#kabul peace house

[mariacallous]

Afghan refugees who fled their country to escape from decades of war and terrorism have become the unwitting pawns in a cruel and crude political tussle between Pakistan’s government and the extremist Taliban as their once-close relationship disintegrates amid mutual recrimination.

On Oct. 3, Pakistan’s government announced that mass deportations of illegal immigrants, mostly Afghans, would start on Nov. 1. So far, at least 300,000 Afghans have already been ejected, and more than a million others face the same fate as the expulsions continue.

The bilateral fight appears to center on Kabul’s support for extremists who have wreaked havoc and killed hundreds in Pakistan over the last two years—or at least that is how Islamabad sees it, arguing that it is simply applying its own laws. The Taliban deny accusations that they are behind the uptick of terrorism in Pakistan by affiliates that they protect, train, arm, and direct.

Mass deportations are a sign that Pakistan is “putting its house in order,” said Pakistan’s caretaker minister of interior, Sarfraz Bugti. “Pakistan is the only country hosting four million refugees for the last 40 years and still hosting them,” he said via text. “Whoever wanted to stay in our country must stay legally.” Of the 300,000 Afghans already ejected, none have faced any problems upon returning, he told Foreign Policy. As the Taliban are claiming that Afghanistan is now peaceful, he said, “they should help their countrymen to settle themselves.”

“We are not a cruel state,” he said, adding: “Pakistanis are more important.”

The Taliban—who, since returning to power in August 2021, have been responsible for U.N.-documented arbitrary detentions and killings, as well forcing women and girls out of work and education—have called Pakistan’s deportations “inhumane” and “rushed.” Taliban figures have said that the billions of dollars of international aid they still receive are insufficient to deal with the country’s prior economic and humanitarian crises, let alone a mass influx of penniless refugees.

The expulsions come after earlier efforts by Pakistan, such as trade restrictions, to exert pressure on Kabul to rein in the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani Taliban, whose attacks on military and police present a severe security challenge to the Pakistani state. Acting Prime Minister Anwar ul-Haq Kakar said earlier this month that TTP attacks have risen by 60 percent since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, with 2,267 people killed.

The irony is that Pakistan bankrolled the Taliban throughout their 20-year insurgency following their ouster from power during the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Taliban leaders found sanctuary and funding from Pakistan’s military and intelligence services. When the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021, then-Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated them, as did groups such as al Qaeda and Hamas. But rather than continuing as Islamabad’s proxy, the Taliban have reversed roles, providing safe haven for terrorist and jihadi groups, including the TTP.

“While it’s still too early to draw any conclusions on policy shifts in Islamabad, it appears that the initial excitement about the Taliban’s return to power has now turned into frustration,” said Abdullah Khenjani, a former deputy minister of peace in the previous Afghan government. “Consequently, these traditional [Pakistani state] allies of the Taliban are systematically reassessing their leverage to be prepared for potentially worse scenarios.”

Since the Taliban’s return, around 600,000 Afghans made their way into Pakistan, swelling the number of Afghan refugees in the country to an estimated 3.7 million, with 1.32 million registered with the U.N. High Commission on Refugees. Many face destitution, unable to find work or even send their children to local schools. The situation may be even worse after the deportations: Pakistan is reportedly confiscating most of the refugees’ money on the way out, leaving them in a precarious situation in a country already struggling to create jobs for its people or deal with its own humanitarian crises.

Border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been clogged in recent weeks, as many Afghan refugees preempted the police round-up and began making their way back. Media have reported that some of the undocumented Afghans were born in Pakistan, their parents having fled the uninterrupted conflict at home since the former Soviet Union invaded in 1979. Many of the births were not registered.

Meanwhile, some groups among those being expelled are especially vulnerable. Hundreds of Afghans could face retribution from the Taliban they left the country to escape. Journalists, women, civil and human rights activists, LGBTQ+ advocates, judges, police, former military and government personnel, and Shiite Hazaras have all been targeted by the Taliban, and many escaped to Pakistan, with and without official documents.

Some efforts have been made to help Afghans regarded as vulnerable to Taliban excess if they are returned. Qamar Yousafzai set up the Pakistan-Afghanistan International Federation of Journalists at the National Press Club of Pakistan, in Islamabad, to verify the identities of hundreds of Afghan journalists, issue them with ID cards, and help with housing and health care. He has also interceded for journalists detained by police for a lack of papers. Yet that might not be enough to prevent their deportation.

Amnesty International called for a “halt [to] the continued detentions, deportations, and widespread harassment of Afghan refugees.” If not, it said, “it will be denying thousands of at-risk Afghans, especially women and girls, access to safety, education and livelihood.” The UNHCR and International Organization for Migration, the U.N.’s migration agency, said the forced repatriations had “the potential to result in severe human rights violations, including the separation of families and deportation of minors.”

Once back in Afghanistan, returnees have found the going tough, arriving in a country they hardly know, without resources to restart their lives, many facing a harsh Himalayan winter in camps set up by a Taliban administration ill-equipped to provide for them.

Fariba Faizi, 29, is from the southwestern Afghanistan city of Farah, where she was a journalist with a private radio station. Her mother, Shirin, was a prosecutor for the Farah provincial attorney general’s office, specializing in domestic violence cases. Once the Taliban returned to power, they were both out of their jobs, since women are not permitted to work in the new Afghanistan. They also faced the possibility of detention, beating, rape, and killing.

Along with her family of 10 (parents, siblings, husband, and toddler), Faizi, now eight months pregnant with her second child, moved to Islamabad in April 2022, hoping they’d be safe enough. Once the government announced the deportations, landlords who had been renting to Afghans began to evict them; Faizi’s landlord said he wanted the house back for himself. Her family is now living with friends of Yousafzai, who also arranged charitable support to cover their living costs for six months, she said.

With no work in either Pakistan or Afghanistan, Faizi said, they faced a similar economic situation on either side of the border. In Pakistan, however, the women in the family could at least look for work, she said; their preference would be to stay in Pakistan. As it is, they remain in hiding, afraid of being detained by police and forced over the border once their visas expire.

[coffeepilled]

*     IRON HAND, VELVET GLOVE / IRON GLOVE, VELVET HAND    🃏  

sharing to tumblr a fic that i posted to ao3 a little while ago! i adore it very much still. COLD WAR RUSAME CALLS TO ME... pls heed the content tags!

➹ contents: historical hetalia, cold war, top russia, bottom america, hatefucking, gun kink, voice kink, masturbation, edging, phone sex, general toxic yaoi shenanigans

rusame (russia/america)

2,084 words

1960s/1980s (and related geopolitics of the era)

preview:

1961 — Washington, D.C., United States

The black rotary phone click, clink, clanked right back into place, the abandoned number not fully dialed.

The Soviets had shot their cosmonaut up into orbit today, and now Alfred holed himself up in his private office in the White House — more than a little bit pissed off.

His boss had sent him, hours after the news, to go issue a few congratulatory words to Russia, just as he’d soon be doing to Russia’s boss. Politics — they were such fickle matters. Even when they were supposed to be sworn enemies, there still had to be some degree of politeness, if only to keep up the illusion of ‘peace.’

And so, Alfred tried another time… pushing his fingertip into the circle holes for each digit, clenching his teeth. The rotary clicked and clacked methodically, until the dial tone started, and he leaned back into his swivel chair — swallowing his bruised ego.

Sputnik had already been a hit to his pride, and now it was the first man in outer space…?

Ring, ring, ring.

Alfred prayed he wouldn’t answer — he kicked his legs onto his desk-top and rested them there.

Ring.

He adjusted his glasses, and began distracting himself with twisting up the curly landline cord between his fingers.

Brrring-brrring.

The other line finally flared to life:

“Have you come to grovel in shame, Alfred~?”

[...]

1981 — Kabul, Afghanistan

“You are not supposed to be here, Alfred~ ♪”

No shit he wasn’t. “No shit.”

The Afghan sun and sandstorms have given him absolutely no reprieve — and now dusk loomed, with the promise of desert cold that’s worse than the burning heat of day, somehow. 

It was even more unfortunate how the lone cluster of stone shacks off the side of a random road, that he’d gone inside of to hide and rest, just so happened to be a Soviet mini-outpost. Empty, except for one—

The last time he’d actually seen Ivan in person…ah, it’d been too long, but also not long enough. Not since the multiple shitshows in Cuba, and the very massive one in Vietnam, both of which he’d rather pretend never happened. 

“I was hoping you could keep a secret,” he joked. Alfred already had his M1911 drawn before entering, and now he steadied his aim with the iron-sights on Ivan, whose back was to the door. 

He was sitting, creaking in an old wooden chair tucked into an old wooden table, the top of which had marked maps and manilla folders, and a lantern with a dying flame. Alfred wasn’t even entirely sure how Ivan had known it was him without looking, or even moving — maybe it was the unique sound of his footsteps, or the way he smelled, or just a sixth sense about each other that all the nations seemed to possess. 

It didn’t matter, anyhow. Ivan stood up carefully, glancing over his shoulder with a cheery look. “Secret? I am no good at keeping those ♪”

America was not, officially, supposed to be in Afghanistan. The CIA was not supposed to be involved in the war here, training and funding the rebels as they fought off the occupation of the Soviet Union. It was already bad enough that this was a not-so-well-kept secret to the rest of the world, but now he was face-to-face with Ivan…

͟͟͞☆ FULL WORK HERE

#bunnie's coffeehouse #hetalia #rusame #aph america #aph russia #aph rusame #alfred f jones #ivan braginsky #hws america #hws russia #fanfiction #hello fellow rusame enjoyers...... #/ long post #/ wfsn

[djuvlipen]

15-year-old Hazara activist who narrowly escaped the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Nila Ibrahimi, addresses the 15th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for her remarks.

Full Remarks  

Good morning everyone.

I’m incredibly honored to be here today with you at the Geneva Summit. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to share my story.

It was August 15, a beautiful sunny day that soon turned dark and cloudy, casting a shadow over the lives of millions of Afghans, especially the girls and women of my homeland. I had woken up early to study for my last mid-year exam at school, scheduled for the next day.  

A few hours after breakfast, my mother heard from the neighbours that the Taliban had reached Dasht-e-Barchi, the district where we lived, and may take over Kabul soon. My mother had lived through the civil war and the first Taliban regime and had made me understand how miserable and frightening that tyranny was. And now, her worried eyes and shaky hands made me even more scared.  

We ran to destroy our family documents that could put our lives at risk, because it was expected that the Taliban would conduct house to house searches. My father, a former government worker, passed away a month after I was born so the photos, uniforms, and documents were the only memories I had of him. As I watched them burn and turn to ashes, it was as if they had never existed, as if he had never existed. My school certificates as well; I felt so angry and sad to be told to destroy them that I decided to take the risk of keeping them. I knew all of this was only the first spark of a fire that was about to consume our whole lives. 

The weight of the situation was overwhelming, and fear took hold of me. My mother is a great person, but she belongs to the generation of women who were subjugated by the Taliban. This created in them a mindset that they had no right to say no, no right to protest or stand up for themselves. They were made to feel like they were incomplete human beings without a man. Now, there were rumours that the Taliban would marry young girls. I felt helpless and scared for what the future held.  

I am Nila Ibrahimi, a 16-year-old women’s rights activist. My journey of advocacy started when the Kabul Education Directorate banned schoolgirls over the age of 12 from singing in public. As a member of the Sound of Afghanistan Music Group, I found this decision disappointing and aggravating. We were singing for peace, women’s rights, and humanity on different stages and well-known TV channels. In some parts of the world, there are societies that welcome teenage girls who are using their voices to make changes; however, when I heard about the ban, I realized a sad fact about my society: There were people who wanted to silence me solely because of my gender. I had to stand up for my rights for the first time in my life. So, I recorded a video of me singing a song as a call to action for all girls and women. Murtaza, my brother, posted it on social media, alongside the #IAmMySong, and it soon went viral. The movement successfully reversed the decision.    

Later that year, before the fall of Kabul, I was watching President Joe Biden’s briefing on TV regarding his country’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. I vividly recall him sharing a story about his visit there, where he had conversations with several girls. One of them had told him: “If you leave Afghanistan, I will no longer be able to pursue my desire to become a doctor.” She urged him not to abandon Afghanistan. Upon hearing this, tears welled up in my eyes, and my heart splintered, as I could truly empathize with her feelings. She understood the imminent situation and was desperate to hold onto her dreams. Unfortunately, her plea fell on deaf ears. As a 16-year-old, of course I am not aware of all the political complexities, but why couldn’t the US have at least negotiated some form of peace instead of abandoning the country without any resolution?  

So now, the dream of that girl, along with the dreams of millions of other girls and women, were shattered overnight when the US and the international community abandoned Afghanistan. The Taliban, a group with a regressive mindset that deems being a girl or woman a crime, took control in a chaotic and shocking manner.   

To capture my emotions, allow me to share an excerpt from my diary written the day after Kabul fell, “It doesn’t matter when I wake up anymore, because I cannot close my eyes at night. I see everyone terrified of an uncertain future. At breakfast, no one speaks. After breakfast, I don’t know what I am supposed to do. I can’t study. Why should I study now if I am not allowed a future? Humanity is dead all over the world and I am tired of everything. In our airport, people died from stress, heat stroke, dehydration, from being crushed in their desperation to get out. Taliban are everywhere. Some people say they are going to go to every single house to search for guns or take some girls. I am wearing a long dress and covering my face. Am I going to be forced to cover my face all my life? Am I going to be locked up in my home forever?”  

Five days after the fall, my family decided to flee to Pakistan. We were lucky. After eight tense months, the 30 Birds Foundation helped us resettle in Canada. While I feel safer in my new home, every single day, I think of those girls left behind in Afghanistan; left with no hope. In Canada, I make decisions about my life, and embrace the person I aspire to be. But, what about them? 

As I stand here today, I want the world to know that girls have been out of school for 640 days. Universities are also closed off to them. Women have been stripped of everything, their education, their freedom of movement, their right to work, their choice of what to wear, and their ability to participate in public life. This is a grave injustice that denies them their basic human rights, rights that should be afforded to every individual on this planet.  

I am in awe of the immense bravery displayed by Afghan girls and women, who have steadfastly fought for their dreams in the face of the Taliban’s oppression. In the darkest of times, hope becomes our lifeline. It is our collective responsibility to be their hope, to stand with them, and to take action.  

So, I ask you, all of you, be part of this movement. And I ask those of you who have the power and the influence to please lend your voice and actions to support the Afghan girls and women. Let us unite and prove that humanity’s strength lies in its compassion and unwavering commitment to justice. The time for action is now. 

Thank you.

Soomaya Javadi, another young Hazara activist who fled Afghanistan following the fall of Kabul with Nila Ibrahimi, addressed the U.N. Opening of the 15th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

#Nila Ibrahimi #Afghanistan #Taliban #Hazara

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 3.19 (after 1960)

1962 – The Algerian War of Independence ends. 1964 – Over 500,000 Brazilians attend the March of the Family with God for Liberty, in protest against the government of João Goulart and against communism. 1965 – The wreck of the SS Georgiana, valued at over $50,000,000 and said to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser, is discovered by teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence, exactly 102 years after its destruction. 1969 – The 385-metre-tall (1,263 ft) TV-mast at Emley Moor transmitting station, United Kingdom, collapses due to ice build-up. 1979 – The United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day-to-day business via the cable television network C-SPAN. 1982 – Falklands War: Argentinian forces land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war with the United Kingdom. 1989 – The Egyptian flag is raised at Taba, marking the end of Israeli occupation since the Six Days War in 1967 and the Egypt–Israel peace treaty in 1979. 1990 – The ethnic clashes of Târgu Mureș begin four days after the anniversary of the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire. 1998 – An Ariana Afghan Airlines Boeing 727 crashes on approach to Kabul International Airport, killing all 45 on board. 2001 – German trade union ver.di is formed. 2002 – Zimbabwe is suspended from the Commonwealth on charges of human rights abuses and of electoral fraud, following a turbulent presidential election. 2003 – United States President George W. Bush addresses the nation, announcing the beginning of hostilities in the coalition invasion of Iraq. 2004 – Catalina affair: A Swedish DC-3 shot down by a Soviet MiG-15 in 1952 over the Baltic Sea is finally recovered after years of work. 2004 – March 19 Shooting Incident: The Republic of China (Taiwan) president Chen Shui-bian is shot just before the country's presidential election on March 20. 2008 – GRB 080319B: A cosmic burst that is the farthest object visible to the naked eye is briefly observed. 2011 – Libyan Civil War: After the failure of Muammar Gaddafi's forces to take Benghazi, the French Air Force launches Opération Harmattan, beginning foreign military intervention in Libya. 2013 – A series of bombings and shootings kills at least 98 people and injures 240 others across Iraq. 2016 – Flydubai Flight 981 crashes while attempting to land at Rostov-on-Don international airport, killing all 62 on board. 2016 – An explosion occurs in Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, killing five people and injuring 36. 2019 – The first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, resigns from office after nearly three decades, leaving Senate Chairman Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as the acting President and successor. 2023 – The Swiss Government brokers a deal for UBS to buy out rival Credit Suisse in an attempt to calm the 2023 banking crisis.

#Events

[captainmdhridoyhossain-blog]

[ad_1] During the day I take a look at in at the fellow Afghan girls sharing a roof with me at our resort within the Albanian lodge the town of Shengjin. They comic story that I'm Albania's new therapist. We play card video games and consult with Albanian pastry retail outlets the place the deserts style bittersweet, like our exile.We attempt to fill our days with actions to make the time move extra briefly. Closing month, I attended a trauma care path, facilitated through the global reduction group Samaritan's Handbag, the place we talked -- or a minimum of attempted to speak -- about all we left in the back of. Within the courtyard of the resort there's a abnormal copy of the Statue of Liberty. My two sons at all times attempt to climb it. I check out to not take its glance of inexpensive plasticity as some form of omen that liberty in our subsequent house --if there's a subsequent -- is only a puffed-up façade just like the model we had been bought in Afghanistan.There, the placement is bleak. The United International locations Building Programme initiatives that through the center of this 12 months Afghanistan may face "common poverty," with 97% of Afghans dwelling under the Global Financial institution-designated global poverty line of $1.90 an afternoon. It is an build up of as much as 25% at the poverty price previous to america withdrawal, in step with the UNDP. Closing week, the UN introduced its biggest unmarried nation help attraction ever: $5 billion within the hope of shoring up collapsing elementary products and services, that have left 22 million wanting help within the nation, and 5.7 million other people requiring assist past its borders. Afghanistan has grow to be the arena's biggest humanitarian disaster. However no amount of cash will carry peace to our stricken souls.Every time I wash our garments within the sink of our resort room, I take into accounts the remaining day of our outdated lives. Again in August, I used to be washing my youngsters's garments when a pal texted me to straight away pack my circle of relatives's baggage. My liked fatherland Herat, a quite liberal town in western Afghanistan, used to be possibly going to fall to the Taliban inside the subsequent 24 hours. And it did.Forces have been advancing for months, however I wasn't mindful how briefly the placement used to be deteriorating. Nonetheless, I have been apprehensive for a while that the Taliban would attempt to make a comeback. And as a training human rights legal professional, I knew the Taliban would no longer approve of my occupation. In June, after having led a path on home violence consciousness with america executive, I implemented for a Particular Immigrant Visa to The united states. I by no means did listen again from the embassy, and worry my utility used to be misplaced within the administrative mess. However I assumed I had the posh of time. That used to be till I authorised the truth: the Taliban would indisputably take my town and possibly Kabul quickly after. And upon their arrival, all my goals of dwelling in a democratic, equivalent society would vanish.My husband and I briefly packed a couple of suitcases, most commonly garments for our two youngsters and my stepdaughter, and stuck the remaining industrial flight to Kabul. Within the rush to depart, I left in the back of some significant pieces, together with my college degree. I used to be skilled solely in Afghanistan, and am the primary lady in my circle of relatives to finish secondary training, let by myself obtain a college stage. After escaping Herat, my circle of relatives and I spent a month fearfully alternating between a Ecu nonprofit group place of business in Kabul and a pal's condo. The Taliban know who I'm. For the previous decade, I've been advocating for home abuse survivors and main casual however decided coalitions of ladies -- psychologists, docs, activists, legal professionals, educators -- to take in this nation's never-ending struggle in opposition to girls.

In Kabul, we tried to get to the airport some 15 instances. Contacts from all over the world attempted getting us on flights however to no avail. To Qatar? To Mexico? The United States? I did not care the place, I simply sought after to get out.In the end, in August, we were given on a aircraft to Albania, probably the most poorest international locations in Europe. Now we have been right here for the previous 5 months, post through the Albanian executive in a seashore lodge together with virtually 1,000 different Afghans. I've no longer been in a position to reapply for a Particular Immigrant Visa, and we are ready on phrase when our new existence will start in The united states or Canada. We could be right here for some other 12 months. Possibly two. Or perhaps per week. Who controls time? I not take a look at calendars. It wasn't at all times like this. I knew I sought after to be a legal professional to assist girls reside higher lives with the consideration they deserve -- to forestall them from being compelled into marriages they didn't need for themselves and from staying in abusive scenarios for worry or a loss of different choices.My mom used to be compelled to marry my father when she used to be handiest 12 years outdated. As a way to pass to college, my mom and I made up lies in order that my father would let me depart the home. We advised him I used to be going to the mosque or to Quran research. When the Taliban had been in energy, I used to be a tender youngster, and this changed into very tricky, however we at all times discovered some way for me to be informed.We in the end satisfied my father to let me attend college, however my sister wasn't so fortunate. She used to be compelled into marriage on the age of 14. Whilst I've early life reminiscences of the Taliban beating girls within the streets for no longer dressed in their burqas correctly, my later teenager years had been stuffed with promise. There used to be numerous global investment for methods focused at girls's equality and meetings stuffed with 'vital other people' from overseas international locations who advised us we may well be anything else we would have liked to be.Girls's rights had been meant to be the luck tale of the 2001 US invasion, however the legacy of struggle has been killing our girls for years. An estimated two-thirds of Afghan women don't pass to college, 87% of Afghan girls are illiterate, and greater than 70% face compelled marriage. Nonetheless, during the last twenty years, america spent masses of hundreds of thousands of bucks selling girls's rights in Afghanistan, and an entire technology folks entered our careers with authentic hope for gender equality. Now, all of it seems like empty slogans. What's going to grow to be of all of the spectacular girls I do know who're legal professionals, docs, academics, politicians? The Taliban claims it will not hurt them, however the fact may be a ways other, and already the ladies of Afghanistan are being compelled inside of once more.Simply remaining week, photos circulated on social media of staff at clothes retail outlets in Herat chopping off the heads of feminine mannequins. Taliban government have classified them "un-Islamic." Previous this month, they banned girls with out male chaperones from getting into cafes within the town. CNN has no longer been in a position to independently check those stories, regardless that they tally with what I have heard from Afghans dwelling there. Closing month, the Taliban additionally banned girls from touring farther than 45 miles with no shut male family member. 4 years in the past, on Global Girls's Day, I gave beginning to my moment son. I made a promise to myself that I'd by no means elevate my youngsters in a rustic the place girls are second-class electorate.Sadly, our nation's long term has been determined. And it does not come with us. So, I will be able to look forward to some other aircraft to take us even farther clear of a rustic I like however that does not love me.

I will be able to wait to construct us a brand new existence. Afghan girls are sturdy, however we mustn't want to be this sturdy. [ad_2] #resort #room #Albania #Afghan #girls #look ahead to #lives #watch #native land #crumple

[attud-com]

#Afghanistan #DonaldTrump #JoeBiden #Kabul'sairport #NationalSecurityCouncil #suicidebombing #Taliban #troopwithdrawal #WhiteHouse

[xtruss]

Life Of Ex-Pakistani President Parvez Musharraf In Photos

Former Pakistani President Parvez Musharraf died on Sunday. He was 79. He was the Pakistani Army chief at the time of Kargil War. He overthrew the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to assume power in 1999, which he held until 2008. He supported the US-led War on Terror and participated in failed peace talks with India. He visited India to hold talks with the Indian leadership. Under his presidency, Pakistan also hosted the Indian men's cricket team and Musharraf famously asked former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to not cut his long hair.

— Outlook India | 05 February 2023

Pervez Musharraf Passes Away! Then Pakistan Gen. Pervez Musharraf gestures at a news conference, Thursday March 23, 2000, in Islamabad. Gen. Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, has died, an official said. He was 79. | Photo: AP/B.K. Bangash, File

In this file photo, Pakistan's then President Pervez Musharraf with then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpyee in Agra. Musharraf passed away due to prolonged illness. | PTI Photo

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and his wife Sehba pose in front of the Taj Mahal in Agra. An official said Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan military ruler who backed U.S. war in Afghanistan after 9/11, has died. | Photo: AP/Sherwin Crasto, File

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, center, and his wife Sehba Musharraf, 3rd right, pose with Pakistani children clad in traditional dresses during the 54th anniversary celebration of Pakistan's Independence Day at Presidential palace in Islamabad, Pakistan on Aug 14, 2001. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, has died, an official said. He was 79. | Photo: AP/B.K.Bangash, File

In this file photo, Pakistan's then President Pervez Musharraf with indian cricketer M.S. Dhoni during the ODI match played between India and Pakistan at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan. Musharraf passed away due to prolonged illness. | Photo: PTI

Then U.S. President George W. Bush, right, shakes hands with then Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, on Sept. 22, 2006, at the end of a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington. Gen. Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, has died, an official said. He was 79. | Photo: AP/Gerald Herbert, File

Afghanistan interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai, right, welcomes Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on April 2, 2002, at Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan. That was Musharraf's first visit to Kabul. An official said Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan military ruler who backed U.S. war in Afghanistan after 9/11, has died. | Photo: AP/Suzanne Plunkett, File

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, right, chats with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan at Pakistan Human Development Forum on Jan 24, 2002 in Islamabad, Pakistan. An official said Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan military ruler who backed U.S. war in Afghanistan after 9/11, has died. | Photo: AP/B.K.Bangash, File

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, left, gives a news conference in Islamabad, Pakistan with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Oct. 16, 2001. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, has died, an official said. He was 79. | Photo: AP/John McConnico, File

General Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, left, talks to Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat on Aug. 23, 2001, at the Presidential palace in Islamabad, Pakistan. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, has died, an official said. He was 79. | Photo: AP/Hussein Hussein, File

[sleepysera]

12.22.22 Headlines

WORLD NEWS

Russia: Zelensky’s visit shows neither Ukraine nor US want peace (BBC)

“Russia has strongly criticised the visit to Washington by Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing the US of fighting an indirect war against it. President Joe Biden has pledged $1.85bn (£1.45bn) of military aid for Ukraine - including an advanced missile system to help guard against Russian attacks. In a defiant address to US lawmakers, Mr Zelensky welcomed the assistance. But Russia's US ambassador said these "provocative actions" would lead to an escalation with severe consequences.”

Transgender Rights: Gender self-determination to be granted in Spain, Scotland (AP)

“Spain’s lower house of Parliament Thursday passed a law that allows people over 16 years of age to change their legally registered gender without any medical supervision. On the same day, the Scottish Parliament passed a bill to make it easier for people to change their legally recognized gender. The approval makes Scotland the first part of the U.K. to have endorsed allowing people to declare their gender on documents without the need for medical certification.”

Afghanistan: Taliban arrest women protesting against university ban (BBC)

“The Taliban have arrested five women taking part in a protest in the Afghan capital, Kabul, against the ban on women attending universities. Three journalists were also arrested. Protests are also understood to have taken place in the Takhar province. Guards stopped hundreds of women from entering universities on Wednesday - a day after the ban was announced.”

US NEWS

US Congress: Senate reaches deal on $1.7T package (AP)

“The Senate appeared back on track Thursday to pass a $1.7 trillion bill to finance federal agencies through September and provide roughly $45 billion in military and economic assistance to Ukraine after lawmakers reached agreement on a final series of votes.”

Weather: Hundreds of flights cancelled as winter storm and cold sweeps the US (BBC)

“A powerful Arctic winter storm is making its way through the US and parts of Canada, bringing with it frigid temperatures and flight delays ahead of the busiest travel days of the year. More than 100 million people across the US are under winter weather alerts, and snowy conditions are expected to wreak travel chaos this weekend. Major airports have already cancelled flights in anticipation of the storm.”

Mexico: Arizona to remove shipping container wall from border (AP)

“Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey will take down a makeshift wall made of shipping containers at the Mexico border, settling a lawsuit and political tussle with the U.S. government over trespassing on federal lands. The Biden administration and the Republican governor entered into an agreement that Arizona will cease installing the containers in any national forest, according to court documents filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix.”

#current events #news #russia #ukraine #united states #transgender rights #lgbtq #afghanistan #taliban #weather #mexico

[longjoomla]

Airbridge to victory game

AIRBRIDGE TO VICTORY GAME FULL

military remains concerned about surface-to-air missiles loose in the country. One C-17 landing in the afternoon shot off flares as it approached - a maneuver to protect against heat-seeking missiles and a sign the U.S. Planes took off about every 20 minutes at one point Monday morning. The system has a distinct, drill-like sound that echoed through the city at the time of the attack.Īn IS statement, carried by the group's Amaq media outlet, claimed the militants fired six rockets. A defensive weapon known as a C-RAM - a Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar System - targeted the rockets in a whirling hail of ammunition, he said. No injuries were reported.įive rockets targeted the airport, said Navy Capt. That neighborhood is about 3 kilometers (under 2 miles) from the airport. Some of the rockets landed across town, striking residential apartment blocks, witnesses said. "We jumped into the house compound and lay on the ground." Suddenly there were some blasts," said Jaiuddin Khan, who lives nearby. "I was inside the house with my children and other family members. The car had what appeared to be six homemade rocket tubes mounted in place of its back seats.

AIRBRIDGE TO VICTORY GAME FULL

The Taliban are now in full control of the airport.Ī crowd gathered Monday around the remains of a four-door sedan used in the rocket attack. The Taliban tightened their security cordon around the airport after the attack, clearing away massive crowds who were desperate to flee the country. The two groups have fought each other before, and the Taliban have pledged to not harbor terrorist groups. The extremist group is far more radical than the Taliban, who captured most of Afghanistan in a matter of days. On Thursday, an Islamic State suicide attack at an airport gate killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. In the early days, people desperate to flee Taliban rule flooded onto the tarmac and some fell to their deaths after clinging to a departing aircraft. The two-week airlift had brought scenes of desperation and horror. military cargo jets came and went despite the rocket attack. "American soldiers left the Kabul airport, and our nation got its full independence," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said early Tuesday.Įarlier Monday, Islamic State militants had fired a volley of rockets at the rapidly emptying international airport without hurting anyone. Many Afghans remain fearful of them or further instability, and there have been sporadic reports of killings and other abuses in areas under Taliban control despite pledges to restore peace and security. ended its 20-year war with the Taliban back in power. "We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out," he said. EDT - one minute before midnight Monday in Kabul. Central Command, announced the completion of America's longest war and the evacuation effort, saying the last planes took off from Kabul airport at 3:29 p.m. "The last five aircraft have left, it's over!" said Hemad Sherzad, a Taliban fighter stationed at Kabul's international airport. The departure of the cargo planes marked the end of a massive airlift in which tens of thousands of people fled Afghanistan, fearful of the return of Taliban rule after they took over most of the country and rolled into the capital earlier this month. planes disappear into the sky around midnight Monday and then fired their guns into the air, celebrating victory after a 20-year insurgency in Afghanistan that drove the world's most powerful military out of one of the poorest countries.

#Airbridge to victory game

[alwaysfirst]

US issues 'worldwide caution' alert after Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri's death

Aug 03, 2022 11:02 IST New York , August 3 (Always First): The US State Department has issued a worldwide alert after the death of Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri. Yesterday, President Joe Biden announced that the most wanted terroriast Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a drone strike in Kabul and added that "Justice has been delivered." "On July 31, 2022, the United States conducted a precision counterterrorism strike in Afghanistan that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's deputy and successor as leader of al-Qa'ida. Al- Zawahiri was one of the masterminds of the attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, and had continued to urge his followers to attack the United States," the US State Department alert on Tuesday (local time) said. "Following al-Zawahiri's death, supporters of al- Qa'ida, or its affiliated terrorist organizations, may seek to attack U.S. facilities, personnel, or citizens. As terrorist attacks often occur without warning, U.S. citizens are strongly encouraged to maintain a high level of vigilance and practice good situational awareness when traveling abroad," it further said. Zawahiri was one of the world's most wanted terrorists and a mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks was killed in a drone strike carried out by the US in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday. Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon, was deeply involved in the planning of 9/11 and he also acted as Osama Bin Ladens personal physician. The strike was conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and was carried out by an Air Force drone. An official claimed that al-Zawahiri was the only person killed in the strike and that none of his family members was injured. Meanwhile, the Taliban confirmed the killing of Zawahiri and condemned the drone strike carried out by the United States in Kabul over the weekend. In a statement, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that a strike took place on a residence in the capital and called it a violation of "international principles." A loud explosion echoed through Kabul early Sunday morning, according to Tolo News. "A house was hit by a rocket in Sherpoor. There were no casualties as the house was empty," Abdul Nafi Takor a spokesman of the Interior Ministry had claimed earlier. US secretary of state Antony Blinken said that the Taliban had grossly violated the Doha Agreement by hosting and sheltering the Al-Qaeda chief. "By hosting and sheltering the leader of al Qa'ida in Kabul, the Taliban grossly violated the Doha Agreement and repeated assurances to the world that they would not allow Afghan territory to be used by terrorists to threaten the security of other countries," Blinken said in a statement. The US and the Taliban signed a peace agreement in February 2020 under the Presidency of former US President Donald Trump. The deal stated the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghan soil and the Taliban would abate violence and guarantee that its soil will not be a safe haven for terrorists. In the statement, Blinken said the Taliban also betrayed the Afghan people and their own stated desire for recognition from the international community and normalisation of ties. Zawahiri's targeted killing comes a year after the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban's takeover of the country. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) added a "deceased" caption under the profile image of Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri on its website. (Always First) Read the full article

[swldx]

BBC 0425 2 Aug 2022

9915Khz 0358 2 AUG 2022 - BBC (UNITED KINGDOM) in ENGLISH from TALATA VOLONONDRY. SINPO = 55334. English, dead carrier s/on @0358z then ID@0359z pips and newsday preview. @0401z World News anchored by Gareth Barlow. The US has killed the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a drone strike in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden has confirmed. He was killed in a counter-terrorism operation carried out by the CIA in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday. Mr Biden said Zawahiri had "carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens". "Now justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more," he added. Zawahiri took over al-Qaeda after the death of Osama Bin Laden in 2011. He and Bin Laden plotted the 9/11 attacks together and he was one of the US's "most wanted terrorists". Officials said Zawahiri was on the balcony of a safe house when the drone fired two missiles at him. Other family members were present, but they were unharmed and only Zawahiri was killed, they added. A Taliban spokesman described the US operation as a clear violation of international principles. Under a 2020 peace deal with the US, the Taliban agreed not to allow al-Qaeda or any other extremist group to operate in areas under their control. Catastrophic climate change outcomes, including human extinction, are not being taken seriously enough by scientists, a new study says. The authors say that the consequences of more extreme warming - still on the cards if no action is taken - are "dangerously underexplored". The White House has warned that China may respond to Nancy Pelosi's mooted visit to Taiwan with military provocations. This could include firing missiles near Taiwan, or large-scale air or naval activities, spokesman John Kirby said.Mrs Pelosi, the US House of Representatives Speaker, is on a tour of Asia. India has confirmed its first death caused by monkeypox in the southern state of Kerala. This is the fourth monkeypox death reported globally, outside of Africa. Mexican government to temporarily occupy private land for the Maya Train Project. A team of archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have uncovered a crypt in the Maya city of Toniná, containing cremation burials used for making rubber balls in ritual ball games. @0406z "Newsday" begins. MLA 30 amplified loop (powered w/8 AA rechargeable batteries ~10.8vdc), Etón e1XM. 250kW, beamAz 315°, bearing 63°. Received at Plymouth, United States, 15359KM from transmitter at Talata Volonondry. Local time: 2258.

[mariacallous]

Skyrocketing costs for fuel and food in the global south due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are spurring mediation offers between Kyiv and Moscow from China, the African Union, and even Saudi Arabia. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has welcomed these initiatives, both to woo support from countries that have not condemned Russia and because the Biden administration seems to genuinely believe the oft-repeated but untrue cliché that all wars end in negotiation. The White House keeps saying the United States will not negotiate over Ukraine’s head—but encouraging mediation risks repeating the mistake of Trump and Biden policy in Afghanistan: delegitimizing a government the United States is supposed to be supporting.

The U.S. desire to abandon Afghanistan led to a bad deal with the Taliban over the heads of the Afghan government that the United States spent more than 20 years and $2 trillion fostering. Wanting an end to U.S. involvement, the Trump administration negotiated directly with the Taliban—a terrorist organization—agreeing that U.S. forces would withdraw within 14 months in return for the Taliban “preventing terrorism” and not attacking U.S. troops. Both the Trump and Biden administrations continued with the abandonment of Afghanistan despite the Taliban not honoring the terms of the agreement, leaving the Kabul government further delegitimized and fighting a politically and militarily revived Taliban without U.S. support.

Today, there is a justifiable fear among Ukrainians and the United States’ European allies that the cost of supporting Ukraine, the political effort required to sustain congressional and public support (of which the administration has put in far too little), and the risk of escalation with Russia may cause Washington to abandon Kyiv to an ill-judged peace effort that threatens Ukraine’s long-term stability.

None of these three actors—China, the AU, or Saudi Arabia—is a reliable partner in a peace effort. China claims that it is a neutral party because it never joined the Western sanctions against Russia or publicly provided military aid to either nation. Yet, from the start of the war, Chinese media and official statements have been heavily anti-NATO and uncritically accepting of Russian narratives. Beijing portrays Kyiv as a naive victim of Western manipulation.

The Chinese leadership’s actions have backed this up. In March, Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Moscow to reaffirm China and Russia’s “no limits” partnership. According to Russian intelligence intercepted by the United States, Beijing approved sending covert shipments of lethal aid to Russia, and China is now the world’s largest purchaser of Russian oil.

When China makes overtures, they may be serving Russian purposes—hoping to clench a mediated peace that would leave Russia in control of Ukrainian territory and impose harsh conditions on Kyiv. In May, China’s special envoy for the Ukraine war, Li Hui, visited Ukraine to promote Chinese peace mediation. During the visit, Russia began a series of missile bombardments targeting Kyiv, which may have been an effort to push Ukraine to the negotiating table with Chinese mediation. However, the campaign only highlighted Ukraine’s strength after Ukrainian forces shot down every Russian missile approaching Kyiv.

China also wants to play a “constructive role” in Ukrainian postwar reconstruction; create some distance between Beijing and Moscow; position itself as a peace broker in contrast to a bellicose West; showcase its construction expertise and cash on hand; and create fissures between the United States and Europe. Given the record of China’s Belt and Road projects, the opacity of Chinese involvement would be disastrous for anti-corruption efforts so important to Ukraine’s future.

While China put forward a specific 12-point plan, the AU and Saudi Arabia have offered generic support for peace. The Chinese plan includes immediate benefits for the Russian government and disregards Ukraine’s basic demands for peace. The plan calls for “respecting the sovereignty of all countries” without demanding the removal of Russian troops from Ukraine; “abandoning the Cold War mentality” in a direct rebuke of NATO expansionism; and “stopping [the] unilateral sanctions” that have effectively isolated the Russian economy.

The neutrality of the AU countries is compromised by South Africa’s support for Russia, which includes naval exercises together with Russia and China, and its refusal to honor the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pretoria also sees a unique opportunity in Ukraine to upend the United States’ position as the guarantor of global stability by promoting the AU and BRICS countries as suitable alternatives.

The Saudi government has usefully negotiated some Ukrainian-Russian prisoner releases and is working for the return of Ukrainian children forcibly taken by Russia. However, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s justification of his country’s refusal to comply with efforts to sanction Russia reveal it, too, to be an interested party. Saudi animus toward the United States has been on the rise since the Trump administration faltered at retaliating for Iranian attacks on Saudi oil facilities in 2019, but it has burgeoned in the Biden administration. The Saudis now are not only propping up the price of oil beneficially for Russia (and over White House objections), but they are allowing China to pay for its oil imports in renminbi and are threatening the Biden administration with Chinese bases on Saudi territory.

More problematic than the proclivities of potential mediators is the simple fact that the Ukrainian people do not want this war to end in a negotiated settlement. Polling in early February found that 97 percent of Ukrainians believe they will defeat Russia, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has emphasized that any settlement must include a “withdrawal of Russian troops from our entire independent land,” including Crimea. Ukrainians understand that territorial integrity is the basis of state sovereignty. Sacrificing any Ukrainian land in a settlement would be a resounding Russian victory. Yet U.S. officials have pressed Zelensky to profess openness to negotiation on the argument that refusing advantages Russia diplomatically. They conflate negotiation with war termination.

As political scientist Roy Licklider has noted, 85 percent of civil wars end with a military victory, not a negotiated political settlement. Large data modeling of conflict by the late Lincoln Bloomfield at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology confirms the findings. Historian Geoffrey Blainey conclusively debunks the notion in his seminal The Causes of War, demonstrating that moderate treaties—that is, negotiated settlements to end wars—increase the likelihood of future wars. He concludes that “a severe treaty of peace was more likely to prolong the peace; and there is a powerful reason why that should appear to be so. A harsh treaty was mostly the outcome of a war which ended in a decisive victory. And, it will be suggested later, a decisive victory tends to promote a more enduring peace.”

In a regular conflict, refusing negotiation might seem truculent. But amid an invasion by a country committing wholesale war crimes and threatening a potential genocide, it’s simply realistic. Pressing Ukraine to support negotiations or accept mediation offers condones aggression by requiring the victim to compromise with the perpetrator. A better answer would be to insist that negotiations penalize Russia for aggression, war crimes, destruction of the Ukrainian economy, and damage to international agreements on freedom of navigation. That approach would strengthen the international order that the Biden administration so often claims to be upholding. Even if Russia refused to provide compensation, making use of the $300 billion in Russian state funds frozen in Western central banks would provide a solid start.

Ceding the mediator’s role is contrary to both U.S. and Ukrainian interests. Russia seems to consider itself a great power like the United States, and to have a less powerful country as mediator would likely result in Russia being less likely to make concessions. It would be a mistake to cede diplomatic space to U.S. adversaries rather than allow the inevitable Ukrainian victors to dictate how this war ends. The failures from the Doha Agreement began when the United States decided to abandon Afghanistan. Forcing Kyiv into peace negotiations mediated by the Chinese, the AU, or the Saudis, rather than give it the support it needs to defeat Russia, risks winning the war and losing the peace.

[jedi-anakin]

2020 – what happened so far

(it’s impossible to include all, but I try my best)

January

January 1 – Palau became the first country to ban sun creams containing ingredients that are harmful to coral and marine life.

January 2 – The government of New South Wales, Australia, declares a state of emergency whilst the government of Victoria, Australia declares a state of disaster amid large bushfires that have killed as many as 500 million animals.

January 3 – A US drone strike at Baghdad International Airport kills Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

January 5 – Iran pulls out of the 2015 nuclear deal, will not limit its uranium enrichment.

January 7 – 56 people are reported killed and over 200 injured in a crush at the funeral of general Qasem Soleimani in the city of Kerman, Iran.

January 7 – A 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Puerto Rico, island's largest in a century, kill 1 person and destroy 800 homes.

January 8 – Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 is shot down by Iran's armed forces shortly after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini Airport, killing all 176 people on board.

January 8 – Duke and Duchess of Sussex announce they are stepping back as "senior" royals, will work towards becoming financially independent.

January 16 – The impeachment trial of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, begins in the US Senate.

January 26 – Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant dies in a helicopter crash.

January 30 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the outbreak of the disease as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

January 31 – The United Kingdom and Gibraltar formally withdraw from the European Union at 11PM (GMT), beginning an 11-month transition period.

January 2020 was the hottest January in recorded history according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

February

February 3 – Cruise ship Diamond Princess with 3711 passengers quarantined in Yokohama port, Japan after cases of coronavirus found on board.

February 5 – The US Senate acquits US president Donald Trump on articles of impeachment.

February 8 – 20 people dies in a mall shooting in Thailand.

February 9 – Deaths from the Coronavirus overtake those of Sars (2003) with 813 deaths worldwide.

February 10 – More than 30 bushfires put out by heaviest rainfall for 30 years in New South Wales, Australia, helping end one of the worst bushfire seasons ever, 46 million acres burnt, over 1 billion animals killed, 34 people dead.

February 11 – Snow falls in Baghdad, Iraq, for only the second time in a century.

February 23 – First major coronavirus outbreak in Europe in Italy with 152 cases and three deaths, prompting emergency measures, locking down 10 towns in Lombardy.

February 23 – China's Supreme Leader Xi Jinping describes the country's coronavirus outbreak as the China's largest health emergency since 1949.

February 24 – Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape and a criminal sexual act.

February 29 – Luxembourg becomes the first country in the world to make all public transport in the country (buses, trams, and trains) free to use.

February 29 – A conditional peace agreement is signed between the United States and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar. The U.S. begins gradually withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.

March

March 8 – Italy places 16 million people in quarantine, more than a quarter of its population, in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19. A day later, the quarantine is expanded to cover the entire country, becoming the first country to apply this measure nationwide.

March 9 – International share prices fall sharply in response to a Russo-Saudi oil price war and the impact of COVID-19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) plunges more than 2,000 points, the largest fall in its history up to that point. Oil prices also plunge by as much as 30% in early trading, the biggest fall since 1991.

March 11 – The World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic with 121,564 cases worldwide and 4,373 deaths.

March 11 – Harvey Weinstein is sentenced to 23 years in prison for a criminal sex act and rape in New York.

March 12 – Global stock markets crash. The Dow Jones Industrial Average goes into free fall, closing at over −2,300 points, the worst losses for the index since 1987.

March 13 – The government of Nepal announces that Mount Everest will be closed to climbers and the public for the rest of the season due to concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.

March 14 – Spain goes into lockdown after COVID-19 cases in the country surge.

March 16 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 2,997, the single largest point drop in history and the second-largest percentage drop ever at 12.93 percent, an even greater crash than Black Monday (1929).

March 17 – European leaders close the EU's external and Schengen borders for at least 30 days in an effort to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

March 17 – The island of Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines, is placed under the enhanced community quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

March 18 – The European Broadcasting Union announces that the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 will be cancelled due to COVID-19 in Europe, the first cancellation in the contest's 64-year history.

March 20 – The worldwide death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 10,000 as the total number of cases reaches a quarter of a million.

March 20 – Smoke from Australian bushfires killed more people than the fires - 417 vs 33 according to new study published in "Medical Journal of Australia."

March 22 – A prison riot in Colombia, which was sparked by coronavirus fears, left 23 inmates dead and another 83 injured.

March 24 – Indian PM Narendra Modi orders a 21 day lockdown for world's second most populous country of 1.3 billion people.

March 26 – Global COVID-19 cases reach 500,000, with nearly 23,000 deaths confirmed. American cases exceed all other countries, with 81,578 cases and 1,180 deaths.

March 28 – North Korea launched an unidentified projectile off the coast of Japan. This is the sixth launch in the last month.

March 30 – The price of Brent Crude Oil falls 9% to $23 per barrel, the lowest level since November 2002.

March 30 – The International Olympic Committee and Japan suspend the 2020 Summer Olympics and are rescheduled for July 23 to August 8, 2021.

April

April 2 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 1 million worldwide.

April 5 – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted to hospital suffering from coronavirus COVID-19.

April 7 – Japan declares a state of emergency in response to COVID-19, and finalises a stimulus package worth 108 trillion yen (US$990 billion), equal to 20% of the country's GDP.

April 10 – The death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 100,000 globally.

April 14 – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it expects the world economy to shrink 3%, the worst contraction since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

April 14 – US President Donald Trump freezes funding for the World Health Organization pending a review, for mistakes in handling the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and for being "China-centric", prompting international criticism.

April 15 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 2 million worldwide.

April 16 – 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment in 4 weeks (5.2 million in the last week), wiping out 9 1/2 years of job gains.

April 20 – Oil prices reach a record low.

April 25 – The global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 200,000.

April 27 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 3 million worldwide.

April 28 – US Department of Defense releases three declassified videos of possible UFOs from 2004 and 2015.

April 30 – British Captain Tom Moore, who raised more £30 million for the National Health Service walking in his garden, turns 100 and made an honorary colonel by the Queen.

May

May 5 – The UK death toll from COVID-19 becomes the highest in Europe.

May 6 – Irish organisation repays a 170 year old favor, raising over $2 million (to date) for US Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation badly affected by coronavirus. In 1840s Choctaw Nation sent $170 to aid Irish potato famine.

May 6 – Hungary has become the first EU member state to lose their democractic status according to the NGO Freedom House.

May 10 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 4 million worldwide.

May 12 – Gunmen storm a maternity hospital and kill 24 people, including two newborn babies, in Dashte Barchi, a majority-Shia neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan.

May 13 – Every African country now has cases of coronavirus COVID-19.

May 14 – The UN warns of a global mental health crisis caused by isolation, fear, uncertainty and economic turmoil.

May 16 – 118-year old American department store JC Penney files for bankruptcy.

May 19 – Greenhouse gas emissions dropped 17% worldwide in April 2020 when world was in lockdown, in study published in "Nature Climate Change."

May 19 – Two dams on Tittabawassee River in central Michigan breached by floodwaters, forcing evacuation of thousands of residents.

May 21 – Cyclone Amphan makes landfall in eastern India and Bangladesh, killing over 100 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 4 million others. It causes over US$13 billion in damage, making it the costliest cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean.

May 26 – George Floyd, an African-American man dies after he was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer kept his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds despite he was pleading for breath.

May 26 – Costa Rica becomes the first Central American country to legalise same-sex marriage.

May 26 – Twitter adds warning labels to warn about inaccuracies in US President Donald Trump's tweets for the first time.

May 26 – After a recording by a bystander about the arrest of George Floyd went viral the four officers who were present were fired. The same day a demonstrations and protests took place in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area.

May 27 – The Chinese National People's Congress votes in favour of national security legislation that prevents subversion, terrorism, separatism and foreign interference in Hong Kong.

May 27 – Spain begins 10 days of mourning for victims of COVID-19.

May 28 – The United States Department of Justice released a joint statement with the FBI, saying they had made the investigation into George Floyd's death "a top priority".

May 29 – Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged him with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, becoming the first white officer in Minnesota to be charged for the death of a black civilian.

May 30 – The first crewed flight of the Dragon 2 is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first manned spacecraft to take off from U.S. soil since 2011. The next day the spacecraft successfully reached the International Space Station (ISS).

May 31 – Since May 26 over a 100 city in all 50 states in the US was held supporting those seeking justice for George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, and speaking out against police brutality.

May 31 – The hacktivist group Anonymous released a video after remaining silent for 3 years demanding justice for George Floyd.

May 31 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 6 million worldwide.

#2020 #covid19 #coronavirus #black lives matter #politics #history #protest #economy #justice #environment #long post #very long post #text post #I hope some of yall will find something you didn't know of #(I did) #also stay safe and healty!

[apenitentialprayer]

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Alì Ehsani, 32, knows what life can be like for Christians under the Taliban regime. Born in Kabul in 1989, he and his brother fled when he was 8 after the murder of his parents by the Islamic extremists “I know firsthand how difficult it is to be Christians in that country,” Ehsani told Religion News Service on Monday (Aug. 16). “I lived through the horror, the terror of these Taliban.” Ehsani made it to Rome in 2003 after a five-year journey that he detailed in two books, “Tonight We Watch the Stars” and “The Kids Have Big Dreams.” In 2015, he earned a law degree from a university in Rome. Since then he has been committed to helping fellow Christians in Afghanistan, including a Catholic family facing persecution after the Taliban regained control of the country in mid-August. The urgency has risen a hundredfold since the U.S. withdrawal in recent weeks ceded the country to the Taliban. While Afghanistan’s new rulers have promised not to shed any blood, some locals fear that the Islamist regime will lead to persecutions and violence, setting the clock back 20 years in terms of freedom and democracy. Ehsani came into contact with the Christian family in Afghanistan through an Afghan who was also studying in Rome. The two had been friends for some time when Ehsani made the sign of the cross before a meal, and they learned that they shared the Christian faith. Afghan citizens are not legally allowed to convert to Christianity and there is little data on the number of Christians living in the country. According to the U.S. International Religious Freedom Report, published in 2009, there are between 1,000 and 8,000 Christians secretly practicing their faith in the country. There is only one officially recognized Christian church in Afghanistan, the Catholic chapel inside the Italian Embassy. Thanks to his friend, Ehsani began communicating via WhatsApp with the Christian family in Afghanistan six months ago, as concerns about the fate of the country began to grow. The family wishes to remain anonymous to avoid being found. At first, the family was guarded, Ehsani explained, but about three months ago they cautiously revealed that they looked to Pope Francis for spiritual guidance. That’s when Ehsani understood that they are Catholics. Since they were not able to attend Mass in Afghanistan, Ehsani began to livestream the services in Rome for them to watch from Kabul. “Their neighbors discovered them one day,” Ehsani told Religion News Service over the phone Monday (Aug. 16), “so they ratted them out two weeks ago.” As a result, the father of the family was arrested six days ago, Ehsani said, while the rest of the family was forced to flee. “They still don’t know where he is,” he said. The family told Ehsani that “the Taliban are going door to door” asking whether any Christians live there or in that community. Ehsani hasn’t been able to sleep since he heard the news. “I’m always praying for them,” he said. He is trying to help the family through humanitarian avenues, hoping they can be included in the Italian government’s efforts to evacuate Italian nationals and local allies, amid a global push to welcome Afghan refugees. Ehsani is also trying to get a letter into Francis’ hands in which the family appeals to the pope and the international community to help them leave the country. “These are days of terror and the idea of falling into the hands of soldiers terrifies me and is anxiety inducing,” read the appeal, which was shared with RNS. “If they were ever to capture me or other members of my family I would rather die,” wrote the family. “We hid with the hope of being found as late as possible. But we don’t know for how long we will be able to protect ourselves in this way.” With the Taliban going house to house looking for unmarried women, the letter said, it pleaded “to save us from this situation, which is endangering me and many other families, especially Christian girls.” Francis made an appeal for Afghanistan on Sunday, hours before the Taliban overran Kabul. “I join in the unanimous concern for the situation in Afghanistan. I ask all of you to pray with me to the God of peace, so that the clamor of weapons might cease and solutions can be found at the table of dialogue,” he told faithful after his weekly Angelus prayer. Meanwhile, the Italian branch of the Catholic aid network Caritas, which has been active in Afghanistan since the early ’90s, announced in a press release on Sunday that the current situation “will lead to the suspension of all activities.” “Fears are growing about the possibility of maintaining a presence even in the future, as well as for the safety of the few Afghans of Christian belief,” the statement read, adding that Catholic missionaries and priests are also leaving the country. Caritas Italy said it will continue helping Afghan citizens, especially children, from Pakistan. “I don’t understand why the West left Afghanistan this way,” Ehsani said, “after 20 years of sacrifices, of democracy.” But Ehsani doesn’t want to get into the politics: “I just want to save this Christian family and possibly others,” he said, adding that for some it might just be “a matter of days” before they are discovered or worse.

#Afghanistan #Christianity #Catholicism #Taliban #prayer request

[markhanna1896]

As Afghanistan falls, the US does nothing.

I wonder what President Joe Biden thought when he announced a complete American and Coalition withdrawal from Afghanistan. Maybe he’d be seen as a hero, a man who brought our boys home. Trump probably thought the same when he was President and planned to evacuate our troops in May. To be honest, a year or so ago when I heard the news that then-President Trump wanted us gone by May 2021 I was happy. I thought that the internationally-backed Afghan government could hold its own. Turns out, that hasn’t been the case. On Friday the 13th (A bit ominous timing, I know) the Islamist fundamentalist Taliban seized Afghanistan’s second and third largest cities, Kandahar and Herat, in a single day. Hell, just look at the map below.

Afghanistan is falling apart. The government’s troops surrender in droves, in stories reminiscent of the Fall of France in May 1940. The Taliban runs amok, especially in the north of the country, a former stronghold of the old anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. As both Britain and the United States temporarily send more troops to help evacuate diplomats, civilians, and interpreters, American intelligence estimates that the Taliban could advance on the capital of Kabul in a mere 30 days. Already, reports are emerging of Afghans in newly Taliban occupied regions being deprived of their freedoms. Women are being forced to wear the all-covering burqas and are forbidden to leave their house without a male companion. Medieval punishments, like lashing, have returned and Sharia Law has been brutally imposed.

The US and it’s allies should never have left. Hell, we had around 3,500 troops in the country and yet we managed to hold off the Taliban better than the Afghan army ever has. Our losses were minimal as our soldiers were mostly engaged in airstrikes or training the Afghan Army, very safe jobs. But now President Biden has abandoned Afghanistan to its fate. What will he say to the families of American servicemen who died in Afghanistan? Can he really say that the US liberated Afghanistan from it’s terrorist oppressors? No. They are poised to return and subject the Afghan people to a type of medieval horror that they have been largely free from for 20 years. Just look at the rights of women for example. Women could get an education in this new Afghanistan. They could vote. They could paint their nails. They could go outside without a male chaperone, for God’s sake. And that’s not all. Now that will all likely come to an end. Of course, the government could still hold out, but it is unlikely. Afghanistan will probably fall to the Taliban, and with it, any hope of peace, security, or liberty for it’s people. We should never have left.

#us politics #afghanistan #afghan taliban #afghan government

[xtruss]

Faux Remedy

— Liu Rui | August 16, 2022

Pelosi's Sneaky Visit to Taiwan Makes ASEAN Countries Firmer on One-China

— Herman Tiu Laurel | August 15, 2022

US Legacy in Afghanistan

— Vitaly Podvitski | August 15, 2022

One Year After US' Withdrawal From Afghanistan

— Deng Zijun | August 15, 2022

One Year After Kabul Debacle, US Attempts to Sustain Hegemony at Cost of the Whole World

— Global Times | August 15, 2022

One year ago, the US hastily and embarrassingly withdrew from Afghanistan. Now, the scene of that fiasco still lingers in many people's minds. But a year later, the US did not draw lessons from a war it had failed. What the world sees is since the Kabul moment, the US has been mobilizing its resources to target China and Russia at the cost of the whole world.

US President Joe Biden delivered three speeches in April, July and August last year respectively on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Besides looking for a decent excuse for the disgraceful withdrawal, all the three speeches blatantly raised the true intent of the US - the US needs to focus on shoring up America's core strengths to meet the strategic competition with China, and Russia.

In Ukraine, the US as the instigator of the Russia-Ukraine conflict keeps fanning the flames by providing weapons to Ukraine in a bid to deplete the strength of Russia, in disregard of the development of Ukraine and the wellbeing of the Ukrainian people. Even the interests of US' European allies were sacrificed by the US as a stepping stone to consolidate its global hegemony.

With no end in sight of the Ukraine crisis, the US is trying to ignite another clash in Asia. After US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan island on August 2, a delegation of five US lawmakers arrived on the island of Taiwan on Sunday. By provoking a conflict in the Taiwan Straits, the US is hoping to rally its resources in Asia, contain China's development, and undermine security in Asia.

Now the US, a superpower in its downfall, can only retain its hegemony by creating confrontations and dragging a large number of countries into the muddy water. The US is no longer able to bring the world peace, stability and development, but only engages in messing around the world. Sun Xihui, an associate research fellow with the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that provoking major powers like China and Russia is one means through which the US destabilizes the world, and sowing confrontation based on ideology is another.

"The US divides the world with the so-called 'values.' On the one hand, it relentlessly labels countries that it deems could challenge the Western order as 'autocracies,' and on the other hand, it tries hard to convince Western countries and non-Western countries which accept Western values to buy such a view, thus intensifying division among the international community with this 'autocracy vs democracy' narrative. As the US brings about chaos, the deep anxiety over its hegemony and the order it once dominated is fully exposed," said Sun.

According to Xu Liang, an associate professor at the School of International Relations of Beijing International Studies University, now the US is a "sick man" who is desperately looking for a therapy like a headless chicken, as if it could find its past health if the world is in chaos.

"The US has found it hard to sustain its hegemony, as sustaining it is too costly for the US now. The US has passed its peak, with its withdrawal from Afghanistan marking the beginning of the decline of US strength. The impetuous moves of the US over Ukraine and Taiwan question prove that the US has fewer and fewer political options," said Xu.

Xu noted that the logic behind US' actions to mess around the world is that as the US declines, the world can be exploited as expendable. The US only wants other countries to coordinate with its national interests to contain China and Russia, which, after all, is nothing but a fantasy.

The US is still a global hegemon, but a discouraged one. From a short-term point of view, a discouraged hegemon can still generate momentary destruction, but from a long-term perspective, it will only consume all of its energy. It is a process in which US' influence declines and its reputation gets tainted.