Contributor’s links for Aug. 11, 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

95 Replies to “Contributor’s links for Aug. 11, 2019”

  1. Eid-Ul-Adha

    People of The Vision.
    “The Quran states that when Abraham asked for a righteous son, God granted him a son possessing forbearance. When the son was able to walk and work with him, Abraham saw a vision about sacrificing his son, Ishmael. When he told his son about it, his son agreed to fulfill the command of God in the vision. When they both had submitted their will to God and were ready for the sacrifice, God told Abraham he had fulfilled the vision, and provided him with a ram to sacrifice instead.”
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_of_Isaac

    People of The Book
    Genesis 22:
    Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

    “Here I am,” he replied.

    2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
    https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+22&version=NIV

  2. Italy’s Salvini Tells Richard Gere to Take Stranded Migrants to Hollywood on his Jet
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-10/italy-s-salvini-tells-richard-gere-to-take-stranded-migrants

    Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini suggested Richard Gere fly 160 migrants stranded off the Italian coast back to Hollywood on his “private jet” after the actor made a plea to European leaders to find a port for the ship.

    Gere joined representatives from the non-governmental organization Open Arms at a press conference on the Italian island of Lampedusa to appeal to take in the ship. Salvini has refused to allow the vessel into Italian waters, the latest episode highlighting Europe’s divisions over immigration.

    “As the generous millionaire airs his demands about the fate of the Open Arms immigrants, we thank him: he will be able to bring everyone in his private jet to Hollywood and keep them in his villas,” Salvini said in a statement after Gere’s press conference.

  3. RCMP suspect sabotage in Sea to Sky Gondola cable collapse
    https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/rcmp-suspect-sabotage-in-sea-to-sky-gondola-cable-collapse/ar-AAFCRYe

    RCMP said Saturday they believe someone may have intentionally cut a cable on the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish after gondolas crashed to the ground early in the morning, causing significant damage.

    No one was injured. RCMP say they are still assessing the damage but the early signs point to the cable being cut.

    Squamish RCMP Const. Ashley MacKay said authorities are inspecting the full length of the cable.

  4. Italian Police Detain Iraqi Migrant Threatening to Burn Himself Near Vatican – Reports (sputniknews, Aug 11, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201908111076522921-italian-police-detain-iraqi-migrant-threatening-to-burn-himself-near-vatican—reports/

    “Italian police have detained an Iraqi migrant who threatened to ignite himself near St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, Il Messaggero reported.

    The incident took place on Pius XII Square, adjacent to Bernini’s colonnade, on Saturday afternoon, according to the newspaper Il Messaggero.

    The man, who is awaiting a decision on his asylum application in Italy, began shouting “Allah Akbar” and threatened to burn himself alive, waving a lighter. He was visibly agitated and emotionally unstable…”

  5. Saudi-led Coalition Hits Key Zones that Pose Threat to Yemeni Government – State Media (sputniknews, Aug 11, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201908111076522738-saudi-led-coalition-hits-zones-threat-yemeni-government/

    “The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen’s civil war has attacked zones that pose a direct threat to vital positions belonging to the Yemeni government, Saudi state TV said on Sunday.

    “This will be the first operation and would be followed by another if the coalition’s statement was not complied with,” Saudi state TV said, without revealing additional details of the operation.

    The coalition has also called for an immediate ceasefire in Aden, where the internationally recognized government resides, and said it will use military force against anyone who violates it, the Saudi state news agency (SPA) reported.

    The violence in Aden erupted on Wednesday, as security forces guarding the presidential palace in Aden engaged in clashes with separatist forces. The ongoing escalation has already left dozens killed and injured. Moreover, media outlets point to the possibility of a new front opening in Yemen’s civil war. Yemen’s separatist Southern Transitional Council, however, agreed on Sunday to join a ceasefire in Aden, thereby responding to the Saudi-led coalition’s calls for stopping hostilities.”

  6. Lancet Medical Journal Urges Pediatricians to ‘Tackle Racism’ (breitbart, Aug 11, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/health/2019/08/10/lancet-medical-journal-urges-pediatricians-to-tackle-racism/

    “The ever more politically minded Lancet medical journal is now urging pediatricians to “tackle racism,” calling it “one of the most neglected social determinants of child and adolescent health.”

    In an August 10 editorial, the Lancet said that pediatricians and child health workers have not yet unleashed their potential “to disrupt lifelong and intergenerational disadvantages detrimental to health and development,” urging them to engage in anti-racism advocacy.

    The editorial cites a “very important first policy document” on racism released by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on July 29, saying it constitutes “a much needed wake-up call and guide at a time when in many countries the political climate and cultural environment threatens to reverse the little progress that has been made to date.”

    Racism affects children’s development and health on three key levels — institutional, personally mediated, and internalization — the Lancet declared, levels that are “all interlinked and cumulative in their detrimental effect.”

    Pediatricians and health-care professionals are called upon not only to “examine their own biases and approach to health care of children and their families,” the article states, “but also to engage in a much wider advocacy role.”

    The AAP policy document says that pediatricians should “collaborate with government and community-based organizations to help redress biases and inequities in health, justice, and educational systems,” while underscoring “the need for a more diverse workforce.”

    As it has done in other occasions, the UK-based Lancet points an accusing finger at the United States and particularly the Trump administration.

    The guidance offered by the AAP “is specifically tailored to and especially timely for the U.S. context,” the editorial states. “In the current climate of the U.S. presidential administration, racism has become a daily discussion point.”

    The United States is not the only target for the Lancet crosshairs. Last June, the once prestigious medical journal also accused Italy’s democratically elected populist government of abetting “racism” and “xenophobia.”

    “Italy has been witnessing a rapid escalation towards racism and xenophobia since the new government came into power in June, 2018,” the article began.

    Founded in 1823 as a medical journal, the Lancet has evolved into a mouthpiece of what it calls “the progressive agenda,” squandering its hard-earned moral and scientific capital on issues such as climate change, immigration, and gay rights.

    Earlier this year, the Lancet ran a five-part series of articles on “gender equality, norms, and health” that denounced a conservative “backlash” against the global LGBTQ agenda.

    “The progressive agenda that demands gender equality for girls and women and gender norms that promote health and wellbeing for all, including gender minorities,” a team of Lancet writers wrote, includes “advocating against toxic masculinities” and “promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) justice.”

    In April of this year, the Lancet tackled the vexed question of global warming, warning of a climate meltdown comparable to nuclear war.

    Titled “Climate Armageddon,” the review by Lancet’s Laurie Garrett breathlessly declares that just since 2017 “a number of record-breaking severe weather events, hastening melting of polar ice, rising sea temperatures, and the massive die-offs along Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have raised the tone of urgency among climatologists and earth scientists.”

    In a tone redolent of the Y2K scares of the late 1990s, Garrett cites studies suggesting that as a result of climate change, “food shortages, alone, could kill more than half a million people,” while “millions more could suffer lethal events due to everything from surges in mosquito populations to collapse of electrical power grids.”

    Having abandoned serious medical journalism in favor of politics, the Lancet now employs its once-venerable pages for ideological propagandizing for a far-left agenda.”

  7. Hans von Spakovsky: Arguments for Background Checks Are Based On Emotions, Not Facts

  8. Carol Leonning of WAPO/MSNBC “People close to Epstein fear he was murdered” Updates

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/8/10/1878113/-Carol-Leonning-of-WAPO-MSNBC-People-close-to-Epstein-fear-he-was-murdered

    There’s going to be a thousand conspiracy theories for decades to come about what happened to Epstein. Hours after he was found dead, theories are popping up faster than weeds in a garden after a spring rain. Which “theories” have substance and which end up in the conspiracy theory bin will be sorted out over time.

    Carol Leonning is not my favorite reporter but she does work for the Washington Post and is a contributor on MSNBC. She just tweeted this:

  9. Chernobyl-Style Cover Up? Run On Iodine Pills After “Isotope Powered” Rocket Explosion In Russia

    Is Russia in the process of covering up a nuclear accident after a confirmed spike in radiation levels in the aftermath of a reported rocket engine explosion at a northern testing facility Thursday? Authorities confirmed the accident involved an “isotope power source for a liquid-fuelled rocket engine”.

    Russia’s state nuclear agency has said five of its staff members were killed at a military testing site in northern Russia, reportedly when the liquid propellant rocket engine exploded during tests on a sea platform. Some reports say it may have involved a top secret weapon that was part of Moscow’s hypersonic arsenal. Russia is pursuing hypersonic missiles as a nuclear deterrent, as Putin himself has recently verbalized.

    Other staff were being treated for serious burns after the accident; however, as Reuters reported, there’s a run on iodine (used to reduce the effects of radiation exposure) in the northern port cities of Arkhangelsk and Severodvinsk, near where the mystery accident occurred.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-10/chernobyl-style-cover-run-iodine-pills-after-isotope-power-source-explosion-russia

  10. The FBI’s plan to monitor social media violates platforms’ rule on using data for surveillance purposes
    By Daily Caller News Foundation August 10, 2019

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s new plan to gather vast amounts of public data from Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms to identify threats to the U.S. violates surveillance policies.

    The FBI is working with outside companies to create a contract to gather social media public data, such as people’s names, user IDs, and photos “to proactively identify and reactively monitor threats to the United States and its interests,” The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday evening.

    The request for the “comprehensive data security program” contract came a month before three mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, Dayton, Ohio, and Gilroy, Calif., on July 28 and Aug. 3 and 4, respectively, that left more than 30 people dead. The deadline for bids is Aug. 27.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/08/10/the-fbis-plan-to-monitor-social-media-violates-facebooks-rule-on-using-data-for-surveillance-purposes/

  11. Norway mosque shooting an ‘attempted act of terror’

    The shooting at a mosque near Oslo is being treated as an “attempted act of terror”, Norwegian police said Sunday, with the suspect appearing to harbour far-right, anti-immigrant views.

    “We are looking at an attempted act of terror,” acting chief of the police operation Rune Skjold told a press conference.

    Skjold said the investigation had shown that the man appeared to hold “far-right” and “anti-immigrant” views.

    The suspect entered the al-Noor Islamic Centre on Saturday afternoon armed with multiple weapons and opened fire before being overpowered by a man who suffered “minor injuries” in the process.

    Only three people were inside the mosque at the time of the attack, and police said they recovered two firearms from the scene but did not specify which type.

    Norway was the scene of one of the worst-ever attacks by a right-wing extremist in July 2011, when 77 people were killed by Anders Behring Breivik.

    – Suspicious death –

    Hours after the attack on Saturday, the body of a young woman related to the suspect was found in a house in Baerum.

    Investigators are treating her death as suspicious and have opened a murder probe.

    Norwegian media reported Sunday that the dead woman was 17 years old and the suspect’s adopted younger sister.

    Police said earlier Sunday they had tried to question the suspect, described as a “young man” around 20 years old with a “Norwegian background” who was living in the vicinity but he did not want to “give an explanation to police”.

    The man had been known to police before the incident but according to Skjold he could not be described as someone with a “criminal background”.

    There has been a recent spate of white nationalist attacks in the West, including in the United States and in New Zealand where 51 Muslim worshippers were killed in March at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.

    The al-Noor Islamic centre in Norway shares its name with the worst affected mosque in the New Zealand attacks.

    On Saturday, Norwegian media reported that the suspect was believed to have put up a post to an online forum hours before the attack where he seemingly praised the New Zealand assailant.

    In the online post, references were made to a “race war” and it ended with the words “Valhalla awaits”.

    The authenticity of the post or the exact identity of its author has not yet been established.

    The suspect in the Christchurch killings wrote a hate-filled manifesto in which he said he was influenced by far-right ideologues including Breivik.

    Breivik detonated a massive bomb in Oslo that killed eight people and then opened fire on a gathering of the Labour Party’s youth wing on the island of Utoya, killing another 69 people, most of them teenagers.

    – Heightened security –

    Local Norwegian newspaper Budstikka said it had contacted the mosque in Baerum in March after the Christchurch massacre and that officials there had said security would be tightened.

    The attack took place on the eve of the Muslim celebration of Eid Al-Adha, marking the end of the Muslim pilgrimage Hajj, stoking fears among Norway’s muslims.

    “The terror attack in Baerum is the result of a long-lasting hate of Muslims that has been allowed to spread in Norway, without Norwegian authorities having taken this development seriously,” the Muslim organisation Islamic Council Norway said in a statement.

    Oslo police increased security around Sunday’s celebrations, including ordering their patrols to be armed, which is generally not the case.

    Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg, called the shooting a “direct attack on Norwegian Muslims,” as well as an “attack on freedom of religion.”

    “Today we stand shoulder to shoulder with Norwegian Muslims in condemning the attack,” Solberg said in a Facebook post.

    The prime minister was scheduled to attend Eid Al-Adha celebrations at an Oslo mosque on Sunday afternoon.

    According to official estimates from 2016, about 200,000 Muslims live in Norway, representing nearly four percent of the total population.

    https://www.afp.com/en/news/1272/norway-mosque-shooting-attempted-act-terror-doc-1jh0qt3

  12. IDF clashes with Muslims at Temple Mount over admittance rights

    Israeli police clashed with Muslims on the Temple Mount, local media report. The confrontation erupted after Muslim and Jewish holidays coincided on Sunday, resulting in a heated conflict over admittance rights.

  13. Trump supporters clash with leftist activists at Oregon rally

    A small group of US President Donald Trump and gun rights supporters gathered for a ‘God, Guns, And Liberty’ rally in Eugene, Saturday, where they faced with with leftist activists who gathered for a counter protest.

    Footage from the event shows Trump supporters carrying US flags and open carrying AR15s, handguns, and shotguns as they are confronted by a counter-protest featuring members of the Antifa movement and LGBTQ+ community who chanted slogans against the rally.

    Minor arguments also occurred between the two factions with one pro-Trump supporter allegedly being hit in the face by a bottle. Explaining what happened, the woman said “there was a big fight going on and people, we were trying to back out and all of a sudden, ram, right in my face, I did nothing, I said nothing.”

    The organisers of the rally called it a “patriotic event that will promote God, morality, tradition, the right to self defence and own firearms and carry them.”

  14. Italy: Salvini calls for new elections during ‘beach tour’

    Italian Interior Minister and League party leader Matteo Salvini called for new elections and a “strong government that goes on for five years” while speaking to the press in the Sicilian town of Taormina on Sunday, during one stop of his beach-visiting ‘Italian Summer Tour.’

    “I call for elections. Dictators do not want elections,” Salvini said while speaking from Taormina’s Lido Caparena beach. “There is a constitution that regulates powers. I want a stable government for five years.”

    Salvini commented on recent comments against elections by 5 Star Movement Founder Beppe Grillo and Democratic Party Senator Matteo Renzi, by saying “if someone believes that Italy can be governed for years by a Renzi-Grillo ticket, best wishes.” “I do not understand this terror of having the Italians vote. We are in a democracy, it should be the most beautiful thing in the world.”

    On Thursday, Salvini called for new elections saying the coalition government was not working. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte accused the Interior Minister of fabricating “the most transparent [political crisis] in Republican history.”

    Despite being the junior party in the coalition, the League is well ahead in opinion polls, largely due to its opposition towards immigration.

  15. Russia: Thousands of Muscovites attend morning prayers to celebrate Eid al-Adha

    Thousands of Muslims gathered at the Moscow Cathedral Mosque to celebrate Eid al-Adha on Sunday.

    Eid al-Adha or the ‘Festival of the Sacrifice’, is the second of two globally celebrated holidays in Islam, the other being Eid Al-Fitr, with the former honouring Ibrahim or Abraham’s will to sacrifice his son to Allah before Jibra’il, or Gabriel’s intervention. Animals are often sacrificed on the holiday to remember Ibrahim’s offering.

    The Moscow mosque, also known as Moscow Jum’ah Mosque and formerly as the Moscow Central Mosque, was demolished six years ago and rebuilt to accommodate 10,000 people. Muslims make up roughly 14 percent of Russia’s population with a reported 1.5-2 million being based in Moscow.

  16. US Border Patrol Comes Under Cartel Gunfire On Rio Grande

    United States Border Patrol agents came under fire from members of Mexican cartels Friday in Texas while making rounds on the Rio Grande.

    The agents were conducting a morning patrol by boat near Fronton, Texas, according to a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, when they reported shots fired from the Mexican riverbank.

    CBP reported multiple shooters, armed with automatic rifles, fired more than 50 rounds at the watercraft, making contact several times.

    https://www.westernjournal.com/us-border-patrol-comes-cartel-gunfire-rio-grande/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=patriottribune&utm_campaign=weeklyam&utm_content=libertyalliance

  17. Hmm… Jeffrey Epstein Found Dead in Prison Cell After Trump Is Cleared in Probe and Top Democrats Are Implicated ONE DAY EARLIER

    Over two thousand previously sealed court documents involving the Jeffrey Epstein child sex abuse case were released this week and are now available.

    Cernovich.com reported on the highlights of these previously sealed documents on Friday.

    Here are a few top revelations from the Friday documents.

    ** Despite the constant fake news by the liberal media that Trump was a top client of the convicted pedophile — the latest court documents cleared Donald Trump.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/08/hmm-jeffrey-epstein-found-dead-in-prison-cell-after-trump-is-cleared-in-probe-and-top-democrats-are-implicated-one-day-earlier/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=weekend

  18. Here It Is… Complete List of Clinton Associates Who Allegedly Died Mysteriously or Committed Suicide Before Testimony, Including Jeffrey Epstein

    On Saturday multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, the highest profile prisoner in US custody, was found dead in his prison cell in Manhattan.

    This occurred the day after two thousand previously sealed court documents involving the Jeffrey Epstein child sex abuse case were released to the public.

    The documents described how Bill Clinton held a private party on Jeffrey Epstein’s pedophile island.

    Clinton made at least 27 times trips on Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane. Most of those flights were with underage girls.

    Despite a previous attempt on his life just three weeks ago the prison guards skipped the 30 minute required checks on Epstein’s cell last night.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/08/here-it-is-complete-list-of-clinton-associates-who-allegedly-died-mysteriously-or-committed-suicide-before-testimony-including-jeffrey-epstein/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=weekend

  19. BREAKING: Despite His Recent “Suicide” Attempt –MCC Prison Guards SKIPPED 30 Minute Required Checks on Epstein on Saturday

    66-year-old financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his prison cell today.

    The multi-millionaire financier was hospitalized in July after he was found unresponsive in what appeared to be a possible suicide attempt.

    In July Epstein was found injured and in a fetal position inside his cell at a New York City jail,

    After the July incident he was reportedly put under suicide watch.

    On Saturday he hanged himself.

    According to reports Epstein told authorities someone tried to kill him in a previous incident weeks earlier.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/08/breaking-despite-his-recent-suicide-attempt-mcc-prison-guards-skipped-30-minute-required-checks-on-epstein-overnight/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=weekend

  20. “140: This Irish Woman vs Google—Gemma O’Doherty (Free Version)” PatrickCoffin.media – August 6, 2019

  21. Dutch man with rainbow-colored debit card beaten up in India
    https://nltimes.nl/2019/08/09/dutch-man-rainbow-colored-debit-card-beaten-india

    A 29-year-old Dutch man was assaulted in India after he paid with his rainbow-colored Bunq card, the bank confirmed on Twitter and Travel Assist, the company that provided the man’s travel insurance, confirmed to NOS.

    According to Travel Assist, the Dutch traveler was attacked by a group of men who thought he was gay after he paid his bill in a cafe in Lucknow in northern India. They likely associated the rainbow colors on his bank card with the rainbow flag that is used as a symbol in the LGBTQ community. Around eight men started making homophobic remarks and then attacked him. “They shouted ‘gay’ and said other things that were derogatory. Bystanders told him that afterwards”, a Travel Assist spokesperson said to NOS.

    The Dutch man suffered serious bruises in his face and head, among other things. He was admitted to the hospital, where he stayed overnight for observation.

  22. Norway police step up presence at mosques after shooting incident (straitstimes, Aug 11, 2019)
    https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/norway-police-step-up-presence-at-mosques-after-shooting-incident

    “A young Norwegian man arrested in connection with a shooting incident at a mosque near the capital Oslo has been briefly questioned, his lawyer said on Sunday (Aug 11). The shooting is being treated as “attempted act of terrorism,” police also said on Sunday.

    Police in Oslo and other parts of Norway, meanwhile, were to step up their presence at other mosques in the country as Sunday marked the start of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha…”

  23. US Warns Commercial Ships from Trap of Iran’s Communications Jamming (aawsat, Aug 11, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1850491/us-warns-commercial-ships-trap-iran%E2%80%99s-communications-jamming

    “The US Transportation Department’s Maritime Administration has issued a new warning about possible navigating concerns to the commercial shipping industry, due to a recent spate of attacks in the Arabian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.

    The advisory warns of potential Iranian interference and trouble reported with some tankers’ GPS navigation.

    The warning notes Iran could hinder navigation by interfering with GPS, or using other “communications jamming with little to no warning.”

    The federal agency said US commercial vessels should take certain precautions, including a review of security measures and ensuring Automatic Identification System is transmitting at all times.

    Iran has attempted to disrupt civilian aircraft and ship navigation with GPS jammers on Iran-controlled Abu Musa Island in the Arabian Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, CNN reported.

    The report said Iranian military boats have been “spoofing” boats’ automatic identification system to pose as merchant ships.

    The warning about possible navigating concerns came as President Donald Trump accused his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron of getting in the way of US policy and sending “mixed signals” to Iran.

    “Iran is in serious financial trouble. They want desperately to talk to the US, but are given mixed signals from all of those purporting to represent us, including President Macron of France,” Trump tweeted.

    “I know Emmanuel means well, as do all others, but nobody speaks for the United States but the United States itself. No one is authorized in any way, shape, or form, to represent us!”

    As the US-Iranian standoff deepens, tensions are soaring in the region, with drones downed, tankers seized by Tehran and mysterious attacks on ships in Gulf waters.

    Washington has accused Iran of the attacks on ships.

    In response, the US has been seeking to form a coalition whose mission– dubbed Operation Sentinel — it says is to guarantee freedom of navigation in the Gulf.

    Britain, which already has warships on protection duty in the Gulf after a UK-flagged tanker was seized by Iranian Revolutionary Guards, has said it will join the planned operation.

    Agence France Presse quoted Iran’s defense minister as saying Thursday that the formation of the flotilla in the Gulf “will only increase insecurity in the region.”

    Reacting to reports of Israeli willingness to join the coalition, Amir Hatami said it would be “highly provocative and can have disastrous consequences for the region,”

    Meanwhile, P&O Cruises said it has canceled cruises around Dubai and the Arabian Gulf over increased tensions.

    The company said it has canceled its planned program in the region from October until at least March next year and all guests be issued a full refund”

  24. Ocean Viking rescue ship picks up 246 people off Libya (mee, Aug 11, 2019)
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/ocean-viking-rescue-ship-picks-246-migrants-libya

    “The Ocean Viking rescue ship picked up 81 people from an unseaworthy rubber boat on Sunday, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

    The young men, mostly Sudanese who had left Libya late Saturday in a blue rubber dinghy, clapped and cheered as the ship came into view, AFP said.

    There are now 246 people on board after three rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast.

    The Norwegian-flagged ship had already picked up 85 migrants on Friday and another 80 on Saturday during its first two rescue missions. The 69-meter (226-foot) cargo ship has 31 crew members and can comfortably hold about 200 migrants, according to Deutsche Welle.

    The ship, jointly operated by French charity SOS Mediterranean and MSF, has been patrolling international waters about 50 nautical miles off the coast of Tripoli.

    “We’re the only ones in the area, the Libyan coastguard don’t respond” to distressed migrant vessels, SOS Mediterranean search and rescue coordinator Nicholas Romaniuk told an AFP reporter on board the rescue ship.

    Romaniuk said fair weather conditions would likely encourage more departures from Libya.

    A second ship, the Open Arms, remained at sea on Sunday with 121 migrants on board after being denied permission to enter ports in Italy and Malta.

    Italy’s anti-immigration interior minister, Matteo Salvini, said he had signed orders banning both rescue ships from Italy.

    “Italy is not a refugee camp for Europe. Go either to Spain or Norway,” he told Italian media.

    A new Italian law permits fines of as much as $1.1m against the owners of charity rescue ships that enter Italian waters without authorization.”

  25. Pakistan formally suspends trade ties with India (aa, Aug 10, 2019)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/economy/pakistan-formally-suspends-trade-ties-with-india/1554383

    “Pakistan has formally suspended its trade relations with India after New Delhi’s move to scrap the special status of Indian-administered Kashmir, an official statement said on Saturday.

    A statement issued by the Commerce and Textile Ministry said the bilateral trade with India has been suspended immediately.

    “The Federal Government has been pleased to suspend bilateral trade with India with immediate effect and until further order”, read the statement.

    The ministry issued two different statements amending the country’s import policy order 2016 and added “India” in the list from where import of goods is banned.

    Islamabad also suspended all kind of exports to India…”

  26. the gateway pundit – UNBELIEVABLE! There’s No Surveillance Footage of Epstein’s ‘Suicide’ – THE HIGHEST PROFILE PRISONER IN US SYSTEM

    There is no surveillance video of Epstein’s apparent suicide according to many sources familiar with the prison setup.

    Jeffrey Epstein was the most high profile prisoner in the US system with connections to the world’s elite, yet there were no cameras pointing directly into his prison cell??

    Both TMZ and the New York Post are reporting that the cameras inside of the Metropolitan Correctional Center do not point directly into the prison cells.

    Rather, the cameras point to the outside of the cells.

    TMZ reported:

    Sources familiar with the correctional facility in question tell TMZ, there are cameras in the Special Housing Unit — the SHU — but SOP is that cameras do not point into the cells. We’re told cameras capture, among other things, the doors to each cell to determine if anyone walks in or out, but they don’t point inside.

    One source familiar with the facility says the drill is for guards to pass by each cell in intervals ranging from 15 to 30 minutes depending on the circumstances.

    Unless there’s a one-off cell with a camera pointing inside — and we’re told there have been rare situations where this is the case — the time and manner of his death may never be captured.

    Epstein reportedly hanged himself early Saturday morning shortly after being taken off of suicide watch.

    Attorney General Bill Barr said he was “appalled” that Epstein died while in federal custody and announced the FBI and DOJ would be investigating his ‘suicide.’

    Epstein’s autopsy is expected to be released Sunday evening, according to the medical examiner.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/08/unbelievable-theres-no-surveillance-footage-of-epsteins-suicide-highest-profile-prisoner-in-us-system/

    • There’s no video of Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide: sources

      There’s no surveillance video of the incident during which Jeffrey Epstein apparently hanged himself in a federal lockup in Lower Manhattan, law-enforcement officials told The Post on Sunday.

      Although there are cameras in the 9 South wing where the convicted pedophile was being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, they are trained on the areas outside the cells and not inside, according to sources familiar with the setup there.

      Pols who attended Sunday’s annual Dominican Day Parade in Manhattan demanded answers to the many questions surrounding Epstein’s Saturday morning death, which is being investigated by the FBI and the Justice Department.

      “Something doesn’t smell right – and it’s not his dead body,” Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said.

      Adams noted the July 23 incident in which the multimillionaire financier was found nearly unconscious in his cell with marks on his neck, as well as the blockbuster court papers that were released on Friday and contained the names of other men – including former Maine Sen. George Mitchell and ex-New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson – who allegedly slept with an Epstein teenage “sex slave.”

      “Something is really troubling about that and I think it needs to be investigated extremely and very thoroughly to make sure there wasn’t any foul play,” Adams said.

      New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said she’s toured the MCC, said she found it “very difficult to understand how something like this could have happened.”

      “My understanding is that he should have been on suicide watch and the people on suicide watch are placed in a type of jumpsuit that wouldn’t allow them to hurt themselves or others,” she said.

      Federal prison officials violated normal procedures by leaving Epstein, 66, alone without a cellmate and not checking on him every 30 minutes the night before he was found, according to a report Sunday.

      In addition, both of the guards overseeing the unit were working overtime, with one on his fifth straight day of extra hours and the other forced to remain on duty, The New York Times said.

      Bob Hood, a former chief of internal affairs for the Bureau of Prisons, told the Times that it was “beyond me” why Epstein was taken off a 24-hour suicide watch following the July 23 incident, especially given the steady stream of humiliating news reports about him.

      “A man is dead. The Bureau of Prisons dropped the ball. Period,” Hood said.

      https://nypost.com/2019/08/11/theres-no-video-of-jeffrey-epsteins-apparent-suicide-sources/