Reader’s Links for June 15, 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

150 Replies to “Reader’s Links for June 15, 2020”

  1. The Left Exploits George Floyd’s Killing for Revolution

    Lenin would be proud.
    June 15, 2020
    Joseph Klein

    The Radical Left is exploiting the legitimate outrage of many Americans over the brutal killing of George Floyd on May 25th by Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who has been charged with murder. George Floyd’s killing was shocking enough to millions of Americans to become the spark leftist revolutionaries were looking for to mobilize the masses. As Trevor Loudon, who has researched the radical left for more than 30 years, wrote on June 10th:

    https://cms.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/06/radical-left-uses-george-floyds-murder-pretext-joseph-klein

  2. Four California Cops Shot in ‘Planned Ambush’ with ‘Military Tactics’

    Takedown of shooter “not a win,” says sheriff.
    June 15, 2020
    Lloyd Billingsley

    Last Wednesday, Mason James Lira, 26, attacked police in Paso Robles, California, murdered a homeless man, and shot San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputy Nicholas Dreyfus in the face.

    “This was a planned ambush,” Sheriff Ian Parkinson told reporters. In the ensuing manhunt, Lira moved from place to place, using “military-style tactics.” He waited for officers to arrive, and “he shot them just like he shot my deputy.” Lira shot three more officers before police shot and killed him on Thursday afternoon. For Sheriff Parkinson, “this was not a win,” hardly the only bizarre statement to emerge from the mayhem.

    Jose Lira told reporters his son Mason lived in a fantasy world “doesn’t have a beef with the police.” Terrorized locals might think he did, since Lira planned an ambush on a police station and shot four officers. His other encounters with police involved assault and battery charges in Tulare County. Mason Lira also possessed handguns that had been stolen in a burglary.

    Jose Lira also claimed his son had a history of mental illness. That did not preclude a carefully planned ambush on a police station and the use of military-style tactics to evade capture and open fire on other officers. Lira shot a California Highway Patrol officer in the chest, then shot a deputy from Kings County in the leg as he attempted to help the wounded officer.

    Lira’s planned attack on police drew a response from officers in San Luis Obispo, Kings, and Santa Barbara counties, joined by the CHP and the FBI. Locals might have wondered the result if the police agencies been defunded, as violent leftists now demand. Some were also puzzled by Sheriff Parkinson’s statement that “we wanted a peaceful ending to this. We were hoping for nothing more than him to give up.”

    https://cms.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/06/four-california-cops-shot-planned-ambush-military-lloyd-billingsley

  3. Border Patrol Agent Found Dead On Remote Trail In New Mexico

    A 26-year-old Border Patrol agent was found dead on a remote trail in New Mexico’s Hidalgo County last week.

    Fox News reported that Johan Mordan was found “unresponsive lying on a trail” after other Customs and Border Protection officials went looking for him when they lost contact with the young agent. It is unclear what caused Mordan’s death and an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death. CBP officials issued a press release Saturday regarding Mordan’s death:

    https://www.dailywire.com/news/border-patrol-agent-found-dead-on-remote-trail-in-new-mexico?itm_source=parsely-api?utm_source=cnemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=061520-news&utm_campaign=position2

  4. Facts: America is accused of racism, of holding racial minorities back by way of system-wide white supremacism, and yet Jews, black Nigerians, Indian Americans (from India), and Asians are more successful in America than whites, and their respective imprison rates are lower than whites.

    How is it possible in a country that we’re told is riddled with the cancer of white supremacism for those four groups to enjoy a higher standard of living and more success than their all-powerful, white oppressors?

    The asking of the question answers the question.

    Facts…

    Police shootings of unarmed people (including blacks) have dropped dramatically over the past few years.
    Black and white deaths at the hands of police officers are almost perfectly representative of the country’s racial make-up involving police interactions.
    The black imprisonment rate has been dramatically shrinking since 2006.
    Black and whites are equally satisfied with their local police.
    The black unemployment rate just hit record lows.
    President Trump just signed long overdue criminal justice reform.
    Every single American — white and black — was appalled by what happened to George Floyd and wants to see his family receive justice.

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/06/15/nolte-overwhelming-evidence-exposes-democrat-partys-ongoing-systemic-racism/

  5. A Facebook event, purportedly run by Bikers for Trump, invites motor cycle enthusiasts from around the United States to descend on the Seattle Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone and reconquer the territory for the United States, in what may be described as a punitive expedition into the sovereign country.

    Bikers for Trump leads a coalition that already has prominent groups from the American West Coast pledging to join together to recapture the autonomous zone, and claims that they had no right to “illegally” secede from the United States and form their own six-block nation.

    Their punitive expedition is scheduled for July 4, 2020, the United States Independence Day. It is unknown if this date holds significance in CHAZ.

    https://www.infowars.com/bikers-for-trump-plan-punitive-expedition-to-reconquer-chaz-for-united-states/

  6. Two UN Peacekeepers Killed in Attack in Northern Mali
    https://www.thedefensepost.com/2020/06/15/un-peacekeepers-killed-mali/

    “Gunmen have killed two UN peacekeepers in a region of northwestern Mali wracked by jihadist violence, the UN said Sunday.

    A UN convoy traveling between the towns of Tessalit and Gao was attacked Saturday evening by “armed individuals” who killed two of the soldiers, MINUSMA, the UN mission, said in a statement.

    According to a statement released by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the two peacekeepers were Egyptian nationals.

    The convoy had stopped when it was attacked near the village of Tarkint, northeast of Gao, the largest town in northern Mali. The UN troops “retaliated firmly and sent the assailants fleeing”, the statement said…”

  7. Dozens of Malian Troops Dead or Missing in Jihadist Attack: Military Sources
    https://www.thedefensepost.com/2020/06/15/malian-troops-dead-missing/

    “Dozens of troops were either killed or are missing after jihadists ambushed their convoy in central Mali, military sources said on Monday.

    About a dozen vehicles came under attack on Sunday at Bouka Were, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Mauritanian border, a senior military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

    Some of the vehicles were able to extricate themselves from the ambush, but of the 64 troops who had been in the convoy, only about 20 were present at a roll call, the source said, adding that the precise number of dead was unknown.

    “A search is under way to determine the fate of soldiers who have been listed missing,” he said. Another military officer and an official in the nearby town of Diabaly, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed his account.

    The attack is the latest in a string of bloody assaults by jihadists, who unleashed a revolt in northern Mali in 2012 that has spread to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.

    Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed in Mali despite the presence of thousands of French and UN troops, and jihadist atrocities have led to deadly tit-for-tat attacks among ethnic groups in the country’s fragile center.

    On Saturday, two Egyptian soldiers with the UN peacekeeping force MINUSMA were killed when their convoy came under attack in northwestern Mali, the United Nations said.”

  8. Iran Has World’s Most Transparent Nuclear Program: Spokesman
    https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/06/15/2287070/iran-has-world-s-most-transparent-nuclear-program-spokesman

    “Spokesperson for Iran’s administration said Tehran has given the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors the highest level of access to nuclear sites that a country may give the IAEA, stressing that Iran has the most transparent peaceful nuclear program in the world…”

  9. Iranians Reel from Economic Mafia, Currency Collapse
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2335416/iranians-reel-economic-mafia-currency-collapse

    “A soaring food inflation and growing prices of real estate and home appliances has struck Iran, raising fear among the people along with their concern on the coronavirus pandemic.

    Purchasing power saw a significant decline as the prices of fruits and vegetables continued to increase by 30 to 40 percent.

    Economic sources said inflation is caused mainly by the collapse of the currency, the impact of the coronavirus, lack of state monitoring, and the presence of an “economic mafia.”

    However, the sources believe that western sanctions imposed on the country are directly to be blamed for Iran’s economic hardship.

    Iranians have called on the government to take effective measures to solve the deteriorating economic crisis, which has forced them to limit their purchases to essentials goods.

    Economic reports showed that the prices of household appliances rose 30 to 60 percent, causing a decline in sales, at a time when smuggled foreign goods saw a 100 percent increase.

    The Statistics Center reported that 30 percent of Iranian families lost the ability to buy home appliances and resort to the flea market for their needs.

    In addition, the housing market recorded a strong decline. Media reports indicated that some Iranians, who have failed to pay their mortgages or rent, are now living in tents.

    The value of the Iranian rial also continued to drop against the dollar and euro.

    Social media activists said the sudden imbalance in the market, deteriorating living conditions, and rising prices have increased suicide rates.

    Recently, an employee of the Azadegan oil field in the southwest of the country, committed suicide, sparking widespread controversy and prompting the oil minister to open an investigation.

    Earlier, the Iranian parliament summoned Minister of Economy Farhad Dejpasand for questioning on the economic situation. Lawmakers issued a constitutional warning to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani demanding measures to stop the increase in prices.

    Donyae Eqtesad newspaper reported that Rouhani asked the Undersecretary of the Industry Ministry to ensure close supervision and urgent intervention to regulate and control prices of household appliances.

    Last week, the President formed a taskforce that includes the ministers of economy and transportation, and the governor of the Central Bank. Rouhani tasked them along with his first deputy, Ezhag Jahangiri, with searching for solutions to the fast rise in home prices.

    Economic observers believe that Rouhani should have acted even before the re-imposition of US sanctions on Iran to regulate the housing market.”

  10. IAEA Chief Calls for More Access in Iran
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2335676/iaea-chief-calls-more-access-iran

    “The head of the United Nations´ atomic watchdog agency reiterated Monday that Iran must provide inspectors access to sites where the country is thought to have stored or used undeclared nuclear material.

    International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mariano Grossi told reporters after a meeting of the agency’s board in Vienna that he had made his case with “Iranian authorities at higher levels.”

    “We need this cooperation,” he said. “I regret that at this point we have this disagreement.”

    Grossi told the board that for more than four months “Iran has denied us access to two locations and that, for almost a year, it has not engaged in substantive discussions to clarify our questions related to possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities.”

    Activities at all three sites are thought to have been from the early 2000s, before Iran signed the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, and Iran maintains the IAEA has no legal basis to inspect them.

    Grossi’s comments underlined the agency’s concerns outlined in the agency’s written report to members earlier this month about access to two of three locations it identified in March.

    In the report, the IAEA said in its current report that it had determined that one site had undergone “extensive sanitization and leveling” in 2003 and 2004 and there would be no verification value in inspecting it. It said Iran has blocked access to the other two locations, one of which was partially demolished in 2004 and the other at which the agency observed activities “consistent with efforts to sanitize” the facility from July 2019 onward.

    In other details from his wide-ranging address, Grossi announced the IAEA would be launching a new program meant to broaden global capabilities to detect viruses and other threats to human health in response to lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

    He said the coronavirus pandemic had exposed insufficient detection capabilities in many countries, inadequate lab equipment in many developing countries, and the need for better communications between global health institutions.

    The IAEA has been helping countries with a nuclear-derived coronavirus detection technique known as RT-PRC, which is highly accurate and able to identify the virus in samples sent to labs in real-time, and providing other assistance.

    So far, 121 countries have asked the IAEA for help with equipment for virus detection and diagnosis, as well as personal protective equipment and other supplies, Grossi said. Shipments have been made to 88 countries and others are underway.

    “Despite all our hard work, we are only scratching the surface of much bigger problems which the pandemic has exposed,” Grossi said.

    In response, the IAEA is establishing a global network of national diagnostic laboratories equipped to monitor, detect and control germs that have jumped from animals to people, like the new coronavirus is thought to have, known as zoonotic diseases.

    The ZODIAC project – Zoonotic Disease Integrated Action – will provide access to equipment, technology, expertise, guidance, and training, Grossi said.

    “With national laboratories connected to a regional network, and regional networks linked through a global platform, decision-makers will receive up-to-date, user-friendly information that will enable them to act quickly,” he said.”

  11. Egypt Sentences 11 to Death, Life in Prison over Security Chief Assassination Attempt
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2335111/egypt-sentences-11-death-life-prison-over-security-chief-assassination-attempt

    “The Cairo Criminal Court handed down death sentences to three defendants and life in prison for eight others, over the failed assassination of Alexandria’s chief of the security, Mostafa al-Nemr, in 2018.

    The court also ordered the defendants to pay EGP244,357 in damages.

    The sentences are final and irreversible and authorities said the criminals cannot file for an appeal.

    Former Attorney General Nabil al-Sadik referred the 11 defendants to the Emergency State Security Court on charges of involvement with the Hasm armed movement, which is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood that has been blacklisted as terrorist by Cairo.

    The defendants are accused of leading and joining Hasm from 2016 until 2018. The terrorist group aims to oust the ruling regime, undermine national unity and attack individuals, public establishments, police, judiciary and armed forces.

    On the day of the attack, the group headed to Moaskar el-Romany street in Alexandria where one defendant parked a booby-trapped car, which was detonated when Nemr’s convoy drove by. Two policemen were killed and five people were wounded in the attack.

    The prosecution charged the defendants with joining a terrorist group and premeditated murder of the two police officers.

    They are also charged them with the intention of killing the director of Alexandria security and his guards by detonating a bomb-laden vehicle.

    The prosecution also accused them with the attempted murder of Nemr and six of his guards who were present at the site of the attack.”

  12. Arab Coalition Downs Houthi Drone Fired at Khamis Mushait
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2335911/arab-coalition-downs-houthi-drone-fired-khamis-mushait

    “The Saudi-led Arab coalition announced on Monday that it had intercepted and downed a booby-trapped drone, launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen towards Saudi territories.

    Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said the aircraft was flown towards civilian areas in Khamis Mushait city.

    He slammed the “terrorist operation”, saying it was another example of the Houthis’ deliberate targeting of civilians. The latest such incident took place on Saturday with the militias attempting to attack Saudi Arabia’s Najran city.

    The Houthis’ ongoing hostile and terrorist acts are a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” he added.

    The coalition will take all firm measures to “neutralize and destroy the Houthi capabilities in order to protect innocent civilians from such reckless acts,” Malki vowed.”

  13. Afghans Says Iran Police Complicit in Attacks on Refugees
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2335926/afghans-says-iran-police-complicit-attacks-refugees

    “An Afghan lawmaker accused Iranian authorities on Monday of involvement in recent attacks on Afghan refugees in Iran, incidents that have sparked protest rallies in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

    The lawmaker, Abdul Sattar Husseini, told The Associated Press that he is part of a government team investigating complaints that authorities in Iran had mistreated Afghans living there, including in an incident earlier this month in Yazd province when three Afghans died after their vehicle was shot at — allegedly by police — and set on fire.

    In another incident, a large group of Afghan migrants was captured by Iranian border police last month, he said. Some from the group who got away later recounted that at least two dozen among them were allegedly pushed into a river by Iranian policemen and drowned. Tehran has vehemently dismissed the allegations.

    More than 1 million Afghans live as refugees in Iran having fled four decades of war in their homeland. Iran has been accused of forcing Afghans back across the border into Afghanistan.

    Also, a graffiti has surfaced in Kabul to protest the Yazd deaths, inscribed with the words “We can’t breathe” in the Dari language — a homage to the last words of George Floyd, the African American who died when a white police officer knelt on his neck, killing him. The slaying has sent shock waves across the world and sparked protests against racism and police brutality.

    The International Office of Migration says more than 200,000 Afghans have returned from Iran since the beginning of the year. Iran has since recorded the highest number of coronavirus infections, over 189,000 and 8,950 deaths. Afghanistan has reported over 25,000 cases and 482 deaths although health officials and aid organizations fear the toll is much higher as little testing is being done.

    The Yazd incident sparked protests earlier this month in Kabul, outside the Iranian Embassy, and there have also been similar rallies in several European cities and Canada.

    Husseini, the lawmaker, said the government team would present a report later this week to parliament. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Sunday that a delegation would go to Iran to have a larger discussion about the living condition of Afghan refugees in Iran and ways to improve the ties between the two neighbors.

    Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Monday that the Afghan ambassador to Iran had been summoned and told that Tehran considers the rally outside the Iranian Embassy in Kabul destructive.

    Mousavi said Tehran is cooperating with Kabul to “to answer questions and clear up obscurities,” and claimed some, including the foreign media, are “taking advantage of this situation.”

    Afghan Najibullah Kabuli, one of the organizers of the Kabul protest, said the demonstrators sought an independent inquiry into the incidents involving Afghans living in Iran.

    “We are not satisfied with the efforts of the Afghan government,” said Kabuli.”

  14. Pro-Kurdish Party Protests Turkish Government Crackdown
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2335981/pro-kurdish-party-protests-turkish-government-crackdown

    “Members of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party are traveling to the capital Ankara from the southeastern and northwestern corners of the country to protest a government crackdown on the political movement that officials accuse of links to Kurdish militants.

    A group of some 80 members of the People’s Democratic Party, or HDP — including several legislators — departed from the city of Edirne, near the border with Greece, on Monday, while a second group, numbering some 60, left Hakkari, near the border with Iraq, to demand an end to the government crackdown.

    The two groups are scheduled to reach Ankara on Saturday, where they plan to hold a protest at a park near the parliament, reported The Associated Press.

    President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government accuses the party of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The HDP denies the accusation.

    On Monday, police dispersed a group of HDP supporters who had gathered near a prison complex on the outskirts of Istanbul before joining the group in Edirne.

    At least 10 people were detained, the party said.

    Police also blocked the group in Edirne from starting their protest from outside of a prison where former HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas is incarcerated.

    The demonstrations from Edirne and Hakkari come after two HDP legislators, Leyla Guven and Musa Farisoglullari, were stripped of their legislative seats and immunity earlier this month and imprisoned following their convictions on terror charges.

    Last month, authorities detained four more elected HDP mayors and replaced them with government-appointed trustees. Some 45 other mayors have been removed from office since local elections in March 2019, and 21 of them have been imprisoned on terror-related charges. Several other HDP lawmakers have also been jailed alongside Demirtas.

    “These obstructions, these bans will never deter us. They will never prevent our struggle for peace, democracy, justice and freedom,” said HDP co-chairwoman Pervin Buldan, as she launched the protest from Edirne.”

  15. Iraq must reform ‘vaguely worded’ free speech laws, HRW says
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraq-new-government-must-reform-vaguely-worded-free-speech-laws-hrw-says

    “Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Iraq’s new government to immediately reform laws dealing with freedom of expression, saying vaguely worded laws have been used to violate free speech during recent protests and the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

    In a 42-page report released on Monday, the US-based rights group said that Iraqi authorities in Baghdad, as well as the Kurdistan region, had routinely used vaguely worded laws to bring criminal charges against people expressing dissenting voices.

    During protests that erupted last year towards the end of the former government’s term in office, authorities used a range of defamation and incitement legal provisions against critics – including journalists, activists, and other dissenting voices, the group found.

    HRW called on Iraq’s new prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, to use his new position to “replace criminal defamation articles in the penal code with civil defamation penalties and amend laws that limit free speech to comply with international law”.

    Given Kadhimi’s stated willingness since taking office to make reforms, “the government has a unique opportunity to tackle over a decade of free speech restrictions”, the group said in its report.

    “Iraqi leaders should commit to fostering respect for international law as a way to better inform and protect their people,” added Belkis Wille, senior crisis and conflict researcher at HRW…”

  16. Union of Muslim Scholars condemns escalating UAE normalisation with Israel
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200615-union-of-muslim-scholars-condemns-escalating-uae-normalisation-with-israel/

    “Secretary-General of International Union for Muslim Scholars, Ali Qaradaghi, condemned on Saturday escalating UAE normalisation with Israel.

    On Twitter, the officials wrote: “We are still with justice and against oppression,” referring to the prisoners inside the UAE’s prisons. “Stop oppression and aggression,” he added.

    “You hug the sons of Zion and humiliate the true believers.”….”

  17. Saudi Arabia removes name of Ottoman Sultan from Riyadh street
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200615-saudi-arabia-removes-name-of-ottoman-sultan-from-riyadh-street/

    “The Riyadh Municipality has removed a street sign bearing the name of the renowned street, also known as Suleiman the Magnificent, from one of its streets, local media reported.

    The Riyadh Municipality did not give a reason for the move, however social media users believe strained relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey could be the trigger…”

  18. Germany: Over 1,000 have voluntarily returned to Syria since 2017
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200615-germany-over-1000-have-voluntarily-returned-to-syria-since-2017/

    “More than 1,000 Syrians have voluntarily returned to their home country with financial support from Germany since 2017, the German Interior Ministry told DPA news agency.

    The ministry said the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) paid for a total of 199 return trips in 2017, 466 in 2018 and 347 in 2019.

    However, the ministry suggested that the actual number of Syrians who had voluntarily returned to Syria exceeds the official records because requests for funding for the return trips have not been submitted from all states.

    The ministry noted that the German government does not currently fund voluntary return trips due to the “complex security situation” in Syria.

    Some 630,000 Syrians have applied for asylum in Germany since the beginning of the civil war in 2011.”

  19. Turkey: 2 suspects remanded over links to Daesh
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200615-turkey-2-suspects-remanded-over-links-to-daesh/

    “Two suspects arrested in a Turkish operation were remanded in custody Monday over their alleged links to the terrorist group Daesh, according to judicial sources, reports Anadolu Agency.

    The suspects had been caught by Turkish security forces in the southeastern Mardin province, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

    When the suspects appeared in court, they were remanded in custody…”

  20. Turkey, Italy conduct joint drill in Mediterranean
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200615-turkey-italy-conduct-joint-drill-in-mediterranean/

    “Italian and Turkish submarines on Monday conducted a joint maritime drill in the Mediterranean, said Turkey’s Defense Ministry on Monday.

    In a tweet, the ministry said the two navies have the most effective submarine force in the Mediterranean Sea and will continue to improve the interoperability with maritime training.

    Turkey and Italy are two regional powers that share common interests, common history, and common values in the Mediterranean basin. Their relations date back to the Ottoman Empire.”

  21. Arab tribal council accuses Kurdish-dominated authorities of ‘starvation policies’ in eastern Syria
    https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/6/15/kurdish-authorities-pursue-starvation-policies-in-eastern-syria

    “A council representing local Arab tribesmen has accused Syrian Kurdish authorities of implementing a policy of “starvation” and plundering resources in regions east of the country under their control.

    The “Arab Council in Al Jazeera and Al Furat” issued a statement via its spokesman, Ahmad Jarba, a prominent figure in the Syrian opposition who once led the Syrian National Coalition and is himself a member of the Shammar tribe.

    The statement accused the Kurdish-dominated Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, also known as Rojava, of exploiting the region’s resources without regard for its “infrastructure” or “alleviating the poverty of its residents”.

    The statement added that local farmers were being forced to sell their produce at extremely low rates and said that the authorities were now governing the area unilaterally, leaving residents no stake in governance…”

  22. 80% of illegal workers, mainly Indians, depart Kuwait under pardon plan
    https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/kuwait/80-of-illegal-workers-mainly-indians-depart-kuwait-under-pardon-plan-1.72055467

    “About 21,163 out of 26,472 illegal workers from several different nationalities have benefited from the Kuwaiti pardon scheme amid the COVID-19 crisis, Kuwaiti media reported.

    The illegal workers who registered for repatriation belong to 27 nationalities, out of the total citizens of 47 countries in Kuwait, sources said.

    Plans will be drawn up for deporting the remaining illegals at the earliest, in coordination with the Foreign Ministry, the sources added.

    The highest number of violators of the residency law, 7,181, belonged to the Indian community with 5,977 workers being repatriated and 1,204 remaining, followed by the Egyptian community with all 6,161 violators being repatriated, then the Bangladeshi community with 4,376 workers of whom 4,121 were repatriated and 255 others remaining.

    The lowest number of violators were the Italian citizens, with only two workers, followed by the Iranian, Tunisian, and Thai communities with three violators each.

    The pardon offers the illegal expatriates exemptions from legal punishment and free home return flights.

    Among the repatriated workers were 2,529 Filipinos, 466 Sri Lankans, 233 from Ghana, 162 from Cameroon, 259 from Pakistan, 150 from Ivory Coast, 162 from Benin, 36 from Burkina Faso, 79 from Indonesia, and 176 from Madagascar.”

  23. Three women held for torturing maid
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/2242718/1-three-women-held-torturing-maid/

    “Police claim to have arrested three women on charges of forcing a housemaid into prostitution, torturing her and shaving her head in Abbasia Town.

    The police said the maid had escaped from the house where the women had forced her into prostitution and kept her confined forcibly. They said the suspects allegedly tortured the maid after she refused to indulge in immoral activities.

    Exposing another case of exploitation of domestic workers, the victim reached the C-Division police station and filed an FIR against her employers.
    The maid alleged in the FIR that the three sisters had set up a prostitution den in Abbasia Town. She alleged that she had been kept in confinement for two years and had been forced to have relations with men several times.

    They tortured her after she refused to comply with their demands and cut off her hair, she said.

    The police said she was being shifted to Darul Aman on the orders of a court.

    The DPO took notice of the incident and the area police arrested the three accused…”

  24. Freedom of expression at risk; Amendment of Mass Media Law is draconian and unconstitutional
    http://www.afghanistantimes.af/freedom-of-expression-at-risk-amendment-of-mass-media-law-is-draconian-and-unconstitutional/

    “Afghanistan government has proposed to amend the mass media law, seeking to curtail freedom of expression and silence critical voices. The proposed provisions has ignited a flurry of criticism from media community, calling the move draconian, unconstitutional, and a constraint to the freedom of media.

    Media outlets and media watchdogs in an open letter to President Ghani on Monday voiced concerns about the proposed amendment, saying it will limit freedom of the press and runs against the Constitution and international treaties. They called on the president to stop the drastic and repressive provisions and prevent it from becoming a menace against freedom.

    The letter was read out by Afghan Journalists Safety Committee chief Najib Sharifi in a press conference in which the government is accused of yet again attempting to amend the Mass Media Law. They said that the new proposal will impose severe limitations to the freedom of media.

    Afghanistan media community, in reliance on Article 7 of the Constitution, voiced in unison an utter discontent with the proposed provisions that go against Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

  25. 8 Iraqis detained over links to ISIL
    https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/8-iraqis-detained-over-links-to-isil-155669

    “Turkish police detained eight Iraqi nationals over suspected links to the ISIL terror group, security sources said on June 15.

    The detentions were made in Turkey’s capital Ankara early on June 15 as part of an operation against the terror group, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the press.

    Ankara anti-terror police units launched an operation against 10 Iraqi nationals who had illegally entered Turkey.

    As part of the operation, eight of the suspects detained were identified to have been active Daesh members in conflict regions.

    The sources said the search for the remaining two suspects was ongoing.

    Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize ISIL as a terror group in 2013.

    The country has since been attacked by ISIL terrorists numerous times, including in 10 suicide bombings, seven bombings and four armed attacks which killed 315 people and injured hundreds.

    In response, Turkey launched military and police operations at home and abroad to prevent further terror attacks.”

  26. Turkish military gamechanger in Libya: Minister
    https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-military-gamechanger-in-libya-minister-155681

    “The Turkish army’s training and guidance contributed “very significantly” to the recent military success of Libya’s U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), Turkey’s defense minister has said.

    Speaking in an interview with daily Milliyet, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the Turkish soldiers are providing military training, cooperation, and advisory services to forces loyal to Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj’s GNA.

    “After the official invitation by the Sarraj government, we sent some of our armed forces to [Libya]. The GNA members became very successful during their struggle. They truly wrote epics there,” Akar said.

    Akar also said that the GNA soldiers used military equipment and weaponry in a “very effective” manner.

    “These putschists, those who are against unity and solidarity, lost,” he added, referring to the eastern-based military commander Khalifa Haftar’s forces.

    “They lost when they were able to seize Tripoli in one day,” he added.

    Akar also underlined that the Turkish military’s help towards the GNA forces had a very “significant” contribution to the latter’s success.

    “[The Turkish military] became a guiding light. This drastically shifted the balance [in Libya],” he added.

    The minister also underlined that Turkey’s military equipment, which is indigenous up to 70 percent, changed the balances in the region.

    “Now, no one will be able to create a solution in Aegean, eastern Mediterranean [and] in Cyprus, without cooperating, discussing, or exchanging information with Turkey,” he said.

    “In this context, everyone should know that neither Turkey nor the TSK [Turkish Armed Forces] will not let any fait accompli,” he added.

    US, Russia must fulfill commitments in Idlib

    When asked about the situation in Syria, where both Russia and the U.S. pledged to drove the YPG/PKK terrorists from the region, Akar said that the TSK will continue to carry out its operations until the “last terrorist is neutralized.”

    “We have operation areas in Peace Spring, Euphrates Shield, and Olive Branch. Are there problems there? Yes. [And] we are talking about these with Americans and the Russians,” he said.

    “There are agreements. We are behind our promises. We expect Americans and Russians to fulfill their promises with the same sensitivity,” he added.

    Akar also said that some “radicals” in Idlib are creating troubles yet there are still terrorists in Tel Rifaat, Manbij, and the Operation Peace Spring area, regardless of the U.S. and Russia’s pledges.

    “We expect our counterparts to fulfill their commitments,” he said.”

  27. Doctors Without Borders closes doors in Afghan capital
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/doctors-without-borders-closes-doors-in-afghan-capital/1878099

    “Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) on Monday said it will cease operations in the Afghan capital Kabul.

    The Geneva-based international humanitarian group made the announcement after an attack on its maternity clinic last month claimed by Daesh/ISIS killed 16 people, mostly women and children.

    “We were aware that our presence in Dasht-e-Barchi [the neighborhood where the clinic was located] carried risks, but we just couldn’t believe that someone would take advantage of the absolute vulnerability of women about to give birth to murder them and their babies,” said Thierry Allafort-Duverger, MSF director general. “But it did happen.”

    “Today, we have to accept reality: higher walls and thicker security doors won’t prevent such horrific assaults from happening again,” he said.

    With almost 16,000 deliveries in 2019, the Dasht-e-Barchi maternity wing was one of MSF’s biggest such projects worldwide.

    In the past 16 years, 70 staff and patients in MSF healthcare programs have been killed in Afghanistan.

    “Such tragic instances include the murder of five employees in Badghis province in 2004, and the destruction of our hospital in Kunduz by the US air force in October 2015, when 42 people died,” it said in a statement.

    The densely populated Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood in Kabul is inhabited mostly by the ethnic Shia Hazara Afghans who have been targeted in a string of Daesh-claimed suicide attacks and armed assaults.”

  28. Italian universities admit refugee students
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/nations/italy/2020/06/15/italian-universities-admit-refugee-students_4e6315c1-0098-4e6d-b0e8-573dec1f0d63.html

    “Eleven Italian universities are joining forces to launch university ‘corridors’ to offer to refugee students coming from countries at war or affected by calamities the opportunity of continuing to pursue their studies in Italy, UNHCR announced in a statement.

    The UN Refugee Agency signed a protocol with the universities, the foreign ministry, Italian Catholic charity Caritas, the Valdensian community and the Gandhi Cahrity. The project, which is a continuation of a pilot project that kicked off in 2019 with the participation of two universities and six students, will involve 20 refugee students who are currently in Ethiopia. They will be supported to pursue a two-year university degree and integrate in campus life.

    The project, called University Corridors for Refugees (UNI-CO-RE), involves the universities of L’Aquila, Bologna, Cagliari, Florence, Milan, Padua, Perugia, Pisa, Sassari, Iuav in Venice and Luiss in Rome. ”Too many refugees in the world don’t have access to education”, said Chiara Cardoletti, UNHCR representative for Italy, the Holy See and San Marino.

    ”The situation is dramatic for higher education: only 3% are able to access against a global average of 37%. Thanks to the work of the universities involved, projects like UNI-CO-RE not only allow refugees to reach Italy safely but also to develop their talent, contributing to the local community and giving once again hope to millions of children and youths who are currently in exile due to war and persecution”.

    Students will be selected based on merit, through a public competition and by committees of experts selected by each university. By 2030, UNHCR pursues the objective of reaching an enrollment rate of 15% in higher education programs for refugees in host and third countries also by widening safe access pathways that take into consideration specific needs and legitimate aspirations of refugees.”

  29. Racial data proposal sparks new controversy in France
    https://www.thelocal.fr/20200615/racial-data-proposal-sparks-new-controversy-in-france

    “Government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye raised the ire even of cabinet colleagues by proposing that including racial data in the national database could allow policymakers to “measure and look at reality as it is”.

    As France reels from allegations of racism in the ranks of its police, a debate has resurfaced on lifting a long-standing ban on racial population data, which some say could help paint a clearer picture of inequality in the country.

    Ndiaye, who is Senegalese-born and has complained of casual racism in her adoptive country, argued in a letter in Le Monde newspaper at the weekend that France should have an honest look at the “representativity of people of colour in the public, political, economic and cultural life of our country”.

    A 1978 French law prohibits the collection of data on a person’s race, ethnicity, or political or religious opinions for the national census or other surveys.

    This means there is no official data on the racial makeup of the population of France, long a country of immigration, including from its former colonies in North and West Africa.

    Thousands of people have taken to the streets in France in a series of protests the past weeks in an echo of the Black Lives Matter in the United States. Photo: AFP

    Race is a sensitive topic in France, a country deeply scarred by the memory of the Vichy government under German occupation during World War II rounding up and deporting Jews to Nazi concentration camps.

    Ndiaye’s boss, French President Emmanuel Macron, said Monday he did not wish to revisit “at this time” an issue that divides even the almost exclusively white members of his government.

    Macron “supports concrete actions to fight discrimination rather than a new debate on a subject unlikely to yield rapid and visible results,” a presidential adviser, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

    ‘Reconcile society’

    In an address to the nation Sunday night, the president promised an “uncompromising” fight against racism after recent demonstrations against alleged prejudice in the police.

    On the same day, Human Rights Watch said France should halt identity checks by the police that are “abusive and discriminatory” towards black and Arab males.

    In his address, Macron acknowledged France must address the fact that “the name, the address, the colour of the skin” can affect a person’s chances in life.

    Ndiaye pressed on with her campaign on Monday, telling broadcaster France Inter that racial data could help fight “subtle racism”.

    And it could help “reconcile two strands of our society that are forever at odds: those who tell you: ‘the blacks and the Arabs, people of colour have access to nothing’ and those who tell you: ‘The problem does not exist’,” she said.

    Her proposal was shot down by cabinet members, including Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin.

    “I remain unfavourable to ethnic statistics which do not correspond with French universalism,” Le Maire told Franceinfo, emphasising a French citizen was French irrespective of origin or race.

    Darmanin told BFMTV he would rather support statistics based on where people live.

    “When you come from a disadvantaged neighbourhood… whatever the colour of your skin, it is more difficult to find an internship than when you are someone of a skin colour different than whites, as they say today, living in the seventh arrondissement of Paris”, a rich neighbourhood.

    France’s National Consultative Commission on Human Rights, a government body, says collecting racial data risked “stereotyping” people.”

  30. Trump slams media trying to ‘COVID shame’ upcoming Tulsa rally

    + comments on the YT page

  31. Video: Iran Hosts International ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Exhibition Amid Ongoing Anti-Racism Protest in US
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202006161079625222-video-iran-hosts-international-i-cant-breathe-exhibition-amid-ongoing-anti-racism-protest-in-us/

    “The killing of African-American George Floyd by white police officers in the US in late May sparked an ongoing massive wave of demonstrations across the United States and in many major cities around the world, protesting racism and police brutality.

    The Iranian capital of Tehran hosted an international cartoon exhibition titled ‘I Can’t Breathe’ in reference to words pronounced by African-American George Floyd as he gasped for air while his neck was crushed under the knee of a white police officer.

    Organized by the Aali Gallery of the Art Bureau and opened on 10 June, the exhibition features 72 artworks by 45 artists from 27 countries.

    Cartoonist Masud Shojaei-Tabatabai, the director of the exhibition, said on Saturday that the content of the display was in direct reaction to the killing of George Floyd and to protests triggered by the tragic incidence of police brutality.

    “After we witnessed the bitter incident in which a black man was murdered by the American police, we also witnessed a wave of protests in America, and it has spread to other Western countries. Since the pleading and the cries for help were accompanied by the words ‘I can’t breathe’, we named the exhibition ‘I Can’t Breathe’,” Tabatabai said.

    Included in the works displayed in the exhibition are a cartoon of US President Donald Trump being compared to Adolf Hitler, the Statue of Liberty taking a knee while holding a sign with the text ‘I can’t breathe’ and a swastika crushing George Floyd’s neck.

    A wave of protest against police brutality and racism has been sweeping the US since 25 May after the killing of an African-American man named George Floyd by white police officers in Minnesota’s city of Minneapolis was posted to the internet. One of the officers in the video kneels on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and forty-six seconds as the dying victim was pinned to the ground, gasping for life.”