Author: yreape

Presidential elections were held in Afghanistan on Saturday. A low turn out was blamed on the threat of attacks, a muted campaign and rumours of fraud. The war in Afghanistan, which began in 2001 is said to be ongoing.
In April 1978, a military coup led to the formation of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and a socialist republic which was Soviet backed. A revolt by Sunni Islamist groups, ultra-conservative and opposed to Soviet influence, evolved into the Taliban, who were firstly a military organization, in government between 1996 and 2001, and are presently fighting the current regime.
Osama Bin Laden founded Al Qaeda in 1988 as a response to Soviet intervention in Afghanistan (1979-1989). He is of Yemeni descent. The bin Laden family are a wealthy family intimately connected with the Saudi royal family. From 1984, bin Laden was involved in fundraising, recruitment and training programs in order to deal with the Soviet regime in Afghanistan. Funds came from muslim contingents. The philosophy of Osama bin Laden might be described as elitist and absolutist. He advocated the unity of Muslims under one Islamic state. He was born in Saudi Arabia in 1957. He is most well known for masterminding the September 11 attacks on the world trade centre complex in 2001.
The US led war in Afghanistan began in October 2001. Since 2004, the US have hit thousands of targets in Pakistan. According to reports the most recent drone attack was launched last year.
The US invasion has resulted in regime change that comprises a bicarmel system. The house of the representatives of the people, and the house of elders which is said to be the upper house. Two thirds of the 102 members of the house of the elders have been appointed by the President, one third unknown. The current president of Afghanistan is Ashraf Ghani who succeeded Hamid Karzai in 2014.
Last year’s parliamentary election in Afghanistan saw a turnout of 45%, 33% of which were women. The results of the presidential election held on September 28th, according to official sources, will be known by 17th October if there is a clear winner.

Boko Harem, founded by Mohammad Yusuf who was executed in 2009 according to reports, is in conflict over control of the oil producing Niger Delta in Nigeria.
In 2007, the International court of justice ruled that the oil-rich Nigerian peninsula of Bakassi was to become part of what is known as anglophone Cameroon. In 1919 Cameroon was split into British Cameroon and French Cameroon. There have been reports of a lack of safe drinking water in British Cameroon where there is insurgencey.
Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa according to statistics, and is a member of the commonwealth. It has a unicarmel government, the senate being the upper house. The current party as voted by the Nigerian people is the APC, the all progressive congress, founded in 2013 from existing parties; but last year, amid political tensions, thirty seven members are said to have defected, mainly to the PDC, the people’s democratic party.
Issues in Nigeria are no water and protests about poverty in spite of oil wealth. In 1983, according to reports, inspectors of the state-owned Nigeria National Petroleum Company said they began to notice a slow poisoning of the water.
Nigeria has a colonial past. One struggle for independence resulted in the creation of the Republic of Biafra, formerly Southern Nigeria, which existed between 1967 and 1970. Biafra represented nationalistic aspirations for independence from the western-influenced federal government. There are reports of the deliberate destruction of agricultural land during the conflict, and blockades on food aid lead to a reported two million people dying of starvation. On 20th October 1970, Biafra officially surrendered, rejoining Nigeria.
On Monday a UK court ruling authorized that the Nigerian government owe 6.6 billion dollars plus interest that is accruing at a daily rate of 1.2 million dollars. This is connected to a failed deal concerning a western company, Process and Industrial developments limited, and a natural gas pipeline.

The approaching Jewish new year or Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of 5780 for Israel. It is the traditional anniversary of Adam and Eve and celebrates Israel’s exodus from Egypt. The Hebrew bible and the Quran share a common history. Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar. According to the story Hagar and Ishmael left when Ishmael was fourteen and settled in a region in the West of what is now Saudi Arabia.

Israelites were slaves in Egypt according to the Hebrew bible. Other sources support this. There is meant to be archeological evidence of a substantial Jewish community along the Nile; and problems with foreign slaves were documented.

Biblical stories are often symbolic, for instance, when the Red Sea parted allowing Israelis to pass out of Egypt. The story of Adam and Eve and their sons Cain and Abel are also considered to be symbolic by academic scholars. Abel might have been the first carnivore. Cain is said to have killed Abel.

These early stories, handed down by word of mouth are an introduction to a range of documents, including official documents, some of which might provide a historical context. Others paradigms.

The first five books of the bible were translated into Greek in 3rd Century BC. during the Greek empire. Greece fell to the Romans in 146 BC.

The funeral of Robert Mugabe took place in Harare on Saturday 14th September. Details have been hazy.
Robert Mugabe was stripped of the knighthood that was bestowed on him in 1994 for refusing to accept colonial rule. Sanctions were placed on Zimbabwe causing extreme poverty and hyperinflation.
The official burial service takes place today. He will be buried in the national heroes monument in Harare, Zimbabwe.
UK treasury documents detailing financial sanctions relating to Zimbabwe were updated last year. In a speech once, he was caught on camera saying, they wish our diamonds and gold were theirs.

The death of Jacques Chirac, former prime minister and president of France occurred yesterday. He will be remembered internationally for his plea to UK contingents, which was televised, not to go to war with Iraq. The war was cited illegal by French jurisprudence but was approved by the un in retrospect.
Jacques Chirac has been described as a republican. He studied at Harvard and is reported to have been inspired by Charles de Gaulle who established the constitution known as the Fifth Republic.
The Fifth Republic is a 1958 constitution. It has since been modified seventeen times, most recently in July 2008 when the French congress, which is a combination of the two chambers of parliament, approved by one vote, constitutional ammendments put forward by President Sarkozy.
The head of state and the head of legislation in France is said to be the president which is different from other western countries. In the UK, for instance the queen is reported to be head of state and the prime minister to be head of the executive.
The two chambers of the French constitution consist of the lower house, known as the national assembly, which is lead by the prime minister who is democratically elected; and the senate, the members of which are appointed.
Since the spring of 2017 France has been governed by Les républicains en marche. LREM is said to comprise of former members of Les républicains plus a majority of new members. The president of the senate is currently Emmanuel Macron who is the youngest president since Napolean.
Jacques Chirac is remembered for acknowledging France’s role concerning the treatment of Jewish people during the second world war.

RIP

According to the charter of the united nations, only the un security council has a mandate by the international community to apply sanctions ( article 41). International sanctions are instigated by her majesty’s treasury (UK); the office of foreign assets control (OFAC) of the US treasury department or the eu.
According to reports, eu sanctions continue to be in place in very poor countries who have been deprived of their assets, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic.
Current sanctions against Syria and Iran are reported to be extremely comprehensive. Documents containing HM treasury notices relating to Syria are listed but not readable. Documents concerning US sanctions of both Syria and Iran include an alert to the possibility of the incurring of sanctions to any parties involved in petroleum shipments. This includes insurers, shipping companies and financial institutions.
In May of this year the eu extended sanctions against Syria until June 2020, but have resisted calls to reimpose sanctions on Iran.
The un has imposed comprehensive sanctions on Iran. An estimated 12 billion US dollars in Iranian assets have been frozen since 1979 when king Mohammad Reza Shah was overthrown. According to history he was a western delegate, but not by choice.
Yemen-related sanctions are reported to take place via executive orders from both the president and congress and are related to blocking assets. There are reports of the torture of political prisoners by US and Saudi forces on the ground.
According to media reports, the un have complained about the latest US sanctions targeting Venezuela. Bolivarianism in Venezuela extolls political and economic sovereignty and the equitable distribution of its vast resources.
According to charities the population of Syria is in need of humanitarian assistance. Protein foods and a clean water supply are a necessity.

According to news, an impeachment enquiry against Donald Trump was launched on Tuesday and some say this will make the drama that followed the nomination of Brett Kavanagh to the Supreme Court, insignificant. Trump has been accused of bribing the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenski. The Ukraine are reported to have received military aid from the US but not recently, and with no explanation as to why the aid didn’t materialise. According to reports, on July 25th, Donald Trump asked the Ukraine President to investigate circumstances involving Joe Biden and his son, Robert.

Joe Biden, the democratic party candidate is Trump’s political rival for the Presidency in the 2020 elections. Robert Hunter Biden, his second son has been involved with Barisma Holdings, an oil and gas company in the Ukraine, since 2014.

Joe Biden, according to reports, called for the dismissal of the prosecutor who was investigation Burisma Holdings following complaints that they were selling Iraqi oil. He threatened to withhold US financial sponsorship. This is said to be part of a wider effort involving western allies, the world bank and the International monetary fund.

The world bank historically has given loans to third world countries. The International monetary fund is said to facilitate international trade and oversee exchange rates. Both were formed as a un innitiative in 1944. In 2010, according to official documents the mandate was expanded to include government of the world’s economy. This includes the rights to surveillance, the giving of cautionery advice and the constructing of regulatory policies and structural reforms. Trump has criticised global economies in favour of nationalism.

The Lisbon treaty of 2008 resulted in a change of structure in the eu. The referendum in Ireland in June of 2008 rejected the treaty by a slim margin. This democratic decision by the Irish people was not accepted by bureaucracy which resulted in a second referendum in 2009, where 68% of voters are reported to have voted for the treaty.
The Lisbon treaty has resulted in a change of legislation. One being a plan for human rights to be replaced by what is termed ethics. This places victims of human rights abuses under scrutiny on the basis of ethics. Often, the perpetrator of human rights violations instigates this process.

Boris Johnson has suggested Donald Trump broker a new nuclear deal with Iran. Why?
Sanctions against Iran are termed US sanctions but who instigated them?
Who gives orders to mobilise troops abroad? Is there someone ultimately in charge?
The threat of sanctions, and also the seizing of assets which must be illegal, can be used to corrupt the truth.
Is it time the EU, who have occasionally opposed sanctions, begin to make concrete trade deals with affected nations?

Russia and China have vetoed a un military innitiative in Idlib, Syria, which is situated 59 km south west of Aleppo. It is the largest city in Syria and reported to be the economic capital.
The un security council has ten non-permanent members. Equatorial Guiniea abstained.
Russia has vetoed un initiatives 12 times in the past. This is the seventh veto by China.
Air attacks on Syria have wreaked havoc. Bombardments of Idlib have been blamed on the Syrian government and Russia.
The un has warned of the worst humanitarian nightmares of the eight year conflict if the initiative does not go ahead. Russia and China have offered an alternative solution:
There have been many international oil companies in Syria which are documented. A newcomer is the UK’s Gulfsands Petroleum. In 2010 it took away 20,700 x 159 litre barrels per day.
Russia intervened in Syria’s long running conflict in support of Bashar al Assad in 2015.
Russia, now called the Russian Federation, is currently the subject of sanctions and asset freezes.