites diplomat saying parts for 170 advanced centrifuges have been produced at Karaj since late August, without any UN monitoring.

Iran
...Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979...
has resumed producing parts for advanced centrifuges at a nuclear site allegedly once targeted by Israel, according to a Tuesday report by the Wall Street Journal.

Citing unidentified diplomats, the US newspaper said that operations at the Karaj facility resumed in August and have ramped up, with one diplomat saying that enough parts for 170 centrifuges had been produced since then.

The diplomats said there had been no UN monitoring of the site.

The ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency’s director Rafael Grossi said last month that one of the watchdog’s cameras was destroyed and another heavily damaged in the June blast at Karaj, which Iran alleges was an Israeli sabotage attack.

Iran has acknowledged removing several damaged surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA at the Karaj site. It is unknown how many cameras are there.

In July, Iran accused Israel of mounting the sabotage attack on the site, which makes components for machines used to enrich uranium. Without disclosing details of the assault, Iranian authorities acknowledged that the strike had damaged the building.

The attack on Karaj was just the latest in a series of suspected assaults targeting Iran’s nuclear program that have heightened regional hostilities in recent months. Israel is widely believed to have carried out the sabotage, though it has not grabbed credit.

Earlier this month, Iran said it had almost doubled its stock of enriched uranium, as it prepares to resume talks with world powers on curbing its nuclear program.

"We have more than 210 kilograms of uranium enriched to 20 percent, and we’ve produced 25 kilos at 60%, a level that no country apart from those with nuclear arms are able to produce," said Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) front man Behrouz Kamalvandi, in a report carried by the semi-official Tasnim and Fars news agencies.

Sixty percent enrichment is the highest level to which Iran has enriched uranium and is a short technical step to weapons-grade 90%. Under the nuclear agreement, Iran was barred from enriching uranium above 3.67%.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/17/2021 01:41 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Syria's Assad scraps top Muslim cleric post
[AlAhram] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
has issued a decree eliminating the post of top Moslem holy man for the country and expanding the powers of a government ministry overseeing religious affairs.

The new decree, which state media said came into effect on Monday, effectively forces Ahmed Badreddin Hassoun, appointed as grand mufti by Assad in 2004, into retirement.

His prerogatives will be folded into a council that falls under the ministry of religious endowments, or waqf, which already oversees Islamic affairs in Syria, the official SANA news agency said.

The Council on Islamic Jurisprudence will from now on determine the lunar calendar and make rulings on matters relating to religious rituals and rites, SANA said.

The news agency did not elaborate on the reasons behind the move but it comes after years of government efforts to expand state oversight of religious affairs.

In 2018, Assad issued a decree limiting the mufti's term, previously unlimited, to a renewable period of three years.

It also expanded the power of the waqf minister, allowing him to name the mufti, who had previously been appointed by the president.

The legislation sparked controversy, with many on social media saying it was state interference in religious affairs.

Others said it was a way to regulate religious discourse in order to "fight extremism".
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/17/2021 00:50 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


4 Proposals Mulled to End Govt. Crisis as Hizbullah Talks to Franjieh
[An Nahar] Intensive efforts are being made to reach a solution for the suspension of Cabinet sessions and the results might appear in the next few days, informed sources said."There are four proposals that are being discussed to agree on a solution that would lead to resuming Cabinet’s sessions," the sources told MTV.

"The four proposals are based on re-arranging the judiciary and are based on steps that the judiciary should do, not the government, seeing as the government cannot resolve anything and cannot be party to the conflict because this is not its role," the sources added.

MTV also reported that "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...
is leading contacts with its ally Marada Movement
the personal militia of Suleiman Franjieh, president of Lebanon at the outbreak of the civil war, currently Syrian toadies, but you never know when that could change...
chief Suleiman Franjieh in a bid to find an exit for the issue of Information Minister George Kordahi’s resignation as well as a complete solution for the crisis."

"What’s meant by a complete solution is the dismissal of the investigative judge into the port case Tarek Bitar and the subsequent resignation of Kordahi," the TV network added.



Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Salameh to Make Shellshock Monetary-Judicial Revelation
[An Nahar] Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh
...Governor of Lebanon'scentral bank, Banque du Liban since April 1993. Salameh was appointed Governor by decree, approved by the Council of Ministers for a renewable term of six years. He was reappointed for four consecutive terms; in 1999, 2005, 2011 and 2017. Salameh chairs the Banque du Liban Central Council, the Higher Banking Commission, the AML/CFT Special Investigation Commission and the Capital Markets Authority. Salameh is a member of the board of governors at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and at the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF). Salameh is the longest-serving central bank governor in the world....
will make a shellshock monetary-judicial revelation in the next few days that will change the course of the legal disputes, LBCI television reported.

A judicial front man in Luxembourg meanwhile said that judicial authorities these have launched a "criminal lawsuit" related to Salameh and his companies and assets. A front man for Salameh for his part said that the governor has not been notified of any lawsuit against him in Luxembourg, declining to give further comments.

At least two investigations into Salameh’s activities are meanwhile underway in Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
and La Belle France.

The governor has denied committing any violations in connection with the two probes.
Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


UK Advises against Non-Essential Travel to Hezbollahstan
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Russian report on Syria
[Facebook] Over the past day in the Idlib deescalation zone, 11 artillery strikes were recorded from the positions of the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra.

In Aleppo province eight artillery strikes were recorded, in Idlib province, two, in Latakia province, one.

Russian military police report paroling in Aleppo, Hasaka and Rakka.
Posted by: badanov || 11/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [19 views] Top|| File under: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (al-Nusra)



Who's in the News
28[untagged]
5Hezbollah
4Sublime Porte
4Taliban/IEA
4Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
3Commies
3Govt of Iran
2Islamic State
2Govt of Syria
2Arab Spring
1Moslem Colonists
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Ottoman Proxies
1Palestinian Authority
1Palestinian Islamic Jihad
1Tehrik-e-Labaik
1[untagged]
1Allied Democratic Forces
1Antifa/BLM
1Devout Moslems
1Govt of Sudan
1Hamas
1Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (al-Nusra)
1Houthis
1Human Trafficking
1Mob Rule

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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2021-11-17
  Gendarmes attacked in northern Burkina Faso, 32 dead
Tue 2021-11-16
  Kampala blasts: Explosions hit Ugandan capital
Mon 2021-11-15
  Liverpool explosion: Three arrested under Terrorism Act after car blast at hospital
Sun 2021-11-14
  Explosion in Kabul killed and injured civilians
Sat 2021-11-13
  United States imposes sanctions on Eritrea’s military and other individuals
Fri 2021-11-12
  Iran-backed Houthis holding US Embassy staff in Yemen
Thu 2021-11-11
  Iran-Backed Militants Storm US Embassy in Yemen
Wed 2021-11-10
  Half-Naked Knifeman Reportedly Shouting 'Allakhu Akbar' Injures Police Officer in Oslo, Gets Shot
Tue 2021-11-09
  Fugitive ISIS operative hunted by the Russian government is arrested at airport in Bogota
Mon 2021-11-08
  Afghans facing 'hell on earth' as winter looms
Sun 2021-11-07
  Assassination attempt on Iraqi PM
Sat 2021-11-06
  Minneapolis leftists threaten to burn down
another police station after election defeat
Fri 2021-11-05
  Miqati Urges Kordahi to Resign, Hits Out at Hizbullah and Its Allies
Thu 2021-11-04
  Turkey probes 30 social media users for sharing tweets suggesting Erdogan died
Wed 2021-11-03
  March 8 Forces Want 'Price' for Kordahi Resignation


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