[Breitbart] Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen announced on Thursday that, following a high-level meeting with Chinese communist officials, Beijing vowed to help the Taliban fight the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.
Shaheen’s statement is the first from an official Taliban member to mention the pandemic since the radical Islamist terrorists became the de facto government of Afghanistan on August 15. Shaheen and other spokesmen have repeatedly insisted that the rest of the world recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan but have yet to announce a head of state, the organization of the government’s bureaucratic structure, or how the Taliban intends of addressing the country’s most pressing governance issues, paramount among them its deteriorated healthcare system.
According to a statement Shaheen posted on Twitter, the deputy director of the Taliban’s political office discussed the future of Afghanistan with Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao in a phone call on Thursday.
“The Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister said that they [the Chinese Communist Party] would maintain their embassy in Kabul, adding our relations would beef up as compared to the past,” Shaheen said. “Afghanistan can play an important role in security and development of the region.”
Shaheen added that the Chinese envoy promised increased “humanitarian assistance, especially for treatment of covid-19 [Chinese coronavirus].”
Coronavirus support may be one of the many ways that the Chinese Communist Party becomes a top influencer in the Taliban government. The second-in-command at the Taliban’s “political office” in Doha, Qatar, Abdul Salam Hanafi, said this week that the jihadists expect the communists to invest heavily in Afghanistan and they, in turn, expect to support China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global debt trap scheme in which China tricks developing and poor countries into predatory loans allegedly meant for high-tech infrastructure projects.
[AnNahar] EU countries on Friday laid out their conditions for stepping up engagement with the Taliban ...Arabic for students... , agreeing to establish a joint Kabul "presence" to help departures if security allows.
"We have to engage with the new government in Afghanistan, which doesn't mean recognition, it's an operational engagement," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said, following a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in Slovenia.
"This operational engagement will increase depending on the behaviour of this government."
He laid out a raft of "benchmarks" that the new authorities would have to meet as the Taliban gears up to announce a new government after seizing power.
These included Afghanistan not serving as a base for terrorism, respecting the rights of women and the media, the establishment of an "inclusive and representative" government, and allowing access for aid.
In addition, he said that the Taliban must live up to its commitment to allow foreign nationals and Afghans at "risk" to leave after the U.S.-led evacuations ended at the end of August.
Borrell said EU countries agreed to establish a joint presence in Kabul if security allows to deal with the Taliban and ensure the departure of Afghans the bloc had been unable to get out of the country.
EU diplomats have left Afghanistan for neighboring countries or to return to their homelands.
On humanitarian aid, Borrell said the EU would look to step up its help for the Afghan people but would judge the authorities "according to the access they provide."
The EU is also looking to bolster coordination with Afghanistan's neighbors as it looks to stave off a large-scale flow of migrants colonists from the country to Europe.
Borrell said that the bloc would look to set up a "regional political platform" with the countries around Afghanistan aimed at helping to stabilize the situation.
[AnNahar] The United Arab Emirates sent a plane carrying "urgent medical and food aid" to Afghanistan on Friday, the official WAM news agency said, nearly three weeks after the Taliban ...Arabic for students... 's takeover.
The "assistance comes within the framework of the humanitarian role being played by the UAE to provide full support to brotherly Afghan people in such current circumstances," WAM said.
The UAE foreign ministry confirmed to AFP that "this is the first (Emirati) aid flight since the recent events in Afghanistan."
Taliban fighters celebrated with gunfire on Tuesday, hours after the last U.S. forces abandoned Kabul, closing a frenzied airlift operation that saw more than 123,000 foreign nationals and Afghans flee.
The UAE is one of a number of Gulf states that have been instrumental staging posts for evacuation flights for foreigners and Afghans, along 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... , Kuwait and Bahrain.
[Garowe] The al-Shabaab ...... al-Qaeda's tentacle in East Africa... turbans have yet again fired warning shots to elders ahead of elections in the country, a move seen as a strategy to scare them in their roles of picking delegates who are going to participate in electing Members of Parliament.
With senatorial polls already underway, community elders who have a large stake in parliamentary indirect polls, are set to pick 101 delegates from each constituency, who will eventually participate in elections. The elders will be assisted by members of the civil society.
In a statement issued through proxy media outlets, al-Shabaab spokesperson Ali Dhere warned elders and other contractors to stay away from the elections. The turbans are keen to topple the fragile UN-backed Somalia administration.
Two years ago the group gave elders 45 days to "repent" for their role in previous elections. Despite threats, citizens are excited as election fever grips the nation, Voice of America journalist Harun Maruf notes.
In July this year, the leader of al-Shabaab Ahmed Umar Abu Ubaidah
...also known as Ahmed Diriye ...
threatened electoral delegates who will be participating in upcoming elections; arguing that the group is opposed to the process. "They [leaders] will not be guaranteeing your safety," he said in purported audio published by the bad boy media
It's unclear where or when Abu Ubaidah’s speech was recorded but he mentions the bad boy group’s attack on Bosaso prison in March, and the Somali parliament’s term extension in April and the political stalemate that followed almost gives a clue.
Early this week, UK ambassador to Somalia Kate Foster also raised concerns about the possibility of al-Shabaab infiltrating the elections. She insisted that the country should ensure selection of delegates is transparent.
For the credibility of the polls to improve, Ms. Foster said there is a need to look into the delegate selection process, which she believes paves way for possible infiltration. A number of local elders and members of civil society will be tasked to pick delegates.
"Yeah, I mean it is [Al-shabaab threat] it is a concern. I think what is important is that to come back to the delegate selection process, I think how that process happens matters and makes a quite significant difference," she said. "The credibility of the process ahead of us. I think once we’re through this election, there will be a conversation."
She seems nice...
Stakeholders settled on indirect elections after months of wrangles thus making it difficult for implementation of the universal suffrage elections. Initially, the country was preparing for direct polls but implementation became difficult.
In the future, Ms. Foster says the country just rethink holding direct polls which minimize al-Shabaab influence on the ballot. There are concerns that some elders could be compromised by the turbans to pick delegates in a manner that favors them.
"I hope that will very much be led by, um, the people of Somalia about how we move to a voting system that really is very accountable to the people of Somalia in a way that perhaps doesn’t entirely exist with the current process," she noted.
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Tunisia’s powerful labor union on Friday called on the president to propose changes to the political system and put them to a referendum after his seizure of governing powers in July in a move critics called a coup.
The UGTT union, which has so far backed President Kais Saied since he sacked the prime minister, suspended parliament and said he was taking over executive authority, has for weeks urged him to name a government and announce a roadmap for the crisis.
On Friday, its leader Noureddine Taboubi, also indicated it would back changes to the constitution and political system, blaming them for the gridlock that preceded Saied’s intervention on July 25.
"The main problem in Tunisia is the political and constitutional system that has crippled everything and left no way for progress," he told news hounds, adding that any changes must be put to a referendum.
The president’s actions appear to have widespread support after years of economic stagnation and political paralysis.
However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... Saied’s delay in appointing a new government or announcing his longer-term plans has caused jitters among some Tunisians fearing a lack of direction in the face of major economic challenges or even a return to autocracy.
The president has rejected that, saying his actions were lawful and that rights will be upheld, and dismissing concerns over the lack of clarity about his next steps.
"We demand the speedy formation of the government to resolve urgent files such as unemployment, education, health, and the economic and social situation," Taboubi said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/04/2021 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[IsraelTimes] US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S., who gives the term geriatric a bad name. He blames Afghans for losing Afghanistan.... on Friday directed the declassification of certain documents related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a supportive gesture to victims’ families who have long sought the records in hopes of implicating the Saudi government.
The order, coming little more than a week before the 20th anniversary of the attacks, is a significant moment in a yearslong tussle between the government and the families over what classified information about the run-up to the attacks could be made public. That conflict was on display last month when many relatives, survivors and first responders came out against Biden’s participation in 9/11 memorial events if the documents remained declassified.
Biden said Friday that he was making good on a campaign commitment by ordering the declassification review and pledged that his administration "will continue to engage respectfully with members of this community."
"The significant events in question occurred two decades ago or longer, and they concern a tragic moment that continues to resonate in American history and in the lives of so many Americans," the executive order states. "It is therefore critical to ensure that the United States Government maximizes transparency, relying on classification only when narrowly tailored and necessary."
The order directs the Justice Department and other executive branch agencies to begin a declassification review, and requires that declassified documents be released over the next six months.
#1
Almost 20 years later I am pretty sure there has been some accidental loses of documentation.
SIDE NOTE: Filed Under its a Small World.
One of the 9-11 Hijackers worked at the corner store a block down the street from my old house and attended our Gym in Duluth GA.
#4
"The significant events in question occurred two decades ago or longer, and they concern a tragic moment that continues to resonate in American history and in the lives of so many Americans," the executive order states. "It is therefore critical to ensure that the United States Government maximizes transparency, relying on classification only when narrowly tailored and necessary."
Agree. What took you so long?
And how about this...get on with the KSM trial in GTMO...this declassification (while appreciated) is political "but Bush" kabuki theater otherwise.
[FoxNews] Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas promised to "swiftly and safely" resettle thousands of Afghan allies into the United States and confirmed that DHS has denied evacuees from entering the U.S. due to "derogatory" information obtained during the vetting process.
Mayorkas was joined by Robert J. Fenton Jr., senior response official of the Unified Coordination Group, during a press conference Friday to discuss Operation Allies Welcome – created to help thousands of vulnerable Afghan evacuees from Afghanistan assimilate into the United States.
The DHS secretary told reporters that roughly over 40,000 American citizens and Afghan partners have arrived into the U.S. from Afghanistan and are undergoing an initial processing at predesignated U.S. military bases prior to being resettled into communities. He touted the robust biometric screening and vetting process in place, in both the U.S. and transit countries, in order to make sure every individual entering the country is properly screened.
In response to a question from Fox News' Jake Gibson, Mayorkas confirmed that there already have been individuals flagged with "derogatory information" during the vetting process, and the U.S. is working with transit countries on what to do with those individuals. The secretary did not specify the number of people flagged or their present locations.
Mayorkas said that 400 employees from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have been deployed to assist the vetting process. The government also shipped hundreds of biometric machines to transit countries to aid the effort.
Eight military bases have been designated by the Pentagon to house refugees and are providing medical care, language access services and medical assistance. The goal of the operation is to move Afghans off the bases and resettled into the U.S. as "swiftly and safely" as possible, said Mayorkas.
Mayorkas also stated that the United States has admitted a "small number" of unaccompanied children who have been evacuated from Afghanistan and he anticipated that there may be more that will arrive. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working with DHS on that effort, including international and nonprofit organizations, who are facilitating care and other resources.
Fenton said DHS is taking "every precaution" to help stop the spread of COVID by testing all evacuees upon arrival and offering vaccines.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
09/04/2021 0:16 Comments ||
Top||
#2
DHS MFR:
To all field agents.
Relocate these people into select political areas where they will support Socialcrat House and Senate agenda and future elections (eg. Mich, Minn, and etc.)
[IsraelTimes] In call with US Conference of Presidents, PM says he’ll take steps to ’reduce friction’ with Paleostinians, arguing that middle ground is worth pursuing even if conflict unsolvable
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Friday that he would not meet with Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase.... , given Abbas’s decision to bring Israel before the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes.
Continued on Page 49
[IsraelTimes] ’Tactical Rabbi’ Raziel Cohen creates modified kapota that closes with snaps, making it easier to draw a firearm.
Rabbi Raziel Cohen doesn’t want you to have to draw a gun in synagogue. But if you must, he doesn’t want you to waste precious time unbuttoning your kapota, a type of jacket worn by men in the Chabad Hasidic community on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
So Cohen, a firearms instructor who goes by the moniker "The Tactical Rabbi," worked with Shaul Snovsky, who sells kapotas in South Florida, to create the Tactical Kapota. The jacket, which looks like any other kapota, closes with snaps instead of buttons for easy opening. Its cost: $550.
"The issue came up with when you wear a kapota ... the ’gartel’ gets in the way and the kapota gets in the way and it can make it dangerous to draw your weapon," Cohen said, using the Yiddish word for the belt worn over the kapota.
By adding snaps underneath the buttons, the Tactical Kapota looks like a regular jacket.
"Usually in a shul we try to keep a low profile, we don’t want to look like we’re in a war zone," Cohen said.
A video ad for the kapota shows a man studying in a synagogue when the building is attacked. The man fumbles to unbutton his kapota to reach his holstered gun until the words "every second counts" flash across the screen. The video then shows the man unsnapping the Tactical Kapota in seconds before drawing his gun.
Snovsky said some people thought the video wasn’t for real. It’s completely serious, he insists.
"I’m not selling fear over here, I’m selling awareness," he said. "Some people are calling me and saying is it a joke, and it’s not a joke. You just never thought about it."
The fastest draw in the synagogue! Tactical clothing for the ARMED Ultra-Orthodox Jew: pic.twitter.com/fQJQUroSzu
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.
...Arabic for 
...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...
...... al-Qaeda's tentacle in East Africa...
...46th president of the U.S., who gives the term geriatric a bad name. He blames Afghans for losing Afghanistan....
The first 'declassified' document has just been released. 
