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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Riots in China
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
2 10:43 Procopius2k [12] 
10 13:27 SteveS [7] 
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2 14:05 SteveS [10] 
2 13:31 Whiskey Mike [8] 
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9 14:47 Hellfish [3] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
1 17:14 g(r)omgoru [8]
3 19:34 Thaith Elmeresing6163 [12]
3 14:51 Dron66046 [12]
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11 16:36 Matt [2]
2 09:35 Woodrow [5]
2 13:20 swksvolFF [5]
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2 09:59 Lex [7]
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1 07:41 Frank G [6]
Page 3: Non-WoT
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33 23:41 Barbara [12]
6 22:32 KBK [8]
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1 10:37 g(r)omgoru [7]
9 22:09 Belasarion [12]
2 17:51 Frank G [1]
1 15:54 g(r)omgoru [4]
2 12:06 DarthVader [3]
6 09:13 Frank G [4]
19 17:46 JohnQC [8]
2 06:07 g(r)omgoru [7]
24 12:38 Besoeker [11]
8 18:44 swksvolFF [5]
2 15:10 Vernal Hatrick [13]
2 22:32 AlmostAnonymous5839 [10]
13 16:03 AlanC [8]
27 19:02 swksvolFF [8]
5 18:13 JohnQC [10]
3 17:38 g(r)omgoru [4]
3 21:15 trailing wife [5]
3 11:22 Alaska Paul [5]
4 20:14 SteveS [8]
2 16:53 magpie [5]
14 18:36 Capsu78 [5]
Page 4: Opinion
11 18:15 JohnQC [4]
2 14:30 trailing wife [4]
9 14:17 Abu Uluque [11]
4 22:29 AlmostAnonymous5839 [8]
38 23:03 trailing wife [10]
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Page 6: Politix
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4 17:43 Tom [7]
5 20:14 Anomalous Sources [10]
4 07:29 M. Murcek [6]
13 17:33 g(r)omgoru [6]
2 06:52 M. Murcek [11]
5 12:44 Besoeker [9]
9 17:26 Mullah Richard [12]
9 15:03 Dron66046 [14]
Afghanistan
Who are the Delegates for the Taliban Peace Talks?
[ToloNews] After months of controversy, the Afghan government on Wednesday released a list of 20 delegates intended to hold intra-Afghan peace talks with the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
According to the Afghan government’s list, the negotiating team will be led by Masoom Stanikzai, the former head of the National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
(NDS), and will include 14 other men and five women expected to have the necessary credentials to engage in peace negotiations with the Taliban.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/27/2020 00:06 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1 
Posted by: Woodrow || 03/27/2020 9:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Given that the Talies are backed by Pakistan, its all kabuki theater.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/27/2020 10:43 Comments || Top||


US's $1B Aid Cut Cannot be Compensated: Abdullah
[ToloNews] Abdullah Abdullah
...the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against both Karzai and Ghani. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun. He also held the meaningless salaried sop position as CEO of Afghanistan, while Ghani was president...
at a presser on Thursday said the US cut of $1B aid to Afghanistan cannot be compensated.

On Tuesday, President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money...
in a statement abut the US reduction of aid to Afghanistan, said the cut in assistance will not have a direct impact on key sectors in Afghanistan.

But Abdullah said that "there should not be irresponsible comments" over the aid reduction.

On Monday, the US government announced an immediate reduction in its assistance by $1 billion because of the Afghan leaders’ failure to agree on an inclusive government.

This followed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s 7-hour visit to Kabul also on Monday where he met with President Ghani and his political opponent Abdullah Abdullah, separately, and in a joint meeting. But the meetings ended without a result.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/27/2020 00:05 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Screw'em
Posted by: Texhooey || 03/27/2020 0:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Gee, maybe he should have participated in the peace talks.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/27/2020 0:54 Comments || Top||

#3  One billion $ cut. From what total? Just askin...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 03/27/2020 6:23 Comments || Top||

#4  jizya by any other name would still be danegeld
Posted by: Bob Grorong1136 || 03/27/2020 8:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Fine Abdulick, sign over 90% of you sandboxes mineral rights and we'll call it even.
Posted by: Woodrow || 03/27/2020 9:46 Comments || Top||

#6  Afghanistan Holds Enormous Bounty of Rare Earths, Minerals

Recent exploration of rare volcanic rocks in the rugged, dangerous desert of southern Afghanistan has identified world-class concentrations of rare earth elements, the prized group of raw materials that are essential in the manufacture of many modern technologies, from electric cars to solar panels. So far, geologists say, they have mapped one million metric tons of these critical elements, which include lanthanum, cerium and neodymium.

That's enough to supply the world's rare earth needs for 10 years based on current consumption, points out Robert Tucker, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist who is the lead author on a report released on September 14. And from clues his team gathered during three high-security reconnaissance missions to the site, he suspects the deposit is actually much larger.
Posted by: Woodrow || 03/27/2020 9:54 Comments || Top||

#7  But is there lithium?
Plugz & Spikka Pelosi want to know
Posted by: Lex || 03/27/2020 10:00 Comments || Top||

#8  Oh well...
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/27/2020 10:35 Comments || Top||

#9  Do they have any Potassium?
Posted by: gorb || 03/27/2020 12:37 Comments || Top||

#10  Hi, I'm Abdullah Abdullah and this is my other brother Abullah.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/27/2020 13:27 Comments || Top||


Govt to Release Thousands of Prisoners Amid COVID-19
Choosing between the plague of coronavirus incubating in overcrowded conditions on one hand, and the plague of masses of Lions of Islam roaming the landscape with malice aforethought on the other hand.
[ToloNews] The Afghan government said on Thursday that based on President Ghani's decree, up to 10,000 prisoners-- including women and kiddies--will be released in the upcoming 10 days to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Afghan detention centers.

Ahmad Rashid Totakhil, head of the general directorate of prisons, said that those to be released will not pose a major threat.

"The persons that we are releasing --some of them are under the authority of the president. They are not a big threat to society, they had committed small crimes," said Totakhil.

"Because we do not have any vaccine or treatment for the virus, the only way is to implement health-recommended measures. The measures are very easy and can save the lives of millions," said Ferozuddin Feroz, Public Health Minister.

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) said that those will not be released who pose a threat to national security.

"Another issue that is very important for people to know is that crimes against national and international security and terrorist crimes are not included in the decree," said Mohammad Farid Hamidi, head of the AGO.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pie fight, Bella opened her mouth at precisely the wrong moment...
Abdullah Abdullah
...the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against both Karzai and Ghani. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun. He also held the meaningless salaried sop position as CEO of Afghanistan, while Ghani was president...
said that politics should not be involved in the fight against 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...
"This is not a political problem... All of us--poor and rich--need unity regarding the (COVID-19)," said Abdullah.

Officials at the Ministry of Public Health said that six health employees have been infected by the virus in Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
and Kandahar provinces.

Based on the Ministry of Public Health figures, more than 90 people have been infected by the COVID-19 virus in Afghanistan.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/27/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Norway extradites Kurdish Islamist preacher to Italy
[Rudaw] Norway announced Thursday that it had extradited a fundamentalist Islamic preacher to Italia, despite the ongoing 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...
epidemic, where he has been sentenced to jail for leading a jihadist network.

"Krekar is no longer in Norway. Krekar has today been extradited to Italia," Norwegian Justice Minister Monica Maeland told a presser.

The 63-year-old Iraqi Kurd -- known as Mullah Krekar, but named Najumuddin Faraj Ahmad -- was arrested in July 2019 after he was convicted in his absence by an Italian court and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The Italian court found him guilty of having led a now dismantled jihadist network, Rawti Shax, a Kurdish movement with alleged links to the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group and which is suspected of planning attacks in the West.

Krekar arrived in Norway in 1991 as a refugee.

Norway's Supreme Court authorised the extradition in early February, ending Krekar's legal attempts to avoid deportation.

Considered a threat to national security in Norway, Mullah Krekar had been the subject of deportation proceedings since 2003, when Norway first decided to deport him to Iraq.

However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
the decision was never implemented, due to concerns that he might suffer torture and face the death penalty
there.

The deportation to Italia comes at a time when that country is the hardest hit in the world by the new coronavirus pandemic, with more than 7,500 deaths.

"We have been given assurances that he will receive the help he should have and needs," Maeland told the presser when asked whether Krekar risked contracting the potentially deadly COVID-19.

Krekar's lawyer, Brynjar Meling, told AFP the extradition marked "a day of shame" for the Norwegian authorities and constituted a "denial of justice".

According to Meling, Krekar is particularly at risk because he suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure.

Krekar, who founded the radical Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, is designated a terrorist by the UN and the US and has spent several years in Norwegian prisons for issuing threats and calling for murder.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/27/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraq
US Embassy in Baghdad announced today that is providing $670,000 to help Iraq fight the novel coronavirus
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq

#1  Just $670k and no after-dinner mints? No toothpicks?
Posted by: Lex || 03/27/2020 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  State once again pisses our money down another hole.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 03/27/2020 13:31 Comments || Top||


Sadr (formerly Saddam) city may be officially designated as a focus for COVID19 in Iraq
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Benny Gantz has been voted in as speaker of the Knesset
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Mossad helped bring another 400,000 coronavirus test kits to Israel from an undisclosed foreign location
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hope they're not the Chinese ones that don't work.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/27/2020 8:27 Comments || Top||

#2  /\ Could be Richard, they're no longer testing you know. They have the population numbers to support the development of natural immunity. Plus the added benefit of a boom in organ harvesting.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/27/2020 8:31 Comments || Top||

#3  ^They probably using Uighurs & political prisoners to produce antibody for passive immunization.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/27/2020 8:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Ref #3: They probably using Uighurs & political prisoners to produce antibody for passive immunization. Posted by g(r)omgoru

Why can we not learn these things from our OWN intelligence community ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/27/2020 8:38 Comments || Top||

#5  "Intelligence community"? We still have one?
Posted by: Lex || 03/27/2020 8:40 Comments || Top||

#6  #4 I was just speculating - extrapolating based on past behavior.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/27/2020 8:42 Comments || Top||

#7  /\ Yes of course.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/27/2020 8:43 Comments || Top||

#8  I agree!
Posted by: Captain Pheresing4511 || 03/27/2020 9:19 Comments || Top||

#9  Must be nice to have an intelligence community that actually works FOR the country that employs them.
Posted by: Hellfish || 03/27/2020 14:47 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran's death toll rises to 2,077
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  official death toll up to nearly 2400 as of today in Iran



Posted by: lord garth || 03/27/2020 8:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Allan, in His infinite wisdom, has decided that you and you and you and you are done. Bye!
Posted by: SteveS || 03/27/2020 14:05 Comments || Top||


Iran may face 2nd wave of coronavirus outbreak: official
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Hezbollah announces health emergency plan to combat coronavirus
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 03/27/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah



Who's in the News
42[untagged]
5Commies
4Arab Spring
3Govt of Iraq
3Islamic State
3Houthis
3Sublime Porte
3Govt of Iran
2Hezbollah
2Govt of Iran Proxies
1Narcos
1Taliban

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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2020-03-27
  Riots in China
Thu 2020-03-26
  Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi confirms Saudi coalition ceasefire
Wed 2020-03-25
  LNA forces eliminate GNA/al-Qaeda leader Ayoub Bu Ras in Tripoli
Tue 2020-03-24
  Gutierrez calls for an immediate global ceasefire
Mon 2020-03-23
  27 Taliban militants killed, 19 others wounded in Kunduz
Sun 2020-03-22
  Greeks Find Tunnel Full of Weapons Under Athens,
Arrest Turkish Terrorists
Sat 2020-03-21
  TSA halts all NY airport departures do to infected people showing up at each one.
Fri 2020-03-20
  Militant attack kills about 30 Malian soldiers -army
Thu 2020-03-19
  Migrants at Refugee Camp in Germany Riot,
Display ISIS Flags After They’re Put Under Coronavirus Quarantine
Wed 2020-03-18
  Manchester Arena bombing: Hashem Abedi guilty of 22 murders
Tue 2020-03-17
  China expels ALL American reporters!
Mon 2020-03-16
  Saudi Arabia detains 298 officials in new corruption cases
Sun 2020-03-15
  Hezbollah commander prosecuted in Austria for terror finance
Sat 2020-03-14
  Violence by Taliban Spikes Despite Peace Efforts
Fri 2020-03-13
  Sudan moves against Bashir loyalists after assassination attempt


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