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Today: 62 articles and 299 comments as of 5:00.
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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
SpaceX makes history, launches NASA astronauts into space from US soil for the first time since 2011
Today's Headlines
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Page 2: WoT Background
2 19:06 Dave D. [1] 
6 22:34 Clem [4] 
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14 22:30 trailing wife [5] 
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
1 15:43 Bobby [3]
11 18:17 rjschwarz [10]
4 13:15 Abu Uluque [7]
16 17:19 Skidmark [5]
2 08:50 Clem [1]
18 16:14 g(r)omgoru [7]
8 11:14 Lex [3]
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47 20:16 Mercutio [8]
7 21:36 DarthVader [4]
Page 6: Politix
19 21:35 Woodrow [3]
25 23:51 Lex [9]
8 18:40 Frank G [5]
Afghanistan
Afghan Govt Releases 164 Hizb-e-Islami Prisoners
[ToloNews] The Afghan government on Friday released 164 members of Hizb-e-Islami from Bagram and Pul-e-Charkhi jails, members of the commission implementing the peace deal between Hizb-e-Islami and the government said on Friday.

However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate...
some of those released from the jails claimed to be members of the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
Mohammad Afzal is one of the those released today. He served in the Afghan National Army (ANA) for eight years and later was arrested at Kabul airport for ties with the Taliban.

"I was given 20 years in prison. I spent 11 years, but I was granted freedom for the remaining 9 years under the (Hekmatyar--government agreement) process, and I came out," said Mohammad Afzal, a resident of Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
He claimed to have served in the Afghan National Army for eight years.

"I was serving in the army for eight years, then the incident happened and I was arrested," added Mohammad Afzal.

Gul Rahman is another inmate who was also placed in durance vile
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
for having ties with the Taliban.

He spent four years in jail.

"Not only for Moslems--peace is vital for the entire world. We always support peace," said Gul Rahman.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the World but who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil...
, leader of the Hizb-e-Islami party, signed the peace agreement with the Afghan government in September 2016.

The process of releasing the prisoners was delayed for months after human rights
...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you...
organizations criticized the government for agreeing to the move, stating that the political prisoners had been involved in insurgency incidents that killed civilians.

Hizb-e-Islami claims that there are 3,000 of its members being held in Afghan prisons.

The prisoners were released based on a peace agreement signed between 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...
and Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in September 2016. Hekmatyar returned to the country after 20 years.

According to Article 11 of the peace agreement, after an assessment of their documents, all prisoners of Hizb-e-Islami who are accused of political and security crimes and are granted ’the right of people’ — a legal term which is used for those who don’t carry any complaint from members of the public in a court.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/30/2020 00:29 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Haqqani Network


Africa North
Turkey will begin oil drilling off the Libyan coast in 3-4 months — Turkish Energy Minister
[PUBLISH.TWITTER] It's all about the oil.
Posted by: Fred || 05/30/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  Methinks Haftar (and Vlad) might express their disagreement in effective terms.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/30/2020 11:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Target rich environment for LNA Air Force.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/30/2020 12:23 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Newly formed #US force deploys to Venezuelan-Colombian border
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 05/30/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Europe
Cypriot Court Upholds Hizbullah Suspect's U.S. Extradition on Money Charges
[AnNahar] Cyprus' supreme court on Friday upheld an order to extradite a suspected 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...
member to the U.S. on money laundering charges, official media said.

A five-judge bench unanimously dismissed an appeal against a decision by a lower court in September 2019 to extradite the man, identified only by his surname Diab, the Cyprus News Agency said.

The suspect is wanted by authorities in Florida for alleged money laundering crimes.

According to the extradition papers, the charges related to money laundering in excess of $100,000 (90,000 euros), conspiracy to money launder, the transfer of unlicensed money and illegal use of wireless communication.

The court said the suspect conspired with individuals in 2014 to launder drug money.

Diab was arrested at Larnaca airport in Cyprus when he arrived from Leb
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
in March 2019.

Police apprehended him when they found there was a U.S.-issued warrant for his arrest.

The supreme court ruled he will remain in detention until his extradition can be arranged by the justice ministry.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/30/2020 02:37 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  $100k in the big scheme of things ain't egesta.
Posted by: Clem || 05/30/2020 12:25 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Erdogan says he is closely following the situation in Minnesota
Ooooooohhhh, lookit the little sultan wannabe playing at being someone important! Who’s a widdle sultanumsies then? You — you’re a sultie-ultie-numsies, widdle Erdypoo!
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 05/30/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  Not the Bee? Jeez, Louise!
Posted by: SteveS || 05/30/2020 0:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Funny, but he may have troops there.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/30/2020 0:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Down $1
Posted by: Lex || 05/30/2020 1:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Now I don't have to worry.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/30/2020 6:49 Comments || Top||

#5  Funny, but he may have troops there.

"While serving as a Minnesota state legislator in September 2017, Omar met Erdoğan in a closed-door meeting. She gleefully tweeted about her experience in her native Somali, and it was covered in official Turkish media. The only U.S.-based coverage of the exchange came from a Somali-language newspaper article that explained how Erdoğan concluded the meeting by asking Omar to pledge support for Turkey, before inexplicably being deleted."
Posted by: Waldemar Hupavising4069 || 05/30/2020 6:54 Comments || Top||

#6  Incidentally, anybody reported how the rioters subdivide into natives & Somali?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/30/2020 6:56 Comments || Top||

#7  one outlet described the rioters as "about half black and half 'scuzzy commie dopers'"; basically the Antifa crowd.
Posted by: Mercutio || 05/30/2020 9:31 Comments || Top||

#8  BTW__ TW, that is the harshest, most effective comment I've ever seen on the 'Burg... welcome to the dark side.
Posted by: Mercutio || 05/30/2020 9:33 Comments || Top||

#9  Didn't ISIS do a peacekeeping tour in Chicago?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/30/2020 12:44 Comments || Top||

#10  Not. The. Bee? *Wow*
Posted by: magpie || 05/30/2020 15:42 Comments || Top||

#11  He's angling to be Sultan of Minnesota, eh?
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 05/30/2020 18:33 Comments || Top||

#12  Guess the Logan act is dead.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/30/2020 19:59 Comments || Top||

#13  Didn't ISIS do a peacekeeping tour in Chicago?

They tried, but bailed out once they realized it was too dangerous. They preferred being gassed in Syria.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 05/30/2020 20:32 Comments || Top||

#14  Mercutio, you are a darling. One does one’s best as one is inspired.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/30/2020 22:30 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Baghdad protesters plan for June resumption of anti-government protests
[Rudaw] The issues change — the cultures don’t. At the rate they’re going, they won’t stop until another Saddam Hussein brutally kills his way to power.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/30/2020 02:13 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Well, bye
[Jpost] PALESTINIANS LAUNCH CAMPAIGN TO BOYCOTT IDF HUMANITARIAN, ECONOMIC AID

The campaign comes on the heels of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s May 19 decision to renounce all agreements and understandings with Israel and the US, including security cooperation.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/30/2020 16:17 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ^ I can tell you're upset.
Posted by: Matt || 05/30/2020 16:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Good. Now Israel can spend that money on a more worthy cause instead-- like the Israeli people.

I have ZERO sympathy for the damned Palestinians; they are their own worst enemies, as well as everybody else's.

This conflict will not end until Arabic is spoken only in Hell.

Just my opinion, of course...
Posted by: Dave D. || 05/30/2020 19:06 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
The prospect of germ terrorism has arrived
[Washington Times] It is a possibility that world leaders may not want to address quite yet — but the topic has now entered the global discourse.

"Council of Europe security experts have warned of the danger of terrorist attacks with biological weapons in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic," reports the Funke Media Group, a German news syndicate.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how vulnerable modern societies are to viral infections and their shock potential," the council’s Committee on Counter-Terrorism said in a statement Monday, according to the German news group.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/30/2020 08:32 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ReGenesis TV series 2004-2009
Geneticist David Sandstrom is the chief scientist at the prestigious virology/micro-biology NORBAC laboratory, a joint enterprise between the USA, Canada and Mexico for countering bio-terrorism.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/30/2020 11:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Like the anthrax attacks, the investigation of which traitor Mueller drove into a ditch in order to avoid finding any foreign involvement.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 05/30/2020 14:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Like the anthrax attacks,...

Back when that happened, I wrote Mueller's involvement as incompetence. Maybe it's time to rethink that in light of more recent events. Once you add in the attempted coup against the President and China's espionage and influence-buying in media and academia, things start to smell a bit.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/30/2020 18:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Al-Qaeda, China, ISIS, (fill in the blank)....we'll see.
Posted by: Clem || 05/30/2020 18:53 Comments || Top||

#5  If it were easy, Al Qaeda would have done it back when they were sending cadres to Saddam Hussein’s Salman Pak terrorist training facility. We’ve been concerned about the possibility as long as I’ve been hanging out here. But as far as I’m aware, none of them have got farther than refining some ricin, though in Afghanistan they had great fun gassing dogs in enclosed containers.

Shooting up and blowing up proved far easier as terror tools.

Do I misremember?
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/30/2020 21:37 Comments || Top||

#6  I recall the anthrax hysteria as well. I only mentioned ISIS & Al-Qaeda as whenever the US government needs to stir up some hysteria, the gum'ment will always have those guys in the top drawer, ready to pull out if need be.
Posted by: Clem || 05/30/2020 22:34 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
26[untagged]
6Islamic State
5Commies
5Sublime Porte
3Antifa
3Taliban
2Govt of Syria
2Arab Spring
2Govt of Pakistan
2Hezbollah
1Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
1Human Trafficking
1Govt of Sudan
1Govt of Iraq
1Govt of Iran
1Haqqani Network

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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.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2020-05-30
  SpaceX makes history, launches NASA astronauts into space from US soil for the first time since 2011
Fri 2020-05-29
  SpaceX SN-4 BLOWS up at 1:49 PM Local time in Boca Chica Tx
Thu 2020-05-28
  Afghan Nation Calls for Continued
Ceasefire, Violence Down 80 Percent
Wed 2020-05-27
  Palestinian teen dies while working with explosive in Gaza Strip
Tue 2020-05-26
  Three-day ceasefire in Afghanistan to continue for another week
Mon 2020-05-25
  Kurdish policeman found beheaded in Kirkuk
Sun 2020-05-24
  UN committee urges France to prevent execution of convicted jihadists in Iraq
Sat 2020-05-23
  Large cyber attack against Israel conducted from Gaza, Turkey, North Africa
Fri 2020-05-22
  PA refuses UAE aid sent via Israel, won’t be ‘tool for normalization’ – report
Thu 2020-05-21
  Iraq security forces arrest the new ISIS leader
Wed 2020-05-20
  Abbas says the PA sees itself free of all agreements with Israel and the U.S. - including on security matters
Tue 2020-05-19
  GNA captures al-Watiyah Airbase from the LNA
Mon 2020-05-18
  Afghan president inks power-sharing deal with rival
Sun 2020-05-17
  Pak Doctor on H-1B Visa Wanted to Attack U.S. for ISIS
Sat 2020-05-16
  Tomb of Mordechai and Esther in Iran reportedly set ablaze


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