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MATT SHAND

Last updated14:23, January 27 2017

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These four medals are identical to the ones stolen from Mark Doohan during a burglary. The former serviceman is requesting the burglar return the items somehow to him.

Areturned serviceman has had his service medals stolen in a callous home burglary.

Now he is calling on the burglars to do the right thing and return the irreplaceable items.

Mark Doohanand Mia Spillman came back to their Taupo home after spending lastweekend away to discover their TV was missing.

Supplied

Engraving on the edge of each medal will read U1019171 LCPL M R DOOHAN.

"It was then we realised someone had broken in," Spillman said.

They did not realise what had been taken until a few hours later as Doohan searched the home which revealedthe extent of the burglary.

Thethieves have taken acurious mixture of items including two blocks of cheese, wine bottlesand all the socks from the drawers.

Supplied

These four medals are identical to the ones stolen from Mark Doohan during a burglary. The former serviceman is requesting the burglar return the items somehow to him.

"We noticed they had gone through the drawers and I had a thought to check the drawer where the medals were," Doohan

"They are not valuable medals at all but they hold a lot of sentimental value and I would like to get them back."

The medals stolen included (in order of them pictured) were a New Zealand operational service medal, Afghanistan primary service medal, NATO non article five for ISAF medal and the defence service medal with regular clasp.

Supplied

These four medals are identical to the ones stolen from Mark Doohan during a burglary. The former serviceman is requesting the burglar return the items somehow to him.

The medals were encased in a black cordua zip case, similar to a CD case but slightly larger.

Each of the medals had engraving along the bottom edge with the words, "U1019171LCPLM RDOOHAN" written on them.

While the medals will be worth nothing in resale, they cannot be replaced.

"They are a one-off issue for the lifetime of the person," Doohan said.

"It means you can't get a replacement you can only get replicas for them."

Doohan hopes the thieves, or someone who knows who took the medals, will return the items to him.

"Even if they just left them somewhere and told someone what they were," he said.

"I don't care about the rest of the items."

Information about the identity of the thieves, or anything that might assist police, can be given to Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

If someone has located the medals, and wants to return them anonymously, they can return them to the Taupo Times office at 86 Ruapehu Street, Taupo or send them to Po Box 205 Taupo.

-Stuff

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Afghanistan war medals stolen - Stuff.co.nz

Trumps crackdown on immigration drew immediate protest nationwide. Thousands of people poured into New York Citys Washington Square Park Tuesday night holding candles and signs reading "No One Is Illegal." Vigils and rallies were also held outside Los Angeles City Hall and at the Columbia Heights Civic Plaza in Washington, D.C. This is Debbie Almontaser, president of the Muslim Community Network, speaking in Manhattan Tuesday night.

Debbie Almontaser: "Im a community activist here in New York City. Im also a Yemeni-American who actually still has family back in Yemen. Shortly after the war, many members of my family were actually able to flee, such as my daughter and her husband. But sadly, as we speak, my brother-in-laws wife remains in Yemen. He actually began the petitioning for her, and she was in Jordan and awaiting just to finish her paperwork. And now, with this executive order, I very much doubt that she will be able to join her two daughters and husband, who are already here."

That was Debbie Almontaser. And this is another protester who is originally from Sudan.

Shadin Awad: "My name is Shadin Awad. And I think its quite ironic that there is a ban, or there is a potential ban, on people from Sudan and people from a lot of Muslim countries, in general, where the U.S. has played a direct hand in disenfranchising the people of those countries. The U.S. has played a direct hand in even the genocide that occurred in Darfur. I think its really ironic that, you know, now its however many years later, theyre saying, 'Oh, we don't want you. We dont want you after we messed up your country. We dont want you after weve disenfranchised your people. We dont want you after weve disenfranchised the world. You know, as the U.S., we meddle, we go everywhere. The U.S. goes everywhere and then says, 'No, we don't want you anymore."

Following Trumps executive orders, hundreds of people also marched through the streets in Kensington, Brooklyna predominantly working-class immigrant communityand gathered for a press conference to announce the launch of a "Hate-Free Zone." The community defense program is one of a series of efforts by neighborhood groups nationwide to mobilize residents to organize their own security against hate attacks and police brutality. In the wake of Trumps election, verbal and physical hate attacks against immigrants, LGBT people, African Americans and religious minorities have increased dramatically. Last week, 27 Jewish community centers nationwide received bomb threats, after 16 JCCs received bomb threats the week before. Other examples include a swastika and the word "Trump" being graffitied onto a high school in Cincinnati, Ohio, and onto a library in Northbrook, Illinois.

Continue reading here:
Afghanistan Orders Arrest of VP's Bodyguards, After Reports of Rape & Torture - Democracy Now!

The LeJs militant infrastructure inside and outside Pakistan should be a cause of concern for the country.

On January 8, the head of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), an insurgent group involved in sectarian killings designated as a terror group by the United States, reportedly died in an encounter with Punjabs law enforcement agencies. About a year ago, the militant organizations founder, Malik Ishaq, also died during an encounter with the police.

After the death of Malik Ishaq, the groups militant activities increased greatly: a majority of the suicide bombings that took place in Pakistan last year were carried about by different factions of LeJ. The killing of the groups new chief about two weeks ago has already become the latest reason for the organizations militant backlash. Last week, LeJ took responsibility for a suicide attack in a busy market near the Afghan border in Pakistans tribal areas that resulted in the death of at least 21 people.

The groups recent bombing close to the Afghan border should be a cause of concern for Pakistans security agencies. The threat in this regard is twofold: first, the LeJs unrelenting campaign of suicide bombings in the face of the most brutal counter terrorism campaign shows that the group still retains adequate militant infrastructure to frustrate Pakistans efforts to capture total control of the state in all forms, including forestalling future militant attacks.

Moreover, the concern in this regard also stems from militants ability to target the state at will. So far, a majority of the attacks carried out by the LeJ were either the result of the state direct action against the outfit or it was the consequence of the groups own hard-line ideological belief that places the countrys minority Shia Muslim population on the receiving end of violence.

The second major concern about the groups continued relevancy in the countrys militant domain comes from its sanctuaries abroad. The group is believed to have developed safe havens in Afghanistan. The recent attack that took place near the Afghan border in the Parachinar district of Kuram valley was the consequence of the Pakistani Taliban alliance with the LeJ. The Pakistani Taliban that fled the country about two years ago to escape the countrys military operation in the tribal areas along Afghanistan are also believed to have found shelter across the Durand Line.

The LeJs association with the Pakistani Taliban in Afghanistan appears to have opened another challenge for the country at a time when the organization is expanding its foothold in the countrys urban areas: Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is a more lethal outfit than TTP because it has taken the fight into the cities, said the former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, Lt-Gen (retd) Zaheer ul Islam in a recent interview. Its more likely that the Pakistani Taliban may join forces with the LeJs network inside Pakistan to rebound its own campaign of violence that has subsided in the last two years.

While the containment of the groups infrastructure inside the country appears within the states reach, LeJs bases in Afghanistan are expected to become a long-term challenge for Pakistan. While Pakistan has conveyed its reservations to the Afghan government about the safe havens various militant groups enjoy in the country, its unlikely that Afghanistan will take any measurable action to assuage Pakistans concerns. Afghanistans inaction in this regard may perhaps be the result of Pakistans own alleged inaction against the Afghan Taliban, whose leadership is reportedly based in Pakistan.

The government in Afghanistan blamed Pakistan for the recent bombing in Kabul that killed scores of people. In response, while Pakistan denied accusations made by the Afghan government, the Chief of Army Staff in Pakistan in a statement said that all safe heavens of terrorists were eliminated from the country. Its probable that militant groups fleeing to Afghanistan, particularly the LeJ, may take advantage of the feud between the two countries. In the coming weeks and months, the LeJ may accelerate the pace of its militant activities across the country.

Effective intelligence-sharing domestically and management of issues related to cross-border terrorism can go a long way in helping Pakistan address its terrorism problems successfully.

See the article here:
Is Lashker-e-Jhangvi Taking Advantage of Pakistan and Afghanistan's Bilateral Tensions? - The Diplomat

The post-2014 era was always going to be a challenging time for Afghanistan following security, economic, and political transitions in the country. Estimates predicted a slowdown in the high economic growth rate, mainly driven by foreign aid, expenditures by international security forces, and the construction sector, the country had enjoyed before the withdrawal of international troops. The poor performance of the Afghan economy in 2016 coincides with these estimations. The Afghan economy is closely linked with the countrys security and political situation. The record high number of conflict-related civilian casualties reported in the first half of last year testifies to the struggles of 2016. The temporary collapse of the key province of Kunduz, for the second time, at the beginning of 2016, the continued instability of northern provinces, the rise of the Islamic State in the east, and the progress of the Taliban toward the center of Helmand province each dominated news headlines and public awareness during the year. This scenario certainly affected the business mindset, resulting in low investment and capital flight, The Diplomat reported. Afghanistan greatly depends on its agriculture sector. Agricultural output shapes a significant portion of its gross domestic product. However, the country witnessed low yields, particularly of cereals, in 2016. The impacts of the poor security situation were exacerbated by adverse weather conditions and diseases, which constrained agricultural production.

GDP Growth Remains Low As a consequence of insecurity and a low agricultural yield, Afghanistans real GDP growth rate remained low. Although the official figures are yet to be released, World Bank estimates from October point to a growth rate of around 1.2% for the year. This coincides with the low economic growth anticipated for post-2014 Afghanistan. More concerning, the World Banks projections for 2017 are also not very encouraging. The World Bank estimates that Afghanistans growth rate is going to marginally increase to 1.8% in 2017 and to 3 and 3.6% in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Thats a far cry from the average growth rate of 9.4% sustained between 2003 to 2012, when Afghanistans economy was mainly driven by international troops and heavy investment in infrastructure. For an economy with an average population growth rate of 3% and an estimated 400,000 individuals entering the labor market each year, such low growth is a very alarming situation. The situation will be further aggravated as the repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan resumes in spring 2017. On a brighter note, domestic revenue collection remained strong and continued the upward trend that started in 2015. The International Monetary Fund had given a target of 140 billion afghani ($2 billion) for the year. The government was able to collect revenues amounting to Af.90 billion ($1.3 billion) in the first eight months of 2016, 30% higher than the reported figure for the same period in 2015. The improvement is partly due to improved tax administration, an increase in taxes on businesses, and a telecommunication fee of 10% on mobile top-ups. The import figure for the first half of 2016, $3.3 billion, was the lowest number since 2013. Imports in the first half of 2013 stood at $4.9 billion, which declined to $3.5 and $3.7 billion for the same time frame in 2014 and 2015, respectively. This implies a decline in domestic demand throughout this period. Afghanistans exports, on the other hand, saw a slight improvement, clocking in at $247 million for the first half of 2016, 10% higher than the first half of 2015. The jump is due in partly to good fruit yields in the previous year, which were processed and exported in 2016.

Achievements More broadly, Afghanistan witnessed significant achievements last year in terms of regional integration, economic cooperation, and infrastructure development. In May, Afghanistan, Iran and India signed the Chabahar port agreement. The arrival of first freight train in Afghanistans Hairatan port from China via Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in November and inauguration of the Turkmen part of trilateral railway in Turkmenistan, which connected Afghanistan to an international railway network, were other significant steps in the right direction. In the same context, another important achievement was Afghanistans formal admission to the World Trade Organization in July. These developments will ensure easy, reliable, and cost-effective trade and transit opportunities for Afghanistan and the region. However, the expected gains of these projects will not be realized in short term. In another achievement, the Salma Dam, which was inaugurated in June by Indian and Afghan leaders, was an important breakthrough in energy infrastructure development in Afghanistan. It has the capacity to produce 42 megawatts of electricity and irrigate 80,000 hectares of farmland.

International Aid Afghanistans economy has remained dependent on international aid since 2001. In this context, the Warsaw and Brussels conferences were crucial to ensure continued support until 2020. At these conferences, Afghanistans development partners pledged security grants of $4.5 billion and development support of $3.8 billion annually. Despite the continued international support, the concern is that the country has not been able to utilize its development budget effectively. Annual reports from the Ministry of Finance reveal alarming figures about the poor execution rate, only about 35%, of the $2.9 billion development budget. There is little evidence to suggest significant improvements in the Afghan economy in 2017. The scourge of unemployment will continue to haunt the public and the government alike. Major national projects like Citizen Charter and the traditional quick fix approaches like cash-for-work, apprenticeships, and internship programs funded by donors might make up for unemployment to some extent. However, unless the government takes exceptional steps to improve the security situation, restore trust from the private sector, and significantly improve its budget execution rate, the year 2017 is going to be another challenging year for the Afghan economy.

Read more from the original source:
Challenging year for Afghanistan Growth - Financial Tribune

Ottawa Citizen

Canada stands by aid to Afghanistan as World Bank investigates fraud allegations Ottawa Citizen Canada has provided $117.2 million since 2006 to the Education Quality Improvement Project (EQUIP), which is administered by the World Bank through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund. The ARTF, which is funded by 34 donor countries, including ...

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Canada stands by aid to Afghanistan as World Bank investigates fraud allegations - Ottawa Citizen