Snowden warns government surveillance amid COVID-19 could be long lasting

Governments could look for reasons to continue tracking people's activity, he says.

Edward Snowden on Monday warned that high-tech surveillance measures governments use to fight the outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the newly identified coronavirus, could have a long-lasting impact. That's according to an interview with the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival.

The US government, for instance, is reportedly in talks with tech companies like Facebook and Google to use anonymized location data from phones to help track the spread of COVID-19. While some say the measure could be a helpful tool for health authorities to track the virus, others have expressed concerns about their information being shared with the government.

Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor who leaked documents about mass surveillance activities, said governments can extend the access they have to people's personal information during a crisis and use it to monitor their actions. During this pandemic, for example, governments might say they're worried about public health and could send an order to every fitness tracker to look at measures like pulse and heart rate, and then demand access to that kind of activity, he said.

After the virus is gone and the data is still available to them, governments can use new causes like terrorist threats to justify continually gathering and analyzing people's data, he said.

"They already know what you're looking at on the internet," Snowden said during the interview. "They already know where your phone is moving. Now they know what your heart rate is, what your pulse is. What happens when they start to intermix these and apply artificial intelligence to it?"

In 2013, Snowden revealed details of NSA surveillance programs to journalists, which led to heightened concerns about privacy in the digital era. He faces charges of espionage and theft of government property in the US, and has been living in Russia since 2013.

https://www.cnet.com/news/snowden-warns-government-surveillance-amid-covid-19-could-be-long-lasting/

The Army Asked Retirees in Medical Fields to Come Back. The Response Was Overwhelming

Days ago, the U.S. Army sent out an unusual plea to its retired officers and enlisted soldiers: If you served in one of eight high-demand medical specialties, it said, you may be able to "re-join the team" in order to help the service fight the coronavirus pandemic.

"We need to hear from you STAT!" the message from the Army's head of personnel, Lt. Gen. Thomas Seamands, read.

The Army's retirees took that seriously.

"We reached out to more than 800,000 retired Soldiers to gauge their willingness to assist with the COVID-19 pandemic response," an Army spokesperson told Military.com Friday. To date, more than 14,000 retirees "representing various specialties" have contacted the service for more information, he said.

That comes out to a remarkable response rate of 1.75% – and that figure may grow considerably. Between Thursday evening and Friday, the pool of respondents increased by 5,000.

Seamands' message said the Army was looking for retirees from the following specialties: critical care officer; anesthesiologist; nurse anesthetist; critical care nurse; nurse practitioner; ER nurse; respiratory specialist; and medic.

Army officials have declined to answer questions about how many medical positions they're looking to fill or what the timeline will be to get volunteers vetted, trained and situated.

"We've had some positive responses," Gen. James McConville, the chief of staff of the Army, said Thursday in response to a Military.com question. "What we're looking for is medical expertise."

Lt. Gen. Raymond Scott Dingle, the surgeon general of the Army, added that volunteers will be assessed for current medical certifications and credentials.

"Then once we do that, we will plug them into all of our medical treatment facilities as required in support of the mission," he said.

The Army does not often issue voluntary retiree recall requests, but there is a process established for retirees returning to active duty. According to the Army Human Resource Center, the average retiree recall tour is 365 days long, although they can stretch 730 days or more. Ultimately the length of recall is determined and agreed upon between the command and the soldier.

While retirees may be eligible for an increase in retirement pay if the recall tour lasts two years or more, they cannot be promoted in recall status.

Dingle said it takes about 330 soldiers to man each military field hospital, including the headquarters element and all staffing.

The Army has already issued deployment orders for the first three field hospitals, bound for New York City and Seattle – two of the regions hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

"Those soldiers that are assigned to medical treatment facilities, what we call military medically assigned personnel, their primary mission is to support the force," Dingle said. "When they are called upon to deploy – in this case here, to support the whole-of-government, our nation, those medical providers, we look at cross-leveling within the medical command. And then the volunteers that you're talking about is where we also will leverage, in addition to the Army reserves, to fill those holes from the medical treatment facilities so that we can maintain the readiness of our soldiers as well as to the beneficiary population."

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/03/27/army-asked-retirees-medical-fields-come-back-response-was-overwhelming.html

White Helmets use Covid-19 crisis to further US Coalition regime change agenda in Syria

The White Helmet ‘coronavirus campaign’ is a cynical exploitation of the pandemic to weaponize it against the Syrian government. To really help the Syrians they should demand a lift of Western sanctions, not support them.

Five cases of coronavirus have now been reported by the health ministry in Syria. The country is subject to a curfew from 6pm to 6am as of March 25. Syria braces itself for a potential medical crisis.

The Syrian healthcare sector has been crippled under a “maximum pressure” economic sanctions campaign that has collectively punished the Syrian people for the duration of a war waged against them by the same governments inflicting the catastrophic economic damage. Hospitals and medical care centers have been targeted and occupied by the extremist armed groups throughout Syria, further reducing the Syrian state-ability to deal with the looming threat of an apparently rapacious pandemic.

Sanctions increase the risk of pandemic spread

All measures taken against the Syrian government by the UK, US and EU are ostensibly to “protect” the Syrian people. Of course sanctions never protect the people, they deprive the people of basic needs, they decimate essential infrastructure. They are designed to weaken the target state or leadership, to turn the people against the government, to serve US-led foreign policy agendas in the region. Sanctions enable war and destruction, they are taken to bring resistant nations into line with horrifying consequences for the civilian population.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/484185-white-helmets-coronavirus-syria/

Alternative Social Media Platforms Surging in Wake of COVID Clampdown

If anything positive can be said about the current madness encircling the globe, it is the fact that more people are seeking knowledge during their newfound time at home. Nearly all digital media is benefiting from this surge of stay-at-home traffic. However, the underlying trend toward restrictions on free speech and demonetization is also intensifying. Whether it is Facebook’s declaration that they will be “stopping misinformation and harmful content,” or YouTube announcing that content could disappear from its platform even if it does not violate current community guidelines, we are seeing a convergence of human decisions and algorithmic “mistakes” that doesn’t bode well for our ability to freely communicate within a free market.

Whether you are a social media user, or a content creator, censorship and suspensions are starting to become more and more frequent. Speaking from experience, this author has been banned by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and even freaking Medium. Deplatforming an individual’s voice or an alternative independent media operation like Activist Post is all the rage with the big social companies as well as the overarching presence of Google attempting to decide our digital fates.

Fortunately, there are many alternative platforms where you can begin to diversify your information stream – and some of them even offer monetary incentives for using them. These new social networks offer their users privacy, and many also offer a piece of the pie in the form of cryptocurrency.

A new social media revolution and evolution is taking place and Activist Post isn’t being left behind.

In this article, I will explore several alternative social networks that offer you cryptocurrency for using them. I will also provide links to our own social profiles – and those we support – so you can get up to speed if you are not already familiar with these options. We have seen huge increases in participation at all of the platforms mentioned, so please help contribute to building this momentum toward a more free and prosperous future.

If you are a YouTube creator you have a plethora of choices available to upload and monetize your content. The alternative video sites Activist Post supports include — LBRY, DTube, 3Speak, BitTube, and BitChute.

What about social media alternatives? Well, I’m glad you asked – Activist Post can be found at SoMee (down at the moment for an upgrade), Steemit, Hive, Flote, Minds and we will also be posting our stories on LBRY very shortly.

Each of these networks provides something unique when it comes to what we’re looking for in a social media website. For instance, Steemit is the paid version of blogger, while SoMee and Minds are more like a paid version of Facebook with post rewards and ad revenue share. Flote looks a lot like Twitter with a built-in Bitcoin wallet and LBRY allows for the sharing of all types of content from videos to music, games and more.

However, the one thing most of these alternative social networks have in common is that they offer their users post rewards just for participating (except Flote which is more subscriber-based similar to Patreon but with Bitcoin).

Activist Post has signed up to support these promising alternative social networks in order to expand our social repertoire and stay ahead of the curve as open tyranny takes root and grows. We hope to see you on the other side with these new platforms. Please also sign up for our newsletter to stay on top of the daily news and ensure that we can maintain direct communication.

https://www.activistpost.com/2020/03/alternative-social-media-platforms-surging-in-wake-of-covid-clampdown.html

NPR Station Is CENSORING Donald Trump as MSM Pushes Totalitarian Propaganda

A Seattle-based NPR station has stated that it will no longer be airing President Donald Trump’s coronavirus briefings because of “misinformation.” As we’ve learned over the past several years, misinformation is simply the information they don’t want you to hear.

So what is the “misinformation” Trump has been saying? Obviously things the mainstream media wants to avoid, like asking people to remain calm, look at the objective facts and statistics about the pandemic and stop playing into the fear-mongering of the mainstream media. Fear has boosted mainstream media’s ratings in the past few weeks, adding to their profits. Reopening the economy means people would be at work or at least out doing things instead of watching the panic-laced headlines scroll across the TV.

“KUOW is monitoring White House briefings for the latest news on the coronavirus — and we will continue to share all news relevant to Washington State with our listeners,” the station tweeted. “However, we will not be airing the briefings live due to a pattern of false or misleading information provided that cannot be fact-checked in real-time.”

https://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/npr-station-is-censoring-donald-trump-as-msm-pushes-totalitarian-propaganda_03262020

Lawless: EPA Suspends Environmental Regulation Enforcement in US Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Citing the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has indefinitely suspended its own environmental regulations and will allow businesses to self-police amid the pandemic.

The EPA issued a news release Thursday unveiling its new temporary enforcement discretion policy which permits normally-regulated US facilities to ignore current environmental standards during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"EPA is committed to protecting human health and the environment, but recognizes challenges resulting from efforts to protect workers and the public from COVID-19 may directly impact the ability of regulated facilities to meet all federal regulatory requirements," EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in the March 26 release.

"This temporary policy is designed to provide enforcement discretion under the current, extraordinary conditions, while ensuring facility operations continue to protect human health and the environment."

Under the policy, relevant facilities will be required to document their decisions and provide details on how their noncompliance was related to the novel coronavirus. Due to its indefinite duration, the agency will announce the policy’s termination at least seven days in advance.

“This policy does not provide leniency for intentional criminal violations of law,” noted the agency. Despite being announced this week, the new policy will be retroactively applicable from March 13.

Cynthia Giles, an Obama administration-era head of the EPA’s Office of Enforcement, asserted to The Hill that the move was unusual because the agency did not reserve its “right to act in the event of an imminent threat to public health.”

“It tells companies across the country that they will not face enforcement even if they emit unlawful air and water pollution in violation of environmental laws, so long as they claim that those failures are in some way 'caused' by the virus pandemic,” she explained to the outlet. “And it allows them an out on monitoring too, so we may never know how bad the violating pollution was.”

The EPA’s loosening of regulations comes just days after American Petroleum Institute (API) President and CEO Michael J. Sommers issued a letter to US President Donald Trump and the environmental agency, requesting “temporary relief through nonessential compliance discretion.”

“I am writing to request that the Administration and states recognize that API’s members provide the necessary fuels that ensure products and services are delivered in a timely fashion around the country. Our supply chain is robust and complex,” Sommers argued in the letter, dated March 20.

The executive also highlighted that “the COVID-19 pandemic represents a significant and historic threat to our nation,” and the temporary lifting of regulations would allow the industry to better respond to the crisis.

https://sputniknews.com/us/202003271078735866-lawless-epa-suspends-environmental-regulation-enforcement-in-us-amid-covid-19-pandemic/

Therapy & pharma vultures swoop down for easy profit as Covid-19 gets declared a ‘mental health crisis’

Transforming the Covid-19 pandemic into a mental health problem has created opportunities for a variety of therapeutic ‘experts’ and psychopharmaceutical companies to exploit anxiety and uncertainty.

The UK is a few days into a ‘lockdown’ on people leaving their houses to control the spread of Covid-19 along with many countries around the world. Boredom, uncertainty, working from home with children in tow and lack of social contact is likely to make many of us miserable. However, it has become difficult to ignore the way that the pandemic has been transformed into a mental health problem. A release from Harvard University described responses to Covid-19 in almost medical terms, listing likely ‘reactions’ such as “anxiety, worry or panic,” “anger” and “skepticism or bravado”.

Indeed, the mental health fallout of the pandemic has been construed as equally troubling as the virus itself. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have called coronavirus a “mental health crisis.” First lady of New York City Chirlane McCray and psychiatrist Kenneth Paul Rosenberg have said, “Just as we are moving rapidly to safeguard our physical health, we must act with equal urgency to preserve our mental health and make psychiatric care accessible.”

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/484206-therapy-pharma-coronavirus-anxiety/

Republican Rep. Mike Kelly Becomes Fifth Member of Congress to Test Positive for Coronavirus

Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly announced on Friday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Kelly is now the fifth member of congress to contract the virus.

In a statement, Kelly said that he had mild flu-like symptoms earlier this week so he went to the doctor, who then ordered a coronavirus test. On Friday, he was informed that the test was positive.

“When I started experiencing mild flu-like symptoms earlier this week, I consulted my primary care physician. My doctor ordered a test for COVID-19, which I obtained at the drive-through testing site at Butler Memorial Hospital. My test came back positive this afternoon. Thank you to my doctor Bill DiCuccio and the staff at Butler Memorial for their excellent care. My symptoms remain mild, and I will serve the 16th district from home until I fully recover,” Kelly wrote in a statement. Additionally, my staff is tele-working and still available to constituents who need assistance.”

Kelly missed the stimulus vote while he was awaiting his test results, but said that he would have voted for it.

Earlier in the day, Democrat Rep. Joe Cunningham announced that he had tested positive for the virus as well.

Cunningham’s office said that the South Carolina representative had come into contact with another lawmaker who had the virus. He has had some symptoms of the virus and been in self-quarantine since March 17.

“While I otherwise feel fine, since March 17th I have been unable to smell or taste, which I learned this week is a potential symptom of COVID-19,” Cunningham said in a statement. “I am grateful that my family remains in good health and urge South Carolinians to follow the guidance and recommendations from the CDC and other health experts so that we can recover from this public health threat.”

“I have been in contact with my doctor since I entered self-quarantine. Yesterday, my doctor instructed me to get tested for COVID-19 and following a virtual consultation on MUSC.care, I went to my local testing clinic. Today, I learned that I tested positive,” Cunningham continued.

Cunningham’s wife and two year old son are not currently showing any symptoms, and his are reportedly beginning to improve.

Sen. Rand Paul and Reps. Ben McAdams and Mario Díaz-Balart have previously tested positive for the coronavirus.

Rep. McAdams currently remains hospitalized due to difficulty breathing.

There are currently 36 members of congress who are self-quarantined out of concern that they may have been exposed.

http://www.hideoutnow.com/2020/03/republican-rep-mike-kelly-becomes-fifth.html

Extraordinary G20 Leaders’ Summit: Statement on COVID-19

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic is a powerful reminder of our interconnectedness and vulnerabilities. The virus respects no borders. Combatting this pandemic calls for a transparent, robust, coordinated, large-scale and science-based global response in the spirit of solidarity. We are strongly committed to presenting a united front against this common threat.

We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life and the suffering faced by people around the world. Tackling the pandemic and its intertwined health, social and economic impacts is our absolute priority. We express our gratitude and support to all frontline health workers as we continue to fight the pandemic.

The G20 is committed to do whatever it takes to overcome the pandemic, along with the World Health Organization (WHO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank Group (WBG), United Nations (UN), and other international organizations, working within their existing mandates. We are determined to spare no effort, both individually and collectively, to:

Protect lives.

Safeguard people’s jobs and incomes.

Restore confidence, preserve financial stability, revive growth and recover stronger.

Minimize disruptions to trade and global supply chains.

Provide help to all countries in need of assistance.

Coordinate on public health and financial measures.

Fighting the Pandemic

We commit to take all necessary health measures and seek to ensure adequate financing to contain the pandemic and protect people, especially the most vulnerable. We will share timely and transparent information; exchange epidemiological and clinical data; share materials necessary for research and development; and strengthen health systems globally, including through supporting the full implementation of the WHO International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). We will expand manufacturing capacity to meet the increasing needs for medical supplies and ensure these are made widely available, at an affordable price, on an equitable basis, where they are most needed and as quickly as possible. We stress the importance of responsible communication to the public during this global health crisis. We task our Health Ministers to meet as needed to share national best practices and develop a set of G20 urgent actions on jointly combatting the pandemic by their ministerial meeting in April.

We fully support and commit to further strengthen the WHO’s mandate in coordinating the international fight against the pandemic, including the protection of front-line health workers, delivery of medical supplies, especially diagnostic tools, treatments, medicines, and vaccines. We acknowledge the necessity of urgent short-term actions to step up the global efforts to fight the COVID-19 crisis. We will quickly work together and with stakeholders to close the financing gap in the WHO Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. We further commit to provide immediate resources to the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation (CEPI) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, on a voluntary basis. We call upon all countries, international organizations, the private sector, philanthropies, and individuals to contribute to these efforts.

To safeguard the future, we commit to strengthen national, regional, and global capacities to respond to potential infectious disease outbreaks by substantially increasing our epidemic preparedness spending. This will enhance the protection of everyone, especially vulnerable groups that are disproportionately affected by infectious diseases. We further commit to work together to increase research and development funding for vaccines and medicines, leverage digital technologies, and strengthen scientific international cooperation. We will bolster our coordination, including with the private sector, towards rapid development, manufacturing and distribution of diagnostics, antiviral medicines, and vaccines, adhering to the objectives of efficacy, safety, equity, accessibility, and affordability.

We ask the WHO, in cooperation with relevant organizations, to assess gaps in pandemic preparedness and report to a joint meeting of Finance and Health Ministers in the coming months, with a view to establish a global initiative on pandemic preparedness and response. This initiative will capitalize on existing programs to align priorities in global preparedness and act as a universal, efficient, sustained funding and coordination platform to accelerate the development and delivery of vaccines, diagnostics and treatments.

https://thesaker.is/extraordinary-g20-leaders-summit-statement-on-covid-19/

BUSTED: Gov. Andrew Cuomo Stockpiled Thousands of Unused Ventilators

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo acknowledged Friday the state did have a stockpile of unused ventilators, despite his complaints the federal government was not sending enough.

Cuomo responded to a comment from President Donald Trump on Twitter that there were thousands of ventilators in New York not being used.

“Yes, they’re in a stockpile because that’s where they are supposed to be, because we don’t need them yet,” Cuomo said. “We need them for the apex, the apex isn’t here, so we’re gathering them in a stockpile.”

Cuomo’s comments demonstrate there is not an immediate shortage in ventilators in the city, despite alarming reports.

“We don’t need them today, because we’re not at capacity today, that’s why they’re not deployed because they’re not needed,” Cuomo said.

The governor has repeatedly complained that the federal government is not sending enough ventilators to New York

https://truepundit.com/busted-gov-andrew-cuomo-stockpiled-of-thousands-of-unused-ventilators/

Russia's Rosneft stops operations in Venezuela

Russia’s government acquires assets of company in this country

Russia's Rosneft stops operations in Venezuela, sells assets related to functioning in that country.

A company owned by Russia has acquired Rosneft’s assets in Venezuela, the cabinet’s press office told TASS on Saturday.

"The government of the Russian Federation has acquired assets in Venezuela from Rosneft. A company 100% owned by the Russian Federation has become the owner," the press service said.

https://tass.com/economy/1136999

Trump bucks business on Defense Production Act

President Trump on Friday bucked the U.S. business community by using the Defense Production Act (DPA) to order General Motors to ramp up production of life-saving ventilators.

Trump’s move, which came after the business community lobbied against the use of the emergency powers, forces GM to prioritize ventilators after a deal with the White House faltered.

“Our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course,” Trump said in a statement. “GM was wasting time. Today’s action will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives.”

Trump also said the country “will be making over 100,000 pretty quickly.” States have warned of a dangerous shortage of the breathing machines.

Trump also tapped White House aide Peter Navarro to coordinate policies enacted under the Korean War-era law that gives the president broad authority to increase the manufacturing output of critical items in times of national emergency, including public health crises.

“My order establishes that Peter will serve as national Defense Production Act policy coordinator for the federal government,” Trump said Friday during a White House briefing. “That's a very important position. More important probably than it's almost ever been in our country.”

The president has been under pressure from former Vice President Joe Biden, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and others to use the DPA, but had repeatedly said he saw it more as a means of putting leverage on companies.

But the moves Friday suggest he is now leaning into the use of the act.

Biden and others have called on the administration to use it to force the production of surgical masks and other protective equipment for health workers.

Business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for weeks had been pressing the administration to not use the act, arguing that government intervention was unnecessary because private industry would meet the pandemic’s increased demand.

The Chamber did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

GM, after Trump’s move, said that its joint effort to produce ventilators amid reports of widespread shortages had “never wavered.”

“Ventec, GM and our supply base have been working around the clock for over a week to meet this urgent need,” a GM official told The Hill after Trump’s announcement. “The entire GM team is proud to support this initiative.”

Trump’s actions with GM created a bit of whiplash.

https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/489948-trump-bucks-business-on-defense-production-act

Bob Dylan releases 17-minute song about John F. Kennedy assassination

https://thedcpatriot.com/bob-dylan-releases-17-minute-song-about-john-f-kennedy-assassination/

Russian new Covid testing systems to make it possible to conduct up to 50,000 tests a day

It will take 2.5-3 hours to make one test with the use of the new testing system

MOSCOW, March 28. /TASS/. Mass production of a supersensitive testing system for the novel coronavirus RNA was launched on March 27 and it is planned to manufacture up to 1,000 such PCR-tests a day, head of Russia’s Federal Medical Biological Agency Veronika Skvortsova said on Friday.

"Today, a production line for PCR-diagnosis testing systems has been launched. One kit will include 50 tests. In the near future it is planned to manufacture 50,000 tests a day. The first batch of supersensitive testing systems has already been supplied to medical establishments in Moscow," the agency’s press service quoted her as saying.

The testing systems was granted state registration on March 6, 2020. "It will take 2.5-3 hours to make one test with the use of the new testing system," the press service added.

A pneumonia outbreak caused by the COVID-19 virus (previously known as 2019-nCoV) was reported in China’s city of Wuhan, a large trade and industrial center with a population of 12 million, in late December 2019. Cases of the new coronavirus have also been reported from 160 countries, including Russia, which by now has 1,036, with three deaths and 45 recoveries. According to the latest update, the novel coronavirus cases across the globe have neared 522,000, with more than 23,500 fatalities. The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially described the situation with the novel coronavirus as a pandemic.

https://tass.com/society/1136865

Trump Bids Farewell to New York-Bound Hospital Ship

Comfort, which carries 1,000 beds and over 1,200 medical personnel, is expected to arrive in New York on 30 March. It will treat traumas and non-infectious diseases in order to allow local doctors to focus on coronavirus cases.

US President Donald Trump is speaking at the farewell ceremony for the giant US Navy hospital ship Comfort, which is leaving for coronavirus-hit New York.

"The USNS COMFORT will sail well ahead of its originally scheduled departure time to answer America’s call to battle against the global pandemic here at home", the White House said on Thursday.

The ship was initially slated for deployment in about three weeks.

Another US Navy hospital ship, Mercy, is sailing from San Diego to Los Angeles on a similar mission.

https://sputniknews.com/us/202003281078744075-trump-bids-farewell-to-new-york-bound-hospital-ship/

1,000 beds and over 1,200 medical personnel???

>>8600635

News unlocks the map

We are the news

>>8600667

that is the point clown bakers put nothing in and it effectively hides what is going on.

Anyone attacking the sauce but not the content is not a patriot

Taliban Reject Afghan Government’s Negotiation Team, Say List Contradicts Deal With US

The Taliban* have rejected the Afghan government’s negotiation team, claiming that the list of negotiators goes sideways with the previous agreement between the Taliban and the United States, the movement’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement on Saturday.

"But as the team is announced by the Kabul administration it thus violates our principled policy and the agreement concluded with America", Mujahid said.

According to the Taliban’s spokesman, the team should represent all sides accordingly in order to achieve peace in Afghanistan and eliminate all obstacles for intra-Afghan talks. Moreover, Mujahid reaffirmed the Taliban’s willingness to participate in the talks "with all influential Afghan sides in line with the agreement".

Clashes occurred between the Afghan National Police and the Taliban terrorist group overnight Saturday in the Spin Buldak district of the southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan.

A security source said the clashes took place in the Sargo area of Spin Buldak, leaving six Taliban killed and seven others injured.

According to a civilian source, four policemen were also injured in the clash.

https://sputniknews.com/asia/202003281078744582-taliban-reject-afghan-governments-negotiation-team/

SYRIA UPDATE

ISIS Is On The Rise In US-occupied Part Of Syria

ISIS activity is still high on the eastern bank of the Euphrats, in the area not controlled by the Syrian government, a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mariya Zakharova said on March 27. The question arises: what kind of terrorists were destroyed by the allies, if the number of ISIS members, according to US representatives, were 10,000 and remained 10,,000? Obviously, these militants simply went underground and continue their attacks with impunity,” she said.

https://southfront.org/isis-is-on-the-rise-in-us-occupied-part-of-syria/

Damascus, the fourth day of curfew comes into effect

https://sana.sy/en/?p=189067

Military Situation In Syria On March 28, 2020 (Map Update)

A brief overview of the recent developments in Syria:

A commander of a local paramilitary group affiliated with the 4th Amoured Division has survived an assassination attempt in al-Takiyah;

A new round of infighting among Turkish-backed militants erupted in Afrin’s al-Ashrafiyah district;

The Syrian Army and locals blocked and forced to retreat a US military convoy near the town of Hammo;

Syrian security forces eliminated 4 gunmen near Sad al-Ain;

Tensions are growing within Hayat Tahrir al-Sham units following the military setbacks in early 2020.

https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-syria-on-march-28-2020-map-update/

Turkish Forces Bolster Positions, New Observation Points Established

Over the past three weeks, Turkish forces set up six observation points in al-Ghassaneyah, Bidama, al-Najiyeh, and al-Zainiya, al-Misherfah and Tel Khattab, an array of villages located in the Jisr al-Shughour region.

The rapid deployments by both sides, Turkey and the Syrian regime, have been continuing despite a ceasefire deal reached in early March in northwestern Syria.

https://syrianobserver.com/EN/news/56961/turkish-forces-bolster-positions-new-observation-points-established.html

Syrian, Russian committees: Washington transports equipment to terrorists under pretext of humanitarian aid

“The US side seeks to make use of coronavirus spread and tries to exert pressure on the UN to pass shipments and equipment to the terrorists under the pretext of medical and humanitarian aid to the besieged persons in the camp,” the two committees said in a joint statement.

https://sana.sy/en/?p=189060

Turkey Deploys Hawk Air Defense System In Syria’s Greater Idlib

he Turkish military has deployed a MIM-23 Hawk medium-range air-defense system in the northwestern region of Greater Idlib.

Opposition activists released a video showing at least one Hawk battery moving through the Syrian region on March 28 afternoon. Three M-192 anti-aircraft missile launchers for the system can be seen in the video.

https://youtu.be/V8oCjOK4YQQ

https://southfront.org/turkey-deploys-hawk-air-defense-system-in-syrias-greater-idlib-video/

1/2

>>8600917

Hasaka: People of Hamo village, supported by Syrian Arab army confront US convoy

The Syrian Arab Army members along with people of Hamo village confronted today a U.S. occupation convoy that was trying to enter the village and forced it to leave.

A number of locals said that the people of the village, supported by the Syrian army soldiers, stopped a convoy of 5 military vehicles that tried to enter the village and forced it to return.

http://syriatimes.sy/index.php/news/local/47702-hasaka-people-of-hamo-village-supported-by-syrian-arab-army-confront-us-convoy

Turkish Forces Conduct 9th Patrol On M4 Highway In Syria’s Idlib

On March 28, the Turkish military conducted another patrol on the strategic M4 highway in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

“The Turkish patrol started on Saturday afternoon from the village of Tarnaba, west of Saraqib, and reached the area of Mzibin on the M4 highway,” the monitoring group said in a report.

https://youtu.be/Chnth6hFD-c

https://southfront.org/in-video-turkish-forces-conduct-9th-patrol-on-m4-highway-in-syrias-idlib/

Government extends closure of public and private universities, institutes and schools till April 16 as part of the country's anti-coronavirus measures

Within the framework of the Syrian government's anti-coronavirus measures, the Education Ministry decided to extend the closure of the public and private schools and institutes from April 2 to April 16, 2020.

The government also decided to extend the closure of public and private universities and higher institutes also till April 16.

In an earlier decision, the Education Ministry had suspended public and private schools from March 14 to April 2, 2020.

http://syriatimes.sy/index.php/news/local/47708-government-extends-closure-of-public-and-private-universities-institutes-and-schools-till-april-16-as-part-of-the-country-s-anti-coronavirus-measures

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>>8600922

hides news ffs this place is over run by shills and clowns

Stop listening to them baker

>>8600954

>Why is 'free thought' ridiculed, challenged, and threatened when a person is opposed to the 'mainstream-narrative'?

To force their narrative as the only acceptable one and ridicule the truth and truth teller

>>8601001

All this while the clowns are trying to get the baker to hide the news

Timely Q TY

>>8601045

>>8601043