JALALABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew himself up at an election rally in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people and wounding more than 30, officials said, warning that the toll was likely to climb.
Campaigning for the Oct. 20 parliamentary election began on Friday and security officials have warned of the danger of militant attacks during the campaigning.
The parliamentary election, delayed by three years, comes amid rising violence nationwide.
Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor in Nangarhar, said at least 13 bodies were taken to hospitals, but others said the toll was likely to be higher.
“Elders were speaking at the meeting when there was suddenly a huge blast,” said Sayed Humayoun, who had been at the rally in Kama district, outside the provincial capital Jalalabad.
“I was knocked unconscious but when I opened my eyes there were bodies scattered all around the blast area,” he said, adding that he could see dozens of dead and wounded.
Around 250 people had been at the rally, said Sohrab Qaderi, a member of the provincial council, adding that at least 30 were killed and dozens more wounded.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement carried by its Amaq news agency. The group has claimed a series of attacks this year that have killed scores of people in Nangarhar, on the border with Pakistan.
Another explosion took place at a cricket ground in Nangarhar’s Bati Kot district on Tuesday afternoon.
“Seven children aged between 12 and 15 years were injured in the blast at the playground,” Khogyani said.
The parliamentary election is seen as both a dry run for the more important presidential election next year, and a test of the government’s ability to provide security.
Afghan men carry an injured man to a hospital after a suicide attack, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan October 2, 2018. REUTERS/Parwiz
Officials say sustained violence could delay the process if it becomes unsafe for voters to go to polling stations.
The UN agency runs more than 270 schools with thousands of students across Gaza Strip
UNWRA was founded to cater for more than 750,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled during Israel's founding in 1948 (AFP)
Tuesday 2 October 2018 17:06 UTC
Workers for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees went on strike Tuesday to protest job cuts due to a funding crisis sparked by US President Donald Trump's aid cancellation.
The agency's operations were largely paralysed in the impoverished and blockaded Palestinian enclave, where its schools, health care centres and food distribution offices play an important role.
UNRWA, as the agency is known, runs more than 270 schools with some 280,000 students in the strip, where Islamist movement Hamas is in power.
The strike that follows more than 250 job cuts in Gaza and the occupied West Bank is to continue on Wednesday.
More than 500 full-time roles have also become part-time.
Even before the strike, laid-off employees had been preventing international and local staff from accessing UNRWA's headquarters in Gaza City.
On Monday, the agency pulled part of its international staff out of the Gaza Strip due to security concerns, it said.
A source with knowledge of the situation said six foreign staffers remained out of the 19 who are usually present.
Amir al-Mashal, head of the UNRWA employees union in Gaza, pledged "an intensification of union actions" in the coming weeks.
Adnan Abu Hasna, an UNRWA spokesman in Gaza, called on the union to "return to the negotiating table immediately."
A Hamas official said on condition of anonymity on Tuesday that "no harm has been done to any Arab or foreign staff," while adding that the Islamist movement supports the employees' demands.
"The agency's crisis has been invented for political reasons," he said. "No one can take way refugees' right of return."
The United States has traditionally been UNRWA's largest contributor, providing around $350 million (300 million euros) a year, but Trump has cancelled all support.
His administration, as well as Israel, opposes how the agency operates and how the number of refugees is calculated.
Palestinian leaders accuse the White House of blatant bias in favour of Israel and of adopting the Israeli government's positions.
More than 750,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation.
They and all their descendants are deemed by the UN agency to be refugees who fall under its remit.
Created in 1949, UNRWA supplies aid to more than three million of the five million eligible Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories.
Around 13,000 people work for UNRWA in Gaza, where more than two-thirds of the roughly two million residents are eligible for aid.
Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008.
Passengers wait to leave Gaza via Rafah crossing in February 2017. For many, the return to Gaza has proven the most difficult part of the journey.Ezz ZanounActiveStills Hamza Abu Eltarabesh-1 October 2018
Traveling between Egypt and Gaza should only be a matter of hours. Cairo is only some 200 miles from Rafah, the strip’s southernmost city.
Yet the siege imposed by Israel – with Egypt’s cooperation – more than a decade ago has turned that journey into an ordeal. The frequent closures at the Rafah crossing – the sole point of exit and entry for most people in Gaza – have been well documented. Less well known is that returning from Egypt can involve extremely long delays.
One recent trip from Cairo to Rafah took a full five days. For Mahmoud al-Madhoun, 28, the experience was “like being in hell.”
On 30 August, Mahmoud, accompanied his mother Afaf, 54, who was going back to Gaza by bus. She had been in Egypt to receive treatment for thyroid cancer.
Mahmoud and Afaf set out at dawn, joining a minibus. Their problems began at approximately 7 am when they reached al-Firdan Bridge near the city of Ismailia.
Located on the Suez Canal, the bridge has an important place in history as it enabled rapid transit between Africa and Asia. That seems ironic given how the bridge is being used today.
Following the 2013 coup under which Abdulfattah al-Sisi, a military general, took power in Cairo, the Egyptian authorities established a checkpoint at al-Firdan to inspect Palestinians leaving and entering Gaza.
There were 29 other passengers – all female – on the bus carrying Mahmoud and Afaf. Most had also been in Egypt for medical treatment.
The authorities displayed no concern regarding their plight. The passengers were left waiting at al-Firdan for three days without even the most basic of facilities.
Because there were no restrooms at the crossing, the passengers had to relieve themselves in nearby fields. “That was really humiliating,” said Mahmoud.
Although there was a large group of people from Gaza at the crossing, the only noticeable assistance they received from the Palestinian Authority’s diplomatic mission in Cairo was the provision of some water.
“We didn’t meet anyone from the embassy during our journey,” said Afaf. “We expected them to intervene to ease the procedures for us, especially at al-Firdan Bridge. But they did nothing.”
On the third day, one passenger fainted. The woman in question had received surgery for a cyst in her ear and needed to change the dressings on her wound regularly.
The woman was revived and given water to drink.
Bribe
As the passengers grew increasingly frustrated, their driver suggested that they might be permitted to cross the checkpoint through bribing an Egyptian soldier.
Mahmoud collected around $200 from the passengers but the soldier offered the bribe initially refused it.
Some of the women pleaded with the soldier. One offered him a gold ring, in addition to the $200. The soldier then accepted the bribe.
The ring belonged to Nisreen al-Rayes, who was traveling with her sister. Nisreen’s sister had recently received treatment for a slipped disk in her back.
“If he asked for all the money I had, I would have said yes,” Nisreen said of the soldier. “I didn’t want to spend one more night in those conditions. My sister was in a lot of pain.”
An hour later, the bus and 30 other vehicles were allowed through the crossing.
Yet the passengers only went a short distance before they were brought to a building on the far side of the bridge.
Next they were instructed to leave the bus and form a line. The passengers were brought into a room, where their bags were searched.
Theft
“The soldiers inspected every single bag,” said Mahmoud al-Madhoun. “And when they finished inspecting each bag, they told me and the driver to close it and carry it back to the bus. For a moment, I felt like a prisoner sentenced to hard labor.”
The inspection process took around three hours. The driver was then able to drive the bus. But he had only gone 500 meters, when soldiers decided to check all the bags a second time.
The second inspection process differed from the first one. This time soldiers confiscated some of the passengers’ belongings.
Hania Zumlot, 54, was returning to Gaza after receiving treatment for osteoporosis.
“I had bought some gifts for my husband and sons,” she said. “An Egyptian soldier stole cigarettes, perfume and new shoes. I asked him to leave my stuff alone as I had nothing that was harmful or forbidden. But he shouted in my face, telling me to stop talking and threatening that he would make me turn back.”
Eventually, the bus was able to drive on. But passengers were subject to further checks during the remainder of the journey. In total, they had to go through 15 checkpoints.
Deal “around the corner?”
Reaching the Rafah crossing was by no means the end of the ordeal. The passengers had to wait 18 hours in the Egyptian-controlled hall at the crossing.
The hygiene in this hall is notoriously poor. Travelers have to pay to use the restrooms, which are seldom clean. Prices for food and drink in its cafeteria are around twice what people would normally pay in Gaza.
On the fifth and final day of their journey, an Egyptian officer handed the passengers their passports – which had been stamped. The passengers were then placed on a large bus that brought them into Gaza.
The ordeal recounted here took place amid speculation that the suffering of Palestinians will be eased. Ismail Haniyeh, a leading figure in Hamas, predicted in August that an end to Israel’s siege of Gaza was “around the corner.”
Egypt is reported to be facilitating talks aimed at introducing a truce between Hamas and Israel.
For all the speculation, a deal has yet to emerge. And any eventual agreement will not erase the cruelty inherent in the movement restrictions that the Cairo authorities have imposed on Palestinians until now.
Afaf al-Madhoun never imagined that traveling would be so horrendous.
“If I knew that my journey was going to be like this, I would prefer to have died in Gaza,” she said. “It was like we were killed 1,000 times on our way back.”
LONDON — Friends and relatives of Jamal Khashoggi, a veteran journalist from Saudi Arabia who has recently become a vocal critic of the kingdom’s leadership, said they were worried about his safety on Tuesday after losing contact with him during his visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Khashoggi entered the consulate around 1 p.m., according to his fiancee, who said she accompanied him but waited outside. The fiancee, who asked that her name be withheld, called police when Khashoggi did not emerge at 5 p.m., after the consulate had officially closed.
By 10 p.m., there was still no word from him, according to the fiancee and other friends, who stood outside the consulate.
Spokesmen for the Turkish and Saudi foreign ministries did not respond to messages seeking comment on Khashoggi’s possible whereabouts.
Khashoggi, a prominent commentator on Saudi affairs who writes for The Washington Post’s Global Opinions section, has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since last year, when he left Saudi Arabia over concerns that he would be arrested or prevented from traveling.
He has written extensively over the past year about the growing influence of Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s young crown prince, and been critical of some of Mohammed’s policies, including his crackdown on perceived opponents and dissidents.
After Saudi authorities arrested a group of women’s rights activists in May, Khashoggi wrote that the “crackdown has shocked even the government’s most stalwart defenders.”
Boris Johnson has savaged Theresa May’s Chequers plan as he made a direct pitch to the Tory faithful for his own domestic policy agenda based on traditional “one nation” Conservative values.
The former foreign secretary unleashed a fresh wave of leadership speculation after he blew into the Conservative party conference for just a few hours to rally the party membership behind his Brexit plans.
He ruled out backing a second referendum and urged the Tories to take the battle directly to Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, rather than trying to ape his strategy.
In an explosive speech to a fringe meeting at the Conservative conference – watched by leading Brexiters including David Davis, Iain Duncan Smith and Priti Patel – Johnson said the only winners from a Chequers-style Brexit would be the far right and far left of British politics.
“If we get it wrong, if we bottle Brexit now, believe me, the people of this country will find it hard to forgive,” he told the 1,500-strong audience. “If we get it wrong, if we proceed with this undemocratic solution, if we remain half in, half out, we will protract this toxic tedious business that is frankly so offputting to sensible middle-of-the-road people who want us to get on with their priorities.”
Johnson, who quit the cabinet in protest at Chequers, called on his fellow Brexiters to pile pressure on the prime minister to dump her plan and revert to her original Lancaster House proposals, even though it would mean ripping up everything agreed with Brussels so far.
“This is not pragmatic, it is not a compromise. It is dangerous and unstable – politically and economically,” he said. “This is not democracy. This is not what we voted for. This is an outrage. This is not taking back control: this is forfeiting control.
“I urge our friends in government to deliver what the people voted for, to back Theresa May in the best way possible, by softly, quietly, and sensibly backing her original plan.”
He rejected as “total fantasy” the idea that it would be possible to “bodge” Brexit now and then negotiate a better deal after leaving in March 2019.
He also suggested that Chequers would embolden those who wanted a second referendum, which he said would be “disastrous” for trust in British politics. “People would see that they would simply be being asked to vote again until they give the answer the remainers want,” he said.
Johnson was given a rapturous reception on a scale not seen so far inside the main hall. May later declared herself “cross” with her former cabinet colleague, accusing him of being ready to tear up her guarantee to Northern Ireland that there would be no customs border in the Irish Sea.
The prime minister said she did not watch Johnson’s address, preferring to talk to activists. But she told the BBC: “There are one or two things that Boris said that I’m cross about. He wants to tear up our guarantee to the people of Northern Ireland. We have a guarantee for the people of Northern Ireland and we are upholding that. Our Chequers plan does that. It is the only plan on the table at the moment that does.”
May said that “Boris always puts on a good show”, but noted he was “a key part” of the discussions at her country residence that ended with the plan being agreed in July.
The bulk of Johnson’s speech was devoted to setting out his alternative domestic policy vision, amid fears in the highest ranks of the Tory party that it has become so mired in Brexit that the electorate is no longer aware of what it stands for.
“If I have a function here today,” he told his audience, “it is to try, with all humility, to put some lead in the collective pencil, to stop what seems to me to be a ridiculous seeping away of our self-belief, and to invite you to feel realistic and justified confidence in what we can do.”
Johnson attempted to return to the political centre with a series of domestic policy proposals after recent remarks about Muslim women resembling letterboxes and Chequers being a “suicide vest” prompted accusations of Islamophobia.
His alternative prospectus for the Tory party included tackling the housing crisis, which he described as a “massive opportunity” for the party even though it has worsened during its eight years in power.
“If we rise to the challenge, if we get it right, it is an open goal, because this is one of those critical issues where … the facts of life do always turn out to be Conservative.”
He also set out his vision for a low-tax, pro-business economy and called for an increase in stop and search, dismissing a reduction in use of the policing tool – driven by the prime minister amid concerns about the impact on communities – as “politically correct nonsense”.
Johnson urged the Tory party to take its fight to Labour, which was widely regarded to have had a successful conference last week, saying: “Surely to goodness we can take this Tony Benn tribute act and wallop it for six.”
He added: “Not by imitating them, not by capering insincerely on Labour turf – we won’t get anywhere by metaphorically acquiring beards and string vests and allotments – but by systematically pointing out the damage they would do. Instead of aping Corbyn, we have to take our basic Conservative ideas and fit them to the problems of today.”
Johnson listed his achievements as mayor of London, a reminder to colleagues of his ability to win over a predominantly liberal electorate, and a retort to the chancellor, Philip Hammond, who had suggested his greatest success to date had been the “Boris bike” cycle-hire scheme.
He congratulated Hammond over his view that the former foreign secretary would never become prime minister. “It was the first Treasury forecast in a very long time that had a distinct ring of truth about it,” he said.
Even before his arrival in Birmingham, Johnson had overshadowed the event, first of all by attacking May’s Brexit plan as “deranged” and then by appearing to parody the prime minister’s infamous runs through fields of wheat.
Rumours of a potential leadership bid were bolstered when Tory and Vote Leave donors including the hedge fund billionaire Michael Hintze and the political strategist Mark Fullbrook, who is Lynton Crosby’s business partner in the UK, were spotted in the audience.
A series of senior Tory figures including the chancellor, the home secretary, Sajid Javid, and the Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson, have been among those who have criticised Johnson over his constant attacks on May’s Brexit plans, as well as his attempts to overshadow the conference.
This undated handout photo released by South Korea's presidential Blue House on September 30, 2018 shows a one-year-old Pungsan breed dog gifted from North Korea. Source: AFP
1st October 2018
NORTH KOREAN leader Kim Jong-un has given his South Korean counterpart Kim Dae-jung a pair of exotic dogs late last week in yet another sign of warming ties between the two estranged neighbours.
Moon’s office issued a statement on Sunday saying the president had received two North Korean indigenous hunting dogs from Pyongyang as a token of blossoming friendship on the peninsula.
“Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office) was offered a pair of Pungsan dogs from the North as a gift at the North-South summit and received them Thursday,” the South’s presidential office said, as quoted by the AFP.
The office added the canines, both aged around one, were handed over via the truce village of Panmunjom with three kilograms of dog food to “help with their adaptation”.
According to the Chonsunilbo, a major South Korean newspaper, the male dog, named Songkang, was born in November 2017 and the female, Gomi, in March 2017.
The newly arrived pooches will reside at the presidential office with Moon — an animal lover who already owns a Pungsan dog named Maru, a former shelter cat called Jjing-Jjing, and Tory, a black mutt he adopted after taking office.
This undated handout photo released by South Korea’s presidential Blue House on September 30, 2018 shows a one-year-old Pungsan breed dog gifted from North Korea. Source: AFP
The two pets, which were bred in the Kaema highlands of North Korea, arrived in the South through the truce village of Panmunjom along with 3 kilogrammes of feed last Thursday. They were given a quarantine check before being moved to Cheong Wa Dae the same day.
“Kim and his wife Ri Sol-ju showed Moon and the first lady a picture of a pair of Pungsan dogs over dinner on Sept 18 after their summit in Pyongyang and promised to send them,” presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said.
Known for its loyalty and cleverness, the Pungsan breed — with thick, creamy white coat, pointy ears and hazel eyes — is one of the National Treasures of North Korea.
The canine gifts come after a September meeting between Moon and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, at which Kim agreed plans to shutter a missile-testing site and visit Seoul.
Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung had also received a pair of Pungsan pups after his landmark summit in Pyongyang with then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in 2000.
The dogs were kept at the Seoul Grand Park and both died of natural causes in 2013 after giving birth to 21 puppies, according to the AFP.
We are governed by a bunch of criminals and crooks, who benefit from our ignorance and mentally challenged brains. In the submissive west, the utterly brainwashed and by now almost brainless populace is reminded that we are screened for security purposes, for our own security.
by Peter Koenig-
( September 30, 2018, Boston, Sri Lanka Guardian) The other day, checking in at a European airport for an international flight – within about an hour it took to deposit my luggage, going through airport security, the metal detectors, body screening machines, the automatic passport reading procedure, waiting at the gate and finally boarding – I have heard or read the words security and safety, honestly speaking, more than a hundred times. There are now countless primitive videos – in fact, insultingly primitive videos – that show you the precise procedures to follow to keep you safe and secure. All you have to do is follow them to keep your life safe and in secure hands. It is a constant indoctrination that we are in danger and that the democracy around us keeps us safe.
Some paper in my shirt pocket and a handkerchief I didn’t remove from my pocket – had to go through a special ‘dust reader’; my hands were also ‘dusted off’ and the special tissue used for it also went through the ‘reader’- only then, when indeed the result was negative, was I free to collect my things – and get redressed. I wondered aloud how many valuable items, like cell phones, laptops, cameras and-so-on – ‘disappear’ – or get ‘lost’ in the hassle, and I could not shut up making my comments about the nonsense – the George Bush invented 9/11 endless war on terror, that itself was based on a false flag, i.e. the self-imposed 9/11 – and that prompted this forced submission to an ever-more degrading and harassing security procedure. About three security agents descended on me – this time politely, I must say, assuring me that all this was for my own safety. Naturally. How could it be different. We want you to be safe and secure, Sir. Bingo. It’s difficult to protest against so much protective kindness.
Does anybody have an idea on what this security and safety industry – the machines and apparatuses, and ever newly invented security gadgets – cost? – And the profit they bring to the war and security industry – and their shareholders, many of whom are former high-ranking US and other western government officials? – The airport security business alone is estimated at between US$ 25 and 30 billion per year.
What can I say. These airport security employees have jobs; they have been trained to use these billions-worth devices to intimidate and harass people into fear, into obeying, into blindly – no questions asked, following the dictate of democracy. Most of these security agents don’t know much about what they are doing. They have a noble job: protecting the world from terrorists, a job that keeps them proudly off an ever-growing mass of unemployed, or underemployed, lowly-paid workers. Free thinking is not allowed, lest you are pushed out into the cold, to join the ranks of beggars, of the socially unfit, who depend on government handouts.
Once on the plane – I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was a flight attendant by the name of “security and safety”. Well that was her title, instead of a real name. Lovely, I thought. It doesn’t stop. Security and safety brainwashing permeate every fiber 24/7 of our lives.
Security and safety über alles! – Heil to the neocons, heil to the neonazis that have taken over the reins of our every-day life. And I’m not talking about the political parties of the extreme ‘right’ in France or Germany, they are just puppets for the invisible elite, for those ‘deepstaters’ that pull the strings behind the Trumps, Macrons, Merkels and Mays of this world. – Of course, it’s all for your security, my security, at best, for national security – not theirs, the ones who impose these nonsensical rules, rules that serve strictly for no other purpose than to oppress the common citizen, to brainwash the populace into believing that they are under a constant threat of attack.
Every time the screws of security are tightened a little more, the arms are twisted a bit further, just a tiny bit – never forget, its only for our security and safety. By the time, my dear fellow citizens, we realize that our arms are broken and our skulls and brains smashed beyond repair, it’s too late.
Back to the airport. At the hand baggage x-ray control, where everybody has to put their cosmetics in a transparent plastic bag, pull out their laptops, tablets and cameras, and are being told what items are not allowed on board, ridiculous stuff, absolutely hilariously ridiculous – if it wasn’t that serious – and all for your own safety, naturally – I was being pushed aside for a service man who delivered a case of bananas to the restaurant in the waiting hall. His bananas had to be cleared by the x-ray machine. Imagine! – They could be objects of terror, maybe even weapons of mass destruction – WMDs.
The real WMDs that kill millions on an every-day basis, in Yemen, in Syria, in Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan – and the list goes on – nobody talks about. They have become common staple of our “secure” and “safe” world. The UN during the ongoing Annual Meeting in New York, declared Yemen a country governed by terror – yes, the Yemenis, who are starved to death like no other nation in recent history, with – also according to the same UN – 5 million children at high risk of death by famine. Not the Saudis, or the United States of America, or the UK, the French, the Spaniards, who feed the Saudis with war planes and bombs, with real weapons of mass destructions – are the terror nations. No, its Yemen. What world have we ended up with?
We are governed by a bunch of criminals and crooks, who benefit from our ignorance and mentally challenged brains. In the submissive west, the utterly brainwashed and by now almost brainless populace is reminded that we are screened for security purposes, for our own security. Every time the screws of security are tightened a little more, the arms are twisted a bit further, just a tiny bit – never forget, its only for our security and safety. By the time, my dear fellow citizens, we realize that our arms are broken and our skulls and brains smashed beyond repair, it’s too late.
As we are reminded by our masters that keep us secure and safe, we are also reminded that we are living in the only democracy that exists on the planet, namely wester style democracy. Never mind, this democracy is often, most often in fact, imposed to the rest of the world by sledgehammer, or even by WMDs. We, of course, don’t know that; we are made believe, that all those countries that are being ‘regime-changed’, or destroyed for the sake of democracy are being destroyed for the betterment of their citizens living conditions. That’s what we are made believe. There is no other set of nations – with a thousand years of horrific history of exploitation, killing, raping, looting, lying – than the west. And the west, to this day, continues lying and manipulating peoples’ minds in a more sophisticated way than even Goebbels could have dreamed of.
Can you imagine – the “Peru Six”, the neocons – very close to neonazis – of the Americas – (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Perú and Canada), of course all in the pockets of Washington – have had the unbelievable audacity to file a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice of The Hague against Venezuela for torturing and oppressing her people to the point that 2 million had to leave the country. This is such a flagrant multiple lie – it is actually a crime against humanity, against the only – yes, the very only real democracy left in the west, Venezuela – to make one’s stomach churn.
The maximum 500,000 to 700,000 Venezuelans, who, according to UNHCR and the International Organization of Migration, have migrated to neighboring countries, because of the foreign imposed – yes totally foreign imposed, by sanctions of the US and the EU – plus shamefully neutral Switzerland – horrendous economic conditions of the country. The Maduro Government is struggling to reverse that situation by de-linking Venezuela’s economy from the dollar economy, by creating new alliances with the east, in particular China and Russia. And as there are signs that the wheel may be turning favorably for Venezuela, some of the migrants are already returning.
But can you imagine what these six Latin American Washington bootlickers do to the reputation of Venezuela? And they may actually be welcome in The Hague, especially after John Bolton, Trump’s neocon “Security Adviser” – again Heil-Heil Security! – has warned the judges of this once-upon-a-time noble-intentioned international court, to beware and behave, and never pursue (war) crimes committed by the United States and Israel, meaning in clear text – obey and do what is in the interest of the exceptional nation(s), or else. So, the ICJ may actually be compelled to consider the malicious and totally fake and deceitful complaint of the Peru Six seriously.
And all that under the name of democracy.
Wake up, dear co-citizens! – Its high time. We are living in an abject Security Dictatorship, called Democracy. It imposes an ever-increasing militarization, becomes an ever more brutal police state – or better, an association of brutal police states, to be sure, that if and when you wake up, your awakening will be smashed with visceral power of a legalized, totally legitimate Security Dictatorship. If we don’t act now – and acting starts at these dreadful, humiliating and harassing security stupidities we accept everyday at airports around the world – we will be fried for good. Stand up folks! Stand up for your rights and against the day-in-day-out brainwashing of keeping you secure. Let’s take back our security sovereignty – we and only we, as citizens, colleagues and comrades, are responsible for our own security. Let not security and safety be imposed by criminal, warmongering, children-killing Security Democracies – namely our western governments.
Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a water resources and environmental specialist. He worked for over 30 years with the World Bank and the World Health Organization around the world in the fields of environment and water. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America.
US intelligence analyst, whistleblower, transgender activist and Democratic hopeful. At the age of just 30, Chelsea Manning has led many lives.
Famed for leaking thousands of classfied military documents to WikiLeaks, she served seven years in prison before her sentence with commuted by President Obama.
We went to meet her in London, where she was a guest of the Institute of Contemporary Arts.
Washington must help Bogotá shoulder the burden of refugees.
Venezuelan migrants living in Medellin, Colombia, sleep as they wait to attend the second Job Fair for Venezuelans in Colombia on Sept. 27. (Joaquin-Sarmiento/AFP/Getty Images)
BYOLIN WETHINGTON-
OCTOBER 1, 2018, 11:38 AM
As the crisis in Venezuela lurches from bad to worse, the chaos unleashed by the country’s slow collapse is threatening to undermine the stability of the entire region—and neighboring Colombia in particular.
Colombia is bearing the brunt of the refugee crisis caused by Venezuela’s failing state, and the burden is stretching the country’s limited resources to the point where it may fall into crisis itself. This would be a particularly tragic development given the recent progress Colombia has made toward building a safer, more democratic country. In his recent inaugural address, Colombian President Iván Duque pledged to build a prosperous and secure country based on “a culture that respects the rule of law.”
Hopes are high that Duque will further strengthen economic growth and democratic governance, foster justice in the further implementation of the 2016 peace agreement ending Colombia’s 50-year-plus civil war, and eliminate burgeoning coca production and narcotrafficking.
Duque’s approach stands in stark contrast with that of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who presides over an authoritarian state where the population struggles to feed itself, inflation has skyrocketed to nearly 1 million percent, lawlessness and corruption are rampant, and the military is sustained by drug money.
Thus far, Colombia has managed to cope with the mounting economic and security challenges arising from Venezuela’s disintegration. Yet the regional fallout from Venezuela may soon become overwhelming.
While the bilateral relationship between the United States and Colombia is strong, this is a pivotal moment requiring even closer cooperation on issues of strategic importance.
The accelerating exodus of desperate Venezuelans into Colombia and other neighboring countries makes this a particularly stark crisis. The numbers are staggering. On a recent fact-finding mission to Cúcuta’s Simón Bolívar Bridge crossing at the Colombia-Venezuela border, I personally witnessed a steady stream averaging between 50 and 60 people per minute crossing the border during my visit. An estimated total of about 25,000 people crossed that day.
Cúcuta has seen a high of more than 60,000 people crossing in a single day. Between 20 and 30 percent of these people do not return to Venezuela—meaning that Colombia is absorbing around 5,000 to 7,500 migrants per day and 150,000 to 200,000 per month via the Cúcuta crossing alone.
These numbers do not factor in several other official border crossings (though smaller than Cúcuta), as well as illegal border crossings, estimated to be between 3,000 and 10,000 per day—bringing the total to an estimated 200,000 to 250,000 per month, and if projected forward, an additional 1 million people by the end of this year.
Living conditions of refugees in the Colombian border region are bleak, with necessities such as housing, food, and medical care in short supply. The majority of refugees are women, children, and the elderly—among the most vulnerable to rising crime.
In addition to the tremendous humanitarian, logistical, and economic challenges posed by this massive influx of people, Colombia must also contend with the rise of criminal activities driven by the Venezuelan crisis, including drug trafficking, smuggling, profiteering, and prostitution.
Economically desperate Venezuelans, many of whom are arriving with next to nothing, are doing what they can to survive.
Colombia has to date adopted a relatively open posture toward the inflow of Venezuelans, but the humanitarian assistance from Colombia itself, neighboring governments, private relief organizations, and the international community is insufficient and will become even more strained as the volume of displaced people mounts.
The international community is only now coming to grips with the enormity of this crisis. Earlier this month, 11 Latin American countries signed a joint declaration in Quito urging for a substantial increase in resources to address the migrant crisis. The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States convened to address the issue that same week.
These are positive steps forward, but the response remains embryonic. The international community must urgently formulate a robust and coordinated response that addresses the multiple dimensions of this challenge. This should extend not only to mobilizing international financial resources but also to coordinated and complementary immigration infrastructure and screening procedures, cooperative mapping of country needs and capabilities of governments and civil society, burden-sharing for migrant relocation, and intelligence- and information-sharing among affected countries.
More fundamentally, the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela will persist until Venezuela returns to democratic governance and the rule of law. Authoritarian measures such as the installation of a new legislative body to compete with the legitimately elected National Assembly and the continued imprisonment of opposition political figures have cemented Maduro’s status as a despot. He has lost all legitimacy and must let citizens decide the future of their own country through free competition at the ballot box.
Colombia has a compelling leadership role to play in bringing increased international pressures to bear for political change in Venezuela. The United States should enhance its own strategy of building concerted international pressure, including through targeted sanctions and international bodies such as the OAS.
Over the past two decades, the United States has supported Colombia through economic, diplomatic, and military assistance, particularly in combating drug trafficking and transnational crime. Continued strong support from the United States in this arena will be crucial to ensuring that Colombia is able to attack its narcosecurity issues, and the evidence indicates that Duque will be a strong partner in these efforts.
The United States has also helped Colombia strengthen its citizen-centered institutions. Continued partnership in fostering democratic governance will be crucial to achieving long-term stability for both Colombia and the wider region. U.S. government-supported efforts by democracy assistance organizations such as the International Republican Institute, where I am a board member, are an important component in this strategy, bringing decades of experience in strengthening governance practices at all levels.
U.S. engagement with Colombia to support its continued economic, security, and democratic development is vital. Colombia as a vibrant and prosperous democracy will mitigate against instability in the wider region and advance the interests of the United States and the entire hemisphere.
Chaos prevailed at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border on Tuesday as thousands of protesting farmers attempted to enter the national capital, prompting the police to resort to water cannons and tear-gas shells to disperse them, evoking a sharp criticism from opposition parties.
Seeking to convince the farmers to move back from their protest, the government announced that a committee of chief ministers will look into their demands, but the protesters stayed put saying they were not “satisfied” with the assurance.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh held discussions with Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and a few others to discuss the farmers’ issue, after which Union minister of state for agriculture Rajendra Singh Shekhawat met the protesters to assure them that their demands will be looked into.
Naresh Tikait, the chief of Bharat Kisan Union, which has given the protest call, however, said the farmers are “not satisfied” with the government’s assurance.
“We will discuss this and then decide on future course of action. I can’t decide anything alone, our committee will take the decision,” he added.
Some of the protesting farmers claimed that a few Delhi Police personnel had resorted to lathi charge against some of them. The Delhi Police, however, denied the charge.
A posse of security personnel have been deployed, including from Delhi Police and the paramilitary forces.
“Nearly 2,500 personnel from Delhi Police, besides paramilitary forces, including the Rapid Action Force, have been deployed,” a senior police officer said.
Farmers marching towards Delhi under BKU’s protest call over demands ranging from farm loan waiver to cut in fuel prices, were stopped at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, as they tried to run through the border, surmounting the barricades.
The farmers, riding tractors and trolleys, broke barricades of the UP Police and then started proceeding towards the barricades put up by the Delhi Police, a senior police officer earlier said.
Police had to use water cannons to disperse the protesters, who also indulged in sloganeering. Tear gas was also used to disperse the crowd.
The main demands of the farmers include implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission report, removing ban on the usage of tractors above 10 years, clearing out pending payments of sugarcane purchase, increased price of sugar supplied and minimum support prices.
Amar Pal, 35, a farmer from Muzaffarnagar alleged that some police personnel “resorted to lathi charge” on some of the protesting farmers.
The city police had on Monday imposed prohibitory orders in east and northeast Delhi, anticipating law and order problems as thousands of BKU members are on a march from Haridwar to reach the national capital Tuesday.
In east Delhi, the prohibitory orders issued by Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Pankaj Singh under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, will be in force until October 8.
It covers Preet Vihar, Jagatpuri, Shakarpur, Madhu Vihar, Ghazipur, Mayur Vihar, Mandawli, Pandav Nagar, Kalyanpuri and New Ashok Nagar police station limits.
In northeast Delhi, the prohibitory orders were issued by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) Atul Kumar Thakur and will be in force till October 4.
The incident has drawn sharp reactions from Congress while the Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal batted for the farmers and questioned why they were not allowed to enter Delhi.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Wardha accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of “brutally beating up” farmers at the Delhi border on International Day of Non-Violence and said they cannot even air their grievances in the national capital.
National Highways leading to the national capital were swamped with farmers who came in from places as far as Gonda, Basti and Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh as well as the sugarcane belt of western Uttar Pradesh.
Police picketed the border with Uttar Pradesh, imposing prohibitory orders banning assembly of five or more people and holding of any public meeting, usage of any amplifier, loudspeaker, and similar instruments.
The Kisan Kranti Yatra, which began from Tikait Ghat in Haridwar on September 23, was joined by farmers from various parts of Uttar Pradesh.
“We are not seeking any alms from the government. We want our right,” said Harmik Singh, a farmer who came from Meerut.
Farmers are in distress because of high electricity prices and fuel rates shooting through the roof,
“Aap ko 500 rupiya ka gas theek lagta hai? (Does LPG price of Rs 500 sound right to you,” a farmer asked.
Kejriwal said preventing a protest march of farmers from entering the national capital was “wrong” and pitched for their entry into the city.
“Why are the farmers being stopped from entering Delhi? It is wrong. Delhi belongs to all. They should be given entry in Delhi. We support their demands,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an event held at the Delhi assembly to mark Gandhi Jayanti.
WATCH: Kisan Kranti Padyatra turns violent
ACP among 7 cops injured during protest
Seven policemen, including an assistant commissioner of police, were injured as protesting farmers turned violent while trying to enter the city from Uttar Pradesh in defiance of prohibitory orders, Delhi Police claimed on Tuesday.
As it drew flak for what the parties termed as “brutal” action against the protesters, the police said they used only “minimum required force” to control the situation.
Police said a section of protesters, who were participating in the Bharatiya Kisan Union march, suddenly turned violent as the cops tried to persuade them not to break the barricades.
Police said they used 20 tear gas shells and water cannons to manage the crowd, adding it was “minimum required force”.
As many as 3,000 police personnel were deployed to ensure that the farmers were not able to enter Delhi.
Announcements were regularly made on public address system about promulgation of prohibitory orders and requests were specifically made not to attempt entry into Delhi forcibly on tractor-trolleys since there was no permission for the same, they said.
“The protesters were also assured through their leaders that their demands are being projected at appropriate levels, and their movement will be duly facilitated in an orderly fashion without tractor- trolleys,” the police said, adding it had specially deployed buses for ferrying the farmers to the city.
Talks were also going on in this regard with the leaders of various factions of the protesters, they said.
Despite requests that the protesters wait for the outcome of the talks between their leaders and the government, a section of the crowd suddenly turned violent and tried to break the barricades with tractor-trolleys and were also carrying lathis, they added.
“Tractor-trolleys were used with violent force by this aggressive section to break down three layers of strong barricading. Some protestors also resorted to stone pelting and wielded lathis causing injuries to police personnel deployed on duty,” the police alleged.
“Under these circumstances, only the minimum required force was used to contain these aggressive and violent protesters.
“However, after using water cannon and tear gas shells on a limited scale, the situation was brought under control, and thereafter use of any force was discontinued forthwith, resorting again to persuasive tactics,” they added.
Seven police personnel, including an assistant commissioner of police, were injured during this process. The ACP suffered a shoulder dislocation after he was roughed up by some of the protesters, the police said.
Ahmad Sultan-OCTOBER 2, 2018
Afghan men carry an injured man to a hospital after a suicide attack, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan October 2, 2018. REUTERS/Parwiz
Venezuelan migrants living in Medellin, Colombia, sleep as they wait to attend the second Job Fair for Venezuelans in Colombia on Sept. 27. (Joaquin-Sarmiento/AFP/Getty Images) 
