Author: M Barbu

What is an Islamic Emirate?

The Taliban ruled for five years in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, establishing an Islamic emirate system. What is an Islamic emirate and what transpired during the Taliban’s five-year emirate in Afghanistan?

The Taliban’s Islamic emirate came to power in 1996 while the country was embroiled in a civil war that followed the fall of the Soviet-backed president, Dr. Najibullah, in the early 1990s. The Taliban’s emirate was originally established in Kandahar, under the leadership of Mullah Omar, the Taliban’s founding leader. After their establishment in Kandahar, the group rapidly captured wider territories in Afghanistan and soon established their emirate in Kabul, which held power for five years until being toppled by the US and its Afghan allies.

Biden Can Trigger a Regional War by Reviving the Nuclear Deal

Governments in the Middle East have a valid reason to be concerned about the nuclear deal. They have already witnessed its negative consequences.

[T]his would have not been the outcome if Israel and other regional powers had been part of the negotiations.

The composition of the current negotiating team, similar to the previous one, completely excludes those on Iran’s doorstep. In an approach reminiscent of the bygone colonial era, it remains a policy set by governments thousands of miles away.

Denmark Bans Foreign Funding of Mosques

“The mosque is a gift from Qatar but it’s not free. I have always said that they will expect something in return, and this shows that they are making some claims for their money.” — Lars Aslan Rasmussen, Copenhagen city councilman.

Officials from nearly all of Denmark’s main political parties have expressed their support for the bill to ban foreign funding of mosques.

“It is a real problem if donations are made from organizations that want to undermine fundamental democratic values.” — Foreign Affairs Minister Mattias Tesfaye.

After Ten Years of War, Conflict Still Paralyses Syria

What does the conflict in Syria look like on the ground?

The sides to the conflict are locked in an uneasy standoff that has brought the country a measure of calm, but fighting could rapidly reignite and trigger international instability. The turning point in the past year came when a Russian-Turkish ceasefire announced on 5 March 2020 halted a year-long Syrian regime onslaught on Idlib in the north west. This paused most fighting on the war’s last active front. Turkey expanded its military presence in Idlib, securing the truce. Thus, the area became the latest example of de facto ceasefires around the country.

Brent crude floats near $70 on demand recovery anticipation

Oil prices edged up on Monday, with Brent drifting near $70 a barrel, propped up by output cuts from major producers and optimism about global economic and fuel demand recovery in the second half of the year.

Brent crude futures for May gained 50 cents, or 0.72%, to $69.72 a barrel by 0528 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for April was at $66.13 a barrel, up 52 cents, or 0.79%.

TV channel investigation shows how ISIS terrorists found safe haven in Europe

French TV channel M6 aired lately an investigation on ISIS terrorists who have managed to settle without any problem in Europe, and particularly in Germany.

The M6 flagship program “Enquête Exclusive” showed how ISIS terrorists managed to slip through the cracks by posing as asylum seekers, and how they ended up being greeted with open arms and offered a safe haven in Germany, because of the dangerous laxity of German authorities.

Boko Haram Kills JTF Commander, Three Others In Borno

Some operatives of the Nigerian Army were also killed during the attack on Thursday in Gudumbali, a village in Kukawa LGA. Some CJTF members have still not been accounted for 48 hours after the ambush.

Militants of the Islamic State backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād, have killed a top commander of the Civilian Joint Task Force in the Kakuwa Local Government Area of Borno state, Yusuf Baba Idris and three other members of the vigilante group.

Five Characteristics Of The New Ideal Worker

Evidence is mounting: the old vision of “ideal” workers — who give 100% to their employers, without family interference — aren’t actually ideal for 21st century organizations. In fact, the old model of full devotion to work has a negative influence on performance, research says. Now it’s time to talk about “the new ideal worker,” someone who is able to achieve a better work-life balance and bring more to the various tables in their lives.

Russia Now Has More Political Prisoners Than USSR Did In 1976 – OpEd

Two years ago, Russian activist Vladimir Kara-Murza pointed out that Vladimir Putin’s Russia had more political prisoners than the USSR did when Andrey Sakharov began calling attention to them in the USSR in 1976 (rferl.org/a/activist-number-of-political-prisoners-in-russia-twice-what-it-was-in-ussr/30048022.html).

In period since Kara-Murza made that calculation, Ellen Leafstedt of St. Antony’s College in Oxford says, the numbers of political prisoners in Russia have only increased and indeed continue to rise. In an article for the Riddle portal, she suggests that it is important to recognize their diversity (ridl.io/ru/nakazanie-bez-prestuplenija/).

A World Beguiled By ‘Techno-Voodooism’ – OpEd

What happens when systems cross the threshold of peak complexity and can no longer be improved in their current forms? Decision-makers can commission competing models in order to pick a winner. This however calls for patience, prudence and sound oversight. Alternately, they can pounce on a fantastical blueprint that will supposedly gel via Artificial Intelligence and get to play monopoly at the same time. An all-in-one solution!

Such thinking was precisely what beleaguered the F-35 combat aircraft program with its estimated $1.7 trillion in lifetime costs. After 20 years of troubled development, the stealth fighter’s problems have become so insurmountable that the US Air Force is now considering a clean slate fighter jet program to replace its ageing F-16s.