Contributor’s Links post for January 5th, 2019

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Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We muse use it while we can.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

139 Replies to “Contributor’s Links post for January 5th, 2019”

  1. Vlaams Belang cheated out of election win by coalition of leftists

    This is why Proportional representation must NEVER be implemented. The same thing happened in the Netherlands, where an enormous number of people voted for sane parties opposed to Islam and communism, but the leftist parties formed coalitions around them and froze them from power. That is anti-democratic.

  3. NR, I’m hauling my reply up here to where you’ll more easily find it re: AI.

    Thanks for “unpacking” this topic for us (in a fashion I cannot).

    With nuclear tech, AI tech, and the Internet of Things, ethics and morality chase behind like a wheezing, chain-smoking fat man holding his pounding heart with one hand, and waving frantically with the other for those up ahead to slow down. It takes another type of scholar to unpackage the Ethics of Things in terms of the gizmos we create. For my own silly part, and as jack-of-all trades and master of none, I will at least try to find a fair question, or inspire discussion, even at the risk of looking stupid, for the noble high calling of a vaudvillian-like breath of fun, sad and pitiful as it may be, but ever willing am I to try in my hope-springs-eternal own way, just as a tap-dancing fool offers to others respite from his own failings whence hooked off the stage, and hooked, too, from the miserable punchline, that is a run-on sentence..

    • “With nuclear tech, AI tech, and the Internet of Things, ethics and morality chase behind like a wheezing, chain-smoking fat man holding his pounding heart with one hand, and waving frantically with the other for those up ahead to slow down.

      Brilliant metaphor, Johnnyu! I can only give a poet’s answer:

      Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,

      Or what’s a heaven for?

      — Robert Browning

      “It takes another type of scholar to unpackage the Ethics of Things in terms of the gizmos we create.”

      Our world once had such a person. His name was Albert Einstein. For whatever occasionally baffling spoutings of Leftist claptrap on his own part, he nevertheless demonstrated an eerie ken of mankind’s technological trajectory.

      “ It has become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity.

      I hope that someday, our humanity might yet surpass our technology.”

      — Albert Einstein (Attributed)

      For whatever reason, I’m unable to locate one of his quotes as I remember it. It goes something like, ‘Man’s technological capability shall always exceed his moral and ethical capacity.’ I guess it’s sort of a, “When Robert met Albert” amalgam.

      Boy howdy, as if Islam’s crippling nuclear obsessive-compulsive disorder—repeatedly decontaminating the hands and feet is one sure symptom—hasn’t proved that little maxim in spades. All the same, it appears as though He with the Frizzy Hair took a slightly dimmer, if not grimmer, view in this respect:

      “Our entire much-praised technological progress, and civilization generally, could be compared to an axe in the hand of a pathological criminal.”

      — Albert Einstein

      Again, if Islam has not proven this beyond doubt, then our world has some serious collective issues with uncertainty which it most certainly does. For a moment, let’s please sidetrack authorially:

      “The fundamental cause of trouble in the world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”

      — Bertrand Russell

      Never has this cocksureness been paraded about in such a flagrantly shameless manner. The insolence of Islam’s insouciant arrogance has become insufferably boorish.

      This is especially so in light of how—with totally unconcealed malice—a poorly defended Islam parasitically predates upon the West. These burrowing Muslim sand chiggers blood ticks are begging on bended knees (all eight of them!) to be burned away with civilization’s glowing nuclear coal.

      Case and point: In my far flung travels, I’ve met individuals who once were responsible for the security of America’s nuclear arsenal. They expressed substantial displeasure over how, within minutes of the 9-11 atrocity, Saudi Arabia was not promptly glassed and Windexed™.

      To continue in your line of theatrical imagery, Johnnyu: Like an obliviously bad vaudevillian performing some odious vignette, Islam has conspicuously outstayed its welcome on this world’s stage. It brazenly hogs the spotlight instead of prudently tiptoeing off into the wings before it’s rightfully given the existential hook.

      Only now are excessively patient Western audiences becoming restless as they wait for things to improve—or finally see Islam’s ummah get the bum’s rush it so richly deserves (and has earned thrice-fold).

      So, fear not. I too remain an eternal optimist. It is one of the only tolerable ripostes to what remains, “The Eternal Question”:

      “The most fundamental question we can ever ask ourselves is whether or not the universe we live in is friendly or hostile.”

      — Albert Einstein

      Immersed in this world of too-frequently disturbing beauty, nature’s incredible fecundity and resilience stands as a constant reminder of how it can only be a friendly, loving universe that gave birth to life in this marvelous continuum.

      It is irrevocable testimony to the loving character of this cosmos that within its nurturing embrace there is cradled something so fragile and fleetingly transient as the incandescing spark of human consciousness.

  7. Germany: Aggressive mob of men of Turkish descent attacks police officers+++
    A terrifying mob of more than two dozen men, some of them highly aggressive, made a large-scale police operation necessary in the Märkischer District on Friday evening. Massive reinforcements and numerous evictions were necessary to prevent the situation from escalating in front of a snack bar in the town of Kierspe.Around 9.45 p.m., the alert was received by the police: Witnesses reported a threat situation. Passers-by were attacked in front of the snack bar (on Friedrich-Ebert street). Police officers met five people on site. Among them was a 20-year-old man from Kierspe, who was asked to identify himself to clarify the facts.He immediately insulted a police officer and struck out for one. He was then to be taken into custody. His reaction:He freaked out completely, fought wildly against his arrest, struck again for the policemen and threw himself to the ground with full force together with a female police officer.With some effort, the task forces managed to captivate the raving man and take him into custody. Meanwhile, the 20-year-old remained completely unimpressed, threatening the police officers with death.While the officials present were still busy with this raging man, more and more men joined in, some of them highly aggressive.”The group of about 25 people provoked the policemen . They demanded the release of the 20-year-old,” the police spokesman said, describing the increasingly threatening situation for his local colleagues.They called for reinforcements in response to the gathering mob.Numerous other police officers rushed immediately to the scene of the incident. “The situation was finally reassured by the strong presence and numerous expulsions”, the police spokesman concluded, without going into the actual number of the last officers present on the scene – for tactical reasons such information is generally not given.The 20-year-old is now under investigation for threatening, insulting and resisting law enforcement officers. Further investigations are ongoing. Police spokesman Marcel Dilling informed our editorial staff upon request about those involved in the crime: According to this, the aggressive 20-year-old is a Turkish citizen; among the other personal data determined by the police are “both Turkish and German citizenships”.

    (in other words: people of Turkish origin with a German passport, Ed.)
    Read more:
    https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2019/01/germany-aggressive-mob-of-men-of.html

    • “Massive reinforcements and numerous evictions were necessary to prevent the situation from escalating in front of a snack bar in the town of Kierspe.”

      By any chance, was that Allan’s Snack Bar? [ducks]

      (Oh, come on! You know someone had to do it.)

      PS: Kierspe looks yust too dang much like “corpse” for my druthers.

  8. US Ramps Up Bombing in Syria Amid Troop Pullout – Reports (sputniknews, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201901051071236750-us-bombing-syria/

    “…The US has beefed up its bombing campaign in Syria following President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out the country’s troops from the Mideast country, according to a joint investigation by The Intercept and Al Jazeera.

    The media outlets cited three sources in eastern Syria as saying that US air attacks and artillery fire by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) intensified in Al Kashmah, a village on the Euphrates River near the border with Iraq. Following the bombing, civilians and families of Daesh* members reportedly fled to villages to the south, while terrorists are “clustered” in villages along the Euphrates.

    According to the report, a spokesperson for the Department of Defence stated that the coalition had dictated “the pace of our strikes against ISIS [Daesh] targets deliberately and with careful consideration of their impact to civilians. The increase in strikes in late December were selected specifically to degrade ISIS [Daesh] capabilities and were unrelated to any other variable”…”

    • US Ramps Up Bombing in Syria Amid Troop Pullout

      Hey! Give ’em one parting shot, give ’em a thousand. Who cares?

  9. Coventry shooting: Man shot dead by police during dramatic raid, two arrested (express, jan 5, 2019)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1067504/coventry-shooting-man-shot-dead-west-midlands-police-intelligence-operation-Burnaby-Road

    “ARMED police officers shot a man dead in Coventry as part of an “intelligence-led” operation on Friday night, West Midlands Police said.

    The force said a warrant was executed as part of an “intelligence-led operation” in Burnaby Road at roughly 6.20pm. A statement said: “One man was shot and pronounced dead at the scene while two other men were detained by officers.” The area around the scene remains cordoned off and the incident has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

    Reports of the shooting surfaced at about 7pm on Friday evening.

    Residents were told to stay indoors.

    One Twitter user said: “My brother lives on Burnaby road and a policeman told him to get inside as someone has been shot.

    “Not letting anyone on Burnaby road over 17 police cars armed police on street.”

    Video footage posted to social media showed a heavy police vehicle presence on the road.

    The footage appears to have been taken by a local resident.

    Adam Court, 26, owner of the local media network Complete Traffic based nearby, said: “We heard a lot of sirens heading towards the far end of the street and traffic coming to a swift halt.

    “The road is plagued with a history of serious collisions so this was nothing out of the ordinary.

    “But it was the sheer number of police officers at the scene that caused initial concern.”

    As well as a number of armed officers, marked and unmarked police cars, the ambulance service was also in attendance.

    Burnaby Road is a largely residential street north of the city centre.

    The area around the scene remained cordoned off on Saturday morning.

    According to the Complete Traffic Network, “the road remains closed to all traffic from the Holbrook lane island to Catesby road”.

    A diversion is in operation but it is not suitable for HGVs, the Network said.

    West Midlands Police said the shooting had been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the force’s watchdog.

    Anyone with information relating to the incident is asked by West Midlands Police to contact the IOPC.”

  10. Syrian forces tell Britain to take back the ‘filth’ who fled the UK to fight for ISIS and say the war-torn country is not ‘landfill’ for foreign jihadis who are considered a risk in their homelands (dailymail, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6558911/Syrian-forces-tell-Britain-filth-fled-UK-fight-ISIS.html

    “British jihadists captured in Syria should be taken back to face trial in the UK or be put before a new international court there, the forces holding them demanded last night.

    Describing British citizens who fought for Islamic State as ‘filth’, they said Syria was not a ‘landfill’ site for foreigners considered a danger to their own nations.

    They also admitted jailed fighters, including two members of the notorious ‘Beatles’ gang, are being treated better than refugees fleeing war because they have TVs and warm shelter.

    Figures show there are six Britons among the 795 IS prisoners held in northern Syria.

    There are also more than a dozen British jihadi wives and children being held in two camps, out of a total of 584 women and 1,248 children from across the world.

    Britain has so far refused to take any back, instead stripping them of citizenship to stop them returning.

    But senior Government sources believe there is enough evidence to achieve convictions in British courts on terror charges.

    Mustafa Bali, of the Syrian Democratic Forces, one of the key alliances in the country’s civil war, said: ‘What we understand is that the Europeans think… the filth they had among them is out and they don’t want them back.

    ‘We don’t see our country as a landfill and we do not accept them. The compromise is to have a court here and the court can decide their fate.’

    Speaking from the town of Kobane, where IS fighters carried out massacres, he said: ‘Foreign fighters were originally representing a danger to their societies.

    ‘Then they came here and destroyed our cities and killed our people, so in one way or another, we had this war on behalf of Europe. It’s a moral responsibility for Europe to support this area.’

    He argued that nations whose citizens were captured on the battlefields of Syria had ‘two options for the fate of the terrorists’.

    He explained: ‘Either each European country takes their citizens and prosecutes them in their homeland. Or, under the name of the EU or the UN, create an international court… and we can try them here.

    ‘If these courts are built, the fear of having those terrorists back in England will be gone as they will be put on trial here.’

    He said out of 46 countries whose citizens fought for IS in Syria, only Russia and Indonesia had so far taken any back.

    Mr Bali dismissed suggestions that some of those captured were innocent and had gone to Syria to help victims of the war, saying: ‘We are capturing them from the frontlines where they fight. They are not innocent – they came to kill and destroy.’…”

  11. Afghan official says insurgents stormed checkpoint, 7 killed (abcnews, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/afghan-official-insurgents-stormed-checkpoint-killed-60175493

    “An Afghan official says at least seven border police officers were killed when their checkpoint came under attack by insurgents in southern Kandahar province.

    Aziz Ahmad Azizi, spokesman for the provincial governor in Kandahar, says four other officers were wounded in the attack in the Spin Bolduk district.

    He added that 16 insurgents were killed and 11 others wounded in an ensuing battle that took place over several hours late Friday.

    The Taliban did not immediately comment on the attack but they have been carrying out near-daily attacks targeting Afghan forces, despite stepped-up efforts by the United States to find a negotiated end to the country’s 17-year war.”

  12. Car bomb explosion wounds 3 in northwest Pakistan (abcnews, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/car-bomb-explosion-wounds-northwest-pakistan-60174800

    “Pakistani police say a car bomb has exploded in a Peshawar neighborhood wounding three people and damaging several shops.

    Officer Dost Mohammad says the explosion Saturday took place outside a mosque in the Kali Bari area of the city. He says a woman was among the wounded, who were rushed to a nearby hospital.

    Mohammad said the area was nearly deserted at the time of the early morning blast.

    No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

    Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, is surrounded by lawless tribal regions that have served as a sanctuary for Islamic militants for decades. Militants have targeted the city for years.”

  13. Egypt Tries to Block ‘60 Minutes’ Sisi Interview (memo, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190105-egypt-tries-to-block-60-minutes-sisi-interview/

    “Egypt does not want the CBS news program “60 Minutes” to broadcast an interview conducted with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

    CBS said in a statement the Egyptian embassy contacted the news show “shortly after” the interview and requested that it not be aired.

    The interview, conducted by Scott Pelley, will air Sunday night.

    The president confirmed in the interview that the Egyptian military has been working closely with its archenemy Israel.

    “That is correct,” el-Sisi says in the interview. “We have a wide range of cooperation with the Israelis.”

    Egypt and Israel have coordinated attacks on ISIS terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula.

    Pelley also questioned the Egyptian leader about the 60,000 political prisoners that Human Rights Watch says Egypt holds.

    “I don’t know where they got that figure,” the president said. “I said there are no political prisoners in Egypt. Whenever there is a minority trying to impose their extremist ideology we have to intervene regardless of their numbers.”

    A “60 Minutes” producer says in a video posted on the show’s Twitter account shows that “we understood that he wanted to be on the show. He wanted to be a figure up there with the powerful leaders in the Middle East and so we pitched this to him that those powerful leaders come on ‘60 Minutes.’””

  14. Mosques in Switzerland proven to have ties to ISIS (anf, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://anfenglish.com/news/mosques-in-switzerland-proven-to-have-ties-to-isis-31908

    “A Swiss resident Turkish man has been sentenced to death in Iraq for membership to ISIS. The man turned out to have joined ISIS after being radicalized in mosques in Switzerland under control of the Turkish state.

    Another link in the chain that ties the Turkish state controlled religious institutions to ISIS recruitment has surfaced. Prominent Swiss journalist Kurt Pelda wrote in Tages Anzeiger that a Swiss resident Turkish man was sentenced to death in Iraq for membership to ISIS.

    Pelda pointed out that the 24 year old ISIS member went to Turkey from Switzerland and crossed into Syria from there to join the ISIS camps, adding that the man had received training on explosives and participated in various ISIS actions.

    The article said the man was sent to Iraq by the gangs, where he was captured and sentenced to death in a court. The man was cited as living in the Arbon town of the Thurgau Canton where Turkish state efforts for mosques are more intense.

    Swiss courts have launched a lawsuit against this man, who had completed most of his education in Switzerland and had been radicalized in the country.

    According to the artcile, the man was libing in Arbon in the Thurgau Canton when he met a gang recruiter named Alperen A. and started to frequent the Rorschach Mosque under the Turkish Religious Affairs Foundation and decided to join ISIS there.

    The article also said the man contacted a jihadist in Turkey over Facebook after he decided to join ISIS and was able to reach the ISIS camps in Syria through his help.

    Meanwhile, the man named Alperen A. listed in the article was said to be in a prison in Turkey for membership to ISIS himself.

    POLITICIANS SAY THE MOSQUE IS A RECRUITMENT CENTER

    Several Swiss politicians have stated that there are many mosques in Switzerland that act as recruitment centers for ISIS and other gangs and demanded they be shut down.”

  15. YPG: 2422 Turkish soldiers and mercenaries killed in 2018 (anf, Jan 3, 2019)
    https://anfenglish.com/news/ypg-2422-turkish-soldiers-and-mercenaries-killed-in-2018-31870

    “The Press Office of People’s Defense Units (YPG) released the balance sheet of resistance for 2018.

    Full text of the YPG statement is as follows;

    “People of Kurdistan, who have been fighting the good fight to protect basic values of humanity and particularly of the peoples of middle east, have again spearheaded the fight against evil in form of ISIS recently. Our people and fighters have fought have been fighting against ISIS barbarism and Turkish invasion and putting up a legendary resistance.

    Our struggle today has turned into a legendary resistance which includes hundreds of internationalist fighters from all over the world and is ensuring co-existence of peoples in North Syria and Rojava Kurdistan. 2018 has become a year in which our struggle made a great progress and came to a prominence in region. At a time ISIS is on the brink of collapse, our people had to fight against invasion attempts by Turkey. The outcome of the battles and resistance by our fighters throughout the year is s follows;

    1- Outcome of the resistance of Afrin which began on July 20 and ended in March 18

    Airstrikes: 1098

    Heavy weapons attacks: between 3577 and 4000

    Engagement: 900

    Operations with unclear results: 176

    Destroyed military vehicles and aircrafts: 2 combat helicopters, 2 unmanned aerial vehicles, 122 military vehicles, 2 car bombs, 1 motorcycle

    Damaged military vehicles: 32 (tanks, APCs, armoured vehicles)

    Civilians killed: 224 (51 children, 42 women)

    Civilians injured: 650 (87 children, 93 women)

    Killed Turkish soldiers and mercenaries: 2422

    544 fighters were martyred during the resistance as result of intense airstrikes and engagements with the occupying forces.

    2- Outcome of the second phase of resistance of Afrin, which began on March 18, is as follows

    Our units in Afrin have carried out 147 operations against Turkish invasion army and its jihadist proxies. As result of assassination, raid, ambush and bombing actions;

    – 350 terrorists have been killed (65 Turkish soldiers and 258 mercenaries)

    – 18 AK-47, 1 MG-3 machine gun, 2 pistols along with a large amount of ammunition have been captured

    – The results of 5 operations couldn’t be clarified

    – 36 military vehicles, 1 APC, 1 pick-up, 3 motorcycles, 1 HQ and T55 tank were destroyed; 4 military vehicles have been damaged

    – Turkish invasion army has carried out large scale combing operations with the participation of hundreds of its mercenaries and under protection of air cover in Afrin 13 times. All of the operations have been retreated without achieving any results.

    – Since March 18, 56 fighters, including 16 fighters of YPJ, were martyred in airstrikes. 1 of our fighters was injured and another fighter was captured in a state of being heavily injured.

    3- During 2018, occupying Turkish army attacked the bases and positions of our fighters and civilian settlements, violating the borders.

    – Turkish invasion army has attacked positions of our fighters and civilian settlements 53 times

    – 13 civilians (3 children) were injured, 2 civilians (1 child) were killed in the attacks.

    – 2 Sanadid forces fighters, 2 Self Defense forces fighters and 2 journalists were injured.

    – An UAV of Turkish army was captured by our fighters in Kobani.

    – Our forces retaliated to all the attacks according to engagement rules and legitimate self defense. 2 soldiers were killed in operations by our forces.

    4- During 2018, counter-terrorism units (YAT) have carried out 45 operations against ISIS and other sleeper cells across Rojava and northern Syria. Special Operation Teams have also conducted 590 operations.

    – 107 ISIS terrorists including 5 foreigners were captured in the operations

    – 204 ISIS members, including 2 leaders and 31 terrorists of other sleeper cells that were preparing for attacks were killed.

    – 161 ISIS members were injured

    – 55 attacks were foiled

    – 6 Yazidi women and a child were rescued from ISIS

    – 25 vehicles and a motorcycle were destroyed, 8 vehicles were damaged

    – Our units have confiscated a large amount of explosive, 1345 mines, 2 car bombs, 35 missiles, 3 tank shells, 11 mortars and their shells, 126 SPG-9 shells, 575 AK-47, 3 LAV weapons and 2 rockets, 3 12.7mm DShK machine guns, 6 14.5mm ZPU machine guns, M2 Browning ammunition, 6 A4, 40 BKC, 12 Dragunov sbiper rifles, 15 G3 rifles, 17 M16 rifles, 27 RPG and 267 warheads, 1004 grenades, 121 suicide vests, 7 binoculars, 11 pistols and their ammunition, 4 radio devices, 19 cell phones.

    5- 2018 has been a long year with resistance and fierce battles across Rojava and northern Syria. 894 fighters were martyred during 2018; 600 in Afrin, 201 during operation Jazeera Storm, 61 as result of traffic and other accidents, 20 as result of illness, 7 during mine clearing operations in Raqqa and due to attacks by Turkish invasion army on borders 5 of our comrades were martyred.””

  17. HILLARY 2.0: The Left Is Already Blaming ‘Misogyny’ If Elizabeth Warren Isn’t Elected President

  18. Xi Jinping Orders Military to ‘Enhance Combat Readiness’ After U.S. Travel Warning

    Chinese state media announced Friday that Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has ordered the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to “enhance their combat readiness,” without elaborating what threat has made preparation for combat so urgent.

    The announcement followed threats from Xi himself that the Chinese state would not reject the use of force if necessary to invade and capture the nation of Taiwan, which it considers a breakaway province. It also follows remarks from the Pentagon that its prime concern is China’s military activities and a warning for Americans from the State Department to avoid traveling to China if possible because police can arbitrarily detain them at any time.

    Xi reportedly addressed the nation’s Central Military Commission (CMC) on Friday, demanding troops be ready for imminent combat at all times. According to a press release published by China’s Defense Ministry, Xi ordered “the entire armed forces” to “have a correct understanding of China’s security and development trends, enhance their awareness of danger, crisis and war, and make solid efforts on combat preparations.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2019/01/04/xi-jinping-orders-military-to-enhance-combat-readiness-after-u-s-travel-warning/

    • With between one third and one half of their training time take up by classes on how to be a good communist they don’t have enough time to turn them into good soldiers. If they are stupid enough to start a war and it remains conventional weapons (I doubt it will go nuke) the war won’t last longer the 6 months and 3 to 4 months is probably a more realistic figure.

  19. Chinese censors go low-tech to clamp down on Twitter: A knock on the door

    HONG KONG – The 50-year-old software engineer was tapping away at his computer in November when state security officials filed into his office on mainland China.

    They had an unusual – and nonnegotiable – request.

    Delete these tweets, they said.

    The agents handed over a printout of 60 posts the engineer had fired off to his 48,000 followers. The topics ranged from U.S.-China trade relations to the plight of underground Christians in his coastal province in southeast China.

    When the engineer didn’t comply after 24 hours, he discovered that someone had hacked into his Twitter account – @hesuoge – and deleted its entire history of 11,000 tweets.

    “If the authorities hack you, what can you do?” said the engineer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of landing in deeper trouble with authorities. “I felt completely drained.”

    In Beijing and other cities across China, prominent Twitter users confirmed in interviews to The Washington Post that authorities are sharply escalating a Twitter crackdown. It suggests a wave of new and more aggressive tactics by state censors and cyber-watchers trying to control the Internet.

    Twitter is banned in China – as are other non-Chinese sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. But they are accessed by workarounds such as a virtual private network, or VPN, software that bypasses state-imposed firewalls

    https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Chinese-censors-go-low-tech-to-clamp-down-on-13508441.php

  20. Florida
    ‘Killer’ herpes isn’t stopping these monkeys from mating and, yep, they’re in Florida

    Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article223914690.html#storylink=cpy

    They have a herpes virus that can be fatal to humans. They are randy. And their population could double by 2022.

    “They” are a group of about 200 feral monkeys — rhesus macaques, to be exact — in Silver Springs State Park in central Florida’s Marion County. There is also a colony of these monkeys in Puerto Rico.

    According to a 2018 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers found that these rhesus macaques can shed the herpes B virus, known as macacine herpes virus 1 or McHV-1, and this puts “humans at risk for exposure to this potentially fatal pathogen.”

    No humans recently, so far, have contracted the monkey B virus. The virus is transmitted by bites and scratches and simian bodily fluids — monkeys are known to, sorry, fling their poop, so that could be one way to spread the infection, too.

    Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article223914690.html#storylink=cpy

    Richard: Put a bounty on them and let the local hunters make money by bringing in dead monkeys. I would say let the local kids make money by the libs don’t want anyone under 21 knowing what a firearms looks like much less using one.

  21. Whatever happened to ‘If you don’t respect the man, at least respect the office’?
    By Ben Bowles January 5, 2019

    Remember when Rudolph Giuliani called Barack Obama a “motherf*cker”? Neither do I, although I do recall an instance in 2015 when then-mayoral candidate and now Mayor of Baltimore Catherine Pugh took Giuliani to task for “disrespecting” President Obama.

    Writing at the HuffPo, Pugh asked rhetorically:

    Can there be so much harbored hate among President Obama’s critics that they think it is okay to step outside of the realm of respect for the Office of President and seek to degrade him. It is impossible to get inside of the heads of these individuals to figure out what is making them tick. Perhaps a psychological evaluation would reveal more than we want to know in a nation that has struggled to be equal and just.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/01/05/whatever-happened-to-if-you-dont-respect-the-man-at-least-respect-the-office/

  22. Pelosi, House Dems introduce bill to restore voting rights for convicted felons nationwide
    By Howard Portnoy January 5, 2019

    If you want to get on the good side of Democrats, the solution is simple. Just break the law. Enter the country illegally or commit a felonious act, such as armed robbery. You’ll be the Dems’ best friend forever.

    On Friday the party that has repeatedly demonstrated its passion for rewarding, not punishing, criminals unveiled a sweeping federal elections reform package that, if enacted, would immediately restore voting rights nationwide to convicted felons who have completed their prison sentences.

    The title of the bill, the “For the People Act,” raises the question “Which people?” The law certainly doesn’t serve the victims of the crimes for which these lawbreakers were sent to prison in the first place.

    According to newly re-crowned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, the legislation restores “the promise of our democracy,” although she doesn’t explain what promise she has in mind. Maybe it’s related to her promise of amnesty for young illegal aliens, whom she recently called “patriotic.”

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/01/05/pelosi-house-dems-introduce-bill-to-restore-voting-rights-for-convicted-felons-nationwide/

  23. UK: Police clash with ‘yellow vest’ protesters in central London

    London police clashed with ‘yellow vest’ protesters near Downing Street on Saturday as a smoke bomb was detonated amid the chaos.

    Four people, including a 13-year-old girl, have reportedly been arrested so far.

    Protesters, reported to be pro-Brexit, have created traffic disruptions in London after marching from Waterloo Station through Westminster to Trafalgar Square.

  24. DAILY MAIL – The FIRE-de-lis! France burns again as riot police blast tear gas at Yellow Vest activists intent on ‘bringing down Macron’ – while armoured vehicles are on standby as chaos spills into EIGHTH weekend

    Several hundred protestors gathered on the Champs Elysees in central Paris where police were deployed
    Marches were underway in several other cities across France including Rouen where arrests have been made
    This is the eighth Saturday of protests called by the grass-roots movement but numbers are dwindling

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6560213/France-ablaze-hundreds-Yellow-Vest-activists-clash-police.html

  25. Antifa Testing “NO-GO” Zones for Conservatives In Nashville, Tennessee

    Antifa Testing “NO-GO” Zones for Conservatives In Nashville, Tennessee
    by Jacob Engels January 4, 2019 636 Comments

    876Share 212Tweet Email

    The violent alt-left group Antifa, which has been identified by the United States government as a domestic terrorist group, publicly called for “anti-fascist” zones in Nashville, Tennessee over the New Year’s holiday.

    According to Big League Politics journalist Luke Rohfling, JAM City Antifa made a decree on their Facebook page calling for “engagement” against people they identified as “fascists”. The post was later deleted, but represents a troubling new normal from violent alt-left groups like Antifa who commit rampant acts of violence against their political opponents.

    Per Big League Politics…

    “The driving force for these activities came from two fronts. First was a rumored meet-up of the conservative-leaning fraternal group Proud Boys, which Nashville-area Proud Boy Matthew Walter has confirmed to Big League Politics as non-existent. Along with the non-existent Proud Boys meet-up, the Antifa group was targeting the city due to the presence of Fox News personality Tomi Lahren, who was broadcasting her show from a Nashville bar.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/01/antifa-testing-no-go-zones-for-conservatives-in-nashville-tennessee/?omhide=true

    Richard: The Far Left is testing how much the police and the public will stand still for, they want to become the SS of the New World Orderbut don’t have the political cover in most of the US to act like they do in Seattle. They will keep pushing until their political masters in DC (actually those are the puppets of the ultra rich leftists who are in charge of this revolution) tell them to start the terror campaign against their political enemies.

  26. JUST IN: Obama-Appointed Judge Extends Mueller Grand Jury by Up to Six Months, Signaling Russia Witch Hunt Isn’t Ending Soon

    JUST IN: Obama-Appointed Judge Extends Mueller Grand Jury by Up to Six Months, Signaling Russia Witch Hunt Isn’t Ending Soon
    Cristina Laila by Cristina Laila January 4, 2019 297 Comments

    979Share 183Tweet Email

    Beryl Howell, the Obama-appointed federal judge of the DC District Court who oversees Mueller’s grand jury, issued the 23-person jury a six-month extension on Friday, reported CNN.

    Mueller is going to drag his unconstitutional witch hunt into the next presidential election in order to harass President Trump.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/01/just-in-obama-appointed-judge-extends-mueller-grand-jury-by-up-to-six-months-signaling-russia-witch-hunt-isnt-ending-soon/?omhide=true

  27. European Court of Human Rights Promotes Human Wrongs

    by Tommaso Virgili
    January 5, 2019 at 5:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13376/european-court-human-wrongs

    October 26 marked a historic day for Ireland, where citizens, in a national referendum, overwhelmingly voted to repeal the country’s blasphemy law.

    Blasphemy remains a serious offence in many parts of the world, in some Muslim countries even requiring the death penalty.

    More astonishing is that even some European countries are criminalizing “defamation of religion”.

    Recently, an actor was detained in Spain for failing to appear in court where he would face the accusation of “having insulted God and the Virgin Mary”.

    The outcome of the Irish referendum will entail a modification of the Irish Constitution, which states in Article 40.6.1:

  28. London bloodbath: Three stabbed in Leyton – woman fighting for life (express, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1067785/london-news-uk-crime-leyton-stabbing-met-police

    “A WOMAN is fighting for her life after being one of three people stabbed in London this afternoon.

    The woman, aged in her thirties, and two men were found in Church Road, Leyton. Police and the London Ambulance Service attended the scene shortly after 3.30pm.

    The woman is in a critical condition, while the two men’s injuries are not life-threatening or life-changing.

    A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: “Police were called to Church Road, E10 at 3.37pm on Saturday, January 5 following reports of a man injured.

    “Officers and London Ambulance Service attended and found a woman with stab injuries and two men with slash wounds.

    “They have been taken to an east London hospital for treatment.

    “The woman aged in her thirties is in a critical condition. Both men’s injuries are not life threatening or changing.”

    A crime scene is in place and no arrests have been made.

    A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called at 3.38pm today to reports of a stabbing in Church Road, Leyton.

    “We sent three ambulance crews, a paramedic in a car and an incident response officer, and also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance.

    “We treated two men and a woman at the scene and took all three as a priority to hospital.”

    The stabbing is the latest violent to grip the capital, after security guard Tudor Simionov was stabbed to death in Mayfair on New Year’s Day.

    Mr Simionov, 33, was working outside a private event at Fountain House in Park Lane when he was attacked.

    Two of his colleagues, aged 29 and 37, and a 29-year-old woman were also stabbed in the incident. Their injuries were not life-threatening.

    Mr Simionov was the second person to die in the capital in 2019, after mother-of-one Charlotte Huggins, 33, was stabbed in Camberwell, on January 1.”

  29. Enes Kanter: New York Knicks player will not travel to London over Turkish spy fears (BBC, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://www.bbc.com/sport/basketball/46768809

    “New York Knicks centre Enes Kanter says he will not travel to London for his side’s upcoming NBA game because of fears over Turkish spies.

    The Turkish native is a critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and was detained in Romania when he travelled overseas in May 2017.

    The Knicks will play the Washington Wizards at the O2 Arena on 17 January.

    “There’s a chance that I can get killed out there. So I’m just going to stay here,” the 26-year-old said.

    Kanter’s Turkish passport was cancelled in 2017, which he said was because of his political views.

    An arrest warrant was issued for Kanter’s father, Mehmet, in June 2018 after the university professor was accused of contacting members of a banned organisation.

    “I can’t even go out there and just do my job. So it’s pretty sad,” Kanter added.

    “I want to be out there helping my team.”

    The Knicks said on Saturday that Kanter would not make the trip because of a visa issue.”

  30. How I was indoctrinated to wage war against Nigeria — Boko Haram Commander (vanguardng, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/01/how-i-was-indoctrinated-to-wage-war-against-nigeria-boko-haram-commander/

    “A top commander of the Boko Haram Sect, Umar Abdulmalik, who was arrested penultimate Thursday by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team, IRT, in Lagos State, for carrying out several bombings, bank robberies and killings within the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, Owo, Ondo State and Lokoja Kogi State, has revealed how he joined the sect and led members to carry out these attacks.

    The 30-year-old suspect, who is a native of Okene in Kogi State and was alleged to have killed over 200 persons before his arrest told Vanguard that a radical Islamic cleric, who he identified as Mallam Mustapha indoctrinated him into the deadly sect.

    He explained that Mallam Mustapha came into Okene with his teachings, built a mosque in 2009 and urged residents to shun western education as it was a sin against Allah, and urged them to accept Islamic education which he said was the only education accepted by Allah.

    He added that he attended several of Mallam Mustapha’s teachings, who he said also urged his followers to disregard the Nigeria State and wage war against her as her system of government was not in line with the dictates of Allah, which he said, ought to be in an Islamic fashion.

    Abudulmalik, further explained that he joined some of Mallam Mustapha’s followers in destroying their school certificates and he accepted to wage war against the Nigeria State.

    We robbed banks to sustain the jihad “I joined one of the Boko Haram cells in Okene headed by one Zeeidi and we carried out several bombings within Kaduna, Kano and Abuja.

    Zeeidi was the person providing the bombs and my job then was to take them to our target locations.

    After a while, the Department of State Security infiltrated our cell and they started arresting members of our group.

    Mallam Mustapha was arrested and his mosque was demolished.

    Zeedi brought the idea of bank robbery so that those of us who have not been arrested could have resources to continue with the jihad.

    He brought some guns and he suggested we should attack the Kotonkarfe Prison in Kogi State, so we could free our members who were detained there.

    The attack on the prison was successful and we freed a lot of our members, after which we attacked some banks in Okene and took all the money we could find there.

    “We then moved to Owo where we robbed some of the banks with dynamites and carted away large sums of money.

    We used some of the money we made from those robberies to buy high explosives including materials we could use in producing non-metallic bombs that could beat metal detectors.

    A lot of our members including Zeedi were arrested after those bank robberies and the attack on prison.

    Then, I moved to Abuja with the bombs we produced and I formed a new cell in 2014. We carried out several bombings in the Fedeal Capital territory including those at Banex Plaza, Nyanya and Kuje areas of Abuja.

    Unfortunately our gang was busted and five of our gang members were arrested while our bombs, including the non-metallic and the materials we were using in making them were recovered. I escaped, fled to Kano and I went underground for two years before I returned to Abuja and formed a new gang and we went into full blown armed robbery.”

    Meanwhile, Police source disclosed that five months after the operatives of the IRT, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, launched investigations into the gruesome killing of seven policemen and a civilian, in July 2018 at a police post on the Galadima Roundabout, Abuja, they made a breakthrough when they arrested a member of the gang identified as Lukman Abdulmalik alias Lampard, through a tip off in Ondo State and he confessed taking part in the killing of the seven policemen.

    He went on to identify Abudlmalik, as the leader of his gang, who he said instructed them to always kill policemen whenever they had opportunity and take their rifles.

    The police source disclosed further that the suspect took the IRT operatives to their hideout in Abuja and four of his gang members identified as Abubakar Bello Sidi, Yusuf Abdulazeez alias, Fine Boy, Suleman Zakariya and Haruna Lamid, were arrested but, Abdulmalik, escaped with a bullet wound.

    Four AK-47 rifles belonging to the deceased policemen, six magazines, 270 rounds of AK-47 ammunition and two police walkie talkie radios belonging to the deceased policemen were recovered from the suspects.

    It was gathered that Abdulmalik ran to Lagos with his bullet wound to the home of his younger sister who was a nurse and he started receiving treatments on his bullet wound.

    Unknown to him, IRT operatives in Lagos had information that he had a sister who was residing in Lagos, they trailed him to her house, found him sleeping there and apprehended him.

    My robbery exploits — Abdulmalik Narrating his robbery exploits Abdulmalik said; “After I formed my new robbery gang, we robbed a woman of N500,000, which was the money she got from contribution she had with some women.

    One of our gang members who got information about the money told me about it and we robbed the woman and took the money. We also robbed a man at Okene checking point, we pretended to be policemen and collected N1.3million from the man.

    We then moved to Abuja where we robbed super markets including their customers. We killed a policeman at Shoprite in Suleja and took away his rifle. We also robbed a shop along Second Gate on the Abuja-Kaduna Road.

    There was this dismissed policeman known as Apin-Iron, who was dismissed for taking part in armed robbery. Iron has two Ak-47 and a pistol which he normally used to intercept and seize illicit drugs from people trying to smuggle them into Abuja.

    We normally visited his place to buy the drugs and we became friends.

    In one of our visits he told us that he knew several rich people we could rob and all we needed to do was to give him his share of the loot.

    He gave us information of a man from whom we took N5million and we gave our contact N2.5m as his share because that was what he demanded.

    He also gave us several other jobs before I had an accident and damaged one of my eyes.

    There was one Mustapha who was an internet fraudster, he was making money, but he started having issues with some cultists in his area so he brought in the police to arrest the boys.

    But the boys were later released and came back to harass him. So, he came to me and requested for my boys to protect him and I told him he would have to buy my boys two Ak-47 rifles.

    He agreed and bought us the guns.

    Then, my boys, Lampard and Abubakar, started moving around with him in military uniforms.

    People who saw them would think they were genuine soldiers.

    So, he wanted my boys to kill the cultists as well as the nurse who was treating him because the nurse entered his house and saw him performing rituals and he didn’t want the woman to tell people that he was using charms to make his money.

    My boys told me about the job and I asked them not to kill anyone, then he became angry with me.

    I suspect he was the person who went to inform the police about my gang. “After I lost my eyes I was admitted in the hospital but my boys were still going for robberies and would bring money to me after each robbery.

    I wasn’t with them when they killed the seven policemen at Galadima roundabout, I was in the hospital.

    After I was discharged, I had not gone for any robbery operation with them but the police later arrested Lampard and Abubakar and they brought the policemen to my house.

    I had an Ak-47 rifle with me when the police came and I fired some shots which made it easy for me to escape but the police returned fire and I got injured.

    I managed to escape to Iyana Sango Ota, Ogun State, where my sister was residing. I later learned that the police went on to arrest Fine-Boy and Abubakar and Suleiman, a guy known as scorpion called and informed me.

    I don’t know how the police knew I was in my sister’s place, they found me sleeping and I was arrested.” he narrated.”

  32. Pictured: Former KGB general who helped MI6 spy compile the Donald Trump dirty dossier who has been found dead in the back of his car amid claims of a Kremlin cover up

    The Kremlin may have covered up the murder of a former KGB chief accused of helping ex-MI6 spy Christopher Steele to pull together the notorious dossier on Donald Trump.

    Oleg Erovinkin served as a general in the KGB and was found dead on Boxing Day in the back of his car in Moscow.

    It has been claimed he died of a heart attack, but an expert on Russian security threats believes he was murdered for his role in the explosive dossier.

    The suspected murder victim was close to former deputy prime minister Igor Sechin, who is named throughout the leaked memo, according to the Telegraph.

    Erovinkin is understood to have been an important link between Sechin and leader of the Kremlin Vladimir Putin.

    Agent Steele’s dossier, which was made public earlier this month, noted how he had a source close to Sechin.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4166610/Kremlin-covered-murder-former-KGB-chief.html

    • All of which makes a person wonder when it is that the French police finally will realize who the real enemy is…

  38. Trump aide trying to allay Israeli concerns on Syria pullout

    TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The White House has sent national security adviser John Bolton on a mission to allay Israel’s concerns about President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.

    The pullout announced before Christmas was initially expected to be completed within weeks, but the timetable has slowed as the president acceded to requests from aides, allies and members of Congress for a more orderly drawdown.

    Bolton planned to meet with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and other officials on Sunday before traveling to Turkey. Israeli officials have expressed alarm that a swift withdrawal of the roughly 2,000 troops could enable Iran to expand its influence and presence in Syria, wracked by a yearslong civil war and the Islamic State militancy.

    Trump’s move has raised fears about clearing the way for a Turkish assault on Kurdish fighters in Syria who have fought alongside American troops against IS extremists. Turkey considers the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, a terrorist group linked to an insurgency within its own borders.

    A Trump administration official told reporters traveling with Bolton that Bolton intended to discuss the pace of the drawdown, as well as American troop levels in the region. Bolton was expected to explain that some U.S. troops based in Syria to fight IS will shift to Iraq with the same mission and that some American forces may remain at a key military outpost in al-Tanf, in southern Syria, to counter growing Iranian activity in the region.

    Bolton also was to convey the message that the United States will be “very supportive” of Israeli strikes against Iranian targets in Syria, according to the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss Bolton’s plans before the meetings and spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the talks.

    Bolton warned Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, not to use the U.S. drawdown as a pretext to use chemical weapons against Syrians, saying there is “no change” to the U.S. position that their use is a “red line.” Trump has twice carried out airstrikes in Syria in response to apparent chemical attacks, with the intention of deterring Assad.

    “We’ve tried twice through the use of military force to demonstrate to the Assad regime the use of chemical weapons is not acceptable,” Bolton said while en route to Israel. “And if they don’t heed the lessons of those two strikes, the next one will be more telling.”

    Trump’s announcement about the intended troop withdrawal was greeted by surprise and condemnation from many U.S. lawmakers and allies, and prompted the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the U.S. special envoy for the anti-IS coalition in protest.

    Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is following Bolton to the Mideast this coming week for an eight-country tour of Arab allies to shore up support for the administration’s partners in the region.

    While in Israel, Bolton planned to encourage officials to take a tougher stance against Chinese electronics manufacturers ZTE and Huawei. The U.S. has expressed concerns about potential cyber-penetration by those companies.

    Joining Bolton in Turkey will be the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford. In meetings with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and other officials, they are expected to warn against an offensive targeting the Kurdish fighters in Syria.

    https://apnews.com/96e123b294684f498ae627dd4e31e0cf

  42. KSA: Al Musawara From Terror Hideout to Cultural Hub (aawsat, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1533256/ksa-al-musawara-terror-hideout-cultural-hub

    “Within a year of the Saudi government’s decision to reform and develop Al Musawara neighborhood in Al-Awamiyah town nestled in the Eastern Province, the locality has been transformed from a springboard for terror assaults against security servicemen to a cultural center meant to advance provincial stability.

    Saudi security forces have successfully routed terrorist groups that were holed up in the neighborhood that has become home to one of the country’s greatest cultural and development projects achieved in under 12 months.

    Mayor of the Eastern Province Fahd Bin Mohammed Al-Jubeir confirmed that the project’s construction works were accomplished.

    Speaking to Asharq Al Awsat, Jubeir said that the total cost of the project stood at $64 million dollars (SAR 239 million riyals) and was finished in the remarkable period of eight months.

    The educational center is one of the development projects that are designed to preserve the urban and cultural identity in the eastern region, combining heritage and tradition with modern day architecture and development.

    Considered a regional milestone in development for the Eastern Province, the center spans over an area of 180,000 square meters and provides a number of multi-cultural, tourist and commercial services to both locals and visitors.

    More so, Jubeir reaffirmed that the Eastern Region Secretariat is working rapidly to wrap up the finishing touches on the project for a timely delivery without undercutting construction quality and safety standards.

    Last October, the project’s completion rate was 70 percent. The project will include commercial stores, a cultural center, a public library, a sports complex, cafes, restaurants, men’s and women’s halls, a shopping mall, a women’s club, a kindergarten, and a car park.

    The center will also host landmark heritage towers built on an area of 866 square meters.”

  43. Houthis Seize 72 WFP Aid Trucks in Yemen (aawsat, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1533636/houthis-seize-72-wfp-aid-trucks-yemen

    “The Iran-backed Houthi militias have seized 72 relief trucks provided by the World Food Program, reported the Saudi Press Agency Saturday.

    The trucks were headed to the Ibb province.

    The WFP had last week accused the Houthis of stealing food aid dedicated to people affected by the conflict in regions under militia control…”

  44. Egyptian explosives expert killed defusing bomb at Cairo church (mee, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egyptian-explosives-expert-killed-defusing-bomb-cairo-church-573743605

    “An Egyptian police officer was killed on Saturday while attempting to defuse an explosive device found at a church in an eastern Cairo suburb, state television reported, less than two days prior to Coptic Christmas celebrated by Egypt’s Christians.

    Two policemen and an onlooker were also hurt when the device exploded, security sources told Reuters. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the incident.

    Egyptian security forces have stepped up their presence outside churches and other places of worship ahead of New Year’s Eve and Coptic Christmas, which is celebrated on 7 January…”

  46. Iraq: Six women prisoners killed in Baghdad prison riot, fire (memo, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190105-iraq-six-women-prisoners-killed-in-baghdad-prison-riot-fire/

    “At least six female inmates were killed yesterday by rioting and fire in a prison in Adhamiyah, north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

    In a statement to Anadolu Agency, Police Captain Ahmed Khalaf said that the prison – which was specifically for homeless female prisoners – experienced riots, though he did not elaborate on the cause of the disturbance. The riots then seem to have sparked a fire, causing an unspecified number of inmates to suffocate.

    Khalaf added that civil defence teams and ambulances rushed to the scene, adding that the authorities have opened an urgent investigation into the incident.

    Iraqi security forces take all displaced or homeless people from the streets and places them in a prison, which is run by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.”

  47. Belgium: Three companies in court for exporting banned chemicals to Syria (memo, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190105-belgium-three-companies-in-court-for-exporting-banned-chemicals-to-syria/

    “Three Belgian companies which exported banned chemicals to Syria are to be fined, while two of the three companies’ heads will be sent to prison.

    The chemicals in question included hundreds of tonnes of concentrated isopropanol, acetone, methanol and dichloromethane, Al-Khaleej reported yesterday, citing Belgian media. Though the companies claimed these products can be used to create paint and polish, they can also be used to produce chemical weapons, including sarin.

    Sarin, which has been banned since the 1993 chemical weapons convention (CWC), is made through a reaction between isopropanol and methylphosphonyl difluoride.

    The companies’ decision to export these chemicals was in violation of regulation banning the export, sale, supply or transfer of certain goods which might be used for internal repression, or the manufacture and maintenance of products which might be used for such purposes. This regulation notably listed chemicals such as isopropanol and acetone.

    The companies – AAE Chemie Trading, Anex Customs and Danmar Logistics – have claimed they acted in good faith, arguing they did not know about the ban on these materials and that Belgian customs never informed them about prior authorisation requirements.

    It is expected that the sentence against the three Belgian companies will be issued by 31 January.”

  48. UAE provides 371 million polio vaccines to Pakistani children (gulfnews, Jan 5, 2019)
    https://gulfnews.com/uae/government/uae-provides-371-million-polio-vaccines-to-pakistani-children-1.61259378

    “The UAE has provided over 371.1 million units of polio vaccines to more than 57 million Pakistani children between 2014 and December 2018, through its anti-polio drive in the country, under the UAE-Pakistan Assistance Programme, UAE-PAP.

    The UAE-PAP was launched under the directives of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

    The campaign is part of the efforts to eradicate polio in the world and reflects the UAE leadership’s keenness to strengthen global efforts to reduce the spread of epidemics and prevent their impact on children.

    Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed donated $167 million (Dh613.31 million) for the efforts aimed at eradicating poliomyelitis and the provision of vaccines for children, especially in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

    Abdullah Khalifa Al Gafli, Director of UAE-PAP, said the campaign administered 254.4 million doses of vaccines between 2014 and 2017 to 43 million Pakistani children. The geographical coverage of the campaign expanded in the past years to include 83 areas in four provinces of Pakistan, he added.

    Al Gafli praised the support provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the UAE’s campaign and its strategic partnership with Shaikh Mohammad’s initiative to eradicate poliomyelitis worldwide through funding and providing assistance in a number of areas.

    The campaign is being implemented in various regions of Pakistan with the support of more than 96,000 workers including doctors and nurses and more than 25,000 members of safety and security, management and coordination teams.”