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BasedPoland
@BasedPoland
Turns out Pres. #Bolsonaro was right when he said some of the #AmazonFires were started by “ecologist” NGOs
Police has arrested ppl of an NGO which received money from the WWF for pictures of Amazon fires
Turns out they set the fires themselves
https://twitter.com/BasedPoland/status/1199641413648101377
Houthis Increase Data Bundles’ Tariffs
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2010946/houthis-increase-data-bundles-tariffs
“After almost two months of Houthi blackmailing campaigns against the telecommunication sector, the group surprised this week millions of Yemenis with a new violation represented in increasing tariffs on internet services.
A source from the General Organization for Telecommunications – ruled by insurgents – told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the institution’s heads increased the tariffs of the internet bundles by 130 percent.
The source added that the Houthis claimed to rearrange internet bundles in a way that satisfies all citizens through this step. He added that the group’s command in the institution launched several accusations against the owners of wireless companies of working illegally and reselling the internet service at higher prices.
In the same context, reliable sources in Sanaa told the newspaper that the preventative security body of the militias stands behind the hike in tariffs.
They continued that the preventative security body gave strict instructions to Yemen Net to increase the tariffs on internet services by 130 percent after facing challenges in supervising citizens on the social networks and in order to push the Yemenis away from the social networks.
During meetings with Asharq Al-Awsat, a number of wireless networking companies in Sanaa complained against this procedure – they also held the insurgents responsible for the repercussions of these decisions.
An owner of a telecommunication network told the newspaper that the General Organization for Telecommunications didn’t amend its legal condition in the first place and didn’t specify the price per mega. During the past days, several Yemeni activists launched campaigns against the Houthis who are taking over the telecommunications sector, the owner added.”
Is Censure The Democrats’ Escape Clause?
Profile picture for user Tyler Durden
by Tyler Durden
Wed, 11/27/2019 – 12:45
1
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Authored by Graham Noble via LibertyNation.com,
At this point, Democrats appear to have dug themselves a rather deep impeachment hole, and at least a few of them are now looking for a ladder. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) saw this coming but could not withstand the Trump-derangement tide. They do have a way out, and at least a few of them – along with their surrogates in the media – realize that censure, rather than impeachment, is their best option for dealing with President Trump in a way that will not come back to bite their carefully guarded posteriors.
Nancy Pelosi
Regardless of what one may think of Pelosi’s political bent, she has always been more pragmatic than her more strident party colleagues. Sure, she will step in front of any camera and talk about how Trump is spitting on the Constitution, crushing the souls of hard-working Americans, and planning to detain all non-white people before our very eyes. But, for the most part, she understands political realities.
With Republicans in control of the Senate, the California elder stateswoman always knew that articles of impeachment would have to be based on crimes so egregious and beyond doubt that even Republicans would have had no choice but to convict the president.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/censure-democrats-escape-clause
Libyan National Army Captures El Feel Oil Field
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2011096/libyan-national-army-captures-el-feel-oil-field
“The Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by Khalifa Haftar announced on Wednesday that it had retaken the Libya’s 70,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) El Feel Oil Field from armed groups loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA).
The National Oil Corporation said earlier on Wednesday that air strikes had halted production at El Feel as LNA retaliated after forces aligned to the GNA in Tripoli took control of the field.
The LNA drove out the rival group and was securing the field, its spokesman, Ahmed Mismari, said on his Facebook page.
The fighting reignited a conflict for control of large oilfields in southwestern Libya between competing military alliances that are also battling on the outskirts of the capital, Tripoli…”
Walter Williams Asks “Who Are The Real Racists?”
Profile picture for user Tyler Durden
by Tyler Durden
Wed, 11/27/2019 – 14:55
2
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Authored by Walter Williams, op-ed via Townhall.com,
Former presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said that racism in America is “foundational” and that people of color were under “mortal threat” from the “white supremacist in the White House.”
Pete Buttigieg chimed in to explain that “systemic racism” will “be with us” no matter who is in the White House.
Senator Cory Booker called for “attacking systemic racism” in the “racially biased” criminal justice system.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/walter-williams-asks-who-are-real-racists
Saudi-UAE working together towards a ‘bright future’: Ambassadors
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/583625/SAUDI-ARABIA/Saudi-UAE-working-together-towards-a-bright-future-Ambassadors
“The UAE Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Shakhbout Bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, and his Saudi counterpart, Turki Aldakhil, penned a joint opinion piece in which they reaffirmed the determination of both countries to work hand-in-hand towards a “bright future” filled with economic stability and sustainable development…”
Iraqi protesters set fire to Iranian consulate in Najaf
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/583633/World/Mena/Iraqi-protesters-set-fire-to-Iranian-consulate-in-Najaf
“Iraqi Protesters set fire to Iran’s consulate in the holy city of Najaf on Wednesday night, two months into the country’s most serious social crisis in decades.
Tall flames and thick clouds of smoke rose from the entrance of the consulate in the southern city, AFP’s correspondent there said.
“Victory to Iraq!” and “Iran out!” protesters chanted, outraged at the country they blame for propping up a government they’ve been demonstrating against for nearly two months.
Since October 1, protesters in Iraq have been calling for the fall of a central government they see as both irretrievably corrupt and beholden to Tehran.
Iraq’s capital and its Shiite-majority south have been gripped by the largest grassroots protests since 2003.
The change of regime 16 years ago opened the door for Baghdad’s eastern neighbour to develop tremendous economic, political and military sway, now slammed by protesters as overreach.
Iran’s consulate in Karbala was targeted earlier this month, and security forces defending the site shot four demonstrators dead at the time.
In Najaf on Wednesday, units fired tear gas that wounded several dozen but ultimately retreated as hundreds of people encircled the consulate and lit tyres, blankets, cardboard and other items, AFP reported.
The protesters broke into the building itself, which had been apparently evacuated of its Iranian staff.
Earlier on Wednesday, Two protesters were shot dead in Baghdad and other Iraq cities were shrouded in acrid smoke from burning tires as demonstrators pressed their campaign of anti-government rallies.
Masked youths sealed off streets with makeshift barricades across the restive south as schools and public offices stayed shut.
“The government has lost all its legitimacy. We don’t want them,” said one protester in the southern city of Basra. “They meet every day and claim to be discussing our demands, but we expect nothing from them.”
In central Baghdad, young demonstrators donned helmets and medical masks to face off again with security forces unleashing tear gas.
Iraqi medical and security sources said at least two demonstrators were shot dead in Baghdad as protesters and security forces clashed. A correspondent reported volleys of gunfire from behind concrete barricades where the security forces were deployed. AFP”
Egypt accused of creating ‘parallel justice system’ to crack down on Sisi critics
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-accused-creating-parallel-justice-system-crackdown-sisi-critics
“Egypt has been accused of creating a parallel justice system to detain thousands of activists who are critical of Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi.
A new Amnesty International report said it had compiled evidence that the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) had misused counter-terrorism policy to detain Egyptians for years without evidence, replicating long-term administrative detention practices under ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
Established in 1953, the SSSP is responsible for investigating and prosecuting a wide range of activities that could constitute threats to “state security”.
But after Sisi came to power in 2013, the number of cases prosecuted by the SSSP tripled from 529 to 1,739 cases.
The SSSP has been involved in investigating political dissidents and prominent figures from the Muslim Brotherhood.
Within its report, titled the Permanent State of Exception, Amnesty conducted 100 interviews, as well as reviewing court and police documents, medical records, videos and reports by NGOs and United Nations agencies.
Out of 138 cases that it examined, Amnesty said 56 individuals were detained for protesting or for comments made on social media, while 76 had been detained because of their political or human rights activities. Six were accused of acts of violence.
Some of the individuals detained by the SSSP had been detained for 150 days in pre-trial detention, a power usually reserved for judges, where detainees could appeal for their release.
But after judges in Egypt ordered the release of these individuals, the SSSP can ask “terrorism circuit courts” to renew the detention of suspects every 45 days.
This latest Amnesty report also comes after the United Nations picked Egypt to co-lead the global UN counter-terrorism strategy.
Philip Luther, Amnesty’s research and advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said the SSSP had used “counter-terrorism” powers to detain and intimidate government critics.
“In Egypt today, the Supreme State Security Prosecution has stretched the definition of ‘terrorism’ to encompass peaceful protests, social media posts and legitimate political activities, resulting in peaceful government critics being treated as enemies of the state,” Luther said in a statement.
“The SSSP has become a central tool of repression whose primary goal appears to be arbitrarily detaining and intimidating critics, all in the name of counter-terrorism.”
Arrest of journalists
On Tuesday, Egyptian security forces raided a coffee shop in Cairo and arrested six people, including three journalists, according to independent news website Mada Masr.
The journalists detained were Soulafa Magdy, her husband Hossam al-Sayyad, and Mohamed Salah, Mada Masr said in a tweet, citing eyewitness accounts.
MEE could not independently verify Mada Masr’s report.
On Sunday, plainclothes police raided Mada Masr’s offices and arrested three of its staff, including its top editor.
A day earlier, security forces arrested another Mada Masr editor, Shady Zalat, from his home. The four journalists were released on Sunday.
Commenting on the arrests, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday called on the Egyptian government to respect freedom of the press.”
Iran arrests 7,000 fuel protesters in one week
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191127-iran-arrests-7000-fuel-protesters-in-one-week/
“Iranian security forces have arrested 7,000 people who participated in protests against the rise in gasoline prices last week, a government spokesperson said.
A spokesman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Hossein Naghavi Hosseini stressed the need to wait for officials to release exact figures of those arrested as a result of the protests.
On Monday, Amnesty International said 143 protesters had been killed during the ongoing demonstrations which Tehran says were instigated by “outside parties” to disturb public order.
“According to credible reports… those killed include at least 143 people. The deaths have resulted almost entirely from the use of firearms,” the rights watchdog said, adding that it “ believes that the death toll is significantly higher,”.
On 15 November the government announced that it will increase the price of petrol by 200 per cent, triggering nationwide protests that soon turned into violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces.”
Houthis: Ex-Saudi kings behind assassination of ex-Yemen president
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191127-houthis-ex-saudi-kings-behind-assassination-of-ex-yemen-president/
“Former Saudi Kings Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Fahd Bin Abdulaziz and the latter’s brother Sultan have been named as the officials involved in the assassination of former Yemeni President Ibrahim Al-Hamdi.
The Houthi-aligned National Salvation Government (NSG) yesterday said it possessed official documents which provide evidence confirming Riyadh’s involvement in all stages of Al-Hamdi’s targeting on 11 October 1977. The kings were princes at the time of the killing.
The Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni news site published excerpts of the report that outlined the Saudi role on the back of “credible evidence”. According to the news website, the “important document” on Al-Hamdi’s assassination was obtained in 2017.
The report notes that Sultan was in direct contact with the Saudi military envoy in North Yemen’s capital Sanaa, Colonel Saleh Al-Hadyan at the time of the targeted killing. Allegedly, Riyadh dispatched three Saudi intelligence operatives to Sanaa hours before the assassination…”
UN urges Greece to improve conditions in refugee camps
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191127-un-urges-greece-to-improve-conditions-in-refugee-camps/
“The UN’s top official on refugees on Wednesday urged Greece to improve conditions in refugee camps, saying Europe must do more for the country, Anadolu reports.
Speaking to reporters after visiting refugee camps on Greece’s Aegean island of Lesbos, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told reporters that the deplorable conditions at the camps need to be improved.
“These living conditions need urgent improvement,” Grandi said.
Grandi said he will meet Greek government officials to discuss addressing conditions at the camps.
He said he is “very worried” about the condition of unaccompanied refugee children.
“Europe has to do more for Greece, this is part of the European Union,” Grandi also said.
One of Greece’s biggest camps, Moria on Lesbos, has been repeatedly criticized by NGOs for inhumane conditions.
It was designed to host 3,000 people, but more than 15,000 are currently living there in substandard conditions.
Currently, around 35,000 refugees are living on the eastern Aegean islands.”
Four dead and 16 missing after failed Mediterranean crossing
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-spain/four-dead-and-16-missing-after-failed-mediterranean-crossing-idUSKBN1Y11HL
“Four migrants have died and up to 16 more are missing after trying to cross into Europe from North Africa on a small raft, Spain’s coastguard said on Wednesday.
Rescuers saved 58 people from the raft, which was found drifting around 37 miles off the coast of Morocco on Tuesday night. Three bodies were recovered from the water and another migrant died after being taken to shore, a spokeswoman for the coastguard said.
Sea-borne migration to Europe has dropped sharply since peaking in 2015 but thousands still attempt the dangerous Mediterranean crossing every year, looking to escape poverty and conflict in their home countries.
The latest group was brought to Spain’s North African enclave of Melilla, where a Reuters photographer saw survivors being helped ashore and given medical assistance by the Red Cross. Wrapped in thermal blankets, some of the migrants appeared to be in a state of shock after their ordeal.
European and Spanish authorities have deployed boats and a plane in the search for a further 16 people who are believed to have been on the raft.
They are also searching for a separate craft carrying 78 migrants that is believed to have set off from Morocco on Tuesday night.
Before Wednesday’s deaths, at least 1,136 migrants had already died or gone missing at sea this year after trying to make the crossing, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Italian authorities saved 149 people from a capsized dinghy off the island of Lampedusa on Sunday. The bodies of five women were retrieved and several others remain unaccounted for.
Meanwhile Spanish charity ships Open Arms and Aita Mari rescued more than 140 migrants from rafts off the Libyan coast last week and transported them to Italy.”
Florida Man Shoots AK-47 Wielding Robber: “I Emptied The Glock In His Chest”
Suspected Islamists kill at least 19 in latest east Congo attack
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-security/suspected-islamists-kill-at-least-19-in-latest-east-congo-attack-idUSKBN1Y124B
“Suspected Islamist rebels have killed at least 19 people in east Congo, an official said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of attacks causing anger at the perceived inaction of the army and U.N. troops.
The raid occurred overnight in the village of Maleki, near the city of Oicha in a forested region near the Ugandan border, said Donat Kibwana, the administrator of Beni territory.
Kibwana blamed the attack on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a jihadist rebel group originally from Uganda that has operated for decades in Congo. They have killed at least 80 people in 14 raids since the army launched an operation against them late last month, according to U.N figures.
He said that many family members of the victims were afraid to return to the scene for fear of being attacked, but that an initial search had found 19 people dead.
“This assessment remains provisional as the search continues,” Kibwana told Reuters by phone.
ADF personnel were not reachable for comment.
Several previous ADF attacks have been claimed by Islamic State, but the extent of their relationship remains unclear.
Recent attacks sparked protests in the city of Beni, 20 km (12 miles) south of Oicha, driven by accusations that the army and United Nations are not doing enough to protect people.
Protesters burned down the mayor’s office and damaged U.N. facilities on Monday, forcing some health workers helping to combat an Ebola epidemic into lockdown and others to leave.
At least four people have died during protests in Beni and nearby Butembo this week. On Wednesday the protests spread to Goma, the regional capital, where activists have called for a two-day strike starting on Thursday.
A U.N. peacekeeper shot dead a man who was throwing a Molotov cocktail during protests in Beni on Tuesday, a U.N spokesman said late on Wednesday, adding that it would open an investigation into the death.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission said in a statement on Wednesday that it would be unable to end the ADF’s violence if its forces were under attack from local people.”
Iranian Schoolgirls Demonstrate on Anniversary of 1979 Takeover of U.S. Embassy in Tehran
Project Veritas Banned from Twitter Ads for ‘Inappropriate Content’
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By Corinne Weaver | November 26, 2019 3:41 PM EST
Project Veritas reported that its account on Twitter Ads was suspended permanently for “inappropriate content.” In a video posted to Twitter, the organization’s founder, James O’Keefe, explained how the censorship occurred.
Twitter recently banned all political ads, except for cause-based ads from nonprofit and for-profit organizations. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), for example, can still run ads on Twitter. But some conservative sites have not fared as well as the SPLC.
“A few weeks ago,” O’Keefe said, “we tried to do an ad campaign for this recruiting of undercover journalists.” While the ad was fine “at the time,” the Twitter ads team eventually suspended the ad. The team sent an email, dated Nov. 14, to Project Veritas, (which was shared with the Media Research Center (MRC)). It said: “We have determined that the following Tweet cannot be included in your Twitter ads campaigns.” The reason was because of “[i]nappropriate language.”
The video that the Ads team linked to reportedly had Twitter’s Trust and Safety Policy Manager Olinda Hassan saying, “Yeah, that’s something we’re working on. It’s something we’re working on. We’re trying to get the shitty people to not show up. It’s a product thing we’re working on.”
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/techwatch/corinne-weaver/2019/11/26/project-veritas-banned-twitter-ads-inappropriate-content
Algeria: Police, protesters clash over election
https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/algeria-police-protesters-clash-over-election-1.1574896390090
“Clashes took place Wednesday in northern Algeria between police and people protesting against an election meeting by a candidate standing in next month’s presidential poll, journalists said.
“Outside the room where the meeting was to be held, stones were thrown and tear gas fired between protesters and police — it was heated,” a local journalist at the scene in Bouira told AFP.
Multiple news sites said several hundred protesters converged before the candidate — Ali Benflis, a former prime minister — arrived for his meeting, some 90 kilometres southeast of Algiers.
Several local news outlets reported many demonstrators arrested and several wounded.
Benflis, who was premier under president Abdelaziz Bouteflika between 2000 and 2003, was eventually able to hold his meeting, according to a video posted on his Facebook account.
The ailing Bouteflika stepped down in April after months of enormous protests against his two-decade rule.
But large demonstrations continued against Algeria’s political establishment, fuelled afresh in recent weeks by significant opposition to the presidential election.
The poll is due to take place on December 12, but protesters view it as a sham designed to shore up the status quo.
All five candidates cleared to take part are known to have links to Bouteflika, including one other former prime minister who served under his tenure.”
Eight out of ten municipalities in Sweden will be forced to slash funds used to finance basic public services to offset the high cost of taking in large numbers of welfare-dependent migrants.
The survey found that 46 percent of municipalities reported having plans to slash disability services, while half said that they would be forced to make serious spending cuts in individual and family care to save money, SVT Nyheter reports.
Göran Eriksson, the city manager for the municipality of Bengstfors, told SVT that his municipality wouldn’t be able to manage the increasing costs of social service and welfare programs without help from the federal government.
Bengstfors, facing a 2.4 million budget deficit, hopes to decrease that deficit by slashing social services and maintenance costs.
https://voiceofeurope.com/2019/11/sweden-municipalities-cut-basic-services-to-offset-large-cost-of-taking-in-migrants/
Man Slaughters 5-Year Old Boy Near Rabat
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/11/287685/man-slaughter-boy-rabat/
“A second shocking crime has stirred nationwide uproar this week in Morocco when a 33-year old man slaughtered a five-year old boy in Sale, Rabat’s twin city, on Tuesday, November 26.
The man, in an “abnormal” mental state, killed the boy on Tuesday night. Witnesses said that the child was playing next to his house in El Baraka district in Sale’s Kariat Ouled Moussa neighborhood.
When the attacker, carrying a large knife, attempted to run away, citizens managed to stop him. Police then arrested him…”
Morocco in Dire Need of 32,000 Doctors
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/11/287691/morocco-health-sector-dire-need-equipment-personnel/
“A new report by Morocco’s health ministry has unveiled the dire prospects of the country’s health sector, with projections from the ministry vastly inferior to what the sector actually needs to effectively operate.
In a holistic appraisal of Morocco’s persisting public health issues, presented earlier this month as part of his department’s plans for the 2020 fiscal year, the new Minister for Health, Khalid Ait Taleb, painted a rather grim picture of the sector. Among the many concerns stressed in the report is the marked lack of hospital personnel and equipment.
The figures Taleb presented spoke of a worrying deficit in medical personnel, with Morocco’s deficit in personnel said to be standing at 97,161 (32,387 medical doctors and 64,774 nurses and other medical practitioners).
To solve this “concerning” deficit, a reasonable policy would be to recruit 62,000 new employees (12,000 doctors and 50,000 nurses and medical technicians), the report found. However, because of budgetary constraints, the ministry’s total budget for the 2020 fiscal year being MAD 18.68 billion, the ministry plans to recruit only 4,000 new employees…”
4 Undocumented Migrants Die As Boat Capsizes Off Moroccan Coast
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/11/287701/4-undocumented-migrants-die-off-moroccan-coast/
“The global migration crisis claimed at least four more lives today, November 27 after a rubber patera, or dingy, capsized 50 kilometers north of Moroccan shores in the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea.
The Spanish coast guard rescued several dozen people, including three children, after receiving an alert from an NGO.
The boat left the Moroccan beach of Charrana and was on its way to Spain when the tragedy occurred.
The Spanish coast guard brought the surviving passengers to Melilla, a Spanish enclave in Morocco, along with the bodies of three people who died during the journey. A fourth person died shortly after arriving at the port.
16 passengers from the 78-person vessel are still missing, the Spanish coast guard reported. A boat and two planes are currently conducting a search for the missing migrants.
Nearly 80,000 migrants reached Europe via the Mediterranean in 2019, with more than 27,000 arriving in Spain. Well over a thousand people have died during migration attempts from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe this year.”
Looney Tunes – The Ducktators 1942 High Quality HD
Once upon a time,
We knew who we were and defended ourselves.
Naturally.
JUI-F’s Kifayatullah injured in attack
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2107295/1-jui-f-leader-mufti-kifayatullah-injured-gun-attack/
“Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader Mufti Kifayatullah was injured in an attack near Mansehra Interchange on Wednesday morning.
The cleric was travelling to Mansehra from Islamabad along with his two sons and a friend when unidentified men rammed their vehicle into his car on Baidra Road forcing it to a halt, pulled them out of the vehicle and attacked them with irons rods…”
World Bank approves $52.5 million grant for Afghanistan Gas Project
https://www.khaama.com/world-bank-approves-52-5-million-grant-for-afghanistan-gas-project-04410/
“The Board of Executive Directors of World Bank on Tuesday approved $52.5 million grant for Afghanistan Gas Project, the World Bank said in a statement.
The statement further added that the project will provide sustainable supply of natural gas to independent power producers in Northern Afghanistan.
More specifically, the Afghanistan Gas Project will provide direct financing and technical assistance for the construction, operation and maintenance of a gas pipeline from Sheberghan to Mazar-e-Sharif and a new natural gas desulfurization amine plant, the statement added.
The World Bank also added that the project will also provide direct financing and technical assistance for the establishment of a strong institutional, regulatory, and contract management framework based on the principles of good governance in the gas sector.
Henry Kerali, World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan said “By investing in critical gas infrastructure and developing a strong foundation for good governance in the gas sector, the project will improve Afghanistan’s energy supply, which is currently critically low, and contribute to poverty reduction.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum will lead the overall implementation of the project in close coordination with other government agencies, including the Afghanistan Gas Enterprise, and the Afghanistan Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority.”
Germany’s Merkel says Turkey important for NATO
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/germanys-merkel-says-turkey-important-for-nato-149198
“German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Nov. 27 highlighted Turkey’s geostrategic importance for NATO and called for greater unity and coordination among the allies.
Addressing lawmakers at the Bundestag during a debate on budget, Merkel dismissed calls by several opposition lawmakers to expel Turkey from the NATO alliance, due to its unilateral military action against terrorist groups in northeastern Syria.
“Turkey should remain a NATO member, and we should also work to ensure this. Turkey’s membership is of strategic importance for NATO,” she stressed, adding that the allies were discussing their differences in relevant bodies of NATO.
Merkel’s remarks came ahead of the crunch summit of NATO leaders in London slated for Dec. 3-4.”
Turkey must be within EU: Former Spanish PM
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-must-be-within-eu-former-spanish-pm-149204
“Turkey must be within the EU, it would be marvelous for the stability, peace and cultural diversity, the former Spanish prime minister said on Nov. 27.
“Turkey is a significant power and it has a high capacity for bringing the west and the east together,” former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told the 10th Bosphorus Summit in Istanbul.
He said Turkish people experienced some disappointments but they should get closer to the EU.
All countries should make efforts for the peace settlement, and the current positions of the global powers are worrying, he noted.
“We should resist the nuclear armament as all countries, we cannot take chances,” the former minister added.
Saying that the east and the west should be balanced, he noted that summits such as G20 and Bosphorus are positive steps in this process.
Improvements in technology, communication and transportation devices are significant leverages for development, he added.
He also said improving communication among people brings successful results.
The three-day Bosphorus Summit, organized by the International Communication Platform under the auspices of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, is held between Nov. 27-29 with the theme of “Towards a New World Order”.
Top Turkish and foreign officials, high-level business people, academics and experts attend the summit for addressing trending topics such as trade issues, changing world order, digital transformation and defense industry.”
‘EU must stop collective punishment of refugees’ – MSF
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2019/11/27/msf-says-eu-must-stop-collective-punishment-of-refugees_4a4f6de0-aa58-4084-99d3-83fdee0cdb3c.html
“The president of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Christos Christou, said on Wednesday in a letter to new European leaders that the EU must “stop the deliberate collective punishment of people in search of safety in Europe” who become “trapped by the thousands on the Greek islands in inhumane conditions”.
Christou recently visited refugee camps on the islands of Lesbos and Samos and held a press conference in Brussels.
He said MSF is calling on the EU to “evacuate the most vulnerable people from these centres to safe accommodation with access to basic sanitary services”.
“What I saw in the refugee camps on the Greek islands is comparable with what we see in war zones or areas hit by natural disasters,” Christou said, adding that the situation has been going on for four years.
“It is outrageous to see these conditions in Europe – a supposedly safe continent – and to know that they are the result of deliberate political choices,” he said.
Christou openly criticised the “decision by European leaders in 2016 to trap people on the Greek islands, which had to be the price to pay to reduce arrivals”. “It was supposed to be a temporary measure. But after four years, the emergency is still the same. Four years ago, we understood the very serious consequences that this would have,” he said, putting in refugees and asylum seekers fleeing war zones in danger. “We even decided to stop accepting funding from EU member states in protest,” Christou said. He spoke of a lack of latrines in refugee camps on the Greek islands – one for every 200 refugees at Camp Moria on Lesbos and one for every 300 on Samos – and a lack of drinking water that forced MSF to install water supply systems “like in the extreme situations in developing countries”.
“Every day our mental health services assist children, women, and men who have been taken to the limit,” Christou said.
He denounced the spread of self-harming behaviors among Syrian refugees and of suicide attempts among children, many of whom “don’t play, don’t talk”.
“They come from war zones where they lost their childhood,” he said.”
Murderer has ‘right to be forgotten’, Germany’s highest court rules
https://www.thelocal.de/20191127/germanys-highest-court-backs-murderers-right-to-be-forgotten
“A man convicted of murder 37 years ago has the right to be forgotten and have his name removed from online search results, Germany’s highest court ruled on Wednesday…”
Germany warn asylum-seekers of fallout after Turkish lawyer’s arrest
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-embassy-lawyer-turkey-activists-fear-asylum/a-51440544
“German lawmakers believe Ankara has details about hundreds of classified asylum cases. Officials warned asylum-seekers they could be in danger following the arrest of a Turkish lawyer who worked for the German Embassy.
Lawmakers in Berlin convened a special committee meeting on Wednesday to discuss the possible dangers of Turkey’s possession of hundreds of classified asylum requests after the controversial arrest of an attorney working with the German Embassy in Ankara.
Yilmaz S., the Turkish attorney the embassy had contracted to help process asylum requests from Turkish citizens, was in possession of 47 case files pertaining to 83 individuals at the time of his arrest in September.
“But the number of parties involved is likely much higher, as the attorney had been processing well over 200 cases,” Filiz Polat, speaker for migration policy with the environmentalist Green Party, said at the committee hearing, according to the epd news service run by Germany’s Protestant church.
German authorities have already warned those involved that they could now be in danger. Germany granted protection to 45 of the people involved. While authorities found no reason to grant protection to two people involved, they will not be immediately deported, Lars Castellucci of the Social Democrats told the German dpa news agency.
“They vehemently stressed one point…I should think about my safety, I should be careful,” Leyla Birlik, a former Turkish lawmaker with the pro-Kurdish HDP party who received asylum in Germany, told DW.
Still in custody
Turkish authorities arrested the attorney in September amid accusations that his work with the German Embassy amounted to espionage. German authorities were quick to dismiss the charges. They insisted it is common practice for European embassies to contract local attorneys to process asylum claims. Berlin has demanded the lawyer’s immediate release.
But with the attorney’s case still being negotiated months later, German lawmakers on Wednesday began questioning the extent of the likely data breach and the risks it presented.
“I have the impression that this is a very arbitrary practice in which massive amounts of sensitive data are being transmitted in a country that’s trying to get its hands on this information,” Ulla Jelpke, a lawmaker with the socialist Left Party, told committee members.
Rainer Breul, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told reporters that this case is complicating how authorities process local asylum applications in Turkey. But he insisted that the government would not distance itself from the practice and would ensure local lawyers and other individuals “are not put at risk through their work for us.”
Levent Kanat, Yilmaz S.’s attorney, told DW that the Turkish prosecutor pushed the start date of his client’s trial “for the strange reason” that his court reporter is on vacation. It could now take as long as two weeks for the trial even to begin.
A trying time
News of the arrest came at a trying time for German-Turkish diplomacy. Berlin has struggled to maintain good relations with Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan enacted measures to consolidate power in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in July 2016.
In October, relations nearly reached a breaking point when Turkey, a NATO member, launched a unilateral offensive in northern Syria against Kurdish forces that were allied with a Western-led coalition against the “Islamic State” in Syria.
Turkey considers the Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG) to be a domestic terror group. As such, Ankara sees German cries of foul play as a double standard that undermines the nation’s territorial integrity, Ilter Turan, a political scientist at Istanbul’s Bilgi University, told DW.
“It may or may not be fair…but there’s an overall suspicion of the nature of the activities that allied missions are conducting,” he said. This latest development only exacerbates such feelings, which “are not confined to the government.”
Asylum-seekers question process
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government spokesperson, Steffen Seibert, told reporters on Wednesday that this latest test of the relationship between Berlin and Ankara will be handled with resolve.
“There are always cases — and in the past months and years we have had many — in which our interests and the actions of the Turkish state and the Turkish judiciary do not match,” he said. “In the past, we have often succeeded in solving such cases, and we hope that will be the case in this example as well.”
Leyla Birlik, who has now lived in Germany for the past year, said she understands that this operation was extraordinary and only exacerbates the “crisis between both countries.”
But she told DW she wonders why she was only informed that she was involved in the case on November 18 and why the file that placed her in danger was still open months after her asylum request had been approved.
“They (German authorities) wanted to know if I had any specific requests — if I needed security,” she told DW. “I would like to know what was still being researched five months after my asylum assessment.””
Sesame Street to launch Middle Eastern show with trio of refugee puppets
https://www.dw.com/en/sesame-street-to-launch-middle-eastern-show-with-trio-of-refugee-puppets/a-51444520
“Basma, Jad and Ma’zooza are about to join the Sesame Street family. The trio of new Arabic-speaking characters will help teach children in the Middle East to read and write, as well as process the trauma of displacement.
All three new Arabic-speaking Sesame Street characters — Basma, Jad and Ma’zooza — are intrepid and will address serious topics like trauma in a manner that is accessible to children, as these are issues many refugee children in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq are confronted with every day.
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind the Sesame Street show, has teamed up with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to produce an entire season of episodes with the aim of bringing a smile to refugee children’s faces, help them learn the alphabet and develop numerical skills — but also better process loneliness, fear and despair.
Emotional ABCs
The show is called Ahlan Simsim, which translates to Welcome Sesame, and will premiere in February 2020. Executive producer Scott Cameron wrote, “We also know from research that these ’emotional ABCs’ are especially important for kids who’ve experienced the trauma of war and displacement, as is the case for so many children in the Syrian response region.”
The show will feature Basma, Jad and Ma’zooza teaching children about and better process human interaction and emotions. Cameron described Basma as a “purple-furred Muppet” who is “a born performer” with a “special ability to create music and sound effects.” This, he wrote, can “come in handy when she can’t quite find the words to express herself.”
Basma is 6 years old, just like her yellow Muppet mate Jad, is new to the Ahlan Simsim neighborhood, loves to paint and carries a paintbrush from home. In a video with snippets from the new show, Jad alludes to his difficult past, saying, “I did not bring my toys, I had to leave them behind when we came here.” His paintbrush and the absence of toys indicate that Jad is a refugee. The two characters are accompanied by a baby goat character named Ma’zooza.
IRC: Refugees on average spend 20 years in exile
Some 6 million Syrians have been forced to flee their country, most of them to neighboring states, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. About half of these refugees are under the age of 18. For them, getting an education abroad represents a serious challenge. Additionally, there are over 6 million internally displaced people within Syria who have lost their homes and experienced death, violence and destruction.
IRC director David Miliband says these children are deprived of a normal childhood and “risk growing up with violence as a normality.”
Several psychologists, linguists, authors and artists met in Lebanon and Jordan for workshops to swap ideas, brainstorm and develop a basic concept for the new Muppet show — no simple task, as the IRC said refugees on average spend 20 years living abroad and experience immeasurable trauma.
A relatable show
Sherrie Westin, the director of Global Impact and Philanthropy for Sesame Workshop in the United States, said they endeavored to ensure the new Sesame Street show features relatable situations and characters from the Middle East to truly connect with refugee kids.
Incidentally, Basma, Jad and Ma’zooza will be joined by Muppet celebrities Grover, Elmo and Cookie Monster – who’re already well known in the Middle East, as Sesame Street premiered in Kuwait in 1979 until it went off the air in 1990. Sesame Workshop also broadcasts “Iftah Ya Simsim,” or “Open Sesame,” in the Persian Gulf.”
Muslim countries’ silence on China’s repression of Uighurs
https://www.france24.com/en/20191127-china-communist-uighurs-xinjiang-muslim-silence-camps-repression
“In response to the extraordinary revelations about China’s programme of “re-education” camps for Uighur Muslims over recent weeks, member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation have stayed silent…”
New York City to Free 125K Accused Criminals, Give Taxpayer-Funded Housing, Job Training (breitbart, Nov 27, 2019)
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/11/27/new-york-city-to-free-125k-accused-criminals-give-taxpayer-funded-housing-job-training/
“The state of New York is likely to free at least 125,000 accused criminals from prison next year and provide many with taxpayer-funded housing and job training services thanks to criminal justice reform laws.
As Breitbart News has reported, the state’s series of bail reforms will ensure that suspects accused of crimes deemed “non-violent” are not jailed before their trial dates and do not have to post bail.
The list of crimes for which suspects will be freed from prison before trial includes:
Second-degree manslaughter
Aggravated vehicular assault
Third-degree assault
Promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child
Possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child
Promoting a sexual performance by a child
Failure to register as a sex offender
Making terroristic threats
Criminally negligent homicide
Aggravated vehicular homicide
In total, at least 125,000 accused criminals are likely to be released from prison in New York City every year, according to an analysis by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Those are at least 125,000 accused criminals who, even if charged with criminally negligent homicide, would be released from prison the same day they were arrested.
Of those 125,000 released accused criminals, New York City will provide taxpayer-funded subsidized housing, job training, and family counseling to 10,000 each year. The scheme, called the “Atlas” program, will cost New York City taxpayers tens of millions of dollars each year.
In 2018, New York City judges released more than 105,000 accused criminals without bail.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, in addition to providing subsidized housing and job training, is promising to give released accused criminals gifts like Mets tickets and movie passes if they show up to their court dates, as Breitbart News reported.
Across the county, jailbreak legislation is helping to free thousands of accused and convicted criminals from prison. Federally, the First Step Act that was signed into law by President Trump has thus far freed about 240 sex offenders, nearly 60 convicted murderers and assailants, as well as almost 1,000 inmates convicted of drug crimes.
Also freed by the First Step Act is Joel Francisco, a notorious former leader of the “Latin Kings” gang who immediately returned to a life of drugs after his release and is now accused of murder.”