Reader’s inks for July 17, 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

57 Replies to “Reader’s inks for July 17, 2020”

    • Lots of homeless druggies in Everett, encamped near courthouse, tweakercam 24 hrs feed, many new apt buildings for them, they dont want…

  1. Universal Masking to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Transmission—The Time Is Now

    In this issue of JAMA, Wang, et al. present evidence that universal masking of healthcare workers (HCWs) and patients can help reduce transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. In the largest healthcare system in Massachusetts with more than 75?000 employees, in tandem with routine symptom screening and diagnostic testing of symptomatic HCWs for SARS-CoV-2 infection, leadership mandated a policy of universal masking for all HCWs as well as for all patients.…

    Data from a large healthcare system may be generalizable to the greater community insofar as the findings represent the contribution of masking when individuals are physically close to one another and social distancing is not possible. Like herd immunity with vaccines, the more individuals wear cloth face coverings in public places where they may be close together, the more the entire community is protected.

    For the person assessing personal exposure risk when going out in public, minimizing the number of non-household contacts, maintaining a physical distance of at least 6 ft [about 2 metres], and limiting the amount of time around others, especially while indoors and in poorly ventilated areas, are all important considerations.…

    However, face covering is not needed all the time. It is probably safe for individuals and safe for others to drive alone or to walk or jog alone on an uncrowded route without a face covering. But when individuals choose to go out or must be close to others in public, a cloth face covering can help reduce the spread of COVID-19 from asymptomatic individuals or others. With cloth face coverings, personal protection is derived from their use by all members of the community.…

    https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2768532?

  2. Mosques, Sports Shutting Down Again In Iran’s Capital As Pandemic Crisis Deepens

    The coronavirus pandemic in the Iranian capital Tehran has reached critical levels, spurring health authorities to call for reintroduction of restrictions including a halt in religious gatherings. Iran’s daily death toll is now hovering around 200.

    Iranian authorities do not announce the death toll of the pandemic for individual cities or provinces but from what they have said it appears the capital Tehran now has a very high death toll, possibly even around 50 a day.…

    This week some restrictions including closure of gyms swimming pools were reintroduced in Tehran but Zali said more activities including Friday prayers and all tests and exams should come to a halt for the time being. On [Wed 15 Jul 2020] it was announced that mosques will be closed for a week in Tehran.…

    Health Minister Saeed Namaki on July 8 in highly charged comments barraged top officials with criticism, accusing them of “negligence” and lack of a proper economic plan to deal with the crisis which led to the rushed lifting of restrictions on businesses. Namaki pointed out that the treasury was empty and destitute due to U.S. sanctions and people were under so much pressure that insurrection was becoming a threat.…

    https://en.radiofarda.com/a/mosques-sports-shutting-down-again-in-iran-s-capital-as-pandemic-crisis-deepens/30728044.html

  3. Moderator at H5H1 comments on the article that follows:

    When I first started blogging about a possible H5N1 pandemic some 15 years ago, one of the questions I couldn’t find an answer for was this: What happens to people who get sick from other diseases, or who need regular checkups in clinics and hospitals, when a pandemic has hit?

    Well, the answer eventually arrived: They’re collateral damage. During the West African Ebola outbreak, more people died of measles than of Ebola itself. With every serious outbreak, the health system is swamped and its ordinary patients understandably stay away from the system.

    Now it’s happening again, and in the US it means a likely surge in mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and West Nile.…
    ……………………………………………………
    Mosquitoes flying free as health departments focus on virus

    Monitoring and killing mosquitoes is a key public health task used to curb the spread of deadly disease. In recent years, top mosquito-borne illnesses have killed some 200 people annually in the U.S. But those low numbers are due in part to the efforts of public health departments to keep the spread at bay, unlike in other countries where hundreds of thousands are sickened and die each year.…

    This is a physical job that can’t be done by telecommuting from home. Keeping track of mosquitoes and the diseases they carry requires setting up traps, and searching backyards and commercial lots. Public health workers patrol irrigation ditches, and overturn the backyard tires, plastic bins and garbage that can hold standing water where mosquitoes breed.

    The goal is to find infected mosquito populations and kill them before they get to humans, or at least warn the community about their presence as mosquito-borne epidemics are happening more frequently nationally as temperatures rise. …

    [A]s public health workers scramble to summon enough of a workforce to address a once-in-a-generation pandemic, they’re being pulled from normal mosquito-related tasks. The short staffing is leaving many localities – especially those without separate, dedicated control districts – flying blind on potential mosquito threats.…

    https://apnews.com/bc7a3de603413b95676f4fe451cb840b

  4. Here’s what I found: There’s a shortage of Plaquenil [HCQ]. That’s a disaster for people using it for years. Rheumatologists continue to prescribe it to current patients with lupus, but supply isn’t meeting demand. The Lupus Foundation is working on it. That’s part of the reason why doctors prescribing it for off-label usage are facing regulatory scrutiny.

    More info: https://www.lupus.org/resources/hydroxychloroquine-plaquenil-coronavirus-covid19-questions-answers

    Is a shortage of hydroxychloroquine expected?
    – – Answer: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has posted a notice of a shortage of hydroxychloroquine. It is not possible to predict the full scope and duration of the shortage or the long term impact the coronavirus pandemic will have on the supply of hydroxychloroquine. At this time, it is unknown whether ending the EUA will impact the current hydroxychloroquine shortage. We are actively working with all relevant stakeholders…

    – – Are there alternative medications I can use in the event of a shortage?
    Answer: Unfortunately, there are no good alternatives to hydroxychloroquine for people who need these medications. They are in a class by themselves and have the advantage of not being immunosuppressive. This is unlike many other therapies, including glucocorticoids like prednisone that increase risk of infections of all kinds.

    • I watched a young woman, I thought must be 200 pounds overweight waddle to her car, unload her groceries, get in her car, sit and read something then take off her mask and light a cigarette.
      I looked around the parking lot and thought to myself, the many masked moos think the virus is going to kill them. Oh well.

  5. Again, it’s a mystery, Yucki. Has the left so cowed the medical community into accepting this “collateral damage”?

    Here’s guy who delivers a dose of common sense. A bit long at over 40 minutes but he sings from our same book:

    https://youtu.be/GGVRcp1gxMs

    • Collateral damage is just that – it is what it is.
      None of us wants to be it! Or cause it!
      More unknowns than knowns, at this point. I respect an open mind, not bloggers who say the science is settled.

      The medical community – actual clinicians – face roaring frauds using bullhorns to convince you THEIR truth is THE truth. We don’t want uncertainty; we prefer black-hat/ white-hat. So tentative clinicians are out-matched by snake-oil peddlers and attention-whores.

      e.g.”Plandemic”. Otherwise savvy media consumers swallow the story of a criminal liar whole. It’s plenty frustrating to KNOW she’s lying[*] and can’t counter a slick presentation.

      [*] FACT, I accessed records of her credentials.

  6. Ok, the first thing before I go any further. This is NOT an anti-mask post nor am I anti-mask. If the local government that you elected, either through not voting, not convincing enough people to vote the correct person in or you yourself not voting the correct person in, or finally the correct person is telling you to wear one, then wear one.

    I will explain why. I will explain the purpose of masks. The different ones and what they can and cannot do.

    This will all be backed up with links so there should be no real debate on the science, just the politics.

    This being said, the most important statement is this: Publically available cloth, fiber and paper masks WILL NOT STOP airborne or fluid pathogens.

    Why won’t they?

    Because they were never designed to. A surgical mask is a loose-fitting disposable mask intended to be worn by health professionals during sterile healthcare procedures.

    Primarily for the sterile surgical rooms, it protects the patient from infections by catching microorganisms shed in liquid droplets and aerosols from the wearer’s mouth and nose.

    It prevents the doctor from getting infections borne from the same as well as body fluid splatter.

    Evidence supports the effectiveness of surgical masks in reducing the risk of infection among other healthcare workers and in the community. However, a Cochrane review found that there is no clear evidence that disposable face masks worn by members of the surgical team would reduce the risk of wound infections after clean surgical procedures.

    These face masks should be used once and disposed of in biohazard containers as they are contaminated.

    https://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/masks.htm

    https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/basics/transmission-based-precautions.html

    https://doi.org/10.1136%2Fbmj.h694 (sci-hub dot tw)

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27115326

    https://doi.org/10.1002%2F14651858.cd002929.pub3

    https://web.archive.org/web/20160304190243/http://home.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/bhpp/bhpp-interrim-maskguide120106.pdf (2006)

    Surgical masks are made of a nonwoven fabric created using a melt blowing process. They came into use in the 1960s and largely replaced cloth facemasks in developed countries.

    Surgical masks are popularly worn by the general public all year round in East Asian countries like China, Japan and South Korea to reduce the chance of spreading airborne diseases to others, and to prevent the breathing in of airborne dust particles created by air pollution. Additionally, surgical masks have become a fashion statement, particularly in contemporary East Asian culture bolstered by its popularity in Japanese and Korean pop culture which have a big impact on East Asian youth culture.

    https://qz.com/299003/a-quick-history-of-why-asians-wear-surgical-masks-in-public/

    https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/28826/1/how-surgical-masks-became-a-fashion-statement

    https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/02/how-k-pop-revived-black-sickness-masks-in-japan/

    What about cloth masks? Cloth masks are simply a barrier used to achieve the same thing a surgical mask does only in non sterile environments. The perform the same functions only with reusabililty via laundering exchanged for sterility. http://www.ijic.info/article/view/11366

    https://doi.org/10.3396%2FIJIC.v9i3.020.13

    https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011PLoSO…621392T

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7108646

    https://doi.org/10.1017%2Fdmp.2013.43

    This brings us to N95 masks. Guess what? They aren’t masks. Calling them a mask is a misdirection designed to confuse those who arent in the specific industries they are commonly used in.

    So what are they? An N95 is a respirator. Specifically a particulate-filtering facepiece respirator that meets the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) N95 classification of air filtration, meaning that it filters at least 95% of airborne particles. This standard does not require that the respirator be resistant to oil; another standard, P95, adds that requirement. The N95 type is the most common particulate-filtering facepiece respirator. It is an example of a mechanical filter respirator, which provides protection against particulates but not against gases or vapors.

    The N95 mask requires a fine mesh of synthetic polymer fibers, specifically a nonwoven polypropylene fabric. It is produced by melt blowing and forms the inner filtration layer that filters out hazardous particles.

    https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1791500O/comparison-ffp2-kn95-n95-filtering-facepiece-respirator-classes-tb.pdf

    https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/disp_part/n95list1-a.html

    https://www.honeywell.com/en-us/newsroom/news/2020/03/n95-masks-explained

    N: This is a Respirator Rating Letter Class. It stands for “Non-Oil” meaning that if no oil-based particulates are present, then you can use the mask in the work environment. Other masks ratings are R (resistant to oil for 8 hours) and P (oil proof).

    95: Masks ending in a 95, have a 95 percent efficiency. Masks ending in a 99 have a 99 percent efficiency. Masks ending in 100 are 99.97 percent efficient and that is the same as a HEPA quality filter.

    .3 microns: The masks filter out contaminants like dusts, mists and fumes. The minimum size of .3 microns of particulates and large droplets won’t pass through the barrier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.)

    Material: The filtration material on the mask is an electrostatic non-woven polypropylene fiber.

    Valve: Some disposable N95 masks come with an optional exhalation valve. “The presence of an exhalation valve reduces exhalation resistance, which makes it easier to breathe (exhale,)” according to the CDC.

    https://www.honeywell.com/content/dam/honeywell/images/article-in-story-images/IS-Mask-Graphic.jpg
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Understanding_the_difference_between_surgical_masks_and_N95_respirators.pdf

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Three_Key_Factors_Required_for_a_Respirator_to_be_Effective.pdf/page1-800px-Three_Key_Factors_Required_for_a_Respirator_to_be_Effective.pdf.jpg
    N95 respirators can be used beyond their manufacturer-designated shelf life, although components such as the straps and nose bridge material may degrade, making it particularly important that the wearer perform the expected seal check. N95 respirators can be reused a limited number of times after being removed, as long as they have not been used during aerosol-generating procedures and are not contaminated with patients’ bodily fluids, although this increases the risk of surface contamination with pathogens. The respirator manufacturer may recommend a maximum number of donnings or uses; if no manufacturer guidance is available, preliminary data suggests limiting to five uses per device.

    Respirators used in healthcare are traditionally a specific variant called a surgical respirator, which is both approved by NIOSH as a respirator and cleared by the Food and Drug Administration as a medical device similar to a surgical mask. These may also be labeled “Surgical N95”, “medical respirators”, or “healthcare respirators”.

    In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires healthcare workers who are expected to perform patient activities with those suspected or confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 to wear an N95 or above respirator.

    The CDC recommends the use of respirators with at least N95 certification to protect the wearer from inhalation of infectious particles including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, avian influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), pandemic influenza, and Ebola.

    Unlike a respirator, a surgical mask is designed to provide barrier protection against droplets and does not have an air-tight seal and thus does not protect its wearer against airborne particles such as virus material to the same extent.

    https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science blog/2020/03/16/n95-preparedness/

    https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/pdf/guidelines/isolation-guidelines-H.pdf

    https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1794572O/surgical-n95-vs-standard-n95-which-to-consider.pdf

    https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/hcwcontrols/recommendedguidanceextuse.html

    This leaves us to the next and actually effective level: a half-face elastomeric air-purifying respirator. This kind of respirator is reusable, with the filters being replaced periodically.

    In the current pandemic of COVID-19, N95 masks are being used and promoted as one of the highest levels PPE for provider protection o However, an N95 only blocks at least 95 percent of very small (0.3 micron) test particles o It is the minimum respiratory protection approved for airborne protection from SARS by the CDC o Per CDC “A NIOSH-certified, disposable N95 respirator is sufficient for routine airborne isolation precautions. Use of a higher level of respiratory protection may be considered for certain aerosol-generating procedures” as will be encountered in ENT and aerosolizing procedures in OR o N95 masks are being employed in either a reuse or extended use method; these devices have not been FDA or NIOSH approved for reuse. • In comparison, Elastomeric Respirators with P100 filters are recognized by the CDC as the highest level filter available against SARS o In the CDC strategy for respiratory protection during COVID pandemic, strategies are stratified into levels of “Conventional”, “Contingency”, and “Crisis”. The use of elastomeric respirators is considered a “Conventional” strategy and is considered a part of daily best practice routines ? In comparison, the current reuse/extended use of N95s is considered a “Contingency” level of respirator use and is not at best practice levels. o P100 filters provide protection from at least 99.97% of airborne particles (0.3 microns) and is oil proof . P100 filters also filter gases and vapors (amount is manufacture dependent) o P100 filters are equivalent to PAPRs for level of protection provided while allowing enhanced ability to protect the sterility of the surgical field due to lack of positive airflow o Elastomeric Respirators with P100 filters are intended for reuse and certified by NIOSH for this practice

    https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/personal-protective-equipment-infection-control/n95-respirators-and-surgical-masks-face-masks

    https://www.cdc.gov/sars/clinical/respirators.html

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4456839/

    The Elastomeric Respirator is a reusable and washable respirator that can be used by multiple individuals with disinfection between users o The elastomeric respirator costs $30 per respirator o It is non-disposable item and can be used by multiple individuals • P100 filter cartilages to use with the respirator are reusable but ultimately do require replacement o Each cartilage costs $2 dollars o Average life-span is 6 months in the healthcare setting o It needs to be replaced if grossly contaminated, damaged, or no longer able to be breathed through • This means that once the reusable respirators are bought by a department, for $2 a single provider can be protected for 6 months with the highest level respiratory PPE. o This is the equivalent of the cost of 32-42 N95 masks for that provider o Once this respiratory protection is obtained, further purchase may not be needed during time of pandemic crisis given the long use of the respirators and filters.

    • The Elastomeric Respirators are intended to be washed and disinfected and reused. • If reused by a single individual through a shift, their exterior should be cleaned between patient encounters if not fully protected from droplets o their exterior exposed surface can be disinfected with alcohol free disinfecting solution using a lint free wipe

    https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/factsheets/respsars.html

    https://www.osha.gov/video/respiratory_protection/fittesting_transcript.html

    A powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) is a type of respirator used to safeguard workers against contaminated air. PAPRs consist of a hood that takes ambient air contaminated with one or more type of pollutant or pathogen, actively removes (filters) a sufficient proportion of these hazards, and then delivers the clean air to the user’s face or mouth. They have a higher assigned protection factor than filtering facepiece respirators such as N95 masks.

    The modularity of PAPRs allows them to be customized for different working environments. Regardless of type, a PAPR consists of:

    some kind of headgear (mask or hood),

    a powered (motor-driven) fan which forces incoming air into the device,

    a filter (or multiple filters) for delivery to the user for breathing,

    and a battery or other power source.

    The mask may be hard and tight-fitting, or flexible and loose-fitting. The former affords a higher level of protection, but is less comfortable. Tight-fitting PAPRs require a fit test, while loose-fitting ones do not. This makes loose-fitting PAPRs useful when a fit test for a tight-fitting respirator cannot be successfully passed, for example when facial hair is present. Masks may be reusable or disposable. Some masks allow the full face to be seen by others, aiding in interpersonal communication.

    The fan, filter, and power-pack may be carried around freely by the user, often secured by a belt around the waist. Alternatively, with certain units, the air is fed to the user via lengthy tubing while the fans and filters are remotely mounted.

    PAPRs have low breathing resistance, unlike filtering facepiece respirators such as N95 masks. A PAPR may have adjustable air flow rates for added comfort. While they are often referred to as positive-pressure masks, they are not true positive-pressure devices as overbreathing can overcome the pressure supplied by the fan.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Missouri%2C_California_Homeland_Response_Force_130520-Z-UP142-060_crop.jpg
    PAPRs have the advantage of eliminating breathing resistance caused by unpowered negative-pressure respirators such as N95 masks. This makes them usable by persons who are medically disqualified from negative-pressure respirators. Loose-fitting PAPRs may also be selected for people who cannot pass a fit test due to facial hair or other reasons.

    https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/ppe-strategy/powered-air-purifying-respirators-strategy.html

    https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2017/07/06/elastomerics/

    https://www.ehstoday.com/ppe/respirators/article/21906717/constructing-a-powered-air-purifying-respirator-system

    https://www.health.state.mn.us/facilities/patientsafety/infectioncontrol/ppe/comp/papr.html

    In the post below I will explain about viruses and how small they are in comparisons to masks.

    http://en.nhc.gov.cn/att/20200207/1581067840474054531.jpg
    This is an image of the Chinese six levels. First 3 are masks, and the final 3 are respirators.

    As I said, I would explain about virus size and how small they are.

    I am not going into anything else other than size. OK? Good.

    Viruses display a wide diversity of shapes and sizes, called ‘morphologies’. In general, viruses are much smaller than bacteria. Most viruses that have been studied have a diameter between 20 and 300 nanometers. Some filoviruses have a total length of up to 1400 nm; their diameters are only about 80 nm. Most viruses cannot be seen with an optical microscope, so scanning and transmission electron microscopes are used to visualize them. To increase the contrast between viruses and the background, electron-dense “stains” are used. These are solutions of salts of heavy metals, such as tungsten, that scatter the electrons from regions covered with the stain. When virions are coated with stain (positive staining), fine detail is obscured. Negative staining overcomes this problem by staining the background only. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1715774 Casjens S (2010). Mahy BW, Van Regenmortel MH (eds.). Desk Encyclopedia of General Virology. Boston: Academic Press. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-12-375146-1. Bordenave G (May 2003). “Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)”. Microbes and Infection. 5 https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS1286-4579%2803%2900075-3. PMID 12758285

    Collier L, Balows A, Sussman M (1998). Mahy, B, Collier LA (eds.). Topley and Wilson’s Microbiology and Microbial Infections. Virology. 1 (Ninth ed.). ISBN 0-340-66316-2.

    So how small is a nanometer (nm)? https://twitter.com/ilovesiliguri/status/964344468244545537
    PM2.5 particles are so small that they can only be detected with an electron microscope. PM2.5 refers to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) that have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, which is about 3% the diameter of a human hair. A thousand nanometers makes one micrometer, so those PM2.5 particles are 2500 nm.

    To give you some idea of the nanoscale, 10 hydrogen atoms laid side by side measure a nanometre across, a strand of DNA is 2.5 nm in diameter, while a red blood cell is about 7000 nm wide. Need a few more examples? A human hair is between 50,000 and 100,000 nanometres thick, a single sheet of paper is around 75,000 nanometres thick, while a pinhead is around a million nanometres wide. If each person on Earth was the size of a nanometre, everyone on the planet would fit into one Hot Wheels matchbox car. So you get the idea—nano is super, super tiny.

    Finally, a complete virus particle, known as a virion, consists of nucleic acid surrounded by a protective coat of protein called a capsid. These are formed from identical protein subunits called capsomeres. Viruses can have a lipid “envelope” derived from the host cell membrane. The capsid is made from proteins encoded by the viral genome and its shape serves as the basis for morphological distinction.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Watch/comments/hsi9ds/explaining_masks_so_you_can_tell_the_bs_from_the/

    Note: sorry for such a long post: this is from a private sub, but the info is so important I thought it needed to be shared in full.

    • The info and defintions are helpful, but the distinction between protective to the wearer and protective to those around the wearer is lost.
      Medical personnel are now wearing masks with faceshields.
      — Me still irrationally fearful of semi-annual breast imaging MRI + mammogram)

  7. Christians Forced to Remove Cross from Church in Pakistan (sputniknews, Jul 17, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/world/202007171079910475-christians-forced-to-remove-cross-from-church-in-pakistan/

    “From scandalous abductions and later forced marriages of Catholic, Hindu, Sikh girls to vandalisation of church and temples, Pakistan has long been accused of mistreating minorities. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) recently released a report citing the sufferings of minorities due to forced conversion to Islam.

    A church in the village of Baloki in Pakistan has allegedly been forced to remove the cross from its premises by local Muslims in the area.

    According to social media posts across Twitter, the cross was recently fixed on the under-construction church but it was removed after local Muslims issued threats to the Christian community in Baloki, a village located over 64 km (40 miles) from Lahore in in Punjab province.

    The Christian community alleged that local Muslims had threatened to ban prayer services and confiscate their church’s property.

    “The Muslims [demanded] we remove the cross and all three floors of the minarets,” Barnabu a resident of Baloki was quoted by the website International Christian Concern (ICC) as stating…:

    • Imam Mazin Abdul-Adhim, the Muslim living in London, Ontario, the Canadian head of the terror group Hibz-it-Tharir, says the Muslims have a receipt for Hagia Sophia, apparently they bought it. He also say Muslims owe Canada nothing and Canadian soldiers are war criminals.

      Trigger words: demand, suppress, oppress, Jihad, fight, kill, humiliate, dirty kafir, dominate…..

      Imam Kathrada, Vancouver, “All Canadians in the upcoming election are evil, filthy non-Muslims who support homosexuality and Zionism”.

      Somalian / Canadian Said Rageash, “Non-Muslims disapprove of polygamy because they want Muslim women to be like cheap goods like non-Muslim women, women who do not want to share their husbands are not true believers”.

      Women suicide bombers are rape victims, the men promise that in martyrdom, they can wash away their shame of being raped by them.

      Stone, FGM, slavery, rape, child marriage, blasphemy laws, Apostacy, sex slaves, cutting off arms and legs honour killing, women’s minds are deficient, captive women, thighing, beating, subservience, slay the isolators, toss the homosexuals off a high place and then stone them, behead and slaughter the unbelievers —- Canadian Immigration Minister, Ahmed Husssen, “ The rural economy (where there are no jobs) needs immigration. People don’t realize just how much”.

      ISLAMOPHOBIA. YES

  8. London stabbing: Man killed after person seen being bundled into vehicle (express, Jul 17, 2020)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1310854/london-news-stabbing-uk-knife-crime-enfield-north-middlesex-hospital-met-police

    “POLICE have launched a murder investigation following the death of a man in North London.

    The Met Police were called shortly before 5am of Friday morning following reports of four men fighting in Lytton Avenue, Enfield. The police said a man was then put into a vehicle. At around 5am, officers at North Middlesex Hospital became aware of a man, aged in his 30s, who had been brought there suffering a single stab wound.

    The man later died in the London hospital.

    Three men have been arrested on suspicion of murder, all remain in custody…”

  9. Campaign group to fight SNP’s hate crime bill over claims it is ‘threat to free speech’ (telegraph, Jul 17, 2020)
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/07/16/campaign-group-fight-snps-hate-crime-bill-claims-threat-free/

    “A new law designed to combat hate crime in Scotland poses a significant risk to free speech and could lead to playwrights, academics and newspaper columnists being prosecuted, a new coalition set up to fight the proposals has claimed.

    The Free to Disagree campaign group, to be launched on Friday, has united Jim Sillars, the former deputy SNP leader with secular and religious campaigners, in an attempt to force changes to the bill which is currently making its way through Holyrood.

    They are concerned at proposals to make “abusive behaviour” deemed “likely to stir up hatred” a criminal offence, claiming it could lead to statements considered by others to be offensive being criminalised.

    Humza Yousaf, the SNP Justice Secretary, has described the…”

  10. Germany’s Largest Newspaper to Boycott Interviews With Official Parliamentary Opposition the AfD (breitbart, Jul 17, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/07/17/head-germany-largest-newspaper-vows-no-more-interviews-populist-afd/

    “Julian Reichelt, the editor-in-chief of Germany’s largest tabloid newspaper Bild, has vowed not to grant members of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) any more traditional interviews.

    Mr Reichelt stated that Bild would cover any news regarding the populist party, which serves as the official opposition in the German Bundestag, but said his paper would not offer a platform for members of the party.

    In an interview with the online magazine Quotenmeter, Reichelt said: “We will not offer the AfD or other parties that are monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Germany any area or scope.”

    “We will not allow them to promote themselves. A traditional interview with the AfD will not take place with us,” he added, referring to interviews such as the summer interview, traditionally taken against a picturesque backdrop.

    The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence service, recently released a report that added some 7,000 members of the AfD to its list of far-right extremists, including some members of the AfD’s youth organisation Junge Alternative.

    Thomas Haldenwang, the head of the BfV, has hinted that the agency may consider labelling the entire AfD an extremist party.

    Mr Reichelt went on to state in his interview that he believed there should be no party in Germany that is to the right of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) or the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), quoting a former CSU leader who believed the same.

    The media spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Martin Renner, reacted to the interview, saying: “It is inconceivable that a medium like the Bild newspaper is in the service of establishment politics and distances itself from the largest opposition party, the AfD.”

    Joachim Paul, media spokesman for the AfD in the Rhineland-Palatinate region, added: “Reichelt’s statements represent a journalistic oath of revelation. The Bild motto ‘picture your opinion’ will probably become ‘we want to form your opinion’ over the course of the federal election.”

    Paul added: “Anyone wishing to report during election campaign times should no longer be upset about the media landscape in Hungary and Russia. They lack any credibility.”

    German mainstream media has never shown support for the populist party. Earlier this year, newspaper Berliner Zeitung even went as far as accusing AfD leader in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, of calling for a coup.”

  11. Berlin District Government Video Promotes ‘Antifa Is Love’ (breitbart, Jul 17, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/07/17/berlin-district-government-video-promotes-antifa-is-love/

    “A video produced by the district office of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg features a sticker promoting the far-left extremist Antifa group as part of a presentation for an anti-right-wing extremism award.

    The video, which promotes the Silvio-Meier Prize, features a sticker that states “Antifa is Love”.

    According to the Berlin government website, the prize is awarded to those who take “a clear position against right-wing extremism, racism, exclusion, discrimination, and wants to encourage active, non-violent advocacy for freedom, political and cultural emancipation regardless of origin, religion, social position, or sexual identity, and support and honour appropriate action”.

    “With the award, the district takes a clear stand against right-wing extremism, against antisemitism and racism. It is particularly important to me that we show solidarity with one another and show that we are not alone,” local Green Party politician Clara Herrmann states in the video.

    Named after Silvio Meier, an activist stabbed to death by neo-Nazis in 1992, the prize claims to champion non-violent advocacy. But Antifa, particularly in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, has been known for acts of violence for decades toward police and political opponents.

    Last weekend, a mob of around 50 Antifa extremists destroyed 19 cars in the district near the Liebigstrasse 34 and Rigaer Strasse 94 buildings which have been squatted and occupied by Antifa for years.

    The violence, which included at least 13 local buildings being damaged, was in response to raids by local police at the “Riga 94” building last week.

    On Monday, a property manager, construction workers, and a lawyer for the owner of Riga 94 attempted to enter the building but were attacked by Antifa militants. Police later arrived and allegedly used tear gas on the far-left occupiers.

    Antifa violence has escalated in Germany in recent years, with a German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) report released last month claiming that it was not unthinkable far-left extremists may engage in targetted killings of political opponents in the near future.”

  12. Nigerian Lawmakers Debate ‘Chopping Off the Genitals’ of Rapists (breitbart, Jul 16, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/africa/2020/07/16/nigeria-lawmakers-debate-chopping-off-genitals-rapists/

    “Nigeria’s legislature on Wednesday advocated for stricter penalties for perpetrators of sexual assault, including “chopping off the genitals” of convicted rapists, Nigeria’s Premium Times reported on Thursday.

    The number of sexual violence cases reported across Nigeria has surged in recent weeks. Lawmakers convened at the national assembly in the capital, Abuja, on Wednesday to discuss solutions for the crisis while receiving a delegation of Nigeria’s Movement Against Rape and Sexual Violence.

    Nigeria’s Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, “advocated for severe punishment for rapists as a way of fighting the rising cases” that could involve “chopping off the genitals” of convicted rapists, the Premium Times noted.

    Nigeria documented 717 rape cases and 7,170 unreported rapes across Nigeria within the past five months, according to the report.

    “The statistics are very alarming on the issue of rape. You hear figures in terms of rape and gender-based violence that are mind-boggling. It’s only a deprived mind that can engage in rape. I consider the issue of rape as a pandemic. In my estimation, it’s a pandemic,” Gbajabiamila said.

    “Nigerian laws related to rape are weak, hence they would not deter people from engaging in the act,” he added.

    “The penalty for rape in Nigeria is up to 14 years in prison, but I have seen a judge sentence someone to just four years, with two years suspended, because he was young and had a life in front of him,” Wanda Ebe, a Nigerian social worker who helps survivors of sexual abuse, told the BBC last month.

    “No one knows exactly how many rapes take place in the West African state annually. The official Nigeria Bureau of Statistics said more than 2,200 cases of rape and indecent assault were reported in 2017. But experts say the true number of rapes is likely to be much higher,” the BBC reported on June 5.

    Recently passed laws have “broadened the scope under which sexual offenses can be penalized in Nigeria, making it easier to try suspects,” though the majority of Nigerian states have failed to implement the new laws, according to the report.

    “Most states in [majority Muslim] northern Nigeria practice the sharia [Islamic law] system of justice that would run at variance with the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act [one of the new laws],” lawyer Okani Emmanuel told the BBC. “In the north, it’s the religion, in the south it is down to the cultural impediments where they have some widowhood practices that run contrary to the law,” he explained.

    “Any case [in Nigeria] is likely to take years to prosecute,” the BBC wrote of the Nigerian legal system’s “shortcomings.” The national police force stands “accused of not being thorough in its investigations, [and] also discourages victims [of sexual assault] from approaching the courts for justice.”

    On Wednesday, Aisha-Ummi El-Rufai, the wife of a Nigerian state governor, addressed Speaker of the House Gbajabiamila over the “rising cases of rape in the country” calling the development “alarming” and saying “urgent action” needed to be taken, the Premium Times reported.

    El-Rufai said Nigeria’s current situation was one in which “our women are raped to death and butchered even in churches and mosques where God is worshipped.”

    On May 27, a Christian university student was brutally raped and bludgeoned to death by a group of men while studying alone in a church in Benin City, Breitbart News reported. Uwaila Vera Omozuwa, 22, had gone to the local Redeemed Christian Church of God, of which she was a member, to read “in preparation for a possible reopening of school” following coronavirus lockdowns.

    “We are all devastated by her death. She decided to do some private studies during the lockdown because the church was peaceful. She’s been taking the key from the parish pastor and returning it after her studies,” Olaitan Olubiyi, a spokesman for the church, said.

    “But that day she didn’t return it and the night guard who resumed duty found her in a pool of her own blood and half-naked in the church hall,” he said.

    The guard found Omozuwa unconscious and rushed her to a hospital shortly after. She regained consciousness briefly in the hospital and was able to provide an account of the attack. According to Omozuwa, “she had been reading all alone in the church when she was ambushed by unknown men, who beat, raped, and hit her head with a fire extinguisher.”

    Omozuwa died from her injuries on May 30, according to the report. On June 2, local media reported that Nigerian police had arrested one suspect in Omozuwa’s rape and murder based on a fingerprint found on the fire extinguisher used to beat her.”

    • Rape, if proven to be by made strangers, I would prefer that they left the world before they were given a Preferential Characteristic of LGBTQ+R of even more ‘lookers-but-not-touchers-and-oops.’

      And likewise, if Nigerians are going to remove testicles, then at least do the full re-work into a woman, before they cross-dress into the Feminist thatch themselves as men-with-dix.

      If time could be mastered, those uncles and cousins raping young girls could be instantly turned into musselma to be now shocked, dazed and dreading returning to the Ummah, and the children fleeing from under them.

      But, at least Nigeria, would have a head start on the sexuals. For one end of the Kinsey Scale may unravel to the other.

      Not that those who lust in their hearts should he condemed with any Hate Crimes they have today so freely use on others, but with their recognition, and providing the very real Help-Lines they need. For there is no crime, except in deed. And so the deceits, guile and exploitations between adults still remains their own rod and expense. Disease is Nature’s cullng.

      For healing – without remonstration – is the mug’s game of feeding until you are forced to make synthetics to claim you are improving things.

      And walking alone in Nigeria, may become safe for all women, girls and boys.

  13. “Dark To Light: An Interview with Rich Higgins”
    Dark To Light With Frank (Quite Frankly) & Beanz
    Podcast – July 15, 2020
    https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/dark-to-light-with-frank-beanz/e/76205718?autoplay=true

    “‘The Crusade to Destroy America’ ft. Rich Higgins 7/14/20”
    Quite Frankly – July 14, 2020

    Rich Higgins is an Army Veteran and former member of the National Security Council until the moment he wrote a controversial memo about the Marxist infiltration of our Government and Culture at large. Mr. Higgins has recently attracted the attention of media who are worried that President Trump may enlist his services at the Pentagon…tonight we’ll talk about the Crusade to Destroy America and an honest assessment of our ability to stop it. In the second half, calls, questions, and Ghislaine Maxwell updates, and Bari Weiss’ resignation letter from the NYT.
    Rich Higgins @ 35:37

  14. Hungarian “Schindler”:

    Angel Sanz Briz, a Spanish diplomat who saved over 5,000 Jews from Nazi persecution in Hungary, was given an online tribute last Thursday. Appointed to a diplomatic post in Hungary in 1944, Sanz Briz offered to protect Jews of Spanish origin and bring them Spanish passports. He received the consent of the Hungarian authorities to enable 200 Spanish Jews to receive them, but he turned that into 200 families.

    In the last seven months of 1944, Briz issued forged Spanish documents to 5,200 Jews, according to Yad Vashem, which recognized him as Righteous Among the Nations in 1966.

    “My father thought that what he had done in Budapest was the most important and rewarding thing in his life,” said his daughter Angela, who attended the event. “He also considered that he had simply done his duty, that he could not look the other way.”

    https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/spanish-schindler-who-reportedly-saved-over-5000-jews-during-wwii-given-online-tribute

  15. World’s poorest being pushed ‘closer to the abyss’ of famine, warns WFP chief (UN, Jul 17, 2020)
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/07/1068601

    “The greatest concentration of need is in Africa, but countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and Asia – including middle-income nations – are also being ravaged by crippling levels of food insecurity.

    The two Rome-based UN agencies sounded the alarm in a joint report published Friday as the WFP announced that it is scaling up food assistance to an unprecedented 138 million people who face desperate levels of hunger as COVID-19 tightens its grip on some the world’s most fragile countries.

    Livelihoods evaporating
    The cost of the WFP’s response is estimated at $4.9 billion – representing nearly half the updated COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan, launched this week – with an additional $500 million special provision to prevent famine in countries most at risk.

    “Three months ago at the UN Security Council, I told world leaders that we ran the risk of a famine of biblical proportions”, said WFP Executive Director David Beasley.

    “Today, our latest data tell us that, since then, millions of the world’s very poorest families have been forced even closer to the abyss”, Mr. Beasley said.

    “Livelihoods are being destroyed at an unprecedented rate and now their lives are in imminent danger from starvation”, he said.

    “Make no mistake – if we do not act now to end this pandemic of human suffering, many people will die.”

    25 mostly African ‘hotspots’
    Most of the 25 “hotspots” named in the report stretch from West Africa and across the Sahel to East Africa, including the Sahel, as well Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

    It also identifies, in the Middle East, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen; in Asia, Bangladesh; and in Latin America and the Caribbean, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

    Citing some examples, it says that COVID-19 is compounding a raft of existing problems in South Sudan, making the prospect of famine loom ever larger in areas where intercommunal fighting makes humanitarian access tough or impossible.

    Middle East, Latin America
    In the Middle East, the pandemic is exacerbating Lebanon’s worst-ever economic crisis, where food insecurity is growing fast not only among citizens, but also 1.5 million Syrians and other refugees.

    Hardest hit in Latin America are more than five million Venezuelan migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers in neighbouring countries, the report says, adding that worsening economic conditions in host countries could well make matters worse.

    According to WFP estimates, the number of people living in acute food insecurity in countries affected by conflict, disasters or economic crises could jump from 149 million before the pandemic took hold to 270 million by year’s end if assistance is not provided urgently.”

  16. See it in Action: DAVID’s SLING Flight Test

    DAVID’s SLING / SkyCeptor – Defeating Current & Emerging Threats
    The system protects against multiple targets at long range ? including artillery, rockets, short-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles.

  17. ‘Quit CCP’ trending; Xi Jinping seen in floods; US reportedly discussing travel ban on CCP officials

  18. Debate over extended benefits; NYC landlords cut rent | NTD Business (July 17)

  19. Taiwan holds drill to deter China invasion; US-China conflict may be more militarized: analyst | NTD

  20. Chinese State Run Media Describes Flooded Ancient Town as ‘Fairyland’ | China | Epoch News

  21. Trump’s Busy China Week | Hong Kong Dies a Little More
    64,476 views
    •Jul 17, 2020

  22. China’s 3.2% GDP growth rate is a big fat lie. And we will prove it
    19,413 views
    •Jul 17, 2020

  23. Chinese Fight Police Over Lockdown Passes; Chinese Media Fake Rescue Video; Officials Sanctioned

  24. PLA Wargamed On Huge Ladakh Model Inside China, India-China Talks Positive | India First

  25. Taiwan Flexes Muscles, Holds Drills To Counter Chinese Invasion Amid Tensions
    6,294 views
    •Jul 16, 2020

  26. Chinese Incursion Across LAC Strategically Planned, Not Spontaneous | Newstrack

  27. Minister: Iraq to Face Severe Shortages as River Flows Drop due to Turkey Dams
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2395856/minister-iraq-face-severe-shortages-river-flows-drop-due-turkey-dams

    “Iraq’s minister of water resources says his country will face severe water shortages if agreements are not forged with neighboring Turkey over Ankara’s irrigation and dam projects that have decreased river inflows to Iraq’s parched plains.

    Descending from the mountains of southeast Turkey and coursing through Syria and then Iraq before emptying out in the Persian Gulf, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are Iraq’s main water source and essential to for agriculture. But tensions have mounted over the years as Turkey pressed ahead with dam projects to meet its domestic electricity demands.

    In turn, this has directly impacted water flows into Iraq.

    Measurements of inflows from the border with Turkey in northern Iraq were 50% below average this year, Iraq’s Water Resources Minister Mahdi Rashid Al-Hamdani said in an interview with the Associated Press on Thursday. This year also saw a reduction in annual rainfall by 50% compared to last year, he said.

    “We asked our Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send an urgent message to Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to ask them what is the reason for the drop in our flow,” he said.

    Iraq is still waiting for a response, he added…”

  28. Deployment Patterns In Ningxia In 2004 Show Uncanny Resemblance To Chinese Build-Up In Pangong Tso

  29. Chinese Strategic Intentions Across LAC Exposed; PLA Extensively Trained For Future Incursions

  30. Turkey repatriates five Moldovan nationals from Syria camp: Report
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syria-turkey-intelligence-moldova-nationals-repatriate

    “Turkey’s intelligence agency has repatriated five Moldovan nationals from a detention camp run by the Kurdish YPG group in northeastern Syria, according to reports.

    The five Moldovan nationals, Natalia Barkal and her four young children, had been stranded since 2019 in Hasakah’s al-Hol camp, where families of Islamic State (IS) foreign fighters are held, Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu said on Friday.

    Turkish security officials told Anadolu that the repatriation operation was a joint venture between Turkey and Moldova and had been carried out at the request of Moldova…”

  31. France to investigate Abu Dhabi crown prince over torture accusations
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/france-uae-investigate-crown-prince-torture-allegations

    “French authorities are opening an investigation into allegations that Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed has been complicit in acts of torture, sources told AFP.

    The news agency reported on Friday, citing sources with knowledge of the case, that a French investigating magistrate had been tasked with leading the probe, most notably to examine conduct in the ongoing war in Yemen.

    An initial investigation into the matter was opened last October after two complaints were filed when the prince, widely referred to as MBZ, came to Paris in 2018.

    In addition to being a close ally of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), MBZ also has built a strong alliance with French President Emmanuel Macron…”

  32. I hate this whole victim-olympics business, but genuine twitter-users have found this article inspiring:
    How Jewish Twitter Users Took On a Virtual Anti-Semitic Mob</b.

    When I saw "#JewishPrivilege" was trending on Twitter last week, I cringed. White nationalists had created the hashtag to spread anti-Semitic conspiracies about Jews being "privileged" – that we control the media, the banks and the world. Seemingly progressive Twitter users soon piled on with false claims that Jews don't face any discrimination, while also suggesting they are responsible for the discrimination and other ills many minorities face. This felt like an organized attack – as if everyone was in agreement that Jewish people are to be blamed for all that is wrong in the world.

    The virtual mob of anti-Semites sparked flashbacks to my Iraqi grandma retelling stories of surviving the Farhud, a massacre in which a real-life mob of Iraqis murdered all the Jews they could in Baghdad back in 1941. So I urged Jews on Twitter to share their personal stories to refute the #JewishPrivilege falsehood. In a matter of hours, Jews shared their experiences of discrimination, violence, exile and mass murder.

    The notion that Jews of any background are the oppressors rather than the oppressed erases our history – including the Holocaust and pogroms of many decades past, as well as more recent chapters, like the plight of the Ethiopian Jews who escaped persecution in Ethiopia by airlifts to Israel in the 1980s and '90s. Seeking to deny the entire Jewish people's generational struggles and erase us from the collective of minority groups denies our humanity and identity, and is thereby an act of deep-seated anti-Semitism.

    https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/how-jewish-twitter-users-celebrities-took-down-virtual-anti-semitic-ncna1233915

  33. Sudan: Thousands protest repeal of Islamic restrictions
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200717-sudan-thousands-protest-repeal-of-islamic-restrictions/

    “Thousands of Sudanese Islamic groups and supporters of ousted president Omer Al-Bashir staged a protest on Friday in the capital Khartoum against a new set of laws that have scrapped various Islamic laws, Anadolu Agency reports.

    The anti-government protests, which erupted from numerous mosques following Friday prayers, accused the government of apostasy and urged people to bring down the administration of Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok.

    The Sudanese government last week passed a number of laws that repealed various Islamic legal restrictions introduced while Bashir was in power, including the outlaw of apostasy and restrictions on women’s dress…”

  34. Greece: EU to sanction Turkey if it commits crimes against us
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200717-greece-eu-to-sanction-turkey-if-it-commits-crimes-against-us/

    “The European Union (EU) will draft a proposal for sanctions to be placed on Ankara “in the event that Turkey commits criminal acts against Greece,” Athens Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, said yesterday.

    “I asked for an order from the Foreign Affairs Council for [European Union Minister for Foreign Affairs Josep] Borrell to draft a proposal with financial sanctions in the event that Turkey commits criminal acts against Greece. The Council agreed and gave the mandate to the High Representative,” said Dendias.

    Greece recently called on the EU to impose a wide range of sanctions on Turkey over a controversial deal that was struck between the internationally-recognised Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) and Turkey, under which Ankara would carry out oil drilling activities in the Mediterranean Sea. The deal was condemned by Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and France.

    Dendias described the deal as “void”, adding that the EU sanctions would include penalties on tourism, banks, and the suspension of imports and exports into the country.

    “If Ankara continues with its plans to explore off the islands of Crete, Rhodes and Karpathos, the EU will respond with a number of harsh penalties,” the official stressed.

    The Libyan conflict has had direct repercussions on the eastern Mediterranean region as Turkey secures further deals with the GNA, which Ankara has supplied with weapons and fighters in its battle against Egypt and France-backedrenegade General Khalifa Haftar. While the Turkish plans in Libya are unclear, experts say it aims to secure the country’s hydrocarbon assets.”

  35. Turkish forces ‘neutralize’ 2 PKK terrorists in N. Iraq
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkish-forces-neutralize-2-pkk-terrorists-in-n-iraq/1914074

    “Turkish security forces “neutralized” two PKK terrorists in air-backed anti-terror operations in northern Iraq, the National Defense Ministry said on Friday.

    “Two PKK terrorists detected in Zap and Avasin regions of northern Iraq, were neutralized in the air operations,” the ministry said on Twitter.

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

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

  36. Turkey’s missiles, drones at Azerbaijan’s service: Official
    https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-missiles-drones-at-azerbaijans-service-official-156626

    “Turkey has declared military assistance to Azerbaijan amid the country’s border clashes with Armenia, in the second day of talks with Azeri defense officials in the capital Ankara on July 17.

    “Our armed unmanned aerial vehicles, ammunition and missiles with our experience, technology and capabilities are at Azerbaijan’s service,” said ?smail Demir, the head of Presidency of Defense Industries, an affiliate of the Turkish Presidency in a statement.

    “We need to show the world that the two brother countries are in full unity. One nation, two states,” Demir wrote on Twitter after the meeting with Azerbaijani Deputy Defense Minister Ramiz Tahirov and Army Commander of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Kerem Mustafayev.

    He stressed that Turkey will lend new defense systems to Azerbaijan and will work together with Baku for the modernization, maintenance and repair of the country’s defense systems.

    The show of support comes a day after Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar met Ramiz Tahirov in Ankara on July 16.

    “Armenia will pay for what they have done and be brought to account,” said Akar after the meeting, showing full support to Azerbaijan.

    Recent border clashes with Armenia have resulted in the killing of 11 Azerbaijani soldiers and injured four. In retaliatory attacks, Azerbaijani officials said nearly 100 Armenian troops were killed.”

  37. ‘Green man’ shot dead after storming Egypt’s media production city
    https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/7/17/green-man-killed-after-storming-egypt-media-city

    “An Egyptian man painted in green was shot upon storming Egypt’s media production city outside Cairo, local media reported Thursday.

    The “Green Man” was shot by security forces when he stormed in carrying a knife and shouting “God is Great”.

    The Egyptian man, who was naked from the waist up, reportedly wounded two officers before being shot, Egyptian media reported.

    The man was in his thirties and working as a farmer in the Beheira Governorate, The New Arab’s Arabic-language outlet reported quoting anonymous sources.

    Egyptian social media users have criticised the security forces’ response, according to The New Arab’s Arabic-language service, saying they could have shot him in his feet rather than killing him as a first reponse…”

  38. Two people stabbed in central London, police say
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-security/two-people-stabbed-in-central-london-police-say-idUSKCN24I2W1

    “Two people were stabbed in London’s main financial district on Friday evening but are not believed to have sustained life-threatening injuries, police said.

    “It’s not terrorism related,” a spokesman for City of London police said.

    The incident took place in Broadgate Circle, a shopping and entertainment area in the City of London.

    Ambulances were in attendance and the public should avoid the area, police added.”