[France24] Taliban-trained suicide bomber Ismail Ashuqullah regrets missing the chance to blow himself up at the height of the Afghan war -- like many other young men from the lush green Tangi Valley.
He had fought for eight years with the Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... against US-led foreign forces and Afghan government troops before joining a special brigade trained for suicide missions. But the withdrawal of foreign troops in 2021 and the collapse of the Western-backed government meant he missed his chance.
Continued on Page 49
#2
"Overall, U.S. security assistance to Somalia and peacekeeping operations
in the country amounts to approximately $3 billion over the last decade, making
Somalia among the most significant
recipients of security aid in sub-Saharan Africa."
Trump suspended assistance and took troops out, but Bidet reversed that:
"In May 2022, the Biden administration elected to reverse Trump’s withdrawal and
re-introduced U.S. forces into Somalia on a more persistent basis."
Pointless but profitable, the MIC strategy for much of the world where
US troops are "defending America"!
[AFRICANEWS] Amnesia Amnesty International said on Thursday it had counted 23 dead in the unrest that shook Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... last week, more than the official toll of the authorities, and demanded an independent investigation.
Senegal was plagued from June 1 to 3 with its worst troubles for years after the condemnation of opponent Ousmane Sonko to two years in prison in a sex scandal. The announcement of the sentence sparked violence which officially claimed 16 lives.
The court decision makes, in the current state, ineligible for the presidential election of February 2024 a personality popular in youth and underprivileged circles.
Through 18 interviews, authenticated videos and death certificates and autopsy reports attesting to gunshot wounds, Amnesty gives an increasing human toll and denounces excessive use of force as well as attacks on the freedom of expression and information.
"Almost 23 dead, according to our figures, including several by bullets, were recorded between Dakar and Ziguinchor" (south), Amnesty said in a blurb. Three were minors, the NGO said.
Bassirou Sarr, 31, in Dakar, Fallou Sall, 25, and Ousmane Badio, 17, all three died as a result of gunshots, reveal testimonies from their relatives collected by Amnesty.
For its part, Mr. Sonko's party, Pastef, reported Thursday 26 deaths through the voice of its spokesperson, El Malick Ndiaye, reported the information site Dakaractu .
Amnesty says it has noted, in videos it has analyzed, the presence, alongside the police, of gunnies in civilian clothes who violent mostly peacefully attack demonstrators.
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06/10/2023 00:00 ||
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[AlAhram] Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan confirmed Thursday that normalization with Israel is in the interest of the region, but the Paleostinian issue must be addressed first.
Thanks for your “help”, President Biden. So Saudi Arabia prefers to posture on the Palestinian thing while continuing all the sub rosa interactions with Israel, now that they’ve let Iran reopen their embassy. We’ll see if the Saudis are still this confident when Iran completes their first nuclear bomb.
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06/10/2023 01:02 ||
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Nah. The Yemenis were well on their way to economic collapse even before the Houthis took over in the north of the country. They’re fully capable of doing it all by themselves.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] A member of the Supreme National Anti-Corruption Commission (SNACC) in Aden accused the government loyal to Saudi-led coalition, of causing the "imminent" economic collapse in southern Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... Dr. Abdullah Mubarak al-Ghaithi said in a tweet on his "Twitter" that "an imminent economic collapse is an inevitable result of the practices of the so-called legitimate governments during the past eight years, which were hijacked by the Islah Party from 2015 until today."
Over the past two days, the economic situation in Aden and the rest of Yemen, which is under coalition control, has accelerated.
The price of one dollar reached 1349 riyals on Thursday, the highest rate of collapse reached by the Yemeni riyal, in two years, while two banks expected the Yemeni riyal to record further deterioration in Aden in the coming days.
Economic analysts pointed out that the Yemeni riyal has lost 539% of its value in areas, which are under the control of the coalition, which prompted the commercial sector to raise the prices of goods in a move that may lead to an increase in famine and poverty in those areas.
Yemenis agree that the measures taken by the pro-coalition government did not take into account the most basic economic criteria in order to preserve the value of the Yemeni riyal, by printing nearly two trillion riyals without a cover, causing the Yemeni riyal to lose its purchasing power.
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06/10/2023 00:00 ||
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As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!
But they were held off until after President Erdogan was elected to his third term, which is all that matters.
[An Nahar] 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 in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... won reelection last month despite a battered economy and a cost-of-living crisis that experts say are exacerbated by his unconventional economic policies.
The longtime leader appointed an internationally respected former banker as finance and treasury minister and on Friday named a former co-CEO of a U.S.-based bank as head of the central bank.
But lingering uncertainty over Erdogan's economic direction and an apparent move to loosen government controls of foreign currency exchanges have led The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... 's currency to plunge to record lows against the U.S. dollar this week.
The Ottoman Turkish lira has now weakened by around 20% against the dollar since the start of the year. It has raised fears of even higher prices for people already struggling to afford basics like housing and food amid high inflation.
"I am anxious. I am unhappy. Soon my income won't pay the rent," said Sureyya Usta, a 63-year-old who lives in Ankara.
Here's a look at the falling value of the lira, what lies ahead for the economy and how people have been affected:
ERDOGAN'S ECONOMIC POLICIES
Turkey has been plagued by a currency crisis and skyrocketing inflation since 2021, which economists say are the result of Erdogan's unorthodox belief that raising interest rates will increase inflation.
Conventional economic thinking — and the approach being taken by central banks around the world — calls for the opposite: rate hikes to control price spikes.
Erdogan has exerted pressure on Turkey's central bank to lower borrowing costs.
The bank has cut its key policy rate from around 19% in 2021 to 8.5% now, even as inflation hit a staggering 85% last year. Inflation eased to 39.5% last month, according to official figures, but an independent group says the true number is more than double that.
In other policy considered to be unorthodox, economists say the government aggressively intervened in the markets to prop up the lira ahead of the elections, depleting Turkey's foreign currency reserves to keep the exchange rate under control.
"Pressure over the lira had been high for some time, but excessive interventions by the central bank was preventing" the currency from skyrocketing in recent weeks or months, said Ozlem Derici Sengul, an economist at the Istanbul Spinn Consultancy.
A RETURN TO 'RATIONAL GROUND'?
Hours after being sworn in, Erdogan announced that Mehmet Simsek, a former Merrill Lynch banker who had previously served as his finance minister and deputy prime minister, would return to the Cabinet after a five-year break from politics.
Simsek said Turkey had no other option but to return to "rational ground." In a sign that Erdogan's new administration might pursue more conventional economic policies, Simsek also said there were no "shortcuts or quick fixes" but vowed to oversee Turkey's finances with "transparency, consistency, accountability and predictability."
In another sign, Erdogan on Friday appointed Hafize Gaye Erkan to lead the central bank, taking over from the current chief who has championed rate cuts since 2021. Erkan, a former co-CEO of a U.S.-based bank, becomes Turkey's first woman central bank governor.
Economists say, however, that it's not clear to what extent Erdogan, who has ruled the country with a tight grip, will give Erkan and Simsek free rein.
"The markets are not convinced yet" of Erdogan's return to traditional policies, Sengul said. There are uncertainties over whether Erdogan will "allow unlimited independence to the central bank and other institutions — or have another strategy," she said.
WHY IS TURKEY'S CURRENCY FALLING?
The Ottoman Turkish lira tumbled to record lows against the dollar this week, first falling 7% on Wednesday and then 1.6% on Friday.
Economists say the sharp slide earlier in the week resulted from the government loosening its controls over the currency following Simsek's appointment. However, you can observe a lot just by watching... the plunge may have been steeper than what it had anticipated.
The lira weakened by a limited 0.5% on Thursday amid reports that state banks were asked to resume selling foreign currency to prop up the currency. On Friday, the lira depreciated to another all-time low of 23.54 to the dollar.
"Loose interventions, combined with some uncertainty, created an excessive depreciation in the lira in one day," Sengul said about the Wednesday drop. "The banks are currently intervening in the exchange market, that's why we will not have another 7% depreciation."
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06/10/2023 00:00 ||
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[KhaamaPress] The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday announced a new process that will allow Afghan nationals to extend their parole and continue to live and work in the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security in a statement said that the new process is free of cost, and will provide qualified Afghan individuals with a two-year renewal of humanitarian parole visas.
The new program is aimed at helping those Afghans who entered the United Sated on humanitarian parle visas following the collapse of the former Afghan government by the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... in Augusts 2021.
Earlier the US government had announced that those Afghan parolees whose visas expire will face forceful deportation. However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... the new scheme will buy them enough time to prepare well and apply for permanent status in the United States.
According to DHS, those Afghan nationals currently residing in the US are encouraged to pursue a permanent status in the United States for which they may be eligible.
"The renewal requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons and for a significant public benefit," the DHS said.
[GEO.TV] Hours after it was reported that Pervez Khattak would be joining Jahangir Tareen in his new political venture, the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) leader said that he has not met the Istihkam-e-Pakistain Party's (IPP) chief.
"I have had no meeting with Jahangir Tareen. At this time, I do not wish to speak on any political matters," the former defence minister told Geo News.
He added that Tareen's party had neither offered him the post of secretary general nor he accepted any such offer. "I am at my place and in touch with my colleagues in the province."
Earlier today, it was reported that Khattak is likely to be made secretary general of the newly-established IPP.
The development came two weeks after Khattak announced in a presser that he was stepping down from his position as president of the PTI's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chapter. However, the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach... the PTI chief's aide had dismissed reports that he was quitting the former party and termed them "propaganda".
Pervez Khattak 'likely to be made' secretary general of Tareen's new party
[GEO.TV] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) bigwig Pervez Khattak is likely to be made secretary general of the newly-established Istihkam-e-Pakistain Party (IPP) led by Jahangir Tareen, sources told Geo News on Friday.
The sources confirmed that the PTI stalwart has been in touch with the sugar baron for "many days" and will join the new party along with his colleagues.
The development comes less than two weeks after Khattak announced in a presser that he was stepping down from his position as president of the party's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chapter. However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... Khattak had dismissed reports that he was quitting PTI and termed them "propaganda".
Tareen — once a close aide of PTI Chairman Imran Khan ...aka The Great Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... and a key person in bringing the party to power in 2018 — officially launched his new party on Thursday, saying that he joined politics to play his role for the betterment of the country.
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06/10/2023 00:00 ||
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[GEO.TV] For the first time, China, together with Pakistain and Iran, has decided to find ways and means to counter the threat of terrorism facing the region, The News reported.
In this regard, the Foreign Office on Thursday announced that the first Pakistain-China-Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... Trilateral Consultation Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Security was held at the director general level on Wednesday in Beijing.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General (Counter Terrorism) Abdul Hameed led the Pakistain delegation.
"The delegations held detailed discussions on the regional security situation, particularly the threat of terrorism faced by the region. Based on the outcome of these consultations, the three sides have decided to institutionalise the trilateral consultations on counter-terrorism and security," the Foreign Office said during her weekly media briefing.
"Further details will be worked out in due course," Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said.
For China, which is behind the CPEC projects in the region, this trilateral cooperation would go a long way to ensure that security threats are addressed for these projects to be completed.
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06/10/2023 00:00 ||
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[GEO.TV] The federal cabinet on Friday green-lighted the budget proposals for the fiscal year 2023-2024, increasing the salaries of babus government employees up to 35%.
The announcement was made by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in his budget speech today, saying the decision has been taken on the recommendations of several stakeholders amid backbreaking inflation that has caused immense difficulties for the poor segments of society.
The government has also okayed the proposal to increase the pension by 17.5% for the next fiscal year 2023-24.
It has been suggested to increase the salaries for employees of grades 1-16 by 35% while 30% for those above grade 17.
The government has also proposed setting the minimum wage to Rs32,000.
The Pay and Pension Commission had recommended the government consider a 100% increase in medical and conveyance allowances for babus government employees along with a 10% increase in ad hoc allowances.
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06/10/2023 00:00 ||
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[Jpost] The current shifts for those operating in the battalion were shortened from twelve to eight hours.
Soldiers from the IDF's mixed-gender Bardelas Battalion have refused to go on their standard 12-hour shift at the Egyptian border following the attack in which two of the battalion's soldiers, Sgt. Uri Itzhak Ilouz and Sgt. Lia Ben Nun, were murdered while on duty, and Sgt. Ohad Dahan, who was killed while pursuing the terrorist.
The soldiers, while also having their parents' support in their complaints,
...betcha the elite Golani Brigade troops don’t go whining to their mommies, or the Sayeret Matkal commandos, which gave Israel Bibi Netanyahu and both his brothers as well as Naftali Bennet...
made it clear to their commanders that they were unable to perform such long shifts.
The soldiers criticized the command of their battalion, which made them work these shifts despite the poor weather conditions, and claimed that they felt useless while they were in the field for so long.
SHIFT HOURS SHORTENED TO EIGHT FOLLOWING ATTACK
It was ultimately decided to shorten the shift hours from 12 to eight and to reduce the guarding of the border by one post.
Additionally, an IDF spokesperson said that "following an assessment of the situation and the incident at the Egyptian border, it was decided to convert the single guard position to a two-person job during night hours."
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.
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
...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 in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
...aka 
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
