[International Business Times] The ban on education for women has sparked more interest in the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... and its relationship with Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... , especially in the conversation around education. It was reported in February by both The Telegraph and The Guardian that high-ranking Taliban officials have been sending their daughters to Qatar for school while simultaneously preventing Afghan women from obtaining an education.
The first reports of Taliban officials sending their daughters overseas for school came from a February Afghan Analysis Network report. The report states multiple Taliban officials have daughters in school outside of Afghanistan.
The report lists examples, including a daughter of a Taliban official studying medicine at a Qatari university and members of the Taliban negotiating team in Qatar are sending their daughters to school.
AAN reports other Taliban members working in Qatar have left their families in the country when returning to Afghanistan so as not to pull their children out of school. Some officials send their children, regardless of gender, to schools in neighboring Iraq and Pakistain.
"Education allows them to live a good life. They know the rights of a husband better and can better train your sons and daughters. This is why a literate wife is a necessity nowadays," a Taliban minister told AAN. However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... millions of girls and women in Afghanistan have been stopped from attending school. In August, the Middle East Eye reported the Taliban stopped 60 girls from flying to Qatar to go to school.
#1
So? It's always the top 5%. One set of rules for thee and a separate set of rules for me. I don't what you want to call your 'system', its always the same.
[RFERL] Taliban ...Arabic for students... fighters carried out a deadly raid last month in Afghanistan's central province of Daikundi. The Death Eater group said it targeted and killed "armed rebels" in a village outside of the quiet provincial capital, Nilli, on November 25. But locals said the at least eight people killed in the Taliban attack were all civilians, including four children. They said the Taliban also maimed four civilians and detained several others.
Among those killed in the village of Siwak was Mehdi, a 14-year-old boy.
"Mehdi was killed by the first bullet that hit him," his mother, Madina, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "But they continued to shoot him at him. He was hit by another bullet above the heart."
Madina's husband, Muhammad Alam, was also killed in the Taliban assault. "My husband and child were innocent," she said. "We are just peasants."
The survivors and the families of the victims in Daikundi have called for an independent probe into the killings.
The killings in Daikundi, which is home to the country's Shi'ite Hazara ...a grouping of Dari-speaking people of Sino-Tibetan descent inhabiting Afghanistan and Pakistain. They are predominantly Shia Moslems and not particularly warlike, which makes them favored targets... community, was widely condemned.
During its oppressive rule from 1996-2001, the Taliban terrorized Hazaras, wrestling control of Hazara regions in Afghanistan through a campaign of assassinations.
Since seizing control of Kabul in August 2021, the Taliban has tried to assuage Hazaras' fears of discrimination and persecution. But rights group have documented the extrajudicial killings of Hazaras and forced evictions of Hazaras by the Taliban in parts of the country.
Most of the attacks on Hazaras have been blamed on 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.... -Khorasan (IS-K) krazed killer group, which considers Shi'a as apostates who should be killed.
"The Taliban continues to kill [Hazara] civilians, including women and kiddies, in violation of Islamic and human values," Mohammad Hassan Hakimi, a Hazara activist muppet, told Radio Azadi. "[They are killed] without any proof of crime or trial."
The United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... Assistance Mission In Afghanistan (UNAMA) on December 1 said it was "working to establish facts on the recent killings in Siwak."
"Very serious reports of civilian casualties, with extrajudicial killings, at least 8 fatalities, including children," UNAMA said in a tweet. "UNAMA has engaged Taliban on the need for credible investigation & accountability."
Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur for human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... in Afghanistan, has called on the Taliban to conduct a transparent investigation.
Abdul Nafi Takor, a front man for the Taliban's Interior Ministry, said the group's forces stormed a house in Daikundi after several "gunnies" hiding at the property refused to hand over their weapons.
"Nine armed people were killed and four people were maimed," he said. "It is not true that children were killed, or that any other harm was done."
But that has been disputed by the families and survivors of the Taliban's deadly raid.
Mozhgan lost her husband and uncle in the raid. She told Radio Azadi that Taliban fighters shot and killed her husband after detaining him.
"We expect the [Taliban] to release our detained relatives," she said of her four male relatives still detained by the group.
Holding the blood-stained clothes of her son, Madina has staged a sit-in in Nilli to raise awareness about the killings. She has called for the international community to investigate the incident.
"The blood of our deaders was shed unjustly," she said. "They must receive justice. Our guilt should either be established or they [the Taliban] should answer for what they did."
[AmuTV] Every day, hundreds of Afghans arrive at hotels 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... city where they embark on their illegal journey to Iran ...The nation is 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... which is facilitated by human traffickers.
Getting into Iran comes with its own dangers, and migrants colonists have died, either from hunger and thirst or at the hands of Iranian border guards who have been known to shoot them.
But first, migrants colonists set off from Islam Qala with human traffickers on their treacherous journey overland through deserts and mountains.
The Herat-Iran route is one of the most popular among migrants colonists although many go through Nimruz province into Pakistain and from there they enter Iran.
But migrants colonists have said that while the Islam Qala route is a lot quicker than the Nimruz route, human traffickers charge a lot more to get them into Iran through Islam Qala.
ONE MIGRANT’S STORY
One Afghan man, who asked to remain anonymous, told Amu TV that migrants colonists hoping to get to Iran first visit the Islam Qala market and then "with the coordination of the traffickers, they are brought to the border zero point in Do Kamana and Chah Khargah or Gorg Abad in Islam Qala."
"The passengers wait through the day there. They (traffickers) have tents in these areas and travelers stay there until the time of departure during the night," he added.
It is not clear how exactly many people illegally travel to Iran on a daily basis but the humanitarian crisis in the country has forced thousands to leave home — including educated people who also choose the illegal migrant route.
[BusinessInsider] During the final months of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Afghanistan, as the Taliban ...Arabic for students... advanced on the capital, the elected government struggled to reassure its US patrons that it could maintain control. Yet at the same time, smugglers were illegally carrying hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold out of the country with the assistance of officials from within the Afghan government, according to internal government documents and former Afghan officials.
The office of Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, ex-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. When Biden abandoned the country left with a helicopter, four cars, and part of the national treasury... , the US-backed Afghan president, had been informed about the problem, insiders say. But it did nothing to stop it.
Documents assembled by Afghanistan's now-defunct government and obtained by Insider show that $59.7 million in cash and gold went from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan through the port of Hairatan during the first three months of 2021, as the US contemplated withdrawing its forces and the Taliban geared up for the spring offensive that eventually toppled Kabul. During a 13-month period running from May 2019 through May 2020, the total was a staggering $824 million.
Though the couriers failed to declare the money to Afghan officials as it left the country, Uzbek customs agents on the other side of the border did record the cash and gold on handwritten customs forms. Those records were obtained by Afghan anti-corruption officials as part of an investigation into money smuggling, and they form the basis of a scathing report documenting a river of cash flowing out of the impoverished nation.
Much of the money, the Uzbek customs forms show, was bound for the United Arab Emirates, where top Afghan officials would flee when their government collapsed later that year.
Situated on a river with one bridge crossing, Hairatan is the highest-volume customs port in Afghanistan. Insider obtained 457 pages of customs records showing that more than $824 million in cash and gold illegally crossed the border there during the second half of 2019 and the first half of 2020 — roughly four percent of Afghanistan's GDP and more than the total amount of humanitarian assistance that the US government was providing to the country each year. In early 2021, as the new US administration was evaluating a sped-up withdrawal plan, between $500,000 and $1 million was passing through each day, the documents show.
The smuggling flouted Afghan laws requiring travelers to declare cash or gold worth $10,000 or more and a strict ban on exporting $20,000 or more. The Uzbek customs forms don't specify who the money belonged to or how the smugglers obtained it, but such a large and illicit flight of capital out of the country was one of many warning signs that the Afghan government's survival could be in jeopardy.
The documents accuse Mirza Mohammad Katawazai, the former deputy speaker of Afghanistan's parliament, of directing the smuggling ring with the help of a network of Afghan intelligence officials, border guards, and port officials. (Katawazai has denied previous allegations of smuggling ties.) They also accuse Ata Mohammad Noor, the former governor of Balkh province, where Hairatan is located, of providing security for the smugglers and issuing threats to potential competition. The documents identify the two men as being part of the 2021 smuggling ring; they do not allege who was behind the $824 million smuggled in 2019 and 2020.
Noor did not immediately respond to a request for comment made through his former spokesperson; Katawazai did not immediately respond to a message sent via his Facebook page.
[IsraelTimes] Report says deal finalized by Biden administration, the guys that caused the debacle in Afghanistan ...the collection of boodlers, grifters, hangers-on, and self-proclaimed experts affiliated with the Biden Crime Family. Entrusted with an entire nation as the result of a suspicious election, they set about happily implementing stuff they absorbed in college, all of which blew up and splattered the rest of us... , which includes Saudi approval of Israeli overflights, is being held up by Cairo over bilateral issues with US
Egypt is reportedly holding up the transfer of a pair of Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/24/2022 01:43 ||
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#1
The presence of the US-sponsored Multi National Force and Observers (MFO) at Sharm el-Sheikh, Sinai, and overflights of Tiran and Sanafir have managed to keep peace in the Gulf of Eilat for nearly forty years. Saudi Arabia should be told in no uncertain terms to butt-out. It is planning a major Red Sea hotel-diving development south of the Strait of Tiran choke-point, but that should have no impact whatsoever on what could revert to the re-arming of a potentially ultra-strategic base on Tiran and Sanafir.
[IsraelTimes] Berlin says it has ’completely’ suspended credit guarantees that were unfrozen as a result of Iranian nuclear deal
The German government said Friday it is formally suspending export credit and investment guarantees for business in Iran ...The nation is 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... in the wake of authorities’ crackdown on protests.
Something merely suspended can easily be restored. Something like a hudna, in fact.
The Economy Ministry said it also has suspended other "economic formats," including a dialogue on energy issues, in view of "the very serious situation in Iran."
Export credit guarantees protect German companies from losses when exports aren’t paid for. Investment guarantees are granted to protect direct investments by German companies from political risk in the countries where they are made.
The ministry said that use of those instruments for projects in Iran was suspended for decades until there was a "short phase of opening" from 2016 as a result of Iran’s agreement with world powers, including Germany, on its nuclear program. It said that guarantees were granted or extended for a few projects in that period, but there have been no new ones since 2019.
It’s like they secretly agreed with President Trump that Iran’s nuclear agreement was fraudulent — and so they acted on it — all the while castigating President Trump for being the ugliest American of them all.
The German government has now decided to "suspend completely" the guarantees, it added, and exemptions can only be granted if there are solid humanitarian reasons. German-Iranian trade totaled 1.76 billion euros (nearly $1.9 billion) in 2021 and 1.49 billion euros in the first nine months of this year, the ministry said.
Nationwide protests erupted in September after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, detained by the morality police for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women. They have since transformed into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s ruling holy mans. Authorities have sought to stamp out the demonstrations and ramp up pressure on critics.
Since the protests started, the United States and European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... imposed additional sanctions on Iran for its brutal treatment of demonstrators and its decision to send hundreds of drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Germany pushed for a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council last month that voted to condemn the crackdown and create an independent fact-finding mission.
[IsraelTimes] David Barnea says Tehran ’expanding’ supply of advanced weapons to Russia, slams ’absurd’ Western hopes of still reaching a nuclear agreement
Mossad head David Barnea warned in a speech on Thursday that Iran ...They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... continues to operate against Israel on a daily basis, and asserted that Iran is duping the world over its supply of weapons to Russia.
In an event for Mossad employees held at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, Barnea said Mossad was "still warning about Iran’s future and intentions, which it is trying to keep secret," adding that Iran was working to "deepen and expand the supply of advanced weapons to Russia."
Iran has been repeatedly accused of providing Russia with offensive weapons used in its invasion of Ukraine, most notably the Shahed suicide drones used in recent months by the Russian army, though Iran denies this.
Barnea told the gathered Mossad employees: "We are warning about Iran’s intention to expand its uranium enrichment program, and its intention to increase its influence over friendly Moslem countries in the region in various ways."
He labeled the Iranian regime "brazen," adding that as "one arm sends Iranian diplomats to Vienna for negotiations, the other arm sends Iranian turbans to kill innocents across the world, just because they are Israelis or Jews."
The Mossad chief also took aim at western leaders, who he said were pursuing an "absurd" agreement with Iran. Earlier this year, a nuclear agreement between Western powers and the Iranian regime seemed imminent, before a dispute over suspected undeclared Iranian nuclear sites brought talks to a halt.
Iran’s brutal crackdown on nationwide protests in recent months has made prospects of a deal now seem remote.
"Is this the country that the free world wants to sign any agreement with?" Barnea said. "Our eyes will remain open, we will be doubly alert."
"I repeat my promise, as I said here last year as well, that Iran will not have nuclear weapons... never. This is my commitment, this is the institution’s commitment."
Top cybersecurity official Gabi Portnoy also attested to the onslaught of Iranian attacks, telling Kan news that Israel "faces dozens of [cyber] attacks a month from the Iranians."
Portnoy also addressed the security "failure" that allowed Iranian hackers to access security camera footage of the deadly Jerusalem bus-stop blast last month.
Security agencies "didn’t do the minimum required" in that incident, "but no more should be made of it than already has... It’s a marginal event," he said.
Barnea used his speech to praise the Iranian protest movement, which began over three months ago after the killing of Mahsa Amini in Tehran.
"The Iranian regime chose to deal with the protests with unrestrained brutality, shooting indiscriminately at women, girls, and even children.
"Hundreds are murdered in the streets, helpless, defenseless... the demonstrators no longer have fear, they have lost their terror," he said.
The Mossad chief recalled the good relations between Jerusalem and Tehran that existed prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. "I hope it will still be possible to return to this. Not tomorrow, not in a year. It is impossible to know at the moment, but the seeds of change can even now be seen."
Barnea spoke at the 13th edition of Mossad’s annual awards night, with 12 Mossad employees recognized for excellence in their various roles at the ceremony.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/24/2022 01:43 ||
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[HODHODYEMENNEWS] The US occupation forces continued to plunder Syrian oil, taking out 95 tankers loaded with the stolen oil through the illegal al-Walid and al-Mahmudiyah crossings with Iraq, state-run SANA news agency reported, citing local sources.
According to local sources in Al-Yarubiyah countryside the American occupation forces brought out new quantities of stolen oil from Syrian al-Jazeera and the Eastern region fields via 65 tankers across the illegal al-Mahmudiyah crossing, and 30 tankers through the illegal al-Walid crossing along borders with Iraq.
Syria’s Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations, Bassam Sabbagh, said yesterday that the continued looting of Syria’s oil and wheat by the US occupation forces and its militia has exacerbated the suffering of the Syrian people.
He pointed out that his country is surprised by the unacceptable disregard of this reality.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/24/2022 00:00 ||
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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.
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
...a grouping of Dari-speaking people of Sino-Tibetan descent inhabiting Afghanistan and Pakistain. They are predominantly Shia Moslems and not particularly warlike, which makes them favored targets...
...The nation is noted for 
...former chancellor of Kabul University, ex-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. When Biden abandoned the country left with a helicopter, four cars, and part of the national treasury...
...the collection of boodlers, grifters, hangers-on, and self-proclaimed 
...They hate 
