Reader’s Links for April 12, 2020

Posted on by

Daily Links Post graphic

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

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

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

This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

82 Replies to “Reader’s Links for April 12, 2020”

    • The Church Minister then realized the child would just go out and get another bird cage. That, for all the birds in the world he would save, (increasing from two dollars a time as other children learned of this folly), he would soon make himself, then his congregation and then his community and then his Nation live in continued debt. They would use symbols of a bird in every Church, but no one to know what it means.

      A Nation so morally weak, they would soon be invaded by the Ideologies of Hope Not Hate, through surrender, fornication and submission. Not serving their god, but serving man for their daily bread and comfort. Their Golden Idols of pride.

      Realizing that he having just ‘paid-to-feel-good’ had sealed his deal with the devil, he remorsefully went to find the boy.

      Hours later, he found him showing off to the other children what sweets and toys he had bought. He was now a king, whereas
      he always felt inferior to them and picked on the weaker creatures than himself to regain his sense of status.

      “Son, here is your cage that I paid for in return for vanity. I should have taught you the meaning of how to free the birds, but I took over your role, stepped in a big actor as their saviour, so could I could always claim to your Minister – a healer among the sick – without clearing up anything. I made a darker world. I was wrong, and I am sorry.” At this, the Minister left the cage and walked away.

      The boy, who had told the others what a jerk this Man of God had been, now looked embarrassed with chocolate dripping from his face, and cried. He just wanted to be loved. And at that moment, the truth set him free.

      One ressurection, and the other: Jesus nailed to the Cross paying for bird cages.

      Happy Easter. Let the souls go free.

  3. Germany: Afghan killed mother carrying her baby in her arms with a beer bottle

    When the woman was found lying on the ground with her skull bashed in, the baby lay next to her” … Brutal murder of a German mother by an Afghan in the recreation area Auwald in Leipzig in broad daylight. The 37-year-old woman, with her baby in her arms, was knocked down with a bottle and seriously injured by the perpetrator on Wednesday morning at about 11:40 a.m. on the Neue Linie, a forest path in the south of Leipzig. On Good Friday, her martyrdom in a Leipzig intensive care unit resulted in her death – despite the intensive medical treatment initiated on the day of the crime. The perpetrator – according to initial findings it was her ex-boyfriend – was able to flee first, and on Thursday afternoon the 30-year-old was arrested. The accused was born in Afghanistan and of course has German citizenship. According to the mainstream press “the victim is also a German”. The police had been looking for the perpetrator in the victim’s surroundings from the very beginning. The suspect is said to have harassed his former girlfriend in the past. He was investigated – as usual in such relationships – for stalking. The murderer of the still nameless mother “fled” to Germany as a child. The baby is safe and is being looked after.

    “The identity of the victim has not yet been clarified beyond any doubt”, explained police spokesman Alexander Bertram, as well as why the dispute arose and the exact course of the attack. “Further information on the alleged course of events as well as on possible backgrounds of the crime cannot be given at present in view of the ongoing investigations”. Witnesses reported that the victim was knocked down with a beer bottle. The investigations of the public prosecutor’s office and the police against the 30-year-old Afghan are now being continued because of the urgent suspicion of murder, as the suspected perpetrator has at least fulfilled the murder criterion of insidiousness. Insidious, however, is the mainstream media coverage of the brutal bloody deed of a perpetrator from the Hindu Kush, while the German Armed Forces have been defending “our freedom” there for years with billions of euros and a high death toll of murdered German soldiers. Submissively, most mainstream media covered up the details of the crime – as always.
    https://medforth.blog/2020/04/12/germany-afghan-killed-mother-carrying-her-baby-in-her-arms-with-a-beer-bottle/

  4. 3 types of the CCP virus are spreading; Chinese province plans to add 52,000 quarantine rooms

  5. Kabul Frees Third Group of Taliban Prisoners in Latest Confidence-Building Step (sputniknews, Apr 12, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202004121078927612-taliban-prison-free-confidence/

    “The Afghan government on Sunday released a third group of Taliban prisoners hours after the Taliban announced the handover of 20 Afghan government prisoners, Kabul’s National Security Council said.

    The office of the National Security Council that under a decree from President Ashraf Ghani, the group of the Taliban were rounded up and handed over “according to their age, health and incarceration.”

    This is the third batch of prisoners released by Kabul in ongoing confidence-building measures aimed at jumpstarting the intra-Afghan peace negotiations.

    The negotiations were set to begin 10 March after the US and Taliban signed a peace agreement earlier in February.

    Kabul, however, took issue with the agreement’s stipulation that 5,000 Taliban prisoners would be released, which unleashed a cross-country wave of Taliban violence and suspended the talks.

    Three Taliban Militants Killed, Five Injured in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province
    Three Taliban militants have been killed, and five more have suffered injuries in a preemptive strike by the Afghan armed forces in Helmand province, the country’s military announced in a statement on Sunday.

    According to the 215th Maiwand Corps, the military received notice that Taliban militants were planning an attack on security posts near the town of Gereskh. The army launched an assault, resulting in the deaths of three militants.

    Five other militants suffered injuries and one member of the Taliban who tried to flee during the attack was later captured by the Afghan military, according to the statement.
    Troops also deactivated 15 mines in the region, the military said.

    Violent clashes in Afghanistan continue despite the signing of a peace deal between the Taliban and the US on February 29 that called for a reduction in violence in the country.

    The agreement was set to pave the way for the beginning of intra-Afghan talks between the militant group and the government, following the mutual release of prisoners, although negotiations have yet to start.”

  7. How London Live was started by Brian Rose: in order to hear the human voice
    https://youtu.be/xtJTEbr-CaA

    How The Establishment ends the human voice:
    “London Live broadcast part of a lengthy interview with the former sports presenter on the first night of Passover last Wednesday.

    The channel billed the one-hour and 45-minute programme, hosted by entrepreneur Brian Rose, as “David Icke talks about his theory behind the pandemic, the lockdown and the economic crash”.

    In a one-minute clip uploaded to Twitter, Mr Icke tried to connect coronavirus research and Israel, while also claiming possible moves to require people to be vaccinated was “fascism”.

    “Mr Icke has previously spoken of “the global conspiracy Rothschild-Zionism, a secret society putting its agents in places of power” – and listed Jewish people he says are part of the plot.

    During advert breaks, London Live displayed a notice saying: “The views expressed in this programme are those of the individual articulating them and not necessarily those of London Live.””
    https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/london-live-condemned-for-allowing-david-icke-to-air-lunatic-conspiracy-theories-1.498968

    The Media are at fault again because not one of them had interviewed Stalin, Hitler, or Musselini to any depth either, in order to kick over their precariously stacked decks of cards.

    Reduced to sound bites. And the memes are passed on by them all.

  10. Morning Newswrap | Coronavirus: 5 States Extend Lockdown; PM Modi To Announce Nationwide Extension

    • Why is it I keep thinking Gates is setting up the stage for a 2024 USA presidential run?

      • He is trying to put a shine on his reputation for some reason and it might be because he wants to run for Preesident. The thing that he and other extremely wealith people who want to go into politics need to remember is Trump won because he can connect with the ordinary people. When he was making his money he was down at the construction sites talking to the people doing the hard work. Gates, Bloomberg and the other leftists didn’t talk to the working people they talked to the upper class and quickly learned to look down on the workers. This is why the Dems are going to lose in November and if Trump can find some way to pass that gift along to the next Repub they will win the election. Sarah Palin has this ability, Michelle Bachman has this ability but will either one run in 2024? Palin is making a move to bring her name back into the public eye so who knows. Another one who has that ability is Steve Bannon and he would make a real good President.

    • She is setting the stage so she can accuse Trump of murdering people no matter what he does.

  15. Great documentary about disinformation, cia, msm, Hollywood and pizzagate . Very well made

  16. * CANADA Muslim Brotherhood NCCM sets up petition – They want Canadians to pay for their lost charity revenues due to COVID 19. *

    We make four urgent recommendations to the Government at this time:

    We ask that the Government of Canada match donations raised by charitable organizations for the next three months.
    Secondly, we ask that the Government of Canada improves the charitable donation tax credit to continue to encourage donations.
    Thirdly, we ask that the government extends a 0% interest credit line for charitable organizations to help cover operational costs.
    Fourthly, we ask that the government should set out a specific wage subsidy plan for charities.

    We need you to be part of the solution. If you want your local mosque, or your local aid organizations to remain open, the time to act is now.

    https://www.nccm.ca/protectourcharities/

    • what they are proposing is changing the meaning of the word “donation” – reminds me of some kind of a tax – the name is on the tip of my tongue – something like zzzzz , yeah!

  17. Sec of State POMPEO: Remarks on Beijing’s infiltration and hold on our government leaders and more. Once again, multi-faceted bribery/blackmail at work.

  19. DAILY MAIL – Wuhan lab was performing coronavirus experiments on bats from the caves where the disease is believed to have originated – with a £3m grant from the US

    Wuhan Institute of Virology undertook coronavirus experiments on bats
    They were captured more than 1,000 miles away in Yunnan
    Sequencing of the Covid-19 genome has traced it to bats from Yunnan’s caves
    Accident at the laboratory in the Chinese city was ‘no longer being discounted’

    The laboratory at the centre of scrutiny over the pandemic has been carrying out research on bats from the cave which scientists believe is the original source of the devastating outbreak.

    Documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday show the Wuhan Institute of Virology undertook coronavirus experiments on mammals captured more than 1,000 miles away in Yunnan – funded by a $3.7 million grant from the US government.

    Sequencing of the Covid-19 genome has traced it to bats found in Yunnan’s caves.

    It comes after this newspaper revealed last week that Ministers here now fear that the pandemic could have been caused by a virus leaking from the institute.

    Senior Government sources said that while ‘the balance of scientific advice’ was still that the deadly virus was first transmitted to humans from a live animal market in Wuhan, an accident at the laboratory in the Chinese city was ‘no longer being discounted’.

    According to one unverified claim, scientists at the institute could have become infected after being sprayed with blood containing the virus, and then passed it on to the local community.

    Now The Mail on Sunday has learned that scientists there experimented on bats as part of a project funded by the US National Institutes of Health, which continues to licence the Wuhan laboratory to receive American money for experiments.

    Results of the research were published in November 2017 under the heading: ‘Discovery of a rich gene pool of bat SARS-related coronaviruses provides new insights into the origin of SARS coronavirus.’

    The exercise was summarised as: ‘Bats in a cave in Yunnan, China were captured and sampled for coronaviruses used for lab experiments.

    ‘All sampling procedures were performed by veterinarians with approval from the Animal Ethics Committee of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

    ‘Bat samplings were conducted ten times from April 2011 to October 2015 at different seasons in their natural habitat at a single location (cave) in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. Bats were trapped and faecal swab samples were collected.’

    Another study, published in April 2018, was titled ‘fatal swine acute diarrhoea syndrome caused by an HKU2-related coronavirus of bat origin’ and described the research as such: ‘Following a 2016 bat-related coronavirus outbreak on Chinese pig farms, bats were captured in a cave and samples were taken.

    Experimenters grew the virus in a lab and injected it into three-day-old piglets. Intestinal samples from sick piglets were ground up and fed to other piglets as well.‘

    Senior Ministers say that while the latest intelligence does not dispute the virus was ‘zoonotic’ – originating in animals – it no longer rules out that the virus first spread to humans after leaking from a Wuhan laboratory.

    Last week, further doubt was cast on the animal market theory after Cao Bin, a doctor at the Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, highlighted research showing that 13 of the first 41 patients diagnosed with the infection had not had any contact with the market. ‘It seems clear that the seafood market is not the only origin of the virus,’ he said.

    The £30 million Wuhan Institute of Virology, the most advanced laboratory of its type on the Chinese mainland, is based ten miles from the now infamous wildlife market.

    Last night, Anthony Bellotti, president of the US pressure group White Coat Waste, condemned his government for spending tax dollars in China, adding: ‘Animals infected with viruses or otherwise sickened and abused in Chinese labs reportedly may be sold to wet markets for consumption once experiments are done.’

    US Congressman Matt Gaetz said: ‘I’m disgusted to learn that for years the US government has been funding dangerous and cruel animal experiments at the Wuhan Institute, which may have contributed to the global spread of coronavirus, and research at other labs in China that have virtually no oversight from US authorities.’

    A letter from the Chinese Embassy, responding to our report last week about the possible leak from the Wuhan Institute, is published in today’s edition.

    It says: ‘Hasty and reckless allegations, such as naming China as the origin in an attempt to shift the blame before any scientific conclusion, is irresponsible and will definitely do harm to international co-operation at this critical time.

    ‘China and the UK exchanged views seriously on the origin of the virus and reached consensus.

    ‘In his telephone conversation with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed out that ‘alarmingly, some people are attempting to politicise the epidemic, label the virus and stigmatise China…’

    ‘Raab expressed the UK’s firm opposition to politicising the Covid-19 outbreak and fully agrees with China that the source of the virus is a scientific issue that requires professional and science-based assessment.’

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8211257/Wuhan-lab-performing-experiments-bats-coronavirus-caves.html?ito=amp_twitter_share-top

  20. Italy: Police halt Forza Nuova members for defying lockdown in Rome</b<

    Police in Rome stopped an attempted protest organised by Italian far-right movement Forza Nuova on Sunday.

    The far-right militants led by Giuliano Castellino reportedly intended to demonstrate by the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore against the national quarantine imposed by the government on March 9.

    The police stopped and brought Giuliano Castellino and five other members of the group to a police station for violating the coronavirus containment decree. They will reportedly be fined.

    "We're are living under dictatorship. There are 60 millions Italians under home arrest," said the far-right leader before being brought to the station.

    Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the extension of the lockdown to stem the pandemic until May 3. Almost 20,000 people have died in Italy and almost 3,000 in Rome with COVID-19, according to the Civil Protection Department.


  21. Brazil: Bolsonaro supporters protest coronavirus quarantine measures in Sao Paulo

    Dozens of protesters took to the streets of Sao Paulo on Saturday to protest against the social distancing measures imposed by Governor of Sao Paulo, Joao Doria in a bid to counter the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

    Footage shows the protesters, many of whom are supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, driving vehicles, riding motorcycles and calling for the impeachment of Doria.

    “Small businesses like mine are being closed. Thousands of companies and millions of unemployed,” said protester Silvio, who accused Sao Paulo’s governor of “committing a crime against small and medium sized businesses in Sao Paulo, [against] all population of Sao Paulo.”

    Another protester, Claudinei recognised the imposed restrictions to be “fair” due to “the danger of the virus.” Nevertheless, he hoped that Bolsonaro would “take a stand on this,” because “in Sao Paulo no one can take it anymore.”

    President Bolsonaro expressed his opposition to the social distancing measures and was criticized by the Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta for breaking these measures for three consecutive days on Friday.

    The richest Brazilian state and the major industrial complex, Sao Paulo, is considered to be one of two states with most confirmed cases and deaths, with around 8,500 cases and 560 deaths, according to the Brazilian Health Ministry.

    According to figures released by Johns Hopkins University, Brazil has registered nearly 21,000 coronavirus cases, with over 1,100 deaths.

  22. Indian and Pakistani Troops Exchange Fire in Kashmir, Three Dead – Police (sputniknews, Apr 12, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/asia/202004121078929573-indian-and-pakistani-troops-exchange-fire-in-kashmir-three-dead—police—/

    “Hostilities re-emerged between Indian and Pakistani troops at the Line of Control (LoC) earlier this week with both sets of troops involved in cross-border shooting and artillery fire.

    Three civilians were killed when Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged heavy artillery fire on Sunday evening, Indian police said, as quoted by the Associated Press.

    The agency quoted Shri Ram Ambarkar, an Indian police officer, who said that three civilians, including a woman and a child, were killed when shells fired from the Pakistani army hit homes in the Kupwara area of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

    He added that more people were feared to be injured as a rescue operation was still underway after the shelling.

    The two countries have been engaged in firefights and shelling for the past few days following the killing of five Indian troops near the Line of Control. According to the Pakistani military, they were responding to “unprovoked ceasefire violations” by the Indian side. India, for its part, issued a statement to say that its army was responding to Pakistan’s ceasefire violation.

    Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated in August 2019 after New Delhi revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, a move considered by Islamabad as a violation of the previously existing bilateral agreement.”

  23. And There It Is… Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Bans Buying US Flags During Lockdown

    Crazed Democrat Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer prohibited big box retailers from in-person sale of seeds because according to her, food is non-essential.

    ‘Crisis gardens’ or ‘victory gardens’ were always encouraged during a time of war or a time of crisis to supplement rations and boost morale.

    But the tyrannical governor of Michigan barred grocery stores and brick-and-mortar retailers from selling vegetable seeds.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/04/michigan-governor-gretchen-whitmer-bans-buying-us-flags-lockdown/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=weekend

  24. the gateway pundit – AWFUL! Disgusting Dr. Fauci UNLOADS on Trump on EASTER SUNDAY — “Lives Could Have Been Saved!” (Video)

    It was only a matter of time.

    Dr. Anthony Fauci UNLOADED on President Trump on Easter Sunday.

    The controversial doctor and head of the NIH slammed President Trump on CNN.
    What a DISGRACE!

    This is the same doctor who has been wrong EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!

    The Sun reported:

    WHITE House coronavirus expert Dr Tony Fauci said Sunday lives could have been saved if US had been shut down earlier.

    Speaking on CNN, the immunologist said the US could start to reopen next month, but warned a second wave of the virus could still hit the country.

    During the interview, Fauci revealed that the government had been advised to begin social distancing measures in February.

    President Trump announced plans to roll out “self-isolating” in mid March.

    “We look at it from a pure health standpoint,” Fauci said. “We make a recommendation, often the recommendation is taken, sometimes it’s not.

    “But it is what it is.”

    Fauci was then asked if lives could have been saved if stay at home measures had started in February, rather than almost a month later.

    “Obviously you could logically say that if you had a process that was ongoing and you started mitigation earlier you could’ve saved lives, obviously,” he replied.

    “No-one is going to deny that.

    “But there was a lot of pushback about shutting things down back then.”

    https://twitter.com/TheTNHoller/status/1249349109976313866

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/04/easter-surprise-disgusting-dr-fauci-unloads-trump-lives-saved-video/

  25. HUGE! Via John Solomon: Durham Has Subpoenaed and Called in Witnesses Before a DC Grand Jury

    US Attorney General Bill Barr appointed US Attorney from Connecticut John Durham last May to investigate the origins of Spygate.

    Award-winning investigative reporter John Solomon told Sean Hannity on Friday’s podcast that he knows of a few witnesses who have appeared before a DC grand jury.

    John Solomon told Hannity he believes that Durham’s charges will start with Kevin Clinesmith, the lawyer who fraudulently changed a document to deceive the FISA court.

    “What about all the people that signed the FISA applications knowing…none of it was verified?” Hannity asked Solomon.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/04/huge-via-john-solomon-durham-subpoenaed-called-witnesses-dc-grand-jury/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=weekend

  26. Afghan Taliban confirms release of 1st government prisoners (abcnews, Apr 12, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/afghan-taliban-confirms-release-1st-government-prisoners-70107026

    “The Taliban announced Sunday it will be releasing 20 Afghan government prisoners the group has been holding, in the first phase of its commitment under its historic peace deal with the United States.

    The deal calls for the government to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners in exchange for 1,000 government officials held by the Taliban insurgents.

    The Afghan government released its first 100 Taliban prisoners last week and Jawed Faisal, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s national security adviser, said the government has thus far released 300 Taliban prisoners overall from government custody.

    Suhial Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban’s political office, said in a tweet that the first government prisoners will be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in the southern Kandahar province.

    The exchanges come after the Taliban met with the head of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to call for an end to what they say is an increase in American attacks since a peace deal was signed in February, allegations the U.S. military denied.

    On Saturday, a U.S. military spokesman called on the Taliban to stop attacking Afghan security forces whom he said American troops would continue to come to their aid in accordance with the agreement. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

    The peace deal is aimed at paving the way for the U.S. to extricate itself from the 19-year war, America’s longest.

    The spokesman confirmed that Gen. Scott Miller met with the Taliban “as part of the military channel established in the agreement” to discuss ways to reduce the violence.

    According to the Taliban’s Shaheen, the meeting was held late Friday in the Gulf nation of Qatar, where the insurgent group maintains a political office. Shaheen tweeted that the two sides held “serious” discussions. He said the Taliban called for a halt to attacks against civilians. The U.S. military says it does not target non-combatants.

    At the meeting with Miller, the Taliban accused the U.S. of bombing its insurgents in their homes, contrary to the U.S.-Taliban peace deal.

    Earlier last week, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs tweeted a harsh statement expressing frustration at the continued political turmoil roiling Kabul.

    The State Department tweeted: “As the world gets slammed by COVID-19, with devastating economic consequences for all, donors are frustrated and fed up by personal agendas being advanced ahead of the welfare of the Afghan people.”

    Afghanistan has imposed a lockdown in several cities to curb the spread of the new virus and has so far recorded 607 confirmed cases and 19 deaths.”

  27. Coronavirus and Macron’s Vision for Europe
    By Dr. George N. Tzogopoulos
    April 12, 2020

    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: After years of falling in line with German priorities at the EU by focusing on economic matters, French president Emmanuel Macron is now an advocate for change. He believes geopolitics should be interwoven into the future of Europe and proposes an ambitious new strategic doctrine—one that challenges the conventional wisdom on NATO, Russia, and China; emphasizes the EU’s role in world affairs; and boosts the French presence in the Eastern Mediterranean. But the ongoing coronavirus crisis has put his plans on hold. As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the Continent, Macron is calling for greater solidarity and supports the issuance of joint European debt to finance the fight against the virus—an idea Germany is resisting.

    The European debt crisis highlighted Germany’s political dominance within the EU. Berlin took the lead in making critical decisions about austerity policies, the inclusion of the IMF in bailouts, and the involvement of the private sector in debt restructuring. As the game was being played on the German terrain of economics, France’s role in the EU was overshadowed at the time. Paris still had its voice heard on occasion—for example, when it insisted in 2015 that Greece remain in the Eurozone—but it generally acceded to the German-dominated political order.

    https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/coronavirus-and-macrons-vision-for-europe/

  28. Kosovo pressure on ethnic Serb news site draws concern (abcnews, Apr 12, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/kosovo-pressure-ethnic-serb-news-site-draws-concern-70109037

    “The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s media freedom representative complained Sunday about the alleged pressure authorities in Kosovo are putting on an ethnic Serb news portal.

    Harlem Desir, the OSCE’s media freedom representative, expressed concern following two recent incidents involving KoSSev, an online news site based in Serb-dominated Mitrovica.

    Editor Tatjana Lazarevic was briefly arrested Saturday for allegedly violating a curfew that is part of the country’s effort to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

    Working journalists are supposed to be exempt from the curfew. Lazarevic said she was on her way to a medical center treating COVID-19 patients and that she presented her press credential, but police took her in for questioning.

    In the other incident, a top regional ethnic Serb official called out the portal Thursday for live-steaming an online news conference by officials overseeing the virus outbreak and urged KoSSev “not to cause instability by posing political questions,” according to Desir.

    “Journalists play a key role during this health crisis by providing vital information to the public. Access to information and a free working environment are therefore essential and need to be ensured at all times,” Desir said.

    Kosovo, a former Serbian province, declared independence in 2008 but Serbia does not recognize it as a separate country. Ties between the two remain tense.”

  30. France: Nurse argues with President Macron during hospital visit

    In the footage, Macron is seen speaking to the hospital staff, finishing his statement by saying “I will not take responsibility for everything that was done before.”

    Right after, a nurse addressed the French president to deplore their working conditions: “These jobs we do them because they are our vocation. We do them because we love people. We are a public hospital. The health workers, we are poor. And tomorrow, we can be the ones lying in these beds. We would like to do this for us and for the others but with the lack of workers, we can’t.”

    The sequence from the visit that was published by the Elysee on Twitter does not include this intervention, but shows the Kremlin-Bicetre hospital workers cheering and applauding.

    According to reports, it was a caregiver who enjoined her colleagues to applaud health workers on the frontline of the fight against the Chinese virus pandemic.

  32. AG Barr Addresses Bill Gates Microchip Idea

    United States AG William Barr appeared on Laura Ingraham’s show, Thursday, to talk about a wide range of issues. One of those issues discussed was the idea, by Bill Gates, to insert a “digital certificate” into the body of American citizens and individuals around the world.

    The microchip, by a less prettied up term, would show whether someone has immunity to the Covid-19 virus or has been vaccinated. World officials and even employers could then use the ‘digital certificate’ to decide whether to allow someone to travel abroad, or even board a plane, or gather in large groups (I.e. a concert or political rally).

    Laura Ingraham posed the question:

    https://insidescooppolitics.com/archives/1626

  33. What the Hell Is Happening With Migrants in Greece?
    Turkey opened its border to Greece in a cynical play for cash. That move tipped an increasingly anti-migration continent over the edge.
    https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3a8mny/what-the-hell-is-happening-with-migrants-in-greece
    [..]
    Erdo?an claimed his action was intended to save the hundreds of thousands of refugees from Russian and Syrian bombing in the Turkish-backed rebel and jihadi-dominated enclave of Idlib. In reality, the displaced people of Idlib remain trapped in Syria by the world’s second-longest wall, with Turkish gendarmes ordered to use lethal force to keep the border closed.

    The migrants at the border, who had been bussed to the border city of Edirne by free coaches organized by the Turkish government, were instead from long-standing migrant and refugee communities in Istanbul. Mostly Afghans, many from the country’s Hazara Shia minority, they had been falsely advised by Turkish officials and state media that the road to Europe was finally open.
    [..]

    Destruction of greek olive trees was covered on this blog recently. This article features a short video allegedly showing migrants attacking an olive tree.

    Afghan migrants caught chopping down olive trees in Lesvos
    https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/04/08/afghan-migrants-caught-chopping-down-olive-trees-in-lesvos/

  34. Coronavirus: Italy orders rescued migrants onto quarantine ship (BBC, Apr 12, 2020)
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52263969

    “Italy has ordered 156 migrants on board a German rescue ship off the western coast of Sicily to be transferred to another vessel and quarantined.

    The migrants, mostly from Africa and the Middle East, must then undergo health checks, Italian officials said.

    The German rescue vessel, Alan Kurdi, has been refused access to Italian and Maltese ports over coronavirus fears.

    Italy’s transport ministry said the move was necessary because Sicily’s health services were already stretched.

    Allowing the migrants to disembark from the Alan Kurdi ship, operated by the German humanitarian group Sea-Eye, would put too much pressure on the island’s local authorities, Italy’s civil protection chief Angelo Borrelli said.

    As of Sunday, Italy as a whole had reported 19,899 coronavirus deaths and more than 156,363 confirmed infections.

    The country reported 431 deaths over a 24-hour period – the lowest daily rise in more than three weeks.

    Mr Borrelli signed a document on Sunday ordering the Coast Guard, with the assistance of the Italian Red Cross, to provide a ship “in the next few hours” to quarantine and test the 156 migrants near Italian territorial waters, local media report.

    No decision has been made about the final destination of the migrants, who were rescued from small boats in distress off the Libyan coast, officials said.

    Italy has previously said that migrants rescued and brought to its shores become the responsibility of the European Union (EU) and should be fairly distributed among member states.

    Sea-Eye has also called on EU leaders to find a more permanent solution to the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.

    Earlier this month, the EU’s top court – the European Court of Justice – ruled that Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic had broken EU law by refusing to take in refugees under an agreement to ease the burden faced by Italy and Greece.

    In Greece, a number of migrant facilities were recently quarantined after residents tested positive for coronavirus. Aid groups have warned that an outbreak of Covid-19 at overcrowded camps – where sanitation is poor – could allow the virus to spread quickly.

    There have so far been no confirmed cases of the virus in camps on five Greek islands, where roughly half of all EU asylum seekers live.”

  35. MOVIE about Hollywood and mind control of populations. Highly worth the look. Skip over the first 25 minutes or so – the part where he speaks of his career as a stunt guy.

    Video was released on April 10. Now has almost 2 million views.

    • Another fellow left that video in the links twice. Im watching it now to try and make up my mind about it. Some of it is very good and some if it is pure Michael Moore.

      • A lot of the historical facts are twisted out of shape to present a false picture as are some of the modern events. As for the rest I don’t know, it might be true, it might be a blend of fact and fiction and it might be all fiction. There is enough straight fact to make the rest believable.

      • twisted film
        There is no secret that different government agencies have Hollywood liaison offices.
        The film industry started as a way for unemployed entrepreneurs to make a buck.
        You may as well say that Shakespeare is part of a government-funded patronage scheme to promote interest in stable governments.

  36. Another riot in Anderlecht, Brussels. It seems that around 9:10, police ram a heavy vehicle into a building to gain entrance:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYU_vrrLlO8

    I think this isn’t over yet. Also, Ramadan is coming in 11 days, these guys aren’t going to stay indoors then. Interesting times ahead.

  38. Some random (minor) violence by immigrants in the Netherlands, videos from the last few days.

    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/7888603_654c3655
    The guy who suckerpunches the kid in the first half calls himself Rinna Vos, instagram account:
    https://www.instagram.com/rinnavos/?igshid=482u60zpany3
    He gets a beating in the second half, delayed karma I guess.

    Man arrested after spitting and punching female train conductor in the face in Amersfoort central station.
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/7889923_ead291c0
    Story here (lower half is english version):
    https://www.facebook.com/PolitieAmersfoort/photos/a.883473178331865/3225659244113235/?type=3

    Immigrant arrested on roof, warning shot fired. Amsterdam South-East:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/7889091_faa0ec6a

    Immigrant harasses patrolmen, pulls knife, gets arrested. Scheveningen, the Netherlands:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/7889885_0afbd744
    Roadrage? Whatever it is, it’s not social distancing:
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/7889889_73f9d8db

    Little scuffle near coffeeshop (weed dispenser) in Utrecht
    https://www.dumpert.nl/item/7889907_4db30516

  39. Global Pandemic Is ‘White Death’ Heralding Judgement Day, Messianic Shiites Says

    Messianic artwork with inscription reading “May God hasten the reappearance of the Imam in Occultation” in anticipation of the Day of Judgement.

    The coronavirus pandemic for many may pose a global health and economic crisis but for some in Iran COVID-19 is the White Death, a sign of the imminent Day of Judgement.

    Several religious theorists in Iran have identified the global coronavirus pandemic with White Death, one of the signs that herald the reappearance of the Imam in Occultation and the judgement day. The association made between the two is based on the CT scan results that show the virus turns the lungs of the victims white.

    According to the Twelver-Shiite tradition before the appearance, or rather reappearance, of the promised redeemer Mahdi, swarms of locusts will wipe out the crops and White Death and Red Deaths will kill multitudes of people. The Red Death has traditionally been interpreted as bloodshed in wars and the White Death as death by disease.

    Whether the coronavirus pandemic is the White Death of the Twelver Shiite messianic tradition or not has become a very hot topic among those impatiently awaiting the reappearance of Imam Mahdi these days. Tradition says Mahdi, the son of the 11th Imam and the last of the Imams in Twelver Shiism, went into occultation at the age of five in the year 879.

    “The coronavirus pandemic is definitely a sign of the reappearance of the Imam in Occultation even if it is not the White Death foretold [by the sacred tradition]. It will prepare the scene for it anyway,” Mohammad-Hadi Homayoun, an official of the Revolutionary Guard’s Imam Sadeq University said on Iran’s state-run television a few days ago. “Any event that illuminates the condition of the world means we are on the path to the reappearance of the Imam,” he said.

    All Twelver Shiites believe in Mahdi and his occultation but not everybody believes in his imminent return. In Iran where Twelver Shiism enjoys the status of state religion, such beliefs can have serious consequences and implications, in politics and even in international relations.

    Iran’s former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for instance, was one of the most ardent advocates of the imminence of Zohur, that is the reappearance of Imam Mahdi. Many policies adopted by his government were made in accordance with this belief and much of his outlandish statements in his United Nations speeches were rooted in the same belief as well.

    Rumor had it that in the meeting of the president and the ministers of his administration a chair was reserved for the Imam. A clerical official of the Revolutionary Guard confirmed the rumor several years later when he no longer held office. Ahmadinejad himself denied the rumor once in a television debate.

    Supporters of Ahmadinejad went as far as identifying him with one of the individuals that according to tradition will accompany the Imam when he reappears. His closest associates and even the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei also had been assigned roles in this scenario based on messianic beliefs.

    Ahmadinejad’s great antagonism and animosity with the state of Israel which he believes is dominated by Zionists, the army of evil against the promised redeemer, may be interpreted in the same context.

    “One of the plans that Zionists have is to make the mankind forget about the Imam,” he said in a speech in August 2013 and even more bizarrely, claimed that a person serving as the Imam’s messenger has told him that western powers are hard at work to find the Imam, “to hurt him, to erase his thinking from people’s minds”.

    The said messenger apparently told Ahmadinejad that western agents had gone to see him and tried to find out from him about those who the Imam contacts, his whereabouts and how to find him.

    Ahmadinejad fell from favor not on account of his eschatological views but because he got so lost in his delusions that thought his role was no less significant than Khamenei’s in the events to come. He and his associates eventually came to be dubbed as “The Deviant Circle” and some of his associates even ended up in prison.

    https://en.radiofarda.com/amp/global-pandemic-is-white-death-heralding-judgement-day-messianic-shiites-says/30547673.html

  40. Turkish Forces Conduct Drills on Possible Targets in the Mediterranean
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2230121/turkish-forces-conduct-drills-possible-targets-mediterranean

    “The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced its forces conducted Saturday firing drills on supposed targets in the Mediterranean.

    In a statement issued, the Ministry said TCG GUR and TCG BURAKRE?S submarines have conducted successful torpedo firing exercises in the Mediterranean.

    “Turkish Navy continues operational training underwater, above water, at air, and on land.”

    A torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target.

    Last May, Turkey launched its oil and gas explorations in the eastern Mediterranean off the coast of Cyprus and sent Fatih, Yavuz, and Oruc Reis drilling vessels.

    European Union and regional countries including Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, and Israel condemned the explorations. The US also denounced Turkey’s move and decided to partially lift the arms embargo imposed on Cyprus.

    Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the Turkish forces provide full protection for ships above and underwater, as well as military aircraft.

    Akar indicated that Turkey is determined to protect its interests and those of the so-called unrecognized “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.”

    Turkey rejects the agreements concluded by the Cypriot government with Egypt and Greece in the eastern Mediterranean region regarding the exclusive economic zones (EEZ).

    Cyprus, a member of the European Union, has been at odds with Turkey for years over ownership of hydrocarbon resources in the eastern Mediterranean region.

    Turkey says that it is carrying out excavations in its so-called continental shelf, licensed by the “Republic of Northern Cyprus”, while the EU declared that Turkey is illegally excavating in Cyprus’ EEZ.

    Ankara accused the EU of siding with Cyprus, saying it would continue to excavate to guarantee its rights and those of the Turkish Cypriots. It also went further and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last November with the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, to demarcate the maritime borders.

    Neighboring countries protested the Libyan-Turkish MoU, however Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that Turkey would stop any country if it conducted excavations within its continental shelf without permission.

    Cavusoglu said his country is willing to discuss and resolve the dispute with Greece, and affirmed Ankara’s readiness to sign agreements to demarcate maritime borders with all countries of the region, including Egypt.

    Last Thursday, Anadolu Agency reported that Fatih drilling vessel will be set to sail off to the Black Sea where drilling work has been suspended for a long time. The Agency stated that the ship will cross the Bosphorus Strait towards the Black Sea.”

  41. Alarm raised over dozens of migrants missing in Mediterranean
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/alarm-raised-over-dozens-migrants-missing-mediterranean

    “Europe’s coast guard agency said on Sunday that it was looking for a dinghy believed to be carrying dozens of migrants when it went missing after setting sail from Libya for Italy.

    The UN refugee agency told AFP it was “very worried” about the fate of what could be 85 migrants lost in Mediterranean Sea.

    Two German monitors of dangerous migrant crossings first reported spotting four boats in distress off the southern coast of Malta over the weekend.

    The European Union’s Frontex border guard and coast guard agency later told AFP that one of the four boats had safely reached Italy and another two were still at sea.

    It said a fourth boat initially spotted on Friday was unaccounted for.

    Libya’s UN-recognised government in Tripoli has declared its own seaports unsafe and said it would not authorise the landing of migrants stopped at sea and sent back to Libyan territory by its coastguard vessels., the Guardian has reported.

    “The Frontex plane will fly again on Monday morning in search of the remaining boat,” a spokesman told AFP.

    A spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it appeared that the missing boat had capsized.

    “We are very worried,” UNHCR spokeswoman Carlotta Sami told AFP.

    Frontex said it had notified the coast guard authorities of Italy and Malta about the boats at sea.

    Neither country’s border authorities commented on the reported shipwreck when contacted by AFP.

    Germany’s Sea-Watch International group showed the boats’ geolocation – including one boat marked “unknown GPS contact lost” – on its official Twitter account.

    Sea-Watch presumed that the lost boat was carrying 85 people. It said the other three boats were carrying 173 migrants in all.

    Germany’s United4Rescue monitor of migrant crossings said in a statement that it was receiving the same reports and feared for the lives of “dozens”.

    Closed ports
    Italy has long established itself as the primary European port of entry for migrants seeking refuge from Africa and the Middle East.

    Still, the Mediterranean country shut down its ports and said it would quarantine any illegal migrants because of the coronavirus pandemic.

    The Swiss-based International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the reports were “very worrying” but difficult to verify.

    “In the absence of boats in the area, it is very difficult at the moment to confirm that there has been a shipwreck, or the number of victims involved,” IOM Italy spokesman Flavio Di Giacomo told AFP.

    “And unfortunately, from experience, we also think it is likely that there have been shipwrecks of which we are not aware.””

  42. Opec, Russia approve biggest ever oil cut amid coronavirus pandemic
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/opec-allies-agree-oil-production-cuts-kuwait-oil-minister

    “Opec, Russia and other oil producing nations agreed on Sunday to cut output by a record amount, representing about 10 percent of global supply, to support oil prices amid the coronavirus pandemic.

    The group, known as Opec+, agreed to reduce output by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) for May-June, after four days of marathon talks and following pressure from US President Donald Trump to arrest the price decline.

    Two Opec+ sources told Reuters the deal had been sealed in a video conference on Sunday, and the agreement was confirmed in a statement from by Kazakhstan’s energy ministry.

    “We have demonstrated that Opec+ is up and alive,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told Bloomberg News in an interview minutes after he clinched the deal. “I’m more than happy with the deal,” he added.

    Under the deal, Saudi Arabia will cut its production just a fraction under 8.5 million barrels a day – its lowest level since 2011. The Opec+ deal measures the Saudi cut from a baseline of 11 million barrels a day, the same as Russia. But in reality the kingdom’s production will decline from a much higher level. In April, Saudi Arabia boosted output to a record 12.3 million barrels a day as part of its war with Russia for market share, Bloomberg said.

    In the biggest output cut ever, oil-producing countries agreed to keep the gradually decreasing curbs on production in place for two years until April 2022.

    Measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus have destroyed demand for fuel and driven down oil prices, straining budgets of oil producers and hammering the US shale industry, which is more vulnerable to low prices because of its higher costs.

    Trump had threatened Opec leader Saudi Arabia with oil tariffs and other measures if it did not fix the market’s oversupply problem, as low prices have put the US oil industry, the world’s largest, in severe distress.

    “Unprecedented measures for unprecedented times,”said Ed Morse, a veteran oil watcher who is head of commodities research at Citigroup. “Unprecedented in historical discussions of production cuts, the US played a critical role in brokering between Saudi Arabia and Russia for the new Opec+ accord,” he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

    Opec+ has said it wanted producers outside the group, including the United States, Canada, Brazil and Norway, to cut a further 5 percent or 5 million bpd.

    Canada and Norway had signalled willingness to cut and the United States, where legislation makes it hard to act in tandem with cartels such as Opec, said its output would fall steeply by itself this year amid the low prices.

    The signing of the Opec+ deal had been delayed since Thursday, however, after Mexico balked at the production cuts it was asked to make.

    Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday that Trump had offered to make extra US cuts on his behalf, an unusual offer by a Trump who has long railed against Opec.

    Trump said Washington would help Mexico by picking up “some of the slack” and being reimbursed later. He did not say how this would work.

    Mexican standoff
    Still, Mexico won a diplomatic victory as it will only cut 100,000 barrels – less than its pro-rated share, having blocked the deal since the plan was first revealed, Bloomberg said.

    “This is at least a temporary relief for the energy industry and for the global economy,” Rystad Energy’s head of analysis Per Magnus Nysveen told CNBC in an email. “Even though the production cuts are smaller than what the market needed and only postpone the stock building constraints problem, the worst is for now avoided.”

    Still, even a 15 percent cut in supply might not be enough to arrest the price decline, banks Goldman Sachs and UBS said last week, adding that Brent prices may fall back to $20 per barrel from $32 at the moment and $70 at the start of the year.

    Global oil demand is estimated to have fallen by a third as more than 3 billion people are locked down in their homes amid the coronavirus outbreak.”

  43. Clashes continue in Yemen despite ceasefire
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200412-clashes-continue-in-yemen-despite-ceasefire/

    “At least 38 Houthi rebels were killed on Saturday in clashes with government forces despite a truce reached earlier in the week, according to local media.

    Yasir al-Harisi, a colonel from the Saudi coalition-backed Yemeni army, told the state SABA news agency that Houthi militias continued cease-fire violations by attacking areas belonging to army forces.

    The army responded to attacks targeting military positions in the Saada province, and clashes ensued between the two sides.

    Al-Harisi said that apart from the deaths, there were also many injured militia members and the army seized their vehicles and arms.

    On Wednesday evening, the Saudi-led Arab Coalition announced a two-week ceasefire in Yemen with the possibility of extension. The move came to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has killed tens of thousands of people around the world.

    Yemen has so far registered one coronavirus case, but the country’s healthcare system has been stressed by the ongoing civil war.

    The country has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Iranian-backed Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

    The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

    Tens of thousands of Yemenis, including civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, which has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis as millions remain at risk of starvation.”

  44. 20 Saudis charged in Jamal Khashoggi murder
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200412-20-saudis-charged-in-jamal-khashoggi-murder/

    “A Turkish court on Saturday accepted an indictment on the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, reports Anadolu Agency.

    The 117-page indictment prepared by Istanbul prosecutors accusing 20 Saudi nationals of involvement in the gruesome premeditated murder was accepted by Istanbul’s Heavy Penal Court No. 11.

    Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, was killed and dismembered by a group of Saudi operatives shortly after he entered the country’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.

    His body was never recovered.

    Khashoggi, according to reports by the UN and other independent organizations, was very likely killed on orders of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.

    The indictment states that suspect Mansour Othman M. Abbahussain, working as major general and intelligence officer in Saudi Arabia, was tasked in the office of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and was instructed by Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al-Asiri to bring Khashoggi back to the country and to kill him if he resisted. It added that Abbahussain assembled a 15-man hit squad, including himself, for the murder.

    He also distributed tasks among the squad, separating them into three groups: intelligence, logistics, and negotiation.

    Abbahussain also determined the place to meet Khashoggi as the working office at the Istanbul consulate and made plans for all contingencies before, during, and after the deed.

    The indictment accuses al-Asiri and Saud Al-Qahtani of incitement to deliberate killing through torture and seeks aggravated life sentences for both.

    It also accuses 18 other Saudi nationals and recommends aggravated life sentences for each.

    The 18 were in consensus over killing Khashoggi if he refused to return to Saudi Arabia and acted on the mutual decision to commit the crime, according to the indictment.”

  45. Iran says $1.6 bn frozen by US released in Luxembourg
    https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/4/12/luxembourg-releases-1-6-bn-of-us-seized-iranian-assets

    “Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday the country had won a legal “victory” over $1.6 billion of its assets that had long been frozen on a US request in Luxembourg.

    Tehran and Washington have long been arch enemies and tensions have risen sharply since President Donald Trump in 2018 withdrew from a nuclear accord and reimposed stinging sanctions.

    In a separate dispute, a New York court in 2012 ordered Iran to pay $7 billion in damages over the September 11 attacks, arguing that it had aided Al-Qaeda by allowing its militants to travel through its territory.

    Iran has rejected the accusation and refused to pay the money.

    Rouhani said in a televised cabinet meeting on Sunday that “our central bank, our foreign ministry [have] recently won a very good victory in a legal battle”.

    “$1.6 billion of our money was in Luxembourg and the Americans had put their hands on it,” he said.

    After trying for months, “we succeeded some days ago and freed this money from the Americans’ grasp”, he declared.

    The Luxembourg Court of Cassation had devoted an April 2 hearing to the case of Iranian assets frozen there on a US request, according the investigative news site Paperjam.

    The court is yet to make its decision public.

    But Rouhani hailed a victory in a “difficult situation” for Iran, which has been battling the Middle East’s most deadly novel coronavirus outbreak…”

  46. Saudi Arabia blocks Turkish news sites Anadolu, TRT amid continued Ankara-Riyadh tensions
    https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/4/12/saudi-arabia-blocks-turkish-news-sites-anadolu-trt

    “Saudi authorities on Saturday blocked two prominent Turkish news websites, according to activists online, after an online campaign calling for action against the platforms.

    Turkey’s official Anadolu and TRT Arabic platforms were both inaccessible by activists in the Saudi kingdom, screen shots shared on Twitter showed.

    The kingdom has not made any official announcements on the move, however an email allegedly sent from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Information referred to “violations of the ministry’s regulations”.

    The move also comes after a social media campaign by pro-Saudi regime accounts calling for the Turkish news platforms to be banned.

    Relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey have worsened since the murder of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy in Istanbul.

    Turkish prosecutors last month charged 20 suspects including two former top aides to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the brutal 2018 murder of Riyadh critic Khashoggi.

    Turkish prosecutors accuse Saudi Arabia’s deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri and the royal court’s media tsar Saud al-Qahtani of leading the operation against Khashoggi and giving orders to a Saudi hit team.

    Turkey carried out its own investigation after being unhappy with Saudi Arabia’s explanations.

    The Istanbul prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Assiri and Qahtani were charged with “instigating the deliberate and monstrous killing, causing torment”.

    The murder caused relations between Ankara and Riyadh – longstanding rivals – to worsen. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed Ankara will not give up the case.

    “This happened in my country, how am I not going to follow up on that? Of course I’m going to follow up. This is our responsibility,” Erdogan told Fox News last year.

    Saudis, who enjoy investing and holidaying in Turkey, were urged to boycott the country last year.

    Turkey meanwhile is a key backer of Qatar, especially after a Riyadh-led economic blockade began against the Gulf state in 2017, and is accused of supporting groups including the Muslim Brotherhood.

    Saudi Arabia views the Brotherhood as an existential threat.”

    • PM Imran urges world powers to help Pakistan in fight against COVID-19
      https://tribune.com.pk/story/2196467/1-pm-imran-urges-world-powers-help-pakistan-fight-covid-19/

      “Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday appealed for a “global initiative on debt relief” to deal with worldwide recession and help developing countries overcome disastrous impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

      In a televised message, the prime minister urged the international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council (UNSG) and the international financial institutions to respond positively to the dilemma confronting the developing counties in the face of Covid-19 outbreak.

      Noting that the pandemic posed unprecedented health and economic challenges, Imran said that the global recession was a certainty, which could be worse than the “Great Depression”, adding: “A global pandemic cannot be contained without strong, coordinated and well-crafted global response.”
      He said his global initiative on debt relief aimed at bringing together stakeholders on a single platform to promote a coordinated health and economic response. Imran also cited United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ call last week for a global action.

      The prime minister invited the UN secretary general to work with him in advancing the objectives of the coordinated response. He also urged other world leaders to step up measures to help the developing countries overcome the disastrous impacts of Covid-19.

      “In the developed world, the dilemma is coronavirus and economy. But we as a developing nation face another major dilemma, how to prevent people from dying of hunger,” he said. “I implore those who walk in the corridors of power to make a stimulus package for the developing world to help them through this economic downturn.”

      The proposed global initiative aims to lay ground for urgent debt relief for the developing countries, at their request, and without onerous conditionalities. The proposal is built on the prime minister’s belief that enhanced fiscal capacity is fundamental to recovery from the ongoing pandemic crises.

      In the past week, various announcements were made by multilateral actors such as the UN, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank. These announcements included initial relief packages of $1.4 billion by the IMF and $1 billion by the World Bank.

      Imran cautioned that the pandemic’s socio-economic impacts would be more consequential in the developing countries. While proposing the initiative, the prime minister highlighted that his government had provided $8 billion stimulus package to help the most vulnerable citizens.

      He proposed that the developing countries should be provided with fiscal space and financial relief through enhanced debt relief and restructuring as well as other additional measures that could help them manage the unfolding crisis.

      As part of his diplomatic outreach, Imran said he would be approaching leaders of a wide range of countries, notably the Paris Club, highly indebted poor countries (HIPC), heads of international organisations and others concerned to join him in this endeavor.

      Meanwhile, the prime minister entrusted Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and the Adviser on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh to reach out to their counterparts around the world to work for the “global initiative on debt relief”.

      Earlier on Sunday, Shaikh called on the prime minister and briefed him about the progress on economic stimulus package, which had been announced by the government to support business community, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the general public.

      The government’s economic stimulus package particularly focused on deferment of loans, new borrowings at reduced rates and cash transfer via tax refunds as well as Ehsaas Cash Transfer Programme for the downtrodden citizens.

      Earlier, the foreign minister also called on the prime minister and presented a cheque of Rs 10,182,000 for the Prime Minister’s Corona Relief Fund…”

  48. Libya: Haftar’s forces target medical warehouses
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/libya-haftars-forces-target-medical-warehouses/1801969

    “Militias loyal to Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar on Sunday attacked medical warehouses belonging to a hospital in the capital treating coronavirus patients.

    The militias targeted depots of the Al-Khadra Hospital in al-Swani in the capital Tripoli with Grad missiles, the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) said in a statement.

    Last week, the UN condemned heavy shelling of the hospital in which at least three civilians were wounded, calling it a “clear violation of international law.”

    The attacks, according to Libya’s Health Ministry, badly damaged the 400-bed facility, and keeping it in operation was difficult.

    The North African country has so far reported 25 cases of the virus, and one death.

    Since the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: Haftar in eastern Libya, supported by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and the GNA in Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.

    The GNA has been under attack by Haftar’s forces since last April, with more than 1,000 killed in the violence.”

  49. Germany: Police attacked while enforcing social distancing measures
    https://www.dw.com/en/germany-police-attacked-while-enforcing-social-distancing-measures/a-53098580

    “Police officers in Frankfurt have been set upon by gangs while trying to get crowds gathering over the warm Easter weekend to disperse. Social distancing measures are in place to slow the spread of coronavirus.

    Police in Germany’s financial capital Frankfurt were attacked by men with stones and iron bars while enforcing social distancing measures to stop the spread of coronavirus, authorities said on Saturday.

    In a statement, police said officers stopped their car when they saw a large group of people in the street on Friday who were blatantly ignoring lockdown rules.

    As one officer stepped out of the patrol car, one of the group threw a large stone at the vehicle. The group then ran away and the officers were unable to catch them.

    Shortly afterward, a second officer was attacked by around 20 people as the officer got out of the vehicle.

    “Some of the men were armed with stones, roof tiles and iron bars and were threatening the officers,” the statement added. When the officers chased after the group, one person threw a five-kilogram metal plate, which missed its target…”

  50. ‘Our lives go from danger to danger’: displaced Syrians begin returning to Idlib
    https://www.france24.com/en/20200412-our-lives-go-from-danger-to-danger-displaced-syrians-begin-returning-to-idlib

    “Thousands of displaced Syrians have begun moving back to their homes in war-torn Idlib province despite the risk of renewed conflict, some driven by fear that the new coronavirus could wreak havoc on crowded camps near the Turkish border.

    About one million Syrians fled Idlib and its surrounding countryside in northwest Syria this past year after Russian-backed government forces stepped up a campaign to retake the last rebel stronghold after nine years of war.

    Fighting has calmed since March when Ankara, which backs some groups opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, agreed a ceasefire with Moscow, which has supported Damascus with heavy air power.

    Syria’s northwest does not yet have a confirmed case of coronavirus, but doctors fear the area’s ravaged medical infrastructure and overflowing camps would quickly turn any outbreak into a humanitarian disaster.

    As the tentative peace holds, displaced Syrians are weighing up grim options: remain in tightly packed camps with few services where a viral spread could be lethal, or return to homes still at risk of getting caught in renewed bloodshed.

    “Our lives go from danger to danger as we flee from bombing, the regime, and conflict, to overcrowding and coronavirus,” said Abu Abdo, 45. On Sunday Abdu returned with his family of seven to a village in Idlib’s countryside.

    “Here it’s agricultural land and the air is clean and there’s no congestion, but it’s still a dangerous area,” he said.

    Vans and trucks stacked with mattresses and household appliances choked a road snaking south through Idlib province on Sunday as families driven out just months earlier by air strikes sought to return.

    “We fear there will be a regime escalation again but life in the town, in our home, is better than displacement and poor conditions,” said Fayez al-Assi, 49, who fled Jabal al-Zawiya in Idlib’s southern countryside two and a half months ago.

    The Syrian Response Coordination Group, a northwest Syria relief agency, said 103,459 Syrians had returned to towns in the Aleppo and Idlib countryside since the ceasefire.

    “Even if there is bombing we aren’t afraid of it. We’ve gotten used to it,” said Zakaria Shawish, 25, from the town of Ariha, south of Idlib. “Sitting here under the bombing is better than being displaced in the camps and not having a home.””