Contributor’s links for Aug. 12, 2019

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

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

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

This is the new Samizdat. We 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

119 Replies to “Contributor’s links for Aug. 12, 2019”

  1. Ilhan Omar’s closet just flew wide open – she can’t hide it anymore!

    When you’re done reading this story, you’re going to ask yourself one question:

    Should this woman really be holding a high-ranking political position in this country?

    Certainly, this is an unverified rumor for the time being, but the evidence is mounting … fast.

    Questions about Rep. Ilhan Omar’s marital history have been circulating for months (did she really marry her brother?), but this is new, and does not look good for her.

    It appears she could be having an illicit affair with a Democrat strategist.

    This is a married man but he’s been spending a lot of time with Omar, and it definitely looks like they’re more than just friends.

    From the Daily Mail:

    “Is Ilhan Omar having an affair with this Dem strategist?

    The man she was holding hands with at a secluded eatery is Tim Mynett, who has constantly been by her side, left his physician wife and was paid $250K by her campaign…”

    The pictures are painting an interesting story:

    https://gopdailybrief.com/omar-slip-investigation-pictures/

    • So if this is true, and Omar could realize her dream and have the U.S. sharia compliant, she’d have to have herself stoned to death.

  2. close

    Fox News Flash top headlines for August 11
    Authorities in the United Kingdom have warned people online against mocking the hairstyle of a wanted convicted drug dealer or they could face their own criminal charges.

    The Gwent Police Department in South Wales had posted to Facebook to appeal for information about 21-year-old Jermaine Taylor from Newport, who violated his parole after being released from prison in December.

    Taylor had received a 3-year sentence for supplying controlled drugs, cocaine, after being sentenced in court in September 2017.

    UK WOMAN, 71, UNMASKED AS CULPRIT BEHIND ANTI-BREXIT GRAFFITI

    The department took to Facebook and posted the 21-year-old’s mugshot, in addition to an appeal for information. But the image — which showed a receding hairline — quickly went viral with more than 13,000 shares, 10,000 likes and over 81,000 comments.

    Many in the comment section took to making jokes and puns on Taylor’s hair.

    “Looks like his hairline is on the run too,” Nick Sleek Meek wrote.

    Another user, Callum Duff, commented: “His hairline goes back further than my family tree.”

    VAPE PEN EXPLODES IN UK MAN’S CAR, CAUSES THIRD-DEGREE BURNS: ‘IT FELT LIKE I WAS BEING BURNT ALIVE’

    But authorities found the comments no laughing matter, and replied: “please remember that harassing, threatening and abusing people on social media can be against the law.”

    https://www.foxnews.com/world/fugitive-hair-mocked-facebook-police-harassment

  4. This article is very important because it provides a study in contrasts. Yesterday’s mention of gay marriage, political power and the power creep of various politicized deviant identity groups is starkly illustrated in Central Europe.

    Note the very effective way this article vilifies those who oppose western political interference. Firstly, it really is about leftist identity groups gaining a political foothold. More importantly, there is only mention of “far-right” anti-LGBQ campaigns. This is critical. While there is clearly a PRO-LGBQ campaign to which the host population must react, financed by external entities, only the conservative reaction is recorded.

    This is how goal posts are moved under your feet. The culprit is able to hide in plain sight.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/08/09/world/europe/gays-hungary-poland-lgbt-ideology.amp.html

  6. Iran’s IRGC Navy Chief Warns Israel’s ‘Illegal’ Presence in Gulf Could Start War (sputniknews, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201908121076527787-irans-irgc-navy-chief-warns-israels-illegal-presence-in-gulf-could-start-war/

    “The IRGC warning comes amid reports suggesting that Israel has agreed to provide intelligence assistance to a US-proposed maritime coalition to patrol the Persian Gulf against a purported Iranian threat in the wake of “sabotage attacks” on oil tankers in the region.

    Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy Commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri has warned that any illegitimate Israeli presence in the Persian Gulf could spark a confrontation in the region, and that the responsibility for the consequences lies with the United States and the UK.

    “The United States and the United Kingdom must assume responsibility for the Zionist regime’s illegal presence in the Persian Gulf waters. Any presence of the Zionist regime in the Persian Gulf waters is illegal, as it may result in war and confrontation in the region”, he told the Lebanese TV channel Al Mayadeen on Sunday.

    Tangsiri, who was among multiple Iranian officials sanctioned by the US on 24 June, is also said to have claimed that “whenever our commanders wish so, they are able to detain any ship, even if it is accompanied by American and British forces”.

    “By establishing an illegal coalition in the region, the US and the UK are trying to implement their own scenarios. The security of the Persian Gulf is among Iran’s priorities, and we believe Iran’s shipping lanes must remain international”, he said.

    The IRGC commander continued by emphasising that the elite unite’s Navy was responsible for ensuring the security of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, and did not need the presence of foreigners there.

    “Iran is the flag-bearer of security in the Persian Gulf, but that hinges on the export of our oil and the country’s ability to use the region. We’ll ensure the security of the Persian Gulf as long as our own security is ensured”.

    His stark warnings followed reports about Israel agreeing to take part in a US-led international naval coalition in the Persian Gulf, which Washington claims is aimed at securing navigation routes for vessels in the wake of a series of oil tanker incidents there…”

  7. Pakistan Moves Military Equipment to Base Near Indian Border – Reports (sputniknews, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/asia/201908121076528603-pakistan-moves-military-equipment-to-base-near-indian-border—reports/

    “The Pakistani military has begun moving military equipment to the country’s Skardu Air Base near the Union Territory of Ladakh on the Indian-Pakistani border, the news agency ANI reported citing Indian government sources.

    According to the sources, the military gear transported to the base could support equipment for aircraft operations. The sources believe that the next step Islamabad will undertake is likely to be deployment of their JF-17 fighter jets to the Skardu airfields.

    The reports say the deployment of planes may indicate that the Pakistani military intends to carry out an exercise including the country’s Air Force and Army.

    Neither Islamabad, nor New Delhi has so far confirmed this information…”

  8. FBI Starts Going After US Citizens Who Attend Iran-linked Conference – Reports (sputniknews, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201908121076526807-fbi-starts-going-after-us-citizens-iran-linked-conference/

    “The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is going after American citizens who have already attended or plan to attend the New Horizon Conference (NHC) held by an Iranian media expert to discuss major global issues.

    A Virginia-based ex-Pentagon official said FBI agents were knocking at his door at 6:30 am in May, cited by Medium.com. Maloof had travelled to Mashhad in northeast Iran to attend last year’s NHC and was one of the guests invited to the next conference which is to be held in the Lebanese capital of Beirut in September. The agents, however, warned him of consequences if he decides to attend.

    In July, the FBI reportedly sent agents to the Florida home of Scott Rickard, a former translator with the US Air Force and the US National Security Agency (NSA) who once attended New Horizon, also warning him to skip the conference or face arrest.

    The bureau also reportedly approached former State Department diplomat J. Michael Springmann, asking him over the phone to attend a meeting and answer a few questions about the conference, but he turned down the request. Vernellia Randall, an African American academic who wrote the book “Dying while Black,” and who attended the conference in Tehran in 2015, was also visited by the FBI.

    Hicks said the FBI’s intimidation techniques set a “new low” in America’s approach to its relationship with Tel Aviv, where it has constantly backed the regime despite its many atrocities against the people of Palestine, Lebanon and more recently Syria. Later Hicks told Press TV that the FBI turned up at his door and warned him that New Horizon was being held by what they called “Iranian intelligence” without giving any evidence.

    Nader Talebzadeh, the renowned Iranian intellectual and journalist who chairs the New Horizon organization, has filed a petition with the Treasury, appealing the decision.

    “The consequence of your highly inaccurate and inflammatory allegations have had the result of seriously damaging our reputation, costing us a major loss of business and longtime friendships,” he wrote in the petition, adding that the NHC is a forum for free thought and expression of these thoughts.”

  10. Children of ISIS fighters will not be brought back to UK as rescue efforts ‘too dangerous’ (express, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1164639/isis-news-isis-babies-syria-camps-warzone-british-foreign-fighters-sajid-javid

    “ISIS babies who have British citizenship will not be brought back to the UK from Syria as it would be too dangerous to send military or civilian personnel to rescue them.

    The Government has ruled that children of British fighters stuck in warzones will not be rescued as it would be too risky. Sajid Javid made the ruling as one of his last acts as Home Secretary, before being promoted to chancellor under Boris Johnson’s Government last month. Concerns emerged too that parents who had been stripped of their British citizenship could use their repatriated children to reclaim citizenship under human rights laws…”

  11. Study: At Least 1-in-9 Prison Inmates Are Muslim Across 34 U.S. States (breitbart, Aug 11, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/08/11/study-at-least-1-in-9-prison-inmates-are-muslim-across-34-u-s-states/

    “At least one-in-nine inmates residing in prisons across Washington, DC, and 34 states identify as Muslim, state data reveals.

    According to data obtained by the Muslim Advocates organization, followers of Islam represent about nine percent of the state prison population in Washington, DC, and 34 states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

    While the Muslim population in the United States stands at about 1.1 percent of the 330 million residents living in the country, the number of Muslims in these 35 prison populations stands at about nine percent — a total that is likely to be even higher if every state was included in the study.

    “In recent years the share of prisoners who identify as Muslim, the absolute number of Muslim prisoners, or both, has steadily been increasing,” the study concluded.

    In less than a decade, the Islamic share of the prison population of D.C. jumped from less than 20 percent in 2010 to more than 25 percent in 2018. In Georgia, Muslims in the state prison population was at about 2.8 percent in 2010. By 2018, the Muslim share of the state prison population had grown to nearly seven percent.

    D.C., Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania all have a Muslim population in their state prison population that exceeds 20 percent. This indicates that in these four regions, at least every one-in-five prison inmates are followers of Islam.

    In Maryland, more than every one-in-four state prison inmates follow Islam, and in Washington, DC, almost every one-in-four prison inmates follow Islam.

    As Breitbart News reported, Muslims are set to be the second-largest religious group in the U.S. by the year 2040, according to the Pew Research Center. While there are less than four million Muslims living in the country today, by 2040, the Muslim population is expected to boom to an unprecedented 8.1 million.”

  13. Saudi Aramco has struck a $15 billion deal with Asia’s richest man for a stake in the world’s biggest refinery (businessinsider, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/saudi-aramco-buys-15-billion-stake-reliance-industries-mukesh-ambani-2019-8-1028437515

    “Saudi Aramco has agreed to acquire a 20% stake in Reliance Industries’ refining and petrochemicals business, which is valued at $75 billion.

    The $15 billion deal between the world’s largest oil producer and Mukesh Ambani — Asia’s richest man as well as Reliance’s chairman and largest shareholder — gives it a stake in the Jamnagar Refinery in India, which can process an unmatched 1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day.

    The Saudi Arabian oil titan has been investing heavily in refineries as it looks to double its daily processing capacity to as much as 10 million barrels of crude oil by 2030, according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, Reliance has been seeking to sell off large parts of its assets, which include cell-phone towers and gas fields, to lower its debt — estimated at $32 billion by Bloomberg.

    Saudi Aramco’s profits slumped 12% to just under $47 billion in the first half of this year, according to its earnings release…”

  14. Iraq joins Iran in rejecting Israel’s participation in US-led naval mission in Gulf (kurdistan24, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/97cdadbd-ae57-47ae-af33-2d9963de9779

    “The Iraqi federal government on Monday rejected the participation of Israeli forces in any military campaign to secure the passage of ships in the Gulf.

    “Iraq rejects the participation of the Zionist forces in any military force to secure the passage of ships in the Arabian Gulf. Together, the Arab Gulf states are able to ensure the safe passage of ships,” Foreign Minister of Iraq, Mohammed al-Hakim, stated on his official Twitter account.

    His statement came one day after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy Commander, Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, warned that any Israeli presence in the Gulf might lead to a confrontation in the region, and held the US and the UK accountable to “bear the consequences.”

    “The United States and the United Kingdom must assume responsibility for the Zionist regime’s illegal presence in Persian Gulf waters. Any Zionist regime presence in the Persian Gulf is illegal and may result in war and confrontation in the region,” Tangsiri told the Lebanese television channel Al Mayadeen on Sunday.

    Last week, the UK joined the US in a maritime security mission in the Gulf to protect merchant ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran seized a British-flagged vessel.

    Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil exports traverses, has become the main focus of the stalemate between the US and Iran. The US has increased its military presence in the area since May.

    In July, IRGC captured a British vessel, Stena Impero, near the Strait of Hormuz for alleged marine violations. It came two weeks after the UK seized an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar, accusing it of violating sanctions on the war-torn Syria.”

  15. UK: Chemicals Thrown on Police Less Than 24 Hours After Officer Run Down By Hijacked Squad Car (breitbart, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/08/12/uk-chemicals-thrown-police-less-day-after-officer-run-over/

    “West Midlands Police officers were attacked and had seemingly volatile chemicals thrown on them less than 24 hours after a colleague was mown down in a hijacked police vehicle.

    The precise location of the incident has not been disclosed, but involved officers from the Operational Support Unit (OSU) for West Midlands Police, which covers a wide area including the multicultural cities of Birmingham, Coventry, and Wolverhampton.

    The OSU, which provides its police force with “Specialist Search Teams (including water, heights and confined spaces), Advanced Public Order & Method of Entry [capabilities]”, tweeted: “This is what our officers have had to deal with this afternoon” along with two pictures of a riot shield smeared with a substance which had seemingly caused it to break out in a web of cracks and fissures.

    “U4B involved in detaining a violent male who had barricaded himself in a premises. After officers forced entry he attacked them with physical violence and threw unknown chemicals at them,” the OSU explained, appending their message with the hashtag #ProtectTheProtectors.

    The attack took place less than 24 hours after another West Midlands Police officer, aged 42, was allegedly “violently assaulted and punched to the ground” by suspected carjacker Mubashar Hussain, who went on to hijack a police vehicle and knock down the officer a second time by reversing into him “before driving over his body as he lay pinned under the vehicle,” according to an official statement.

    Hussain was later arrested in Sparkbrook, an area of Birmingham which has been described as Britain’s “jihadi capital”, and charged with a “catalogue of offences” including “causing serious injury by dangerous driving, a separate count of dangerous driving, wounding another officer who suffered a cut arm, four counts of assaulting other PCs, driving while disqualified, motoring offences, and two car thefts” as well as attempted murder.

    Another man, Ahsan Ghafoor, was also “charged with the same two car thefts, plus dangerous driving and other motoring offences”, but the extent of his involvement with the incident as a whole is unclear.

    Superintendent Tom Joyce said it was “difficult to give a prognosis” for his injured colleague condition, saying he was “relieved to say that [his injuries] are not believed to be life-threatening” but warning that they are “certainly potentially life-changing” and included a broken pelvis and internal injuries.

    He has already undergone surgery and it is reported that he will need multiple operations.”

  16. Former Manchester United star makes a fool of himself on behalf of Arab terrorist organisations+++
    The former French soccer player and “actor” Eric Cantona was on stage in London. The concert took place last week. The aim was to support Hamas and the Arabs in Gaza. Cantona, a former soccer player from Manchester United, has even started a political reading. He read “The enemy of the sun” of the Palestinian “poet” Nasser Aruri. The text is a glorification of Palestinian terrorism and the murder of Jews. Since he no longer earns money with his feet, Cantona uses his remaining glory for the Palestinian “cause”.Not so long ago he criticized Trump for his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. When Israel fought in 2014 to stop the rocket fire on its cities, Cantona was also there. Then he called on the French to put pressure on the Netherlands against the Jewish state. As an advocate for the so-called refugees, who also supports the BDS, Cantona had called for a boycott of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Israel.
    More:
    https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2019/08/former-manchester-united-star-makes.html

  19. QUEBEC CITY: The story of the Tunisian Muslim who set his wife on fire

    Quebecers have a particular sense of humor. A photo of two police officers escorting the suspect from the police station shows one cop holding a fire extinguisher while the other laughs.

    Some people failed to see the humor but the Police Union is defending the cops. They say it was to protect the guy, the public, and the cops. There was a crowd behind the gate and anyone could have thrown gas onto the suspect.

    (We all know the police were shocked by what happened and it was their way of reminding the guy of what he had done.)

    https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2019/08/11/extincteur-et-sourire-le-geste-dun-policier-de-quebec-de-tres-mauvais-gout-selon-un-expert-1

  20. Austria: Strache accuses Kurz of breaking his word during Ibiza Affair

    Former Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) leader Heinz-Christian Strache accused ex-Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of breaking his apparent promise that the Austrian coalition government would continue to rule together in the wake of the Ibiza Affair. He made the comments during an exclusive interview with RT Deutsch in Vienna on August 6, his first since the fall of the Austrian government.

    Strache, who was vice chancellor at the time, accused Kurz of breaking his reported word that the FPO-People’s Party (OVP) coalition would continue for a period of time if he were to step down.

    “The reality is, I was evidently given the promise – and I experienced this – from the chancellor’s side that if I resign, this would give this well-functioning government some time [to continue],” said Strache.

    After Strache resigned from both his posts, Kurz then dismissed the FPO Interior Minister Herbert Kickl, after he refused to resign. The remaining FPO ministers then resigned in solidarity as they had previously threatened to do.

    “He [Kurz] said on the phone that things have changed now and he also asked Minister of Interior Herbert Kickl to resign,” Strache recounted.

    If the minister didn’t resign, it would have been reason enough for Kurz to unilaterally put an end to the government, Strache added.

    “This shows clearly that there was a development here, in which one can surely see, one has the impression that someone was trying to strategically capitalise on this video,” he said.

    After the collapse of the coalition government Kurz went on to lose a no-confidence vote called for by the opposition.

    The fall of the government followed the emergence of a video in German media which apparently shows Strache and his fellow FPO member Johann Gudenus meeting in Ibiza with the supposed niece of a Russian oligarch and encouraging her to buy Austria’s largest newspaper, offering access to government projects in exchange for favourable election coverage and campaign funds.

    • Epstein’s confidante under microscope

      OAN Newsroom
      UPDATED 7:12 AM PT — Monday, August 12, 2019

      With Jeffrey Epstein now dead, attention is turning to the late billionaire’s alleged accomplice. The day before Epstein was found unconscious, thousands of pages of documents from a previous lawsuit were released alleging Epstein’s long-time confidante Ghislaine Maxwell ordered young girls to perform sexual acts on Epstein and other high profile men.

      One of those accusers is Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who was 16 when she was allegedly brought into Epstein’s sex trafficking operation. She says Maxwell actively groomed her and played a leading role in forcing her to have sex with Britain’s Prince Andrew, former Maine Senator George Mitchell, and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.

      “Being a woman it kind of surprises you that a woman would let that happen, but to groom you into doing it,” stated Giuffre.

      https://www.oann.com/jeffrey-epstein-dies-by-suicide-according-to-multiple-reports/

    • CBC – U.S. investigators have Jeffery Epstein autopsy results

      «….Epstein a friend of President Trump…»

      • Questioning Jeffrey Epstein’s Death is Not a Conspiracy Theory
        August 11, 2019
        Daniel Greenfield
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        It’s not a conspiracy theory when there’s demonstrable evidence of a conspiracy.

        There’s no argument that Jeffrey Epstein got a corrupt pass from the justice systems of three states, Florida, New York, and New Mexico. Not to mention the federal government.

        There’s also no real argument that Epstein’s prison sentence, in Florida, in which, despite being a sex offender, he was allowed out on “work release” to his office where he allegedly continued his pattern of inappropriate sexual behavior, before returning to his private wing.

        There’s no argument that his release process was highly suspect, that he doesn’t seem to have been appropriately signed out and in, or that he was able to hire sheriff’s deputies to provide security for him, while he continued to engage in his previous behavior, while he was supposed to be in prison.

        This is a conspiracy. And no one is seriously denying it.

        Epstein had supposedly attempted to commit suicide. Despite being on heavy monitoring, he allegedly was able to try again and kill himself.

        There’s every reason to suspect this story.

        https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/274593/questioning-jeffrey-epsteins-death-not-conspiracy-daniel-greenfield

    • What Happened to Jeffrey Epstein?
      A mysterious criminal dies a mysterious death.
      August 12, 2019
      Daniel Greenfield

      New York City’s Civic Center is a maze of courts, prisons, and offices that begins where Chinatown ends; past relics like a 17th century Jewish cemetery and an 1819 seaman’s church. Park Row is barricaded and blocked off by the brutalist infrastructure of One Police Plaza (which contains the remnants of a British prison used to house American prisoners during the Revolutionary War). Surrounding it are massive federal courthouses in front of whose facades the various important malefactors you see on the evening news are photographed, followed by the neoclassical façade of the New York County Supreme Court.

      The placement of these buildings in what used to be the Five Points, New York City’s worst and most violent criminal slum run by gangs who made their own laws, where police never ventured, is not an accident. Nor is it an accident that these buildings blocked off the slum area from nearby Wall Street.

      The massive gray and brown towers of Civic Center make a statement about the might of the law.

      The Metropolitan Correctional Center is the most obscure of the Civic Center buildings (except to its inmates and their families), its brutalist mass huddling in a blockaded zone, even as it has housed countless famous inmates from John Gotti to Bernie Madoff, from the Blind Sheikh to El Chapo.

      New York’s Alcatraz skyscraper has hosted some of the most dangerous and infamous criminals in the world, and its security is as painfully tight as its slitted windows. MCC inmates are bound for one of the federal courts in Civic Center. Some of them will testify. Many only reluctantly. And some of them will be the targets of international gangs, terror groups and crime families who don’t want them testifying.

      https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274595/what-happened-jeffrey-epstein-daniel-greenfield

    • Autopsy On Jeffrey Epstein Has Been Completed

      The autopsy of registered sex offender and multimillionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein has been completed, though most details of the report remain undisclosed. The alleged pedophile’s cause of death, according to an announcement from the New York City medical examiner late on Sunday, “is pending further information,” a common determination.

      According to a report from The Daily Beast, Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson said Epstein’s representatives hired celebrity pathologist Michael Baden “to conduct an independent autopsy and they were allowed to observe the autopsy.”

      Baden is known as the “Death Correspondent” for Fox News, according to the Evening Standard, and has been involved in the high-profile deaths of John Belushi, Anna Nicole Smith, and Michael Brown and testified at the infamous OJ Simpson trial. Dr. Baden has also “examined more than 20,000 bodies and was host of the HBO TV show Autopsy,” the outlet noted.

      https://www.dailywire.com/news/50511/autopsy-jeffrey-epstein-has-been-completed-amanda-prestigiacomo?utm_medium=email&utm_content=081219-news&utm_campaign=position1

    • DAILY MAIL EXCLUSIVE: A dozen FBI agents raid Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Pedophile Island’,pulling up to his Caribbean getaway in speedboats and roaming the grounds in golf carts, two days after pervert billionaire’s suicide

      FBI agents were seen raiding Jeffrey Epstein’s US Virgin Island – Little St. James – on Monday morning and afternoon, exclusive DailyMailTV footage shows

      At least a dozen agents were seen disembarking speedboats at the pier and driving around the 71.5 acre grounds on golf carts

      Other officials with ‘FBI’ lettering on clear display were later seen overlooking the sea from the top of Epstein’s remote luxury home

      The raid comes two days after the 66-year-old was found dead by suicide in his New York jail cell early on Saturday morning

      An onlooker told DailyMailTV: ‘I’m on a boat charter with guests. We were enjoying lunch when we saw over a dozen people landing on the island’

      The home – dubbed ‘pedophile island’ and ‘orgy island’ – is at the center of an ongoing sex trafficking probe into the criminal financier

      Allegations have been made that underage girls were used as sex slaves and repeatedly abused inside a temple on the island

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7349729/Dozen-FBI-agents-raid-Jeffrey-Epsteins-Pedophile-Island.html

  23. Hong Kong airport shuts down amid pro-democracy protest
    By YANAN WANG and CHRISTOPHER BODEEN2 hours ago

    • Bill Clinton wanted to appoint a lawmaker caught in the Epstein scandal to the Supreme Court
      By Daily Caller News Foundation August 12, 2019

      An alleged sex slave of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein accused several powerful men of misconduct in a newly unsealed deposition, including a powerful Democratic lawmaker who turned down an appointment to the Supreme Court.

      Virginia Giuffre said Epstein directed her to perform erotic massages and sexual intercourse with former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell of Maine, an elder statesmen in the Democratic Party whom former President Bill Clinton asked to succeed Justice Harry Blackmun in 1994. Mitchell denied any wrongdoing.

      “I have never met, spoken with or had any contact with Ms. Giuffre,” Mitchell told the Portland Press Herald. “In my contacts with Mr. Epstein I never observed or suspected any inappropriate conduct with underage girls. I only learned of his actions when they were reported in the media related to his prosecution in Florida. We have had no further contact.”

      https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/08/12/bill-clinton-wanted-to-appoint-a-lawmaker-caught-in-the-epstein-scandal-to-the-supreme-court/

    • Jeffrey Epstein told guards weeks before he hanged himself that someone tried to KILL HIM: Questions mount over why billionaire pedophile was taken off suicide watch just as sex slave lawsuit named powerful friends including Prince Andrew

      Jeffrey Epstein was found hanged in his

      Jeffrey Epstein told prison guards and fellow inmates that he believed someone had tried to kill him in the weeks before his death, a source has revealed to DailyMail.com

      The insider, who had seen the disgraced financier on several occasions during his incarceration at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, also claims that the normally reserved Epstein seemed to be in good spirits.

      ‘There was no indication that he might try to take his own life,’ the source told DailyMail.com

      ‘From what I saw, he was finally starting to adjust to prison. I think he was comforted by the rigidity of his new life.’

      The world was left stunned early Saturday after news that Epstein was found hanging in his prison cell shortly before 7am.

      The 66-year-old was rushed to nearby New York Presbyterian-Lower Manhattan hospital wher

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7344785/Jeffrey-Epstein-told-guards-tried-KILL-weeks-hanged-himself.html

    • Bill Barr: “Let Me Assure You That This Case Will Continue Against Anyone Complicit with Epstein” (VIDEO)

      On Saturday US Attorney General William Barr ordered a full investigation into Epstein’s death to determine how such a high-profile inmate could have taken his own life and why he was ever removed from suicide watch.

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

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

      On Monday AG Barr told the National Fraternal Order of Police in New Orleans that the investigation will go on following Epstein’s death.

      Attorney General Bill Barr: “Let me assure you that this case will continue on against anyone who was complicit with Epstein. Any co-conspirators should not rest easy.”

      https://twitter.com/i/status/1160928687052562437https://twitter.com/i/status/1160928687052562437

      https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/08/bill-barr-let-me-assure-you-that-this-case-will-continue-against-anyone-complicit-with-epstein-video/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily

    • Prison Warden and Psychologist Signed Off to Confirm Epstein Not Suicidal – Then the MCC Prison Guards Skipped Required Checks

      66-year-old financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his prison cell on Saturday morning.
      Epstein was the highest profile prisoner in the US prison system at the time of his death.

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

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

  24. Norway: Oslo mosque shooting suspect denies allegations in court

    At a detention hearing in Oslo on Monday, a 21-year-old Norwegian man suspected of a “terrorist act” at the city’s Al-Noor mosque on Saturday rejected all the allegations against him. He is also suspected of murdering his 17-year-old stepsister of Chinese origin.

    Footage shows the suspect, Philip Manshaus, entering the courtroom with his lawyer Unni Fries as he calmly sits down and smiles for the cameras.

    Authorities say that the suspect holds “far-right” and “anti-immigrant” views.

    The suspect is accused of entering the mosque located in the Oslo suburb of Baerum and opening fire before being overpowered by a 65-year-old man who suffered minor injuries.

    Hours after the attack, the body of a young woman was found in a home in Baerum and police on Sunday confirmed it was the suspect’s 17-year-old stepsister.

    • europravda – The Brief: Norway mosque shooting suspect makes first appearance in court

    • Norway: Mosque shooting suspect shared ‘right-wing’ views online – Oslo police

      A gunman suspected of an attempted attack on Baerum’s Al-Noor Islamic Centre had expressed “right-wing” sympathies online, said Oslo District Police Attorney Paal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby when speaking to the press after the hearing in Oslo on Monday.

      Hjort Kraby said that the police wanted to keep the suspect in custody for “four weeks” with a ban on letter exchanges, visits, media access, and with no contact with other prisoners.

      He went on to say that the police are investigating whether the attack had been planned and “what extent he had [a] plan.”

      Earlier in the day, the 21-year-old Norwegian man, identified as Philip Manshaus, appeared before the court, during which he rejected all allegations against him.

      The suspect is accused of entering the mosque located in the Oslo suburb of Baerum and opening fire before being overpowered by a 65-year-old man who suffered minor injuries.

      Manshaus is also facing a separate murder charge, after the body of a young woman, which the police have confirmed as being his 17-year-old stepsister, was found at his home in Baerum.

  25. ‘We’re Here to Deter Iran, But Ready to Strike if Ordered’ – US Military on Aircraft Carrier in Gulf (sputniknews, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201908121076531481-were-here-to-deter-iran-but-ready-to-strike-if-ordered-us-military-on-aircraft-carrier-in-gulf/

    “The United States deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Persian Gulf in May, in what National Security Adviser John Bolton described as a “clear and unmistakable” message to Iran that any attack on American interests or those of its allies would be met with “unrelenting force”.

    US officers on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, deployed at an American naval base in Bahrain along with some smaller vessels, claimed in an interview with Sky News that their mission is to deter Iran from striking US targets, but added that they were also ready to launch offensive strikes if ordered.

    “A large part of deterrence is the readiness that backs that deterrence up. We are ready to defend the US and the US interests if called upon… My job is to be here, to be ready, to deter and to defend if required”, Rear Admiral Michael Boyle, commander of Carrier Strike Group 12, said.

    The USS Abraham Lincoln was sent to the Middle East in May due to what Washington claimed was a “number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” from Iran. Despite the highly publicised deployment, the aircraft carrier has not passed through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway linking Mideast crude producers to crucial world markets.

    “For our mission here, which is deterrence, we are in the place we need to be. The people in the know in Iran know that we are more of a deterrent here than we are in the Arabian Gulf because from this position we can reach them and they can’t reach us. In a boxer’s analogy we have got overreach from the spot where we are right now”, Boyle added.

    According to Sky News, aircraft on the carrier were supposed to strike several Iranian targets in June when Tehran brought down a US spy drone, which it claimed had violated its airspace and ignored multiple warnings to leave the area. At the time, President Donald Trump called off the retaliatory strikes just 10 minutes before it was set to be launched, explaining that the death of an estimated 150 Iranians was disproportionate to the loss of an unmanned aerial vehicle…”

  26. MEMRI – Iranian Pilgrims in Mecca Chant “Death to America,” Declare Israel Must Be Erased from Face of Earth

    On August 10, 2019, IRINN TV (Iran) aired a report about a “disavowal of polytheists” ceremony held by Iranian pilgrims at the plains of Arafat in Mecca.

    During the ceremony, a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was read and the pilgrims chanted: “Death to America! Death to Israel!… America is the enemy of Allah! Israel is the enemy of Allah [and] should be erased from the face of the Earth!”

    A young boy who was interviewed said that the pilgrimage to Mecca is a religious act as well as a political one, and he declared that he would sacrifice his life for the Leader.

    The reporter said: “This is the cry of the Islamic nation against the child-killing Zionist regime and [America].”

    A pilgrim said: “We have gathered here [to] punch America and Israel on the mouth.” Ghorbanali Dorri-Nafajabadi, a member of Iran’s Expediency Council and the Assembly of Experts, said: “All supporters of the front of truth must stand [united] against the front of heresy, polytheism, hypocrisy, Zionism, arrogance, and reactionism.”

  27. After this last week, some serious concerns MUST be addressed regarding ‘red flag’ laws
    By J.E. Dyer August 12, 2019

    I have never been opposed in principle to finding ways to tighten holes in the background-check system through which – according to our consensus theories on the matter – many of the recent mass shooters have slipped.

    Nor have I opposed, in principle, the idea that we need ways to help keep guns out of the hands of people who meet a risk threshold of mental instability.

    But if ever there were a week in history designed to flag for us in pulsating neon the dangers of making mental health a routine basis for public policy, it’s the one we just went through.

    The most basic question the past week leaves any sensible person with is this one:

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/08/12/after-this-last-week-some-serious-concerns-must-be-addressed-regarding-red-flag-laws/

    Richard: I was at the VA this morning and they were talking about gun control and hte way Congress is talking about regulating body armor as wellas firearms. We all agreed that this was bull and that trying to regulate the firearms in the hands of the vets would create a whole new level of trouble for the regulators. The politicians in both parties need to remember the people who don’t live in big cities, we are sick and tired of the big city people trying to take our right of self defense away.

  29. France Sees Dramatic Homicide Increase in Spring of 2019 (breitbart, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/08/12/france-sees-dramatic-homicide-increase-in-spring-of-2019/

    “Within the span of only three months in 2019, France saw nearly 250 murders, year marking a 16 per cent increase from the previous three-month period.

    According to France’s Ministry of the Interior, a total of 248 murders were recorded between May 1st and July 1st, with July alone seeing 101 homicides including both deliberate acts of murder and assaults that resulted in the death of the victim, newspaper Le Figaro reports.

    Some of the murders, according to the Information, Intelligence and Strategic Analysis Service on Organized Crime (SIRASCO), can be linked to organised criminal activity, with the organisation claiming that revenge killings were becoming more common, many of them contract killings.

    At the end of last month, another gang conflict claimed the lives of three people in a shooting in Ollioules, with one of the victims having been a tourist caught in the crossfire.

    Domestic abuse has also claimed the lives of many in France, with 121 women killed in 2018 as a result of domestic violence.

    In one particularly brutal case, a woman was murdered last month by her husband who crushed her with his car against a wall, while in another case a pregnant woman in Marignane was found shot to death in her car with bullets in her abdomen.

    France has also seen several high-profile murder cases involving migrants in the last several months. In one case a Pakistani illegal migrant was arrested in Valenton after the body of a local woman was found in the trunk of her own car a month prior. 23-year-old Sandra B. had been suffocated to death, according to investigators.

    A month later a Syrian migrant was arrested in south-western France following the discovery of the body of 24-year-old Johanna Blanes.

    Blanes, who had suffered from a mild mental handicap, had been returning from a nightclub before her murder. She had been beaten, strangled, and likely raped, according to investigators.”

  30. EXCLUSIVE: Latest AI and Intelligence Algorithms Using Body Kinetics and Facial Characteristics Show Mueller Was Not Honest in House Hearing!
    Joe Hoft by Joe Hoft August 12, 2019

    EXCLUSIVE: Latest AI and Intelligence Algorithms Using Body Kinetics and Facial Characteristics Show Mueller Was Not Honest in House Hearing!
    Joe Hoft by Joe Hoft August 12, 2019 128 Comments

    220Share 148Tweet Email

    We reported in late July that the body language expert reviewed Robert Mueller’s responses and actions during his recent hearing before Congress. Based on this review, Mueller was deceptive and very defiant.
    Now we have additional information on Mueller’s actions from an in depth analysis using the latest in advanced technology!

    The body language ghost on YouTube released a number of videos where she reviews the actions and responses on Robert Mueller in front of Congress attempting to defend his corrupt and criminal Russia Collusion coup. The results are as expected.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/08/exclusive-latest-ai-and-intelligence-algorithms-using-body-kinetics-and-facial-characteristics-show-mueller-was-not-honest-in-house-hearing/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily

  31. Labour MP: ‘Abolish All Countries’, Socialist Utopia ‘Not Achieved Through National Barriers’ (breitbart, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/08/12/labour-mp-abolish-all-countries-socialist-utopia-not-achieved-through-national-barriers/

    “Labour’s Paul Sweeney, a member of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow government, has said “all countries should be abolished” as “socialist redistribution of power and wealth… is not achieved through erection of national barriers of any kind.”

    The Labour MP made the candid admission during an online spat with politicians from the Scottish National Party (SNP), which like Labour is broadly left-liberal but tends to put more emphasis on fashionable “social justice” and pro-mass migration leftism than old-fashioned socialism and trade unionism…”

  32. Who’s the Conspiracist? — Marco Rubio Blames ‘Russian Bots’ for Spreading Epstein ‘Conspiracies’

    Who’s the Conspiracist? — Marco Rubio Blames ‘Russian Bots’ for Spreading Epstein ‘Conspiracies’
    Jim Hoft by Jim Hoft August 12, 2019 336 Comments

    176Share 98Tweet Email

    Marco Rubio outdoes himself.
    The Florida Republican blamed Russian trolls for spreading “conspiracies” about Jeffrey Epstein’s death.
    Epstein was the highest profile prisoner in the US prison system.

    ** Epstein said he was considering cooperating in “naming names” in his international sex ring
    ** He was found unconscious in his prison cell just three weeks earlier
    ** On Thursday documents released for the first time implicated several top Democrats in his pedo sex ring
    ** He was taken off suicide watch
    ** He was in isolation
    ** The cameras malfunctioned
    ** The prison guards had worked several extra shifts last week
    ** The prison guards “forgot” to check on Epstein
    ** Epstein said he was the victim of attempted murder three weeks ago
    ** Epstein has dirt on numerous globalist elites

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/08/whos-the-conspiracist-marco-rubio-blames-russian-bots-for-spreading-epstein-conspiracies/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily

  33. Sweden: Animal Cruelty in ‘Immigrant-Dense Areas’ as Cats, Hedgehogs, Swans Killed (breitbart, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/08/12/sweden-animal-cruelty-in-immigrant-dense-areas-as-hedgehogs-kicked-swans-have-throats-cut/

    “According to the head of a Swedish animal protection group, behaviour in “immigrant-dense areas” is responsible for an increase in cruelty cases toward hedgehogs and other animals.

    Earlier this week, Swedish media spoke to Annica Sjöberg, the head of the animal welfare group Djurens Vänner in the municipality of Nässjö, who claimed that youths were using local hedgehogs as footballs and kicking them around, Nyheter Idag reports.

    Sjöberg spoke to the online publication saying, “These are immigrant-dense areas, unfortunately,” and added that the group used to visit schools and write notes in various languages in order to inform migrant children of the laws on animal cruelty.

    “So there is some difference in how animals are handled in Sweden and in other countries. We have quite good animal welfare legislation here in Sweden which we are used to and grow up with, but it is not in all countries, unfortunately,” Sjöberg added.

    While it is mainly hedgehogs that have been on the receiving end of cruel behaviour, Sjöberg noted that other animals had been exposed to cruelty as well, including hares, cats, and swans, indicating that footage of them having their throats cut was circulating on social media.

    She went on to add that the group may start visiting local schools again in the near future to inform children, saying, “maybe that is something we need to start up again, make small information sheets for children and tell them how to handle them and what you can and can’t do. I think that’s pretty important.”

    Other countries in Western Europe have also had difficulties with migrant behaviour toward animals, specifically the Muslim community during the end of Ramadan where some have been accused of cruelty while butchering sheep and other animals for the religious holiday of Eid.

    Last year in France, for example, dozens of sheep were rescued from a garage in the northern suburbs of Paris where the underground slaughter of animals during Eid celebrations has become a major issue.”

  34. Far Left Athlete-Protesters May Face Sanctions After Disrespecting Flag, Anthem and Country at Pan Am Games
    Jim Hoft by Jim Hoft August 12, 2019 184 Comments

    American fencer Race Imboden won a gold medal in the Pan American games in Peru.
    Then he knelt during the national anthem at the medals ceremony.

    Race Imboden told CNN it was a protest against “racism, gun control, mistreatment of immigrants and President Donald Trump.”

    What a dope.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/08/far-left-athlete-protesters-may-face-sanctions-after-disrespecting-flag-anthem-and-country-at-pan-am-games/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=daily

  35. The Second Amendment Has Always Been An Individual Right
    John Paul Stevens is still wrong about District of Columbia v. Heller.
    David Harsanyi
    By David Harsanyi
    November 29, 2018

    In a recent interview with The New York Times regarding his upcoming memoir, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens shares what he contends are the three worst court decisions to come down during his long tenure. His first choice, unsurprisingly, is District of Columbia v. Heller, the 2008 ruling that finally codified the Second Amendment as an individual right.

    Stevens told the Times that he even took “an extraordinary step in trying to head off the decision,” preemptively sending the other justices a probable dissent to convince them to change their positions. “The combination of its actual practical impact by increasing the use of guns in the country and also the legal reasoning, which I thought was totally unpersuasive,” he says, “persuaded me that the case is just about as bad as any in my tenure.”

    Stevens doesn’t even attempt to hide the political motivation behind his argument. Earlier this year, in fact, Stevens implored Americans to do what he couldn’t while on the court, and repeal the Second Amendment. Stevens quotes former Chief Justice Burger, who in 1991 claimed that activists had perpetrated “one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.”

    Both these justices rely on an expedient revisionist history to make their claims. This effort was spearheaded by left-wing historians who attempted to retroactively dismiss the ubiquitous presence of guns in American life and the role firearms played in the rise of a nation. It was taken up by anti-firearm activists and journalists who have used that revisionist history to dismiss the overwhelming evidence that the founding generation believed individual Americans had an inherent right to bear those arms.

    All of these forces fostered a “collective right” theory regarding the Second Amendment that was normalized in legal and political circles for decades. Countless judg

    read the rest at: https://thefederalist.com/2018/11/29/second-amendment-always-individual-right/

  36. Turkey Arrests Over 1,500 Irregular Migrants in Past Week – Reports (sputniknews, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201908121076534119-turkey-arrests-over-1500-irregular-migrants-in-past-week/

    “Turkish security forces have apprehended at least 1,546 irregular migrants across the country as they attempted to cross into Europe, the Anadolu news reported, citing security sources.

    The apprehended migrants were coming from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Central Africa, Libya and other countries, the Anadolu news agency reported.

    They were taken either to a hospital or provincial migration offices, according to the agency.

    Turkey hosts approximately 3.7 million migrants and refugees, according to the International Organisation for Migration. Although 20 tent camps and container towns with essential infrastructures, such as schools and medical facilities, have been established to accommodate refugees over the past several years, most of the migrants prefer not to settle in them and instead move on to other parts of the country.

    Migrants also deliberately avoid contacts with law and immigration enforcement agencies in Turkey since the country only serves as a gateway to Europe for many of them.

    In March 2016, the European Union and Turkey unveiled a joint initiative to target irregular migration from Turkey to the EU member states and smuggling.”

  37. China’s New Naval Base: Cambodia

    by Debalina Ghoshal
    August 12, 2019 at 4:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14700/china-naval-base-cambodia

    China’s efforts to establish regional hegemony were highlighted recently by a Wall Street Journal report claiming that Beijing signed a secret deal in the spring with Phnom Penh, giving the Chinese armed forces access to Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand, “not far from a large airport now being constructed by a Chinese company.”

    Although the report was vehemently denied by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who called it “the worst-ever made up news against Cambodia,” Washington has cause to take it seriously. The United States is aware of China’s attempts to strengthen its strategic foothold in Southeast Asia in general and the South China Sea in particular. Washington also has expressed worry over Cambodia’s move away from democracy and American influence, on the one hand, and its descent into autocratic rule and towards China’s orbit on the other.

    In spite of Article 1 of its Constitution, which states that “the Kingdom of Cambodia shall be independent, sovereign, peaceful, permanently neutral and non-aligned country,” in January, U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats — who just resigned his post — assessed that “Cambodia’s slide toward autocracy… opens the way for a constitutional amendment that could lead to a Chinese military presence in the country.”

    • Deutsche Pravda – Will Italy election turmoil escalate tensions with the EU?

      Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is calling for snap elections in the country after pulling out of its governing coalition.

      Lawmakers are gearing up to debate and vote on a no-confidence motion against the current government, led by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

      Polling suggests that if the government is toppled and new elections are held, Salvini would have a chance at becoming the new prime minister.

      But the political uncertainty comes as Italy is also due to begin negotiations on next year’s budget.

      Rome has sparred repeatedly with Brussels over its finances in recent months.

      National debt has risen to more than twice of what EU rules allow, and Italy’s election turmoil could deal a further blow to already sluggish eurozone growth.

    • Italy: Salvini calls for new elections ‘as soon as possible’

      Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini called for fresh elections ‘as soon as possible’ while speaking to the press in Rome on Monday, just days after his League party issued a motion of no confidence in Giuseppe Conte’s government, which Salvini’s party is a part of.

      “The only thing that Italy cannot afford is to waste time and anyone who is wasting time is doing so because they are afraid of losing their seat… whoever is afraid of the elections is because he clearly has worked badly and is afraid of not returning to parliament,” Salvini said.

      “We ask that we vote as soon as possible, then the Italians will choose a government that governs and does so for five years,” the Deputy PM added.

      Italy’s Senate will convene on Tuesday to set a date for the no-confidence vote. Salvini’s party reportedly wants the vote to go forward within the week, while the Five Star movement and Democratic party prefer the vote to take place on August 20.

      On 8 August 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. However, many Italians dislike the League for its populist views.

  42. UN special rapporteur calls on France to repatriate citizens sentenced to death in Iraq (thedefensepost, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://thedefensepost.com/2019/08/12/un-france-isis-suspects-iraq/

    “A United Nations human rights expert on Monday called on the French government to repatriate and try seven French nationals sentenced to death on terror charges in Iraq.

    In an August 12 statement, Agnes Callamard, a U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, expressed “serious concerns” over the men’s fate.

    “There are serious allegations that the sentences were handed down following unfair trials, with the accused having no adequate legal representation or effective consular assistance,” Callamard said.

    She said Iraq’s legal system was “marred by very serious structural problems.”

    France responded to the appeal by saying that its position on the issue had been consistent: “Adult French nationals, men and women, having joined [ISIS] to fight in [Iraq and Syria] … should be tried nearest to where they committed their crimes.”

    Paris “respects the sovereignty of the Iraqi state, including its judicial institutions that have said they are competent to try French fighters belonging to ISIS,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.

    It added that Baghdad was “aware that France opposes capital punishment and asks that the death penalty not be applied.”

    Callamard’s allegations “are in no way backed up [and] are pure speculation,” the statement said.

    Hundreds of foreigners have been sentenced to death or life imprisonment in Iraq for belonging to Islamic State.

    European governments have long debated whether and how to take back former fighters and their supporters amid a host of security, political and legal issues.

    The seven French nationals were arrested by the Syrian Democratic Forces and subsequently transferred to Iraq in February, allegedly at the request of the French government or with its suspected involvement, Callamard said.

    Once in Iraq, they were reportedly subject to torture or other ill-treatment, she added.

    “In these circumstances, the transfer of persons to Iraq for prosecution is illegal. I am particularly disturbed by allegations that France may have had a role in this transfer, given the risk involved of torture and unfair trials and that they would likely face the death penalty,” Callamard added.

    She has written to French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe with her concerns.

    Callamard named the men as Fodil Tahar Aouidate, Mourad Delhomme, Karam El Harchaoui, Bilel Kabaoui, Leonard Lopez, Brahim Nejara and Vianney Ouraghi.

    Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi declared that his government was not empowered to reduce the sentences of foreign jihadists facing death.

    Iraqi law stipulates the death penalty for anyone joining a “terrorist group” – even those who did not take up arms.

    France and other European countries have strongly resisted the repatriation of their nationals suspected of joining ISIS, but France is also staunchly opposed to capital punishment.”

  43. Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam charged over Brussels bombings (thedefensepost, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://thedefensepost.com/2019/08/12/salah-abdeslam-brussels-attacks-charged/

    “Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks, has been formally charged in connection with the Brussels suicide bombings months later, federal prosecutors said Monday, August 12.

    Abdeslam was charged with “participating in the activities of a terrorist group,” the federal prosecutor’s office told AFP, confirming reports in the Belgian media in recent days…”

  45. No Need for Strangers to Ensure Security of Hormuz Strait: Iranian Commander (tasnimnews, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2019/08/12/2074027/no-need-for-strangers-to-ensure-security-of-hormuz-strait-iranian-commander

    “Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri said that Iran is responsible for protecting the security of the Strait of Hormuz and that no stranger is needed in the region…”

  46. Turkey Continues to Escalate in Eastern Mediterranean (aawsat, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1854061/turkey-continues-escalate-eastern-mediterranean

    “Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar reiterated the country’s keenness on its rights and those of the people of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the wealth of the Eastern Mediterranean.

    “We have defended the rights of our own, and the people of TRNC to the end and will continue to defend. Nobody should test our strength,” Akar said during his visit to the frigate accompanying the Turkish drilling vessel Yavuz.

    “We won’t turn a blind eye to a fait accompli in Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Aegean… We won’t let any decision against our rights over this issue to be taken in any way,” Turkey’s defense minister affirmed.

    Fatih and Yavuz vessels continue their tasks in the Mediterranean Sea near Cyprus.

    “We are in favor of peace and good neighborhood in the Aegean, Eastern Mediterranean, and Cyprus. We are sincere and we stand behind our words,” said Akar.

    “When we say ‘peace’ they perceive our statement as a weakness. When we say ‘we will get what is our right when necessary’ they perceive it as a threat,” he said adding that Turkey’s neighbors need to look at the situation objectively.

    “To date, we have fulfilled our responsibilities in the scope of guarantee and alliance agreements and we are determined to do so. To continue this, the existence of the Turkish Armed Forces on the island is a must, and everyone should know that.”

    Turkey will dispatch a third drilling vessel to the Eastern Mediterranean end of August, stated Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez.

    Moreover, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed a proposal by President of Northern Cyprus Mustafa Akinci on the administration of hydrocarbon resources. Guterres said in a letter on Saturday to Akinci that all moves to ease tensions are welcomed.

    On July 13, Akinci offered the Greek Cypriot side to set up a joint committee on hydrocarbon resources in the Eastern Mediterranean.”

  47. German exports to Iran halve in first half as US sanctions bite (memo, aug 12, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190812-german-exports-to-iran-halve-in-first-half-as-us-sanctions-bite/

    “German exports to Iran fell by nearly half in the first six months of 2019, data showed on Monday, suggesting companies are scaling back business ties with Tehran to avoid trouble with the United States after Washington reimposed sanctions, reports Reuters.

    Sales to Iran plunged by 48% to 678 million euros ($758.8 million) from January through June year-on-year, data from the Federal Statistics Office reviewed by Reuters showed. Imports from Iran declined by 43% to nearly 110 million euros.

    “The fact that trade between Iran and Germany has collapsed that massively is not a big surprise, unfortunately,” the BGA trade association said…”

  48. Turkish forces neutralize 4 terrorists in southeast (memo, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190812-turkish-forces-neutralize-4-terrorists-in-southeast/

    “Turkish security forces neutralized four terrorists in a counter-terrorism operation in southeastern Turkey, the country’s Interior Ministry announced on Monday, reports Anadolu Agency.

    Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralised” in their statements, to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

    The armed terrorists were targeted by the Gendarmerie forces – an armed law enforcement organization – in rural areas of Yuksekova district of Hakkari province, the ministry said in a statement…”

  49. Somali army kills 16 al-Shabaab fighters (memo, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190812-somali-army-kills-16-al-shabaab-fighters/

    “At least 16 al-Shabaab fighters were killed in Somalia after Somali special forces backed by Turkey trained forces attacked al-Shabaab positions in the region, state media said on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

    The attack took place on al-Shabaab positions near the town of Awdhegle in Lower Shabelle region, according to state owned radio.

    Somali National Army (SNA) has confirmed the operation and casualty toll in a statement posted on Twitter.

    “The 66th battalion while on active patrol today laid an ambush and killed 16 insurgents around Awdegle”, the SNA said in a statement…”

  50. Yemen’s UAE-backed southern secessionists are expelling northern refugees as they move to seize Aden (alaraby, Aug 12, 2019)
    https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/indepth/2019/8/12/yemens-uae-backed-southern-secessionists-are-expelling-northern-refugees

    “UAE-backed separatists in southern Yemen have been deporting northern Yemeni refugees back to war-ravaged northern provinces, as they push a violent secessionist agenda that last week opened a dramatic rift within the Saudi-Emirati led coalition inteverning in Yemen.

    The Security Belt militia, an elite forces group affiliated to the UAE-backed secessionist Southern Transitional Council, has been carrying out expulsions of northern Yemenis, deporting in May alone 800 refugees fleeing the fighting in the north according to sources on the ground and monitors.

    Many of these northern refugees are being accused with little proof of being ‘fifth columnists’ allied either with Houthi rebels or al-Islah – the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood that the UAE demonises despite its collaboration with the Arab coalition.

    Since the Houthi rebel 2014 takeover of the capital Sanaa, the coalition has claimed the goal of its subsequent intervention in 2015 and installation of a temporary capital in the southern city of Aden is to maintain Yemen’s territorial integrity and restore the internationally recognised government to power…”