Saudi Arabia to enforce 'decency' amid tourism push

Yahoo – AFP, September 28, 2019

Saudi Arabia on Friday said citizens from 49 countries are eligible for online
e-visas or visas on arrival (AFP Photo/Fayez Nureldine)

Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia on Saturday said it would impose fines for violations of "public decency", including immodest clothing and public displays of affection, a day after the austere kingdom opened up to foreign tourists.

The interior ministry said it had identified 19 such "offences" but did not specify the penalties, as the ultra-conservative Islamic country begins issuing tourist visas for the first time as part of a push to diversify its oil-reliant economy.

"The new regulations require men and women to dress modestly and to refrain from public displays of affection. Women are free to choose modest clothing," a statement said.

"The regulations are meant to ensure that visitors and tourists in the kingdom are aware of the law relating to public behaviour so that they comply with it."

Saudi Arabia on Friday said citizens from 49 countries are now eligible for online e-visas or visas on arrival, including the United States, Australia and several European nations.

Kickstarting tourism is one of the centrepieces of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 reform programme to prepare the biggest Arab economy for a post-oil era.

But the conservative country, which forbids alcohol and is notorious for sex segregation, is seen as an unlikely destination for global tourists aside from Muslim pilgrims visiting holy sites in Mecca and Medina.

Men and women must avoid "tight fitting clothing" or clothes with "profane language or images", read an instruction on an English language website launched by the tourism authority.

"Women should cover shoulders and knees in public," it added.

But tourism chief Ahmed al-Khateeb said foreign women were not obligated to wear the body-shrouding abaya robe that is still mandatory public wear for Saudi women.

Prince Mohammed has sought to shake off his country's ultra-conservative image -- lifting a ban on cinemas and women drivers while allowing gender-mixed concerts and sporting extravaganzas.

The relaxed social norms in a kingdom have been welcomed by many Saudis, two-thirds of whom are under 30.

But new public decency guidelines, first approved by cabinet in April, are widely perceived to be vague and have sparked public concern that they would be open to interpretation.

They have also stoked fears of a revival of morality policing.

Saudi Arabia's religious police once elicited widespread fear, chasing men and women out of malls to pray and berating anyone seen mingling with the opposite sex.

But the bearded enforcers of public morality, whose powers have been clipped in recent years, are now largely out of sight.

Saudi Arabia is attempting a comeback on the global stage one year after journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder, but the crisis has weakened it and undermined its de facto leader's ambitious reforms, analysts say https://t.co/em7O5M25Ec pic.twitter.com/ZKdK9Nqwa6

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 29 september 2019

A personal bodyguard of Saudi Arabia's King Salman has been shot dead and seven others wounded, including security forces, during an altercation at a friend's home, authorities said https://t.co/25K67KmJ0d pic.twitter.com/SKz9nsf8dB

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 29 september 2019

Trump returns to White House and biggest crisis of presidency

Yahoo – AFP, Sebastian Smith, September 26, 2019

US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One prior to departure from
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on September 26, 2019
(AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)

Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump flew back to Washington on Thursday and into the biggest crisis of his tempestuous presidency, raging at enemies and talking darkly of a conspiracy.

Trump's three day trip to New York was meant to showcase his achievements in a speech to the United Nations and multiple meetings with other world leaders.

But everything vanished into the vortex of the Democrats' decision to open an impeachment investigation over allegations that he shook down Ukraine's president for dirt on Joe Biden, the current frontrunner to be his Democratic opponent in the 2020 presidential elections.

The former real estate tycoon and reality TV performer returned to Washington on Air Force One as only the fourth president to face an impeachment inquiry.

Trump goes further than merely insisting he did nothing wrong when talking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Instead, he is painting the allegations as part of a plot, setting the stage for a political and legal struggle sure to stress an already divided country to its limits.

Talking to reporters on the way back to the White House, Trump branded the Democrats a "disgrace."

Trump boasted before the UN of what he called the US's historic military and 

economic might but foreign and domestic troubles overshadowed his speech 

(AFP Photo/STEPHANIE KEITH)

The impeachment procedures "shouldn't be allowed," he said.

"There should be a way of stopping it. Maybe legally, through the courts."

Those comments were likely to spook opponents already claiming that Trump has repeatedly behaved -- the Ukraine affair being only the latest example -- as if he were above the law.

About an hour earlier, The Los Angeles Times reported, Trump delivered even more unusual comments, telling US diplomats that the source of the whistleblower who first raised the alarm over the alleged Ukraine contacts should be treated as a traitor.

"You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now," he said according to the Times, which obtained a recording of the private event.

View from the penthouse

The New York trip was meant to be quite different.

The Big Apple is Trump's hometown and he returned like a modern-day emperor, traveling in a vast, heavily armed motorcade and staying in his own skyscraper, Trump Tower.

Yet as the week progressed the view from that penthouse eyrie became grimmer. The man looking down became angrier.

The allegation that Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 

(left) to prosecute a corruption case against Joe Biden, the Democratic 

frontrunner for 2020, has roiled Washington (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)

On Tuesday he boasted in front of the United Nations about what he called a historic peak in American military and economic might. However there were few diplomatic achievements to show.

Iran remains a combustible, unsolved affair, with frantic efforts by French President Emmanuel Macron to facilitate a meeting between Trump and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani coming to naught.

The China trade war rolls on. Attempts to force out Venezuela's leftist strongman Nicolas Maduro have failed. North Korea is not giving up nuclear weapons.

That same afternoon, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi announced the start of the formal impeachment probe, lighting a rocket under the already explosive 2020 presidential campaign.

Few Americans had ever thought much about Ukraine, let alone its new president, Zelensky, who, like Trump, used to work in television entertainment.

Suddenly the allegation that Trump twisted Zelensky's arm to prosecute a corruption case against Biden made Ukraine practically the only topic of discussion in Washington.

As impeachment talk swelled, Trump agreed to release a transcript of a lengthy phone call he had with Zelensky. He then authorized the release of the complaint by the intelligence community whistleblower who'd raised the alarm in the first place.

The White House said these documents killed the story.

A television screen at the Trump Bar inside Trump Tower in New York shows 

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as she announced an impeachment 

inquiry into the president on September 24, 2019 (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)

"He has nothing to hide," spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said on Thursday.

But for Democrats and even a few from Trump's ultra-loyal Republican party, the documents amounted to smoking guns.

'All planned'

The intensifying scandal turned Trump into an ever lonelier, downbeat figure.

Usually his press conferences are stunning performances, filled with bragging, joking, storytelling and, above all, a willingness to take on any question.

At times, Trump takes so many questions that journalists are visibly exhausted.

On Wednesday, though, he ascended the podium to launch into a rambling monologue of over 20 minutes before taking just a few questions.

It was a speech delivered in a flat voice, filled with an air of hurt.

"So many leaders came up to me today and they said, sir, what you go through, no president has ever gone through," he said.

The man with answers to every question was stumbling, plunging into conspiracy theories that are echoed all over America on rightwing radio shows and websites.

"It was all planned," Trump said grimly. "That was all planned like everything else."

US set to stay in global postal union after reform deal reached

Yahoo – AFP, September 25, 2019

The US pushed for the reform of setting international postal rates as it said the
current system it was cheaper to send a package to New York from Beijing than
Los Angeles, which hurt its domestic businesses (AFP Photo/Andrew Burton)

Geneva (AFP) - The United States is set to remain in the UN postal agency after member states on Wednesday decided to reform the body to address Washington's criticism that its rules unfairly benefit China.

The Universal Postal Union's 192 members agreed by acclamation to a compromise supported by the US to reform the system used to determine the rates countries' postal services can charge for ensuring that packages from abroad reach their final destination.

Following days of intense negotiations in Geneva, the parties gathered for only the third extraordinary congress in UPU's 145-year history opted for a compromise under the looming threat of a US pull-out.

President Donald Trump's administration announced last October that it planned to withdraw from the UPU in a year unless it underwent dramatic reform.

UPU chief Bishar Hussein had warned Tuesday that if Washington did withdraw, it would cause a "total disruption" of the postal service in the country and dramatic hikes to consumer costs.

Trump's 'objectives' met

Trump's hardline trade advisor Peter Navarro insisted earlier this week that the US was well-prepared for "a possible seamless exit" if no acceptable reform agreement could be reached.

But shortly before Wednesday's decision, he told the assembly that the reform proposal, which implies that countries will be permitted as of next year to gradually set their own rates for postal deliveries, "does indeed meet the objectives that President Donald J. Trump gave me."

He vowed that if the UPU members voted for the proposal "in its entirety" the US would stay.

"Let's get this done," he said.

The standoff at the UPU, which sets international postal rates, came amid Trump's broader trade battle with China, with the US charging that the current system penalises American businesses.

The agency, based in Bern, has until now determined what rates national postal services can charge for ensuring that packages sent from abroad are delivered to their final destination.

It has long imposed lower prices for bulky letters and small parcels coming from emerging and developing countries, a group that still includes China.

Navarro has maintained that under the current system it costs more to send a package from Los Angeles to New York than from Beijing to New York, penalising US small businesses and manufacturers.

According to Washington, it costs the US $300-500 million annually under the current system.

The US had pushed for a radical and immediate reform of the UPU enabling members to "immediately self-declare rates", but that option was voted down on Tuesday.

Navarro had however said the US would be open to a "multi-speed option", that would allow a transition period for countries to transition to self-declared rates.

From the streets to the summit: young climate leaders mobilize at UN

Yahoo – AFP, Issam AHMED, 21 September 2019

Young activists take part in the first UN Youth Climate Summit on September 21

A day after youth-led global climate strikes, several hundred young activists including Greta Thunberg gathered for a climate summit at the United Nations on Saturday, chiding older generations for doing too little to curb carbon emissions.

The UN has invited 500 young activists and entrepreneurs to take part in the New York meeting, the first of its kind, though some were unable to attend after being denied US visas, a point raised by the organizers.

It comes days before a climate action summit which UN chief Antonio Guterres has called to seek greater commitments from world leaders on reducing their greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris accord to avert runaway global warming.

The tone for Saturday's event was set by an impassioned speech by Argentine activist Bruno Rodriguez, 19, who led school strikes in his native country.

"The climate and ecological crisis is the political crisis of our time, it is the economic crisis of our time, and it is the cultural crisis of our time," he said, as Guterres, who was billed as the "keynote listener," watched on.

Students participate in the Global Climate Strike on September 20 in New York

"Many times, we hear that our generation is going to be the one in charge of dealing with the problems that current leaders have created, and we will not wait passively to become that future: The time is now for us to be leaders."

Thunberg, whose protests outside Sweden's parliament last year sparked the global youth movement, spoke first but briefly, saying she wanted to give more time to others.

"We showed we are united and young people are unstoppable," said the 16-year-old, who will also address Monday's summit.

On Friday, masses of children skipped school to join global strikes that Thunberg said were "only the beginning" of the movement.

Some four million people filled city streets around the world, organizers said, in what was billed as the biggest-ever protest against the threat posed to the planet by rising temperatures.

Swedish teen Greta Thunberg has become the poster child for a new 

youth-led climate change protest movement

'Greenwashing' under fire

The corridors of the UN were filled Saturday with young people in formal suits and ties, dresses, and traditional wear from their home countries, and others wearing simple t-shirts and jeans.

"This is the change, and it's coming," said Lalita P-Junggee, a green entrepreneur from Mauritius, who turns billboards and textile waste into fashionable bags.

The day also saw young innovators proposing solutions, pitching their ideas to panels from leading global companies like Google.

But corporations also came under fire for their ties to the oil and gas industries.

During one testy exchange, Kathleen Ma, a 23-year-old delegate who lives in New York turned to a representative from Microsoft, which this week announced a deal with Chevron and oilfield services company Schlumberger to provide cloud computing services.

Map of protests and actions planned during the "Week for the Future" scheduled 

from September 20 to 27, according to the Fridays For Future movement

"Do you care more about getting contracts from fossil fuel companies than you care about youth? Do you care more about profits than you care about us?" she asked, to wide applause.

Lucas Joppa, Microsoft's chief environmental officer, thanked her for the question, replying: "That's one that the entire tech sector, and everybody in the world we live in today which is predicated upon an oil and gas economy has to answer.

"It's one that you'll be hearing more about both from Microsoft and our peers in the broader tech sector as this moves forward."

Rodriguez, the activist from Argentina, later told AFP that young activists were strongly in favor of efforts to divest from the fossil fuel industry, which was responsible for "pillaging" across Latin America.

Pacific Islanders marched in Sydney in one of the first protests in a global 

day of action on climate change

He added that he welcomed the fact that the corporate sector had a heavy presence on the sidelines of the main UN climate summit this week, but that their efforts need to go beyond rhetoric and "they also need to be conscious that the greenwashing speech has no place anymore."

A landmark UN report to be unveiled next week will warn global warming and pollution are ravaging Earth's oceans and icy regions in ways that could unleash misery on a global scale.

But Guterres struck a more optimistic note Saturday, crediting young activists with spurring action.

"This changing momentum was due to your initiative and to the courage, with which you have started these movements."

Kathleen Ma, 23, criticized Microsoft over a cloud computing deal it has

signed with Chevron and Schulmberger

Kathleen Ma, 23, criticized Microsoft over a cloud computing deal it has signed with Chevron and Schulmberger

Young activists take part in the first UN Youth Climate Summit on September 21

Students participate in the Global Climate Strike on September 20 in New York

Swedish teen Greta Thunberg has become the poster child for a new youth-led climate change protest movement

Map of protests and actions planned during the "Week for the Future" scheduled from September 20 to 27, according to the Fridays For Future movement.

Pacific Islanders marched in Sydney in one of the first protests in a global day of action on climate change.

Related Articles:

"The State of the Earth" – (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“… 4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet; again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much…

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet. 

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four.”

Lagarde urges policymakers to resolve manmade economic threats

MSN – AFP, 20 September 2019

Eric BARADAT Outgoing IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde gives an
exclusive interview to AFP journalists at the IMF headquarters in Washington
on September 19, 2019

Accustomed to being the first woman in influential leadership positions and speaking frankly to men in power, Christine Lagarde says manmade threfinats to the global economy can be "man-fixed."

Lagarde only last week left her post as head of the International Monetary Fund after eight years, the first woman to serve in that role, and she is expected to put another "first" on her resume by the end of the year: first woman to serve as president of the European Central Bank.

Eric BARADAT Christine Lagarde is expected to take over
leadership of the European Central bank and calls for
 policymakers to address manmade threats to global growth

She sees a world economy where growth is "fragile" and "under threat" from trade frictions and Brexit, and perhaps an over-reliance on the efforts of central banks like the ECB.

But while she tried to urge action during her time at the IMF -- she took over in 2011 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis -- she said a central bank should "stick to its mandate," which perhaps is a clue to how she will run the ECB.

Or perhaps not.

She carefully avoided a commitment about how she would use her influence in the new post.

Manmade problems can be 'man-fixed'

In perfect English and always engaging and crisply professional, Lagarde sat down with AFP on Thursday to review her legacy at the Washington-based crisis lender, where she arrived after being the first woman finance minister of France.

In bare numbers, her record is impressive: the IMF helped to avoid a global depression, 90 countries -- nearly half of its members -- benefitted from some form of lending or credit line during the crisis, and the lending capacity was doubled to $1 trillion.

One of her main regrets is that she ran out of time to convince the member governments to increase those resources further, since the IMF, which sits "right at the core, at the center of the global financial safety net," may not have enough cash to address the next inevitable crisis.

Still, the IMF remains influential over economic and financial policy matters.

"I think we have spoken truth to power, not always to the power's pleasure," Lagarde said.

But as she leaves Britain is poised to crash out of the European Union, with no deal to cushion the blow in place as yet, while "America First" President Donald Trump has waged a multi-front trade war primarily targeted at China.

Those threats have undercut confidences and business investment as well as exports, and global growth could by some estimates fall to the slowest pace since 2008 at the start of the financial crisis.

But Brexit and trade frictions "are manmade and can be man-fixed," and Lagarde quipped, "A bit of woman wouldn't hurt."

Where are the roof fixers?

She has often urged governments to "fix the roof while the sun is shining," borrowing from former US President John F Kennedy, pushing for spending while times are good to fix long-term problems and help people left behind by globalization and technological change.

Yet even amid a worldwide wave of anger against trade and globalization, officials who control the purse strings of governments have not done enough, Lagarde said.

Instead central banks have done much of the heavy lifting in preventing the financial crisis from becoming a depression.

"I think central bankers have done an awful lot and were for many years regarded as the only game in town," she said.

If confirmed, Lagarde will step into her new post as one of those central bankers in an environment where Trump has maintained a relentless campaign against the US Federal Reserve for not cutting interest rates aggressively to stimulate growth, while others in Europe have criticized outgoing ECB President Mario Draghi for cutting rates further into negative territory to juice a sluggish EU economy.

Experience shows that when politicians meddle with central bank independence it "doesn't pan out very well," she cautioned, but at the same time "a central bank has to do the job that it is assigned to do... they should stick to facts and data so that they could be predictable."

In her new post leading the ECB, she pledged to focus on job creation and stability, but stability alone may not be enough in the lives of real people.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg meets with Obama in Washington

Yahoo – AFP, September 18, 2019

Former US president Barack Obama (R) met with climate activist Greta
Thunberg in Washington (AFP Photo)

Washington (AFP) - Barack Obama met with teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg in Washington, the former US president said Tuesday.

Obama announced the Monday meeting via Twitter, hailing the 16-year-old as "one of our planet's greatest advocates."

The Obama Foundation released a video of the former president's meeting with Thunberg -- who is visiting the United States after crossing the Atlantic in an emissions-free boat.

"No one is too small to have an impact and change the world, so just do everything you can. Be creative," Thunberg said during the meeting.

"You and me, we're a team," said Obama, before asking the young activist if she believed in fist bumping, to which she responded in the affirmative.

"Recognizing that her generation will bear the brunt of climate change, she's unafraid to push for real action," Obama wrote on Twitter.

On Friday, Thunberg took part in a climate demonstration in front of the White House in Washington, and on September 20 will participate in a "global climate strike" in New York along with other protests around the world.

Two priests should be tried in altar boys abuse case: Vatican

Yahoo – AFP, September 17, 2019

Pope Francis has apologised for predatory priests but cover-ups in the
Vatican have severely damaged trust (AFP Photo/Alberto PIZZOLI)

Vatican City (AFP) - An Italian priest accused of sexually abusing altar boys in a seminary and another priest who allegedly facilitated that abuse have been referred to Italian justice, the Vatican said Tuesday.

A statement said the Vatican’s Promoter of Justice has recommended that Father Gabriele Martinelli stand trial over charges of sexual abuse, and that Father Enrico Radice also be tried over charges of covering it up.

The alleged abuse took place at the pre-seminary of St Pius X, an institution located on Vatican grounds that trains altar boys and is very close to Pope Francis's residence.

"The investigation was launched in 2017 following press reports," the Vatican said.

Martinelli was a seminarian and aged 21 when the alleged abuse took place and was in charge of training the boys.

A Polish roommate of one of the victims said he had witnessed repeated sexual assaults, according to Italian media.

He along with two other seminarians denounced Martinelli to superiors and also in a letter written to cardinals.

The alleged abuse was the subject of 2017 book called "Original Sin" by Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi.

Nuzzi said the young seminarian, who lived there between the ages of 13 and 18, was sent back in 2014 after sounding the alarm on the alleged abuse.

The seminarian claimed that Martinelli came to his room to have sexual relations with his roommate -- who was then aged 17.

He claimed he had witnessed such acts up to 140 times and that Martinelli used "power and intimidation" to impose his will on young seminarians.

The Polish man, who says he is gay, accused the priests of double standards, saying: "During the day, they are homophobes and at night they unwind in gay discos."

Pope Francis has apologised for predatory priests but cover-ups in the Vatican have severely damaged trust in the centuries-old institution, and there is still much to be done to protect minors from clerical paedophiles.

In May, the pontiff passed a landmark new measure to oblige those who know about sex abuse in the Catholic Church to report it to their superiors, in a move which could bring countless new cases to light.

Related Article:

Science & Spiritually Conference 2018, BC – Canada (4), June 16-17, 2018 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Text version “Predictions”)

".... Let me tell you what else is in the field. Two things: These are going to be things that exist now in the field and they are upcoming potentials. The reason I give you these potentials is so if they happen, just like the handshake, you might believe a little more in this process.

There will come a time when Big Pharma will fall over because of a growing higher consciousness of the public. [Applause in the audience] There is a consciousness growing here that begins to have a new respect for each other, so that abuse of women will no longer be tolerated. Things that never happened before will begin happening, like bishops and cardinals resigning. [All 34 bishops in the Catholic Church resigned May 2018 after the new wild card pope called them on their reaction to child abuse for years by their colleagues.] All the things my partner brought today [in the seminar] are actually happening now. Why should some of these drug companies fail? Because there will be a strong reaction from your general public when they realize there are companies that have policies that would keep a Human sick or let him die for money. [Applause in the audience] It would be unconscionable, and the potential grows stronger daily that it's going to happen. The trigger? It's coming. When it does, that industry will be in trouble. Not all pharma is this way, dear ones - understand this - but the ones who are will fall. ..."

Moscow holds Taliban talks

Yahoo – AFP, September 15, 2019

Afghan National Army soldiers stand guard and inspect the site of a suicide
car bomb attack by the Taliban in Char Asiab district, south of Kabul, on
September 12 (AFP Photo/STR)

A Taliban delegation held talks with Russian officials in Moscow after US negotiations with the Afghan insurgents collapsed, the Russian foreign ministry said Saturday.

"The Russian president's special representative for Afghanistan... Zamir Kabulov, hosted a Taliban delegation in Moscow," a ministry spokesman said, quoted by RIA Novosti state-funded news agency.

No date for the talks was given.

"The Russian side stressed the need to relaunch negotiations between the United States and the Taliban movement," the spokesman said.

"For their part, the Taliban confirmed their willingness to pursue dialogue with Washington," he added.

Until a week ago expectation had steadily mounted of a US-Taliban deal that would see the US drawdown of troop levels in Afghanistan and the Taliban offer security guarantees to keep extremist groups out.

But last week, Trump revealed he had cancelled an unprecedented meeting between the Taliban and himself in the United States and declared the talks with the militants "dead".

In a tweet on Saturday, Trump said: "The Taliban has never been hit harder than it is being hit right now. Killing 12 people, including one great American soldier, was not a good idea. There are much better ways to set up a negotiation. The Taliban knows they made a big mistake, and they have no idea how to recover!"

With more than 13,000 US troops still in Afghanistan, Trump has been eager to end America's longest war, launched 18 years ago after the September 11 attacks.

But fears are now growing of increased violence with presidential elections set for September 28 in Afghanistan.

The vote, the fourth since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, has already been delayed twice this year.

Government forces and Taliban have been engaged in heavy exchanges across the nation, with the militants vowing to continue fighting and make the US regret walking away from talks.

Russia has been trying to influence the peace negotiations and staged two meetings in Moscow with Afghan political leaders at the start of the year.