ISIS-K stated it was responsible for a suicide attack last Friday at a Shiite mosque in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz that was allegedly carried out by an ethnic Uyghur. Al Jazeera reported that the group said that "the attack targeted both Shias and the Taliban for their purported willingness to expel Uighurs to meet demands from China." The Russian Foreign Ministry also released a statement condemning the attack for its attempted destabilization of Afghanistan during this new stage in its history.

The terrorist group therefore quite clearly sought to exacerbate Afghanistan's sectarian divisions in order to create a wedge for undermining the Taliban's de facto rule of the country. Considering the faith of those who were targeted, ISIS-K might also have hoped to provoke a reaction from Iran. From their perspective, the ideal one would have been if Tehran expressed concern over the Taliban's ability to protect the Shiite community. That could have worsened mistrust between the two sides and caused wider regional divisions

Europe's energy crisis and Russia's readiness to alleviate vividly demonstrates a fundamental win-win partnership.

Russophobia and geopolitical cynicism know no bounds among certain Western politicians and media commentators. Thankfully, however, such a negative mindset is increasingly exposed for its ridiculous irrationality.

This week as Europe's energy crisis broke new records in terms of soaring consumer prices, Russian President Vladimir Putin stepped in with a promise to increase exports of natural gas. The news had an immediate calming effect on Europe's energy markets which saw prices whipsawing to lower levels.

Rather than simply greeting the development as a positive move, there were predictably sinister comments from some quarters. Russia was accused in Western media of "holding Europe hostage" over the continent's energy crisis and using its vast supply of natural gas as a "geopolitical weapon".

Russia and the US have agreed to continue discussions on the situation in the east of Ukraine, with both parties seeing eye-to-eye on the need for Kiev to implement the controversial Minsk agreements to create peace in the region.

That's according to Dmitry Kozak, the Kremlin's deputy chief of staff, who spoke to the media after a meeting in Moscow with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland. Nuland is in Moscow for a three-day working visit and has already met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. Nuland was previously banned from entering the country as part of counter-sanctions against Washington, but the Kremlin agreed to remove her from the blacklist to enable the short visit.

Kozak told news daily Kommersant:

"A thorough and constructive dialogue took place regarding the settlement of the conflict in south-east Ukraine. It was confirmed that the Minsk agreements remain the only basis for a settlement.

"During the talks, the US confirmed its position ... that significant progress towards the settlement of the conflict is unlikely without any agreement on future parameters of Donbass autonomy. In other words, giving the region a special status within Ukraine."

Nuland herself described the talks at the Kremlin as both "productive" and "useful."

Moderna has no plans to share the recipe for its Covid-19 vaccine because executives have concluded that scaling up the company's own production is the best way to increase the global supply, the company's chairman and cofounder said.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Noubar Afeyan also reiterated a pledge Moderna made a year ago not to enforce patent infringement on anyone else making a coronavirus vaccine during the pandemic.

"We didn't have to do that. We think that was the responsible thing to do. Within the next six to nine months, the most reliable way to make high-quality vaccines and in an efficient way is going to be if we make them. We want that to be helping the world."

The United Nations health agency has pressed Moderna to share its vaccine formula.

Mr Afeyan said the company analysed whether it would be better to share the messenger RNA technology and determined that it could expand production and deliver billions of additional doses in 2022.

Asked about appeals from the World Health Organisation and others, Mr Afeyan contended that such pleas assumed

"that we couldn't get enough capacity, but in fact we know we can. We went from zero production to having one billion doses in less than a year."

Referring to the Massachusetts-based company's sprint to develop the vaccine and produce it in large quantities, he said:

"We think we will be able to go from one to three billion in 2022. We think we are doing everything we can to help this pandemic."

Government watchdog Protect the Public's Trust (PPT) filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking records from the Department of Justice (DOJ) showing the timeline surrounding Attorney General Merrick Garland's decision to sic the FBI on parents opposed to Critical Race Theory.

Garland's directive was seemingly in response to a letter from the National School Boards Association (NSBA) deeming such parents "domestic terrorists."

Using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), PPT is also seeking corroborating records from the Department of Education and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in order to ascertain if these federal agencies colluded with the NSBA to achieve a political end.

As Breitbart News previously reported,

"Days after a national organization representing school board officials lamented to the Biden administration about 'hate groups' intimidating education officials, Attorney General Merrick Garland has directed the FBI to combat 'threats of violence' against administrators.

"The timing of the Attorney General's letter contributes to a public perception that the federal government is targeting parents who have spoken up against policies being advanced by the Administration's local union allies. Using domestic terrorism as the rationale has only heightened the perception that Americans' civil rights are being threatened for improper purposes."

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is in Washington D.C. to meet with top Biden administration officials for talks centered on Iran as well as the Gaza Strip and other security-related matters. As expected, Lapid warned US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan that Iran is on brink of becoming a "nuclear threshold state".

Lapid's office issued this statement after the Sullivan meeting: "The foreign minister shared with the national security adviser Israel's concerns about Iran's race toward nuclear capabilities, as well as that Iran is becoming a nuclear threshold state," according to The Times of Israel. "Lapid also discussed with the national security adviser the need for an alternative plan to the nuclear agreement."

As nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers have remain stalled in Vienna, a key question at center of debate over whether the US should seek a restored JCPOA deal with Iran remains just how close is Iran to acquiring a nuke?

A project of the multilateral development banking system, the Rockefeller Foundation and the New York Stock Exchange recently created a new asset class that will put, not just the natural world, but the processes underpinning all life, up for sale under the guise of promoting "sustainability."

Last month, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced it had developed a new asset class and accompanying listing vehicle meant "to preserve and restore the natural assets that ultimately underpin the ability for there to be life on Earth." Called a natural asset company, or NAC, the vehicle will allow for the formation of specialized corporations "that hold the rights to the ecosystem services produced on a given chunk of land, services like carbon sequestration or clean water." These NACs will then maintain, manage and grow the natural assets they commodify, with the end of goal of maximizing the aspects of that natural asset that are deemed by the company to be profitable.

Though described as acting like "any other entity" on the NYSE, it is alleged that NACs "will use the funds to help preserve a rain forest or undertake other conservation efforts, like changing a farm's conventional agricultural production practices." Yet, as explained towards the end of this article, even the creators of NACs admit that the ultimate goal is to extract near-infinite profits from the natural processes they seek to quantify and then monetize.

NYSE COO Michael Blaugrund alluded to this when he said the following regarding the launch of NACs: "Our hope is that owning a natural asset company is going to be a way that an increasingly broad range of investors have the ability to invest in something that's intrinsically valuable, but, up to this point, was really excluded from the financial markets."

During the presidential campaign, liberals had plenty of reason to tune out the Hunter Biden story.

For one, it was being pushed by Donald Trump, whose administration was awash in ethics scandals of its own, and who failed to make a convincing case that Hunter Biden's work for a Ukrainian energy company influenced his father's actions as vice president. And it was unclear what to make of the alleged leak of material from Hunter Biden's laptop, especially after social media companies moved to restrict access to the story and a bevy of former U.S. intelligence officials dismissed it as likely "Russian disinformation."

Following the election, it seemed the whole Hunter Biden saga might fade away amid Trump's efforts to overturn the result, the storming of the Capitol and an ongoing pandemic. Instead, he has remained in the headlines.

Most recently, news broke this summer that Hunter Biden would begin selling paintings, with initial prices as high as $500,000. It was an extraordinary sum for a debut artist, and immediately invited concerns that people who wanted to ingratiate themselves with the president would overpay for his son's art.

Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's party was the biggest winner in an Iraqi election on Monday, increasing the number of seats he holds in parliament, according to initial results, officials and a spokesperson for the Sadrist Movement.

Former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki looked set to have the next largest win among Shi'ite parties, the initial results showed.

Iraq's Shia groups have dominated governments and government formation since the US-led invasion of 2003 that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein and catapulted the Shi'ite majority and the Kurds to power.

In the global imagination, Facebook would be a responsible social network that allows everyone to connect confidentially while censoring messages contrary to local laws. In practice, it is quite different. Facebook collects information about you for the NSA, censors your opinions and mints its own currency. In a few months, this company has become one of the most influential players in world politics.

FACEBOOK AS A SOCIAL NETWORK

The most important political player on the Internet is the social network Facebook. As of January 1st, 2021, it had 2.85 billion monthly active users and 1.88 billion daily active users worldwide. The social network routinely censors posts that include nude photos, sexual activity, harassment, hate speech, forgeries, spam, terrorist propaganda or violence using particularly crude and unfair artificial intelligence. It shuts down accounts that it deems dangerous, either because they have been censored several times or because they are linked to enemies of the United States.

Facebook is a huge company that includes Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Oculus, Workplace, Portal, Novi. It employs over 60,000 people.

FACEBOOK AS A BANK

Facebook now issues its own currency as a state, the Libra. It is backed by a basket of currencies composed of 50% dollars, 14% yen, 11% Serling pounds and 7% Singapore dollars [1].

By becoming a bank whose currency is progressively accepted by Internet sales sites, Facebook is building a parallel economy, both virtual and global, that is larger than the economy of many states.