₦airaland Forum

Itopa10:
Samuel doe of Liberia

Syrian Troops Continue Advancing on Idlib
By Sirwan Kajjo
February 16, 2020 05:23 PM
VOA ( Voice Of America)

Syria's military said Monday its forces had retaken control of dozens of villages in Aleppo's northwestern countryside, as the government pushes to retake territory that rebels have controlled since early in the country's civil war.

The gains mean added security for the city of Aleppo, which has been the target of rebel rocket fire.

Local sources reported that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also captured several villages near the town of Khan Sheikhoun in neighboring Idlib province.

State news agency SANA also reported rapid advances by Syrian troops "against terrorist groups" by expanding their operations on multiple fronts in the northwestern countryside of Aleppo and several parts of Idlib. State-run media in Syria refers to all armed groups in the country as terrorists.

This fighting comes two days after Syrian government forces seized control of the M5 highway, which connects the capital Damascus in the south to Aleppo in the north. The northern part of the strategic road had been under rebel control since the beginning of Syria's war in 2012

Idlib is largely controlled by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaida affiliate in Syria. Other Turkish-backed rebels also have a presence in the northwestern Syrian province.

Offensive to continues

“The next immediate step for Syrian regime troops is moving to Aleppo’s western countryside,” he said.


Turkey’s options
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Sunday that a Turkish delegation was to visit Moscow Monday to discuss the situation in Idlib.

Shadi al-Abdullah, a Syrian journalist based in Turkey, says given the lack of support from Turkey’s international allies, Ankara has limited options with respect to Idlib.

“For the Turks, it is either going into a military confrontation with forces that want Idlib to return to Assad or preserving what’s left from areas under the opposition control in Idlib and Aleppo’s countryside,” he told VOA.

But a direct military confrontation at this point would be unlikely, he said.

Turkey has 12 observation posts in Idlib as part of a 2018 deal with Russia. The deal required Ankara to remove all extremist groups from the province, some of which are tied to the al-Qaida terrorist group. In exchange the Syrian government agreed to delay a long-planned military offensive on Idlib.

But Turkey allegedly has failed to implement its part of the deal and thus the regime backed by Russia in April 2019 proceeded with its original plan of launching a full-scale military offensive to recapture Idlib from rebel forces.

Some of the Turkish posts were recently overrun by advancing Syrian government forces. Syrian government attacks have reportedly killed 13 Turkish soldiers in Idlib this month.

https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/syrian-troops-continue-advancing-idlib

atiku4President:
Go post this in CNN where criticizing President Trump is their vision. Many Nigerians are suffering in the hamds of one lifeless President who doesn't care about terrorism and general insecurity. We don't understand what value foreign policy adds to a life that is constantly under attack.

Africa’s rising “unsustainable” debt is driving a wedge between the World Bank and other lenders
February 16, 2020
Yinka Adegoke
By Yinka Adegoke
Africa editor. QUARTZ AFRICA



African debt is on the rise, and that fact is causing tensions to spark in unexpected places.

Total external debt for sub-Saharan Africa jumped nearly 150% to $583 billion in 2018 from $236 billion 10 years earlier, according to World Bank data. Many now worry the debt load is becoming unsustainable as the average public debt increased from 2010-2018 by 40% to 59% of GDP.

It’s a problem across the low-income developing world but is particularly acute in the subregion, where the fast-growing debt accumulation has outpaced other developing areas.

The trend has been driven by a number of factors, including cheap money in more advanced economies so investors have been keen to seek yield in African countries promising up to 8% or 9% on eurobonds, said IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva, in a panel discussion at the World Bank in Washington, DC this week.

The problem, she noted, is 8% to 9% isn’t cheap for many countries paying out the yield.


The IMF and World Bank are especially worried about the lack of transparency, weak debt management, and a lack of capacity in an increasing number of low-income countries.

“We are faced with a duality. Sophistication of lending instruments is going up. Multiplicity of sources is going up—and capacity to handle is falling behind,” said Georgieva.

Both institutions are also worried about the impact of China which, while still not the largest lender, has become a hugely influential source of capital in African countries that have few options due to their weak economic balance sheet.

This is particularly true because China offers a convenient package of funding and execution through its state-owned enterprises for much-needed infrastructure projects across the continent. The problem, said World Bank president David Malpass, is the lack of transparency.

“One of the practical problems we’re dealing with right now is some of the new lenders, the non-Paris Club lenders—and so I guess when we say that, people should sometimes read China into that,” said Malpass. “

They’ve escalated their lending, which is good in a way. We want more lending into developing countries.
But…oftentimes their contracts have a nondisclosure clause that prohibits the World Bank or private sector from seeing what the terms of the contract are.”

WB vs AfDB
But Malpass grabbed most headlines for his attacks on the Asia Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the African Development Bank (AfDB), blaming them for “a tendency to lend too quickly and add to the debt problem of the countries.” He added: “In the case of Africa, the African Development Bank is pushing large amounts of money into Nigeria, South Africa, and others without the strongest program to sustain it and push it forward.”

https://qz.com/africa/1803280/world-bank-imf-worry-on-africa-rising-debt-to-china-afdb/

Trump calls Bloomberg a 'total racist' over stop and frisk, which the president has supported
Bloomberg said the president is the one who has divided the country "with racist appeals and hateful rhetoric."

Feb. 11, 2020, 4:43 PM EST
By Dareh Gregorian, NBC
President Donald Trump slammed billionaire Mike Bloomberg as a "total racist" Tuesday for comments he made defending the New York City Police Department's stop-and-frisk policy — a policy Trump has backed as president.

Bloomberg shot back that Trump is the one who has divided the country "with racist appeals and hateful rhetoric" and vowed that "I will do everything I can to defeat you between now and November."

Continue reading
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/trump-calls-bloomberg-total-racist-over-policy-president-has-supported-n1135116

galadima77:
Better save your hate. It's on fox news also

The Deadly Pensacola Military Base Shooting Was An Act Of Terrorism, US Attorney General Says
A Saudi Arabian national who opened fire at the base posted anti-American material on social media just before the mass shooting on Dec. 6.


The mass shooting at the Naval Air Base in Pensacola, Florida, that left three sailors dead was an act of terrorism, Attorney General William Barr said Monday.

Mohammed Alshamrani, a second lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force, had expressed anti-American and anti-Israeli views on social media, including just two hours before the Dec. 6 attack, Barr said.

"This was an act of terrorism," Barr told reporters more than a month after the attack.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/salvadorhernandez/pensacola-military-base-shooting-terrorism

Averting Proxy Wars in the Eastern DR Congo and Great Lakes | Briefing N° 150 | 23 January 2020
REPORTfrom International Crisis GroupPublished on 23 Jan 2020

Three Great Lakes states – Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda – are trading charges of subversion, each accusing another of sponsoring rebels based in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. Outside powers should help the Congolese president resolve these tensions, lest a lethal multi-sided melee ensue.

What's new? Tensions are mounting in Africa's Great Lakes region among Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, all of which allegedly back insurgents based in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). At the same time, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi is considering inviting these countries into the DRC to fight groups they respectively oppose.

Why does it matter? Given their growing animosity, these three countries, if invited into the DRC, could escalate support to allied militias while targeting enemies. The DRC's neighbours have historically used militias operating there against one another. A new proxy struggle could further destabilise the DRC and even provoke a full-blown regional security crisis.

I.Overview

Intensifying hostility among states in the Great Lakes threatens a return to the regional wars that tore that region apart in previous decades. Rwanda's president, Paul Kagame, accuses Burundi and Uganda of backing Rwandan rebels active in the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) North and South Kivu provinces and threatens to retaliate for those groups' attacks on his country.
In turn, Burundi and Uganda assert that Rwanda supports Burundian and Ugandan rebels in the DRC.

Tensions between Rwanda and its two neighbours, Burundi and Uganda, have escalated over the past two years. In November 2019, Kagame, openly threatened to retaliate against his neighbours after an October 2019 raid in Rwanda by a North Kivu-based militia that he alleges is supported by Burundi and Uganda.

For its part, Burundi claims that Rwanda backs Burundian rebels, based in South Kivu, that it asserts are behind recent attacks in Burundi.

The Burundian and Rwandan governments have deployed troops to their mutual border. Kagame's longstanding rivalry with his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni, has also taken a turn for the worse, with the latter accusing the former of backing DRC-based insurgents against Kampala.

Both leaders have purged their security forces of officials perceived as too closely tied to the other, Rwanda has closed the main Rwanda-Uganda border crossing and Uganda has deployed troops to the DRC border. Mounting distrust among the DRC's neighbours carries grave risks for the DRC, given how their rivalries have historically played out in that country.

Tshisekedi, in office for barely a year, has put a welcome premium on diplomacy to ease tensions. Together with Lourenço, he facilitated discussions in July 2019 between the Rwandan and Ugandan presidents in Luanda. Tshisekedi has also worked to improve DRC's relations with Rwanda.

However, he has pursued a plan under which Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda would conduct military operations, under the DRC army's authority, against insurgencies sheltering in his country.

https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/averting-proxy-wars-eastern-dr-congo-and-great-lakes-briefing-n-150

ursullalinda:
Correct man.....Still don't understand how people feel comfortable sleeping with same sex......God forbid.

Originality007:
In Mugabe Voice "We are not Gay". animals are better than gays

4. Gangkhar Puensum
https://www.worldfactsftw.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/where-no-human-has-ever-been-4.jpeg

In English, this name means “white peak of the three spiritual brothers”. It is not the highest mountain we know of, but it is the highest that as yet remain unclimbed.

This is not due to its height, which is around seventy-five hundred meters. Nor is it due to the rough terrain or climate. No, this mountain in Bhutan is actually sacred to the local of Bhutan, where it is located.



This ban was put into effect in 1994 and mountaineering in the area as w whole was banned in 2003. A great pity, but we have to respect religious sentiments after all.

Before the bans, there were a few teams that attempted scaling the mountain in the mid to late eighties. However, the harsh weather did not allow them to have any success.

Due to the lack of exploration, it is even a challenge to map this area correctly. There may be different estimates of this range on different maps from country to country. It is unlikely that the religious values of the locals would change anytime soon. Hence, we can forget about exploring this place in the near future.

5.Kamchatka
https://www.worldfactsftw.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/where-no-human-has-ever-been-5.jpeg

Once again, we return to Russia. This peninsula has several volcanoes, many of which are in danger of erupting at any moment. At least one of these is constantly active since back in 1996. That’s over two decades now.



With three hundred volcanoes, it is a relief that the Russian government has banned entry here for anyone but the military. Since the area itself is an island, it doesn’t present much of a threat to the rest of the country.

It is almost impossible to tell whether a volcano would or would not erupt in the blink of an eye. No one can guarantee our safety in this place. It’s just as well that we’re not allowed to go on adventures here.

6. Son Doong Cave
https://www.worldfactsftw.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/where-no-human-has-ever-been-6.jpeg

This is known as the largest cave in the world. It can be found in modern-day Vietnam but is unexplored due to its difficult terrain.

The cave itself is quite deep, being large enough to hold a whole skyscraper! We’re sure many humans would have left no stone unturned in modernizing the place. However, this five-and-a-half mile long cave is blocked by a calcite wall.

This wall measures a whopping two hundred feet. It is thus probably one of the largest natural barriers in the world.

This wall was enough to put off several researchers and explorers up until the present age. As yet, it is not possible to go around the wall. Some people may definitely have considered blowing it up, but let’s hope it never comes to that.

The cave itself is a winder of nature, having its personal jungle and river! Another paradise for many hermits, we’re sure.

7. Star Mountains
https://www.worldfactsftw.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/where-no-human-has-ever-been-7.jpeg

The mountains comprise a huge range in Papua, New Guinea. Not only is it one of the longest mountain range in the world. It is also one of the wettest areas. The range gets a huge amount of rain. On average, this amount is equivalent to 10,000 mm per year.

These mountains also have some huge limestone plateaus. Overall then, its local ecosystem is one of a kind. There are several species found here that would probably not even exist in other parts of the world.

Just one survey alone was enough to identify over a thousand species. Of these, at least a hundred are not to be found in any other place.

8. The Yucatan Cenotes
https://www.worldfactsftw.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/where-no-human-has-ever-been-8.jpeg

Here we have caves again, this time a whole network of them. Cenotes are caves that come into being with the collapse of limestone bedrock. The groundwater is then exposed, making the caves very difficult to access.

It is very hard to even make your way into one of these caves, let alone exploring them. Many of them are also underwater in several parts. In acts, the caves are known for their creepy factor as well. Even fishes are not a regular visit in this particular part of the world.

Adding to this creepiness is the fact that the Ancient Mayans used these cenotes for some of their rites. More specifically, these were sacrificial rites, which means that there may be quite a lot of ghosts haunting the place. This may not stop many modern humans from exploring it, but they are as yet unable to do so.

Not only are the places above largely unexplored, they will probably remain that way for a long time. Religious sensitivity is important, and we have enough to do without conquering harsh environments which make survival difficult. Some of the above places do seem terribly fascinating, though, so we hope for more information on these soon.

http://www.worldfactsftw.com/8-places-no-human-ever-set-foot-earth/

DictatorZAR1:
This here is why you will remain a useless nobody.

Palehair:
Who's talking about IVF? What about adoption? There are children who needs love

Welcoming more than 20 million overseas guests last year, Bangkok has maintained its position as the world's most visited city.

That's according to Mastercard's annual Global Destination Cities Index, which put London a close second with 19.8m, followed


The world's most-visited cities
Bangkok 20.05 million
London 19.83 million
Paris 17.44 million
Dubai 15.79 million
Singapore 13.91 million
New York 13.13 million
Kuala Lumpur 12.58 million
Tokyo 11.93 million
Istanbul 10.7 million
Seoul 9.54 million
Antalya 9.42 million
Phuket 9.29 million
Mecca 9.18 million
Hong Kong 9.03 million
Milan 8.81 million
Palma de Mallorca 8.78 million
Barcelona 8.69 million
Pattaya 8.67 million
Osaka 8.42 million
Bali 8.3 million

https://www.traveller.com.au/worlds-most-popular-cities-for-tourists-2018-named-h164d2

US-Taliban talks: Pompeo hails 'pretty important breakthrough'
43 minutes ago Thursday February 13, 2020

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says there has been a "pretty important breakthrough" in peace talks with the Taliban in recent days.

Mr Pompeo said President Donald Trump had given the go-ahead for further talks.

The two sides have long been engaged in negotiations aimed at ending the 18-year war in Afghanistan.

But they have been fraught with challenges, with Mr Trump declaring the talks "dead" in September.

Mr Pompeo on Thursday hailed recent progress, but said the negotiations were complicated and that a peace deal had not yet been reached.

His comments came after US Defence Secretary Mark Esper told reporters that the two sides had "negotiated a proposal" for a "seven-day reduction in violence".

Some 13,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan after the US intervention to oust the Taliban in 2001.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51494921

basilico:
Slam dunk case. The actual killers were a militia named supporter of APC or something like that.
Armed by the govt under Bashir.
Death toll said to be over 200k and 2m displaced.
Bashir will never go to a hotel and drink a soda like I will always do.
Case closed.

Palehair:
And I said that there are lots of ways to have kids now without the traditional way even straight people are doing it

proxillin:
help us ask him. oh he killed an iranian terror organizer...is that invasion>?

The number of Nigerian immigrants to Canada has tripled in the last five years
5 hours ago. Wednesday February 12, 2020
Yomi Kazeem
By Yomi Kazeem
Africa reporter
Quartz

The exodus of Nigerian immigrants to Canada is showing no signs of slowing down.

For the fifth year in a row, more Nigerians emigrated to Canada than the year before as data published by the Canadian government shows the number of Nigerians issued permanent resident permits has tripled since 2015. It’s a growth rate that outstrips some of Canada’s biggest sources of immigrants over the last five years, including India, China and Philippines.

The rise in Nigerian immigrants heading to Canada reflects the North American country’s push to expand its labor force and lower the average age of its workers as its population advances in years. In 2019, Canada welcomed 341,000 immigrants in total (about 10,000 more it targeted) as part of its immigration policy to attract skilled workers.

Read more
https://qz.com/africa/1801529/over-12000-nigerians-moved-to-canada-in-2019/