Reader’s Links for June 8, 2020

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

142 Replies to “Reader’s Links for June 8, 2020”

  1. Hundreds of Recovered Virus Patients in China Have Relapsed, Leaked Documents Show

    A growing number of patients in China who previously recovered from the CCP virus are relapsing, according to internal government documents obtained by The Epoch Times.

    The figures on relapse rates in the internal reports are much higher than the 5 to 15 percent that Wang Guiqiang, director of the infectious diseases department at Peking University First Affiliated Hospital, cited during a central government-hosted press conference on May 7. He said that range was for the “overall situation” in the country.

    He added that some relapsed patients have experienced symptoms again, and some patients’ lungs have been further damaged.

    The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, first broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, and has since spread across China and to over 200 countries and territories around the world.

    Documents with data collected in early April from Inner Mongolia, Guangdong, Sichuan, Shandong, Guizhou, Ningxia, and Hainan provinces, and the city of Chongqing showing hundreds of relapsed patients were reviewed by The Epoch Times. The highest relapse rate among the reports was in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, which was roughly 43 percent.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/hundreds-of-virus-patients-test-positive-again-after-initial-recovery-in-china-leaked-internal-documents_3371534.html?ref=brief_News&__sta=vhg.hhksexIJ_fmb%7CQTI&__stm_medium=email&__stm_source=smartech

  2. Turkey: Are the Anni di Piombo Making a Return?

    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Turkey’s political polarization along conservative and secular lines is showing signs of being a slow-fuse time bomb. For most Turks, the domestic “political other” is not just a rival but a traitor, an enemy within—and Turks are increasingly expressing their willingness to kill or die to purge that other.

    For two despicable decades starting at the end of the 1960s, Italy was racked by the Anni di Piombo (Years of Lead). That era was a period of nonstop political violence between extreme right- and left-wing domestic factions. The death of a policeman in November 1969, followed by a bombing, sparked a dreadful spiral of violence that would shake Italy until the end of the 1980s.

    Turkey’s darkest years came between 1976 and 1980, when a campaign of political violence wrought by a multitude of far-left and far-right urban guerilla groups killed over 5,000 people. It only came to an end when the military took over the country in a coup d’etat and violence subsided.

    While it lasted, the violence was extreme indeed. Professor Sabri Sayar? of Sabanc? University in Istanbul notes: “Terrorism caused more fatalities in one week during the early months of 1980 in Turkey than it did in Italy in an entire year or in West Germany during the entire decade”—although Turkish violence, unlike in Italy, did not lead to the kidnapping and subsequent murder of a prime minister.

    https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/turkey-political-violence/

  3. Black Police Officer Surrounded by Antifa + another 4Chan troll: shave your head for BLM

  4. France: Post-Pandemic Disaster?

    by Guy Millière
    June 8, 2020 at 4:00 am

    The coronavirus pandemic in the northern hemisphere seems starting to subside — perhaps just temporarily.

    Many journalists wonder if Italy, one of the eight countries most affected in Western Europe, will leave the EU. Another country of concern is France — not in great shape.

    Although France spends a significant amount on its healthcare (8.6% of France’s GDP), the pandemic there has been frighteningly mismanaged. There was a tragic shortage of intensive-care beds: 5,000 for the whole country, compared to Germany’s 28,000. There was also, until the end of April, a near-total lack of masks and protective equipment for hospital doctors and caregivers. Further, there was the great lack of an ability to test for the coronavirus. The situation led the government to decide on one of the strictest general lockdowns in Europe. For eight weeks, the French economy, like others, effectively stopped. The results were devastating.

    France, before the pandemic, was already in an alarming economic state. For several years, the country’s economic growth rate had been barely above zero; the country’s central bank had lowered its growth forecast for 2020 to 1.1%. France’s unemployment rate was high (8.1%); it had not fallen below 8% for two decades. France was, in addition, paralyzed from any kind of growth by a proliferation of regulations and an omnipresent bureaucracy. The Index of Economic Freedom, published each year by the Heritage Foundation, ranks France number 64 , behind the United Kingdom (7), the Netherlands (14), Germany (27), and far behind formerly communist countries such as Poland (46), Romania (42), Bulgaria (37) or the Czech Republic (23).

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15720/france-post-pandemic-disaster

  5. WHO: Coronavirus patients who don’t show symptoms aren’t spreading new infections

    Coronavirus patients who don’t have any symptoms aren’t driving the spread of the virus, World Health Organization officials said Monday, casting doubt on concerns by some researchers that the virus could be difficult to contain due to asymptomatic infections.

    • WHO Says It’s ‘Rare’ for Asymptomatic Covid-19 Patients to Infect Others

      The World Health Organization says it’s still “rare” for a person infected with Covid-19 to “transmit onward to a secondary individual.”

      Officials made the remarks on Monday, June 8, at a daily briefing in Geneva.

  6. California Hospitals See Surge in Cross-Border CCP Virus Cases

    Some California hospitals on the border with Mexico are seeing a surge in CCP virus cases, and they link the increase in infections to cross-border lifestyles.

    The Mexican health care system has been hard-hit by the CCP virus pandemic, and retirees and Americans who have fallen sick are increasingly arriving at small community hospitals in Southern California, the Washington Post reported.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/border-hospitals-see-surge-of-cross-border-ccp-virus-cases_3379149.html

  7. Chinese City Concealing Recent Virus Infections and Deaths, Residents Say

    Chinese authorities have not announced new updates about the CCP virus outbreak in Harbin city, northeastern China since an upsurge in April.

    Local patients recently told The Epoch Times that they knew at least five people who have passed away from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus—which have not been announced by authorities. At one hospital, 30 patients haven’t yet fully recovered and are being isolated at the facility, one interviewee said. They themselves were also under treatment.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/chinese-city-concealing-recent-virus-infections-and-deaths-residents-say_3375612.html

  8. NYPD warns cops to watch out for concrete-filled tennis balls during protests

    The NYPD are being pelted with concrete-filled tennis balls during George Floyd protests, the NYPD warned its members Sunday.

    The two unidentified officers, who were following protestors Thursday after a demonstration in Union Square, were at the corner of Ninth Avenue and West 25th Street when they were pummeled with the rock-hard balls, according to an advisory obtained by The Post.

    “One of the two officers was hospitalized with a contusion (bruise) to left shoulder,” it said. “Please be cognizant of all objects in persons’ hands or lying on the ground during these protests.”

    “Stay safe, stay protected, and covered.”

    At last one concrete-filled tennis ball has been recovered, a police source said.

    https://nypost.com/2020/06/07/cops-need-to-lookout-for-concrete-filled-tennis-balls-nypd-says/

  9. GoFundMe suspended a fundraiser by Candace Owens on Saturday created to help an Alabama bar following controversial comments made by its owner about George Floyd and protesters, according to multiple reports.

    Owens, a conservative political activist, expressed her support and helped raise more than $200,000 for Birmingham’s Parkside Cafe. Its co-owner, Michael Dykes, had previously said Floyd was a “thug” and that protesters were “idiots” in a text message that was posted online, AL.com reported.

    Owens, in a Facebook status, stated that she was helping the “already-struggling business” after Dykes’ comments led to a boycott.

    https://www.foxnews.com/us/gofundme-suspends-candace-owens-fundraiser-alabama-bar

  10. It is easy to ignore the investigation into the Russia hoax.

    The collusion conspiracy newscycle that once consumed CNN and MSNBC feels like it happened decades ago.

    The chyrons that now focus on coronavirus curves used to revolve around text messages between love-Strzok FBI agents.

    Ah, it was a simpler time indeed.

    But while the mainstream media and blue checkmarks yawn at the recent Rod Rosenstein Senate hearings, some of us are paying close attention.

    In fact, for a lot of us rubes, the Russia investigation is finally starting to get interesting.

    In this week’s hearings, former deputy attorney general Rosenstein revealed a lot more than his stunning ineptitude.

    He also exposed the FBI’s complete disregard for ethics.

    https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/06/06/grace-curley-russia-probe-hearings-getting-interesting/

  11. “Democratic leadership unveil sweeping new policing reform legislation | FULL PRESS CONFERENCE” The Hill – June 8, 2020

  12. “Colin Powell explains why Trump shouldn’t be re-elected”
    CNN – June 7, 2020

  13. See new Tweets
    Conversation
    NBC10 Philadelphia
    @NBCPhiladelphia
    ·
    Jun 6
    Thousands of people in Philadelphia continue to protest racism and police brutality following the death of George Floyd. Crowds in Center City stretched from the steps of the Art Museum and past the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. http://on.nbc10.com/83ticTL
    Bubba Rogowski
    @RogowskiBubba
    Replying to
    @NBCPhiladelphia
    Who will protest for this little boy?
    Disgusting video of an Irish boy being stabbed by black teenagers today in Carrigaline, Co. Cork.
    They continue to slash him and laugh while he lies on the floor bleeding.
    #BlackLivesMatter
    #WhiteLifeMatter

    https://mobile.twitter.com/rogowskibubba/status/1269598525479948291?ref_url=https%3a%2f%2fthedonald.win%2fp%2ffz1op0fv%2fwho-will-protest-for-this-little%2fc%2f

  14. Katie Hopkins
    @KTHopkins
    DISTRESSING
    Elderly white couple brutally attacked by black gang.

    White gentleman burned with kettle of boiling water, then strung up in shower. This is his wife after the attack.

    Because they are white the world looks the other way #BlockKatieHopkins #BLM #plaasmoorde

    https://twitter.com/KTHopkins/status/1270063745801375748

  15. Author Turchie: Democrat Party Using Weather Underground Strategy for Revolution in Party Platform

  16. Login Join Minds Now

    home
    Newsfeed
    #
    Discovery

    Wallet
    insert_chart
    Analytics
    more_horiz
    Settings

    repeat
    ColinFlaherty

    verified_user

    3d ago
    2.96k views
    BWLH

    3d ago
    Black Lives Matter-Inspired Terror Attack? Three Blacks in Atlanta Track Police to Their Suburban Homes and Throw Molotov Cocktails at Police Cars in Parked in Driveways

    https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1115395706029649920

    sorry if repost

  17. BREITBART – Video: Nancy Pelosi Can’t Get Up by Herself After Kneeling for Photo Op

    + video

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a number of her congressional colleagues gathered to kneel on Monday for the time they say a police officer had his knee on the neck of George Floyd, but the photo op did not quite go as planned.

    After the 8 minutes and 46 seconds the incident lasted, the members of Congress — including 79-year-old James Clyburn — rose.

    But Pelosi nearly toppled over, quickly motioning for an aide to help her to her feet.

    “It’s better not to have on high heels,” Pelosi said with a laugh as her mask dangled under her chin.

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/06/08/video-nancy-pelosi-cant-get-up-by-herself-after-kneeling-for-photo-op/

  18. Three Top Jihadists Dominate Sahel After Al-Qaeda Leader Death
    https://www.thedefensepost.com/2020/06/08/three-top-jihadists-dominate-sahel-after-al-qaeda-leader-death/

    “Three leaders have been left dominating the jihadist insurgency in the Sahel, following the death of a top al-Qaeda commander in the West African state of Mali last week.

    French forces killed Algerian national Abdelmalek Droukdel, the head of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in a raid in northern Mali on Wednesday. The move will strike a blow to the organization, but other powerful al-Qaeda-linked leaders already operate in the semi-desert Sahel.

    Droukdel’s death also comes at a time of increasing jihadist infighting, between al-Qaeda affiliates and Islamic-State-aligned militants.

    Three jihadist leaders now loom large over the central Sahel: Iyad Ag Ghaly and Amadou Kouffa — who are both linked to al-Qaeda — and Adnan Abou Walid Sahraoui, who leads the region’s Islamic State group franchise.

    Iyad Ag Ghaly
    Iyad Ag Ghaly, who heads the powerful GSIM jihadist alliance, is a veteran of Mali’s internecine conflicts. An ethnic Tuareg from northern Mali, he first leapt onto the stage during a Tuareg rebellion during the 1990s.

    After it subsided he went into business, before publically returning to militancy again in 2012, with a newly created group called Ansar Dine. That year, Tuareg separatists launched a rebellion in northern Mali, which was quickly commandeered by jihadists.

    The event triggered a bloody conflict, which has now spread to the center of the country, and neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.

    At first allied to the separatists, Ag Ghaly’s Ansar Dine split from them and, alongside other jihadist groups, took control of several towns in northern Mali, until French forces drove Islamist fighters out in 2013.

    Ansar Dine is a member of the jihadist alliance the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), which also includes Amadou Koufa’s Katiba Macina and AQIM. Iyad Ag Ghaly leads this alliance.

    Jean-Pierre Filiu, a historian at Paris’ Science Po university, said the jihadist leader is now “the sole Sahel representative of the al-Qaeda’s supreme chief, Ayman Zawahiri.”

    Amadou Kouffa
    Amadou Kouffa, another leader within GSIM, is subordinate to Ag Ghaly, according to Filiu.

    A firebrand Islamic preacher, Koufa’s influence has nonetheless continued to grow since founding the Katiba Macina militia in 2015. He has been accused of exploiting tensions between herders and sedentary farmers, and of inflaming ethnic tensions in central Mali — where Katina Macina has staged its attacks.

    Central Mali has now become one of the main theatres for jihadist attacks in the Sahel. Massacres with an apparent ethnic motive are also common.

    On Friday, some 30 people were killed in an ethnic Fulani village. A Fulani association has blamed the army for the killing, and on Saturday, Mali’s defense minister promised an investigation.

    The pastoralist Fulani people are often accused of being close to jihadists, a perception which has led to tit-for-tat massacres between them and other ethnic groups.

    Adnan Abou Walid Sahraoui
    For former colonial power France, Adnan Abou Walid Sahraoui, is the most wanted jihadist in the Sahel. He heads a branch of the Islamic State group, which is highly active in the border region linking Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

    A former member of the Polisario Front, a Western-Sahara movement, Sahraoui rose to prominence when Mali’s north fell to rebels in 2012.

    He was at that time a member of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) jihadist group, which was one of the militias that took control in the north. But Sahraoui declared his allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2015.

    His militia has been highly active and has been blamed for a string of attacks in 2019 and this year.

    In a first for the Sahel, it has also begun to fight al-Qaeda-linked groups, with several instances of inter-jihadist warfare occurring this year.”

  19. Jihadists Kill Six Nigerian Troops: Sources
    https://www.thedefensepost.com/2020/06/08/jihadists-kill-six-nigerian-troops-sources/

    “Jihadists have killed six Nigerian troops in an attack on a military base in northeast Nigeria, army sources said Sunday.

    Fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in trucks fitted with machine guns attacked the base in Auno, a village that is 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, they said.

    “We lost six soldiers in the attacks which the terrorists launched around 6:30 pm (1730 GMT), on Saturday, a military officer told AFP. Jihadists overwhelmed the troops during the two-hour battle, “forcing them to withdraw in disarray,” said another military source who gave a similar toll.

    The insurgents then looted weapons and burnt buildings before they were pushed out with aerial support, the sources said. “A search is ongoing for 45 soldiers who are still unaccounted for but we assume they escaped in the fighting and are yet to return,” the second source said.

    Auno lies on a 120-kilometer highway linking Maiduguri and Damaturu in neighboring Yobe state. The area has been repeatedly targeted by militants who attack troops and abduct motorists at bogus checkpoints.

    ISWAP, which split from Boko Haram in 2016, focuses on attacking the military but it has also been accused of increasingly targeting civilians. In February, the jihadists killed at least 30 travelers who had stopped for the night in Auno during a night-time curfew.

    The decade-long conflict has killed 36,000 people and displaced 1.8 million from their homes in northeast Nigeria.

    The violence has also spread to neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting the creation of a regional military coalition to fight the insurgents.”

  20. More Saudi Princes Contract COVID-19, One Dies: Report
    https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/06/08/2281926/more-saudi-princes-contract-covid-19-one-dies-report

    “One day after the death of a Saudi prince infected with the coronavirus, a medical source revealed that some members of the royal family are undergoing treatment in hospitals and in their private villas after their health deteriorated as a result of the virus.

    Saudi Leaks reported Dr Nezar Bahabri confirming that more than 1,200 critical coronavirus infections cases are being treated in the kingdom with ventilators.

    “The situation in Jeddah and Riyadh is very concerning. We did not expect the critical cases to reach this number,” said Bahabri in a video clip.

    He added, “I was always an optimist and called for not worrying about the increase in numbers, but at that time, the number of critical cases did not exceed a few hundred.”

    Yesterday Reuters reported that the number of coronavirus infections in the oil-rich state had reached 100,000 with over 700 deaths.

    A Saudi prince allegedly died due to COVID-19 on Thursday, with the Royal Court announcing the death of Prince Saud Bin Abdullah Bin Faisal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA). No mention was given regarding the cause of death.

    The New York Times has previously reported that about 150 princes have contracted the disease, including the governor of Riyadh, Faisal Bin Bandar Bin Abdulaziz.

    However, former Saudi intelligence chief, Turki Al-Faisal, said the real number is less than 20.”

  21. Jordan Thwarts Terrorist Plot to Target Security Site
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2323501/jordan-thwarts-terrorist-plot-target-security-site

    “The Jordanian State Security Court (military court) revealed, through its trials, thwarting a third terrorist plot targeting a security site in Irbid early February.

    The Kingdom’s General Intelligence Directorate (GID) arrested members of a terrorist cell who were planning to target a security center in Irbid governorate, 80 km northern the capital, Amman.

    According to the daily Alrai official newspaper, three defendants attempted to join the ISIS terrorist organization in Sinai, but they failed because roads were not safe back then…”

  22. Turkey Orders 149 People Detained for Alleged Gulen Links
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2323206/turkey-orders-149-people-detained-alleged-gulen-links

    “Turkey on Monday ordered the detention of 149 people, mainly from the security forces, over suspected links to the network Ankara says orchestrated a failed coup in 2016, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.

    Authorities have carried out a sustained crackdown on alleged followers of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen since the failed coup in July 2016, when 250 people were killed.

    Gulen denies any involvement. A former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.

    The prosecutor’s office in the western province of Balikesir ordered the detention of 74 people, all previously sacked from the security forces and including six former police chiefs, security officials and Anadolu said.

    Prosecutors in southeastern Gaziantep province ordered the detention of 33 people, including 24 security forces personnel on active duty, Anadolu said. It said that in western Bursa province, prosecutors ordered the detention of 42 people, including six soldiers on active duty.

    Erdogan has for years accused Gulen’s supporters of establishing a “parallel state” by infiltrating the police, judiciary, military and other state institutions.

    Since the coup attempt, about 80,000 people have been held pending trial and some 150,000 civil servants, military personnel and others sacked or suspended.

    Turkey’s Western allies have criticized the scale of the crackdown, while Ankara has defended the measures as a necessary response to the security threat.”

  23. Russia recruiting more Syria fighters for Libya war, report says
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200608-russia-recruiting-more-syria-fighters-for-libya-war-report-says/

    “A Russian drive to recruit Syrians to fight in Libya for militia leader Khalifa Haftar accelerated in May when hundreds of mercenaries were signed up, Reuters reported five Syrian opposition sources and a regional source familiar with the matter saying.

    Private military contractor Wagner Group is conducting the hiring with Russian army supervision, according to two senior Syrian opposition sources and the regional source. A former Wagner Group member said it first sent Syrians to Libya in 2019.

    The Russian Defence Ministry and the Wagner group did not respond to questions from Reuters…”

  24. Turkey’s wall along Iran border almost complete
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200608-turkeys-wall-along-iran-border-almost-complete/

    “Turkey plans to complete the construction of its border wall with Iran by the end of this year to stop the infiltration of “terrorists” into the country, have almost been realised.

    Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, who reportedly inspected the construction works in the border area, told Anadolu Agency that the wall is 75 per cent complete.

    Soylu added that the wall is being established for Turkey’s security.

    He added that every military operation carried out by Turkey in northern Iraq to tighten the screws on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, pushed them from Turkey’s southeastern border area to its eastern border.

    He also said that there are around 100 “terrorists” in Iran’s Dambat, near Turkey, which “constitutes a real danger.”

    The PKK, a militant group that is fighting for the autonomy of Turkey’s southeast, is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey as well as the United States and the European Union.”

  25. Spain investigates former king in Saudi corruption case
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200608-spain-investigates-former-king-in-saudi-corruption-case/

    “Spain’s supreme court prosecutor has opened an investigation into former King Juan Carlos in connection with a high-speed train contract in Saudi Arabia, reported Reuters, piling pressure on a once-popular monarch who abdicated six years ago.

    The supreme court prosecutor will investigate whether the former king can be included in the case in respect of any action that took place after he lost his immunity when he abdicated in June 2014 in favour of his son Felipe, the general prosecutor said on Monday.

    “This investigation focuses, precisely, on establishing or discarding the criminal relevance of deeds that happened after June 2014, when the King Emeritus was no longer protected by inviolability,” the statement said.

    The Spanish Royal House did not respond to a request for comment. Juan Carlos’ lawyer could not be reached for comment…”

  26. UAE sheikh’s granddaughter appointed as adviser to Yale environment body
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200608-uae-sheikhs-granddaughter-appointed-as-adviser-to-yale-environment-body/

    “The Yale Centre for Environmental Law and Policy yesterday announced that the UAE’s Sheikha Shamma Bint Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan was appointed as a member of its Board of Advisors, Emirates News Agency reported.

    The centre reported that Sheikha Shamma, who is the granddaughter of the found of the Emirates She?kh Zayed, is the first representative of the Middle East and North Africa region on the Advisory Board.

    “As an advocate for environmental sustainability with a passion towards creating a better future, it is an honour to undertake this position as a member of the Board of Advisors for the Yale Centre for Environmental Law and Policy,” Sheikha Shamma said.

    She added that UAE is going to continue to develop its partnership with other Western universities on investing renewable energy…”

  27. China sentences Uighur Muslims in ‘sham trials’ for ‘praying, wearing a headscarf, having a passport’
    https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/6/8/china-sentencing-uighur-muslims-in-sham-trials-report

    “Many Uighur Muslims imprisoned in China’s vast network of detention camps have been convicted of crimes such as travelling abroad or praying in sham trials, a new report has alleged.

    Prisoners in China’s northwestern Xinjiang province were forced to pick from a list of crimes – including so-called infractions such as possessing a passport, wearing a headscarf and praying – and face a trial without legal representation or evidence, four former detainees told Deutsche Welle (DW).

    More than one million people, most of them Muslims of the Uighur ethnic minority, are detained in camps throughout Xinjiang.

    Beijing claims the camps are voluntary re-education facilities designed to provide vocational training and guide residents away from ethnic separatist and Islamic extremist ideologie.

    Human rights organisations and Western governments say detainees are held against their will and subject to a number of abuses inside the camps, including torture and forced labour.

    A report published by DW on Monday alleges that many of the detainees have been forced to retroactively decide the “crimes” for which they were imprisoned…”

  28. Turkey neutralizes 4 PKK terrorists along Iran border
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkey-neutralizes-4-pkk-terrorists-along-iran-border/1869629

    “Turkey neutralized four PKK terrorists along its border with Iran in an air-backed operation, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Monday.

    “Four PKK terrorists detected by our hero commandos on the Iran border line have been neutralized with a successful operation supported by our drones,” the ministry said in a statement.

    Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralized” to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

    The operation was conducted near Mt. Little Agri, where the four PKK terrorists, including one woman, were planning to cross the border to launch a terrorist attack, said the security sources, who asked to be not named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

    During the operation, among the items seized were two M-16 infantry rifles, two Kalashnikov infantry rifles and ammunition, one RPG-7 rocket launcher, four rocket launcher cartridges, rocket launcher ammunition, two grenade launchers, two walkie-talkies, one pocket computer, one tablet computer, one camera, and one thermal binocular.

    The terrorists were carrying special clothing to avoid being detected by thermal cameras, it added.

    In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.”

  29. Spain’s population hits record 47 million for the first time thanks to immigration
    https://www.thelocal.es/20200608/spains-population-hits-record-47-million-for-the-first-time-thanks-to-immigration

    “Spain’s resident population grew by almost 400,000 in 2019, an increase stemming from immigration which is counteracts the issue of the country’s ageing local population.

    Spain’s population increased by 392,921 people during 2019 and stood for the first time above the milestone of 47 million inhabitants (47,329,981 to be exact.)

    The provisional figures from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) are linked to the arrival of 748,759 immigrants, which offset the negative balance of the country’s low national birth rate and high elderly population.

    The annual growth is the highest since 2008 when the population increased by 570,333 people.

    2019’s natural increase is due to a positive migratory balance of 451,391 people, which compensated the negative balance of 57,146 people who left Spain or passed away.

    According to INE’s data, Spain’s annual population growth rate went from 0.60 percent in 2018 to 0.84 percent in 2019…”

  30. Seven EU nations reject compulsory migration quota in letter to European Commission
    https://rmx.news/article/article/seven-eu-nations-reject-compulsory-migration-quota-in-letter-to-european-commission

    “Worried about resurging migration as coronavirus movement restrictions are lifted coupled with Germany’s renewed push for mandatory migrant intake quotas, seven European Union member states sent a letter to the European Commission saying they cannot accept such a solution.

    The Central European Visgerád Four group countries of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia along with Estonia, Latvia and Slovenia have come out against migrant quotas. The reason they sent the letter was that the seven states wanted to make it clear before any such system was put into place that the idea was unacceptable, Slovenian Minister of Interior Aleš Hojs told news agency STA.

    Facing an estimated 10,000 migrants seeking their way into Western Europe through the Balkans route, Slovenia has already boosted its border police force by 1,000 military personnel in March and another 1,000 last week, while also deploying the full gamut of technical detection equipment available from infrared and motion sensor cameras to surveillance drones and helicopters.

    On July 1, Germany will take over the European Union’s revolving presidency from Croatia and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in an interview with public broadcasting station Deutschlandfunk that he is committed to carry through a reform of the EU’s asylum system adding that the 27-state bloc’s inability to find a common solution was a “great shame”.

    At the same time, Germany’s EU ambassador Michael Clauss said the “upcoming transformation of the European Union’s refugee policy must include a mandatory redistribution quota among member states in order to create a functional system.”

    The Visgerád Four group has persistently been against EU migrant quotas, but not other countries like Slovenia, Estonia, and Latvia are strengthening their position. During the migrant crisis that began in 2015, Visgerád Four countries rejected EU attempts to redistribute 120,000 migrants between EU members.

    The European Court of Justice recently ruled against Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, but government officials dismissed the ruling, saying the court did not punish the countries for their actions and that they would not abide by any quotas in the future.

    “We lost the dispute, but that is not important. What is important is that we do not have to pay something. Usually, the court claims some compensation for the proceedings,” said Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš following the EU court verdict in April.

    “The ruling has no further consequences,” Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga said in a statement. “Since the quota decisions have long lost their validity, we have no obligations to take in asylum seekers.”

    Countries in Southern Europe, which are overburdened by migrants, say that the current rule that migrants must stay in the first country they enter in Europe is unsustainable. They have asked for other EU countries to take in migrants as well, with countries like Germany and Sweden obliging their requests. According to German Interior Minister for the state of Saaraland Klaus Bouillon, Germany’s welcoming stance towards migrants has been increasingly met with resistance from the country’s population, who are frustrated that migrants have access to more benefits and rights than Germans.

    “There is great discontent among the population because everyone who arrives here immediately has many or even more rights along with rights to benefits and medical care than someone who has worked here for their entire life,” said Bouillon.

    Although Austria has not signed the most recent letter against migrant quotas, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has repeatedly voiced his opposition to such a redistribution scheme and voiced his support for countries like Hungary and Poland in the matter.

    Title image: In this photo taken Tuesday, June 2, 2020, migrants dry their clothes aboard a tourist boats some 20 kilometers from Malta. More than 400 migrants are living aboard pleasure cruise vessels, bobbing in the sea off Malta, many of them for weeks now. Rescued from human traffickers, unseaworthy boats in several operations in the central Mediterranean since late April, the migrants, along with the Maltese government, are waiting for European Union countries to offer to take them.”