Contributor’s links for July 29, 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

127 Replies to “Contributor’s links for July 29, 2019”

  1. the gateway pundit – WOW! Nancy Pelosi Lectures Trump, Spouts Off on Rat-Infested Baltimore from 5 Star Hotel Rooftop Restaurant in Venice, Italy with Fellow Democrats

    […]

    Here’s Nancy Pelosi, the Squad and Elijah Cummings (just out of the picture) having an extremely expensive lunch at the renowned Harry Cipriani in Venice, right near their 5 star hotel, while their constituents are living in squalor.

    https://twitter.com/Wozniak1/status/1155877865122082817

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/07/wow-nancy-pelosi-spouts-off-on-rat-infested-baltimore-from-5-star-hotel-rooftop-restaurant-in-venice-italy-with-fellow-democrats/

  2. BRAZIL – Riot at Altamira jail in Brazil leaves 52 dead – 16 decapitated

    Fifty-two prisoners have died after a five-hour rebellion at a prison in Brazil’s southwestern region of Para.

    State prisons chief Jarbas Vasconcelos said the riot was started by two criminal gangs inside the prison at around 7am while breakfast was being served.

    Inmates set parts of the prison on fire, preventing authorities from getting inside.

    At least 16 prisoners were beheaded and the other victims were asphyxiated.

    No prison staff were injured, although two were held hostage and later released.

    According to Globo.com the prison has a capacity of 200 detainees but was occupied by 311 prisoners.

    […]

    https://uk.news.yahoo.com/riot-altamira-jail-brazil-leaves-52-dead-16-163800865.html

    G.R.A.P.H.I.C :

    • At least 52 dead in Brazil prison riot: official

      At least 52 inmates were killed in a prison riot in northern Brazil on Monday as rival gang factions fought each other, an official said.

      Sixteen of the dead were decapitated in the second major eruption of violence to rock the country’s severely overpopulated and deadly prison system in as many months.

      Fighting broke out in the Altamira Regional Recovery Center at around 7:00 am (1000 GMT), an official from the Para state government’s penitentiary department told AFP.

      Two guards were taken hostage during the clashes that ended at around midday. They were eventually freed.

      Footage broadcast by SBT Altamira purportedly showed thick black smoke rising from the prison compound and people sitting on the roof of a building.

      In May, at least 55 prisoners were killed in several jails in the neighboring state of Amazonas in violence also blamed on an apparent gang dispute.

      Most of the victims were killed by asphyxiation, the state government said at the time.

      The federal government dispatched reinforcements to boost security in the jails.

      Brazil has the world’s third largest prison population after the United States and China, with 726,712 inmates as of June 2016, according to official statistics.

      The population is double the capacity of the nation’s jails, which in the same year was estimated to be 368,049 inmates.

      The federal government had been expected to add another 115,000 inmates by the end of 2018, Human Rights Watch said in a recent report.

      Along with severe overcrowding and gang violence, riots and breakout attempts in Brazil’s prisons are not uncommon.

      https://www.afp.com/en/news/717/least-52-dead-brazil-prison-riot-official-doc-1j69mj3

  3. Note: 8-year-old boy pushed in front of a train by African migrant in Germany, dead. Motive unclear…

    Am Hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt hat ein 40-Jähriger am Montag (27. Juli) eine 40-jährige Mutter und ihr 8-jähriges Kind auf die Gleise geschubst. Die Mutter konnte sich retten. Der 8-jährige Junge verstarb noch am Gleis.

    Ein 40-jähriger Mann eritreischer Herkunft attackierte eine Mutter mit Kind und schubste sie auf die Gleise.
    Die Mutter rettete sich, das Kind wurde von einem ICE überrollt und starb noch an der Unfallstelle.
    Innenminister Horst Seehofer (CSU) bricht seinen Urlaub ab und zeigt sich bestürzt von der Tat.
    Update, Montag (29. Juli), 18.44 Uhr: Innenminister Horst Seehofer (CDU) zeigte sich am Abend bestürzt über den tödlichen Angriff an Frankfurt. Den Angehörigen der Opfer und den Freunden des getöteten Jungen wünschte er Kraft.

    Die Hintergründe des „abscheulichen Verbrechens“ seien noch unklar, sagte der Innenminister. Der Täter solle dafür „mit allen rechtsstaatlichen Mitteln zu Verantwortung gezogen werden“. Den Ermittlern in Hessen sagte er, wenn nötig, die Unterstützung etwa der Bundespolizei oder des Bundeskriminalamts zu.

    Update, Montag (29. Juli), 16.25 Uhr: Innenminister Horst Seehofer (70) will sich noch heute mit den Sicherheitsbehörden treffen. Am Dienstag (29. Juli) will der Minister die Presse über die Inhalte der Gespräche informieren.

    Sperrung der Gleise am Frankfurter Hauptbahnhof – Motiv des Täters ist unklar

    https://www.ruhr24.de/panorama/frankfurt-hauptbahnhof-mann-stoesst-kind-vor-einfahrenden-zug-ice-242167/

    • A child has died after being pushed onto the tracks, along with his mother, in front of a train at Frankfurt’s main station.
      The eight-year-old boy – and his 40-year-old mother – were pushed onto the tracks in front of an oncoming high-speed train as it was arriving at the station. Police said in a statement that the child was hit by the train and died at the scene.

      His mother was able to escape by climbing onto the footpath between platform seven and eight. She was taken to hospital where she was treated for injuries.

      Police said initial findings suggest the suspect then attempted to push another person onto the tracks but that person was able to escape.

      The alleged perpetrator, a 40-year-old man then tried to flee the main station. However, onlookers chased him and detained him there until police arrived.

      According to police, the suspect and the victims did not know each other.

      Frankfurt police are trying to establish the exact circumstances surrounding the tragic incident. They have opened a murder inquiry and were questioning the suspect on Monday for possible motives.

      https://www.thelocal.de/20190729/child-dies-after-being-pushed-in-front-of-train-in-frankfurt

  4. The Shame of Baltimore
    How the Democrat machine – that Rep. Cummings is part of – destroyed Charm City.
    July 29, 2019
    Frontpagemag.com

    The New Shame of the Cities, Perazzo’s pamphlet for the David Horowitz Freedom Center, is a vital counterweight to the mendacious cries of racism that have descended on President Trump for daring to speak the truth about Baltimore and Rep. Elijah Cummings.

    “Black congressman, majority-black district. ‘No human being would want to live there.’ Is he saying people that live in Baltimore are not human beings?” Chris Wallace blathered on FOX News.

    As John Perazzo demonstrates, people don’t want to live there. Not since the Democrat machine – that Rep. Cummings is part of – ruined Charm City.

    “Today Baltimore’s population has declined to 622,000,” Perazzo notes in The New Shame of the Cities. “As a result of Baltimore’s multiple social, economic, and educational problems, some 47,000 abandoned houses and 16,000 vacant buildings now stand like pulled teeth in Baltimore’s once vibrant but now depleted and depressed neighborhoods.”

    The victims of Baltimore’s Democrat catastrophe invariably have been black people. Those are the same people whom President Trump stood up for when he took on Rep. Elijah Cummings and the other poverty pimps who have run Baltimore and other cities into the ground.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274453/shame-baltimore-frontpagemagcom

  5. Ep. 1032 Don’t Dare Back Away From This Fight. The Dan Bongino Show 7/29/2019.

  6. Trump vs. Cummings
    Remember when Bernie Sanders likened Baltimore to a “Third World country” and North Korea?
    July 29, 2019
    Lloyd Billingsley

    “Therefore, when we hear about stories coming out from you and your agency that everything is pretty good, you’re doing a great job,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings in a July 18 hearing with acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan.

    “I guess you feel like you’re doing a great job. Right? Is that what you’re saying?” Cummings continued. “What does that mean? What does that mean when a child is sitting in their own feces, can’t take a shower! Come on, man. What is that about?”

    C-SPAN did not give a decibel reading but Cummings was blasting away at high volume, particularly on the feces theme, to which he quickly returned. “Make sure they have diapers,” the Democrat told McAleenan. “Make sure they are not laying around defecating in some silver paper. Come on. We’re better than that.”

    The Maryland Democrat also said, “I get tired of folks saying, ‘Oh, they just beating up on the Border Patrol. They just beating up on Homeland Security.’” As President Trump had it, that was exactly what Cummings was doing.

    Trump was on record that detention centers at the border are “clean, efficient and well run, just very crowded.” By contrast, the president tweeted, Cummings was a “brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border” and his district “is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place.”

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274449/trump-vs-cummings-lloyd-billingsley

  7. 2+2 = White Privilege
    Math and social justice don’t add up.
    July 29, 2019
    Mark Tapson

    n the end, the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality, was tacitly denied by their philosophy. – George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four

    It’s no secret that leftist educators have utterly ruined the fields of the humanities with their Marxist wokeness, postmodern deconstructionism, and openly anti-Western bias. Now The College Fix reports that educators are increasingly imposing a social justice agenda in at least one field that you might expect would be free from any sort of ideological perspective: mathematics.

    Math is often referred to as a universal language because its principles are universally true. Theorems and formulas are equally valid in America and China and Zimbabwe, and equally apolitical. Nothing seems more politically incorruptible than a math equation. What policy is there to debate in 2+2 = 4? How can one take sides over the fact that the area of a rectangle equals its length multiplied by its width? But for the social justice Left, politics is, or should be, as omnipresent as God. No corner of the universe may remain unilluminated in their quest to overturn the flawed existing order, free the oppressed, and rebuild the world according to their utopian vision. There can be no topic of discussion or field of endeavor in which politics is absent or in which neutrality and objective truth reign.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274372/22-white-privilege-mark-tapson

  8. FACT CHECK: No, Abraham Lincoln Was Not Influenced by Karl Marx
    July 28, 2019
    Daniel Greenfield

    The Washington Post once used to be a paper of record. These days it’s a forum for assorted leftist nonsense.

    Take the following claim that somehow appeared in the paper, “Abraham Lincoln: Karl Marx influenced his opposition to slavery.” The headline seems to have been changed to the slightly less ridiculous clickbaity, “You know who was into Karl Marx? No, not AOC. Abraham Lincoln.”

    The Washington Post’s evidence for this mostly consists of Lincoln reading a newspaper that spoke approvingly of Marx.

  9. EXCLUSIVE: Transcripts Obtained of Former FBI Chief of Staff James Rybicki Testifying Russia Conspiracy Came from Obama’s White House

    EXCLUSIVE: Transcripts Obtained of Former FBI Chief of Staff James Rybicki Testifying Russia Conspiracy Came from Obama’s White House
    Joe Hoft by Joe Hoft July 29, 2019 180 Comments

    1.0KShare 297Tweet Email

    Transcripts obtained from the FBI in a request for information show that James Rybicki, the former FBI Chief of Staff under James Comey, testified that the Russia Conspiracy sham came from Obama’s White House in October 2016.

    We reported last week that businessman Ed Butowsky filed a lawsuit where he outed reporter Ellen Ratner as his source for information that Seth Rich and his brother provided WikiLeaks the DNC emails before the 2016 election, not Russia. This totally destroys the FBI and Mueller’s claims that Russians hacked the DNC to obtain these emails.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/07/exclusive-transcripts-obtained-of-former-fbi-chief-of-staff-james-rybicki-testifying-russia-conspiracy-came-from-obamas-white-house/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily

  10. WATCH: Democrat Baltimore Mayor Caught On Camera Complaining About ‘Rats, Dead Animals’ Last Year

    As the media and Democratic Party tries to portray President Donald Trump’s tweets about Baltimore as racist, a resurfaced clip from last year shows Democratic Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh complaining about the poor conditions in part of the city, specifically “rats” and “dead animals.”

    https://www.dailywire.com/news/49996/democrat-baltimore-mayor-caught-camera-complaining-ryan-saavedra?utm_medium=email&utm_content=072919-news&utm_campaign=position1

    https://twitter.com/i/status/1155574627869122560

  11. Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain Joined Deep State DNI Dan Coats At Forum in Italy in 2017 – Is Lindsey Deep State Too?

    Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain Joined Deep State DNI Dan Coats At Forum in Italy in 2017 – Is Lindsey Deep State Too?
    Joe Hoft by Joe Hoft July 29, 2019 234 Comments

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    In 2017 Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, along with the Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, all participated in a forum in Italy. We now know McCain and Coats are Deep State. Is Graham Deep State too?

    On September 2, 2017, it was reported that John McCain was in Italy –

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/07/senators-lindsey-graham-and-john-mccain-joined-deep-state-dni-dan-coats-at-forum-in-italy-in-2017-is-lindsey-deep-state-too/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily

    EXCLUSIVE UPDATE: Obama’s CIA Director Brennan in Europe at Exact Same Time Deep State’s ‘Secret Society’ Met in England with Strzok, Page and McCain Lackey Kramer

    We reported yesterday that Obama’s former CIA Director John Brennan was in Portugal in late November 2016. Brennan is widely believed to be the architect of the Trump – Russia collusion hoax. We wondered – what else was Brennan doing in Europe?
    We’ve now pieced together that the Deep State’s ‘Secret Society’ had a meeting in England at the exact same time! Is this why Brennan was in Europe?

    As we reported yesterday, former US Attorney Joe diGenova discussed his thoughts after the Mueller testimony in front of Congress last week. He confirmed much of what has already been posted and at the end of his excellent interview, he said –

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/07/exclusive-update-obamas-cia-director-brennan-in-europe-at-exact-same-time-deep-states-secret-society-met-in-england-with-strzok-page-and-mccain-lackey-kramer/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily

  12. Why U.S. Special Forces Need to Remain Abroad

    by Lawrence A. Franklin
    July 29, 2019 at 4:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14559/us-special-forces-abroad

    American Green Berets are currently gripped in helping dozens of African countries in a low-key but desperate struggle to prevent a vast swath of the world’s poorly governed spaces from falling to Islamist terrorists. The U.S. Special Operations Africa Command’s 3rd Special Forces Group (3rd SFG) has been operating in 33 such countries, training and equipping their local armies to enable them to combat threats to state sovereignty posed by al Qaeda and ISIS. The same goal was the impetus behind the establishment of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) in 2007.

    Since then, the number of American soldiers deployed in Africa has grown to approximately 6,000, a quarter of which belong to Special Forces units. About two-thirds are stationed at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. Their mission is to support the Organization of African Union’s mission to suppress the al Qaeda affiliate, al-Shabaab, in its effort to challenge state sovereignty in Somalia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and to combat piracy operations in international shipping lanes along the East African coast.

    Since 2015, the 3rd SFG has borne the brunt of the burden, returning to an earlier “Area of Responsibility,” following a lengthy deployment in Afghanistan. These Green Beret troops serve as a force multiplier to African counter-terrorist units, by providing needed intelligence and supplying logistical resources.

  13. Congress
    NEW TWIST: Ilhan Omar Splits With Husband, Moves to Luxurious Apartment

    Rep. Ilhan Omar has reportedly separated from her husband and moved to a luxurious apartment.

    Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has reportedly split with her husband, the father of her three children, and has moved to a luxurious penthouse apartment in one of Minneapolis’s trendiest neighborhoods.

    The Daily Mail reports that Omar has separated from her husband, Ahmed Hirsi, marking another twist in the life of a woman who allegedly previously married her own brother to skirt United States immigration laws and aid in his ability to move to the United States.

    Daily Mail reported:

    https://bigleaguepolitics.com/new-twist-ilhan-omar-splits-with-husband-moves-to-luxurious-apartment/

  14. the gateway pundit – Tulsi Gabbard Releases Video Calling for Everyone Across the Political Spectrum to Unite and Fight Big Tech’s Censorship

    Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has released a new video calling for Americans from both sides of the aisle to unite and fight political censorship by the Big Tech monopolies.
    Rep. Gabbard recently filed a $50 million lawsuit against Google for censoring her campaign’s ability to buy ads following the first Democratic primary debate when she was the most searched candidate.

    “Join me in this fight to end big tech monopolies power to censor & undermine Americans’ freedom of speech—because whether we are progressives or conservatives, left or right, if we do not stand united to protect our freedoms, we all lose,” Rep. Gabbard tweeted.

    […]
    https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1155914753652318215

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/07/tulsi-gabbard-releases-video-calling-for-everyone-across-the-political-spectrum-to-unite-and-fight-big-techs-censorship/

  15. Antifa Calls for ‘National Border Resistance’ in Texas, Demands White ‘Accomplices’ Pay for ‘Marginalized People’ to Get There

    One of the largest Antifa websites, It’s Going Down, is calling for a “national border resistance convergence in El Paso, Texas” starting on September 1st.

    The ten day long “convergence” is being organized by multiple Antifa groups and calls for “direct action” against Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    “Local and national organizers are working together to build 10 days of trainings and direct actions for the Border Resistance Convergence in El Paso, TX – September 1-10th. We are calling on affinity groups everywhere to come together and help us address US-funded genocide and local concentration camps,” the call to action reads.

    An “affinity group” is a group of militant radicals who work together.

    “This convergence is being run by Indigenous & QTPOC (Queer, trans, people of color) leadership and anyone who passively or aggressively disrespects that will be asked to leave,” the website states.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/07/antifa-calls-for-national-border-resistance-in-texas-demands-white-accomplices-pay-for-marginalized-people-to-get-there/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily

  16. EVERYTHING You Need to Know About Potential Crimes by Ilhan Omar! | Tom Fitton

    • There is enough in this video to cast grave doubt on how Boris Johnson is going to act while he is Prime Minister.

  17. Life as a North Korean Elite | Former Ambassador Thae Yong-ho | China Uncensored

  18. Democrats Fear Trump Is On Track For 2020 Win, Democrat Infighting And Lack Of Message Sow Worry

  19. Tripoli International Airport Under Fire, Flights Redirected – Officials (sputniknews, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201907291076400687-tripoli-international-airport-under-fire-flights-redirected—officials/

    “Mitiga International Airport in the Libyan capital of Tripoli came under fire on Monday as passengers were boarding a flight operated by a local airline, which was set to fly to the Tunisian city of Sfax, the airport authorities said in a statement.

    “The flights were suspended due to shelling”, the authorities’ statement released on Facebook said.

    Two flights arriving from Istanbul and Tunis were redirected to Misrata Airport due to the shelling.

    Mitiga International Airport regularly suspends operations due to shelling, which has intensified since the start of large-scale hostilities in the vicinity of ??the Libyan capital in April.

    Libya has been undermined by conflict after the country’s long-time leader Muammar Gadhafi was overthrown and murdered by US-supported Islamists in 2011. The eastern part of the country is governed by a parliament in Tobruk and backed by the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. The Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, operates in the country’s western areas and is headquartered in the capital Tripoli.

    In April, the LNA launched an offensive to retake Tripoli from the forces loyal to the GNA. The eastern Libyan forces have already taken under its control a number of settlements on its way to the capital, including the Tripoli International Airport…”

  20. Two US Soldiers Killed in ‘Insider’ Attack in Afghanistan, Gunman Detained (sputniknews, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/military/201907291076401135-soldiers-killed-afghanistan-gunman-detained/

    “Two unidentified US service members stationed in Afghanistan died Monday, a release from the NATO’s Resolute Support Mission has revealed without providing further details of the incident.

    Citing two US military officials, NBC News reported that a member of the Afghan security forces opened fire on the two US servicemen in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

    The officials say the gunman was taken into Afghan custody after sustaining a gunshot-related injury. Both troops were ordered to advise and aid Afghan forces prior to the “insider” attack, a term used to describe conflict between US and Afghan security personnel in the country.

    Officials noted the killings did not occur in combat. The names of the two service members will be released Tuesday, after their family members are contacted.

    Including this incident, a total of 15 US troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year, with three of them dying as a result of non-hostile acts, according to the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System. A total of 15 service members were killed in Afghanistan in all of 2018.

    A total of 58 US troops have been wounded while in the line of duty in 2019.”

  21. Nigeria: Soldier, 10 Islamic State insurgents killed in Baga, MNJTF says (thedefensepost, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://thedefensepost.com/2019/07/29/nigeria-iswap-baga-borno/

    “One soldier was killed and five were injured in an attack in northeastern Nigeria’s Borno state that also saw 10 Islamic State West Africa Province fighters killed, the regional force battling insurgency in the Lake Chad area said.

    The incident in Baga was described as a “surprise dawn attack on Multinational Joint Task Force and national troops,” by the MNJTF’s Chief of Military Public Information Colonel Timothy Antigha in a Monday, July 29 release published by Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters.

    Antigha said that around around 30 ISWAP militants – including suicide bombers – attempted to infiltrate a defensive position in the Baga area around 0530 local time.

    He said that “vigilant troops spotted their approach” and thwarted the assault.

    “In the process, 10 terrorists, including four suicide bombers were neutralized. Others escaped with gun shot wounds,” Antigha said.

    “Unfortunately, a soldier paid the supreme [price], while five others sustained varying injuries and have been evaluated for medical attention,” Antigha said, without specifying the soldiers’ nationalities.

    Arms and ammunition were later recovered, Antigha said, and an image showing four AK-pattern assault rifles and a mobile phone was published…”

  22. Turkey Imposes Curfew in 16 Villages to Carry out Operations against PKK (aawsat, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1834596/turkey-imposes-curfew-16-villages-carry-out-operations-against-pkk

    “Turkish authorities imposed a one-day curfew in 16 villages of Tatvan in the southeastern Bitlis region to carry out operations against the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

    Curfews have been imposed on various occasions in the Kurdish-dominated southeast over the past four years after the collapse of peace negotiations between Turkish authorities and the Kurds.

    The Turkish army constantly carries out operations in northern and eastern states, such as Van, Sirnak, Mardin, Hakkari, Diyarbakir, Batman and Bingol.

    In early July, authorities imposed a complete curfew on five regions in the southeastern Hakkari province.

    In a statement, the office of Hakkari Governor Idris Akbiyik justified the curfew, saying the state was falling victim to “acts of sabotage by terrorist separatist organizations and other groups, which has negatively affected its economic and social development.”

    Ankara deems the PKK a terrorist organization.

    According to a 2018 Turkish rights report, Diyarbak?r witnessed the largest amounts of curfews, with 190, followed by Mardin with 53, Hakkari with 23 and Sirnak with 13.

    The report added that around 1,809,000 citizens were negatively affected by the collapse of peace negotiations, which kicked off in 2012 and came to a halt in 2015.

    Eleven Kurdish cities witnessed 332 curfews between August 2015 and October 3, 2018. The curfew forced more than 250,000 people to flee their homes in 2016 due to the military and security operations against the PKK.

    The PKK launched an insurgency in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict. It is designated a terrorist group by Ankara, the European Union and United States.

    Turkey regularly carries out airstrikes against Kurdish positions in border regions in Syria and Iraq.”

  23. Migrants Hidden in Truck Stopped in North Macedonia (aawsat, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1834526/migrants-hidden-truck-stopped-north-macedonia

    “Police in North Macedonia said Monday that they have detained and plan to deport back to neighboring Greece 79 migrants found hidden in a truck near the two countries’ border.

    The Associated Press quoted a police statement as saying that the migrants were discovered by a joint border patrol of officers from North Macedonia and Hungary Sunday on a road near the southern border town of Gevgelija.

    The truck driver was arrested and the migrants were transferred to a shelter center in Gevgelija ahead of their deportation.

    According to the AP, Monday’s police statement provided no details on the migrants’ nationalities.

    Despite a series of border closures in 2016, thousands of migrants who enter Greece illegally from Turkey continue to trek through the Balkans as they seek to reach Europe’s prosperous heartland.”

  24. Egypt: Brotherhood Defends Members Accused of Embezzlement (aawsat, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1834631/egypt-brotherhood-defends-members-accused-embezzlement

    “A number of Muslim Brotherhood figures have rushed to the defense of members of the group’s Shura Council who have been accused of embezzlement, describing the accusations as false fabrications.

    The Council, whose members reside in Turkey, issued a statement saying a group of its members had been wrongly accused of embezzlement and called upon the group’s institutions to take suitable measures that could prevent the recurrence of such an event.

    Last week, Council member Amir Bassam, in a leaked audio circulated online, accused a number of leaders of embezzling the group’s funds.

    He added that recent leaks show the extent of financial misappropriations among the organization’s leaders abroad.

    Bassam accused Shura members of purchasing “real estate and luxury cars” with the group’s money.

    Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta considered the statement a confirmation of the Brotherhood’s false claims of “working for the interest of the religion.”

    In a statement responding to Bassam’s accusations, the Brotherhood’s Shura Council renewed its confidence in the group’s members and leadership.

    According to the statement, the group has formed a committee of Shura members to study all the allegations and fabrications and issue a verdict.

    The Council, which manages the Brotherhood’s international affairs, accused Bassam of making baseless accusations that lack credibility.

    It also urged members to corroborate accounts before presenting them as facts.

    In recent months, differences between the organization’s leaders abroad and young members have grown following a series of deportations of Muslim Brotherhood youth from Turkey and Malaysia to Egypt. The young members have launched online campaigns against the expulsions.

    In December, Clarion Project reported that the Muslim Brotherhood is trying to raise funds in a number of European countries claiming they support youth.

    The Project warned that the organization has been working on employing some of its cells there, in order to recruit refugees in Europe.”

  25. Largest ISIS Plot in Baghdad, Kurdistan Region Thwarted (aawsat, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1834601/largest-isis-plot-baghdad-kurdistan-region-thwarted

    “Iraq’s intelligence agency, known as Falcons Cell, said Sunday that it has thwarted the “largest terrorist plot” to target the capital, Baghdad, some provinces in the south and the Kurdistan region.

    Abu Ali al-Basri, head of the intelligence office in Iraq’s Interior Ministry, revealed in a press statement “major details of the long-running intelligence war led by the cell and other security and intelligence agencies in Iraq against ISIS.”

    “The agency has foiled a plot prepared by ISIS elements,” Basri explained, saying they were planning an attack during the holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr to target locations in Baghdad, a number of provinces and the Kurdistan region, in a desperate attempt to prove their ongoing presence in the country.

    He said the intelligence agency was able to thwart the terrorist attacks in coordination with intelligence directorates in several provinces by carrying out air strikes and raids to arrest ISIS supporters.

    “The recent pre-emptive operations resulted in the arrest of around 160 terrorists in Nineveh and more than 40 others in Baghdad.”

    Four terrorists, who were mobilized and trained to carry out suicide bombings using explosive belts and other devices in Baghdad, Erbil, Basra and some governorates liberated from ISIS, were also arrested in Basra.

    Basri hailed the cooperation of “security services in the Kurdistan region during the operation to arrest ISIS militants in Ramadan.”

    Security expert Fadel Abu Raghif told Asharq Al-Awsat that the intelligence operation started around 48 days ago.

    Abu Raghif said that many national security apparatuses, including the Iraqi intelligence service, the Falcons cell, military intelligence and others, have taken part in the operation to thwart the attacks.

    It has resulted in the arrest of ISIS leaders, he added, noting that it isn’t the first operation of its kind and won’t be the last as long as the terrorist organization remains active in Iraq.

    Meanwhile, an official from Rutba town, western Iraq, announced that security forces have launched an offensive to hunt down ISIS elements in desert areas.

    “The operation is aimed at chasing ISIS elements in southern Rutba’s desert (310 kilometers west of Ramadi) under the command of the first Infantry Division and with the support of the army and tribes,” the official explained.

    He said several ISIS bases and hideouts have been destroyed.

    Sinjar’s governor, for his part, has warned against transferring more than 32,000 people from al-Hol camp, in northeastern Syria, to camps in Iraq’s Nineveh province.

    He said most of these people transferred are families of ISIS militants, which indicates a great threat to the area’s stability.”

  26. ISIS Threat Hovers Over Syria Camp, Rattling Authorities (aawsat, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1834891/isis-threat-hovers-over-syria-camp-rattling-authorities

    “Stabbing guards, stoning aid workers and flying the ISIS group’s black flag in plain sight: the wives and children of the ‘caliphate’ are sticking by the militants in a desperate Syrian camp.

    Months after the defeat of the militant proto-state, families of ISIS fighters are among 70,000 people crammed into the Kurdish-run Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria.

    Swarming around an AFP journalist, women clad-in-black complain of poor medical assistance, a lack of aid, and boiling tents.

    They also praise the elusive ISIS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, saying they are waiting for orders from their leader.

    Umm Suhaib, the widowed wife of a militant, admits that ISIS supporters have attacked Kurdish security forces guarding the camp.

    “Two or three times, the Asayesh were stabbed,” said the 23-year-old Iraqi mother of three.

    The so-called “Muhajirat,” female militants who traveled to Syria to join ISIS, are behind the stabbings, she said.

    “Why do they stab them? Because they allow injustice to prevail,” said Umm Suhaib, covered in black from head-to-toe.

    She also accused the Asayesh of conducting “night raids” on the tents of “sisters,” referring to female ISIS supporters.

    – The return of the ‘caliphate’ –

    Umm Suhaib said her husband, a Tunisian, died months ago fighting the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the eastern village of Baghouz, the ISIS group’s very last bastion in eastern Syria.

    In March, the SDF announced the defeat of the ‘caliphate’ — which ISIS declared in 2014 over parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014 — after it expelled the last militants from the village.

    Tens of thousands of people, mostly women and children, were trucked to Kurdish-run camps in northeast Syria during the weeks-long campaign.

    In total, some 12,000 foreigners — 4,000 women and 8,000 children — are now living in such camps, according to Kurdish authorities.

    “We only came to the camp because of Baghdadi’s orders,” said Umm Suhaib.

    She has not seen her family in Iraq for nearly three years, but she does not seem keen on going back home.

    Her only wish is the “return of the ‘caliphate'” so that she can “settle there”.

    Surveillance cameras that operate round-the-clock are omnipresent in Al-Hol and security is especially tight around a fenced section of the sprawling camp, where foreign women are held guarded by Kurdish forces.

    Unlike Syrian and Iraqi women who are allowed to roam the camp freely, these high-risk prisoners are escorted by armed guards when they want to go to the camp’s market or receive aid rations.

    “They see us as enemies, and that creates problems,” said Amer Ali, the head of the Asayesh force, adding that some women have tried to flee.

    In June, a woman from Al-Roj camp who had been transferred to hospital tried to escape from there but was arrested before she could flee, medical sources at the facility said.

    The woman, they said, had removed her black face veil and changed into a white dress to make her getaway.

    – Lingering threat –

    Earlier this month, a video shared on social media networks showed women clamoring around an ISIS flag that had been hoisted on an electricity pole in Al-Hol as children chanted “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest).

    ISIS wants “to spread its ideology through these women,” said Ali, confirming the authenticity of the footage.

    The children too are a problem, he said.

    “They throw stones at us because their mothers tell them that we killed their fathers, and destroyed their houses,” Ali said.

    Kurdish authorities have repeatedly warned that the children of militants represent a “time bomb” the world urgently needs to defuse.

    Without rehabilitation and reintegration, these children could become future “terrorists”, they have warned.

    Sheikhmous Ahmed, a Kurdish official in northeastern Syria, acknowledged the security challenges.

    “We do not have the means to stop everything that is happening, but we try to contain these incidents,” he said.

    ISIS supporters “remain attached to their ideology, and they will always represent a danger,” he warned.

    One of them is Umm Abdelaziz, a 20-year-old Syrian from Damascus.

    She is furious because she has had no news about her husband who was arrested a few months ago after leaving Baghouz.

    “For us, death is more valuable than this humiliating life,” she said.

    In Baghouse “we were prosperous, we had money, but here we’re burning in the flames of hell.””

  27. Sudanese military imposes curfew after schoolchildren ‘killed by sniper fire’ (mee, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/5-sudanese-civilians-killed-sniper-fire-doctors-group

    “Sudanese authorities have announced a curfew in the North Kordofan region after at least five civilians were shot dead during a protest march on Monday.

    According to the activist-aligned Sudanese Doctors’ Committee, snipers from the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary fired on a march of secondary school students in the regional capital El Obeid.

    It also said three of the injured were in surgery and four of those killed were students.

    The office of North Kordofan’s governor said a curfew would be imposed indefinitely from 9:00 pm to 6:00 am in four towns including Al-Obeid starting on Monday, adding that all schools in the province had been told to suspend classes…”

  28. Two Saudi soldiers killed on Yemen border (memo, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190729-two-saudi-soldiers-killed-on-yemen-border/

    “Two Saudi soldiers have been killed near the country’s border with war-torn Yemen, according to the official SPA news agency on Monday, Anadolu reports.

    SPA did not give details about the circumstances of the soldiers’ death.

    On Friday, Riyadh said two soldiers had been killed along border with Yemen, which has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

    In 2015, Saudi Arabia and several Arab allies launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

    According to UN figures, Yemen is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with more than 10 million people driven to the brink of famine. More than 22 million people in Yemen are desperate for humanitarian aid and protection.”

  29. US-backed forces torture, urinate on Arab family in Syria (memo, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190729-us-backed-forces-torture-urinate-on-arab-family-in-syria/

    “Shocking video footage has emerged showing militants from the Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) beating, torturing and urinating on an Arab family in the city of Manbij which it occupies in northern Syria.

    The group, which controls large swathes of territory in the north and east of the war-torn country along with other Kurdish militant groups such as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is backed, funded and armed by the United States (US).

    The graphic video, which went viral on Twitter yesterday, shows the YPG militant dragging the Arab family out of a van into a courtyard and proceeding to kick them while they lay on the ground, pulling off the woman’s headscarf, and then standing over them and urinating on them. As he beats the two men and one woman who were allegedly caught after fleeing mandatory military service in YPG-held territory, the group’s flag can be seen at the edge of the courtyard.

    Forced military recruitment, torture, extrajudicial killings, and the oppression of local civilian populations have commonly been solely ascribed to the likes of Daesh, opposition groups, and the Syrian army, while the YPG and the Kurdish militias overall have largely maintained the image of being peaceful and ethical amongst Western audiences.

    Throughout the Syrian conflict, for example, numerous Western individuals and military personnel have travelled to the country to fight alongside the YPG and SDF, with little to no charges or prosecution over their decision once they return to their home countries. The US and certain EU member states have also made the decision to arm and back the groups over the years due to the perception of them as the most reliable force to eliminate Daesh. This has angered neighbouring Turkey which views the YPG as the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it outlawed as a terrorist group.”

  30. Deserted tanker near Yemeni coast poses potentially catastrophic environmental threat (ahram, Jul 29, 2019)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/341827/World/Region/Deserted-tanker-near-Yemeni-coast-poses-potentiall.aspx

    “A decaying abandoned tanker loaded with oil near the coast of war-torn Yemen poses a potentially devastating environmental threat as fears mount that the tanker could possibly explode, according to the UN.

    The tanker SAFER FSO reportedly contains as much as 1.1 million barrels of oil, valued around $60 million, and, according to experts, explosive gasses might have been building up in its worn-out tanks, which could rapture any minute.

    The tanker could release around four times more oil than the amount from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, which is considered one of the worst man-made disasters in history, the Yemeni press agency reported.

    The tanker, which has been referred to as a “floating ticking bomb,” was previously used to ship Yemeni oil from Ras Isa. However, the tanker was abandoned after oil trade in Yemen stopped following the start of the conflict between the Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed UN Yemen government.

    The Yemeni government, in a letter to the UN, has warned of a “bad and deteriorating situation” that could lead to an “imminent environmental and humanitarian catastrophe.”

    UN officials have been planning to visit the tanker in order to assess the situation; however, they have not been able to acquire the necessary permits.

    In a speech to the UN Security Council last month, Mark Lowcock, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs said, “If the tanker ruptures or explodes, we could see the coastline polluted all along the Red Sea. Depending on the time of year and water currents, the spill could reach from Bab Al-Mandeb to the Suez Canal, and potentially as far as the Strait of Hormuz,””

  31. France Denies Moroccan National Residence Permit Renewal for Facebook Comments (mwn, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/07/279295/france-denies-moroccan-national-residence-permit-renewal-for-facebook-comments/

    “French authorities refused to renew the residence permit of a 31 year old Moroccan national for his comments on Facebook.

    French news outlet Next Inpact reported on July 23 that French authorities consider the Moroccan national a threat for public order.

    “Once again justice considers activities on social networks before making a decision,” said the news outlet.

    The news outlet said that French police refused on July 10, 2018, to renew the residence permit of the Moroccan national and forced him to leave the territory within a month.

    Challenging the decision, the Moroccan national appealed the decision in November 2018, a request that was rejected by the Paris Administrative court. He then continued to try and repeal the decision.

    On July 12, the Paris Court of Appeal said that the man was refused residence permit renewal following an “investigation by the specialized intelligence services,” alerting on his publications and writings on Facebook.

    France is not the only country that takes into account applicants data on social networks.

    US Visa applicants are required, since the June 2019 reform, to provide information on their social media accounts.

    The US State Department indicated that it had updated its immigrant and non-immigrant visa forms to request additional information from almost all US applicants.The new visa forms list a number of social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube), and require the applicant to provide the names of the accounts they may have had in the last five years.”

  32. Brussels Regional Parliament Elects Belgo-Moroccan Rachid Madrane as President (mwn, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/07/279333/brussels-regional-parliament-belgo-moroccan-rachid-madrane-president/

    “Rachid Madrane, a Belgo-Moroccan politician, has been serving as president of the Brussels Regional Parliament since July 18. Madrane was elected in the 2019 Regional Elections.

    At the age of 51, Madrane is one of the leading figures of the French Socialist Party (PS) and the Belgian political scene. His motto is “work and perseverance always pay off.”

    Madrane told Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) that, as president, he has big dreams for Brussels. “I dream of a creative and dynamic city that embodies the future of big cities, where it is pleasant to live,” he said optimistically.

    For Madrane, “there are several priority issues to be tackled, particularly the topic of mobility which is one of the main sources of concern in Brussels.”

    As for employment, the president finds pride in the “uninterrupted” decline of Brussels’ unemployment rate. However, Madrane stressed that more effort is needed to fight hiring discrimination.

    This type of discrimination is “an issue that has always been important to me and one I have worked hard on,” says the politician. His adherence to the PS dates back to 1985, in the wake of “Don’t touch my friend” campaigns led by the SOS Racisme association.

    “When I was a teenager, I started to understand and experience racism and its effects, and so I started to get involved with associations, but as time went on, I realized that if I wanted to make a change, I would have to do so through politics,” he explained.

    After having worked as a radio and newspaper journalist, Madrane held the position of spokesman in ministerial cabinets. He was then elected for the first time at the Etterbeek Municipal Council in 2000.

    From June 2004 to June 2009, he was a member of the Brussels Parliament. In 2010, he joined the Federal Parliament.

    In 2014, Madrane integrated the Wallonia-Brussels Federation government, where he was designated Minister for Youth Aid, Houses of Justice, and Promotion of Brussels.

    The now-president was in charge of the departments of Sports and Youth respectively in 2016 and 2018.

    At the head of the Brussels Parliament, Madrane has taken the challenge to promote participatory democracy, to involve citizens in the decision-making process, and to reconcile them with politics.”

  33. Moroccan Imam to Face Sexual Assault Charges Against a Minor in Barcelona (mwn, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/07/279336/moroccan-imam-sexual-assault-minor-barcelona/

    ” Two imams are facing sexual assault charges and for allegedly abusing minors at mosques in Barcelona, Spanish news outlet La Vanguardia reported.

    One of the imams is a 46-year old Moroccan national, who has been released on bail pending trial.

    The imam allegedly assaulted a 12-year old boy, who used to take religion classes four or five times a week in the mosque.

    According to La Vanguardia, the mosque, which is located in the Clot neighborhood of Barcelona, are mainly from Morocco. The mosque is located in the Clot neighborhood of Barcelona.

    “It is reported that the child was assaulted twice since April 30, 2017.”

    The Spanish news outlet said that the victim was first assaulted in a prayer room and in a study room.

    “He [the imam] grabbed him by the collarbones and neck and had his way,” the Spanish news outlet reported.

    The imam also threatened the victim and gave him money to buy candy in order to prevent him from telling his family.

    The second alleged suspect is from Pakistan. The Pakistani imam is allegedly in prison for sexually abusing a 9-year old boy who was taking religion classes at the mosque located in Ciutat Vella, a district in Barcelona.

    The Pakistani suspect has been in custody since November 2017.

    The trial of both imams will take place after summer, the Spanish news outlet added. If found guilty, they will face deportation after serving three quarters of their prison sentence.”

  34. Hepatitis has reached alarming levels, says Alvi (dawn, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://www.dawn.com/news/1496798/hepatitis-has-reached-alarming-levels-says-alvi

    “The prevalence of hepatitis B and C (HBV/HCV) has reached alarming proportions in the country, said President Arif Alvi on Sunday at a conference themed “Invest in Eliminating Hepatitis from Pakistan” held in connection with World Hepatitis Day annually observed on July 28.

    At the conference was also the launching of Prime Minister’s Policy Package for Elimination of Viral Hepatitis programme to screen up to 140 million people for hepatitis and provide them free medical treatment if found infected.

    Addressing the conference, the president said the prevalence of hepatitis B and C in 15 to 20 million people of Pakistan was alarming.

    He said the vehicle to transmit the virus of hepatitis and HIV was the same which was through unsafe blood transfusions and reuse of syringes. Citing the example of Egypt, he said it had brought down the prevalence of hepatitis from 13 per cent to three per cent in 10 years which means it could be done in Pakistan as well…”

  35. Pakistani students to get Canadian visa in 20 days (tribune, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/2022990/1-pakistani-students-get-canadian-visa-20-days/

    “The Canadian government has announced to expand its Students Direct Stream (SDS) Programme to the international students from Pakistan enabling them to get student visa within 20 days.

    Last year, the Canadian government had initiated the programme for the students from India, China, Philippines and Vietnam. Now, Pakistan has been included in the list of countries, under the SDS programme by the Canadian Immigration Department, said a press release received Saturday.

    High Commissioner of Pakistan to Canada Raza Bashir Tarar welcomed the decision of the Canadian government for inclusion of Pakistani international students into the programme as it would facilitate the students desiring to study in Canada.
    He appreciated the goodwill gesture by the Canadian government and expressed gratitude to the special efforts of Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen and the members of the Canadian Parliament for fulfilling their commitment.

    The high commissioner in his meetings with the Canadian officials had urged them to include Pakistani students in the SDS programme as academically Pakistani students were second to none. APP”

  36. Turkish charity to sacrifice animals in 51 countries (aa, Jul 29, 2019)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkish-charity-to-sacrifice-animals-in-51-countries/1544273

    “The Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay) will sacrifice animals across 51 countries as part of festivities of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, its head said on Monday.

    Speaking at a slaughterhouse located in the Aegean coastal province of Izmir, Mehmet Kinik said the Red Crescent will sacrifice 180,000 shares of animals.

    Regarding the foundation’s activities on Eid al-Adha, Kinik said they aimed to distribute the shares of animals to 4.5 million people, including 2.5 million in Turkey and 2 million abroad.

    He said that meat from the sacrificed animals will be cooked and canned at a facility located in Izmir’s Kemalpasa district.

    He added that they will distribute the cans to those who are in need all year round.

    Kizilay is the largest humanitarian organization in Turkey, with an international network through which it provides relief to other nations in need.

    It was founded on June 11, 1868 as the Society for Aiding the Wounded and Ailing Ottoman Soldiers.”

  37. Tulsi Gabbard tells Tucker why she is suing Google

    2020 presidential hopeful Rep. Tulsi Gabbard accuses search giant Google of censoring her message when it briefly suspended her campaign advertising account following the first Democratic presidential debate.

  38. europravda – Trump’s Antifa ban threat prompts social media backlash in Germany