Contributor’s links for May 24, 2019

Daily Links Post graphic

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 must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

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

99 Replies to “Contributor’s links for May 24, 2019”

    • Alcohol is always a bad politician,he must have missed his AA meeting.Why would we not be in love with our own countries,with our extended families,with our history?only commie fools in America destroy their roots,if you do not know where you came from,you can not tell where you are going.

  1. Germany: Murder trial started against 19-year-old Kenyan+++
    The murder trial against 19-year-old Kenyan Brian S. began in Bonn/St. Augustin. The defendant is accused of suffocating 17-year-old Elma in December 2018. The BILD newspaper reports: Elma C. (17, photo) was found dead in December 2018 in an municipal accommodation for refugees and homeless people in Sankt Augustin. Resident Brian S. (19 years old) allegedly raped and suffocated her. The German Kenyan has been on trial in Bonn since Tuesday. It is unclear why the Kenyan citizen living in a refugee shelter is called a “German Kenyan”, since it cannot be assumed that the accused of murder has now also been granted German citizenship in summary proceedings.
    Read more:
    https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2019/05/germany-murder-trial-started-against-19.html

  2. ‘Attack on Democracy’ as Firecracker Hurled at Swedish Right-Wing Leader’s Car (sputniknews, May 24, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201905241075291554-sweden-firecracker-attack/

    “Since this is not the first time the Sweden Democrats leader has been attacked, many blame it on smear tactics by the press and rival parties, who repeatedly paint Jimmie Åkesson and his anti-immigrant party as “racists”.

    A person has thrown a powerful firecracker at Sweden Democrats’ leader Jimmie Åkesson in Mariestad during an election tour around the town of Skaraborg, Swedish Radio reported.

    The firecracker was hurled at the car while Åkesson and his bodyguards were getting into the the vehicle on Thursday afternoon.

    While no one was injured, a report of attempted assault and attempted violence against an official has been made. The police have interviewed several witnesses around the area.

    “A police team has been following Jimmie Åkesson during his election tour, because it has been judged that there is a certain threat to him”, said police press spokesman Peter Adlersson.

    While the right-wing Sweden Democrats often find themselves in the role of the “bad guys” for the liberal-leaning press and get labelled everything from “racist” to “Nazi” by their left-wing opponents, condemnation of the attack was universal.

    Even Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, despite his repeated verbal attacks on the Sweden Democrats, strongly disapproved of the attack.

    “Every attack on our elected politicians is an attack on our common democracy. The event makes me extremely angry, and I want to express my empathy for Jimmie Åkesson and his family at this moment”, Löfven said, as quoted by Swedish Radio.

    On social media, the attack triggered an explosion of comments.

    “In a democracy, everyone must be allowed to speak out. Using violence, in this case a firecracker, to intimidate and threaten is unacceptable”, former Liberals leader Jan Björklund tweeted.

    “Thank you media and our political opponents for running dirty election rhetoric that allows these things to happen. Still, it is insisted that we, the Sweden Democrats, are the threat to democracy”, SD member Mira Aksoy tweeted. “Other party leaders are never exposed to this sort of attacks, because the media and political opponents do not portray them as anti-democrats and racists. This is your fault and you know it”, she added.

    “Now it was ‘just’ a firecracker, but imagine if it were a hand grenade. God, this is foul”, another user tweeted.

    “Here we go again. An attack on SD leader Jimmie Åkesson. This time a firecracker thrown at his car after a speech in Mariestad. Too bad!” Expressen journalist Niklas Svensson tweeted.

    ?”Had it been a socialist or some other party leader, it would have been BOMB in all the press”, another user called out the press’ double standards in dealing with the Sweden Democrats.

    “Who do you think is the culprit: 1) Antifa 2) Young Left 3) Feminist Initiative 4) Others” another user inquired, listing his suspects.

    In 2018, after a speech in Örebro, Åkesson was attacked by a young man who shouted “f*****g racist”, while another man tried hurling fruit at the Sweden Democrats leader.

    Ranking third with 17.6 percent of the vote, the Sweden Democrats are the country’s largest right-wing party. Despite their steep upward curve and major electoral successes, they have yet to become part of the government or elevate any of their MPs to a ministerial post, due to other parties collaborating to edge them out by forming a “cordon sanitaire”.”

  3. Danish Party Presents Plan for Full Asylum Stop, Deportations (sputniknews, May 24, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201905241075294804-danish-party-asylum-stop/

    “According to the Danish People’s Party, Denmark’s largest on the right wing, a five-year full asylum stop until 2025 will reduce the influx by 4,000 migrants annually, while saving the state’s coffers up to $300 million.

    The right-wing Danish People’s Party (DF) has presented a plan to introduce a complete halt to asylum until 2025.

    If the DF had its way, asylum seekers coming to Denmark via Germany and Sweden would be rejected and asked to apply in the countries they have just travelled through, which are perfectly safe. If they still elect to stay in Denmark, a deportation will be negotiated for payment.

    “We do not want people to seek asylum directly in Denmark in the coming years. This means that if you come to the Danish border from a peaceful country, typically Germany, then you’ll be told to seek asylum in Germany”, Danish People’s Party’s chairman Kristian Thulesen Dahl explained to Danish Radio.

    According to him, the Refugee Convention doesn’t prevent Denmark from sending people to countries that are deemed safe. Therefore, Denmark will use the border controls to turn asylum seekers back and ask them to stay, say, in Germany. According to Thulesen Dahl, Germany will have a fairly great understanding for the proposal, as the Germans are “quite tired of people travelling through six to seven safe countries before seeking asylum”.

    “The question is, how many people will want to apply in Denmark if they know that we have a system where they will be sent back anyway”, Thulesen Dahl explained.

    According to Thulesen Dahl, this plan violates neither the Schengen Agreement nor the Dublin Regulation. He ventured that the Dublin system, according to which the first country an asylum seeker enters is usually responsible for dealing with their case, has “broken down” in recent years anyway.

    According to the Danish People’s Party, an asylum stop will result in 4,000 fewer asylum seekers coming to Denmark every year, while putting an extra DKK 2 billion ($300 million) more into the state’s coffers.

    Of this money, the DF propose to allocate DKK 1.5 billion ($220 million dollars) on raising the supplementary pension benefits by DKK 11,000 ($1,650), while the remainder will be used to pay off neighbouring areas to receive asylum seekers.

    “We know that it will cost some money, but there is a bonus associated with it. We will save a lot of money on the asylum stop, and then we can increase Denmark’s efforts in the neighbouring areas, so we help many more who are in need”, Thulesen Dahl explained.

    Since its inception in 1995, The Danish People’s Party has risen to the status of Denmark’s largest right-wing party. By its own admission, it seeks to protect Denmark’s cultural heritage and family values, promote entrepreneurship, limit immigration and promote full cultural integration of newcomers.

    In 2014, the DF won the European Parliament election in Denmark by a wide margin, securing 27 percent of the vote. In the 2015 general election, the DF received 21 percent of the vote, cementing its role in Denmark’s political landscape.

    In the upcoming election, however, its status may be threatened by two new challengers, Stram Kurs (“Hard Line”) and the New Right, both of which have been polling above the two percent threshold, eventually stealing DF voters who believe their party has “mellowed out”. All three of them are anti-EU, anti-immigration, and anti-Islam.”

  4. Sheffield police seal off streets after six children hospitalised in ‘serious incident’ (express, May 24, 2019)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1131507/sheffield-police-incident-shiregreen-Hartley-Brook-Primary-School-air-ambulance-news

    “SIX children have been rushed to hospital after a “serious incident” near a primary school in Sheffield.

    Emergency services are dealing with an incident near to Hartley Brook Primary Academy in Sheffield. Four ambulances and seven police cars are on the scene, while an air ambulance landed on the school playground. There is a large police cordon in place. In a statement, South Yorkshire Police said: “Police were called at around 7.30am today (24 May) to reports of concerns for safety at a property on Gregg House Road, Shiregreen.

    “Yorkshire Ambulance Service and Yorkshire Air Ambulance have attended and transported six children to hospital.

    “Two people are under arrest.

    “There will be a significant police presence at the scene throughout the day as officers continue enquiries.

    “A cordon is in place and buses are being diverted from the area.

    “This incident is ongoing and further updates will be provided in due course.”

    A local resident told The Star: “I was on the bus and had to get off before it turned onto Gregg House Road because there was a police car blocking it. So walked towards school and could see police cars, ambulances, and it was all blocked off and we had to walk the long way around.

    “When we got to school there was an air ambulance parked on the school yard.”

    According to The Star, residents have claimed that they saw two injured children being taken out of a house in bandages before being put in ambulances.

    More to follow.”

  5. Boat with 58 migrants reaches Italian island of Lampedusa (abcnews, May 24, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/boat-58-migrants-reaches-italian-island-lampedusa-63250665

    “A boat carrying 58 migrants has reached the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, as flows continue despite the Italian government’s strong efforts to discourage immigration.

    The Italian ANSA news agency said the 57 men and one woman who arrived early Friday were from Morocco, Algeria, Syria, Libya, Gambia and Bangladesh. They had departed from Libya.

    Just over 1,100 migrants have reached Italy this year, according to the United Nations refugee agency, compared with more than 12,600 reaching Greece.

    Overall, Afghans and Moroccans top the list of migrants reaching southern Europe according to UNHCR.

    Although Italian territory, Lampedusa is closer to north Africa than to the rest of Italy.”

  6. Libya confirms it rescued 290 migrants in Mediterranean (abcnews, May 24, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/libya-confirms-rescued-87-migrants-mediterranean-63248078

    “Libya’s navy confirmed on Friday that it rescued three boats carrying a total of 290 Europe-bound migrants off the country’s Mediterranean coast, following reports by a German aid group about the disaster.

    Libyan coast guards first reported finding a sinking rubber boat whose bottom had collapsed on Thursday, leaving most migrants in the water and hanging onto what was left of the boat and plastic barrels. A statement posted Friday on the navy press center’s official Facebook page says that boat carried 87 migrants, including six women and a child.

    Earlier, the coast guard came to the rescue of two other rubber boats carrying a total of 203 migrants, according to a separate statement.

    The three boats carried mostly Arab and African nationals as well as 14 Bangladeshis, who were handed over to Libyan police after receiving humanitarian and medical aid.

    A few hours earlier, German aid group Sea-Watch said its aircraft had witnessed three rescue operations by Libyan coast guards on Thursday.

    Libya became a major conduit for African migrants and refugees fleeing to Europe after the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed dictator Moammar Gadhafi and amid the subsequent chaos and turmoil that engulfed the oil-rich North African country.

    Thousands have perished while making the perilous sea crossing, while others have been detained and abused in Libya by smugglers and armed groups.”

  7. Yemen’s president in letter to UN chief criticizes his envoy (abcnews, May 24, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/yemens-president-letter-chief-criticizes-envoy-63250123

    “Yemen’s president has sent a letter to the U.N. chief criticizing his envoy to the war-torn Arab country over allegedly siding with the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.

    President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s letter to António Guterres was released late Thursday.

    In the letter, Hadi claims that actions by U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths undermine chances for peace and warns the internationally recognized government would stop dealing with Griffths.

    Tensions arose between Griffiths and Hadi last week after the U.N. announced the long-delayed Houthi withdrawal from the flashpoint port city of Hodeida.

    Hadi’s government accused Griffiths at the time of turning a blind eye that the rebels had allegedly only handed control of the port to “militia leaders” loyal to them.

    The “redeployment of Houthis” from Hodeida was part of a U.N.-brokered deal.”

  8. Child migrants around the world are being denied their human rights (theconversation, May 24, 2019)
    https://theconversation.com/child-migrants-around-the-world-are-being-denied-their-human-rights-117046

    “At 3am we were forced to leave the bus station. We were caught by the police. They asked if we had passports. We said no, we are from Afghanistan, please help us – the police drove away.

    Afghani refugee, 15, on meeting police in Paris

    Abed – not his real name – had been in Paris after a treacherous overland journey from Afghanistan. He is one of many youngsters whose families fear the situation in their own country enough to send their children alone to a safer land. With his father already dead and his brother disappeared, Abed’s uncle and mother sold land to pay nearly US$20,000 to an agent to escort him to the UK.

    The agent agreed to take the boy the whole way, feed him well and make comfortable travel arrangements. Instead Abed was passed from agent to agent, travelled in often unbearable conditions, witnessed intimidation and beatings by authorities, and was sometimes lucky to eat at all. When refused help by the Paris police, the consequences were not disastrous. He at least hadn’t been detained, and ended up reaching the UK hiding in a container ship, then applying for asylum and being granted temporary leave to remain.

    But all too often, child migrants end up in the hands of traffickers who force them into sexual exploitation or slavery, often accompanied with violence or even torture. Many more end up in state detention, often used by authorities as an alternative to care, with long-term effects on their mental and physical health. In the US, for instance, six child migrants from Guatemala and El Salvador have died in custody since December. The most recent, an unnamed 16-year-old boy, was “found unresponsive” during a routine check.

    When we recently interviewed unaccompanied refugee and migrant children in Scotland, many told us how during dangerous journeys, no one helped them. Many of these children – and others we have interviewed in countries as diverse as Germany, Mexico, Morocco and Ethiopia – had lost their trust in adults. A recent UNICEF survey found that 38% of young migrants and refugees make similar claims about lack of support.

    This is the 30th year since the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Ratified by every nation except the US, which is only a signatory and so isn’t bound by the convention, it is a commitment to universal human rights for children to the age of 18. It includes a right to life, survival and development. It includes a right not to be tortured or ill-treated; a right to be protected from violence, abuse and neglect; a right to be protected from sexual exploitation, and from inhuman or degrading treatment. It includes a right to appropriate care, health care, education and an appropriate standard of living.

    This framework is underpinned by other international agreements such as the UN Guidelines on Alternative Care 2009, which aim to protect children deprived of parental care by making the state responsible for providing an alternative. Yet many child migrants are denied these rights. So how do we ensure our supposed commitment to children’s rights lives up to what was intended?

    The great shift
    Vast numbers of children and families are on the move around the world. There are now 30m children displaced by conflict, the highest since World War II, and vastly more unaccompanied child migrants are being recorded than at the beginning of the decade. Besides war, other factors driving child migration include poverty and climate change.

    Certainly, there have been achievements in relation to child migrant rights. In Palermo in Sicily, a system has been set up to ensure every arriving child receives a legal guardian from the local community. Mexico is pioneering a system of alternative care for child refugees, providing accommodation and full support and enabling them to become part of the community. In Ethiopia, we filmed impressive work to register lone children quickly to reunite them with families or place them in foster care in refugee camps.

    But so much more could be done to help such children. It doesn’t help that much of our evidence relies on first-hand testimonies, since country data is often poor or non-existent. The best information relates to Europe. this report, for example, highlights everything from failures to appoint legal guardians in Bulgaria to increasing detentions in France to patchy accommodation in Germany. But even in Europe it can still be difficult to build up a full picture about any one country, still less to compare them.

    In any case, most migration is actually between low income countries. This accounts for 85% of refugees – particularly in Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon and Uganda. These countries receive only minimal assistance from wealthier countries to help fulfil child migrants’ rights. This is despite the fact that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child favours such international cooperation.

    All state parties to the convention have to report on progress to the relevant UN committee, which publishes regular reports about each country. The committee does its best to be critical where appropriate, but too many countries are still not prioritising the rights of child migrants to any real extent – and the US is not being held to account at all; its refusal to ratify the convention is a blatant disregard for children’s rights.

    We have to ask all nations why they think it acceptable that the rights of children in such difficult circumstances so often stop at borders. The global community needs to treat these children with dignity, providing them with access to education and healthcare, and ensuring that alternative care rather than detention is available. There needs to be proper casework to identify their needs and provide care, and family contact where possible.

    Unless the world makes concrete commitments to address these children’s rights much more effectively, any celebrations of the convention’s 30th anniversary this year will ring very hollow. We have the international principles, the knowledge, and examples of promising practice – as we have gathered for a new online course – in all continents across the globe. It is time that the millions of displaced children like Abed are treated with the respect, care and support they deserve.”

  9. Zakir Musa: Thousands at Kashmir militant’s funeral (BBC, video, May 24, 2019)
    https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-48395244/zakir-musa-thousands-at-kashmir-militant-s-funeral

    “Thousands of people have attended the funeral of Zakir Musa, described as India’s “most wanted” militant.

    The army said that Musa was shot dead on Thursday after they trapped him in a house in south Kashmir’s Tral district.

    Musa split from the Hizbul Mujahideen, one of the largest groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, and declared his allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2017.”

  10. UK Intel Agencies Frame ‘Spygate’ Involvement Ahead of Trump’s Declassification

  11. Leftist Pro-Migration Activists Alleged to Be Behind UN Attack on Salvini (breitbart, May 24, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/05/24/leftist-pro-migration-activists-alleged-behind-un-attack-salvini/

    “Italian media has alleged that pro-migrant activists and leftist politicians are behind an attack by the United Nations on the immigration of policy of populist Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.

    The 12-page letter, which is addressed to the Italian ambassador to the United Nations, slams the anti-mass migration policies enacted by Salvini regarding migrant transport NGO vessels, stating that directives from the Interior Ministry “criminalise” humanitarian search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean.

    Much of the content of the letter also refers to the new security decree proposed by Salvini that will allow the Italians to confiscate NGO migrant transport ships which enter Italian territory without permission.

    The letter also argues against allowing the Libyan coastguard to pick up migrants and take them back to Libya stating: “It has been widely documented in various UN reports that migrants in Libya are subjected to abuse, torture, murder, and rape so Libya cannot be considered a safe harbour for a landing.”

    According to a report from Italian newspaper Il Giornale, the six signatories at the end of the letter are leftist open border advocates including Michel Forst who works with the Dublin-based NGO “Front Line Defenders,” a group which carried out work on behalf of human rights activists and seeks to defend people they label “human rights defenders at risk,” according to their website.

    Katia Bellillo, another of the signatories, is said to have spent time among the Italian Communist party before moving to the left-wing Democratic Party, according to Il Giornale, while Laura Balbo is a member of the left-wing Italian Federazione dei Verdi (Green Federation) party.

    Since Salvini closed Italian ports to migrant transport NGO vessels, the number of newly arriving illegal migrants has decreased substantially, to over 90 per cent compared to the previous year. As a result, fewer migrants set sail from Libya and drowning deaths in the Mediterranean have also seen a decrease since the anti-mass migration policy was enacted.”

  12. Swedish Court Denies Increased Payment To Father of Terror Victim (breitbart, May 24, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/05/24/swedish-court-denies-increased-payment-to-father-of-terror-victim/

    “The Supreme Court of Sweden has dismissed a case denying the father of Ebba Akerlund, one of the victims of the 2017 Stockholm terror attack, an increased payment from convicted terrorist Rakhmat Akilov.

    The court rejected the request from Stefan Akerlund according to a report from Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, with the court saying it did not find the case admissible.

    Mr Akerlund is said to have demanded a total of 300,000 Swedish Krona (£24,610/$31,147) as compensation from the convicted terrorist for mental trauma suffered due to the loss of his daughter in the terror attack, an amount well above the 100,000 krona more than another judge had previously ordered Akilov to pay.

    11-year-old Ebba Åkerlund became perhaps the best known female victim of the Stockholm terror attack as she was the youngest of the five who lost their lives in the attack.

    The father of the 11-year-old has previously demanded that the Swedish government thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding the attack in order to prevent similar attacks from occurring in the future.

    “The fact that the Migration Board and the Police did not do their job and deport a person who was here illegally, resulted in my daughter losing her life which forever destroyed my own life,” Åkerlund said, noting that terrorist Akilov had been denied refugee status but had not been deported from the country.

    Mr Åkerlund also revealed late last year in November, that the grave of his daughter had been repeatedly vandalised by an illegal immigrant saying on social media, “Since late March, he’s damaged Isabell’s tomb at Ebba’s cemetery so badly that her mother had to replace the headstone. About six weeks ago, Olof Palme’s headstone was totally destroyed by [candle wax] that won’t come off. Ebba’s tomb has been desecrated over 30 times.””

  13. Marxism: What’s Behind America’s New Anti-Freedom Love Affair?

    (Richard: What is behind this trend, decades of the far left taking over the school systems and teaching their delusions instead of teaching the facts)

  14. Trump Cuts Off Infrastructure Talks With Democrats, Demands End to Investigations

  15. Trump moves to escalate investigation of intel agencies

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday granted Attorney General William Barr new powers to review and potentially release classified information related to the origins of the Russia investigation, a move aimed at accelerating Barr’s inquiry into whether U.S. officials improperly surveilled Trump’s 2016 campaign.

    Trump directed the intelligence community to “quickly and fully cooperate” with Barr’s probe. The directive marked an escalation in Trump’s efforts to “investigate the investigators,” as he continues to try to undermine the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe amid mounting Democratic calls for impeachment proceedings.

    Press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump is delegating to Barr the “full and complete authority” to declassify documents relating to the probe, which would ease his efforts to review the sensitive intelligence underpinnings of the investigation. Such an action could create fresh tensions within the FBI and other intelligence agencies, which have historically resisted such demands.

    https://apnews.com/9e926bfccb5947d5a5f8eb260cb0a7e6

  16. Far from border, US cities feel effect of migrant releases
    By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICONyesterday

    MIAMI (AP) — A surge of asylum-seeking families has been straining cities along the southern U.S. border for months, but now the issue is flowing into cities far from Mexico, where immigrants are being housed in an airplane hangar and rodeo fairgrounds and local authorities are struggling to keep up with the influx.

    U.S. immigration officials have eyed spots in states like Florida, Michigan and New York, to help process the migrants before they move on to their destination, which could be anywhere in the U.S.

    And in border states, cities that are several hours’ drive from Mexico are already seeing sometimes hundreds of migrants a day.

    https://apnews.com/1c7aec8b18ae4cb3a8ed0a624c641eb9

  17. South Africa horror as white farmer activist beaten to death with hammer
    A SOUTH African farmer activist who spoke out against brutal attacks on the the country’s white farmers has been found dead.

    Annette Kennealy, 51, was founded with multiple wounds to the body on her land in Limpopo province. Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe, a police spokesman, said: “Family members tried to call her without success, until one of them went to investigate. “On arrival he found the deceased inside the house.”

    The victim was staying with an employee on her farm in the town of Louis Trichardt when she was attacked.

    A friend is said to have found her body lying in a pool of blood.

    Ian Cameron, head of the Community Safety division of AfriForum, a group that represents the rights of the white Afrikaner minority, said Ms Kennealy had been attacked with a hammer and iron rod.

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1131108/South-africa-white-farmers-annette-Kennealy-death-democratic-alliance

  18. Why U.S.-Iran tensions could quickly escalate into a crisis

    WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Three years ago, when Iran’s military captured 10 U.S. sailors after they mistakenly strayed into Iranian waters, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif jumped on the phone in minutes and worked out the sailors’ release in hours.

    Could a similar crisis be so quickly resolved today?

    https://www.oann.com/why-u-s-iran-tensions-could-quickly-escalate-into-a-crisis/

  19. Around 600,000 Afghan children face death through malnutrition without emergency funds: UNICEF (UN, May 24, 2019)
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1039091

    “In Afghanistan, children suffering from the most serious form of malnutrition may die, unless $7 million in funding is found within weeks, UNICEF said on Friday.

    Speaking in Geneva, UN Children’s Fund spokesperson Christophe Boulierac, likened the humanitarian situation in the war-torn country to “one of the worst disasters on earth”.

    And he warned that increased violence and last year’s severe drought have left hundreds of thousands of under-fives, critically vulnerable in the west and north of the country.

    “There are two million children in the country which suffer from acute malnutrition, among them 600,000 children that suffer from severe acute malnutrition,” he said. “A child that suffers from acute severe malnutrition is a child that needs urgent treatment, otherwise he might die.”

    While Afghanistan’s nutrition crisis is mirrored in many other trouble-spots around the world – from South Sudan to Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – the UNICEF Spokesperson underlined the dangers, if funding is not found soon.

    “We are the sole provider of treatment for severe acute malnutrition,” Mr. Boulierac said, noting that the number of youngsters suffering from the condition had remained “stagnant” for years. “If we don’t have money to buy this treatment, the severely acute malnourished will not get it.”

    The development comes amid ongoing insecurity linked to four decades of conflict in Afghanistan, where UNICEF distributes supplies to health facilities across all 34 provinces.

    According to the agency, 3.8 million children need protection and assistance this year, while nearly 289,000 people were displaced by violence in 2018. In addition, one in three children has experienced psychological distress, linked to the “constant risk” of death or injury, UNICEF believes.

    Existing funding shortages have meant that fewer than one in two of the most vulnerable children received life-saving help in UN-supported health clinics across Afghanistan in 2018.

    “This year in 2019, we would like to reach 60 per cent (of children) – not even 100 per cent – but we cannot,” Mr. Boulierac explained, “and it is extremely worrying. If we do not get $7 million dollars in three weeks, 1,300 facilities all over the country will not get this treatment.”

    To meet Afghanistan’s essential nutrition requirements in 2019, UNICEF needs $26 million, but it has so far only received half of this amount.

    “We cannot tell you how many children will die; but we can tell you that a child with severe acute malnutrition is 11 times more likely to die than their healthy peers,” he explained, noting that malnutrition reduces people’s resistance to disease.

    This is a particular concern in Afghanistan, where only one in two children has been vaccinated, the UNICEF spokesperson added.”

  20. DAILY MAIL – FRANCE – Le Monde newspaper executive is summoned for questioning by France’s intelligence agency after breaking story about Macron security aide ‘attacking a protestor’

    Managing director Louis Dreyfus to go before the domestic intelligence agency
    He broke story of Macron aide Alexandre Benalla roughing up protestor
    First reported in article in July 2018 after he was seen on streets in police helmet
    Summonses have created disquiet in French media over journalistic independence

    The managing director of the newspaper Le Monde, Louis Dreyfus, said Thursday he has been summoned for questioning by France’s domestic intelligence agency, following a similar order against one of the daily’s senior reporters.

    Dreyfus told AFP he and Ariane Chemin – who broke the story of an explosive scandal concerning a security aide to President Emmanuel Macron, Alexandre Benalla, who was fired after being filmed roughing up a protester while police stood by – have both been told to appear at the headquarters of the DGSI service on May 29.

    It was an article in July 2018 by Chemin that first reported that Benalla had beaten a May Day demonstrator while wearing a police helmet.

    The Elysee has been accused of covering up the affair by failing to report Benalla to the authorities.

    The summonses have created disquiet in French media over journalistic independence and freedom of expression, especially as they follow DGSI orders against four reporters of an investigative website, DIsclose, after they reported on leaked military intelligence about how French weapons sold to Saudi Arabia and the UAE were being used in Yemen.

    ‘It is to be feared that, with these summonses, authorities are trying to intimidate the journalists and identify their sources so as to punish or dissuade them,’ said the head of the Reporters Without Borders watchdog group, Christophe Deloire.

    Le Monde on Wednesday reported that Chemin was summoned for her articles on Benalla as well as a profile she did of a former air force officer, Chokri Wakrim, who is the partner of the former head of security in the prime minister’s office.

    The ex-security chief, Marie-Elodie Poitout, resigned after media revealed she and Wakrim had welcomed Benalla to their home in July but insisted it had only been a social affair.

    Dreyfus and Chemin were being questioned as part of a DGSI probe into the alleged revelation of ‘a member of special forces units’.

    Several sources said the investigation stemmed from a complaint made in mid-April by Wakrim.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7066707/Le-Monde-paper-exec-summoned-questioning-Macron-security-aide-attacking-protestor-story.html

  21. europravda – The campaign videos populists are using in bid to get EU votes

  22. Dueling bombshells: Mueller wants to testify – in private; Trump orders declassification
    By J.E. Dyer May 24, 2019

    There you have it. Have competing bombshells ever had quite so synergistic an effect?

    MSNBC tried to make it a bombshell, at any rate, that Special Counsel Robert Mueller now wants to testify to Rep. Jerry Nadler’s House Judiciary Committee, a disclosure Nadler showed up to make on the Rachel Maddow show on Thursday evening.

    Mueller wants to testify, but he wants to do it in private

    (video at site in this spot)

    Nadler: Mueller…uh, I think I can say at this point that he wants to testify in private.

    Maddow: Why?

    Nadler: I don’t know why. I’m…it’s – he’s willing to make an opening statement, but he wants to testify in private…

    Nadler suggested a few seconds later that Mueller “doesn’t want to be public in what some people would see as a political spectacle.” Uh-huh. One can see Mueller’s point.

    Later in the discussion, Nadler emphasized his determination to force whatever witnesses Trump doesn’t want testifying to testify. Those witnesses, of course, are people whose activities were intensively scrutinized by Robert Mueller for 22 months without any indictments being brought. Mueller also catalogued exhaustively in his report a list of actions by or involving those people, none of which is indictable, and in fact virtually none of which he had any business including in the report, because they are not indictable.

    https://twitter.com/i/status/1131736624809824263

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/05/24/dueling-bombshells-mueller-wants-to-testify-in-private-trump-orders-declassification/

    Richard: This is getting interesting, the Swamp/Sewer are trying to prevent the facts from being made public so their spin become the public record. If Mueller testified in private, the Dems could leak what they want and leave the Repubs saying the Dems are lying but not being able to prove it. Now Barr can declassify the things that are needed to prove the Dems are lying.

    As to the rest the way the Dems are screaming about leaving the Intel agencies alone makes me wonder just how much they have been penetrated by our enemies and how badly are our intel assets compromised? The firing and arrest of the heads of Italian intel agencies and the info that keeps going back to British intel (and possibly political) involvement in the coup makes me wonder had badly they have been penetrated and compromised?

    The facts are becoming public and the left is becoming desperate, combine these facts with the way antifa is creating no go zones for non radical leftists and the drug cartels and the gangs are working to create no go zones in our major cities and you have a recipe for a major civil war.

    When?

    Soon.

    How Soon?

    I don’t know how long it will be before the left panics enough to start openly killing people.
    When that starts there is a very large probablity that the fed up patriots will retaliate.

  23. europravda – The surge of populists in the EU elections is being greatly exaggerated

    • Associated Pravda – Climate concerns spur Green surge in Germany

      In Germany, polls show climate change has overtaken immigration as the issue voters in the EU’s most populous nation are most concerned about.

    • MSNBC – Russian Agitation Seen In European Politics As Elections Approach

    • Sky Pravda – UK scheme to stop Russia attacking democracies

      Sky News investigates a disinformation campaign that Britain is quietly funding across Europe to fight Russian influence.

      The goal is to expand the support to more than 50 NGOs across the continent

      A foreign office spokeswoman said:

      “Every partner is independent and is committed to sharing their knowledge, expertise and best practice with others, ultimately strengthening the collective response of European civil society to disinformation.”

      • We need our administrations to stop attacking our democracies,forget the Russians.Yet more integration with the eussr beast.

    • Climate activist Greta Thunberg leads rally in Sweden

      Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, who has sparked school strikes worldwide against global warming, joins thousands of people in Stockholm to protest against climate change, as part of an international climate strike.

    • Sweden: ‘Our politicians have betrayed us’ – Thunberg on climate change

      Sixteen-year-old Swedish student and environmental activist Greta Thunberg demanded that EU politicians stop “bickering” and start acting on climate change, while speaking to a crowd of students at the climate protest-strike that hit Stockholm on Friday.

      “If the EU were to decide to seriously fight the climate crisis, it would mean a decisive global change. The EU election should reasonably only be about this. But it isn’t. Not at all. This election campaign is about politicians bickering with other politicians about issues that in a bigger perspective won’t be of any significance whatsoever,” she said.

      Responding to the idea that students are going on strike as an excuse to miss classes, Greta invited everyone to join the movement. “Go on strike yourselves, [applause], go on strike from work, go out onto the streets and scream [applause] do something, we need your help more than ever.”

      “Our leaders have betrayed us, our politicians have betrayed us, our media has betrayed us, to such an extent that we have to sacrifice our educations to do all that which most adults don’t dare to do,” she added.”

      The protest was part of a larger movement, as the strike for the future has mobilised people from all around Europe, amid European elections.

      The strike originates from “Fridays for Future”, a movement that was initiated by Thunberg, who has been demonstrating on Fridays since August 2018 under the motto “School strike for the climate” in front of the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm.

      • You must not skip your meds ,greta,who knows where you will lead the hive mind.

  24. LIVE – Trump speaks to press after granting Barr broad power to review Russia probe

    ( soon to begin )

    • CNN – Trump allies share fake video of Nancy Pelosi stammering her words

  25. Her ‘Sad Life’: WaPo White House Reporter Whines About Covering President Trump

    Ashley Parker, White House reporter for the Washington Post, whined online Thursday night about her “sad life” having to cover President Trump. Parker complained that her smartphone buzzed every four minutes and instead of it being a message from her husband it was (tweets by) President Trump.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/her-sad-life-wapo-white-house-reporter-whines-about-covering-president-trump/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20May%2024,%202019%20at%2011:06:06%20AM

  26. Schiff Panics: Accuses Trump of Cover-up With Declassification of Campaign Spying Docs

    Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, attacked President Trump Thursday night as being “un-American” after Trump announced he was authorizing Attorney General William Barr to declassify and release documents related to Obama administration and Deep State spying on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

    chiff accused Trump and Barr of conspiring to “weaponize law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies”, which are the very things done to Trump by the Obama administration and the Deep State that Barr has been tasked by Trump to investigate.

    Schiff posted to Twitter: “While Trump stonewalls the public from learning the truth about his obstruction of justice, Trump and Barr conspire to weaponize law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies. The coverup has entered a new and dangerous phase. This is un-American.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/schiff-panics-accuses-trump-of-cover-up-with-declassification-of-campaign-spying-docs/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20May%2024,%202019%20at%2011:06:06%20AM

  27. Trump Jr Fires Back At Pelosi: ‘I Don’t Think The Party Of Infanticide Is Praying For Anyone’

    Donald Trump Jr. fired back at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Thursday after she claimed that she would pray for President Donald Trump.

    “I don’t think the party of infanticide is praying for anyone,” he said.

    Trump Jr. was visiting the hosts of “Fox & Friends” on board the USS New York as they celebrate Fleet Week.

    https://dailycaller.com/2019/05/23/trump-jr-pelosi-party-of-infanticide-praying/

  28. China Bans Game of Thrones Finale?!?! | US China Trade War Song | Trump Targets Biden

    • Undercover video reveals brutal treatment of Falun Gong prisoners inside Chinese labor camps

      LOS ANGELES, Calif. (FOX 11) – WARNING: This story contains graphic images and video that may be disturbing to some viewers.

      A California family is taking their fight to the Chinese government after they say their loved one was tortured and killed inside of a Chinese labor camp nearly 20 years ago, simply for supporting the spiritual meditation practice known as Falun Gong. Now, never before seen undercover video given to FOX 11 is revealing what life is like for political prisoners inside of those Chinese labor camps.
      In 1999, the Chinese government ordered the eradication Falun Gong, calling it a “heretical” organization that threatened social stability.

      \video at site

      http://www.foxla.com/news/national-news/undercover-video-reveals-brutal-treatment-of-falun-gong-prisoners-inside-chinese-labor-camps

  29. Lauren Southern – Borderless (2019) | Official Documentary

    ( 1 h 28 min )

  30. Child Recruits: Just How Bad Is It?

    From Iran to Turkey, Hezbollah to Hamas, child recruits are prized. But don’t think it’s just a problem “over there.” ISIS and other extremist groups are busy recruiting American youth as well.

    https://clarionproject.org/child-recruits-just-how-bad-is-it/?utm_source=Clarion+Project+Newsletter&utm_campaign=541cf9202b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_03_17_12_03_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_60abb35148-541cf9202b-5908801&mc_cid=541cf9202b&mc_eid=65230079c6

  31. Exit Polls: Nigel Farage and Brexit Party Leading in Britain with 37 Percent of Vote!

    On Thursday British voters took to the polls in the European elections.
    Nigel Farage and his six-week-old Brexit Party is leading in the exit polls.

    Exit Polls: Nigel Farage and Brexit Party Leading in Britain with 37 Percent of Vote!
    Jim Hoft by Jim Hoft May 24, 2019 97 Comments

    Share 119Tweet Email

    On Thursday British voters took to the polls in the European elections.
    Nigel Farage and his six-week-old Brexit Party is leading in the exit polls.

    According to Conservative Treehouse the exit polls look good for the Brexit Party.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/exit-polls-nigel-farage-and-brexit-party-leading-in-britain-with-37-percent-of-vote/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20May%2024,%202019%20at%2003:06:06%20PM

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7064685/Theresa-address-nation-TODAY-pledge-Britain-new-PM-summer.html

  32. FBI Lawyer Squeals Like a Pig: Implicates Comey, McCabe, and Yates for Mishandling of FISA Warrant

    On Monday Rep. Doug Collins released the remaining transcripts from the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation into decisions made at the DOJ and FBI to exonerate Hillary Clinton and spy on candidate Donald Trump.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/fbi-lawyer-squeals-like-a-pig-points-finger-at-comey-mccabe-and-yates-for-mishandling-of-fisa-warrant/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20May%2024,%202019%20at%2003:06:06%20PM

  33. Turkey: Security Forces Arrest Ten ISIS-linked Foreigners (aawsat, May 24, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1734726/turkey-security-forces-arrest-ten-isis-linked-foreigners

    “Turkish counter terrorism forces on Tuesday arrested 10 foreigners suspected of links to an ISIS operative in the central province of Kayseri.

    Security sources said simultaneous raids were carried in several locations.

    Since early 2017, Turkish security forces have arrested more than 4,000 members of the terrorist organization, most of whom were foreigners. Hundreds have since been deported.

    Turkish security forces foiled 347 terrorist attacks in 2018 alone, much less when compared to the 697 terrorist attacks thwarted in 2017. In parallel, recent reports shed light on what seems to be a Turkish pro-leniency policy when handling ISIS and al-Qaeda detainees.

    These reports showed that most detained foreign militants and their accomplices arrested between 2014 and 2016 on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities were released shortly after.

    Data released by the Turkish Gendarmerie Division covering the period from January 1, 2014 to June 30, 2016 showed that of the 607 detained, 224 were foreigners.

    According to reports, most of the suspects officially arrested on charges of association with ISIS and al-Qaeda in Turkey were quickly released by court proceedings and that those convicted were a very little few.

    The number of foreign militants arrested in Turkey and who come from Syria and Iraq rose from only 8 in 2014 to 499 in 2015.”

  34. Saudi Arabia Urges Int’l Community to Take Firm Stand Against Houthis (aawsat, May 24, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1737681/saudi-arabia%C2%A0urges-int%E2%80%99l-community-take-firm-stand-against-houthis

    “Saudi Arabia has called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities by taking a firm stand against the Iran-backed terrorist Houthi militias after targeting vital populated areas in the Kingdom with ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

    Such attacks are a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law and relevant Security Council resolutions, said Acting Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations Dr. Khaled Manzlawiy.

    Making the Kingdom’s speech at a Security Council session on “Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict”, Manzlawiy said Riyadh is constantly urging the international community to adopt a unified and comprehensive approach to protect and distance civilians from armed conflicts.

    This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the Council’s adoption of Resolution 1265 on “Protecting Civilians in Armed Conflict.””