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.
Associated Press – McEnany doubles down on China in first WH Briefing
The new White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany used her first press briefing at the White House to double down on China’s role in the coronavirus pandemic.
Kayleigh McEnany: ‘WHO appears to have a very clear China bias’
channel 4 – Coronavirus deaths ‘disproportionately high’ for black and ethnic minority people
When the pictures of the first 10 doctors to die from Covid-19 appeared it seemed unusual that they were all from ethnic minority backgrounds.
But at that point it was not clear if the numbers reflected the fact that a large proportion of frontline NHS staff are black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME).
Now more detailed data has shown that BAME communities are indeed being disportionately affected by this virus.
Kellyanne Conway Drops a BOMB — Implicates Obama in Oval Office Scheme to Destroy Trump (VIDEO)
Former Trump campaign manager and current Consultant to President Trump, Kellyanne Conway, joined America’s Newsroom on Friday morning to discuss the recent allegations against the Obama administration and their active spying on the Trump Campaign and Transition Team for political reasons.
It is now clear that the Obama administration went after General Michael Flynn for over a year before the 2016 election and was spying on the Trump campaign for months to gain a political advantage.
The mainstream media to this day continues to ignore or downplay this biggest political scandal in US history.
Kellyanne implicated the entire Obama administration and the former president in these illegal activities.
URL for the above
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/kellyanne-conway-drops-bomb-implicates-obama-oval-office-scheme-destroy-trump-video/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=daily
World Health Organisation: Investment bank AIB to help WHO tackle coronavirus
Director-general of the World Health Organisation, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has announced that investment bank AIB, along with the European Union, will be helping the WHO in its effort against coronavirus.
WHO says COVID-19 emergency declaration gave world ‘enough time’
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus gave a robust defence of his and the WHO’s ‘timely’ actions in declaring the new coronavirus an international emergency at the end of January.
The Jan. 30 declaration was made in ‘enough time for the rest of the world to respond’ because at that stage outside China there were only 82 cases of infection and no deaths, he said.
CBC – Air Canada anticipates ‘significant amount’ of worldwide air travel by Christmas
An Air Canada vice-president suggests that by the time winter holidays roll around again, Canadians will be able to board his company’s planes and fly almost anywhere in the world.
If Kim Jong-Un Dies, Will China Seize Power?
BREITBART – Judge Orders Planned Parenthood Baby Parts Investigators to Pay $1.5 Million to Abortion Giant
A San Francisco district judge ruled Wednesday that the undercover journalists who exposed the aborted baby body parts practices of Planned Parenthood must pay the abortion giant over $1.5 million plus all of its attorney fees.
Judge William Orrick III of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, an Obama appointee, also prohibited Center for Medical Progress (CMP) project lead David Daleiden and his associates from ever entering Planned Parenthood conferences in the future.
The order follows a jury’s verdict in November that sided with Planned Parenthood.
The jury found the undercover journalists violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), causing significant harm to the abortion chain with its sting video series. It awarded punitive damages to Planned Parenthood of over $2.2 million.
Regarding CMP’s claim of its First Amendment right as journalists to uncover corruption, Orrick responded:
Defendants’ arguments go too far. Simply claiming the mantel of a journalist does not give someone a license to trespass, illegally record, or otherwise commit violations of generally applicable laws. The “evidence” defendants actually gathered and then published as a result of the conduct the jury found was illegal did not itself show any illegal conduct by Planned Parenthood or plaintiff affiliates.
Planned Parenthood and its media and political allies have continued the narrative that CMP’s videos of its staff engaged in haggling over the price of aborted baby body parts were “deceptively edited.”
However, in January 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the videos produced by CMP were not deceptively edited.
Judge Edith H. Jones, a Ronald Reagan nominee who wrote for a three-judge panel, rebuked the lower district court, asserting, “The district court stated, inaccurately, that the CMP video had not been authenticated and suggested that it may have been edited.”
The judge continued that the district court, which had ruled against the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s Office of Inspector General (OIG):
… felt free to credit all of the trial testimony from [Planned Parenthood] — none of which had been offered during the state administrative procedures — [but] the court bound the IG solely to the administrative record and expressly refused to consider any support for termination “not included in the Final Notice and not part of the Inspector General’s termination decision.”
“Having thus narrowed the evidence, the court concluded that OIG ‘did not have prima facie … evidence, or even a scintilla of evidence, to conclude the bases of termination set forth in the Final Notice merited finding the Plaintiff Providers were not qualified,’” Jones wrote.
Orrick wrote as well the fact that CMP’s actions “caused plaintiffs to increase their security measures for access to their conference and offices does not mean that plaintiffs no longer face a threat of intrusion from defendants or those acting in concert with defendants”:
The defendants’ history and longstanding opposition to the activities, if not the very existence, of plaintiffs completely undermines their argument. Plaintiffs’ interim security measures might discourage future intrusions by defendants directly, but with technological advances in surreptitious recording and the very real possibility of acting in concert with others (who are not yet known to plaintiffs), plaintiffs’ security improvements do not diminish their hardship argument.
However, Orrick’s relationship with the abortion industry itself has been the subject of controversy during the course of the case.
Prior to the start of the civil case, Orrick ruled the jury would not be permitted to consider any information Daleiden and his colleagues gathered from their video recordings.
Daleiden told Breitbart News in an interview in January his video footage “is some of the most damning and incriminating stuff that’s ever been recorded, and we intend to release it in the near future as soon as we can.”
“We’re going to continue to fight to liberate that footage so that it can be entered into the record of public opinion, because the public has to know what Planned Parenthood and their business partners have been doing to children in the womb and have been doing to infants for decades at this point,” he added.
Daleiden said Planned Parenthood has engaged in a “coordinated strategy with their allies at the National Abortion Federation and their cronies in politics, particularly in the state of California and the San Francisco elite.”
In 2017, attorneys for CMP filed a motion requesting Orrick’s disqualification “on the grounds that there is evidence of bias in favor of the plaintiff and prejudice against the defendants.”
In an interview at the time with Breitbart News, Peter Breen, special counsel with the Thomas More Society — which represents Daleiden — said the motion was significant and “a very serious matter.”
“Some of the evidence we’ve brought forward is that as recently as September of 2015 … we’ve learned that the Good Samaritan Family Resource Center, which is interlinked with a Planned Parenthood affiliate that is a member of the National Abortion Federation [NAF] — that they are holding out Judge Orrick as an emeritus member of their board,” he said.
“The National Abortion Federation – their allegations were there would be harm to their members — and, so, you’ve got an entity that is in partnership with a member that actually hosts one of the NAF members. Now you’ve got the judge being held out by that entity as part of the organization, as connected to it,” Breen added.
Daleiden himself also found that Orrick’s wife had posted photos of herself and her husband on social media, along with public comments that were supportive of Planned Parenthood and critical of CMP.
As Fox News reported, documents that were previously sealed and now revealed, show Planned Parenthood Mar Monte in California charged biomedical company StemExpress nearly $25,000 for aborted fetal tissue and maternal blood samples in 2012.
CMP has claimed Planned Parenthood violated federal law in profiting from the sale of the body parts of babies aborted in its clinics. The abortion chain, however, has attempted to defend itself with the claim it has never made a profit, but has only been reimbursed for the cost of its staff time and the transportation to send the fetal tissue.
According to the report, however, the invoices from August and September 2012 do not mention the word “reimbursement” or describe billing for staff time or transportation.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/05/01/judge-orders-planned-parenthood-baby-parts-investigators-to-pay-1-5-million-to-abortion-giant/
Kim Yo-jong among most likely to succeed N.K. leader Kim Jong-un if he dies: CRS report
Iran: US ‘Religious Freedom’ Report Based on Unfounded Claims
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/05/01/2254700/iran-us-religious-freedom-report-based-on-unfounded-claims
“Iran’s Foreign Ministry dismissed an annual report by the US government on the religious freedom in Iran as unrealistic and biased, saying the politically motivated report is blatant interference in the internal affairs of the other countries.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi on Thursday decried the annual report on “religious freedom in the world” released by the US Department of State, saying, “This report has made bogus and baseless claims about our country, particularly about the status of Jewish people in Iran, which do not apply to any of the legal and official faiths in the Islamic Republic of Iran and are rejected.”
“The US government has once again repeated the baseless and undocumented allegations about the status of religious freedom in the Islamic Republic of Iran in a new report, while the contents of this report reveal the lack of a proper understanding of the situation of Iran in this regard, and clearly reveals that invalid and anti-Iranian information and sources have been used to prepare it.”
Mousavi also dismissed the unrealistic and biased allegations raised in the report, slammed the release of the report as interference in the internal affairs of the other countries, and condemned such interventionist behavior of the US.
Such brazen acts of interference in the domestic affairs of the countries and the release of superficial reports against them take place while millions of indigent and homeless people in various cities of the US are living below the poverty line and are deprived of the basic rights or medical and health services, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson added, noting that such conditions in the US have turned deplorable and catastrophic under the shadow of the pervasive and terrible crisis of coronavirus outbreak in that country and have resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of American citizens.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has always respected the rights of religious minorities within the framework of its Constitution, and those religious minorities have been fully enjoying the whole citizenship rights, particularly the political participation in the country’s processes and the free exercise of their religions, Mousavi underlined.
“Since ancient times, Iran has embodied a diversified and miscellaneous society involving pure religions, cultures and languages, who have chosen this territory as a place and haven for their social, cultural and economic life since thousands of years ago, and also today, the people of Iran are still feeling the sweetness of such variety and beauty regardless of their religion, language and faith,” the Iranian spokesman emphasized.”
UK Has Blood of Innocent Yemenis on Its Hands: Iran
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/05/01/2254832/uk-has-blood-of-innocent-yemenis-on-its-hands-iran
“Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said Britain’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia has made the UK an accomplice to Riyadh’s war crimes in Yemen…”
APRIL 30 2020 – Didier Raoult se confie à Apolline de Malherbe sur BFMTV
Agim Tonuzi - 10 hours agoAppoline de Malherbe représente toute la laideur de notre système. Elle est d'une laideur intérieur inouïe !!!
Jean Ven 9 hours ago
Quelle cruche cette Apolline, triste résultat de femmes médiocres pistonnées par le système.
“Could Anthony Fauci explain why the investigators of the NIAID remdesivir trial did change the primary outcome during the course of the project (16th April)?
Removing “death” from primary outcome is a surprising decision.”
Didier Raoult – April 30, 2020 – Twitter
https://twitter.com/raoult_didier/status/1255835517511483394
“Two trials focused on remdesivir delivered their findings: one published in the Lancet, that concluded to an absence of clinical improvement, one another announced by Gilead then by Dr Fauci, that did not have any significative result concerning mortality”
Didier Raoult – April 30, 2020 – Twitter
https://twitter.com/raoult_didier/status/1255824103099039745
Canada Prime Minister Bans ‘Assault Weapons,’ Announces 2 Year Amnesty to Turn Them In
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hasn’t wasted the crisis presented by last month’s spree shooting in Nova Scotia in which a man dressed as a police officer murdered 22 people over 12 hours. As the Guardian reports, Prime Minister Zoolander had this to say earlier today about his shiny new “assault weapons” ban . . .
This is what happens in a country without a Second Amendment. Note that no vote has taken place to enact the ban that covers 1500 different models and variants. As even the assiduously anti-gun Guardian notes . . .
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/canada-prime-minister-bans-assault-weapons-announces-2-year-amnesty-to-turn-them-in/?utm_source=wideopen&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wos_daily&utm_content=%5B%5Brssitem_title%5D%5D
Canada Prime Minister Bans AR15s w/ No Vote, No Democracy, No Debate
I can see the Black Axe, Somalian and other gangs in Canada lining up to turn in all their illegal guns. Justine is such a not so bright boy.
The Amer-Indians wont have to give up their guns. Laws don’t apply to them. The Muslims won’t either. Hell they can have enough Carfentanil to kill every single Canadian and its no problem till his brother slaughters a bunch of Canadians in an act of Jihad. And even then, what happened to the guy really.
US Sanctions Iranian-Iraqi Businessman over Support of Iran’s Quds Force
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2262821/us-sanctions-iranian-iraqi-businessman-over-support-irans-quds-force
“The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on an Iranian-Iraqi businessman and his mining company, accusing him of being involved in efforts by Iran’s Quds Force to generate revenue illegally and smuggle weapons abroad, the US Treasury Department said.
The Treasury Department said in a statement that Amir Dianat has supported Quds Force smuggling operations for years, including efforts aimed at shipping weapons including missiles and at smuggling shipments from Iran to Yemen.
The sanctions freeze any US-held assets of Dianat or his company Taif Mining Services, which the US Treasury Department alleged was a front company for the Quds Force, and generally bar Americans from dealing with them.
In addition to the Treasury Department’s blacklisting of Dianat, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia filed criminal charges against him and one of his business associates for violations of sanctions and money laundering laws.
The office also filed a related action alleging that $12 million is subject to forfeiture as funds involved in the crimes and as assets of a foreign terrorist organization, the Treasury Department said.
“The Iranian regime and its supporters continue to prioritize the funding of international terrorist organizations over the health and well-being of the Iranian people,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have spiked since Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from the Iran nuclear deal struck by his predecessor, Barack Obama, and began reimposing sanctions that had been eased under the accord.”
Clashes erupt between UAE-backed separatists and government forces in Yemen’s Socotra
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/clashes-erupt-uae-backed-southern-transition-council-stc-yemen-socotra
“Clashes erupted on Yemen’s Socotra island on Friday as an armed unit backed by the United Arab Emirates fought to wrest control of the archipelago’s capital from the internationally recognised government, witnesses and the country’s former prime minister said.
Witnesses told local media that an armed unit, part of the Southern Transitional Council which declared self-rule in Yemen’s south earlier this week, fired artillery shells at residential areas near the provincial capital Hadebo.
Shells also struck the mountainous district of Haybat, about 20km outside of Hadebo, Aden al-Ghad said.
Initial reports indicated that the militia had also seized control of a coast guard battalion of the Yemeni army and looted weapons and ammunition stores.
The governor of Socotra and several other southern provinces rejected the STC’s bid for self-rule this week and voiced their support for Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Yemen’s former prime minister, Ahmed bin Daghr, tweeted that the militia was trying to take control of the provincial capital “using all types of heavy weapons”…”
Turkey accuses the UAE of supporting al-Shabab amid Libya tensions
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-accuses-uae-supporting-al-shabaab-amid-libya-tensions
“The Turkish government on Thursday chided its regional rival the United Arab Emirates, accusing it of backing terrorists and coup plotters and violating international law in a sign that the gloves are finally off between the two after many years of tensions.
In a blunt statement, the Turkish foreign ministry accused the Emiratis of backing notorious Somali militant group al-Shabab, as well as the Southern Transitional Council’s separatist ambitions in Yemen.
Ankara’s reaction came in response to a statement by Abu Dhabi released earlier on Thursday accusing Turkey of interfering in Arab affairs in Libya by deploying “terrorists” in the country, a reference to Syrian fighters sent to prop up Turkey’s embattled ally the Government of National Accord (GNA)…”
Turkey urges global response to Haftar’s ‘military dictatorship’ in Libya
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200501-turkey-urges-global-response-to-haftars-military-dictatorship-in-libya/
“The Turkish Foreign Ministry has called on the international community to take immediate action in response to the Libyan National Army (LNA) Commander, renegade General Khalifa Haftar’s unilateral declaration as “ultimate ruler”, saying he wants to establish a “military dictatorship” in Libya.
The ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that by declaring himself “ultimate ruler” of Libya, Haftar confirms his rejection of political dialogue and international efforts; including the outcomes of the Berlin Conference, and wants to establish a military dictatorship in Libya.
According to the statement, Haftar has exacerbated the humanitarian situation in Libya with a year of indiscriminate attacks.
“Haftar had blocked oil production, water supply and even prevented the delivery of medical supplies needed by the Libyan people during the coronavirus pandemic,” the statement said.
“The international community should take immediate action to respond to Haftar, who undoubtedly intends to establish a junta regime in Libya,” it said.
The statement warned countries that support Haftar that the Libyan people will never forget Haftar’s partners.
“Turkey continues to stand with the brotherly Libyan people, and supports political efforts to protect the Government of National Accord (GNA) and all legitimate institutions,” it said.
Earlier on Monday, Haftar announced that he had accepted “a mandate” to rule Libya, rejecting the 2015 political agreement which led to the formation of the internationally recognised GNA.”
UAE condemns Turkey’s military intervention in Libya, reiterates support for Haftar
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200501-uae-condemns-turkeys-military-intervention-in-libya-reiterates-support-for-haftar/
“The UAE yesterday categorically rejected Turkey’s “military intervention” in Libya in support of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), saying it impedes chances of a ceasefire and hinders the international community’s efforts to reach a comprehensive political solution in the war-torn country.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation praised the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by renegade General Khalifa Haftar. Abu Dhabi has relentlessly supported Haftar in his war against the GNA.
The Emirates did not comment on Haftar’s declaration on Monday that he is the ultimate ruler of Libya and that he rejects the 2015 agreement that led to the formation of the GNA.
The UAE stressed its support for a political solution based on the Berlin conference, calling on “all parties to commit to the political process under the supervision of the United Nations”.”
SJWs Meltdown Over New Michael Moore Film
Syria says Russian missile defence system ‘ineffective’
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200501-syria-says-russian-missile-defence-system-ineffective/
“The Syrian military has criticised the Russian S-300 missile defence system, saying that it is largely ineffective against Israeli air strikes, Avia.pro reported yesterday. A Syrian military source told the Russian outlet that the radar used on the S-300 and the Pantsir-S systems has proven to be incapable of detecting and hitting Israeli cruise missiles on numerous occasions.
Other Russian air defence systems incorporated into Syria’s military infrastructure were said to be even more “backward”, such as the S-125, Osa and Igra air defence missiles…”
Egypt: ‘Severe violations’ of press freedom
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200501-egypt-severe-violations-of-press-freedom/
“In the run up to World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, the Turkish-based Egyptian Revolutionary Council (ERC) has today issued a press statement, urging human rights groups and international organisations to pay attention to “the severe violations of press freedom in Egypt”.
Following the Saudi and UAE-backed coup on 3 July 2013, the Egyptian government under Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has launched vicious attacks on the Egyptian media and monopolised all media platforms. In the absence of an independent judiciary, they have been accused of using the state security apparatus to crush all voices of dissent. This has led to the arrest of dozens of journalists, most of whom are still in Egyptian prisons without charge or detained on false pretences.
In its statement, the ERC said: “Egyptian journalists are part of the Egyptian people and are similarly subjected to the injustice that more than one hundred thousand Egyptian detainees face. The Egyptian Revolutionary Council salutes all honourable Egyptian journalists who struggle to highlight the reality of repression and tyranny in Egypt, and calls on international press organizations to seek to free the detained Egyptian journalists and support them against one of the most repressive regimes in the world.”
Late last year the Sisi regime arrested some 4,000 people over the course of several weeks after protests erupted across the country in September calling for him to step down as president.
Media workers have been specifically targeted as the grip on free speech tightens. Egypt is the third worst imprisoner of journalists worldwide.
World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO’s General Conference. This year’s theme is said to be on “Journalism Without Fear or Favour” and aims to discuss current challenges to press freedom and journalists’ safety.”
Egypt to end electricity, water subsidies
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200501-egypt-to-end-electricity-water-subsidies/
“The Egyptian government is considering a bill aimed at raising the rates of electricity and water in the new fiscal year which starts in July, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported citing government and parliamentary sources.
The bill was drafted by the Ministry of Electricity and the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, and it is pending approval by the Cabinet Council, the news website added.
The increases are expected to range between 15-33 per cent and they would coincide with the complete lifting of electricity subsidies.
Electricity subsidies currently stand at four billion Egyptian pounds ($245 million). Similarly, water subsidies, which stood at one billion Egyptian pounds ($63 million) in the current budget will be abolished, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed…”
Taliban step up attacks on Afghan forces since signing U.S. deal: data
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-afghanistan-taliba/taliban-step-up-attacks-on-afghan-forces-since-signing-u-s-deal-data-idUSKBN22D5S7
“The Taliban have mounted more than 4,500 attacks in Afghanistan, marking a sharp escalation in violence, in the 45 days since signing a deal with the United States that paves the way for a U.S. troop drawdown, according to data seen by Reuters.
Two sets of data, one from a Western military source and one from an independent body, both show attacks by the hardline Islamist group up by more than 70 percent between March 1 and April 15 compared with the same period a year ago.
Separately, Afghan government data indicates that more than 900 Afghan local and national forces were killed during that same period, up from about 520 a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Taliban casualties fell to 610 in the period, down from roughly 1,660 a year ago, as U.S. and Afghan forces have reduced the number of offensive attacks and air strikes following the U.S.-Taliban accord.
Senior Western, Afghan and independent officials tracking the ground situation say that the increase in attacks shows the insurgent group’s wilful disregard of a pledge to reduce violence made as part of the accord signed in late February.
The violence in the war-damaged nation has coincided with the rapid spread of the coronavirus infection.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told reporters that while the Taliban have adhered to a commitment in the Feb. 29 deal not to mount attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces or major cities, the militants’ level of violence “is unacceptably high” and “not conducive to a diplomatic solution.”
“We have continued to do defensive attacks to help defend our partners in the area and we will continue to do that,” Hoffman added.
The four provinces that have reported the highest number of cases of the infection have also been the ones hit the most by Taliban violence in recent weeks, according to the two data sets and at least three senior Afghan and Western officials.
As of May 1, Afghanistan has reported over 2,335 coronavirus cases and 68 deaths, but international observers believe numbers could be much higher, given the lack of testing.
“Taliban fighters are not hitting large government centres or cities, they are focusing on villages in Herat, Kabul, Kandahar and Balkh provinces that have reported the highest number of coronavirus cases,” a senior Western security official said on condition of anonymity.
‘A MATTER OF TIME’
Western security officials, diplomats and international observers said the Taliban’s strategy to slowly erode government control of rural areas and then position themselves to besiege cities during the pandemic could derail the peace deal.
“They are slowly encircling all of Afghanistan’s major cities,” said Jonathan Schroden, an expert with the Center for Naval Analyses who has provided assessments on the security situation in Afghanistan to the U.S. military and Congress.
“So it’s either a matter of time before they get a deal satisfactory to them or they put those major cities under siege.”
Two Taliban spokesman said the group was not responsible for a majority of the attacks in recent weeks. They accused the United States of jeopardising the peace agreement by supporting Afghan security forces and not releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners as part of a prisoner swap stipulated under the accord.
The Taliban say the group’s attacks between the start of March and April 15 fell 54.7% compared with a year ago to 537.
The group said its attacks were not “as intense” compared with the previous year and Afghan security forces members killed fell 54.2% to 935 while the number wounded fell 55.9% to 742.
The Defence Ministry said army troops were in “active defence mode” and using the air force to stop Taliban advances.
On Friday, clashes between Taliban fighters and Afghan forces intensified in northern Balkh and southern Logar province as warring sides fought to control checkpoints. Dozens of Afghan security men and Taliban fighters were killed.
Last month, General Scott Miller, commander of U.S. forces and the NATO-led non-combat Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, travelled to Qatar amid the pandemic to meet Taliban political leaders.
Security officials said Miller issued a “stern warning” to stop operations against Afghan forces and adhere to pledges under the accord aimed at ending nearly two decades of war.
Some of the attacks included four cases in which Taliban fighters allegedly used insiders to poison food eaten by Afghan forces at checkpoints in the north. Those checkpoints were now manned by Taliban fighters, Western security officials said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he was aware of recent insider attacks in which several Afghan force members were fatally poisoned, but denied the group was responsible and said recent violence at checkpoints involved Afghan forces attacking civilians.
He added, however, that the Taliban did not deny using infiltrators or causing insider attacks as part of its war strategy.”
COVID-19: Pakistan has a ‘dependency syndrome’, says Prime Minister Imran Khan
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/covid-19-pakistan-has-a-dependency-syndrome-says-prime-minister-imran-khan-1.71254046
“As Pakistan grapples to combat coronavirus with increasing number of cases, Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the need to build its own reliable medical infrastructure.
“The coronavirus has brought to the fore that Pakistan needs to build its medical infrastructure and reduce dependency on foreign aid,” added Imran.
Speaking during this visit to COMSTECH exhibition in Islamabad on Wednesday, Prime Minister Imran said:
“We have a dependency syndrome; we don’t have that self-belief, we didn’t progress towards knowledge economy because we didn’t spend on education and research. Pakistanis excel once they immigrate; why can’t you create that system here?”
““We have to focus on building our medical infrastructure so that we are prepared for any such emergency situation in the future,” he said and added that the COVID-19 crisis provided an opportunity to produce locally manufactured ventilators and protective equipment as everything cannot be imported.
COMSTECH stands for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation for the promotion and cooperation of science and technology activities among the OIC member states.
“It is only now — with a global shortage — that we have found out that building ventilators isn’t that hard. The country that had the capacity to make nuclear bombs, how hard can it be for it to make ventilators?” he said.
“The biggest quality that takes a nation upwards is self-belief. This belief increases as the nation progresses and reaches a stage where the nation thinks it can overcome any challenge. The small island of Britain dominated the world. What did it have that was so special? It was self belief,” he noted
Prime Minister Imran also congratulated Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry for seeing the potential in a dormant industry, reported Dawn news.
Addressing the ceremony, Fawad Chaudhry said that one of Pakistan’s biggest mistakes was not linking military and civil research. “We have informally linked them now, defence and production industry,” Chaudhry said while adding that this has helped Pakistan produce equipment for battling coronavirus much faster.
He said that NTRC and Nust have made disinfecting robots, drones can be used to disinfect areas under quarantine. “A thermal monitoring camera has been developed, will detect without touching,” Chaudhry said.
He also praised the role of private sector in producing protective equipment for frontline workers.
“We were facing a shortage of protective equipment in Pakistan a few weeks ago, now all of Faisalabad city is making protective suits for doctors and frontline workers. Now there is a need for us to consider how many of these we need, the rest we should export,” Chaudhry said.
He further announced that Pakistan is now producing its own N-95 mask prototype. “While the masks being imported by Pakistan are costing Rs1,100, the ones we have created are going to cost Rs90 — a huge difference.” He also said that Pakistan took mere weeks to produce its own coronavirus testing kits.
He said Pakistan was facing a shortage of hand sanitisers and disinfectants a month and a half ago but “today, we are producing our own sanitisers and disinfectants and are in the position to export them. We are looking for the commerce ministry to lift the ban on its export for us to be able to do that,” Chaudhry said.
Meanwhile, the federal government is preparing to loosen coronavirus lockdown restrictions as the number of infections and deaths are “well below previous projections,” said Asad Umar, Minister of Planning.
Pakistan despite registering more than 15,7500 cases of Covid-19 including 346 deaths has already granted exemptions to dozens of sectors to open up over the last few days.
Umar said that infections and deaths in Pakistan were 30-35% lower than projections and, if things remained this way, the country could open up further in coming days.
Experts say Pakistan’s low numbers are due to limited testing. Currently Pakistan, a country of more than 207 million people, conducts about 8,000 tests a day.”
Exposed: Democrats’ double standard on believing women
Tucker: Totalitarianism doesn’t shock us any more
Barber belittled by CNN anchor speaks out on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’
Gowdy angrily questions why FBI treated Flynn, Hillary Clinton differentl
the gateway pundit – 80 Patients and Staff Members Come Down with Coronavirus at Texas Nursing Home – Hydroxychloroquine Treatment Saves All But 1 Patient
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Never forget that Dr. Fauci and the liberal media continues to cast doubt on this widely successful treatment for coronavirus.
A nursing home in Texas has a hopeful story for those suffering with coronavirus.
The Resort at Texas nursing home had an outbreak of coronavirus that infected 56 residents and 33 staff members.
Dr. Robin Armstrong immediately administered hydroxychloroquine to the residents and staff members along with Zpac and Zinc.
Only one nursing home patient died since the doctor prescribed the hydroxychloroquine.
55 made it.
This drug is having amazing success treating the coronavirus.
But the liberal media would rather see people die than report the truth on this treatment.
FOX7 Austin reported:
Dr. Armstrong and others at the Resort at Texas City Nursing home knew time wasn’t on their side.
“Two of our residents had symptoms and that’s when we tested everybody,” said nursing home Executive Director Jan Piveral.
56 residents and 33 staff members were COVID-19 positive.
“Our Goal was to make sure we could shelter them in place so we don’t spread it to other people,” Armstrong said. “Then also at the same time treat them so they would get better.”
Armstrong says he knew residents who ended up in the hospital had a higher mortality rate.
“Our goal was to keep them here and treat them with the medications we had available,” he said.
When Armstrong began administering Hydroxychloroquine to it was controversial but appeared promising.
“If we didn’t make the decision quickly then we could potentially lose 15 to 20% of the residents which was not an option,” said the Doctor.
Armstrong’s approach was to begin administering Hydroxychloroquine a Zpac and Zinc just as soon as a resident first started showing symptoms.
The patients were being monitored daily.
“We did EKGs on each of these patients to make sure they didn’t have the cardiac side effects that everyone talks about,” Armstrong said. “None of our patients did.”
Armstrong doesn’t call the Hydroxychloroquine a cure and is aware of all the recent reports that say the drug shouldn’t be used to treat COVID-19.
But he points out only one of the nursing homes COVID-19 patients has died.
“Everyone who got on treatment who started on treatment is actually doing really well,” he said.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/80-patients-staff-members-come-coronavirus-texas-nursing-home-hydroxychloroquine-treatment-saves-1-patient/
Mississauga – April 30 2020
Mayor Bonnie crombie thanks Ahmadiyya for helping Canada
Mississauga City Council, Ramadan 2020 Adhan Motion Debate Vote, Wednesday April 29 2020
the epoch times – CBC Changes Headline Three Times, Removes More Than 300 Comments
CBC must retract its one-sided article and issue an apology
This is our second public statement on CBC’s coverage of The Epoch Times’ special edition. To read our first statement, please click here.
I would like to give an update on the developments surrounding CBC’s slanderous coverage of The Epoch Times’ special edition on Beijing’s coverup of the virus outbreak which led to a global pandemic.
I would also like to set the record straight that The Epoch Times special edition is in no way “advancing conspiracy” theories or claiming that the virus is “manufactured” as a bioweapon by China as alleged by CBC’s article, as I will make clear later in this statement.
Since the initial publication of its article on April 29, CBC has quietly made substantial changes to its headline three times—all without informing readers of the change or issuing a correction.
The four headlines so far are:
Original Version
‘Racist and inflammatory’: Canadians upset by Epoch Times claim China behind virus, made it as a bioweapon
Second Version
Some Canadians who received unsolicited copy of Epoch Times upset by claim that China was behind virus
Third Version
Some Canadians see claims in Epoch Times about origin of virus as ‘racist and inflammatory’
Fourth Version
Some Canadians who received unsolicited copy of Epoch Times upset by claim that China was behind virus
It is worth noting that all of these headlines are incorrect.
The reality is, as can be seen directly on the cover of our special edition on the coronavirus that was the main focus of the CBC’s article, is that we wrote: “The Chinese Communist Party’s coverup led to a pandemic that now threatens the lives of people around the globe.”
It clearly and squarely puts the blame for the coverup on China’s ruling communist regime. As a Chinese immigrant myself, I understand very well the difference between the Chinese Communist Party and China and the Chinese people—who have been the biggest victims of the CCP’s coverup.
But the CBC article is not making this distinction and is instead helping to push the communist regime’s line that the Party and China are one and the same.
Conflating the Communist Party with China as a whole or with the Chinese people is a tactic frequently used by the CCP itself to arouse nationalism, and use the claim of “racism” to deflect criticism of the CCP. It is sad to see that CBC has followed the same line as the CCP.
As a taxpayer funded media—to the tune of an estimated $1.2 billion per year—we would expect our national media to do a better job in informing Canadians about the threat that the regime in Beijing poses to not only the Chinese people, but to the world.
Not just that, CBC—as detailed in our previous article—deliberately ignored our statement to them, and failed to back up its main claim that we say the virus is a Chinese bioweapon, which is not what our special edition stated.
False Accusations by CBC
The CBC article’s headline and opening paragraph accuse The Epoch Times of advancing “a conspiracy theory” and say the special edition claims the virus was made as a bioweapon by China.
This is false. The special edition makes no such claim. Instead of showing the contents of the special edition, CBC makes the accusation based on quotes from two people, a single recipient and an unnamed mail carrier, who misrepresent the contents of the special edition.
The recipient quoted in the CBC article says “it did seem to allude to conspiracy theories like, you know, maybe it was manufactured, this virus was manufactured in the lab.” The unnamed mail carrier says “They’re saying the coronavirus is part of a bio-warfare agenda by the Chinese people.”
Nowhere in the special edition does The Epoch Times mention or hold a position that the virus was either manufactured or man-made as a bioweapon, or that it was an agenda of “the Chinese people.”
The Special Edition is an eight-page collection of some of our reporting and delves into topics such as how the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup led to a pandemic, how the regime persecuted medical professionals in China who tried to get information out about the outbreak, how it is still hiding the true scale of the pandemic and the number of deaths in China, and how it has launched a global disinformation campaign to lay the blame for the pandemic elsewhere.
CBC is making its accusations by pointing to a commentary included in the special edition that quotes a former Chinese defence minister’s remarks about China’s bioweapon ambitions; in the commentary, the author says that there should be an investigation on the coronavirus outbreak, and Chinese authorities “must grant the world total transparency. If Chinese officials are innocent, they have nothing to hide. If they are guilty, they will refuse to cooperate.”
This is what one reader wrote as a comment on the CBC article: “I’ve now read the two special editions of the Epoch Times that CBC claims contained ‘false’ claims that corona virus was a laboratory created bio weapon. In neither of the editions, was the corona virus discussed as a CCP bioweapon, although there was an article about the CCP’s bioweapons’ ambitions, but that is not the same thing at all. The CBC needs to provide proof of the inflammatory claims it made in this article, or retract them.”
Deleted Comments
Over the past two days, we have received phone calls from CBC readers telling us that their comments on the CBC article were removed.
From what we can tell, at least 300 comments on the CBC article were removed. This is even though they don’t contain anything offensive, for example, “What Canadians are upset CBC ? Who is screaming racism CBC? Can you be a little more specific.”
Is CBC afraid of readers’ disapproval? Why stifle free speech, and block Candians who want to express their concerns over CBC’s false reporting. Isn’t this stifling of public discourse failing the most basic function as a national broadcaster?
On behalf of everyone at The Epoch Times, I would like to thank our readers for their support. I will keep you updated as things develop.
And I also demand that CBC retract its one-sided article and issue an apology.
Here is the link to our Special Edition that CBC wrote about.
https://offers.theepochtimes.com/ccpvirusreportcanada
https://www.theepochtimes.com/cbc-changes-headline-three-times-removes-more-than-300-comments_3334298.html
Radio-Canada – ( French CBC ) May 01 2020
Quelle crédibilité doit-on accorder au documentaire « Tracking down the origin of the Wuhan coronavirus »? Visionné des millions de fois, ce documentaire mis en ligne par Epoch Times alimente plusieurs théories non vérifiées.
I just discovered something I would have thought funny 30 years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Fest_des_Huhnes
Today in Austria you have to search for “natives”. The world under reconstruction, all this during our lifetime. Disappearing does what took thousands of years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SIUybd9K7g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C72u3v-Y-Y
In English I only found the second part in poor quality. https://archive.org/details/KayongaKagameShowsUsTheWorld.EpisodeDarkestAustria
The “chicken dance” shown in it comes from a Swiss and does not belong to the “repertoire of folk songs”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Dance
Talk about the horseplay in English by obviously left-wing liberal cosmopolitans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6nqopb8rBE
From today’s perspective, the only exciting ethnological question would be: When does self-irony become self-denial?
At a distance, our home countries seem still “untouched like a virgin”. https://www.roundshot.com/xml_1/internet/en/application/d170/f172.cfm