Reader’s Links for September 21, 2020

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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

85 Replies to “Reader’s Links for September 21, 2020”

  1. Say NO to another lockdown.

    A second national lockdown would be a complete and utter catastrophe for our country.
    We have reached the point now where the cure has become worse than the disease itself.

    • RAW: Protesters gather outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Kentucky home
      WHAS11 – September 19, 2020

  3. 2 sentenced to life in absentia over Bulgarian bus bombing (abcnews, Sep 21, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/sentenced-life-absentia-bulgarian-bus-bombing-73141881

    “A Bulgarian court on Monday sentenced two men to life in prison for their involvement in the 2012 bombing of a tourist bus that killed five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian bus driver and injured nearly 40 people.

    Meliad Farah, a dual Lebanese-Australian national, and Hassan El Hajj Hassan, a dual Lebanese-Canadian national, were sentenced in absentia as their whereabouts are unknown, said prosecutor Evgenia Shtarkelova. They are the subject of an Interpol red notice.

    On July 18, 2012, Mohamad Hassan El-Husseini, a French-Lebanese national, blew himself up on a tourist bus at the airport in the Bulgarian Black Sea resort of Burgas.

    According to witness reports, the man was trying to put his backpack inside the luggage compartment of the bus along with the Israeli tourists when it exploded.

    Prosecutors could not establish whether the explosion was triggered by the bomber himself or remotely detonated by one of two defendants, who were convicted of providing logistical support to the bomber.

    An investigation found that the attack was the work of the military wing of Hezbollah, leading the European Union to declare it a terrorist organization.

    Bulgaria’s chief prosecutor said recently that Hezbollah was behind the attack “in terms of logistics and financing”.

    The ruling can be appealed to a higher court.”

  4. The (Marxist) Human Rights Commission in South Africa must go
    In this video listen to the ramblings of a politically expedient stooge fronting for the SAHRC.

    • Also, when you think of it,
      “Human Rights” in the Rainbow Nation are only reserved for the Majority.
      No Minority protections in that Dystopian Marxist Paradise.

  5. Police ‘Found It Easier to Criminalise Children’ Than Go After Asian Child Abuse Gangs, Says Victim (sputniknews, Sep 21, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/uk/202009211080524592-police-found-it-easier-to-criminalise-children-than-go-after-asian-child-abuse-gangs-says-victim/

    “The Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse in England and Wales was set up in 2014 to investigate claims against people in the public eye. Its public hearings consist of 14 separate investigations, including one into organised crime gangs.

    A victim of child sexual exploitation has given a statement to an independent inquiry the police found it easier to blame the victims rather than go after the perpetrators.

    The statement by the victim, referred to only as CSA317, was read out at a hearing of the Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse on Monday, 21 September.

    CSA317 grew up in children’s homes and was sexually abused by an older man from the age of 14. She said she felt the staff at the home “colluded” with the man, who regularly plied her with drugs and alcohol.

    At the age of 18 she was “violently raped” by the man but the police rejected her allegations and she had a breakdown and attempted suicide.

    She said: “It was easier for the police to criminalise the children than go after the perpetrators.”

    Eventually the National Crime Agency launched an investigation and her attacker was jailed for nine years.

    The inquiry is investigating organised child abuse, by mostly Asian gangs, and junior counsel Henrietta Hill QC, said it was clear a great deal of lessons had been learned and 451 recommendations had already been made by serious case reviews and the inquiry into a network in Rotherham.

    The inquiry is being chaired by Professor Alexis Jay, who also led an independent inquiry into sexual exploitation in Rotherham by men from the town’s Pakistani community.

    Ms Hill said there is evidence that patterns of abuse were not highlighted by the police, social workers and council officials “for fear of being accused of being racist” and she said Prof. Jay’s own inquiry found that in Rotherham there had been an “over-reliance on community leaders” and an inability to listen to women in BAME communities.

    A statement from a girl, referred to as Daisy, was also read to the inquiry. She was one of more than 100 girls who were abused by a gang of Asian men in Rochdale, near Manchester.

    Daisy said she was abused from the age of 14 and was passed around for sex by between 100 and 150 men. At one point she became pregnant and had an abortion.

    She said she became a delinquent and was jailed for four months at the age of 15. At her court hearing her solicitor tried to raise her abuse but it was ignored.

    In 2008 Greater Manchester Police finally launched Operation Span, which ended up with a trial which led to the conviction of nine men, all of whom were of Pakistani or Afghan origin.

    The girls were abused at two takeaway restaurants by men aged between 24 and 59.

    Sentencing the ringleader, Adil Khan, to eight years in prison in 2012, Judge Gerald Clifton said he and his accomplices treated the girls “as though they were worthless and beyond respect.”

    Daisy said when the trial was over she was “threatened” and “harassed” by relatives and friends of those who had been jailed.

    Khan was later stripped of his British citizenship – gained during a marriage to a British woman – but is still fighting deportation to Pakistan and in May this year was seen in a Rochdale supermarket by one of his victims, who was left traumatised.

    The latest phase of the inquiry is looking into child sexual exploitation by organised gangs in Tower Hamlets (in London), Swansea, Bristol, Durham, St Helens and Warwickshire.

    Ms Hill said: “We are trying to find out if the historic failings have been learnt from. Is child sexual exploitation being prevented or at least reduced? Are children better protected and are perpetrators being disrupted and brought to justice?”

    The inquiry heard that in 2020 there were 90 investigations under way into suspected organised child sexual exploitation networks.

    Ms Hill said there was evidence that “unhelpful stereotypes” of white girls being abused by Asian men had meant assumptions were being made that Asian girls and boys were not vulnerable to abuse and there had been a “lack of research” into the abuse of boys and men in BAME communities.

    The latest phase of the inquiry is due to last until next month.”

    • Constitutional America Episode 10 Three Things to Stop COVID Government Overreach
      KrisAnne Hall JD – September 19, 2020

  11. India-China Faceoff: Indian Army Ready To Counter Chinese Threat With Armoured Amphibious Vehicle

  16. CHINA FLU & CDC: Why is it I feel they are pushing for outdoor mask wearing? This leads to isolating people more and more from each other, nobody talks or laughs anymore. Very wicked people!

    – The US Centers for Disease Control has admitted for the first time that coronavirus is airborne as it updated its guidelines on how the virus spreads.

    The agency previously said the disease was spread via large droplets expelled when a patient coughs and sneezes, infecting people in close contact with them.

    But the new guidelines, updated on Friday, acknowledge ‘growing evidence’ that the virus can be spread via very small droplets expelled when a patient breathes, can linger in the air, and travel further than six feet.

    Previously, the CDC advice said that coronavirus is spread ‘through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks.’

    But it now says the virus spreads ‘through respiratory droplets or small particles, such as those in aerosols, produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks or breathes’.

    ‘There is growing evidence that droplets and airborne particles can remain suspended in the air and be breathed in by others,’ the guidance says.

    ‘[These particles] travel distances beyond 6 feet (for example, during choir practice, in restaurants, or in fitness classes). –

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8755189/CDC-updates-guidance-warn-coronavirus-airborne.html

  17. The Sun –BARBARIC Monkeys have holes drilled into their skulls and devices CEMENTED onto them in horrific experiments in Belgian labs

    MONKEYS are having holes drilled into their skulls and devices cemented onto them in “cruel” lab tests, warn campaigners.

    Shocking photos allegedly show the caged primates with electrodes implanted for brain measurements at a Belgian university.

    Jen Hochmuth, toxicologist and campaign coordinator for Animal Rights (AR), said: “These animal experiments are not legally required for the development of new medicines.

    “They are useless and cruel experiments that only serve to satisfy the curiosity of scientists lacking compassion.

    “The brain experiments on monkeys are not a necessary evil but plain evil.”

    AR told The Sun that the brain experiments at KU Leuven, Flanders, allegedly “cause the monkeys a lot of suffering.

    “To be able to measure their brain activity, all test monkeys have electrodes implanted into the brain via boreholes in their skulls.

    “Cement is used to attach a fixation rod or ‘hat’ to the skull [for] brain measurements.

    “The animals have to go through heavy training programmes for months and are put on strict water diets to force them to cooperate with the researchers.”

    The group has blasted the Flemish government for awarding close to two million Euros (£1.8m) in 2019 to KU Leuven to finance brain experiments on 12 Rhesus monkeys.

    “At the end of the journey, almost all the experimental animals will be killed,” it alleges.

    Campaigners have demanded public funds be channelled into alternative animal-free experiments.

    The group said that, according to government information, three new animal testing projects on rhesus monkeys have been started in 2020 at KU Leuven.

    It said: “Over the next four years, no less than 12 rhesus monkeys will undergo major brain operations.”

    An opinion poll found that a “large majority of Belgians state that experiments on monkeys (79 per cent), as well as on all other animals (64 per cent), should be banned”, the group said.

    Campaigners have demanded that all test monkeys – believed to be 40 in total – be freed from the animal centre lab.

    “These animals deserve a dignified pension in a specialised shelter,” they added.

    The Sun Online has contacted KU Leuven for comment.

    On its website, the uni explains that “unfortunately, there are not enough good alternatives available to completely replace all animals involved in this research”.

    ‘BRAIN DISORDERS RISING’
    KU Leuven says that test tube experiments and computer programmes can provide some – but not all – the necessary information for brain research.

    The institution adds: “Nearly one in three Europeans is faced with a disorder of the brain or central nervous system in their lifetime.

    “These can be diverse types of disorders such as migraine, epilepsy, hearing problems, visual problems, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

    “Given the ongoing ageing of the population, the number of patients with brain disorders will continue to increase.

    “In the longer term, fundamental research into the function of the brain may benefit many tens of millions of people.”

    KU Leuven says “we use mice, rats and rhesus monkeys for this type of research.

    “Research on complex brain functions such as those enabling grasping of objects can only be done on monkey species (primates), because other animal species do not have these functions.

    “Thanks to laboratory animals we already know a lot more about Alzheimer’s.

    “For example, animals experiments have confirmed that brain injury and obesity, but also physical and mental inactivity increase the risk of Alzheimer’s developing.”

    Last year The Sun shared footage showing the allegedly harrowing treatment of monkeys and dogs at a lab in Germany.

    According to activist groups, monkeys were strapped in metal harnesses and kept in tiny containers while cats and dogs were left bleeding and dying following toxicity testing at the laboratory in Mienenbuttel, near Hamburg.

    https://www.the-sun.com/news/1507296/monkeys-holes-drilled-skulls-devices-cemented-experiments-belgian

    Undercover footage shows ‘nightmarish’ animal testing in German lab

  18. (Richard: I urge all of you (especially the American Citizens) to read the entire article, it is a trained intelligence analyst telling us her take on what the Death of Ginsburg means for the coming election. I agree with most of what she has said and will comment on my disagreement in a reply to this post.)

    Supreme Court vacancy: Starting flare just fired — but for what?
    By J.E. Dyer September 21, 2020

    The visible reaction of Democrats to Justice Ginsburg’s death over the last 48 hours has given us all the information we need for a clear-eyed operational assessment of the situation as we head toward the final three months of 2020.

    The assessment here will probably not be the one readers imagine. The bottom line up front: for the Democrats, the operational problem is not how to “win the election” and “keep a new Supreme Court justice from being confirmed.”

    The problem is how to weave those now-scheduled decision points into what Lee Smith has dubbed the Permanent Coup.* For the Democratic Party of 2020, running the Permanent Coup is their guiding purpose.

    To define their purpose as “winning the election” is to lag the OODA loop and never catch up with it, much less “get inside” it. The view from inside the Democrats’ OODA loop is this one: come what may, they don’t intend to lose their bid to regain the levers of power. That’s a more accurate reading of the end-state they have in mind.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2020/09/21/supreme-court-vacancy-starting-flare-just-fired-but-for-what/

    • The points where I disagree with JE are the way she glosses over the coming violence, and they way she implies that it will be over rather quickly. Yes a consortium of States will be the ones who settle the original mess but the Dems/Radical Left are too close to what they think will be final victory to give up so easily.

      While it is unlikely that the States on the Left Coast will be able to get their Guard Units to fight the US military the antifa types (don’t forget some of them are well trained) will not give up so easily and they have the backing of several nations that can provide phony ID’s to the people that need to go underground. This means that the terror campaign will continue for several years and will do more damage to the rule of law.

      I personally think that settling who the President is will take several months and then it will take several more months to get all of the States to accept that decision (possibly as much as a year) then the terror attacks and the hunt for the terrorists start. This will continue for several years and may involve the US having to invade and militarily conquer one or two nations to stop the those nations from training and supplying the terrorists.

      • It may be a tactical approach. Thinking along Ben Gurion’s lines: no illusions, no despair. Neither easy optimism, nor sterile pessimism.

    • (Richard: Here is why I think the violence will continue for several years and will probably flare up from time to time for several decades.)

      Today I gave my dad a choice: Trump or his grandkids and his son
      Leo Guinan, Medium September 21, 2020

      [Ed. – The symptoms of late-stage Trump Derangement Syndrome]

      https://libertyunyielding.com/2020/09/21/today-i-gave-my-dad-a-choice-trump-or-his-grandkids-and-his-son/

      Today I Gave My Dad A Choice: Trump or His Grandkids and His Son
      I felt the need to let him know what the stakes really were.

      I wrote earlier about trying to express my reasons to my dad in a calm and intellectual manner. I actually thought I had been calm and well-reasoned. I thought I might even be making progress.

      Today I found out he put a Trump sign in his yard.

      I got pissed. Really pissed. And I sent him and my mom a text message. Hands shaking, tears in eyes. This is what it said:

      https://medium.com/@guinanleo/today-i-gave-my-dad-a-choice-trump-or-his-grandkids-and-his-son-b2f971ed39f9

  19. Viktor Orbán: Today’s European Institutions Serve the ‘Interests of George Soros’ (breitbart, Sep 21, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2020/09/21/viktor-orban-todays-european-institutions-serve-the-interests-of-george-soros/

    “Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned Monday that European institutions do not serve the interests of the citizens of Europe, but rather those of prominent billionaire disrupter George Soros.

    Europeans must reaffirm their national sovereignty against the pretensions of globalist liberals, Mr. Orbán said in a strongly worded message.

    “According to the liberals, it is best to cede our national governments’ powers to international organisations – and as many of those powers as possible,” Mr. Orbán warned. “In this they see universal ideals, European values and universal human rights being given further encouragement and recognition.”

    Yet these organisations are “inevitably prone to a despotism which they tend to call ‘the rule of law’ but which is simply ‘the rule of blackmail,’” he continued, and “they are vulnerable to infiltration by Soros-style networks, and if they are forced to choose between the citizens of individual national communities and the big guns of global capital, in the end they will always opt for the latter.”

    Fortunately, the citizens of European nations have realised “that today’s European institutions do not serve them, but the interests of George Soros and his ilk,” Orbán stated. “They are not prepared to swallow the Brussels fabrication that the reason a financial speculator enriching himself through the ruin of others is roaming the corridors of Brussels is that he is selflessly offering help to Europe.”

    One particular area where this clash of worldviews and interests is most obvious, Orbán suggested, is that of mass international migration.

    Liberal and conservative politics “clash – and even engage in a life-or-death struggle – on the issue of migration,” he declared. “According to loopy liberals, there is no reason to fear mass immigration, or even a flood of immigration; and there is no reason to fear it even if the national and religious traditions of the uninvited guests are starkly different from ours – or indeed opposed to ours.”

    “We are told that terrorism, crime, anti-Semitism and the emergence of parallel societies are only temporary irregularities, or perhaps the birth pangs of a radiant new world about to come into being,” Orbán noted. Yet such an “unpredictable experiment on societies and individuals” is unacceptable, because “the risks of chronic intercultural tensions and violence are unacceptably high.”

    “Unless we ignore the laws of mathematics, it is not difficult to see the reality of sure, slow, but accelerating population replacement,” he added.

    “The greatest threat to national self-determination today is the network that promotes a global open society, and seeks to abolish national frameworks,” Orbán said. “The goals of a George Soros-style network, which has unlimited financial and human resources, are clear: to create open societies of mixed ethnicity through the acceleration of migration, to dismantle national decision-making and hand it over to the global elite.””

  24. Trump: China could derail TikTok deal; WH poison plot arrest; Trump to nominate for Ginsburg’s seat

    • Malays – tards – HATE ethnic Chinese.
      Chinese are generally smarter, more industrious, and become too successful.
      Malays run amok periodically, massacre Chinese. No sympathy _at all_ for Chinese who risk investing in a second home there.

    • Operation Warp Speed chief advisor lays out coronavirus vaccine timeline

      Moncef Slaoui, White House chief advisor of Operation Warp Speed, joins “Squawk on the Street” to discuss developments in a Coronavirus vaccine.

  29. Yes, you have the right to protest, but you may still be wrong to do it
    By Alan Dershowitz – April 23, 2020

    “The right to protest is guaranteed by our First Amendment. So is the right to assemble peaceably and petition the government.”
    – Alan Dershowitz
    https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/494282-yes-you-have-the-right-to-protest-but-you-may-still-be-wrong-to-do-it

    So according to Mr. Dershowitz it is the right to assemble peaceably and petition the government. The government not private citizens.

    DEAR BLM — This is why America hates you!
    by Kane – September 21, 2020
    https://www.citizenfreepress.com/breaking/dear-blm-this-is-why-america-hates-you/

  32. Report: Illegal Boat Migrants Sign Slave Labour ‘Pact’ with Traffickers to Reach UK (breitbart, Sep 21, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/09/21/report-illegal-boat-migrants-sign-slave-labour-pact-traffickers-reach-uk/

    “Illegal boat migrants are reportedly making ‘pacts’ with human trafficking networks to serve as slave labourers in order to pay off the fees charged for crossing the English Channel from France.

    Officials in France say that the illegal migrants ultimately become the “property” of human trafficking networks, often working in restaurants, laundrettes, and cannabis farms in the UK to pay off their debt to the people smugglers.

    “To lower the cost of their crossing, migrants can be employed in England by the criminal organisation with which they will be linked for years,” French prosecutor Pascal Marconville told The Sun.

    “British investigators have discovered many migrants working in washing stations. Over the years, they repay their loans,” Marconville added.

    A local source in Calais, France, told the British paper that migrants sign a “pact” with traffickers before making the perilous journey across the Channel, saying: “It’s in pretty poor conditions. They’re essentially the property of the smuggling gangs and the gangsters in the UK.”

    “Someone paying money back through unregulated work is worth much more than the discount,” he added.

    Britain’s equivalent to the FBI, the National Crime Agency (NCA), said: “Without permission to work legally, migrants can be exploited and forced into modern slavery or turn to crime to support themselves.”

    The people-smuggling gangs are reportedly charging migrants between £1,000 to £10,000 to make the journey to the UK, offering bronze, silver, and gold packages, with some migrants being given only a kayak or surfboard to cross the Channel.

    The scourge of modern-day slavery in the UK was highlighted in July, when a report revealed that an estimated 100,000 people are working as slave labourers across Britain, with some 10,000 slaves alone in the fast-fashion textile industry in Leicester.

    The report from the Centre for Social Justice said that trafficking networks are believed to be working with local gangsters in order to exploit illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Eastern Europe, who are trapped in “debt bondage” accumulated during their journey to enter the UK illegally.

    “Human traffickers and Organised Crime Groups are running riot in too many communities. Very few face prosecution relative to the number of victims found and even fewer are convicted. As the number of victims discovered has skyrocketed in the last five years, convictions have barely increased,” the report said.

    Home Secretary Priti Patel said that police and other government agencies overlooked the slave labour happening under their noses due to so-called “cultural sensitivities” — akin to how police ignored mostly Pakistani Muslim grooming gangs in cities such as Rochdale and Rotherham for fear of being accused of racism.

    In July, Raj Mann, the police contact for Leicester’s Sikh community, said: “The local authorities have known these sweatshops exist for decades but they’ve been loath to do anything about it for fear of being accused of picking on immigrant or refugee communities, as a lot of the exploited workers are of Indian background.”

    So far this year, over 6,000 illegal migrants have been recorded reaching the UK crossing the English Channel in small rubber boats. So far in September alone, at least 1,487 made the journey, a monthly record.

    The true number of illegal migrants is likely to be much higher, however, as the figures only reflect those who were detected by UK Border Force.”

  33. “This is an outrageous and needless tragedy–a total failure of law and order. The right of self-defense must be protected.”
    Sidney Powell – September 21, 2020 – Twitter
    https://twitter.com/SidneyPowell1/status/1307906721176842240

    BREAKING: Omaha Bar Owner Charged For Killing Rioter Who Attacked Him and His Business Has Committed Suicide
    by Cassandra Fairbanks – September 20, 2020
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/09/breaking-omaha-bar-owner-charged-killing-rioter-attacked-business-committed-suicide/

  34. Who is their enemy? Notoriously neutral Switzerland unveils plans to spend billions on new fighter jets – despite not having fought a war in 200 years

    Switzerland unveils plans to spend billions on new fighter jets despite not having fought in a war in more than 200 years.

    The plans have been faced with much opposition, as many believe the notoriously neutral country can’t afford the war planes and doesn’t need them.

    Voters get their say on September 27 on whether the plan to spend 6 billion Swiss franc on the jets should go ahead, according to CNA.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8755567/Switzerland-unveils-plans-spend-billions-fighter-jets-despite-not-going-war-200-years.html

    (Richard: If there is going to be an EU Military (army, Air Force) why is Switzerland spending so much money on fighters?)

  36. PANIC: Passengers to be Named on Epstein’s Flights to Little Island

    The Mirror is reporting that the Attorney General for the U.S. Virgin Islands has demanded the flight logs for Jeffrey Epstein’s 4 helicopters and 3 planes going all the way back to 1998.

    There is a group of very wealthy and powerful people that are panicking right now because the rest of us don’t know their names yet.

    That is likely about to change.

    Remember that the flight logs from one pilot, David Rogers, were recovered in 2009 and put Bill Clinton, Senators, Governors, and celebrities on the “Lolita Express”.

    https://insidescooppolitics.com/archives/2656

  39. Pompeo Announces US Sanctions on Venezuela’s Maduro, Iran’s Ministry of Defence (sputniknews, Sep 21, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/world/202009211080528116-pompeo-announces-us-sanctions-on-venezuelas-maduro-irans-ministry-of-defence/

    “Late last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that all the UN sanctions against Iran are coming into force and that Washington is ready to punish those UN Security Council members who are against the sanctions.

    US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced new sanctions on Iran’s Defence Ministry and other Iranian officials involved in the country’s nuclear and missile programmes.

    Pompeo told reporters on Monday that the US specifically slapped sanctions on two individuals who he claimed play an essential role in Iran’s uranium enrichment operations.

    “Today, I will take the first action under this new executive order by sanctioning the Iranian Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics, and Iran’s Defence Industries Organisation and its director”, he noted.

    Separately, the secretary of state said that the new US sanctions were imposed against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over him bolstering ties with Tehran.

    “We’re also sanctioning the previous president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro. For nearly two years, corrupt officials in Tehran had worked with the illegitimate regime in Venezuela to flout the UN arms embargo”, Pompeo said.

    In mid-August, Pompeo said that the UN Security Council had rejected a US resolution to extend the Iran arms embargo, noting that, despite the decision, the Trump administration will continue to do everything possible to ensure that Iran is not able to buy and sell weapons.

    In June, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi indicated Tehran’s readiness to go ahead with its oil shipments to Venezuela if “Caracas demands more [such] supplies from Iran”, which is practicing “its free trade rights with” the South American country. The statement was preceded in May by five Iranian tankers delivering more than a million barrels of oil to Venezuela, which was hit by a serious fuel shortage caused by US sanctions.

    In a separate development on Monday, US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, for his part, announced that “The Trump administration is also imposing new sanctions and export control measures on 27 entities and individuals connected to Iran’s nuclear weapons programme”.

    The statement came after Pompeo announced on Saturday that all UN sanctions against Iran were “back in effect” under the “snapback” mechanism of UN Security Council Resolution 2231. The mechanism envisages an array of punitive measures if Iran violates its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was quick to declare that he cannot take any action on Pompeo’s announcement due to what he described as “uncertainty” related to the issue.

    Referring to the JCPOA, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, in turn, stressed that the US has no right to unilaterally restore international sanctions on Iran on the basis of an agreement it has withdrawn from.

    Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, for his part, said in a televised speech on Sunday that the US is facing defeat in its recent sanctions decision against the Islamic Republic.

    “America is approaching a certain defeat in its sanctions move […]. It faced defeat and negative response from the international community. We will never yield to US pressure and Iran will give a crushing response to America’s bullying”, Rouhani underscored.

    He also signalled Tehran’s readiness to fully adhere to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, if all other signatories do so.

    In May 2018, the US re-imposed crippling sanctions on Iran as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign of so-called maximum pressure on the Islamic Republic, which began after Washington unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018, a move that prompted Tehran to start suspending its JCPOA obligations exactly a year later.”

  40. In Imran Khan’s ‘Naya Pakistan’, you may not return home: India on enforced disappearances in Pakistan at UN
    https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-in-imran-khan-s-naya-pakistan-you-may-not-return-home-india-on-enforced-disappearances-in-pakistan-at-un-2844414

    “First secretary Senthil Kumar at India’s mission in United Nations in Geneva, said,” Security forces in Pakistan have gained proficiency in unlawful killings and kidnapping of people in so called counter-terrorism operations. This has been compounded by a weak judiciary in Pakistan which has consistently failed to protect even the basic human rights of the people in Pakistan.”…”

  41. Iran to Unveil New Defense Projects: Top General
    https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/09/21/2353387/iran-to-unveil-new-defense-projects-top-general

    “Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces said this year’s Sacred Defense Week in Iran would be marked with the unveiling of tens of new defense projects.

    Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri attended a ceremony at the Islamic Revolution and Sacred Defense Museum of Tehran on Monday morning, held in commemoration of the veterans of the imposed war of the 1980s.

    The top commander said this year’s Sacred Defense Week would be marked with the inauguration of “tens of defense projects and hundreds of construction projects”.

    He also noted that 8 new Sacred Defense museums will open across Iran during the Sacred Defense Week, bringing the total number of war museums to 23.

    In 2025, Iran will have 36 Sacred Defense museums and a museum of war against arrogance in the eastern city of Tabas, he added.

    In Iran, the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war is known as the Sacred Defense, and the Sacred Defense Week is held on the anniversary of the beginning of the war in September.

    The outbreak of coronavirus has canceled this year’s military parades in remembrance of the martyrs in the eight-year Iraqi-imposed war.”

  42. IRGC General: Iran Ready for Arms Exports after Lifting of Embargo
    https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/09/21/2353713/irgc-general-iran-ready-for-arms-exports-after-lifting-of-embargo

    “Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh voiced Iran’s readiness to export arms as soon as a UN embargo is terminated next month.

    Speaking to reporters on Monday, Hajizadeh said the export of Iranian military equipment would be facilitated after the termination of the arms embargo.

    The Islamic Republic of Iran’s arms program is not going to change at all, the commander added, saying Iran has already become self-sufficient in the military industry.

    “We do not rely on foreigners to supply our demand for arms,” he underlined.

    The general said termination of the UN arms embargo in October will have several advantages, as it marks a political victory for Iran and would allow the export of arms.

    He further dismissed the US president’s threat of military action against Iran, saying Trump has already made such nonsense comments which have been proved wrong, such as his previous threat to hit 52 locations in Iran.

    The US suffered an embarrassing diplomatic defeat in August when the United Nations Security Council rejected a proposal to indefinitely extend the arms embargo on Iran.

    The embargo on conventional arms is due to expire on October 18 under the terms of a resolution that blessed the Iran nuclear deal, signed in July 2015 and officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).”

  43. Saudi Navy Receives New Batch of French-Made Speed Interceptor Boats
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2520041/saudi-navy-receives-new-batch-french-made-speed-interceptor-boats

    “Commander of the Saudi Royal Naval Forces Lieutenant General Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Ghufaili presided on Sunday over the delivery of the second and third batches of the French-made Speed Interceptor Boats HS132.

    The vessels, which were delivered during a ceremony in the eastern al-Khafji area, were manufactured in part at France’s CMN, while the remaining parts were produced at plants in the Kingdom.

    The delivery is part of the joint cooperation between Saudi Arabia and France in military manufacturing and cooperation.

    Al-Ghufaili lauded the “unlimited support to the armed forces shown by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.”

    The new vessels will help raise the capabilities of the navy and improve regional marine security, he stressed.

    The vessels will join the various units in the eastern fleet and help in protecting the Kingdom’s vital and strategic interests, he said.”

  45. Turkey pursues legal action against Greek newspaper insulting Erdogan (mee, Sep 21, 2020)
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-greece-dimokratia-newspaper-insulting-erdogan-investigation

    “Turkish prosecutors on Monday launched an investigation into Greek newspaper Dimokratia and its editors after it published a headline insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    Dimokratia last week told Erdogan to “fuck off” in Turkish in the headline, in response to tensions over the eastern Mediterranean, where the two countries compete over disputed waters holding energy resources.

    Ankara’s prosecutor launched the investigation under the Turkish penal code, after Erdogan’s lawyers filed a complaint, which cited European Convention on Human Rights restrictions on the freedom of speech.

    The complaint said that the headline was the ultimate representation of the moral decay in the Greek media. “The silence of Greek public opinion indicates this moral decay isn’t only limited to the marginal segments of the society,” it said.

    Since the publication of the headline, several senior Turkish government officials have condemned the newspaper. Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said Ankara expects the Greek government to take administrative and criminal steps against the paper in response.

    Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul also penned a letter to his Greek counterpart informing him the headline wasn’t acceptable.

    However, the Greek foreign ministry said on Friday that freedom of the press was fully protected in Greece.

    “This fact does not negate the obligation to refrain from insulting the personality of any individual, particularly a foreign leader,” it said. “The use of offensive language is contrary to our country’s political culture and can only be condemned.”

    Dimokratia, on the other hand, released an editorial over the weekend saying that the front page had expressed “everything that all Greeks wanted to say in the last two months”.

    The editorial claimed that the front page caused such a wave of excitement that it went viral on the internet and also attracted “threatening messages written in English” against the newspaper’s staff…”

  46. Erdogan: Turkey’s enemies attempting to prevent its growth
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200921-erdogan-turkeys-enemies-attempting-to-prevent-its-growth/

    “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused hostile parties of working to prevent the country’s development by igniting internal crises, Rssd.com reported yesterday.

    Erdogan said his government had started to work to promote the country based on the Turkish vision for 2023, 2053 and 2071.

    “Every step we walk towards making Turkey a regional and global power represents a cornerstone for this vision,” the president said.

    Erdogan pointed out the importance of the success of the political, military and economic strife that Turkey is part of in a number of areas, including Syria, Libya, the East Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

    The goal of the hostile efforts is to undermine all the Turkish political and economic efforts and derail it from its vision.

    “They try to stop our development during this century through dragging Turkey into internal conflicts again,” Erdogan said.

    He noted that his country overcame a large part of the consequences of COVID-19 throughout continuous production during the third quarter of the year.

    Government funding is also helping the real estate and automotive industries to break records, he continued, adding that employment rates have increased since April.”

  48. Iran says it is ready to swap all prisoners with US
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200921-iran-says-it-is-ready-to-swap-all-prisoners-with-us/

    “Iran is ready for a full prisoner exchange with the United States, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a virtual address to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

    Relations between Tehran and Washington have deteriorated sharply since 2018 when US President Donald Trump exited Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran that have crippled its economy.

    Washington has long demanded that Iran release US citizens including Iranian-American father and son Baquer and Siamak Namazi.

    Navy veteran Michael White, detained since 2018, returned home in June as part of a deal in which the United States allowed an Iranian-American physician Majid Taheri to visit Iran. White said he contracted COVID-19 while in detention.

    In December 2018, Washington and Tehran worked on a prisoner exchange in which Iran freed US citizen Xiyue Wang, who had been held for three years on spying charges, and the United States freed Iranian Massoud Soleimani, who faced charges of violating US sanctions on Iran.

    Tehran denies it holds people on political grounds and has mostly accused its foreign prisoners of espionage.”

    • This looks like a little softening…
      They know how the filthy Turk won over PT by releasing Rev. Branson. Got off way too cheaply.

      I hope PT doesn’t cave now. For election optics, he might. It’ll be hard to recover credible deterrence, a very costly bargain.

  49. Saudi Arabia: English language in Class 1 from next year in public schools
    https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saudi/saudi-arabia-english-language-in-class-1-from-next-year-in-public-schools-1.74019818

    “Dubai: Saudi Arabia will offer English language classes to first graders next academic year, introducing language instruction much earlier than in previous years, the Kingdom’s Minister of Education Hamad bin Mohammed Al Al Sheikh said in an interview on Al Ekhbariyah TV…”

  50. Arrest warrants ‘received’ at Nawaz Sharif’s UK residence: FO
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/2265016/arrest-warrants-received-at-nawaz-sharifs-uk-residence-fo

    “Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who delivered a fiery speech against state institutions during the all parties conference on Sunday, has received non-bailable warrants for his arrest at his residence in the United Kingdom (UK), sources in the Foreign Office (FO) told to The Express Tribune on Monday…”

    • A fugitive in London is maligning state institutions: PM Imran
      https://tribune.com.pk/story/2264976/a-fugitive-in-london-is-maligning-state-institutions-pm-imran

      “A day after Nawaz Sharif’s no-holds-barred onslaught against a “parallel state” in Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan took a jibe at his convicted predecessor, saying that “once again a fugitive sitting in London is maligning the state institutions”.

      Nawaz Sharif, who has been handed a seven-year jail term on charges of financial corruption, was allowed by the government and court to travel to London for treatment of some undiagnosed ailment late last year. But now he has refused to return and a court has declared him a proclaimed offender.

      Speaking at a multiparty opposition confab via video link on Sunday, Sharif said the opposition’s struggle was not against Imran Khan “but against those who had imposed such an incapable person on the country through a rigged election”.

      Nawaz Sharif’s speech and the story published in Times of India reflect the same agenda, the premier said while speaking to spokespersons of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday.

      Sharif’s PML-N has once again promoted the Indian agenda, he said. New Delhi wanted to vilify Pakistan’s state institution ahead of the UN General Assembly session which opened on Sept 15 and will continue until Sept 30, he added.

      India, Premier Imran said, wanted to take the global spotlight off its reign of terror in Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), which has been under lockdown for more than a year now.

      Indian media has been spewing venom against Pakistan since Sharif’s rant against the state institutions, he said. An international lobby has been active against Pakistan’s state institutions, he added. “We will not allow anyone to malign our institutions.”

      The prime minister also slammed Sunday’s all-party conference, saying that it was an attempt by opposition politicians to malign the state institutions in a bid to cover their financial corruption. “I had predicted much earlier that they all would unite for personal interests,” he added.

      The ruling party has decided to give the opposition a befitting response by exposing their real motives.

      Premier Imran said that Pakistan owns its territorial integrity and sovereignty to its armed forces. “Countries like Libya, Iraq and Syria have been destroyed because they didn’t have strong militaries,” he added.

      Our armed forces have always stepped forward whenever called out in natural disasters, calamities or emergencies, the prime minister further said. “We will not allow anyone to malign our armed forces and our judiciary.””