(2021-10-23). Snowden tells The Belmarsh Tribunal: If you love truth, you're as much of a criminal as Assange and risk sharing his fate. rt.com 
WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange is a political prisoner and the process against him is a crime against journalism, said a group of academics, politicians, journalists and advocates convened ahead of his extradition hearing. | "What we're witnessing is a murder," NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden told the 'Belmarsh Tribunal' in London on Friday, appearing via video link. | "Everywhere we look, from Afghanistan to economics, from pandemic to pervasive surveillance, the obvious has been made unspeakable," he added, because speaking up would put one in the same category as Assange, a "political criminal" charged…
(2021-10-23). Afghanistan's new authorities aim at improving living standards, says Russian diplomat. tass.com According to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Russia keeps closely following the developments regarding a poor humanitarian situation in Afghanistan…
(2021-10-23). US CENTCOM Says Senior Al-Qaeda Leader Was Killed In Recent Drone Strike On Syria's Raqqa. southfront.org 
A MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle prepares to land after a mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson) | The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has taken cordite for the In an official statement, the command confirmed that the strike killed…
(2021-10-22). The Afghanization of Pakistan. counterpunch.org The Afghanization of Pakistan is a relentless historical phenomenon that started several centuries ago and shaped the regional dynamics. This article focuses on the Gandhara region that cuts across Afghanistan and Pakistan and cements them together. The ancient Silk Route passed through Gandhara, as does the modern Karakoram Highway. The study demonstrates that the Gandhara
(2021-10-22). Can We Avoid a Catastrophic War With China? counterpunch.org When he was running for office in 2008, Barack Obama wanted to put an end to the war in Iraq in order to focus U.S. troops and resources on the conflict in Afghanistan. This August, the Biden administration finally withdrew the remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan. It's hard not to get the sense that it
(2021-10-22). Belmarsh Tribunal Judges the US For the Assange Case. telesurenglish.net On Friday, the Belmarsh Tribunal held its first face-to-face session at the London Convocation Hall to judge the U.S. government for its crimes against humanity in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and for the imprisonment of Julian Assange, who revealed such information. | RELATED: | With this process, the Belmarsh Court emulates the Russell-Sartre people's court, which sat in Stockholm and Copenhagen in 1967 to try the White House fo…
(2021-10-22). From Russia, With (Taliban) Love. southfront.org 
The Moscow-format meeting on Afghanistan this week believes the country's former foreign occupiers should pay its reconstruction bill Photo Credit: The Cradle | Written by Pepe Escobar, originally published on Facing high expectations, a five-man band Taliban finally played in Moscow. Yet the star of the show, predictably, was the Mick Jagger of geopolitics: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. | Right from the start, Lavrov
(2021-10-22). US detention of Afghan man at Guantanamo is illegal, says court. peoplesdispatch.org Assadullah Gul has spent 14 years at the Guantanamo detention center without being formally charged and tried. He is one of the 39 remaining detainees and underwent physical and psychological torture…
(2021-10-22). Putin Speaks Of Taliban, Ukraine, Values And Energy At The Valdai Club. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | On October 21st, Russian President Vladimir Putin held discussions with members of the Valdai club, after giving an address. | Notably, Putin said that the world was moving towards recognizing the Taliban movement and that Washington and Moscow were on the right track following the Geneva summit. | He also thanked Europe for the sanctions."A thank you goes to the Europeans for sanctions in the field of agriculture." They triggered retaliatory steps and encouraged investment in import subst…