Reader’s links for February 8, 2020

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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

97 Replies to “Reader’s links for February 8, 2020”

    • “The Silent War Is Being Fought In The Shadows, Justice Is Coming – Episode 2091b” X22Report – February 7, 2020

      • “SR# 1271 NBC Crew – Crooked Hillary’s MASSIVE MELTDOWN at Commander-in-Chief Forum”
        The Still Report – October 17, 2016

  3. Global commodity trade plunged deeper into chaos as Chinese companies started walking away from purchase contracts because of the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

    A Chinese buyer of liquefied natural gas and a copper importer declared what’s known as force majeure — meaning they are reneging on deals as the virus constrains their ability to take deliveries. The cancellations are among the first known cases of the legal clause being invoked in commodity contracts due to the epidemic.

    “Everything that we were afraid of, from trade wars or global growth, doesn’t compare,” said Jan Stuart, global energy economist at Cornerstone Macro. “This virus is an entirely different risk, especially in commodities where China’s role dominates.”

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chinese-gas-buyer-cnooc-declares-064044988.html

  4. SINGAPORE: Following several cases of novel coronavirus without any links to previous cases or travel history to mainland China, Singapore on Friday (Feb 7) raised its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) level to Orange from Yellow.

    With immediate effect, schools will suspend inter-school and external activities until the end of the March holidays, said the Ministry of Health (MOH). These include the national school games, learning journeys and camps.

    All schools and teachers will also continue to implement already announced enhanced measures such as classroom-based assemblies.

    https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/wuhan-coronavirus-dorscon-orange-singapore-risk-assessment-12405180

  8. Germany: Afghan refugee very seriously injures two men with a knife

    In the night to today’s Saturday, a security employee (46 y/o) and a person coming to his aid (43 y/o) were fatally injured in the downtown area of Cologne by a knife attack. Police provisionally arrested a man (22 y/o) from Afghanistan at the scene of the crime under strong suspicion. A homicide squad started investigations into attempted manslaughter and dangerous bodily injury during the night. According to initial findings, a dispute between the security guard and a resident occurred around 2 a.m. in the street Severinstraße at the entrance to a hotel rented by the municipality of Cologne to house refugees. In the course of the argument, the 22-year-old allegedly attacked the doorman with a knife and seriously injured him. Another resident of the hotel (43 y/o) hurried to the aid. The perpetrator also attacked him and inflicted serious injuries with the blade. Paramedics took the two seriously injured to a clinic. The doctors treating him currently describe the 43-year-old’s state of health as stable. The background to the crime is still unclear. Further information on the investigation is not expected before Monday afternoon.
    https://medforth.blog/2020/02/08/germany-afghan-refugee-very-seriously-injures-two-men-with-a-knife/

  9. The original Youtube link by a gamer is nearly ruined by his sick gallows humor. A friend edited it down to 7 minutes.

    WUHAN QUARANTINE: THE UGLY, BRUTAL TRUTH.
    [SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES.]
    [Please share this 7 minute video]
    Multiple clips recorded in Wuhan February 2/6/20 showing Chinese people being forced into detention and quarantine against their will while screaming and resisting. Other clips outside a quarantine center where officials explain that they will not provide any medical treatment and that once you enter you may not leave. Final clips showing the quarantine center with large numbers of beds crammed next to each other with no toilet or washroom facilities, and no medicine or doctors.

    These clips were originally shared by a gamer, hence the background imagery and comments. The gamer’s voice can be heard briefly introducing the clips. The voice of the videographer (in Chinese) along with English subtitles are also provided.

  10. Canadian Lawyers Plan $1 Bln Lawsuit Against Iran Over ‘Intentionally’ Downed Ukrainian Plane (sputniknews, Feb 8, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/world/202002081078260235-canadian-lawyers-plan-1-bln-lawsuit-against-iran-over-intentionally-downed-ukrainian-plane-/

    “Last month, amid seething tensions between Iran and the United States over the assassination of a senior Iranian commander, Iranian air defences accidentally shot down a Kiev-bound Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737, killing all 176 passengers and crew onboard, among them 57 Canadian nationals.

    Canadian lawyers have submitted a class action lawsuit on behalf of the victims of the Ukrainian airliner shot down over Tehran on January 8, and are demanding a payout of at least $1.1 billion ($1.5 billion Canadian), Reuters has reported.

    The Iranian state, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guards (including Aerospace Force commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh) and others are reportedly named as defendants, and the case alleges that the plane was destroyed ‘intentionally’ and constituted a “deliberate act of terrorism.”

    The lead plaintiff in the case is anonymous, but has been given the pseudonym ‘John Doe’, and is suing on behalf of an immediate family member named as ‘Jack Doe.’ The filing claims that ‘John Doe’ must remain anonymous out of fear that his Iranian family members could be harmed or even killed “by the Iranian regime.”

    The suit was reportedly filed on January 24 in a Toronto court, and it’s unclear whether officials representing Iran have been served. The Iranian government has yet to comment on the case.

    Jonah Arnold and his father Mark Arnold of Toronto-based law firm Weinman, Arnold LLP are lead counsel on the case. The law firm previously succeeded in securing the seizure of some Iranian assets over the deaths of two American nationals in the 1980s and 2000s in Lebanon and Israel which were blamed on Iran. Tehran vocally denied responsibility in those cases. Canada is not the only country which has allowed citizens to sue the Iranian government for alleged complicity in terrorist activities. In 2018, a US court ordered Iran to pay billions of dollars in ‘compensation’ to the relatives of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, even though no direct evidence of Iranian involvement was provided, and Tehran has been open about its abhorrence of radical Sunni Islamist terrorists such as al-Qaeda* and Daesh (ISIS).*…”

  11. Eight Killed, Dozens Injured in Mass Brawl in Southern Kazakhstan – Interior Ministry (sputniknews, Feb 8, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/asia/202002081078259883-eight-killed-dozens-injured-in-mass-brawl-in-southern-kazakhstan—interior-ministry/

    “Eight people were killed and forty others sustained injuries in an overnight mass brawl in Kazakhstan’s southern province of Jambyl, Interior Minister Yerlan Turgumbayev said on Saturday.

    “During the mass unrest, 40 participants [of the brawl] sustained injuries and gunshot wounds. Eight people unfortunately died from injuries. Police officers in the line of duty sustained various injuries, including two gunshot wounds,” Turgumbayev said at a briefing.

    He added that 47 people had been detained, with two hunting guns seized from them.

    The incident took place on Friday evening in an area which is home to the Dungans, a Muslim minority group of Chinese ethnic origin.”

  12. Anti-Putin blogger is murdered by killer who slit his throat in a French hotel amid fears Russian hit squad is running amok in Europe (dailymail, Feb 8, 2020)
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7981053/Anti-Putin-blogger-murdered-amid-fears-Russian-hit-squad-running-amok-Europe.html

    “An Anti-Putin blogger has been murdered amid fears a Russian hit squad is running amok in Europe.

    Imran Aliev was found with his throat slit in a hotel room in Lille, France, last week.

    The 44-year-old had vocally opposed both Vladimir Putin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

    French police believe that his murder was ‘politically motivated’…”

  13. London horror as police officers mowed down in ‘hit-and-run’ in Bermondsey (express, Feb 8, 2020)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1239624/london-news-met-police-officers-hit-and-run-bermondsey-south-london

    “TWO police officers were struck by a hit and run driver and injured, after they attended the scene of a suspected drug deal in south London, Scotland Yard has said.

    At the time of the incident, the officers were investigating a suspected drug deal in Bermondsey, which involved a car and a moped.

    One of the officers was taken to hospital for treatment for a leg injury.

    In a statement, the Met Police said the two officers noticed the suspected drug deal whilst on patrol.

    The incident took place at 8.50pm in Bombay Street, a residential street with local shops.

    The statement said that when the officers attempted to intervene, the car drove away from the scene and collided with the pair.

    The Met Police said: “The car drove from the scene and collided with two officers.

    “The moped was ridden away from the scene and traced to an address in Camilla Road, SE16.

    “One male – no further details – has been arrested on suspicion of GBH.

    “He remains in custody.

    “A firearm, believed to be an air-powered pistol – was discovered during a search of the address.

    “Enquiries into the circumstances continue.”

    A photograph taken at the scene shows a number of ambulance vehicles as well as a police van on the corner of Bombay Street and Southwark Park Road.

    Bermondsey is a district in south-east London close to Peckham, Southwark and Deptford.

    In 2018, it was ranked as the best place to live in London in 2018.

    Statistics revealed by police.uk showed there were a total of 1440 crimes revealed within a 1 mile radius of Bermondsey…”

  15. Pope Francis Condemns the ‘Evil’ of Gender Theory (breitbart, feb 8, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/02/08/pope-francis-condemns-the-evil-of-gender-theory/

    “Pope Francis has denounced the “evil” of gender theory in a new book, saying the ideology seeks to erase all differences between men and women.

    While pulling no punches in his condemnation of “gender theory”, the pope insists that the pastoral treatment of people with homosexual inclinations is a separate matter from the top-down cultural imposition of gender neutrality.

    The book, titled San Giovanni Paolo Magno (Saint John Paul the Great), was prepared by Father Luigi Maria Epicoco to mark the 100th anniversary of John Paul’s birth on May 18th, 1920, and includes commentary by Pope Francis in every chapter. The book, which commemorates the life and teachings of Pope John Paul II, is set for release on February 11th but the publisher has released sections of the book to the Italian press.

    In one of these sections, Father Epicoco noted that Pope Francis often speaks of evil and asked the pope where exactly he sees evil most at work in today’s world.

    In his response, Francis singled out “gender theory” as an expression of this evil, while noting immediately that “I am not referring to those who have a homosexual orientation” since these people deserve “pastoral care.”

    Gender theory is “dangerous,” the pope continued, because it implicitly wishes “to destroy at the root that creative project that God wanted for each of us — diversity and distinction — by making everything homogeneous and neutral.”

    “It is an attack on difference, on God’s creativity, on man and woman,” Francis said.

    “If I say this clearly, it is not to discriminate against anyone, but simply to warn everyone of the temptation of falling into the foolish project of the inhabitants of Babel: doing away with differences to seek a single language, a single form, a single people.”

    This attempt at uniformity led them to self-destruction “because it is an ideological project that does not take reality into account, the true diversity of people, the uniqueness of each, the difference of each,” the pontiff continued. “It is not the annulment of difference that will bring us closer, but welcoming the other in his difference, in the discovery of the richness of difference.”

    “It is the fruitfulness present in difference that makes us human beings in the image and likeness of God, but above all capable of welcoming the other for what he is and not for what we want to transform him into,” he said.

    While Christianity prioritizes facts over ideas, gender theory tries to impose ideas on reality, he suggested.

    “It wishes to undermine humanity in all areas and in all possible educational forms,” he said, “and it is becoming a cultural imposition which, instead of rising from below is imposed from above by some nations as the only possible cultural path to follow.”

    Pope Francis has been a vocal critic of gender theory for years, earning him the scorn of many LGBT activists.

    In 2016, the pope referred to gender theory a “great enemy” of marriage, saying that the ideology of gender is part of a global war against traditional marriage.

    We are witnessing a “global war to destroy marriage” in which gender theory laces a key role, fighting “not with weapons, but with ideas,” he said.

    That same year, Francis published a lengthy teaching text on marriage and the family called The Joy of Love (Amoris Laetitia) in which he underscored the unique value of motherhood and fatherhood, neither of which is dispensable or replaceable with a unisex version of “parent.”

    He also said that the “legal deconstruction of the family” taking place in many countries cannot bode well for the future of society. It is unacceptable that “international bodies should make financial aid to poor countries dependent on the introduction of laws to establish ‘marriage’ between persons of the same sex,” he said.

    Francis also slammed gender theory for its denial of “the difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a woman,” and for its dream of “a society without sexual differences.”

    “An appreciation of our body as male or female,” he said, is “necessary for our own self-awareness in an encounter with others different from ourselves.” Efforts to cancel out sexual differences based in anatomy are a symptom of a sick society that “no longer knows how to deal with it,” he wrote.

    The following year, the pope denounced the “unisex utopia” of the transgender movement.”

    • This communist is a Globalist who seemingly failed a couple of Identity Politics exams. Can we add Selective Indoctrination to our new lexicon?

  16. French Police Arrest Youths Who Took Credit for Brutal Beating of Fireman (breitbart, Feb 8, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/02/08/french-police-arrest-youths-who-took-credit-for-brutal-beating-of-fireman/

    “Police in the French city of Dunkirk arrested several youths after they assaulted a young mother, with several also claiming to have taken part in the brutal beating of a volunteer fireman last weekend.

    The 45-year-old mother was attacked by around 15 youths on Tuesday evening in her own home, with several of the attackers carrying knives. The main target of the attack, according to investigators, was the woman’s son, France Info reports.

    While threatening the woman, one of the group claimed to have been involved in the brutal beating of 27-year-old volunteer firefighter Kévin Desmidt who was beaten so badly he remains in critical condition at Lille University Hospital.

    Desmidt was set upon by attackers at the outskirts of the Black Cat Ball, part of Dunkirk’s carnival celebrations, over the weekend, and kicked and punched in the head by a group of around ten youths in total.

    Dunkirk police have said they are investigating the attack on Desmidt and have called for witnesses to the incident to come forward. However, they have also been cautious about linking those arrested on Wednesday evening to the beating, saying investigations were still ongoing.

    The brutal assault on Desmidt comes just under two months after an off-duty fireman was beaten to death in similar circumstances in the German city of Augsburg.

    49-year-old Roland S. was set upon by a gang of youths said to have been led by 17-year-old Turkish-Lebanese-German Halid S.

    An argument boiled over into violence that was so extreme that the fireman died on the way to the hospital after the youths had fled from the area.

    The Dunkirk beating is just the latest in France in recent years. In August of 2018, three youths were arrested in Val-d’Oise for viciously beating a man who confronted them for verbally abusing his wife.

    Earlier that same year in the town of Pau, an African migrant drug dealer was beaten to death by a gang of teens between the ages of 12 and 17.”

  17. Swedish Leftists Claim Police Racist for Tackling Gang Violence (breitbart, Feb 8, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/02/08/swedish-leftists-claim-police-racist-for-tackling-gang-violence/

    “Several members of the youth movement of the Swedish Left Party have accused police of facilitating racism by cracking down on gang crime in no-go areas in the city of Malmö.

    Alma Lindén and Leia Wolke Wemmert of the Young Left claimed that police action could not solve the rising gang violence occurring in the city’s no-go suburbs, instead claiming that the current operations to crack down on violent gang crime were racist, Kvällsposten reports.

    “The debate on crime is used today as a racist slogan on immigration and integration issues. Politicians blame the people who moved here in the hope of a better life for the problems the politicians themselves create,” the authors wrote.

    They went on to add that Operation Rimfrost, which began late last year to tackle rising gang violence, made ethnic minorities feel insecure and victims of racism, saying, “Many people feel that they can be called suspicious or even violent from the forces of law in their everyday lives, just because of how they look.”

    “The police will therefore never contribute to more security in the suburbs, as they play a central role in racial oppression,” they added.

    The city of Malmo has seen multiple gang-related shootings over the last year, including in December when a 25-year-old was shot dead. The young man’s older brother is a local gang leader and was previously convicted of murder.

    A poll released in December claimed that just eight per cent of Swedes thought the Social Democrat-led government in Stockholm could solve the rising problem of gang crime across the country, which also has seen more than 250 explosions and bombings in 2019.

    Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has claimed that there is no link between the rise of gang violence and mass migration.

    “The segregation is because there is too low employment and too high unemployment in these areas. But that would have been the same regardless of who had lived there. If you put people born in Sweden under the same conditions, you get the same result,” he said in November.”

  18. ‘We’re definitely not prepared’: Africa braces for new virus (abcnews, Feb 8, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/prepared-africa-braces-virus-68844055

    “At a Chinese-run hospital in Zambia, some employees watched as people who recently returned from China showed up with coughs but were not placed in isolation. A doctor tending to those patients has stopped coming to work, and health workers have been ordered not to speak publicly about the new virus that has killed hundreds around the world.

    The virus that has spread through much of China has yet to be confirmed in Africa, but global health authorities are increasingly worried about the threat to the continent where an estimated 1 million Chinese now live, as some health workers on the ground warn they are not ready to handle an outbreak.

    Countries are racing to take precautions as hundreds of travelers arrive from China every day. Safeguards include stronger surveillance at ports of entry and improved quarantine and testing measures across Africa, home to 1.2 billion people and some of the world’s weakest systems for detecting and treating disease.

    But the effort has been complicated by a critical shortage of testing kits and numerous illnesses that display symptoms similar to the flu-like virus.

    “The problem is, even if it’s mild, it can paralyze the whole community,” said Dr. Michel Yao, emergency operations manager in Africa for the World Health Organization.

    Those growing worried include employees at the Sino-Zambia Friendship Hospital in the mining city of Kitwe in northern Zambia, near the Congo border. Chinese companies operate mines on the outskirts of the city of more than half a million people. One company is headquartered in Wuhan, the city at the center of the virus outbreak. Hundreds of workers traveled between Zambia and China in recent weeks.

    “We’re definitely not prepared. If we had a couple of cases, it would spread very quickly,” physiotherapist Fundi Sinkala said. “We’re doing the best we can with what resources we have.”

    The Sino-Zambia Friendship Hospital, or Sinozam, a low-slung facility near the city’s train station, has taken some precautions, including checking patient temperatures with infrared thermometers and establishing isolation areas. Employees wear masks. Gloves, disinfectant and oxygen inhalers have been stockpiled. Sinozam treats many Chinese in Kitwe and its precautions go further than other hospitals in the area.

    But the employees and others familiar with the matter, some of whom spoke anonymously under the new rules, say some Chinese patients checked in with coughs and fevers but did not get placed in isolation.

    Visiting Zambian health officials concluded the patients did not merit special treatment and did not take samples to test for the virus. After the people recovered, they were sent home with antibiotics, employees said.

    On Wednesday, the hospital set up a new fever clinic, where people arriving with a high temperature are now taken to right away. It’s “unfortunate” the ward wasn’t set up earlier, Sinkala said.

    Two people familiar with the matter say a doctor tending to the sick has fallen ill. Dr. Yu Jianlan has not come to work in the past week and hospital administrators have not explained her absence, Sinkala said. The other person spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

    Hospital administrator Li Zhibing said there were no patients with a fever and said Yu had a urinary tract infection, not a fever. But a notice posted by the Zambia-China Cooperation Zone, which manages the hospital, quoted an employee as saying on Jan. 27 that the facility “probably sees 120 fever patients a day, and at least 70 of them are carrying germs” of various diseases.

    Earlier this week, a Zambian official acknowledged for the first time that his country was following up on an unspecified number of suspected cases. Zambia is one of 13 African countries identified by WHO as a high priority because of busy travel links with China.

    Copperbelt provincial health director Dr. Robert Zulu, who oversees Kitwe and the surrounding region, told The Associated Press he would not discuss details, citing privacy. But he added, “when any case is confirmed, you will be informed.”

    Crucially, no one in Zambia has been able to test for the virus so far. Like most African countries, it has been waiting for a substance known as a reagent, which labs require to confirm whether a patient is infected. Labs in just six of Africa’s 54 countries were equipped as of mid-week. That means a wait of two or more days to know whether a sample shipped to South Africa or even outside the continent tests positive.

    Without testing, officials are “just relying on the symptoms” and whether they persist. “But from what we are learning right now, some people show hardly any symptoms at all,” Sinkala said, calling that the hospital’s biggest worry.

    Zambia is one of the additional countries WHO planned to equip by the end of the week. As of Friday, WHO emergencies chief Dr. Mike Ryan said 28 labs across the continent could diagnose the new virus.

    Adding to concerns at Sinozam, three employees say Zambian health officials visited on Tuesday and have been testing the bodies of two Chinese patients that have been in the morgue for days, though some added it was out of an overabundance of caution.

    Li, however, dismissed the accounts of testing the bodies as “rumors.” He said one died last month of malaria and the other of a heart attack. The bodies are still there because family members in China wish to come and pay respects but cannot because of the outbreak, he said.

    Zambia’s health ministry spokesman, Dr. Abel Kabalo, called the employee accounts of events at the hospital “very strange.” He vowed that if Zambia confirms a case, authorities “will definitely inform the world.”

    It’s “pointless to hide information,” Kabalo said.

    The WHO says countries are obligated to inform it of any confirmed cases and are requested to report suspected cases as well. The WHO chief has publicly urged countries to share information. So far, African countries appear to be complying, a WHO adviser on health security, Dr. Ambrose Talisuna, told reporters.

    Several African nations such as Ghana, South Africa and Ethiopia have announced their precautions, including updates on negative test results for suspected cases and demonstrations of surveillance and quarantine capabilities. Ethiopian Airlines, however, faces questions by some in Africa about why it continues to operate more than 30 China flights a week while other African airlines have suspended theirs.

    Adding to the difficulties in diagnosing the new virus are numerous diseases in Africa with symptoms that include fever or coughing or both.

    It’s impossible to diagnose the new virus by symptoms alone, Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman said, adding that there is a “significant likelihood” that the virus will be confirmed in Africa. And there is a risk that “panic overtakes good public health and good science.”

    The foundation has committed up to $20 million to help health authorities in Africa and South Asia, another vulnerable region, improve their disease surveillance, isolation and treatment for the virus.

    Concerns are high among some in Kitwe. A local pharmacy manager, Edward Goma, estimated that his business had sold more than 800 face masks in the past few days.

    “So far everyone is scared,” he said. And yet he has not noticed the stricter surveillance measures seen in other countries, beyond temperature checks at the international airport an hour’s drive away.

    The 15th Metallurgical Construction Group, based in Wuhan, said on its website that its overseas operations in Zambia and Congo must purchase masks, disinfect living quarters and workspaces daily and check workers’ temperatures three times a day.

    Chinese employees are temporarily barred from returning to Africa, while those in Zambia are not allowed to go to China, said Li, the hospital administrator.

    Chinese embassies in Zambia and elsewhere in Africa have been unusually outspoken, giving news conferences and television interviews to discuss their response to the outbreak. Embassies require arriving Chinese citizens to declare where they have been in China. They also urge citizens to voluntarily isolate themselves for 14 days.

    “We are now practicing hygiene, even in the mines,” said the Kitwe-based president of the Mine Workers Union of Zambia, Joseph Chewe. “Any report of a person with coronavirus here will be very disastrous.””

  22. THAILAND – Soldier kills at least 17 in shooting rampage in Thailand

    A Thai soldier has killed at least 17 people in a massshooting and taken hostages inside a shopping mall while taking selfies and livestreaming on social media, according to officials and local media.

    The active shooter situation occurred in a shopping center in Korat, also known as Nakhon Ratchasima, in northeast Thailand.

    The suspect, reportedly an Army sergeant, used an assault rifle to kill at least 17 people in area.

    Several others are wounded.

  23. First American Dies From Coronavirus
    By Mimi Nguyen Ly
    February 8, 2020 Updated: February 8, 2020
    FONT BFONT SText size
    Print

    A U.S. citizen who was diagnosed with the new coronavirus has died in Wuhan, China, in what appears to be the first known and confirmed death of an American from the viral outbreak.

    “We can confirm that a 60-year-old U.S. citizen diagnosed with coronavirus died at a hospital in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 6,” a U.S. Embassy spokesman said in a statement sent to news outlets.

    The American victim died at Jinyintan Hospital, the spokesman said, adding: “We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss. Out of the respect for the family’s privacy, we have no further comment.”

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-citizen-diagnosed-with-coronavirus-dies-in-wuhan_3231530.html

  24. British Jihadi Teacher Who Attempted to Go to Syria Freed From Prison on Early Release – Reports (sputniknews, Feb 8, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/uk/202002081078262065-british-daesh-teacher-released-early/

    “The issue of early releases for those facing terrorism charges has stirred a great deal of controversy in Britain, particularly since Sudesh Amman went on a stabbing rampage in Streatham last week, killing two people, before being shot dead by police.

    A radicalised chemistry teacher who was locked away in prison for planning to join Daesh* in Syria is back on the streets of Britain after serving just two-thirds of his sentence, according to media reports.

    30-year-old Jamshed Javeed was locked behind bars in March 2015 and sentenced to six-to-nine years for both helping his younger brother join Daesh as a suicide bomber and for trying to flee from Manchester to join the terrorist group himself.

    Mr Javeed was prevented from going to Daesh’s so-called ‘Caliphate’ by his parents, who hid his passport and confronted him over his plans after discovering that he intended to go to Syria.

    In an acrimonious argument, that was allegedly recorded by Mr Javeed’s sister on her phone, the concerned parents can be heard accusing the 30 year old of being “brainwashed” and contributing to the death of his own brother by encouraging him to go to Syria.

    “Yeah, it’s my fault, totally my fault – I encouraged him,” Javeed reportedly says in the recording.

    “Mohammed did the right thing,” he adds, referring to his brother’s decision to go to Syria.

    According to reports, Mr Javeed’s father can be heard shouting to his son in the video, “you will find that out in court, what you’ve done wrong. All I have to do is make an allegation. You’re training people to go to Syria, to fight in Syria.”

    Although Mr Javeed was initially given an extended sentence by the courts, last June a parole board reportedly signed on the dotted line to have him released back into the public halfway through his prison term in March 2020. However, it has been confirmed to various UK media outlets that Mr Javeed has already been freed from prison on an early release licence.

    In an effort to prevent other such instances from occurring in the future, the UK government under Boris Johnson is working overtime to push new legislation through parliament that would both lengthen time spent in prison and suspend early releases for those convicted of terrorist offences.

    The new legislation would also mean that offenders would only be let out of prison following approval for public safety by counter-terror experts. In the meantime, UK Justice Secretary, Robert Buckland, announced last Monday, February 3rd, that an emergency bill will be forced through parliament that will cancel pending automatic early releases for some 220 prisoners currently serving terror offences.

    Those up for early release include a 42-year-old shopkeeper from Sunderland in the North of England, Mohammed Zahir Khan, who called for Muslims to chop off the heads of their enemies in a series of crazed Facebook posts.

    “NOTHING wrong with chopping off the heads of your enemies,” Mr Khan is reported to have written in the posts that have since been removed.

    “Welcome to the year of fear. IS [Daesh] will make this year the DEADLIEST EVER. Mr Kuffar [infidel] prepare for REAL WAR,” he is also alleged to have written…”

  25. (Richard: New York City is going further down the communist rabbit hole.)

    New York City censors fashion industry
    By Hans Bader February 7, 2020

    ew York City is censoring its fashion industry, under the theory that their products and marketing messages constitute racial discrimination. For example, its Commission on Human Rights has ordered Prada to stop selling insensitive merchandise, hire a diversity director, and do the government’s bidding regarding what products it sells and how it markets and advertises.

    This violates the First Amendment and exceeds its authority under the city’s antidiscrimination law. The goal of antidiscrimination laws is to give everyone, regardless of their race, equal access to good and services — not to eliminate politically incorrect products and services.

    As Reason Magazine’s Robby Soave notes,

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2020/02/07/new-york-city-censors-fashion-industry/

  26. f he has to add canned applause as a candidate, what kind of president will Mayor Pete be?
    By Howard Portnoy February 8, 2020

    It’s easy to understand the genesis of the incident. It probably started off something like this: Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg and his speechwriters are brainstorming for a townhall in Manchester, N.H. The collaboration ultimately leads to a line that is sure to bring down the house.

    The night of the event arrives. An audience member at St. Anselm College unwittingly provides the prompt, asking, “What advantages and limitations does your age grant you to being the next president?”

    Mayor Pete seizes the opportunity. Feigning spontaneity, he replies:

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2020/02/08/if-he-has-to-add-canned-applause-as-a-candidate-what-kind-of-president-will-mayor-pete-be/

    • France: Hundreds join torchlight march as pension reform protests continue in Paris

      Hundreds of people held a torchlight march in Paris on Friday to show their disapproval of pensions reform.

      The protesters were seen playing drums, chanting and marching with banners showing solidarity with the general strike movement.

      French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced a two-year-extension of the working period necessary to earn a full pension in December, triggering the anger of workers and trade unions. The reforms attempt to overhaul France’s pension system into a universal system that will see pay-outs calculated from whole careers rather than the current last five years of activity. The pension age will also be increased from 62 to 64.

  28. The House Managers Don’t Think Trump Has Been Acquitted

    The House managers sat down with Anderson Cooper for an exclusive interview after President Donald Trump’s acquittal.

  29. Record-Breaker: Over 100 Migrants Captured in One Day Trying to Cross English Channel (sputniknews, Feb 8, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/uk/202002081078260589-Record-breaker-English-channel/

    “Despite Home Secretary Priti Patel’s efforts to forge cooperation between the UK and France to stem the issue, migrants continue to sail in droves from the latter to the former, leaving many to question if French authorities are really making sufficient efforts to solve the problem.

    Over 100 migrants are reported to have been intercepted while crossing the English Channel on Friday, February 7, in what marks the largest recorded number of such incidents in one day.

    A total of five inflatable rafts were stopped by the UK Border Force, which contained a total of 102 people from a variety of countries, including Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India according to reports. Nine of the individuals are said to have reached UK shores in Kent before being detained by local police.

    France – the departure point for those crossing the channel to the UK – is reported to have detained around 30 other individuals who were also intending to make the risk-fraught journey across the freezing cold English Channel.

    Conservative Party MP for Dover & Deal Natalie Elphicke, who is known to be vocal on the issue of migration across the English Channel, is widely quoted as saying that it “beggars belief that another flotilla of small boats got past the French again today.”

    “These are serious security lapses and we need an urgent explanation from the French as to what they are doing to get a grip on this situation. I am mindful that the search and rescue operations this week have involved all three border force vessels, RNLI lifeboats, HM Coastguard, a plane, a helicopter, ambulance services, police and much besides. These are emergency services for the UK, diverted from vital day-to-day operations,” she reportedly added.

    In an appearance on Good Morning Britain, Miss Elphicke also took subtle aim at the French, saying that, “I think the best deterrent will be when people know that wherever they’re rescued in the English Channel, they’ll be taken back safely and securely to France and in that way we can put a stop to this dreadful trade, this particular route in trafficking people.”

    The news comes hot on the heels of a similar incident on Thursday, February 6th, in which 90 people were picked up trying to cross the channel. Among them, according to the Telegraph, were at least 15 small children and many women…”

  30. zero hedge – Canadian Scientist At Center Of Chinese Bio-Espionage Probe Found Dead In Africa?

    Update (1135ET): It seems that Mr. Plummer made a habit of getting the biological material he was working on “stolen,” as we found a report from 2009 in the Winnepeg Free Press that details the theft of 22 vials of biological material was “confirmed by scientific director Dr. Frank Plummer.”

    […]As GreatGameIndia.com detailed earlier, in a very strange turn of events, renowned scientist Frank Plummer who received Saudi SARS Coronavirus sample and was working on Coronavirus (HIV) vaccine in the Winnipeg based Canadian lab from where the virus was smuggled by Chinese Biowarfare agents and weaponized as revealed in GreatGameIndia investigation, has died in mysterious conditions.

    […]Frank Plummer was the key to the Chinese Biological Espionage case at Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Laboratory.

    […]According to CBC, Plummer, 67, was in Kenya, where he was a keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the University of Nairobi’s collaborative centre for research and training in HIV/AIDS/STIs.

    Dr. Larry Gelmon, who helped set up that meeting, said Plummer collapsed and was taken to hospital in Nairobi, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

    No confirmed cause of death has yet been released.

    […]What is not mentioned in the CBC report however is that Plummer worked in the same National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg, Canada from where Chinese Biowarfare agent Xiangguo Qiu and her colleagues smuggled SARS Coronavirus to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology where it is believed to have been weaponized and leaked.

    more :

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/canadian-scientist-center-chinese-bio-espionage-probe-found-dead-africa

    =====================================================

    CBC – Renowned Canadian scientist Frank Plummer dies in Kenya, where he led HIV breakthroughs

    Plummer, 67, was infectious disease specialist who achieved international influence

    […]Plummer was most recently living in Toronto, where he underwent experimental brain surgery to fight alcohol addiction.

    He was believed to be the first person in North America to undergo deep brain stimulation for that purpose.

    https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5451624

  31. US and Afghan Forces Come Under ‘Direct Fire’ in Eastern Afghanistan – USFOR-A Spokesman (sputniknews, Feb 8, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/asia/202002081078262851-us-and-afghan-forces-come-under-direct-fire-in-eastern-afghanistan—usfor-a-spokesman/

    “The incident took place Saturday in Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan, where US forces are carrying out a security operation.

    “A combined US and Afghan force conducting an operation in Nangarhar province was engaged by direct fire on Feb. 8,” US forces in Afghanistan spokesperson Col. Sonny Leggett told reporters Saturday afternoon.

    The spokesman confirmed that the US had suffered casualties, but did not say how many. “We are assessing the situation and will provide further updates as they become available,” Leggett said.

    Unconfirmed media reports suggest that up to six US troops and six Afghan troops have been killed.

    New York Times Afghanistan correspondent Mujib Mashal says the troops may have been killed in a “green on blue” incident, i.e. an attack where Afghan servicemembers turn their weapons on the NATO troops they’re deployed with.

    Multiple sources tell us it is as many as five or six US fatalities. One official says 6 on Afghan side too…”

  32. Germany: Thuringia elections “thorn in the side of our democracy” – SPD heads as Kemmerich resigns

    Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) leaders Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken have called for fresh elections in Thuringia following the election scandal that has caused a major rift in German politics, after a coalition meeting with the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) in Berlin on Saturday.

    The duo said that they had agreed along with German Chancellor Merkel and the CDU that the recently elected FDP Minister-President Thomas Kemmerich should resign immediately, which he did contemporaneously.

    Walter-Borjans also demanded “no one else comes to political power with the cooperation of the AFD,” who the two referred to as “fascists.”

    Walter-Borjans and Esken repeatedly said that Wednesday’s scandal in which Kemmerich was elected as head of state in Thuringia with support from the far-right AFD party and the local CDU, threatened democracy and the stability of the current political coalition.

    • Germany: Hundreds protest AfD new year congress over Thuringia elections scandal

      Residents of Munster gathered outside the city hall on Friday evening to protest the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s new year congress.

      Protesters were seen chanting slogans calling AfD members ‘Nazis’, holding various against the far-right party and waving LGBT flags.

      The AfD party congress takes place just two days after its deputees voted for the left Free Democratic Party (FDP) candidate Thomas Kemmerich at Thuringia’s State Prime Minister elections ousting Die Linke party PM Bodo Ramelow.

      After the election results caused outrage among population, Kemmerich stepped down calling for a new election.

    • Germany: Hundreds protest Thuringia election scandal in Berlin

      Hundreds of protesters gathered in Berlin on Saturday to call for the resignation of Thuringia Minister-President Thomas Kemmerich and to condemn his Free Democratic Party (FDP), as well as the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), for voting along with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to place him in office on Wednesday.

      The demonstration took pace at the Platz der Republik, between the German parliament and the offices of the Chancellor, and saw protesters waving antifascist flags and singing chants against the AfD.

      Later on Wednesday Kemmerich announced his resignation with immediate effect and said that we would return all the money he was set to receive due to becoming Minister-President.

      Thuringia held its state election in October last year. While Die Linke won the highest share of the votes with 31 per cent, the AfD came second with 23.4 per cent, with the FPD barely clearing the 5 percent hurdle required to entire the regional parliament.

  33. Syria: Turkish military convoy crosses border amid SAA advance in Idlib

    A Turkish military convoy crossed the Syrian border, entering the opposition-controlled north-eastern part of the country on Friday.

    Footage filmed at Kafr Lusin village, near Kafaldin, shows a large convoy of tanks, armoured vehicles and supply trucks driving under the Turkish flags.

    According to reports, Ankara increased its military presence in Syria after the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) entered a strategic town of Saraqib, near Idlib, after days of a military offensive.

  34. CBC – Jordan Peterson seeks ’emergency’ drug detox

    Jordan Peterson’s family says he is undergoing an ’emergency’ drug detox treatment in Russia, after several failed attempts to overcome his dependence on a potent anti-anxiety medication.

    • Benzodiazepine is extremely addictive. Poor guy is having a tough go. Maybe I’m just imagining it but the CBC reporter seemed to relish announcing his difficulties at her opening.

  37. Several members of the youth movement of the Swedish Left Party have accused police of facilitating racism by cracking down on gang crime in no-go areas in the city of Malmö.

    Alma Lindén and Leia Wolke Wemmert of the Young Left claimed that police action could not solve the rising gang violence occurring in the city’s no-go suburbs, instead claiming that the current operations to crack down on violent gang crime were racist, Kvällsposten reports.

    “The debate on crime is used today as a racist slogan on immigration and integration issues. Politicians blame the people who moved here in the hope of a better life for the problems the politicians themselves create,” the authors wrote.

    They went on to add that Operation Rimfrost, which began late last year to tackle rising gang violence, made ethnic minorities feel insecure and victims of racism, saying, “Many people feel that they can be called suspicious or even violent from the forces of law in their everyday lives, just because of how they look.”

    “The police will therefore never contribute to more security in the suburbs, as they play a central role in racial oppression,” they added.

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/02/08/swedish-leftists-claim-police-racist-for-tackling-gang-violence/

  39. Police in the French city of Dunkirk arrested several youths after they assaulted a young mother, with several also claiming to have taken part in the brutal beating of a volunteer fireman last weekend.

    The 45-year-old mother was attacked by around 15 youths on Tuesday evening in her own home, with several of the attackers carrying knives. The main target of the attack, according to investigators, was the woman’s son, France Info reports.

    While threatening the woman, one of the group claimed to have been involved in the brutal beating of 27-year-old volunteer firefighter Kévin Desmidt who was beaten so badly he remains in critical condition at Lille University Hospital.

    Desmidt was set upon by attackers at the outskirts of the Black Cat Ball, part of Dunkirk’s carnival celebrations, over the weekend, and kicked and punched in the head by a group of around ten youths in total.

    Dunkirk police have said they are investigating the attack on Desmidt and have called for witnesses to the incident to come forward. However, they have also been cautious about linking those arrested on Wednesday evening to the beating, saying investigations were still ongoing.

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/02/08/french-police-arrest-youths-who-took-credit-for-brutal-beating-of-fireman/

  40. US Senators Urge Twitter to Suspend Accounts of Iran’s Leader, FM
    https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/02/08/2198666/us-senators-urge-twitter-to-suspend-accounts-of-iran-s-leader-fm

    “A group of US Republican senators in a letter called on Twitter to ban the accounts of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

    In the letter, sent to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Thursday, senators Ted Cruz of Texas, Marco Rubio of Florida, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee threatened that the company would be subject to US sanctions law if it did not end its service to the Iranian officials.

    They argued that allowing Iran’s Leader and top diplomat to hold Twitter accounts violates an executive order by US President Donald Trump that prohibits Americans from providing goods and services to the Iranian statesmen.

    “It is a sanctionable offense for ‘any person’ to have ‘provided … technological support for, or goods or services to persons designated pursuant to that EO,” the senators wrote, according to Press TV.

    Twitter, they added, is aware of the accounts held by Ayatollah Khamenei and Zarif, and of their links to the Iranian government, but “continues to provide internet-based communications services.”

    On June 24, 2019, Trump signed the executive order imposing sanctions on Iran’s Leader and top commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), saying the measure denies them “access to key financial resources and support.”

    One week later, the US Treasury Department blacklisted Zarif — which it described as Iran’s “primary spokesperson around the world”.”

  43. This week someone I know – who travels to China frequently – sent me a video of Chinese lawyer and citizen journalist Chen Qiushi, who compiled a video of the situation in Wuhan, China of the coronavirus outbreak.

    Qiushi apparently — and I say apparently because I cannot independently verify Qiushi’s statements in the video — was doing citizen journalism to warn the outside world about the disastrous situation faced by China’s disorganization and failure in quelling the outbreak of the virus.

    According to multiple sources Qiushi has now disappeared. Social media statements coming out of China, sources in the region and Bloomberg has since reported his disappearance. However, it is uncertain if he is in hiding or if he has been located by the Chinese government and taken into custody for his reports. Social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and WeChat have been some of the only outlets for the people of China to get the truth out about the outbreak and how it’s being handled by the communist government.

    https://saraacarter.com/chinese-citizen-journalist-disappears-in-china-gordon-chang-warns-of-virus-origin/

  44. BOOM! Chris Matthews Implies Commie Bernie Sanders May Start Assassinating Opposition Leaders if President (VIDEO)

    MATTHEWS GOES ROGUE!

    As reported earlier the Democrats held a debate last night in New Hampshire following their disastrous first primary caucus in Iowa.
    It’s still not clear who won there.

    Following the debate Chris Matthews went off on the hardcore Socialist wing of the party.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/boom-chris-matthews-implies-commie-bernie-sanders-may-start-assassinating-opposition-leaders-if-president-video/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=weekend

    https://twitter.com/i/status/1225996908063227905

  45. LEUVEN, Belgium, February 7, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Two prestigious Catholic universities will offer programs for the first time in Belgium to help train imams who serve as prayer leaders and preachers in mosques.

    Announced at the end of 2019, the programs of study grew out of the work of an official commission “launched after Islamist attacks in Brussels in 2016,” reported weekly newspaper The Tablet. The aim is to provide university-level education for prospective imams.

    In Belgium, certain ministers of religion are paid by the government. Following the new programs supported by two Catholic universities, this also will be possible for imams, as the courses will be recognized by the state.

    Flanders Today indicated that another goal of the new programs is “to persuade people with an Islamic vocation to study at home rather than abroad.”

    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/catholic-universities-in-belgium-to-help-train-muslim-imams

  46. Egypt Considers Population Control ‘National Security’ Issue
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2121556/egypt-considers-population-control-%E2%80%98national-security%E2%80%99-issue

    “Egyptian Premier Mostafa Madbouly has considered the population growth the greatest challenge faced by the state, stressing that its control has become a national security issue.

    He held more than one party and the whole community responsible for handling this phenomenon.

    According to Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, the country’s population has amounted to 99.8 million in January.

    In a statement on Friday, the Egyptian government announced holding a meeting to follow up on “the family planning efforts undertaken by the state at the level of the republic .”

    The meeting was attended by ministers of investment and international cooperation, health and population, and social solidarity.

    Madbouly called for “raising societal awareness on population growth, intensifying awareness campaigns by competent authorities, and coordinating with international bodies to work on achieving successes in this major issue.”

    “The state is currently taking measures to limit its support for only two children per family,” the Premier noted, explaining that this includes food supply and Takaful and Karama Program (TKP) for newborns, not for those who currently receive support.

    “Egypt will launch a program to control overpopulation and family planning,” he announced, demanding ministers concerned to prepare a report including the competencies of each ministry and public or private authority.

    This way, he explained, the state carries on with this program in line with its cooperation with relevant international bodies.

    Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Rania al-Mashat affirmed that she will intensify her efforts with all international institutions in this regard.

    Mashat expected to receive great support from different parties to achieve progress in controlling the rates of population growth especially that Egypt has earlier cooperated with a number of international parties to address this major issue.

    Health Minister Hala Zayed, for her part, announced that a major advertising and awareness campaign will be launched soon.

    She said it includes incentives in cooperation with relevant ministries and authorities, such as the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Authority and the Ministry of Social Solidarity.”

  47. If you watched the Democrat debate last it accentuated what the Iowa Caucuses had made clear. Joe Biden is a spent force. He’s a tired, worn out old man whose entire campaign is fueled by a fantasy life that would boggle the mind of Walter Mitty. The main candidate pressuring Biden is South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. In recent polling, Buttigieg has jumped into a strong second-place position in New Hampshire and one poll, that by Suffolk, give him a 1 point lead over Sanders. If Biden is to survive, he has to knock off Buttigieg and count on Buttigieg supporters coming home to him.

    Last night’s debates showcased two very effective lines of attack against Buttigieg. First and foremost, he simply does not have the experience to be president. Mind you, there are lots of different kinds of experience but Buttigieg really has none of them. The best you can say is that he’s a tyro who has skimmed across the surface of life–a short stint as a business consultant, an undistinguished ticket punching exercise as a Navy JAG, mayor of a failing Rust Belt city with one-party government–gathering enough participation trophies to give the illusion of accomplishment.

    https://www.redstate.com/streiff/2020/02/08/779934/

  48. Iran’s Strategic Mistake: Too Many Enemies

    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: A photo showing an Iranian general surrounded by flags of the Islamic Republic’s proxies in Arab states illustrates that it has accumulated too many enemies—a condition that has caused many regimes throughout history to disappear. ISIS is a recent example. If the Islamic Republic persists in accumulating enemies, it might share the same fate.

    Sometimes, political demise is caused by having too many enemies.

    When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hitler was delighted. He reasoned that Japan, as an ally, was going to attack the Soviet Union from the east, depriving the Soviets of the divisions from the east necessary to defend Moscow from the Wermacht.

    He was dead wrong. By bringing the US into WWII, the Japanese set the course toward Hitler’s demise. It was a case of one enemy too many.

    When ISIS threatened to overrun Baghdad after taking Mosul, pundits wondered if its ascent was to be a rerun of the rise of the Arab empire in the seventh century.

    Perhaps it was—until ISIS began killing Americans and nationals of other allies in Iraq and attracting Chechen Islamist fighters. The Americans and their allies began pounding ISIS bases and fighters only to be followed by Putin’s air force. The “caliphate” did not live long enough to regret its folly.

    https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/iran-enemies/

  49. Qatar first Gulf country to enter world of submarines and aircraft carriers
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200208-qatar-first-gulf-country-to-enter-world-of-submarines-and-aircraft-carriers/

    “Qatar is preparing to be the first Gulf country to operate submarines and an aircraft carrier, as it seeks to enhance its military capabilities.

    US magazine Forbes stated that Qatar: “Will become the first Gulf country to operate submarines and an aircraft carrier after it signed a deal worth five billion Euros with the Italian giant defence company Fincantieri to build advanced warships and submarines, and to establish an offshore naval base.”

    The magazine pointed out that the Qatari submarines: “Maybe part of a larger deal worth five billion Euros with Italy, which was signed in 2017.”

    This deal includes a large helicopter carrier, four warships, and two patrol boats.”

  50. Iran foils cyberattack targeting internet providers
    https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/2/8/iran-foils-cyberattack-targeting-internet-providers

    “Iran repelled a cyberattack on Saturday that disrupted the country’s internet services for an hour, a telecommunications ministry official said.

    “At 11:44 (0814 GMT) a distributed denial-of-service attack disrupted the internet services of some mobile and fixed operators for an hour,” tweeted Sajad Bonabi.

    A DDoS attack involves overwhelming a target’s servers by making a massive number of junk requests.

    “Connections have returned to normal following the intervention of Dejfa shield,” Bonabi added, referring to Iran’s so-called digital fortress against cyberattacks.

    He did not elaborate on the source of the attack…”