Posted by BW Actual on Nov 11th 2022
BLACKWATER USA | DAILY BRIEF
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Ukraine
- Fearing a Russian ruse, Ukrainian forces have been cautiously moving into villages around Kherson as Russia retreats.
- It's starting to seem like the Russian retreat from Kherson is genuine: Ukraine has reclaimed 12 villages around Kherson, and Russia says it has already fully withdrawn from the western bank of the Dnipro River to the other side.
- Iranian security services arrested a woman, Elham Afkari, for allegedly sending updates on the protests to a London-based dissident organization, Iran International, that the government accuses of fomenting unrest. Iran International says it has no ties with Afkari, though.
- Afkari happens to be the sister of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari, who Iran executed in September 2020 after his conviction for murdering a security guard during 2018 protests (he confessed to the crime, but later said he was tortured into making a false confession). It's a family affair: another of their siblings is reportedly in solitary confinement and security services likely didn't want to let Elham flee their surveillance.
- The Taliban's latest edict banning women from theme parks apparently bars them from gyms too. A Taliban official said the order was introduced because theme parks and gyms were ignoring segregation and headscarf rules and - even though the Taliban "tried its best" to avoid a full ban - its best wasn't good enough and "we had to close parks and gyms for women."
- On a related note, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution accusing the Taliban of violating women's human rights - and pushing the country into "dire economic, humanitarian and social conditions." The resolution is non-binding and inconsequential.
- China loosened some of its zero-COVID policies, shortening quarantine periods and giving up on secondary contact tracing programs. Stock prices - which had been battered over supply chain issues stemming from strict COVID policies - rose promptly.